"I think... I think I was so in love with the idea of saving myself that I didn't realize I was letting myself drown. "

"And now?"

"And now you're my lifeboat."


It was only meant to be a favour. Only meant to be for a few weeks. 

Yet when Stryker Odello finds himself a Daddy for a scarred little boy, he finds the darkness that swamped his life cracking and splits of light shining through.

High functioning alcoholic at best, meeting the needs of the little proved more challenging than he first anticipated. 

Broken and distrustful, getting through to Jamie Sinclair was a hard feat.

Both damaged from the past, hurt and cautious, could they learn to let go and figure out how to love again? 

Or was life's only joy to direct a tragedy?

His Little Boy

Her eyes were gentle; in them, Stryker understood why people claimed that the eyes were the windows to the soul.

They gazed up at him, soft and trusting. He didn't deserve it. He didn't deserve the soft, affectionate nuzzles she gave. He didn't deserve the way she rested her large head on his shoulder, all his sins and all his weeks of neglect forgiven as he gently scratched behind her ears.

Jamie was terrified of the majestic beast. He watched through terror-filled eyes, clutching his panda in a death grip. He refused to enter the stable, despite the fact that a headcollar was attached to the horse's face, a lead rope anchoring it to the tie ring on the wall.

/"I'm sorry, old girl,/" Stryker whispered to Parker, his fingers running along her golden fur; the scent that clung to the air, dry straw and the musky, earthy scent, it was one of the few scents in the world that made Stryker feel at home. /"It's been a while, hasn't it?/"

Chapter14