Foss Read online

  Table of Contents

  Foss

  Blurb

  Copyright Acknowledgement

  Chapter one

  Chapter two

  Chapter three

  Chapter four

  Chapter five

  Chapter six

  Chapter seven

  Chapter eight

  About the Author

  MLR Press

  Foss

  Pelaam

  www.mlrpress.com

  Blurb

  Holidaying in the beautiful lakeside town of Taupo, Zander hears music that instantly captivates him.

  The musician turns out to be as beautiful as he is talented. Zander is elated to find the attraction he feels for Foss is reciprocated.

  Acting on their mutual attraction, Zander finds himself falling heavily for the gorgeous musician.

  But Foss isn’t all he seems and when the couple are attacked, the truth may tear them apart.

  Copyright Acknowledgement

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright 2016 by Pelaam

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

  Published by

  MLR Press, LLC

  3052 Gaines Waterport Rd.

  Albion, NY 14411

  Visit ManLoveRomance Press, LLC on the Internet:

  www.mlrpress.com

  Cover Art by Winterheart Design

  Editing by Kris Jacen

  ebook format

  Issued 2016

  This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of International Copyright Law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines and/or imprisonment. This eBook cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this eBook can be shared or reproduced without the express permission of the publisher.

  Chapter one

  Pulling into one of the spaces he saw available in the hotel’s designated car park, Zander switched off the engine and stretched luxuriantly. Not that a three-hour drive was particularly draining, but to make the most of the few days he’d stay in Taupo, Zander had left home early. Pre-breakfast early and I’m starving.

  Easing from the car, Zander looked around. Okay, yeah, so I’m being cheeky, especially since I can’t officially check in until two this afternoon, but the hotel’s car park is almost empty. Just not very big. Not that he was fool enough to just leave the car there. If it wasn’t registered with the hotel, then he risked being towed and that was not part of Zander’s plans.

  Arming himself with his best smile, Zander strode in and headed straight to reception. The dark-haired woman at the reception desk looked him over from top to toe, and then sat up a little straighter, matching his smile with one of her own.

  If there was one thing Zander had learned while travelling, it was to make a good impression when booking into a hotel. Hotel staff were far more likely to take complaints—or requests—more seriously if you were well presented than if you rocked on up in shorts and jandals. In snug-fitting jeans, with a clean white T-shirt under a dark blue, unbuttoned shirt, Zander looked smart but casual.

  “Hi. My name’s Zander Henderson. I’m booked in for the next few days.” Leaning closer, he dropped his voice. “I know I’m early, but I hoped I could leave my car here so I could get something to eat and I’ll return to check in formally later. I’ve been on the road a few hours so I’m really hungry.” Zander unashamedly added puppy dog eyes.

  “Well, we don’t normally allow it, but the car park is quite empty this morning, so I don’t see there’ll be a problem.” The receptionist’s voice had a distinctive lilt and Zander tilted his head.

  “Do I detect a South African accent?”

  “Yes.” The woman’s smile widened. “Have you been there?”

  “Not yet. I have a few South African friends, though. It sounds a fascinating place to visit.”

  “Oh, it is.” The woman leaned closer. “You must go. It’s a wonderful place for a vacation.”

  “I’ll make sure that I do.” Zander leaned a little closer, so close their foreheads almost touched. “Now I know you’ll say the hotel is the best place to have breakfast, but since I’m not a guest yet, where would you recommend?”

  A few minutes later, armed with a couple of recommendations for good places to eat, Zander strode jauntily toward the main block of cafes and restaurants overlooking the lake.

  The rest of the day passed quickly and enjoyably for Zander. He indulged in a mix of wandering leisurely around the town, walking briskly beside the lake, and selecting the places to visit that evening both for a meal and somewhere for a drink afterward.

  He also indulged in a little in-house scoping by having a wine or coffee in those bars and restaurants which most appealed to him. Finally it was time for Zander to officially check in to his hotel.

  Once he’d unpacked, he made good use of the small swimming pool and hot tub the hotel boasted in their back courtyard. Thoroughly relaxed and refreshed, he sauntered out ready for a meal and evening entertainment. I don’t even have to worry about what time to come back. The key opens a door at the back of the hotel. I can come and go as I please. Perfect.

  Chapter two

  Replete from his evening meal, it had been Zander’s intention to visit one of the more up-market clubs after dinner. However, he stopped dead as the faint strains of violin music reached him. Although it wasn’t Zander’s normal choice of music, there was something incredibly compelling about the way the violinist played.

  Wandering along one of the quieter side roads, Zander followed the sounds, unable to really explain why he was so drawn to it, finally stopping outside a bar. This one he hadn’t noticed earlier in the day. But that was hardly surprising given it was a little off the beaten track.

  A lone doorman stood outside, rocking slightly from side to side to the beat of the music. Noticing Zander, he gave a quick nod.

  “You over twenty-five?” The doorman paused in his rocking, asking the question in a friendly, casual tone.

  “I’m flattered you feel the need to ask.” Zander grinned at the doorman. “Sad to say I’m closer to thirty than twenty-five. I can show you my driver’s license if you need it?” Zander reached for his wallet, but the doorman shook his head, returning the smile.

  “Nah. I believe you.”

  “Unusual age limit.” Zander stepped past the doorman, then stopped and looked back over his shoulder.

  “The owner reckons the biggest causers of trouble are the eighteen to twenty-fours, so she admits the twenty-fives and over. Doesn’t guarantee we don’t get the odd idiot who can’t handle his drink, but we’re usually bother free.”

  “Good to know.” Zander walked casually into the bar, glancing around and orientating himself. The drinks were served from a black and chrome bar area to his left. Over on the right was a good-sized dining area, with a few people still finishing their meals. Farther inside he spotted a dance area and that was the direction of the music.

  Hesitating only long enough to get a bottle of beer, Zander headed deeper into the club. The dance floor was busy, but not overcrowded. Most dancers swayed to the music, and a few held one another as they rocked. Then the music picked up tempo.

  More dancers, clearly motivated by the sudden change of beat, moved onto the floor and Zander scurried off to the side. He wasn’t interested in dancing, or risking losing his beer. But he did want to see the musician who played so well.

  Dodging around the patrons milling at the dance floor edges, Zander found himself i
n a perfect place with a solid wooden column to protect his left side to be able to look directly onto the tiny stage just a few feet away.

  Taking a large swallow of beer to lubricate a suddenly dry throat, Zander stared. The violinist wasn’t some staid orchestra performer, or a bearded, new-age hippie type dripping in beads. He wore plain black pants and a white shirt which might have started off fastened, but now hung open and framed a pale, smooth chest.

  Zander’s gaze homed in on the performer’s nipples, a perfect shade of pink, surrounded by darker areolas and one glinted with gold. The violinist’s hair flowed around him like a reddish-gold mantle, wild and untamed. Despite all of that, it was his long, slender fingers, which proved so captivating as they caressed his violin.

  When the music ended, the performer took a bow to loud applause. Zander joined in, wondering if the violinist was coming back after a break. To his disappointment, one of the bar’s staff went on stage announcing that a group would be performing next.

  Turning back toward the bar, Zander opted to have another beer and hang around long enough to see if the group was any good before deciding whether to move on. Finding a couple of empty chairs at a table tucked into a corner, Zander sat down.

  A moment later, Zander sat up straighter. Unless the violinist had a twin brother, he’d just made an appearance behind the bar. His shirt was fastened and his hair tied up in a high ponytail, but Zander knew it was him.

  Chugging down the last of his beer, Zander made sure to work his way to the bar so the redhead would serve him. Resisting the temptation to elbow aside a blond who seemed reluctant to move away, Zander finally got into place, just as the redhead looked over at him.

  It seemed to Zander that his entire universe shrank to a pair of mesmerizing eyes of emerald green and yet there was also a hint of amber in those captivating orbs.

  “Can I get you something?” The redhead’s voice broke the spell and Zander blinked a couple of times before feeling able to reply.

  “Beer, please.” Zander held up the empty bottle he held, unsure if he could even get the name out.

  “Coming right up.”

  As the redhead handed over the beer, their fingers brushed and Zander felt a zip of excitement that went straight to his cock. “My name’s Zander. What’s yours?”

  “Foss.”

  “Unusual.”

  “Yes. It’s European, means fox.”

  “What time do you finish?” Zander leaned closer, dropping his voice a fraction, not wanting the patrons around to hear so openly.

  “At midnight. Will you wait for me?” Foss’s face lit up with a smile of delight.

  “Absolutely. I’ll be over there.” Zander pointed to the end of the bar where he’d spotted a barstool.

  “See you later. That one’s on me.” Foss nodded at the beer and then hurried away to serve another customer.

  Midnight was only a couple of hours away and Zander sat himself down with his beer. Sipping slowly, Zander kept looking at his watch. The time seemed to be crawling by. As good as the group performing was, Zander willed time to go faster. Then what? What the fuck am I doing? I don’t know anything about this guy. I’m breaking all my dating rules in one go.

  By the time Foss joined him at the end of his shift, Zander was more nervous than he’d been when asking out his first date as a spotty teenager.

  “Have a drink with me?” Zander indicated the table with two chairs that seemed unpopular due to its cramped location.

  “I’d like that. A glass of bubbles. House bubbles, please. Nothing extravagant.” Foss walked over to the table to take a seat and Zander found his gaze drawn to the sway of the redhead’s slender hips.

  Shaking his head to clear his increasingly lust-fuelled thoughts, Zander waited to catch the attention of one of the remaining bar staff to get their drinks.

  Taking them to the table, Zander set Foss’s glass down and raised his in a salute as he sat.

  “To new friends.”

  Smiling widely, Foss clinked his glass against Zander’s bottle and then cocked his head to the left. “I haven’t seen you here before, Zander. Are you on holiday?” Foss sipped at his bubbles.

  “Um, yeah. My work’s in Palmerston North. Ever been there?”

  Foss shook his head. “No. I’m very much a home bunny. I don’t travel.” He cocked his head to the side again as Zander stared at him. “What?”

  “I know of people who don’t travel abroad, and I know a few who haven’t left North Island even to visit South, but most people at least go either to Auckland or Wellington. I don’t think I’ve met anyone who hasn’t left their hometown.”

  “There’s no need.” Foss shrugged a slim shoulder. “I have everything here.”

  Zander thought he detected a slight catch to Foss’s voice, but the other man was smiling at him and looked so relaxed, that Zander put it from his mind.

  “Can I walk you home?” Zander wanted to do much more, but even with his libido screaming to be reckless, his head was far more practical. If he’s interested I can stay here for a week or so. One night’s celibacy will only make things all the more sweet.

  “You don’t even know where I live.” Foss chuckled warmly. “But actually, yes, you can walk me home. Are you ready to leave?”

  “If you are.” Zander was happy to sit there and just look at Foss, although his dick was finding things pretty uncomfortable.

  “I am tired. Tomorrow’s another day.”

  “Yes.” Rising from his seat, Zander followed Foss outside.

  “Goodnight, Foss, take care.” The doorman slapped Foss on the back, then noticed Zander. “Hey, you have a bodyguard. Well, don’t let the big, black dog get you.”

  “Thanks. Don’t worry. I’m sure he won’t bother us. See you tomorrow.”

  Falling into step with Foss, Zander glanced at his companion. His gaze was riveted to the movement of Foss’s hand as he ran it through the distinctive red-gold tresses that first caught Zander’s attention.

  His hands are so—so artistic. Beautiful. Foss’s fingers were long and slender and Zander recalled the effortless way they’d slid up and down the neck of both guitar and violin when providing his musical interlude at the bar. Foss was certainly a talented musician.

  Looking around Zander thought he knew where they were, but he kept looking for visual clues. It seems a shame that Foss can’t earn his living by music alone, but then, if he hadn’t been working in the bar itself, I would never have seen him.

  “So what did the doorman mean by beware of the black dog?” Recognizing they were now walking down toward the lake, Zander tried to think of anything other than a naked Foss writhing beneath him as the image flashed into his mind. When Foss didn’t reply straight away, Zander glanced at him.

  Foss’s gaze seemed fixed on a point over the lake. “That? Oh, well, he was joking. Well, kind of. A few people claim to have seen a big, black dog around the lakeside. As if patrolling the area. We’re not entirely free from those who’d hurt the innocent. There was an attempted mugging most recently and the attackers were scared away. The victim took a couple of very poor photos of what he says protected him. Just looks like a dark lump with two glowing eyes.” Foss focused on Zander and a smile crept over his face. “Not afraid of the big, bad wolf, are you?”

  A snort broke free from Zander before he could stop it and then he laughed out loud. “Nah, not me. You ever see it?”

  Stopping, Foss looked at Zander. “I can honestly say I have never seen the creature.”

  “So I don’t have to worry that some beast is going to jump on me at any minute?”

  For a moment Foss just stared at Zander and then he burst in a peal of laughter. “Oh. I wouldn’t say that.”

  Frowning, trying to work out what Foss had found so funny, Zander stood still for a moment. But Foss didn’t elaborate or stop walking and Zander needed to run to catch him up.

  “What tickled you?”

  “Hmm?” Foss tilted his head.r />
  “What’s so funny?”

  “Oh, nothing. Really. You like the lake?” Foss slowed down and then stopped.

  Coming to stand at Foss’s side, Zander peered out over the lake. Although he’d visited the town on several occasions, he had to admit, he’d never actually stopped to admire the lake at night. Leaning back slightly, Zander looked overhead. The sky was cloudless and the stars incredibly clear. The he looked over the lake. Lights shone to the right and left where he could still see shore, but straight ahead, the lake merged with the sky into inky blackness.

  “It is magnificent. I never really took the time to look properly before.” Unthinkingly, Zander leaned into Foss, pleased when his new friend showed no inclination to shove him away.

  “Even better in day time.”

  “I take it you live here?” Unthinkingly, Zander jerked a thumb at the lake.

  Raising his eyebrow he glanced at Foss, whose sudden gale of soft laughter made Zander’s cock sit up and take notice, straining hard at his zipper.

  “Yes. Actually I do. I love Taupo and the lake. So beautiful, so majestic.”

  “Guess it is at that. Look, I said I’m on holiday. I was going to travel a bit, but you’re right. Taupo is—beautiful.” Zander made sure he gazed into Foss’s eyes and the smile he received sent another surge to his dick. Fuck, this guy is so hot he could make me come in my pants.

  “Does that mean you’re going to be here for a few days?” Their arms brushed. Zander was sure he felt a tingle from shoulder to fingertips that echoed in his groin, but Foss just continued to smile.

  “A week or so.” Zander tried to focus on something other than his ever-increasing arousal. “You work every night?”

  “No.” Ducking his head slightly, Foss gave Zander a sideways glance, his smile taking on a definite mischievous look. “Why?”

  “Fuck! This is ridiculous. Look, I don’t sleep around okay?”