Dreaming of You from Chasing the Dream - release date 17 September 2011

Excerpt of Dreaming of You from the Chasing the Dream Anthology

Sebastian looked out of the dirty window again. He pulled on the chain at his waist and opened his pocket watch. Thomas should have been here an hour ago. Panic began to unfurl in the pit of his stomach. Where was he? Ambrose, Thomas' manservant, had delivered a frantically scribbled note in the wee hours, instructing Sebastian to meet Thomas at ten. It was now past eleven and Sebastian was growing increasingly anxious. Thomas was never late. Every minute they spent together was too precious, and his love would never keep him waiting. Unless someone was preventing him from leaving? Sebastian closed his ears to the inner voice and its panic filled mutterings. "No," he snarled aloud. "He's coming."

By a quarter after twelve, Sebastian was frantic. He strode across the room and grabbed his gloves from the broken chair in the corner and shoved his fingers inside the leather just as he heard the sound of an approaching horse. Thank God! Dropping the gloves, he ran to the door and threw it open, lunging through it to catch Thomas as he all but fell from his steed.

"My love? Thomas?" Sebastian ignored Thomas' protests and picked him up in his arms, carrying him into the shack and kicking the door closed behind them. "What is it? Thomas, you're scaring me." He lowered the smaller man to the makeshift bed they had constructed before the fireplace and sank to his knees beside him. "Thom —?" His words stilled in his throat as he removed Thomas' hat and it fell to the floor from his suddenly numb fingers. A white hot anger, the like of which he had never experienced, rushed through his body like a stormy sea onto the rocks. Lifting his hand, he touched his fingers to the tufts of white-blond hair that clung to Thomas' shorn head, hair that had been hacked off by a violent hand. His touch was gentle, but his voice was ice cold. "Who did this?" He cupped Thomas' face in his hands and lifted so that he could look into his beautiful green eyes. "Who did this?"

"Father," Thomas mumbled, his fingers pulling at Sebastian's wrists as he tried to turn away from his searching gaze. "Please…don't look at me."

"Don't be foolish," Sebastian urged gently, holding the man's face in place and refusing to let him go. "What was his reasoning for this?"

Realizing that his struggles were futile, Thomas curled his fingers around Sebastian's and held on tight. "He found my journal. He knows about us." His green eyes filled with tears. "He had two of the servants hold me down and he cut off my hair. All the while he yelled obscenities at me. Called me filthy names. Said you wouldn't want me when he'd finished." His voice broke on the last and a sob fell from his lips. "My love, he's sending me away."

"What?" Sebastian hissed, thumbing at the tears spilling from beneath long pale lashes. "He can't do that. I won't allow it." He pulled Thomas into his arms and held him tightly against his chest. "He'd have to kill me first." Burying his face against Thomas' neck, he inhaled the scent of soft skin and pressed his lips to Thomas' fluttering pulse. "I'll never let him take you from me."

RELEASED BY SILVER PUBLISHING ON THE 17 SEPTEMBER 2011