Ryan

By Wayne Mansfield

For the past twenty years, Dane has taken care of his wealthy Aunt Beatrice. One rainy day, when they are out driving, Aunt Beatrice is killed in an accident. Naturally, Dane is devastated. When he returns to the large, luxurious home they once shared, he falls into a mild depression.

Lonely, he places an advertisement on Craigslist, in part to find someone to keep the house clean and take care of maintenance, and in part to keep him company, as he had kept his aunt company. The next morning, he finds Ryan at his door. He gives Ryan the job, but soon finds himself falling in love with the handsome man. But there is more to both men than meets the eye.

Can they cope with what they learn about each other? And no one should have to make the decision they are forced to face. Not without all the answers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: JMS Books LLC
• Release date: Apr 15, 2017
• ISBN: 9781634863988

Wayne Mansfield

Wayne Mansfield is a Western Australian writer. He has been writing for nine years and has been published in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Additionally, he wrote a monthly erotic story for the German publications Macho and Dreamboys for two years. His novellas and stories usually have a horror, futuristic, or fantasy theme, although he does write contemporary stories such as The Hiding Place, which received Honorable Mention in the 2013 Rainbow Awards.

Book preview

Ryan

By Wayne Mansfield

Published by JMS Books LLC at Smashwords

Visit jms-books.com for more information.

Copyright 2017 Wayne Mansfield

ISBN 9781634863988

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Cover Design: Written Ink Designs | written-ink.com

Image(s) used under a Standard Royalty-Free License.

All rights reserved.

WARNING: This book is not transferable. It is for your own personal use. If it is sold, shared, or given away, it is an infringement of the copyright of this work and violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

No portion of this book may be transmitted or reproduced in any form, or by any means, without permission in writing from the publisher, with the exception of brief excerpts used for the purposes of review.

This book is for ADULT AUDIENCES ONLY. It may contain sexually explicit scenes and graphic language which might be considered offensive by some readers. Please store your files where they cannot be accessed by minors.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are solely the product of the author’s imagination and/or are used fictitiously, though reference may be made to actual historical events or existing locations. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Published in the United States of America.

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Ryan

By Wayne Mansfield

Chapter 1

Dane pushed open the front door and stepped into the foyer of his magnificent home. After taking three steps across the black and white tiles, he stopped and looked slowly about—at the table with the vase that usually housed an outlandishly large floral display, at the paintings on the wall and the antique hatstand in the corner behind the door. Things he’d seen a hundred times, a thousand times, and yet now seemed only a little familiar.

He continued turning, completing the circle, and as he caught his reflection in the ornate silver mirror where his Aunt Beatrice used to check herself before leaving the house, he stopped and stared into the glass. He hardly recognised himself. He appeared pale, transparent, and soon he disappeared completely to be replaced by scenes of the car accident that had claimed Aunt Beatrice’s life. There was rain. Something, a dog, running out in front of the car. The car skidding. The screeching of tyres, screeching that tore through his mind and rattled his bones. Hands, his hands, frantically gripping the steering wheel, and his foot, pressed down hard on the brake. Somewhere in the distance, screaming. His Aunt Beatrice before her head connected with the dashboard, silencing her forever.

He shook his head, trying to shake away the guilt, and found himself gazing, once again, at his own image, the one face he couldn’t bear to look at. He wouldn’t look at. Averting his eyes, he walked across the foyer and disappeared into the heart of the house.

The house was U-shaped with a half-Olympic-sized swimming pool nestled between the two prongs of the U. It also featured twin garages, a tropical garden with various large stone heads scattered throughout, and a gazebo with white net curtains, and cushions. There was an outdoor setting by the pool, which sat eight people, and a row of four, stark white sun lounges.

Inside, there were no less than fourteen spacious rooms. A considerable number in a single-storey home. There was a formal lounge room, a dining area and a living room forming what his Aunt Beatrice had liked to call the west wing. In the middle of the house was the kitchen, with walk-in pantry, a sunroom—where his aunt had been fond of having her breakfast—and two bedrooms, one which Dane had earmarked for conversion into a home gym one of