Free Snowbound by Scarlet Blackwell

home.
    A shadow at the mouth of the alleyway blocked out the sunlight. Hayden straightened up as best he could. Wiping a hand over his face, he tried to be strong for another emotional blow from Dylan.
    The sheriff came closer. His face was cold as stone but his eyes, still so golden, were full of anguish. "You didn't want me then. What did you think, I'd keep myself as a monk for you on the off chance you might come back? I have a life with a man I love! Don't think you can walk back in here and take me after twelve fucking years!" His voice had risen to a shout and Hayden flinched at every word.
    He stepped back as Dylan moved forward with sudden intent on his face. He collided hard with the wall as Dylan grabbed him by the back of his head and forced a kiss on his lips.
    Hayden gasped. He clutched Dylan's face in both hands, opening his mouth to the kiss, tasting Dylan's tongue with his own.
    Dylan groaned. An arm went around Hayden's back, pulling him firmly against his body. The kiss deepened into desperate passion. They strained against each other as though each could pull the other into his own body by the strength of their need.
    Hayden remembered this kiss. He remembered the force of Dylan's desire for him and how it had never been equalled. He didn't understand how two people who felt this way could ever have denied what existed between them.
    The kiss broke and turned into a lingering embrace. Hayden hid his face against Dylan's shoulder. "I loved you," he said. "I loved you."
    Dylan's fingers caressed the nape of his neck a moment before he pulled away. He turned his back, walked a few paces, turned around. His eyes were liquid. "I waited five years," he said. "It was enough. I gave myself to someone else, just like you did."
    Hayden's lip trembled and tears trickled hopelessly down his cheeks. "Was that my kiss goodbye?"
    Dylan waited a moment before he responded. He blinked a few times, then he lifted his chin. "Yes. Don't come back." He turned and walked out of the alley.
    ****
    Hayden sat on the ground in the alleyway for thirty-five minutes before he finally stood and made his way out. He walked slowly back to the police station, stopping at a store on the way to buy a packet of tissues and a bottle of water. His head ached fiercely and his leg nagged spitefully at him.
    He slid into his car and started the engine, switching on the air-conditioning. He faced a long drive home to an empty house. He hadn't expected to fail so spectacularly today. He had known Dylan was the one for him the moment the cop walked up to his stranded car on that road in the snow. So why didn't Dylan realise it too? Why didn't he realise Hayden would love and nurture him the rest of his life?
    But life wasn't fair and not many people got their happy endings. Usually they only got what they deserved and Hayden guessed he didn't deserve Dylan.
    He sat back, eyes closed, breathing deeply, trying to breathe through his pain the way he did with his leg.
    A cop getting out of the car next to him attracted his attention. He opened his window. "Excuse me, Officer. Can you recommend a good hotel in town?"
    "Sure." The man was tall and blond, well built. His name badge announced he was Deputy Sheriff. For a moment Hayden wondered if he was the one. Dylan's partner. Would Dylan be that obvious? "Take a left out of here, go down half a mile and take another left. It's the end of the street, The Blackstone Inn, quiet and homey."
    "Thanks very much."
    "You here for business or pleasure, sir?"
    Hayden hesitated. The pain rent his chest. "I hoped I'd come for pleasure. It didn't turn out that way. Have a good day, Officer." He put his window up and reversed out of his spot.
    ****
    Dylan watched out of the window as Hayden's car pulled away. He had taken his time to get back here. Had he stayed in that alleyway all that time after Dylan had left? He slumped down at his desk, staring at the screensaver on his laptop. He'd been unnecessarily cruel to