Radiance
Authors: Shayne McClendon
Tags: #Gay & Lesbian, #Literature & Fiction, #Erotica, #Gay, #Romantic, #Romance, #Contemporary
Radiance
A lightness of spirit often draws the darkness.
The Barter System – Book 6
Shayne McClendon
Radiance by Shayne McClendon
(The Barter System - Book 6)
Radiance Copyright © 2015 Shayne McClendon
December 18
th
2015
Published by Always the Good Girl LLC
All rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Also by Shayne McClendon
The Barter System
– Book 1
Hudson
– Book 2
Pushing the Envelope
– Book 3
Love of the Game – The Complete Collection
With Alexandra Andersen
Note from the Author
I talked through initial ideas for this book with my friend Jordana. She hated the title (it stuck) but loved Brie’s story. I hope she likes where things ended up.
This is the sixth book in “The Barter System” series. It is the last one that will be labeled as such. However. There are two additional series already in the work that I think you’re going to love. You’ll have a chance to visit with characters you’ve grown to love and meet some wonderful new ones that just might blow you away.
This book was written in pieces. I kept getting pulled away from it by life and my other responsibilities as a health content writer. I’m proud of where it ended up (characters do what they want).
Brie is special to me. Since her appearance in “Hudson,” I’ve been unable to shake her from my brain. She showed up in “Liberation” and “Backstage” but it still wasn’t time to tell her story.
Her time is now. I hope you love her journey as much as I do. I’ve
always
had a soft spot for the ones who glow.
Shayne
Dedication
After a long period of feeling trapped in a life that wasn’t healthy for me, I find myself on the cusp of a fresh start. Starting from scratch, building every single thing one day at a time, is terrifying to those of you who’ve experienced it.
To the group of incredible women (
Jana, Carrie, Yvonne, Angela, Mo, and Brittany
) who do everything possible to keep me from losing my mind.
Thank you for filling in when my entire world flipped upside down, drifted on a turbulent sea for a long while, and finally floated up on a deserted island where I can focus on getting all the words out.
I am so grateful to you, for you.
To my readers, thank you for being patient as you waited for this one. It broke me (many times) but it also fills me with hope. I’d love to hear what you think when you finish.
Much love,
Shayne
Table of Contents
September 2014
As much as Gabriella Hernandez loved each and every one of her friends, she was grateful to return to her silent apartment in the hour before dawn.
Natalia Roman, her best friend’s fiancée, insisted on helping her out of the formal gown she’d worn to the Bishop Foundation benefit and into something comfortable. She gently brushed her hair and loosely braided it down her back. Then Hudson Winters and his ladylove kissed her goodnight and she locked up behind them.
Racing thoughts made it impossible for her to sleep. She sat staring out at the skyline, watching the sun come up over the city.
When the apartment phone rang at eight in the morning, she picked it up in surprise.
“Brie, this is Carlo. You have a delivery. Is it alright for the men to bring it up?”
“Of course.”
“They’re on the way.”
Disconnecting, she used her walker to make her way to the front door as the freight elevator beeped. She watched as the enormous whale fashioned from scrap metal she’d fallen in love with the night before was carefully wheeled out of the interior and across the hall.
Barely able to speak, she directed the men to set it up in the corner of her living room. It was even more spectacular sitting majestically in her apartment. The tip of the whale’s nose was barely a foot from her ceiling.
When they finished, she told the men, “Wait just a moment and I’ll grab my bag…”
“No, ma’am. We’ve been taken care of already. Have a good day.” The last man handed her a heavy linen envelope with her first name written in masculine scrawl. He nodded as he closed the door.
The sculpture stole her breath. Lowering slowly to the edge of her sofa, she opened the envelope and felt her heart hit a hard gallop.
Gabriella,
You are captivating.
My brother was thrilled to learn you were so taken with his work. I could not risk it falling into less-appreciative hands.
May it continue to bring you pleasure.
Harper
She re-read the words several times. Then she picked up the phone and called Natalia.
“Darling…why are you awake?”
“I haven’t been to sleep.”
“Is everything alright?”
“Harper bought me the whale from the auction. They just set it up in my living room. Is this…I mean, if I keep it am I committed to something?”
“You mean is it similar to my collar?”
“Something like that.”
“No, darling. It’s simply a gift. An extravagant one but nothing more than a gift.” There was a long pause. “Do you
want
it to be more?”
“I have no idea.”
“Brie, give it some thought. You will be pursued more openly going forward. I’ve known them for two decades. He won’t stop until you either tell him no or agree to belong to him…and his oldest friend.”
“I’m not sure what
belonging
would actually mean…not with him.”
“Let’s have lunch.” There was the sound of rustling in the background and Brie heard Natalia sigh. “Make that dinner. We’ll answer any questions you have, darling.”
“Thanks. Enjoy naked time and send my apologies for interrupting.”
“No, Brie. I’m
so glad
you woke me up. I’ll call you later.”
Her attention was drawn back to the note and she allowed herself to remember the way the two men, the lifelong friends, she’d met the night before had affected her.
Harper Delkin was the eldest heir to the fortune accumulated by Delkin Acquisitions, a company started by his grandfather. Physically similar to Hudson, he was six feet tall with a muscular build. Their warm skin and black hair caused many to mistake them for brothers.
It was their eyes that set them apart. Where Hudson’s were pools of black, Harper’s were an ethereal gray she’d struggled to match artistically.
Elijah Eklund was his best friend, his bodyguard, and presumably his partner in the ménage lifestyle. Slightly taller than Harper, his build was lean and sculpted. Golden brown hair streaked with platinum blonde and pale green eyes made him a striking counterpart to the man with which he spent the majority of his time.
Making her way into her studio, Brie unclipped the sketch she’d drawn of Harper and Elijah the night of the building commemoration from her easel.
While she spent the evening sitting in the chair she was unable to leave on her own, Natalia unveiled Hudson’s gift from Gabriella. A large canvas of the building painted in oils. It was something she’d worked on before her accident. Her best friend had loved everything about it.
Throughout the evening, the two men stood side by side and watched her. For the most part, they didn’t speak and they didn’t mingle. They simply watched her.
Eventually, feeling self-conscious and more than a little off-balance, she’d removed her sketch supplies to capture the moment. When she returned home later that night, she took a long time to get the shade of the men’s eyes just right.
It was a sketch her friends noticed but didn’t question.
She’d gradually added to it over the past weeks, including splashes of color and giving it more substance.
Much like the drawing of Hudson and Natalia that she’d given her friends recently, the level of detail announced it to be a project she returned to often.
Brie hadn’t examined why she didn’t put it away too closely. Most of the sketches she did were stored or gifted to the subjects in them. Removing stationary from her desk, she set down the picture and quickly wrote a note.
Harper,
Thank you for the sculpture and the compliment.
I didn’t make the connection that Harrison was your younger brother. I last saw him when he was barely a teenager. His work is truly remarkable.
Please accept a far simpler gift from me in thanks.
Brie
Before she could second-guess her decision, she sealed the envelope and placed both items in the pouch that hung on the side of her walker.
Stepping into her sneakers, she made her way to the first floor business center. She could see the concern on Carlo’s face when he realized she was alone.
“Good morning, Carlo. I’ll be right back. Well, as
right back
as I can be.”
He smiled and she cursed the amount of time it took her to traverse forty feet. Selecting a large padded envelope that would fit the sketch without bending, she printed Harper Delkin’s name on the outside. Then she returned to the front desk to speak to the concierge.
“Can you help me find a mailing address?”
Taking the package, the young man’s expression was confused as he read the name. “You don’t need to
mail
this, Brie.”
“I don’t…what do you mean?”
“Mr. Delkin owns an apartment on the floor below Mr. Winters. He rarely uses it but as it happens…ah, here he is now.”