Page 3

The Earl’s gaze snapped towards him, eyes flashing, and Adam’s feet slipped out from under him again. The Earl—damn him—steadied him. Neither of them spoke until they reached the seating area, and Adam sat down with a grateful sigh. With any luck, Adam would never see the man again.

“Thank you, my lord. You’d better see how your sister is faring with the cab.”

The Earl walked away a step, then turned around to stare intensely at Adam. The icy air crackled, like hot water poured over blocks of ice. “Yes. I can’t wait to be out of these wet clothes.” And with that hint that the Earl would soon be naked, the damned man left, leaving Adam in a rather sorry state of arousal and confusion. How dare he leave with such a comment between them?

Didn’t he know that Adam was responsible for bankrupting his father? What a fucking mess. The last thing he’d expected was to be attracted to the son. Well, it didn’t matter. Maybe he’d never see him again ... except they were going to spend time in the same circles as Adam often spent his time with ton, for business reasons, and there weren’t that many families in the ton. He could hardly avoid the Earl without someone noticing and putting it together with his previous interest in the old Earl.

He undid the laces on his skates and pondered the problem. Was it really a problem? The new Earl had no clue who Adam was, and the odds were that he’d never find out what Adam had done. Even if the foolish old man had kept records, it wouldn’t have the extent of Adam’s exploitation, at least not under Adam’s name. The old fucker had used his gambling to save face; and Adam had planted that idea too. If the old Earl told people that he’d lost a bet, he wouldn’t need to explain how his greed had bankrupted the estate.

Usually Adam felt warm and smug at having taken everything from the old fucker who’d killed Adam’s best friend, but this time, he was left with a chill. It must be the frozen chair. He pulled off the other skate and left them both on the ground, walking away in his socks towards the locker where he’d left his boots. Some lucky person could have the skates, he was done with them. It was time to stop thinking about this, or the new Earl of Milnes-Wilkes. If only it was that simple...

Chapter 3

A week later, Theo had—almost—come to terms with knowing he’d never see that man again. They obviously didn’t run in the same circles, which was both a disappointment and a relief. He didn’t want to be tempted by a man, not when he had so many problems to resolve, but in quiet moments alone, he wished he had the distraction. He wanted to see his handsome face again, to have him touch him with that same gentleness again.

He walked into White’s to meet his friend, the Duke of Edenwick, for dinner and nearly stumbled when he heard the man’s distinctive voice. The man had an odd accent, almost a society London accent but with the occasional lower class broader vowel giving away his origins. And he’d sworn so easily in mixed company at the Pond.

How was he here? White’s didn’t admit the lower classes, not unless they were Nabobs or otherwise wealthy enough to get sponsored into this rarified company. He shook his head, trying to get rid of the memory of the man’s voice as he’d leaned over Theo, fingers trailing on his face, asking if he was injured. Theo must have imagined the voice. He walked through the entrance hallway, head held high, towards the dining room where he’d agreed to meet Edenwick.

“You are a member here? Of course you are.”

Theo spun around and yes, the man from the Pond was here in the hallway. It hadn’t been a figment of his imagination.

“We’ve already established that I am an Earl. Why are you here?"

"Business.”

“Business?”

“Yes. A little bit of this and that.” The man’s smile had an edge to it, like he knew something that Theo didn’t. Too many people gave him that look now that he’d inherited, as if the whole bloody world knew that the Earldom was nearing bankruptcy. He turned away from the man. It was better to walk away and say nothing than give up any hint that he might have been dreaming about his warm heavy body and the lightness of his touch.

“You owe me a lesson.” The man dared to place his hand on Theo’s shoulder, and he spun around to glare at him.

“I owe you?” He sneered with as much purpose as he could while the connection of the man’s hand on his shoulder burned with more heat than it ought.

“Perhaps we could trade. Teach me to skate and I’ll teach you something else entirely.” The man dropped his gaze to Theo’s groin, lingering there for just long enough that it was obvious what he meant, and Theo’s cock responded with a rush of blood.

“I...” His mouth was dry. Damnation, he was an Earl. He didn’t have to be intimidated by this man—whoever he was—when he could be walking away, or ... he breathed in. He could take what was obviously on offer. It was a risk, for sure, but maybe if they kissed, Theo could stop thinking—obsessing—about him. He squared his shoulders and pushed away the man’s hand.

“No?”

“Follow me.” Theo could also dish out a lesson or two; he’d had plenty of practise even if it’d been a while since his last assignation. There was a cupboard underneath the servant’s staircase, just through the door at the end of the hallway. He knew because he’d ended up hiding there once with White’s butler when his father was on a rampage. The moment of safety had outweighed the embarrassment of being rescued by the staff when he was a lanky awkward fourteen-year-old visiting White’s on request of his father, only for the evening to go terribly wrong. Perhaps it was time to vanquish that memory and replace it with a new one. He pushed open the cupboard door and stepped inside. The man followed; apparently as eager as Theo. Good.

“Is this a lesson, or—”

Theo cut off the man’s question with a hard kiss. Heaven. He was several inches taller, something he hadn’t noticed when they’d both been on the ground, and now he could bend his head and take control of the kiss. It was a brief win. The man placed both his hands on Theo’s chest and pushed him up against the wall. Air rushed out of his lungs as he hit the hard surface; an echo of when the man had fallen on him. He certainly felt winded by the gloriousness of the kiss. And then the man pushed his hands up across Theo’s chest, over his shoulders and slammed them on the wall beside Theo’s head. He deepened the kiss, somehow taking charge, even though he was shorter.

And Theo loved it. He was rock hard and there was only one thing he needed to do. He threaded his hands into the man’s hair. Today he had it bussed backwards into a leather tie, but Theo didn’t care for that. He pushed the tie off the silky strands, freeing the man’s longish hair so he could hold it, twist it around his fingers, and generally just use it to hold on tight. Their kiss deepened; a frantic neediness of teeth and tongue and lips, enveloping Theo in a desperate heat. He had imagined their first kiss to be gentle—like the man’s initial touch when they’d fallen—and nothing could have prepared him for the outrageous torrid fervour generated by this kiss. It was more than Theo could have hoped for and everything he needed.

“I need more.” The man slid his lips down the column of Theo’s throat and he let out a little mewling sound. It would’ve been embarrassing, except the man pressed his thumb over Theo’s lips.

“Shhh. Stay very quiet for me.” And then he pushed his hands under Theo’s jacket, spreading his hands all over Theo’s chest with only his linen shirt as a barrier, all the while kissing Theo’s mouth and neck in an almost frenzied attack of pleasure. Apparently Theo did still have something to learn; he’d never been with a man who’d been so focused on pulling every ounce of pleasure out of their interaction. And all Theo had done so far was hold on tight to the man’s head, glorying in the way his hair felt against his hands.

“Allow me.” He could teach this man something too. He cupped the man’s face with one hand as he kissed him deeply, using his tongue to explore his mouth. The man tasted incredible; sweet and salty and masculine with an aroma of fresh cut tobacco and whisky, like bad decisions and late nights and a mouth well used. Theo dropped his hands to the man’s waist, tucking them under his smoking jacket, using the man’s hips as an anchor point as he dropped to his knees. The wooden floor was hard under his knees, but he didn’t care. It’d probably leave dust on his breeches too, which might take some explaining later. He swallowed. He was the Earl now; he didn’t have to explain himself to anyone.

“Fuck.” The man’s whisper was everything; a rush of blood to Theo’s cock that made his head spin. Theo opened the man’s trousers and slipped his hand inside. Oh yes, the man’s cock was as big and hard as he’d hoped it would be. In the dark of the cupboard with the light coming through the crack under the door, he couldn’t see clearly but he could feel it and he took his time exploring, from the strong shaft and rounded head down to the man’s heavy balls. A little exploration behind the man’s ball made him moan in the most decadent way.

“I thought we were being quiet.”