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“Perhaps I do,” he said, drawing his hand closer to the bulge in Theo’s breeches with agonizing slowness. “Perhaps I do not.”
Theo sucked in a breath…for multiple reasons. He couldn’t tell if Giles was actually in the know or if he was merely flirting. “If you know something about these conspirators, you must tell me,” he said. “It is a matter of dire importance.”
It most certainly was, but Theo’s pride wouldn’t let him reveal that the importance was his own life and livelihood.
Giles grinned at him. “I never reveal the things that are whispered to me across the pillow at night.”
Theo’s jaw dropped slightly, but no air would enter his lungs at first. He gaped, then shook his head and said, “Do you mean to tell me that you have had…congress with the conspirators, and that they have confessed their crimes to you?”
“Perhaps,” Giles said, shrugging one shoulder.
Theo stared hard at him, still unable to tell if the sylph was being serious.
Giles evidently knew what his look was for. “I keep the secrets that are told to me, Mr. Brunner,” he said. “No matter what they are.”
“Call me Theo,” Theo said.
Instantly, he blinked, astounded with himself for being so forward.
A pleased grin spread across Giles’s face, and with it a flush of pink that was so alluring it cost Theo his sanity not to grab the young man, wrestle him to the ground, and have his way with him then and there.
The only thing that stopped him was the sudden awareness that he and Giles sat far too close together and gazed at each other too intently in public. There were other men in the park, and people passing who likely knew who and what Giles was. The inhabitants of Perdition were protected by power, wealth, and title, but Theo was at risk with every step he took.
He pulled away from Giles, standing and tugging at his coat. “You will reveal what you know if you know what is good for you,” he said.
“I know what is good for me,” Giles said, shifting how he sat to part his legs enough for Theo to see the outline of his cock straining against his breeches. “But I will not expose anything that has been said to me in private.”
Theo cursed his body’s reaction to Giles. If he didn’t get away quickly, he would only embarrass himself. “Then you leave me no choice,” he said.
“No choice?” Giles hummed with pleasure and spread himself over the bench in a way that was both submissive and lewd. “My favorite.”
Theo practically vibrated with lust and frustration. “If you will not reveal this vital information, I shall be forced to pursue you relentlessly,” he said, well aware that his words seemed to suggest something entirely different from what he intended them to. “I will dog your every move. You will not be able to set foot outside of Perdition without me following as your shadow.”
Giles sucked in a breath, his face turning even pinker and his blue eyes glittering. “Yes, please.”
Theo made a sound of frustration. It was madness for him to continue in the young man’s presence any longer. To stay would be disaster for both of them.
“You have been warned,” he snapped, then turned to march off, heat pouring off of him.
“Until we meet again, Theo,” Giles called after him, making his name sound like a lascivious promise.
Theo grunted, though he doubted Giles could hear him. His life as he knew it would go straight to hell unless he could control himself and wheedle the information he needed from a wily whore.
ChapterTwo
Theophilus Brunner was the most magnificent creature Giles had ever encountered. He’d thought so from the first, glorious moment that he’d seen the enormous man in the front hall of Perdition when Rev. Mulgrew was there to menace everyone. From that first moment, Giles had been struck by Theo’s size—the girth of his arms, the thickness of his thighs, the breadth of his shoulders, and the bulge in his breeches. It was only in the months after that initial meeting that Giles had been impressed by something else he saw in Theo, something that wasn’t apparent on the surface.
“Is he still following you when you go out?” Sparrow asked as Giles spied on Theo from one of the second-floor windows that faced the street. Sparrow was in a female guise that day, which suited Giles perfectly.
“Every time,” Giles said with a happy sigh.
Sparrow gaped at him as though he’d lost his mind. “If I were being followed by a great, hulking man like that, it would terrify me. You know not what sort of intent he has.”
Giles hummed long and deep. “Mr. Brunner can terrify me all he’d like. He can do a great deal more than that, if that is his intent.”
In fact, from their meeting in St. James’s Square a week before, Giles was certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that Theo wanted to do every manner of wicked thing to him. He would gladly submit to anything the fearsome Runner wanted and more, if he could convince the man to stop behaving like a coquette attempting not to be noticed at court and instead come right out and claim him.
Of course, Giles understood the difficulties that Theo faced in simply calling on him for the night outright. One could argue that it would be a conflict of interest for a Bow Street Runner to pay custom to a whore in the very gaming hell he was attempting to bring down. And there was the small matter of the fact that Giles wasn’t certain Theo could afford him. Giles was renown throughout certain circles in London for fetching an exorbitant price, thanks to his appearance, proclivities, and unique set of skills.
