Page 7

Logically, Lloyd assumed Mr Gilbert—Nobbie—had kissed someone before. He was an adult with his own rooms; except Nobbie was hesitant, copying Lloyd rather than leading like he had when he’d asked Lloyd to kneel. It was lucky that Lloyd enjoyed both; leading and being led. He couldn’t quite make sense of it though. How did Nobbie know to ask Lloyd to kneel like that? But not know how to kiss? Lloyd pulled back from the kiss to think. Did he want to know the answer—he liked answers—or would it confuse him even more? He almost shrugged—people were often illogical—he could just ignore it and so he went to kiss Nobbie again, because kissing was marvellous.

“Where did you learn to kiss like that?” Nobbie’s voice was taut. Why? Lloyd must’ve missed something. Like usual. He answered the question, rather than ponder the oddities of tone.

“Eton. Like all good lordlings, I was sent to boarding school, and some of the boys...”

Nobbie frowned, shaking his head as he interrupted. “I have friends who are also only interested in men, but I would never kiss them.”

“Why not? If you like the same thing?”

“They are friends, not lovers.”

Lloyd knew his brain sometimes worked differently to other people, but he wasn’t sure of the difference. “Isn’t a lover simply a friend that you also kiss?”

“Not in my experience.” Nobbie’s face was all screwed up with fierce wrinkles everywhere.

“Are you mad at me?” Lloyd couldn’t figure out what Nobbie wasn’t saying or what his expression meant. He’d missed something.

“No. Why the fuck would I be mad at you?”

Lloyd tried not to flinch but likely failed. “You are scowling and shouting. It adds up to mad.” He hated it when people were mad at him. Uncle Baldric was always angry at him.

Nobbie growled under his breath. Lloyd couldn’t help it. He tensed waiting for the spray of mean words.

“Who hurt you?” Nobbie’s whisper was fierce.

“What?”

“Someone hurt you. I’ve seen this before.” Nobbie, Mr Gilbert, kept his voice quiet and calm and Lloyd was grateful for that. He tried to breathe slower.

“I’m a Lord. No one has ever hit me.”

“I said hurt, not hit. Not all hurts are physical, my Lord.” When Nobbie used his title like that, he emphasised the ‘my’ and Lloyd wished he could belong to him. He shook his head. Just because he was in possession of a magnificent cock and he was kind to him... it didn’t mean anything.

“No, I suppose not.” Lloyd needed to spend some time thinking about that idea, to let it percolate for a while.

“And no, I’m not mad at you. I was jealous.”

“Jealous? Of me? Why?”

Nobbie sighed and Lloyd supposed he had asked a lot of questions. He shouldn’t be such a nuisance. Just another of life’s confusions; his parents hadn’t minded his questions but Uncle Baldric had hated them and Lloyd had slowly learned that his parents were the anomaly. Generally people didn’t like the way he talked.

“It never occurred to me to kiss you. I should’ve kissed you.” Nobbie looked like someone had thrown rotten fish at him which didn’t line up with his words.

“I don’t understand.”

“I’ve only ever done this in brothels.”

His mouth was dry. “That doesn’t make it any clearer. I still don’t understand what you are trying to say.”

“Which part?”

“Why does this make you frown at me?”

Nobbie closed his eyes and Lloyd instinctively stroked his face, brushing his finger under the delicate skin below his eyes, then over the rougher skin on his jawline. Nobbie opened his eyes with a long sigh that sent warm air over Lloyd’s fingers.

“Because you’ve done this before and you know to do that.”

Lloyd wasn’t quite sure. “Do you mean to say that you are jealous of my experience and that’s why you were mad at me?”

“My lord. I wasn’t mad at you. I was mad at me. I was angry that I felt jealousy when I should be relaxing and enjoying being with you.”

Lloyd nodded. “Hmm. That does seem like a waste of time. We could have been kissing this whole time.”

“We could.” Nobbie leaned in closer and pressed his lips against Lloyd’s. It was nice, and Lloyd used his hands on Nobbie’s waist to pull himself closer, and Nobbie took the hint, straddling him so he sat across Lloyd’s lap. Lloyd’s cock strained against his trousers; having Nobbie naked in his lap while he was dressed was a revelation for his desires. There weren’t many things he didn’t like, while there were also not many things that really ignited him. He never expected this to be one of them. A naked Nobbie leaning over him set his blood on fire.

“Undress me.” Lloyd pulled Nobbie’s head closer, kissing him and holding his naked body tight against his own.

“Give me some space.”

Lloyd smiled. “Rather the point. I thought you might like the challenge.”

From the flash in Nobbie’s brown eyes, Lloyd had picked it correctly. All thoughts of mean old Uncle Baldric vanished, and Lloyd let himself get lost in the kiss. He’d always loved sex, not the initial part where he had to talk to someone—awkward and annoying—but this part when it was two bodies enjoying each other. This part, he loved. It made the first part worthwhile. And more than sex, Lloyd loved kissing. It was a much better use of someone’s mouth than talking. Kisses were never confusing. They were sometimes soft and sweet, sometimes fast and needy. Always brilliantly enjoyable.

This one, with Nobbie, managed to be both. Lying underneath Nobbie meant that Lloyd had to let Nobbie learn how to control the pace. The man was a quick learner. He remembered how Lloyd had nibbled at his lip, and now he did it in return, toying with Lloyd’s mouth until he lifted his hips in frustration and begged for more. Not in words; his words were done. Lloyd begged with needy moans and breathless sighs. He clung to Nobbie’s waist, then blinked as he realised he could use his hands to explore Nobbie’s naked body. The man was beautiful. Not just his cock which was strong and thick; but all of him. From his broad shoulders to the way his muscles rippled when he moved, and his forearms dusted with hair. Lloyd had always had a thing for forearms, the way the muscle definition moved with long lines, hinting at a physical strength. He lifted his chin, hoping that Nobbie would kiss down his throat but Nobbie chased his lips instead.

“You can kiss me everywhere.” He tipped his head further back, and yes... Nobbie kissed down his throat and he let out a good moan when Nobbie licked at the hollow at the base of his throat and a mighty shiver rushed through his chest. He slid his hands up Nobbie’s spine, then reached between them to rip off his own cravat. He needed more.

“Let me.” Nobbie sat up straighter and undid all the buttons on Lloyd’s shirt. He wriggled his arms, tugging his own shirt off, and then Nobbie unbuttoned the fall of his trousers and dragged his thumb along Lloyd’s aching hard cock.

“Yes.” He loved that, arching his spine to chase Nobbie’s hand. Finally.

“Shall I stroke you?”

Lloyd swallowed. “Yes ... but kiss me while you do it.” He knew he wouldn’t last long; had almost been there when he’d sucked Nobbie’s spectacular cock. Nobbie shifted slightly, then kissed him. Tongues tangled and Lloyd covered Nobbie’s hand with his own, moving with a frantic rhythm as he chased that glorious end. He groaned into Nobbie’s mouth as Nobbie ran his thumb over the end of Lloyd’s cock, and then it happened. The moment he adored as all the heat and pressure in his balls and hard cock released with a rush of blood to his head and he saw stars behind his eyes as he came into Nobbie’s fist. Thrusting harder and harder until he was done. He groaned, then lay back on the chaise lounge. Spent and happy. This had been the most unexpected outcome and he had a rare Hobart watch to thank for it. The watch. Goodness, gracious! How could he forget?

“Shall we get dressed and go to Sothebys?”