Page 48

Sam

Sam was trapped in a burnt-honey gaze. God, he’d forgotten how mesmerizing those eyes were. And right now, they swirled with something that had Sam’s wits fleeing the building.

“What are you doing here?” Felix blurted, his words hoarse.

Which was why he responded with pure brilliance. “You.”

Confusion passed over the amber irises locked on him.

Sam dropped his head back with a groan. And his head smacked into the door behind him. “Arghh!” He gripped the back of his skull. Bloody fuck.

Felix was at his side in one step. “Hell, Sam. Are you hurt?” In the next moment, the man had tugged off his gloves, his hands drifting into Sam’s hair, fingers gently probing Sam’s smarting skull.

Sam no longer cared about the pain, though.

He’d gladly bash his brains in a thousand times over if it meant Felix’s hands on him again.

Felix’s fingers stilled. His gaze slowly slid from where it rested on his hands down to meet Sam’s eyes.

His breath puffed over Sam’s cheeks, over Sam’s lips.

Sam let out his own unsteady exhale, their breaths mingling.

He licked his impossibly dry lips. Felix’s eyes flashed, features tightening.

An expression that felt so bloody familiar to Sam.

Pain. Anguish. Need. All wrapped up in one.

“You didn’t forget about me, then?” Sam whispered.

Felix’s hands slid from Sam’s hair, one coming to curl gently around his nape. “Forget you?” He shook his head, amber curls bouncing softly. “Impossible. Trust me, I’d know. I tried so damn hard.”

Sam’s frame eased, and his forehead fell against Felix’s. “Thank fuck,” he said thickly. “I was afraid it was just me.”

Felix pulled away, teeth sinking into that plush bottom lip. Worrying it. Like Sam wanted to. The adorable pucker was still scrunching his brow, uncertainty radiating from him.

“What are you doing here, Sam?”

“The Duke presented me with an opportunity I couldn’t refuse. He gave me an excuse to see you again.”

Those amber irises warmed, bright as the morning’s first light breaking the horizon. And that warmth infused Sam’s chest.

“So, here I am,” he said, his voice shaking slightly. Here he was, laying everything on the line. “Letting you know that for four months you have needled your way so deeply into my brain, I’m afraid I won’t ever be rid of you. I’m afraid I don’t want to ever be rid of you.”

His voice grew stronger, surer. “I researched that insect you mentioned in your note—the botfly? Christ, could anything be more apt? I don’t understand it. It’s absolutely terrifying. But I had to know. If you possibly felt it, too.”

Felix nodded jerkily. “Yes.” He swallowed hard. “I do. Feel it, too.”

“Ash and your sister have set off for their Yorkshire estate, Brackenridge Hollow. For at least a month’s time… I obviously am not with them.”

“So, you have nowhere to be…?” Felix said slowly, his voice lilting up softly in question.

“I have somewhere I’d very much like to be. If a certain lord will have me.”

A long, slow, trembling exhale escaped Felix. Like he couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing. “He will definitely have you. For a month, you said?”

Sam hesitated. Being here, putting himself out there like this, was terrifying in itself. But also throwing out the entire gauntlet—not just a temporary affair, but something more … Christ, he was the biggest bloody fool. He hoped he wouldn’t regret this.

“A month… Though, I wouldn't say no to longer…”

Those plush pink lips parted.

In Sam’s next breath, Felix was on him, mouth colliding with his.

Felix’s hands delved into Sam’s hair, tugging him closer.

Four months of pent-up longing came crashing down in a single kiss.

Lips bruising, tongues warring for dominance, determined to be the one who got to sink into the other. A battle to prove who missed who more.

Every time they parted for air, Felix made little gasping noises, and again when their lips met once more. Like every touch was a shock. And it was. Because Sam hadn’t thought he’d feel those lips, this man, again.

Their hands were everywhere, cataloging every inch, remembering and discovering anew. Teeth traded punishing nips, digging harshly into pillowy flesh, like the small trace of pain somehow made up for the misery of four months of pining for each other.

Sam’s fingers slid over Felix’s smooth jaw, thumb brushing over those high cheekbones he was obsessed with.

Then they slipped down to the man’s waist, yanking him closer, fingertips digging under his waistcoat.

Sam cursed against Felix’s lips, hating the thin linen barrier.

Felix cursed too, hands tugging impatiently at Sam’s cravat.

And then Sam was groaning as Felix’s mouth weaved a wicked path down his jaw to his neck. Felix’s hand gripped Sam’s jaw, shoving it up to give him better access, his other hand pulling Sam’s neckcloth out of his way. A small shiver stole through Sam at that show of dominance.

Felix’s teeth grazed over Sam’s Adam’s apple, and Sam’s mind went blank. His fingers dug into Felix’s hips, grinding their hard lengths together, and he was rewarded with that low moan he never thought he’d have the privilege of hearing again. Hell, he needed to strip this man down. Now.

What are you doing, Sam? Have you lost all sense?

Sam abruptly stepped away, back bumping into the door.

His ragged breaths ricocheted through the study.

Felix stepped forward, but Sam lifted a hand.

“I’m very close to losing all semblance of restraint, Felix.

I…” He glanced around the study. “Are we— Is it safe for us? I don’t want to put either of us at risk, and I’m not thinking clearly. ”

Felix stepped forward, walking directly into Sam’s hand and pushing it back until they stood chest to chest. A sly smile curled those sinfully plush lips, and a bolt of lust streaked through Sam at the memory of just how talented they were.

“We’re safe here,” he whispered. “All of my estates are safe. Every single servant has been carefully selected. Most have been with my family since I was a child.”

Sam nodded, relaxing back against the door. “So, that means we’re safe to continue here? Or should we take this elsewhere…?”

Felix leaned forward, lips grazing the shell of Sam’s ear. “You’re not going anywhere.” He reached around Sam, and a loud click rang through the room.

Deafening.

A ripple of anticipation raced down Sam’s spine.

Felix slowly walked backward, unbuttoning his breeches as he went.

Sam prowled forward, shrugging out of his coat.

A soft thud followed. The backs of Felix’s thighs hit his desk, and his placket dropped open.

A stuttered breath exploded from Sam as Felix slowly stroked his swollen shaft.

Sam's mouth watered, his gaze locked on that leisurely movement. Bloody hell, he’d forgotten how pretty this man was—everywhere.

A painful hunger hit Sam, and he attacked his own buttons.

In two steps, he was on Felix, shoving his breeches out of the way and lining up their hard lengths.

A delicious whimper fell from Felix the minute their heated skin met.

Sam rocked them together, Felix’s cock already making a mess of them both, and they both groaned.

“Do you have any supplies in here?” Sam asked between ragged breaths.

Felix shook his head and jerked his chin toward Sam’s hand. Sam instantly lifted it, palm up, and they both spat in Sam’s palm.

“I’m not going to last long,” Felix panted and squeezed his eyes shut. “I’m already way too close.”

Sam wrapped his hand around them both, the mixture of pre-cum and saliva creating a blissfully slick glide. He stroked quick and tight, his hips rutting into his fist. Every coast of his crown against Felix’s sent a jolt ricocheting through Sam, flames of heat licking at the base of his spine.

Felix’s fists clamped down on the edge of his desk, knuckles tight, eyes slammed shut. His lips moved silently. Sam thought he might have made out a “do not come.” He grinned. That seemed very much like a challenge.

Sam leaned forward, mouth tracing a wet path up Felix’s neck. He paused and inhaled. His eyes rolled back. God, he missed the man’s scent, the mixture of sweet almonds and man. His taste, a hint of toothpowder and pure Felix.

His lips feathered over the spot just below Felix’s ear.

How he’d missed the feel of Fee’s soft skin, silky and unblemished.

The sound of his low, rich baritone, like the lowest register of a pianoforte.

There was nothing quite like drawing out the sweet melody Felix made when he was wound tight, teetering on the edge. Like now.

Sam tugged on Felix’s ear, and a small gasp burst from Felix, followed by a frustrated moan.

Sam chuckled. “You don’t need to hold back, Fee.

Just let go.” He quickened the pace of his hand and kissed his way along Felix’s jaw until they were face to face, nose to nose.

“I want you to beat me to it.” His whisper danced between them.

“I want to coat myself with your seed. Frig myself until I follow you over the edge, knowing I used you to get me there. Your pleasure will be mine.”

You will be mine. He didn’t say it. Was terrified even thinking it. So he hid from his thoughts by letting his lips dance over Felix’s sharp collarbone.

Felix grunted, his entire body quivering against Sam’s. He was so close.

“Be a good boy and come for me, Fee,” Sam murmured, pulling back.

He was met with that desire-soaked amber gaze for a breath and then Felix’s head was tipping back, neck muscles straining as his deep moan filled the study. And it stole Sam’s breath, the vision this man was when he came undone.

The warmth of Felix’s release coated Sam’s hand, allowing for even faster, smoother strokes. Sam worked Felix through it, reveling in each tremor, all the while the telltale pressure built at the base of Sam’s spine, his ballocks drawing up tight.

As soon as Felix went limp, Sam slipped Felix’s cock free and shuttled his fist over himself.

“Fucking hell,” Felix murmured shakily, eyes glued on where Sam frantically frigged himself with the man’s cum.

“Lift your shirt,” Sam gritted out.

Fee instantly complied, and the minute that deliciously muscled stomach was revealed, Sam toppled over the edge, too. Thrown into a weightless free-fall. Soaring, knowing that when he finally landed, it would be with this man.

Pleasure streaked through his groin, shooting up his cock.

He buried his growl in Felix’s cravat, tightening his fist, wringing out every last ounce of bliss as he coated Felix’s stomach with his release.

They collapsed against each other, their racing hearts beating in tandem, chests lifting and falling as one.

And as they caught their breaths together, calmed their hearts together, something shifted inside Sam. A warmth, a comfort, started up deep inside his ribcage, spreading outward, filling him. It was the same feeling that had settled over him when he’d held Felix the night Felix had gotten foxed.

A perfect fit.

He slowly pulled back, a part of him wishing they could stay pressed together like that for the rest of the day. But the sticky evidence of their pleasure needed to be dealt with. He used the tail of his shirt to wipe them both clean. Then he refastened Felix’s breeches before addressing his own.

Felix’s flushed, freckled face stared up at Sam, amber eyes dazed and completely unguarded. Sam’s throat tightened, and his heart expanded to a painful size in his chest. He grazed the backs of his knuckles over one blush-warmed cheek. “Beautiful.”

Overlong amber lashes fluttered, hiding whatever emotions were glimmering in the irises of their owner.

“We should probably speak logistics,” Felix said gruffly, eyes still downcast.

Sam dropped his hand and gave Felix’s thigh an affectionate squeeze. The man’s gaze shot back to his, clear and steady now. But also back to guarded.

“I must beg your pardon. I might have gotten a bit carried away when I saw you.” Sam nodded solemnly. “Logistics, it is.” The first hurdle had been passed, but now that Sam knew he’d be staying—for however long—he wasn’t sure what the arrangement would look like.

“We probably have quite a bit we want to say to each other,” Felix said softly. “At least I know I have much I’d like to explain.”

They did. Much had come to pass between them back in May, and Sam needed to know what exactly Felix was capable of giving him. It was clear Sam wasn’t the only one in this room who had a past.

“I think that’s an excellent idea.”

“But just so you know, Sam?” Felix’s gaze heated.

“Mmm?”

“You can get carried away with me any time you please.”

A slow smile spread across Sam’s face, and he slowly coasted his hands up Felix’s strong thighs. “Noted.”