Page 14 of Provoked

Reassured, he blurted out a confession, hidden in an awkward burst of laughter. “Goodness, doesn’t everyone?”

“Oh no, but you—” She halted, and there was a moment’s awkwardness as David stared, helpless, at the flush that stained her cheeks scarlet.

He realised too late how rude he was being and tore his eyes away, looking down at the sheaf of sheet music in his hands. The top one wasDrink to Me Only with Thine Eyes. “What about this one?” he asked, thrusting it under her nose.

She busied herself taking it from him and studying the music while her flush faded. “I think I could manage this one,” she said at last. “It’s nice and slow. Do you sing, Mr. Lauriston?”

David woke the next morning in one of the Jeffreys’ guest bedchambers. It was small but charming, and the east-facing window drew in the morning sun. David had left the drapes open and now he basked in the warmth and brightness that flooded the room, stretching like a cat beneath the bedclothes. It felt luxurious. Between the reeky air and the high, crowded buildings of the Old Town, sunlight rarely penetrated his second-floor rooms.

He could tell from the quality of the light and the character of the birdsong that it was early. He wouldn’t inconvenience Jeffrey’s servants by getting up now and putting them to the bother of making his breakfast. Besides, it was pleasant to lie here, idle, no need to rise and dress and begin working.

Once the Chalmerses had left last night, Mrs. Jeffrey had begun quizzing him about Elizabeth. What was his impression of her? Did he not think her a very superior sort of girl? So clever and sensible. And her family connections would be most advantageous to him, didn’t he think?

David had agreed but demurred that he could not possibly think to court a lady so far above him. Nonsense, declared both Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey. David might not have much money yet, but Chalmers could help him build his reputation. And, Mrs. Jeffrey added, looking at him assessingly, her head to one side, he had so much else to offer. Jeffrey had laughed at that.

They swept aside all his protests and sketched out a glowing and very married future for him. It sounded perfect—or would to any other man in his position. How could he tell them he felt no attraction for women? That he had no intention of marrying?

He was not naïve. He knew that many men with his particular weakness married. He’d even toyed with the idea himself. It would be comfortable to have a wife and family. But always he came to the conclusion, he could not. The trouble was, he was his father’s son.“Honest to a fault,”as his mother always complained. He couldn’t bring himself to make oaths in church he knew he would be unable to keep. Sooner or later, he always lapsed. His weakness was like an aching tooth, always nagging.

The memory of his last lapse was still strong. Unforgettable, even. And right now it was making him hard, tempting him to indulge in solitary pleasures.

“I want you in my hand.”

Sighing, he pushed the bedclothes down and his nightshirt up, exposing his rigid member to the chilly air. He took hold of himself.

“I want you in my mouth.”

Slowly he stroked, revelling in the dragging pleasure. He closed his eyes and plundered his memory.

“I want to bury my tongue inside you—”

A dark wynd, a bulky body pressing into him, a firm hand tugging his bollocks, sharp teeth nipping his throat. Warm lips kissing the offence away.

“—and fuck you forever.”

It felt like mere moments till he was coming, coating his belly in luscious pulses.

He lay staring at the ceiling for a long while afterwards, regret cooling his blood.

Chapter Five

Chalmers was as good as his word. Early the next week, he sought David out and asked him to work with him on a new case. The client, a Mr. MacAllister, had purchased lands in Fife so he could vote in a swiftly approaching election, but the local magistrates were refusing to enrol the man as a voter. The papers needed to be drafted straightaway. David had to set all his other work aside for several days and work late into the night on Wednesday.

He spent Thursday morning in the faculty library finalising his reading on the new case and the afternoon with Chalmers going through everything in fine detail. Chalmers called himself lazy, but a lazy man could not have acquired his seemingly fathomless knowledge of the law. He picked apart every sentence in the memorial David had prepared, challenging every assumption, demanding to be taken to the evidence for every assertion. David thanked God for the long hours he’d spent on the case. He withstood Chalmers’s interrogation, though not without difficulty, and by the end of it, Chalmers was smiling.

“Good work, lad,” he said, clapping David’s shoulder. “We might even get this case lodged tomorrow. I’ll speak to the solicitor in the morning.” He gathered up the sheaf of papers David had given him and took his leave.

David sat for a moment, overcome with fatigue after his sleepless night. Eventually, he checked his watch, noting wearily that he needed to go if he was to be on time for his appointment with Euan MacLennan.

They were meeting in the Tolbooth Tavern, which had the dual attraction of being close to David’s rooms on Blair Street and only a few minutes from the faculty library.

David’s belly growled as he tidied the rest of his papers away, and he felt a little light-headed as he walked to the cloakroom to collect his greatcoat and hat. He hadn’t eaten since breakfast, and even then he’d taken only toast and tea. His fingers shook slightly as he fastened his coat.

When he emerged from Parliament House, he saw that it had been raining. The cobblestones were slick, and fat drips of rainwater fell from the roof gutters. The last vestiges of the day’s light were leeching out of the sky as he made his way down the High Street. It was late September now, and the nights were drawing in, a reminder that winter was on its way. Changes in the seasons seemed to creep up on him now that he lived in the city. Not like at home, on the farm, when every nuance of the weather and change in the hours of daylight were part of his working life.

This time of year always meant hard work at the farm. His father and Drew would have been run off their feet with harvesting over the last few weeks, and now they’d have a hundred and one things to do in preparation for winter: storing winter feed, carrying out repairs and doing any other jobs that needed attending to before the cold weather set in.

He should go and see his family soon. It had been months since his last visit, and there might be some big jobs his father could use another pair of hands on.