Page 19 of The Labours of Lord Perry Cavendish

Jonny was wearing an emerald-green waistcoat tonight, and his hair gleamed in the candlelight. He was smiling at Zander fondly, and Perry felt a stupid surge of envy.

He wanted Jonny to look at him like that.

“Oh, it’s justdelightful!” Jonny said. “The light is quite perfect.”

Zander grinned. “It is now, but I’ll have you know there was awallof rhododendron bushes that we had to dig up to get you that light. And it was a bloody awful job—it took poor Mr. Wilcox and his lad the better part of a week.”

“And you,” Adam added pointedly. Turning to Jonny, he said, “When he found old Wilcox and the under-gardener struggling with the roots, did he call for a labourer to help them? Oh no! He must strip off his own coat and do it himself!” Adam rolled his eyes, but his expression was fond.

“It was only for an afternoon, to get the worst of it done,” Zander said, shrugging. “It wasn’t worth the bother of sending for someone else when I was right there, was it?”

“I wish I’d been there,” Jonny said.

“You?” Adam said, chuckling, “No offence, my dear, but I can’t see you lifting an axe. I doubt you’ve lifted anything heavier than a paintbrush these last ten years.”

“Oh, but I wouldn’t be there towork!” Jonny exclaimed, “Just to see your exquisite young man labouring away.” He bit his plump lower lip, then whispered. “Did you strip down, Lysander? Say you did!”

Zander gave a belly laugh, and Perry glanced at Adam, half-expecting to see jealousy in his expression, but he was chuckling too, his gaze on Jonny warmly affectionate.

Was it only Perry who felt so strange about the joke? And why did he, anyway? He thought about it for a moment and realised he wasn’t sure he liked Jonny admiring anyone but himself. Not that JonnyadmiredPerry—but he had seemed to like the look of him this afternoon, hadn’t he?

Dropping his gaze to his dinner plate, Perry scowled at his roast beef.

“What about you, Per?” Zander said then, and his head shot up again.

“What about me what?” he asked quickly, his face warming when Adam chuckled.

Zander smiled. “I was just asking what you thought of Jonny’s studio. You went down there with him this afternoon, didn’t you?”

For a too-long moment, Perry just stared at his friend.Oh hell.Did Zanderknowwhat they’d been doing there this afternoon?

Clearing his throat, Perry said stiffly, “It’s, ah, very nice. Rather empty, but I suppose that’s how studios are meant to be?” Christ, he sounded awkward.

“Perry posed for me,” Jonny interjected brightly.Hell.Jonny sounded like he was trying torescuePerry. Zander got a curious look in his eye that made the memory of what had happened earlier crash over Perry like a wave and his face warm even more.

“Oh, did you?” Zander asked turning to Perry. “How did you find it? Torture, isn’t it?”

“Torture?” Perry said, puzzled. “No. I just stood there. It was—fine.” Oh Christ, why would his face not stop burning? His cheeks were surely warm enough to fry bacon on.

“He was very good,” Jonny said smoothly, drawing Zander’s attention away from Perry. “The best-behaved model I’ve had in a long time.Farbetter than you, Lysander. I’ve never known such a fidget in all my life!”

“I’m not a fidget!” Zander protested.

“What a bouncer!” Jonny exclaimed, setting his hand over his heart as though utterly scandalised. “You couldn’t stay still for above half a minute! No wonder every sketch took so long!”

Zander turned to Adam, who was chuckling. “Are you hearing this? Defend me!”

Adam grinned. “I can’t—he’s right. You’re terrible. You’re always waking me up with your constant moving around in bed at night.”

Perry’s chest squeezed at Adam’s easy acknowledgment of what he and Zander were to each other. Such casual remarks made him feel happy for them—but they also made him feel rather sorry for himself. He glanced at Jonny and saw—knew—that he felt exactly the same way. Jonny’s gaze on Adam was soft and wistful, and it made Perry want to… what? What did he want to do? Something tender, he supposed. Lay a kiss on Jonny, perhaps. Not that he had much experience with that. But as Perry stared at Jonny’s plump lower lip—the one the man had sunk his teeth into a few moments ago when he was teasing Zander—he wondered what it would be like to kiss that mouth. Jonny’s lips looked soft and yielding, and Perry liked how quick they were to smile and the way they curved up when Jonny was amused. Liked too the funny little quirk they gave when Jonny was being saucy and he knew it.

“Perhaps we could… try some other things?”

Would Jonny let Perry kiss him, Perry wondered? He’d never kissed anyone—not like that. And now he found himself remembering the day, months ago now, when he’d witnessed Zander and Adam kissing. How shocked he’d been. Two men, kissing.Lovers. Their bodies pressed tightly together as their mouths moved hungrily, the two of them entirely caught up in one another.

That was what Perry wanted. Not just the physical act of kissing someone, but the passion he’d seen between Zander and Adam that day. Their total absorption in one another.

“Per?Perry!”