Wind whipping about their faces, Phil looked at the other men as they waited for something to happen, Mark still unconscious in Jack’s arms. Beneath their hands, the sarsen stone started to shudder. The men drew closer together, holding their lovers tightly. On the cold stone, they intertwined their fingers, not moving despite the rain and the activity going on beneath their palms.
In Jack’s embrace, Mark suddenly stirred, his eyes flying open as he stared sightlessly up at the sky.
“We’re here,” he said, his voice almost lost in the noises around him. “We’ve fulfilled the terms of the condition. Now set the Fitzwarrens free!”
The shaking spread to the ground beneath them.
Jack looked at the others. “Get ready to move. This doesn’t feel good.”
“I won’t be able to get up quickly,” Daniel pointed out. “But you lot should shift.”
Sean shook his head. “Forget it. I’m not leaving you here.” His free hand tightened around Daniel’s arm.
“Don’t be a bloody fool, Sean. You’ll go with the others,” Dan snapped, futile in his efforts to shake off his lover.
The mulish look on the doctor’s face was one Phil was very familiar with, and in any other circumstance, he would be ribbing Sean mercilessly. “I am staying with you, so shut the fuck up, Daniel Francis.”
“None of us are going,” said Lee. “We’re all essential—the psychic, the archaeologist, the soldier, the doctor, the seeker and landless lord.” His arms tightened around his lover.
“Stay where you are!” It was Mark who spoke in a commanding tone, but it was deeper and rougher than his usual voice.
“Mark,” Jack began uncertainly, “are you all right?”
The tremors of the stone subsided as the psychic sat up, shrugging off Jack’s restraining arms. Phil frowned as he looked at Mark’s face. It had subtly changed, still angular and too thin but now set in harsh lines. Where Mark’s eyes were usually a soft green, now his eyes were jade green, wild with hatred and pain. He stared at Phil and Lee, still clutching at each other.
“A Curtess in the arms of a Fitzwarren once more,” he said coldly. “And you tell me the curse is broken? I think it’s just begun again.”
“Who are you?” Daniel asked, his knife at the ready.
“I am Jonathan Curtess. The one you killed with that knife, soldier.”
Daniel shook his head. “I threw the knife to spare your suffering in the fire. Your death was quick compared to the agonies of the flames.”
“You lie,” growled Jonathan. It was frightening how Mark’s features were transformed by the warlock possessing his body.
“I’m not lying. I’ve seen your death. I watch the knife enter your body.” Daniel’s words provoked a shudder through Mark’s body. “It’s time for you to break the curse and leave the Fitzwarrens free to live without tragedy.”
“Never,” Jonathan snarled. “This curse should never have been broken. The terms were too complicated. Fitzwarren killed the man I loved. He deserves to suffer for eternity.”
There was a moment where Phil felt he was being pushed aside inside his own head, and then, he was moving out of Lee’s arms to sit in front of Mark.
“Phil, what are you doing?” Lee asked.
“I loved you and you betrayed me,” Phil said to Mark. “You betrayed me with another.” Behind him, Phil could hear Lee talking to him, but he couldn’t respond, the pull of the earlier Fitzwarren inside him too great to resist. Sir Belvedere pushed him aside.
Mark, no, Jonathan stared back at him, anger still burning bright, but there was something there, an uncertainty through the fierce hatred. “You wanted me for my lands!”
“I wanted you for your body and your mind. I loved you so much,” Sir Belvedere said. “You took that love away from me and gave it to another.” He hung his head. “I was blinded by jealousy,” he admitted, “I wanted you back and there was no way I was going to let that… commoner have you.”
“I never loved you,” Jonathan spat out.
“I know. I knew it then but refused to see it. All I could see was your body, lithe and strong around me. Your taste, your touch was like a fever I could not break. But you made me pay for every wrong-doing, didn’t you? My descendants have paid the price for hurting you. You set that curse so that it could never be broken, but now it’s time to let it go. I lost everything when I let my jealousy blind me to your power, but the Fitzwarrens have paid enough. It is time to let one find happiness with a Curtess.”
Like a feather touch, the part of Phil still present could feel Lee’s hand on his shoulder, grounding him.
Sir Belvedere still had more to say. “The Fitzwarrens are not the only ones who have suffered. You have exacted your price on your own descendants. Not all of them have been able to control the power within them. This man,” he said, indicating Mark, “is strong enough, made stronger by the one who reads the earth. It was their strength that put the other pieces in play. The injured warrior is made whole in mind by the healer. And the seeker and the landless lord, a Curtess and a Fitzwarren, are finally joined together as we were not.”
“My descendants need to find what is rightfully theirs,” Jonathan said, his tone cold. “The curse isn’t rescinded until the Curtess fortunes are restored.”
“The Fitzwarrens have nothing left to give, Curtess,” Sir Belvedere admitted. “You brought the estates to ruin.”
“Then the curse still stands, Fitzwarren.” A spasm went through Mark’s body, and he slumped back into Jack’s arms, his eyes closed once more.
Phil felt a flash of anger, and then an incredible sadness flooded him before he was left alone, gasping and falling on the wet ground.
“Phil, God, are you all right? Phil, baby, talk to me.” Lee’s hands were all over him, touching, feeling for damage.
“Don’t call me baby,” he said automatically, but he struggled up so that he could be hauled into Lee’s tight, almost suffocating, embrace. He wanted to see how Mark was, but he needed this comfort first.
“I was so fucking scared,” Lee admitted, his face buried in Phil’s sopping wet hair.
“Me too,” Phil agreed as he sought a kiss from Lee. “It was the most frightening moment of my entire life.”
Hearing noises behind him, he looked around to see Daniel in Sean’s arms and, thankfully, a conscious Mark being embraced by Jack.
“Is everyone all right?” he asked, when each couple had calmed down a little.
For the first time, Phil realised it was still pouring with rain, but the wind had died down. Shivering as their clothes plastered to their bodies, they all looked at each other.
“What now?” Jack asked the question they were all thinking.
“I haven’t got a clue,” Mark admitted honestly. “I don’t know what he expects us to do.”
Phil looked at the cracked stone. “It’s down to me, isn’t it? Whatever I’m supposed to do hasn’t happened yet.”
“What the hell does the bastard want? I hope it doesn’t involve blood again,” Lee asked, kissing the back of Phil’s neck. It sent a shiver down Phil’s spine, and he pressed into the kiss.
“We’re going to find out soon enough,” grunted Daniel. “Now could we get the hell out of the rain? I thought I finished crawling around in the mud when I left the Army. I’m going to need help to stand.”
“Are you lads all right?” Diana interrupted them as they gathered around Daniel to assist getting him to his feet.
Phil looked over to see Diana and Will on either side of Alice. The worried expression on the old lady’s face eased when Mark reassured her that he was all right.
“Cold, wet, and dying for a cuppa,” Sean said in response to Diana’s question as they hauled Daniel up by brute force.
It was obvious Daniel was biting back cries of pain, and Phil smiled at his sister. “Could you run a hot bath for Daniel?”
“I’m fine,” Daniel growled, obviously embarrassed at being singled out.
“If it was big enough we’d all pile in,” agreed Jack dreamily, flushing as everyone laughed at him. “I mean the bath.”
“Enough with the orgy talk, boys,” Diana said hastily. “Is anyone going to tell me what happened?”
Phil frowned at his sister. “What do you mean? Didn’t you hear?”
“Hear what?” she asked curiously, “All we could see was you lot sitting around on the ground. Why, did something actually happen? Is the curse broken?”
“Not exactly,” Phil admitted. “Let’s get inside and we’ll tell you all—after the baths and tea.”
“Coffee,” said Sean.
“And brandy,” added Jack.
“And you lot leaving me alone,” muttered Daniel.
Sean squeezed his shoulders. “Stop whining.”
Chapter 7
Their abortive attempt at curse-breaking in the rain left the men cold and shaking. After a brief conference of war around the refectory table, the three pairs disappeared to try and get dry and warm. Between Will, Charlie and Phil, they managed to find enough clothes to reclothe all six men. Four of them took hot showers, leaving the huge bath for Daniel and Sean.
Afterwards, Mark and Jack took Alice back to their home in Eastbridge, while Charlie and Carol returned to the hospital to be with their baby. Sean and Daniel had left with the promise to return the clothes later on. Phil wasn’t sure when Diana and Will had vanished.
He was worried about Lee. Since they had returned to the gatehouse, he had been in a strange mood. He had phoned his mum to ask if Phil could join them at dinner that evening and wouldn’t let Phil out of his sight, insisting on showering with Phil, staying under the hot spray until Phil had stopped shivering. Turning the water off, Lee wrapped a large towel around Phil and dried him off, only doing the same for himself when Phil was dressing in a hoodie and tracksuit bottoms. Every time Phil tried to raise the issue with Lee, he stopped him with a brush to his lips.
“Okay, but we can’t put this off forever,” Phil said as they finished getting dressed.
Lee nodded as he pulled another hoodie over his head. One of Phil’s. Phil really liked that. “I promise, but after I’ve fucked you senseless.”
“Why can’t I—”
“Not today, Phil.”
Lee was so adamant, Phil subsided. Whatever was bothering Lee would come out eventually.
* * * *
Sweaty and sated, Phil drew Lee back against his chest. For a while, both men seemed content not to talk as their breathing slowed. Phil played idly with the hair on Lee’s chest, feeling Lee shiver every time he dragged a nail over his nipple.
“You want to tell me what that was all about?” Phil said eventually.
“What was what?” Lee mumbled, sounding half asleep.
“You were freaked about something earlier,” Phil said, tightening his arms around Lee as the man stiffened.
Lee sat up, making Phil hiss as his arse pushed against Phil’s sensitive cock. He mumbled something that Phil didn’t hear.
“Repeat that,” Phil requested.
“You wanted him, not me.”
“What? Who did I want?” Phil was genuinely confused. Shuffling forward a couple of inches, he wrapped his arms and legs around Lee.
“You wanted Mark. I could see it in your eyes. You didn’t even know I was there.” His head rested back against Phil’s neck, tickling his jaw.
Bemused by Lee’s words but anxious to reassure him, Phil said urgently, “Not me, Lee, love, it wasn’t me. That was Sir Belvedere who wanted Jonathan.”
Lee sighed, turning his head to press a kiss on the rough skin of Phil’s jaw. “I watch the way you look at him, though. You like Mark; anyone can see that.”
Enough was enough. Phil wasn’t going to let the curse affect this relationship, the one damn thing that he had found in nearly thirty years of misery. Moving swiftly, he pushed Lee back so he was lying on the bed and straddled his hips. “Mark is very attractive,” he agreed, watching as Lee’s eyes grew wide. Phil took Lee’s flaccid cock in his hand, feeling it harden under his hand, his desire warring with the hurt in his eyes. “He’s a bit skinny for my taste, but I could live with that. Of course,” he said as if he were seriously considering the problem, “there is always the issue of Jack. He’s a big guy and might just object to me muscling in on his boyfriend.” He jacked Lee firmly, once, twice, not smiling as Lee swore at him and clutched at his arms. Dropping suddenly onto one elbow, Phil watched Lee blink rapidly in surprise. “Now, there’s one other problem as well.”
“Wha-what’s that?” Lee stuttered, his face set in that pattern that meant he was trying to concentrate.
“I don’t love Mark,” Phil said quietly, pleased to see Lee visibly melt, the tense, rigid lines of his face and neck softening as Phil stroked him, in long and languorous movements. “I’ve got this thing for a man who was watching me and looking after me long before I knew it. I do love you, Lee Curtis, toppy, fucking git that you are. Me, Phillip Fitzwarren. Not Sir Belvedere, not anyone else. Just me, loving you.” The grip of his hand got harder, more insistent. “Can you get that? No need to be jealous.” Lee’s thigh muscles trembled as he chased his orgasm. “I’m yours, just yours, okay? Wanna come now?” Phil asked, fingers clamping around the base of Lee’s dick. Speechless, Lee nodded, his wide green eyes frantic. “Go on then.”
As he released the vice-like clamp, Lee arched his back and came with a yell. Phil slid down to catch the fluid pulsing from his cock, feeling it spatter warm and slick across his lips and cheek. He looked up to see Lee staring at him with awe and lust written plain on his flushed face, then he was being hauled up for a searing kiss, followed by Lee’s tongue licking up the come over his face.
“I’m not a bloody cat,” Phil grumbled, trying to pull away from the licks, but he consented to being tucked against Lee’s chest, despite the slight squelch of sweat and come.
His pillow sighed underneath him. “I’m sorry for being such a prat,” Lee said. “Between the blood thing and getting jealous, you must be sick of me behaving like a girl.”
“Totally,” Phil agreed.
“What?” Lee sounded shocked that Phil had actually agreed with him. “Oh. You’re taking the mick again, aren’t you?”
“Just a bit,” Phil made a show of snuggling down, waiting for the inevitable…
“Bastard!”
“Well, stop talking bollocks then.” Phil bit at the soft skin on Lee’s side, enjoying the yelp in response.
“You’re very cheerful considering the curse isn’t broken,” Lee observed, stroking his fingers through Phil’s hair.
Phil rolled over onto his back and stared up at the ceiling, absently noticing the damp patch in the corner was getting bigger. “I never really thought it would work,” he admitted.
“You think Mark’s a fake?”
“No, Mark is the real deal. The poor bloke has been through the mill and back. I just don’t think that I ever believed that it would work. I mean, three couples get together and suddenly it’s all over? It’s all too fairytale.”
Lee rolled over until he was on top of Phil.
Automatically, Phil spread his legs to accommodate him. Small whimpers escaped both men as they settled around each other. “You’re a real glass-half-empty bloke, aren’t you, Fitzwarren?”
Phil looked up into his beautiful eyes. “Do you blame me?”
“Of course I don’t,” Lee assured him as he pulled at Phil’s legs to go around him. “But we’ve had this discussion before. You aren’t going to die now that you have me. We are the final couple.” Phil hissed as he rocked down slightly. “There’s another bit of the puzzle to solve. All we have to do is restore the Fitzwarren fortune.”
Reaching up for another kiss, Phil said, “The Fitzwarrens have nothing left. I told you that. All the land we have left is fa
rmed; that’s how we’ve been surviving all these years. It’s not enough now, and Charlie is about to put the castle up for sale.”
“No,” said Lee firmly, and gave Phil a punishing kiss.
Phil saw the flare of satisfaction in Lee’s dark eyes as he licked his swollen lips. “No?”
“Everyone has got a role to play in this drama. Mark and Daniel have had to live through the past, the rest of us have to sort out the present and the future.”
Really, it was unfair of Lee to discuss such important matters when he was nibbling on Phil’s ear. It was making concentration very difficult. “So… er… Stop that!” he said as Lee licked out his ear. “What next, Sherlock?”
Nuzzling down Phil’s neck, Lee said in a muffled voice, “I don’t know why, but I’ve got this gut feeling that the solution is tied up with Jack somehow. The curse is very specific—the one who reads the earth. Think about it, Phil, Jonathan said the curse wasn’t broken until the fortune was restored. Where would a man that was about to die hide his wealth so that a Fitzwarren couldn’t get it? We need someone like Jack to help us find it.”
“We?” Phil asked, a chill in his stomach. “Are you doing this to get money?”
Lee raised his head to look directly into Phil’s eyes. “Yes Phil, I’m totally getting involved in your family drama to claim all the money for myself,” he said drily.
“Then what do you get out of it?” Phil asked, still not convinced.
“You,” Lee said simply.
“Anything we find goes to the estate, not to me. You can’t get hold of any money that way.”
“I said you, not the castle, not the money. Just you. Jesus, what do I have to do to convince you?”
The hurt expression was too much to handle, and Phil dragged Lee back, wrapping his arms and legs around Lee’s body, pulling him flush against Phil’s body. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, burying his face in Lee’s neck, inhaling the smell that he had come to associate with his lover.
The Fitzwarren Inheritance Page 20