The Fitzwarren Inheritance

by Various Authors

  Mark knelt to touch the stone, looking up with something like awe on his angular face. “It’s gone this time. There is nothing there anymore. The price has been paid in full.”

  Phil looked doubtful. “Are you sure? There isn’t another random demand or more shit to be thrown at us?”

  “Could you be any more glass-half-empty again?” Lee suggested as he tucked Phil back into his arms.

  “I know but…” Phil stopped as the others approached.

  “Is it finally all over?” Diana asked hopefully, her hand on Alice’s elbow.

  Alice gave a contented smile. “Yes, my dear, it is. The curse is lifted, and the Fitzwarrens are finally free.”

  She leaned forward. “Now you can have that baby without any worries.”

  “What?” Diana looked startled. Will choked. Shocked, Phil looked up to see Mark rolling his eyes.

  “Gran, that was naughty. You’re not supposed to give out that sort of information,” he scolded.

  “I’m sorry, dear, didn’t you know?” she asked, her contrite tone belied by the twinkle in her eyes.

  Diana laid a hand over her stomach. “I’m pregnant?” she asked wonderingly.

  Swallowing back the lump in his throat, Phil watched as Will laid a hand over hers. “We’re having a baby?” he asked.

  “You are,” Alice said.

  Charlie stepped forward and hugged his sister and brother-in-law, and Phil limped forward to do the same. They huddled together in the rain, and if there were more than a few tears shed, the rain washed them away.

  Then it was the other men’s turn. They hugged Diana, kissing her on the cheek. Jack, Lee and Mark shook Will’s hand, while Daniel pulled him into a half-hug.

  Looking over at his brother, Phil could see worry mixed in with joy in his face. Trying to have a baby had been a constant source of sorrow for Charlie and his wife.

  Despite Mark’s assurances that the curse was lifted, no one could really be sure that Diana would be all right. Sean put his arm around Charlie. “I’ll watch her every step of the way,” he promised, obviously understanding the look on his face.

  “Shouldn’t you be making that promise to Will and Di?” asked Daniel, grinning to let the doctor know he understood.

  “I get the feeling I may be the dad, but the uncles are going to be very involved. You are not teaching my kid to wear pink,” Will warned.

  “I don’t own anything pink,” Phil said, offended. He moved and then wished he hadn’t as pain shot through his knee.

  “Shall we get the invalids inside?” suggested Lee, putting his arms around Phil again.

  “Watch who you’re calling an invalid,” growled Daniel, but he didn’t seem adverse to the idea. Overhead the rain had stopped, and weak rays of sunshine peaked through the clouds.

  Alice looked up into the sky. “Even the weather approves,” she said, with a smile.

  Jack looked eager to get back to the gatehouse to examine the remaining coins more closely. It was too soon to place a value on the find, and it was unlikely to get the Fitzwarren estate out of the financial hole it was in, but it would make a difference and possibly get them through another year. Jack suggested excavating the site to see if there were any more bags waiting to be discovered.

  “I wonder what happened to the coins that we offered up as payment,” Sean said as they crowded into the kitchen.

  “If that is what it took to get Curtess to leave us alone, it is a small price to pay,” Charlie said, and the rest of them nodded in agreement.

  A mobile phone rang, and Charlie went pale. He dug the phone out of his pocket. There was a sudden hush as he answered it, all aware of what a phone call could mean.

  Phil held his breath as Charlie talked to his wife.

  From the expression on his face it didn’t look like bad news, but—God, not bad news now, he prayed.

  Snapping the phone shut, Charlie looked at his audience. “My boy is well enough to be moved out of NICU,” he said, with a grin at the pleased exclamations.

  Phil just stared at him, sure if he tried to speak he would blubber like a baby.

  “All right there?” Lee asked, cupping Phil’s cheek tenderly. Unable to speak, Phil nodded at him, his eyes prickling with unshed tears. It was unbelievable. In one short afternoon, he had been handed so much good news that, for a moment, he just couldn’t take it in. The other shoe had to drop, he knew that. The Fitzwarrens just weren’t that lucky.

  “It’s about time you took the weight off your knee,” Sean suggested, breaking the moment.

  “How about a hot bath?” Lee suggested.

  Charlie groaned, and Di snorted derisively.

  “What?” Lee asked, all faux innocence. “We’re dirty, and it will help his knee.” Phil was sure he couldn’t get any redder if he was dipped in crimson.

  “Let’s go for a drink at the Red Lion once you’ve cleaned up,” Will suggested to the others. “We really want to be out of here.”

  “We’ll come for a drink too,” Phil said.

  “Later,” said Lee, his voice dropping so that only Phil could hear. “Much later.”

  Phil wanted to protest at being topped in front of his family, but he got the feeling that it wouldn’t make any difference. Lee was always going to be the one in charge no matter who was the lord.

  * * * *

  Drowsy and content, Phil couldn’t remember being this relaxed for so long. He was lying in a steaming bath, one of Lee’s arms holding him snug against his solid chest, as Lee washed off the grime with a flannel. Lee was stroking the flannel down him in long strokes, ending with a swipe under his balls.

  “You’re being unfair,” Phil said, his voice slurred, turning his face to get a kiss.

  “Hmmm?” Lee hummed into his mouth. The kiss was sloppy and off-centre, but Phil didn’t mind.

  “You’re trying to make me hard.” He spread his legs wider as Lee made another slow swipe with the flannel.

  There was a low snicker in his ear. “Not having to try very hard, baby.”

  Phil wanted to protest, but honestly, he was enjoying the attention too much to make much of an effort.

  Water sloshed over the side of the bath as he draped his uninjured leg over the edge to give Lee better access.

  “Is that it now, do you think?” Lee asked suddenly. “Can you finally move forward and quit waiting to die?”

  Sighing a little, Phil pressed a kiss to Lee’s collarbone. “I think so,” he said, “although it might take me a while to stop thinking the world is going to fall apart all the time.”

  There was silence for a few minutes, the only noise in the room being the splashing of the water as Lee slid the flannel over Phil’s slick, aroused skin.

  “I love you,” Phil gasped suddenly, needing to say the words out loud, finding the words light on his tongue.

  “I love you, baby,” Lee said, sounding pleased that Phil had finally admitted it.

  “Don’t call me, ba—” He arched his hips as Lee cupped his balls and tugged gently. “Bastard!” he gasped out.

  Lee bit down on Phil’s shoulder, licking the hurt. “You were saying?”

  He was saying something? Phil couldn’t remember.

  The End

  About the Authors

  Chris Quinton

  Chris started creating stories not long after she mastered joined-up writing, somewhat to the bemusement of her parents and her English teachers. But she received plenty of encouragement. Her dad gave her an already old Everest typewriter when she was ten, and it was probably the best gift she’d ever received— until the inventions of the home computer and the World-Wide Web.

  Chris’s reading and writing interests range from historical, mystery, and paranormal, to science-fiction and fantasy, mostly in the male/male genre. She also writes male/female novels in the name of Chris Power. She refuses to be pigeon-holed and intends to uphold the long and honourable tradition of the Eccentric Brit to the best of her ability. In her spare time [
hah!] she embroiders, quilts and knits. In the past she has been a part-time and unpaid amateur archaeologist and a fifteenth century re-enactor.

  She currently lives in a small and ancient city in the southwest of the United Kingdom, sharing her usually chaotic home with an extended family, two large dogs, fancy mice and sundry goldfish.

  RJ Scott

  RJ Scott lives just outside London. She has been writing since age six, when she was made to stay in at lunchtime for an infraction involving cookies and was told to write a story. Two sides of A4 about a trapped princess later, a lover of writing was born. She loves reading anything from thrillers to sci-fi to horror; however, her first real love will always be the world of romance. Her goal is to write stories with a heart of romance, a troubled road to reach happiness, and more than a hint of happily ever after.

  Sue Brown

  Sue Brown is owned by her dog and two children. When she isn’t following their orders, she can be found at university listening to lecturers discuss long-dead theologians. In her head, however, she’s plotting how to get her cowboys into bed together; she just hopes the lecturer doesn’t ask her any questions.

  Sue discovered M/M erotica at the time she woke up to find two men kissing on a television series. The series was boring; the kissing was not. She may be late to the party, but she’s made up for it since, writing fan fiction until she was brave enough to venture out into the world of original fiction.