Released

by Adella J. Harris

  Robert went on without so much as glancing towards him, so he couldn’t have looked too out of place. “Do you know where he got the fellow from?”

  “The one he’d planned for never showed, so he had to find a replacement fast. Last week, according to Murdoc, and he always knows what’s going on. It’s one of his concubines. A former one, anyway. I don’t think it’s one I’ve met before, although who knows. I can never tell them apart.”

  Robert nodded absently and let Yardston take it as he would. “I wonder why he came back. I’d think a year with Dixon would be enough for anyone.”

  “Money,” Yardston said. “Dixon pays well for these special projects. Enough to set up his own brothel when he’s done.”

  “I suppose. You’re certain he is one, not some trick of the servants?”

  “Farhill identified him. Said he’d never forget that arse. Say, I’d better go find Dixon and make certain he’ll let me get a chance with it. Everyone’s eager to have a turn. Better have your friend get his place in line fast.”

  Robert nodded in a way that could have been taken for agreement and watched Yardston jog off, his cock bobbing along in plain sight. Robert caught Lionel’s arm and turned towards the door. “That’s all right then.”

  Lionel sighed. “It is?”

  “He keeps concubines for a year at his country house. If one of them came back, they know exactly what they’re getting into. Although why one would come back... But that’s not my concern. Come along, you look ready to faint.”

  Something about the conversation nagged at Lionel. “Don’t you want to see him, make certain?”

  “If Farhill says he recognized his arse...”

  Lionel swallowed. It was the same feeling he’d had about the tea company and about all the times he should have said something to Jim and hadn’t, and if he could just figure out what he was missing in Jim’s few words... “But if it’s someone you know...”

  Robert looked at him. “All right. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  Jim wasn’t certain if Balford hadn’t told anyone he’d been late getting back, or if Dixon was so desperate for entertainment at his party that the fact had been ignored. Either way, he found himself in the small room off the main ballroom’s stage with Balford, preparing himself for the evening’s entertainments. He’d known he shouldn’t have come back to Lincoln-on-Marsh, and the events of the day proved it. He couldn’t control himself enough to stay away from Hensley House, and now Lionel knew he was in the area. And even worse, he’d finally placed the man who’d been looking at him so intently. Sir Robert Farnsdale. Normally, that would have made him feel better. Sir Robert did visit Dixon’s on occasion, but he was a regular at Madame Rosamond’s, and one of the few clients she trusted with any service the brothel offered and any special requests he made. He was someone Jim would normally trust to keep his past a secret. But Jim had the impression he was also a good friend of Lionel’s. Jim had even heard him mentioned in passing at Hensley Hall. And Jim was quite certain Sir Robert would consider loyalty to a friend more important than hiding the past of a whore.

  Balford looked him over then handed him a bottle. “Lordship says he wants you oiled up for your big show.” He leaned against the wall to watch Jim comply.

  Jim took the bottle and started with his chest. It was something he’d done before, many times, but it felt tawdrier than it had the night before. Going out had been a mistake. He’d known the whole thing had been a mistake, but going anywhere near Hensley House had been especially stupid, seeing Lionel again, having Lionel treat him like a friend. If he could see him now, see what he was about to do... He sighed and finished oiling his body, making certain his passage was well lubricated. He turned to see if Balford was satisfied.

  Balford leered at him, but Murdoc gestured from the hall, so Balford didn’t have time to do more than growl, “Get out there.”

  Jim swallowed then sauntered out on stage. If he was going to do this, he’d best do it well.

  “Here he is!” Dixon boomed. “Don’t be fooled by that slim body. I had him at the house for two years, and he served me well. He greeted some of you yesterday, and I’m sure you can all vouch for his skill. Show them how fine you are.”

  Jim knew what was expected and leaned over the railing set up on the stage, his legs spread wide so his cock was still visible, his arse to the audience. He gave a little wiggle to show it off then reached behind and parted his cheeks so they could see everything.

  “Imagine how fine that will look after you’ve all had a chance to use the flogger on him, with all of us leaking out of that lovely hole. All right, turn so we can see that skilled mouth.”

  Jim turned so his left side was to the crowd, letting them see what went on at both ends.

  “And don’t forget those hands. Just as skilled as the rest of him. All right, Romley, Yardston, you get to be first.”

  Romley and Yardston were two of the guests who’d been there the night before. They had been regulars at the house when Jim had been there as concubine. Jim swallowed but didn’t let them see what he thought. “Yardston can start in front,” Dixon said. The squatter one came around to his head. Jim opened his mouth and made himself strain forward, trying to look like he wanted to take the cock that was poking out at him. Yardston ran his cock over Jim’s face, chuckling as Jim pretended he wanted to get his lips around it. He could feel Romley behind him, his hand coming down hard on his arse. He forced his body to reach towards the hand while straining for the cock he didn’t want. He turned his head to the side and ran his tongue along Yardston’s length.

  And then he saw Lionel, in the shadows, his face barely visible but recognizable to someone who’d watched its every nuance for days. It couldn’t be, he told himself, but it was. He was standing there with Sir Robert Farnsdale. Sir Robert looked vaguely interested, but Lionel looked like he was going to be ill. Of course. He’d just understood what Jim had said all along. He wasn’t worth it. He wasn’t what Lionel needed. He wasn’t worth Lionel’s notice.

  Yardston pressed his cock against Jim’s lips, but Jim couldn’t seem to make himself move. He felt Romley give him a particularly hard swat, and he knew there was nothing he could do to make Lionel forget what he was seeing. It was perfectly obvious what Jim was willingly participating in, but he couldn’t make himself touch Yardston with Lionel watching. He saw Sir Robert turn towards Lionel, clearly sensing something was wrong. Now Lionel’s friends would know as well. Jim started to feel dizzy. He clutched at the railing he was leaning over, trying to stay upright.

  It was as bad as Lionel had imagined. No, it was worse. He’d known something about what Jim had said out on the lawn had bothered him, and now he knew what it was. He’d been telling the truth about the special project, only the project was for Dixon. He should have wondered how Jim was able to save for his cottage in the country. He’d known it had been an enormous amount of money for someone like Jim to amass. And now he knew. Jim had worked for Dixon for two years, doing precisely what he was doing on stage now, or what he was supposed to be doing, Lionel assumed. At the moment, Jim was staring at him with a look of complete horror. He should have insisted Jim come back to the house with him. He should have had Robert come with him when he was going to tell him he loved him. He should have dragged Jim back to the house first. Anything but let him run back into the woods. Above all, he should have said something sooner, before Jim had left Hensley House to begin with.

  Robert turned towards him with a questioning look. Lionel leaned forward to whisper, “We have to help him.”

  Robert looked back towards the stage then back at him. “I’m not sure what...”

  And then Jim fainted. Lionel moved to run forward, but Robert’s hand on his arm stopped him.

  “We have to get him out of here,” Lionel pleaded.

  Robert looked at him. “You’re certain? He knew what he was getting into.”

  “Please.”

  Robert sighed. “Pull your
collar up. I don’t want to be seen dragging the local magistrate up on stage. Someone’s bound to recognize you up there.” When Lionel had obeyed, Robert grabbed his arm and dragged him to the front of the crowd then left him there as he scrambled up onto the stage. “Come on, I’ll get him out of here.”

  “But we can just prop him up,” someone called out.

  “You know it’s no fun if they’re not conscious,” Robert yelled back then turned to Dixon. “Now, how much did you pay him?”

  Lord Dixon was looking from the audience to Jim and back again, clearly not sure what was the best course of action. “Nothing yet. He was supposed to get it when he left.”

  “Then I’ll get him out of here before you can get in trouble for this. Do you really want an ill man here at your party? What will the magistrate say if you have to call a doctor, or worse, you end up with a dead whore with an arse like that?”

  Dixon stared at Jim. “All right. But no connection to us.”

  “I know what I’m doing. You!” Robert pointed directly at Lionel. “Get up here and help me.”

  The implication that Jim was ill meant no one else in the audience was willing to get involved. Lionel made certain they couldn’t see his face and recognize him as the acting magistrate then hurried up on stage and helped Robert hoist Jim over his shoulder and get him off the stage. The group parted and let them through, all of them grumbling, half about losing the entertainment and half about Dixon bringing in someone who was ill and possibly contagious. Robert ignored them as he made for the door, so Lionel did as well and hurried after him. He remembered belatedly that he was supposed to be some random person pulled out of the crowd to help and rushed ahead to open doors to give him an excuse for following.

  When they were outside, Robert kept walking briskly until they reached the cart. “Seems it was a good thing I left this here,” he said as he put Jim in the back. When Robert went to untie the horse, Lionel leaned over to see that Jim was comfortable. He took off his overcoat and wrapped Jim in it then brushed Jim’s hair away from his face. He knew all of Robert’s talk about illness had been to scare Dixon, but what if something was really wrong with Jim? What if he could have prevented it?

  “Coming?” Robert asked from the driver’s seat. Lionel hurried to climb up beside him. The sooner they were back at Hensley House, the sooner he could start making things up to Jim.

  Chapter 19

  ***

  WHEN JIM REGAINED CONSCIOUSNESS, all he noticed was the swaying. It took him a moment to realize that it was caused by the cart he was in riding in, and another moment to realize the warm, safe feeling he had was because he was wrapped in Lionel’s overcoat. He kept his eyes closed and held very still. Clearly, Lionel had gotten him out of Dixon’s, but he wasn’t certain why. He certainly couldn’t arrive at Hensley House naked and oiled, not under any circumstances, but certainly not when Lionel was hosting a house party. He could see that, even if Lionel couldn’t. No, the best thing to do was wait until the cart stopped and slip away. He hadn’t gotten paid by Dixon, and he certainly couldn’t go back there now. Dixon was desperate enough for entertainment to take him back, but it was the first place Lionel would look. There would be someplace for him to go—he just had to get away, far enough away that he could think.

  And then the cart stopped, and Jim could hear Sir Robert ask, “How are we getting him inside?”

  “I’ll go in through the side door and find a clear path upstairs, or send the servants on some errand if I run into any. Once he’s in, we can send someone out to tell Garrett to see to the horse.” Jim could hear Lionel climb out of the cart and the crunch of gravel as he crossed the drive up to the house. Now was his best chance to get away. He’d have to be careful that Sir Robert didn’t see, but perhaps he would get out of the cart to tie the horse to a post or something. If he did, Jim would have to be ready to move.

  But Sir Robert did not get out of the cart. Instead, he turned and draped his arm over the back of the seat. Jim could feel that he was being watched and held very still, but Sir Robert began speaking in a calm, conversational tone, “I know you’re not out anymore. I have three sisters who faint all the time. I know what a real one looks like. Lionel is my friend. If you hurt him...”

  Good. He and Sir Robert felt the same. He didn’t want to take Lionel’s overcoat—well, he did but he knew it wasn’t proper—but he didn’t think he could go running naked through the forest. He clutched it around him and sat up. “I’ll leave now,” he whispered and started to get out of the back of the cart.

  “I said if you hurt him. You think that wouldn’t hurt him?”

  Jim sighed and leaned against the side of the cart. “Having everyone know about me would hurt him worse.”

  “Then we’ll have to make certain that doesn’t happen.”

  Jim looked over at Sir Robert. He was Lionel’s friend, and he did seem to have Lionel’s best interests at heart, and he knew far more about the sort of things Jim had done than Lionel ever would. Surely he could see this was a mistake. “What do you want me to do? Have him embarrassed in front of his guests?”

  Sir Robert took the question seriously and considered his answer for a moment. “We can get you into the house without being seen. After that, I don’t know. Listen to him, I suppose. Hear him out before you decide what you’re going to do.”

  It was such a sensible answer, it surprised Jim into staying put. “And if I still think the best thing I can do is to leave him?”

  “Then I suppose I’ll help you get away.”

  Before Jim could think of an answer to that, he heard Lionel coming up the drive. “It’s all arranged. I have Mrs. Barton arranging for a bath in my room, so we can sneak him up to yours now, if you don’t mind. If we can manage to revive him enough to get him up the servants’ stairs, that would make it easier.”

  “I’m awake,” Jim said quietly.

  Lionel hurried around to the back of the cart and helped him down. Jim was going to insist he could manage himself, but Sir Robert glared at him, so he held his tongue and allowed Lionel to wrap an arm around his shoulders and guide him into the house. They entered near the kitchen, and Jim could hear the sounds of the servants hurrying to heat water and ready the bath, but there was no one in the hallway or in the staircase leading to the bedroom. The servants’ staircase let out just outside of Lionel’s room, and it seemed Sir Robert had been put in the green suite, so it was a very short scramble to get him inside before any of the servants or guests entered the hallway.

  When they were safely in the green suite, Jim tried to distance himself from Lionel, but Lionel pulled him into an embrace before he could. “I’m so glad you’re back.”

  So pushing Lionel away would not be as easy as he’d thought. Jim reminded himself that he was doing this for Lionel’s own good and said, “I don’t see why.”

  He felt Lionel’s arms tighten around him. “Jim, how can you say that?”

  “Ask him what I’ve been doing. Ask him what it means to be Dixon’s concubine.” He could tell he’d shocked Lionel, so he gave a shove against Lionel’s chest. Lionel pulled back at once. He could see the hurt look on Lionel’s face, but that was a good thing. If he hurt Lionel enough, Lionel would realize he didn’t want Jim anymore. “Go on, ask him.”

  Lionel turned to Sir Robert. “Fine, tell me whatever it is he wants you to, Robert.”

  Sir Robert looked over at Jim. So he wouldn’t say anything if Jim didn’t want him to. But Lionel deserved the truth. He nodded once. Sir Robert turned back to Lionel. “All right. Dixon picks some prostitute to live in the house for a year as his concubine, at the beck and call of anyone he invites. From what I’ve heard, he pays well, as that’s the only way he can find someone willing. Imagine the party you were at just now, only every day for a year. The time I was there, the man spent most of the day in the meeting room with us, naked, bent over so we could enjoy his mouth or his arse when we wanted, with a selection of whips and floggers nearby.
He was quite clearly used to the arrangement.”

  “Clearly?” Lionel asked.

  “From the state of his arse and thighs, yes. By the end of the day, there was spend from six men running down his legs and the same over his face, and it didn’t seem to bother him at all. He had no privacy, no break. They fed him stew from a bowl like a pet for meals. I left after dinner when they were bringing out the chamber pots and putting a leash on him. Does that tell you enough?”

  Lionel looked shocked, even more so than he had been at Dixon’s. Good. Now he would understand why Jim left, why Jim knew he wasn’t what Lionel wanted. Whatever romantic notion he’d had of Jim’s past was surely shattered now.

  “Jim?” Lionel asked in a whisper.

  Didn’t he believe Sir Robert? Even after what he had just witnessed? Perhaps it was too shocking. Perhaps he didn’t think such things could go on so close to his own house. “He’s right. Everything he said was right. Only I was Dixon’s concubine for two years. That’s how I got the money for my cottage. I’d just left six weeks before I met you. For two years I was naked in his house, serving his guests, his servants, anyone he wanted me to.” Jim started to shake. Lionel was so quiet. Jim realized he had no way of knowing that Jim had lost the money. Didn’t know that he hadn’t had a choice in going back to Dixon. He probably thought Jim wanted to go back. It was probably best he believe that. “Now you see why I had to leave. You don’t want me. You deserve so much better.”

  Lionel was pinching the bridge of his nose. He was probably trying to figure out how to get him out of his house.

  “The bath should be ready by now. I had them set it up in my room. You’ll feel better afterward.”