He winced. “I admit my shoulders and arms ache a little.”
Lucius chuckled. “I thought perhaps they did.”
“But I have enjoyed my morning,” he hastened to assure as they rested their scythes on their shoulders and walked toward where the wagons were laden down with the corn they had already cut.
“I guarantee you will enjoy what comes next even more,” Lucius predicted.
They left the scythes propped up against one of the wagons, where they would cause no harm, waving goodbye to the other men before they left.
“If we are going back to the house and you are about to make love to me again, then yes, I am sure you are correct.” Toby grinned in anticipation.
“We are not going back to the house,” Lucius drawled.
“But we are going to make love?” Toby’s shorter legs meant he had to take two steps to every one of Lucius’s. He was almost skipping as they strolled toward the woods situated half a mile or so away.
“You are like a puppy eager for adventure,” Lucius teased at his bouncing steps.
Toby raised his brow at the description. “Puppies have sharp teeth,” he reminded.
“So they do.” Lucius laughed, waiting until they were in the shelter of the trees before placing his arm about Toby’s shoulders and pulling him in tightly against his side. “Did you have somewhere specific in mind you wish to bite me? I am presuming you do,” Lucius teased as Toby’s cock instantly and noticeably swelled and throbbed inside his breeches.
“You are a teasing bastard.”
“But, as we have already discussed, I am your bastard,” Lucius reminded huskily as he kissed Toby’s temple.
“For now.”
The older man nodded. “For now.”
Toby bit back his disappointment at Lucius’s reply. He had hoped, even though they had been together for only a short time, that Lucius enjoyed his company as much as Toby enjoyed his. That perhaps the other man might wish to keep him. But perhaps it was too soon for that and he would have to learn to be patient. Have to hope that he became as necessary to Lucius’s happiness as the older man now was to his.
Toby’s thoughts were instantly diverted when they pushed their way through the trees to enter a secluded glade where a pool was being fed by a flow of water that tripped and gurgled over the rocks above before cascading into the pool below.
Toby moved to stand at its edge. “How deep is it?”
Lucius watched indulgently as his lover bent down to trail his fingers through the sun-dappled but cool water. “Deep enough to cover my shoulders at its center.”
Those green-gold eyes were alight with happiness when Toby turned back to Lucius. “Are we going in for a swim?”
“Can you? No, do not tell me.” He raised his eyes heavenwards. “No doubt you were the school champion.”
Toby grinned unabashedly. “There is something to be said for being small but lithe.”
“There certainly is.” Lucius’s appreciative gaze roamed over that compact and alluring body.
The two of them were both bare from the waist up, having stripped off their shirts only minutes after they started to cut down the corn. It was hard labor, and Toby’s sinuous shoulders and arms had served him just as well as his more muscled torso had served Lucius. Lucius could see now that Toby’s paler skin had turned a slight golden shade in the sunshine.
His gaze lingered on the nipples he had so enjoyed sucking and biting the night before. They were a little redder today than they had been before his ministrations, and would no doubt be sensitive to his slightest touch today.
He was still in awe of Toby’s ready responses the night before. Of the trust the younger man had placed in him to give him the pleasure he craved. Even when some of the things Lucius had done had been completely alien to him.
Lucius intended to proceed a little more slowly today. To savor Toby and their desire for each other rather than lose himself in his need to dominate and claim. The urge to do that was no less than it had been the night before, but Lucius appreciated that Toby was an innocent and that he needed to go slowly so as not to frighten the younger man. Fantasies were one thing, but the reality was something else.
He sat down on the grassy bank beside the pool to remove his boots. “The warmth of the water will help to soothe away all your aches and pains.”
“All of them?” Toby teased.
Lucius felt the heat of color enter his cheeks. “Did I hurt you last night?”
“Not in the least,” the younger man dismissed. “In fact, I cannot wait to repeat the experience.” Toby’s gaze was one of invitation as he sat down on the grass beside Lucius to pull off his own boots. “All of them,” he added seductively.
“Good,” Lucius drawled, unfastening his work breeches and lifting up to slide them down his thighs, along with his drawers, before taking them off completely and standing. “Now hurry up and strip and then get into the water, young Toby.” He used the hated name deliberately as a jolt to the younger man, who, instead of removing his clothes, was now staring up at Lucius, pouting lips slightly parted and moist, and projecting the same invitation as his eyes.
Lucius had no objection to the two of them satisfying their lust for each other. But not until after he had waded into the pool and cleansed the sweat of the morning from his body.
Toby’s eyes narrowed. “I will be following right behind you, old man.”
Lucius grinned. “What a very good boy you are, to be sure.”
Toby growled as he pushed off the rest of his clothes before standing, his expression rebellious. “Last one in sucks the other’s cock!” he challenged before running forward and jumping into the center of the pool.
Lucius drew in a hissing breath as a tidal wave of water flew up and out of the disturbed pool to cascade over the heated skin of his chest and arms. “You little bastard!” When Lucius jumped in, it threw up an even bigger surge of water, one that went completely over Toby’s head, drenching his golden curls and face.
Toby spluttered as he shook off the cascade of water. “That might be true, but I still won,” he challenged when he could manage to speak again.
Lucius grinned as he trod water beside him. “I had every intention of sucking your cock anyway.”
Toby gave him a cheeky smile. “But now I have ensured that you do.”
Lucius pulled Toby close so that he could claim his mouth, kissing him deeply, their two cocks gliding against each other beneath the water, adding to their pleasure. It also gave Lucius another idea completely for this encounter.
Had Lucius ever been as happy as this before now?
He could not remember there being an occasion when he was. But even if there had been similar days of halcyon contentment during his misspent youth, he had been a boy then, and Toby not even born.
The realization of that was enough to remind Lucius that he was eighteen years older than Toby. That, even as a guardian, he was only a temporary fixture in the younger man’s life for the period of one year. As Toby’s much older lover, their time together would probably be of even less duration than that.
Toby reached up to soothe the frown from between his eyes. “What are you thinking about?”
Lucius’s arms remained locked about the elegant young man as he forced the dark thoughts from his mind. “I am wondering if it is too soon to give your arse another spanking.”
Green-and-gold eyes opened wide. “What did I do to merit it this time?”
Lucius grinned. “You splashed me with water.”
“You doused me right back.”
“So I did. Then perhaps I merely enjoy feeling the sting and heat of your flesh beneath my palm.”
“In that case, I am happy to have you spank me again any time you feel the inclination,” Toby assured with affection.
Lucius laughed. “Your curiosity and pleasure in all things sexual might just be the death of me!”
Toby beamed at him, his eyes alight with happiness. “In that case, I suggest we die tog
ether, and in that way add to the tragedy of our story.”
Lucius gave a rueful shake of his head. “I believe you are merely trying to add yet more value to your book of poetry.”
“You have not written a message in it yet,” he reminded.
“I will do so when I am good and ready.” He knew that Toby had brought the book to Kent with him, had seen it in one of his saddlebags when they rode here together yesterday. “In the meantime…” He reached down to clasp both Toby’s and his own cock in one hand before slowly stroking along their lengths.
“Oh God…” Toby’s knees threatened to buckle beneath him as he felt the pleasure of Lucius’s cock gliding alongside his own, causing a friction that was further added to by the way the other man began to slowly pump their cocks in a rhythm that stole Toby’s breath away.
The two men stared into each other’s eyes, bare chests quickly rising and falling as their pleasure deepened and grew along with the increasingly rapid pumping of their cocks.
But it was the intimacy of their locked gazes that created an unmistakable and unbreakable tenderness that continued long after the two of them had reached a climax and spilled their seed in the water together.
Chapter Twelve
“Can we do something different tonight?”
Lucius glanced up in time to watch as Toby rose restlessly from where he had been seated on the chaise in the bay window of Lucius’s study. He had believed Toby was busy sketching while Lucius worked on the necessary paperwork for the estate and dealt with the letters that were delivered daily from London and required his attention.
He could not believe how quickly the past week of being in Kent had passed. In the mornings, they had continued to help bring in the harvest. Afterwards, they went for a swim, had luncheon, and then rode about the estate. In the evenings, they dined together, and afterward played a game of chess—which Toby invariably won! They then retired to Lucius’s study for a couple of hours, as they had this evening. It was usually time to retire together to Lucius’s bedchamber sometime between ten o’clock and eleven, at which time they continued to explore all of Toby’s sexual fantasies.
Almost all of them.
Lucius had still not made love to Toby completely, even though he ached to do so.
Because he knew, once he had penetrated Toby’s body, been accepted inside all that heat and beauty, physically become a part of this wondrous man, there would be no going back, for either of them.
Toby would no longer be a virgin.
As for Lucius… He already lived for these hours he spent with Toby, and could only imagine how much worse that obsession would become if he had claimed the younger man fully.
Looking at Toby now as he restlessly paced the room, he knew his decision had been the correct one.
It had taken only eight days, and the same number of nights spent in sexual exploration, for Toby to become bored.
With Lucius as well as the quiet pursuits of Kent. That much should have been obvious to him during dinner this evening when Toby had seemed full of complaints about the food, and his trouncing of Lucius at chess seemed more an act of aggression than competitiveness.
Lucius schooled his features not to reveal how much it hurt to think of Toby no longer wanting him or to be with him. He placed his pen carefully back in its holder before giving his full attention to watching Toby as he paced. Their mornings spent outside working had deepened the gold of Toby’s skin, bringing out hitherto unseen freckles across the bridge of his nose. His lithe form was more muscular, something Lucius was fully able to appreciate when they were naked in bed together. His overlong curls were now sun-kissed at their tips, giving Toby an angelic glow in the candlelight.
But none of those changes altered the fact that Toby had now as good as announced he was tired of Lucius and wished for more exciting company and pursuits.
The jolt that caused in Lucius’s chest rendered him speechless for several more minutes. He wasn’t yet ready to relinquish Toby, either back to his friends in London or to another man. He doubted he would ever be ready to accept the latter.
Toby had proven to be an adventurous as well as eager lover. No matter what Lucius asked of him sexually, or sometimes demanded, Toby met each of those requests with challenge and pleasure. He had not, as Lucius had once suspected might be the case, buckled under the fierceness of Lucius’s excessive passions. Instead, Toby had not only met the force of those desires but exceeded them.
Lucius now leaned his elbows on the desktop and steepled his fingers in front of him. “Perhaps you would care for a game of cards? Or, tomorrow evening we could accept one of the many dinner invitations we have received from a member of the local gentry.”
Toby stilled. “We have received invitations to dine with your neighbors?”
Lucius’s jaw firmed. “We have received at least half a dozen such invitations, for myself and my ward, since we arrived in the area.”
“Why—” Toby broke off to eye him suspiciously. “Are you avoiding introducing me to your friends?”
“They are not friends but acquaintances. And I had thought—”
“Yes?”
A nerve pulsed in Lucius’s tightly clenched jaw. “I thought you preferred us to be alone here and private together. But as that no longer seems to be the case, I shall accept one of the invitations for dinner tomorrow evening.”
“Who says I no longer wish to be alone here with you?” There was a disgruntled and accusing glare in Toby’s eyes and an angry flush to his cheeks.
Lucius smiled sadly. “I do.”
“I do not know what gives you the right to draw that conclusion for me.”
“Possibly because this evening, you are restless and spoiling for a fight.”
“I am not!” Toby drew in a hissing breath at the realization that was exactly what he was doing. “Okay, so I was a little tetchy during dinner.”
The duke’s brows rose as he moved to stand in front of his desk. “You sent the soup course back because it was too cold, then when it was returned to us, you stated it was too hot and refused to eat any more of it.”
Yes, Toby had done both those things. He had also complained to Lucius that the beef was tough and the dessert, an elaborate concoction of strawberries and pastry, was too sweet.
All because he was beyond frustrated and bordering on desperation to have Lucius make love to him fully. A hunger the older man seemed in no hurry to satisfy.
Oh, they had enjoyed so many other things together. Had sucked each other’s cocks morning, noon, and night.
As well as that friction of rubbing their cocks together.
Lucius had also repeated his exploration and penetration of the rosette between Toby’s bottom cheeks with his fingers and tongue.
He had denied Toby’s orgasm until the younger man thought his cock would explode if Lucius didn’t release him and let him climax.
Lucius had also posed Toby provocatively on the bed while he knelt between Toby’s parted thighs stroking his cock until hot streams of cum shot all over Toby’s chest and abdomen. The act of then having Lucius lick all that cum from his body, his tongue a sensual rasp against Toby’s sensitive nipples while he pumped his cock, had resulted in a spine-arching climax.
They had not been able to keep their hands from each other for more than a few hours at a time.
Toby loved all of it.
But what he wanted now, what he needed more than his next breath, was to have Lucius inside him, stretching him, claiming him completely.
Something Lucius showed as much interest in doing as he would in consuming a bowl of unripe raspberries.
Toby gave an inner groan at the realization he was now likening himself to a bowl of unwanted fruit. And yet it seemed sometimes as if that was what he was. First with the boy he had believed himself in love with at school, and now his uncertainty as to where his relationship with Lucius would end. If it ended… “None of those things means I am dissatisfied with being alone her
e with you.”
“Then what does it signify?” Lucius’s gaze sharpened as Toby’s gaze avoided meeting his. “Talk to me, Toby.” He grasped the tops of Toby’s arms. “Tell me what you want, love, and if it is within my power to give it to you, then please believe I shall do so.”
Toby didn’t deserve the older man’s patience and understanding. But God, how he wished Lucius did love him rather than merely used the word as an encouragement. Although Toby wasn’t sure he deserved Lucius’s understanding either, after his disgraceful and petulant behavior this evening.
“I want… I want…” His gaze dropped from meeting that piercing silver one. “I cannot say it!” He groaned in embarrassment.
“Nothing you wish to say to me could possibly be worse than the belief I had that you have tired of me already.”
Toby’s gaze flew wildly to the older man’s face. “No!” he stated vehemently. “I will never tire of you, Lucius. Never, do you understand?”
Lucius very much doubted Toby had any idea how much he wished that was the truth.
Because, after their week together, Lucius now knew he was in love with Toby. Deeply and irrevocably in love, and the emotion was so bone-deep inside him, Lucius doubted he would be able to function at all if—when—Toby left him.
The younger man grasped hold of his arms and shook him. “I shall not leave you unless you order me to go, and even then, I will fight against going with every breath in my body,” he assured vehemently, as if reading Lucius’s mind.
Or perhaps Lucius had spoken some of his thoughts out loud? But not all, thank God. He did not need to burden Toby with the depth and intensity of the love Lucius now felt for him.
He smiled blandly. “Oh, I think I shall manage to amuse you for a little longer.”
“Stop it,” Toby rasped. “Do not dare attempt to belittle what we have found and now share together,” he instructed fiercely.
“I am being practical—”
“I said stop!” Toby snapped, his gaze fierce as he glared at Lucius. “You asked me what I want. Well, what I want is you inside me. Deep inside me, as deep as you can go. And afterwards, I want to be inside you, equally as deeply. So there is no Toby or Lucius, only us.”
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