Page 25 of By Marsh and By Moor
“I don’t even yet know where I’ll run to.”
“Come to Barnstaple?You said it was a town where a man could easily find work.Where the press don’t come.”
The hilltop offered an unimpeded view for miles around.In the distance, the sea sparkled pink in the setting sun.At Jed’s feet, the moors spread out gold and brown, shading into dusk.
The moors had always been synonymous with freedom for him.Freedom had a bitter taste today.
He heard a pebble roll across rocky ground, and turned to see Solomon climbing the hilltop to join him.Behind Solomon, down where the open moors met the woods, lay a handful of abandoned mine buildings, their crumbling stone walls overgrown with ivy and creepers.
It had been too late in the day to reach any of the farms or inns where Jed usually slept on the road to Barnstaple, so he had brought Solomon to this old pithead where he used to come as a boy; one of his uncles had worked here when the mine was open.
Solomon picked his way across the rocks, slowly coming closer.Like Jed, he had taken off his hat and tucked it under his arm to save it from the westerly wind that buffeted the hilltop.
“I found an old tin bucket in one of the buildings,” he said when he reached Jed.“Fetched more water from the spring.”
The familiar routine of setting up camp had been a comfort to Jed: finding a building with its roof still intact, fetching water, gathering wood for a fire.But all the while, anger simmered at the back of his mind.
The sun had almost disappeared behind the hills.Wild ponies on the slopes below were dark brown specks that cared nothing for the troubles of man.But closer by there was Solomon, who’d propped himself against a rocky outcrop, hands in his pockets, a steady presence.
Jed took a few restless steps back and forth.Penwick was probably sitting comfortably in his drawing room at this very moment, filled with the righteous warmth of the good citizen and loyal subject.
“Every man must do his duty,”Jed repeated.He spat on the ground.
Solomon’s lip curled.“I’d like to give that fellow a taste of his own medicine.”
“It’s not even Penwick I care so much about, in truth.But Carrie—” His voice broke.“My own sister!”
“It hurts all the more when it comes from someone you love, don’t it?”Solomon said quietly.
Jed turned to face him.Solomon was still lounging against the rock, but Jed knew him well enough by now to see the little lines of tension around his mouth.His gaze met Jed’s, sympathy warming the cool grey of his eyes.
Jed could lose himself in that gaze.Pretend, at least for a time, that they were alone in the world, and no one else mattered but them.
Then Solomon grimaced and looked away.“I’m sorry.This is rotten for you.You thought you were coming home to family and friends.Instead you’ve a poor substitute in me, I’m afraid.”
Jed took an involuntary step forward.“No!Don’t say that.I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather have here with me.”
Solomon’s eyes widened.
They were very close now.If Jed reached out, he could touch Solomon’s face, tip up his chin.Trace a finger over his parted lips.
He felt again the rush of surprise—of joy—that had filled him when he saw Solomon coming towards him down the combe.
“You came back for me.”
“Yes.”Solomon’s voice was low, with a hoarseness to it that made the hairs rise on the back of Jed’s neck.
It was almost dark on the hilltop now, and the final rays of the dying sun fell on Solomon’s face.A challenge, an invitation, seemed to gleam in his eyes.
Solomon was taller than Jed, but from where he sat, propped against the rock, he had to tilt his head up to meet Jed’s gaze.Jed leaned in, and Solomon rose to meet him, their mouths coming together almost cautiously.Then Solomon’s hands were on Jed’s head, gripping him, and they were kissing with wild urgency, open-mouthed, tongues touching, breath mingling.
Solomon made a soft, needy noise in the back of his throat, and something loosened in Jed’s chest.He didn’t think he could have taken another rejection today.But he was here, and Solomon was here—he wasn’t alone in the world.Solomon wanted him.
Jed had both arms braced on the rock, on either side of Solomon’s hips.Solomon’s gaze flickered down, and Jed’s followed it to where their bodies were pressed together.Jed’s thigh was between Solomon’s legs, against the long, eager length of his prick, and he moved experimentally, raising his head to watch Solomon’s eyes flicker shut, his face go slack and blissed.
Jed shifted his weight to one hand.With the other, he traced a line down Solomon’s front to press a hand to the placket of his breeches.“Can I—?”
Solomon’s eyes blinked open.Now, amusement sparked there.“Not in this wind.What I have in mind involves rather less clothing than we’re wearing now.”
