Page 90 of Bloom
“I didn’t put it together before, but now, I think you act like someone who doesn’t know how to have a healthy relationship. You’re afraid, and that’s also why you’re so nasty at times, and you have no friends except for Clementine, but she’s not here. You think everyone is going to stab you in the back.”
Aleric’s face burned. “Two years, and he had me against the wall one afternoon because my opinion differed from his. That’s not even the worst. Why would I trust you after a month? In a week, you might be expecting me to do something disgusting, and when I say no…”
“Haven’t we argued and had some pretty big differences of opinion? Did I try to hit you when you didn’t want foreplay? Have I demanded for you to let me back in your bed? Even when you were absolutely maddening and frustrating, and you still weren’t entirely better, did I strike you? I could have gone overthere and fucking knocked you out cold. I didn’t. It didn’t even occur to me.”
Jaime could have taken many chances and gotten riled to the point of violence. It wasn’t hard for Aleric to get angry. “Okay, but-”
“Do you think your Father was like to that your Mother?”
“Never.” He couldn’t imagine Father raising a hand to Mother.
“Not every man is like Gautier, and I’d swear on my parent’s graves that I’m not that kind of man,” said Jaime. “Can you please tell me what happened?”
Elira, Aleric wanted someone to finally listen to him.
Chapter Nineteen
1686
Looking back, Aleric realized what a stupid, gullible eighteen-year-old he was. Like most teenagers, he didn’t see himself that way.
Since seventeen, he’d had a crush on Gautier. It wasn’t his first, although it was the first one he’d had on an older man. He expected nothing to happen since he was positive an older man wouldn’t think twice about him if he dared to say anything. Besides, even looking at Aleric was practically illegal since anyone under eighteen couldn’t consent to sex or a relationship with an adult.
Gautier was forty when Aleric turned eighteen, and his crush hadn’t abated. He’d been with a few his age, and he knew he liked tall men with hard, muscular bodies. Gautier fit that description and was damn good-looking for his age with his orange eyes and short hair.
Before he’d moved in permanently, he’d visited many times to see Father, his friend, so Aleric was familiar with his personality. He was easy to talk to and open to the opinions and thoughts of others. He wasn’t a man who argued for the sake of it or because he felt being right was more important.
A few weeks after his eighteenth birthday, they’d held a party for a Morian lord who was turning fifty. After dinner, the court danced and alcohol flowed. Aleric wasn’t a heavy drinker, and he grew bored after a while. Clementine was sick at home with a cold, Zacharie was being a pest, and they wouldn't have dessert for a while since everyone needed time for the meal to go down. Aleric danced with a few for something to do, including an oldwoman who’d kept patting his face and saying he looked just like her grandson.
Gautier ended up alone at his table since the occupants had gotten up to do one of the faster dances. Sometimes, Aleric talked to him alone. He was an old family friend, and while Aleric hadn’t dared to admit anything about his feelings, it was also an excuse to admire him and be near.
He wanted more than that. Instead of men his age, he wanted to know what it was like in bed with an older, experienced man. Since he figured that wasn’t ever happening despite him being old enough, he figured he might as well try to get a dance. It’d be an excuse to touch him and have those large hands on him, even though what he truly wanted was for Gautier’s hands to be on his cock.
Aleric finally worked up the courage to go over since Father was talking to a cousin at the High Table and not paying attention to him. Father might not like it, but a dance was harmless, and it didn’t have to mean a thing. If he said anything, Aleric could brush him off. It hadn’t meant anything with the old lady either. Gautier would likely say no anyway.
Nobody seemed to be paying attention when he sat at the table. Talking to a family friend wasn’t worth a second thought. After a while, Aleric finally made himself ask.
Gautier didn’t say yes, but it wasn’t exactly a no either. Aleric was too young, and when he said he wasn’t, Gautier sighed.
“You seem a lot older than eighteen, and sometimes I forget when I speak to you. But the fact is, you are eighteen, and your Father might not like it. He probably looks at you and sees a little boy. Most Fathers do, and they don’t want their young sons with a forty-year-old man.”
True. Occasionally, Father treated him a bit like a child even though he was an adult. On his eighteenth birthday, a few young men had taken Aleric to a whorehouse that night since he wasfinally old enough to enter one. Lord Monet had complained the next morning about him staying out too late as though he were a child who needed to be in bed by a certain time.
“I’m not a child,” Aleric said even though he was pretty sure he had no chance at that point. “Father might complain, but I’m still an adult. Age is only a number, and I just asked for a dance.”
“True. The thing is-” Gautier leaned in and spoke in a low voice even though no one was close enough to hear over the music from the musicians on one side of the Hall. “Age is only a number, but if I dance with you, I’ll want other things that are far from innocent, such as having you naked and tied up on my bed.”
Aleric didn’t even know what to say to the blatant statement. Even the last guy he’d been with, who tied him plenty of times, hadn't stated what he wanted so fast.
“It might be a bit much, especially combined with everything else I'd enjoy doing to you once you're at my mercy. I prefer submissives, and I don't fool around with virgins.”
Thank Elira that Aleric’s ass wouldn’t grow slick unless he pushed his heat. If it did, he would have been sitting in a puddle at the image of him tied up with Gautier doing whatever he wanted to him.
Kink with him…an older man would be more experienced and so much better. He could teach Aleric a few things. Gautier looked at him like he hadn’t said anything dirty, and Aleric suddenly remembered he should speak instead of staring at him like an idiot.
“I lost my virginity two years ago.”
“Yes, to another fumbling sixteen-year-old. I’m sure you’re still quite innocent.”
