Page 43 of Vanquished By A Viscount
In fact, Barbara had abandoned her duties as hostess entirely, preferring to keep to the gamekeeper’s cottage whenever she could, sometimes with her closest friend, Lady Winifred, or Lady Suzanne and Lady Carolina, and sometimes alone. Likewise, Robert kept his distance from the guests as well, claiming that the business of Hawthorne House required his full attention. He justified staying in his study by claiming that he had been contacted by a representative of the South Eastern Railway, who wished to discuss the new line passing through Hawthorne House land.
Charlie and Gray both saw their siblings’ peevishness for what it was, two people who were still adjusting to the vagaries of married life having a spat at the most inconvenient time possible. Because of that, responsibility for entertaining the guests fell on their shoulders.
Together, they saw to the menus Cook prepared for the next few days. They ensured that horses were saddled for the company to ride around the estate grounds while the weather held. They arranged for local musicians to come perform a small concert and for a simple dance to be held on another evening.
In short, they shouldered the load that any aristocratic couple would be asked to carry while their siblings sulked in their corners.
It was exhausting.
“I do not know how ordinary men and women maintain their positions in society,” Charlie commented to Gray in the early hours of a promising morning several days after they had taken the lead, as they lay in bed together, their bodies entwined. “It has given me an entirely new appreciation for the leading luminaries of London society.”
Gray laughed, his body warm and loose against Charlie’s. “They have chosen this sort of life,” he said, his fingers playing with the hair on Charlie’s chest. “We have been thrust into it.”
Charlie attempted to keep a straight face, but his mouth twitched at the idea of “thrust”. The last few days had not only produced hard work and constant distraction for the two of them. The nights attached to those days had been filled with raw pleasure and the release of every frustration both of them had accumulated throughout the days.
“This is why I would choose a quiet country life over a buzzing London one every time, if pressed,” he said. “I value my peace.”
“Ah, but you are in the country,” Gray reminded him. “And whilst in London, we can always find our entertainment and society at The Chameleon Club.”
Charlie tilted his head slightly and hummed, considering the idea. The Brotherhood was deeply useful for men like them when there were problems of a legal or financial nature, but it was also the only truly safe, secure social environment they had. Of late, the founders of The Brotherhood had offered some of the liveliest and most entertaining social events for their members, most of them held within the secret confines of The Chameleon Club. Whatever society Charlie desired, he could have there.
Gray let out a breath and snuggled closer to him, closing his eyes once more and resting his head on Charlie’s chest. It was a sweet, tender gesture, and it made Charlie smile.
Strangely enough, that smile did not fade as Charlie raked his fingers through Gray’s dark hair. He shifted an arm to behind his head as a pillow and stared up at the ceiling, his smile staying in place. He was happy, surprisingly so. He had his lover in his arms, more society than he could ever have wished for, and despite her current stubbornness, Barbara was happy as well.
Gray’s gentle snoring as he fell asleep again only underscored Charlie’s happiness. But it also filled his head with questions that stole his smile.
Could he have done things differently seven years ago? Had it been entirely necessary to cast Gray aside in order to protect Barbara, in order to protect the two of them as well? One could argue that they had traveled a full circle. They were in each other’s arms again, they had a house full of guests who might suspect the nature of their attachment and who might possibly gossip, and they had the reputation of their respective families to consider.
But whereas Charlie felt the need to flee and pretend seven years ago, now he felt strong, confident, even. He did not believe any of Barbara’s guests would dare question him or Gray. They were protected by title and wealth. And Charlie knew enough now to know that he and Grayson were not the only gentlemen secretly carrying on while society pretended everything was as it should be.
Had he wasted seven years keeping Gray at arm’s length and turning him into his enemy on the false assumption that they would be ruined if so much as one person whispered about them?
Gray snorted and jerked awake again. “Sorry,” he mumbled sleepily as Charlie laughed tenderly at him. “Must’ve dozed off there.”
“Do not let it happen again,” Charlie teased him, scratching his scalp gently.
“No, sir,” Gray said, glancing up and giving Charlie a saucy smile. “I must do something to wake myself up completely to face the new day.”
“Yes, you must,” Charlie grinned back at him.
Gray’s expression grew downright impish, and he climbed between Charlie’s legs, pushing them farther apart, and slid hisway down so that he could capture Charlie’s half-hard cock in his mouth.
Charlie let out an appreciative sigh as Gray entertained himself with his morning wood. He smiled up at the ceiling, letting pleasure fill him as his lover bobbed and sucked and swallowed. He knew Gray well enough to guess he was stroking himself off while swallowing, which made him happier than he’d ever thought he could be.
He let himself go, holding nothing back and feeling no shame for coming within a few, intense minutes. Gray hummed appreciatively, then pushed up, throwing back the bedcovers as though they were a cape and he was making a dramatic gesture, then rubbed himself vigorously until he spilled across Charlie’s groin and belly with a satisfied moan.
It was perfection. It was everything they’d once had, and for the first time in seven years, Charlie felt as though it was all still within his reach. He and Gray could puzzle out a way to spend the rest of their lives together in this sort of perfect communion, as much married as Robert and Barbara were. In fact, their siblings’ marriage might be precisely the excuse they needed to explain why they spent all their time together.
“You look a treat,” Gray panted, bending forward so that he could balance over Charlie, their lips mere inches apart, “but we cannot stay like this. Your man, Olivier, will arrive any moment to start your day.”
“Olivier knows which way my wind blows and would never intrude on us,” Charlie said.
“Yes, well, things downstairs require our attention and intervention. Lady Eudora will be chasing Pettigrew around the rose garden in her shift if we do not provide the guests with some sort of entertainment today.”
Charlie huffed what he intended to be a longsuffering sigh, but it turned into a laugh. Particularly when Gray pecked hislips in a morning kiss, then rolled off the bed, heading to the washstand.
It was glorious. Charlie did not know how he had suddenly become so lucky. He threw off the bedcovers and got out of bed to join Gray at the washstand. The two of them bathed as if they were an old married couple, and although Gray had to don his robe and steal across the hall to his own room to dress, Charlie felt as though all was right between the two of them.
