Page 28 of To Tempt a Troubled Earl
Lando slipped a hand under the waistband of Kit’s breeches. “No. I prefer my men one at a time.”
Chapter Fourteen
ALONE IN THEearly hours, after privately assuaging his ownbase needs, Kit spotted another flaw. Not in Lando, despite his disappointment that the man took himself off to his own bedchamber after their intimacy against the sturdy desk. In Kit’s eyes, Lando was already approaching perfection from every angle, even flushed and unguarded at the peak of his crisis, and no man ever looked his best atthatpivotal moment. But a flaw in their scheme to overthrow Gartside and, specifically, the parts affecting Kit himself. An uneasiness settled over him, a ragged thread of worry just out of reach. If his lust-soaked mind wasn’t so intent on painting pictures of the earl in various stages of undress, he might be able to pinpoint it. Instead, he wrestled with the problem until dawn, which arrived misty and grey and devoid of a solution.
Breakfast distracted him further because Lando was already seated at the head of the table, sorting a mountain of correspondence into two piles whilst picking at a tiny bowl of figs. He was dressed immaculately in another beguiling robe, this one a delicate rose pink. Ye gods, the man was beautiful. Glacial until one laid one’s hands on him, but beautiful, nonetheless. Any concerns Kit harboured that Lando might regret last night’s brief interlude were banished when he greeted him with a warm smile.
“I was hoping you’d join me, Kit.” Lando gestured to the sideboard. “Help yourself.”
Holding up a gilt-edged card, he sighed. “I’ve been back amongst thetonfor less than forty-eight hours and already the aspirational mamas are lining up their daughters. Unfortunately, being emotionally indisposed is not sufficient excuse to turn down a soiree at Lady Chalfont’s.”
He dropped the card onto the smaller of the two heaps. “This, here, is theregretfully attendpile.” Picking up another, he examined the writing, then cast it aside without even opening it. He motioned to the larger heap. “This pile I have labelledenthusiastically decline.”
With a grin, Kit heaped sausage and eggs onto a plate and poured coffee. “Mamas the length and breadth of Mayfair will be distraught.” After a sip of coffee, smoother than any he’d ever tasted, he set to tackling his breakfast. “You won’t consider another marriage?”
“Gadzooks, no! I have my heir and my spare, thank you very much. And my younger sister seems set on breeding her own wolfpack should disaster befall them both.” He dabbed his mouth with a lily-white square of linen. “Further efforts in that direction would be a huge waste of my energies.” He popped a fig between his plush lips. “Especially when they can be spent on much morefruitfulpursuits.”
Dangling yet another item of correspondence between finger and thumb, Lando’s pale eyes regarded Kit innocently. Why did every word spilling from this man’s damned fine mouth provoke Kit’s mind to flights of fancy? Was he flirting with Kit to distract from the morning’s post, or had Kit simply lost control of his own concupiscence?
Either way, he delivered himself a sharp reminder not to make himself too comfortable. The rich coffee and the excellent breakfast were but temporary. As was their liaison. When, and if, Gartside was avenged, Kit would return to his humble lodgings and attempt to forge a more respectable lifestyle, and the earl would go back to…Kit was unsure, but harboured no illusions it would involve him.
“My sister has corresponded, by the way.” The crisp sound of paper unfolding brought Kit back to earth. “She informs me that Anne is settling in nicely.”
“Truly excellent news,” answered Kit. “I must write to her, conveying my utmost gratitude and good wishes.” Glancing at an older footman standing sentry by the breakfast room door, staring resolutely ahead, he dropped his voice. “My lor…Lando, I have a question for you. Regarding our plan.”
“Only one?” Steepling his elbows on the table, Lando’s eyes followed the direction of Kit’s. “You may speak freely. Jones has been in my family’s employ for thirty years. I have an extremely loyal household.”
Yes, Kit was aware. His bruises were yet to fade. “No, not exactly. I have…um…several, in fact. But one is perhaps concerning me more than most.”
“Ah.” The earl’s eyes glittered. “And I have a feeling I know what it might be. We should have discussed further last night. Except our evening quite ran away with itself, did it not?”
Kit cursed. There it was again. That damned fluttery, suggestive tone making coherent thought difficult. “Well, yes. The part I’m unsure about is—what happens afterwards? When I’m exposed for—” Despite Lando’s reassurance, Kit lowered his voice, “—impersonating a senior government official?”
“Why do you think you’ll be exposed?”
“Why do you think I won’t? Sir Richard and Cobham will discover the truth sooner or later. And it strikes me as a crime associated with a lengthy prison sentence. Or even worse.”
Images of sturdy iron shackles and his ankles attached to them flooded Kit’s head. They portrayed a world far removed from rich coffee, crispy bacon, and a large comfortable bed. So, why did a nagging voice inside his head hint that one might be…payment for the other?
Shoving that train of thought aside, Kit pushed on. “Let’s assume Gartside falls for it and attempts to bribe me. I agree with your assessment that he won’t blab because doing so will expose his bribe and poor form. But there would be nothing stopping Sir Richard and Cobham when they discover I’m an imposter. Even though they won’t have risked money, I’ll still have made fools of them. To all intents and purposes, unless you intend to confess to your part in the scheme, it will appear that I’ll have made fools of you and theAmericantoo.” He chewed a mouthful of tender bacon, suddenly lacking in flavour. “Which may not concern you too much, but then it won’t be your neck on the chopping block, will it?”
The chopping block? Where had that sprung from?
With sudden shocking clarity, Kit’s niggling concerns of the night before fell into place, and he stared at his host in horror. Of course, that was it! What a fool he’d been!Confess? Why on earth would Lando do that? The earl would pretend, along with the rest of them, that he’d been deceived by Kit too. At worst, it would prove embarrassing for him, just as it would be for Cobham and Sir Richard. But notlife-threatening.
Placidly, Lando contemplated his next fig. So calm, so elegant, socontrolling. Of everything and everybody, including Kit, from the moment they kissed in the carriage. The assembled dinner guests had danced to his tune like marionettes on a string. And then, after the guests departed, the earl seduced him in their delicious episode in the drawing room, granting him permission to use his name. Kit remembered his hands working the earl’s prick, gladly offering him pleasure and release.
And the act had not been reciprocated.
It was like a dreadful, third-rate operatic aria. Kit’s own words played in his head:It won’t be your neck on the chopping block, will it?But it would be somebody’s. Somebody had to pay for setting up this elaborate scheme to bring down the baronet and to avenge his sister, the estate workers, and all Gartside’s other victims. And that somebody was Kit. He was an utter fool not to have seen it before.
Nauseated, he pushed his plate away. It would serve him well to remember that his host, tranquilly sipping coffee and nibbling his damned figs, was the same ruthless person who had booted him out of his house. Twice. The same icy soul who had roughed him up against the wall of the stables.
“How terribly dramatic of you, Kit! Of course it won’t come to that.” The earl’s amused cut-glass tones sliced through his thoughts. “The chances of anyone discovering you aren’t who you purport to be are very slim.”
“‘Very slim’ isn’t very reassuring. You introduced me using my real name! I’m going to be running from the law for the remainder of my days.”
Lando sighed. “Now, you’re being ridiculous.”
