Page 17 of Ravishing Among the Roses
“Both.”
Gabriel picked up his hand and gently stroked each finger. “No. Strange is the client who would ask me to wear his wife’s dress.”
Edmund loved seeing Gabriel in a dress, and his hips moved involuntarily, thrusting against Gabriel’s thigh.
“You like that, don’t you?”
“Yes. Please tell me more.” He gulped, not understanding why he wanted this. It was torture but also relief, the way that Gabby’s story tore at his emotions, at his need.
“Once a week, every Tuesday evening, he would come to the club. He would get our four biggest men to dress in his footman’s uniforms, then he’d dress me in his wife’s gown.”
“He’d dress you.”
“Yes. He’d play at being a maid and would dress me, then he’d get the footmen to lie me on a table. He’d stand by my feet and watch as the footmen would take out their cocks and stroke themselves until they came all over his wife’s dress.”
Edmund was certain there was something broken inside him, because his body found Gabriel’s story incredibly arousing. He wanted to be one of those men, coming over Gabriel’s dress. He wanted to wash Gabriel afterwards, cleaning him and worshiping him. “He’d just watch?”
“No. While they were close to coming, he’d push the dress up to my waist and put his finger in my hole and he’d say, ‘Do you like that?’ Over and over again. And when they came, he’d smile and walk away.”
“He was degrading his wife.” Edmund found that idea completely unsettling, and his cockstand faded. Completely. He hadn’t realised that Gabriel’s work hadn’t been all pleasure.
“Yes, you have the truth of it.”
“And you didn’t mind?” Edmund minded very much and he wanted to ... he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do and then Gabriel shrugged as if it didn’t matter to him. Confusion left him uneasy.
“I wasn’t paid to have an opinion. I was paid to dress up and be the hole he needed.”
Edmund’s heart ached—for the woman who didn’t know this was happening, and for Gabriel who shrugged it off—he hadn’t known Gabriel’s work wasn’t as special as being with him was to Edmund. “Why did you tell me that?”
“Because you romanticized my work in saying you wished you’d met me there, but if you had we wouldn’t have this. If I was being paid, we wouldn’t have a connection. You’d be a job, and I need you to understand that this night hasn’t been work for me.”
Finally, Edmund understood. “We met at exactly the right time.”
“Yes.”
He whispered one last question, “Is it bad that I’m so curious?” He’d found it thrilling to hear about Gabriel’s work—some of it—or perhaps it was merely the idea that Gabriel knew exactly why this was good.
“No. I like that I can talk to you about it, that you haven’t made a fuss.”
Edmund was fairly certain that he had made a fuss. “I don’t understand. Do you want to talk about it or not?”
Gabriel made a noise that was almost a laugh. “I don’t want to talk about my old job all the time, who does? But I don’t mind a few questions because that’s better than pretending it never happened. I do—” He paused and Edmund held his breath. “—I do find it fascinating that you are aroused by the notion of me being with others.”
An uncomfortable heat traversed his body and he let out a strangled noise. “Is it wrong?”
“Gosh no. Is it wrong that I’m curious about your life and why you let your brother walk all over you?”
Edmund wanted to hide under the bed, but something in Gabriel’s gaze made him want to try and explain it. “I’m not sure I’ll ever fully understand it either. There are times when he makes me feel so important and useful, and other times when Ifeel degraded and useless. Lately, it’s felt more like manipulation and it’s becoming more obvious?” He wasn’t sure he was explaining this well.
“You used to be charmed by him?”
“Yes. You have no idea how charming he can be. He can be clever and funny and wise, and it feels like a privilege to stand beside him and be his brother, and then he can be so cutting, and it leaves you with this sense of displaced relief – pleased that he didn’t aim that nasty little joke at you. I never understood why my father wanted to invite people to view my roses. He’d always said it was to protect them, to make sure they were well-known, so they couldn’t be destroyed, but it made no sense, because who was going to destroy them? And then, the first time my brother threatened them I couldn’t believe it, and later when I asked about it, he said that he’d never said that. It was so confusing.” Edmund was rambling and he sucked in a deep breath. Gabriel cupped his cheek gently.
“Tell me more.”
“From then on, I paid more attention. At first I thought I’d been wrong, that I’d misheard him somehow but the niggling feeling wouldn't go away and I started to notice things. It was my fault that it took so long to notice. I was always focused on my roses...”
“It’s not your fault. You are posh. You should have been only focused on your roses.”
