Page 52 of Vanquished By A Viscount
Panic flooded Gray. All he could do for a moment was stand there, frozen in the fear that…that what? That Howard would see how much he genuinely cared for Charlie? That the charming and confident man would feel slighted because Gray was in love with someone else?
Gray let out a breath and dropped his shoulders with it. “I care about him,” he said. “Genuinely. Completely. He is…he is my home.”
Immediately, Gray wanted to take the words back or curse himself for being ridiculously sentimental, but Howard’s expression was approving and soft. He reached out and rested a hand on Gray’s shoulder. “You have excellent taste, my friend,” he said, then winked. “And for what it’s worth, I believe Lord Broxbourne feels the same about you.”
Gray’s heart rose and flipped in his chest. “You do?”
Howard blinked. “Do you believe otherwise?”
Gray’s mouth hung open for a moment before he could find the words he needed. “There has been a great divide between usthese last seven years. Misunderstanding and resentment drove a wedge between us.”
“But you have been working to remove that wedge now?” Howard guessed.
Gray nodded. “I do not know where the two of us stand at present.”
“Do you want to be standing at all?” Howard asked, the teasing glint back in his eyes.
Something about that expression, and about the wise understanding that radiated from Howard, suddenly made Gray feel easier. “Yes, I do,” he said, taking Howard’s ribald words another way. “I want to stand by his side wherever and whenever he needs me, from now until the end of time.”
The seriousness returned to Howard’s expression along with a good measure of approval. “Then go to him,” he said, patting Gray’s shoulder, then taking his hand away. “I believe he is waiting for you.”
That possibility had Gray’s heart beating hard. He smiled at Howard, then hurried past him, down the hall and straight to Charlie’s door. Without knocking, he turned the handle and pushed his way into the room…which was empty.
For a moment, Gray’s heart sank. Charlie must be angry with him indeed if he’d taken himself off to sleep somewhere else for the night. Perhaps he’d taken up lodging in the gamekeeper’s cottage with Barbara. Gray had no difficulty at all imagining the siblings sulking away together, breaking their hearts when, really, there was no reason to break them.
He backed out of Charlie’s room, shutting the door behind him, then stepped across to his own bedroom. He had no expectations as he opened the door and walked inside, but Charlie was there, standing by the washstand, the sponge raised to his nose as if he were breathing in the scent of Gray’s soap, and perhaps lingering traces of him.
“You’re here,” Gray said breathlessly, shutting his door behind him, then rushing across the room to Charlie. “Thank God you’re here!”
Charlie had barely put the sponge down when Gray flung himself into his lover’s arms, hooking his hand behind Charlie’s neck and pulling their mouths together for a searing kiss. Charlie made a sound of surprise that resolved into a moan of passion as he grabbed hold of Gray and kissed him back.
For a moment, it was beautiful. Gray could let everything go, forget the strains of the day, and simply revel in the taste of his lover’s mouth and the feeling of his hands gripping the front of his clothes. Rain pounded against the windows as the promised storm began to break around them, but it was the perfect complement to everything Gray felt within him. Too soon, however, Charlie’s grip became too tight and he pushed Gray away from him.
They both stood panting for a few seconds before Charlie breathlessly said, “Wait. We cannot.”
“Yes, we can,” Gray said, grabbing Charlie by the lapels of his jacket and yanking him into another kiss.
Charlie joined him, the sounds he made frantic and longing. He only allowed the kiss to continue for a few seconds before muscling the two of them apart once more. “We have much to talk about,” he gasped, desire sparkling in his eyes as he held Gray at arm’s length.
As much as Gray wanted to wrap himself in Charlie and beg him to fuck him within an inch of his life so that he could feel possessed by the man he loved, he had enough sense to recognize that Charlie was correct. Still, he asked, “Are you not certain it could wait until we are both limp and satisfied?”
Charlie let out a quick laugh before sobering himself, though the hint of mirth remained in his eyes. “It cannot wait,” he said.“I must say my piece before you make your choice and go off with Bradford, or some other man of your choosing.”
Gray blinked at him. “Why would you think I would cast you aside for Howard or anyone else?”
No sooner was the question asked than his heart and brain filled in several answers for him. Had not Charlie thrown him off once himself? Did he expect that sort of behavior from him?
“I have been naïve to think that you would be satisfied with a stodgy old viscount such as me,” Charlie said, lowering his head slightly. “Not when you have had such adventures and entertaining men like Bradford.”
Gray wasn’t certain he had heard Charlie correctly. He shook his head and took a half step toward his lover. “You are hardly old, Charlie. You’re not yet even eight-and-twenty. Howard is approaching forty himself.”
“You know what I mean,” Charlie said, scrunching his face and shaking his head. “I am not the free spirit you are. I threw you over for my sister.”
Gray stepped back, lust shifting to seriousness within him. “Is that your concern?” he asked. “That because you once chose family and duty over me, sending me off on a path of exciting irresponsibility that you are somehow no longer my match?”
Vulnerability filled Charlie’s expression. “Nothing has changed with me,” he said. “I still have a responsibility toward my family’s name and estates. I have Barbara to consider as well, particularly while things are unsettled between her and your brother. I cannot rush off to the Continent, nor jump three in a bed with you and Bradford.”
Gray’s cheeks flared hot. “Did Howard suggest that?”
