Ashton Laytham was a happy little boy until, at the age of seven, he lost his parents. Sent to Fayerweather to be brought up by his uncle and his uncle’s wife, he was perceived to be an unhappy, unlovable child. Shunned by family and servants and permitted no friends to visit, he grows to adulthood alone and aloof, with only an occasional illicit rendezvous to lighten his days. When his uncle dies, leaving the estate virtually bankrupt, it’s left to Ashton to make good on his uncle’s gaming debts and save Fayerweather. But how? The family talisman, worth thousands of pounds, has been stolen and the suspects vanished in the night, leaving Ashton to face the loss of the home he’s come to love. Geo Stephenson, who works in His Majesty’s civil service, has ghosts of his own. The product of a marriage of convenience, Geo has known all his life his father never loved his mother, and he vows that will never happen to him. Marked by a physical scar earned in battle, none of his previous lovers could bear looking at it without shuddering; his mental scars are due to the many friends lost in useless battles. Geo arrives with a fistful of Sir Eustace Laytham’s IOUs and a solution: Ashton accommodating him in bed, thereby paying off the debt. Attracted to Geo in spite of himself and desperate for any human kindness, Ashton agrees ... never expecting to lose his heart to a man who has sworn he’ll never give his. Can these two men find a measure of happiness together?

Bless Us With Content

Abruptly the import of Geo’s last words struck me, and my breath hitched again. Could he mean…No, I dared not let myself read too much into it.


And then his actions splintered my thoughts and my mind went blank. He caressed the spot where hip and thigh joined before moving to find and fondle my prick. He smeared drops of the liquid that oozed over the tip and along the shaft, toying with the foreskin, all the while driving into me with a steady pace. I shivered at the combination of sensations that buffeted and bombarded my senses.


For the first time in longer than I cared to remember, I was filled, plundered, enjoyed. Geo murmured words in my ear, first in English, and then in some language I didn’t recognize. His words, his actions, the warmth of his breath whispering into my ear pushed me, drove me toward the mountaintop. I clutched his shoulders knowing that when I went spinning off someone would be there to catch me.


Chapter 41