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

“Yes. I want the colt thoroughly groomed and a tar brush passed over his hooves before he’s put away for the day, if you please, Jem. From this day forward he’s to be stabled here.”


“Aye, sir. His stall’s been waiting for him this age.” He grinned at me then called, “Jack! Come and take our handsome lad.”


I bathed and changed into clothing suitable for celebrating my lover’s birthday, and then I drifted from one room to another, waiting for Geo to drive up to the front door. Excitement fizzed in my veins, and I was grateful there was none to witness my state of arousal. At length I settled in the rose sitting room, where I tried to pass the time working the puzzle of Waterloo.


“Begging your pardon, sir.” Colling stood in the doorway. “Cook says if she must put dinner back once more, it will be completely ruined.”


Chapter 71