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

Hadn’t John felt much the same way? I reminded myself


Then I’d hear the lock being engaged: he wouldn’t have left. He’d still be here! And I’d whirl around, which incautious action would cause my legs to tangle and me to stumble, but Geo would be there to catch me.


“Of course I care.” He would frown and touch my cheek. “You’ve been drinking.”


“What does it matter to you what I’ve been doing?” The last thing I would want was for him to realise how his touch was making my prick rise to attention and my arse to clench with the need to have him riding me.


“It matters because…” He would let the sentence hang, and I’d want to howl in frustration.


Instead, I’d reach for his lapels with the intent of shoving him back toward the door, but then would force myself to stop, afraid I would cause his bad leg to give out from under him.


“Where have you been for the…the last forever?” Then I’d decide, “Devil take it, I don’t care!”


I would plaster my body against his and take his mouth…


Chapter 83