The closest violinist cradled his instrument to his chest as though protecting a newborn baby.
“Can you play?”asked his skeptical companion.
“A bit.Not as well ashim.”The tip of Geoffrey’s boot nudged Donovan in the ribs.“He’s known as… the Sultan of Strings!”
Donovan snorted into his mug of ale.“Thewhat?”
“Get him on his feet, then,” said the violinist, handing over his instrument.“The lads have asked for a tune.Do you know…” He named the lewdest song ever to be sung in a tavern.
“The Sultan practically invented it,” Geoffrey assured him, barely hiding his laughter as he curved his fingers beneath Donovan’s arms and hauled him to his feet.“Come on then.Don’t be shy, Sultan.”
“I will kill you,” Donovan informed him.
“Kill me after the song.”Geoffrey handed him a violin, then placed the other beneath his own chin.Without giving Donovan further opportunity to complain or demur, Geoffrey scraped his bow across two of the strings, then launched into the accompanist’s melody.
With a sigh, Donovan placed his feet more squarely on the wooden stool, then lowered his bow to the strings.Normally, he would have fussed with tuning the instrument and applying rosin to the bow first, but there was no time, nor was this the crowd for scruples.
He allowed the primary melody to burst forth from the violin instead, wrenching from it notes high and pure, then low and lusty, racing back and forth with ever-increasing speed and volume until the entire tavern was on its feet cheering in approval.
They played for over an hour, everyone growing more tipsy and the lyrics becoming less intelligible with every new song.The barmaids kept the ales coming for Dominic and Geoffrey, not that there was time to do more than grab a hurried sip between pieces before beginning anew.
Yet somehow, by the time they returned the violins to their rightful owners and begged their leave from a roaring and adoring crowd, Donovan was anything but sober.He and Geoffrey stumbled back to the inn with their arms about each other’s shoulders, hip to drunken hip, half-remembered words still warbling from their mouths.
Perhaps that was why Donovan pulled Geoffrey into their shared chamber—and his embrace.Perhaps that was why Geoffrey responded by kicking the door closed and crushing his lips to Donovan’s.
Or perhaps it had always been inevitable, and they had only wanted an excuse to allow them to realize their desires.
They did not to take the kisses into the bedroom, not that the tiny parlor with its convenient chaise provided much deterrent to carnal acts.But rather than tumble onto its soft surface, Geoffrey backed Donovan against the wall instead, pinning his shoulders to the wallpaper and trapping his hands up above either side of his head.
Soon, Donovan broke free, finally allowing his hands to roam hungrily over Geoffrey’s arms and shoulders and chest.
Geoffrey responded by tossing Donovan’s cravat aside, then freeing button after button.
Donovan skipped over Geoffrey’s coat and waistcoat and headed straight to the fall of his trousers instead.Those were the buttons that most interested him.The treasure he wished most to unveil.His fingers were clumsy compared to the valet’s, but he managed to free half of the fall.
Geoffrey’s skilled fingers followed suit, his outsized hand closing around Donovan’s painfully rigid shaft at the same moment that Donovan’s fingers encircled Geoffrey’s own.
They stroked as they kissed, gasping into each other’s mouths as they stoked the fire burning between them into an inferno of desire.Donovan could no longer keep his cock from bucking with pleasure inside Geoffrey’s silken grip.Wet heat covered Donovan’s own fingers as Geoffrey’s seed spilled from his shaft.
Afterwards, they touched their sweaty foreheads together, panting.Realization of the line they had just crossed slowly crept into their consciousness.
“I took advantage,” Donovan croaked.
“I took what I wanted,” Geoffrey countered.
“We should not have—” the duke began again.
“—stopped there,” his valet finished.
A strangled laugh escaped Donovan’s throat.“An excellent point.Very well.Next time?”
Geoffrey grinned.“Next time.”
Donovan was done denying himself.He intended to enjoy every moment.
Chapter10
Come morning, the duke’s coach-and-four was ready and waiting in front of the inn… along a street with hundreds of other carriages likewise awaiting their owners for a long journey home.
