The idea was more than tempting.
“Nowwhich one of us has the raging cockstand,” Donovan muttered.
“We do have six hours before we’re back in London,” Geoffrey pointed out.“Six long… hard… turgid hours.”
Donovan shook his finger at him.“The privacy of a bedchamber is one thing.But I will not be caught with my pants down in a moving carriage.”
“The odds of a traffic accident—”
“—are the highest they’ve ever been,” the duke finished dryly.“We are in a tight queue with a thousand other carriages.Men on horseback regularly glance through the window as they pass.I’m fairly certain I just saw someone’s grandmotherwalkpast the glass.”
“There are curtains for a reason,” Geoffrey grumbled.“If they are insufficient, we should have left in the dark of night.”
“And miss the grand ball?”the duke asked wryly.
“We did miss the grand ball.”
“Because we were entertaining each other in my apartment’s closet-sized sitting room instead,” said Donovan.“Are you sorry to have missed the highlight of the holiday?”
“Ididn’tmiss the highlight of my holiday,” his valet replied softly.
“In that case, I believe all that dancing requires a restorative foot massage,” the duke announced.
Geoffrey closed the curtain and started to ease off of his seat to attend to the task.
Donovan beat him to the floor, sliding to his knees before his valet’s spread legs.
“What are you doing?”Geoffrey asked in alarm.
“I just told you.”
Carefully, Donovan eased the flawlessly shined boots from his valet’s enormous feet, then lifted one of the warm, silk-stockinged feet onto his thighs.
“I’ve never given a foot massage before,” he said gruffly.“Forgive me if I am imperfect.”
“I’m already hard,” Geoffrey whispered back.“You’re doing a great job.”
Donovan worked his thumbs gently into the pad of Geoffrey’s foot, doing his best to emulate the strokes and pressure that had brought him the most pleasure at the hands of his valet.
Geoffrey groaned as his eyes fluttered closed and his head lolled back against the padded panel.
Donovan’s hands glided over the silk, stroking, kneading, soothing.“How am I doing?”
“Never stop.”
The duke grinned.“We could have been taking turns all along if I’d had any inkling you were interested in me.”
“Any inkling!I bathed younakedand you gave no sign that my ministrations affected you in the least.”
“You have no idea the mental effort required to keep my cock from springing up in your presence, whether you’re touching me or not.”
“If you had let it fly, I might have rubbed more than your feet.”
“I wish I would have,” Donovan said wryly.
His stomach flipped to think how different the past two decades might have been if he hadn’t tried so hard to hide his attraction to Geoffrey.Donovan kicked himself at the idea that he had no one to blame but himself for the years of agony and misery and torment.
At least the question of mutual desire had finally been put to rest.
