He turned the door handle, stepped into his bedchamber, and smiled at Geoffrey.Donovan’s footmen had preceded him, as requested.
This evening, there was not one, buttwoside-by-side bathing tubs in the dressing room.
If his staff found this request odd—as they must—it was at least no stranger than the countless tales Donovan had heard from his peers about the luxuries and inanities they demanded of their own servants.
That the Duke of Southbury should decide to bathe twice in succession was certainly less alarming than the bathing rituals allegedly practiced by the vain Countess of Bathory, and far less taxing than the round-the-clock army of servants required to keep up with the relentless decadence and bacchanalia of the Prince Regent.
Regardless of how his peccadilloes ranked in comparison, Donovan had always paid his employees well for their continued discretion.He rarely comported himself in any manner that might raise an eyebrow, but nonetheless had always feltpreventionof potential scandal a far wiser path than having to publicly defend his actions after the fact.
He was therefore known not just as a remarkably fair employer, but also an extraordinarily generous one.His housekeeper received dozens of new applicants every day, and turned them all away, because no servant in the duke’s employ wished to leave their post before retirement.
For that reason, the day he hired a replacement for Geoffrey would be An Event within the household.The first new employee in years.Geoffrey would be the only manservant to leave before his hair had gone gray.
The irony was, Donovan no longer wanted him to go.It was Geoffrey who now agreed that the current situation could not continue.He did not trust that Donovan would not change his mind in the future, and decide anew that it was time to take a bride and rid himself of his valet.
Which meant change was inevitable.
Donovan was not looking forward to the hiring process.No matter the new hire’s competence and years of experience, the man could not compare in the least.This was by design.Donovan intended to select the most dour-faced, English, physically unattractive, unimaginably dull, extremely-uninterested-in-the-charms-of-men, only-here-for-the-extravagant-salary candidate he could find.
But that was a task for tomorrow.A full night of Geoffrey’s company still remained.
Donovan thanked his footmen and waited for them to leave, before he locked the bedchamber door and turned to face his valet.
His.For a few hours longer.
Geoffrey gestured toward the twin tubs.“Feeling dirty, your grace?”
“Hoping you do, too.”
The flash of heat in his valet’s eyes was the only answer Donovan needed.
As always, Geoffrey was dressed in the latest fashions, impeccable from tousled brown head to Hessian-clad toe, his solid form concealed from view by layers of linen and silk and wool.
Donovan would soon change that.
They met each other halfway, big hands fumbling at small buttons in their excitement, fastidious cravats and fussy little handkerchiefs flying across the dressing room with absolutely no attention paid to how or where the expensive scraps of silk and linen landed.
The coats came off, adieu, who needs you?Not with a gorgeous fire roaring in the grate, two massive bathtubs filled with steaming water, and the heat they’d kept hidden inside bursting to be set free.
Waistcoats were the next to litter the floor, then white cambric shirts.Then black boots and silk stockings, until the men stood before each other wearing only easy-to-doff trousers with nothing at all underneath.
“May I?”asked Geoffrey.
“Only if I may, as well,” answered the duke.
Ridiculous to feel suddenly shy.Geoffrey had seen him naked innumerous times over the past two decades, and his valet’s cock had been in Donovan’s hand just five days prior.
Yet that had been unplanned.Two men in their cups, laughing like children after their escapade performing bawdy songs at a seedy tavern, falling into each other’s arms with the grace of elephants and the self-control of a hurricane.
This was a seduction.
Donovan added perfumed salts to the baths, sent pink petals floating atop the water.He lit an inordinate number of candles, so as not to miss a single moment.
Geoffrey closed the gap between them and reached for Donovan’s fall.The duke waited his turn, then did the same.Hand in hand, they gingerly stepped into the pools of hot, fragrant water and sank until their hips disappeared below the surface.
“Me first,” the duke said hoarsely.“I can’t wait any longer.”
His valet reached for a wash cloth.
