“No, I love it,” Yves said.
“But you do not love London and, I might venture to guess, the people who reside in London?”
“I…I do not dislike people,” Yves said. “In fact, I like some of them very much. But others, the ones who would seek to do me harm, the strangers who might drag me before the magistrate and have me hanged, I could do without.”
“What if we could go out and I could guarantee that people would not see you?” Bradford asked.
Yves blinked, puzzled. “You cannot make me invisible,” he said.
“No,” Bradford agreed slowly. “But there are other things that could be done.”
“What things?” Yves asked.
Bradford merely smiled at him. “Do you trust me?” he asked instead of answering.
“With my life,” Yves replied earnestly.
Bradford leaned in and kissed him quickly. “Then trust me,” he said.
That was it. He had mischief in his eyes that made him look even more desirable than usual. Yves not only trusted him, he would have gone to the ends of the earth for him. And knowing Bradford, that might be precisely what the man had in mind.
Seven
Howard was mystified by himself. It was not at all like him to devote so much time and attention to a single man. For as long as he could remember, he’d been happy to spend a few hours or days in a man’s company, then to wish him well and move on. He had liked it that way. He could provide a few moments of pleasure and even wise counsel with a friend, but he’d never had any need to bog himself down in the concerns of another.
With Clermont, he wanted to be bogged down. Clermont’s troubles felt as if they were his troubles. He was deeply invested in assisting his angel in overcoming whatever demons his horrible brother had left him with so that he could live a full and profitable life.
Truth be told, the kernel of an idea that Clermont might live the rest of that full life by Howard’s side, traveling across England and the Continent with him, had begun to take hold in Howard’s mind. There was so much he wanted to show his angel, so many things in the world that he was certain Clermont would be delighted to see.
There were so many things in London for Clermont to see, particularly as the city was dressed in its festive best at the moment. That was the essence of the plan he’d concocted while holding Clermont in his arms in the garden that afternoon. It appeared as though it was not the out of doors that intimidated his young lover so much as the people who also inhabited it and the perceived threat they posed.
Howard knew precisely how to circumvent all that.
“Do not lock your door when you go to bed tonight,” he advised Clermont as they finished their supper and walked side by side upstairs.
“Oh?” Clermont looked both anxious and hopeful at Howard’s command.
Howard grinned. “You must trust me on this matter. Someone might desire to slip quietly into your room in the deep of night.”
Clermont smiled bashfully, his cheeks turning a delicious pink that nearly made Howard forego the plan he’d already set in motion to spend another night in his angel’s bed. “I will,” he said. “Trust you, that is.”
They parted ways on the first-floor landing. Howard watched Clermont walk down to his door, then waved at him as he turned the handle and entered. As soon as Clermont was inside his room, rather than continuing up to the second floor, Howard turned around and raced back downstairs. He had many things to arrange in a very short space of time, starting with speaking to the club’s stable master about borrowing one of the carriages.
Howard worked tirelessly through the evening and into the night, arranging, decorating, and procuring refreshments from the club’s kitchen. He even went out briefly to survey the streets around the club, searching for signs of Christmas cheer.
By the time the clock in the main hallway of the club struck midnight, all was ready. Howard fetched his coat and hat and setthem on a table in the club’s foyer to be ready for when they were needed, then hurried upstairs to Clermont’s room.
Not only had Clermont left his door unlocked, the hinges must have been recently oiled, because it barely squeaked at all when he opened it. Clermont lay on his bed wearing nothing but his trousers and untucked shirt. He had a shawl around his shoulders like he’d grown chilly, but his appearance was most certainly that of a man waiting for his lover to join him, but had fallen asleep.
Heat and affection swelled in Howard once more as he approached his angel. It was odd to him that the physical center of his feelings toward the man should manifest in his heart and his gut and not lower. He sat gently on the bed, careful not to wake Clermont for a moment, and brushed his fingers through the man’s golden-blond hair. Clermont wriggled slightly and made a plaintive and alluring sound in his sleep. The man was an absolute treat in every way.
“Wake up, my sweet,” Howard said softly, caressing the side of Clermont’s face.
Clermont drew in a breath, his eyes fluttered, and without so much as a jolt or a flinch, he smiled up at Howard. “You’ve come at last,” he said.
“I have,” Howard answered, his heart beating so hard he was certain it would crash through his ribs.
“I am ready for you,” Clermont said, shifting to his back and raising his arms as if to embrace Howard.
