Lord Rex, Duke of Smythington
“This brandy is very smooth.” Flynn sat across from me, his legs stretched before the fire as he sipped from his glass.
“Yes, very smooth.” I looked at the mantel clock chiming the hour. Apprehension continued to settle in my gut as I waited for Eleanor to join us.
With all the celebration of Anne’s engagement, we shared a family dinner, the conversation centering on wedding plans and discussions about their wedding journey. Usually, the bride’s and groom’s plans were kept a secret. Anne wanted Eleanor and me to know where she was because she knew we would worry.
The moment Eleanor asked for a private audience, I knew what she wanted to bring up. The door creaked open, and Flynn and I looked over to see my wife enter. The color was high on her cheeks, and there was a nervousness about her person not normally present.
According to what Flynn had told me, he had given her the option to decide when and if our affair would take place. I still had reservations myself. Once we went down that road, there was no coming back.
Flynn hopped to his feet like a gentleman, his hand on the back of the chair he’d just vacated. His thumb set a steadyrhythm against the leather, revealing he wasn’t as cool as he projected.
She smiled at both of us, but it didn’t reach her eyes. I immediately got up and poured her a glass of brandy. Moving to her side, I pressed it into her hand. “Here, I think you might need this.”
“Thank you, I think I might.” She looked at me, a wry smile twisting her lips.
The coal fire hissed in the fireplace as the gas lamps flickered. The study was paneled with wood and smelled of books and parchment. Starting at a young age, my father and I worked in this very room where he taught me everything he knew about being a duke.
Eleanor took a seat in the chair next to me, cradling the glass in her hand. Her ring tinkled against the crystal, and she took a tentative sip. It was a testament to her uneasiness that she was actually drinking brandy. She didn’t imbibe in strong spirits but preferred wine.
Indecision flashed over Flynn’s features as if he wasn’t sure what to do.
“I have asked Flynn to stay because I sense this conversation will involve all three of us.”
She choked on the brandy as she took another drink and waved a hand before her face. Wrinkling her nose, she settled the glass back down into her lap. “I guess he told you what we discussed.”
“Yes, he did.” This was so unconventional that I wasn’t sure what to say next. I had known her half of my life, yet I didn’t feel like I could talk to her about this, which was very unusual. “Do you have questions because I know I do?”
“I have many questions.” Despite the words being said in jest, the seriousness in her gaze concerned me. She looked at me with hurt in her eyes, and I wanted to soothe away her sorrow.“My most urgent question is, have you always had these feelings toward other men?”
“You started with the hardest question.” Indeed, it was a difficult one. I can’t say one way or another if I did. It wasn’t as if what happened on our last night in Oxford had been planned. We’d simply both drank too much and things progressed once we fell into bed. I considered it experimentation at the time and dismissed it as a fluke. “When I met you, Eleanor, I fell in love with you, and I’m still in love with you.”
“You don’t show it anymore and I thought, well, I thought it might be my fault.” She bit her lip, tears shimmering before she seemed to catch herself. She glanced over at Flynn and then back at me. “That’s why I thought perhaps you’ve been hiding this from me. And even though you and I have been close over the years, you are no longer attracted to me. If that’s the case, I need to know if it’s because I’m not a man or because we have fallen into a rut.”
I felt like the worst sort of heel at hearing her words and shook my head vehemently. “It isn’t your fault. It’s not my fault either. I think we allowed our romance to fade away between our children and our many obligations. I desire you Eleanor, I always have. It wasn’t until recently I started remembering my night spent with Flynn and well...” I trailed off. I couldn’t speak any further.
“What he’s trying to say is that he wondered, like I wondered, if it really was a chance occurrence that night, or could there be something real between us,” Flynn said. “I know I desire you in the biblical sense. There are parts of Rex I find appealing as well. I can’t explain it. It is part of who I am. I would like to explore my desires with the two of you. It is obvious you desire me and your husband.”
“My desire for either of you is not the issue at hand,” she snapped. “I made a vow to Rex, and I have lived up to it.”
“I have lived up to my vow as well and I will continue to do so.” When I made my vows to Eleanor, I meant to keep them. There were many men in my station who had mistresses, and if I had had one, society wouldn’t look down on it. However, being with a man would bring shame upon my family. As a duke and an earl, respectively, we were untouchable. Our titles did not pad us from scrutiny, however. We had our families to think about as well. “I want to do this together or not at all.”
“I’m still not sure. I am sorry,” she said.
“Neither one of you need answer right now. As I said, both of you are on even ground.” Flynn moved closer to the fireplace until we were all within three feet of each other. Head tilted, he offered a pained smile.
“Have you ever done this before with um, people?” Eleanor asked. She turned a rosier hue, clearly embarrassed by her question.
“I was interested in the same thing.” I had been curious about his past as well. During our conversation on the boat, he indicated he had had an affair with another couple in the past. Or at least with another man. Flynn had seemed so sure this would work, and with my limited experience with matters of the flesh, I had to trust his word.
Flynn nodded and placed a hand at the nape of his neck. With a sheepish smile, he said, “I will admit, only in this room, that I had an affair with a man after Mary died. I relived my university days and tried to capture the time I was the happiest. That night with Rex was one of the highlights of my memories.”
“You’ve never been with another couple?” I had to know the answer.
“Technically, they weren’t a couple.” His smile broadened. From the light of lust brightening his eyes, he was thinking ahead to what would come if Eleanor and I agreed to his request.
Eleanor stared straight ahead. I could see her jaw working as she chewed the inside of her mouth, a nervous habit she had. “What exactly did you and Rex do at Oxford?”
