Who was he to deny both of them?And with Maurice begging for his cock, Sebastian guided himself in, pushing past the ring of muscle into the perfect tight heat of Maurice’s body.Maurice cried out and once Sebastian was buried inside—so incredibly good—Maurice let out a long sigh and his body relaxed underneath Sebastian.All it took for the Duke to come undone was a fucking.What a glorious sight.Sebastian lifted up Maurice’s hand and kissed it, and Maurice frowned, making Sebastian wonder if anyone had ever taken the time to care for Maurice.The man had an entire staff who fussed over him and did everything for him, but when was the last time someone cared for him as a man?When was the last time someone treated him like an equal partner, wanting nothing from him but his pleasure?These were odd worries while his cock was buried inside Maurice, and he distracted himself from them by moving.
“Oh God.Sebastian.Just like that.”Gooseflesh broke over Maurice’s skin as Sebastian thrust slowly, and then Maurice grabbed Sebastian’s forearms.“Harder.Faster.Ruin me.”
The command was softened by the gravel in Maurice’s voice and the soft flush over his cheeks, and Sebastian felt like a king as he fucked the Duke just like he asked.Maurice clung to his forearms, fingers digging into Sebastian’s muscles, and he loved it.
“Sebastian.”One cry of his name was all the warning, Sebastian got as Maurice came in long strands over his chest, his body jerking and tightening around Sebastian who was so close.So damned close, it would take only one more thrust into Maurice for him to follow his lover to completion.He stared at Maurice, spread and wrecked on his bed, and damn it, the shimmer of a tear at the corners of his eyes was the final straw and he lost control, thrusting hard into Maurice until sweat dripped off him, mingling with the scent of the oil, and all he could hear from the slap of his body and Maurice’s breathing and the unsteady thump of his own heart.The shock of his finale hit him like a double-barrelled kick to the chest, coming so hard that his vision filled with bright lights and it wasn’t until he was slumped on top of Maurice that he had any awareness of his surroundings.He floated, delirious, completely aware of every nerve in his body, and yet disconnected from reality as if the only thing in the entire world was Maurice and the way his body cradled Sebastian.His anchor between the greatest release he’d ever had and the world.
“You were worth waiting for.”Maurice whispered in his ear, and the little nibbles and kisses were too much.Sebastian wanted to stay forever, and he wanted to run far away, all at once, and everything intensified as Maurice stiffened underneath him.Gone was the man begging for Sebastian’s cock, replaced with the Duke, and Sebastian hated the way his instincts made him want to call Maurice by his title again.Couldn’t he have a few more minutes to absorb this moment?He didn’t want to be dismissed as having done his duty while his cock was softening inside Maurice.
“How long have you been waiting for me?”He shouldn’t ask such a vulnerable question.
“Forever.”Maurice kissed him.“I think I’ve been waiting my whole life for you.”
God.Sebastian shuddered.If reality wasn’t beating on the door of his chest, Sebastian would let himself believe that forever was possible.In this moment, when it was two bodies connected and enjoying themselves, he could almost—almost—convince himself that this was all the mattered.But he couldn’t.He swallowed back the next questions; was he worth the wait?And what now?Did Maurice want this again?
Chapter 9
For the first timein Maurice’s life, he didn’t want to be a Duke.He was a fool.He’d wanted to kiss Sebastian for years and had stopped himself from asking so many times because ...he always had an excuse.Sebastian worked for him.They had become friends, colleagues.He respected him.The latter was silly since kissing someone he didn’t respect made no sense at all.And now he’d finally taken that big step and invited Sebastian into his bed, he wanted everything.Love.Happiness.A life lived together.
“We’d better dress for dinner.Cook will be disappointed if we don’t eat.”
Sebastian’s gaze shuttered.It hurt.Maurice’s chest tightened, but he didn’t know how to not be a Duke and he couldn’t fall in love with his stable master.Dukes didn’t fall in love with the help.There were rules about that sort of things.The very thought was absurd.At some point, he’d have to do his duty to the title and marry some woman to beget an heir.He’d put that off for years, knowing he couldn’t subject a person to such a fate.It wasn’t fair.He knew what a lonely life it had been for his mother, married for her dowry, and then treated like an old pair of shoes, property that had once been new and exciting and was later faded and forgotten.
“Maurice.Relax.”Sebastian caressed his face and it only made things worse, because he couldn’t have this tenderness as much as he wanted it.If the world was different, if he was different, he might be able to have this.
“I don’t think I can.”His body was sated, and his muscles relaxed, but he wanted too much.He’d heard of men living together, living small happy lives without being noticed by the world.There were several clubs in London where people like him could meet, and sometimes people fell in love and didn’t need the club anymore for fucking or companionship.They became “friends” who shared their finances to make their life a little bit better, and who went about their life without the pressures of society’s gaze.Maurice suddenly had simple needs.He wanted to see that moment on Sebastian’s face when he’d emptied himself into Maurice again and again.The joy and the pleasure in Sebastian’s dark brown eyes, shining with love.Love?Oh hell and damnation.Maurice wanted Sebastian to love him, and if that wasn’t completely and utterly impossible...
This was definitely the opposite to simple.
“What is the problem?”Sebastian’s gentle question felt too innocent, devoid of all the complications rattling around in Maurice’s head.He benefitted greatly from his title and land and money and power, but being a Duke also meant that people paid attention to the minute of his life.They craved what he had, and they aspired to his life, and they used him for entertainment in the newsheets.Even in the quietest version of his life, where he stayed at Pewett Downs only coming to town for parliament, he’d be discussed in the society papers.And a youngish unmarried Duke ...well, he was the main topic of interest among his set.He couldn’t abscond to the country and live a life with Sebastian.Not if he valued Sebastian’s life.
Fuck.
“You are not the problem.The world is the problem.”He didn’t even know how to articulate all these complex worries and that in itself bothered him.He was a Duke, damn it, accustomed to the world bending to his needs.Not this.He couldn’t...
“Maurice.”Sebastian stroked Maurice’s jaw line.“It doesn’t need to be solved instantly.”
