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“Tell them I"ll be incommunicado for a time, but that I"m still doing my duty.”
Duty. Such a grim word.
“And what sort of work is the captain arranging for you now? Never mind, I know you can"t say. The man always was a hard blighter for all he was a gentleman.
Wouldn"t catch me working under him a moment longer than necessary.”
“The captain is dead. Has been for two years.”
Gilley looked astonished. “I had no idea…” he began.
You wouldn"t. We tend to be a secretive lot in that little corner of the government, Reese thought. He said, “I can"t speak to you any longer. I have too much to do.” Slightly awkwardly, for he wasn"t used to working with others, he added, “Thank you for your help, Gilley.”
Gilley"s face went pink, and Reese realized he blushed with pleasure.
With Gilley"s help and the cooperation of the police—achieved with the gentle persuasion of Lord Merridew—Reese was able to spirit Karl away in Merridew"s carriage several hours later. Cloaked in the dark of night, they left the damaged town house to head for Lord Merridew"s estate in the country. Of course the coachman didn"t question his assignment, but he cast curious glances at his unexpected passengers, traveling without so much as a valet between them.
Reese was certain the erbgraf"s retinue, particularly Cohen, was in an uproar, but between Gilley parading as a doctor and Merridew, they"d managed to convince the men that the count"s son was being well taken care of and resting comfortably in his uncle"s home. His London home. None of the staff was informed of the change of location. Reese intended to keep Karl safe and protected in the country while he healed from his injuries. Gilley"s men would do the legwork, and Reese would piece together who was involved in the conspiracy to end the erbgraf"s life. He made the arrangements, though it chafed to dole out responsibility he wanted for himself.
God, but he hated letting anyone into his business. He blinked at the realization that Karl was his—business, he reminded himself.
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Lord Merridew"s estate, in the gently rolling hills of Buckinghamshire not far from Windsor Castle, was the kind of place that always made Reese feel like he should enter through the servants" door. Although the grandeur wore the patina of age, the front hall was still an impressive chamber, complete with suits of armor and portraits of ancestors gracing the walls. He was glad not to have the entire entourage with them as he followed Karl and the butler, who led them to the rooms that were being aired for them per Lord Merridew"s note.
Two guest bedrooms, side by side. The enforced closeness was like waving a steak in front of a dog. Reese knew he couldn"t long deny the urge to visit Karl in his room—merely to check on his well-being, of course.
He had no bag to unpack, the pair of them having fled London like the Israelites from Egypt. Merridew had said there were closets and trunks full of his sons" old clothing that, although outdated and perhaps scented of ancient lavender, would serve them. Upon Karl and Reese"s arrival, a pair of servants had been sent to bring piles of the clothes to their two bedchambers.
Reese walked to the window to gaze out at the expanse of green lawn and well-kept gardens and the wild lands beyond. A sudden urge to walk—no, to run across that sumptuous landscape—tugged on him.
“What do you think of your room?” Karl"s voice made Reese jump as he spoke from the doorway. “The mattress is lumpy and the air a bit damp and musty, but what does one expect in an English country home? Ah, I"ve always loved this place.”
Reese turned to face the tall blond man. Karl"s fresh white shirt was open at the neck to reveal a slice of lightly tanned skin. His hair was damp and freshly The Nobleman and the Spy
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combed, and his smile made Reese feel as if a hand were gripping his heart and squeezing until he gasped for mercy. Even though they"d spent hours in each other"s company on the journey here, dozing restlessly in the seats of the jostling carriage, he was seized anew by the power of Karl"s presence.
“I should be exhausted after traveling all night, but perhaps the close brush with death has me starting at every sound. I"d much prefer a walk in the fresh air to clear my head and help me to sleep. Would you care to go with me?”
As if he had a choice. He was His Excellency"s bodyguard and protector now.
Reese nodded. “A walk would be very nice.”
He pulled on a pair of borrowed boots and slipped into a drab brown jacket, glad to be rid of the eveningwear. There was a light drizzle starting up outdoors, but that too was to be expected in the English countryside.
As they walked through the garden behind the house, Karl gestured to the white marble dryads and fauns—gods and goddesses on pedestals. “My dear aunt, God rest her soul, was an aficionado of all things Grecian, as you can see.”
The arrangement of the beds was not one of formal precision, but a lush and romantic tangle of vegetation, the leaves of which were currently dripping rainwater. The marble statues were worse for wear from inclement weather—eroded, chipped, and mossy. Reese imagined in her day, Lady Merridew would have made certain they were covered in winter and cleaned every spring, but her widowed husband hadn"t bothered, and a lazy gardener hadn"t either.
“My aunt has a lovely Grecian temple hidden away in the trees by the brook.
My cousins and I used to play in it when I was a boy. Come.” Karl led the way through the shaggy, once beautifully maintained gardens, around the fountains and statuary to the woods beyond. A somewhat overgrown path led into the cool darkness of the trees. Beneath the branches, Karl and Jonathan were protected from the drizzle, but the patter of rain on leaves filled the quiet woods.
Reese moved single file with Karl along the path, his eyes riveted on the backside of the other man"s tan breeches. They were made for a smaller man—one 110
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of the cousins in his youth—and fit Karl very snugly. Following behind him, Reese was reminded of expeditions in the army—the mingled fear and perverse excitement as he scouted enemy territory. Here in this primeval green, it was easy to believe anything might jump out and attack them. He could imagine these woods would have been a paradise for young boys at play and tried to imagine what Karl might have looked like then, a towheaded Germanic lad standing shoulders above his English cousins.
The white building glimpsed through tree branches could indeed have been a temple to Dionysus, a secluded and ancient monument to a long-abandoned god. Ivy grew on the columns that supported the roof. Benches invited one to sit inside and view the stream at the foot of an incline. Bushes had grown up, but Reese could imagine a time when the view had been clear and the stream less brackish.
“Look at this. Young lads and their penchant for war.” Karl indicated mismatched pieces of wood marring the symmetry of the columns, nailed between them with haphazard, childish abandon. “Auntie would"ve killed us if she saw what we"d done to her temple, but she was quite bedridden by the time we took it over for our fort.”
They sat on the marble benches. The damp and cold seeped through Reese"s trousers, and the chill in the dark woods made him shiver.
“Ah, you"re all done in,” Karl murmured. “We should"ve stayed in my room in front of a roaring fire.”
“No. This is quite all right. I enjoy seeing where you grew up. There was a similar woods near my boyhood home, and of course, we acted out our battles there too.”
“So it continues. Every generation of young man goes off to war thinking it"s going to be like the fun and excitement of those childish games. Such a shame and a waste.” Karl smiled to chase away his momentary melancholy. “But I did not bring you out here to brood on the topic of war.”
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Reese raised a brow. “What did you bring me here for?” he asked as if he didn"t know the answer.
Karl rose and came to sit by him, and he pressed his leg against Reese"s.
Crowded close together like this, the hard marble bench beneath them didn"t seem so cold. Karl smelled of soap. He"d taken time to wash up and shave at the basin in his room. Reese rubbed his hand over his own chin, still gritty with plaster dust, and wished he"d taken the time to make himself presentable.
But Karl cupped his face and ran his thumb over the rough stubble. “You look good with a bit of beard, Mr. Reese. Rather dark and dangerous, which I"m certain you are.” He slipped his other hand around Reese"s back and leaned in to kiss him.
Drawing away after a light press of lips, he added, “Dangerous to some, but you"ve saved my life twice now, so I believe you"re my hero.”
His devilish smile drove the last of the shivers from Reese"s body. He was well heated now as Karl sank to his knees before him on the floor of the pavilion and began to unfasten his fly.
“
Da hast du es, mein liebhaber
,” he said as he released Reese"s erection and lovingly stroked its length. Karl glanced up at his face, eyes twinkling. “It is time for me to return the favor of last night.”
He brought the tip of Reese"s engorged cock to his mouth and laved it with his tongue. He then licked all the way up his shaft with a broad stroke. The sight of that wide pink tongue and the warm wetness of it on his member had Reese quivering with pleasure. He gripped the edges of the bench and braced his feet against the floor. His knees were on either side of Karl"s broad body, hugging him lightly. The rain continued to drum on the roof, and this precise moment, on this gorgeous, rainy afternoon, would be imprinted on his mind forever after.
The loamy scent of wet earth and the tang of pine needles teased his nose.
Reese leaned back against a column of the temple and closed his eyes nearly all the way, but kept them open enough to watch Karl make love to him with his mouth.
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The other man"s hand moved expertly up and down his shaft while Karl sucked hard on the tip. Reese groaned quietly and thrust into his grip.
Karl glanced up, and his eyes smiled. He moved his hand lower and cupped Reese"s balls in one large hand while he swallowed more of his cock, taking it deep into his throat. The heat and wetness bathed him and enfolded him. Reese reached out to rest his hands on Karl"s soft blond hair. He rifled his fingers through it and gripped while Karl continued to bob up and down on his cock.
As the speed and hot friction of his sucking mouth increased, the pressure inside Reese mounted. He twisted handfuls of Karl"s hair and thrust his hips faster until at last the tension released and bliss shot through him like an arrow from a bow. Energy sizzled the length of his cock and exploded from him. Reese thumped the back of his head against the hard column and gasped as pleasure poured through him.
Karl drew back, swallowing. He pumped Reese"s cock a few more times to finish him off and continued to hold him as he murmured a few more endearments in German. A light kiss on the tip of his depleted cock, and then Karl tucked it away and began to refasten Reese"s fly.
Karl remained kneeling, forearms resting on Reese"s legs as he looked up at him.
Reese pulled himself back from the edges of rapture and focused on the man at his feet. “Thank you.”
“It was my pleasure, as you well know. But now, my friend, I believe it"s time for some serious talk between us. We managed to travel hours and many miles without a word spoken. I was dazed and half asleep, and not ready to discuss what had happened, but now I"d like to know who you suspect.” He paused, then added,
“And what part you play in all of this, my guardian angel.”
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excitement and Karl"s warmth into becoming someone else for a moment, someone softer and weaker. But a spy didn"t survive long by giving in to desire. He sighed.
“I"ve learned to trust hunches, and I have a strong feeling someone in your entourage is involved in the attack.”
Karl frowned and stood, his arms leaving behind warm imprints on Reese"s legs. “I won"t say it"s impossible, but I find it highly improbable. They were all present at my uncle"s house last night, putting each of them in as much danger as myself.” He stared down at Reese, who said nothing. He waited and watched the disbelief in Karl"s eyes change into resignation. “Very well. You"ve met most of them and talked to some of them. Who do you suspect?”
Reese rose to face him. “I couldn"t say. But logic tells me there was someone who knows you and your habits, as well as the confederate who threw the second bomb.”
Karl walked away from Reese to stare out at the frame of dripping tree branches and the bit of slow-moving brook glimpsed between them.
Reese watched him, giving him an undisturbed moment to acclimate to the idea that one of those closest to him might be a betrayer. He almost saw the moment Karl came to terms with it, as the man"s shoulders straightened and his head rose higher. He turned back to Reese. “Why would someone want me dead?
Who stands to gain from this?”
“If I knew that, I"d know who your enemy is.”
Karl shrugged, and with the lift of his shoulders, the serious air vanished, and mischievous light filled his face. “I must say, I wouldn"t be at all surprised if Villiars had been planted in my retinue by an outside agent. I quite despise that man.”