Chapter Seven
Elias
Elias and his friends snuck out that evening.
After they were subjected to a few card games, the guests began departing for their chambers.
They didn’t invite Lord Duncan to join them, and Elias secretly hoped he would keep Lady Billings occupied so he didn’t have to be on guard every time he passed an open doorway in his own home.
Jude, Matt, and Hudson had all been willing to escape the Snowdon home for a few hours.
They most likely wouldn’t have another opportunity to enjoy an evening out together until the season started in the spring, since they each had respective matters of business to attend to at their country estates.
If they could keep Hudson from scowling at Matt for just one evening, it might prove almost like old times when they visited taverns in their university days.
The busty tavern maid brought them each over a tankard of ale.
Even Hudson didn’t bother to hide that he took notice of her.
Elias thought he almost saw a smile form on his friend’s face, which was a rare occurrence, indeed.
The woman glanced at Elias and then each of his friends, likely assessing them to determine which of them could be a likely customer for other matters of business.
The next thing he knew, the woman came around the table to Elias and sat on his lap. “You will let me know if there is anything I can do for you this evening, won’t you?”
Of all his friends, she would likely have had the best luck that evening if she had propositioned Jude. Although, Elias would be lying if he said he hadn’t fucked a barmaid in an alley before. On more than one occasion.
His father’s words and the disappointment in his eyes when he spoke about Elias’s need to move past sowing his oats nagged at Elias. Particularly on the anniversary of his mother’s death, as he could only imagine that she would have plenty to say about the way he had behaved the past several years.
Miss Cary’s beautiful face flashed in his mind with her pink cheeks and perfect mouth, and that pushed him over the edge, even if he didn’t understand why.
He urged the barmaid to remove herself from his lap.
“Not tonight, but I’m certain you won’t be lonely,” he said, nodding toward other tables of gentlemen.
She huffed and stormed off from their table. He released a deep breath.
“Are you feeling all right, Elias?” Jude asked, smirking at him. “Don’t tell me you have suddenly become marriage-minded.”
Jude knew good and well all the distasteful things that Elias had done, and vice versa.
Elias took a large gulp from his tankard and slammed it harder on the table than he intended. “It’s the anniversary of my mother’s passing. I’m just not in the mood.”
His friends all glanced down at their ale. Jude had never met his own mother since she died giving birth to him. Hudson lost his mother at the same time as his father a couple of years prior. While Matt’s mother was still alive, he hardly saw her since she spent most of her time on the continent.
“Your mother was a treasure, Elias. We all miss her,” Matt said, giving him a small smile.
They each raised their glass and toasted her memory. Elias felt she would smile down on them if she could see that the four had remained such good friends. Well, aside from whatever trouble there was between Matt and Hudson. She’d have probably made them knock their shite off already.
An awkward silence fell over the group for a few moments.
“It’s amazing you don’t have any wounds from how much you and Hannah bickered today,” Jude said, speaking to Hudson. “Don’t you two ever give it a rest?”
Elias laughed and appreciated the change in the conversation. He hadn’t meant to put a damper on their time out.
“She’s the one that won’t give it rest,” Hudson ground out.
Jude glanced between Hudson and Matt several times, who sat across from each other at the table, then refocused his gaze on Hudson. “Please, tell me more.”
“I’m her guardian. So what I say goes,” Hudson said, waving Jude off.
“I think I understand perfectly,” Jude said, laughing. “I’m utterly shocked to learn that she hasn’t settled into the part of the biddable young lady.” The sarcasm was thick in his tone, causing Matt and Elias both to erupt in hearty laughter.
Another voice broke into their banter. “I haven’t seen the lot of you gents in a long time.”
“Durham, what brings you to this part of Sussex?” Matt asked, motioning toward one of the open chairs.
Viscount Durham lowered himself into the seat between Matt and Jude.
“Visiting Downe for the holiday,” he said, motioning toward another gentleman they had all attended university with.
At that moment, the man had the barmaid in his lap, and given his head was practically between the woman’s breasts, it seemed he wouldn’t turn down her services for the evening.
“What about all of you?” Durham asked.
“My sister is throwing a house party,” Elias replied, “and we all decided we required an evening out.”
Durham’s eyes widened, “Can an unmarried lady throw a house party? Or did I miss the announcement in the papers?”
“My Aunt Penny is officially the one hosting it, I suppose, but it was my sister’s doing,” Elias said, hoping the man would not take an interest in Diana. From what he knew about Durham, he wasn’t someone who Elias would allow anywhere near his sister.
“How interesting,” Durham said. “Are there any compelling ladies in attendance?”
Jude laughed. “It depends on how you define compelling. Although Elias was all too pleased to see Lady Billings.”
Durham started chuckling. “I heard Betsy had set her cap at you. Poor woman.”
Given the informal reference Durham made to Lady Billings, Elias could only assume that he had also had an arrangement with the lady at one point.
“Perhaps she would enjoy your company, Durham,” Elias said, hoping that if Lord Duncan didn’t sway her, perhaps Durham would be another option to keep her entertained. She could sneak out of the party just as easily as they all had.
“I’ll take that under advisement,” Durham said, motioning to another barmaid to bring him an ale.
“Our sisters,” Elias said, motioning between himself and Hudson, “and Miss Stone and Miss Cary are the only other ladies present, aside from a couple of married mamas.”
Elias thought he saw a reaction on the man’s face, but it was gone as quickly as he saw it, if so.
“Well, I hope you gents won’t be too bored from all the parlor games and holiday activities. Downe and I will find us a couple of doxies to enjoy. Happy Christmas to us.”
Elias hoped he never sounded like that or said anything of the sort.
Although, if he were honest, he probably had.
Perhaps not at Christmas, since he was always with his family, but other times for certain.
Hell and damnation. His father’s words wouldn’t escape his mind, and he wasn’t certain he’d be able to enjoy the rakish life he had led for so long.
Moving on from such a life didn’t irritate him as much as he might have thought, but the uncertainty about what that would mean for his future and what he wanted for his life most assuredly did.
The barmaid returned and set down several tankards on the table. As soon as her hands were free, Durham cupped her arse and pulled her against him, seating her on his lap. “Are you going to climb on top of my cock tonight and show me what you can do?”
She hesitated and looked like she would remove herself from his lap, but he grabbed the back of her head. “Don’t be shy in front of my friends here. Perhaps they might want to watch.”
Fear marred her expression, and tears welled in her eyes. “Release her now, Durham,” Elias ground out.
Durham sneered at him, but did as Elias had commanded. Elias motioned to Hudson that it was time to go. Matt and Jude followed suit, bidding Durham a curt farewell.
In an attempt to be polite and hope that Durham wouldn’t take out any anger on the poor barmaid after they left, they pretended they might see each other at the tavern again another night. But Elias had no intention of ever associating with Durham.
Besides, even if they wanted to get out again, Diana was likely to keep them exhausted the closer they got to Christmas.
When they returned to his family estate, the men attempted to enter as quietly as they could so as not to wake the rest of the house. Jude, Hudson, and Matt all moved toward the staircase.
Elias hung back, not quite ready to go to his chamber, but also not really wanting one of his friends to join him. He’d only had a couple of tankards of ale, so he had all of his wits, but his defenses were down, and he continued to question everything he believed he wanted for himself.
He trudged to the library, hoping the fire was still lit and he might lie across the settee and lose himself in his thoughts.
When he approached, the library door was open, so he closed it behind himself, releasing an audible sigh. The fire was low and emitted little light, but the moon brightened the area around the windows where it had begun to snow.
Elias dropped himself onto the settee and massaged his temples. Suddenly, a shadow moved in the room.
“Who is there?” Elias asked.
For a moment, he suspected his eyes were playing tricks on him, but when he settled back down, something bumped into one of the tables.
“Show yourself,” he called more sternly.
A feminine figure stepped forward from the shadows, and he knew who it was as soon as she stepped into the lit area from the moon.
Elias rose to his feet. “Miss Cary,” he said, his voice more like a whisper.
“I-I couldn’t sleep,” she stammered. “I thought to find a book.”
“Is your chamber not comfortable?” he asked, hoping she couldn’t see that he eyed her form from head to toe.
He couldn’t fully see her but could see enough that she donned a dressing robe, which he did his best not to imagine what might lie beneath.
Her bare toes poked out from under the garment, and his cock had a mind of its own, testing the integrity of the three buttons on each side, holding him at bay.
His eyes continued wandering slowly back up her body.
She took a single step closer, and his entire body tingled from the awareness. “It’s not that,” she said with a sigh. Her hair was in a loose plait over her shoulder, and the urge to untie the ribbon and loosen her dark tresses almost took over.
“Then what is it?” he asked, his heart racing. He would do whatever he must to ease her mind and help her sleep. The realization only made his heart race faster and his breaths shorter.
“I…well…” she started, then shifted on her feet. Before he knew what was happening, she had closed the distance between them and had wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling his lips against hers.
He growled and placed his hands on her lower back, deepening the kiss. Part of him wasn’t certain if he was actually dreaming. Perhaps he had fallen asleep watching the snow, and she appeared to him in his dream like an angel. If so, he wasn’t ready to awaken.
Elias shifted one hand to her bottom, pulling her to her tiptoes and pressed her against the telling bulge he sported. She mewled into their kiss, pressing her tongue harder against his, and running her hand into his hair.
Bringing his other hand between them, he grazed his fingers across the globe of her breast. Breaking their kiss, he kissed along her jaw and neck as he cupped her breast in his hand.
She drew a deep breath. “Yes. My lord,” she whispered.
“Elias,” he whispered against her ear.
“Elias,” she repeated.
The sound of his name on her lips almost made him come undone. But he regained control of himself and held both of his hands up, releasing her.
“I don’t know what came over me, Miss Cary,” he said. Although she had been the one who had kissed him, right?
She stepped against him again. “You have nothing to be sorry for,” she whispered.
“I overstepped.” Hadn’t he just chastised himself that very evening for his rakish behavior and then there he was mauling an innocent miss in his family’s library? Even if she did start it.
“If I were to ask you to do something for me, would you do so?” she asked, pressing her palms to his chest.
His skin heated where she touched, and he drew a deep breath. “Yes,” he whispered. It was the truth. There wasn’t much she could ask of him in that moment that he would decline. He realized that somehow she managed a hold that no one, save the ones related to him, had over him.
Her soft voice whispered to him in the moonlit library. “Will you touch me?”