Chapter 4
“C hrist, I thought he’d never leave.” Dominick said as soon as he heard Alfie bid Jarrett goodnight and click the lock firmly in place behind him.
“I know,” said Alfie, already tugging at his cravat. “Come here.”
Powerless to resist, Dominick tossed down the book he’d been pretending to read for the last half hour. Jumping up from his chair, he met Alfie halfway across the room and kissed him with the hunger of a starving man.
Given the chance, he’d have taken Alfie to bed the moment they’d walked back through Balcarres’ doors or even just taken him up against the front doors if that was on offer.
“Servants are a bloody menace,” Dominick said the first time they broke apart.
“I’ll have them all fired,” panted Alfie.
“Do.” Then Dominick kissed him again.
After weeks on the road with little more than a few stolen kisses and the hasty use of hands or mouths in the quietest hours of the night when even the most inquisitive innkeepers would be abed, having to listen to Alfie make polite conversation with their valet after a whole evening of making polite conversation with Gil had been maddening. From what he knew of both men, Dominick likely could have told them to bugger off and why, but apparently, they had to be more discreet.
Well, not any longer. He had Alfie, a locked door, a bed, and no one expecting anything from them until morning. He wasn’t going to waste the opportunity.
He licked into Alfie’s mouth, revelling in the feel of his lover opening up for him. Alfie’s tongue slid against his, pushing back with equal hunger to taste Dominick, because the bloody man couldn’t just relent and let himself be kissed.
Just as well. This was far more intoxicating.
There were plenty of men who’d seen Dominick—seen his size, his scars—and wanted nothing more than to roll over and submit to him. He’d happily taken their money and given them what they wanted, but Alfie had never submitted to a damn thing in his life. He was a stubborn, contrary creature and it’d gotten them both in trouble more than once, but it only made Dominick love him all the more.
Although if he’d stop fighting Dominick’s attempts to get him naked by trying to undress him first, they’d both be the happier for it.
“Hold still,” he said, yanking Alfie’s banyan far enough down his arms to trap him so Dominick could start work on his trousers.
“Absolutely not.” Alfie shook himself free of the banyan, dislodging Dominick’s fingers in the process. “It’s been months since I’ve had you fully naked. I’m not waiting any longer.”
“So hold still. The sooner I get your clothes off, the sooner you can have at mine.”
Alfie kicked off his slippers. “Then you hold still and let me go first.”
“Fine!” Dominick threw up his hands in exasperation. Alfie looked absolutely delighted.
He expected to be stripped quickly so they could move on to the next step in the evening, the one involving the bed, the bottle of oil hidden in the dresser, and Alfie writhing beneath him. But instead Alfie closed the distance between them, a soft smile on his face, and placed his hands on Dominick’s chest. He ran them over the fabric of the banyan that Dominick had happily exchanged for his constricting coat and waistcoat while Jarrett had been fussing. Alfie took his time, feeling the shape of Dominick’s chest through the rich fabric.
Dominick huffed in impatience. Alfie rolled his eyes at him, but undid the three buttons holding the banyan closed before returning his attention to Dominick’s chest, now through only the thinner linen of his shirt.
Dominick let the banyan slide off his shoulders to the floor. “I thought you weren’t waiting a minute more to get me naked.”
“I changed my mind,” Alfie said, unwinding Dominick’s cravat with deliberate slowness. “Now that I’ve got you to myself, I want to enjoy you.”
“You’ll enjoy me more naked.”
Alfie laughed and flicked Dominick on the chin. “I will. But I’m enjoying this now. Patience.”
Unlike Alfie, Dominick recognised a lost battle when he saw one. If he continued to fight, Alfie would only drag this out even longer.
So he let himself be caressed and fondled, Alfie running his hands over every inch of his body in the name of getting him undressed. It wasn’t the worst feeling in the world to have Alfie’s clever fingers brush over his nipples as he finally pushed Dominick’s shirt over his head or stroke against his wrists as Alfie undid his cuffs. By the time Alfie was wriggling them under his waistband, teasing them back and forth before finally getting to work on the buttons on his fall, Dominick was gritting his teeth to hold back some truly embarrassing noises.
“No need to keep quiet on my account,” Alfie said, the devil. Then he pushed Dominick’s trousers down, hands dancing over his thighs as he went, intentionally avoiding all the places that Dominick wanted them most.
He whined as his cock sprang free, hard and wanting just from Alfie’s teasing. Lifting one foot and then the other to free himself from the trousers, Dominick peeled his socks off at the same time so he was finally, finally naked before Alfie.
Dominick shivered, but the chill of the room was nothing compared to the heat in Alfie’s eyes. He didn’t say anything, but walked around Dominick, occasionally tracing a finger across his back, or down his arm.
“See something you like?” Dominick asked, unable to keep from flexing a bit under Alfie’s admiring gaze.
“Shh,” replied Alfie as he continued circling.
Dominick fought to stay still as he was looked over. There was a lot to see. Alfie probably knew his body better than he did at this point, knew the placement of every scar, the shift of every muscle.
Certainly Alfie had a better idea of what his buttocks looked like than he did. And he was far more fascinated with Dominick’s body hair, running his fingers through the hair on Dominick’s chest the nights they were able to fall asleep together. He did the same now, running his hand down the centre of Dominick’s chest from breastbone to belly, but pulling his hand away before he reached his cock.
Dominick growled.
“Well,” Alfie said, taking a step back and licking his lips. His eyes were very bright. “I suppose it’s your turn now.”
Unlike some people, Dominick didn’t waste another moment. He ducked his head down and charged.
Alfie let out a squawk as Dominick lifted him over his shoulder and made for the bed.
“Nick! What are you doing? My God, put me down this instant!”
Dominick did as he was told, heaving Alfie onto the bed. The mattress and Alfie both protested the rough treatment, but at least Alfie stopped when Dominick swung a leg over the top of him, straddling his hips. He sat down heavily, grinding down on Alfie’s prick where it remained still trapped in his buckskins.
“Enjoyed that, did we?” He asked, grinning as Alfie hissed and tried to thrust up against him, only to find himself pinned by Dominick’s weight. “If only you didn’t still have all your clothes on, you might be able to do something about it.”
A blush was rising from Alfie’s collar, and between that and the very hard cock beneath him, Dominick had no doubt he enjoyed it very much. But as Alfie had said, it was his turn now.
He cursed at Alfie’s cravat, the knot only confounding him more as he fought with it.
Naked or not, he was about ready to hunt through the house for scissors when it finally parted. He yanked it off, then followed with Alfie’s shirt, forgetting the cuffs in his haste. They caught on Alfie’s wrists and Dominick cursed again as he fought to unfasten them from the inside out. Alfie giggled, and Dominick was tempted to just leave him like that. But no, he wanted Alfie naked and by God he was going to have him that way.
Fortunately his buckskins put up no resistance, and Dominick finally, gloriously had what he’d been wanting for months: Alfie naked in a bed with no one to disturb them.
Now there was just one more thing he needed.
He leaned down and Alfie strained upwards to meet his kiss. Dominick gave it to him, then whispered. “Stay put.”
It was nearly impossible to leave Alfie looking like that. The flush that had peeked out of his collar now stretched up all the way to his ears and ran down his chest. His arms were raised, fingers curled softly on either side of his head as he watched Dominick through heavy-lidded eyes. He was completely on display, the long flat planes of his chest and stomach drawing Dominick’s eye down to the hard jut of his cock, the head already dripping onto his hip bone. He shifted his long legs, and Dominick wanted to run his tongue along the entire length of them to see what noises Alfie would make when he did.
Instead he forced himself to turn away, going over the dresser as quickly as he could. It took him a minute to find what he was looking for. It’d been months since they last tucked this particular bottle into its hiding place, and Alfie’s linens seemed to have multiplied in his absence. At last he turned around, holding the bottle over his head in triumph, only to find Alfie hadn’t stayed put.
He hadn’t stayed put at all.
He’d rolled over and was now up on his knees and elbows, his arms folded under his head, back arched, arse high in the air and legs spread.
Dominick fumbled the bottle, barely catching it in time. Dropping it would mean not being able to take advantage of the bounty laid out before him and that would be an absolute disaster.
Uncaring of the catastrophe that had so nearly befallen them, Alfie grinned at him over his shoulder.
“See something you like?”
Dominick couldn’t wait any longer. He was on the bed before he even realised he was moving. The bottle had become mysteriously uncorked in his journey and he wasted no time pouring some into his palm, oiling up his fingers.
During the interminable carriage rides, he’d thought about all the things he’d do once he had Alfie in a proper bed. In his mind, it’d been a slow seduction, lasting hours. In truth, he’d be lucky to last minutes, and he had the sneaking suspicion he’d been the one seduced. He slotted into place behind Alfie, putting a hand on his hip to steady him.
Alfie tensed at the touch, the join where his thigh met his hip being one of his many sensitive areas. Then he immediately relaxed, canting his hips even higher. It was a truly breathtaking sight, but there had been one constant in all of Dominick’s carriage imaginings, and even if the rest of the night went nothing like he’d planned, he’d have this one thing.
“Roll back over,” he said gruffly. “I want to see you.”
Alfie furrowed his brow, but then a sweet smile stole over his face. “I always knew you were a romantic at heart.”
Dominick shuffled back so Alfie could roll over without kicking him in the face. “If I am, it's your fault. Never understood why anyone would bother with poetry and the like until you came along. Makes more sense now.”
He’d meant it as an accusation, expecting his love to have some witty reply, but Alfie just gaped up at him, stunned into silence. Well, Dominick knew one way to get a response out of him.
He bent down to give Alfie a quick peck on the lips, just enough to tide him over until later, then slid one well-oiled finger into him.
That had the desired response. Alfie gasped, tilting his hips to get a better angle.
Dominick began to work him slowly. After all, it’d been some time since they’d done this. A fact he had to keep reminding himself of as his body screamed at him to just sink himself into that silky heat and damn the consequences.
He gritted his teeth and slowed even further, stretching Alfie slowly, only adding a second finger when he was certain he could take it.
“Fuck, Nick.” Alfie breathed out in a long sigh that became a moan. “Fuck, I missed you.”
Dominick spread his two fingers, earning himself another moan. “I’m right here. Another?”
“Don’t need it. Just need you.”
Dominick had to look away and focus on something else or he was going to spoil this for them both. He then added another finger, doing his best to ignore Alfie’s curses. As much as they both wanted it, it’d be worth the wait to make sure Alfie was fully ready for him.
However, what little patience Dominick had left was rewarded when he twisted his fingers deep and Alfie gave a shout, his body surging up and nearly knocking them both off the bed.
Dominick crooked his fingers and drove in again, harder this time. “There?”
Alfie twisted his hands in the sheets as if he might fall off the world if he didn’t. “There! There, there, there, there, there!”
Dominick obliged, striking that spot again and again.
Alfie thrashed his head back and forth, letting out little hiccupping sobs mixed with low moans that sounded suspiciously like, “Niiiiiiick”.
Dominick knew how good it felt, that place inside that sent bolts of lightning striking his body everywhere at once, carrying blinding flashes of pleasure in their wake. Alfie looked thoroughly debauched, his auburn curls dishevelled, that sweet pink mouth open and gasping.
Dominick’s cock throbbed and he couldn’t take it any longer. He poured out more oil, nearly upending the entire bottle over his cock in his haste. He just about bit through his tongue at the first touch of his own hand, but forced himself to focus on how much better it would feel soon. After slicking himself as much as he could stand, he set the bottle on the table by the bed and pulled a pillow down to tuck under Alfie’s hips.
“Ready?” he asked.
Alfie gave him a very unimpressed look for a man who’d just been panting his name. Then he wrapped his legs around Dominick’s waist and tried to hoist himself onto his cock by willpower alone. The first slide of his prick over Alfie’s gleaming entrance made them both gasp. The last thread of Dominick’s patience snapped and he gave them both what they wanted. He lined up, feeling Alfie’s knees tighten around his ribs, and pushed in.
All his imaginings couldn’t compare to the real thing. Alfie was impossibly hot, and tight, and slick and every other wonderful thing. Dominick pulled out, then thrust in again, a little deeper this time.
To distract himself from coming at the sheer bliss of finally fucking Alfie again, he wrapped his hand around Alfie’s cock, hoping to give back even just a fraction of the pleasure he was feeling. His hand was still slick, and running it up and down Alfie’s length felt nearly as heavenly as rocking in and out of him did.
Alfie kicked him in the back. “N-not. Not going to last. Harder.”
Dominick obeyed, snapping his hips forward. Alfie howled and kicked him again, like Dominick was a horse to be spurred onwards. The encouragement wasn’t needed. Dominick did his best to match the motions of his hand to his thrusts, but it was impossible to focus when everything felt so damned good.
Too soon, he felt the tell-tale creeping up his spine that meant he was about to climax, and urged himself faster, deeper, needing to bring Alfie over the edge with him.
In the end, he didn’t know which of them came first, whether Alfie tightening around him as he came brought Dominick to climax, or whether him crying out Alfie’s name as he spent was enough to make Alfie spill as well.
Either way, he couldn’t stop his hips from thrusting again and again even as he began to soften, determined to wring every ounce of pleasure from both their bodies until Alfie’s legs loosened around his waist and fell limply to either side of him.
At that, Dominick finally collapsed down on the bed, barely avoiding crushing Alfie beneath him. He was thoroughly spent in every way possible. Heaving an arm over Alfie’s waist took the last of his strength, so Dominick lay there, basking in the warm glow still seeping into his bones.
He was about to fall into the best sleep he’d had in months when the sweat-damp body under his arm shifted as Alfie rolled onto his side to face him.
Dominick cracked an eye open to look at him. If Alfie had been debauched before, then he looked absolutely lewd now, like the sort of art that got pamphlets written about it. The ones that always made Dominick snicker at their dire warnings about the dangers of libertines, who were tireless in their efforts to corrupt good men.
He went willingly when Alfie pushed him onto his back, gripping Alfie’s thighs to steady him as he climbed onto Dominick’s lap.
“You got to go first,” said Alfie, his grin turning wicked. “Now it’s my turn.”
Dominick moaned as Alfie began kissing his way down his chest. Perhaps he should have heeded those pamphlets after all.