Chapter 13
THEOBALD
Istruggle to listen to what Brother Kennard is saying. All I can feel is the wet warmth of Emmett’s mouth round my cock and the soft tickling of his breath on my thigh. It feels special and I can’t help reaching for him, needing to touch and stroke him.
“I’ll be leaving tomorrow.” Brother Kennard’s words cut through my enjoyment. I have no idea what he’s talking about and realise I might have needed to pay more attention.
“Tomorrow?” I enquire, hoping I don’t sound too stupid.
“I know it’s short notice, but it can’t be helped. The Bishop wants me there as soon as possible. I know it’s going to be hard to manage without me, but I’m sure you’ll find a way. After all, it won’t be for long, will it?”
I didn’t think I could dislike the man any more than I already do, but his derisory sneer at the end of his speech proves me wrong.
“Well, we will have to bear the loss as best we can,” I say, heavy with sarcasm. But of course Brother Kennard doesn’t notice.
“I do feel some guilt at leaving you in the lurch, but you must understand that I can’t pass up an opportunity like this under the circumstances.”
“Indeed,” I reply, having nothing more I want to say to him. But even though he is odious, it doesn’t mean I need to be the same. “Thank you for your service. I wish you well, and may God go with you.”
He bows his head low before taking his leave.
I blow out a breath as soon as the door is shut but I don’t move for a minute, partly because I want to make sure he doesn’t reappear, but mostly as I want to enjoy Emmett suckling me for as long as possible.
Eventually, though, I lift the cloth gathered in my lap and look at him.
He looks so serene and happy for the brief second before he opens his eyes and blinks in the light.
“Hello, little dove,” I whisper, and he slowly pops off my dick, giving me a quizzical look.
“Dove?”
“The peace bringer,” I explain, and he breaks out into the widest smile I’ve ever seen.
“Does that mean you won’t send me away?” he asks.
I hold out my hand to help him off the floor, and as he stands, I pull him onto my lap.
I smooth his hair away from his face and wipe my thumb across his lips, all plump, glistening, and very inviting.
In a minute I’m going to continue the kiss that was interrupted by Brother Kennard’s intrusion. But first I want to reassure him.
“No, I’m not going to push you away again. I have no idea what the next couple of weeks will bring, and I certainly can’t guarantee what will happen after that. But I can’t stand the thought of you not being here with me.”
The look on his face fills my soul with a joy I’ve not experienced before.
“You dispatch your letter to your uncle, and we’ll take each day as it comes. And I’ll work out how to keep you a secret.”
He flings his arms around me and nuzzles into my neck.
“Thank you, Father,” he whispers. His words travel straight to my dick and it swells, hardening enough for him to be able to feel it.
He shifts and rubs the coarse fabric of my tunic against my naked length.
I grab the nape of his neck and connect my lips with his.
I don’t intend to stop kissing him for a long time.
On my way through the gardens, I pause for a minute and watch Emmett who is helping Brother Tomas with his beehives.
It’s only been a few days since he dispatched the letter to his uncle, and we’re waiting for his response.
It’s like we’re all holding a collective breath, but also trying to prepare as best we can.
I hope he’s been convincing enough, because if not and his uncle thinks we don’t need more time, he could come himself and we could have the bailiffs on our doorstep within a matter of days.
The Brookes brothers are already halfway through dismantling and moving one of the outbuildings, mostly at night.
Emmett has been helping there too, determined to make a difference.
I laugh as a bee lands on his wrist and he lifts his hand as if he’s about to have a conversation with it.
His fascination with them surprises me, but he says it’s because they’re always busy and work hard.
He has a Benedictine spirit even if there are elements he couldn’t commit to.
It seems I no longer can either, but I would rather have Emmett in my bed every night than deny either of us the comfort and enjoyment that brings.
I told him I couldn’t know what the future holds, so we’re enjoying what time we have together for now.
“Father Abbot.” A familiar voice breaks through my reverie and I have a ready smile on my face when I turn towards Brother Sean.
“Brother Francis and I wanted a word with you if you have time?” he asks, looking a little nervous, which is highly unusual, as is the request. We meet and talk often.
“Yes of course,” I reply, and he quickly nods before walking towards the brewhouse.
Francis is sweeping the floor as we enter.
Normally there’d always be several batches of beer and mead in various states of fermentation, but we’ve agreed that it seems pointless to brew more when we won’t be around to drink it, so there are only the barrels that are in storage or those nearly finished fermenting.
“Please sit, Father.” Brother Sean indicates towards the table and low bench, before casting a look at Brother Francis. There’s a tension in the air I’ve not felt before, but I take a seat and they both join me.
“Is there a problem with the beer? Has a batch soured and we don’t have enough to last us a week?” I ask. It wouldn’t be the first time.
“No, nothing like that,” says Francis. “We were wondering if there was space for us in this new village of yours.”
“Firstly, it’s not my village. And secondly, it’s not a village at all, really. We’ve just found a way to create a small infirmary building near where the Brookes family live. There will be a cottage for Brother Matthew so he can still attend them, but more than that we don’t know yet.”
I shouldn’t be surprised that news of what’s happening has spread. Monks can be some of the biggest gossips I know. But calling it a village is pushing it.
“What about you, Father? Will you have a cottage there too, with Emmett?” Sean says.
I look sharply at him while fear grips my heart and squeezes it hard. What does he know? Have rumours been spread about us? Have I been indiscreet? Has he? A thousand questions crowd my head but Sean doesn’t seem to notice. He glances again at Francis.
“You see, we don’t have any family or anywhere else to go. There won’t be any other monasteries for us, and well, we’d like to stay together.”
“Together?”
“We thought you might understand.”
“Understand?” I can’t help feeling there’s something I’m missing here.
“We see the way you look at Emmett . . .”
I sit back a little and fix both of them with my sternest gaze.
I’ve always thought of Francis and Sean as the closest I have to friends here at the abbey, but clearly I’ve not noticed how close they are to each other.
I can’t see any point in denying what they’re implying about me.
It wouldn’t help in this situation. Instead I stay silent, glare at them, and wait.
It only takes a few seconds before I see the fear enter Sean’s eyes that I might not take their news well and they might have got it wrong.
He turns to Francis looking for strength and comfort, and I see it reflected back with love. They’ve confirmed it for me.
“How long has this been going on under my nose?” I ask quietly.
“Five,” says Sean.
“Six,” adds Francis. “Do you remember Michaelmas? The year when we were snowed in for days.”
“Oh yes, that’s correct.” Sean gives him a look full of tenderness.
I groan and briefly cover my eyes. I guess I hadn’t wanted to see.
“Six years! Well, it seems you two are far better at being discreet than I am,” I say ruefully.
“I don’t think anyone else knows. If they did, I’m sure they would’ve told us,” Sean says, but I don’t find it very reassuring. “And we won’t say anything.”
“No, you won’t,” I say in my most authoritarian voice, hoping it still carries some weight. It seems to have the desired effect as they nod emphatically. I trust them, I have to. They’re both the biggest gossips at the abbey, but it seems they are capable of keeping some secrets, even from me.
“So, about the village . . .” Sean starts and I sigh.
“I said there is no village.”
“But could there be? I know a few of the other monks would like to settle somewhere quiet with you as our leader. We don’t need much, just a small cottage, and a garden to grow some fruits and vegetables. We can make our own community, even help build the cottages.”
I think on his words. Emmett has already ridden the boundaries, and between us we’ve reconfigured the map.
It isn’t much different, but it does make sure the Brookes’s cottages are now outside the abbey grounds, and there is enough space for the infirmary and several more cottages.
Even a small garden for growing food. It’s an attractive thought.
I could see myself there—a safe, stable, and quiet future.
“I can’t make any promises right now. Emmett has tried to buy us time, which will be tight enough already.
If his plan fails, we’ll be out of time and won’t be able to do anything.
Hopefully we’ll know more within a couple of days, and then I’ll consider it.
” It’s the best I can offer and they know that I won’t make any false promises.
“Thank you, Father. We know you’ll make it work, and we’d be happy to follow you anywhere,” Francis says.
I only hope I can be worthy of their confidence.
The sky is starting to lighten when I hear the door to my room open.
There’s a rustle of clothing being removed and then I feel Emmett slip into the bed beside me.
His skin is cold and his hair is damp where he’s washed off the dust first. Even though it chills me, I want to warm him up, so I pull him close and wrap my arms around him, enjoying how he burrows his face into my neck.
“How did it go tonight?” I whisper into the darkness.
“Good, the infirmary is nearly ready. We’ve started on the first cottage. We still have a lot more stone to move, but I’ll do what I can until I have to leave.”
“Well done,” I murmur and hug him closer, wanting to spend every moment I can with him.
I don’t think this plan to steal abbey stone to start a small village a couple of miles down the lane would have happened without him.
He did manage to gain us an extra couple of weeks to do what we can, but in doing so he’s been recalled to his uncle’s house.
He’s been working hard at helping us, but we only have a couple of days left.
“You’re sighing,” he says, pulling his head away from where it was resting against my chest and looking at me.
“Am not,” I grumble.
“I can hear every breath you take.” He chuckles and I sigh, proving him right.
“I don’t want you to go.” I push back a lock of hair that has fallen into his eyes.
“I don’t want to go either. But I’ll find out what my uncle wants and I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“You don’t know that. What if you’re sent elsewhere?” A cold dread pools in my belly at the thought of losing him forever.
“What? Like being sent to another monastery and meeting another handsome abbot to fall for?” The early morning light makes the teasing glint in his eyes shine like rare gemstones.
“And he wouldn’t be able to resist your beauty and charm.” I try to add levity but it comes out flat, and his smile fades.
“Theobald.” He places his hand on my chest over my heart. “I choose you. Can you not accept that God paved a way for me to find you and he will make sure we can be together? I will come back.”
“I don’t think God works like that,” I reply. “We do good deeds on this earthly plane so we might be rewarded in heaven.”
“Heaven can wait. I’m taking my rewards now.
” Emmett smiles and trails his hand down my chest and across my belly until he reaches my cock.
It twitches as he wraps his hand around it, already getting hard.
He pulls away and reaches for the jar of salve.
He coats his fingers and returns them, stroking me to full hardness.
I want to feel him too, so I take the jar and dip my fingers in, and I rub salve along his dick as he shuffles closer until our hands are clashing with each other. I pull his hand off my cock.
“Come closer,” I encourage him, and he wriggles again until we’re lined up together. I place his hand back around both of us and then wrap my hand over his.
“Fuck that feels good,” he groans, as I move my hand and his up and down our lengths.
The pressure is wonderful. He suddenly moans and starts thrusting his hips, his cock moving against mine adding extra friction.
His hips buck and his eyes lose focus as he comes thoroughly undone. I kiss the long column of his neck.
“That’s it, my good little dove,” I breathe onto his skin as I feel his body tighten.
“I want to come, Father,” he gasps, and I tighten my hold on us both, speeding my hand up with a relentless rhythm.
“Tell me when, Father, please?” he whimpers. His need to be told, the trust he has in me, makes me almost lose control, and my back tingles as my balls tighten. But I want to see him come first.
“Come for me, my son. You’re a good boy.
Come for me,” I croon, and he thrusts into our hands a couple more times before I feel him jerk and his warm release spills over my hand.
It triggers my own orgasm and I cry out loudly as I spasm and add my cum to his.
His eyes lock onto mine and he smiles triumphantly, with such joy that I have to lean forward and kiss his rosy lips.
I find a linen square that I’ve taken to keeping near the bed and clean us up before climbing back into bed.
I curl around Emmett with his back to my chest. My cock is sated but still semi hard and I know it’ll be a while before I’ll be able to sleep, so I let it press lightly against Emmett’s arse.
He seems to have the same thought I did as he twists back to look at me.
“Father, will you fill me? It will help me sleep.”
“Of course,” I say and kiss the back of his shoulder.
I find the salve and with coated fingers start to open him up.
I take my time, going slowly so I don’t hurt him, though we’ve done this several times since the first time I took him and caused him pain.
He sighs contentedly with each twist of my fingers and pushes back invitingly.
When he’s stretched enough, I slick some salve down my cock and line up.
I slip into him easily and pull him tight against me. Then I wrap my arms around him.
“Thank you, Father,” he murmurs drowsily.
“Shhh, sleep now, little dove,” I whisper and close my eyes, sleep finding me quickly.