Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Penny’s mind whirled through what was left of the night, making it difficult for him to sleep.
Every detail of the castle kept dancing through his mind, suggesting ways to get in and out of the building most effectively, and plotting how they could distract the guard and other members of the household long enough to free Lord Fabian from his tower prison.
Those thoughts weren’t the most powerful ones that kept his brain buzzing and his heart thumping as he snuggled against Greer’s side, sharing the man’s warmth in their straw bed under the eaves of the drafty barn.
The thoughts that truly kept Penny awake were those of the future, of what it might look like if he and Greer threw their lot in together and continued on as a team in housebreaking or running a street gang.
Or even retiring to some peaceful stretch of the country so they could raise sheep or grow wheat, Helen safe and calm with them.
It was those shockingly domestic visions that finally lulled Penny to sleep, just as the first kisses of dawn touched the horizon.
How happy the three of them could be if they could just leave everything else behind and cling to one another!
The vision appealed to more than just his cock. It appealed to his heart and soul.
He did not have a chance to doze for long.
The increasing light woke Greer, and as he stretched away his sleep, Penny woke fully and snuggled even closer.
Greer’s body was so fit and firm, and even unwashed and laced with the scents of sweat and spunk, Penny would have rather buried his face against his lover’s neck than into any rose.
“Good morning,” he mumbled, rubbing his face against Greer’s shoulder like a cat marking his territory.
“Morning,” Greer said gruffly.
He rolled to his side, opening his eyes slowly.
He stretched an arm over Penny’s side to hold him closer, nudging the lengths of their morning erections together.
Neither of them had taken much care to fasten their trousers again after the previous night’s activity, and as Penny grew, he was aware of his cock poking out of the loose folds of fabric.
Greer must have felt it, too. He grinned devilishly, then leaned in so that he could kiss Penny’s lips.
It was a quick, closed-mouth kiss to start with.
Perhaps he didn’t intend for it to be anything other than a greeting for the new day.
But in no time, he’d deepened the kiss, shifting a hand to hold the back of Penny’s head so that he could plough his mouth thoroughly.
Penny adored it. This was what he wanted.
He didn’t care that they were in a stranger’s hayloft, dirty and dusty from their surroundings and activities of the night before.
He didn’t care that he could hear the cows shifting in the barn below as they grew restless for their breakfast, or the straw poking him through his filthy clothes.
All he cared about was Greer, right there in his arms, his undisputably.
“Penny,” Greer sighed, reaching his free hand between them to stroke Penny’s cock.
Penny groaned with encouragement and grabbed a handful of Greer’s shirt as their kissing turned wild. He adjusted his hips to give Greer more to handle, and handle it Greer did. He closed a hand around Penny’s cock and stroked—
“What in the Devil’s name is this?”
The irate shout from the edge of the hayloft sent ice water careening through Penny’s blood.
He jerked away from Greer and twisted to see the farmer’s head and shoulders above the edge of the hayloft floor.
The man gripped the ladder he’d climbed up on with white knuckles, and fury painted his face.
“Er—” Greer attempted an explanation, but he was too startled at being discovered to come up with much more.
“Perverts!” the farmer shouted. “Satans! I did not allow you to stay in my barn so you could commit grievous sins on my property! You’ll pay for this!”
He backed down the ladder, but that was in no way the last they would see of the man.
“Hurry,” Greer said, too sober and pale for Penny’s liking. “Grab the cases.”
They scrambled to right themselves as much as they could, then snatched up the cases that rested on the edge of the loft. Penny was ready first and dashed down the ladder, his case in one hand. As soon as his feet hit the floor, he looked up to make certain Greer was on his way down.
He should have looked to the side. The farmer was only feet away. He’d grabbed a rake of some sort and swung it at Penny, angry metal teeth first.
“Get out of here, you heathen!” the farmer shouted as Penny just barely managed to dodge to the side. The edge of the rake caught the untucked hem of his shirt and ripped it. “I’ll call for the constable, I will!”
As soon as he was certain Greer was out of the hayloft, Penny bolted for the barn’s open door. They needed to get as far away as they could as fast as possible.
“I’ll brain you, you offence against nature!” the farmer shouted behind him.
Penny skittered to a stop when he heard the dull thunk of a blow. He wheeled around and looked back in time to see the farmer beating Greer with his rake.
Whatever sense Penny might have called on in that moment abandoned him. He threw his case aside and rushed back into the barn, fist raised.
“Don’t touch him!” he shouted at the farmer, then let his fist fly.
He’d never been much of a fighter, but his blow landed well enough on the side of the farmer’s face. Pain radiated up Penny’s hand and arm, but he ignored it in favor of grabbing Greer and yanking him away from the staggering farmer.
They were lucky that the farmer dropped his rake and that Penny’s blow startled him enough that he did not immediately retaliate.
Penny tugged Greer hard for the barn door, and after a moment of confusion, Greer raced after him into the brightening morning.
Penny darted to the side to fetch his case, and the two of them sprinted as fast as they could with their cases toward the road that would take them back to the village.
It wasn’t until they were well away from the farm and Penny was convinced the farmer wouldn’t come after them that he realized the sounds Greer was making were more than just breathless panting and groans as they tried to get away. He stopped near a tree by the side of the road and turned to Greer.
Penny’s eyes went wide and his heart dropped to his stomach when he realized Greer was sobbing.
“Hey, hey!” he said, tossing his case aside and prying Greer’s out of his hand to discard that as well. “It’s alright. You’re alright. We escaped.”
He gripped Greer’s upper arms, staring at him with terrified concern. Greer’s reaction to being caught was so far above what he ever could have expected that it felt like the ground they were running across churned and dipped beneath their feet.
“I can’t—” Greer started, his body hunched in a protective stance, his arms lifting like he would shield his head. “Don’t—”
Greer wouldn’t stay still, no matter how tightly Penny gripped his arms. He rocked from side to side, tears streaming down his face, eyes failing to focus on anything.
“Leave me be,” Greer gasped, his voice strange and tight. Penny almost said something, but Greer groaned, “Mama!”
Realization struck Penny like lightning, and he threw his arms around Greer, squeezing him tightly.
“It’s alright,” he said, making his voice as calm as possible. “You’re safe now. That was years ago. He can’t harm you now.”
Whether it was the intensity of the moment, being taken by surprise, or Greer’s half-asleep blur when they’d been assaulted, the farmer’s attack must have ignited old, horrible memories.
The beating Greer had sustained and their immediate flight must have been too similar to what had happened to Greer as a boy.
“You’re safe,” Penny said, glancing around, then leading Greer to the tree. “You’re here with me, and all is well. Sit for a moment and breathe.”
He maneuvered Greer to sit with his back against the tree, then crouched beside him so that he could study his love’s face and stroke away the tears and grime from the hayloft.
It was too early for anyone else to be out on the road with them, which was a blessing, so Penny took the risk of cupping the side of Greer’s face and leaning in to kiss him.
Slowly, with each new breath and the whisper of the dawn breeze around them, Greer calmed himself. His tears stopped, his breathing steadied, and eventually his shoulders dropped. Once that happened, Penny let go of his own tension and sat beside him.
“I’m sorry,” Greer said after a few more minutes of silence. “You must think me a right fool.”
Penny shook his head. “No, I think you are a wonderful, strong man who experienced something horrific as a child and who wasn’t expecting it to make a return at an inopportune time.”
Greer turned his head to stare flatly at Penny, like Penny was either teasing him or giving him something he didn’t deserve.
“Do you think I don’t have anything that would upset me beyond reason if it snuck up on me like that?” Penny asked him, his tone as incredulous as Greer’s expression. “Because I do. I most certainly do.”
Greer looked surprised by that statement for a moment before puffing out a breath and sagging further. “I’m weak. He always said so.”
“Stop right there,” Penny said, voice raised. “I’ll have none of that. You’re far from weak. You’re Greer O’Toole, the best housebreaker in all of England.”
Greer sent Penny a tired, sheepish smile. He didn’t seem to have any words to go with the smile, though.
“The moment is over at any rate,” Penny said, slapping Greer’s thigh, then leaving his hand there. “And your father is dead and gone, decades in the past.”
“His ghost isn’t,” Greer said softly.
“Fuck his ghost,” Penny said, digging his fingertips into Greer’s thigh, then using that leverage to stand. “Ghosts are merely shadows, and you are Greer O’Toole. You’re stronger than shadows.”