Chapter 3 #2
Clermont lowered his head and pulled his hand out of Howard’s grasp. “I do not wish to inconvenience you with my lowly life.”
“Nonsense,” Howard said. He shifted closer, lowered his voice to a purr, and went on with, “Let me take you out on the town tonight. I know of a magnificent restaurant that serves only the finest, French fare. You would enjoy that, would you not? And after, we could take in a play at the Royal Theater.”
“Oh, no,” Clermont said too quickly, shaking his head and flushing. “I…I could not do that.”
“I can assure you that you would be perfectly safe in my presence,” Howard said, taking his hands again when he started wringing them. “I am both powerful and discreet.”
“It is not that,” Clermont said, his breath coming in shorter and shorter gasps. “I cannot go out. I…I simply cannot.”
Howard’s anger for the men who had done this to such a sweet angel doubled. He vowed to himself that he would do whatever he could to discover whether the threat against Clermont’s freedom still existed, and once he obliterated that threat, he would set his young angel free.
But for now, he quickly devised other plans.
“We shall dine privately in my suites here at the club tonight, then,” he said with a smile. “I shall have the club’s cook prepare a special holiday meal for us with roast and Yorkshire puddings.”
Whether it was the promise of Yorkshire pudding or a night alone with him, Clermont’s expression filled with longing and his agitated movements stilled. “Yes,” he said so quietly it was almost a whisper. “Yes, I think I would like that.”
“Good,” Howard said with a nod, settling back in his seat and letting go of Clermont’s hands.
“The matter is settled, then. You and I shall dine together in seclusion this evening.” He stood, then took Clermont’s hand one last time, bringing it to his lips to kiss his knuckles.
“Do not worry yourself about a thing,” he said before letting it go.
“I will make all the arrangements. You need only arrive at my suite at seven o’clock this evening. ”
Clermont sucked in a shuddering breath, then blew it out and said, “Very well.”
Howard winked. If he could have without spooking the young man, he would have leaned in and kissed him soundly. There would be time for that later, though. For the moment, he had preparations to make.
It was only breakfast time, but he set to work immediately, heading into the kitchen to discuss his options with the club’s head chef.
The man was a wellspring of ideas for dishes that were both festive and alluring.
After his visit to the kitchens, he sought out the club’s domestic staff and instructed them on how his suite was to be prepared and decorated for the night.
When that was done, he left the club to take himself on errands, scouring London for the finest wine and the most beautiful hothouse flowers he could discover.
He wanted to stop by a jeweler he knew to purchase something beautiful and shiny for his angel, but even he knew it was too soon and too garish to ply Clermont with gems in exchange for a few nights of passion.
By the time the clock struck seven that night and Clermont knocked timidly at Howard’s door, everything was ready.
“Good evening, Mr. Clermont,” Howard greeted him as he opened the door.
Clermont’s sweet eyes grew large at the sight of him.
Howard had to admit to a certain eccentricity in his manner of dress that night.
Instead of an ordinary jacket, he wore a long, maroon brocade dressing gown trimmed in ermine with his suit.
He’d washed and trimmed his hair and beard, and had donned just a dab of cologne that he’d purchased in Paris the year before.
Clermont, by contrast, was dressed in an ordinary suit of clothes, but he’d brushed his hair and smelled as though he, too, had bathed before coming up. That more than anything was an indication that the young man knew what sort of evening he was in store for.
“I…I have arrived,” he said, swaying stiffly in the doorway.
“Yes, I can see,” Howard laughed. He reached for Clermont’s hand and drew him into the room, rather like a spider drawing its prey into its web. “You look quite beautiful this evening,” he complimented him as he closed the door behind them.
Clermont flinched subtly at the click of the door, then breathed out, like he was forcing himself to remain calm. “Thank you for your consideration in having supper with me here instead of at a restaurant,” he said.
“It is no trouble at all,” Howard said, leading him to the table he’d had brought up and decorated as festively as the dining room downstairs was made up.
“I have taken the liberty of ordering a small feast for us as well,” he said, removing the dome coverings from atop their meals and setting them aside.
Clermont burst into a charming smile as he observed the sumptuous food before him. “You really had Cook make Yorkshire puddings?” he asked, cheeks flushing pink.
The sweet enthusiasm in the man’s eyes and the way he looked like a marzipan treat ready to be devoured had Howard wondering whether he would be able to make it through the meal before scooping Clermont up and taking him to bed.
“Are they your favorites?” he asked, sitting across the small table from Clermont.
“I must confess, they are,” Clermont said.
“Then eat as many of them as you’d like,” Howard said, taking up his knife and fork.
Under the table, he sought out Clermont’s leg with his foot, stroking it gently.
Clermont’s already pink face flushed a darker red. He jerked his leg away at first, then cautiously brought it back into contact with Howard’s foot. “I must be careful not to eat too much of this fine feast,” he said, looking adorably bashful.
“And why not?” Howard asked. “I’ve had it all prepared for you.”
Clermont lowered his head even more, then murmured, “You know.”
The man would be the death of him. He managed to be deliciously innocent and surprisingly worldly at the same time. “I take it you have prepared for dessert, then?” he asked, grinning in anticipation of the treat waiting for him.
Clermont merely nodded as he ate his first bite of roast.
It was the slowest and most painful supper of Howard’s life, even though he was reasonably certain the two of them were racing through it.
He chatted away about his adventures on the Continent and his business with the railroad.
Clermont listened attentively, which was an aphrodisiac in itself, and nodded where appropriate as he ate like a bird.
Also like a bird, he seemed to be perched on his seat as though he would spring into flight at any moment.
“Would you care for a bit more wine?” Howard asked when he felt they would not get any farther with their food.
“Yes, please,” Clermont said, eyes eager and anxious.
Howard chuckled as he poured, then as Clermont snatched up the glass and downed half of it in one go. “There’s no need to be afraid, little bird,” he said, his heart beating fondly for the beautiful creature across from him.
“I….” Clermont seemed at a loss for words. He quickly drank the rest of his wine, then put the glass on the table. “It has been a long time for me,” he whispered, staring at the tablecloth instead of Howard.
It would have been disingenuous of Howard to pretend they had not reached the pivotal moment of the night or that he did not understand what Clermont meant.
“Do not worry yourself about a thing,” he said, standing and stepping around the table to hold out his hand to Clermont. “I will be exceedingly gentle.”
Clermont puffed out a breath and extended a shaking hand to Howard. As soon as Howard pulled him to his feet, he slid one arm around the young man, caressed the side of his face, then slanted his mouth over Clermont’s in a kiss.
It was supposed to be a gentle, introductory kiss, but it quickly turned into more.
Clermont tasted of wine and promise. He closed his eyes and moaned as Howard kissed him deeper, swiping his tongue across the seam of his lips.
As soon as Clermont opened for him, he rushed to explore him, pushing his tongue in to taste.
A simple kiss should not have been so powerful, but Howard found himself as tipsy with it as if he’d drunk the entire bottle of wine instead of Clermont.
The way Clermont’s body felt in his arms, masculine and firm, but smaller and uncertain, had his own body heating with desire.
The surprising eagerness with which Clermont kissed him back and the way he slipped his hands under the folds of his dressing gown to grip Howard’s sides was as much an invitation to take things farther as Howard needed.
“Come,” he murmured, stepping back enough to take Clermont’s hand and lead him into the bedroom.
He’d had the bedroom prepared as the front room. The sheets were clean and infused with the scent of lavender. The fire in his grate crackled merrily, making the room warm enough so that as they undressed, they were not chilled.
Howard undressed Clermont eagerly, like he was a Christmas gift that could not wait to be opened. Clermont seemed desperate to be out of his clothes and did not seem to care that Howard merely tossed them aside instead of folding them neatly.
Once Clermont was fully naked and deliciously erect, Howard took a moment just to study his alabaster-fine body. “You are exquisite,” he growled before pivoting with Clermont in his arms so that the back of the man’s legs bumped up against the bed.
Howard pushed him over gently, catching Clermont when he lost his balance.
As soon as Clermont’s back was on the bed, Howard bent over him, lifting the man’s legs up and to the sides.
He leaned forward, kissing him as he shed his dressing gown and as Clermont frantically tugged his shirt from his trousers.
He pulled back long enough to discard his shirt entirely, then dove into exploring Clermont’s body more.
He stroked the man’s sides and caressed his chest. He trailed kisses down the man’s neck and over his chest to tease one of his nipples with his teeth and tongue.
He rolled the other nipple between his fingers, pinching gently until Clermont was breathless and writhing under him.
The man was surprisingly uninhibited for someone who just claimed that it had been a long time. Howard loved that.
He kissed his way over Clermont’s belly, then down the seam of his hip to nuzzle and kiss his balls.
When he sucked one into his mouth, Clermont cried out and grabbed hold of his hair with both hands.
Howard chuckled and swiped his tongue over Clermont’s fundament before adjusting so he could draw his tongue up the underside of Clermont’s cock.
Clermont gasped, and when Howard sucked him in deep, he cried out and gripped his hair harder. Howard had to pause for the laugh that bubbled up in him, and because he felt that Clermont was hanging on to control by a thread, before resuming his actions.
Only a few seconds later, Clermont stopped him by pulling on his hair. Howard pulled back at once, assuming the pleasure was too much for the young man, but was surprised when Clermont gasped, “Fuck me! Please, fuck me!”
Howard’s brow shot up. He would never have expected such blunt words from someone as sweet as his angel, nor would he have guessed Clermont would wish to rush straight to that most intimate of acts.
He was more than eager for it himself, though. He stepped back to remove his shoes and shed his trousers, then to grab the jar of slippery ointment he’d made certain was on hand during his preparations.
Clermont watched him with hazy eyes, lost in his pleasure and perhaps a little drunk.
If Howard had any doubts about whether the man had meant what he said when he pleaded for penetration, they were extinguished when Clermont grabbed his legs under his knees and lifted his legs up and back, blatantly exposing his hole.
Howard growled with the need to possess the man. He quickly coated his cock with the ointment, then set the jar aside. He stood between Clermont’s legs, drinking in the sight of his offering for a moment before stroking his fingers and a bit more of the ointment over and into his hole.
Clermont sighed loudly as Howard pushed a finger into him, then two, to gauge whether he was ready.
As yet another surprise, his angel was more limber than he’d expected.
Howard wasted no more time. He wanted to be in Clermont as desperately as the man seemed to want to be filled.
So Howard gave him what he wanted. He lined up, and with as much care as his impatience could muster, he pushed inside.
They both cried out with the pleasure of it.
Clermont tensed and tightened for a moment, but as soon as Howard pushed past his ring of muscle and slowly worked himself in deep, Clermont relaxed into an almost catatonic state of acceptance.
Howard loved that, and as soon as he was seated all the way, he leaned over Clermont again, balancing himself on the bed.
As soon as he had the leverage he needed, he began to thrust with abandon.
It was incredible. Howard didn’t hold back.
He sensed Clermont did not want him to. Clermont moaned and clutched at him, tilting his hips up into Howard’s thrusts and giving himself over fully to being fucked.
He clasped one hand around his own, rigid cock but allowed the fierce movements of Howard’s thrusts to provide the friction.
Howard could have gone on like that forever, but when Clermont came undone, erupting in jets of pearl across his belly, he could no longer control himself. With a few deep sounds of possessiveness, he let his orgasm swallow him and spilled himself deep inside of his angel.
It was heady and wonderful, partially because it had been so quick and intense. Usually, he enjoyed playing with his partners a bit longer, but the overwhelming need he and Clermont had let consume them was perfect just the way it was.
“There will be more,” he panted, pulling out of Clermont long enough to manhandle him around so that they could slip between the sheets together and embrace facing each other. “There will be more, but first a rest.”
Clermont hummed and closed his eyes, snuggling against Howard, who was swiftly falling into sleep himself. His last formed thought before peace settled over him was that he could most definitely become used to Yves Clermont in his bed.