Snowbound

Chapter Fourteen

Wesley looked at Giles, struggling with the information he had been given. Eventually he sighed and passed his hand over his tangled hair, pushing it back off his face. “Giles? You need some food, some drink. Will it – that is, would you prefer I left before ringing for a servant?”

“What?” Giles turned from the window and then shook his head. “No. No need for that. Merrin is loyal to me- to the family. He knows why I stood down and let Alexander take my place, you see.” Giles smiled sadly. “He hopes to live long enough to see an heir bring life back to this house and that I cannot do.”

“I had not thought that the reason for your relinquishing the title!” Wesley said, looking much struck. “It was rumoured that the death of your betrothed – but, yes, some time passed between that and your retirement to Oxford, did it not?”

“It did. Ethan is to blame – well, ‘tis not just to set it all at his doorstep, I suppose...but when he opened my eyes to my true nature I knew I could never marry.”

“You could not father a child – but you loved Jennifer – oh, forgive me!”

Giles smiled and stretched out his hand to tug at the wide bell rope. Walking over to Wesley’s robe, discarded on the floor, he picked it up and tossed it over to Wesley before donning his own. “You can ask me anything, Wesley. I’m done with secrets – and after last night, I find it charming that you can still blush.”

“Giles, you – damn your eyes!” Wesley shook his head and then grinned. “Very well. I’ll let you eat and then quiz you mercilessly. But I need to wash and –”

Giles nodded towards a small door. “Through there. You’ll find a Bramah water closet and a most ingenious bath my mother had installed. Rain water is collected on the roof and piped down to be heated on a stove and then – ah, here comes Merrin.”

Wesley stepped hastily though the door, a little unwilling to face the elderly man, no matter how correct Giles’ reassurances were, and found himself in a small room, equipped, as Giles had promised, with all he needed. The water was heated in a large cauldron fitted with a spigot that emptied into a large tin bath, itself emptied by a drain which, as Wesley discovered later, led to the garden. Wesley filled the bath and plunged into the pleasantly warm water, washing himself clean and rather hoping that he and Giles would find the opportunity for more than conversation.

He glanced down at his body, the outlines wavering as the water washed back and forth. He could see that his body was marked and knew from the sting of the soapy water that his back was scratched. The marks would soon fade – but not before Angel and Spike saw them. He thought of their reaction and found his cock swelling as he imagined it. His anger had simmered to nothing but he was still hurt, more on Giles’ behalf than his own.

As the night had worn on, his need to take charge had lessened. It was, he discovered, most satisfying to command and to tease and yet the sweetest memories were of he and Giles each seeking to please the other, with no thought of anything but the slaking of an arousal that had left them both breathless and shaking.

Giles called to him to tell him that breakfast had arrived and he reluctantly left the warm water, wrapping a towel around his waist and returning to the bedroom.

“Ah, there you are. If you would care to help yourself, I’ll just follow your excellent example.”

Wesley caught hold of Giles as he walked past him and kissed him, loving the instant response as Giles paused and came into Wesley’s arms, returning the kiss unhurriedly, kindling a hunger for more within them both.

Giles pulled back and smiled at Wesley. “You tempt me, Wesley but – no. I will bathe, we both will eat, and then – ”

“Then we can - talk,” Wesley said, letting his hand fall to cup Giles’ cock, already hardening.

Giles groaned and leaned in to kiss Wesley again. “Are you always so persuasive?” he whispered.

“I don’t usually have to be,” Wesley said honestly.

Giles grinned and turned away. “I shall not be long.”

He was as good as his word, returning before Wesley had quite finished the thick slices of ham and fresh, warm bread. SomeSome ale, Giles?”

“Thank you, yes.” Giles looked at the table and smiled. “I did not mention that you were here and we still have sufficient for two. It is impossible to hide anything from the servants. I was also told that your friends lie still abed, so rest easy.”

Wesley pushed his plate aside and nodded without commenting. The meal over, Giles stood and went again to the window, looking out as if he half expected to see an approaching visitor. Shaking his head, he turned his back, squaring his shoulders and looked at Wesley.

“I want you to leave as soon as possible, Wesley. After last night and after so long apart, that will be torment to me, but I cannot have you here when Ethan arrives. He would – oh, he would welcome the chance to hurt me through you.”

“I would like to see him attempt that,” Wesley said a little dryly. “I am no mean shot, as you know and Angel and Spike – why, they’re renowned for their prowess as fighters.”

“Ethan is not someone you can fight physically, Wesley. His magic arts protect him.”

“From a bullet? Or the sure thrust of a sword?”

Giles nodded and then sighed. “You underestimate him, never having met him. He has been living on his estates in seclusion these past twenty years.’

“Where do they lie?” Wesley asked. “That should give you some notion of how much time you have – if indeed, your fears are not baseless, as I hope they are.”

“A good day’s ride – but he will travel by carriage, on the fastest roads and his horses – well, they were always the swiftest of steeds. When I knew him he drove a pair of black mares and they were never beaten in a race. I sat beside him and feared for my life sometimes; the risks he took...he had a charmed life they said, not knowing the truth of it.”

Wesley went to him and laid a hand on his shoulder. “Giles, come to bed. Not to be...persuaded, but so you and I might talk in comfort.”

Letting his hand slide down to grip Giles’, Wesley moved over to the bed and Giles followed him. Stripping off their robes, they climbed beneath the covers and then held each other, Wesley feeling the tension that Giles had been trying to conceal from him and attempting to soothe it wiurmuurmured words and gentle touches. Giles finally sighed and kissed Wesley. “You had questions?”

“Yes, but they can wait. Talk; tell me of how you met this man.”

Giles brushed one last kiss over Wesley’s lips and then told him of the encounter at the ball. Wesley listened intently, his expression the one Giles had loved to whe when he’d lectured Wesley at Oxford, absorbed and keenly interested.

“So you went to his house?” Wesley asked. “Was that wise?”

Giles laughed shortly. “Not at all wise, Wesley, but yes, I went ...”

***

Giles raised his hand to the knocker, lifted it and let it fall. The door was answered swiftly enough that his half-formed notion to turn and hurry away could not be put into practice. Chiding himself for such an ill-mannered impulse, he stepped through the doorway into a deep, warm silence. The house appeared ordinary enough; the black and white tiled floor offsetting walls of the palest primrose, but the air seemed to carry a curious scent, heady and rich, that made his head swim a little. The butler’s impassive face relaxed into a slight smile, as if he had been expecting such a reaction, and he led Giles through the house to the library, announcing him, though Giles had not given his name or card.

The butler left at once, closing the door softly, and Giles was left alone with Rayne.

The man stood up at once, dressed with a casual informality that belied the elegance of his first appearance and his surroundings. An open shirt and knee breeches...yet he wore them with such indifferent ease that Giles felt himself overdressed, though in truth he had only donned the clothes he would have worn for a night out with friends.

“So you came,” Rayne said, amusement rippling through his deep voice.

“I have no taste for the obvious,” s sas said tightly. “Clearly I did, as I stand before you.”

“My dear Giles, if anything I have said or done has led you think I admire the commonplace, I have much to atone for. I but sought to set you at your ease. Come: sit beside the fire andre are a glass of wine with me.”

Giles remained standing and met e’s e’s dark, mocking gaze squarely.am nam not here as your guest. I came because I said I would, and I said I would to stop you –”

He faltered and Rayne smiled. “A man of honour, who is discovering that he has leapt from the frying pan only to sizzle in the flames? I did nothing to you against your will last night, Giles. You could have stopped me by far less drastic means than walking into the dragon’s lair.”

Giles glared down at Rayne who had resumed his seat. “I have found out about you today. It was not difficult. I have been secluded from Society and our paths have not crossed before –”

“I think that might be more accurately phrased were you to say that you were not aware of my regard. You see, I’ve, er, had my eye on you for some time now, Giles.” Ethan’s long mouth curled in a smile. “As I have now, but it’s devilish hard on my neck. I wish you would sit, my dear man.”

“You are impossible!” Giles exclaimed. “I tell you, we’ve never met! And I will not sit beside you until you tell me -”

“Oh, spare me this rodomontade, sit and drink, and I’ll be perfectly frank with you.” The smile became charming, the voice warm. “And I will answer any – no, too much largesse is always less convincing, is it not? Let us be traditional. Three questions. I will answer three truthfully and after that...” the dark eyes glinted, “you must judge my veracity for yourself.”

Unwilling to obey, yet aware of how foolish he looked, standing before Rayne like a servant being scolded for misconduct, or an unruly child, Giles sat in an armchair beside his host and grudgingly accepted a glass of wine. The sight of Rayne holding onto his own wine glass could not but bring back memories of the night before and Giles shifted uneasily in his seat.

Rayne schooled his face to what Giles felt certain was insincere gravity and said, “Ask away.”

Giles took a gulp of wine and then, surprised by its excellence, a smaller, appreciative sip, and said, “Why did you start to watch me?”

“You own a mirror, do you not? But I can see that answer does not please you. I wonder why?” The lift of an eyebrow invited comment, but Giles remained silent, indicating that he wanted more. “You caught my eye in the park one day. You were ridbesibeside a most beautiful girl with red hair and she had all your attention. I would have spared you no more than a glance, for all your good looks, were it not for what happened next when a bird flew low across your path.”

“My horse reared and threw me,” Giles said, his eyes wide as he guessed at the day Rayne meant. “I fell hard, half-stunned and –”

“The beauty sniffed in disdain, your friends cantered up, full of concern and you – you sat up, still holding the reins, and began to laugh.”

“I was covered in mud,” Giles said, grinning slightly as he remembered the scene. “And the lady was furious because she had planned to have me as her escort at a picnic and I had to cry off, go home and change. She never spoke to me again, but I didn’t care because the next day I met Jennifer...” The name of his lost love recalled him to himself and he frowned. “It was a trivial occurrence. What was there in that to attract your attention?”

“Your second question?” Ethan asked.

Giles bit his lip. “If you insist on so rigorous an interpretation, then yes, though I had thought it part of the first – however, I shall not argue the point.”

“Clever of you. Pick your battles with me, my dear Giles. Pick them wisely. The answer is simple; I admire a man who can laugh at himself. I rode by, as you were in no need of assistance, and though you have wounded me deeply by your inability to recall it, our eyes met. You do not guard your secrets well. I saw...possibilities in you. Nascent, to be sure; weak and struggling, in fact, but intriguing enough that I watched you from that moment.”

Giles opened his mouth and closed it again, feeling frustrated. Ethan chuckled. “I wowagewager I could guess the next word from that stubborn mouth. Will you take my bet? No? Save your third question, Giles. I watched you because I wanted to be ready for the moment when I could be of assistance. That moment is now. I offer you my hand in friendship, Giles. Will you take it?”

The warmth of the room, the wine, the scented air...for a moment, all seemed to waver and shift, as though Giles saw the room through a shimmer of tears, though his eyes were dry. His hand stretched out almost eagerly and then a log on the fire cracked, sending a shower of sparks to whirl up the chimney and he jerked it back.

“What did you – ?” Giles sprang to his feet. “What trickery is this? No; do not answer me. You cozen my mind with your lies, my body with your – I’ll have none of it!”

Rayne looked up at him, his face calm. “My turn to ask a question, then. Why did you come here? You said you had found out about me. I can guess what you were told. Shall I sum it up? You were told that my family is ancient and my coffers distressingly full, so Society, much though it wishes it could, cannot quite cut me. You were told that since I came into my inheritance I have allowed my curiosity full rein and learned much of secrets – magic to give you the word with no bark on it – best left hid. And, I feel quite certain, they toou wou with varying degrees of bluntness depending on whom you asked, that I prefer to share my bed with men. Well? Knowing all that, why did you come here? To learn a spell? To lecture me? Or to be seduced? I should tell you that while I’m more than amenable to the first or the last, singly or in combination, I beg you to spare me the lecture.”

Giles shook his head and stepped back. “You cannot – I do not wish – none of it. None, do you hear?”

Rayne’s lips thinned and his eyes became stern. “I do not permit lying, Giles. Not in my students and certainly not in my lovers. Try again.”

“I will not!”

Giles turned to leave and found that he could not move. He turned horrified eyes on Rayne. “What have you done to me?” he whispered.

“Again, I have done nothing. Your arousal last night; your immobility now – all your choice, Giles.”

Rayne stood and came before Giles, looking up at him, a spark of laughter flaring deep in his dark, expressive . “Y. “You don’t want to leave, d’you see? You want, very much, to stay. You want me to make you stay, take the burden of responsibility from you.” Slowly he shook his head. “They might have told you much to my discredit, but if they ever told you I took an unwilling lover, they lied.” He stepped back. “I have told you that you are free to leave. The rest is up to you.”

“And if I stay?” Giles did not bother to argue with Rayne. All that the man said was true; Giles had hadozenozen scurrilous rumours and tales poured into his ears. He had come because he had no choice, because his body burned with a desire he could not quench with his hands, and his mind with a fevered curiosity. Seeing Rayne at the ball had been like overhearing a snatch of conversation that hinted at a secret; impossible not to want to know more. Giles had spent the night lost in dreams where he was surrounded by locked doors, turning to find Rayne behind him, holding the key to them all, a key that vanished as he reached for it, along with the man who held it.

Summoning his will, Giles stepped towards Rayne and then, to prove to himself that he could, turned and walked to the door. The key in it caught his eye, the ornate wards making it twin to the one in his dreams. The implications were not lost upon him, but his hand was steady as he turned it, locking them in.

When he turned around, Rayne was waiting for him. Giles walked to him and kissed him full on the mouth, all reluctance fled. The lips that parted beneath his were warm and at their touch Giles felt his arousal mount so that when Rayne pulled away he was almost angry with him.

“You are too tall,” Rayne complained, giving Giles a mischievous smile.

“That is a problem that cannot be solved as we are both done growing,” Giles replied.

Rayne frowned. “There may exist some problems that cannot be solved, but this is not one of them.” He pursed his lips. “Consider it your first lesson.”

“I have not said I wish to be your student,” Giles said.

Rayne waved that away. “It is understood that you will.”

“By whom?”

Giles’ irritation was growing as the dull ache in his loins reminded him of long hours cursing Rayne’s name.

“If you wish to grace my bed, you have much to learn and as a lover with magical inclinations is rare, resign yourself to being taught about that as well. I dislike waste and you – oh, my dear, yove wve wasted time enough already. Now. Solve this simplest of problems and I will reward you. Incentive is all important, don’t you agree?”

“Define it first,” said Giles, letting the matter of his tuition slip away. He had no intention of learning anything to do with magic but he resolved to keep that disclosure to himself until after he had found his release.

“Define what? The problem or the reward? No matter. The problem of my reluctance to kiss you when you tower above me and my very urgent desire to have your mouth on mine and the reward –” Rayne let his hand shape the air in front of him and Giles gasped as his cock was assailed with sensations too sweet to bear.

“I’m waiting,” Rayne said softly.

Giles studied him, seeing the faint lines dissipation had etched on a face as young as his own, seeing the boredom lurking. Rayne was accustomed to being obeyed, that much was clear, and jaded by each gratified whim. Giles was aware of his own ignorance but not inclined to let his lust drive him to his knees...the perfect solution to Rayne’s puzzle came to him on the heels of that thought, and he ducked his head to hide a grin.

Dropping down on his knees and daring a single, upward glance, he saw satisfaction flash across Rayne’s handsome face.

“Good enough, as far as it goes, but your mouth is out of reach. However –”

Without letting him finish, Giles swept his arm behind Rayne’s knees and brought him down in a sprawl of limbs.

“It is no longer out of reach,” hid sid striving to keep the laughter from his voice.

Rayne rolled to his back and stared up at the gilt curlicues decorating the ceiling, his eyes sparkling. “Inventive and impertinent. I think the first earns a reward, the second a punishment. And no, they do not cancel out. Though a punishment can be a reward, of course.”

“That makes no sense,” Giles objected, wondering what kept him from kissing Rayne and refusing to admit that he had felt a lick of apprehension as Rayne had joined him on the floor.

Rayne chuckled. “You are so certain of everything and so very wrong most of the time. When you find yourself begging and the only form it can take is my name, because you do not know whether to ask me to stop or plead for it never to end...then I will remind you of those words and you will know why I laugh.”

“I would never beg,” Giles said firmly. “It is a coward’s trick.”

Rayne looked for a moment as though he would laugh again but in the end he shook his head slowly. “I could make you beg, make you scream, Giles. And I will. Do not – I tell you this as a warning and I do it because you have earned that much – do not force me to do it when I am angry with you. And if you ask me why I would want you screaming when I was not angry, I will quite lose my patience.” He smiled slowly. “Well. As we are now of a height and your mouth so temptingly close, perhaps you should stop talking –”

“It is not I who -!”

“Sh” Ra” Rayne said, rolling towards Giles and placing a finger over Giles’ lips. “There; that shall be your punishment. You are forbidden to talk until I release you. One word and I will stop and send you on your way, no matter if you be but a heartbeat from coming.”

Giles opened his mouth to protest, caught the warning glint in Rayne’s eyes and nodded, trapped by curiosity and desire.

“Undress,” Rayne said.

“What? But –”

Rayne cast up his eyes. “You spoke. Well, it solves your problem. Good night.”

He stood in one fluid movement and strolleer ter to pour himself another drink. Unable to believe that Rayne was serious, Giles remained on the floor until Rayne had not only sat down in his chair but had picked up a book and began to turn the pages. Feeling foolish, he got to his feet and stood, hesitating. Rayne turned a page, glanced up and raised a polite eyebrow. “You may go.”

“I do not wish to go,” Giles said, trying not to sound either petulant or pleading.

“I will not be disobeyed and you need to learn to control yourself if you are to be in the least satisfactory.”

“I can control myself! Let us –” Giles swallowed, still scarce able to believe what he was feeling for this man, “let us go to your chamber. I will strive to be as dumb as you desire.” The sarcasm that coloured his last words brought a spark of anger to Rayne’s eyes.

“The room, as you well know, is locked. My servants have orders to admit none but you and would not dream of intruding. They are below stairs and will remain there. They, you see, are well –trained. You disappoint me. You spoke without thinking; you let your emotions control you.”

“I would not have said that you were unemotional,” Giles said shrewdly.

Rayne sighed in exasperation. “I am not. Far from it. I glory in arousing and experiencing emotions to their full...but allow myself to be driven by them? Never.”

“Then you are not feeling them in full,” Giles said flatly.

“You believe that, do you not? Interesting.”

Giles hesitated. “I could threaten you now; tell you that if you do not give me a second chance, I will leave and never return – but we both know I will. I shall make no empty threats.”

“So will you beg?” Rayne’s face was softened by flickering amusement again.

“No. I told you I will not.”

“And yet you burn for my touch. Tell me, Giles, how many times did it take before you realised none but my hand could cool you?”

If he expected to provoke anger or shame, Giles disappointed him, laughing softly at himself. “Three times. I am a slow learner. Perhaps you should take another student.”

Rayne’s lips quirked in a smile. “Let me be the judge of that.”

“Then I may stay?” Giles asked eagerly.

Rayne shook his head. “I do not give second chances, Giles. Consider that another lesson.”

“But you said every problem could be solved,” Giles said stubbornly. “If I –”

“No,” said Rayne with finality. “You might have tried begging; I’m susceptible to a handsome youth on his knees, indeed I am, but you like not that avenue. Come back tomorrow night at ten and try again to please me.” He rose, tugged on the bell rope and smiled. “Perhaps you should unlock the door, as you seem so concerned about what the servants think.”

With a muffled curse, Giles strode to the door, unlocked it and left the house, slamming the door hard enough to drown out the laughter that followed his impetuous exit.