Page 17 of My Lord, Lady, and Gentleman

Joseph took a deep breath. Now or never. “Because I envied her.”

“Did you?” said Clayton softly, and he released the cravat and moved his hand, so his palm rested almost possessively on Joseph’s chest. “Tell me exactly how.”

His heart began to thud at the overt changes in the other man. The relaxing of his shoulders and easing of his furrowed brow. A faint smile playing at his lips. The ownership in that warm touch. “Susanna knows how it feels to be kissed by you. To have your mouth on her skin and your fingers inside her. To be filled and fucked hard by your cock. To taste your come on her tongue.”

“Is that what you want, my lord?”

Joseph’s breath hitched at the subtle emphasis on ‘my’. Susanna had made a declaration of sorts at the theater. He could do no less, especially when it seemed a bloody miracle was happening right now and Clayton desired him in return. To have him and Susanna...

The three words slipped to the tip of his tongue and launched themselves out: “More than anything.”

“Then I’m going to kiss you now. Until your lips ache,” said Clayton, as he slid his hands up to cup Joseph’s face, before leaning down and brushing that skilled mouth against his.

Joseph moaned as a fierce jolt of pleasure arrowed through him, even from the light touch. The kiss deepened quickly, and soon Clayton’s tongue flicked at his lips, demanding entry. He surrendered at once, and a guttural sigh escaped as what had been sweet and tender became nothing less than carnal. Their tongues tangled, and Clayton’s hand moved to cup his ass, pressing them together so their rapidly hardening cocks rubbed back and forth, separated only by thin fabric.

“Yes,” Joseph groaned, panting for breath. “More.”

Clayton laughed, and the delight in the sound warmed him to the soul. “Greedy. Just like your beautiful wife. What a wicked pair you are.”

Boldly, he wound his arm around Clayton’s neck, and delved his fingers in that golden hair. “We…we are a pair, and yet we don’t quite work like that. What Susie and I really need is someone else to manage us. Someone strong and forthright to master both quim and cock. Someone…who cares.”

The other man made a rough sound, and his hand moved from Joseph’s ass to between his legs, fumbling with the buttons at his waistband before tearing the fabric in his haste to cup and massage Joseph’s swollen cock. The sensation was incredible, so hot he felt burned, and he could only grip Clayton’s shoulders like a lifeline as a whirlwind threatened to overwhelm him.

Shamelessly, Joseph thrust his throbbing erection against the other man’s fingers. “Please. Please.”

“Like this, my lord?” Clayton whispered harshly, as he expertly fondled and teased, as he found a space between Joseph’s jaw and cravat to suck and nip. “But you cannot ruin these trousers, now. Shocking waste of quality fabric. You must wait until we’re upstairs with Susanna. We’re going to take turns feasting on those gorgeous nipples and that sweet, hot cunt of hers, and then you’re going to suck my cock until I come in your mouth. Aren’t you?”

“Yes,” he said in desperation, yanking on Clayton’s jacket lapel in an unspoken plea for another drugging kiss. Moaning in bliss when the request was granted.

“Wh-what is going on here?”

They both froze at the sharp feminine voice. Joseph turned his head, a wave of horrified guilt surging through him at the agony on Susanna’s face. He was a damned bloody fool. They should have explained their dual desires to her as best they could before even attempting an embrace. Despite the things they had done together with Clayton, his wife wouldn’t understand this. The two of them kissing would be an almighty shock when they hadn’t touched each other before.

“Susanna,” he said swiftly. “Let me explain.”

She choked on a sob. “There’s nothing to explain, is there? All this time you two really wanted each other. Not me. Never me. I’m just around to provide the funds, isn’t that right?”

“No,” said Clayton fiercely.

But it was too late.

His wife spun on her heel and fled the room.

* * *

Stupid Susanna. Too-trusting Susanna. Oblivious Susanna.

The words had thudded around her head for hours as she lay curled in a tight ball of misery on her bed. Knocks had sounded on the latched door. Then prolonged thumps. But she refused to let the men in. Not after two weeks of blatant lies.

To think she had been so anxious and troubled at having such strong feelings for Clayton when she loved and was married to Joseph, lying awake at night wondering how a future between one woman and two men might be possible when only she stood to benefit. And all this time they had been carrying on behind her back. Not truly wanting her, but pretending so she wouldn’t suspect that they actually wanted each other.

How could she not have known her husband desired men?

And yet, if she were brutally honest with herself, a part of her had known. Their lackluster marital relations. His reluctance to pleasure her until the day Clayton instructed him. Her husband’s words in the carriage as they returned from the warehouse: I bet he makes his lovers beg for his mouth and fingers and cock, and always satisfies. His willingness to be undressed in front of another man…

Oh God. No wonder Joseph had never wanted a child with her. Bedding his unattractive wife had been a chore. But with his lover nearby, he had been able to feign enthusiasm. And now she knew the truth about them, they had no more reason to pretend and no further use for her. Just like before she would be unwanted, reduced again to lonely yearning as she watched others be pleasured in that secluded alley. Trapped in the hell of a loveless marriage, knowing she couldn’t leave, knowing Joseph wouldn’t grant her a divorce, knowing the trust they had always shared was gone forever…

A monstrous crash had her jerking upright. She stared in shock at her bedchamber door hanging drunkenly from its hinges, and Clayton and Joseph each holding the side of a large urn they had just used as a battering ram.