Secret Of The Manor (20 page)

Alex and Warren arrived home a little before ten, exhausted and joyous. Leaving their packages until the morning, they showered and, without thinking, sank into the same bed, with sleep claiming them the moment their heads hit the pillows.

NEW YEAR’S Eve arrived with a bump into the surreality Warren had come to regard as normal. During the night, he’d seen Nicholas’ eyes and felt their sadness. Before eating, he was up and out the door, closely followed by Alex. After the events three days previous, neither man wanted to go near the churchyard alone, even though the perpetrator of evil was now residing elsewhere.

They didn’t know what to expect as they walked the path to the churchyard, and they traversed the gate with trepidation. En route to Nicholas, dents the shape of a horse’s hoof lay etched in the hardened ground, and the remains of a fire were visible several meters away. Beneath the cloak of holly, the earth remained disturbed: physical evidence of the struggle Warren had experienced. Yet everything else appeared normal. The trees and brambles looked innocent; untouched by the occult and under nature’s reign once more.

Warren hardly muttered Nicholas’ name before he appeared, with a worried look on his face. It wasn’t until he heard a gasp that Warren realised Alex had never seen Nicholas before. Warren remembered how much of a shock it was for him the first time.

Nicholas’ head snapped to the figure behind Warren and appraised him.

“Nicholas,” Warren breathed, drawing Nicholas’ attention back to him. He was glad to see the young man. “I’m sorry I haven’t been. Do you know what happened here?”

Nicholas nodded vigorously.

“Are you okay?”

Nicholas pointed to himself and nodded again before indicating to Warren.

“Me, yes, I’m okay now,” he assured the ghost.

The breath Nicholas seemed to be holding left his body, and the young man wilted. Then, out of nowhere, he darted forward. Warren closed his eyes, expecting... he didn’t know what... only to feel warmth around him. One eyelid at a time, he peeked, and was shocked to find Nicholas’ ghostly form wrapped around him. The first thought that entered his head was,
I didn’t know ghosts could hug
. Without thinking, Warren tried to hug him back, only to find his arms went through the apparition until he was holding his own body.

As Nicholas moved away from Warren, so did the warmth surrounding him. Warren glanced to his side to witness a stunned Alex, mouth agape. When he returned his attention to Nicholas, he could see the relief on his face.

“You were worried about me?”

Nicholas nodded, then pointed to Alex.

“Yes, he was worried, too.”

Nicholas creased his eyes and shook his head, before holding his hand out in question.

What Nicholas was after dawned on Warren. “Oh, my manners. So sorry. Nicholas, meet Alex, the swan. Alex, meet Nicholas, ancient relative of yours and ghost.” Man and spirit bowed to one another in the same way, with an open hand to the side of the body and tilted head. When they stood upright again, Warren could easily see the family resemblance.

Minutes passed as the relations checked each other out. Eventually they smiled at each other, and Warren was relieved.

Throughout the exchanges that followed, Nicholas watched Alex more and more. In the meantime, the men discovered that the capture and destruction of the witch’s power sources hadn’t made much of a difference to Nicholas and his predicament. Warren didn’t know if it was out of habit or a continued worry, but Nicholas craned his neck to see more of the graveyard. Warren understood that for eons, Nicholas had essentially been under the watchful eye of a series of powerful witches, and the joust probably had another set of rules. Warren imagined only being allowed to see his loved ones once every few generations... awful.

“She’s not here, Nicholas. Carol is under guard at the house. She’s not coming back here.”

Nicholas smiled and flew from his corner to other parts of the graveyard where he pointed to the stones and gestured. His movements suggested one man liked to dance, and another was funny. Warren believed that not everyone was bound by witchcraft, but perhaps some people just wanted to stay on earth in whatever form it took.

“Have you met our relatives in the crypt?” Alex asked, looking hopeful.

Nicholas gazed upon the church with sad eyes and mimed a scene as though he was pounding on a door.

“It’s still barred to you? You don’t have access,” Warren translated.

Nicholas’ face said it all, and he turned back to his veiled grave. To Warren it was proof that what they’d done so far was not enough.

Warren and Alex would have loved to stay longer, but the roads would soon contain traffic, and the cold was setting into Warren’s bones.

“Nicholas, it’s time for us to be going. But here’s hoping that the New Year brings you what you most desire.”

In thanks, Nicholas bowed his head to Warren, who made his way out of the holly. As Warren was leaving, he saw Nicholas catch Alex’s attention and gesture, pointing first to Alex, then drawing a cross over his heart and looking to Warren. Alex nodded. Soon after, Nicholas’s hands were on Alex’s shoulders and they were forehead to forehead. Before long they separated, and Alex caught up with Warren.

Warren thought about asking what they’d been “talking” about, but decided it was better to let Alex have his private moment with Nicholas.

BACK AT the cottage, they opened the previous day’s purchases, and a fashion show followed. It was New Year’s Eve, a day of celebration, after all, and both men were in good spirits. Given the seriousness of recent events they thought they’d have a laugh and pretend they were on the catwalk, to Tina Turner’s
Simply The Best
, and other upbeat tunes. They clapped, roared with laughter, and at one time or another both men tripped over their own feet or stubbed a toe on the furniture. Warren even managed to walk into the doorframe.

They weren’t expecting any visitors. Carl and Eileen were tied up with their annual stable party. James and Lord Walmsley were at a society function in the centre of Cheltenham. Warren had politely turned down an invitation from Miles to the same event. Warren crossed his fingers in the hope Lord Walmsley had made adequate provision for Carol. The man had already spread the word that the vicar was taking a sabbatical.

Alex’s entrance in pale-grey trousers, a figure-hugging shirt, loose tie, and bare feet caught Warren’s attention. He looked like the kind of country gentleman every society woman wished to be on the arm of at a polo match. Beautiful feet, strong legs, V-shaped torso, and muscular arms. Alex’s angular facial features weren’t classically handsome, but they were sublime and striking. A swan in human form to be sure.

Seeing Alex looking so fine made Warren wonder why the son of a lord was with him, Warren Blake, a simple boy from Milton Keynes made good. Regardless of the reasons, Alex was parading before Warren, and his effect was evident in Warren’s breathing, predatory eyes, and growing bulge.

Alex threw himself onto the couch and cried, “Your turn.” He clearly knew the reaction his actions had created in his man.

Following orders, Warren tried on and paraded his final items. He’d saved the best till last: a blue shirt, worn with the suit scarf.

Alex’s only comment was a lustful, “Wear that later.”

LATER ARRIVED sooner than expected. Time had slipped by unnoticed, and afternoon merged into evening. To soothe away the previous days’ aches, the men submerged themselves in Warren’s private hot tub. The bubbles gurgling between Warren’s legs both tickled and stimulated him, and he couldn’t help giggling. With a slight movement of his hips, the bubbles alternated between his balls and his back. When he explained to Alex what was happening, they broke down in laughter and spent the next half-hour playing bubble games.

They emerged before turning into prunes and changed into their respective outfits. Their party host was the TV and they drank wine while shouting answers to quizzes, laughing at comedians, and even making a terrible attempt at a Scottish Highland dance challenge. Closer to midnight, as music eclipsed other forms of entertainment, they relaxed into each other and let the music take them.

Shirts remained on, buttons were undone. Neither had put on trousers after the hot tub to begin with. The blue scarf, however, was an essential element of the evening. It was used to pull their hips together, cover eyes, tie hands, and slide around a throat, followed closely by a kiss. The sexual tension between the two was on a slow simmer all evening. As midnight approached, the TV was forgotten, music was forgotten, and all that remained was two men in a world of their own.

When midnight struck, what followed was as natural as breathing. Only three words were spoken: “I need you.”

Warren led Alex to his bedroom. What few clothes hung from their bodies soon lay on the floor. Warren felt Alex’s feather-light fingers ghost over his skin, and soft breath caressed his neck. The short, sharp twist of his nipple made Warren gasp and raise his hips. Alex’s saliva-slick, soothing tongue followed in its wake.

Alex kissed every scratch and bruise on Warren’s body. He kissed the pain away. He removed all lingering traces of the dark arts, replacing them with new sensations and something much more powerful: love.

Love dictated touch. Love dictated pace. Both men were equally active. However, whereas once Warren was happiest being on top, he felt he was in the perfect place under Alex. As Warren ran his fingers through his man’s hair, it was feather soft. Their legs entwined, and they found pleasure in the contact. Alex’s skin was like silk, and as their bodies undulated against each other, sparks didn’t fly. No, it was a smooth blending of body and soul—a dive into the depths of the ocean, breathtaking and all-encompassing. When Alex eventually entered Warren’s body, Warren felt complete, like a missing part of him was finally in place.

Alex had prepared Warren well, but lack of activity in that area over the years made things a touch more restricted than he’d expected. The slight burn from the stretch heightened his awareness. Every twist of Alex’s hips, Warren felt inside. Every jab and every circle sent Warren soaring. Time lost all meaning, and the men’s moans of ecstasy were swallowed by the night.

As the pressure to come built between them, their eyes locked. Warren saw the urgency in Alex’s eyes as his pace quickened. Alex’s hair hung around his face, and his shoulders jerked in the cascade effect of his pelvis’ snap into Warren’s body. Warren drew Alex’s face down and kissed him deeply. The resulting hard plunge into him had Warren grabbing the sheets. Spurred on, Alex wrapped his fingers around Warren’s cock, and within a few strokes Warren exploded in release. Soon after Alex’s pace quickened even more, and the veins in his neck strained. Alex’s mouth opened as a guttural moan of satisfied completion ran through him. Several slower strokes later, Alex collapsed on top of Warren, and one word escaped his lips. “Magnificent.”

BY THE time Warren returned to work many of his smaller bruises had gone, though evidence of scratches on his neck and wrists remained. Beneath it all, his legs were a variation of colours between yellow and purple.

He didn’t enter the office in his usual suit and waistcoat. Instead, he wore a soft long-sleeved turtleneck with his jacket—one he’d bought while in London. The change in his fashion sense was noticed by all who had dealings with him. The women, especially, followed him with their eyes as he walked through the office. His new look emphasised what he’d been unconsciously hiding: his shapely upper torso and toned chest.

His body language had changed, too. Over the years, he’d become a confident man in the office environment, but now something had settled within him. When he’d looked at himself in the mirror that morning, he’d seen an
I don’t care what you think, cos I’m taken
look staring back. However, what made him stand out came from his lips. His morning greeting was no longer reserved for the odd one or two; a blanket, “Morning,” hit the ears of his shocked team. That alone rekindled the previous year’s gossip, and the pictures of his windsurfing body made another round on the company intranet, along with an extra one, taken that morning.

When Warren returned to his office, Jean was waiting with a smile and a hand on her hip. She’d already seen the new Warren and was prepared for the fallout. “I see creating a stir among the populace is becoming a habit. Are there any more surprises you have up your sleeve?”

In the past Warren had been mortified at being the centre of attention, and he still wasn’t comfortable with it, but given his blooming relationship with Alex nothing could dampen his mood. He laughed. “It’s a new year, Jean, and anything is possible. Just make sure your bulldog alter ego is close by.”

“Yes, sir.”

Indeed, Warren was off the market. On New Year’s Day, the only times he and Alex moved out of bed were to wash up or eat. Each had taken the other several times, including in the shower. It was an act over which Warren sported a secret smile. Their bubble burst, though, when Carl and James met up at the cottage to touch base.

No more information had emerged from the witch, who was under the butler’s watchful eye. Kenneth was one of the few household staff Lord Walmsley trusted to keep the family secret and enforce necessary measures. They hoped time and confinement would loosen her tongue. Anything more drastic was distasteful but could not be ruled out. Warren suggested they play back-to-back gay porn movies for her, as she let secrets slip in anger. James promised to keep it in mind.

The subject of Warren and Alex’s relationship was broached. Although it was accepted by all, James urged caution. Alex was somewhat perturbed by his brother’s statement, given that with the cloak-and-dagger life they’d been leading, they couldn’t
be
more cautious. He went so far as to suggest they were in just as much a jail as Carol. James’ reply brought a lump to everyone’s throat.

“Alex, it would be the happiest day of my life to see you and Warren come out to everyone, and be together forever. But we’ve come so far since Warren was chosen as champion. I’d hate for us to fall when I feel we are so close to putting centuries of anguish behind us. A little longer is all I’m asking, brother. Love all you wish within these walls, but please be careful.”