The Nobleman and the Spy (26 page)

182

Bonnie Dee & Summer Devon

Piece by piece, Jonathan methodically removed every article of clothing, folded them, and laid them in a neat pile. He was toying with Karl, making him wait while he took his time, as directed. Waistcoat buttons pushed through their holes with excruciating slowness. Shirt sliding down his arms in increments. Underclothes removed with deliberate care.

By the time his torso was bare and Jonathan was untying the string on his drawers, Karl quivered with excitement. His cock pressed hard against his fly, begging to be set free. He considered whether to strip too, but there was a certain power in remaining clothed while one"s partner was naked and vulnerable. And there was erotic joy in forcing oneself to wait for even the slightest bit of relief, so he kept his trousers fastened and did not slide his hand down inside them. His cock throbbed and ached, and he waited.

At long last, Jonathan stood completely nude before him. Karl admired his compact build and well-maintained muscles. Jonathan never overindulged, not in food or drink, and only recently did he in sexual intimacies. This monkish life had resulted in a lean body that, although somewhat battle scarred, appeared much younger than most men his age.

Jonathan stared at Karl with his solemn eyes, the light of the fire gilding his skin, and then he slowly sank to his knees on the rug. He clasped his hands behind him at the small of his back. His cock jutted before him, thick and solid, demanding attention.

Karl rose from his chair and moved in front of him. He ruffled his hand through Jonathan"s hair and caressed his cheek. Finally he freed his own cock and offered it to Jonathan to suck. He admired the sweep of Jonathan"s lashes against his cheeks and his lips puckering around the tip of Karl"s cock.

Karl groaned as heat and wetness surrounded him. No matter how many times Jonathan performed this act for him, it was a thrill. Karl never felt the need for that elusive “something new” he used to search for back when he"d changed lovers like socks. He discovered something new every time he was with Jonathan—

The Nobleman and the Spy

183

a new facet of pleasure, a deeper shade of feeling. All he could ever want was contained in one man.

And that was rather frightening, because he had so much more to lose now than he ever had before.

Karl pushed such deep thoughts from his mind and concentrated on the delight Jonathan was giving him right now as he opened his mouth and took Karl"s cock deep into his throat. His hands were still clasped behind his back so he couldn"t fondle or rub. Karl cupped Jonathan"s head between his palms and used his mouth, careful not to drive too deeply and choke him.

With every slippery stroke, the tension inside him grew. His partner"s submissive posture only increased his excitement. To have Jonathan on his knees—open, willing, offering everything, his eyes shining as he looked up at Karl—was enough to drive him to the brink. The friction of a few last thrusts took him over the edge. His balls drew up tight, and he spilled like a fountain into a waiting vessel.

“Ah, God,” he groaned, eyes falling closed as he released. When he was finished, his legs were trembling, and he wanted nothing more than to collapse in bed with Jonathan and lie there for several hours.

But the bedroom was far away, and Jonathan had performed so patiently and so well, it was time to return the favor.

Karl pulled out of his lover"s mouth, stroked his hands through his hair, and then took hold of his arms to help him to his feet. “That was beautiful. You"re beautiful.”

He loved to compliment Jonathan because he knew how uncomfortable loving words made him even as they secretly pleased him. Karl embraced and kissed him, tasting his own spending on the other man"s tongue. Then he walked him backward to the edge of the armchair and gave a push to his chest.

Jonathan dropped down onto the seat, and Karl knelt before him. “Now, my handsome man, I will pleasure you as well.”

184

Bonnie Dee & Summer Devon

He grasped his hips and pulled him closer to the edge of the chair. Snug between Jonathan"s legs, Karl caressed his cock with hard tugs of his fist.

“Like it rough?” he asked, knowing the answer.

“Yes,” Jonathan groaned, leaning his head against the back of the chair and gazing at Karl through narrowed eyes.

“And do you like when I touch just the tip of my tongue to your tip, like so?”

Jonathan didn"t answer but lifted toward Karl"s tongue, asking for more.

“But it"s not enough. You want me to take you in deep, so deep my lips hit your balls.” Karl grinned. He knew his dirty talk—like his endearments—both embarrassed and thrilled silent Jonathan. That was why he did it.

“This much?” He sucked just the flushed head into his mouth and waited for a response.

“More,” Jonathan said.

Karl sucked another few inches of his lover"s thick shaft into his mouth and paused with his eyebrows raised. He would force Jonathan to speak.

“More.”

Karl words were muffled around a mouth full of cock. “More what?”

“More,
please
,” Jonathan said gruffly.

Another bit of his cock disappeared into Karl"s mouth. Karl still clasped the base, and he stroked his tongue over the length, waiting for the request to go farther.

Jonathan moaned and tried to thrust the rest of himself inside, but Karl controlled him with his fist. He demanded the words.

“More, please, Count von und zu Neuschlosswold-Binder.” A glint of humor flashed in Jonathan"s heavy-lidded eyes.

Karl finished swallowing until he reached the root, and his lips nearly did meet Jonathan"s balls. He sucked hard for a moment, and Jonathan gasped. Then The Nobleman and the Spy

185

Karl drew slowly off, releasing every hard-won inch until Jonathan"s cock was exposed again.

“Again?” he asked conversationally.

“Good Christ, stop teasing. More, sir. Please give me more,” Jonathan begged.

And then as Karl complied, bobbing his head up and down and rubbing briskly with his hand, Jonathan continued to beg. “More, please, more. Christ, yes.”

The words turned into strangled groans. His hips lifted off the chair with every stroke as he tried to drive himself into Karl"s mouth. His head rolled against the chair back, eyes squeezed shut as he neared climax.

Karl stroked and sucked, devouring him, and at last Jonathan"s release burst through him. He groaned once more, long and low, and then he spilled. Karl tasted musky warmth before he swallowed.

When he"d received every last drop, he drew his mouth off Jonathan and laid his depleted cock gently against his heaving belly. He stroked his hairy groin and patted it before sitting back on his heels.

“So, Herr Reese, are you satisfied? Are you settling comfortably into your new home? Do you find the accommodations suitable?”

Jonathan leaned forward, rested his forearms on his knees, and gazed into Karl"s face.

“Do you approve of the service?”

Jonathan reached out and cuffed the side of his head. “You, sir, talk entirely too much.”

“So it"s been said,” Karl agreed. Then he stopped talking and slid a hand around the back of Jonathan"s neck to draw him in for a deep, exploring kiss. Light banter was too difficult to sustain when one"s heart was bubbling over with emotion.

186

Bonnie Dee & Summer Devon

When at last Jonathan pulled away, Karl sighed and gazed at him. “I know I torment you with so many questions, but be patient with more, Herr Reese. Tell me, do you miss England? Are you at all homesick?”

Jonathan smiled at the idea. “To be homesick, a man must think of a place as home. I haven"t had one for years. No, I do not miss anything about my old life.”

It wasn"t precisely true, but it was what Karl needed to hear. Jonathan had lived a solitary, isolated life for so long that sometimes he did miss the quiet rental rooms and long spells he could go without speaking to anyone much at all.

Interacting with Karl and the staff every day was indeed a huge adjustment for him, but he wouldn"t trade it for anything.

“What about you, Erlaucht?” He touched Karl"s cheek. “It can"t have been easy for you to suddenly have the job of reigning count pushed upon you. Or to have lost your father.” This was a topic Karl had staunchly refused to discuss, but Jonathan thought perhaps it was time.

“My father was an odious man,” Karl said drily. He rose to his feet, tucked his cock away, and fastened his fly. “There"s nothing more to be said about it. How could I miss him?”

Jonathan shrugged and leaned back into the chair. “He
was
your father.”

Karl grabbed a poker from the rack and jabbed at the log on the dying fire.

“Even before he tried to have me killed, I rarely saw the man, and when I did, he made it clear I disappointed him in every way.” Sparks shot up the chimney as the log cracked in two under a particularly vicious stab. “I"m not sorry he"s dead.”

“You don"t have to be. It"s all right.” Jonathan was not one who cared to acknowledge emotions, let alone discuss them, but he knew Karl was grieving despite what he might say. He rose, went over to stand beside him, and rested a hand on his back. “You can love him and hate him at the same time.”

That was all the wisdom he could manage. He patted Karl on the back, then went to put on his clothes.

The Nobleman and the Spy

187

“You"re very perceptive for a secretary,” Karl said lightly as he hung the poker back on the rack. “I"m rather glad I hired you.”

“I"m rather glad I took the post. I had no idea there would be so many perks.”

Oh, he was becoming wittier every day with all the practice he had with Karl.

Karl dusted off his fingers and strode over to Jonathan. Knocking his hands away from the shirt buttons he was trying to fasten, Karl slid both hands around Jonathan"s waist and pulled him close. He kissed him lightly, then rested his forehead against Jonathan"s and murmured, “There is a perk I would like to demonstrate right now if you"ll come up to my bedchamber.”

“You"re not satisfied yet?” Jonathan felt his own cock weakly twitch again at the idea of a long sprawl in bed, even though he truly couldn"t afford the time.

“Not quite. Finish up your work here, because I can see you"re desperate to get back to it, and then come to me.”

“
Come to me
.” How he loved the sound of those words. They played over and over in his mind as Jonathan rushed through the rest of the documents he had earmarked for today.

He walked through the marble corridors and ornate rooms of the palatial estate that had awed him at first, but which was rapidly becoming home. As he ascended the stairs and rapped on Karl"s bedroom door, his heart beat faster in anticipation. He was hungry again, as if they hadn"t just sucked each other off.

“Come in,” came the drawling tone that made him warm all over.

Jonathan entered formally in case one or two of the many servants were in the room. “Erlaucht.”

“It"s all right. We"re alone now. Lock the door behind you.”

In the middle of the day? Were they playing a dangerous game? Was it just a matter of time before someone figured out why they spent so many hours together behind locked doors? Nevertheless, Jonathan did as he was bid, then followed Karl"s voice to the other room.

188

Bonnie Dee & Summer Devon

The black marble room contained a large tin tub in which a man might lie almost full length and submerged to the neck. The ancient castle had a new, rudimentary indoor plumbing system, but the water was still heated downstairs. It took many trips with hot water from the kitchen for the servants to mix with the cold tap in order to fill such an extravagant bath. Right now it was nearly full of steaming water. The scent of sandalwood oil suffused the air as Jonathan entered the room.

Karl capped a brown bottle from which he"d added the oil to the water. He wore a long robe belted at the waist and nothing else. “For you,” he said. “Strip and get in. Let me wash you.”

Jonathan obeyed, as he did every command Karl gave him. It grew easier all the time, and he was surprised by how much he enjoyed surrendering his will to the other man. Now that he"d decided to trust Karl, he"d given himself over to him, body and soul.

He took off the clothes he"d so recently put on and lifted a foot off the cool floor to test the water. Heat enveloped his foot, his leg, and then his other leg as he stepped into the tub. He sank into the depths, and the water rose higher, covering him halfway up his chest. His skin flushed from the rising steam. He inhaled, and the exotic sandalwood scent filled his senses.

With a contented exhalation, he leaned against the curved back. The hard metal supported his spine and pressed against the back of his neck. And then large hands were behind him, cradling his head and slipping a soft cloth beneath it to cushion his neck. The hands reached over his shoulders and plunged into the water with another bit of flannel. Karl soaped it, then rubbed the lather over Jonathan"s chest.

A small part of him—the old, self-sufficient, self-contained Jonathan—was a little embarrassed as Karl performed this service for him. The rest of him—the larger part now—loved it.