Jack didn’t respond right away. He looked as if he was waiting for Eli to say more, but Eli couldn’t elaborate. He’d never told anyone about the hell he’d experienced at the hands of the De Lanceys.
“Your skills are extremely impressive.”
Eli nodded. “Perhaps I should have joined the army after all.”
“And been disinherited?”
“I likely will be anyway. How long can I keep my views secret?”
“For the duration of the war, I hope,” Jack said.
“And what then? If I haven’t made something of myself…”
“Eli, you are something.” He started to protest, but Jack continued. “You’re an amazing man. No one can fail to see that.”
“My uncle hates me for every success I’ve managed. I’m sure he gave me this shop hoping I would fail.”
“How did you convince him to give you this chance?” Jack asked.
“Because of what I know.”
Jack raised a brow.
“Don’t ask. You’re safer not knowing his secrets. I’m lucky he didn’t simply kill me. I made too much noise, and I’m as good at pretending. Otherwise I’d be at the bottom of the lake behind his house.”
“So he is as ruthless as his reputation suggests.”
Eli shuddered. “More so.”
“That’s—”
“Believe me.”
Jack searched Eli’s face as if looking for an answer to a question he didn’t want to ask.
“What is it?” Eli asked.
Jack shook his head. “I’m trying to find the answer to the riddle of a man who is a better shot than most of my fellow soldiers, who can ride like he was born to it, but who can also play the part of the fop, oozing charm and disdain for anyone not as well dressed or coiffed.”
Eli smiled. Of course Jack was trying to solve him. “I’ve done what was necessary to survive. I had to learn to defend myself, and sometimes a pistol isn’t the best weapon.”
“I’ve never seen anyone throw a knife like that.”
“My father could. My mother’s father was a blacksmith, and he taught my father his trade. He made knives, and we practiced with them.” Eli couldn’t help but smile at the memory.
“You loved your father,” Jack said.
“I did. My uncle hated him for daring to sully the family name by working with his hands. I hate that I have to curry favor with men my father would’ve hated, men who would dismiss him as nothing, but I have reasons for that. I don’t expect you to understand.”
Jack wisely didn’t respond. Instead, he moved to sit beside Eli and took his hand. “You’re cold.” He rubbed Eli’s hand between both of his. “I’m going to warm you up.”
“Please.”
Jack wrapped his arms around Eli and held him tight. “During my first battle, I spent as much time vomiting in the bushes as fighting.”
“I hate this. This division. This…”
“We’re going to win,” Jack said. “We have to. This has to end.”
Eli rose and held out a hand. “Come to bed with me.”
Jack followed him to the bedroom, though walking obviously pained him. Within moments his touch began to push away the horrible memories that crowded Eli’s mind.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The following weeks proved to be some of the best of Eli’s life. On far too many nights he dreamed of the men he’d killed, but each day he relished the pursuit of information. When he ignored the seriousness of the risks he was taking, he could pretend it was all a game, one he was certain to win. While they’d yet to discover anything vital enough to guarantee a rebel victory, he, Jack, and Constance collected considerable information about the strengths and weaknesses of the British forces and passed it on using the stencil cipher.
A few weeks after Eli and Jack had returned from their meeting with Tallmadge, Eli was once again attending a ball, this time at the home of Colonel Jenkins. It was well past midnight, and Eli was doing his best to look more awake than he felt. He hadn’t slept much for the past few days. Late nights dancing or playing cards didn’t pair well with his need to be up early to ready the shop for customers.
He gazed across the ballroom. Eli smiled when he saw Constance dancing with Major Bradford. How she’d kept rumors of their affair quiet, Eli couldn’t fathom. They were obviously besotted with one another.
The room seemed even more crowded than it had moments before, but he was determined to find Jack. There he was, near the punch bowl, accompanied by the pair of sisters who’d been flirting outrageously with him for much of the evening. As Eli observed the trio, he found Jack’s awkward reactions to the young ladies’ attentions amusing, but he also experienced a stab of jealousy, an emotion with which he was little acquainted.
Jack looked up from their conversation and caught Eli watching him. Eli should have acknowledged him and then walked away. The women were the daughters of one of Howe’s advisors. They could have knowledge the rebels desperately needed. But Eli held Jack’s gaze and watched as Jack excused himself and crossed the room toward him.
When Jack was a few feet away, Eli turned and exited the ballroom, knowing Jack would follow. He wove his way through the house until he found the doorway to the servants’ stairs, which was disguised as a wall panel. He leaned into it and stepped into the hidden space. Jack followed and swung the door shut behind him.
Before Jack had a chance to speak, Eli grabbed his waistcoat, yanked him close and kissed him. Jack stumbled from the force of the kiss and hit the wall. Eli grabbed Jack’s wrists and dragged them over his head, pinning him in place. Jack could free himself if he wanted to—he was far bigger than Eli—but he relaxed into the wall and let Eli hold him.
“I hated seeing you with those women,” Eli said as he licked his way down Jack’s neck, nuzzling into the edge of his cravat. “They were all over you.”
“They were quite aggressive for well-bred young ladies.”
Eli chuckled. “They know what they want.”
“Something I’m not.”
“You played your role well, though, the bumbling, shy man from the country.”
“That’s not—”
Eli hushed him with another kiss. “I hated it, and now I want to fuck you.”
Jack sucked in his breath. “Y-you do?”
“Yes. I want to drive into you and make you forget anything but me.” He wasn’t going to play the charming sophisticate tonight. He would be the animal he’d been raised to be.
“I’ve been thinking about you all night,” Jack confessed.
Eli groaned. Jack’s words only made him harder. “Have you had a cock in you before?”
Jack swallowed hard and turned away. The sconces in the wall illuminated him just enough for Eli to see the ruddy color in his cheeks.
“Look at me,” Eli ordered.
A moment passed, and then Jack obeyed. “Once. I… I didn’t care for it.”
“Did your partner know what he was doing?”
Jack shook his head. “We were both quite young.”
“If you’re willing to try again, I’ll go slow. I can be gentle when I need to be.”
Jack licked his lips. “I think…”
“Yes?”
“I want to try.”
Eli smiled.
“You look wicked like that,” Jack said.
“I am wicked. And I can’t wait to have you under me.”
“If you wanted this before, why—”
Eli shook his head. “I’m usually quite content to be the one with a cock up my ass. Tonight, however, I need to mark you as mine.”
“Eli, I can’t really be—”
Eli laid a finger over his lips. “Hush. Let me have this fantasy.”
Jack nodded, and Eli stepped away. “Not here, though.”
“No?”
“Aren’t you supposed to be the one pointing out that we shouldn’t take such risks?”
Jack blew out a long breath. “Yes, but you m
ake me lose the ability to think.”
“I’m going to plead a headache and depart soon. Follow me after a decent interval.”
“We could always make use of one of the rooms upstairs. Plenty of others have done so tonight.”
Eli couldn’t have been more shocked at his suggestion. Apparently he should’ve offered to fuck Jack before. “Have I made you that eager?”
“Not at all.” Jack looked away. “It was simply a suggestion.”
Eli dropped his hand to Jack’s member and stroked it. “Really.”
Jack huffed. “All right. I suppose I am quite eager.”
“If we stay here, we’ll have to be quiet when I want to make you cry out, beg, plead.” He wanted Jack comfortable too, not fighting to ignore the pain in his leg.
“Oh, fuck.”
“Also, it’s best if I’m seen leaving. There’s enough speculation about who I’ve taken as a lover as it is,” Eli said.
“Most people would assume you and Constance are having a grand affair.”
“Did you think that had slipped past me?”
Jack laughed. “Of course not.”
“These men and women are far too unobservant. Constance has a man to warm her bed, but it isn’t me.”
“She does? Who—”
“See if you can figure it out. I’ll see you later.”
He listened at the door. Hearing no one, he opened it, and they both slipped into the hallway undetected.
***
Eli startled when he heard a tapping against his window. He grabbed a heavy candlestick and carefully eased himself out of bed. He crossed the room and jerked the curtain back, ready to defend himself.
Jack stared in at him.
He unlocked the panes and helped Jack climb through. How the hell had he gotten up there with his injured leg? His limp was barely noticeable now, but he shouldn’t be climbing trees.
“You’re lucky I recognized you,” Eli said.
“What was I supposed to do, wake the whole street by banging on your door? There weren’t any lights on, so I assumed you were up here.”
“It’s been hours. I gave up on you. I thought you’d abandoned me.”
“General Howe himself showed up,” Jack said. “I couldn’t give up an opportunity to find out what secrets he might spill as drunk as he was.”
“Learn anything good?”
“Nothing other than his opinion of most of his fellow generals: a bunch of beetleheaded fumblers.”
“Typical, but I don’t want to talk about Howe or any other detestable British men.”
“Oh really?”
“You kept me waiting; then you woke me up.”
Jack raised a brow. “You aren’t dressed for bed.”
“Irrelevant.”
Jack glanced at the chair in the corner and the candle next to it, which sputtered, ready to go out any moment. The book Eli had been reading lay on the floor, splayed open.
“You stayed up waiting for me and fell asleep reading.”
“You are gaining powers of observation.”
“Ha! That took little effort. You would never treat a book with such carelessness.”
“You think I’m going to reward you for that tidbit.”
“No, I think you’re going to fuck me, because you’re impatient and angry and now you can take that out on my ass.”
Eli grinned. “That is exactly what I’m going to do.”
Jack sighed. “Then get it over with.”
“IF YOU THINK—” Eli’s look of horror was all Jack had hoped for, and he knew exactly when Eli realized he’d been had. “You wretch!”
Jack laughed, and Eli grabbed him and yanked him toward the bed. “Strip. Now.”
“I like you fierce like this.”
“Tell me that again when my cock is inside you.”
Jack groaned as Eli’s words shot straight to his cock. He’d tried for so long to pretend he didn’t crave a man’s touch. In the months after Dominic’s death, Jack had told himself Dominic was an aberration or perhaps a demon with a wicked hold over him. He’d known those were lies, but he longed to absolve himself of the guilt for his lust. His anonymous encounters in the intervening years had been fast and perfunctory, and he never let himself think much about them afterward. With Eli, there was no hope of that. He wanted Eli more than he’d wanted fresh water after marching for days, more than he’d wanted a blanket as he shivered in a tent in the snow. Eli was warmth and comfort, and Jack couldn’t deny himself.
“I want to stay all night with you.” He’d only done so once, when they’d first returned from meeting Tallmadge.
Eli smiled. “I want that too.”
“I’ll have to get up early before your boy comes to help or the men at Constance’s house arise.”
“That can be arranged. I never sleep past dawn, so I can send you on your way.”
“Even if I keep you up most of the night?”
Eli grinned. “Trust me.”
A FEW MOMENTS later they were both naked. Eli stoked the fire in his bedroom, deliberately bending low and giving Jack a tantalizing view.
“You’re too tempting, too alluring. How is anyone meant to resist you?”
“A few manage, but not if I pursue them seriously.”
“You’re incorrigible.” Jack reached down and stroked his cock. “But so far I’ve seen nothing of this but talk.”
“Are you challenging me?”
“Maybe I am.”
Eli retrieved the oil from his dressing table. “Get on the bed, and I’ll prove I can make you beg.”
Jack climbed on the bed and lay on his stomach. Eli had every intention of fucking him face-to-face, but he could get things started with Jack in his current position.
He settled on his side, propped on one arm, and ran a finger along Jack’s spine. Jack shivered when Eli reached the top of his ass. “Tell me what you want.”
“You know.”
Eli wasn’t letting him off that easy. “You’ve gotten so good at this. Tell me.”
“I… I want you to open me up. To show me how good it can be, to feel you inside me. I want…”
“Yes?” Eli asked.
“I want to be yours.”
“That is exactly what you are.” Eli slid his fingers between Jack’s cheeks, seeking his fundament. When he circled the tight pucker, Jack squirmed.
“Eager?”
“Eli, stop teasing me.”
Eli laughed as he coated a few fingers with oil.
“Lie still,” he ordered, knowing that would be impossible for Jack once he pressed inside him.
When he entered Jack with one slick finger, Jack tensed. “Relax and push against me.”
Jack shook his head. “I don’t think—”
“You shouldn’t. Just feel.” He pulled back and slid in again.
“Eli?”
He laid a hand on Jack’s back. “Breathe. Slowly. In and out.”
Jack did as he said. The ring of muscle gave, and he slid his finger as deep as it would go.
“Feels so strange,” Jack said.
“Just wait.”
He pulled out, and Jack groaned. Then he pushed in again, curling his finger to brush against the gland that could give such intense pleasure.
“Fuck!” Jack shouted.
Eli laughed. “Good?”
“Almost too good.”
Eli slid his finger out and repeated the gesture.
“Amazing,” Jack said. “I could spend just from this.”
“I’m sure you could, but I have more for you.”
He added a bit more oil and then pressed in with two fingers. Jack tensed again.
“Relax and breathe,” Eli ordered.
“It burns.”
“I know, but it gets better.”
Eli worked his fingers in and out, going deeper each time. Finally Jack relaxed, and Eli found his gland again.
Jack shuddered and tried to pull away, but Eli continued to brush ove
r that sweet spot inside as he increased the pace of his finger-fucking.
Jack was soon thrusting his hips back, trying to take Eli’s fingers deeper. Eli slapped his ass hard enough to sting.
“What the hell?” Jack turned to look at him.
“I said stay still.”
“I… Jesus, Eli. I can’t.”
Eli chuckled. He worked his fingers, spreading them to open Jack up more.
“Fuck me,” Jack demanded.
“What if I’m not ready?”
“Fuck. Me. Now.”
“Are you trying to intimidate me?”
Jack started to answer, but Eli pressed in just the right spot. Jack gave a shout, and Eli slipped his fingers out so he could pour oil into his palm and slick up his cock.
“Turn over,” he ordered.
Jack looked at him, and Eli saw fear in his eyes, but Eli wasn’t giving up.
“I want to see your face when you take my prick up your ass, and I want you comfortable, not worried about your leg.”
Jack shook his head and pulled his knees under him. “I’m fine like this.”
“We’re doing this my way or not at all.”
Jack huffed. “Eli, I know you don’t honestly believe—”
“Please, it means a lot to me.”
Eli watched Jack’s back expand as he took a deep breath. With a sigh he turned over and looked at Eli. The vulnerability in his eyes made it hard for Eli to breathe.
Eli moved between Jack’s legs, and Jack dropped them open.
“Don’t forget to breathe,” Eli said as he took his cock in hand and brushed the tip over Jack’s fundament. He watched Jack as he pushed in with slow but steady pressure. Jack’s eyes widened, and the corded muscles of his neck stood out with tension.
“Relax,” Eli reminded him. He pushed harder, willing Jack’s passage to open for him.
“Eli?”
Eli thrust, and his cock slid past the tight ring of muscle.
Jack whimpered. “Too much!”
Eli wrapped a hand around Jack’s cock, which had softened some as he’d worked his way inside him. “In a few moments it’s going to feel just as good as my fingers did. Trust me.”
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