“I’m sorry for your loss,” Niall replied softly. “Is it a recent one?”
“Three years last January. He developed the winter fever.”
“And your mum?”
“She died young in childbed, and my wee brother died with her.” Adie shook his head. “I remember her, but barely. My father raised me and never took another wife.”
“My own parents are dead and gone, and my sister married,” Niall said. “I’m free to make my own way in the world in hopes that fortune will smile on me.”
“There’s plenty of work to be found here,” Adie said encouragingly. He had the sudden, wild hope that Niall didn’t plan on leaving Wilmington, which was foolish of him considering they had just met.
“Aye, that there is.” Niall smiled, the back of his hand brushing against Adie’s, and Adie shivered, the long-cold embers of desire flaring to life anew. “I’ve already bought a bit of land to farm. I need only to build a house and wait for the time to begin the spring planting.”
“It sounds as if you are settling in well, then.” Adie smiled, relieved to know Niall intended to stay in the area. He knew it was foolish, but he couldn’t help it.
“Aye, but it does get lonely for a man in a new land with no family or friends.” Niall stopped walking and turned to face Adie, watching him intently.
“I’ve seen you at the tavern often enough that you’ll soon make friends, I think,” Adie replied, unable to tear his gaze away from Niall’s intense green eyes.
“I’ve seen you as well.” Niall lowered his voice and glanced around to make certain they were alone. “Never have I seen you leave with a woman, although plenty have tried to catch your eye.”
Adie was grateful for the silvery light of the moon that would hide the blush he could feel rising in his face, and he looked away, uncertain how to respond without revealing too much. “I’ve no time for such things.”
“No time?” Niall hooked his finger under Adie’s chin and coaxed Adie to look at him again. “Or no interest?”
Adie’s breath froze in his lungs, and he stared at Niall, wide-eyed. Surely Niall wasn’t implying that he knew...? No, he couldn’t possibly know that Adie desired men, not women. He was only guessing. But if he was guessing, could that mean he shared Adie’s desires? It was a huge risk, one that Adie wasn’t certain he was prepared to take, not when the consequences could be devastating to his good standing in the community.
Niall gave a sympathetic smile, as if he understood Adie’s reticence. “Would it ease your mind if I said I’ve no interest in fair maidens—only fair lads?”
Adie released a long breath as he studied Niall, wondering how much he could trust a stranger. Then again, Niall had offered trust to him, giving him the power to accept or refuse Niall’s implied offer. Either Niall was quite certain that Adie shared his desires or he thought the risk of asking was worth any potential consequences.
“It does ease my mind at that,” Adie said at last, smiling slightly. “But I must wonder why it matters.”
“Must you indeed?” Niall arched one eyebrow, his expression one of disbelief. “If I must speak in plain words—I would bed you if you’re willing.”
Adie gasped, his brown eyes flying open wide as he gaped at Niall. He’d never been propositioned so bluntly before, and a refusal sat on the tip of his tongue—if only because he feared getting caught. But he’d been without any company but that of his own right hand for too long, and Niall was a handsome, tempting devil indeed.
“I’m willing,” he murmured, scarcely able to believe he was agreeing to bed a stranger. Adie Gilchrist was a respectable tradesman who simply didn’t do impulsive things like that. But something about Niall McAllister urged him to shrug off his staid reputation and take pleasure for himself instead of worrying about what other people might think for a change. “My house is near. We could go there, if you like.”
But Niall grasped Adie’s elbow and steered him into the shadows between the milliner’s and the silversmith’s, walking him until his back hit the cool bricks of the milliner’s shop. His breath caught as Niall pressed against him, aligning their bodies with exquisite perfection.
“Nay,” Niall murmured, his accent thickening as he bent his head to nip Adie’s earlobe. “I canna wait so long. I want you now, my bonny lad.”
Adie’s cock stirred and strained against his breeches, and he slid his arms around Niall’s broad shoulders, savoring the warmth of Niall’s firm body against his. It had been so long since he’d enjoyed this simple pleasure, and even the risk of being caught wasn’t enough to make him stop now.
“Then have me.”
With a little growl of approval, Niall wedged his thigh between Adie’s legs and mouthed kisses along Adie’s throat. Moaning, Adie let his head fall back, and he rocked his hips against Niall’s thigh, seeking relief for the ache building within him.
“So eager!” Niall laughed quietly as he clamped his hands on Adie’s hips, stilling them. He pressed his lips at the tender junction of neck and shoulder, then bit down lightly. “This may end swiftly for us both. Shall I mark you here so you’ll have a reminder of what we’ve done?”
Adie’s first thought was tinged with fear. What if someone saw the mark? There might be questions. There would certainly be gossip. But the thought of Niall marking him—claiming him—aroused him in ways he could barely understand, much less articulate. Instead, he nodded, and Niall immediately began sucking and biting hard, and Adie pressed his lips together to hold back a cry of pure pleasure, his cock swelling even more.
Niall lifted his head, a pleased gleam in his eyes as he looked at Adie’s flushed face, and he reached out to smooth a dark lock of hair away from Adie’s face. “You liked that, did you?”
“Yes.” Adie could barely get the word out of his parched throat, and he whimpered when Niall rubbed his hard thigh against his cock.
“You’d like to have my marks all over your sweet body, would you not? I want to give them to you. I want to see you with your thighs spread wide, begging me to bite them.”
Adie moaned at the image Niall’s words evoked, and he felt his knees go wobbly. Suddenly, he wanted nothing more than to be on his back, spreading his legs for Niall, and he wished they were at his house instead of this dark alley where he had to be so quiet and careful.
“I want that too,” he whispered hoarsely.
“Another time, perhaps.” Niall’s green eyes glowed hot with desire as he unfastened Adie’s breeches and pushed them down around his knees, freeing his aching cock. “Ah, look what I’ve found!” He curled his strong fingers around Adie’s cock and brushed his thumb across the leaking head, coaxing a moan out of Adie. “What shall I do with it now? Would you have me touch you like this, or shall I go to my knees and pleasure you with my mouth?”
A fresh thrill of desire rushed through Adie at the thought of seeing Niall on his knees. None of the men he’d been with before had ever offered such a thing, and he was eager to experience it.
“I want your mouth,” he replied boldly.
Without hesitation, Niall dropped to his knees and wrapped his fingers around the base of Adie’s cock. Easing the foreskin back, he swirled his tongue around the head, lapping at the fluid eagerly, and Adie’s legs trembled, threatening to give way beneath him. Adie sagged against the wall and let his head fall back, unable to restrain the litany of “yes” and “more” and “please” that escaped his throat. He’d never felt anything so good as the wet heat of Niall’s mouth surrounding him, and he buried his fingers in Niall’s thick curls, wanting—needing—more as Niall drew him in deep.
Niall worked his cock with a skill that Adie had never dreamed possible, flattening his tongue against the underside as he took Adie’s cock deep, then drawing back and teasing the head until Adie could no longer form words, only desperate whimpers. Niall took him to the edge and back again and again until he was mindless with need, his breath coming in shallow gasps—and then Niall rocked back o
n his heels, leaving Adie bereft.
“You may fuck my mouth if you wish it,” he said. “As long as you don’t plough your seed too hard.”
“I won’t,” Adie promised, desperate to feel Niall’s mouth on him again.
Niall flashed a grin up at him before taking Adie’s cock deep again, and this time, Adie tightened his fingers in Niall’s hair and rocked his hips, a needy groan rising in his throat as his arousal flared higher and hotter than ever. Niall’s mouth was so warm and welcoming, and Adie let go, losing himself in the pleasure Niall offered so freely. His body grew taut, and his muscles quivered as he neared the edge once more, and this time, Niall let him soar over it, swallowing greedily as he was overwhelmed by the most intense pleasure of his life. Shuddering in the aftermath, he leaned heavily against the wall and stroked Niall’s hair gently.
“I’ve not felt anything so wonderful in all my born days,” he murmured as Niall rose to his feet.
Licking his lips, Niall slid his arms around Adie and pulled him close. “No one has done that for you before?”
“No, never.” Adie shook his head as he wrapped his arms around Niall’s broad shoulders in return. “Nor have I done it myself.”
“Perhaps you will learn.” Niall reached up and clasped Adie’s hand, guiding it down to his own cock, which was still hard, jutting against the folds of his kilt. “But not tonight.”
Adie didn’t need further coaxing to flip up the fabric and grasp Niall’s cock. He’d used his hand on other men and knew he was good at it. He savored the rapture he saw on Niall’s face as he worked Niall’s cock with a firm, sure touch. Slipping his other hand beneath Niall’s kilt, he teased Niall’s balls as well, hefting their warm, heavy weight and rolling them gently. Niall bucked his hips into Adie’s fist, and Adie took mercy on him, quickening the rhythm of his strokes until Niall was gasping and moaning, thrusting desperately until Adie felt hot liquid spurting over his hand. He stroked Niall through the shuddery aftermath, sliding one arm around Niall again when he felt Niall sagging against him.
They stood together until Niall drew back at last, smiling as he reached out and caressed Adie’s cheek. “That was lovely.”
“So it was.” Adie smiled in return before wiping his hand on his shirttail and pulling up his breeches. “Shall we do it again sometime?”
“I imagine we will.” Niall stepped away and shook out the folds of his kilt, letting it fall into place. “But for now, ‘tis good night. You walk on ahead, and I’ll follow soon after so we’ll not be seen leaving the shadows together.”
Adie nodded, relieved that Niall had thought about safety and discretion. He wasn’t sure what else to say; they had been intimate, but they weren’t friends, and now that the moment had passed, he felt awkward.
“Good night, then,” he said at last, waving as he walked out of the alley, turning his steps toward home.
***
In the light of day, Adie wondered if he’d made a mistake, one that could cost him dearly. Niall McAllister was a handsome devil, sure enough, but was bedding a handsome man worth the risk of being found out?
He was fearful that Niall would betray his secret, even though his good sense told him that it was Niall’s secret too and Niall had just as much to lose as he did. As days passed and no one seemed any the wiser about what had transpired between them, he relaxed, and when he returned to Campbell’s he greeted Niall with friendly ease.
This time, they shared a table and dined together, their conversation flowing as freely as Campbell’s beer. Adie wasn’t certain whether Niall would want to indulge in another tryst, but when he found himself back in the dark alley with his cock in Niall’s warm, strong hand, he knew once hadn’t been enough for Niall either.
In time, they moved from the alley to Adie’s low post bed. Adie made certain to keep plenty of sweet scented oil on hand because there was little he loved better than having Niall’s thick cock buried in his arse. Niall seemed to like having him on his hands and knees, and Adie liked it too because Niall grabbed his hips hard enough to leave bruises and pounded his arse until they were both moaning and carrying on loud enough to wake the dead. Adie’s house was set on a large plot of land outside of town, far enough away from anyone else that it was safe for them to voice their pleasure. Adie’s father had bought up the land around the house as often as he could afford it, thinking he might raise pigs one day. Fortunately, that meant Adie had all the privacy he needed to enjoy his lover now.
Sometimes it seemed as if Niall wanted to stay the night, but he never asked, and Adie never offered. Adie was too afraid of someone seeing Niall leave, and rumors beginning to spread. But the only talk Adie heard was innocuous, linking their names together as friends, nothing more. Mrs. Dutton—one of Wilmington’s biggest gossips—even congratulated him.
“It does my heart good to see you’ve found a friend at last,” she said as she fingered a length of grosgrain ribbon he’d just gotten in. “I’ve been worried you might be lonely since your dear father died. You’ve done a fine job of running the store as he would have liked, but you mustn’t spend all your time on work alone. You should spend more time with friends.” Her smile turned sly as she added, “Perhaps a wife would help balance your time better as well.”
Mrs. Dutton had a daughter who was approaching an eligible age for courtship, and so Adie smiled, thanked her for her concern, and hurried to assist Mrs. Latham with her purchase of molasses.
Gradually, Adie began spending time with Niall outside of the tavern and his bedroom. They sat together in church on Sundays, and more often than not, they returned to Adie’s house after dining at the tavern three or four nights of the week, spending their evening playing cards or talking or reading quietly together before they retired upstairs. If it weren’t for Niall having to sneak out in the dead of night, Adie might feel like they were married, which was a thought he quickly pushed aside when it arose. He liked Niall, but he couldn’t let himself get too attached. He liked his respectable life here, and he didn’t want it endangered by his unfortunate preferences. Eventually, he told himself, this affair would end.
End it almost did, but not in the way Adie expected.
The grippe came to Wilmington during the late spring, and many of its residents succumbed to the illness. The apothecary was more often seen on his horse, riding to or from a patient’s house, than in his office. More fresh graves appeared in the churchyards.
The grippe struck hardest among the elderly and the young, but even hardy men and women in their prime weren’t safe. The streets were emptier, as were the pews on Sunday. It seemed that if someone didn’t fall ill themselves, someone in their family did, and most people stayed at home, tending the sick.
The tavern remained open, although there were far more empty tables, and Adie still went there most nights for dinner. Each time the door opened, he looked up, hoping to see Niall walk in, but after three nights passed and Niall never arrived, Adie began to worry. It wasn’t like Niall to stay away from town this long without a word of warning to Adie about it. What if Niall had taken ill out there all alone, unable to make it into town for help? He might die out there with no one the wiser.
The next morning, Adie loaded up his wagon with some supplies and drove out to Niall’s farm. If anyone asked, he would say he was delivering an order, but he didn’t see many people out and about, and those few who were didn’t pay much attention to him.
Niall’s house was a one room shack that was barely big enough to turn around in, but Niall claimed it suited him well enough until he could afford to expand. When he arrived, Adie knocked on the door and waited, but all was quiet inside. Worry flared higher, bordering on panic as he went to peek in the curtainless window, and he gasped when he saw a bundled up figure lying on the bed.
Terrified that he’d come too late, Adie burst through the unlocked door and ran over to the bed, where he found Niall shivering under his quilt.
“Niall, can you hear me?” Adie spoke t
o him quietly, and Niall opened his eyes—glassy with fever—and looked up at Adie.
“It’s the grippe, isn’t it?” Niall’s voice was raspy. “I’m likely to die.”
“You’ll not die while I have something to say about it,” Adie replied firmly, although he sounded more confident than he felt. He couldn’t help but remember his father, who had succumbed despite all of Adie’s assiduous care. The apothecary had told him there was nothing more he could have done, but Adie still felt responsible.
He stroked Niall’s forehead gently, finding his skin hot and damp from the fever. There was no telling how long Niall had been like this without any kind of treatment, which made Adie fear it was too late, but he didn’t intend to give up without a fight.
“Let’s get you up, love. I’m taking you home with me.” The endearment rolled off Adie’s tongue unbidden, but it felt far more right to say it than Adie cared to admit.
Niall was as weak as water, but with Adie’s help he got to his feet, swaying in place while Adie wrapped the quilt around him as tightly as possible. They walked slowly outside to the wagon, Niall leaning heavily against Adie as he shuffled along.
It felt like an eternity before they reached town, but finally, they arrived at Adie’s house. Adie tied the horse to a hitching post, determined to get Niall inside and settled in bed before he dealt with the wagon. He stripped Niall down to his drawers and put Niall in his own bed, covering him with two cotton quilts. He took comfort in the fact that no one would likely think it odd that he was caring for his “best friend” when Niall had no family of his own, but if any eyebrows were raised, he intended to claim friendship and Christian charity were his motives. Only he knew the truth, and as he looked down at Niall’s pale, drawn face, he could deny it to himself no longer.
He was in love. Despite his fear of what might happen if they were caught, he could no longer imagine his life without Niall in it—and he didn’t want to try. Niall was both friend and lover, and being with him made Adie happier than he’d ever been before in his life. All he wanted now was the chance to tell Niall the truth in hopes that Niall might love him in return.
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