Chapter Thirty-Three
Freddie
Something had changed. He didn’t know what or why, but Taine had been a bit different when Freddie returned to the kitchen, freshly showered, in his own trousers but with a borrowed T-shirt from Graham, who might’ve been smaller than the other blokes, yet the hem still hung down at Freddie’s thighs.
Shaking his head to clear his ears of water, Freddie tried to observe the men crammed into the kitchen without overtly staring at them. Scottie hadn’t surfaced from his room after locating his clothing. Freddie didn’t think the temper tantrum had anything to do with it.
Something else has happened.
Why are they all surreptitiously looking between Taine and me?
Caddock, in particular, appeared to smirk and mutter to BC whenever Taine glared at them. “Enjoy the shower?”
Freddie narrowed his eyes on the man. “Have I done something wrong? You’re all rather carefully avoiding looking at me. It’s unnerving. Stop it.”
After a round of mumbled apologies, Freddie still knew nothing more about the atmosphere in the room. Taine merely shrugged when he raised an eyebrow at him in query. Honestly. They acted as if he’d caught them with their hands in the biscuit tin.
“All right, this is beyond ridiculous. I’m not enjoying my coffee with you twmffats.” He grabbed his mug of fresh coffee and headed out of the room, rolling his eyes when muffled voices followed him. “I can hear you.”
“Bollocks.”
While in the shower, Freddie had taken the time to think through tea with the family. His aunt would consider it a test, another sign she watched far too much telly. The hot water had helped calm his nerves about it.
Finding the library empty, Freddie curled up in a weathered leather chair by the fire. He sipped his coffee and stared blankly at the flames. In the end, it all boiled down to what this holiday visit meant.
And what do I want it to mean?
“Sorry about the idiots.” Taine joined him, practically collapsing into the chair across from him. He held out a saffron bun. “Want one? I managed to rescue it from the beasts in the kitchen who inhale anything in sight.”
“What was it all about?” Freddie balanced his coffee on the arm of the chair. He enjoyed the warming scent of the fresh baked bun. “What happened?”
Taine shifted uneasily in his chair. His eyes glinted from the flickering flames with a fierce passion when he finally lifted his head to meet Freddie’s eye. “I’ve a question to ask.”
“I’m not marrying you.”
“Well, good, I’m not asking. I’ve only known you since July.” Taine smiled when Freddie grinned at him. “Irrepressible Frederick. I would like to date you.”
“We’ve been dating.”
“Exclusively.” Taine scowled playfully at the interruption. “I want to be the only man in your life—romantically speaking.”
“Anything else you’d like?”
His smile turned feral and wicked almost instantly. “I’m going to warm your arse with my hand and show you all the places a dominant man can take you.”
“Right this second?” Freddie glanced from the coffee to the bun in his hand. “Snack first?”
“Frederick.”
“Yes?” He took a slow-motion bite from the saffron bun. “How can I help?”
“Don’t be cheeky.” Taine shifted forward in his chair and reached out to grip Freddie firmly by the knee. “Not opposed to dragging you across my knees here in the library where anyone could see or hear you.”
Freddie chewed his bite of food methodically, eyes never wavering from Taine’s. He twisted his lips up into a smile. “Not sure your friends could survive the experience.”
The air of the room seemed suddenly charged with heat that didn’t come from the fireplace. Taine’s hand weighed heavily on his leg. His hold tightened almost to the point of pain.
I’ve hit a trigger.
An honest to goodness trigger in the man.
I wonder how far I can make him jump with it.
With all the self-control learned in nursing school, Freddie kept his smile from widening visibly. In his twenty-plus years of life thus far, he never realised such a cheeky brat lay hidden in the depths of his personality. Taine brought out the best—or worst—in him, depending on one’s perspective.
He stretched his legs out, crossing them at the ankles and forcing Taine’s hand to shift. “You technically haven’t asked a question. You said what you wanted.”
“I did.” Taine moved both of his hands to grab the legs of the chair to drag it closer. “Would you like to hear my question?”
Freddie had to work not to swallow his tongue when firm fingers worked their way up the inside of his thigh. “Aside from the one you just asked?”
Taine flicked the inside of Freddie’s thigh, inches from his cock. “Are you going to submit to me?”
The word “submit” sent shivers up his spine. They caused him to twitch in his trousers, which in turn made Taine chuckle darkly. The sound only served to increase the sensation.
Oh God.
A laugh shouldn’t have the power to set his entire body on edge with arousal. Freddie couldn’t maintain his mask of indifference. He didn’t actually see the point when the evidence of his interest was outlined through his trousers.
“If you shag him in my library, you’re paying to have the chairs cleaned,” BC shouted on his way past the doorway. “And the walls, the whole sodding room.”
“Would Graham mind if I shoved him off the cliff?” Taine remarked idly. He didn’t move away or shift the chair, and his fingers continued on their path to trace the proof of Freddie’s arousal. “Shall I take your cock doing an impression of carbon steel as a yes? Will you let me top you? Tie you up again? Show you the depths of my depravity? Drag you down with me and up to the highest levels of pleasure you’ve ever known?”
“Depths of your depravity?” Freddie tended to babble when he spoke. He didn’t think his ramblings had ever sounded as pornographically arousing as Taine’s did. “My answer is still yes.”
Taine’s lightly teasing fingers dropped down hard on his shaft. Freddie pressed his lips together to keep from an embarrassingly loud groan. The idea of others being around might be exhilarating, but the men would definitely take the mickey at every opportunity. He decided silence would be best.
“We have tea with my dads.” Freddie went with the phrase most likely to dim the thickening atmosphere in the library. “Want to head to the farm early? I didn’t get to show you around. You can see where we make the cheese. And the cows, we’ve lots of cows. There’s a shed that’s mine on the edge of the property.”
“Why?”
“Because when I was learning to play the bagpipes, my dads almost lost their minds. They built me a little clubhouse to practice.” Freddie had renovated the shed over the years. It looked less like the bright, cheery place of his youth and more grown-up. “It’s brilliant.”
“Is it?” Taine shifted back into his seat, hands disappointingly moving away from Freddie’s body. “How big is this shed?”
“Why?” Freddie didn’t know whether to be suspicious or excited about the sudden change in the man’s tone of voice. “Do I want to know what you’re thinking about? I don’t. It’s going to be brilliantly awful. The cows don’t need to hear me shagging. It’s going to be shagging, isn’t it? Oh God.”
Taine stood up, accidentally—though likely on purpose—brushing his own jean-covered cock across Freddie’s face. “You’ll find out eventually.”
“Cach.”
“Up you get.” Taine grabbed him by the shoulders to lift him easily up on his feet. “I want to see you play the bagpipes.”
“Then I can play yours?”
“Something like that.” Taine strode out of the room without giving him more of an answer. “You coming?”
“I hope so,” Freddie muttered hopefully.