Page 1 of An Earl's Bet
Chapter 1
September 1814
Regret combined with too much wine turned Earnest into a goddamn fool.As soon as dinner was finished, he stepped outside for some fresh air because the last place he wanted to be was at Lord Horden’s estate near Doncaster.Several months ago, Horden had fucked Earnest’s mouth in the most beautiful fashion, then thrown him out of his London townhouse, so the last place Earnest wanted to be was at his bloody house.But Earnest was here to support his friend Sebastian, who had just won a glorious wager against Prinny, for Christ’s sake.Part of the problem was that Earnest didn’t appreciate the different parts of his life colliding like this.
He’d much rather keep his childhood friends away from the foibles of the peerage, who were only good for two things; mocking and fucking.
Lewd Lord Lloyd Lawd could only get hard
When a Lady blew wind on his lard
He needed the breeze before he could tup
And plenty were willing to provide that sup
Earnest had been paid well for that piece of satire, written under a pen name; Dickson Hurquim.Satire made more money than serious poetry, and it was sensible to keep it separate from the literary poetry that he’d been knighted for nearly a decade ago.It was pitiful how it took one book of poetry dedicated to England’s great explorers to gain a knighthood.Royal egos were easy to stroke, and manly men were easy to write swathes of glorification and adoration about.Almost no one had noticed the subtext he’d thrown in around how often those men were committed bachelors.
“What are you doing here?”Speaking of the peerage ...Lord Horden sneered at Earnest without a hint of warmth in his dark brown eyes; just like last time they’d been in the same room.
“Doncaster, or dinner at your house?”Earnest was deliberately being obtuse to see if Horden would react.He didn’t.Sitting through an entire dinner with Lord Horden looking so commanding and deliciously uptight with his navy-blue dinner jacket perfectly complementing Horden’s dark skin meant that all Earnest could remember was how incredible it had been to see Lord Horden undone.The way his mouth softened and stopped being so severe when he came, and how those little curls at his temple tightened as they became damp with sweat.The taste of his full lips as they’d kissed, and even better, the way Horden’s cock filled Earnest’s mouth.God, the memories.But Lord Horden hadn’t chosen him, leaving Earnest with no option tonight but to get stupidly drunk and make outrageous comments.
“Both.Either.Explain your presence.”
“I am friends with Mr Wildgoose and he invited me to dinner to celebrate his triumph.”
“Who?”
“He drove the zebras at the St Leger meeting today.”Earnest’s friend had done a wonderful job, taking a ridiculous wager and making it look easy.
“You know the Duke of Edenwick’s stable master?How?”
Earnest rolled his eyes.“We knew each other as children.”
“But how?”
“Bloody hell, Horden.Take the hint it’s none of your business.You made my life none of your business when you threw me out.”
“You were the one who decided to be dramatic and camp on my front lawn.Couldn’t you see how embarrassing that was for me?”
“For you?You fucked me then threw me out.I thought you ...liked me.”Fuck.He was too drunk for this conversation if he was admitting stuff like that out loud.He swept his hand through his hair, enjoying the way Horden’s dark eyes narrowed and fixed on the motion of his hands.
“I do like you.Everyone likes you.”Only Lord Horden could make that sound like an insult.
“And yet, here we are.Having a whispered argument on a soddy balcony, while my friend’s achievements are being celebrated at dinner.I should be with him.”
“I don’t understand how you knew each other as children.”
Earnest flapped his hands.“I’m not going to tell you the whole sordid tale.”
“Why not?”It was just like an Earl to demand to know all the sorry details of Earnest’s pathetic life.
“You wouldn’t understand, my Lord.”He infused the title with a sneer.“You grew up with a silver spoon in your life.Everyone in your life exists to benefit you.”
Lord Horden shrank away and his whisper became even quieter.“That wasn’t always true.”
“Bollocks.You were born as a Lord with several large estates.”Earnest ignored the flutter of empathy in his gut at Lord Horden’s hurt whisper.Instead, he dropped his gaze to Lord Horden’s groin for a second—a deliberate tease—and heat rushed through him at the memory of sucking Lord Horden’s impressive cock.‘I’ve never sucked one so big,’ he’d said like a fool because he never knew when to keep his damned mouth shut.He may have composed several terrible poems dedicated to Horden’s length and breadth inspired by the way Lord Horden had blushed so prettily after Earnest’s blurted comment that made Earnest lose his mind a little more.
“Aren’t you a Baron, Sir Earnest Pashley?We aren’t that different.”