Page 12 of A Rake’s Gamble

“Yes.” It came out like a little hiss between his teeth because the ballroom wasn’t far away. People’s voices and the string quartet’s music floated across the garden, a reminder of the risk, even as they stood in the darkest corner of the garden.

“Undo your jacket.”

He could do that, although his fingers fumbled slightly on the buttons when Mr Milnes used his fingers to stroke the base of his skull, sliding over his hair. Sweet prickles of anticipation chasing gooseflesh over his skin.

“And now slide your trousers down to your knees.” Oh gosh, Mr Milnes was asking a lot while they stood in Lord Toddington’s garden. The walk to this corner of the garden had been short; he wouldn’t have time to pull up his trousers if someone came by. He shivered as the idea of risking being caught sent heat spiralling through his veins, heating his blood until his cock ached and he needed whatever Mr Milnes had in mind. He grabbed at his clothes, clumsy as he rushed to do as Mr Milnes asked, but it was worth it, when Mr Milnes’ breath became heavier and louder.

“Like that?” He swallowed as the cold December air surrounded his skin, cooling him as his insides boiled. The contrast shouldn’t be so intensely desirable, and yet, it had him almost at the edge, and Mr Milnes had barely touched him.

“Perfect. You are perfect, Lord Milnes-Wilkes.” And then Mr Milnes pressed his body against his spine and slid downwards. Mr Milnes grabbed his ass with both hands and Theo gasped, rocking slightly on his feet, but it was when Mr Milnes pressed a kiss to the base of his spine that he cried out.

“Shh. I’ll have to stop if you are loud. Someone might walk past.”

Why was that so hot? Theo would never have guessed that he loved a bit of danger with his assignations. He didn’t get a chance to think about it because Mr Milnes spread his ass wide and licked.

“Damnation.” It was curse worthy and amazing. No one had ever done this for him, and Mr Milnes was very enthusiastic. He spread his legs wider, and Mr Milnes took advantage, slipping his tongue inside him. “My goodness.” It was incredibly vulnerable and amazing, and his cock was rigid in the cold air, exposed for all to see. He pushed his fist into his mouth, just like Mr Milnes had done at White’s so he didn’t cry out again—or yell Mr Milnes’ name for all to hear—but too many little noises kept escaping. Whimpers and moans as the pleasuring by Mr Milnes’ tongue went on and on, with Mr Milnes using his hands and mouth to dedicate so much time to his pleasure that Theo thought he might burst with it. And all the while, the noise of the party floated through the garden, reminding him of the danger. There’d be no pretending that they weren’t doing what they were doing. And, finally, when Mr Milnes slid one hand around and held his cock, he couldn’t contain himself anymore, coming so hard that he saw stars and he truly thought he might collapse.

“Good?”

“Better than.” He crouched—more like collapsed—to the icy ground, turning so he held Mr Milnes, kissing him in a frantic thanks for the greatest experience in his life.

“I take it you liked that.”

“Yes. Mr Milnes, can I return the favour?”

Mr Milnes kissed him on the forehead. “Call me Adam.” If Theo’s heart wasn’t already exploded, he would’ve keeled over at such a gift.

“Adam, please?”

“Maybe some other day.” And then Adam bounced to his feet and strode away before Theo could tell Adam his own name, leaving Theo spent—literally—and half-naked on the ground in Lord Toddington’s garden on a freezing December night. He ought to feel humiliated, but he just craved more. He took his time in cleaning up. He didn’t intend to return to the ball, but he did need to collect his greatcoat from the butler before he left. Some scandals weren't worth the bother, and the newssheets would be filled with speculation if he left without his coat. Sometimes society’s collective mind had a narrow focus. He didn’t want to risk seeing anyone, so it was a dilemma that he wasn’t going to solve standing here in the freezing winter air. What would Carlynne prefer? Scandal or speculation?

Chapter 10

The next morning, Theo sat in his office reading the newssheets as they speculated on why Lord M-W had left Lord T’s ball so abruptly that he’d left his coat behind. It wasn’t unexpected but it seemed like the best choice last night; better than risking people see him in his post-coital messy glow. He needed to stop dwelling on how incredible Mr Milnes—Adam—had been last night and focus on going through his father’s accounts to see if he could find a way to fix the estate’s problems without resorting to Carlynne’s ‘marry an heiress’ solution.

He was done with the account books on his desk, so he grabbed them and carried them back to the shelf. As he was pulling the next few years’ worth of books off the shelf, one of them slipped from the pile and fell to the ground.

"Oh bother.” He put the rest of the pile down and bent to pick up the fallen book, only to spy a very familiar name in the record.

Mr Milnes.

His breath froze in his lungs as he grabbed the book, dated eight years prior, and read through the steward’s report to his father for the week, outlining the steward’s response to the idea of investing in a business proposal from a Mr Milnes. The steward pointed out that Mr Milnes had come from nowhere, quickly growing a reputation as being good with money. He’d apparently taken a small investment from Lord Toddington—the name sent a shiver a delight up Theo’s spine and he stared out the window for a moment reliving last night’s garden adventures... With a long breath out, he returned to the old steward’s letter, and gosh, Adam had taken the investment and tripled it in three months; a staggering return. Theo was impressed. He read on. The steward didn’t sound impressed, only cautious as he’d written that he would need to do more research into this Mr Milne before advising on whether to invest with him.

Slowly over the course of the day, Theo’s skin grew colder. Mr Milnes’ name was never mentioned again, but less than two months later, his father had invested in a company named Rosewood Estates. It couldn’t be a coincidence that Rose’s name was in the company name, could it? The accounts were impressive. At first, his father had gained a good return, getting ten percent return every quarter, but slowly the returns had reduced while his father had invested more and more heavily, until the Earldom was virtually bankrupt.

He rang the bell-pull. “Get me Mr Milnes immediately.”

“We don’t have a Milnes who works here.”

“No. Mr Milnes who lives on Jackson Street. He’s a business associate of my father’s.” He was not a friend despite all the times they’d fucked so wonderfully. Theo cringed. Theo didn’t have the evidence connecting Adam to the estate’s financial troubles, but he had enough dots that it almost painted a picture. Had Adam—Mr Milnes—known? Had he deliberately fucked Theo to distract him? Was it all a ploy? Didn’t Mr Milnes know there was nothing more to get from the Earldom?

Theo would never be warm again.

It was over an hour later when Adam sauntered into Theo’s office. Theo had wound himself up tight like a watch spring and his determination almost faltered as soon as Adam stepped inside. How dare he appear so handsome? Almost regal with those brown eyes and careless hair pulled back from his sharp features.

“Tell me about Rosewood Estates.” He hated the way his voice trembled.

Adam’s eyebrows raised. “Rosewood Estates?”