Chapter Eighteen

“Trust me.” Several hours later, Avery continued the argument with Connor that had begun in the carriage outside the restaurant and carried over into Avery’s parlor. “I’ve earned Lovatt’s confidence. Give me more time to lure the man, and he’ll trust me with confidences. We might set up a trap to walk him into, something that will expose both him and his cohorts in the worst possible light.”

Connor’s eyes were two hot coals in his hard face. He looked utterly out of place sitting in Avery’s parlor. The disparity between the rugged man and his elegant surroundings was intriguing.

“I don’t like all this playacting,” he growled. “If you poke a stick at a wild animal, you can’t be surprised when it strikes out at you. What if Lovatt figures out your game and snaps your hand when you try to trap him? None of this is your concern. Let me handle it my way.”

“What way is that? You can’t arrest Lovatt. Your superintendent will see you off the force if you cross him. If you try to go over Higgins’s head, who else might be involved? As I see it, I’m your best option.”

The fact that Tate didn’t reply spoke volumes. He must realize Avery was right.

“Please, let’s talk no more of this for now,” Avery soothed. “We both need a reprieve from all this. Bertrand is napping, and his nurse is at hand should he require anything. You and I should go somewhere alone, a drive to the country and an invigorating walk, I think.”

Connor’s heavy brows shot up. “Are you mad? With all this going on, you choose today for a holiday?”

“We may return to our plotting and planning later. Today we’ve earned an afternoon of pleasure. I served at the mission yesterday, and you are free from work until tomorrow, correct?”

“Yes, but no.” He shook his head. “I must go home. I have things to tend to.”

“Like what?” Avery asked, honestly curious how the man might fill his free time.

“Wash out my… None of your concern. I’m busy. That’s all,” Connor groused.

“Please,” Avery wheedled and pouted a little. He was usually good at getting men to bend to his will. “When was the last time you’ve breathed air that didn’t reek of coal smoke and garbage? I know of a place near the city limits, a friend’s property where we might stroll in the woods and stop for a picnic by a lovely brook.”

Connor’s pause was long enough to let Avery know he was interested. “This isn’t a good time to—”

“It’s the perfect time. Taking a break from worrying and coming back to the problem with fresh insight is a much better way to solve it. For now, we will stretch our legs and recall there is good in the world. Today we will enjoy being alive.”

Giving Connor no time to argue, Avery leaped up from his chair, rang for Greeley, and told him to have Cook pack a hamper. He ordered the two-seat trap so they wouldn’t have his driver, Dunlop, along. While Connor continued to offer halfhearted protests, Avery quickly gathered the proper accouterments for a day in the country and gave Connor casual clothes from his own wardrobe to change into.

“We are of a like size. These should fit. I believe my extra pair of brogans will do for you as well. You may change in the guest room where you slept the other day.”

In a trice, the lightweight, open carriage was brought around, packed and ready to go. Avery took the seat perched between two wheels, and Connor leaped up to join him.

“This really isn’t—”

“Hup.” Avery cracked the whip, and the black horse moved briskly forward.

Once out of the quiet streets of Mayfair, Avery had to jockey for position in heavy city traffic. The little trap was nearly sideswiped by a delivery wagon veering in front of them. At an intersection, a trio of small boys ran across, putting their lives in peril.

“You see,” Avery said to Connor when they got out of the worst of it, “we need a rest from the pressures of city living. When was the last time you went to the country or the seaside?”

Connor laughed. “Never. My family couldn’t afford holidays. The most I’ve seen of trees is in a city park.”

In a flash, Avery saw Connor’s life clearly. He’d been one of those urchins who darted heedlessly through traffic. He’d dwelled in poverty like Avery’s students at the mission. While Avery had been coddled and given everything he desired by his devoted mother, Connor had probably worked in a factory to contribute to his family’s very survival. The thought made Avery feel more ashamed than ever of his years of indolence.

“Well, you shall enjoy the hike today, then,” he said.

They sat so close on the bench, his hip and thigh pressed against Connor’s, warm and solid. The sensations it caused were very distracting, but Avery didn’t want this trip to center only around physical attraction. He was determined to learn more about the man beside him.

“Please, tell me about your siblings, for I have none of my own. Two brothers and a sister, you said? Give me a glimpse of what it was like to grow up in a large family.”

“Hardly large,” Connor said. “Many families I knew had six or more children all shoved into a three-room flat. My mum had steady work and didn’t drink up her wages, so we had a larger place. My brothers and I shared a room while my sister, Ginnie, slept in with Mum.”

“Are your siblings older or younger than you?” Avery turned onto a thoroughfare which crossed a bridge. On the far side, past a few factories, farmland would begin.

“Ginnie’s the youngest. I’m in between my brothers, Henry and Sam. Henry works at the stockyards, Sam and Ginnie in a textile mill. All three are married, and I have a few nephews and nieces.” He shook his head. “Don’t know how they keep body and soul together. I send money or gifts to all of them when I can.”

“You do well for yourself as a bachelor with a decent-paying job.” Avery considered Connor’s miniscule flat in that rundown building, and altered his perception of what “doing well” meant for someone like Connor versus someone like himself. It made him want to shower the man with luxuries that might make his life easier. But, of course, Connor would only get angry and never accept them.

“The air is clearer already. Breathe it in,” Avery ordered as the stench from a tannery faded behind them and fields of grain spread on either side. “Another half mile and we’ll be there.”

“Who is this friend of yours?”

“Guy Forsythe has no ancestral home, only the land and a few tenant farmers. We met at a club and enjoy each other’s company on occasion.” Avery noted Connor’s curious look. “Not in that way. We both like horse races and a little betting.”

“You gamble often?”

“It’s an amusement to pass the time, but I can walk away, unlike some men of my acquaintance. What about you? Do you enjoy a good wager?”

“Can’t abide cock or dog fights, but I’ve gambled on dice.” He paused. “At least I did when I was younger. I don’t do much outside of work now. I don’t care to spend time at the pub and prefer to sit home and read a book or newspaper.”

“Some peace after the busy days you must have.” Avery chirruped to the horse, whose pace had begun to lag. “I must admit my own need for constant entertainment has faded since I began volunteering at Mrs. Stanhope’s mission. Time alone used to bore me. Now it is pleasant.”

“Because you have a purpose and are not simply filling idle hours,” Connor declared.

“Shrewd of you to point that out,” Avery said dryly.

“I’m sorry.”

“No. I appreciate your forthrightness, and you are correct. I’ve been a lazy man for most of my life. But I’ve begun to change recently. Ah, here we are.” Avery changed subject and direction as he guided the horse down a lane shaded by branches.

At the point where the lane became a rough path, Avery stopped the trap and jumped down. While he took the horse from its traces and staked it to graze, Connor unloaded the hamper and supplies.

“Your servants have packed enough for a traveling army. What are we meant to do with this?” He held up a tarpaulin.

“A canopy to protect us from the sun, I suppose. We won’t be hauling that along. All we need is the picnic hamper and blanket—to stretch out on.” Avery gave his guest a meaningful look and teasing smile. He was rewarded by a flush of crimson on Connor’s high cheekbones.

“We’ll not be doing anything here, out in the open where anyone might pass by,” Connor said firmly.

“But you were going to return the favor, remember?” Avery flicked his tongue over his lips.

Connor swallowed hard and pretended to ignore him, busying himself with the wicker hamper of food.

“I’m joking.” Avery left the horse with a pat on the nose and approached his companion. “I didn’t bring you out here simply to have my way with you, although I wouldn’t mind an interlude under this gorgeous sky. I want you to put your mind at ease and enjoy a long talk and a ramble along this rustic path.” He waved a hand before his face to chase away a swarm of gnats. “The stream is not too far. It will be shady and cooler there.”

Connor hefted the hamper, his forearm bulging below the rolled-up sleeve of his shirt. Avery tore his gaze away and picked up the folded blanket.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Avery asked as they walked side by side on the path, leaving sunny meadow behind and entering the mottled green shadows under the trees. He listened to the calls of birds in the canopy above, the insects humming or buzzing all around them.

“Don’t think I’ve ever been someplace so quiet. In the city, there’s always some sort of noise, even in the dead of night.”

As Connor tipped his head back to look at the interlaced branches and waving leaves, Avery studied the line of his throat, the slight bump of Adam’s apple, and the hollow where throat met chest. Perspiration made his skin shine. Avery longed to lick all the way up that column.

“Tell me more about your family.” He interrupted his lustful thoughts. “A story from your childhood that illustrates their characters.”

“Mm. I don’t know if there’s just one. My brothers and I were scrappers, always fighting with other lads in the neighborhood. But that was the way all the boys were, playing one minute, punching the next. We had each other’s backs, so we came out all right most of the time. Ginnie was a different sort of girl. Not tough and loud like most of the lasses on our street, who could use their fists just like the boys. Sometimes I imagined she was a changeling, dropped among us, quiet, dreamy, and as well-mannered as a little lady. Mum used to say she was too good for this world. Ginnie’s health was always fragile. We all half expected she’d join the angels before she was past childhood.”

“But now she’s grown and wed and with children?” Avery slapped a mosquito on his neck.

“No children yet. Those are my brothers’. Ginnie married a sailor who’s usually at sea. She lives in the flat where he moved her and earns her own keep most of the time. He comes home when he’s able but doesn’t leave her with much.” He clicked his tongue. “She never should’ve gone with him. He’s not rough with her, but he doesn’t look after her the way he should. I worry about her lungs. The cotton fluff in the mill has her coughing all the time.”

Avery crunched over a layer of old leaves and kept very quiet. This was the most Connor had revealed since they’d met. He didn’t want to stop the flow of words. But then Connor interrupted himself. “Is that water I hear?”

“The brook’s right ahead. Or stream. Or creek. I’m not quite certain of the difference.”

“Size, perhaps?”

Avery suppressed a joke about size and pushed aside branches to reveal swiftly moving water between rocky banks. “Lovely, isn’t it? I was told the water emerges directly from an underground stream so one may drink from it without fear of contamination.” He shooed away more gnats and spread the blanket on a flat, mossy spot under the shelter of a willow.

Connor set down the hamper and stood watching the restless water. Avery took off his shoes before joining him.

“If you’re as hot as I am, remove your shoes, roll up your trousers, and wade,” he suggested. “This is what spending a day in the country is about, setting aside convention.”

Connor stripped off his shoes and stockings, then went a step further, losing his shirt and trousers as well. Avery copied him. Wearing drawers only, they entered the calf-deep water.

He sucked in a breath at the icy water, his feet slipping on shifting stones. Connor walked ahead of him upstream, as surefooted as if he were on pavement.

“A bit cleaner than the Thames where we sometimes swam as boys,” he said.

Avery shuddered at the thought of anyone entering that cesspool of garbage and runoff from the factories. The differences between his privileged upbringing and Connor’s humble background struck him yet again. Before, he’d been too intent on gaining Connor’s interest to truly consider what his life was like. Avery didn’t pity his poverty, for Connor had known some riches Avery never had, such as three close siblings. But stories of Connor’s past did make Avery see him from a different point of view.

“Be careful. There’s a—” Connor began, just as Avery stepped into a hole, lost his balance, flailed his arms, and fell on his arse. When Connor grinned at his drenching, Avery splashed him. The gauntlet thrown, soon both of them were dousing each other and laughing so hard that Avery could scarcely breathe.

Despite his many amusements and sexual exploits, Avery realized he rarely laughed this heartily and freely. This wasn’t the sort of dry sarcasm or poking fun at others’ foibles his jaded set indulged in. He gave a deep belly laugh of sheer childlike happiness.

“Stop, stop, stop!” he begged, protecting his face as Connor pushed a wall of water at him with both hands. As the water washed over him, Avery grabbed hold of Connor’s ankles and pulled him off his feet. Connor somehow fell forward rather than back and landed on top of Avery, sinking them both.

Avery popped his head above water, sputtering.

“Are you all right?”

Avery choked. “Never better.” When Connor started to move off him, he grabbed hold. “No need to hurry.” He snaked a hand around the back of the warm, strong neck and pulled Connor’s head closer. Droplets of water rolled down every handsome feature and dripped from his nose onto Avery’s face.

“I quite like you on top of me like this.” Avery pressed his lips against Connor’s, warm yet chilled from the water. He tasted deliciously fresh and earthy.

The stones under Avery jabbed his legs and rear. Connor’s body pressed hard against his front, grinding him. Avery worked a hand between them and felt the shape of his cock, but it was impossible to stroke with wet fabric molded to it.

Avery broke off the kiss. “Shall we remove the rest of our sodden clothing and lie on the blanket?”

No argument from the constable, who’d either stopped fretting about his vow to the letter of the law or shelved it for the day. They slogged out of the brook and peeled off their clothes at the water’s edge. The only sounds to disturb the silence were bird calls and breeze-ruffled leaves. Not a voice or even the moo of a distant cow. They were utterly alone, free to do whatever they liked, and what Avery liked to do was reach out both hands to stroke down Connor’s arms from shoulders to wrists. The bulge of muscles beneath his palms whetted his appetite more than any picnic luncheon.

Avery feasted his five senses on Connor. He drank in every detail of the man’s impressive physique, tasted his flesh as he licked from one nipple to the other, and inhaled his masculine scent. Connor’s sharp intake of breath when Avery nipped flesh was music to his ears. As for the sense of touch, Avery molded his hands over the musculature of chest, abdomen, and buttocks, before bringing them around front to grasp Connor’s erection. He appreciated the firm flesh in his hands but wanted it other places as well. His arse clenched in anticipation of such a thick cock. Would Connor want that too, or was sodomy a step beyond what the constable’s conscience could justify?

Connor abruptly took charge, seizing Avery’s arms to draw him close and knocking all thought from his mind when he kissed him. Their cool wet flesh clung together. Avery almost expected steam to rise as heat built between them. Connor’s heavy cock nestled alongside his, and Avery thrust against it to make Connor moan. He succeeded in drawing a pathetic whimper from his own throat.

His hands roamed the breadth and length of Connor’s damp back before settling on his taut rear. Avery gripped and pulled him while shuffling backward. When he reached the edge of the blanket, he let go of Connor long enough to drop down and stretch out.

Sunlight pierced leafy branches, silhouetting Connor’s form standing over him, a halo gilding his hair. As Connor lowered over him, Avery fancied a dark angel descending—a naked, solidly built angel rather than some ephemeral spirit. Connor straddled Avery’s hips and placed his hands on his shoulders, holding him to the ground. He lay on top of Avery and rubbed cool-warm skin against his. He rained kisses on Connor’s forehead, eyelids, cheekbones, ear; soft nuzzling all over his face and under his jaw before finally latching on to his lips.

Avery learned Connor wasn’t only capable of the fierce, aggressive attacks he’d delivered so far. The man could kiss. His lips plucked at Avery’s, tongue teasing gently between them. Connor’s mouth was a soft, insistent moth battering against a light. His slow kisses started a glow burning in Avery’s groin that spread heat throughout his body. He cradled the man’s rough jaw, and Connor turned into his touch, pressing lips to Avery’s palm. The sight of him with eyes closed, a slight frown of concentration furrowing his brow, fully intent on experiencing this moment, was almost too beautiful. Avery’s throat constricted with sudden emotion.

Connor kissed Avery’s wrist, his inner arm up to where it joined his body, then his side, licking a trail over his rib cage. Avery squirmed at the tickling, then held very still when Connor’s mouth skated over his waist and hipbone to his groin. The dark head bent over his cock; the square knuckles of Connor’s fist wrapped around it. The man’s mouth wrapping around Avery’s cockhead sent a surge of lust racing through him.

Avery stretched luxuriously on the rough woolen blanket. Twigs and pebbles poked through the fabric, the small discomfort merely adding to his pleasure. He lay in raw, real nature rather than silken sheets, and the man between his legs was no dilettante but a common man with few social graces. This was as different from Avery’s usual sexual encounters as day from night, and he adored it.

Connor knew what to do with his stroking tongue and sucking mouth and soon had Avery groaning. He rested a hand on Connor’s bobbing head, fingers looping through soft strands—such a pretty man when he wasn’t being grim.

“There. Just like that,” Avery murmured, and then words failed him as an abrupt spasm seized him. He gasped and jerked as he came, drowning in too much bliss to be embarrassed by how quickly it happened. He rode the crest of the wave crashing through him.

When he opened his eyes at last and looked down, Connor studied him with an intent gaze and a smile. “Like that?” he teased.

Avery grinned. “Sorry. I was a mite early. Hadn’t realized how excited I would be. I’ve been imagining this practically since I met you.”

“Since the day I arrested you. So you enjoy handcuffs?”

Ooh, the man could joke when he wasn’t being righteous and stuffy. Avery bantered back. “I’ve worn a few, but none that chaffed my wrists as much as yours did. You didn’t happen to bring them along?”

Connor drew himself up to his knees so he loomed over Avery. “No, but”—he reached toward the pile of discarded clothing—“this might do.” He brandished one of his braces.

The sight of the thin strip of material and thoughts of how it might be applied made Avery swallow. “Yes. I do believe that will do nicely.”