Convincing Leopold Read online

  One tantalizing crimson drop slid down to the back of his upturned hand, clung to his skin for the briefest of seconds, poised to drop…

  Aleric grabbed Raphael’s arm. The instant blood touched Aleric’s tongue, something lurched inside him. A raw, primitive need coupled with a sense of absolute completion.

  Liquid flowed into his mouth and down his throat. Heat pooled in his stomach, warming him from the inside out. So sweet. So satisfying. Each swallow demanded another and another.

  A low moan filled his ears. Raphael. Suckling greedily, Aleric glanced up. Raphael’s head had tilted back, his long lashes resting on his cheekbones, his lips parted. Swaying on his feet, he grabbed Aleric’s shoulder, fingers digging into the muscle and tendons.

  Even above the almost overpowering scent of blood, he could detect Raphael’s arousal. Male musk and the hint of pre-come carried on the heat pouring off the man. His own body reacted instantly.

  The cruelest duel may not spill a drop of blood…but it could break their hearts.

  Enlightened

  © 2014 Joanna Chambers

  Enlightenment, Book 3

  Five months ago, David Lauriston was badly hurt helping his friend Elizabeth escape her violent husband. Since then, David has been living with his lover, Lord Murdo Balfour, while he recuperates.

  Despite the pain of his injuries, David’s time with Murdo has been the happiest of his life. The only things that trouble him are Murdo’s occasional bouts of preoccupation, and the fact that one day soon, David will have to return to his legal practice in Edinburgh.

  That day comes too soon when David’s friend and mentor takes to his deathbed, and David finds himself agreeing to take on a private mission in London. Murdo is at his side in the journey, but a shocking revelation by Murdo’s ruthless father leaves David questioning everything they’ve shared.

  As tensions mount and the stakes grow higher, David and Murdo are forced to ask themselves how far they’re prepared to go—and how much they’re prepared to give up—to stay together. And whether there’s any chance of lasting happiness for men like them.

  Warning: Men in love, men with secrets, and men armed with dueling pistols.

  Enjoy the following excerpt for Enlightened:

  Months ago, before David’s accident, Murdo had alluded to some kind of arrangement whereby they might see each other once a year or so, with Murdo’s other life—the one that would have a wife and family in it—kept carefully separate. David didn’t need to try that arrangement out to know it wasn’t one that he could live with. Everything in him protested at the very thought. When Murdo married, he would make a promise to his wife to cleave only to her. How could David give himself to Murdo after that? It would be wrong in every way. Unfair to Murdo’s wife and, yes, unfair to himself too.

  He could just imagine Murdo’s response to that protest. He’d say that any woman he married would go into the marriage accepting—indeed expecting—that Murdo would have lovers. And that she could take lovers of her own. He would say, in that slightly weary tone he used when talking about the aristocratic world he inhabited, it’s the way of the world… David had heard it before— It hadn’t been enough to allay his objections then, and it wasn’t now.

  At some point, he fell into an uneasy sleep, drifting into a garbled maze of dreams. He dreamt he was with his first love, Will Lennox, swimming in the river at Midlauder, gooseflesh rising on his skin. Will was young and beautiful, his brown hair sleek from the water, green eyes twinkling with mischief. They came together in a kiss, laughing.

  The kiss was innocent at first, but soon it grew more feverish and the body under David’s hands grew harder and more demanding. He realised he was no longer with Will but with Murdo.

  Murdo’s jet gaze met his own, dark and pleading.

  David broke the kiss and asked him what was wrong, but Murdo didn’t answer him, just gazed at him with mute pain. Then David glanced down and saw that Murdo was bleeding, his long fingers spread over a gaping wound in his chest. David yelled Murdo’s name and pressed his own hands over the wound too, crying out helplessly as dark blood slugged out over their interlaced fingers.

  He woke himself with his own shouting, his heart thundering with panic and fear, tears wet on his face. At the same moment, his bedchamber door flew open, the handle banging against the wall as Murdo ran in.

  “What’s wrong?”

  David sat up. “Nothing—I just had a dream—a nightmare.” He dashed the tears away, mortified. “I’m sorry if I alarmed you.”

  Murdo’s shoulders relaxed, and he closed the door quietly behind himself. “I thought you were being murdered!” he joked as he approached the bed, giving a short, awkward laugh.

  Settling himself on the mattress beside David, he added more gently, “Are you all right?”

  “In truth, I feel quite shaky,” David replied, forcing a laugh. He wanted to ask Murdo to hold him but couldn’t find a form of words he could utter. Will you hold me was impossible.

  It turned out, though, that he didn’t need to turn his need into a spoken plea. Murdo reached for him without being asked, his arms sliding round David’s slim body, gathering him close.

  “Christ, you’re freezing,” he muttered into David’s ear and began chafing David’s cold skin with his big, warm hands. “Were you sleeping like that? With just that thin cover over you?”

  “I only meant to doze for a few minutes,” David said. “But I think I ended up sleeping for quite a while. What time is it?”

  “Just gone five.”

  “I slept three hours, then,” David exclaimed, shocked.

  “Did you see Chalmers?” Murdo’s gaze, dark as pitch and soft with concern, was so reminiscent of the nightmare that David’s heart began to race again. Breaking eye contact, he burrowed closer in, needing the physical reassurance of Murdo’s body, warm and alive and close to his own. He slid his arms round Murdo’s waist and pressed his face into the other man’s neck, breathing in his familiar, heady scent.

  For a moment, Murdo was very still, as though surprised. Then his arms tightened round David’s cold body, and he turned his head to press a kiss against one temple.

  And right then, David felt a bolt of unexpected gratitude. Gratitude that he and Murdo were alive. Alive and here, together, now.

  A profound understanding settled on him of what it meant to be alive. What a privilege it was. What it meant to share the moments of his life—even the difficult moments—with someone he loved.

  Someone I love.

  Murdo.

  The revelation remained unspoken, the unused words even harder to utter than Will you hold me? Easier by far just to stay where he was, holding on to the flesh-and-blood man, imperfectly communicating his feelings by touch.

  After a long while, he realised he hadn’t answered Murdo’s question.

  “Sorry, I’m still half-asleep, I think. I did see Chalmers. He made a request of me. I’ll need to talk to you about it later.”

  “We can talk about it now, if you like.”

  “No, first I—” David paused, struggling again to find words. The ones he picked sounded raw and desperate. “First, I need you.”

  He lifted his head, knowing his face would give everything away. He didn’t even try to disguise his feelings, though. He just let Murdo see it all, the despair and the grief, and the sharp, pressing desire. Because what was the point in hiding it? What was the point of having the gift of life—and the gift of knowing how precious it was—if he couldn’t share it all with this man?

  Murdo met David’s eyes, and his own gaze gentled. “I need you too,” he whispered, and he dipped his head to capture David’s lips.

  It was just breathing at first; their lips resting together, the air from their mouths mingling. Impossible intimacy. Impossible tenderness. So unbearably sweet it was a barb in David’
s heart. He felt it like physical pain, like physical joy.

  They broke apart briefly, staring at one another, then David leaned in and took Murdo’s mouth again, but this time his kiss was hungry, devouring, and after a moment’s hesitation, Murdo returned his passion. Their tongues twined, Murdo’s clothed body moving against David’s naked one, his big hands tracing over David’s cold skin.

  As good as Murdo’s hands felt, David was glad when the other man finally pulled away long enough to shed his clothes. He watched Murdo hungrily as the man quickly stripped, moaning his gratitude when they were finally skin to skin, loving the satiny drag of flesh on flesh and the prickle of Murdo’s chest hair against his own mostly smooth torso. He loved the breath-stealing pleasure when their cocks first met, the prod of Murdo’s blunt cockhead against the base of his own shaft, the firm press of all that heft as Murdo canted his lean hips up. They ground their shafts together, their mouths meshed in a deep, desperate kiss—breathing the same air, moving to the same frantic rhythm—and it felt like mere moments till David was crying out his release, Murdo’s answering groan following a heartbeat behind.

  Afterwards, they lay in companionable silence for a long time. At last, though, Murdo turned his head on the pillow.

  “So, what did Chalmers want?”

  David repeated what Chalmers had told him about Kinnell’s visit to Charles Carr, and his request that David deal with moving the trust administration.

  “I have to get to London as soon as possible,” he said when he was finished. “I want you to take me with you tomorrow.” He noted Murdo’s faint frown and added, “I cannot rest easy until I’ve fulfilled my promise, Murdo.”

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  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  Samhain Publishing, Ltd.

  11821 Mason Montgomery Road Suite 4B

  Cincinnati OH 45249

  Convincing Leopold

  Copyright © 2016 by Ava March

  ISBN: 978-1-61922-251-9

  Edited by Sasha Knight

  Cover by Kim Killion

  All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  Original Publication: 2011

  First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: February 2016

  www.samhainpublishing.com