“Come upstairs?”
They went to Solomon and Wallace’s empty room and came together in the space between the beds, the afternoon sun creeping in through the narrow window, and the lump of tension in Jed’s gut melting a little more with every kiss.He slid his hands into Solomon’s hair, pulling him close, lengthening each kiss.
When they finally broke off, Jed jammed the room’s only chair under the door handle, while Solomon began to tug off his neckerchief.
“No, leave that,” Jed ordered.“On your back on the bed.I’ll see to your clothes myself.”
“You’re calling the shots,” Solomon murmured, flopping obediently back onto the bed.
Jed paused, his hands on the buttons of his own breeches.“Is that—all right?”
“I like it.It’s not something I’ve been able to indulge very often.I mean, if you—?”
“I like it too.”
Solomon relaxed.He folded one arm behind his head, looking up at Jed.“Well, then.”
A little smile was hovering about his lips.Jed bent to kiss it, a burst of tenderness welling up inside him.
It was a precious gift, he thought.That Solomon would trust him, of all the men in all the world.He wanted to nurture that trust, to embrace it, to be worthy of it.He wanted to hang onto Solomon and never let go.
He swallowed around the tight lump of happiness in his throat, his hands moving over Solomon’s body, unbuttoning and untying.
For a few minutes, nothing mattered but the man in his arms.Solomon’s body beneath him, eagerly yielding.Solomon’s mouth surging up to meet his.The light in his eyes, the rasp of his cheek against Jed’s, the hand that closed tight on his.
Worldly pain and labour seemed far away, here in this hallowed place.At that moment, Jed wouldn’t have wished to take any other path in life but the one that brought him here, to this room, to this man’s body and soul.
“Jed,”Solomon breathed, and they thrust together, moving as one body, until they were spent.
The room was still, the mattress soft, Solomon’s arm warm and heavy across Jed’s chest.
After some time, Jed stirred.“I’d better go,” he said sleepily, though the stableyard clock had struck noon not long ago, and he didn’t have to be in the yard until one.
“Stay if you like.”
“Wallace—”
“He’s with Emma.They’ve gone out for a walk together.”
“Gone for a walk together?”Jed repeated, intrigued.
Solomon stifled a yawn.“I’ll tell you about it later,” he said, rolling over to pillow his head on Jed’s chest and drift off to sleep.
Chapter Sixteen
When Jed woke, Solomon was sitting up in bed, looking out of the window at the wintry blue sky.He noticed Jed stir and smiled down at him: that lop-sided quirk of a smile that Jed had grown to love.
“There’s something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about.”
There was a note in his voice that caught Jed’s attention.He propped himself up on one elbow, eying Solomon.“Oh?”
“Nothing bad!Something good, I hope.You see, Wallace and Emma are thinking of taking over the running of an inn together.”
Jed stared in shock.“Taking over an inn together?”
“Yes.It’s the Jarret Arms out by Jarret Down.I expect you know it?”
Jed hadn’t passed that way since he’d returned to England.He remembered it as an isolated place high up on the moors, though busy enough nonetheless, for it was the only inn along that lonely stretch of road.
