Orlando lay naked, curled into his beloved’s warm embrace, the slender fingers of one hand entwined with those of the man he used as a pillow. He rested his head over the man’s steady heart, listening to it beat to assure himself of its existence. They lay in silence, as being together was enough and at the moment neither felt the need for speech. Orlando sighed happily at the feel of Sean’s fingers in his hair, gently fingering the silken curls there, curling them about his digits idly. “They suit you,” Sean said softly, caressing Orlando’s downy cheek as he spoke. “I had often dreamed of how it would look this way.” “You did?” Orlando asked, a little crease of amused curiosity forming in his brow as he stroked his thumb across the curve’s of Sean’s where their fingers were laced. “And do they look as you imagined them?” he almost whispered. Sean nodded. “You look like an angel,” he said, once again running his fingers through the fine curls.” Orlando smiled. “I quite forget how they look,” he admitted. “It has been so long since I have seen them. I feel them on my face and when I brush them at night…but I can’t see them in my mind. I only see myself as I was when I was with you…at Lee’s manor.” “Orlando…your husband…I worry if I should tell you but I think you should know that Mortensen…” “Killed Lord Lee,” Orlando finished for him. “I know. Or at least, I suspected. I had always thought him a cruel man but after our marriage I came to intimately know the true extent of it.” Sean flinched slightly, remembering what Colin had said to him the other night when he confronted him on his affair. He gently took Orlando’s arms and pulled him up further against him, wrapping his arms around the slight form of his love and holding him. “He will never hurt you again, my love,” he vowed. “I know” Orlando said softly. “Think not on those things, Sean. They are in the past and I do not blame you for them…I know you blame yourself, but do not. Let us begin again, start a new beginning together, away from here and from society.” Sean smiled, stroking Orlando’s face before leaning down to kiss Orlando’s sweet lips. “Is that what you want love? You want us to run away together and forget all about the charade of society living?” Orlando nodded slightly, brushing his lips up against his lover’s. Their breath mingled, warming them each other before their tongues slid out to caress against the other, slowly gliding together before Orlando’s retreated back to his own mouth and Sean’s quickly followed. Sean smiled when Orlando moaned at the attention of his questing tongue and roaming fingers. Orlando’s delicate hands raised to cup Sean’s face, tracing the planes of his forehead and cheekbones to better remember them. He sucked gingerly on Sean’s tongue, arching his body into the older man’s when experienced fingers slid down his back, dipping into the gentle curve there before curving over a sweetly rounded hip. Upon the gentle urgings of his lover’s hand and fingers, Orlando drew one thigh over that mirrored to him, slowly rubbing his smooth flesh against the coarse hair that covered his partners before wrapping his long appendage over Sean’s hip. The move effectively drew their bodies closer together and Sean moaned his approval as Orlando’s narrow hips began to gently move against his. Their swelling members glided across each other as their lips and tongues continued to ghost together in a lazy kiss. “Orlando” Sean moaned, his rumbling voice rough with longing. There would never be a touch that could surpass that of his love’s. He longed for the beauty’s caress…for the sweet sounds he made when pleasured by mouth or hand or member. The beauty’s mouth lowered to Sean’s jaw, his tongue flicking teasingly against the now bearded flesh. He lowered himself even farther to the man’s throat where the beard had been shaved away, leaving flesh which would have been smooth that morning but now was covered in the shortest of prickly hairs. The stubble tickled Orlando’s lips as he kissed it and caused the most delicious burn to his tongue that lapped at it like a thirsty kitten. Sean rolled from his side and gently pushed Orlando onto his back, sliding one knee between the slender thighs. Orlando arched up as Sean’s knee grazed his swollen member, his back rising from the downy sheets before falling again. His mouth was open in a silent cry for he had lost his breath and instead implored his lover with his hands. The former grounds man understood Orlando’s pleas and drew his other leg between those lovely thighs as well, his hands gliding down Orlando’s sensitive hips before slipping under his legs and drawing them apart. Orlando spread his legs as he was guided, drawing the other man closer to him with insistent calves. Sean wet his hand with his own saliva, also rubbing the essence that was weeping from the tip of his sex onto the head of his phallus for more lubrication. He knew he did not have much to ease Orlando’s way and would therefore be as slow and gentle as possible. He would have his lover never again feel pain or any kind if it were in his power. He took hold of his hard length and looked down to the slightly reddened port, the tiny rosette begging him in its clenches. He put two fingers in his mouth and wet them before lowering them to Orlando’s opening and easing them inside. Orlando’s quick intake of breath caused Sean to look up to his face in worry, but he was eased when he saw the pleasure written on the beauteous features. Those rosy lips begged to be kissed and Sean hastily obliged them, leaning down and capturing them with his own. He worshiped that soft mouth as he worshiped the rest of Orlando’s deserving body. Once he felt the clutching channel expand enough to accept him, Sean removed his fingers and once again took hold of his ready shaft. Before he could push himself into his love, Orlando raised a hand to Sean’s chest, stopping him. “I swore after I heard of your death that I would never love another. I never have Sean. You are my first and my last.” Sean wished Orlando could see him so the youth could see the love and trust in his eyes. Instead he leaned down and softly kissed Orlando’s petal lips, caressing them tenderly and pouring all he could not show into the kiss. Words had never been important between them. When he finally drew back, he leaned down again and kissed each of the closed eyelids that covered those blind eyes. “You are mine as well,” he said. Orlando’s arms twined around his neck and he let his head fall back, a blissful smile spread his lips as he felt the man’s cock head at his opening. He spread his legs even farther to allow his beloved better access to him and gasped in delight when that thick length whose every curve and vein fit perfectly into him like a key fits perfectly into a keyhole. That one single key that fit just so to open that which it guarded. For Orlando, it was his heart. The youth could almost feel his heart swell as he was entered. It did not hurt at all as he was stretched to accommodate the length inside him. He held tight to Sean, sealing their bodies together as the man began to thrust. The first movements were long and fluid, but they became more powerful as their kisses increased in need and passion. Their mouths sealed together as though they were making up for all the time they had lost. A strangled gasp slipped past Orlando’s lips as his pleasure center was struck by the head of his love’s cock. He bucked up when it happened again, and then again. Orlando’s cries raised in pitch as the movements inside his sensitive channel quickened. His fingers dug into Sean’s strong shoulders, pulling the man’s chest flush against his own. Orlando’s breathing was ragged as his own needy cock rubbed up against Sean’s belly as he was rocked by the thrusts. The sparse hairs on the man’s stomach created the most delicious friction to the tender flesh, coaxing Orlando closer and closer to orgasm. As he felt his peek approaching, Orlando wrapped his legs tighter about Sean’s waist, bracing himself against the other man to let him go deeper within him. He could feel Sean’s hot breath ragged against his ear, the man’s harsh pants filling his head and making it spin sublimely. This is what he had longed for since the fire. This was what no other man could ever possibly give him. As Orlando came he clutched Sean with all the strength he contained in his slender body. This moment was what he had craved and dreamt of for so very long. Sean did not last long after, and he released himself deep inside his lover with a throaty cry. He did not collapse beside Orlando as he used to after lovemaking, but instead remained above him, panting as he looked down into the flushed face of the beauty beneath him. He just hovered for a moment, breathing as he waited for the last shivers of his release to run their coarse through his body and still. He watched as Orlando came down from his high as well and once they had both calmed, he leaned down again to kiss him slowly and tenderly. Orlando let his arms ease from about the man’s neck and instead let them drift down his firm arms, feeling the muscles that rippled beneath his skin as he moved. He leaned his head back, arching into the man’s touch as Sean lowered his head to the delicate skin of his throat, crying out sweetly when his lover mouthed his neck. He knew he should tell Sean not to leave a mark, for if Viggo saw it he would certainly say something or confront him. A part of him hoped the man would. He understood from what Sean had told him that there was a plan in motion, and that in a short period of time they would be able to be together forever again. Orlando understood, and while he himself would certainly like to see his vile husband ground into the dust, he could forget it all if it meant he could just run off with Sean. He also knew his husband, and he knew that if he ever tried to leave Viggo, he would be hunted until he was reclaimed. He and Sean would never be safe unless Mortensen truly was destroyed. How he longed for escape. He had his escape for the moment though. Simply being wrapped up in Sean’s arms was enough of a rescue for the time being. He trailed his calves up Sean’s powerful legs and let his own knees play over his lover’s hips and buttocks. He could feel Sean’s approval when the kisses against his throat and collarbone became more intense and needy. Orlando bit his lips and smiled when he felt little gasps and broken kisses against his heated flesh. Orlando loved breaking Sean’s composure. The beauty’s eyelids fluttered when Sean’s fingers ran through his hair, sending delicious shivers all through his body. The fingers in his hair did not pull or force…they massaged and caressed. When Sean’s fingers stroked his soft lips he eagerly parted them, drawing one of the man’s digits into his furnace mouth. He suckled on them daintily until the man above him was gasping in delight. Orlando sighed happily as he listened to his lover’s pants. He ran his fingertips lightly up Sean’s stomach, delighting in the shivers and quick convulsions his feather touch caused. His questing fingers found Sean’s steadily beating hard and he let his warm palm close over it, pressing against it so that he could feel every thump. Sean’s lips wrapped hotly around one of Orlando’s plump nipples, his teeth gently grazing against his wide areola. Orlando pulled in a sharp breath at the feel of the wet tongue and hot breath ghosting over his sensitive flesh. The cool air of the room made his coffee nipples pebble, tightening with the slightest of delicious pains. While Sean’s fingers paid careful attention to one of Orlando’s nipples, his rough fingers played with the other. He rolled the erect nub between his thumb and forefinger, squeezing ever so slightly and twisting until he felt Orlando arch in pleasure beneath him. “Sean!” Orlando gasped, sliding his hand up from the man’s chest to grasp his shoulder. He arched his back against the man to give him more space to maneuver. When the man’s tongue flickered repeatedly over one of his swollen nub, Orlando cried out in pleasure, gripping Sean tight about the neck with one arm, the other wrapped around him, his fingers twining in the man’s hair. “More!” Orlando cried, pressing the man’s mouth against his nipple and urging him to suckle it again. His hips rocked against the man’s stomach, his spent member coaxed into yet another erection. His long legs sought holdings about his lover’s sides, his calves and thighs clutching to the larger man for leverage. “Take me again!” Orlando commanded, his lips imploring to the man against his throat. “I need to feel you again.” Sean was also awaked to fresh arousal, though through his sensual haze his was still able to worry for his lover. “Orlando…” he whispered, his fingers gliding up and down the soft flesh of his beloved’s back. “We should wait…you’ll be too sore…” “We can’t wait,” Orlando insisted. “Viggo and I are leaving tonight, remember? Do it now so I can feel your seed dripping out of me while I sit in that horrid carriage with my detestable husband…” Orlando spread little insisting kisses all over Sean’s jaw and throat, licking delicately against the stubbly flesh. “I want to think of you when I am with him. I want to feel you when I am with him. Let me feel you Sean….if I have to leave you then let me feel you…” Sean was always powerless to Orlando’s will and therefore let go of any inhibitions and lowered two fingers to the beauty’s already used hole to make sure it was stretched enough for him. His fingers gently eased the tips of his fingers into the clenching channel, the way made easy by his previously spilled essence. He was pleased to see that Orlando was still open from there last copulation. “Are you sure?” Sean asked, pulling Orlando flush against him so that the beauty was kneeling above him. Orlando’s breath was harsh with excitement and his chest rose and fell against Sean as he felt his lover position his cock at his entrance. That little pink tongue darted out to wet his lips and Orlando threw his head back with a cry as he was entered again. “Are you alright?” Sean asked, stilling himself with the last of his willpower and waiting for the youth’s answer. Orlando rolled his hips, pushing Sean deeper within him and moaning. “I love it!” He gasped. “More…please Sean more!” Sean complied with relief and gusto, eagerly thrusting into the youth as he gripped him close, his arms tight around the slender form. He reached one hand behind himself on the bed to keep himself steady and let the one arm hold Orlando fast. The beauty was beginning to go lax in his arms at the pleasure of the cock moving inside him, stretching his nether walls, as well as the friction of his cock against Sean’s hard belly. He rocked his hips back and forth to get the man deeper inside of him. Sean’s breathing was ragged as his cock was squeezed in Orlando’s pulsing depths, he thrust hard and fast, his hips slamming into his love’s when they pistoned together. Their pants and moans filled the air as their passion escalated. Orlando could feel his peek nearing, and he gripped Sean as tightly as he could, steadying himself against the pounding he was receiving. “Spill inside me” Orlando moaned. “Fill me, Sean…fill me!” Sean shouted out Orlando’s name as he spilled himself inside his beloved as he had been requested. His body was wracked with shudders as his orgasm sent shocks through him. He clutched Orlando to his body so tightly he feared he may break the slender youth. Orlando did not break, though. Quite the contrary the passionate embrace was enough to send the beauty over the edge as well, and he cried out his release, Sean’s name pouring in reverence from his swollen lips. This time they both fell to the soft bedding, Orlando first toppling atop Sean before the big man rolled them to their sides. He clutched Orlando against them as they both struggled to regain their breath. Sean kept pulling Orlando tighter and tighter against his body, closer even when their bodies were sealed together. Orlando cried out slightly as he was crushed to his beloved, but at the same time he wanted to be closer still. He curled himself against his lover and snuggled closer, urging the man to hold him tighter. “I don’t want to leave you,” Orlando said softly. “I don’t know how long I shall be able to wait again.” Sean did not know what to say to his young lover. He knew what Orlando had been through and there was no way he would be able to ask his sweet Orlando to return to that life for any more amount of time. He merely rubbed his cheek against the top of Orlando’s head instead and tried to find any sort of words that would actually be acceptable. “I do understand…” Orlando said softly, breaking Sean’s thoughts. “I understand why this all needs to be done…I understand that while he lives we can never be together…not really…” Orlando sat and turned his head away from Sean so his love could not read his face and worry for him. “Most of all I understand the ways of men…if Viggo has taught me anything it is that. I see how you must take from him what he has taken from you. But please…promise me that we will be together soon…” Sean sat and tried to gently turn Orlando’s face to see it better and felt a wetness on the beauty’s cheeks, but Orlando would not yet face him. “I can return and play the naïve pastime that I have been for the last year but I must know I shall see you again soon…be with you soon. I cannot bear another long parting! How long, Sean? How long shall we again be separated?” Sean realized Orlando would not look at him and so he fell forward into his love’s lap, his fingers imploring at his sides as he nuzzled the youth’s soft belly. “I cannot ask this of you!” he sobbed. “I will forget it all if you wish it! We shall run…we shall run far away from this place and never return. We could go anywhere…I have some money here in the house we could take…” Orlando shook his head before slowly turning the tear stained cheeks back to his true love. “It must be done. We shall never find peace if we run…and you shall always have that one regret. I would always regret that I had kept you from your peace of mind. I understand so much more now. You lost much more than I…you have more cause for vengeance as well. And I for my part would like to avenge the year of my life that he took from me.” The beauty wiped away his own tears before taking Sean by the arms and lifting his shoulders until the man was level with him. Orlando could see the shadows before him and the figure of the man he so desperately loved. He swore he could almost make out the color of his skin but he did not dare to hope. “So what we must do,” Orlando said firmly though his voice was whispery soft. “Is get dressed, and go about our days. Then on the eve I shall return with my husband to his estate, and you shall return to your affairs. All I care is that you return to me as soon as possible, and let it all be done. Then we shall be together forever…and we shall wed as you promised me when you gave me my ring…” Orlando leaned in, his long lashes lowering as the lids of his eyes fell to half mast. “I still have your ring…I wear it every day, whether on my finger or on a chain about my neck. Last night was the first time it was not on me…for I knew I no longer had to rely on old relics…I knew you had returned to me at last.” Sean closed the final distance between them and pressed his lips to Orlando’s, delighting in how the soft petals moved beneath his own. He held Orlando tightly to him again. “I will come back to you soon, Orlando. All I ask of you is one more week…and then it will be done, I swear to you.” True to ask Orlando had said, the day after that progressed as any other had. Everyone dressed and met for breakfast in the dining room. Orlando claimed a headache and took his breakfast in his room. Lord Trevelyan Lee claimed that he had affairs to attend to and regretted his remaining guests that he would have to leave them but that they were most welcome to take their breakfast all together. Viggo snorted as soon as the other Lord had departed from the tasteful yet in his opinion far too simple dining room. “What a strange man…” Viggo mused to his fellow aristocrats as they all sat down and waited for their meal to be served. “He really does not know how to entertain his guests…though he certainly does try and appear hospitable.” Christian smirked and set his napkin in his lap. “Well, I can’t say I mind too much. I get the run of a house without having to worry about any of the upkeep or ordering about the servants…the drivels of life and such.” Viggo and Brad chucked as well as they settled their own napkins. “He does not seem to know how to properly spend his fortune,” Viggo said, looking distastefully about the room. “I swear, the man spends as though every dollar is his last…and the way he monitors his funding…” Viggo clucked his tongue and leaned back when a servant lowered a plate of food before him. Lord, the man was serving porridge… “You would think he actually believes it might just disappear.” “Well, you never know” Brad said, most amused at the whole conversation. “It seems these days you are wealthy one moment and bankrupt the next. Though I must say…I have heard that Lord Trevelyan Lee has more money than we together could hope to spend in a lifetime.” Viggo snorted in irritation, stabbing his fork into a bit of egg. “Don’t tell me you actually believe that nonsense.” “I don’t know, Vig,” Christian said. “It is all I’ve heard in town. People can’t seem to get enough of him.” The man chuckled to himself, clasping his hands together. “Just like wealth, popularity comes and goes. Why to think that only what seems a few months ago you and lovely Orlando were all people could think of…and now…” “Yes well…” Viggo cut in, idly playing with the stem of his glass to keep down his irritation. “As fads go…I doubt his will last long. There is only so much interest he can hold for people.” “Viggo old man, nothing holds interest like money!” Brad said, raising his glass of orange juice to his lips with an amused grin. He then quirked a brow and smirked at his acquaintance. “Don’t tell me you’re jealous, old boy?!” Viggo felt two sets of eyes on him and he looked up gruffly. He saw the other two men were waiting for a reply and he managed to work up a smile himself. “Of that man? You surely cannot be serious.” He chuckled to himself and was relieved when the others laughed as well. “Besides, I leave today, and I wont have to hear any more of him. All I care about right now is getting back to Walker Manor and being with my beautiful Orlando. It was been too long since we have had any sort of time alone…and I plan to remedy that tonight.” “Going to show pretty little Orlando what he has been missing?” Christian asked, eating a bit of his own egg and avoiding the porridge as much as possible. Viggo grinned at him and nodded. “My lovely has been feeling ill for the past few days, but tonight I don’t think anything will be keeping him from my bed.” “Going to give it to him good, old boy?” Brad asked in an exaggerated cockney voice. Viggo’s amused sneer answered his friend’s question and they all laughed in amusement. Christian leaned forward against the table, his voice low and conspiratorial. “Tell me Vig…how can you stand those freakish eyes of his. Orlando is a beauty, there is no question in that…but his eyes now…I must say if I were to have him I would cover them while I take him.” “Christian, have a heart!” Brad said, thoroughly disgusted. “The poor boy cannot help what has happened to him.” He looked over to Viggo and said in a consoling voice, “Orlando is just as beautiful, despite his handicap…” Viggo waved him off with disinterest. “Why bother lying, Bradley?” he said. “Orlando’s eyes certainly can put a damper on my arousal. By the benefit of being wed to a boy is that I don’t need an excuse for taking him from behind.” Christian laughed out loud, pointing a finger to the blonde lord in thorough amusement. “That’s why I like you, Mortensen. You tell things as they are.” Brad didn’t say anything and merely took a drink of his juice. He didn’t particularly like things that were being said but also did not want his two friends to look down on him. Viggo pushed his spoon into his porridge, looking distastefully down at it. “I can’t wait to get home and back to some real cooking. I swear, just because we live in the country does not mean we should eat like we do. And his servants… they all seem to just operate on their own. Have you seen the man give one order since we came here? He treats them as though they were of our level.” “I must say I’ve seen the same thing,” Christian confessed. “Certainly not the way things are run at my estate. My father would have educated our esteemed host in the ways of the upper class.” “Probably a waste of breath, I’d say.” Viggo said. “His father was exactly the same. Only that bitter old hag Mrs. Dench brought any real order.” “You’d better be careful of what you say” Brad warned. “Trevelyan Lee could be back at any time.” “Calm down, Brad, don’t worry,” Christian chuckled. He pushed his plate away from him and stood. “Well, I’ve had enough of this. I think I am going to have my valet start to get me packed, and then leave when it is all ready.” Viggo nodded and stood as well. “I shall do the same. It was good to see you gentlemen. Feel free to come visit me and Orlando at Walker any time you like… get a taste of what proper hospitality really is.” His friends laughed and they shook each others hand before going their separate ways to their rooms and find their valets. Viggo went up his staircase, knowing that Davenport would already be in his room packing his things for their departure. He had given his valet specific instructions the night before and had full confidence that the man would carry them out as ordered. At that moment, all he wanted to do was pay his pretty little Orlando a visit and make sure he was preparing to leave as well. He didn’t like leaving his darling alone with that accursed Farrell. Not only did he not expect the Irishman to do a thorough and timely job of packing Orlando’s things, but he also didn’t want to give the man room to take liberties with his prized possession. Viggo kept his hands in his pockets as he walked, whistling to himself softly. He rounded the hall that led to Orlando’s bedroom and found the door already open slightly. He pushed at it and stepped inside, looking for his pretty Orlando. Colin jerked around at the sound of Lord Mortensen at the doorway and his gaze immediately hardened. “Can I help you, ‘sir’?” he asked distastefully. “Where is Orlando?” Viggo demanded, crossing his arms about his chest and glaring at the Irish Valet. “He’s in the bath sir, I was going to fetch him in a moment. You may wait here if it please you.” Colin’s voice was firm and cold as he spoke, his posture rigid and straight. Both men stared each other down for a second before Viggo finally spoke. “No,” he said. “It does not please me. I shall go attend to my darling and you shall finish packing his things. I don’t approve of you being present with him in the bathroom while he bathes.” “Would you rather me leave him to slip and fall sir?” Colin asked. “This house is still somewhat strange to him.” “I do not quite like your tone, Mr. Farrell,” Viggo said coldly, his story eyes narrowing. “Do make sure and correct it before I see you next. You need to learn how to take orders better if you wish to continue working for me.” “I work for Orlando, not you,” Colin said. “You work for me, you worthless bastard,” Viggo corrected. “And if you continue to cause such difficulty for me…then I may have to let you go.” “Orlando would not allow it,” Colin challenged. Viggo’s head fell back as he laughed. “Orlando has no charge of anything, you ignorant fool. Besides…he will not know it will happen. You will simply… disappear…” Viggo let the Irishman find his own meaning in his threat and turned from the bedroom, his hands once more casually resting in his pockets. He walked down the hall to the washroom, not bothering to knock when he opened the door. He heard the sound of bathwater splashing indicating movement and looked to see Orlando’s naked back and then the his lovely profile as his darling turned his head. Orlando’s head tilted as he listened for who could be at the door. “Colin?” he asked sweetly, his one hand going to the rim of the tub so he could turn better, his dark eyes searching, squinting slightly with furrowed brows. Viggo found it highly amusing that his precious little darling was acting as though he could actually see him. He stepped forward towards the tub, still not speaking. Orlando’s brows knit a little more as he continued to wait for some sort of sign as to who had entered the bathroom. “Colin…please, would you say something?” Viggo chuckled low in his throat and finally spoke. “Darling, how many times must I tell you that it is not proper for you to call your valet by his Christian name?” Orlando’s brows softened and he chewed his lower lip in worry. Viggo watched as Orlando pulled his knees closer to his chest before wrapping his slender arms about them to cover himself. “Viggo…” he said, surprised to hear that his husband had come to find him. “Was there something you needed?” Viggo sat down on the edge of the tub, resting his hands on his lap with a little sigh. He then reached out and stroked Orlando’s wet curls. “Does a husband need a reason to visit his darling?” Orlando did not respond, but merely bowed his head, tightening his arms about his legs. “I will be done in a moment.” Viggo leisurely reached into the tub and took up the sponge that was there. He lowered it into the warm water and let it fill up before raising it above the beauty’s back, letting droplets of water fall down the satin skin of Orlando’s smooth back. Orlando shivered at their touch and let his head fall to his knees, effectively hiding his facial expression from his husband. The blonde lord lowered the sponge to Orlando’s back and slowly drew it down in long strokes. His eyes darkened as he watched the droplets made their course down that downy skin. “Does this please you?” he asked, his voice almost teasing in its manner. He let his fingers drift across Orlando’s warm skin and felt the boy shiver slightly. “Pardon, my lord?” Orlando asked, his voice soft. “My touch, my darling,” Viggo said, dropping the sponge and letting his hand this time glide across Orlando’s back, then letting it slip over his shoulder and letting it drift down his chest. The blonde man let his fingertip swirl around one of Orlando’s nipples before pinching it harshly. Orlando gasped and took hold on the man’s hand, trying to pull it away, but Viggo proved to be stronger and held firm. “Viggo…you’re hurting me…” “You never answered my question, my sweet.” Viggo insisted. “Does my touch please you?” “Viggo please let me go, I want to get out of the bath.” Viggo frowned and squeezed the little nub again and delighting in the cry the it extracted. If he could not have Orlando’s love he ‘would’ have his pain. “Viggo I want to get out of the bath!” Orlando cried, falling forward to guard his chest with his knees. “I’ll come to you when I am dressed and ready.” Viggo sneered at his lovely spouse, wishing that the beauty could see him at this moment. He looked about and saw a fluffy towel waiting on a shelf to the side of the tub and crossed over to it, making his step slow and deliberate. He took the towel in his hands and went back to Orlando, rubbing the corner against Orlando’s cheek to let the boy know what it was. Orlando reached out a hand to take the towel from the blonde man but found it held fast. He tugged on it again before firmly saying, “Viggo, give me the towel please.” “Why, my darling? I just want to help you dry off. Stand up like a good boy and let me help you. I know how…helpless you can be in an unknown place.” “I’m not helpless,” Orlando said coldly, tugging again on the towel. Viggo smiled and took Orlando’s arm and pulled him from the tub, the water sliding down his wet body in rivulets. Orlando went rigid as he was forced to his feet and lifted clean from the tub. “There now,” Viggo said as he began to pat Orlando down with the towel. “Was that too hard?” Orlando did not speak as Viggo’s hands moved under the towel, patting the water away with firm touches. The youth let him do as he wanted, hoping it would end faster and knowing that a quarrel with the man could not end well for him. Viggo’s hands ran the towel over his shoulders and down his back, lingering on the round swell of his buttocks before sliding up his sides to wipe away his chest. Orlando held his jaw firm as the hands under the towel moved lower to is belly, and then lower still to fondle his lax sex. Orlando jerked away, not caring about the towel but only getting away from those hands. “Thank you for your assistance, now if you will please hand me my robe I will go and get dressed. We have a long day ahead of us with no time for such…actions.” Orlando listened hard for any sort of mark as to Viggo’s reaction, but his own breathing seemed to fill his ears. There were several grueling seconds before Viggo finally grunted in acceptance and stepped back. “I’ll be around to fetch you in an hour. Make sure your valet has you properly packed, for I will not want to wait.” With that Viggo turned on his heal and left the washroom, leaving the youth naked and alone. Orlando noted with growing distaste that his esteemed husband had not bothered to hand him his robe as he had requested, and so he quickly began to feel about for it. He was just about to worry that he had for sure lost it when his fingers brushed against the silken material on the floor. The beauty quickly donned it and made his way to the door. The young man could barely keep count of his steps as he went back to his chamber, wanting nothing more than to get dressed and say a quick farewell to Sean before he departed. Sean had promised that he would come for him in a week’s time, but Orlando was sure that every day away from his beloved would feel like a lifetime. Upon entering the room he could hear Colin bustling about and see his shadows against the bright light streaming in from the windows. Orlando now understood the man’s sudden ending of their affair. He must have discovered Sean’s identity. Orlando’s heart surged with compassion and love of its own kind as he thought of the great sacrifice Colin made for him. He knew how much the man loved him and admired him further still for letting him go. He was saddened when Colin did not greet him, though understood why the man might not. Instead, Orlando found Colin in his shadow and walked towards him. The man’s back was to him when Orlando came up behind him, and so the young beauty encircled his arms about him, letting his cheek rest against his back. “Thank you,” Orlando said softly, tightening his hold on the Irishman’s strong chest. “Thank you.” Colin stiffened, and a tear that Orlando could not see escaped his closed lids and fell down his cheek. “For what do you thank me?” he asked. “For being such a good man,” Orlando said softly. “For letting me go.” Colin tensed and tried to push Orlando away but the slender arms held him fast. “Please let go of me,” he said with a sigh. Orlando held tighter, knowing that Colin would not do anything to forcibly remove him for fear of harming him. “Don’t run from me,” Orlando said. “I refuse to lose you…you mean far too much to me.” “You don’t love me,” Colin said. “I understand that you never could, but it hurts too much right now.” Orlando nodded against the man’s stiff back, but his arms did not fall. “I don’t love you like Sean, but I do love you, Colin. I wish you your happiness with someone that could give you what you really deserve. It would not be fair of me to stay with you. You deserve so much more Colin, and I know you will find it.” Colin nodded but did not respond. He breathed a sigh of relief when Orlando finally stepped away and quickly returned to his task. He occasionally looked over his shoulder to see Orlando feeling through his clothes in the wardrobe, finding a shirt and trousers. He did not look when Orlando removed his robe and stood naked before him. He did not want to see that smooth and flawless body for he was sure that the marks of Orlando and Sean’s passion would be visible. The Irishman knew that Orlando had been with Sean the night before. He knew for Orlando had not returned to his rooms the previous night. He could have known it though from what Orlando had just said to him alone. The final separation had been made, and Colin knew that he had to begin to cope. He just did not know how. Once Orlando was finished dressing, the youth began to take down his clothes from the bureau, intending to help his Irish valet in his task. He was stopped by a firm hand on his slender wrist. His dark eyes flashed up to Colin and waited for an explanation. “Let me do that,” Colin said. The Irishman took a closer look at Orlando and for a moment forgot himself, taking the boy’s cheek in his hands an gently tilting his head back towards the light. “Your eyes!” he gasped. “They are getting darker. The gray is leaving them.” Orlando smiled at the excitement in Colin’s voice. “Viggo has not even noticed yet,” he said softly. “I have been able to see the light and shadows for some time now, and recently even some color.” “Why did you not tell me?” Colin asked, his brows furrowing. Orlando flushed and lowered his head slightly. “I did not want to cause any excitement over something that may not matter. I have accepted the fact that I shall most likely never see properly again…the I do admit that I now wish I still had that power.” He had reason now to want that blessing, though he did not want to say such words to Colin. He felt the Irishman’s smile and it greatly raised his spirits. “You shall see again, Orlando,” Colin swore. “I am sure of it.” Orlando smiled, kissing the rough hand that cupped his cheek before taking it in his own. “I would like to help you pack Colin. I promise you I will not get in the way.” Colin managed a little smile, patting Orlando’s hand slightly before pushing him towards the door. “Yes you will. You can be quite clumsy and you will surely knock over a valise or stack of clothing…why don’t you do say goodbye to him one last time before you leave.” Orlando’s eyes lit up. “He will come for me again in a week,” he said excitedly. “Then we can all be together again.” Colin nodded, again pushing Orlando towards the door. He watched Orlando leave, his dark eyes following the beauty’s back until he was out of his line of sight. He quickly turned back to his tasks before him, doing anything that could take his mind from the curly haired youth. He carefully folded Orlando’s clothes, packing them away into his sturdy suitcases. Orlando had few possessions when he traveled. He had no need of books for he could not see them, and he had no need of pen nor paper for had had no one to have a letter transcribed for him. All Orlando ever took were his clothes and a brush that he used ever morning and night to keep his cherubic curls soft and shining. The task was finished all too quickly for his liking, and Colin set about preparing the room for Sean’s servants to clean. He closed the wardrobe drawers and doors once they were cleaned out and then set to the bedding. He was taking the pillow cases from the pillows when there was a light knock against the doorframe. The Irishman whipped her head around to see Mr. Csokas standing at the door, one arm raised to the frame as he stood causally. “How are you coming along, Mr. Farrell?” he asked, his voice rolling off the tip of his tongue in that manner of his. Colin had always quite liked the sound of the man’s voice since the moment he met him. The handsome Russian’s voice had a most calming affect, and had indeed been a great service to him the night before in his despair. “I am almost finished here,” Colin said, indicating to the begging before him that was piled atop the mattress. “I was merely finishing up with the linens here.” “You know you do not have to do that,” Marton said, stepping forward with a little smile spreading across his lips. “There are people here who have that as their job, yes?” Colin looked down to the sheets clutched in his hand. “It is far better then waiting alone.” Marton nodded, his arms crossing across his chest as he walked stoically towards Colin and the loose bedding. “Then I shall wait with you,” he said, picking up another of the pillow cases and beginning to fold it. He smiled at Colin and was rewarded with a slight tug at the corner of the Irishman’s mouth. “You know, you are quite handsome when you smile,” the Russian said, leaning forward a little and letting his voice get low and conspiratorial. “You should do so more often, I think.” This time the smile broadened as Colin returned to his bedding. They folded together, each taking little glances at the other when they thought the other was not looking. Their eyes met once or twice, but the meetings resulted in little more than embarrassed flushes. Colin could not deny that he found Marton to be very attractive. He wondered if it was because the man was everything Orlando wasn’t. He was rough where Orlando was soft, lined where he was smooth, muscular where Orlando was boyish. There was not one thing that connected the two besides a kindness to their eyes, and it was that kindness that Colin needed the most. He saw Marton’s eyes narrow slightly before he leaned down and picked up a long nightshirt. Colin watched with question as the Russian’s eyes narrowed while inspecting something he had found upon it. “What is it?” Colin asked, reaching for the garment that he knew to be Orlando’s. He must have forgotten it that morning when he was cleaning the room. Marton pulled the garment away from Colin and held it out of his reach. “I shall give it to a servant to wash, yes?” Colin shook his head and reached for it again. “No, I’ll do it. I have much time to waste as it is.” He tried to reach again but again the garment was held from his reach. Colin’s brows furrowed in curiosity and frustration and he reached out, this time snatching the cloth from Marton’s hand before it could be pulled from him. Marton surged forwards but the Irishman stepped back. Colin held up the nightshirt and tried to find what had captured Marton’s interest. Then he saw it. The sticky white residue that clung close to the hem, beginning to crust and flake as it had dried overnight. Colin flung the close covered in seed as though it burned his fingers, staring after it with yes wide in horror. Marton indelicately stepped forward. “You must not think of it,” he said. “Colin you must not let this hurt you.” “So fast” Colin murmured, his eyes still fixed on the fallen nightshirt. “It is all happening so fast.” Marton took Colin’s upper arms in his hands. “You must let go of this love, Colin. Why pursue him when he loves another?” “Who else would show me love if not him?” Colin asked, his voice cracking slightly with sorrow. “I have no one else besides him, and now he is gone. In a week’s time your master shall come for him and then what shall I do? Shall I watch him from afar until the day I die?” “You could open your heart to another,” Marton said softly, his thumb raising to wipe at the tear that was beginning to form at the corner of the man’s eye. “I have heard how you cared for the lovely boy. Will you let yourself be cared for?” Colin looked into the Russian’s dark eyes and saw only warmth there. “You do not even know me,” he said softly. Marton smiled. “Orlando and Sean both found each other, but you and I have lost the one we love forever. We both know real loss, and must keep going. I could never love another woman as I did my wife…but someone different….” Marton let his voice linger off and waited or Colin’s eyes to meet his own. He wanted to see the dark orbs so he could truly know what he had felt since the first time he had comforted Colin…perhaps even the first time he had seen him. Colin did not realize he held his breath as he waited for the Russian to continue speaking until his lungs burned in his chest. He finally breathed again and then managed to choke out, “Someone like whom?” Marton shrugged, taking a step towards Colin and catching the man’s dark eyes with his own. “Someone special,” Marton said. The edges Colin’s mouth pulled into a slight smile at the man’s words. “Not very specific I’d say,” he said. “I am sure there are plenty of special people out there for you to meet.” Marton stepped closer again and the Russian seemed delighted when Colin did not move. “I don’t know…someone that gives up his special love because that one is in love with another…that man seems special to me, no?” “Does it?” Colin asked. “I must say I don’t feel so special right now. I feel like a fool.” “Could I make you feel different?” Marton asked, tilting his head to one side, his low voice rumbling and he almost seemed to purr like a great cat whilst he spoke. The hard line of Colin’s brows softened at the sound of the other man’s voice. He looked down to the soiled nightshirt in his hand for a moment before finally making a choice and letting it fall to the floor. “I would certainly like you to try,” he said with a flicker of his old wicked grin. Marton returned the look when Colin leaned forward and let their mouths meet for the first time. Later that afternoon, all of the guests departed. Sean and Orlando had previously said their tender goodbyes, and now it was Lord Alec Trevelyan Lee that bid farewell to his guests Lord Viggo Mortensen and his young husband Orlando. Orlando returned to Walker Estates with their valets in tow. Viggo visited Orlando that night, as well as the night after, but both times Orlando was asleep. On the third night after their return, Lord Mortensen went to Orlando’s room, looking for a little sexual release. Orlando had resisted him at first, saying that he was in no mood for copulation. Viggo however insisted, pushing his beauteous spouse back onto the bed until the boy relented. He took his from behind as was his usual fashion, and would he have rutted him in a manner in which he could see his face, he would have seen the amused smile that played across Orlando’s lips as the boy thought of the days to come. When Viggo had spent himself inside the boy, he was shocked to hear the soft yet firm words that spilled forth from the usually quiet and meek lips. “You shall not be coming to me any more this week after tonight,” Orlando said, turning around and pulling his nightshirt down to procure his decency. Viggo snorted as he fastened his trousers. “Is that so, my sweet? And do tell me how you have come to this conclusion.” “You do not please me,” Orlando said simply, smoothing down the front of his nightshirt before reaching forward to take hold of the covers and pull them up over his legs. Viggo stood stunned at the side of Orlando’s bed. He almost thought he had heard his docile darling wrong. “Come again?” he asked, his head tilting to the side ever so slightly. Orlando looked up at his husband, his brows rounding in a most cherubic way. “As I said, coupling with you brings me no pleasure and I would therefore like you to not visit me any more this week.” Viggo crossed his arms, anger rising in him. “It pleases me.” he said, his jaw set firm. “And should you not at all be concerned with pleasing you husband…your lord and master?” Orlando shrugged, laying back upon his fluffy pillows and letting his hands rest on his covered belly. “If you so enjoy a one sided rutting, then I am quite certain you may get the same satisfaction from your own hand…my lord.” Orlando’s long lashes batted twice giving him the air of beautiful innocence. Ah how misleading that beauty and innocence was. Viggo’s jaw clenched as he stalked forward and slapped Orlando across the face. As the angle was awkward, the blow was not as hard as it was intended, but it still stung Orlando’s cheek. When Viggo did not get the reaction of fear he had intended from his beautiful Orlando, he raised his hand again. When the man’s hand came crashing down this time though, Orlando dodged out of the way so he slammed against the headboard. Viggo roared and clutched his hand in pain, staring in astonishment at the young man who was now sitting in the bed, staring at him. Not in his general direction as he had done for the past months due to his blindness but actually ‘at’ him. “How…” Viggo’s eyes narrowed. Orlando shrugged. “It has been gradual process…I am quite surprised you have not noticed…but then, you so often see me from the front…” Viggo’s hand raised again and again Orlando evaded him. Orlando looked up coldly at Viggo from his huddle on the bed. “You shall never strike me again,” he said evenly. “For if you do, I shall leave you, and the only note you shall receive from me will be my divorce papers.” Viggo’s eyes narrowed further still but his hands merely clenched at his sides. “And what…pray tell…has brought on this new spirit of rebellion?” “I have tired of your hurtful ways,” Orlando said. “And have resolved to put up with them no longer.” Anger and amusement flashed in Viggo’s eyes. “Put up with?…Put up with, my sweet? I am your husband, and you WILL do as I say and what I wish as commanded by God and the law! Do you hear me!” “Neither God nor that law can make me endure any more of the pain you have afflicted upon me!” Orlando cried out. “Now you will remove yourself from my room so that I may sleep, Viggo. I am most tired.” Viggo just stood, completely astounded. He could find no words of rebuttal, no cruel comment to make. He could recall being refused only twice in his life…and it was Orlando that had refused him both times. Viggo ran his rage trembling hands to slick back his hair as he breathed harshly through his nose. “As you wish, my love. If solitude is what you seek then solitude you shall receive. All the solitude you could even want shall be yours!” With that, the blonde Lord stormed from the room, pulling the bedroom door shut before locking it with one of the keys he kept in his pocket. He then stalked down the hall, shouting for Davenport. The dark haired servant approached quickly and bowed, waiting for his order. His Lordship was certainly in a foul mood that evening… “Yes, sir?” Viggo motioned with a rigid arm to Orlando’s closed doorway. “I want you to sit before that door and not move until I tell you otherwise. No one is to go in or out. If Farrell approaches for any other reason than to bring a meal, send him on his way, is that understood?” “Yes, sir,” Davenport said with a dip of his head. The man left when he was excused and found a chair in a near bedroom. He sat down and leaned back, anticipating he had a long wait before him. TBC… please review ONLY ONE CHAPTER LEFT!!!! THE CONCLUSION TO COME SOON!!!