The Wedding Runaway (8 page)

Why would a young man of Leonard
'
s age run away
,
not only from home
,
but across a vast ocean to another country?
"
Were you beaten by your father? Mistreated in some way?
"

Leonard shook his bowed head
,
his blond hair catching the glints from the candlelight and making Victor feel as if he were chastising an innocent cherub.

Was there a more personal reason he had run away? Was it Leonard
'
s own predilections that made Victor uncomfortable around him? Rather that his attraction to the boy sprang from the boy
'
s own affinity for men? One could only hope.

"
Is there something you feel you cannot tell your father? A trait or inclination you possess that he will find...objectionable?
"

Leonard stood up.
"
I am grateful for your hospitality
,
but I think it would be best if I called it a night.
"

"
Sit down
,
Lenny.
"
Victor swallowed his second glass of port in one gulp. And he
'
d thought his question remarkably discreet
,
for him anyway.
"
You
'
ll leave when I call for the carriage for you.
"

What was wrong with him? The lad wanted to leave
,
let him.
Victor knew he could not. And he was mindful that Lenny had not answered.

"
I am not quite sure what I should do with you. The more I look at you
,
the more I fear you will find yourself in harm
'
s way. You are too green to be on your own. I should send you home
,
or at the least notify your parents that you are under my care.
"

"
Parent. I only have a father.
"

A sudden wave of sympathy irritated Victor. The urge to comfort Leonard connected in his mind with the manner of comfort Amelia offered. A shudder of fascinated distaste rippled under his skin.

Victor hooked his foot behind Leonard
'
s ankles and yanked his feet out from under him
,
while pushing his shoulder so Leonard fell back in his chair with a thump.

Leonard stared at him as if he
'
d never been handled so roughly. The lad had claimed older brothers; how could he be so squeamish of being shoved? He
'
d been so reluctant to push forward at the gaming hell that Victor truly wondered at his puniness.
"
Told you to sit down. Have some respect.
"

Moisture filmed over Leonard
'
s blue eyes.

"
Bloody hell
,
you are not going to cry
,
are you?
"
blurted Victor. The temptation to throw an arm around Leonard
'
s shoulder warred with the desire to shake him.

Leonard looked down and pulled his cuffs of his jacket down as if to hide his delicate wrist bones or the wine stain on his white linen shirt. The boy had very long delicate fingers too. Fascinating hands. Victor shook off the thought of how those hands might feel against his skin...against...No! Just because the boy had unnatural inclinations did not mean that Victor would participate in such debauchery.

"
Never fear
,
we shall get you properly outfitted tomorrow.
"

"
I
'
d rather not.
"

Victor breathed in a sigh of impatience.
"
Look
,
either go home to your father
,
or allow me to guide you about London. I have had enough death about me
,
that I cannot allow you to roam into danger with a clear conscience. You very nearly got yourself killed the other night.
"

Leonard blinked and shrugged his shoulders. Victor rubbed his scar on his forehead. He supposed he felt some of the perturbation of a parent dealing with an adolescent. If only his feelings toward Leonard were fatherly. He could not figure out why was he signing on for more torture of having this tempting creature underfoot.

"
I don
'
t want you deciding what I should do.
"

"
I have no intention of making your decisions for you
,
but for God
'
s sake
,
allow me to guide you in your choices. You cannot have any idea of the dangers of this city
,
and how much you are making yourself a target for harm.
"

With the boy
'
s inclinations and innocence and odd beauty
,
without protection he would surely be slaughtered.

Leonard rolled his eyes.
"
In what way?
"

"
Well
,
you stand out like a sore thumb. Only a knobskull would wear boots in the evening. Did you choose London because you can support yourself with your winnings from gaming?
"

Leonard met his eyes and seemed caught in between admitting the truth or continuing to hold his cards close to his chest.

Again Victor resisted the urge to reach out and pet his hand
,
to soothe the tortured boy. Bloody hell
,
he should not have invited him here
,
but the more time Victor spent with Leonard
,
the stronger the conviction grew that the cub needed protection.

"
Supporting yourself with gambling is not an unusual path for a young man in this town. Many a dandy has lived by his dining out ability and the turn of a card. Lord knows that I lived that way for several years in my youth. You could not find a more sympathetic guide.
"

"
But
,
you
'
re...
"
Leonard shook his head.

Victor winced. He was rich
,
thanks to his wife.
"
Yes
,
but it wasn
'
t always so.
"

Leonard sucked in a deep breath and looked down.
"
You represent everything my country has fought against.
"

Victor leaned back in his chair.
"
My title offends you?
"

Leonard nodded.

"
Chance of birth and not always such an easy burden. But my family name is Bartlett. You may use that if you prefer it to Wedmont or Victor.
"
The cub had yet to use a moniker with him.
"
By all means, drop the
'
my lords
'
if they disturb your spleen.
"

"
That hardly changes what you are.
"

Victor leaned forward.
"
And what am I, besides a man?
"

"
Insufferable
,
overbearing
,
interfering...
"
Leonard appeared to be searching his brain box for another insult to hurl.

"
Don
'
t forget rude. I too often speak my mind.
"

Leonard stole a glance at him.

"
You sound like a fishwife
,"
Victor told him.

Leonard
'
s mouth gaped
,
rather like a fish out of water. Then he colored red.

Victor leaned forward and lifted his chin. Bloody hell
,
the boy had soft skin. Time hung suspended in air as for a moment the urges Victor tried to suppress must have shown. Leonard stared at him
,
fear and yearning both in his open young face. Oh
,
God, this was not happening.

Four years without a woman
'
s welcome between her legs had not sent him chasing after boys. It did not
,
could not. Lord Byron might happily flip back and forth between the two sexes
,
but Victor liked women. He
'
d always liked women. He might not have Keene
'
s skill at seduction
,
but he just needed a woman who would not spurn him. One who would not find relations with him an unbearable burden.

Victor jerked away and stood. He wouldn
'
t touch Lenny. Everything would be all right if they did not touch each other.
"
We need to rejoin my other guests.
"

Leonard looked miserable.
"
That would be wise.
"

Victor closed his eyes and leaned his palms on the table.
"
I don
'
t offer anything more than friendship. Is that clear?
"

Confusion creasing his forehead
,
Leonard stared at him. Was it possible he did recognize the animal magnetism of the moment? Was it possible he didn
'
t know what he was
,
or didn
'
t have a name for it?

Victor felt torn. At the same time that he would never consider participating in an act he considered unnatural and immoral
,
he hated that Leonard might have unwittingly made himself vulnerable and exposed inclinations he would rather have kept hidden.

For God
'
s sake
,
just when Victor had made some peace with himself
,
he had to acknowledge that his father
'
s wicked, depraved, hedonistic blood had tainted him in unnameable ways.
"
I don
'
t care what you are
,
Lenny.
"

Leonard backed away until he ran into the wall.
"
I don
'
t know what you mean.
"

"
You need protection in more ways than one.
"
Lord
,
there were men who would kill him if they had any idea what he was. What was he? It was more like he wasn
'
t quite man enough to be male
,
but not female either. The boy
'
s body didn
'
t look like a woman
'
s. He was too tall
,
too straight through the waist
,
his voice lower than most women
'
s
,
yet his face was feminine
,
his hands were feminine. It was if nature had created a confusing creature between male and female.

"
You are cruel and arrogant
,"
whispered Lenny.

"
Careful
,
you are growing insulting.
"
Victor straightened up and folded his arms across his chest.
"
If you mean to be rid of my patronage then you may return to America.
"

"
You are a...
"

"
Bastard?
"
supplied Victor
,
when Leonard couldn
'
t seem to form an appropriate insult.
"
Son of a bitch?
"

Leonard
'
s eyes widened.

"
Don
'
t be too free with your insults
,
or I shall have to call you out.
"

Leonard swallowed hard
,
and Victor again felt that horrible desire to comfort him.

"
I didn
'
t...you...
"
Leonard fumbled for words.
"
Oh
,
fiddlesticks!
"

Fiddlesticks?
The mild word reminded Victor how very young Leonard was.
"
At least allow me to write your father and assure him of your well-being.
"

"
NO!
"

"
You have no idea of the agonies of worry a parent feels.
"

Leonard blinked and stared.
"
Are you a parent?
"

"
I have a daughter.
"
He shouldn
'
t say that much
,
but he needed Leonard to know that he slept with women. Only with women.
"
Come along. We
'
ll have Amelia play the piano while the rest of us play whist. Be civil
,
and I shall call the carriage round after a rubber
,
if you so wish.
"

Leonard looked miserable.

Victor sympathized.
"
We get along well enough over cards
,
do we not?
"

Leonard nodded.

Victor reached for the door
,
since the servants at his direction always left him to his port alone. Leonard darted into him as they both tried to go through the doorway.

Victor closed his eyes and willed down the shudder of sensations. Bloody hell
,
if Sophie offered the same kind of comfort Amelia did
,
he would take her up on it
,
his loyalty to Keene be damned
,
he told himself. Although he knew the thought was a lie.

He put his hands on Lenny
'
s shoulders to move him out of the way
,
but Victor was caught by a web of desire. When in Rome, one...

When in Hades
,
when in Sodom or Gomorrah... Why was it that the longer the evening had worn on and Victor had witnessed Leonard
'
s shy awkwardness and now this side of him
,
the more his conviction that the boy needed his protection grew? Why was it that he felt bound to test the limits of his own sanity with another
'
s folly? Why did he care so much about people who rejected him? His wife
,
hell, Keene had shot him
,
now Leonard had made it clear he didn
'
t want to be around him and resented his half-hearted rejection.