know. I told her all about the value of the scarab and how whoever wins that medallion would be able to sell it for a small fortune.”
“I still don’t see how an expert like Professor Carroll would be careless enough to let go of a priceless artifact,” Niall said. What he wanted to say was, “Get the hell away from me, you fool. Can’t you see I have a love letter to read?”
“I’m going to win that prize,” Ian went on. “And I’m going to win Annamarie Cannon’s heart as well.”
“Best of luck to you,” Niall said as dismissively as he could without being overtly rude.
“So your little friend, Lord Stanley, had better be on his guard.”
It took Niall a moment to remember that Blake was Lord Stanley, a marquess, a one-day duke. As far as Niall was concerned, he was the man who had kissed him like his life depended on it the night before. He was the man who had penned unknown treasures that he held in his hands right then and there.
“I’m sure he will be,” Niall said with a tight smile. “Now, if you will excuse me, I…I need to find a water closet before we start the second half of rehearsal.”
He pushed away from the wall, charging up the aisle to the hall and hoping Ian wouldn’t follow. Out of the corner of his eyes, he spotted Blake turning his head and following him with his eyes. That only caused Niall’s gut to clench harder.
He was lucky that there was a private room directly across from the auditorium. He dashed into it, shut the door behind him, and moved to the window so that he had enough light to read Blake’s letter.
“Dearest N. I should be the one to apologize, not you. I don’t know where to begin to describe my feelings earlier. I can’t sleep for thinking about it and replaying every glorious moment in my mind. I never should have sent you away so callously. I shouldn’t have sent you away at all. But if we’re being honest with each other, which I think we must be at this point, I was so shocked by everything that I wasn’t thinking straight.
“The truth is that I’ve wanted you as you’ve wanted me from the moment you proved to be so wonderful at auditions. I’ve wanted to kiss you and to hold you in my arms, run my fingers through your hair, and taste your skin, from the moment you smiled at me as I sang and played.”
A strangled sound of victory erupted from Niall’s lungs and tears of joy stung his eyes.
“But you have to understand,” Blake went on, “these feelings are entirely new to me. I won’t lie and say I’ve never been attracted to men before. I have. I always have been. I had resigned myself to never do anything about it, though. My plan was for that attraction to be something distant, at the back of my mind, to be ignored. I even fancied I could force myself to be normal and feel those same feelings for women, to the point where I’ve acted on it in order to fit in. But the moment your smile warmed me and your wit enthralled me, I knew pretending was a hopeless cause.
“Everything we did earlier this evening was a revelation for me. Nothing has ever felt so good as kissing you and touching you. Nothing has ever aroused me more than knowing that we could do anything and no one would stop us. I cannot begin to describe the power and pride I felt when you came in my hand, or the agonizing bliss of your mouth bringing me to orgasm. I’m hard all over again thinking about it now.
“But I’m also terrified, and I know you could sense it. I have so much at risk when it comes to love. I’ve known since the cradle what my life is supposed to be. I know that I can’t have what I truly want, and what I truly want is you. Or rather, I know that the odds are stacked impossibly against us. I can’t stop thinking about you, though. I can’t stop wanting you, aching for you. If I don’t kiss you again soon, I’ll go mad. If I don’t follow this passion wherever it leads, I’ll be the worst sort of coward imaginable. But I’m lost and frightened. I don’t know what to do. Help me to do the right thing. Yours,