was quickly losing the will to do anything but let David mold him in whatever way he wanted—when the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs to the attic rooms shook him. David went suddenly still and stiff as well. The two of them held their breaths, waiting to see if the footsteps were a maid or a new guest at the inn or worse.
Lionel’s worst fears seemed confirmed for a moment when there was a knock on the door.
The knock was followed by a man clearing his throat. “Wirth, Mercer,” Lord Clerkenwell’s voice sounded from the tiny hall. “I’m going to assume that the two of you are in there, based on the information the gob-smacked young man at the front desk gave me, and that I don’t want to intrude.”
Lionel glanced down at David, eyes wide with guilt and humor, swiftly losing his battle not to crack into laughter.
“We’re in here,” David called to the door, his face going red.
“Well,” Lord Clerkenwell began again, a hint of humor in his voice, “I’ll be downstairs. So finish up, if you please, and join me there.”
“Yes, my lord,” Lionel called, breaking down into giggles and hiding his face against David’s chest as Lord Clerkenwell’s footsteps retreated.
“Stop laughing,” David ordered Lionel, sitting and bringing Lionel with him.
The movement left Lionel in the intriguing position of straddling David’s lap, his knees digging into the mattress on either side of him, his arms slung lazily around David’s shoulders. It was a perfect kissing position, so Lionel bore into him, indulging in a long, lingering kiss. David was too startled to do anything but kiss him back for a moment before snapping to his senses.
“What are you doing, Lionel?” He planted his hands firmly on Lionel’s sides, as if he would push him away. “Lord Clerkenwell is waiting downstairs.”
“Lord Clerkenwell said to finish up here first,” Lionel hummed, flexing against David and kissing him again.
David’s hands slipped down to Lionel’s backside, and he slanted his mouth over Lionel’s, their tongues dancing for a moment, before he pulled back again. “Lord Clerkenwell could have us arrested under the Labouchere Amendment,” he said with a frown.
Lionel wasn’t deterred, although he knew they weren’t going to take things any further than teasing just then. All the same, he kissed David as if he planned to continue and said, “Lord Clerkenwell was born to a whore and raised in a brothel. I’d wager he knows more about what we’re doing than you do, and that he doesn’t care one wit where we put our cocks.”
David made a sound of consideration deep in his throat that Lionel covered with an open-mouth kiss. The moment didn’t last, though.
“We need to wrap up this investigation once and for all,” David said with a sigh, pushing Lionel away from him at last. “Once business is taken care of, we can sort everything else out.”
“Ever the pragmatist,” Lionel sighed, climbing off of him and stumbling out of bed. He was just as eager as David to put Chisolm and the rest far, far behind them. Once all of that was out of the way, he and David could settle on how exactly they were going to meld their mad lives, and all of the dangers they presented, together.
They washed and dressed as quickly as they could with all the temptations that being half aroused and no longer keeping their distance from each other brought with it. Lionel was convinced it would have been easier for the two of them to get each other off as simply as possible so that they could move on to other things, but doing so would probably only take their minds even further from settling the last of the business with Chisolm than they already were.
Even so, the look on Lord Clerkenwell’s face when they finally made it downstairs, dressed and groomed with surprising fastidiousness, proved that the enigmatic man knew exactly what they’d been up to.
“So Chisolm was arrested at the dock,” Lord Clerkenwell began with a teasing grin as Lionel and David headed out the inn’s front door with him.
“It was a miraculous act of heroism on my part,” Lionel said, feeling extraordinarily content with himself for a variety of reasons. “I singlehandedly ferreted him out, subdued him, and made certain he was arrested.”
“Lionel accidentally noticed him while attempting to run away,” David told Lord Clerkenwell with a sardonic look. “He apparently then flung himself at Chisolm and beat him to a pulp before almost being