Total pages in book: 173
Estimated words: 163328 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 817(@200wpm)___ 653(@250wpm)___ 544(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 163328 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 817(@200wpm)___ 653(@250wpm)___ 544(@300wpm)
“A coincidence I can’t bring myself to regret.” Ashley’s broad, powerful shoulders rose and fell. “It had been two years since we last saw each other.”
“I remember.”
Ashley turned back to me. “Since he was a known pirate and I was a naval officer, we couldn’t be seen together. I discreetly told him where I was staying so we could have a private visit.”
“A private visit?” I blew a harsh sound through my nose. “You mean a visit of flesh.”
“No.” Priest leaned forward, elbows on his knees, and met my eyes. “Ashley and I have been close mates since childhood. Our relationship isn’t carnal at its foundation. When I went to him that night, I did it in secrecy out of concern for his association with me—an outlaw. Not because I intended to bed him.”
“You could’ve told me.” I straightened, frustration rising. “We were married. You should have trusted me enough to say where you were going and who you were with.”
“I gave him my word, Bennett. Long before I met you, I vowed to him that I would never tell a soul about our relationship. Same vow I made to you. I kept our marriage a secret, protecting you, just like we agreed.” A muscle bounced in his cheek. “Then I broke that vow on Eleuthera when I told Ashley you’re my wife.”
Fine. I was a reasonable woman. Reasonable enough to appreciate, albeit angrily, his reasons for the secrecy. He hadn’t tried to be malicious or deceitful. He’d only meant to keep Ashley and me safe.
“But,” I said, “you broke your marriage vow when you bedded Ashley in Nassau. Do you not see it that way?”
“Aye. I do.” Guilt drew up his shoulders as he glanced at Ashley and returned to me. “He and I spent hours talking that night, catching up. Like he said, two years had separated us. But when the conversation ended, I walked to the door, prepared to leave…”
“I told you to go.” Ashley leaned against the mantle with his arms crossed, the hint of a frown bleeding through his stoicism.
“You didn’t mean it.”
“No. Of course, I didn’t want you to leave. I missed you terribly and had no idea you were married. Regardless, what we did was reckless. It’s still reckless.”
“Reckless and indecent.” Priest’s eyes flared. “I was always the one thing in your life you couldn’t polish or beat into obedience. So you ended two decades of friendship like a coward in a letter.”
A letter that destroyed Priest’s marriage. I’d left Priest that same day, crushing him beneath a double layer of pain.
“Two decades…” I did the calculation in my head. “You’ve known him since you were twelve?” I turned to Ashley. “And you were fourteen?” Good God, I would’ve only been a year old. I rubbed my head, overwhelmed, uncertain. “How did you meet?”
“Here at Ashley’s childhood home.” Priest gestured around us. “This was his bedchamber until he joined the Royal Navy at age twenty. When my whore of a mother sent me to England for work, the first Viscount Warshire, hired me as a hall boy.”
“Ashley’s father.”
Priest nodded. “As I showed steady ambition, I worked my way up to a footman and ultimately secured my position as the Groom of the Chamber. I was Lord Ashley Cutler’s personal valet and whipping boy for six years.”
Tingles of shock swept through me. I knew Priest had held various jobs as a boy, doing this and that for the gentry. It wasn’t until he was eighteen that he found Reynolds and joined the ranks of the Brethren of the Black Flag. So hearing he’d been a male servant was no surprise.
But Ashley’s servant? Here? That was difficult to process. By God, was that why the household staff knew Priest so well? Because they’d worked together?
“He’s twisting the truth,” Ashley said to me, his bearing stiff and severe. “Priest was my companion.”
“The companion of the master of the house. I saw to your every personal need.” Priest cocked his head, idly rubbing his chin without a trace of resentment in his gravelly accent. “I dressed you and styled you, accompanied you to every tedious formal engagement, and attended to your private arrangements. All your private affairs. How many times, my lord, did I personally wash that sizable cock between your legs?”
My indecent mind hungrily grasped at the sensual image he evoked, my insides fluttering and knotting.
“It wasn’t like that, and you damn well know it.” Ashley prowled toward him, seemingly unmoved, save for flexing of his hands at his sides. “You were my best friend. My only confidant. Because of you, I learned how to laugh and play and take risks. You understood me like no one else could. Because you valued me as something other than a rank or a title.” He towered over Priest’s chair, glowering down at him. “You can talk about my cock and try to degrade our relationship, but I know that everything I just said… You felt the same about me. It went both ways, my friend. When we were together, in any capacity, we were well-matched. A perfect pair on level ground. Always equal.”