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hint.
Undeterred, Thorn dragged his mouth across Arthur s cheek. I know what I
want. Pure sin soaked the words purred in his ear, yet rather than arouse, it
served only to test the limits of his fraying patience. I want your cock in my arse.
Want to feel you stretch me wide, stuff me full. Want you to make me so sore I ll
wince whenever I sit down tomorrow.
Crouched over Arthur, Thorn rotated his hips, rubbing his ballocks across
Arthur s prick that wasn t at all capable of stretching anything wide at the moment.
Enough, Thorn. Planting his hands on his lover s chest, he pushed. Hard.
Cool air whisked across his chest as the heat of Thorn s body disappeared.
A heavy thump rent the air.
Arthur went utterly still.
No, no. He hadn t actually&
Convincing Leopold 61
Breath held, he blinked up into the darkness, the mattress beneath him
perfectly, ominously motionless.
Thick and stifling, dread descended, sent his heart slamming against his ribs.
He forced himself to push up and look beside him. In the weak light from his small
hearth, he could make out a shadowed form standing up next to the bed.
Guilt stabbed into him. He cringed. He had not meant to push him that hard.
Thorn, I
Don t!
Harsh and sharp, the word snapped against Arthur s skin. Ah hell. His
stomach sank. Now Thorn was angry with him. He had every right to be, though.
Even if Arthur had tried, he could not have delivered a more cutting insult.
You re a damn arse, Barrington.
Arthur dragged a hand through his hair and tried again to apologize. Thorn, I
didn t mean to push you out of bed. I m
Bugger off, Barrington!
Arthur jerked back at the pure venom in the curse. Thorn snatched his clothes
from the floor and stalked to the door.
A sharp slam cracked through the room.
He dropped his head into his hands. Bloody hell. How had the evening gone
so wrong so fast?
The night had been so perfect& up until the moment when they had walked
into his bedchamber. Then the more recent version of his lover had reared its head.
Persistent. Demanding. Pushing and pushing and pushing. The bed looming behind
him as Thorn insisted on removing Arthur s clothes himself. Those long, elegant
fingers taking every opportunity to brush Arthur s prick as they stripped him bare
with startling efficiency. The promise of another near-sleepless night had turned
him into a downright irritable bastard, and a selfish one at that. The type of man
who would actually shove his lover out of bed.
62 Ava March
His heavy sigh echoed in the near-dark room. He lifted his head and looked
toward the closed door. Should he go after Thorn?
No. Call him a coward, but he honestly did not want to be the recipient of any
more of Thorn s curses. Not now. Not tonight. Best to let the man s anger subside.
He should have just told Thorn flat out that he was not at all up for anything
more than slipping into bed and letting sleep overtake him. But he had told Thorn
he could stay and& Arthur shook his head. Instead he had let frustration and& yes,
disappointment get the better of him.
No, significantly more than disappointment, for each wicked word, each
decadent touch, had chipped away at that rock-solid certainty, snatching the hope
from his grasp and allowing the worries, those doubts, to form anew. Worries he
had firmly believed barely more than an hour ago had finally been put to rest. And
it had hurt far more than he could have imagined possible to have those doubts
slam back down on him.
The muted snap of a door closing reverberated in his bedchamber.
Thorn had left his apartments.
A sense of loss, sharp and acute, stole the breath from his lungs. He squeezed
his eyes closed tightly, tried to push back the threat of tears that suddenly stung his
nose.
It s not the end. He repeated the words over and over in his head. It had just
been an argument, nothing more, and definitely not irreparable. The last time he
touched Thorn would not have been to push him away.
Pain lanced into his chest.
You re a goddamn fucking bastard, he bit out through clenched teeth.
Yes, indeed.
His shoulders slumped. Ah hell, he muttered, scrubbing his hands over his
face.
Couldn t very well deny the truth.
Convincing Leopold 63
Feeling wrung out and utterly drained, he snagged the blanket clinging to the
edge of the bed and lay back down. But as he tried to quiet his mind enough so sleep
could overtake him, he could not ignore the sinking feeling he had made the
absolute wrong choice in not going after Thorn.
64 Ava March
Chapter Six
Leopold stopped at the street corner and glanced about. Thick clouds hung in
the night sky, masking the moon, leaving only the occasional streetlamp to
illuminate the empty intersection.
Where the hell were all the bloody hackneys? By God, he needed one right
now.
Clenching his hands at his sides, he fought to hold tight to the anger and
wounded pride still churning through his veins. Fought to keep the dark, heavy
blanket of despair from completely overwhelming him. If he could just make it
home&
Giving up on a hackney as a lost cause, he crossed the street and continued on.
Definitely should not have sent his carriage home earlier. He should have known
Arthur would not hold true to his word. Should have known the man had simply
been pushing him off, yet again, last night during the ride from his uncle s. Arthur
had not really wanted him to stay tonight. The offer had been simply a means to
pacify him, a polite version of no. Now he would have to walk all the way to
Mayfair. With each step he took, a twinge of pain flared from his left hip. He would
surely find a spectacular bruise come morning. A physical mark declaring Arthur s
true feelings.
He doesn t want me anymore.
His legs gave out from under him, his knees impacting with the stone
walkway. His gut lurched violently, his back bowing under the force of it. The acrid
taste of bile stung his throat, filled his mouth. He tried to fight it, tried to take a
shallow breath and push it down. But the effort proved in vain.
Convincing Leopold 65
His stomach heaved. The remnants of his supper splattered the walkway. His
stomach clenched again and again, the spasms seizing his body and rendering him
completely helpless, until absolutely nothing remained.
Hanging his head, he gasped for breath in long yet shallow pulls. Cold sweat
pricked his skin. His gut ached as though he had been the recipient of a
prizefighter s blow, but at least the spasms had subsided.
Far beyond caring enough to reach for a handkerchief, he dragged his forearm
across his mouth. As he gave himself a moment to verify that his stomach had
finished torturing him, he stared down at the mess he had created on the cold, stone
walkway.
You re goddamn pathetic.
And weak and worthless and beyond fucking pitiful.
No wonder Arthur did not want him anymore. He did not even want himself.
The sound of an approaching carriage reached his ears. Unwilling to remain on
his knees for all to see, he urged his limbs to cooperate and pushed to his feet. The
carriage rumbled past him, moving along at a nice clip.
To think he had once been so certain Arthur would come to love him.
Bloody fool. Why would a man like Arthur ever love someone like him? He had
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