The Gentleman Attraction: a short victorian mm paranormal romance by Connor Peterson

Author:Connor Peterson [Peterson, Connor]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Crimson Melodies Publishing LLC
Published: 2019-08-13T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

As soon as Bennet thought he had understood the game they were playing, Emerson changed the rules. It had begun earlier, morphing out of whatever eagerness he had seen from the human before dinner, and while Bennet had left the house to protect himself from exposure, he had also needed the time to clear his thoughts.

Which included taking a small nip from the baker’s wrist.

The baker would never remember it and had been left with the suggestion that the marks on his wrist were cuts from work. While it had sated Bennet’s appetite, it hadn’t helped his mind clear at all; quite the opposite, if he was going to be honest. Emerson had him distracted. No, trying to reason through the interest Emerson was showing him had his thoughts consumed. If this had been a simple matter of the human wanting to indulge an illicit affair, that would be simple enough. There were suggestions, after all, Bennet could give Emerson with the same amount of ease.

Instead of doing that, Emerson wanted to talk. And Bennet – Fates, be damned – wanted to hear what he had to say.

They sat outside with their coffee. Taking a sip from his cup, Bennet focused on a carriage rolling past before looking back at Emerson and trying to sink into character. He felt his lips curl, and though his heart felt heavy, he tried not to let that show. “Seems a risky endeavor for you,” he began, “having us chat in such a public place. You were more hesitant about this on the train.”

Emerson blew the steam from the top of his drink. “Well, I hadn’t the notion of public buggery,” he said. “For all the world knows, we’re two gentlemen talking.”

“You enjoy shrouding yourself in the illusion of safety.”

“And you have no patience for appearances.” Emerson finally sipped from his coffee. He cradled the cup in his hands afterward. “How in the world did you manage to elevate yourself from the eye of the public?”

Bennet laughed. The sound fell past his lips as a reflex, and though he hadn’t meant for it to happen in the first place, he almost winced at how bitter it echoed. “Oh, my dear Mr. Mallory,” he said. “Everything has a price, in case you were wondering. I’m not elevated past it so much as I’m simply better aware of the shadows where a man can hide.”

“Hide? You?” Emerson scoffed. “You don’t strike me as the type.”

“You’d be surprised.” He used his cup to salute, then set it on the table. Bennet gathered his thoughts, looking at the enraptured human seated across from him and almost applauding him for his attempt to look nonchalant. Just another endearing thing about you. “What you mean to ask is why I care less about flirting with an attractive man where others might see me.”

Emerson nodded. While he slowly drank his coffee, Bennet took a deep breath, wishing for a moment that he had a pulse to drown out the sound of Emerson’s heart pounding.

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