Black Dog by Somerton L.M

Author:Somerton, L.M. [Somerton, L.M.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Total-E-Bound Publishing
Published: 2013-01-12T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

The following morning, Tristan made his excuses and stayed behind while the others took a walk to the village autumn fayre, which Garrick was opening on behalf of his father, much to his friends’ amusement. Tristan had offered to cook Sunday dinner, but actually wanted to get back to his research in the library. After the previous night, his aching arse was a constant reminder of Garrick’s attentions, and it helped him to brush off the sarcastic comments that Frankie sent in his direction. He had also been distracted that morning by the sight of three short gashes in Garrick’s leg that had appeared semi-healed, but painful. Garrick had silently covered them with a dressing and had limped from the room, but Tristan had been able to tell that he was worried.

As soon as the group had left and Tristan had finished the initial preparations for a roast beef lunch with all the trimmings, he headed back to his books. His persistence paid off and he found a couple of useful references. One was a list of livestock on the property at the time Gabriel Blackwood was in residence, which included a mastiff dog. The other was an obscure reference in the gamekeeper’s log to an incident in the woods—the dog had injured Lord Blackwood when he had taken a crop to his ‘young companion’.

Tristan could only surmise that the companion mentioned was Merriot Apsley. Slowly, it was all beginning to make some kind of sense. If Merriot’s spirit was somehow represented by the dog that had protected him, had made him feel safe, then there was a chance that he would associate Garrick’s dominant behaviour with Gabriel Blackwood’s cruelty. He would have no way of knowing that their relationship was consensual and borne of love.

He could imagine what Garrick would have been thinking about that day in the wine cellar—he had just been teasing him, after all—then in the shower last night, he had been especially forceful. Of course, it would all be exacerbated if there was any residual impression of Blackwood left within Garrick, and Tristan could see no other reason for his eyes to change colour the way Garrick had described to him. Tristan headed back to lunch preparations in the kitchen. The more he mulled over his conclusions the more logical they seemed, but he had absolutely no idea what they could do about the problem. He put it to the back of his mind for discussion with Garrick later and got back to his cooking. The kitchen was pleasantly warm, Merlin was napping on his cushion, and pots were gently bubbling on the AGA.

He was pouring batter into a baking tray to make Yorkshire pudding when the door swung open. When he saw that it was Frankie and not one of the others, he had to force a smile onto his face. “How was your morning?”

“The company was excellent.”

Tristan ignored the hidden barb and carried on calmly pouring batter. He heard Frankie sit down at the table behind him and start fiddling with the vegetable knife he had been using.

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