The Master Finale | manxman | (Book Four: The Master Collection)

XII - Rosebuds

Jasper suddenly recalled to when he was a small boy, during a time when his mother was still alive. Ronald would encourage Jasper to study the men that had given life to the Lancechester name, his grandfathers and their grandfathers. He had thought most of them to be such bores, others unnecessary tyrants to their household, and through those teachings, the only piece of information that stuck with Jasper was that his name was what gave him power, even over those who were already in a position of power.

Fear was not a common feeling the Master felt towards others, but this idea of someday having a son of his own—that alone finally burrowed true fear into him.

"My son," Jasper said, "He will be nothing like the men before me, nothing like myself either. I will not give a permit to my father so he may taint my son with his greed and sullied mind. My son will be educated, go to the finest of universities in all of England, become the man he wants to be, and I will help guide him. Not my father...just me and Lady Darcy."

With that said, the Master sought Timothy's hand and took it into his own. He brought the man's fingers to his cheek, having them cup his face kindly, almost seeming to purr into Timothy's fair touch before kissing the center of the man's palm.

"Will you stay with me, Mr. Creel?" Jasper asked, and when he peered up to the dark-haired man, the assurance inside his heart trembled, for there was a look he could not place within the other man's eyes. "Won't you?"

Retracting his hand from the Master, Timothy closed his fists in his lap. "It is not said that I would not wish to stay at your side," he started. "Although it is difficult for me to see where an affair such as ours would be safe once yours and the Lady's child has entered the world."

Jasper sat back then, almost startled by Timothy's words, "You think I would forget you?"

"That is not the problem, Jasper. Children have curious minds of their own. If your child notices the company I and Juliette bring to his or her mother and father, they are bound to consider our frequent presence a strange one. They would someday see how uncommon the affections exchanged between you and the Lady are. It is already a wonder to me how your servants do not question it."

"The tales of a nobleman's home are not to pass the lips of a mere servant, Mr. Creel. Moreover, I do pay them far more generously than any other man would those who tend to their home. My servants would not dare cross me."

Still able to see the uncertainty in Timothy's eyes, Jasper placed a hand on the dark-haired man's knee. "You would leave me out of fear, Mr. Creel?" And then he drew his touch further up Timothy's thigh, a seductive haze in his bright blue eyes as his fingers lingered. "I have spent so many years alone already, please do not have me suffer such loneliness again."

Timothy's hand caught Jasper's before it grazed too close to his groin, "You attempt to seduce me into staying?"

Jasper leered teasingly, "Does it work in my favor?"

When Timothy remained quiet and swallowed a lump in his throat, the Master slipped out of his red-violet coat, unveiling his slim figure just in his white, buttoned shirt and trouser shorts, the long stockings pulled up from his boots that stopped mid-thigh and gripped mildly into his supple flesh. Timothy couldn't help that his heart started beating much faster, pounding even more so when the Master straddled him on the bench inside the coach.

Wanting to be touched, Jasper watched the dark shadows in Timothy's eyes as he placed the man's hands on his waist, and when Mr. Creel's caress kneaded back towards his bottom, Jasper praised him with a kiss as deep as the sea. Their tongues moved past one another's, and suddenly, in the heat of it all, a bizarre sensation overcame his body as he continued to kiss this man. There were no words he could gather to express what this feeling represented...but he knew it was not so unfamiliar to him.