Chapter 20

TWENTY

They were a mess,but Will was happy. Getting back down the hill took far more effort than he thought it would and he was cold, but he was warm on the inside. Every slip on the wet grass made him laugh and make a joke out of keeping Oakley safe. Even when he lost his footing entirely and tumbled into a particularly muddy puddle, it filled him with joy. Oakley laughed right along with him, and that was all that mattered.

They made it back to Oakley’s chair, which was completely soaked, since they hadn’t thought to park it under a tree or anything. Will was a little concerned that the whole thing was wrecked as he lowered Oakley down into the seat.

“It’s manual, so I don’t see how it could be anything except damp,” Oakley said, grabbing the wheels as soon as he was comfortable and giving them a test.

“That is far more than damp,” Will said, stretching and rubbing his aching muscles as the two of them continued on to the house.

“If it’s truly ruined, which I don’t think it is, I’ll just toss it and buy a new one,” Oakley said with a new sort of freedom and lightness around him.

“Oakley, it’s a top of the line sport wheelchair. You can’t just throw it out and get a new one like it’s some sort of pen and you’ve used all the ink,” Will said.

Oakley stared sideways up at him, then nodded ahead, to where the estate house was coming into view across the wet and glittering countryside. “Have you forgotten that we’re at my country estate, the staff is waiting for us, and I have more money than God?”

Will burst into another round of laughter that touched all of the places inside him that had been the home of worry before. “Alright, I’ll give you that much,” he said. “I don’t want you to buy me fancy gifts, but there’s nothing that says you can’t buy them for yourself or other people.”

“It’s not like I have anyone else to buy top of the line sport wheelchairs for,” Oakley said with a sly grin.

That grin melted as they moved on, and for a moment Will was tempted to be worried again. But the look that had replaced Oakley’s grin was more thoughtful, calculating, even, than his teasing smile, so Will just watched it to see where it would go.

Oakley didn’t leave him waiting for long. “Is there a need for subsidizing complex wheelchairs for spinal cord injury patients who can’t afford them, do you think?” he asked.

Will’s heart nearly expanded right out of his body. “Yes, of course,” he said, throwing his emotion behind the words. “Spinal cord injuries don’t just happen to billionaire earls, you know, and the NHS can’t pay for everything.”

Oakley just hummed and nodded. Will could see the gears turning in his brain, and he loved it.

They reached the house without too much fuss only to have Mrs. Millbeck spot them coming in and to run at them, arms flailing, scolding them for staying out in the rain and getting so dirty. She chastised them like she was their mother for tracking muddy water through the clean house, and even though Oakley insisted they were going straight upstairs for a bath, she made the two of them wait in the kitchen while she sent Isaac upstairs to fetch robes so they could leave their filthy things behind.

“See?” Oakley said as the two of them changed in the laundry room. “I told you Mrs. Millbeck would adore sending the staff off to do errands for us.”

It was a ridiculous moment to cap off the most emotional morning of Will’s life. He was more grateful than he could say to just soak in warm, fragrant water, once he and Oakley made it up to the enormous bathing room.

The room was something out of a Victorian wet dream. It had clearly been installed in the house before the era of plumbing, as shown by the arrangement of the fixtures and the after-the-fact feeling they had. Oakley had said something about the room originally containing a large, brass bathing tub that was filled with buckets of water heated in the room’s huge fireplace and that was replaced in the nineteen thirties with the claw-foot tub they were in now when the entire place was plumbed.

“I can’t believe that people actually live like this still,” Will said as he scrubbed expensive shampoo through Oakley’s hair while his lover sat in front of him in the bath.

Oakley hummed and smiled. “I could get used to living like this.”

Will laughed. “Is that all I am to you now? Some sort of valet in charge of taking care of your person?”

“I wouldn’t say no to that,” Oakley laughed.

“Something tells me you wouldn’t say no to many things right now,” Will smiled along with him.

It was such a happy moment, so full of the sort of peace that neither of them had had in the last five months. Oakley made sounds of pleasure and contentment that were almost obscene as Will turned on the tap and used the antique shower attachment to rinse his hair.

Once they were both free of mud and grime, Oakley leaned back into Will’s chest, and Will closed his arms around him and planted a series of kisses against his neck.

“You see?” Oakley said. “I think being my personal servant would be quite the promotion for you.”

Will laughed against Oakley’s warm, sweet-smelling skin. “I already take care of you, body and soul,” he said with a touch more seriousness than he intended. “And I love it. I love you.”

Now that he’d said the words once, he couldn’t get enough of saying them over and over. He squeezed Oakley closer, closing his eyes and nuzzling his shoulder.

Oakley tensed unexpectedly, but once again, even though Will’s first instinct was to worry that something was wrong and all the progress he’d made was about to crash down around them, Oakley exclaimed, “Oh!” with a sound that was close to cheer. “Promotion. That reminds me. I haven’t asked if you’ve heard anything about your promotion at the hospital.”

He twisted as much as he could to look at Will.

Something about that shift of focus made Will squirm a little, but he couldn’t figure out why.

“To tell you the truth,” he said, “I had forgotten about the interview and the promotion entirely.”

“No, you didn’t,” Oakley said with a knowing look. “You haven’t been able to think about anything but that promotion and where it will take you for ages now.”

“I’m being serious,” Will said, surprised at himself. “I haven’t thought about work at all since we left London. I’ve had far better things on my mind.” He kissed the side of Oakley’s neck as his lover settled against him again.

“Not even when we reached the top of the hill?” Oakley asked.

Will knew what he really meant. A major catharsis had happened at the top of the hill. It wasn’t just Oakley who had reached into his soul and screamed out everything that was bitter and unfair about his life. Although Will hadn’t shouted or carried on about it, he’d felt as if everything that was truly important in his life had come into focus in those moments of emotion.

Nothing had felt as good or as fulfilling as being there for Oakley and enabling him to let go of what was done in his life. The sense of rightness and purpose he’d felt as he held Oakley after and cried along with him was more rewarding than any fancy office or line of subordinates waiting for him to make decisions about their lives and work.

Will wondered if maybe he’d lost sight of something that was truly important to him at some point and replaced it with something that was important to other people.

“I was only thinking about you,” he told Oakley, stroking his hand over Oakley’s stomach under the water and inching his hand lower with each movement. “I was only thinking about us.”

Oakley made a sound of understanding, but he didn’t seem like he wanted to talk everything through from there. Will was glad for it. Talking was overrated. What he wanted just then had nothing to do with words.

“Do you know,” he said in a sensual purr, sliding his hands down so that he could rake his nails across Oakley’s thighs, “just because someone is paraplegic doesn’t mean they can’t have sex in the bath.”

“Will, you naughty boy,” Oakley said with mock horror. He reached back to stroke Will’s hips and thighs. “Whatever would Mrs. Millbeck say?”

Will laughed. “You know how the servants talk,” he said mimicking every costume drama he’d ever been forced to watch.

Oakley laughed as well, but the mood switched between them. He leaned forward, pulling himself away from Will by gripping the edges of the tub, then attempted to turn himself around so the two of them could be face to face.

It wasn’t an easy task to do, and Will had to help. It almost killed the mood as they figured out the logistics of positioning Oakley in the bath the way he would need to be for them to enjoy each other they way they wanted to. But what they lacked in spontaneity, they made up for in the way they wanted each other so badly.

“That’s more like it,” Will said, surging into Oakley once Oakley had his back against the far end of the tub and his arms hooked over the sides to keep himself from slipping. “You’re looking lovely and debauched like that.”

“I’m not debauched yet,” Oakley said, raising one eyebrow in invitation.

Will wasn’t about to deny that invitation. He planted his hands on the edge of the tub on either side of Oakley’s shoulders and moved into him, kissing him the way they both liked to kiss. Neither of them made any attempt to be sweet or tender. They both wanted it hard and raw, with tongues thrusting and lips bruising. The bath water had started to cool, but Will was convinced it would heat up all over again with the power of that kiss.

“I love you,” Oakley said breathlessly as Will moved to kiss and nip his neck and shoulder for a moment. “And I really love this.”

Will laughed against his skin, then reached for Oakley’s cock under the water. He hummed with victory when he found Oakley fully hard already, but fisted him all the same to bring him even more pleasure.

The chemistry between them was so perfect that it made up for the clumsiness of the bath. At least, until Oakley slipped while trying to grab a handful of Will’s hair and bring him up from where he’d dipped down perilously close to the water to suck one of his nipples. Then they both ended up laughing at the sudden change in mood.

“Alright, maybe sex in the bath isn’t such a good idea after all,” Will laughed, climbing out of the tub and balancing himself so that he could pull Oakley out as well.

They rushed through drying, and after a quick peek into the hall to see if anyone was around to see them, he carried Oakley hurriedly from the bathing room to his bedroom, both of them naked and giggling like mischievous children.

Any resemblance to children ended once they were in bed, though.

“I want you to fuck me,” Oakley panted after they’d kissed and groped enough to bring back the mood. “Facing me, like this,” he added. “If you can.”

Will grinned down at him. “Love, of course I can,” he said, then added a cheeky, “When it comes to fucking you, I can do anything.”

It was supposed to be a sultry and wicked tease, but Will’s words had Oakley giggling. Actually giggling.

“You’re ruining the mood,” Will warned him as he reached to the bedside table for the bottle of lube he’d unpacked the night before.

“I can’t help it,” Oakley said, grabbing at the pillows within his reach and positioning them so that they would lift his hips up. “This has to be the most bizarre sexual experience I’ve ever had.”

“There’s nothing bizarre about me fucking you,” Will said with mock seriousness, even though he was giggling right along with Oakley on the inside.

The two of them worked to shift Oakley into a comfortable and accessible position, and one where Will wouldn’t have to strain too much supporting Oakley’s legs for him. And strangely enough, it worked. In no time, they had Oakley folded so that his arsehole winked eagerly up at Will while Oakley held his legs open.

Will found the sight irresistible, and even though it involved a little flexibility on his part, he lowered himself so that he could kiss the underside of Oakley’s balls, run his tongue along his taint, and then lap and lick at his twitching hole until Oakley was gasping and exclaiming wordlessly.

“That feels so…I’ve never felt…I can’t even….” Oakley panted, then dissolved into a vocal sigh as Will pushed his tongue into the tightness of his hole. Chances were that the sensation was entirely different to what it would have been before, but Will got a kick out of giving Oakley something new.

He couldn’t rim Oakley forever, though. Not when his own cock was pulsing and hot with the need to be inside his lover. He moved away from Oakley’s hole, taking a few seconds to kiss his way back up to Oakley’s balls and then along the hard length of his cock. Oakley made another sound of enjoyment as Will pulled back his foreskin and licked the dripping tip of his cock, then as he bore down, taking far more than just the tip into his mouth.

“God, I love you,” Oakley growled as Will worked on him, giving him all the pleasure he could.

It must have been wonderful for Oakley, because he lost his grip on one of his legs, sending it flopping over Will and pushing him away. They both laughed about it, as potentially awkward a moment as it was, and Will helped Oakley to get a grip on his legs again.

After that, the time for fooling around was done. They were both hard and panting, and with a little bit of lube and a little bit of preparation, Will shifted closer to give Oakley what he’d asked for.

Oakley’s face contorted with pleasure and awe as Will pushed slowly into him. He was tight as fuck and still not really used to being on the receiving end of things, but Will watched his face for any signs of wanting to stop and saw none.

“You are amazing,” Will sighed as he pushed in all the way, then repositioned himself so that he could lean as close to Oakley as possible, balanced above him, as he started to thrust. He was close enough to kiss Oakley, which he did for a second, until it messed up his rhythm, then he pulled back and focused on thrusting as he gasped, “So fucking amazing.”

Neither of them were capable of words after that. Will threw himself into the pleasure of being inside his lover’s body, and Oakley must have been reveling in the sensation as well. The two of them worked brilliantly together, in all things, but particularly in sex. Will shifted his weight so that he could fist Oakley’s cock while he thrust against his prostate, and it had the desired effect in minutes.

Oakley came with a passionate cry, almost dropping one of his legs again. Will wasn’t far behind him. The joy and arousal and sense of fulfillment that he got from knowing he could make Oakley feel that way, make him come when that wasn’t in any way guaranteed after what he’d suffered, was the best aphrodisiac he could have imagined. He spilled himself inside Oakley, groaning in triumph as he did.

After that, the two of them collapsed into a spent pile, laughing and gasping for breath. They were exhausted. The feeling like they’d been through more than just a simple storm together weighed on every one of Will’s muscles. He wasn’t sure he would be able to move as he and Oakley snuggled together under the bed’s thin blanket, overheated and sweaty, but at peace.

“I love you,” Will said, settling against Oakley and closing his eyes.

“I love you, too,” Oakley answered.

And then they slept.

The rest of the weekend was sunny and peaceful. Oakley’s mood had changed entirely, and instead of skating around the edges of depression, he threw himself into going through the house and making notes on all the ways the rooms could be adapted to make them more accessible for his chair. Will was more than happy to help, and by Monday morning, his mind was spinning with ideas for ways Oakley might be able to offer Brynthwaite House as a retreat of some sort for spinal cord injury patients, once the adaptations had been made.

“You could host activities, like gardening, which Brandon loves to do, and even hiking,” he told Oakley over their late breakfast.

“What, like some sort of summer camp?” Oakley asked, surprised but also clearly intrigued by the idea.

“Exactly,” Will said. “Brandon was just telling me the other day that the first part of the recovery process, the part in the hospital, is all well and good, but it’s afterwards, once people return to everyday life that is no longer anything close to normal, that support is really needed.”

“He’s right,” Oakley said, nodding and looking serious. “And Brynthwaite house might be—”

He was interrupted by Will’s phone ringing. Will jumped a little at its tone. He’d let everyone know that he was going away for a long weekend and that he would be back on Wednesday, and he’d assumed no one would bother him until then, but Dr. Armitage’s name showed up on his caller ID.

Will sent a look to Oakley, then answered his phone with a questioning, “Hello?”

“Ah, Will, I’m glad I caught you,” Dr. Armitage said.

“Good morning, Dr. Armitage,” Will answered, widening his eyes as he stared across the table to Oakley.

Oakley sat up straighter, clearly interested in the conversation.

“I trust you’re enjoying your time away in the mountains,” Armitage said.

Will was irritated with the casual chit-chat when his heart was suddenly pounding. “It’s been lovely,” he answered shortly.

Armitage must have heard the impatience in his voice. “I’ll get straight to the point of my call,” he said. “I’d like to offer you the position of Director of Development here at the hospital, Will. You are clearly the best candidate for the job. I’ll admit that I had you in mind from the beginning. I told the committee as much and quelled a few objections to your choice of boyfriend right off the bat. The job is yours if you want it.”

Will’s mouth dropped open as he continued to stare at Oakley. There it was. The thing he’d worked so hard for from the very beginning. Everything that he’d raged about being stolen from him five months ago was being handed to him again on a silver platter.

And it felt flat and distant. It was a fabulous honor, of course, but now that it was right there in front of him, Will wasn’t certain he wanted it.

He wanted to be with Oakley. It was caring for patients that had inspired him from the first, not administrating other physical therapists and staff members. Just looking at Oakley and seeing how far he’d come brought all those emotions boiling to his surface. It wasn’t just Oakley either. It was Moira and his other patients. It was sharing their triumphs and crying with them when they felt despair that had motivated him. He didn’t know when he had lost sight of that.

And there he and Oakley were, in the middle of talking about ways to adapt Brynthwaite House into a place where the very people Will cared most about could thrive and find their joy again. That was the project that truly had Will’s blood stirring, not some desk job.

“Um, I need to think about it,” he told Armitage. “A few other things have come up, and…and I need to talk to my partner to decide what’s best for me, what’s best for us.”

There was a small pause before Armitage said, “Perfectly understandable. We’ll talk about it more once you return.”

They exchanged some final words before Will ended the call and put his phone down.

“What was that all about?” Oakley asked, his whole face alight with excitement. “Did you get the job?”

“Yes,” Will answered slowly, staring at his phone. He then raised his eyes to Oakley, “But I’m not sure I want it.”

“What?” Oakley was completely incredulous. “You’ve pined for this job. This is what you’ve always wanted. Don’t make me carry you back up that hill,” he added with pretend ferocity.

That snapped Will out of his spell of shock, and he smiled. More than that, he reached across the table for Oakley’s hand.

“What if I quit my job at the hospital?” he asked, excitement building in him and making him breathless. “What if we really did work to make Brynthwaite House into something. What if we, along with Brandon, of course, started some sort of rehabilitation company of our own?”

“You would really want to do that?” Oakley asked, surprised.

“Would you?” Will asked in return. “We would have to use your money, after all, but you keep telling me you’re swimming in it.”

Oakley burst into a wide grin. “You said you didn’t want me to give you anymore gifts,” he said. “Building an entire company around you is one hell of a gift.”

“It might just be the gift that keeps on giving,” Will said, smiling in return. “And I think we could do it.”

Oakley stared pointedly at him, seeming to study his face for signs that he was teasing or out of his mind or something. “You really want to do this?” he asked at last.

Will took in a breath. “Yeah, I think I do. It would take a lot of planning and organizing, and again, I know Brandon would want to be involved. I think I know some other people who might want to help out as well but….”

He let the sentence go as he thought about it. He looked inside himself to see if he was off on some wild goose chase or if this seed of an idea could grow into something as wonderful as his heart told him it could be.

“I think I really want to do this,” he said at last, surprising himself.

Oakley squeezed his hand. “Then I will be there for you every step of the way,” he said. “Just as you’ve been there every step of the way for me.”

Will burst into a smile that seemed to encompass his whole being. “We’ll do it together,” he said. “That way, we’ll be guaranteed to succeed.”