Chapter 15

FIFTEEN

It was like watching footage of some horrible natural disaster. Robbie knew what Charles Duckworth meant to Toby, knew that Duckworth was someone Toby had always looked up to and whom he admired. To watch the man eviscerate Toby now, not only for some perceived wrongdoing, but to attack Toby's character and family was too much.

"How dare you speak to him like that?" Robbie demanded, shifting closer to Toby's side.

"I beg your pardon?" Duckworth glanced to him like he wasn't any better than Toby.

Robbie stood taller, making no attempt to acquiesce to Duckworth in any way. "Nobody should speak to anyone in the cheap way you just spoke to Mr. Tillman, but for you to insult someone who has been such a help to my family is unforgivable."

Duckworth reeled back slightly, then surprised Robbie by laughing.

"Who the hell do you think you are, talking to me like you're some Victorian lord of the manor. It's the twenty-first century, mate. Your kind is nothing but a footnote and a joke that's grown old and stale, just like this piece of land you're sitting on."

Robbie went cold and stiff on the inside. "I think you should go now," he said quietly, nodding to the door.

Duckworth laughed again, another surprise that had more of an effect on Robbie than he liked.

"Oh, you're throwing me out now, are you?" Duckworth snorted. "Are you going to call your butler and have him do it?" He pulled himself up to his full height, which made it look like he was looking down his nose at Robbie. "You don't have the balls, you weak, domestic poof."

Every fiber of Robbie's being wanted to ignore the petty insults and show just how strong he could be. He felt like he was just on the verge of being the protector he knew he could be, like a lion chained by a too-thin leash, but that quiver of doubt within him made him too slow to defend himself or Toby before his dad marched onto the scene.

"What's going on here?" Dad demanded with a scowl.

Early walked a few steps behind him, looking deeply worried. They must have alerted Dad that a fight was brewing in the front hall.

Duckworth didn't skip a beat before saying, "This piece of street trash here is sticking his nose in where it doesn't belong, and your useless son is trying to defend him. Are they giving it to each other up the backside or something?"

Robbie had never seen anything as frightening as his dad's sudden expression of fury as he charged up to Duckworth. Robert Hawthorne rarely lost his temper, but when he did, he was like a fire-breathing dragon.

"I will not stand for insults to my family or our friends," he snapped at Duckworth.

Duckworth evidently expected Dad to side with him, for some inexplicable reason. His smug expression turned to a look of incredulity when he was hit with Dad's anger. "I would have thought?—"

"I'm not interested," Dad cut him off, raising his voice a bit, another thing he never did. "You've done nothing but bully and badger my family since you first arrived on our doorstep with your insulting offer."

"The offer is?—"

"We didn't ask to do business with you, and for some reason, you have disregarded everything I and everyone else in my family have told you about the personal value of this estate to both us and to the community. You've shoved money in our face, thinking it's the only thing of any value in this world. Well, it's not."

"You cannot think?—"

"We reject your offer," Dad said, making Robbie feel as though he'd been struck by lightning. "The Hawthorne family is not interested in selling out to Willoughby Entertainment Group. Take your proposal and your arrogance and get the fuck off my property."

The front hall was far from empty as Dad ended his speech with the loud command, pointing to the door. Everyone who had witnessed the confrontation, and it was about a dozen people, stood stunned and silent, jaws dropped and eyes wide.

Robbie could hardly breathe, he was so impressed. He glanced to Toby with an invigorated look, hoping to share the beautiful moment with him.

Toby still looked as if he'd been run over by a lorry. He glanced between Duckworth and Dad with pain in his slightly glazed eyes, like he was trying to absorb the confrontation from the other side of a rushing river.

Robbie stood close enough that he could reach out and take Toby's hand. That seemed to move him from the painful moment he was caught in enough for him to blink, glance briefly to Robbie with a blank expression, then focus on the confrontation again.

"You're a damned fool," Duckworth seethed at Dad, eyes narrowed. "I'm giving you one last chance to change your mind and come to your senses."

"I've already come to my senses," Dad said, calming down again and resuming his usual, casual stance. "I should have been sensible from the start and hung up after that first phone call. Now get out."

Duckworth stood where he was, but rocked slightly, like he was ready to leave, but pride was holding him in place. "You'll regret this," he said in a tight hush. "This deal will go through one way or another. I'll make certain of it. You will regret not doing it the easy way."

Dad smirked, crossing his arms. "Go ahead and do your worst."

"Oh, I will," Duckworth said.

At last, he turned and strode for the door, looking like he would plow through anyone who got in his way. Several of the art center's regulars had to jump out of his way to keep from being shoved.

As soon as Duckworth was out the door, Dad raised his voice to say, "Show's over, folks. You can all go back to your regularly scheduled lives now."

It was a testament to how respected Dad was that people actually started moving, heading to wherever they'd been going before Duckworth caused a scene, without rushing forward to ask what was going on.

"I need to make some phone calls," Dad sighed, shaking his head and turning to Robbie and Toby. "I hope you've got good news for me where Silver Productions is concerned," he told Toby, "because something tells me they're about to become a very important partner for Hawthorne House."

"I, er, um, I can, um, I can put together a presentation for you," Toby said, shaking his head, still distracted.

Dad glanced to Robbie. His look alone said he understood that he had missed something important.

"I'll handle it," Robbie said, squeezing Toby's hand, which he still held. "You go make those phone calls.

Toby jerked slightly, like he hadn't realized Robbie was holding his hand. He glanced to Robbie with an expression that was part gratitude and part hopelessness.

"I trust you with this one, son," Dad said, thumping Robbie's shoulder as he moved into motion. "Come on, Early. I'm going to need your help sorting things."

Robbie watched briefly as his dad and Early headed off to the office, then he turned to Toby.

"You don't have to say a word," he said when Toby's lips moved like he wanted to say something but couldn't manage it. "I've got you."

He wasn't entirely certain how he had Toby, but still holding his hand, he started off toward the family hallway, leading Toby with him.

"That was," Toby began in a slow and stilted voice as they took the stairs that would lead them to Robbie's flat, "that was easily the most humiliating moment of my life. And I've had more than a few of those."

"Duckworth is an arse," Robbie said, his chest and throat squeezing in sympathetic pain for everything Toby had just been put through. "We're all well rid of him."

"He was like a father to me," Toby said in a quiet voice.

Robbie pivoted to look at him as they reached the door to his flat. It hurt him to see Toby brought so low. More than it had when Duckworth had insulted him.

"I'm sorry," he said, fishing in his pocket for the key to his flat, then opening the door. "I can't even imagine."

Toby was silent as Robbie walked him into the kitchen, then gestured for him to sit at the small table there while he went to the counter to make tea. Everything was better with a cup of tea, but it might take a river of it to soothe over the damage Duckworth had done to Toby.

"I didn't think I was going to make it," Toby said, staring at the tabletop for a moment while Robbie worked, then glancing up at him. When Robbie frowned in confusion, Toby went on with, "When I was just starting out after uni, I didn't think I was going to make it. I'd had a dozen interviews, and every time, I was passed over for someone posher, someone without a lip ring or spiked hair."

"Your hair looks alright," Robbie said with an attempt at a smile as he found two mugs and put tea bags in them.

The attempt at levity went over Toby's head. "I was just about to give up when Duckie came along, saw my potential, and got me my first job at a proper financial services company in the city." He blew out a breath and leaned back in his chair. "But I guess that was all a lie."

"It wasn't entirely," Robbie said, leaning against the counter as he waited for the kettle to boil. "It couldn't be. He must have had a legitimate reason to launch you into the business world."

Toby snorted. "To be his shill?" he suggested. "To help him get the deals he wanted, regardless of who I was working for?"

Robbie winced. Maybe that was just the way things worked in the financial world. Who knew what sort of network of insider deals existed in the city?

The kettle clicked, and Robbie took a moment to finish the tea preparation. He reconsidered his initial thought to sit at the kitchen table to hash the whole thing out and gestured for Toby to join him in the lounge instead.

Once they were seated on either end of Robbie's small sofa, drinking tea, Robbie said, "It never occurred to me until Duckworth was going off on his rant that he has as little regard for the aristocracy as you do."

Of all things, that was the one that had Toby laughing, albeit weakly and not for very long.

"That's the thing," Toby said. "Duckworth singled me out to mentor because he didn't come from a much better background, although he'd probably deny it if you told him now. He was raised working class, just like the rest of us. Well, not all the rest of us."

He grinned with heat at Robbie over the edge of his mug as he drank his tea.

That look fired something in Robbie that felt very much like the non-drunk version of Staffordshire. Now was not the time, though, so he pushed those feelings to the back of his mind.

"Duckie was the one who told me I had to ditch my accent," Toby went on. "He taught me a little fashion sense and the power of a suit as well." He picked at the lapel of his suit jacket with one hand. "He wanted me to take out my lip ring, but that's where I drew the line."

"Why?" Robbie asked with a curious look. He took one last drink of his tea, then set the mug on the coffee table in front of the sofa.

Toby shrugged. "I wanted to get ahead in the business world. I didn't want to lose who I was entirely."

Robbie smiled, his insides starting to buzz. Strangely enough, the buzz started in his heart and worked its way to the rest of his body instead of starting a little lower.

"You, Toby Tillman, are the most ‘you' person I've ever met," he said.

Toby smirked, finished his tea, then set his mug on the table next to Robbie's.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, shifting to sit in a relaxed stance, his arm flung over the back of the sofa.

There was something decidedly inviting about the casual sprawl, and despite Toby's wrung-out look, there was an invitation in it as well.

Robbie shrugged, partially mirroring Toby's posture. "You have more personality in your little finger than I have in my entire body. You glow with it, with who you are. You don't let anyone diminish it or force you to be someone you're not."

Toby barked a laugh. "I've fought my whole life not to be who I am," he said. "I've been labeled and pigeonholed since the time I was in nursery school. It's taken everything I have to stop all that from dragging me down."

"That's precisely my point," Robbie said, reaching one hand along the back of the sofa so he could touch Toby's fingers where they rested. "You didn't conform to what everyone wanted of you. You were true to yourself." He paused, lowered his head a bit, and glanced up at Toby with blatant flirtation. "I envy your ability to do that."

Toby's brow went up in surprise. "You do the same thing," he said, lifting his fingers out from under Robbie's and stroking his knuckles instead. "You're this brilliant artist who is also an amazing teacher and great with kids."

Robbie blinked. Of all the things he might have expected Toby to compliment him on, being great with kids wasn't one of them. He would have thought Toby would have gone for his participation on The Ceramics Challenge, or said something about how famous his family was. But no, he'd gone for the amazing teacher thing.

"I love teaching," he said, more conflicted emotion coloring his words and squeezing his throat than had been there than when he'd told his parents as a teenager that he was gay. Considering his family, that had been easy. Admitting this new, deeper truth about himself was so much harder. "I know I'm supposed to be ambitious and strive for fame and renown for the family, but teaching is what makes me happy."

"I know," Toby said.

That was it. That was all he had to say. It was everything. Two, simple words, along with the warmth and acceptance in Toby's eyes, and Robbie felt like Toby knew him better than half the people in his life ever had.

It was the spark he needed to do something rash and borderline rebellious. Without letting himself think about it, he surged across the sofa, pressing Toby back against its other arm, and slanted his mouth over Toby's in a passionate kiss. He didn't hold a single thing back.

Toby responded with a moan that almost froze Robbie completely, but it was joined by Toby's arms circling around his back. Toby not only joined in with the kiss, he took control of it, cradling the side of Robbie's face with one hand and brushing his tongue along Robbie's. He teased and tasted, pressing his fingertips into Robbie's cheek like he couldn't get enough, and molding their lips together.

It was such a relief to be accepted that Robbie relaxed and sagged over Toby. He wanted the kiss to continue forever, but he wanted more at the same time. His body throbbed with want, and his cock pressed almost painfully against his jeans.

"I'm not drunk this time," he panted when they paused for breath.

Toby stared up at him, fire making his blue eyes deep and alive. "Neither am I," he said.

"If you want to?—"

"I definitely want to."

Robbie rocked back, amazed that he was steady enough in his buzzing body to stand beside the sofa and reach a hand down to help Toby up.

Toby grasped his hand and helped pull himself to standing. He immediately started unbuttoning his jacket as Robbie walked backwards until he was clear of the sofa and coffee table, tugging Toby with him by one hand, and headed for his bedroom.

Everything seemed to speed up as they stumbled into the bedroom, losing clothing and shoes along the way. Robbie toed his shoes off and undid his jeans, but a sentimental part of him wanted Toby to remove most of his clothes for him.

Toby seemed to have that same sentimental streak, and as they bumped into the side of the bed, they were all hands and grasping as they tugged off each other's shirts and shoved trousers and pants down, all between heated kisses.

Robbie gasped when he pushed Toby's business shirt off and found that Toby's lip wasn't the only thing he had pierced. Both of his nipples were pierced with small barbells as well. He stroked his hands over the soft flesh and warm metal, making Toby gasp and groan as he did.

Robbie jerked a glance up at his eyes. "Do they hurt?" he asked.

"No," Toby laughed, wriggling out of his shirt entirely, then smoothing his hands up Robbie's hairy chest. "Not unless you tug on them hard." He flashed a daring look at Robbie as he spoke.

Robbie barely had the wherewithal to respond to that. He smashed his mouth into Toby's again, kissing him frantically as they ditched their trousers, then embraced and rubbed their bodies against each other. Robbie was half surprised that Toby didn't have a penis piercing to go along with his collection, but he was intent on exploring the body part in question in more detail to make certain he hadn't missed anything.

They tumbled onto his bed, not bothering to peel back the duvet or slide between the covers. There wasn't time, at least not in Robbie's mind. Toby seemed to want to top, but Robbie muscled him to his back so that he could kiss his way down to one of the nipple piercings and take it into his mouth.

The way Toby tensed and shifted under him, gripping Robbie's hair and making a dead sexy sound had Robbie perilously close to losing it long before he was ready to. He shifted his focus away from his own building orgasm and onto trying to make Toby lose it before he did.

Toby seemed to sense the game and pulled him up from lavishing his exciting nipples with attention so that he could kiss Robbie's mouth again. It was a successful distraction as well, and within moments, Robbie was so transported with the closeness he felt to Toby, a closeness that would have seemed laughable only a week ago, that he let Toby flip their positions so that he lay sprawled on the bed.

"Thought you had me there, didn't you," Toby panted, mischief bright in his eyes.

Before Robbie could come up with something equally cheeky in reply, Toby stroked and kissed his way down his chest and belly. He reached for Robbie's balls, fondling them for a moment and brushing his fingers over Robbie's taint before drawing his hand up to stroke his cock.

The sensation was so powerful and so good that Robbie went boneless for a moment, all of his focus zipping into his dick, especially when Toby shifted down so he could lick his tongue along his cock from root to tip. He then pulled back Robbie's foreskin so that he could lap at the drop of precum that had formed there, then closed his mouth over it and both licked and sucked in a way that had Robbie gripping the bedcovers and growling in an effort not to come to soon.

"Oh, God," he gasped. "It's too much. I'm going to embarrass myself."

"Then embarrass yourself," Toby said, his breath whispering over Robbie's exposed, wet cockhead. "I won't mind."

He proved his words by bearing down on Robbie so deeply that all the willpower in the world couldn't have stopped the floodgates from opening.

Robbie hissed every curse he knew, eyes closed and face pinched with pleasure, as he jerked tightly into Toby's mouth, coming in several hard, all-encompassing waves. Toby swallowed perfectly, drawing the orgasm out into one of the longest and most satisfying Robbie had ever had. Not even Keith had made him come so hard so fast. But then again, Keith had always been in it for his own pleasure anyhow.

"Perfect," Toby panted as he shifted back. "Nothing embarrassing there."

He kissed Robbie's inner thigh, then pushed himself up so that he knelt between Robbie's legs. He nudged them farther apart as he did, which was unbelievably sexy for some reason, even though Robbie was too spent to do anything about it, then grabbed his own cock and balls.

Robbie's heart felt like it flipped over in his chest as Toby knelt above him, raking Robbie's sweaty, satisfied body with a hungry look, all while stroking himself vigorously. There was something obscene in the whole thing. Toby could have made a fortune on Only Fans jacking off and looking like that for voyeurs to enjoy. It was all Robbie's private show, though. The glory of Toby's fit, sweat-sheened body was just for him.

Toby's breathing grew faster and tighter, and with a loud sigh of pleasure, he started to come. Robbie was surprised at how much of a shooter he was, and doubly surprised at how sexy it was to have Toby's cum splatter him from chin to groin. It was like Toby was staking some sort of claim of ownership over him, and damn if it didn't make Robbie wish he could come all over again.

Best of all, when he was spent and panting, Toby looked down at his handiwork with a lopsided grin that was so wicked and fierce that Robbie gave up any notion of not losing his heart completely. He was done, gone, head over heels.

"Now that's art," Toby said, making the feeling even deeper.

Robbie laughed. He couldn't stop himself. The only thing that stopped him was Toby shifting to spread himself out over top of Robbie so they could kiss and caress as their passion continued to cool. They tangled up in each other, messy and wonderful. It was everything sex should be, and Robbie knew he wouldn't be willing to give it up anytime soon.