Thomas stuck his head out into the hall to see if anyone was awake. It was a little before anyone bellow stairs (other than Daisy) was up and about. The morning light was just seeping into the hallway. Night still lingered in the air. Not seeing a soul, Thomas silently backed into his room. Yet, through the crack he could see Jimmy's door open too. The footman's eye could be seen through the sliver. His light was on and glowed yellow behind him. Its contrast between the dark blue morning light in the semi-darkness of the hallway made Jimmy's doorway look like a gash into the heavens. Jimmy didn't move at first, but kept his eye on the under-butler. Thomas remembered their nighttime encounter in a flash – their erotic noises, Jimmy's uneasiness, the tenderness of afterglow. Presently, James motioned to him silently. Thomas cautiously shut his own door and made his way to Jimmy's. His bare feet prevented a lot of noise. Jimmy let him in, closing the door behind them. They embraced softly. The words melted away before they were even uttered. Jimmy had not lied; they were still friends after their moment of pleasure. He had not betrayed him.

Their strong arms clutched one another's torsos. Thomas disengaged them while keeping his arms wrapped around Jimmy's shoulders. Jimmy looked into Barrow's eyes and then at his mouth. He leaned as close as he could and Thomas moved the last inch so that they touched. They tasted each other's lips, dragging them slightly across in gentle sideways caresses that caught and teased them. The light touches were maddeningly exciting and they pushed closer, deeper. They opened their muscular jaws with every movement of their tongues.

"Jimmy," he spoke into his mouth. Tears threatened him but he held them back. His eyes were half mast, his lungs and heart were pumping softly. They were both trembling.

"I couldn't wait." Jimmy's voice was hot and strong. "I had to thank you, to talk to you before we started work."

"I came," Thomas said between feverish kisses, "looking," he breathed, "for you too." After a short spell of nuzzling, fondling, he stopped. Their lips hung together, moist and lingering.

"Why did you want to thank me?" he asked with some of his old cheekiness. Jimmy's eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared but soon his mouth curled up into a soft smile.

"You know why."

"Are you bein' ironic?"

"What'd you mean?"

"Don't you remember?" Thomas scoffed as Jimmy puzzled momentarily. Then the memory of the exact words spoken came back to him. He had asked Thomas why he had been following him the day of the fair. "You know why," Thomas had said. Jimmy sighed and leaned his forehead on Thomas' chest. The older man held the back of his head tenderly. Jimmy kissed Barrow's neck with little pecks. Thomas' neck was still warm and smelled of the sheets. He drank in the heat of Thomas' skin and began to suck. He slid his hands up Barrow's arms and gripped his shoulders.

"Ooo," Thomas uttered sharply. His eyes flickered shut. Jimmy's manipulations awakened his carnality. Thomas slid his hands down the younger man's back, groping for his ass, squeezing his buttocks and annihilating any space between them. Kent murmured against Thomas' skin in approval. Jimmy was hard and it wasn't just the morning stiffness of a hot-blooded youth.

"Quite the morning glory you've got there," Thomas said playfully. And with that, Jimmy pulled him down into a passionate kiss. They both moaned at the increasing fervor of their embrace. Jimmy's member felt heavy with blood to Thomas as he ground his crotch into the former's. Their prominent bulges squashed and rubbed against each other through their loose-fitting underclothes. The fullness of his own hard-on startled him. Boldly, Thomas reached into Jimmy's underpants, all the while gripping Jimmy's buttocks hard with his other hand to keep him close. After a little fumbling, he exposed the younger man's animated rod. As Thomas cupped Jimmy's balls and stroked his baton upward, Jimmy groaned soulfully. His need and hunger was laid open to Barrow. Thomas opened his eyes to catch a glimpse of young James. His head was tilted back and he was biting his lip. The under-butler leaned forward and whispered in his companion's ear.

"Your turn." Thomas took one of Jimmy's hands and guided it to his own protrusion. The footman leaned into Barrow's collarbone as he worked the undergarment loose, the older man's hand still on his wrist. Thomas' shaft sprang up as it was freed from its confinement and he sighed. James took hold of the impressive member and Thomas moved forward instinctually. The instant their shafts touched Jimmy pushed in return so that the back of Thomas's legs touched the bed. There was nothing they could do but fall onto it. Thomas caught Jimmy in his arms and let out a short laugh. They both pushed themselves up on the small bed. Thomas kissed his partner passionately. Jimmy pushed up, his hands on Barrow's muscular chest.

"You're quite a bit older than me," Jimmy stated.

"Does that bother you?"

"No, but you must have wanted this kind of thing for longer than I have."

"Oh God yes, I have." Thomas forcibly pulled James back down on top of him and practically inhaled his mouth. Jimmy put his arms above Thomas' head and let him do as he pleased. But soon he became hot and shoveled himself back up, removing his undershirt in one swoop.

"Take me again." Thomas looked up at Jimmy with great devotion. His eyes were aflame.

"There are other ways, you know." He could take advantage of this young man so easily, but he couldn't do that to him.

"I know," Jimmy whispered.

Thomas shifted himself so that he was sitting up. The fair and beautiful footman now straddled him, his legs stretched out on either side of Barrow's waist. James looked like a Pre-Raphaelite shepard boy as the morning light shone through his hair. Thomas' own black hair glistened almost blue in that same light. A thick strand fell down over his forehead after he had taken his own shirt off over his head. Jimmy blended it back in and straightened Barrow's hair with the back of his nails. Thomas reached behind the other's neck, kissing him once again. Their lips remained locked as Thomas overpowered him. Jimmy was soon flat on his back, his head was at the foot of the bed. Thomas reached down and ran his hands up the younger man's inner thighs until his legs were widely parted.

"Hold your knees." Jimmy followed the soft command. Thomas put his own thumb to his tongue , letting a good deal of moisture rest there. He brought it down to his cock's head and made it wet. Jimmy swallowed. His opening, though tightly closed, was ready. As Thomas was about to move forward he thought in the duration of a nano second how wonderful this was. The freedom to act upon and freely consummate his passion was sublime. Without warning they heard a sharp knock at the door. Icy arrows had pierced their hearts as they lay there without a sound. Alfred's voice asked Jimmy if he was awake yet.

"I'm just getting dressed. Be down in a couple o' minutes."

"You'd better or Carson'll be on the warpath."

"Oh Christ, go away you overgrown git!" Jimmy whispered. They listened to Alfred's heavy footsteps dying away and breathed nervously. They were in the very place where Thomas had been caught kissing a sleeping and non-consenting Jimmy.

"God, I thought we were done for," Thomas said, dropping his head.

"Don't stop; we've got to move quickly." The urgency in Jimmy's voice enflamed his partner. Thomas took his cock in his hand and guided it to the other's orifice. When the tip was fully inside, Thomas put all his weight on both arms. The danger had its advantage; it made every movement that much more intense. Thomas' saliva made his entrance easier on Jimmy. The latter tried to relax as much as he could so that it wouldn't hurt but it was still a bit of a shock even after the previous night. Barrow was not a small man in any sense of the word and filled Kent completely.

"Huh!" The younger man's reaction made Barrow's cock twitch and an involuntary buck of his hips produced the same sound from Jimmy for a second time.

"Oh! Mr. Barrow!" Thomas smiled at how ridiculously formal that sounded. He felt more confident than he had done in years. The shaft began to slide more freely with every slow and deliberate stroke and Jimmy reached for his own. His hardness was just as great as Barrow's and just as ready. The feeling of Thomas' heavy balls on his backside made him groan almost too loudly.

"Shhhh," Thomas said soothingly, "Steady." He thought to himself that he may need to be told the same thing when he was coming but almost didn't care. It was a rather foolish thought but he was heading toward mind-numbing bliss with great speed and his worry was not the first thing on his mind. He began to grunt in breath-like sounds as he worked his shaft in and out of Jimmy. The footman felt the fever of the moment come upon him and he worked his own manhood with vigor. He was seriously close and the more quickly Thomas pounded into him, the more he was in danger of calling out. Thomas was working hard to get him to cum but it was paying off. Jimmy's quiet, pleading moans became more strained until at last he came and he swore. His cum spurted up onto Thomas' chest. The older man was ready to lose himself as well. His final thought was a warning not to bray too loudly and suddenly he couldn't think at all.

"Doh!" His hips bucked rapidly through the last throes and he shivered and collapsed.

"Oh Jimmy," Thomas said in disbelief, gasping. He laughed with relief. He moved his arms up over Jimmy's head and cradled him with his hands. His kisses were gentle, caring. There was no blackmail, no roughness. Jimmy wasn't going to betray him, he was sure of it. After all the time they had been friends they had built up a trust together. The Duke had wanted a dalliance and someone who he could discard. Jimmy was different. Perhaps it was because they were both of the same class, Thomas thought to himself. That wasn't all, he supposed, but he couldn't make Jimmy feel obligated to a relationship. He so wanted it to be something more than a passion. He wanted a real relationship and that startled him. He resolved to speak to Jimmy about this later. He could wait. And there was something more urgent to think about.

"How am I going to get out of here without being seen?" Jimmy opened his eyes. His breathing had become less heavy.

"Oh damn," Jimmy sighed, "I wish we could lie here forever."

"I know." Thomas began to pull out.

"No," Jimmy said desperately pulling him into a kiss, his hands gripping the back of Barrow's neck. Thomas took Jimmy's face in his hands. They unwillingly parted. Thomas pulled out fully, a trickle of cum escaped Jimmy's opening. He got off the bed stiffly and stretched. Jimmy admired Thomas' splendid body; his chest was wide and strong, his member still proud, his muscular arms extended like a Greek marble statue, beautifully carved, every angle both soft and sharp defined with exquisite clarity. Thomas had not seen his admirer's glances and turned 'round to pick up his undergarments.

"Don't know how I'm going to think straight today," Thomas chuckled as he pulled his pants back on. Jimmy looked at him sadly. The footman's silence made Thomas look back. He exchanged Jimmy's glance with knowing melancholy as if to say, "this is our fate." They would have to conceal their intimacy. Both lovers looked at the floor. Jimmy got up and went to his dresser for his clothes.

"Alfred will rap your knuckles if you're not down soon." Jimmy laughed and smiled up at him. Thomas went for Jimmy for another passionate embrace, perhaps the last they would ever have that day. Thomas so wanted to say he loved him but forced the words back into his throat.

"It's going to be a long day." They smiled at each other warmly and Thomas turned to the door. He opened it as silently as he could.

"Careful." Thomas nodded assuredly. They heard footsteps but they were descending the stairs. Jimmy went to the door as soon as Thomas had slipped out of it. He watched Barrow return to his room. Jimmy's heart was pounding audibly. After he closed the door he leaned against it, dropping his head back until it hit the wood. Back in his own room, Thomas did something similar, but he moved quickly to get himself together. He changed into his clothes as fast as he could. With one final brush across his pomaded hair he reached for the door-handle. His movements were now bold, free from suspicious actions and he knocked on the footman's door.

"James?" A few seconds later the individual emerged.

"You're looking very dapper today, Mr. Kent," Thomas said with some of his old smarmy seduction. Jimmy practically guffawed and shook his head, smiling. He punched his fist into Thomas' shoulder playfully. They approached the stairs.

"You first." Jimmy headed down and Thomas followed; a look of deep love was in eyes.