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

Prologue

10 Years Ago

Thunderous stormy nights were never Jasper's cup of tea, but most times they acted as the perfect veil to cover up the true acts taking place. The entire manor was asleep at this late hour, house servants tucked in their beds, as well as the main occupants of the Lancechester manor. But, not everyone within these extravagant walls was fast asleep. Aside from Jasper, there was one more soul wide awake, and he would be at the Young Master's side any moment now.

Sitting up in the center of his kingly bed, Jasper was dressed suitably in his nightgown, the white lace hem falling around his crossed legs, blond ruffled tresses trailing down his slight shoulders. There was a single lantern lit at his bedside, giving the atmosphere in the room a settling glow. A minute later, the golden knob of the chamber door began to turn silently, and any creak the door may have made was overlapped by a distant rumble of thunder after a flash of lightning brought excess light to the room.

Jasper smiled to himself when a tall red-haired boy entered, dressed still in his butler's uniform from earlier duties to the household. He was a strapping young man, just eighteen years of age with a handsomeness like a pure creation of exclusive jewels. His skin held a light bronze from the kiss of the sun, eyes as green as emeralds, lips like warm velvet pink, and every bit of his body was built from natural physicality. With soft yet distinct features, Jasper loved every ounce of him, from the sound of his voice, to the last strand of his rose-red hair. Jasper Lancechester had discovered the true meaning of the sacred word the moment they'd met as children, and he would always be grateful of getting the chance to reconnect with him, to find this beautiful young man again, even if they were to hide such feelings beneath the guise of a master/servant veneer.

And his name was Elijah Goode.

Once the chamber door was closed behind him, the butler turned to his master, his covert lover, and started for the bed. "I thought Anna would never go to bed," he said, taking a seat at the edge of the massive bed. "She insisted on changing the drapes in the sun room. Apparently they were worn at the ends."

Not able to hear the words of complaint, Jasper rose onto his knees and pressed his eager lips to Elijah's. It'd been all day since they'd shared an intimate moment, so being able to at last feel his lover in any manner brought assurance to his being.

Elijah raised a docile hand and traced his kind fingers down the side of Jasper's face, cupping the Young Master's cheek in his palm. He'd grown used to Jasper's sudden affection over the past months they'd been together, not having gone a day in a long time without being shown, or told just how much he was cherished by this small seventeen year old. Sometimes he wondered how people as young as they could possibly comprehend true love, but the second he laid eyes on Jasper each day since their yearning for one another began, it wasn't hard to see or feel that what they had was real and wholesome.

Once Jasper broke off from the kiss, he dragged Elijah further onto the bed, a soft gaze in his sapphire eyes as the butler lied back, allowing Jasper the comfort of nuzzling up against his chest. When they sunk into the cloud-like mattress, the Young Master pressed his nose into Elijah's fine scent and closed his eyes. "I love you," he uttered softly, feeling the manor tremble at the continued shake of thunder.

Running his fingers delicately through the lengthy blond curls of Jasper's hair, Elijah let his eyes drift closed as well. "I love you just the same," he said.

"Someday," Jasper sighed, "I hope to live in a place where it can be just you and I. In peace, we could live together, untouched and concealed from the world and everyone in it."

Elijah pondered the thought, knowing very well Jasper dreamed of a life outside of this current manor, and he, too, shared such feelings. Nice, it would be, to have just one place in the world where a pretentious act was no longer a requirement, yet, even with his shared yearning, there was something inside Elijah that told him such a thing would be hard to achieve, if not impossible. He couldn't quite say what it was that gave him this speck of doubt; though, with the era of the world in which they existed, one would be foolish not to take caution into planning such a future.