“Stop looking at me like that.” Priest’s eyes didn’t waver from Ashley’s as he rose from the chair and leaned into Ashley’s face. “Unless you intend on sticking around this time.”

“That was low, even for you.” Standing an inch taller than Priest, Ashley pivoted and strolled aft toward the bathing chamber. “I’m drawing a bath.”

A bath? At this hour?

The moonlight, skittish now beyond the windows, wouldn’t be returning tonight. Dawn was approaching. None of us were going to sleep.

Ashley moved through the bedchamber with natural grace and balance—the gait of a man accustomed to the rolling decks of a ship. But I marked the fatigue in his broad shoulders and the sheen of dust on his white breeches. He’d just arrived from London and probably made the multi-day journey astride a horse to get here quicker.

A bath was exactly what he needed.

“You can hear.” Priest appeared before me, crouching at eye level, his hand soft against my cheek. “Every word?”

“My hearing’s returned to normal.” My brows furrowed, my thoughts elsewhere.

“Talk to me.” Elbows braced on the arms of my chair, he let his hands dangle on my lap, trickling light caresses against my thighs. “Tell me every thought in that beautiful head.”

“All right.” I cleared the scratch in my voice. “I want to understand. I’m trying. But I feel like I don’t know either of you. I’m in love with two men who are living this whole other life.”

“That’s not—”

“Be quiet and let me speak.” I breathed in slowly and released my lungs. “For two years, I believed the author of that letter was a gorgeous, intriguing noblewoman, who was torn between her duty and her heart.”

“You weren’t entirely wrong. The noblewoman just happens to be a nobleman.”

“The same nobleman I fell in love with.” What were the odds?

The sound of water pumping from cisterns drifted from the bathing chamber.

I dragged my fingers over my hair, unable to find my bearings in this new reality. “I have so many questions.”

“Ask them.” His hand found mine.

I met his adoring eyes and steeled my spine. “Have you been with other men?”

“No. Neither has Ashley. The physical aspect of our relationship didn’t surface until he joined the Royal Navy. As we grew older, time and distance separated us, and within that loneliness, our longing evolved into something more primal.” His dark eyebrows crept together. “Perhaps lust is a symptom of the trust we built together as boys. But it’s never been a driving force between us. Nor have we ever sought sexual relations with other men.”

I nodded. Then shook my head. “I don’t know how I fit into that.”