Read Online Bound Forever by Ava March - Free Book Online

closet off the entrance hall, he stepped out of the house. The morning air felt brisk and cold and held the threat of snow. Thick clouds hung heavy in the sky, blocking any attempts by the sun to provide even a hint of warmth. He buttoned his coat and tugged on his black leather gloves as he made his way around the side of the house toward the stables.
    He found the stall belonging to Vincent’s preferred mount—a big-boned black hunter—empty except for about half an armload of hay in the corner. The tall stallion had not even had a chance to finish his breakfast. The grooms who tended to the horses arrived quite early from the village, usually around dawn, if he remembered correctly.
    Oliver wracked his brain, but he could not recall Vincent mentioning an errand or any obligation that would require him to leave the house so early. To his knowledge, he did not have any plans for the day save working in his study.
    The unease nipping at his belly turned into a tight fist of worry. On any other morning, Vincent’s absence would not rouse much more than mere curiosity. But last night had not been any other night.
    “Good morning, Lord Oliver.”
    Oliver turned from the empty stall. One of the grooms, a wiry young man with an unruly shock of pale blond hair, stood in the partially open door of a stall on the other side of the aisle. He had a pitchfork in one hand, as though he had been tidying the horse’s stall.
    “Morning,” Oliver said, with a tip of his head. He resisted the impulse to ask the groom if he had seen Vincent that morning, and if so, if he knew in what direction the man had gone. He had already asked Mrs. Hollister with no success. If he inquired with any more of the staff, he’d only end up inciting their curiosity as to why Oliver was so concerned about their master’s whereabouts so early in the day. In any case, it wasn’t as if Vincent was in the habit of keeping his servants abreast of his comings and goings.
    “Do you have need of the carriage, my lord?”
    “No, but could you saddle a horse for me?”
    In no time at all, Vincent’s efficient groom saw to the task and brought the horse out into the stable yard. Oliver swung his leg over the chestnut gelding’s back, and with a nudge of his heels, the horse obediently slipped into an easy canter.
    He took the dirt lane leading from the stables. The cold wind bit at his cheeks, yet Oliver did not tuck his chin into the collar of his greatcoat. He sat tall, his gaze sweeping the surrounding grounds, looking for any sign of the black hunter.
    At the fork in the lane, he pulled the horse to a stop. Should he turn left or right? Where would Vincent have gone? About six months ago, Vincent had purchased the property adjoining his, making the Rotherham estate more than sizeable. The man could be anywhere. Perhaps he had been called to the coal mine? No, too early in the morning for that. Vincent would have nudged him awake if someone had called at the house before dawn.
    The forest on the east side of the property? Hadn’t Vincent once mentioned a gamekeeper’s cottage? But as neither of them hunted, he hadn’t given the comment much notice. Perhaps the pond?
    He turned the horse left and headed across the expanse of grass toward the west end of the property. During the summer months, he and Vincent occasionally indulged in a swim on hot afternoons. Highly doubtful he’d find Vincent swimming laps in the ice-cold pond, but he would check along the bank before going across to the forest and then on to the village.
    When he had awoken that morning, nothing but the pleasures of the prior night had filled his mind. Yet now he could not forget that look in Vincent’s eyes when Oliver had leaned over him to kiss him. That moment after his spent cock had slipped from Vincent’s body. The dark brows furrowed the tiniest bit, a trace of hesitation in the brilliant blue depths of his eyes. His senses drenched with the heady sensation of having had