Book Title: Earl Hathbury’s Vessel (Duty & Magic, 2)
Author: S. Rodman
Publisher: Dark Angst Publishing
Cover Artist: Miblart
Release Date: August 14, 2022
Genre: MM Paranormal Romance
Tropes: Hurt/comfort
Themes: Learning to love / trust
Heat Rating: 4 flames
Length: 45 000 words
It is a standalone story, but part of a linked series.
Each book follows a different couple. It does not end on a cliffhanger.
Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited
After years of cruelty, how do you learn to trust? To love?
Blurb
After years of cruelty, how do you learn to trust? To love?
It may be 2022, but the modern world has done nothing to protect me.
I live in the world of the British nobility, a secret society of magic, mages and vessels.
There are strict rules and customs and no freedom at all.
My name is Charlie, but to society, I’m just a vessel. A person who grows and absorbs magic within them, but cannot wield it.
As tradition dictates, on my eighteenth birthday, I was given to a mage. From that day onwards, every seven days for four long years, Earl Rathbone took my body to take my magic.
Earl Rathbone was a cruel and harsh master. But it was ‘the done thing’ and society turned a blind eye to my mistreatment.
Until the earl’s son finally intervened and whisked me away. Sending me to Archie. The Earl of Hathbury.
Archie is kind and sweet. The man loves books nearly as much as I do. He is nothing like Earl Rathbone.
Yet, giving Archie my body and my magic is daunting. But it is my duty and a necessity. As a vessel, I need a mage to regularly empty me or I could die.
To my great relief, Archie is understanding and gentle, and it’s not long before I start to fall for him. Finding my duty more of a pleasure.
Archie seems to enjoy our time together more than is proper, and I am hopeful.
But can Archie be trusted? Is he really safe? Will I ever be truly free?
I stepped inside and froze. Archie was already seated at the small table, and he rose politely to greet me. The room was small and cozy, not a formal dining room at all. An intimate, informal one. Likely where his lordship ate when he was alone. I swallowed nervously and felt my legs begin to tremble.
I could possibly be in his lordship’s rooms right now. That discreet door behind him could well lead to his bedchamber. Would I be taken through there after dinner?
Archie was frowning, “Are you alright, Charlie? You look awfully pale. Please come sit down.”
Shakily, I obeyed. I was good at doing as I was told and grateful he had given me clear directions. I hadn’t known if I should kneel or not. I hated not knowing anything. At least with Earl Rathbone, I had known what to expect and what was expected of me.
I sat down and automatically picked up the napkin, shook it out, and placed it on my lap. I heard Archie take his seat, but I didn’t dare look up. Suddenly I realized I hadn’t answered his question, but I’d left far too long a silence to answer now.
A bowl of soup was placed in front of me and I hadn’t even heard anyone come in. I stared at what looked like carrot and coriander as I waited for the sound of Archie picking up his spoon.
“Are your rooms acceptable? Do you have everything you need?” asked Archie.
“They are lovely, thank you,” I forced out, but it sounded like a pathetic whisper. I heard the clang of Archie’s spoon against his bowl, so I started to eat. Grateful for the excuse for not having to talk.
Long, awkward moments dragged in silence until Archie spoke again. “Lord Garrington says you grew up on the Belmount Estate?”
I nodded eagerly. This was a topic I understood, I knew what Archie wanted. He was enquiring about my background.
“Yes, my father’s family has served the Belmounts for generations. My father is a groundsman and my mother is the housekeeper.”
“I see,” said Archie politely, but I knew what he wanted to hear.
“When I displayed signs of being a vessel, no one was surprised. Everyone assumed as with all loyal families that serve great houses, that there had been a mingling of bloodlines in the past. As is customary, the duke’s oldest son offered to take me on as his vessel, but when his grace heard, he forbade it.”
I took a big sip of my water and waited for Archie to digest that bit of information. He didn’t say anything, so I risked a peek and caught a glimpse of his shocked expression. He understood what I had said. The mingling of bloodlines, the reason I had inherited magical abilities, was likely not historical, and the duke was likely my biological father.
“So Earl Rathbone, made an offer for you?” asked Archie, clearly keen to move on from that awkward topic of conversation.
“Yes, he did, and I was given to him on my eighteenth birthday.”
Archie made a noise of disgust and I glanced up at him in alarm. He flushed and looked away.
“I’m sorry, I know it is the tradition but eighteen seems awfully young to me,” said Archie.
I didn’t know what to say to that. Did he think twenty-two was still awfully young? I wasn’t that much younger than him. Ten years at the most. Surely Lord Garrington had told him my age before he had agreed to take me on? But then again, what kind of man agrees to steal another man’s vessel? Not a reasonable one. Was he going to change his mind and send me back? My thoughts started to spiral hopelessly.
“Charlie?”
I blinked and realized Archie had asked me something, but I had no idea what. I stared down at my soup in horror. “Sorry,” I murmured. Not paying attention was terribly rude.
There was a long pause during which I wished for the ground to open up and swallow me.
“Lord Garrington said your cycle was weekly? On Saturdays?” asked Archie gently.
I felt myself flush. Oh gosh, this was awful. He thought I was being weird because I was becoming ripe.
“Yes, that’s right!” I exclaimed far too vigorously. “I will next be ripe in four days,” I said, as if the man didn’t know how many days it was until Saturday. Gods, I was useless.
I love characters that are battered and broken by life, who through the course of finding love, discover they are strong.
I like to pour my dark past into my characters and hope I will be forgiven.
Despite everything, because of everything, I will always believe that love conquers all.
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