Page 18 of Prettiest Little Thief
The space we entered was large and vintage themed, with wooden floors and most of the walls lined with books. Very old books. The smell of old paper and leather backing was strong in the air. Through a floor to ceiling window, the night sky was visible, and the moon hung high. A spiral staircase stood to theleft side of the room, leading up to a second level. In the center of the library, a glass case sat. Empty.
I strode over to it, the only evidence of what once held was a placard. “Anastasia’s Keepsake,” I read aloud. A frown pushed my eyebrows together, and I turned to glance at Lucas.
He stepped up beside me and inspected the empty case. “Fuck.”
“What?”
“That’s the artifact. But since the case is empty, someone else must have it.” His nostrils flared, and the familiar angry face he wore emerged to the surface again.
“We’ll figure it out.” I placed my hand on his tense shoulder, but he shrugged me off, and I curled my fingers into my palm.
“It should be here.” He slammed his fist down on the case, and the glass spiderwebbed outward as it cracked.
I bit my bottom lip. Even though I was supposed to be the one stealing it, I felt like maybe Lucas and I could be sidekicks in this. But seeing how angry he was, it might be better if I just did it myself from now on. It was something important to him.
Footsteps pounded and voices rose from behind the door, both Lucas and I snapping our attention toward the noise. The doorknob turned, and just before someone came in, I grabbed Lucas’s face and pulled his mouth to mine. He didn’t resist. Instead, Lucas brushed his tongue against my lips, and I opened automatically without a thought. What started out as just a long peck to distract the intruders from what Lucas and I were really doing turned into a feverish make out session. The silkiness of our tongues battling each other sent the arousal I had tried so hard to push away to come barreling right back through me, ending between my thighs. A soft moan came from my throat, and I wrapped my arms around Lucas’s neck. His hands came to mywaist, and the embers of the fire inside of me sparked to life again.
Lucas picked me up and set me onto the glass case, his hips resting between my legs. Need coiled deep in my belly, and it took a whole lot of willpower not to grind myself against him. Lucas’s thick erection pressed against my center, but he held his hips firmly in place.
Someone cleared their throat from behind Lucas, but he didn’t stop right away. He deepened our kiss even more for just a moment before pulling back, glancing over his shoulder to see who had interrupted us. Through hooded eyes, I followed his line of sight.
A tall gentleman stood just past the threshold. His dark gaze was curious as he glanced between Lucas and I. Beside him, two bulky security guards stood.
“Bash. Sorry for disturbing the peace of your library, but when you have a beautiful woman who wants you, it’s hard to resist.” Lucas turned back to me and lifted me from the case, setting my feet back onto the floor. We both faced the men.
“Lucas, my friend. You had so many rooms to choose from and you chose the library?” Bash asked. He squinted his eyes in suspicion.
“It’s a fetish of Monroe’s. She likes to get fucked in any random places.” Lucas’s lie was so smooth I would have believed it. But also, so brazen I almost choked on my own spit.
My cheeks felt hot with embarrassment as Bash let out a long laugh before dismissing his security guards, continuing into the room.
“Monroe? Interesting name.”
“So I’ve heard.” I smiled and shook his hand. When I glanced back at the case, I decided I could use this as anopportune moment to see where the key was now. “Oops. Looks like we may have cracked the glass.” I sent Sebastian a pained look.
“It’s all right. It’s empty now.” He gave a soft chuckle and put his hands in his pants pockets.
“What was in the case? Seems interesting.” I sent him a flirty grin and stared up at him through lowered lashes. Lucas tensed beside me, annoyance radiating from him.
Bash’s smile showed off a set of adorable dimples in his tanned cheeks. He was a handsome man. Dark eyes. Dark hair that was neatly styled, aside from the one strand that hung out of place over his forehead. He could definitely be on the cover of GQ, and I would buy a copy.
“An old artifact I sold to a museum a few weeks ago. It was a not so lovely piece that didn’t fit into my collection. I collect books.” He glanced around the room with pride.
“Which museum?” Lucas asked. His voice was stern. Angry. Sebastian’s brows rose and Lucas cleared his throat. “My family was really into artifacts.”
“Arcane Repository. If I had known you and your family were so into items like the key, I would’ve contacted you first. I did catch a pretty penny for it, though.”
“Well, maybe we’ll have to take a trip down to the Arcane Repository to take a peek at it,” I interjected before Lucas lost his cool next to me. I could practically hear his teeth grinding against each other.
“Maybe I could join you. It has quite an interesting story behind it.” Bash’s boyish charm was definitely not something I could ignore.
A giggle escaped me, but I looped my arm through Lucas’s and snuggled closely. “That’s all up to the boss, here.” Lucas’sgaze landed on me as I stared up at him. His hard, unforgiving scowl softened a smidgen. Barely noticeable.
“We will discuss it. It may be a day date for Monroe and I.” Lucas straightened and looked back at Bash.
“You have my number. I can make myself available whenever it suits you.”
But Lucas didn’t respond with more than a stiff nod before pulling me toward the door. Sebastian’s gaze followed our exit with a grin.
