Page 15 of Company of Thieves
His shoulders shook with the laughter he held in. “I don’t object,” he managed to get out. “But I will warn you that at a later time, I will wish to reciprocate.”
Hallie clearly thought about that for a few seconds before he felt her fingers on his ass. “I suppose that’s only fair, although I do not have even remotely as nice a behind as you have.”
Her fingers had to be made of fire, he thought. There was no other explanation for the heat that radiated out from her touch.
“Akbar, the boilers are at full capacity. We can leave whenever you are read—” Zand stopped when he came around the screen. His eyebrows rose.
Alan’s shoulders shook even more.
“Er ...” Zand made a little face. “What is it you’re doing?”
“Me?” Hallie asked, straightening up from where she’d evidently been bent down, the better to torment his ass with her fire fingers. “Uh. Hi. Zand, is it?” She gave an embarrassed cough. “I was just ... Alan had ... er ... he had something on his behind, and I was just helping get rid of it. Nothing unsavory, mind you. Nothing that you wouldn’t want to have on it. Oh, god, that sounds so awful.”
Zand’s eyebrows rose at her use of the word “Alan,” and then moved even higher when Hallie stammered her explanation.
“She was feeling my ass,” Alan explained, convinced he had somehow stepped into a farce the likes of which he’d seen on the London stage. There could be no other reason his life had suddenly become so bizarre. “She likes it.”
“Does she?” Zand asked, his voice and expression now completely devoid of emotion. “I’ll wait outside.”
“It is a very nice behind,” Hallie added, her fingers giving it one last caress before she moved around to stand next to Alan. “It’s worth seeing if you haven’t. Or maybe you have. Or you don’t care. I don’t like to presume, because I am very supportive of all types of sexualities, not just heterosexual. So if you wanted to see Alan’s very nice behind, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind. Would you?”
He pursed his lips, his hands fisted. He was three seconds away from just giving in to his body’s demands that he throw Hallie onto the bed so he could ravish her until she couldn’t talk about his ass anymore.
“I’m ... outside ...” Zand took himself off before giving in to the laughter that Alan knew was to follow, and sure enough, ten seconds later he heard Zand shouting with laughter so hard that several horses whinnied in response.
“Did I offend him, do you think?” Hallie asked, her expression thoughtful.
He pulled on his leggings and long gold tunic before wrapping a clean turban around his head. He gathered up the ornate leather and metal armor and gauntlets, not trusting himself to speak. He had a feeling if he laughed, she would be hurt.
“You’re not answering. I did offend him, didn’t I?” Hallie sighed. “My brother always says that my mouth will get me into trouble one of these days. You didn’t mind me touching your behind, did you?”
“No.” He strapped on a scabbard, placed his favorite sword in it, slipping a dagger into each of his boots. Then he took her arms in his hands, pulling her up to his chest, his lips on hers when he said, “I am very much looking forward to my turn, however. As for your brother, he was correct—your mouth is going to get you in a great deal of trouble. And I am going to enjoy every moment of it.”
And then he kissed the objections he just knew she was going to make right off her lips.
He had a feeling he was greatly in over his head. The question was, did he want to surface again?
