Page 40 of Lords of Misrule
“Not bad,” Finn comments as he steps back.
“All right. We should get out of here.” Rowan nods to the door.
Each of us takes one of the paintings and puts it in a tube we brought the fakes in, tucking them under our coats. We all hurry back out the door, into the dead of night on Christmas Eve. The cold air whipping in and around us as we walk down the street. Hudson starts to hum bars from Merry Christmas Baby as I grin in his direction.
“Hush. We can celebrate when we get back,” Rowan grumbles at him.
“Well, we know who the Grinch is,” Hudson jokes.
“Why do we live with them again?” Finn takes my hand.
“I think we like them. Maybe? Most of the time?” I smile up at him because I’m going to scream for joy the second we get back to the house. Blast some Christmas music and dance around the house to it. Somehow it seems like we might actually pull this off.
Twenty-Two
Finn
That morning when I get up, I’m the first one down. I see the stockings Charlotte’s put by the fireplace with our names on them, and I grin. It had been a long night last night, and I assume the rest are all in bed until I hear Rowan’s voice.
“What are you grinning about?” He sounds groggy and half-awake as he stumbles down the steps.
“She made us all stockings.” I reach for mine and pull it off the hook before I look up at him. “She awake yet?” She went to sleep in his bed last night I assume because she isn’t down here on the couch.
“No. She’s still passed out. Took a shower last night and collapsed on the bed. I was going to get coffee started before I wake her.”
“She okay after last night though?”
“Far as I know. Like I said, didn’t talk to her much yet.”
I raise my eyebrow when I pull open the stocking because tucked inside is a black balaclava, some candy canes, black gloves, and a bottle of flavored lube.
“What?” Rowan asks from the kitchen when he sees my brows raise.
“Look in yours and tell me what’s inside.” I nod my head toward his stocking. He frowns but turns the coffee maker on before he saunters over.
“Why? What did you get?” He peers over my shoulder as he grabs his stocking. I hold up the contents and there’s a flash of amusement before he hurries to open his. He pulls out a matching set of mask and gloves, more candy canes, and a set of velvet, candy-striped ribbons.
“Holy fuck. She’s something else.”
“You think they were meant to be our gift or hers?” I muse.
“I think I know how we’re waking her up.” He smirks.
“Get her some coffee first,” I warn as I pull the tags off the masks and gloves.
A few minutes later we’re hurrying up the stairs clad in masks and gloves while we suck on the candy canes she gave us. He pushes the door back quietly, but the slight squeak of the hinge has her stirring. She turns over and blinks when she sees us, sitting up abruptly. It takes her a second but neither of us has a shirt on and once she recognizes our tattoos she relaxes.
“Found your stocking stuffers then?” Her voice is raspy from sleep, and it does things for me. A soft grin forms on her lips and my heart twists with it. This girl has me by the balls whether she knows it or not. She’s all I can think about lately.
“Something like that.” I set the lube and the velvet ribbon on one nightstand while Rowan sets the coffee on the one closest to her.
“And coffee? What a gentleman.” Her eyes flick over Rowan, and her smile widens.
“I’m a lot of things, Duchess. Gentle ain’t fuckin’ one of them.” He kneels on the bed and wraps his hand around her throat. “But you don’t want gentle. Not when you leave us things like this. You want us both to ravage this sweet fucking body, don’t you?”
Her eyes flick over to me, drifting down over my chest and then back to him.
“Yes.”
