Page 27 of Heart of the Hunter (Band of Bastards #3)

She took one last large gulp of her own ale then pushed to her feet and followed him to the creaky door at the back of the tavern.

The only light in the enclosed stairwell came from a room at the top, but Hunter’s frame as he climbed the stairs in front of her blocked her from seeing what awaited them.

“One of my favorite men,” a woman’s voice sang cheerily from above them.

Hunter grunted in acknowledgment as he cleared the top step and moved to the side for Anora.

They were in a moderately sized salon with plush but shabby chairs and low tables arranged throughout.

Madam Ruby stood in front of them, flanked on either side by two large men.

She was dressed in a demure gown of black that made her look as though she were in mourning.

When Anora had seen her at the goldsmith shop, she’d been dressed similarly in dark colors, but she’d assumed it was what the woman wore when outside of the brothel.

She didn’t know what she expected Madam Ruby to be wearing inside the brothel, but it wasn’t this.

“I’d ask if you want your usual arrangement, but I see you’ve brought company,” Madam Ruby said in her smooth, melodic voice.

Another twinge of unwanted jealousy pulled at her heart when the madam referred to Hunter’s “usual arrangement” and she struggled to keep her face from showing her distaste.

She was not na?ve to the ways of men, and she was sure Hunter was no different from other men, but to think of him in a brothel, in the arms of a nameless woman as they shared their pleasure together, made her gut twist.

Madam Ruby smiled serenely as she assessed Anora from her capped head down to her booted feet.

When her gaze returned to Anora’s face, her eyes narrowed as she studied her features.

“Who do we have here?” she asked, but her tone had a knowing air as one slim, black eyebrow arched high over her sparkling green eyes.

“We would speak with you privately,” Hunter murmured, “if you will be so kind, and then I can explain.”

With a flick of her wrist the two men flanking her moved away and sat at a table in the corner laden with tankards and trenchers of food. Both men, intimidating in size and demeanor, kept a constant eye on all that transpired.

The door at the bottom of the stairs opened and closed just as the creaking of another door could be heard somewhere behind Madam Ruby. Hunter tipped his head in the direction of the corridor behind her. “Is there a room available?”

Madam Ruby nodded and turned to let them pass as she said. “Rose is in her usual room and unaccompanied at the moment.”

Hunter waved his hand at Anora as a signal to follow him, then started down the corridor. The sounds of tinkling laughter, seductive murmurs, and moans of satisfaction reached Anora’s ears, all if it making her feel uncomfortable, unsettled, and…curious.

They passed by several doors on either side of the corridor, and more again when they turned first one corner and then another.

As they reached the far end of the last corridor, Hunter stopped and knocked lightly on a door.

As they waited, Anora tried not to think about how Hunter was at ease finding Rose’s “usual room” as she looked to the end of the passageway where a door was blocked by a man dozing in a chair.

He opened his eyes and lifted his head to look at them, then, seemingly satisfied they did not pose a threat, dropped his head back against his fisted hand to doze again.

A feminine voice beckoned them to enter from within the chamber and Hunter pushed open the door.

A woman of about Anora’s age was stretched out on the bed, clad in nothing but a thin white chemise, cut very low and loosely tied.

Her eyes went wide when she saw two people enter, but then she jumped to her feet and practically ran to get to Hunter.

She stretched up on her bared tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

Irritated, Anora huffed out a breath and gazed around the room to avoid looking at them.

The woman turned to Anora and asked, “Who is this?” She didn’t step away from Hunter as she spoke but merely turned her head as she clung possessively to his biceps.

Her honey-colored hair floating around her shoulders in loose waves.

Her face was pretty, with high cheekbones that glowed pink, and with pouty lips, but there were dark circles under her faded-blue eyes and a wariness in her gaze.

“An acquaintance,” Hunter answered, his hands resting lightly on the woman’s elbows. “We need to speak to Madam Ruby alone. Is there somewhere for you to go?”

The woman nodded, gave Anora one more assessing look, then released Hunter and slipped out the door.

A scant moment later, there was a sharp knock, and another woman entered the room.

This one was dressed similarly to the first woman in a thin chemise, but she was taller and had chestnut hair plaited loosely down her back.

She smiled affectionately at Hunter. “Madam Ruby will be here shortly. She is…negotiating with a patron.”

“Is all well?” Hunter asked, the concern apparent in his eyes as he looked at the woman.

“Oh, aye,” she said with a seductive smile. “Nothing she has not faced before.”

Hunter nodded, then said, “And all of you are well?”

She shrugged. “Well enough. Eliza is moving to a room above stairs and will soon birth her babe.”

Anora watched Hunter open the coin pouch hanging from his belt, pull out a handful of coins and hand them to the woman. “See that she gets what she needs for the next month and give Madam Ruby the rest to keep her off the floor for some time.”

An unwelcome surge of jealousy coursed through Anora’s body as the woman took the coins and pushed up on her toes to press her lips to Hunter’s cheek.

She turned gracefully on the ball of her foot, gave Anora a curious look, and left.

Anora didn’t have the right, but she seethed pondering about how many women Hunter had to support because of what she assumed were his indiscretions.

Anora raised her eyebrows at Hunter and widened her eyes in mock appreciation. “You are certainly well-known and well-liked here.”

Hunter obviously heard the judgment in her tone, which was sharper than Anora intended, because his head snapped in her direction. His eyes narrowed at her in disapproval, but he didn’t respond, his reaction chastisement enough to put a blush in her cheeks.

“If you have something you want to know, ask me plainly. If you have something to say about the women, I suggest you swallow it.”

Embarrassed, she turned away from Hunter and crossed the room to stand next to a cushioned chair.

It wasn’t the women she was judging, though she was curious about them—especially Eliza and her baby—but rather Hunter.

Before coming here, if someone had told her that Hunter frequented brothels, she would have dismissed it as expected and not put too much thought into it.

Now that she stood in the brothel with him and witnessed his familiarity with the women as they expressed their affection for him, the knowledge felt far too vivid and personal.

Her stomach felt like she’d swallowed bitter berries and her entire being felt itchy and…

dirty. She pushed thoughts about the women, and speculations of just how familiar they were with Hunter, from her mind, and focused instead on her purpose for being here.

Hunter stood by the shuttered window, which he had pushed open just a crack to let fresh autumn air and light into the dank, chilly room.

He peered out onto the lane below, but stayed hidden in the shadows, out of sight.

She looked around the room, which was as unexpectedly tidy, though the linen sheets were crumpled in the middle of the bed and a musky fug hung in the air that Anora could not identify.

The room was sparse, with a chest along the wall, a cushioned chair, a few hooks on the wall, and a small table and one wooden chair in the corner.

She wondered if this room contained the whole of Rose’s belongings, or if she only used this room for… work.

The most fascinating items were a polished silver mirror propped up on the table, a neatly placed comb and brush, and several small pots that presumably contained tinctures and powders for the face and lips.

Anora had seen women with their lips painted unnaturally red and the cheeks permanently blushed with powder.

She’d thought most of them looked startingly garish.

The only other items in the room were placed on a low bench near the bed: two large bowls of water, a neat stack of folded rags, and slivers of soap.

The water in the first bowl was still clear, but the second bowl looked like watered milk and there was a small pile of crumpled, damp-looking rags under the bench.

“Did we disturb the woman before her bath?” She pointed to the water and towels.

Hunter’s gaze dropped to the bench, then lifted to look directly at her. “No. They are for washing their…” he hesitated, flustered. “For washing between men.”

“Oh,” Anora said as the heat rose in her cheeks.

Madam Ruby entered the room and went immediately to Hunter but kept her eyes on Anora. The older woman’s face was devoid of emotion as she studied her, but to Anora, it felt like the heat of a thousand candles directed at her.