Page 9 of Prettiest Little Thief (Band of Thieves #1)

Lucas introduced me around the room to his acquaintances.

Every so often, he would touch me. Either skimming a knuckle down my exposed spine or placing his hand on the small of my back.

For some reason, I couldn’t help wondering what it would feel like to have him inside of me.

If his tender touches lit me up inside, what would his cock do to me?

Face, meet palm.

Then I would remind myself that he was my jailer and this was a show we were putting on for these people.

They needed to believe we were together to play this off.

The only reason we even met each other was because of my screw up.

I owed him this. He owned me. That would calm my vagina down enough to stop my arousal from building.

Lucas’s lips skimmed the shell of my ear. “Do you want to dance, Monroe?”

A moment passed before I could respond. Clearly, more than Lucas’s looks and small touches could send me into a spiral. His voice alone could make me come undone.

“Sure.” I lifted a shoulder, my bravado believable enough.

“Excuse us,” Lucas said to the couple we had been speaking to for the last fifteen or so minutes .

He led me to the dance floor and an instrumental rendition of a popular song started to play.

Lucas spun me and I giggled, the scarlet ends of my dress lifting with the movement.

Our chests collided, and Lucas wrapped an arm around my waist, taking my hand in his. The fresh scent of mint teased my nose.

“We should go look for the key soon.” I stared up at his masked face. Azure eyes met mine.

“Just one song.”

We danced and were much closer than what would have been considered appropriate in my high school waltzing class. A silence spanned out between us, but it wasn’t awkward. It was a subtle comfort I didn’t know could exist with Lucas and myself.

How could someone be such an ass just days ago and then be this completely different person?

Obviously, I didn’t know Lucas Knight well, but this was like night and day.

I was actually enjoying his company. This must be the person Fox befriended all those years ago.

Not the unmovable businessman he had shown me since we’d met.

And it was nice.

When the song ended, Lucas escorted me from the dance floor and down one of the halls that broke away from the crowd of guests.

The music faded, and the hallway was much darker than the room we were just in.

Sconces every few feet were our only source of light, and they were entirely too low to make much of a difference.

Lucas didn’t speak a word, my heels clicking along the flooring and the soft whisper of my dress as it moved the only sound.

“Where are we going?” I asked, speaking softly.

“To go look for the key. We’ve been seen and mingled.”

“How do you know where to look?” I was hyper aware of our bodies still in close proximity but tried to act like it didn’t affect me. Maybe I was the only one having the inner battle of attraction.

“I don’t.”

“So, the blind leading the blind?” I teased.

“Absolutely.” There was a smile in his voice as he pulled me behind him. Once we came upon a row of doors, Lucas started opening them one by one and peeking his head in. Multiple times, he’d quickly close the door and move on.

“Wait. Why aren’t we investigating all of the rooms?”

“If we checked all of them, we’d be here all night. It’s pretty standard for something of the relic’s antiquity to be in a showroom with all the other priceless possessions.”

“You boujie guys have an MO.”

“You use the word boujie quite a bit,” Lucas said as he opened another door.

“I do.” I followed his lead and started to check the closed doors across from the ones he was working through.

I came across a bathroom, a couple of bedrooms, and an indoor pool.

The latter made me want to stop what we were doing and take a dip in the steaming water.

But I pushed the thought aside and closed the door, moving to the next one.

“It’s not necessarily an MO. It’s more common sense.” He closed the door and moved on to another. When Lucas peeked into the next room, he swung the door open completely and ushered me inside, closing it behind us.

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 the left 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 my waist, 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 an opportune 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’s gaze 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.

I waved goodbye to him with my free hand. “It was nice meeting you,” I called out before Lucas closed the door in my face. “Hey, that’s not very nice.” I frowned at him as he continued to pull me down the hall and to the coat check to retrieve his jacket.

Lucas removed his arm from mine as he tipped the worker. “I’ve been called a lot of things, Monroe. Nice is not one of them.”