Guilty as Sin (40 page)

“Wouldn
‟
t dream of it.” She waited, counting the even breaths coming from the

bed, watching the thief put up the shutters behind his eyes, one by one. But Liseriel the

Gray had been stonewalled by experts. There was more than one way to take a fortress.

Deliberately, she stretched, draping her naked self over his hard, warm body,

throwing a leg across his, winding her tail and her arms around him, her head on his

shoulder. The featherpearl in her ear brushed against his neck, a small, shy caress.

He stirred against her. “Lise—”

186

“Just a few more minutes.” She drifted her fingertips down the center of his chest,

over his ribs and down to the flat belly, feeling nerves flutter beneath the skin. Quietly,

she said, “What
‟
s Bitsy mean to you?”

Michael swore and his hand clamped down so hard over hers, she hissed. “Not

what you
‟
re thinking.”

“You have no idea what I
‟
m thinking.” Lise pulled back to meet furious dark eyes.

“I was going to offer her a job. She
‟
s quick and clever and tough.”

Michael studied her face. “She has a cough,” he said at last. “A nasty one.” His face

went hard and blank. “She might not— I don
‟
t know—”

“She won
‟
t ever have had a doctor like Tril,” Lise said with certainty. “He
‟
ll fix the

cough, and we
‟
ll feed her up. She has leadership potential, that girl.”

“She
‟
s bossy enough.” Michael looked away, the brief smile fading. “Though she
‟
s

just as likely to tell you to fuck off.”

“Not if you talk to her.”

Immediately, he scowled. “Don
‟
t involve me.”

When she slid her hand out from under his, he let her. Absently, she patted his

stomach, thinking hard.

How was it Dax had seen so clearly what she could not? Veil-it, she was supposed

to be the trained observer. The evidence had been there from the first moment, but

she
‟
d been blinded by Michael
‟
s smokescreen of cynical charm. She wasn
‟
t sure she
‟
d

trust him with a bag of sparkly stones in a room with an open window, but with her

life? Oh yes.

With Dax
‟
s life, the lives of six children threatened with a hideous fate? Yes, again.

They were slum rats exactly as he had been, little pieces of flotsam in the sea full of

predators that was the Slopes. Their lives were of no importance to anyone but

themselves. Yet he
‟
d risked everything to find those kids, with no assurance that Jan

wouldn
‟
t turn him over to the Palace guards when it was done. Her breath hitched.

Godsdammit, that
she
wouldn
‟
t.

Dax was right. Michael cared and cared deeply, but it was all concealed, buried so

far down he was scarcely aware of it himself. And if he recognized his essential

humanity, he dismissed it as a weakness, a danger to be eradicated.

She thought of the way Bitsy
‟
s face had lit up as Michael had charged into Veryl
‟
s

room. Relief and triumph, but no surprise. The girl had
known
he would come.

Lise smiled, feeling suddenly and unaccountably warm. All her extremities

tingled—fingers, toes, tail.

What the—?

Oh.
Oh
.

There was nothing she liked better than stretching her wings on a summer
‟
s day,

the sun beating down from above, warming her hearts, suffusing her body with

glorious heat while a light breeze riffled through her plumage, flirting and caressing,

187

cooling her cheeks. It was best if she was all alone—because then she
‟
d laugh out loud

and spin in the air, around and around until she was breathless, glowing with the joy of

it.

But never had she experienced that sensation with her feet firmly on the ground.

She glanced from one man to the other.
Gods
.

Dax lay sprawled across the bed, one wing and an arm extended, his palm up. If

she wanted love and reassurance, his hand clasp was there, ready and waiting. Michael

surrounded her with hardness and heat, his body all smooth planes and hair-dusted

skin.

Rip the Veil, she was
happy!

She swallowed hard. Steady, steady.

Veil-it, what had she done?
The reality of it crashed over her—Liseriel the Gray, not

only in a relationship with
two
men, but one of them a career criminal. For a moment,

she felt dizzy, fiercely glad her sire had gone beyond the Veil years ago.

“A Gray puts duty first,” he
‟
d say, fixing her with a gaze like tempered steel.

Like hell. Lise set her jaw. Did that mean happiness was forbidden? Sire had no

right to talk. In his own stiff-rumped way, he
‟
d loved Mama with all his hearts.

Michael
‟
s firm shoulder pressed warmly against hers. In the silence, Dax
‟
s deep

regular breathing sounded very loud.

She wasn
‟
t a willful little girl any longer. She was a warrior, an investigator, a

guardian of the law.

To stop the trembling in her hands, Lise curled her fingers around Michael
‟
s upper

arm. Rip the Veil and fry the world. For once in her life, she was going to reach out and

take something for herself. She couldn
‟
t seem to catch her breath. All right,
think
. It

wasn
‟
t as if she didn
‟
t have resources—her own intelligence and experience for a start.

Sheer determination. Threesomes were unusual but certainly not unknown. If her own

commander could take two lovers, so could she. Her lips curved. Fledge would make a

powerful ally.

As for Michael… The
flutterbyes
in her stomach started up again. By all the gods,

whatever it took to convince him a three-way relationship was worth exploring—

persuasion, scheming, subterfuge—she
‟
d do it.

No one could say Liseriel the Gray didn
‟
t understand commitment. In the dark, her

eyes widened. Gods, that was why she
‟
d failed with Mirry! She
‟
d held herself back, too

afraid to take the risk. No wonder he
‟
d been bored, he hadn
‟
t had all of her.

But this time… Her gaze lingered on Dax
‟
s large breathing bulk, on the length of his

limbs and the breadth of his shoulders. This time, the risk was so great it terrified the

life out of her—but she wasn
‟
t alone.

They shared this insane gamble, she and Dax. They were a team—in truth, the best

team she
‟
d ever had. All she had to do was take Dax
‟
s hand and there would be comfort

188

and reassurance and strength, a bottomless well of love and faith. Her pulse settled. A

beautiful gift, because it made all things possible.

Slowly, Lise turned her face into the strong column of Michael
‟
s neck and breathed

in, smiling as she did so. Yes, oh gods,
yes!

The tip of her smallest finger brushed the neat, wiry bush at the base of Michael
‟
s

shaft and the bands of muscle under her forearm quivered. So different and yet so

familiar.

But one issue remained and she couldn
‟
t afford to…well,
glow
until she dealt with

it. She bit her lip. She wasn
‟
t blind or stupid. “Dax said you killed a man, the night you

brought him home.”

“Had to,” said Michael, not elaborating.

“
Mmm
,” she murmured noncommittally, not moving the finger. “Why?”

Michael gave a huff of exasperation. “He wanted the bird man, so he tried to beat

my head in.” He growled a little, deep in his chest. “He would have sold Dax, feather

by feather. Bastard deserved everything he got.”

“Quick and clean.” A pause. “Professional.”

She got a sharp glance, but no response.

“How many?” she asked.

He didn
‟
t pretend to misunderstand. She watched him think about it. At last, he

said, “Four.”

Better he
‟
d kept count than lost track. “The carter was one. Were the other three

contracts?”

After a short silence, he said, “I
‟
m not a killer for hire. I never have been. I told you

that.” Shadows swam in his eyes. “The Slopes is a dangerous place. It
‟
s kill or be

killed.”

True enough, and all his robberies had been clean, the wealthy victims left bereft

but uninjured. “You bear the assassin
‟
s mark.”

With a shrug, he said, “I earned it the hard way, did the guild training and passed

the tests, but I never—” His mouth shut hard. “Enough with the questions.” He put his

hands to his laces.

Hastily, Lise sat up. “Wait.”

A brow rose. “What for?”

Veil-it, she
‟
d never had any idea of how to flutter and coo, how to seduce. Honesty

was all she had to offer. “Stay. Sleep a little before you go.” She leaned in a little,

conscious that his gaze had dropped to her mouth. “Please.”

From under his lashes, he flicked a glance at the featherpearl in her ear and she

wanted to crow.
You want it, my dearest thief? It’s yours if you stay.
She tilted her head so

the teardrop shape caught the light, a glimmering temptation.
Take it to settle the stupid

bet.

189

“You
‟
d sleep in my presence?” he said slowly. “That
‟
s a lot of trust, birdy. Foolish.”

But he brushed her lower lip with his thumb as he said it.

“I
‟
ll risk it.” Irresistibly drawn by the soft pit at the base of his throat, Lise nuzzled

in, closed her eyes and inhaled the spicy scent of his skin in great gulps.
I could find you

in the blackest dark
, she thought
. Even in the deepest pit of the seven icy hells.

Something touched her hair, so softly, so hesitantly, she was barely aware it was

there. Lise gave an encouraging murmur, cuddling closer. Her hearts hammered. The

light-fingered caress withdrew, then returned, more confident than before.

“So fine,” whispered Michael, almost as if he spoke to himself. “So clean and good.”

Lise pressed a line of nibbling kisses to the hard strut of his collarbone and felt his

throat bob as he swallowed. “
Shh
,” she said. “I want to hold you.” She spread a wing

over him, heard his indrawn breath and then the long exhale as he relaxed beneath her.

The lamp sputtered and dimmed.

* * * * *