How to Steal a Thief's Heart - Bree Wolf Page 0,43

her eyes, his hand gripped her arm while the other covered her mouth. Then he hauled her into the empty room.

She stiffened in his arms, a shriek fighting to make it past his hand, and so he quickly closed the door with his boot. “It’s me,” he whispered near her ear, and she immediately stilled. “Don’t scream unless you have a strong desire for company.” Slowly, he released his grip.

Without hesitation, she whipped around, her blue eyes wide and her spectacles askew. “What are you doing?” she demanded as her gaze wandered from him to the door and those beyond. “Do you have any idea what would happen if…?” Her teeth gritted together, and a frustrated growl rose from her throat.

Chuckling, Pierce leaned back against the door. “Our earlier conversation was cut short, and so I thought—”

“You thought what?” she snapped as she charged toward him, her forefinger jabbing accusingly in the direction of his chest. “To compromise me for the sake of a conversation?”

He smiled. Yes, this was more like it!

Uncrossing his arms, Pierce reached out and snatched the spectacles from her nose. Then he held them up to his eyes, blinking several times as her face became distorted. “Why on earth do you wear these?”

Anger burned hot in her cheeks as she stared at him, momentarily too overcome to find the right words to hurl at his head. However, the moment passed quickly. “What is wrong with you?” Again, she charged him, this time in order to retrieve her spectacles.

Fortunately for him, his arm was longer than hers.

Still, that didn’t keep her from berating him further as she tried to reach for her belongings, cursing quite admirably when she failed yet again. “Very well,” she finally hissed. “Keep them.” Then she spun on her heel and marched toward the French doors across the room.

“Don’t be foolish,” Pierce said, hurrying after her. “It’s freezing out there. You’ll catch a cold.” In the last moment before she could pull open the door, he reached her, once more trapping her in his arms as he hauled her back against the wall.

With her wrists trapped in his grip, she stared up at him. “What do you care? Clearly, you’re determined to ruin me, to ruin everything I’ve…” She swallowed, her lips clamping shut.

Inhaling a slow breath, he searched her face. “Everything you’ve…what?”

Resignation came to her eyes. “Let go of me.” Her voice rang weak, and he felt all fight leave her body. “Please.”

Sighing, Pierce did as she asked. “I’m sorry. I never meant to…ruin anything.”

She rubbed her right wrist before her gaze rose to meet his. “Then why are you doing this?”

He snorted, then shrugged. “I want to understand,” he finally said, handing her back her spectacles. “There’s something about you that…I’ve never seen in anyone else before.” All humor seemed to have left, replaced by a seriousness that felt unfamiliar. “You’re not who you seem to be.”

Averting her gaze, she paused. “But why should that matter to you? Nothing I do matters to anyone. I—”

“That’s not true.”

“How would you know?” Her gaze narrowed as she watched him, the same curiosity in her blue eyes he felt every time he looked at her.

Pierce huffed out a deep breath, knowing he could not answer her without revealing more than he was willing to. “There’s depth in your eyes,” he finally said, surprised to see a soft blush come to her cheeks, “and compassion and an iron will.” He cracked a smile at her. “I saw the way you peeked over the rim of your lenses and I couldn’t help but wonder why. There seems to be no logical reason for it and, yet, I’m certain there is one because otherwise you wouldn’t be wearing them.” He shrugged. “I was curious. I still am.”

Sighing, she all but fell back against the wall, her eyes closing. “No one ever sees me,” she whispered before her gaze settled on his once again. “No one. I’m all but invisible,” she lifted up her spectacles, “because of these. Because I dress the way I do. Because I wear my hair the way I do.” She touched an absent hand to her temple where a single tendril had come loose. “These are all little things but, together, they hide me.”

Staring at her, Pierce knew not what to say.

All he knew was that she was magnificent. Her blue eyes shone with such intensity that he wondered how anyone could fail to notice how lovely she was. Her thoughts were sharp