a tweed coat, a plain waistcoat, and a cap. All her glorious dark hair was tucked neatly away. She’d taken a kohl pencil to her upper lip to sketch in a thin mustache. It would fail any close inspection but passed muster at first glance, though the black shading did call attention to her indecently full lips. They were currently moist and glazed from the last sip of her ale. Which made him want to lick it off her.
Not the time and place, clearly.
Rhystan studied the woman in front of him. God, he wished they were back on the Belonging. He wanted to see the hint of those freckles across her nose pop in the sun, see that jet-black hair loosened and wild, watch her be unencumbered and happy and not have to answer to anyone but herself.
The rarest ruby among prosaic diamonds.
Everything about her sang to him. Her beauty, her wit, her sense of justice as well as mischief. As evident from the current sparkle in her eye, it was obvious that she loved the subterfuge. Or perhaps it was the feeling that being back near the docks brought. He had to admit, he felt the same, as though a garrote around his neck had been loosened.
“Where did you get the togs?” he asked.
“Borrowed them from Tej,” she replied with a wink. “We’re the same size, now that he’s filled out a bit.” She paused, observing him. “He told me that you were sending him to school.”
“He deserves an education.”
She stared into her mug. “Even for a humble houseboy?”
He gave a shrug. “Tej is smart. I’d rather not let a perfectly good mind go to waste. And besides, when he does take up a trade and becomes the best at what he does, I can hire him. So it’s all in my own best interest.”
The way she was looking at him was worth everything. She stared at him as though he’d gifted her the stars and the moon, her green-gold eyes limpid with gratitude and affection.
“It’s a small thing,” he said.
She shook her head. “It’s no small thing! You’ve changed his life. You’ve given him an opportunity to make something of himself.” She drew in a soft breath. “It means so much. I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything. I did it for you.”
Her eyes glittered. “Rhystan.”
Sod it. He stood, nearly knocking over the chair in his haste. He wanted to yank her into his arms and throw her over his shoulder, but instead he gave a rough jerk of his head for her to follow him. Biting her lip in a way that made him harder than he already was, she nodded. He practically limped down the corridor leading to a backstreet.
Rhystan waited just inside the door, near what looked like a storeroom, his heart pounding a staccato in his chest until she walked by, the scent of her like a red rag to a turkey-cock. He hauled her to him and pressed her into the nook, filling his palms with her luscious bottom. He kicked the wooden slat shut behind them.
“Hell, Sarani, these trousers,” he whispered, nuzzling into her fragrant neck. “They’re criminal on your legs. On this arse.”
“You like them?” she panted, arms going around his neck as she rubbed her body against his. It gratified him to see that the near-painful state of arousal was mutual.
“I like you in them.”
With a moan, she kissed him, shoving up to her tiptoes and dragging her open mouth across his. He felt the swipe of her tongue and then the wicked nip of her teeth on his lower lip. He groaned at the bite of pain, pleasure following in its wake. And then it was a mass of lips, teeth, and tongues as they devoured each other, uncaring of the tiny room or the fact that they could be discovered at any moment.
“What are you doing to me?” he growled, one hand tugging her shirt out and slipping up inside to her warm skin.
Her breasts were bound with linen, but he still rubbed over her hardened nipples, pinching them lightly. He swallowed her moans with his mouth, his hand going to her falls. Blast these buttons! He tore them from their moorings, shoving them down to cup her sex with his palm.
“Bloody hell, you’re soaked.” His cock was hard enough to hammer steel. “I want you so badly.”
“Yes,” she gasped, her tongue sucking his, her own fingers tugging at his hair. “Now, please.”
Rhystan didn’t