Mav opened her eyesto the sight of Colette still kneeling between her legs, licking her fingers and moaning at the taste of Mav’s release. Mav nearly finished again at the sight.
She watched Colette, this beautiful woman she knew nothing about, and felt oddly close to her. She did not often let anyone see her in a vulnerable state—she didn’t have that luxury—but this woman had seen her tied up and helpless, and was still looking at her as if she was the most magnificent being in all of Domhan na Rùin. It made Mav feel inexplicably safe.
“You taste as wonderful as you look, Mav. Are you still comfortable?”
Mav nodded.
“Good. The night is still young—are you ready for more?”
Mav nodded again as Colette’s tiny hot tongue lapped at her clit, and she was lost to the sensations in her body. She let go completely.
After what felt like an eternity of pleasure and too many orgasms to count, Mav’s whole world had narrowed to the feeling of the rope pressing into her fur. Colette had wrung her out.
When she looked toward the window, the light of early morning was just starting to play across the darkness. She needed to get back; she had a thief to catch.
“Well, my lion, are you satisfied?” Colette’s voice was raspy from a night without sleep.
“Mmm,” was all Mav could manage, and Colette chuckled slightly in response.
“You’ve been so good, I suppose I can untie you now.”
Colette’s fingers worked nimbly, and soon Mav shifted, her body somehow feeling stiff and incredibly loose all at once.
She stood, rising to her full height, and looked down at Colette. “Will I see you again?”
“Oh yes, Captain, you most certainly will.”
Chapter Nine
Hours later, Mav satin a meeting with other court officials, not listening even a little bit to some old Master of Coin droning on about the city budget. Her thoughts darted erratically from her jewel thief problem to the incredible night she’d had, which now felt rather more like a dream than reality.
She knew her time to solve the issue of the jewel thief was running out. Only so much grace would be extended to her, and she was determined not to lose her position over something so ridiculous. The nobles that had caused such a fuss with the king weren’t truly suffering over their losses, they were just upset that some unknown thief was making fools of the lot of them. There were many actual problems in Zhava City that deserved their attention, but feeding the poor was less glamorous.
The jewel thief would strike again, but there were so many wealthy families in Zhava City, it was impossible to predict where they would turn up next. Mav considered the patterns she had noticed: the thief disabled and injured—but never killed—guards; they only robbed the wealthiest noble families; theywere somehow flirting with her by way of evidence left at the crime scene, so they must have known they were being hunted…Not much to go on, but Mav decided the pattern of targets was the best lead.
The thief was obviously working alone—unobtrusive points of entry and the speed with which the thief was able to plan and execute break-ins made that clear—so rather than taking all of the City Guard forces to one possible target, Mav would split them up. A trained city guard could almost certainly apprehend this thief if they could catch up with them.
As soon as Mav was free of this old man’s eternal ramblings, she would draw up her plan. Two guards each to as many noble estates as they could cover, starting with the wealthiest nobles that hadn’t been robbed yet. She would take one estate on her own; her venomous tail could have the thief downed in no time.
The trick would be to get the guards into each house in a way that the thief saw without being too obvious; this would ensure they ended up at the estate Mav would be hiding in. It was clear they did careful reconnaissance on the estates before the break-ins—they seemed to disable the guards with clinical precision and always entered and exited with ease—so Mav knew they had to be smart about this. She could only hope that her trap would be successful.
All day as Mav worked with her guards to set her plan in motion, flashes of the previous night flitted through her mind. She had felt so powerless for once, so completely at the mercy of someone else; it had been a taste of a freedom she had never known. She hoped she would see Colette again soon—maybe after she had caught the thief.
Chapter Ten
Seated at a smalltable outside a bustling cafe, Colette watched in irritation as yet another noble estate opened its unassuming servants’ entrance for two city guards to slip in. This particular table afforded her a perfect view across the street, and she took advantage of it often. She blended in here, hiding in plain sight. She took a sip of her chilled tea, the bitter tang mirroring her annoyance. Mav was ready to end this little game they’d been playing, and Colette couldn’t really blame her.
Colette had been rotating through her favorite lookout spots along the main boulevard, watching to see if any of her potential targets would be left unguarded. It seemed, however, that Mav had really gone for quantity, trusting that a few of her guards could handle the arrest if needed. Colette likely wouldn’t win a fight with brute strength, but she was extremely handy with her daggers; she was a bit offended at how much Mav had underestimated her.
One mansion, the city home of one of the provincial nobles, was the only one that didn’t seem to have a pair of city guardsstationed inside. Since it wasn’t the lord’s primary residence, there likely wouldn’t be as many valuables inside, but her last target had been so lucrative that she supposed she could take the risk this time.
She returned to her apartment to dress in her black gear, and waited until nightfall to make her way back through the city to begin her work. She used the bustle of the early night to cover her progress across the city, but waited until a blanket of sleep settled before she left her hiding spot to slip onto the grounds of the mansion she had chosen for tonight.
The windows of the house remained mostly dark, save for the servants’ quarters, as expected. The lord of this house preferred his ancestral seat in his own southern province. That would make Colette’s task a bit less daunting—the staff tended to be less on-edge when their lord was away.
Moving evenly so as not to make a sound, Colette slipped through the ornate gardens, making her way toward a vine-covered lattice that leaned against the back of the house. All of the servants’ quarters were on one side of the ground level, so if she could get up to a second floor window, she was much less likely to run into anyone.
She began to gingerly climb up the wooden lattice, hoping beyond hope that it would support her weight. The cool leaves of the vines tickled her hands as she made her way up the side of the white stone façade of the house. After what felt like an eternity, she reached the top, and paused outside the window to listen for any activity inside the house—not a sound beyond the regular symphony of Zhava City at night.
