CHAPTER1
London
Hux
Peregrine Huxley had always been able to talk himself out of…or into…trouble. Hux had known it from the time he was eight years old, dodging the stomping boots and swinging knives in the kitchen where his mother had worked as a cook. Dodging the crushing fists of his stepfather, too.
He’d known it the first time he’d stolen some bauble…and the first time he’d been caught in the act and had been able to keep himself from gaol through distracting the victim and the investigator and ultimately slipping from their grasp. It had been terrifying, but thrilling.
Over the years, it had become his greatest entertainment to use his charm to entice and trick the fops and their ladies, to slip their jewels and their blunt from their pockets. To make them think he was more or less than he truly was and then take advantage of their foolishness. Just as he was right this moment as he stared across the busy ballroom where he and his partner in crime had gained entry under false names and falser pretenses.
It was a glittering affair, filled with titled and landed gentry of rank and privilege. He didn’t belong here, and if any of them looked at him for more than a moment, they might have noticed that. But they never did, so Hux danced and laughed and drank their watered-down punch just as if he belonged.
What a fucking feeling.
He sighed at last and sought out his partner in the crush. He found her surrounded by a circle of rich and handsome men. He couldn’t blame them, of course. Zara Cooper was stunningly beautiful. He had been with her, first as an associate and then as a lover, for years, but he still lost his breath when he saw her. She had honey-blonde hair that was bound loosely at the nape of her neck, tendrils framing her oval face and highlighting her bright blue eyes. She smiled at her admirers and it was like someone had turned on the sun in the middle of the ballroom.
They had called her the Countess when she had been a celebrated courtesan years ago. When he’d asked her why, she laughed and said it was because for two years she had only been the lover of earls. Not on purpose, but an accident of fate. But purposeful or not, the nickname fit. Unlike him, she looked like she belonged here. She moved with grace and certainty. She knew how to bat her eyes and turn her head and wrap any man around her finger. She looked like she was a lady of a manor.
She glanced across the room and found his stare. There was a knowing sensuality to the way her gaze flitted up and down his frame. God, but that woman did know how to make him dance to whatever tune she played.
She smiled ever so slightly and then she inclined her head a touch toward one of the gentlemen at her side. The flutter of her fingers was their sign, a beckoning for Hux to come and claim a prize.
He moved through the crowd, always watching, always aware of every threat and opportunity in his surroundings. The men were drifting away from her now, looks of disappointment on their faces that she had given all her attention to the moon-faced gentleman who remained. She moved a little closer to her prey, holding his gaze so that he didn’t even notice when Hux took a subtle place behind him.
“Absolutely, sir,” she purred. “That does sound like agreatpleasure. And how fast does a rig like that move, when you really let the horses go?”
Her mark gulped at the seduction of her tone and stammered out some answer. As he did so, Hux carefully slipped his hand into the man’s pocket and drew out a jewel-encrusted pocket watch that he palmed as he strolled away with just a quick glance over his shoulder.
Zara winked at Hux. He arched a brow back and her cheeks flamed. They had done quite nicely at this event. Now it was time to have even more fun. He couldn’t wait. When it came to Zara, he never could. Never would.
Never wanted to.
* * *
Zara
Zara moved through the dim hallways of the huge manse where she and Hux had played their games during the ball. She was just behind him, watching him move with an elegance that made his big, wonderfully made form even more interesting. He was a man of so many faces, and she had seen them all. She had never seen even one that made her want to turn away. And so she stayed, both as his partner in their criminal endeavors, and in his bed.
She shivered as she thought of his hands on her, his brown eyes locked with hers as he shattered her over and over again. It never got old. She never wanted him less, which she knew from a vast wealth of experience was a remarkable thing.
He slipped into a parlor and she followed him in. He allowed her to pass him and then caught her arm, using their combined weight to press her back against the flat of the door. He locked the door with one hand and held her there for a moment, his mouth coming down to cover hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck, reveling in the weight of him against her, the control he so rarely took and that she craved. Hux made a soft sound deep in his throat, a rumble that vibrated through her whole body and made her weak down to her trembling knees.
“You taste like their punch,” he said, breaking the kiss at last but not moving back as he stared down at her in the fading firelight of the room.
She smiled. “Is that good or bad?”
“Hmmph,” he murmured as he buried his mouth against her throat. “I’ll tell you once I taste the rest of you.”
She laughed even as she dug her fingers into the thick curls of his dark hair, which was peppered with gray and had been since he’d been a very young man. She had always loved that unruly hair, even if they struggled to tame it when he needed to fit into a ballroom. She loved the way it felt when it twisted against her fingers, the way it looked when it rested against her spread thighs or breasts.
“You act like we have all the time in the world,” she murmured as he pivoted and backed her toward a settee that faced the fire. “When in reality, it won’t be long beforetheystart to notice that they’re missing their baubles and start trying to recall who didn’t belong tonight.”
“I like playing dangerously,” he said with a chuckle as he sank back into the settee and drew her down into his lap.
That was true. Dangerous games were Hux’s specialty. He always pushed right up the line of where they could be caught…sometimes just a little beyond. He liked the thrill. She liked the result when it came to his excitement.
She straddled him, grinding down against the ridge of his cock that was already begging for her. She couldn’t help but moan softly as he cupped her backside, sliding his hands against her hips beneath her silk gown. She wanted to feel those warm, rough hands against her bare skin. Feel them press into her as she rode him.
