Page 25 of Forever a Thief

“Yesss…” Her palms slap against the glass as she rides my hand, fucking my fingers while the grand finale lights up the nighttime sky. But the better finale is right here as the beautiful woman in my arms explodes brighter than the fireworks. With a cry, she fractures in pleasure then slumps against my chest. Dropping my hand from her breast to her hip to hold her up, I cradle her against me, while my fingers still rub slow circles against her clit, gently bringing her back down to earth.

“Laurent! Where the fuck are you?” Addie’s voice blasts through our comms, snapping me out of my lusty haze, and Savannah jerks out of my arms, spinning around and shoving her dress back down.

Talk about shitty timing.

“We’re scoping out the music room,” I respond easily, adjusting the massive hard-on tenting my trousers as I watch Savannah hurriedly smooth her dress and fix her hair. She glances at me, looking delightfully disheveled, and I point to my mouth. “Lipstick,” I mouth, smothering a smile as she wipes at her smudged pink gloss.

“Knox and Brighton located the book,” Addie informs us.

“Where?” I ask, straightening my crooked bowtie.

“Shocker of all shockers—the library. How anticlimactic, right?” She chuckles.

“This evening has been far from anticlimactic,” I murmur, sending Savannah a wicked smile, my dimples in full effect. A fierce blush stains her cheeks, and I palm myself again, striving for control. Time to get down to business. “What’s the next step?”

“The next step is you come here and retrieve your book,” Knox states dryly.

“Do we need Linc? Is it in a safe?”

“No,” Brighton chimes in. “It’s right here on full display for everyone to admire. It is, however, under a very thick sheet of bulletproof glass.”

“I assume it’s locked up?”

“Tighter than Fort Knox. Luckily for you, this particular Knox can probably figure out the combination before you get your useless ass over here.”

“Isn’t he supposed to be the charmer?” I ask no one in particular, my voice laced in sarcasm.

“Oh, I’m a damn delight,” he responds. “Just ask Hunter.”

I snort. Hardly seems like it to me, but I refrain from commenting because I need him to open that case. “We’re on our way,” I report, grabbing my mask while Savannah re-ties hers.

This is it. The moment I’ve been waiting for. I’m so close to getting my hands on the book which will lead me to the sapphire, I can practically taste it. It’s easily justifiable, too, because the book in question was stolen originally. Now Voss has it, and he certainly didn’t acquire it by legal means. I’m just going to steal it back.

Normally, I don’t have to justify stealing anything. But with Savannah looking at me with those big gray-green eyes of hers, my dormant conscience gives a lurch somewhere down deep. It’s rather irritating, if I’m being honest.

“Let’s go,” I murmur, offering my hand. She takes it, and we step out of the music room looking like nothing more than a couple who’d snuck away for a secret rendezvous.

Accurate.

Guiding her in the opposite direction of the ballroom, we hurry down the corridor toward the east wing. Another round of fireworks has begun outside, so many of the guests have gathered on the large terrace, tipsy from too much champagne as they clap over the dazzling display. Our timing couldn’t have worked out any better.

Moving around the final corner, I spot the library and we slip inside before anyone notices. Knox and Brighton hover over a glass case, and my attention zeroes in on the book I’ve sought for far too long. Does Voss even know about the clues within its pages? Did he already figure out the gem’s location, or is he completely unaware? He’s calculating and smart, so I wouldn’t put it past him to already have a team of thieves and mercs halfway to its supposed location.

“How’s it going?” I release Savannah’s hand and move up beside Knox. He gives me a shit-eating grin and makes a show of punching in the last number of the four digit code that appears on the decoding machine screen attached to the lock. With a silent swish, the case opens.

Hmmm. I’d hardly say he figured out the code. If anyone deserves praise, it’s the handy-dandy decoder. But I have heard he’s good with numbers—rumored to be a human calculator—so, again, I keep my mouth shut because I still need him and his crew.

“Excellent.” I reach for the book, lifting it up, and flip through the pages to verify its authenticity. True 1866 firsts are identified by two specific things—an inverted “S” on the last line of the contents page, and page thirty incorrectly numbered as page “3.” Check and check.

But, most importantly, I need to see the telltale mark left by the book’s last owner. The eccentric character who initiated this whole quest. Holding my breath, I turn to the final page. I can’t help but smile as my fingers touch the slightly-raised bottom corner where he embossed an “X.” Because we all know, “X” marks the spot.

And checkmate. Sublime.

“You’re certain there’s a clue to the sapphire in there?” Knox asks skeptically.

“That’s the rumor,” I answer vaguely, then tuck the small book inside my tuxedo jacket.

“Consider us even now, Laurent,” Addie states through my comms.