Chapter 40

CHAPTER FORTY

Ryker

I kissed her again before reluctantly pulling out of her. I’d just gotten her back and didn’t want to separate from her again.

For the first time, we had an agreement about our relationship. For the first time, I knew everything about this woman and was sure she had nothing left to hide.

I’d much prefer to spend the next days or weeks holding her and making up for lost time, but we’d already been gone too long, and no matter how badly I wanted to leave this place with her, I couldn’t.

I set her on her feet and stepped away. “I hate being trapped here.”

Ellery smoothed the front of her skirt and brushed back the hair that had fallen from its confines. “So do I. Have you seen my underwear?”

I pulled my pants back up as she searched the ground. I discovered her underwear near the base of a hedge and picked them up. She slipped them on while I buttoned my pants.

“I’m going to steal from the earl tonight,” I told her.

She froze in the act of smoothing her skirt down again. “ What ?”

“He deserves to lose a little something, and Tucker should gain it.”

Her eyes widened as her mouth parted. “Are you crazy? You can’t do that. What if you get caught?”

“I won’t.”

“Ryker.” Although we were alone, she glanced around nervously before lowering her voice. “We just stole from the king. They’ll suspect you if you get caught stealing something from the earl. The sheriff told me the new orders are to kill all thieves, not just maim them.”

“I’m not going to get caught.”

She folded her arms over her chest. “ Why are you being so stubborn about this? It’s a dangerous and unnecessary risk. If I was the one taking it, you’d be pissed.”

She was right, but… “They’ve taken too much from everyone. It’s time to start getting it back.”

“We already got some back from the king.”

“And now we’ll have more.”

Her eyes darted behind my shoulder before returning to me. “What are you going to take?”

“I don’t know. I’ve been trying to figure that out, but he doesn’t have anything easily available.”

She bit her bottom lip as she pondered this. “Maybe not, but his guests do. It may not be stealing directly from the earl, but how insulting would it be to him if some of his guests had their jewelry taken while at his party? And plenty of pretty baubles can be easily plucked from someone while dancing with them.”

“I must admit, I admire your devious little thieving mind.”

“If you insist on doing this, it will be the easiest thing to take.”

“It will.”

“Please be careful.”

I kissed her forehead and closed my eyes as I inhaled her scent. “I will.”

She grasped my forearms and leaned into me a little before lifting her head. “Oh, how is your father engaged?”

I groaned. “That’s a story we don’t have enough time for, but one that’s almost as fantastic as your existence.”

She chuckled as she released my arms. “Now I’m intrigued.”

I opened my mouth to say something more, but the murmur of voices on the other side of the door stopped me. Whoever was out there was coming toward us; they had probably just walked beneath the arbor of roses.

When Ellery’s fingers started moving, I knew she was trying to open a portal, but though we were outside the earl’s castle, we were still on his property, and escape wouldn’t come so easily.

The lower baritone of a man’s voice accompanied the higher-pitched tone of a woman’s. Grasping Ellery’s arm, I nudged her out of the way as I stepped toward the door.

I didn’t want to kill someone over this, but I would. No one could see me and Ellery together.

I could block the door and tell them this place was occupied, but then there was the risk they would wait to see who emerged, and I’d have to kill them anyway. They’d most likely find somewhere else to fuck, but I couldn’t take the chance they’d wait somewhere I couldn’t see them.

Whoever was out there was on the verge of losing their lives, and they didn’t know it.

Ellery’s fingers rested against my arm. Distress radiated from her eyes as she gave a small shake of her head; she’d guessed my intentions.

I stepped closer to whisper in her ear, “I don’t have a choice.”

“They’re innocent,” she breathed. “They….”

Her voice trailed off when the man said something louder that carried beyond the door and hedges. The color drained from Ellery’s face as it became evident who was on the other side of the door… Samael.