Chapter 11

ChapterEleven

It had taken him two weeks to find her. That was ridiculous and longer than it had ever taken for a single one of his hunters to find anything. And they’d hunted magical artifacts, sultans, even assassins that were sent to murder him. They found everyone they tried to find.

Except her.

And as he watched her stomp away from him, swinging that stupid leather backpack over her shoulders, he had to wonder if it was harder to find her because she was... nobody.

She was just a thief. No one knew who she was or where she’d come from. Even his scouts hadn’t been able to get any information about her. Only that she flew with the wind, came home every three months or so for a few nights, and then disappeared again.

He didn’t understand it. He didn’t understand her.

The only thing he knew was that he was painfully hard the moment he touched her. He’d had her dangling over a cliff and she hadn’t cried or begged for mercy. She’d kicked him in the knee so hard he’d felt the bones creak together and then she’d threatened to kill him.

What a thrill. What a woman to have no fear of the terrifying king of their kingdom. He’d never thought he’d find someone like her in his life, and he’d be damned if he didn’t get to keep her.

A large archway had once been the grand entrance to this underground kingdom, but it had long fallen into rubble at their feet. The thin rays of sunlight from above didn’t give them any light to move by, but she seemed to be fine, picking her way over the rocks. He watched her lithe body shift and move, the muscles underneath her clothing bunching with every flex of her legs and back.

Perhaps it was strange to think, but he preferred her in the green leather armor. She’d looked much more like herself rather than this strange ensemble.

“Why are you dressed like this?” he asked.

“Like what?”

He leapt over a fallen chunk of stone that had once been carved into a face to stand in front of her. “I prefer your armor.”

“I don’t care what you prefer,” she muttered. She gave him a wide berth as she moved around him and then continued forward. “I didn’t get up this morning, assuming I would see you and pick out my outfit accordingly.”

He flashed her a grin. “So you would have dressed better if you’d known you would see me.”

He didn’t need to be able to see in the darkness for her glare to slice through him. “No.”

“You would have.”

“I definitely would not.”

He felt his chest fill with a small sense of pride. She’d have wanted him to see her at her best. And these thin brown pants and white billowing shirt simply were not her best.

But she didn’t look back at him for even a moment. Instead, she kept moving forward, picking through the rubble to the long bridge that led to the next set of puzzles.

Was she... ignoring him? He tried to lunge in front of her again, forcing her to look at him, but she kept side stepping. Repeatedly. Every time he tried to out maneuver her, she went around in the opposite way.

That wouldn’t do. He had come all this way for her, after all, and this was a wonderful place to make a first impression.

“What are you looking for, anyway?” he asked, corralling her toward the edge of the bridge. The river continued underneath the stonework. And he’d already warned her why she shouldn’t fall into those raging waters.

“I won’t tell you that.”

“Why not?”

“Because you don’t need to know.” She tried to go left, then right, then realized her heel was already over the edge of the crumbling bridge. Letting out a long sigh, she ground her teeth together and hissed, “What do you want, Greed?”

“I want you to pay attention to me.”

“Well, unfortunately, not everything is about you and I have a job to complete. So unless you are going to help me with the next puzzle to get deeper into this kingdom, I’m afraid I need you to step aside.” She even held out her arm for him to move, pointing to where she wanted him to go. “I don’t have the time, energy, or desire to pay attention to you right now.”

“Oh, I think you have the desire.” He stepped closer to her, knowing there was nowhere for her to escape.

And ach, he was rewarded. Her pupils blew out and her mouth thinned into a firm line. Her eyes were set over his shoulder, but he could feel her wavering.

“You feel it too, don’t you?” he whispered, ducking his head to inhale deeply at her neck. He ghosted his lips over the rapid pulse fluttering there, so tempting, so sweet.

“Feel what?”

“This connection between us.” Her heart rate skipped against his lips, and he pressed a smile to her throat. “I haven’t stopped thinking about you since I saw you outside my cage. You have consumed me, little thief.”

She gasped, the sound echoing up in the cavern they stood in. And he knew he had her. She would not back away from him. She would not push. And if their first time was in a cave, ready to rob a tomb of its treasures, then so be it.

He’d find the safest place to lay her out. His thief wouldn’t mind if a few rocks pressed against her spine or bit into that lovely, smooth skin. She’d slept on rocks beside him for hours on end. She didn’t care about a little creature comfort and neither did he. Besides, once he started in on her, she wouldn’t be able to think about anyone but him.

“Greed...” Her hand slid up his chest, fingers skimming his throat.

“Ask, little treasure, and I will give you the world.”

Her hand tightened around his neck and shoved. He was so startled he actually stumbled back a few steps before she marched around him, her eyes spitting fire and her words venom. “Move, you big lunk.”

Lunk?

No one had ever called him that in his life!

Frowning, he watched her move to the end of the bridge and then look back at him. She should be angry, but instead she looked... pleased with herself?

The damned woman was playing with him and he didn’t know how to feel about that. She was all together not what he expected, and he wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.

He stalked after her, his movements quiet and slow as he took in the situation. She wanted to play the game. That was fine. Greed knew how to toy with others in the same way she was toying with him. All she had to do was ask for him to give her the attention she so clearly wanted.

The next room was where most people had been greeted. He remembered the golden days of the Sanctum of Exiles. The days when there had been countless people here, all certain that they would never see him in the flesh.

“There used to be a podium over there,” he said, pointing to a small crumbled section that was decorated with broken glass tiles. “The entire section had a mural of sun. Handmade with glass and more beautiful than anything you’ve ever seen in your life.”

“I’ve seen a lot of beautiful things in my life.”

“Not like this.” He walked up to it and picked up a yellow shard the size of his hand. Holding it up, he watched the faint light flicker through it. “This was a kingdom of wealth, and oh, the art they created. I still have some of their pieces in my castle, but it’s not the same without the artists themselves there to see the awe they inspire.”

She paused in front of him. Her lovely blue eyes turned green through the lens of the glass. Those big eyes stared up at him with a soft expression he’d never seen on her face. “What?” he asked.

“You want me to believe you’ve been here before, when you were the one who sent them to this place? The exiles all wanted to go home.”

He tsked. “Is that what they’re saying these days? I never sent them here to rot. They all wanted to make their own place, and it’s not like it’s easy to build an entire city in the middle of the desert. These caves were safe. Cooler than the surface realm. They were easier to know who was coming in and who was going out.”

“Is that why they made it so hard to get into the kingdom?” She rolled her eyes and turned away from him, and he swore she wiggled those hips a little more as she strode away from his side. “It sure seems like they were trying to keep you out.”

He didn’t follow. Maybe that was because he couldn’t stop staring at her perky ass, or he’d heard her wrong. He had no idea. Greed had a hard time thinking about anything other than what he wanted to do to her when she gave him that look over her shoulder.

Still, maybe he needed to get himself a little more under control. “What do you mean, it seems like they were trying to keep me out?”

“Well, so far it’s been all intricate puzzles.” She glanced over her shoulder, a wicked grin on her face. “Clearly puzzles too difficult for you to figure out.”

Oh, and now he was insulted.

Feigning anger, he pressed a hand to his chest. “You think I can’t figure out these easy little traps that they tried to make difficult?”

“I think you’d find it harder than you expect.”

He’d been here when these damned puzzles were made. But she didn’t need to know that he was cheating a bit if he could remember where they were.

Crossing his arms over his chest, he feigned looking around them in detail. Long roots and vines hung down over their heads, the faintest hint of light spearing through the darkness. The remaining glass podium flickered in the light that touched it, but he remembered this place being much brighter in his day.

Ah, that was the puzzle, wasn’t it? The light.

He snapped his fingers at the thief. “Give me flint.”

“What makes you think I have flint?”

“You have everything ready for your travel here, do you not?” He tried very hard not to look down his nose at her, but was quite certain that he failed. “Flint, woman.”

“Oh sure, now that I’ve challenged you all of a sudden I’m ‘woman’, not little thief or treasure.” She swung her bag over her shoulder and rummaged around in it before handing him flint and steel.

As she dropped it in his hand, he curled his fingers around hers and tugged her closer. That soft gasp she made was music to his ears. “I’d call you by your name if you would tell it to me.”

Her glassy eyes met his, so round and wide and startling. “I don’t think I want you to know my name.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because I think you would use it to your advantage.”

She knew him so well already. They were moving in the right direction.

Puffing up his chest a bit once again, he meandered over to the wall before spearing her with a pointed stare. “What do I get if I solve this portion of the tomb?”

“Nothing.”

“Then I will not help you.”

“I can figure it out on my own.”

He scoffed. “No, you really can’t. But that is fine. I will leave you here in the dark, by yourself, and I will wait until you come crawling out of it. I’ll give you three days, and if you haven’t come back out, I’ll assume you died.”

She almost seemed insulted that he would leave her here to die. He would never, of course. Greed knew how to treat one of his most prized possessions, and that did not include leaving them in a dank cave where they would rot.

But she didn’t need to know that.

The thief crossed her arms over her chest and mimicked his pose, her hip cocked out to the side and her shoulders straight with aggression. “What do you want?”

“A trade.”

“What do you want to solve this puzzle?” She emphasized each word.

“A kiss.” No, that wasn’t what he wanted. He wanted far more than that, but Greed would settle for a kiss if that’s as far as he could get.

The thief tilted her head to the side and eyed him. “And if we find the artifact I’m looking for?”

“A woman who likes to bargain. I appreciate that.” He stepped closer to the wall, fingering the flint and steel. “Then I expect your name, treasure. So I might scream your name when you bring me the utmost pleasure.”

“That will never happen.” But he could see the gooseflesh that had risen along her neck and shoulders at his words. She wasn’t as unaffected as she wanted him to think.

He flashed her a smile.

“Then another kiss shall suffice for now.”

Cracking the flint and steel together, he watched as the flames crawled up the walls. Ancient oil channels had been unaffected by age, apparently, and for that he was glad.

How embarrassing would it have been if he lit the oil and nothing happened? As it was, the fire roared to life and ran down the walls, circling them and stretching higher and higher until the entire room was illuminated.

Oh... Not all the glass had been destroyed by time.

The ceiling was still hand tiled with glass and marble and beautiful gemstones. All above their heads glass trees grew tall. Colorful birds were frozen mid flight, their wings outstretched and each feather so lovingly crafted that it almost looked like they could come to life at any moment. Rays of glass sunlight gleamed with fire burning behind them, almost as though the people here had once captured the sun.

He’d forgotten. How had he forgotten how wondrous this place was?

He had hated it when he had first come here. He’d hated how they could have something like this and he would never be able to recreate it. Greed couldn’t even steal it away from them because it would only look so beautiful in this place, made by those hands.

And he hated them all over again right now. He hated them and loved them for their talent at the same time.

“It hasn’t changed,” he breathed, his voice echoing in the cavern. “Not one bit.”

Then he turned his attention to her, to the awe that had her tipping her head back and looking up as well. And he realized that even with the greatest beauty above her head, he was still more enraptured by her than anything else. Her long, graceful neck. The coil of wavy hair that brushed against her cheeks. The wonder in her eyes. All of it called out to him and he wanted... needed...

The floor shuddered underneath his feet. He stretched out his arms to stay balanced and then saw in horror that another opening in the floor had appeared behind her. And she wasn’t moving fast enough.

Fear flashed in his thief’s eyes as she teetered on the edge, her arms pinwheeling, her mouth frozen in shock.

He’d never moved so fast in his life. Greed flew across the chamber, his arm outstretched, his heart thundering, and he just... barely...

Caught her.

His hand wrapped around her wrist. She leaned back over the chasm, all her weight supported by his grip alone. Her feet were still on the edge and her stomach and back must burn with the fight to keep herself from tumbling into the darkness.

They both had to wait until the rumbling stopped, and he felt his palm grow sweaty with nerves. But it did stop. It stopped, and he reeled her into his arms with a soft exhale of relief.

He tugged her into his chest, clutching her tightly against his heart as he bent to put his face in her hair. He could have lost her. She could have tumbled into the darkness and he’d never have seen that wonder on her face again.

And for some strange reason, that left him shaking.