by Liliana Hart
“What is it?”
“A Fabergé Egg. I remember when this was taken. It went for almost ten million pounds at auction and they barely had it a month before it was stolen.”
“That’s a lot of money.”
“Certainly enough to steal for. Dec discovered it while doing another job and retrieved it, but that wasn’t the goal of
the job he was on, so it’s not like he can advertise that he randomly came across a stolen Fabergé Egg. So our job will be to break in and put the piece back where it belongs.”
“Lovely. So this is like a good deed.”
“Yes. A very good deed.”
“Well, then. I guess we need to make plans to head to New York.”
Chapter 12
Surrender was like an old woman—set in her ways and slow to change—but appreciative of the beauty around her and with an inner wisdom of what was most important in life.
New York was younger and more aggressive—a businesswoman in icepick thin heels, bustling in quick shapes and fast motions, but with a coordinated grace that was oftentimes overlooked.
Both had their strengths and weaknesses, their own beauty and ugliness, but Thomas had never cared much for the city. There was certainly a uniqueness about the lights and fast pace that was mesmerizing in their blatancy, but he’d take a snow-capped mountain or his boat out on the lake any day.
The top of the Empire State Building glowed red for the holiday and the flashing billboards in Times Square advertised last minute gifts of chocolate and expensive jewelry.
He and Cat had worked out their personas before they’d set out for their romantic night on the town. He was supposed to play the reluctant husband who’d rather be back at the hotel rather than braving the city on Valentine’s Day.
Cat had thought the cover was hilarious. He wasn’t so sure he’d be able to pull it off. Especially considering the fact that as soon as she’d stepped out in the little black dress she was barely wearing he’d been hard enough to drive nails. It had been a very uncomfortable evening so far.
Their driver had taken them to dinner and then to do some shopping. And he’d discreetly turned the rearview mirror when Thomas hadn’t been able to help himself and started to nibble at the base of her neck.
The limo had gotten very warm as his hand worked its way up her thigh, rubbing slow circles on the inside of her leg. Her breathing deepened as his fingers moved a little higher, and he almost swallowed his tongue when he brushed the soft curls of her sex. She wasn’t wearing underwear. And all of a sudden it was imperative he get out of the limo and into the cold air, otherwise the driver was going to get an eyeful.
Cat must have had the same thought. “Stop here, please,” she called out to their driver. “It’s a nice night for a walk.”
“If you like being stabbed in the face with icicles,” he complained. “Why don’t we go back to the hotel so I can see what you’re wearing under that dress?”
“You already know what I’m wearing under this dress,” she winked saucily.
The driver opened the door and Thomas got out first, so the rest of the world wouldn’t be able to see what she had on under the dress, and then he waited while she put her long black coat on and took his hand so he could help her out.
Thomas leaned down to kiss her just below the ear. “If you hadn’t stopped the limo I’d already be inside you right now.”
“I know. But the night’s still young.” She turned to the driver. “We’ll meet you back here in twenty minutes.” She dazzled him with a smile and he tripped over his own feet on his way back to the driver’s seat.
Cat took Thomas’s hand and started walking in the opposite direction. He either had to go with her or be dragged. So he started walking.
“Not that I don’t like taking a stroll in the freezing cold with my beautiful wife, but I’m not sure you heard me back there. We could be making love right now. In a limo.”
“This will be almost as good. I promise.”
“I think I’m offended,” he said, quirking a brow.
“Put your hand in the pocket of my coat.”
“Darling, we’re in public.”
“Idiot. Just do it.”
So he sighed and did as she asked, and he felt the carefully wrapped package of the box that held the egg. And then he felt a nervous excitement he hadn’t felt since he’d been fifteen and had broken into Duffey’s Bar to steal a case of beer.
“Jesus, we’re doing it now?”
“No time like the present. And Mr. and Mrs. Drake are out for their own very lovely evening to celebrate Valentine’s Day. This is our best chance.”
“How do you know? That they’re out, I mean.”
“I hacked into Mr. Drake’s computer to download a copy of his schedule. They’ve got a dinner reservation at eight, followed by a small party given by a friend of theirs on the East Side. We’ve got plenty of time to get the job done.”
They walked a couple of blocks before they came to a row of lovely brownstones that each stood three stories tall.
“The great thing about these old buildings is that they have fire escapes,” she whispered, leading him to the backside of the houses.
“You’re going to climb a fire escape without underwear on?”
“You seem to be strangely fixated on the fact that I’m not wearing underwear. “
“Considering an important part of my body is very unbendable at the moment, it’s not exactly going to be easy for me to do a lot of climbing.”
Cat snickered and shrugged out of her coat, peeling off a utility belt that had been Velcroed to the inside lining. She handed him the coat while she strapped it around her waist and then she tied her hair back with a black band and pulled a black cap over it.
“Gloves for you,” she said, handing him a pair while she slipped on her own.
He took them and put them on, but he couldn’t take his eyes off her. She looked like a female Rambo, and the image definitely wasn’t helping his libido.
“Hold onto the egg and put my coat and shoes in that patch of shadow over there. No need to call unnecessary attention to our things.”
“Because no one will notice you climbing up the fire escape.”
“They won’t. I’ll release the fire escape ladder for you so you can follow me up. Unless you’ve changed your mind and want to wait here for me. You don’t have to come up.”
“We talked about this. I’m coming. Though I have to say the thought of getting caught isn’t at all appealing.”
“Then let’s not get caught. Declan’s little gizmo here will help with that.” She pulled out silver remote that was barely as thick as a few sheets of paper stacked together and hit a button. “It’s a scrambler for the alarm,” she explained. “He designed this specific system, so he knows how to bypass it.”
“That’s handy.”
“Dec’s a handy kind of guy.”
The light on the remote blinked green, and then as quick as he could blink Cat had some kind of tool that look like a mini harpoon in her hand. She aimed and fired and there was a whoosh of air and a clank as it buried into the side of the building.
She attached it to her belt and then hit a switch and she literally flew right up the side of the building.
“That’s pretty damn cool,” Thomas said, unable to avoid looking up her skirt as she rose above him. “You’d think the cold air would be helping right about now, and yet, it’s not.”
“Stop mumbling,” she hissed down at him.
He looked around to see if anyone had noticed them, but the coast was clear. The streets were vacant because of the weather, and only the occasional car passed by since it was so late.
Cat released the fire escape ladder, and he winced at the squeaks as it came to the ground.
“Hurry,” she called out.
By the time he climbed up the fire escape, she’d already taped off the window and was cutting a hole just above the lock. While she finished that up he took his
handkerchief and unscrewed the outside light attached to the side of the building. She had a penlight in her mouth and the window open before he could replace his handkerchief. And then they were inside.
The box holding the egg was beginning to feel like lead in his hands, and his stomach was turning in knots as he walked through another person’s home and looked at their belongings. It was a surreal feeling, and not completely pleasant.
He knew if there was trouble that Declan would fix it for them, but that fear of the unknown danger that might be lurking around the corner was both a rush and terrifying at the same time. He could see why she loved it. But he personally had rather deal with an entire room of patients with the flu.
She held her finger to her lips as she opened the door of the upstairs bedroom they’d broken into and looked out into the hall. He’d looked over the plans with her on the computer and knew they only had to go down the hall two doors and they’d be in the master bedroom.
A light flicked on somewhere on the floor below them and they both froze, time suspended. Footsteps shuffled against the hardwood floors as someone went into the bathroom and then flushed the toilet less than a minute later.
Thomas gripped Cat’s hand and tried to nudge her back toward the window where they came in, but she looked unbothered by the threat.
“The housekeeper,” she whispered, closing the bedroom door without a sound.
“I don’t remember there being any mention of a housekeeper in the files Dec sent.”
“She’s a temp since they live in London most of the year. She’s deaf as a post and will head back to bed. We’ll give her a few minutes to get settled.”
“You’re insane. This is nuts.”
“This was your idea,” she reminded him.
“Then I’m insane.”
“You ready?”
“Sure. What the hell.”
Cat opened the door again and they listened for signs of the housekeeper. The light below had been turned off and there was no sound other than the central heat kicking on. She squeezed his hand once before nodding for him to follow, and then she slipped down the hall like a ghost. If he hadn’t been three inches behind her he never would’ve known she was there at all. She moved with a lithe grace and athleticism that never ceased to stir his blood.
By the time they reached the Drakes’ bedroom, Thomas was starting to get into it a little more. His senses were more aware in the quiet and the dark, and his blood pumped in excitement. He saw the gleam in Cat’s eyes and knew she had a similar feeling.
The Drakes’ bedroom was large and ornate. The furnishings were fussy and decidedly female. There were multiple closets, a door to a separate sitting room, and a door to a private bathroom. He didn’t know how she did it, but she found the right door and went directly to the safe that sat in the large walk-in closet. Within a few seconds the safe door was swinging wide open.
“That makes me really hot, Mrs. MacKenzie.”
Cat grinned over her shoulder and held out her hand for the box that the egg was contained in. She unwrapped it, and the egg shimmered and sparkled beneath her penlight. She sighed once in appreciation, running a gloved finger over the delicate array of diamonds, and then she set it carefully inside the safe. She shut the door and spun the dial.
“Let’s go,” she mouthed.
He nodded, and as quickly as they entered, they were back on the ground and she had her shoes and coat back on. Then they were just another couple in love, strolling hand in hand down the streets of New York.
Chapter 13
“Jesus, it’s like being drunk,” Thomas said as they blended back into sidewalk traffic on a busier side street. He felt light headed and the adrenaline pumping through his system made him want to take risks he normally wouldn’t have dreamed of.
“Twenty minutes on the dot,” Cat said proudly as the limo pulled up beside them.
The driver opened the door for them and Cat slid inside. Thomas clapped the driver on the shoulder before discreetly passing him some folded bills.
“Take the long way back to the hotel,” he said.
The driver managed to keep his face blank at the request, and Thomas decided to tip him extra once they were back at the hotel. “You got it, Mr. MacKenzie.”
Thomas slid in after Cat and noticed champagne was chilling in a bucket for them and there were two glasses. The privacy screen was already closed.
“He definitely gets an extra tip.” The car door was barely closed before Cat was straddling his lap and her lips were fused to his. Her mouth was hot and his blood sizzled as she jerked at his tie and pushed the jacket from his shoulders. A hum of pleasure vibrated against his lips as her tongue stroked his, and he could feel the dampness of her pussy soaking the front of his slacks as she rode against the hard length of his erection.
“Not so fast,” he panted, lifting her from his lap and putting her in the seat next to him. “We’ve got plenty of time. And I’d very much like to enjoy my wife without coming too soon.”
She pouted at him and didn’t bother to pull down her skirt from where it had risen to the top of her thighs. Thomas took a deep breath and wished for control, but he couldn’t take his eyes off the red curls just peeking from beneath the hem of the dress.
“What we need is champagne,” he said, an idea forming in his head. “Come here.” He pulled her down so her hips rested at the edge of the back seat, scrunching her dress the rest of the way up her hips.
She watched him out of lust filled eyes, her chest moving up and down with rapid breaths as he positioned her legs so her feet rested on each of the side seats. His hands skimmed up her thighs, trailing just around the moist center of her but never touching it directly.
“Reach up and grab hold of the hand strap on each side.”
She looked up at the ceiling of the limo and the black leather straps sewn into the fabric for passengers to hold on to when the ride got rough. The ride was about to get very rough.
His cock was a steel wedge beneath his slacks. After everything they’d done tonight he could have come with barely a touch, and her grinding in his lap had almost made him do just that. He needed to slow things down or this would be over before it started.
Her hands gripped the straps and she watched out of hooded eyes as he took the champagne bottle from the bucket it was chilling in and peeled back the foil. The cork released with a small pop and he held the bottle over her as some of the liquid escaped, dripping into the thatch of hair on her sex.
“It’s cold,” she said, straining against the straps.
Her nipples were like tiny beads beneath the stretchy black fabric of her dress and he pulled at the neckline until her breasts were displayed. Her bra was a wispy bit of black lace and he could see the dark circles of her areola beneath them.
“Let me warm you up a little.” He lowered his mouth to a lace covered nipple and sucked at it through the fabric. She moaned and writhed against his mouth, and when she let go of one of the straps he removed his mouth.
“Every time you let go I’m going to stop.”
“Bastard,” she panted. But she took hold of the strap again.
“There you go.” He blew a breath over her damp nipple and watched it pucker tighter. “So pretty. Let’s not forget the other one.”
He brought the champagne bottle up and tipped it so just a small amount dribbled onto her other breast. She gasped and chills pebbled her flesh before he took her in his mouth again. The champagne bubbled against his tongue but didn’t dilute the taste of her.
Cat watched as his cheeks hollowed as he sucked her nipple into his mouth. Heat surrounded her and every tug on her nipple made her clit throb. Her hands ached as she squeezed the leather straps tighter and tighter and her head dropped back against the seat.
Thomas moved back so he sat between her open legs and he tipped the bottle again, splashing the champagne at the top of her mound so rivulets ran down her sex and thighs. Her hips thrust up, begging for his mouth
, and he didn’t make her wait long.
“Oh, God,” she moaned. “Right there.”
His tongue zeroed in on her clitoris, circling the taut bud, and stimulating the bundle of nerves there. The bubbles from the champagne sizzled against her hot flesh as his tongue worked her into a frenzy of pleasure.
A low ragged moan tore from her as a finger slid up inside of her and she tightened around him even as she became wetter, hotter than before. Another dash of cold liquid and bubbles brought more sensation as he drank both the champagne and her.
And then he added a second finger to the first and she felt her world explode. If she could have screamed she would have. Instead she tightened her grasp on the straps as her body arched up as if electricity were coursing through her. The orgasm wasn’t a gentle wave of pleasure. It ripped through her like a storm and left her weak and devastated in the aftermath.
“Jesus, Cat.” Thomas’s voice was raspy as he dropped the champagne bottle back in the bucket and ripped at the button of his trousers.
She was too weak to move and she whimpered as he turned her over and repositioned her hands so they still held on to the straps. She didn’t know how much strength she had left, but she didn’t have long to wonder because she felt his hands hot on her backside as he pushed her dress up and out of the way.
Her legs trembled as he mounted her from behind and his hand pressed against the small of her back.
“You’re mine, Cat. Forever and always.” Thomas knew he’d lost control somewhere along the way. He’d never seen anything as erotic as her bent over the back seat of the limo, the leather straps keeping her anchored while her pussy was bared to him.
His cock was swollen to the point of pain and he grasped it at the base and squeezed tightly so just the sight of her like this didn’t make him come. Pre-cum gathered at the tip and he watched with fascination as he pushed into the drenched lips of her pussy.
Her muscles still quivered from her orgasm and he groaned as she sucked him in.