Rogues Like It Hot

by Tamara Gill

  Alex gave her the once over. “Forgive me, Kitty, but isn’t that the sleeping shift I gave you when we came in a little while ago?”

  She looked down at her linen gown. “It is.”

  “Then why did you need to dress before barging into my room?”

  “I am a firm believer in the body being free of all constraints while sleeping.”

  “Aww, blasted heck.” He tossed his hands in the air. “I give up, Catherine. You can join the team. Come along on the hunt to find Thomas’s killer. And you can do every other bloody damn thing you wish to do with me.”

  She nudged her hand close to his naked thigh. “Is that so, Your Royal Highness?”

  “You can cut the formality, as well. Especially, when alone with me.” He pulled the sheet back up, but it only went as far as Kitty’s hand, which meant it hadn’t gone that far at all. “We’ll have a picnic for lunch. After that I’ll gather a few of my men and we can train together—we’ll work with swords, daggers, and we’ll review maps and notes.” He slid back down and pulled the sheet free.

  “That will be delightful.” Kitty scooted up next to him and draped her arm over his bare chest. The aroma of rose lifting from her blond hair pleased his nose. He’d never get enough of Catherine. He hugged her close.

  She raised her head and then brought her lips to his.

  “I don’t think I can fend you off, this time, Kitty.”

  “Why should you? We are quite close to being married and therefore, I see no reason to keep waiting.”

  “Your father will kill me if….”

  “There are ways to keep certain things from happening.”

  His Catherine was beyond being a minx.

  “You worry too much, Alex.”

  He was a prince of the realm. It was his duty to worry as much as he did.

  Kitty pulled away and lifted the shift over her head. She tossed the garment to the floor.

  “You are far too bold for your own good, Catherine.”

  She straddled him. “I’m comfortable with you. We’ve known each other for enough years, that any sense of shyness I once had, has faded.”

  He hadn’t expected such bluntness from Kitty.

  She leaned forward and kissed him, filled his mouth with her sweet tongue.

  Sleep was definitely not going to be his anytime soon.

  ***

  There were some acts—such as what she was doing this very second—that a proper lady did not partake of, thought Kitty as she reached for Alex’s firm cock. But considering she was about to go off and hunt down a vicious killer, and might die doing so, she wanted to have at least one intimate moment with her prince to take to her grave.

  She stroked his long member.

  He hissed, a tight breath that slipped through his gritted teeth.

  The weight of him in her palm sent a thrill through her veins. While she always imagined Alex was more than enough man, she never imagined he was this much. And still, it did not frighten her.

  She maneuvered his tip toward her slit.

  “God, Kitty…”

  “Should I stop?” May hap she truly was too bold for her own good.

  “No. But….” Alex rolled over and took Kitty with him, positioned her just so under him.

  “Do assassins do this in the field?”

  “I suppose some, yes.”

  She spread her legs, wide, while she wrapped her arms around his neck. “I think I’d like to spend a night outdoors with you.”

  “I doubt a bed of grass is as comfortable as this mattress.”

  “Then we’ll bring a mattress outdoors. Doesn’t Kisswyck have a large balcony overlooking the lake?”

  “It does indeed,” Alex said with a slight chuckle.

  “Then it’s settled. One night we will sleep on the balcony where we’ll use only the moon’s glow as our blanket.”

  Alex agreed with a soft moan. Lowering his head, he brought his lips to Kitty’s right breast and flicked his tongue over her tight peak.

  She sucked her bottom lip. Now this is what she had expected of her prince back in the carriage. Though she would never complain about making love with Alex in such a wonderful bed.

  And now she even had the balcony to look forward, which made her think of Kisswyck in a whole new light. She imagined there were all sorts of interesting places in the old abbey where her and her prince could do the unthinkable.

  Alex continued working her nipple. His tongue was a magnificent instrument, its tip licking her with just the right amount of pressure that her puckered tip now associated pain with pleasure.

  The odd combination sent a heated zing straight to the nub between her nether lips.

  Kitty moaned.

  The ache between her thighs grew great.

  She bucked forward.

  “You’re an impatient minx, Catherine.”

  “I can’t help it. I want you inside me.”

  He nudged himself against Kitty’s slit.

  “Please don’t wait.”

  With a gentle push, Alex slid his cock forward, his thick girth stretching her.

  “Oh….Yes.”

  She dug her fingers into his back.

  Alex thrust deeper and harder.

  Kitty arched her back, moved her pelvis in tune to Alex’s brisk rhythm until beads of sweat rose up under her fingers.

  Her prince bucked against her, hard.

  A spasm rippled through Kitty’s core. “Alex.” She cried.

  She’d never forget this moment.

  Chapter Nine

  Kitty looked up from the red plaid blanket and marveled at the changing shapes of the clouds above. One particular white puff, resembling a coiled viper, stole her attention for at least several minutes as it morphed from snake to non-descript flat line. “Have you told the team I’m the new replacement?”

  “Yes,” Alex said, his voice muffled.

  She didn’t need to look his way to know her prince was still enjoying Cook’s arrangement of fruits and cheeses.

  The succulent aroma of sliced apple wafted under her nose. “How did they take the news of a woman joining them?”

  Alex didn’t answer.

  Rolling over, she propped herself up on one elbow and settled her gaze on the opposite end of the picnic blanket.

  Alex made quite the dashing prince in his camel-colored trousers, matching gold-embroidered waist coat and expertly knotted cravat. Not that clothes truly ever made the man, but in Alex’s case, with his tall, muscular body, fine garments seemed to drape him in a way that made one think tailored cloth was the prince’s personal kiss from the gods.

  Kitty doubted she’d ever get tired of ogling the man. His faults were in that dense head of his, not in his rugged, eye-appealing form.

  She sighed.

  Her prince shoved a second piece of apple into his mouth, along with a slice of cheese.

  Kitty sat up. “You didn’t tell them I’m a woman, did you?”

  An incoherent mumble fell from Alex’s full mouth.

  “How do you intend to keep the fact from them once we’re in the field working together?”

  With a swallow, Alex shrugged. “By then I’m sure an explanation from me will not be needed.”

  She didn’t care for this approach. “How do you expect them to trust you when can’t even be honest about taking on a female assassin?”

  “Because my team knows me. Never have they questioned my methods in the past, and neither will they question them now.”

  She wasn’t so sure of that. In her experience, save for her brother Thomas’s actions, men were the more unpredictable and more unreliable sex. “Do I know any of my new teammates?”

  “No. These specific gentlemen don’t handle the smaller assignments you helped with in the past.”

  Alex’s comment irked her. The missions she’d partaken of over the last year were no menial tasks, yet he made them sound so. “Did you really think you could continue getting away with keeping the truth from m
e?”

  Another helping of sliced apple ended up shoved into Alexander’s mouth as he mumbled his response.

  “What was that?” Kitty asked. “You only did what you did to protect me?”

  Alex nodded.

  “Food will not free you of guilt, Your Royal Highness.”

  He raised his hands as if surrendering.

  Kitty tossed a balled up linen napkin at Alex and chuckled. “Even guilty, I’ll still have you.”

  With a swallow, Alex smiled. “Then you must truly love me, Catherine, for only truest of love can see through me.”

  “More like only the truest of love can put up with you.”

  Alex packaged up the remainder of their lunch, returning the china plates and silverware to the basket at his side. “I honestly did keep you away from the more serious work because I feared for your safety. Still do. But as I said this morning, in this one instance, I have given up trying to convince you that my assignments are too dangerous for a woman. Though I am sure the team will welcome you, regardless.” He glanced over to her. “And even if they don’t, they won’t have a choice. My say is final.”

  Alex obviously thought his words would bring her some sort of comfort. They didn’t. In fact, they annoyed her even more considering his refusal to let go of his grievous belief that women weren’t meant to do certain jobs.

  Incorrigible rogue.

  She thought to protest further, but then decided against it.

  One victory was the least she could give to Alex as it couldn’t be easy on him considering his misplaced values. But she hoped in the future he’d see her an as equal and not merely as someone he must protect.

  Kitty stood and plucked her straw bonnet from the picnic cloth. “Thank you for today. I appreciated being able to spend some time alone with you before we get to work.”

  “It has been enjoyable.”

  A whiff of Alex’s citrus cologne floated her way as he shook out the cloth and folded it before draping it over the picnic basket’s handle.

  A glimmer of something Kitty couldn’t quite place a name on, shimmered in Alex’s brown eyes. “I hope in the near future we will be able to spend a lot of time alone together,” he said, cocking his head to one side. “Are you positive you won’t mind royal life?”

  “As long as I’m with you, I can tolerate anything.”

  “You will have to give up running your father’s press. Once we catch Thomas’s murderer, I am officially retired from my position as the Crown’s top covert agent. I will take on a new role and that will entail all sorts of royal endeavors. Privacy will be at a minimum.”

  She understood very well what it would mean to Alex’s wife. And still, she didn’t care about what she’d have to give up to spend the rest of her life at his side. “I can deal with it.”

  Kitty brushed a splattering of stuck breadcrumbs off her gown’s pink silk, then glanced up the hill.

  A servant came running down the sloping lawn of vibrant green grass.

  “He looks quite stressed,” Kitty said.

  “Indeed,” Alex commented.

  The man came to a sudden stop, his breath quick and short. “A message has arrived, Your Royal Highness. It is of the utmost importance, as per your brother, the Prince Edward.”

  Alex shot her a serious stare. “That would be news about our target.”

  Her heart rate picked up a beat. “I’m ready to do whatever is necessary.”

  “You must be certain, Kitty. As once we leave, there will be no turning back, no changing your mind.”

  “If you are insinuating that I cannot be reliable, I assure you, Your Royal Highness, you are wrong.”

  “I didn’t mean….”

  “Apparently, you never do.” She lowered her gaze to the grass and gently nudged a grasshopper out of her slipper’s way.

  Alex’s deep huff reached her ears.

  She glanced his way, watched him turn to face the servant who had remained apparently waiting for some sort of reply.

  “Tell my brother I will be up in a minute,” Alex said.

  The young man nodded, then ran back up the hill, the tails of his black coat flapping behind him.

  A warm breeze blew over the field.

  Kitty’s bonnet lurched forward, it’s straw brim lifting from the grass before taking full flight.

  “For the love of Heaven.” Alex offered what Kitty considered a most annoyed frown.

  “I’ll get it.” She’d be damned before allowing her prince to think she was incapable of chasing after her own hat. “Go up to the house and see what the message is about. I’ll be along once I get my bonnet back.”

  Alex appeared to hesitate. “I’ll wait.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous.” Kitty turned toward her tumbling hat. “I’ll be only a few steps behind you.”

  “Fine. But don’t linger as I’m sure we’ll need to leave soon.”

  As if she’d dawdle with a killer on the loose.

  Infuriating rake.

  Kitty bounded down the hill, the bonnet still visible, but rolling faster toward the lake shore as she chased it.

  Finally, a second breeze barreled in and lifted the hat, snagging its ribbon on a tree branch.

  Kitty slowed her pace.

  At the tree, she reached for the bonnet.

  A twig snapped in the distance.

  “Is anyone there?”

  She immediately went for the dagger tied above the garter at her right thigh and withdrew the blade.

  A faint trace of sage and spice itched her nose. Bringing her hand to her face, she stifled the sneeze.

  She inched into the woods.

  A muffled curse smacked her ears.

  A man.

  Gripping the blade in her fingers, Kitty stepped deeper into the grove of trees, her errant bonnet now only a faint memory.

  A glint of sparkles caught her eye. Bending down, Kitty retrieved a button from the layer of leaves and pebbles. She brushed it off, the scratch of a broken gold prong scraping her palm.

  She studied the button. A coiled snake, formed from an array of diamonds and emeralds, encrusted the object.

  “That is mine, thank you,” a gruff voice said to her left.

  A strong hand snatched the button from her grasp.

  Kitty eyed the tall man standing next to her. “And who, pray tell, are you sir?”

  “My name is not important.”

  She raised her hand, aimed the dagger at the brute’s chest. “I’ve never once missed my target.”

  “Nor have I.” The man brought his left hand out from behind his back and lifted a pistol. “Do you really care to take me on?”

  She didn’t, but she also didn’t care to back down. “You’re trespassing. Of that I am certain.”

  “I have my reasons for being here.”

  “I demand to know them.”

  The brute laughed. “You are not His Royal Highness, Miss….”

  “My name is not for you to know.”

  “Fair enough, Miss Nameless.” The man lowered his pistol and slipped it into a holster at his side.

  “Are you not afraid I will now lunge for you?”

  “I highly doubt that as you are an equal and therefore, I believe, you are more open to negotiation than stupidity.”

  Of all the dumb luck. She finally encounters a man who treats her with the respect she deserves, and he has to be a trespasser, which more than likely means the beast was also some sort of criminal. “I do not negotiate with villains.”

  “You don’t even know me and yet you are quick to condemn me.”

  “What are you up to, sir?”

  “I came to take back what was stolen from my family.”

  With dagger still raised, Kitty let out a deep breath. “If you are one of those anti-monarchists insisting the Baine family has taken one or another of your liberties away, I advise you to rethink your beliefs. King Bertram is the fairest king in all of Europe. He has absolute rule and yet gives his people their ow
n constitution. A set of freedoms he can snatch away with one word, but does not.”

  “I take it you support the king.”

  “I do indeed.”

  The man folded his arms across his chest. “This is a personal matter between my family and the Baine bloodline. It does not concern you. So please, leave before I change my mind.”

  She was not going anywhere. “You will not order me about.”

  The brute huffed, his breath emitting the scent of cooked beef and cheap wine.

  She twitched her nose.

  “I fear you leave me no choice,” the man said.

  In an instant, he had Kitty’s blade out of her grasp and flying through the air until it landed several feet away with a clunk.

  He spun her around.

  She crashed to the ground, small pebbles digging into the flesh at her knees.

  The man took off running.

  Kitty’s gut instinct said she do an about face and go get Alex and his men to search for the trespasser, but she’d lose the man’s trail by doing so.

  With a painful push off the ground, Kitty stood, dashed to retrieve her dagger and then did what she doubted any other woman with a sane mind would undertake.

  She ran after her pistol-toting brute.

  She also prayed to God Alex would realize she wasn’t coming back to the house, before it was too late.

  ***

  Alex entered the library to find Edward pacing in front of the windows. “What did you find out?”

  “More than you can imagine. Apparently, Thomas was doing a bit of digging on his own, into the anti-monarchist movement. What he uncovered I have no clue as his notes leave many holes. He was notorious for keeping things to himself.”

  “Then his murder wasn’t a random act like the constable concluded.”

  “No. It was not.”

  Rubbing his chin, Alex contemplated whether this was now too dangerous a mission for Kitty to join. “Did you learn the killer’s whereabouts?”

  “I have reason to believe the man is hiding out in Landon. In an area just to the north of The Wharf.”

  Good thing he’d thought to bring Kitty to Kisswyck. At least she’d be safe here while he left to return to the city. “We best leave now. I don’t want Kitty getting anywhere near this bastard.”