Read Online Thick as Thieves by Tali Spencer - Free Book Online Page A

to breathe more deeply of the masculine scent of sweat and skin. He could feel Madd’s body casting off heat, and he wanted nothing more in the world than to feel his skin slide slick and wet against the other man’s.
    “What’s wrong with you? Of course I’m all right. You’re the one who was fighting! I’m surprised you’re not bleeding!”
    Madd was still breathing hard, but he didn’t try to struggle out of Vorgell’s grip on his shoulders. Vorgell moved close, only stopped short by his cock—erect again—touching Madd’s belly.
    He smiled at the glare he received for that trespass. “I’m glad you didn’t run away after all. If you’d run, I might have lost you. I rather like having a partner.”
    His words earned him a smirk of triumph. “The moonblind trick worked pretty well, didn’t it?”
    Vorgell could barely breathe he was so ensnared by Madd’s dark eyes, shining and lined with a fringe of thick lashes. The moon, not the sun, glowed in those liquid depths. Everything about the young witch male invited thoughts of bedsheets and night and the tender joys of the flesh. Vorgell was torn between wanting to keep this man safe and wanting to plunder him like a lovesick swain.
    “They might still be looking for us,” Madd said. “I suggest we keep moving.”
    “I suppose we should.” Vorgell didn’t want to back off, but he did.
    “You’re the only man I know who could take on four bounty hunters all at once and walk away the victor.”
    “Is that what they were?” The men had looked different. The darkly dressed pair and then two more rudely dressed men on the roof.
    They began walking again, headed toward more populated streets. “They were bounty hunters. Mercenaries wear a red badge.” Madd tapped two fingers to his breast, above the heart.
    “Are mercenaries more dangerous?”
    “Killing them is. Mercenaries belong to the Brotherhood of the Red Death. You can’t call yourself one if you don’t belong. Thing is, if you kill a mercenary, every other mercenary puts you on his list. You don’t want to piss off mercenaries. But mercenaries are expensive… they have some kind of code, and they cost a lot. They’re hired by people looking for assassins and secrecy. Baron Flemgu is cheap. He probably put out a call offering a small reward to take us alive. Mercenaries don’t bother with that kind of thing, but bounty hunters do.”
    Vorgell nodded and made a note to avoid killing men with red badges in the future.
    “Bounty hunters are bad enough. There are lots more of them. We need a new place to stay,” Madd informed him unnecessarily. Vorgell had figured that part out already. “We have a few coins left, but I was hoping to eat.”
    “What we really need are better weapons.” A sword or an axe would greatly elevate their chances of surviving the next encounter. He now regretted not taking a sword from one of the downed attackers.
    “Weapons cost more than rooms. I suppose we could do like last night and beat someone up to take theirs, but”—he lifted his head at the sounds of an altercation nearby—“I think I can come up with something better.”
    Madd jogged toward the disturbance, and Vorgell followed, weaving through the growing crowd. A tavern fight had spilled out onto the street. A screaming woman smashed a crock of beer over some man’s head while onlookers laughed. Madd bumped into one of the better-dressed men in the crowd, earning a sharp word, whereupon Madd stumbled back, almost groveling in apology. Vorgell had to lift an eyebrow at that. Then Madd grabbed his arm and they hurried away. When they rounded a corner, he saw Madd laugh. In the young man’s hand jostled a hefty leather purse.
    “You didn’t just—”
    “I did, and be glad of it. My picking should yield us good coin.”
    It probably would. Vorgell looked back over his shoulder, but no one appeared to be following. “You little thief,” he said to Madd.
    “I didn’t survive in Gurgh by