Page 14 of The Housebreaker's Assistant
Greer grinned over his shoulder at him as he located a balcony high enough up that he and Penny would be able to descend to it and enter the house they were currently on top of. “I want you more than you can know,” he said, stepping suddenly back and hooking an arm around Penny’s waist.
Penny’s brow shot up in surprise at the gesture. Then he grabbed a handful of Greer’s jacket and swayed into him. “I’m irresistible, I know,” he said.
He pulled Greer closer, and like a man twice his age, he slammed his mouth over Greer’s kissing the air right out of his lungs.
The jolt of pleasure that filled Greer was matched only by the scintillating shock of having Penny in control of the kiss. Penny was a decade younger than him at least, but his kiss was far from inexperienced. Greer had always fancied himself the dominant partner in any encounter he’d ever had, but the red-headed mischief-maker blasting every other thought out of his mind with his skilled lips and tongue had him wondering if he might not like to taste the other side of things.
Greer was left reeling when Penny pulled back, eyes shining.
“How do we save our skins and get out of here to fight another day?” Penny asked.
It took a long moment for Greer’s mind to focus back on the danger they were in. “Unless you have the ability to sprout wings,” Greer answered, “we have to go down.”
Penny nodded. “Then down it is.”
He sank to his knees in front of Greer, and for a wild moment, Greer was certain Penny would reach for the fastenings of his trousers and use his mouth in a manner he’d dreamed about for a long time.
Penny must have known what Greer was thinking. He winked up at him, then lowered himself even more to lay flat against the edge of the roof. A heartbeat after that, he swung his legs over the side and shimmied down, dropping to the balcony below.
Greer’s mind took its sweet time deciphering what it saw. For one horrible moment, he feared Penny had dropped three stories to the ground to his death. The pinch of grief that gripped him was as paralyzing as it was unexpected. He couldn’t lose something he craved before he ever had it.
“Come on!” Penny shouted from below. “What are you waiting for, you big lug!”
Greer laughed out of pure relief and crouched so that he could swing himself over the edge of the roof as well. He would examine his burst of feeling later. For the moment, he and Penny were still in danger.
The building they entered after smashing through the window to undo the latch from the inside was part of an inn that sat above a dingy pub on one of the side streets. The inn’s inhabitants seemed well aware of the chaos on the street outside. A good few men and women were tucked into corners of the upper rooms, including the one Greer and Penny made their escape through. More of them were pouring downstairs in the hope of escaping.
They joined that group, thundering down the stairs and into the main room of the pub. Outside the pub’s window, Greer caught the bright burst of a torch being lit. Sudden fear gripped his gut. If someone, either the police or one of the rioters, chose to throw that torch through some window, there was a good chance half the street would be ablaze within an hour.
“We need to get out of here,” Penny said, sharing Greer’s assessment.
Easier said than done. There was a scrum of desperate men shoving and blocking the door that led onto the street. It was quickly apparent that there was little chance they’d be able to escape that way anyhow, as Greer could see police uniforms in the crowd just outside the door.
“We’ll go out the back,” Greer said, taking Penny’s hand and cutting to the side, behind the bar and into the pub’s back room.
They were out of luck. Another scrum had formed by that door, and beyond that came the shrill sound of a police whistle.
“They’re coming in!” one of the men trying to escape shouted.
Greer growled a curse and looked around. They’d come so close to freedom only to be thwarted by a crowd of panicked bastards who wouldn’t know how to save themselves if someone gave them instruction.
“In here,” Penny hissed, tugging Greer’s hand to lead him off to the side.
The pub’s back room was a mess of crates and barrels, but somehow in the midst of all that, Penny had managed to locate a cabinet that stood in the far corner of the room. Greer followed as he dashed toward it, threw open its door, and started pulling the various mops and brooms and other useless debris it held out onto the floor.
Once again, Greer understood what Penny was doing without the man having to explain. They worked together to empty the cabinet, and as everyone else fought to escape against the oncoming threat of the police, the two of them jumped inside the cabinet and pulled the doors closed.
It was either the cleverest or stupidest thing Greer had ever done. He and Penny were alone in the dark of the cabinet with only the barest sliver of light peeking in through the ill-fitting seam between its two closed doors. It wasn’t enough to see outof, so all they could do was press together, listening as the police broke through and into the storage room.
“You’re under arrest!” one of them shouted. “Deliver yourselves voluntarily or there will be?—”
The sound of a fist cracking against bone ended the man’s words. A shout rose up after that, and within seconds, all was pandemonium.
Greer was already squeezed tight in the cabinet, one arm stretched over Penny’s shoulder and braced against the cabinet’s wall and the other trapped between them. Penny had one of his arms squashed between Greer’s waist and the back of the cabinet while his other hand dangled near Greer’s, their fingers brushing. The tight space smelled of soap and stale grease, but also of Penny’s musky, sweaty scent.
Greer breathed it in. It was madness to revel in something so carnal while the room around them descended into complete chaos, but he couldn’t help it. He’d wanted to be close to Penny like this for so long. He’d wanted their bodies to be entwined and to feel Penny’s breath panting against his neck.
Someone thumped hard against the cabinet, and miraculously, the door remained tightly fastened. Greer’s pulse pounded with excitement, which made him deeply reckless.
