Page 2 of The Housebreaker's Assistant
The gentleman twisted to look consideringly at Penny, particularly his mouth. Penny was well aware that his mouth was plush and inviting, and with good reason. Whoring wasn’t his preferred method of earning his daily bread, but he wasn’t completely averse to sucking a gentleman’s cock now and then, if the price was right. Gentlemen were almost always clean and often smelled nice. And the sort of man this nob clearly was tended to fire their cannons within minutes out of pure fear of being caught. It was easy money and usually primed Penny to go off and find a lovely mouth for himself to pass the time with so he could share the wealth.
The gentleman had been frightened enough for one night, though, and backed away from Penny, saying, “I’ve no idea what you mean, sir.”
“I mean nothing,” Penny said with a shrug and a smile. “Just trying to help a good man who has found himself in a bad place. I think you’ll find if you head down that street and turn right at The Inn of the Dove, you’ll be well on your way back home.”
He slapped the gentleman on the back for good measure and to speed him on his way.
“Thank you,” the gentleman muttered before striding away as fast as he could.
Penny watched him go, chuckling to himself. He even waved at the man as he reached the corner and turned. The gentleman touched the brim of his hat before dashing away.
Penny laughed and shook his head. They were getting easier and easier to trick these days. It was like the toffs were deliberately blind when it came to being taken for all they had. The items Penny had removed from the gentleman were likely worth a good amount, which was vital in so many ways. He had a great many things to pay for these days.
That thought turned his victorious satisfaction into a wistful sigh. He was only twenty-one. He shouldn’t have been burdened with so many cares. Everyone around him lived a hard life as well, but Penny had more than just himself to carry through the world.
“I see your skills at acting are as refined as your slippery fingers these days.”
The voice that sailed out of the alley Penny walked past shot straight to his gut like an arrow. A bit lower, if he was being honest. He stopped and turned back just as the tall, black-haired, blue-eyed figure of Greer O’Toole stepped out into the oily, amber light.
“Fancy seeing you here,” he greeted Greer with a lazy, inviting smile, sweeping an appreciative glance over the man’s fine form. The night suddenly seemed warmer.
Greer shrugged one shoulder, thrust his hands in the pockets of the light coat he wore to protect his suit, which was finer than it should be for someone as familiar with the gritty streets of London as the Irishman was. “I thought I’d take a stroll and visit some of my favorite pubs,” he said.
Penny laughed. “Find anything you like there?” he asked.
“A bit of this, a bit of that,” Greer answered, his face bored but his eyes flashing with mischief. “Sam Harlow seems to think the Drummonds are about to depart for their country estate.”
“Ah, yes. The country estate,” Penny said with a sage nod, swaying slightly closer to Greer as they returned to the intersection with The Oyster and The Huntsman. “I suppose they’re taking most of their servants with them.”
“They’re only leaving two or three behind,” Greer said as if they were discussing nothing over pints in The Oyster. Until he grinned and said, “Should be simple enough to pay a midnight visit and come away with a king’s ransom.”
Penny burst into a smile. He considered himself one of the most skilled pickpockets in all of Whitechapel, but what Greer did, now that was art. Penny could pluck a billfold out of a gentleman’s pocket without slowing down as the two of them passed on the street, but Greer had a reputation for being able to break into some of the finest houses in London, steal enough gold and treasure to fund an army, and slip out again without waking a soul. Rumor had it he’d even made off with a Constable worth thousands once without even having to break the frame.
All of which, of course, made Penny incredibly randy whenever he was around the man.
“That was an impressive bit of work,” Greer complimented him, pausing to lean against the wall near the spot where Penny had observed the area earlier. His eyes swept over Penny’s body blatantly, just like Penny had drunk in the sight of him. He grinned as if he’d liked what he saw and reached into his pocket.He pulled a cigar and a shiny, silver vesta case from his pocket, and used one of the matches to light the cigar. “I always enjoy watching you work.”
“Do you?” Penny asked, treating Greer to a long, slow smile. “I’ve got more skills than what you observed,” he said, sidling closer as Greer dropped the match and slipped the silver case back into his pocket. “I keep saying you’d enjoy exploring them.”
Greer laughed low in his throat, then puffed on his cigar and blew out a cloud of smoke. “Would I?” he asked, his eyes hooded and filled with lust.
It was like this every time the two of them met, and Penny loved it. It was more than just flattery that the older man had taken notice of him, it was the feeling that, despite their age difference, they were equals in wit and wiles. Penny had been filled with the urge to prove as much to the black-haired beauty since the night they’d first met.
“I’d make it worth the money,” Penny purred, sliding his hand along the lapel of Greer’s coat. His hand twitched down to the pocket where Greer had settled his vesta case.
Greer surprised him with a laugh. “You’d expect me to pay for my pleasure?”
“Nothing in life is free,” Penny said with a wink.
“Which is why you should pay me for the honor of having your arse stuffed,” Greer said in a low growl, his face so close to Penny’s that Penny could smell the mint on his breath as well as the cigar smoke.
Temptation raced through Penny, sending blood to his cock. He’d long since given up caring who knew about his inclinations and what he did to satisfy them. In the gutters of East London, people cared less about stuffy morality than they did in cleaner circles. And even though he was young, his reputation in Whitechapel and beyond was such that he could have whateverman he wanted on any given night and they knew they would leave the encounter with a smile on their faces.
The one man he hadn’t been able to bed yet, the one he wanted more than any other, was standing right in front of him, his trousers tented, looking at Penny like he would take him apart, leaving him devastated, and Penny would thank him for it.
The hot, heady moment was blasted apart when Richie raced up to him from the side, an eager smile on his face.
“I got it!” he shouted breathlessly. “Did you see me? I pinched the handkerchief right off him and he didn’t even blink.”
