Thief in the Night

PART TWO

Chapter Three

Kerry had been a thief from her first memory. After her father died, the money had been tight. Her mother's family had long ago cut her off, and Jeanette Allen had few life skills beyond throwing together a dinner party or ball, and stealing. Since the very first day of learning, Kerry had been wearing masks and costumes over her soul as much as body. Now, for the first time in her life it bothered her to lie to Henry.

"I have no Interpol contacts but my friend Jon should. We're so many hours ahead I'll call Jon in the morning," Henry said as they entered their suite.

No one could know her true role there, and even Henry and Billy had to believe she was truly after the diamond herself, and revenge was a side line. Lying to Billy felt slightly wrong, but only because she knew once this heist ended she was going to be on one side of the law and for a while longer, Billy on the other. But Henry...like almost everything about him, she couldn't figure out why it felt wrong.

She'd been so distracted she barely noticed that he had ushered her into the bedroom and locked the door behind them. She was alone with the sex god in a room that held a bed, armoire, and vanity. Nowhere to sit but the bed. One bed for them both to sleep on, and...

He almost laughed. She was as nervous as a virgin on her wedding night. Henry was flattered, but the last time he had tried to make a virgin comfortable was when he himself had been one, and he was at a loss. So he patiently stared her down until she slowed her fidgeting.

"I'm nervous. Damn you, I'm nervous," she said finally and he almost laughed in relief at her confession.

Fighting a smile Henry folded his arms, eyes narrowing at the way her gaze followed the movement and she licked her lips. "Why?"

"I don't know. You're not my usual type, you know."

He thought of McCall and smugly found him lacking. "I gather."

"I don't know why I'm even attracted to you."

He did, and felt no explanation was necessary.

Before Kerry could regroup he was on her. Pulling her against him Henry pulled the last of the pins from her hair as he claimed those lips again. Her last thought was

hell

as she gripped his sweatpants and tugged them down.

He went commando and she moaned at the discovery, and then wrapped her hand around his cock. God, he was thick. Breaking from the kiss his lips slid to a spot below her ear that made her shiver. She snuck a look and gasped, anticipation tightening her body. He was on the nice side of average length, but impossibly thick, just as substantial as the rest of him.

She wanted to taste him, wrap her legs around him and ride Henry like a thoroughbred, but he had found her zip and was peeling her dress away. Slow, fast, it seemed they moved at both speeds. The lights burned low, just bright enough for them to see one another's smiles as they stepped free of their clothes.

Henry was perfect all over, to her mind. Powerful thighs and tightly bunched calves matched the broad, sculpted muscles of his arms and chest. Hell, if things were different between them she would be tempted to give him spandex pants, loosen his hair, and play at wrestler and ring rat.

Henry for his part was trying to remember any Marlins stats he could, or any other sports teams from his home state. Kerry was like a debauched Amazon queen, and that silly lace bra covering only half her delectable breasts just made him harder.

Growling, he snatched her and dragged her to the bed. Before he lost his mind he reached into the nightstand where earlier he'd put a box of condoms. He swore to himself he would go slow, make sure her need matched his, but truthfully his control was shedding and he felt like a feral beast.

A thrill shot through her when he pulled out a condom packet from the box but then Henry took a deep breath and slowed, turning to her breasts once more. She was still wet and aching, but a new spurt of cream flowed when that mouth touched her. If she didn't get him inside her soon she was going to scream.

"Damn it, I've had my foreplay," she growled and tried to roll them so she was on top.

It was ineffective to say the least. Henry was clearly a man who only moved when he wanted. "No rush," he said and slid a thigh between hers.

"Henry, we can go slow later. Please. Now!"

He had always prided himself on being a lover that didn't disappoint a woman, in his wealth of experience most needed time, gentle care, soft words. But Kerry was determined, and he could smell her arousal. The memory of her orgasm haunted him and as much as he wanted to see, hear, and feel her climax another six or seven times, he seriously worried he wouldn't make it.

So he reached for the condom and rolled to his side to put it on. "Fine. My way next time. What's your favorite position?"

She licked her lips, eyes as eager as a cat's eyeing a bird. "On top."

He could only laugh. "I should've figured. That's my favorite too."

This time he let her roll him to his back and she straddled him, body tense. "Like it on the bottom too, do you?"

"Me on the top, my sweet. Next time," he replied in a sensual purr.

She grabbed his cock and he nearly swooned from the feel as she brushed the broad head against her cunt. As stupid as the thought felt, Kerry couldn't help but wonder if he'd fit.

"Damn it," he said and gripped her hips. When she slipped his head inside Henry slammed her onto him and they both cried out.

Dear god, it hurt like hell for a moment. Kerry had always been a little tight, but a long stretch of celibacy had exacerbated the condition. She felt more than stretched, a near-tearing feeling that reminded her of the first time. It faded quickly as she forced him to keep still.

When she lowered her head back and moaned he felt her soften inside, and raised her hips, lowering her down gently. Now with her goal so close Kerry forgot her nerves and jerked his hands to her breasts.

"Back up onto the pillows."

Ah, good, his sex kitten was back, Henry thought with a grin Following her motions he piled pillows behind his back and laid back slightly inclined. Her legs settled outside his, her thighs strong and warm.

Kerry gripped the headboard to steady herself and began to move. At this angle she gasped at the feeling. Inside her he was so thick and hard, so damned impossibly hard, and as she ground against him her clit rasped his wiry golden hair.

To his delight her delicious nipples were close, and Henry focused on them again, letting his hands settle on her hips. He forgot himself and soon moved her, but Kerry forgot to protest.

She had never let a man have such control, not even her first time, but it was thrilling, this new experience. Henry was elemental, a primal force, and all she could do was surrender to the feelings he roused in her. His tongue was so gentle and quick, flicking over her nipples, his hands rough and bruising.

She nearly cried out in disappointment when she felt herself begin the final ascent, knowing the orgasm was coming She wanted to savor the moment, but nothing could stop her. Henry drove her on relentlessly until she clenched and he swelled around him, and then it felt like she exploded.

He was helpless. Her breath hitched fetchingly a second before her cry came, a true scream. God, he loved that, even as his ears began to ring. A second after her, Henry felt the orgasm boil up from his balls and he was shouting.

As he came he was brutal, slamming his hips up into her deep enough to bruise, his fingers pressing tight enough she knew she'd bear marks, but it was perfect. It was pure, it was raw, it was true passion, and the climax went on and on.

Over too fast, ending after forever, Kerry slumped into the crook of his shoulder, panting. She was shaken. She had been right: Henry was not a man a woman could control. And Billy had been right: that was the best kind. God, how was she going to keep her mind on the game when she could be having this kind of fantastic sex at least once a day?

Normally Henry had a routine. After sex the detachment would settle in, but still he would hold his partner a few minutes, then rise, dress, leave. But he was here for a week, this was her bed as much as his, and Henry found he didn't want to start the old, "That was nice, but..." speech.

Kerry jerked up, dismounted, and rolled over. Feeling puzzled he pulled off the condom and tossed it into the wastebasket as she fumbled around her purse. He could only raise an eyebrow as she pulled out her softpack of cigarettes and lit one.

"Dirty habit."

"I know, so sue me. I barely drink, I don't tan, and I never touch drugs. Everybody gets one vice."

"Doesn't stealing and sport sex count?"

"Maybe I just need more vice than others," she grumbled.

He hated smoking, but it kept her on one side of the large bed giving him space to think so he decided not to complain this once. That and he was feeling rather mellow. Had it ever been like that? He smoothed his hand over his head and found his hair messy. With a sigh he pulled it free to hang down to his shoulders. The way Kerry's eyes followed the movements nearly made him hard again.

"Do you like long hair on a man?"

"Yes," Kerry replied simply, realizing it was true. When Edge had cut his she'd wanted to cry, but the men of wrestling had always been an indulgence in her private world. The Kerry Allen of the charity world was usually escorted about by simpleton sons of American aristocracy, Kerry the thief liked bookish men with weasel instincts. Henry was the kind of man she thought the next Kerry might try, the real Kerry, and if there were more like him she was looking forward to the future.

"Good," Henry said and piled his hands behind his head.

"We shouldn't do this again," Kerry said quietly and blew out a few smoke rings with impressive ease.

"But we will," he countered. As many times as it took to be able to walk away from her satisfied, he vowed.

"Not much. No one in this group can afford to lose focus of the goal for one moment." She stubbed out the butt and rose to pad naked into the bathroom to brush her teeth.

Henry waited for her to come out and found himself fighting the urge to drag her into bed, find one of his ties and use it to secure her to the brass frame, and make her forget any other man she'd ever known.

"Remember, Kerry," he said as she slid into bed and he hauled her against his side. "My only goal is seeing you through this escapade safely. And perhaps the best way to do that is fuck you until you can't walk straight, let alone plot."

As he turned out the light she settled in, resigned. The damned thing was, his idea didn't sound half bad.

***

"You got laid!" Billy said when he finally turned up after breakfast.

She looked at his hair, mussed, and his shirt was buttoned wrong. "I see you have the same blinking sign on your forehead."

"Shall we compare lovers? Danny is hung like a-"

"No! Spare me the details. Henry called a friend today, he has Interpol contacts. We should get a call back in a few hours and can figure things out then."

"I'm going to play double agent today. Danny thinks he's...pumping me for information, but I'm going to feed him bullshit. How do you feel about the sapphire necklace in the lot?"

"Lustful and wistful," she said with a sigh. Just in case it played into her plans if they involved she'd also had a copy made up. "Just after the diamond, why?"

"I'll tell him the necklace is your main goal, that you don't have any way to unload the Leopard Diamond. McCall is going to spend the day in his rooms, reviewing the security system."

"That's me tomorrow," Kerry sighed. "And just in case I do have a copy of the necklace."

He grinned and ruffled her hair. "I appreciate a partner who think ahead."

"I didn't get to where I am being stupid," she said and ducked his hand.

"Neither did I. Well, I'd say spend today with Henry. The rest of the guests will be arriving this evening so you might want to circulate. Until then try to relax." The bedroom door opened behind Kerry and Henry emerged wearing only a pair of jeans unbuttoned, hair loose, and Billy sucked in his breath. "Or maybe you could stay here and convince the god to pose for a calendar. I'll buy ten copies."

Henry rolled his eyes. "Morning, Billy, what's the matter, strike out with McCall's henchmen?"

"Au contraire, but he doesn't take teasing nearly so well, nor does he fill out denim so nicely. Just have fun today and I'll try not to kill anyone."

"There is no try, only do," Kerry said, imitating Frank Oz.

"Ah, Yoda, the first Nike salesman. I need to catch a few hours sleep then it's off to spy time. Have fun, kids." With that Billy saluted them and disappeared into his room.

Kerry tried to ignore Henry for a long moment. When they had woken up they had gone for round two. It had been slow, it had been thorough, and it had been Henry's show. He'd woken with a fair amount of stubble and had proceeded to rub it all over her until she'd been gasping and pleading, and then he'd used his tongue to drive her insane. It was nice, however, to be with a man who didn't mind how tightly her thighs could clamp around his head. Thinking on it now her body leapt at the chance to go for round three, but she was determined to regain control of her traitorous self.

He smiled, watching the play of emotions over her face. "Since the festivities don't truly begin until dinner and there's nothing else we can do, why don't we go somewhere?"

"Where?"

"I know a good place. We can have a good lunch and talk freely."

"We could just have the kitchens deliver us another meal and take it ion a picnic basket by the lake."

"If we do that I'm going to be chafed, sweetheart. Come on, it's a fair drive, and I'd like to get out of this mausoleum of a house."

"All right. Let me shower and change."

His eyes roamed her silk robe. "If you insist."

Feeling both peevish and skittish, Kerry grabbed her chosen clothes and locked herself in the bathroom. The house servants had unpacked well the night before and all her favorite things for the bath were laid out.

She started up the ancient plumbing and stripped down, unpinning her hair. In the mirror she saw a woman satisfied, her breasts red and raw from stubble, her hips lightly bruised from strong fingers. She supposed a different woman would be upset by that, but she knew that Henry sported several moon-sliver marks from her nails that had bled pretty well.

She had enjoyed cultured and gentle before, but raw and powerful was already getting to her.

Damn it, she was losing sight of her goals. She found her cell phone and dialed her Interpol contact. No answer, of course. He had double crossed her. Why absolve her of her crimes to nab McCall when he could send in his own team and grab two thieves for the price of one?

She stepped into the shower and squeezed her eyes shut. All this was about her future and her past. Her past with McCall and her future with Interpol. Henry was merely the present and the present was only the calm before the storm.

She was going to have to ask Billy to dissuade the Interpol agent without extreme prejudice. But perhaps the lack of a response from her contact was a blessing. This way she had time to find the others, and she could only wonder if there were others hiding within the house. She doubted there was merely a single agent there to undermine her.

In fact, this could be a good day to leave. McCall would feel freer to do his own recon, and Billy could ferret out any more agents lurking. And when everything went down McCall would be rotting in prison, she would be retired with a promising if boring future, and life would go on. Billy would do whatever last job it was he had to do, Henry would go back to D.C., and Kerry would be at Interpol's mercy and command until she retired to languish in New York.

She had promised to bring McCall in, but her way. No one at Interpol knew who the Night Hawk really was, and she hazarded a guess that explained the bumbling agent. They didn't quite trust her. But only Kerry could bring McCall in.

After all, it took a thief to catch a thief.

***

The little road Henry took was ancient, and even Kerry had to admit it was beautiful. Her family's holdings were in the south, but the north of France did seem rather nice. The trees were thick in the forest and the early fall weather held the tang of promise in the air.

"So what exactly is the plan?" Henry asked as they left traffic behind.

"McCall likes to minimize risk, so the closer he can get to the auction, the better. Daylight is too risky, so I bet he'll hit the night before, Friday. If so, Thursday Billy will create a distraction and disable security. I'll have just ten minutes until it resets to get into the storage room, get the real diamond from the case, put my fake in, stash the diamond, and adjust the lights."

"Explain that last part. Remember, this is all new to me."

"I can't have the diamond on me in case they search, so I'll stash it. Wrapped up it will fit very nicely into a Ming vase I plan to bid on, and win. I will have it seated so it doesn't rattle around. And I have to adjust the lights. Real diamonds don't sparkle as well as fakes do. I have to adjust the lights slightly so no one notices.

"McCall will do the same thing and stash the diamond, there won't be enough time when he hits the storage to verify it, I'll make certain of that. In lower lights everyone will be fooled. And when the time is right I'll plant the real diamond on McCall seconds before the authorities search his rooms."

He glanced at her as they turned deeper into the forest. "Can you do this?"

"It's actually a walk in the park. I once hit a museum in Lisbon, now that was tough. The Dauphines can't afford top-notch security and I already know the weaknesses."

"What about Interpol?"

"What about it?"

"The agent you spotted last night, the one who walked in on us."

Oh. For a moment she thought he'd been asking about working with them. The irony that she was concealing a true retirement into a life of law enforcement wasn't lost on her. But if Billy knew, he'd bail in all likelihood, and if Henry knew he'd demand a meeting with them. "They've been after McCall for a long time. They only know him as Night Hawk."

Henry snorted. "He looks more like a ferret."

Well, Henry wasn't wrong. "Once Billy gets information from Danny, which will be a lie, I'm sure, we'll know if our plan is a go. Danny will likely try to say McCall will do the job Thursday or even earlier. Whatever night he says, it's a trap."

"How so?"

"Well, if this were a normal job for me, I'd be a fool to go for the Leopard Diamond. The sapphire necklace, the Faberge Eggs, even the Monet, those are all much better targets. McCall knows I will target the diamond because he is after it, but he'll probably tip a guard and put a tracker on the necklace. Then he'll plan to reveal the theft if I take it, which he will believe since Billy will plant that idea.

"You did say you were here to protect against McCall. Your job will be to shadow him and confirm Billy's intel, but also sweep our rooms. If I don't take that necklace, at some point it is going to be stolen and planted in our rooms. However, if there is time and I can take the necklace myself I might make his own tracker work against him."

He was silent for a long moment. "This is terribly confusing."

"McCall wants me in prison, I want him in prison. And yet we are both thieves, two of the best. Resisting such delicious sparkling jewels is like asking a heroin addict to stop chasing the dragon."

"Charming comparison. And yet you are retiring after this. Why?"