Naked Shorts (4 page)

Her fingers lazily stroked his chest. “Does it matter?”

“Actually, yes.”

“Why?”

“The punishment has to fit the crime.” Marcus smirked wickedly and brushed a strain of hair out of her face.

She gave him a surprised look. “Don”t you think you”ve punished me enough?”

A throaty laugh burst out of his chest. “I”ve got the feeling this wasn”t any punishment for you at all.”

“Maybe you”re not doing it right,” she dared criticize him.

“Trust me, I”m doing it right. It was pretty hard to ignore your ecstatic screams.”

“I don”t scream!”

“Of course you do. Hey, I take it as a compliment.” He threw up his hands in a capitulating motion. “But to get back to my questions. What was it you wanted?”

Olivia shrugged her shoulders. “The Vestal armband.”

He whistled. “You have good taste, I give you that.”

“It”s worth a lot of money.”

“I”m aware of that.”

“More than you paid for it.”

Marcus took her chin and made her look at him. “How would you know?”

“I know my Roman art.”

He grinned. “Ah, an educated thief. University?”

“Art history,” she confirmed. He was surprised at her admission.

“Have you ever thought of doing something else with your knowledge rather than stealing?”

She huffed. “Like one could live on the salary of a lowly curator. This pays better, trust me.”

He laughed. “So it”s all for the money, huh? And you”re not getting a kick out of it, are you?”

A sheepish smile crossed her face. “Maybe just a little.”

“You like the thrill, the risk. I can tell.” His hand trailed down her back to her hips, leisurely stroking the soft curves of her ass. Marcus felt his body stir again even though he”d come twice in the last hour. He smiled at the thought of how vulnerable she”d felt in his arms when he”d brought her from one orgasm to the next.

Tough, hardened criminal; he didn”t think so. There was something decidedly soft about Olivia.

“Have you ever seen the armband close up?”

She shook her head. “Only on display in the auction house. Not nearly close enough. And unfortunately you interrupted me before I could open your safe.”

“Fortunately.”

Marcus peeled himself out of her embrace and sat up. “Don”t run off, or I”m really going to have to punish you. I”ll be back in a minute.”

As he walked to the door and retrieved the key to unlock it, he contemplated locking her in, but a look at her sated body told him that she wasn”t going to run, at least not in the next minute or two.

He was right. When he returned to the bedroom less than two minutes later, she still lay in bed in the same position. She”d closed her eyes, but he knew she wasn”t asleep.

As soon as he took his place in bed again, her arms automatically curled around him, and her body molded into his side. He smiled at the intimate touch she bestowed on him. He could get used to this.

“Open your eyes. I want you to look at something.”

“Too tired.”

“It”s worth it, I promise.”

Reluctantly Olivia opened her eyes and looked at the object in his hands. She gasped and jerked up to sit.

“The Vestal armband!” Marcus placed it in her hands for her to touch.

The artifact was made of pure gold. Intricate filigree work snaked around the solid band of precious metal. The clasp was unusual in that it was constructed of two phallic symbols: one male, one female. When closed they fit together perfectly, the same way a man”s body fit to a woman”s.

“It”s beautiful,” she uttered, admiration and reverence in her voice. He understood her awe.

He had felt the same when he”d first seen the ancient piece of jewelry.

“Yes, it is.”

He took the armband and opened the clasp. Without a word he placed it around her bicep and closed it. It was a perfect fit.

“For as long as you”re in my bed, it”s yours,” he whispered.

Olivia gave him an incredulous look. Then suddenly her eyes widened in shock. “You have to take it off me, now!” she commanded sounding panicked.

“Why? I thought that”s what you wanted.”

He didn”t understand why she suddenly tried to open the clasp, an action at which she failed miserably. He had discovered that two hands were needed to open the clasp, thus making it impossible for the bearer to remove it herself.

“Take if off me, please. Don”t you know about the legend surrounding it?”

“Of course I know about the legend.”

“It doesn”t look like you do, otherwise you wouldn”t be doing this. Legend says the armband creates a bond of love and true happiness between a man and a woman if they make love while the woman wears it. So take it off me, now!” She sounded angry.

“But it”s just a legend. Nothing true about it. Don”t tell me you believe in it?” Marcus grinned. He hadn”t pegged her for the superstitious kind.

“You should never ignore legends. There”s always a grain of truth in them. Please take it off.”

He shook his head. “No. It stays on. I like seeing you with it. In fact, it”s quite a turn on to see you wearing it. I thought you liked to take risks,” he continued provoking her. “Don”t you get a kick out of it?”

Olivia gave him another pained look.

“Come on, admit it, you like wearing it, don”t you. Olivia?”

Her face looked as if there was a glow about her. She”d looked gorgeous the night before, she”d looked ravishing an hour earlier, but now she looked like the most beautiful creature in the world.

His cock stiffened. He had to have her, and he had to have her now.

“Be my Vestal virgin for tonight,” he whispered and locked eyes with her.

Her look softened. The harsh lines around her mouth disappeared, anger seeping out of her body, disappearing into thin air.

“Marcus, I need to feel you inside me.” Her voice had an edge to it, an urgency he hadn”t noticed before.

It was a merging of their bodies when he impaled her on his shaft and claimed her body. Her soft body felt perfect, curves in all the right places. He hadn”t had such a pliable woman in his bed in a long time. In fact, he hadn”t had a woman in his bed in a while. Far too long, he realized now.

He breathed in her scent, soaked up the heat from her body and relished in the glow in her eyes that felt like sunshine in a stormy night. With every stroke he reached deeper and came closer, closer to feeling her essence and her energy. There was so much more to this little thief than he could fathom, and if he wasn”t careful she”d steal more than just the armband.

It would warrant more punishment of the same kind he was inflicting right now, stroke by stroke. Plunging deeper and deeper, yet riding her higher and higher at the same time. Who said punishment couldn”t go both ways?

Marcus was willing to take the same punishment he dealt her, endure her nails digging into his ass to pull him closer and her teeth scraping his shoulder to stop herself from crying out at the intense pleasure her body shook with.

His surrender was inevitable, even though he tried to delay it as long as he could. But the moment Olivia”s interior muscles clenched around his erection and pumped him, his control shattered into a thousand and one pieces. She milked him, prolonging his orgasm for longer than he thought was possible, bringing him to unknown heights.

Sated or not, and he”d never had a more earth shattering orgasm than with her, he couldn”t let go. Leaving her body was not an option. He shouldn”t have worried. She didn”t ask to be released, but rather she kept her arms and legs wrapped around him as if she didn”t want him to leave either.

When he found the energy again to lift his head, he used it to look at her. She was more beautiful than before if that was even possible.

Tenderly he brushed his lips to hers in a barely there kiss.

“I hope you weren”t planning on getting any sleep tonight,” he whispered.

Olivia gave him a promising smile. “I do my best work at night.”

The minute Marcus awoke, he knew Olivia was gone. And with her his precious Vestal armband. She”d worn him out last night as if she”d wanted to set a record. It was well after three in the morning when he”d collapsed, unable to move another muscle. Within minutes he”d fallen asleep, his brain completely and utterly devoid of any coherent thought.

He”d let his dick rule and turned into a perfect idiot. What on earth had given him the brilliant idea of letting her wear the armband? Had he completely lost his mind just because of the fabulous sex he”d had with her?

There was a sucker born every minute, and he was one of them. He”d been sucked into her deception. It figured that she”d use sex to get what she wanted. And he”d made it easy for her too. Volunteering even. Frankly, if he was that stupid, he didn”t deserve any better.

He”d wanted to teach her a lesson and instead, she”d taught him an even bigger one: never trust the woman in your bed.

Marcus swung his legs out of bed and reached for the phone to report the theft to the police, then stopped in mid-motion. He could feel every single cell in his aching body. Aching, yes, but in a good way. The night and everything they”d done flashed in front of his eyes. What a woman!

Sensual, adventurous, tender, hot, insatiable, and just plain amazing all in one.

He picked up the phone and dialed.

Just over an hour later Thomas was at his front door.

“What are the police doing about it?” Thomas asked instead of a more conventional greeting.

Marcus waved him into the kitchen and sat back down to finish his breakfast.

“Tea?”

“Sure. So, what did they say? Is she a known entity?” Thomas took his cup and added milk before he took a sip.

“I haven”t called the police.”

Thomas involuntarily spewed tea from his mouth. “You what? Are you crazy? She could be anywhere by now!”

Undeterred by his friend”s outburst, Marcus used his napkin to wipe up. “I”m not going to involve the police. I gave my word.”

“Have you gone bonkers? You gave your word to a thief?”

Thomas looked at him as if he”d gone off the deep end. He hadn”t, at least not yet. He had an axe to grind with her, but he wanted to be the one doing the grinding, not the police.

“You know what she looks like, so you”ll be helping me find her.”

“And how do you propose we do that? We have nothing to go by.”

Marcus shook his head. “Au contraire. She has an art history degree. We”ll start with the colleges in London. With your connections to practically every academic in this town, it shouldn”t be too hard to find out who she is. She”s young, probably under thirty, so we won”t have to go further back than seven or eight years. She said her name is Olivia.”

Thomas exhaled pointedly. “Quid lucrum istic mihi est?”

“Does there always have to be something in it for you?” Marcus answered.

“You know what I”m after.”

Marcus knew all too well. Thomas coveted a particular artifact connected to the ruins of Machu Picchu which Marcus owned. Thomas had been trying to convince him for months to sell it to him.

“Deal.”

“Let”s get to work then,” Thomas replied.

Thomas called in favors to get them access to alumni records, and they went to work. They split the possible campuses in London between them and jumped into their respective cars.

What Marcus didn”t tell his friend was, while he certainly cared to have his precious artifact returned to him, there was something else he wanted back. The thought that she”d just ditched him after the amazing night they”d spent together didn”t sit well with him. Neither did the desire to have her back in his bed, naked, underneath him.

After a night of sex with her he should be sated. Instead he craved more. Unfortunately no other woman would do. It had to be Olivia.

***

Getting the armband off wasn”t even her biggest problem. Or maybe it was. The armband was to blame, what else? Or why else would her mind go back to the night with Marcus? There could not be any other plausible reason behind it.

When she”d woken in his arms, she”d been tempted to stay, but for once her brain had won over her tired body. But ever since returning to her flat, she felt a strange emptiness. It was unusual for her. After each heist she normally was on an adrenaline high which took days to come down from. Not this time.

Something was wrong, seriously wrong.

Like any self-respecting criminal, she was superstitious. The fact that she couldn”t get the armband off coupled with the legend which surrounded it made her feel uneasy. She had a strange feeling of not being complete, as if something was missing, when she knew everything was normal.

She”d gotten away with the artifact that she”d come to steal. And despite the fact that she”d been caught, so far the police weren”t after her yet. By now, of course, he”d have called the police, but chances were that she”d be gone by the time they were on her heels.

After delivering the armband to her buyer, she”d be done. Why wait until she was thirty to retire? Now was as good a time as any. She already had enough money to last her a lifetime, and had recently scoped out a new place to live - outside the UK. Everything was ready.

Olivia switched on the TV to see what the local news had to report. There was a possibility they already had a sketch of her face. If she knew what it looked like, she could come up with a disguise which looked as different from the sketch as possible.

Turning up the volume on the TV, she went to the bookshelf and reached for her textbook on Roman art. She had to refresh her mind about the exact legend tied to the Vestal armband.

Maybe it would explain how to open the darn clasp.

As she flicked through the pages looking for the correct section, her mind wandered back to Marcus. It had been a while since she”d been with a sexy guy like him. Jeez, who was she kidding? A while was the biggest understatement in recent history. How about never?

Sure, she”d been out with interesting and handsome men and had sex with some of them, but all those men paled in comparison to him. Her skin tingled just thinking of his touch, and her stomach twisted into little knots as she relived his passionate kisses.