Elder stroked his chin. “What do you want to bet on?”

I shrugged, giving in to his questions, allowing myself to do more than just nod.

He noticed, of course, his grin growing bigger. “How about one night?”

I jolted.

What?

“One night. The night I arranged before I decided to steal all the nights. One night where you agree to let me do what I want. Where the ultimate thing I want from you is your trust.”

Trust?

Well, that was terrible for him to bet on because he’d never earn that. No matter if he gave me a thousand nights. Trust wasn’t something I could give.

And he must know that, but he’d asked for it anyway.

Why?

Why ask for the impossible?

I raised my eyebrow, pointing at my chest, breaking all my rules and communicating completely. And what do I get?

His eyes tracked my hand, the same look of desire coating his features. Not from my body hidden in a sack-shaped dress but from the fact I’d willingly engaged in conversation.

“You?” His voice cracked. “You get to choose.”

My eyes widened, wafting my hand like a bird in flight. I can choose freedom?

He nodded. “If want to put your freedom at stake, I’ll honour that. One night with me, trusting everything I do and giving me your pleasure if you manage to pickpocket a civilian—”

I jolted as my future plans unravelled. I could go home to London. I could find my mother, my friends, my life.

My mind raced. I could do it. I could find a silly girl with her handbag open and slip my hand inside. How many times had I looked at my friends’ purses and thought how careless they were?

Elder smirked. “I wasn’t finished. Pickpocket successfully and keep whatever you steal without giving in to the guilt and returning it, then you’ve won, and you can have your freedom.”

He sauntered toward me, his hands fisting. “However, if you fail and speak before that happens, you give me one night.” He shook his head as his hand landed on mine wedged against my chest as if it could contain my suddenly light as a wisp heart. “No, not just one night. You give me your body and mind. You give in to me completely. You trust me.”

His fingers squeezed my hand, his body setting off alarm bells in every cell.

I took a step back, dropping our linked grasp, holding my head high.

The rules had been drawn. Whatever lightness I’d been filled with at the thought of freedom was dragged down again in what I had to do to earn it. I was afraid but also invigorated. It’d been so long since someone pushed me to evolve. So long since I’d had requirements other than obedience to follow.

“So?” Elder licked his bottom lip. “Do you agree?”

I wouldn’t back down from the gauntlet.

I nodded, sealing my fate and cursing the flutter in my stomach at the thought of him winning. What would he make me do in one night? And why was I terrified but also secretly intrigued about what sex would be like with him?

“Good. Let’s get started.” Elder took a deep breath, expelling the tension that’d once again thickened around us.

He patted his back pocket, looking so damn handsome in the sun. “Come toward me. I’ll show you how to steal then you can practice.”

He was giving me permission to attack him? To slip my fingers against his butt and loot him?

Once again, part of me recoiled at the idea of being so close while the rest of me woke up from a two-year hibernation and prepared to relearn that elusive, incredible word.

Play.

FUCK, THIS WAS a bad idea.

A really, really bad idea.

As Pimlico stalked toward me, her face dancing with an eager but distrusting smile, my cock thickened in need. The more I was around her, the more I wanted her. Especially now as she relaxed into herself, slinking with more confidence and…is that playfulness?

I didn’t think she’d ever relax enough around me to play.

It hit me right in the goddamn heart to think, despite her disagreement and scorn whenever I used the word trust, she’d already started to do it. She’d allowed herself to soften—if only just a margin. She wasn’t expecting me to hit her the moment she came close. She wasn’t looking for chains or pain when she walked beside me.

Playing my cello for her last night had been a daredevil move. I worried I’d shatter the rest of her soul and end up sweeping up the pieces. But she’d surprised me. Shit, she surprised herself.

She might’ve hated every strum, but when I’d kissed her…Christ, she’d kissed me back with a liveliness she hadn’t shown before. Our second kiss in weeks and instead of granting a reprieve on my desire for her, it only made it ten times fucking worse.

Drinking in her face one last time, I spun around and stood still. She paused, then her footsteps padded softly again behind me. My skin prickled with awareness as she took her time, judging how best to steal. A quiet shuffle of bare toes and the lightest flutter of touch on my back pocket.

I gritted my teeth as everything roared inside for more. I wanted her hands on every inch of my skin. I wanted her mouth on me. I wanted my cock inside her. My entire body hated me for punishing it with celibacy, bashing against my patience like a dog off its leash.

I throbbed with need as I locked my knees and fought the delicious shudder of her hand slipping into my shorts.

The delicate, sensual flicker of her fingers on my ass—goddammit, I almost shot around and grabbed her. Every urge in my blood bellowed to march her backward until her spine hit the deck railing, hook her leg over my hip, and drive my agonising erection against her.