Chapter 5
Chapter Five
E van waited until Thomas had left to cast aside his casual demeanour and sit properly in his chair. Then he proceeded to drop his head in his hands and let out a low groan.
Thomas was right.
He did not have this in hand. He did not have this in hand at all.
It was his own fault. He’d allowed himself to be distracted by what amounted to a youthful crush on the captain. He’d been swayed by Thomas’s handsome face and square jaw, his wonderfully dry wit, and of course, all that magnificent muscle—and in doing so, he’d seriously underestimated Thomas and his powers of observation.
Despite the constant bed-hopping that was both part of his job and a pleasurable hobby, Evan hadn’t been truly drawn to someone in years. But Thomas had gotten under his skin without even trying, and Evan didn’t know what to do with that. He’d been taunted by images of Thomas pinning him down and fucking him through the mattress, and once that fantasy had popped into his head, he hadn’t been able to shake it, no matter how hard he tried.
Not that he’d tried very hard.
In the past he’d always claimed he didn’t have a type—other than willing—but it had become abundantly clear to him over the past few weeks that he did have a type and that it was a muscular blond giant named Thomas Malone.
And so he’d made a game of trying to entice Thomas with some subtle flirting, telling himself all he wanted was a little harmless fun, perhaps a night or two in the captain’s bed to get this attraction out of his system. But while he’d been mooning over Thomas and trying to tempt the man into making all his fantasies come true, he’d almost missed the clues that had pointed to the viscount and his skullduggery.
He consoled himself that he hadn’t missed the danger signs when it mattered, and he had managed to prevent a regicide, but it had been far too close for his liking. And now the only leads he had to catch whoever was trying to kill someone in his family were a well-dressed ambassador and a badly drawn cock and balls.
He huffed out a sharp breath that was almost a snort and sat up straight. This was no time to start wallowing in self-doubt. He’d succeeded with less in the past, and he’d succeed here too.
The alternative was unthinkable.
If anything happened to Leo or Felix, it would trigger a war, so it was Evan’s job to make sure that didn’t happen.
And in all his years of espionage, he’d never failed yet.
Of course, Evan hadn’t set out to be a spy. Did anybody?
When he was younger, he’d just assumed he’d spend his days supporting his cousin the crown prince and sort of lolling around the place. Except he’d always been a nosy little bugger, and as he grew from a gangly youth into a good-looking and personable young man, he discovered that his natural curiosity and keen observational skills combined with his easygoing charm meant people seemed to want to confide in him—which translated into a habit of knowing all sorts of things he wasn’t meant to know. After he’d opened his mouth a few times at dinner and inserted his foot directly in it by sharing observations that were better kept secret, the king had taken him aside.
He’d thought he was about to get a dressing-down, but instead the king had said, “Evan, how would you like to travel, use your charm and your skills, and help protect the kingdom at the same time?”
He’d gone on to propose that Evan take advantage of his popularity and privilege to move between kingdoms, keeping his eyes and ears open, and report back.
“You mean… like a spy?”
The king had nodded. “Exactly like a spy.”
Evan had immediately been entranced with the idea. The king had cautioned that there would be danger involved and that he’d be sworn to secrecy, but to seventeen-year-old Evan, who was hungry for adventure, that had just made the whole thing more intriguing.
And so, after gaining his parents’ dubious approval, undertaking intensive hand-to-hand and weapons training, and spending several months learning tricks of the trade from a certain shadowy gentleman of the court who was looking to hang up his knives, Evan had embarked on his first bout of spying—and he’d never looked back.
He’d taken to it like a duck to water, and nobody had bothered to look twice at the young royal who wandered the halls in foreign castles with an innocent air.
Nobody had looked twice in ten years.
Of course, there were disadvantages. He couldn’t take a proper lover, for example. The risk they’d discover his secret was too great. And he had to admit that the role of palace idiot was starting to wear thin—sometimes he wished that instead of pretending he didn’t know his left from his right and couldn’t remember anyone’s name, he could just be himself and finally match wits against someone equally clever, without fear of exposing himself.
He’d bet Thomas would give him a run for his money. The man had a keen wit and a sharp mind, even though he hid it behind a cloak of deference.
Evan perked up at the thought that at least he could be himself with Thomas. The man was ridiculously attractive, and Evan was looking forward to spending more time with him while they were trying to figure out who was behind the attacks on the king. And if Evan happened to charm Thomas into his bed, so much the better.
God. Leo was going to laugh his arse off when Evan told him that the Captain of the bloody Guard had been the one to finally figure out he was the Rogue.
Or perhaps he wouldn’t be surprised at all. After all, Leo was the one who’d appointed Thomas as captain in the first place, so he obviously knew there was more to the man than met the eye.
Evan heaved another sigh and bent to pull his boots off. It had been a long night, and he had to be up before dawn for a meeting with the king. It was how they usually did things. He’d send a message and meet with Leopold and Felix in one of the empty cottages while it was still dark, pass on everything he knew, and then slip away to the castle where he’d go back to bed for a few hours. He’d emerge mid-morning complaining about the lack of breakfast, and nobody would know that he’d been up at the crack of a sparrow’s fart.
He’d stripped out of his shirt and was unbuttoning his breeches when there was a knock at the door. He frowned and debated ignoring it, but the knock came again, more persistent this time.
He ran both hands through his hair so it looked like he’d been sleeping, and shuffled over and opened the door.
It was Thomas, and his mouth dropped open at Evan’s half-dressed state. He closed it again and his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed.
Evan flashed him an easy smile. “Enjoying the show, Captain?”
Thomas swallowed again and his gaze swept down to the floor, but Evan didn’t miss the way his eyes lingered on his bare torso on the way down. “Sorry to disturb you.”
“It’s fine,” Evan said, opening the door wide enough to allow Thomas entry. “It’s not like you haven’t seen my arse hanging out before.”
Thomas’s blush reached right to the tips of his ears, which Evan took as a good sign. “So why are you here?” he asked when Thomas stepped inside. “Because if you were planning on seducing me, you only need to ask.”
Thomas’s eyes widened. “What? That—no—not that you’re not—I mean?—”
Evan took pity on him. “I’m teasing, Captain.”
A look of relief passed over Thomas’s features, but it was followed by a flash of regret—and wasn’t that interesting?
The chances of getting Thomas into bed were looking better by the minute—just as soon as they’d sorted out the plot to kill the king, of course.
“Since you’re not here to seduce me, I assume this has to do with the viscount?” Evan asked.
Thomas cleared his throat again. “Well, on my way downstairs I passed the ambassador’s chambers and the door was open. The room was empty.”
“And?” Evan wasn’t sure what Thomas was telling him, but then a thought struck him. “Wait, are you suggesting now would be a good time for me to go and look through his things while you stand guard?”
Thomas’s cheeks went pink and he cleared his throat. “No, actually. I, um, already did. I remembered what you said, and I went through the pockets of his jacket.”
“Oh, aren’t you a clever one?” Evan said.
Thomas’s brow creased as though he thought Evan might be mocking him.
“No, I mean it,” Evan said. “I’m genuinely impressed at your quick thinking.”
“Oh,” Thomas said, his face flaming, and he gave Evan a shy smile. “Anyway, I found this. I thought it might be important.” He held out a tightly folded square of paper.
Evan hadn’t thought it was possible to be more attracted to the captain just by virtue of his competence, and yet here he was, fighting the urge to back Thomas into the door, pin him in place, and kiss him senseless.
But Evan hadn’t become the best spy in six kingdoms by giving in to random urges, so he busied himself unfolding the paper square.
It was another rough drawing of a cock and enormous balls, almost an exact copy of the other one. He turned the paper sideways, then held it up to the light.
It remained a crudely drawn cock and balls.
Thomas tilted his head to the side and tapped his fingers against his chin. “I’m not much on the courting scene, but perhaps this is a thing people do now? Maybe the viscount had an admirer.”
“Perhaps,” Evan mused, “but it doesn’t explain the ambassador having a copy as well.” He handed Thomas the paper. “Here. Something to remember me by.” He gave a wicked grin. “Mind you, you’d need a bigger sheet of paper to draw mine properly.”
Thomas raised an eyebrow. “Is this your idea of a courting gesture, Your Grace?”
Evan snorted out a laugh. “If you like. And you’ve helped me dispose of a body and seen my bare arse. Call me Evan, for heaven’s sake.”
Thomas’s cheeks flushed that delightful pink again, and he tucked the paper into his pocket. “Sorry, Your—Evan. Force of habit. But it’s probably a good idea for me to keep referring to you by your title anyway. You never know who’s listening, and we don’t want whoever is behind this thinking we’re on informal terms or that I’m helping you. Not that I’ll be much help, what with you being…” He swallowed and ducked his head.
“Being…”
“You know.” Thomas’s blush deepened and he lowered his voice. “ The Rogue .”
It was then that Evan had one of those flashes of insight that made him so very good at what he did.
Thomas Malone had a serious case of Rogue worship.
It was far more common than Evan had ever expected. Even though he’d never revealed his identity, rumours abounded, and he’d heard plenty of chatter about himself. There were a lot of people, men and women both, who fantasised about being the one to discover the identity of the mystery man—and then being thoroughly debauched by said mystery man. The logic seemed to be that anyone as competent and dashing as the Rogue must surely be an outstanding cocksman. Evan was an outstanding cocksman, but that had nothing to do with being a spy and everything to do with plenty of experience and some excellent teachers along the way.
But it wasn’t something he’d expected from his strait-laced, sensible captain.
Thomas was still watching him, eyes dark, and Evan was sorely tempted just for a second to try and coax him into his bed right now. But then Thomas let out a jaw-cracking yawn that had Evan yawning, and really, if he was going to seduce the man, wouldn’t it be better to do it when they were both fresh and well rested? He got the impression he’d get exactly one chance to impress Thomas, and he didn’t want to waste it. He’d rather avoid the embarrassing possibility of falling asleep with someone’s cock in his mouth.
Once had been enough.
“You’re right, of course,” he said, giving Thomas a warm smile. “We don’t want to tip anyone off. But perhaps you can call me Evan when we’re alone.”
And you can use my name when I finally straddle those thick thighs and ride you , he didn’t add.
There would be time for that once they’d discovered who was behind the threat to the king.
“ D id you really have to kill Calthrope?” Leopold asked, arms folded as he rested his arse against the edge of the kitchen table in the deserted cottage.
“I really did. He had a vial of hemlock and refused to give me any information about who it was for. And given the circumstances, I needed to shut him up immediately.”
“Circumstances?” Felix asked, his head snapping up from where he’d been resting it on the tabletop. “What circumstances?”
Evan blew out a long breath. He’d hoped to sort of… glide past the part where he’d been caught, but obviously that was a vain hope. Not much got past Felix. “I was caught out while I was interrogating him, if you must know. And since I wasn’t sure how that was going to turn out, I thought it best to kill him so that if it went badly for me, at least the job was done.”
Leo straightened up. “What do you mean , you got caught out? You don’t get caught. That’s the whole point of you.”
Evan flapped a hand at him. “In my defence, that captain of yours is very light on his feet for a big man. I was busy trying to make sure you didn’t get killed when he snuck up on me and put a knife to my throat.”
“Excuse me?” Leo’s eyes widened. “ Thomas got the drop on you? What did you do?”
“Well, I snapped the viscount’s neck, obviously, and then when the captain saw it was me, he sort of… figured it out from there.”
Leo sat suddenly in a rickety chair and rested his head in his hands and groaned. “Please tell me you didn’t kill Thomas? Or tie him up somewhere and leave him there?”
“What? No.” Evan sat opposite him. “I gave him the choice of keeping his mouth shut and helping with the body or having his throat cut. He chose to help with the body. He’s incredibly strong and very good in a crisis, did you know?”
Leo lifted his head and glared at Evan. “Of course I know. That’s why I put him in charge. Tell me what happened next.”
“Well, long story short, Thomas threw the viscount’s body down the stairs for me. It was very impressive. Later I went and found my poor dear friend Stephen, who tragically fell to his death on the back staircase.”
“And did you search his room?”
Evan rolled his eyes. “Please. Of course I searched his room. And the body. But I didn’t find anything except a drawing. So now we’re trying to figure out who else was involved. We suspect the ambassador for Falsmark.”
“We?” Leo asked.
“Well, since Thomas knows what’s going on, I’ve asked him to help me keep an eye out for suspicious activity. He’s already proven rather useful. Nobody will give him a second look since he’s the captain and he’s always around the place, and people assume that because he’s big he’s not all that smart, when nothing could be further from the truth. He’s very clever.”
Felix raised an eyebrow. “Not to mention handsome.”
“Is he?” Evan said airily. “I hadn’t noticed.”
Felix snorted. “Liar. You’ve been watching him for weeks.”
Damn. Evan had thought he’d been subtle. Then again, this was Felix. “Fine,” he huffed. “He’s a strapping great draught horse of a man and I want to ride him into the sunset. Happy?”
Felix grinned. “Very. I like seeing you smitten.”
“I’m not smitten. I’m attracted. There’s a difference.” Evan wasn’t sure why he felt the need to defend himself.
“Stop meddling, sweetheart. I’m sure Evan can take care of his own affairs,” Leo said.
“Exactly,” Evan said. “Besides, I’m more interested in finding out who’s trying to kill you than anything else.”
“You’ll figure it out,” Leo said. “You’re the best there is.”
Evan couldn’t help the surge of pleasure that rolled through him at Leo’s praise. He knew his cousin had faith in him, but he was so used to people rolling their eyes and calling him an idiot that it still shocked him to hear a compliment spoken aloud.
Warmth curled in his chest alongside a fierce determination to do whatever it took to eliminate the threat. He couldn’t imagine what it must be like to have the responsibility of an entire kingdom on your shoulders, and he’d always been quietly grateful that Leo, and not he, had inherited that burden.
No, he was happier behind the scenes—and if that meant playacting at making a fool of himself to keep his family safe, that was a price he’d happily pay.
Besides, at least there was one person who’d stopped underestimating him now that Thomas knew he wasn’t as dense as he appeared. Not that it mattered what Thomas thought. It was just… nice not to be dismissed for a change, that was all.
It had nothing to do with Evan wanting to impress the man.
Nothing at all.
He pushed his chair back from the table and stood. “I’m going back to bed. I’ve only had three hours’ sleep.”
Felix and Leo stood as well, their chairs scraping the stone floor, and stepped outside into the predawn darkness and disappeared into the gloom, heading up the road to the castle.
Evan waited until they were well out of sight before following them, and by the time he got to the side door that led through to the kitchens and nodded at the yawning guard there, the first streaks of daylight were painting the sky pink.
Once in his room, he kicked off his boots, stripped out of his clothing, and climbed into bed, too tired to bother with a nightshirt. He let out a relieved sigh as he pulled the quilt over his naked body and tried to sleep. His mind kept circling back to the earlier events of the night as he tried to see what he might have missed. But it was a fruitless exercise, and in the end Evan pushed those thoughts aside and chose to turn his attention to something much more pleasant.
Thomas was attracted to him.
That much had been clear from the disappointment on Thomas’s face when Evan had said he was teasing about seducing him. He wasn’t sure why he’d said that and a part of him regretted it. What if Thomas took him seriously?
Then again, it had proven that Thomas was interested. And now that Evan knew Thomas was attracted to the Rogue and the Duke of Ravenport both, he was far more confident in his chances of charming his burly captain into bed.
Evan was eager to get his hands on all that glorious muscle, but he was also determined to take things slowly. He’d flirt and tease and make a game of it, letting the anticipation build. He got the impression that Thomas would enjoy that—he’d certainly seemed to enjoy their flirting so far. And when Evan finally did seduce Thomas, it would be all the sweeter.
He was starting to suspect that underneath his efficient exterior, Thomas had an adventurous streak that was just crying out to be explored, and it would be such fun to unleash it.
Evan couldn’t remember the last time he’d had a lover just for fun, but he was looking forward to it. It would be refreshing to bed someone without having to stay alert and check their pockets afterwards for once, or to extract information from them in their post fucked-out haze before sneaking away. To be able to curl up beside a solid bear of a man and take the time to enjoy his own fucked-out haze without worrying about concealed weapons.
Would Thomas’s position as a captain translate to being bossy in bed? Or would he be someone who was happy to relinquish responsibility for a change and let Evan be in charge? Evan couldn’t decide which he’d prefer.
But he couldn’t wait to find out.