Chapter 1 #2
“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 whatever man 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.”
Penny jerked back from Greer, shaking off his lust and rewarding his pupil with a congratulatory smile. “You were brilliant,” he told the lad, ignoring Greer as he straightened and tugged his coat around to hide the bulge someone as young as Richie didn’t need to see.
Penny approved of the gesture. His aim was to teach young lads the skills they would need to survive the world they’d been born into without sacrificing their bodies and their pride. He did not want to lead them into an entirely different sort of vice. Not at Richie’s tender age, at least.
“Let’s see,” he said, holding out his hand to Richie.
Richie proudly presented the silk handkerchief. “It was easy,” he said with all the swagger that would make him a successful fixture of London’s underworld.
“It was easy because your mark was a boob,” Penny said, ruffling Richie’s hair, then taking the handkerchief from him.
He reached into his pocket to find a few coins to pay Richie for his prize, but a slight movement from Greer that he caught out of the corner of his eye stopped him.
Greer could have walked away, but he was lingering.
Maybe that meant tonight was finally the night he could take a piece of what he wanted from the man.
“Tell you what,” Penny said, handing the handkerchief back to Richie and finding the watch and cigarette case he’d taken as well.
Richie’s eyes went wide as Penny gave them to him.
“You’re ready for your next lesson. Take these to Scotch Pete up at Spitalfields and see what he’ll give you for them.
Tell him they come from me and if he cheats you, I’ll give him what for. ”
“Yes, sir,” Richie said, eyes wide. “Thank you, sir. I won’t let you down, sir.”
Scotch Pete would probably trick Richie into selling the goods for a song, but Penny wasn’t sure he cared at the moment. Not with Greer standing by, watching him with a hunger that made Penny’s balls heavy.
“On your way, then,” he shooed Richie off with a smile. “Bring me whatever you get for those.”
Richie beamed, then pocketed the items and raced up the street toward Spitalfields Market. It would be empty of stalls at that time of night, but there was plenty of other trade to be had, even in the middle of the night.
“Now, we were discussing something,” Penny said once Richie was out of sight, turning back to Greer.
“Were we?” Greer feigned innocence.
Penny smirked, but before he could say anything else, Greer grabbed him and spun to throw him back against the wall. Off on the other side of the street, Gap-Tooth Annie let out a saucy “Ooh!” as Greer slanted his mouth over Penny’s.
Anywhere else in London, the two of them would have been pummeled by the police and charged with gross indecency.
Whitechapel at midnight was another world entirely, though.
They couldn’t exactly be free with their movements, but they had enough leeway for Greer to wedge his leg between Penny’s thighs and to press against his balls and almost painful erection as he ravished his mouth.
“What do you say?” Penny panted when Greer stopped for breath. “Tuppence and I’ll go to my knees for you. A shilling and I’ll let you fuck me up against the wall while I suck on your fingers.”
Greer made a feral sound in his throat, then kissed Penny again. It was wet and messy and uninhibited, and Penny loved it.
“Or,” Greer said, his voice deep and sonorous, “you give me half your take from tonight’s endeavors and I’ll fuck you so good you’ll walk with a limp for a week.”
Penny caught his breath as shivers shot through him. He could already feel a spot of damp on the front of his trousers. The way Greer casually offered him the thing he dreamed about when sucking other men off or when he had someone else balls-deep in his arse was too good to resist.
Except he had to resist. He had more than himself to think about, and lately it’d felt like the noose was tightening around him with each season that ticked past.
“I don’t come for free,” he whispered, casually sliding his hand down Greer’s side to the pocket where he’d put his vesta case.
“You’ll come when I tell you to come,” Greer growled.
Penny’s knees nearly went out from under him. He liked topping as much as anything, but he really loved it when he found a man who could master him and leave him whining for release.
Greer was definitely that sort of man.
“I’ll make you spew before you know what’s happening,” he countered, closing his hand around the vesta case.
Greer made his feral sound again and pushed Penny hard against the wall as he kissed him again. Penny almost forgot where they were and what he was doing as Greer bruised his lips, and especially when he grabbed Penny’s erection through his trousers.
Penny was seconds away from blowing when Greer pulled away.
“If I wasn’t due somewhere else, I’d make you eat your words,” Greer said, eyes blazing with want as he stared at Penny in the lamplight. “And my cock.”
Penny quickly slipped the vesta case into his pocket, eyes glued on Greer’s. “I’ll eat more than that,” he said. “I’ll ruin you for any other mouth forever.”
Greer took a bigger step back, chuckling as he did. “I’ve no doubt you would,” he said, making a show of adjusting himself.
Penny pivoted to lean back against the wall, raking Greer’s body with open lust. The man might have been ten years older than him or more, but Penny had always felt they were the same in all the ways that counted.
“Some other time, then,” he said, biting his full, swollen lip.
“Most definitely,” Greer said.
He touched his hat with a mock formal half-bow, then turned to saunter off.
Penny watched him go, heart hammering and erection taking its sweet time to go down. What he wouldn’t give to have a night alone with Greer O’Toole?
He’d give just as much to have Greer teach him everything he knew about the gentle art of housebreaking, too. Picking pockets was lucrative when you were as good at it as Penny was, but the true treasures of London rested safely within grand houses.
Once Greer was out of sight, Penny pushed away from the wall, turning toward Spitalfields so he could see how Richie was getting on with his errand. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the vesta case as he did.
He stopped as soon as he had it in his hand under the light of a streetlamp. It wasn’t the same case he’d seen Greer take out before. This one was slightly bigger, and it wasn’t silver. It was merely wood painted silver.
Curious, Penny opened it and shook its contents into his hand. A folded piece of paper and half a piece of chocolate fell into his palm. Snorting, he opened the paper to find a note that said, “Sweets for my sweet.”
“Bastard,” Penny chuckled, shaking his head.
He popped the chocolate into his mouth and continued on, insides buzzing and giddy. Greer was toying with him now, but someday, he would be the one playing the tune for his dark Irishman to dance to.