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“What are you going to do with your share?” Eveline asked with a smile, her eyes hungrily raking in the pile of gold and jewels before them.Their informant’s word had turned out to be much more valuable than what they’d paid for it. It was as if the shop had been begging for them to rob it; the layers of protection offered by the multitude of locks on the front and rear doors rendered useless by a single unlatched third-story window. Eveline had scaled the wall without so much as breaking a sweat.The take was more than they could possibly have hoped for. Usually, the jobs she took were hardly worth the risk. Sneak into a wealthy mark’s house, relieve them of their most prized possession, and get out without being seen. The coin Eveline made fencing the pilfered goblets and tomes usually amounted to less than the bounty on her head. Perhaps she should stage a jailbreak, she thought to herself. An accomplice could collect the gold whilst she slipped quietly out of her cell.She wouldn’t have need of that for a very long time, though.A smile curled Cantarella’s crimson lips as she plucked a ruby from the hoard like a ripe cherry and examined it in the torchlight. “I don’t know,” she said, her words colored by the hint of a lingering Nilfgaardian accent. “But whatever it is, it shall be spectacular.”“What’s spectacular are these necklaces,” Eveline quipped with a grin. She lifted one from the pile with a delicate finger, an ostentatious affair of wrought silver, onyx, and rich green emeralds. She slipped it round her neck and posed for her partner. “What do you think?”“Mmm. It’s lovely.” Cantarella stepped close to her, running a fingertip along Eveline’s jaw. “It accents your collarbone wonderfully.”“I saw one I liked for you as well.” Eveline broke away and scooped a second necklace from the cache. It was constructed of rich gold filigree that would have put the Duchess of Toussaint herself to shame and was studded with garnets, polished Nazairi cinnabar, and pink morganite. Indeed, the whispers she’d heard in the criminal underground said that Anna Henrietta ordered from this jeweler regularly. His great-grandfather was rumored to have designed the Heart of Toussaint. Now that would be an heirloom worth risking her neck to steal. It really was a shame it had vanished.Eveline put her arms around Cantarella’s neck and closed the delicate clasp of the necklace, arranging it lovingly on her chest. “There. Lovely.”“I must admit it’s quite stunning,” Cantarella said approvingly. “I still find it hard believe the old fool didn’t even have these locked up. I’m ashamed to say my skill with locks is getting rather rusty. I’m going to end up spoiled.”“That’s something to worry about later. I, for one, would like to enjoy our spoils before we have to fence this all away.”“And how do you propose we do that?” Cantarella asked, her voice taking on a sultry note as she gazed at Eveline through kohl-smudged eyes.Eveline had to give her credit. Thief, spy, master seductress—Cantarella wore many faces and she wore them flawlessly. She’d long given up hope that she’d ever learn her real name, let alone one true thing about her life.“Come now,” she said, gesturing widely at the heap of gold and gems before them. “How often does one have the opportunity to fuck on a pile of money? It would be a travesty to pass it up.”Cantarella threw back her head and laughed, the sound echoing back at them from the walls of the abandoned warehouse they were using as their hideout. “Well, since you’ve put it so eloquently…”Eveline was already tugging at the laces of her corset, loosening the ties just enough to slide it from her body. She caressed Cantarella’s breast, the soft curves of her form lit appealingly by the warm light of the torches that guttered on the wall. Cantarella leaned in and kissed the pointed bow of her lips, her hands tangling in Eveline’s short hair.Her mouth was warm and sweet. Eveline lost herself in the taste of her, throwing herself blindly into the moment. One had to, in this business. You never knew if you’d be in a position to savor the next.She gasped when Cantarella bit her lip hard, tugging on her hair at the roots in the same moment. “You don’t have to be so cruel,” she admonished, pulling back.“And you don’t have to be so clothed,” Cantarella shot back with a smirk. She stepped out of her leggings and laid back on their pile of glittering treasure, wearing nothing but the necklace Eveline had placed around her neck.Eveline made quick work of her own blouse and trousers, following Cantarella’s lead and leaving the jewelry in place. Their discarded clothing puddled in a heap on the floor as she turned to join Cantarella and abruptly broke off laughing.The spy had positively covered herself in purloined jewels. Sapphires, gold, platinum, rubies the size of goose eggs—bangles gleamed at her wrists, rings were stacked on all her fingers. In her hair gleamed a golden comb inlaid with pearls and diamonds.“We might as well enjoy them before we’re obliged to set them free.” Cantarella dangled a circlet of woven silver vines and leaves, inlaid with chunks of jade that had been carved into roses. “Don’t you wish to be queen for a day?”“Queen doesn’t suit me,” Eveline said, but rested the circlet atop her head nonetheless. “They’re terribly stiff. I’d find it hard to make a living as a contortionist.”Cantarella laughed, the sound of it rich and enticing. “Then I’ll be the queen,” she said. “And you can grant me a private performance.”Eveline bit her lip in anticipation as she climbed astride her, her thighs on either side of Cantarella’s freckled face. She sighed at the surprisingly strong grip of her slender fingers on her thighs. At the warm touch of her skilled tongue against her already slick cunt. She moaned, her hands straying to her own breast and squeezing as Cantarella’s tongue laved over her. Gold and precious gems gleamed all around, as if they were in a dragon’s lair.“I suppose I can grant you a free performance, my lady,” Eveline gasped, running her hands down the creamy freckled skin of Cantarella’s stomach to her thighs. She bent down and pressed a kiss to the soft curve of her mons. Her delicate skin was shaved smooth as that of a marble statue, as was the fashion in Nilfgaard these days. Eveline savored the petal soft texture of Cantarella’s skin against her lips before dipping her tongue into the hot wetness of her cunt.Cantarella moaned against her as Eveline explored her with her tongue. She’d prided herself on this talent, on being just as flexible in bed as she was on the job. The sounds of pleasure she stole from her lover were their own reward, as Cantarella arched her back and gasped. Her own ministrations to Eveline grew wilder, more insistent, as she slowly came apart under Eveline’s touch.Eveline ran her hands over the curve of Cantarella’s arse and up the small of her back, massaging her gently as she flicked her tongue just so. Pleasing any lover was just like picking a lock; find the right pins and—Cantarella keened into her, her legs trembling as she came. Eveline smiled to herself in satisfaction as she swirled her tongue across the sweet, delicate flesh, feeling the aftershocks that rippled through her. She tasted of desire, of sweat and the faint cinnamon perfume that clung to her skin. Cantarella clung to Eveline’s thighs, renewing her efforts as the acrobat sat up, wiping her mouth and grinding her hips down against Cantarella’s tongue.She closed her eyes and focused on the heat between her thighs, on the slip and clink of the gold that shifted beneath her knees as they moved, on the soft sounds of satisfaction that still escaped her lover every now and then.Cantarella was a fast learner. She copied and mastered the same technique Eveline had used on her, flicking her tongue in a way that made Eveline tremble and an exhilarated sigh slip from her lips. Pleasure built in her like a wave, and she could no longer help rocking her hips in time with the steady rhythm that Cantarella set for her. It grew until she felt she could no longer bear it, biting her lip as her breathing grew ragged.Heat rose to her face as the wave finally broke. Eveline cried out and spasmed, pleasure shooting through her from her core. Cantarella carried her through it as she gasped for air, only stopping when Eveline at last rolled aside and stretched out on the pile of treasure beside her.“That,” Cantarella remarked, “Was quite the performance.” She smirked as she wiped Eveline’s cum from her face, licking her fingers in a way that sent shudders through Eveline anew. She dug through her pile of discarded clothing for a pot of lip color and painstakingly reapplied it, correcting the smudging Eveline had caused.Eveline pulled her in close and kissed her, tasting herself mixed with the sweetness of Cantarella’s lips. “We should work together more often,” she said, lying back on the gold and running her fingers along the lines of the bejeweled necklace she still wore. “Together, we’d bring the Northern Kingdoms to their knees. Perhaps we could steal the crown jewels of Emhyr var Emreis himself.”“I don’t doubt that,” Cantarella replied, now combing out her hair with her fingers and weaving it back into a knot. She slid the bangles from her wrists and dropped the rings she wore, one by one, back into the hoard.Eveline’s vision grew dim and fuzzy as contentment spread through her. If she hadn’t know better, she’d have thought she was just drifting off to sleep in post-coital bliss. But she did know better. And the job wasn’t yet done.“You poisoned me,” she said in an accusatory tone, her tongue suddenly clumsy in her mouth.“Don’t worry, darling. You’ll awake in a few hours no worse for the wear. No patrols will come this way until dawn.” Cantarella sighed, leaning in close and caressing Eveline’s face as sleep rose up to overtake her. “You lovely thing. I almost regret it. Almost.”Cantarella pressed a gentle kiss to Eveline’s lips, and then there was darkness.
~~~~~~
When Eveline awoke, she was clothed and the torches lining the walls had all but gone out. The pile of treasure was much smaller than it had been before, but not entirely gone. A letter sat atop it, sealed with a rose embossed into red wax.She sat up groggily and rubbed her temples, willing away the headache that threatened to hammer her skull like an anvil. The seal crumbled when she broke it, the parchment crinkling under her fingers.
Eveline—
I was sorely tempted to take the lot and leave naught behind for you, but my heart got the better of me. Call me sentimental. You’ll find every oren of your share is exactly where you left it.
I did so enjoy our time together. Perhaps our paths will cross again someday. I shall think of you fondly until then.
Remember this always—never work for free.
Yours,
Cantarella
A smile curled Eveline’s lips as she read the words, which were written in an elegant, sloping hand.Next time. Next time there’d be hell to pay.