“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 wasattractedto 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 certainlyseemed 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 hisownfucked-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.
Chapter Six
Now that Thomas knew Evan was the Rogue, he wondered that he hadn’t seen it before. Granted, Evan did a bloody fantastic job of acting like a brainless, harmless, waste of space, but still. Thomas had always prided himself on his powers of observation, yet he’d missed that Evan’s entire ‘brainless and harmless’ act was just that—an act.
And what was more, he’d never once wondered why it was that wherever Evan went, disaster seemed to follow. Or rather, like everyone else, he’d assumed that Evan was a victim of bad luck rather than the cause of it, and it was simply unfortunate that he was always in the wrong place at the wrong time whenever something tragic happened.
Like a viscount falling down the stairs, for example.
The morning after they’d dealt with the body, Evan had stayed in his bedroom until almost noon. Then he’d wandered into the kitchens like a lost lamb, forlornly asking if there might be something to eat. Thomas had been eating his own lunch, and he’d had to hide a smile when Cook had looked at Evan with something like pity and asked if the poor dear wouldn’t like some cake after the terrible shock he’d had.
She’d actuallycalledhim a poor dear—like he was an orphan or a stray kitten and not a man who could snap someone’s neck in the blink of an eye.
Now that Thomas was in the know, it was fascinating watching Evan swan about the palace, drifting in and out of spaces where he didn’t belong, wearing his absent-mindedness like a cloak that shielded him from prying eyes.
Thomas had thought Evan was handsome before, but now that he knew the man possessed a working brain and a ruthless streak, the seeds of attraction he’d previously felt had only grown, blossoming into both genuine admiration for Evan’s skills and a desire for Evan to hold him down and fuck him stupid—or even better, the other way around, although Thomas was open to whatever was on offer.
Thomas wasn’t sure what that said about him. Surely someone being an infamous spy and a killer to boot should have killed the flicker of arousal he felt? But instead, the flicker was now a roaring flame. All the fantasies he’d entertained about the Rogue were suddenly much more real now he could put a face to the name. When he imagined Evanpinning him down against the sheets—or against the wall, or the table, or any other flat surface—it made his blood heat and his cock stiffen. And when he imaginedhimselfdoing the pinning? His blood ran even hotter.
He was helpless in the face of his attraction.
