“To a long lasting friendship,” I grin as I raise my tankard.Until death do we part.
The entire room drinks.
And Mr Bailey collapses against the table.
For a moment, there’s frenzied panic. Chairs scrape along the ground. Men yelp as metal tankards clatter to the floor. Eventually, one by one, their throats constrict, and they fall forward, faceplanting onto the table.
Rossi’s the last to go, wheezing as he grips the handle of his tankard.
“You-you,” he rasps, pointing a bony finger towards my chest. “You p-poisoned the drinks.”
“Not me, actually.” I smile smugly again. “And the poison was on the rim of your tankard, not in the drink.”
The scowling man hurls out a string of obscenities, but before he can finish he turns blue and falls sideways off his chair. Then, after a few quiet gurgles, he’s dead – just like the rest of them.
Chest burning, I finally exhale. This job wasn’t dangerous. I’d built up far too much rapport with Bailey for him to see me as anything other than a walking bank. And even if any of his buddies did have their suspicions, Bailey always had the final say.
But I’ll admit I wasn’t expecting the dread I felt bringing Ruby in here, or the possessive rumble in my chest I felt anytime I caught someone else staring.
Speaking of, Ruby’s breath quickens as she stirs against my chest.
“Darling?” I whisper. Everyone’s dead so there’s no point keeping the roleplay going, but I don’t care. It’d feel wrong to call her anything else.
Slowly, my princess lifts her head as she blinks the sleep out of her heavy eyes.
“Kaz?” she croaks, but then she stiffens upon noticing the state of the room.
Her lips part, but I’m quicker. I clamp my hand over her mouth before a piercing scream tears from her throat.
“It’s alright, Ruby. Hush. Listen to me. It’s alright,” I soothe, one hand muffling the scream while the other rubs calming circles on her back. “You’re safe here. It’s done. Everything is alright.”
I keep repeating those words, over and over, until eventually her screaming is replaced by a quiet whimper. Then, gently, I lower my hand.
“They’re all… d-de…” she sputters. “Did you…” Her voice trails off as she turns to face me. “What happened?”
Something cracks within me to see her like this. “Let’s not go into the details here,” I reply, suddenly desperate to take her far from this place. “Besides, we shouldn’t stay here too long. It’ll get messy if we’re discovered like this.”
Ruby’s mouth opens, but she shuts it again just as quickly.
“Can you stand?” I ask.
She nods, then lifts her legs from mine, almost stumbling in the process.
“Let me help,” I say, scooping her up and pressing her against my chest. She squeaks but doesn’t protest, relaxing in my arms as she wraps her own around my shoulders.
“Close your eyes,” I tell her.
Lower lip trembling, she shakes her head.
“Just trust me,” I breathe.
As I hold her tight, my fingers absentmindedly stroke her thigh. Her breath quickens, and I can’t help but smile as she quickly shuts her eyes.
“Good girl,” I say, chest rumbling. Really, she’s not the only one getting flashbacks. Just touching that forbidden place between her hips was like stroking rose petals. Stars only know how good it’d feel to have my cock buried inside her.
It doesn’t take long to whisk Ruby back through the crowds and out onto the street behind the tavern. Meera’s already there along with Bertie and the rest of the gang. They each pass me nods as they hurry to prepare the wagon – all except for Meera who shakes her head upon seeing Ruby still in my arms.
“Different worlds,” she mouths, before turning her focus back to unlocking the wagon’s doors.
