Thick as Thieves by Tali Spencer Read Free Book Online

Ibeena summoned a scrawny lad, ordering water to be drawn and heated, and then she left them alone.
    Vorgell removed his clothes and leaned against the dry, warm wall, arms crossed companionably over his chest. He watched with growing interest as Madd flung off his cloak and began to strip, folding each item of clothing removed before placing it on the room’s lone stone bench. An itch made Vorgell scratch his chin, and he frowned. Perhaps his beard did harbor vermin. It might not be so bad if he bathed, then allowed Madd to trim his hair and beard. Doing so would help his chances. Madd’s bared body, lithe and covered in smooth ivory skin, looked so healthy and tempting he wanted to scoop him up and investigate the rest. His cock plumped with anticipation when he saw Madd’s thumbs hook under the waist of his loin wrap.
    “Stop that!” Madd snapped. After four big pails of hot water, the tub was still far from full.
    “I can’t help it. You’re pretty.”
    “Well, I didn’t ask to be. I didn’t ask for any of this.” The golden collar encircling Madd’s neck glinted in the low light, its serpent-eye jewel seeming to watch Vorgell balefully.
    Vorgell shrugged. “Neither did I.” He indicated his towering body. “I didn’t ask for this, however much my life is tethered to it. But people see me and make assumptions.”
    “Assumptions?” A brittle smile tested the edge of Madd’s mouth.
    “About what I am, what I’m good for. What I must want or not want.”
    “Then we have that in common, don’t we?”
    The scrawny lad returned, helped by a sturdy older woman, each hauling two pails. They poured gouts of steaming water into the tub. It was now half-full, releasing billows of promising warmth. Holding Vorgell’s fierce gaze, Madd flicked his thumbs, sending the loin wrap to the floor. Vorgell perked. His little friend was not so little in the cock. Of course, seeing Madd naked was all his own cock needed to stiffen to full mast.
    Madd, accustomed to the display, just rolled his eyes. The woman and lad, however, stopped to stare. Flushed and wide-eyed, they gaped either from interest or sheer amazement. It was difficult to tell. The woman tittered as she hustled the lad away.
    “Ay! Best tell the mistress! We’ll all want some of this rosy pair!”
    Vorgell stared after the departed servants. “What place is this? A brothel?” Though it smelled of women, the establishment did not have an air of commerce.
    “No,” said Madd. Cock bobbing prettily, he stepped over the rim and eased himself into the tub. “It’s a sanctuary. For witches.”
    Which explained the women. Vorgell knew only the barest bones about Gurgh’s population of magic-wielders. The city was ruled by a boy-king under the sway of a tenuous alliance of powerful princes, mystic priests, and sorcerers who called themselves wizards. He wasn’t quite sure how witches fit in except what he had heard about the coin to be earned collecting bounties. The baron and his soldiers had roundly cursed the lot.
    Exhaling a mighty sigh, Madd sank into the water, arms flung over the tub’s sides and head angled back in pleasure. Vorgell’s mouth watered. His companion was the most alluring creature he had ever seen: glossy black hair flung back from his pretty face and rosy lips softly parted, his bodily perfection reclining languidly with soapy water lapping at sweet dusky nipples. No mere mortal seeing Madd this way could resist wanting to fuck him.
    Answering his rigid cock, Vorgell took a step forward. Madd narrowed his eyes in warning. A change of tactics was in order.
    “Scrub your back?” he offered.
    Madd frowned then nodded. “Sure. But your hand stays on the sponge.”
    Eagerly, Vorgell knelt beside the tub. The two servants arrived again with more water and giggles, and he waited until they had poured the contents over a grateful, purring Madd and retreated. Madd turned over with a happy sigh. Alone again with his quarry, Vorgell