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growing a little older in each one. The sketch of him kneeling in a garden, hands cupping an exquisitely
detailed rose, caught her attention, thoughts flying back to the locket.
A little further on, the nature of the pictures changed. The boy was older, mid-to-late teens maybe,
and nude. Sitting cross-legged and bent over a book, straddling a stool, and the last three stretched out on a
bed. She was definitely not in the habit of perving on underage guys, but there was something incredibly
real about the drawings. Her eyes followed the line of the boy s shoulders, his face buried in folded arms,
to his back, and down to the curve of his ass, legs spread wide up to the shadowed V of his thighs.
It was a testament to Frey s skill that she wanted to reach through the paper and stroke the smooth
skin she could clearly imagine, flawless except for a jagged scar midway up the inside of his left thigh. The
contrast was jarring, and Vanya wondered if it was real or maybe some sort of an artistic statement about
the fallibility of perfection. It would be bad form to ask. It didn t take years of research to figure out that
Frey was an intensely private man. There was no need to rub his nose in the fact that she d just pawed
through his only possessions.
The rest of the notebook seemed to be general sketches of people who had caught Frey s attention in
restaurants or on the street, all technically good, but none with the quiet power of the young man in the
series. Vanya had half-closed the book when she noticed a flap built into the back cover. Slipping the
pouch open, she reached in and pulled out a handful of loose papers. Her gasp was unexpected and
impossible to contain.
Oh my God. It was an inadequate comment when faced with the pictures in front of her. Spreading
them out on the bunk, Vanya touched each one reverently.
The set of four drawings was breathtaking, there was no other word for it. The first two were of her
and Tal, in positions that Frey would never have had any business seeing. Tal between her legs, his hands
tight on her hips, her back arched, eyes closed. The second showed her above Tal, his eyes wide, a smile
curling the corners of his mouth as she leaned forward to kiss him. It should have been disconcerting to see
herself like this. Instead it was just plain hot.
Vanya s hand trembled as she touched the last two drawings. These had to have come out of Frey s
imagination. For all her teasing and not-so-secret lusting she hadn t held out a great deal of hope that
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S. Reesa Herberth and Michelle Moore
Tal would kiss Frey. Yet here it was, and every bit as sexy as she d dreamed it would be. The last picture
though, the last picture was hot, and dirty, and everything that made her knees weak. Frey was on his hands
and knees, Tal behind him, fingers digging into Frey s hips deep enough that there were indentations, and
she was below them both, her hair and the look of abandon on her face captured perfectly by the charcoal
shading.
Vanya felt her arousal in a palpable wave, and she had to bite her lip to keep in a whimper. She slid
that drawing from the stack and shuffled the rest back into the sketchbook, setting it with the rest of his
belongings. She felt unaccountably guilty, considering he was their prisoner and it was her job to make sure
he wasn t carrying anything dangerous or illegal. It was just that the two things she happened to be taking
were neither dangerous nor illegal.
The walk back to their quarters had never seemed quite so long, guilt adding weight to each step.
Once the door closed, Vanya dropped onto their bed with a groan. Capturing Frey was supposed to be a
coup, a culmination of years of work. Why then was life only getting more complicated now that they had
him?
Mindful of the drawing, she fell back against their pillows. Her hand brushed the silk still hanging out
of the pocket of her robe, and she rubbed the back of her fingers over the smooth material, closing her eyes
as she let her breathing settle out.
Between the three of them, there had always been a grudging admiration, even a certain playfulness
that made the chase that much better. She d long ago recognized that while Tal knew what to do with the
attentions of a willing partner of any gender, the titillating pigtail-pulling that Frey managed with them left
Tal as confounded as he d been when she first met him. Seeing what she wanted to be the truth in that
drawing was dangerous, and it was going to burn them if they didn t watch out.
In short, she and Tal were screwed.
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Chapter Four
The dishes were done, the galley scrubbed to an operating-room level of sanitary, and Tal was getting
increasingly uncomfortable, gaze shifting back and forth between Kellen and the door.
Kellen stretched his legs under the table, his smile the picture of innocence when they bumped Tal,
eliciting a nervous jump on the other man s part. I don t have that many possessions, so I can t imagine
what s taking Vanya this long.
Huh? Tal blinked, wresting his attention back to Kellen, who shrugged.
I only had the one bag. And it s not like I crept around the ship hiding things while you two were
asleep. It was entirely too easy. He was pretty sure that thought hadn t occurred to either of them, and
watching the light bulb come on in Tal s head was more amusing than it should have been.
I don t know how you would ve had time, what with all your redecorating. He was trying for a sour
expression, but Tal wasn t someone who hid emotions by nature, and it didn t take much to see that it was
mostly a front.
True. And it s not like I m known for being quick on my feet or anything.
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