Thick as Thieves by Tali Spencer

for that.
    One of Vorgell’s great fears had been that one of his Scurrian band brothers might recognize his secret desire. His rigorous keeping of that secret was why he had never sought to be penetrated even by one of the whores who would have done so only for the coin. Whores talked. Warriors talked also, and not many held men who enjoyed being fucked in high regard. All the more reason for him to be happy, then, because Madd’s opinion of him did not appear to have suffered.
    In the sleepy gloom preceding dawn, it occurred to Vorgell that Madd knew what it was like to be scorned for taking a cock in his ass. The men who’d done so had only cared for their own needs. They hadn’t cared what Madd wanted. No more than Vorgell had upon first seeing him in the tower and being smitten by the prospect of planting his cock in a pretty man’s ass. No wonder Madd fought so hard. He didn’t want to be under other men; his desire for men was to set the pace of lovemaking, and to have them under him. Madd had even been careful about it, considerate.
    Vorgell leaned in so he could smell the lingering scent of yesterday’s cleansing herbs in Madd’s hair, the soft ends tickling his nose. If Madd needed to be free of the baron, Vorgell would do whatever it took to help him. As he moved, he heard a creak of wood. A subtle creak, not from the bed or door… though it was near the door… or even a floorboard.
    They were not alone.
    Already regretting that Madd’s head rested on his knife hand, Vorgell raised his head. The predawn light was so weak it barely filtered past the oilskin covering the room’s one window, but it was enough to reveal someone sitting in the room’s only chair.
    “Madd,” Vorgell said. He gently shook his sleeping partner.
    He never took his eyes off the seated figure, taking note of a strong-featured face framed by short black hair and a neat beard. Bushy, full brows punctuated by two piercing dark eyes. He couldn’t see anything of the clothes the man wore, other than that they were dark also.
    Madd propped himself upright and blinked at their guest. “Tagard,” he said in greeting.
    “Maddog and… friend. Got yourself a big one this time, I see. Sure that’s wise?” Tagard had a pleasant voice, deep but soft, with the texture of morning.
    “My problem, not yours.”
    Tagard’s smile touched his eyes. “Everything in Thieves Wart is my problem.” He pointed to the bundle Madd kept on the floor beside the bed. “What’s that?”
    “Cloak of shadows. I got it off Ibeena. Bought it fair.”
    “So I hear. Gold got from the Sun Virgin Ciusla and her husband Thencu Lustre, perhaps? And I heard two bounty hunters died in Tanner’s Row yesterday, and two more badly hurt. This man’s doing?” Again Tagard pointed, this time to Vorgell.
    Vorgell sat up taller. “Should have been four dead, but he stopped me from killing them.”
    Tagard’s smile flashed white. He still had good teeth, which was rare in a man his age. “Maddog knows my rule. Never cause more death than needed to do the job. Leads to trouble. None of us need more trouble than we already have, and I suspect you don’t either.” He rose and gave them both a long look. “Dress. Let’s go to the water, talk in the open. Talk in the light.”
    They dressed without a word. Vorgell followed Madd’s lead. If Madd trusted this man, then so would he. He was standing beside the door when Madd picked up the package with the cloak of shadows. After a moment, Madd walked over to Vorgell and shoved the parcel into his hands. “It’s ours and it’s going to stay ours,” Madd said. The look he gave Vorgell said if he lost it, Madd would tear out his spleen.
    The alley on which the house was located ended with a plank fence and a gate. A strong odor of garbage filled the air. Past the gate, a dirt path had turned to mud after the night’s rain, and they walked on that through heavy weeds until they came to an old pier tucked behind