Free Archer's Lady: Bloodhounds, Book 3 by Moira Rogers

lured her into his gang of thugs. An unbelievable reward for a small sacrifice, and no hint that no one who joined his crew left alive. For all their noble intentions, had the Guild been any better? They’d preyed on a man’s desperation, only to trap him into a life of hardship, loss and violence.
    Swallowing, she touched her fingertips to his lips. “When I was seventeen, I was turned out onto the street by my employer. I was hungry and desperate, but still not willing to sell my body. So I struck what I thought was a very clever deal with a very charming man, and was too young and stupid to realize I’d sold my soul instead.”
    His eyes were deep, dark. “You don’t have to tell me. It’s enough to know you would.”
    Grace closed her eyes and pressed her forehead to his cheek. “I hurt so many people. The world had crushed me, so I decided to be the villain instead of the victim. I like to tell myself that I left because they found a line I wouldn’t cross, but I left to save myself. I’m a lying, cheating survivor, and if you hadn’t found me in the stable the other morning, I might have abandoned everyone here to save my own skin.”
    “If that were true, it would’ve been the first time you’d gone out there to saddle your horse. The only time.”
    She laughed helplessly. “Don’t forgive me. I have so many sins, and for years I’ve had no one to judge me for them. No one who even knows what they are.”
    His thumbs brushed her cheeks. “I don’t want to know so I can judge you. I’m not fit for that, anyway. It ain’t fitting, that’s all. Having no one who really knows you.”
    “No, perhaps it’s not.” He cradled her face as if she were something precious. Tender sweetness in the hands that had dealt such instant, vicious death, and if anyone could know her and not hate her… “The line wasn’t stealing money, or blackmail. I sweet-talked men right into their clutches. Only talk, at first, but you get numb to it. The bits of yourself you’re giving up.”
    “Later, Grace.” He soothed her with a nonsensical murmur and drew her down for a kiss. Soft and slow, just warm lips against hers and his thumbs stroking her cheeks as if he could wipe away tears she’d shed in years past.
    He slid his lips to her jaw, and his voice emerged in a rasp. “I’ll figure it out, the cipher. I’ll save your home.”
    She didn’t want the reminder. She didn’t want to think about her own recklessness or how much it would hurt to go back to the lies and the masks. Sinking her fingers into his hair, she tilted her head back. “I want to be in your bed. Every night.”
    “You will be,” he swore. “Mine—for now.”
    Oh, she was getting greedy. But she’d thrown away all caution and sense, so why bother with dignity and pride? “I want you to show me the things I’ve never had. What sex is like when it’s as much about a woman’s pleasure as a man’s.”
    His chest shook beneath her. “I thought I’d already done that. I really did.”
    Grace laughed, and couldn’t remember the last time she’d done so with such freedom. “Yes, you’ve given me a taste for it, and now you’ll have to indulge my curiosity. It’s your own fault.”
    “I’ll live.” He rested his head against her cheek and sighed again. “We’ll have to talk to Diana about these papers. There has to be some clue, something Doc Beale told her. Maybe she doesn’t even know it’s important.”
    “I know.” She stared at their reflection in the window. Night had fallen, and the moon was too close to dark to cast much light. The reminder kindled nervousness in her belly as she turned to kiss his head. “It isn’t long until the new moon.”
    He tensed before huffing out a nervous laugh. “No. Though if it’s the focus of a woman’s pleasure you want, there’s really no better time. Not with a bloodhound.”
    The little Diana told her about the new moon painted a picture of unchecked desire. The crazed need to