Thieves Among Us-Closed

Smiling he looked across the table at her. If anything she looked more beautiful dressed casually than she did all made up. There was just something about a woman that looked more pure and gorgeous when she was not all dolled up, but still looked like a million dollars.

Rina was one of those women. In fact he was sure she could roll around in garbage for a week and still look great. He wanted to dive across the table, sweep her into his arms, take her to a darkened alley and make her his.

His eyes darkened for a second as he thought of that and then he smiled as they resumed their normal twinkle. "Oh I am sure of nothing," he told her as he reached over an took her hands in his. "However I can but try and see what you decide."

Taking one of her hands he pulled it to his mouth and kissed it then stood up, taking a small bag he had placed near his feet.

"If you have your things then follow me," he said gesturing her to the trolleycar stop. It was only a short ride to the place they needed to start from, then they would take to the rooftops.

Rina smiled as her eyes danced back at him. Picking up her own bag she rose gracefully and began to follow him to the trolley where they hopped aboard with ease. It was crowded this evening and her body ended up flushed pressed against his.

With the exception of a garbage dump, Rina wasn't sure if there was any place he couldn't take her that she wouldn't go with him. It bothered her a little. She had known him for such a brief time and yet found herself not wanting to be without his company.

Phillip pulled her from the trolley and took her hand once again leading her to an alley where they climbed to the rooftop. "Should we change now?" she questioned. She wasn't sure of what they were doing. But the rooftops were one of her favorite places to be.

Phillip smiled. He just couldn't help it. Whenever he was with her he was just so happy. Then he did something that surprised him. he leaned down and kissed her. It was not just a fleeting kiss either, nor a truly passionate kiss, but a semi passionate one. A kiss filled with promise of more to come and stronger passion.

He almost jerked back his head in surprise, but managed to control himself, yet his eyes gave away his emotions. yet he still smiled a confident smile and pointed towards a stairwell.

"My lady. You may change on the other side to preserve your modesty and I will change here. We have a little ways to travel to tonight's target. We could have gotten closer of course but I thought you might enjoy a little run in the moonlight," he chuckled. "That is if you can keep up," he challenged her.

Oh he knew that would get her charged up, and he watched her walk away admiring the way her body moved then began to undress. He had no problems getting almost naked and stripped down to his underclothes without a care. If she chose to peek she would see a very chiseled body in the prime of it's life.His body was in peak condition and though he was not heavily muscled each was well defined.

He had wash board abs, runners legs, well toned arms and a strong chest. In fact in later years he would have a perfect cross training body.

He quickly slipped on his working clothes. Tight fitting and dark grey. Most people went for black but he had found that grey actually blended in better. Sure Black was good in shadow but what about in semi darkness? That was when grey worked best, and black stood out.

Smiling he attached a few small pouches of the same color containing his work tools and then put his bag securely in the shadow of the stairwell. He could come back and claim it if the job was successful tonight, or later if they had to escape.

"I am ready My dear," he called out. "How are you going?"

When he kissed her she found herself leaning in to him and giving her passion through her lips to tell him, even though she hadn't said it, she was his. There was no question in her mind that she belonged with this man.

Rina rolled her eyes "You wish" she called as she closed the door to change regarding his if she can keep up tease.

It didn't take her long to change into her grey tight like pants and long sleeve turtleneck with grey gloves to match. She pinned up her hair under a boys hat. The last thing was to put on her grey belt that she had made to fit pouches for her tools.

Coming out she looked at him. Her out fit outlined her entire shape, and she saw his did as well. He had also chosen grey. It was obvious they had the same mentor.

Bending down she tightened her laces. Standing up she said "Alright hot shot i'm ready when you are .. you lead i'll follow."

Phillip ran his eyes up and down her figure twice. Once was with a professional eye and it went rather fast as he made sure everything was in place, her hair was secured and could not escape, there were no loose threads and that everything was as it should be.

The second look was done more carefully and went a lot slower. He took in every curve, every dip, every line of her body and committed it to memory. It was the first time he had seen her in something that hugged every inch of her body and he smiled at the image he now had of her.

Smiling at her words he gave her a small bow and then ran towards the small drop off on their right. Without stopping he jumped and rolled onto the next buildings roof and continued on, barely glancing behind him. He knew what she was capable of and the path they had to go was akin to walking on a busy street to them.

For the next ten minutes he led her across the rooftops,jumping, rolling, climbing, bouncing from one to the other, laughing as they went. In fact they started to challenge each other to see who could come up with the most extravagant way to cross a divide.

Finally as they approached their target Phillip held up his hand and gestured towards a large mansion. "Well there she is. Monty's Folly. A 1.5 million dollar property that the owner never got to see finished. He kept wanting the best of everything and kept insisting the builders replace things. He died a month before they finished his latest revisions and he was still wanting changes on his death bed."

Chuckling he pointed to the top of the east wing. "See that window? That's our target. Over the rooftops and we meet there. We have to go in separately as the sensors will pick up our combined weight. You go first I will be right behind you."

Rina loved the joy of chasing after him across the roof tops. She certainly enjoyed the view of how those tight pants outlined his perfect ass and his shirt gave away the wonderful chest and shoulders he had.

He was indeed a gorgeous man. When they finally stopped and he explained their target she couldn't help but grin widely at him. She was completely in her element. When he told her she was to go in first she paused. "Do you have a blue print? I don't like going in without having an idea of the lay out."

Studying the plans for a moment. She gave him a quick kiss on the lips and took off like a bolt. In a matter of moments she was in and clear of the sensors waiting for him to join her so she could find out what their target was.

He had stayed behind to watch how she worked and had been impressed. Her approach had been flawless and the way she moved had sent tingles down his spine. She was like a shadow as she flitted from one place to another, not staying long in any one place as some amateurs did but allowing her body movements to become fluid and natural so it did not capture a persons eye.

As he saw her disappear into the window he moved himself, becoming one with the night and moving at vampire speed. It only took him moments to arrive above the window but he waited several seconds before easily swinging himself in and closing it behind him.

"Well my dear you are a thing of beauty when you move. Now let's see how you cope with the inside of the place."

He unrolled the blueprints again and moving away from the window he shone a dull light on them. He pointed out the route he had planned out and the traps and alarms they would have to avoid or disarm.

"This is the layout and our objective is here," he said pointing to the study. "At the moment there should be only the master of the house in, but who knows. I have had the house watched and the signal was he had no company but intel is only so reliable, you know that I suppose," he smiled, "So be ready for the unexpected."

He rolled up the paperwork and gestured to the door. "Well then shall we?"

Rina studied the plans and listened to what he had to say. It was hard for her to not be the one in control. But considering everything she was doing pretty well at it. He worked like she did, which helped exponentially.

They moved like shadows with the quickness and stealth of ninjas. Before too long they managed to make it to the study. Which unfortunately was occupied. The man was on the telephone.

Now it was a matter of waiting until he left the room.

Rina was a marvel. She effortlessly glided by traps, and disarmed the ones she needed to with ease. They worked side by side as if they had been doing it for years and in no time they had made it to the office.

Then they were stuck. The man who should have been in bed and fast asleep was on the telephone. Damn what was going on. He was always in bed by 9 and yet here it was 11 and he was still awake.

He listened in to the conversation with his superior hearing and realized it was a business call, but by the sounds of things it would not be long before it ended.

Smiling he moves up next to Rina and gently places a hand around her waist and pulls her close, then whispering in her ear, "I don't think he will be long. Let's just wait here. Still what can we do to make the wait more bearable," he chuckles barely more than a whisper.

Then turning her head he brushes her lips lightly in a cheeky kiss.

Rina let out a light inaudible gasp as he pulled her to him and turned her head to kiss her cheek lightly. Her eyes danced at him as she turned in his arms facing him wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him with a fiery passion.

Every time she kissed it, it was if she forgot how to breath. Her body molded against his as her heart raced. Hearing a noise she froze and they both melded with the shadow as the owner walked out of his office and to his bedroom.

They listened as he closed his heavy door. Why people shut their bedroom doors when they went to bed she had no idea. Untangling herself from Phillip she was back to business. In no time they were in the office and breaking in to the unbreakable safe. She let Phillip do it since he knew what they were actually after.

Phillip had been surprised at how passionately she had kissed him, but he had returned it never the less. In fact he had become so lost in it he had been surprised when the owner of the house actually walked out of his office.

He should have heard him end his conversation and have been ready but he had been to engrossed with Rina to concentrate on what he was supposed to. He would have to be more careful, although he had not minded it.

Still as they hid and then made their way into the study he could not keep his eyes off her. He had to mentally shake himself and get back into working mode. Playtime could come later if he was lucky, for now he had a job to do, and a surprise that just might help him with those pleasant thoughts.

He had no trouble cracking the safe. In fact he could have done it by touch alone in less than 30 seconds, but he used a doctors stethoscope and a small tuning fork to fool her a little and took two minutes.

As he opened it he smiled at her and then looked inside. The usual jewelry, papers and money greeted his sight, but he was not interested in that. What he was interested in didn't look like much, just a small scroll case that looked old but didn't look all that valuable.

Taking it out he handed it to her and grinned. "I think you might like this. Just be careful when you read it, it is older than that scroll casing it is in."

Reaching down her shirt she pulled out a pouch from her bra and opened it for him to put the scroll in. She examined the markings on the case and her eyes grew wider. "Is this what i think it is?" she questioned in a whisper of utter joy and excitement.

She had been searching for this scroll for ages, it told of a treasure that was considered lost. Very few could read it, and thanks to her benefactor she was one of them. There had been a decoder she had obtained some years ago to go with it. So now there was just one piece that she needed. It was a prism gemstone that was in a museum.

Clearing out the safe of the jewelry, cash and papers, they made their way out the same way they came in. Soon they were back to their rooftop to change back into their regular clothes. "I can't believe you found this, how did you find it?"

Phillip smiled. Oh she was excited alright and if she knew just what else he had in store for her, he wondered just how excited she would be.

"Oh I remembered from our little competition in the museum that you were looking for something like this. So when you challenged me to make the last date something special I just put the word out I was looking for information on anyone who had come into any old scrolls and Voila," he smiled.

He looked at her and then stepped forward, closing the distance to practically nothing between them. "Well that is the first part of the date over with. Whatever shall we do now," he grinned wolfishly.

Rina shook her head and laughed lightly. "From what I've accumulated from woman and their wishes from men I believe you just did something most women would die for. Listen to what a woman says and remember it. From what i've been told it's a rather hot commodity. I wonder how much I could get for you from my fence" she teased.

"I hope you have something else planned, because although this was a wonderful adventure, it hasn't quite topped the second date.. yet"

She smirked at him before getting up on her toes and kissing his nose.

Well actually that was all he had planned, except for his little surprise and it was still to early to reveal that, so he was going to have to do some thinking on the fly. They were going to have to do something that led back to his hotel room, okay maybe not exactly that, but that would be extremely nice. However he did not expect anything like that until after his big reveal.

Oh right then how about they did something like that then.

"Well I must admit, I had thought the heist would take longer, but you are more talented than even I had believed. I was thinking of us maybe having a late supper, but perhaps we could grab some takeaway and then see if we can translate that scroll. I happen to be pretty handy at dead languages you know," he chuckled.

Then looking at her he grinned. "Besides you said the magic word...Treasure. We find it and split it 70/30. You get 30 of course, I mean I found the map," he teased.

She gave him a dirty look when he said 70/30 then laughed for a moment and cocked her head. "I never told you it was a treasure. Which means you know what it is. I don't need your help translating it either I'm pretty sure we've had the same training. Besides we need one more piece before we can go for it. I have the first piece this is the second, and the third is at the museum in France. i could go for something french for dinner." she mused suggesting they should go retrieve it tonight.

Whoops he had overplayed his hand a little, although she still thought the third piece was in France which gave him the advantage still.

"France huh. I guess we can do that, although the place I am staying at has one of the best French trained cooks in all of Britain. Perhaps we should just go there instead. It will save us hours and I assure you there is nothing in France that we can not get there."

He wondered if she would pick up his hint or if she would just argue about the food.

"You have the prisim!" she exclaimed punching him in the arm then shaking he hand because of his rock hard biceps. "You sneak" she accused with a half smile on her face. "You have known since the museum what I have been searching for, knowing you had a piece that I would need."

She was perplexed over whether to be angry at him or excited at this. This was the closest she had come to this treasure since she first learned of it. She paced back and forth a moment before she said.

"Okay we will go to your place but first we are stopping by mine so I can pick up the first piece. Then we will go over them together and catch a flight and find this damn thing. Deal?"

Phillip smiled as she worked his surprise out. It was a pity as he had been hoping to reveal it when he got back there and truly surprise her, but this way worked too. Nodding his had in agreement he stood up and extended his hand to her.

"Well then, shall we go to your place and pick up what we need and then adjourn to my humble abode to work out exactly where we are going. For make no mistake, I am going with you my dear, if only to protect you until I can make you my wife. After all I am hoping this did qualify as a more exciting date than the others," he smiled.

Rina shook her head. "The exciting part is yet to come. It's been years since i had a proper challenge." she was truly excited. He had acquired pieces to help her locate her treasure. Every thief had their golden goose. Once they found it, she would have to fixate on something new. But with him by her side anything was going to be possible.

She gave the rooftops a look and calculated the quickest direction to hers. "Lets go" she said giving him a smile and taking off to the next roof top in the direction she wanted to go. It was with in seconds that he was beside her.

"About the wife thing, don't get to carried away there romeo" she said with a smirk. "I am still waiting to see what kind of proposal you come up with. But yes you have surpassed the other ones simply by making my passion attainable. It was a narrow feat though since it was work vs romance" she let out a light laugh as they continued to head toward her place.

Once they finally made it to her rooftop she showed him the way in. Stopping before he door she had him stand to the side so she could undo the traps she had set. "Take a seat on the couch or something I'm going to pack a bag and grab a few things."

Smiling he looked around at her place. It was nice and had a few nice touches about it that made it hers, but generally it was a lot like his. A plain place that could be left quickly if need be with nothing left behind to tell anyone who had lived there.

His eyes noticed a few more hidden traps and the corner of his mouth moved up in a small smile. It looked like she had taken his training to heart. In fact he could spot several hidden weapons at strategic places around the room, and he was sure there were more in the rest of the place.

As he was glancing around his mind was also going over what he had learned. One, that she did consider this a better date and she was going to consider his marriage proposal, but it better be a good one, not just a one knee, present a ring type of deal. Two, he had fired up her passion again. He had noticed that although her work was truly excellent she had almost been just going through the motions lately. That was why he had wanted to approach her in the first place and get to know her better. Well that and several other reasons that were also becoming apparent.

It looked like this treasure hunt would answer a lot of questions he had, and would maybe open the door to him finding love for the first time in Centuries, and a truly magical proposal for her.

Coughing he called out. "I love what you have done with the place, really brings out it's true beauty," he chuckled. "I wanted to ask about the goal of the map. Do you truly believe the rumor about what is written on it? That there are creatures like that? Vampires?"

"I like to keep things simple" she responded from the other room. "Not really much of a need for stuff, i'm a bigger fan of money." she said with a notable smirk in her voice.

She thought for a moment as she put some clothes in her bag. "I believe that in every story there is a bit of truth that is passed down from generation to generation. The details of the story changes, but the ultimate facts remain in tact."

Coming out of her room with a small bag she smiled up at him. "Yes vampires are real, so are werewolves and witches." Tossing him her bag she smiled and went to the bathroom closing the door behind her she accessed her safe. "There you are" she said coddling her piece of the treasure map.

Placing it in her purse she came out and gave him a smile. "Ok I'm ready, off to your place."

Phillip handed her bag back and smiled. "Well then let's go hunt down some legends then."

Smiling he led her back up to the roof and set off again, taking her across town into the better part of it and towards his hotel. It took them almost quarter of an hour and twice they had to transfer to the streets as they could not get across via the roofs.

Eventually he led them down into an ally and then took her arm and casually strolled out into the street and down a block and into a fancy hotel, nodding at the doorman. Walking into the elevator they traveled up to the fifth floor and he headed down to a room, unlocking it with a key. As he did he gave a whistle and then opened it fully.

Walking in they were greeted by a large dog that looked like it was part wolf. "Allow me to introduce my security system," he chuckled. "Fang this is Rina, Rina, Fang. She is a guest Fang."

The dog came over and sniffed Rina and then as if dismissing her walked back over to a corner and laid down.

Phillip motioned her in and shut the door, then guided her to a table and then disappeared into his bedroom and reappeared with the other part of the map and the prism. "Well her is everything. Now we just need your piece and we can decipher the thing."

Her eyes opened a little as they walked past the doorman to one of the fanciest hotels. She had stolen a few things now and again from marks over the years. But had never thought she would be actually invited into a room, from anyone other then a over zealous hopeful mark.

Rina shook her head at the joke of his security system. It was apparent the dog was a well trained guard dog. From the whistle before he opened the door as a sign to stand down, to using the word guest to define her as an acceptable accessory into his suite.

"A very beautiful security system it is" she replied with a smile. When he reentered with his pieces a excited expression came across her face, like a child that was about to open the greatest present ever.
"Reaching into her purse she pulled out the first part of the map, then reaching into her bag pulled out the deciphering scroll.


"It seems to refer to the place as the birthplace of the eternal demon, hidden where the amazon reaches the mountains. It speaks of death traps, cannibals, and nocturnal creatures that guard the vast accumulated treasure of a vampire pirate."

She smirked "Danger and treasure i love it" she said with a grin. "Here" she said stepping to the side. Double check my translation."

Phillip didn't need the translation scroll to read the notes on the map pieces. He was familiar with the language it was written in. Well he should say languages. It was a mixture of Vampiric and what looked like ancient Spanish or French.

Vampiric itself was an ancient Russian/Germanic/Slavic language that was so old that only true Vampires of a certain age new it any more. When a Vampire was created they were gifted with certain traits and a basic understanding of the language was one of them, but to truly understand it you had to be ancient or study for a long time.

Phillip was both. Still after reading this his eyes did light up. Rina might think they were after gold and jewels, but he had a sneaking suspicion that was not all they would find.

Nodding his head he looked at her after spending a great deal more time than he needed and going back and forth between the map and the reference scroll. "I agree. Looks like we are going on a treasure hunt. Of course that is if our benefactor agrees. Remember he did bring us together for a job."

Of course he knew it would be okay, but better to remind her that she was still not a free agent.