As the thief had intended, the chase did end over the wall - but not quite<i>exactly </i>the way he had intended. A clean escape was foiled by the full weight of the Duchess tumbling into him, and when he had tried to push himself up, she drove that same rump he had smacked before, those perky buns directly into his abs, using it as a weapon to finally force him to stay, half groaning, half panting to catch his breath, and a little bit of laughter slipped from between his breaths.<br/><br/>Not that it was a<i>bad </i>way to end the chase. There were worse endings to this than having the leather-strapped beauty grind herself on top of him.<br/><br/>Once she had tugged off his mask, she'd find the thief to be a rather youthful character - not too young, the stubble on his chin indicated he was at least a little matured, but the chiseled cheekbones, the sharp chin, the mischievous energy in his grin and the sparkle in his eyes all indicated he was hardly a world-weary old man. Then again, his energy as he escaped her would have told her otherwise, anyway. His wandering eyes took in the sight of her, and he raised one open palm in surrender, another reaching for her purse. The coin jingled slightly as he lifted it in her sight.<br/><br/>"There are greater treasures than silver," he quipped with that sly grin still plastered across his face.<br/><br/>Without warning, that grin froze and faded as he heard another sound.<br/><br/>Footsteps.<br/><br/>Heavy footsteps on the pavement coming towards the alley.<br/><br/>Just as swiftly, his arm snaked around her back and wrapped her in, pulling her down against him. A finger pressed between his lips and hers as he held her flat against him, on top of him, those pale, firm breasts pressed against his thick linen shirt, enough that she could feel his chest rise and fall with each breath he held. And lower down, she probably felt something<i>else </i>rise up, pressing cloth to her leather.<br/><br/>The sun shone over the wall at just the angle to miss them in the shadows, obscuring them both from vision like this. The footsteps became louder and louder, until two large men stood in front of the alley, looking in, swords at their hips. Their rough jackets and tunics made it clear they weren't guardsmen. They scrutinized the alley for now, though seemed to not have noticed the two of them immediately.<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>