Disclaimer (applies to all chapters): I do not own any characters, places, or objects created by Tamora Pierce. Oh, how I wish I did.

A/N: Finally, I've gotten the first chapter of the sequel up!! This is a sequel to my other fic A Rogue's Gamble and picks up a few weeks after the last chapter of that fic. I recommend you read that one before you begin this one if you haven't already. Enjoy!

Chapter One: Liberties Taken

Gods above!

Never afore had she met such a relentless, frustrating cove in all her days! Mayhap he was the Rogue, but that did not give him the freedom to do whatever he wanted- especially around her. Why, ever since she had returned his kiss all those weeks ago, Rosto the Piper had gotten it into that nob of his that he was now free to take liberties around her. And liberties they were! He flirted, teased, found reasons to touch her…

But the worst thing of all was his frequent attempts to kiss her again. Beka had yet to allow him to do so, but then again she also didn't think he tried too hard. It was almost as if he liked it when she scolded and evaded his reach. He would grin that slow smile of his and laugh. Surely he had taken too many knocks to the head, the cracked looby.

"What do you say to some supper, Cooper? My stomach's growlin' like a bear."

Beka agreed with Tunstall. He still called her Cooper though he had been her partner now for the last few months. It didn't matter anyway; she still called him Tunstall as well. Old habits die hard, or so her Granny Fern always told her.

The two of them remained in companionable silence as they made their way to the Mantel and Pullet, the eatinghouse popular with many Dogs. Besides stopping two attempts at thievings- which were hardly attempts since both times the filchers hadn't even gotten their ticklers on the goods before either Tunstall or Beka approached them with batons out- the way to the eatinghouse was quiet. It was nearing Midwinter and anyone that had any kind of shelter was not foolish enough to be out on such cold nights. The Dogs were allowed a couple more layers to their uniforms to protect them against the chill, but it was not much since they needed to be free to move easily and quickly. Therefore, Beka tried her best not to shiver against the cold air. Her attempt didn't last long.

Seeing her shiver, Tunstall grinned a toothy smile. "You should've taken the jacket."

Beka turned and glared at her large partner. Now that they were partners, she didn't have as many qualms about doing so. Besides, he seemed to revel in bringing up this topic whenever he was in a playful mood- which he was rarely not in, seeing as how it was Tunstall she was referring to.

"He's got stores of clothes, Cooper. He wouldn't give it if it was needed by someone else. Can hardly say as I blame him, as he said, your lips are practically blue."

She scowled at the memory. Tonight was the night that she and Tunstall collected the Happy Bags from the Court of the Rogue. It was also one of the coldest nights they've had since last winter. At first it had been a relief to get indoors. The Dancing Dove was well-kept and, Rosto made sure of it, fires in the hearths well-fed. Everyone inside had looked as comfortable as could be- from young children off the streets seeking warmth inside the Dove to the many doxies who sought out warm embraces as well, to Rosto who sat in his chair in a simple shirt and breeches.

"Well this looks cozy," Tunstall had remarked upon entering the Dove. "Here they say rushers have a hard life, and yet we're the one's doing an honest day's work and freezing our tails off."

Beka couldn't help but reluctantly agree. She shivered as she dusted off some snow from her shoulders.

Rosto had, of course, seen them when they walked through the door but waited until they had reached the place where he sat before he said, "Feel free to take a seat here by the hearth. I wouldn't want my two favorite Dogs to freeze."

Cutting in before Tunstall could agree or not, Beka said, "There's no need. We're perfectly fine."

"Fine?" Rosto had raised his eyebrows as an amused smile tugged at his lips. "Your lips are practically blue, love."

Unnerved by the way his eyes had then fallen to her lips, she muttered hotly, "I'm not your 'love' and my lips are none of your concern."

He had raised his eyes then to hers, a grin spreading over his face. His eyes glittered as they held hers. Finally, he had said, "Perhaps not, but I do know of a way to warm you."

Unknowingly, her eyes had widened with his words and a small flush came to her cheeks. She had opened her mouth to reply but nothing had come out.

Taking obvious amusement in her lack of words, Rosto had chuckled before waving a maid to his side. She disappeared as soon as he had whispered something in her ear.

Meanwhile, two burly rushers had appeared with the week's Happy Bag and had placed it before Tunstall. They had been about to leave, Beka all-too-happily and Tunstall somewhat reluctantly, when Rosto had stopped them. The maid had reappeared with a small bundle in her hands, which she had then handed over to Rosto. After thanking her, he had turned back to Tunstall and Beka. "Here," he had said, holding out what Beka had then realized was a quilted jacket. "Take this as an addition to your Happy Bag."

Beka had then begun to protest, but Rosto had already thrown the garments- there were two she realized- into Tunstall's already accepting hand. She scowled at her partner as he had thanked Rosto, already putting on the jacket that was meant to fit him. He had then tried to give the other to Beka, but she wouldn't take it.

Rosto had smiled with good-humor when the two Dogs had left, laughing- Beka knew- at her refusal to take the jacket.

Gods curse that man, she thought now as they walked to the Mantel and Pullet. And curse my stubbornness, she added as the cold wind hit her face and vastly under protected body. As much as she hated to admit, that jacket was sounding better and better the farther they walked.

Rosto was still chuckling after Beka and Tunstall had left the Dove with the Happy Bag, one of them with a new coat on while the other walked out stubbornly into the cold. Knowing Beka, she wouldn't put on the jacket he had offered her if Mithros himself told her to. The mot was too stubborn for her own good. He saw how her body shivered from the cold when she walked through the door, yet she refused to take the jacket simply because he had offered it to her.

He smiled. He liked a stubborn mot but Beka was taking it a little too far. He wished she would have taken the jacket. Although he could indeed think of more pleasant ways to warm her- like a variety of ways to warm those lips of hers and cease her shivering- giving her a jacket seemed the only, if far less desirable, option.

As his thoughts once again turned to the other ways in which he would most like to warm her- starting by kissing those blue lips of hers, and blue they were- he then found himself thinking back to the last kiss they had shared on the stairs outside her rooms. He had the memory vividly stored in his sharp memory. She had never kissed him back before and he had frozen like a statue the moment he had felt her lips respond to his touch. Mithros above! Like he could ever forget such a moment!

Sadly, ever since, she hadn't let him near enough to kiss her again. Instead of sulking, however, Rosto found the thought oddly amusing. He had pondered over it many times and he had made up many theories as to why she wouldn't let him kiss her again, and many of his reasons looked in his favor. If only he could kiss her again to know for sure. Or, somehow, get Beka to kiss him…

"I don't know what you're smiling about," said Aniki, sitting down next to him, "it looks like it's gonna be a mighty cold winter."

"It can't be any colder than Scanra," Rosto shrugged, his mind elsewhere.

Aniki looked at him and grinned, her smile as deadly looking as one of her many blades. "I wasn't speaking of the weather." She nodded toward the door Beka and Tunstall had just left through.

Rosto glanced over into eyes that sparkled with wicked amusement. Then he reached into his belt and pulled out one of his knives and handed it to her hilt-first. "It needs sharpening," he said, a smile tugging at his lips.

Aniki laughed as she took the blade and thrust it into her own belt. "As do your dealings with mots it seems," she grinned.

His grin widening, Rosto chuckled. "Mayhap, mayhap not," he said, recalling the way Beka's eyes had widened when he said he knew of a way to warm her. Obviously, she had not been thinking of a jacket either, and the thought had clearly flustered her. On the other hand, the thought pleased Rosto to no end…

A/N: Okay well there it is the first chapter of a new story!! Let me know what you thought!

And by the way, for those of you that don't already know, Rowena of Naxen and I have started a Beka/Rosto community and forum here on fanfiction. The community has a collection of Beka/Rosto centered fics that you can look through, and the forum is a place to discuss the pairing of Dog and Rogue that we'd all like to see happen!

Since FF doesn't allow me to post the links here, I can send you the links if you're interested. Otherwise, you can go to the forum and/or community pages to find them. They're both titled 'Beka and the Rogue'.

*Also, Aretina and I have begun a Kel/Dom forum as well (My favorite pairing as is probably obvious from my other fics haha) and you're invited to check that out as well:

It's titled 'All Things DOM' and can also be found on the forum page. Again, if you'd like I can send you the link if you want. I hope to see you there! :D