Lover Enslaved: Thieves of Aurion, Book 1 (26 page)

He looked slightly annoyed with her pointing out the fact. “I’m not a complete greenhorn. I do have a little experience with these things.”

“Oh really? This isn’t the first time you’ve stolen things from professional bounty hunters who’ve accepted big merca to kill you? Should be a normal day’s work for you then.” She paced in front of the bed, her frustration coiling tighter and tighter until the tension threatened to snap.

Dash stepped forward, blocking her path. When she tried maneuvering around him, he cupped her shoulders, holding her firmly in place. “Would you stay still? You’re giving me whiplash.”

His breezy attitude made her want to tear her hair out. “You’re not taking any of this seriously.”

“Yes, I am.” His fingers pressed down, forcing her towards the mattress. Grumbling, she plopped onto the foot of the bed and glared up at him. “But I’m not going to dread over all the nefarious things Baggins will do to me if I royally screw this heist up.”

Mara tucked her hands inside her lap, hiding their nervous fidgeting. “I’m not dreading.”

Dash dropped to a crouch in front of her and tipped her chin up with one finger. “Sweetheart, you’re a worrier of epic proportions. The master poets should write a sonnet about you.”

She blew out a frustrated breath. “I can’t help it. When I think of him possibly hurting you…” The fear welled up again, burning the back of her throat.

“There’s your problem—thinking too much. Fortunately, I’ve a cure for that pesky ailment.” Dash’s fingers curled around her wrists and tugged her upright before nudging her towards the connecting door. “Grab yourself something warm to throw on and meet me outside your door in two minutes.”

“But—”

He leaned down and stopped her words with a quick kiss that made her tingle in inappropriate places. “Two minutes,” he repeated firmly.

Grumbling, she trudged into her room and poked around in the dresser drawers until she located her green wool sweater. After tossing it over her short-sleeved top, she ventured out into the hallway. She didn’t have a long wait. Precisely a minute later, Dash stepped from his room.

“Where are we going?”

“First Jerrick’s taking us to pick up the Cloud Chaser.” He slid an arm around her waist and steered her towards the lift. “Then there’s someplace I want to show you.”

His cryptic response managed to stir her curiosity and temporarily shut her up. Which was probably what he’d planned all along. Sneaky bastard. She followed him outside, where Jerrick waited behind the wheel of a gorgeous red vehicle.

“She’s a beauty.” Unable to resist, Mara stroked her fingers over the shiny lightning bolt racing down the middle of the hood.

Jerrick leaned his head out the window and gave her a thumbs up. “Nice to see some people can appreciate vintage quality.”

“Ignore him,” Dash said, urging her into the backseat.

When they reached Jerrick’s place, Mara fully expected to follow him inside the squat, metal building he mockingly referred to as his hellhole away from home. Instead, he grabbed the computing printout Dash produced from his rear trouser pocket and disappeared down the street.

Dash cupped her elbow. “Jerrick knows someone who specializes in surveillance. We’re hoping he can narrow down which of Baggins’ houses stores the rune.”

“
Houses
?” Mara scrunched her forehead. “Jeez, how many does he have?”

“Five. Apparently bounty hunting is quite lucrative.” Dash straightened the collar of her sweater before buttoning it up for her. “Perhaps I should rethink my livelihood.”

“Right now, I’d be ecstatic if I never had to worry about someone wanting to kill you.”

“You’re thinking too much again.” Before she could protest, he scooped her up and strode towards the Cloud Chaser.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, a bit embarrassed by the stares they received from the group of teens loitering across the street. “In case you didn’t notice, I have two perfectly functioning legs.”

“Oh, I definitely noticed.” His warm palm shifted, curving beneath her thigh. He deposited her next to the passenger door and his grin turned unrepentant when she rolled her eyes at him. “Hop inside. There’s someplace special I want to take you.”

The mystery location he kept hinting at was killing her, but no way would she admit it. Besides, he really seemed to enjoy building the suspense. She didn’t want to deprive him this one tiny joy. Dutifully, she jumped into the Cloud Chaser and kept her questions to the barest minimum while they headed in the direction of the mountains. At least
she
thought she managed to restrain her innate curiosity, but apparently Dash thought otherwise.

“Enough already.” A hearty laugh rumbling from his chest, he eased the vehicle down a narrow dirt road. “It’s a miracle your mouth isn’t smoking.”

“I wasn’t talking that much.”

A fresh spurt of laughter tore from him, earning her glare. Stubbornly refusing to give him any further ammunition against her, she flattened her lips shut. Still wearing his insufferable grin, he shifted into park in front of a tall, bolted fence stretched across the road. Curiosity spiking, she watched him climb from the Cloud Chaser and stride to the fence’s gate. Seconds later, its steel doors swung inward and Dash returned to the vehicle, humming. He shot her a look, clearly waiting for her to ask about the gate.

Hah, I have more willpower than that
. Sort of. They continued down the road a bit until Dash stopped in front of a stand of stately fir trees bending in the wind. He threw the vehicle in park and she stepped out into the pine-scented breeze.

Dash met her at the side of the rutted lane and laced his fingers with hers. “What do you think?”

She remained mute and he chuckled. “Fine, I won’t tease you anymore. Go ahead and speak.”

Good thing he said that, because not talking was the hardest thing she’d ever done. Probably wouldn’t have made it another two seconds. “What exactly am I looking at?”

“Only the best secret hiding spot in all creation.”

“Yeah?” She didn’t bother hiding her skepticism. “It looks like a bunch of trees.”

“What do you think makes it such a top-secret hiding spot?” With a squeeze of his fingers, he urged her to follow him into the deep woods.

“What about the Cloud Chaser?” She glanced over her shoulder. “If someone decides to drive past that gate you left open and spots it, your super-duper hiding spot won’t be so super anymore.”

“Not many people venture out here. And those who do don’t stick around long enough to do much exploring.”

She still wasn’t convinced gallivanting around a dense patch of woods was something she wanted to do. The last time she communed with nature, she ended up swinging in a Gromache snare. She peered at the fluffy clouds scudding across the sky. “You know, I think rain might be coming in. Not to mention I invited Avily to dinner. It’d be really rude if I stood her up.”

“There’s not a drop of moisture in those clouds. And I promise we’ll be back long before dinner. Now quit your stalling.” His eyes sparkled with challenge. “Unless you’re too chicken to go into the scary woods with me.”

Though she knew she was walking straight into his evil trap, she tugged free of his grip and stalked into the thicket of trees. An owl hooted overhead and she tried her damnedest not to jump. Dash’s low chuckle clearly pointed out that she wasn’t fooling him in the least.

“You might want to stick close to me. The path is a bit tricky to find.”

Supremely grateful he’d given her an excuse to latch onto him, she slowed until the warmth of his hand settled around hers again. They journeyed a few yards beyond the tree line when they came upon a large block of stone with strange symbols chiseled on its surface. When she asked Dash about it, he mumbled some vague answer about it being an offering altar before he dragged her away from the object.

A few paces later, the pitch of the terrain sloped downward and the path dropped off into space. Leaning over the plateau she stood on, Mara stared down at the gulch twenty or so feet below her. Dash jumped over one of the boulders protruding from the hill’s face and stretched his arm towards her.

“Uh, fun as this is, maybe we should be getting back.”

“But you haven’t seen the best part yet.” He waggled his fingers in entreaty.

Sighing, she let him lead her down the steep incline. At the base, she realized the small hill they’d just climbed over was actually a cave. With some trepidation, she stared at the slab of marble resting outside the cave’s rocky entrance. It was an exact duplicate of the one they’d stumbled upon back at the start of the woods.

“Okay, what the hell is that thing?” Plunking her hands on her hips, she frowned at Dash. “And don’t think you’ll appease me by saying it’s an offering altar again.”

“But that’s exactly what it is. People leave offerings on them.” His gaze shifted away, making her suspicious.

“An offering for what?” She stalked towards the mouth of the cave. A fierce growl rumbled from its depths and she jumped nearly ten feet in the air.

Shrieking, she spun towards the path they just descended and scrambled to gain purchase on the jutting boulders. Dash’s fingers latched into the belt loops of her pants, dragging her off the hillside.

His chuckle floated past her ear, breaking through her adrenaline frenzy. “I think you reached warp speed.”

Eyes widening in panic, she stared over his shoulder. “Come on, we’ve got to get out of here.”

“No, we don’t. The sound you heard was only a recording. You triggered a motion sensor placed near the altar.”

He smiled and she pinched him in the center of his chest hard enough to earn his yelp. “You might have told me that sooner. Like before I walked up to the cave.”

Dash rubbed the area where her fingers tweaked him. “I was going to, but you moved too quickly. I didn’t have time to warn you.”

He sounded genuinely apologetic, but she wasn’t quite ready to let him off the hook. Maybe in a year or two—if he was lucky. “Why the hell are scary recordings coming from that cave?”

“It’s all part of the cover Jerrick and I devised. They go along with the orgeel offering altars.”

“
Orgeel
?” She took a step back.

“Relax, there aren’t any in the area.”

“How do you know for sure? Have you checked every single cave in these woods?”

He ducked his head in weary resignation. “This is why I didn’t want to tell you about the offering altars. As for the cave, I want to show you something. I think it’ll make you feel better.”

When she balked at the idea of going anywhere near the mouth of the cave, he ambled to its entrance. Even though she knew the scary growl was only a recording, she still jumped when it went off.

A couple seconds later, Dash reappeared. “Okay, I switched off the recording.”

Her butt remained firmly planted on her little rock perch. He strode to the hillside and stared up at her with those caramel brown eyes that always managed to turn her insides to mush. “Please trust me. I would sooner die than put you in harm’s way.”

Okay, how could she say no to
that
? She held out her arms, letting him lift her from the boulders. With their fingers entwined, he drew her inside the cave. An earthy scent clung to the interior. Up ahead, a rock wall marked the end of the cave.

“It’s not very big.” A fact she really appreciated. Not that she hadn’t trusted him about the orgeels, but it settled her nerves knowing a twenty foot, red-scaled lizard couldn’t stuff itself into the tight space.

“Looks can be deceiving.”

Without expounding on his cryptic comment, Dash strolled to the wall and pried back one of the rocks, revealing a recessed keypad. She stared, amazed, as the massive wall split in two, swinging open like a pair of doors. Upon closer inspection, she realized they actually were a set of doors.

“Oh wow,” she breathed, mystified.

Dash’s fingers squeezed hers. “You might want to pace your wows. We’re only getting started.”

Taking his word for it, she followed him beyond the rock doors. The vision greeting her made her gasp. They were standing inside a house.

An actual, freakin’ house.

Dash clicked on several of the jade and quartz lamps strewn about the room and Mara slowly pivoted, taking in the wood-paneled walls covered with enormous tapestries and oil paintings. A gorgeous chandelier hung above a mahogany dining table, its crystals fashioned to look like fat clusters of grapes.

Enchanted, she continued her exploration and journeyed into the spacious, well-equipped kitchen. Unable to resist, she opened the large cooler unit. A blast of artic air hit her. Rubbing her arms briskly, she surveyed the labeled containers stacked on the metal shelves.

“Not sure I’d eat anything in there,” Dash said, walking into the kitchen. “Might have been a while since Jerrick last cleaned it out.”

She closed the cooler unit and traipsed after Dash when he strode down another short hallway. The bedroom they stepped into resembled an opulent dream. Panels of champagne silk fell from an overhead canopy, flowing in a voluminous puddle around a massive sleigh bed piled high with sumptuous silk and velvet pillows.