Lover Enslaved: Thieves of Aurion, Book 1 (9 page)

Dash’s hand moved to her throat, slicked over her thudding pulse. A dull throb scudded beneath her skin. Panicked, she jerked against his touch.

“Easy,” he said, palming her shoulder with his other hand.

He was too damn close, but she didn’t have the strength or willpower to push him away. Her feet might as well be rooted to the floor.

My body isn’t mine.
The terrifying thought struck home her worst nightmare and gave her weird trance meaning. She struggled against the paralysis holding her hostage. Fighting off frustrated tears, she glared at him. “Let. Me. Go.”

Blinking at her raw vehemence, he dropped his hands.

“I mean my head, you son of a bitch.” She pulled her lips back and bared her teeth. “Get
out
of it.”

He looked at her like she was out of her mind, which she damn well was. And he knew it.

“Is this the only way you can get a woman? By raping her mind?” She hissed the accusation. If her legs weren’t useless rubber, she’d knee his balls again—only harder.

His gaze bore into hers, demanding yet gentle. “Mara, I’m not doing anything.”

She tried ducking beneath his arms and tumbled into his chest instead. His arms wrapped around her and she wiggled against him. Refusing to cave, she sank her teeth into the meat of his shoulder. A harsh curse ripped from his mouth. “Stop, damn it.”

“No,
you
stop.” To emphasize her point, she bit down again. She tasted salt on her tongue. A spike of fear and pleasure swirled low in her belly.

He yanked her head away and she used the force of his thrust to propel herself against the door. The weight of her body slammed it open—straight into Ronan’s face. A howl of pain roared from him, right before he crashed backwards onto the floor. Blood spurted from his poor flattened nose.

Mara stumbled forward. The deadened sensation in her legs took over and she buckled. Crying out, she scrabbled for balance. Like a felled tree, she plummeted on top of Ronan. His eyes rolled upward, revealing the whites of his corneas as he groaned.

“If you fancied him more, you could have just said so.”

She ignored Dash’s droll quip and rolled from Ronan. The side of her face bumped the knobby ridge of his elbow before thudding onto the worn runner covering the hard planked floor.

“Damn bitch,” Ronan moaned.

Geesh, it wasn’t as if she’d
meant
to bash his nose in. “I’m sorry.” She scrunched her shoulders and thumped her way upward until she and Ronan were eye to eye. “I swear I had no idea you were on the other side of the door.”

“Not you. Server girl.” The red splotches of fury riding high on Ronan’s cheeks matched the blood gushing from his nostrils. “Stole my merca and ran off.”

She blinked at him. “How did she manage robbing you?”

“Drugged the goddamn wine. Took me at least five minutes to pry the bedroom door open.”

The lingering remnants of Mara’s outrage melted into a hot ball of chagrin. Shifting her head, she met Dash’s blazing stare.

Oh shit.

A gasp broke from Mara when the medic inserted the toxin remover’s needle-tipped prod into her vein. At the moment, Dash didn’t feel the vaguest sympathy for her.

The medic turned to him with an inquiring expression. “Anyone else?”

Dash shook his head. “The two of them were the only ones who drank the wine.”

Nodding, the medic tucked his lethal-looking device into the medicine bag and pulled out a roll of gauze and tape before walking to the bed. The elderly innkeeper backed up, her waterlogged eyes threatening to overflow. She wrung her hands and stared at Ronan. “He gonna be okay?”

The medic remained focused on the task of examining Ronan’s face. “Nose will likely be off kilter, and his headache must be a bugger. But he’ll live.”

Ronan yelped when the medic reset his nose.

“I swear if I’d known Ceris was a lowdown thief, I never woulda hired her.” The innkeeper sounded as penitent as a sinner seeking absolution.

Dash felt the sting of Mara’s scrutiny. Bad enough she thought him scummier than the bottom of Gael’dore swamp, now she obviously was running the comparisons between he and the server thief through her head. He wondered which of them she considered more despicable. “I need some air.” Furious at the gravelly catch in his voice, he stalked through the door.

Purple storm clouds gathered outside the small window at the top of the stairs, mimicking his mood. Folding his arms, he stared at the whitecaps breaking against the rocky shore.

Long ago, he’d stopped caring what others thought. So why did Mara dredge up old insecurities, make him long to be something better than what he was—a self-serving thief?

The sweetness of luna flowers teased his nose—an invisible calling card announcing Mara’s sudden presence in the hall.

“I’m sorry I overreacted, but how the hell was I to know she drugged the wine?”

Her statement rattled loose a memory he’d long ago locked away. Before it could sink in its claws, he mentally wrestled it back inside its padlocked box and turned the key.

Mara remained a silent force behind him. He practically felt her willing the words from him that would ease her conscience. They wouldn’t come. Not when the phantom of her harsh accusations continued beating against his brain. He might be guilty of many crimes, but raping a woman’s mind wasn’t one of them. The mere idea turned his stomach.

His lips curled in a mockery of a smile. “True. Makes more sense I’d magically taken over your body, doesn’t it? Particularly with my magic disabled the way it is.” Turning, he spied a flash of regret in her eyes.

A persistent moth dive-bombed Mara and she banished it with an impatient swat. The detoxification worked amazingly fast—no hint of paralysis remained in her limbs. “The drug obviously affected my reasoning.”

Perhaps to a certain extent, but there was more to it than she was telling him. Unfortunately, his bone-tired weariness outweighed his desire to shake the truth from her. He pressed his shoulder against the wall and noticed Piper darting up the stairway.

The sprite landed on the railing. “What’s going on? A crazy rumor is circulating downstairs. They’re saying someone was drugged.”

“The server girl slipped creotizine into the wine. I’m okay, but poor Ronan’s a little worse for wear.” Mara rubbed the spot where the needle stuck her arm.

Piper cocked her head. “What do we do now?”

Mara gestured to the room behind them. “We all try for a decent night’s sleep and hope Borgander’s ready for sailing in the morning.”

“Afraid that’s impossible,” the medic said, stepping into the hall. He tucked his bag beneath his arm before jutting a thumb over his shoulder. “Your friend’s in no shape for travel. In addition to the broken nose, his lower back is inflamed and his head trauma needs close monitoring.”

Worry took up residence on Mara’s face. She plucked the hem of her top repeatedly between her fingers. “When
can
Ronan leave?”

“End of the week, at the earliest.”

Mara dropped her hands. “We can’t wait until then.”

The medic tugged the end of his dark beard. “Don’t know what to tell you.” After promising to stop by in the morning to check Ronan’s vitals, he ambled down the stairs.

Dash watched the indecision warring within Mara. Her shoulders lifted before slumping in tandem with her long sigh. She wore defeat like a horsehair cloak.

“Guess we’ll leave him here.” Her weary blue gaze searched his. “We’ll manage fine without him, right?”

He didn’t know what the hell waited for them in Mer’daca. Other than a shitload of his closest personal enemies. “You bet, babe.”

Chapter Six

Mara tried not to be creeped out by the crazy-eyed woman staring at her from across the Sea Surfer’s lounge, but the string of bird claws hanging from her wrinkled neck made it damn difficult.

She and the woman were the only ones occupying the room. Dash was brooding out on the observation deck and Piper was on another level of the ship, probably terrorizing small children.

Darn it, should have taken my chances with Dash
. He might be cranky enough to bite her head off, but he was still way less scary than bird-claw lady.

The woman pushed up from her seat and approached Mara, her voluminous white cape flapping and the claws clicking.

Oh crap
. Mara jumped from her seat and hustled towards the door leading to the deck. The woman intercepted her with a bony-fingered grip around her arm.

“I know what you seek.”

Mara gaped at the woman, her heart thumping alarmingly fast. “What?”

“The choices you’ve made haven’t been easy.” One crooked finger shook in Mara’s face. “Far more difficult ones are on the horizon, child. But choose wisely, and the deepest wish you carry will come true.”

Right now, she wished the woman and her bird legs would venture back to the other side of the cabin. “I’ll…uh…keep that in mind.”

The woman’s cloudy eyes returned Mara’s stare for several seconds. Abruptly, the claw-like grip slackened. Grabbing the opportunity, Mara plowed through the door and stumbled onto the deck. She rubbed briskly at the goose bumps covering her arms and ambled towards Dash. Her body swayed, fighting to keep balance on the mist-dampened deck.

Dash eyed her approach but remained silent. Obviously he was still sulking. She settled beside him at the rail and watched the silvered fins of the porpoises plowing through the waves. They didn’t stand a chance of keeping up with the jet-propelled Sea Surfer, but their efforts were admirable nonetheless and great fun to observe.

“They’re something, aren’t they?” The wind snagged Dash’s words and tossed them into the sea.

She felt ridiculously happy that he’d decided to drop the silent treatment. Clutching the ship’s rail, she turned to him. Her hair whipped around her face in a wild dance and he reached for the nearest strand, tucking it behind her ear. She shivered at the intimacy of the gesture.

Uncomfortable with the emotions swirling inside her, she waved towards the playful sea mammals frolicking in the waves. “Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?”

His dark gaze swept her face in a lingering caress. “Yes, I have.”

They stared at each other until the electricity snapping between them became overwhelming and she looked away. Her verbal attack yesterday wounded him. Despite what he must think, she didn’t enjoy inflicting emotional pain on anyone. But her need for vigilant caution hadn’t lessened. Dash wasn’t merely a fae thief—he was a Maddoc. Letting her shields down with him would be foolhardy.

“I’ve been mulling over what you said prior to us leaving Zalan.” At Dash’s frown, she leaned closer, using his larger frame as a wind buffer. “About not knowing where we’re going. I don’t understand how you lost track of the Rhyann rune.”

A nerve jumped in his tensed jaw. “Trust me, it’s easier than you think.”

Not the answer she wanted to hear. She expelled a frustrated breath. “Then how do you propose we find it?”

He stared over her shoulder, his eyes an emotionless brown. “I know a man who might be privy to the rune’s most recent owner.”

Her mood lifted. “You think he’ll help us?”

“Not likely.”

She sagged against the rail. Why couldn’t anything be simple?

A shout sounded from one of the crew members manning the deck, and Mara turned as he sprinted towards the helm. Shading her eyes, she tried determining the source of the man’s excitement. Finally she gave up and looked at Dash. “What’s going on?”

“We’re nearing shore.”

She frowned. “We are?”

No sooner did the words leave her mouth, the rocky coastline of Mer’daca appeared in the distance. Within seconds, the cliffs morphed from inconsequential boulders jutting from the sea into massive outcroppings towering hundreds of feet above the ocean. Mara gawked at them while the jet ship suspended its propulsion rockets and glided into the bay. She remembered Dash’s dissertation on the orgeel’s love of caves and took a nervous gulp.

Additional crewmen scurried to their stations when the ship neared the pier pilings. Beyond the docks, the port city of Hagee sat nestled in the basin of the twin peaks of Mount Vire like an offering to the deity of volcanic harmony. From her research, she knew Vire hadn’t erupted in more than a century. She prayed the gods didn’t intend on changing that status quo anytime soon—at least not until her butt was safely parked on the Sea Surfer while it jetted back to Zalan.

The ship putted into a waiting slip and one last
ker-chug
from the engine signaled they’d reached the end of the road—for the moment. Buffeting winds no longer a threat, Piper flitted onto the deck and watched the lowering of the gangplank with them. Relief shivered over Mara when no stray orgeels thundered up the carpeted gangway and snatched them between its scaly claws. Instead, Captain Borgander stepped through the door leading from the ship’s bridge. No scales on him, but he did have rather reptilian eyes.

“Again, my apologies for the late arrival.” Borgander smiled, revealing a mouthful of tobacco-stained teeth and a solitary gold tooth. “Can’t keep the ladies off me, it seems.”