"The elections began the following day," Catam said more to himself than to her. "Arnath Bedenzi beat out the minor competition since his greatest opponent, Statesman Klin, had just died."
Catam’s thoughts flew, the ramifications of such a discovery hard to swallow. "You said you wore a mask?" That last detail still bothered him.
She nodded. "I always do. So how could the maid who saw me leave the study know it was me? And since the print I left was virtually useless, how did the law immediately know to look for me?"
"Harron sold you out."
"Exactly." Isa’s voice thickened with anger. "But Harron doesn’t do anything for free. He had to have gotten orders from someone else to set me up. Problem is, I just don’t have that many enemies. I honestly don’t think anyone I know committed the crime."
"No. Daarna and Arnath could have used Harron for that." He stood staring at Isa, deep in thought.
What if some other peacekeeper had been sent to capture Isa? No one would believe her story. It was just too awful and unbelievable to be true. And yet ... according to Sernal’s notes, Daarna had a penchant for pretty baubles, and pretty men, none of them hers. The woman had clever hands and an insatiable sex drive, making Klin’s life hell trying to keep her out of the public eye.
"Isa," he said slowly. "Did anything else about that night at Klin’s make you suspicious? In addition to the heirloom, Harron’s boss gave you permission to take anything else you wanted. Why didn’t you?"
"I told you, Catam. The safe was empty. And finding Klin dead...."
"But you had to have cased the study before seeing Klin. He lay behind a large desk that would have blocked your view upon entering the study."
Isa pursed her lips. "To tell you the truth," she paused in thought, "I don’t remember seeing much of value to take. Why do you ask?"
Catam nodded. The lack of expensive items in the study fit with the suppositions in Sernal’s notes. "Apparently Daarna likes to steal from her husband."
Isa’s eyes widened, and she said the next thing on his mind. "I wonder who she uses to pawn the goods?"
"Harron," they both answered.
After a moment, Isa’s lips curved. "So I take it this means you believe me?"
"It’s getting hard not to. Too many pieces just don’t add up. But you’re still wanted by the law, and with Daarna’s public sympathy garnering her power and Arnath’s new political fame, we’re going to have a hell of a time proving this."
"At least they don’t know I overheard them talking. If they did, they wouldn’t have sent a peacemaker to collect me. They’d have sent an assassin."
Catam’s nerves frazzled at thoughts of Isa in real danger. "They still might. Arnath is an extremely ambitious man. Recently voted into office, he’ll do anything he can to keep his position."
"I’m a loose end." She voiced quietly.
"Yes, you are. And you know what that means?"
"He’s going to kill me?" She swallowed, and he saw her bravado faltering.
"No," he answered firmly, denying the possibility. "It means we have to go back to Voran to find some answers. And the sooner the better, before Arnath decides to place the Ari on you."
Ari--the assassin’s mark of death. Isa smiled sickly and Catam wanted to hold her, but he could see the effort it took her to maintain a fearless front.
She inhaled deeply and pasted an overly sweet smile on her face. "Voran, here we come."
* * * *
Four Days Later
"Take your payment and remove yourself from this house before someone recognizes you," Daarna Klin whispered furiously, looking over her shoulders as she shoved a small pouch into his hands.
Harron clutched the silken purse in a clawlike grip and scowled. "It wasn’t my idea to come here, my lady. I only did it as a favor to our newest statesman. Believe me, I have no desire to be implicated in any of this."
So saying, he nervously backed away and strode as quickly as his bulky frame would take him from the outer gardens.
Daarna watched until he disappeared beyond a cluster of catha lilies. What could he have been thinking to show up here, and now of all times? Hosting Arnath’s welcome celebration had been postponed due to Klin’s untimely death. But politics lived on in Voran, regardless of its dying constituents.
Still in supposed mourning, Daarna put on a good face and generously offered to stake the new statesman, backing him not only with her newly inherited and considerable wealth, but also with her personal vote of support by hosting this dinner party.
The sounds of guests arriving filtered through the house and the open doors of the back patio. Turning to encounter the throng of curious well-wishers, she took a step inside the house before a large hand settled on her shoulder.
"Good evening, Lady Klin." Arnath’s deep voice flowed over her like warm rain and she shivered, the cultured sound of his greeting making her wet with remembrance.
She cleared her throat, her tone courteous. "Good evening, Sir." Several staff passed by, scurrying to finish the dinner arrangement. "I trust you are satisfied with the preparations?"
"Hmm." He shrugged.
"I’m sorry?"
He turned his attention to one of his aides. "I’ll join you shortly. Keep the guests occupied for a moment, will you?" His aide nodded and Arnath’s polite façade held. "Lady Klin, I did have one or two concerns you might be able to help me with. If you would, please?"
He gestured for her to precede him back outside toward the patio’s treasure, a vast gazebo shaded from prying eyes by the massive hedges cut in a maze-like pattern surrounding it.
Once they reached the gazebo, Daarna frowned. The servants had yet to light the area and due to the clouds covering the moons, she could barely see under the gazebo’s roof.
"I’m sorry, Statesman. This should have been seen to--"
He yanked her under the gazebo’s roof. "It should have," he rumbled and she heard the rustle of fabric. Then his hand closed over hers in a tight grip. "This festivity is far from satisfying," he whispered harshly. His grip tightened until she cried out in both pain and excitement.
"What can I do to make things right?" she asked, nearly on her knees due to the sheer pressure he placed on her wrist.
"You know what to do," he rasped and brought her hand to his groin. She could feel his heat and the shock of his naked flesh meeting her hand caused her to gasp.
Kneeling before him, she could hear his heavy breath above her, could feel his gaze directed at the top of her head.
He released her wrist and she rubbed it absently, aware that Arnath’s flesh strained and bobbed just a breath from her lips.
"Do it," he ordered, his voice thick.
She slowly neared his erection, her hesitancy exciting him for she heard his breathing quicken.
"In your mouth, whore," he panted, and groaned when her lips slid over his cock, her mouth swallowing him all the way to his velvety sack.
Daarna worked him hard, her mouth sucking and releasing, building a pressure that agonized with promise. She found a rhythm that brought muffled moans to his mouth and she fingered her clit, excited beyond measure when Arnath’s fist gripped her hair to press her closer.
"More, Daarna," he gasped and began pumping into her, no longer still.
"How much more?" she teased, withdrawing her mouth enough to speak around his cock. Her lips grazed his shaft and she nipped lightly with her teeth, making him surge deeper.
She brought a hand up to toy with his skin-soft sack straining for release, while her mouth lightly sucked him, taking him in only so far.
"Fuck," he cursed and rammed his cock deep into her mouth, almost to her throat. His hand maintained a vice-like grip on her hair, shoving her face into his groin so that she could barely breathe.
She controlled the urge to gag, only barely, and in just enough time to swallow the cum that filled her mouth.
"Fuck, yes," he whispered as he continued to pump, his seed shooting down her th
roat like thick, milky ambrosia. He released the tangle-hold on her hair and his fingers rubbed small circles against her scalp.
Daarna swallowed all of him, licking the remains from his pulsing shaft. The stinging pain in her scalp felt oh, so good.
"That’s right, baby," he breathed and stroked her hair.
"You taste delicious," she flirted, wishing she could see him. "Not that I’m complaining, but why fuck now, with so much to lose if we’re caught?"
"Because I needed it," he said roughly. "Besides, we won’t get caught, that’s why Harron was here." His voice suddenly sounded close to her ear and she realized he knelt next to her. He forced her to her feet, keeping his face very close to her belly.
"What?" she gasped when his hands traced her legs beneath the gown she wore.
"Hold this and listen," he ordered in a gritty voice, shoving the fall of her dress into her hands, effectively baring her mound to the fresh air. "Harron was here to finish the job."
He licked at her folds, unerringly finding her nub that plumped as he suckled.
She wanted to shriek but did her best to keep quiet. The low rumble of guests grew louder, signifying definite danger of exposure. The risk only made her wetter and she squirmed against his probing tongue and fingers.
"I’m so close," she moaned.
"Shh, careful sweet." Arnath backed off, letting his fingers slide in and out of her dripping pussy. "Harron is going to set up the Ari for your housebreaker. She’s one risk I’m not willing to take. Now let’s see how quiet you can be while I finish what I started."
Imagining the death of Isa Araye, brutal and bloody, in addition to Arnath’s questing tongue made her shatter into a thousand pieces, and only her hand over her mouth prevented her from alerting all to their presence.
"Now, Daarna," Arnath whispered in a smug voice, "sneak away to fix yourself. Despite the fact that I can’t see you, I’m sure you look like you’ve just been fucked. And we can’t have people saying that Klin’s surviving mate isn’t as pure as they like to think."
Daarna chuckled and escaped the gazebo through the rear, darkened section of the garden. If only Arnath knew ... she had fucked many of the more influential members of the crowd here tonight. How else would her husband have gotten elected?
She shook her head and entered a hidden passage leading to her dressing room. With Klin dead and Arnath under her control, she was right where she wanted to be.
She shivered again, thinking of the Ari. If only she could be present when that bitch-thief met her demise. Daarna sighed. The sacrifices she made in the name of politics.
Chapter Six
Isa grimaced and stared with disdain at the legion of politicians and their lackeys mulling through the Klin estate.
"I thought this was a bad idea before, but now I think you’re trying to get me killed."
Catam’s bright smile flashed against the black backdrop of sky. "Such a naysayer. Really, Isa, this is just your style. Wealth and stupidity together in one place? Aren’t your little hands sweating to steal something from one of those idiots?" He gestured to Daarna Klin’s partygoers.
Isa blinked and stared thoughtfully at what she could see of Catam. "You really aren’t a peacemaker, are you? I think your opinion of the western provincials is worse than mine."
"It is. Just be thankful we didn’t have to go west to gather information. I’d be worse than a raptor with all my shrieking and complaining."
Isa shook her head, a grin twisting her lips.
It was hard to be in a bad mood around Catam. He saw the humor in everything. The past four-day journey north had been both invigorating and enlightening.
Catam’s sexual appetite notwithstanding, he seemed laidback about the entire legal issue with Isa. He didn’t try to tie her up, nor did he seem to worry she might run. He paced them both, his stamina a thing of beauty. And he had an agility that rivaled hers.
He continued to make love with her at every available opportunity, and though she knew she was getting in too deep, she didn’t have it in her to refuse. Sex with Catam felt too damned good.
Sweat broke out on her forehead as she remembered Catam taking her upright, against a tree with no preparation on her part. Surprisingly, her body had accepted him without reservation. They’d come in a conflagration of need and desire, a heady mix that brought emotion too close to the fray for comfort.
Isa sighed and stared at the crowd that continued to grow at the Klin estate.
"A thousand beks for your thoughts," Catam teased, a familiar rumble in his voice that hinted at sexual play.
"They’re worth more than that," she countered, and tried to focus on anything but Catam’s nearness.
His dark clothing blended with the night sky, so he should have been invisible. But hell, Isa couldn’t stop remembering what he looked like without his clothes.
"I can smell your need, sweet," Catam murmured and pressed against her.
Sure enough, his erection burned into the small of her back.
"Catam, not now," she protested halfheartedly. "We have to be alert in case Klin’s security approaches."
"Shh, I’ll hear them." He yanked her trousers down to her knees and fumbled with his pants. Within moments she felt his cock burning along her buttocks, sliding between her cheeks like pure silk.
"Catam," she groaned softly and reached up behind her to grasp his head.
He moved into her hands and pressed wet, carnal kisses to her throat while his fingers spread her wet need along her folds.
"Your smell, it’s like a drug," he whispered and circled his thumb around her clit, sensitizing the hard nub until she wanted to cry out with frustration.
She pressed back against him, aware he wanted her as much as she wanted him. His cock strained and he groaned with every sway of her backside.
"If you keep that up I’ll come right now," he threatened in a growl. "I’ve been thinking about this all afternoon."
"You’re insatiable," she said on a breath and bent forward, bracing her hands against a nearby tree. She sighed with relief when he finally entered her.
From this position, he seemed to fill her tighter than he had before. His shaft slid deep into her womb, and he stayed like that for a moment, as if savoring the connection.
Isa marveled again at how perfectly he fit, at how right it felt to be with him. He knew exactly where to touch her, had from the first moment they’d made love.
Catam shifted, pulling out before sinking back inside.
She bit her lip and closed her eyes, reveling in his touch. He began thrusting and she met his pounding rhythm, her patience worn thin, her need too great to stave.
"I have to come inside you," he uttered in a harsh whisper. "I have to feel you surrounding me, milking me dry."
He groaned and his fingers quickened over her flesh as he pistoned his hips. "Wainu," he groaned and stilled inside her, coming hard in shudders that refused to let her go.
Knowing she had brought him satisfaction increased her own pleasure, and with one more glide of his thumb over her clitoris, she came, exacerbating his orgasm. His fingers shifted and bit at her hip to hold her still, all the while her inner walls clamped down on his pulsing cock.
Breathing hard, Isa felt as weightless as a feather. She wanted no more than to bury herself in Catam’s arms, content in the warm safety of his hold.
She hadn’t forgotten his reason for finding her, but his actions contradicted his orders. His every thought and deed since finding her had been protective, not punishing. And he seemed to want to get to the bottom of Klin’s mysterious murder as much as she did, despite the fact that his orders were to bring her to Jintak and nothing more.
A soft kiss pressed into her neck and she shivered. She could feel his seed dripping down her leg, could feel the cool night wind blowing across her naked groin. And she didn’t care.
"How do you do this to me, time and time again?" she wanted to know, as much teasing as she was genuinely curious. "B
efore I met you, I’d had sex. But nothing on your scale. Nothing even came close."
She felt his lips curl into a smile against her neck. "But I’m from Mardu, Isa."
"I am too. From one of Mardu’s moons that is."
"Aran, yes. I find it interesting a woman with your looks and sensuality didn’t find herself immersed in the sex trade." He gently disentangled himself and she redressed. "Why is that?"
She didn’t want to admit her failures to Catam, a man with whom she could be the sensual woman she’d always wanted to be. If he knew how others--hell, how she’d always perceived herself, would he think less of her? Curiosity over his reaction swelled.
"Isa?"
"I was frigid," she blurted, waiting to see how quickly he would distance himself from her. Frigidity was a condition unheard of and unaccepted among her people.
Catam knew she couldn’t see him through the darkness, so he felt no need to hide his shock as he fastened his trousers. Frigid? She had to be kidding. And just how had she come to such an asinine conclusion?
The Xema believed in sexual pleasure, for both men and women. Yet the thought of Isa with other men made Catam uncomfortably possessive. He blinked, surprised to feel jealousy. He’d never felt that before, not in regards to a woman.
The closest he’d come to feeling jealousy had been the envy he experienced when he saw the intimacy between his captain and her husband. He’d thought about it a lot and had come to the conclusion that Mara’s joy coincided with his recent dissatisfaction with his life.
He sure as hell wasn’t in love with Mara, so what did his dissatisfaction mean?
"Catam?"
Isa sounded stiff, probably worried, and he hastened to alleviate her concern.
"Sorry, sweet. I’m just stunned you could think yourself frigid. You’re the most sensual woman I’ve ever met, and I know what I’m talking about."
She paused. "I’m sure you do."
He wanted to laugh despite his confusing affection for the beautiful thief. She sounded as jealous as he’d been feeling.
The Thief of Mardu Page 5