Heart of a Smuggler

by Heart of a Smuggler (lit)

  Sitting down again, he looked at Heddam. “She’s playing a dangerous game.”

  “The wench likes a gamble,” Heddam reminded him, “But she only plays to win.”

  “Or cheats at it.”

  Heddam grinned faintly. “Aye.”

  “Until she’s found out.”

  “And ’twouldn’t happen often.”

  “Hell, what if she’d been caught out with the dice by someone else?” Shamon’s face suddenly went pale. “Do you think...” He couldn’t get the words out, it was too horrific to even think about.

  Heddam looked at him knowingly. “That the wench bet herself with someone else?”

  Shamon felt sick. If she’d done so and been found out...

  “I doubt Gabie would have done that,” Heddam replied bluntly. “She’s not a wench to bet something like that against someone she knew would hurt her.”

  “You think so?” Shamon took a fortifying sip of una. “God, anyone else but me and she might have been dragged off and...” raped. He couldn’t say the word.

  “She’s no fool, Shamon.” Heddam leaned his forearms on the table.

  “She took the bet with me.”

  “Because you’re safe.”

  Shamon looked at him.

  “Because she didn’t expect you to find out that she’d cheated, and because she knew you wouldn’t hurt her if found out.” Heddam’s gaze was shrewd. “You wouldn’t force her, but you would try to seduce her.”

  Shamon had a sudden sinking feeling inside his stomach. “’Tis the same...”

  “Nay.” Heddam shook his head. “If you tried to seduce her and she fought you every step of the way and wanted you to stop, and you didn’t, that would be rape. ’Tis force. Seducing her and she be willing, ’tis not rape.” Heddam’s jaw hardened. “You wouldn’t force her, Shamon.”

  Nay, he couldn’t force her. He couldn’t bear to hear her crying out, couldn’t bear the thought of her being hurt. If she even started crying Shamon just knew it would rip his heart out.

  But if she melted in his arms... God, he would give her the stars if he could, show her how good it would be with him, give her a soul-shattering experience that would stay with them both forever.

  Shamon looked at Heddam, and his friend just smiled and raised his mug in a silent salute. The companionship and support of his best friend was comforting.

  But it didn’t solve the dilemma of Gabie having put herself in a precarious position.

  The cabin was silent as the traders drank their hot unas and got lost in their own thoughts.

  ~ * ~

  “Do you think she’ll agree?” Tason stood by the doorway.

  “Of course.” Raznin took a slow sip of wine.

  “But what if she refuses?”

  “Then we get hold of one of her crew and use him or her to coerce the bitch.” Raznin smiled. “Gabie isn’t a fool, Tason. She knows she’s playing with the big boys now.”

  “I got the impression that Gabie isn’t keen to play with the big boys.”

  “She’ll come around. She’s no fool.”

  Tason studied Raznin quietly. You’ve been playing at the top too long, Raznin. You have no idea what people are capable of if they’re scared enough. Some little fish didn’t want to swim with the sharks.

  Gabie was one of them. Slipping away from the cabin, Tason looked out over the forest beyond the space shield. If Raznin wasn’t careful, he would destroy them all with his ideas. A true shark at the top of the smugglers food chain, he was a danger to those under his command. He’d killed a lot of bigger fish on his way to the top of the food chain.

  But even mighty sharks could be brought down by a couple of cunning little fish.

  No, Tason didn’t trust Gabie. Besides, he’d known her father and Gabie was a chip off the old block, no doubt about that. Leaning against the wall, lost in his own thoughts, he gazed out into the forest.

  ~ * ~

  In the dining cabin, Raznin sipped his wine. Tason didn’t have faith in him, he knew. His second-in-command was a good bloke, trustworthy in a battle, willing to follow him anywhere, but he lacked faith in this plan.

  But Tason would see that Raznin was no fool. He played for huge stakes here. Larger stakes than anyone would ever guess.

  And Gabie would be one of the major of the minor players.

  Chuckling to himself, he sipped wine and contemplated what was to come.

  ~ * ~

  Olin spent a lot of time with Emet before he finally left Misha in charge.

  Gabie waited for him in the corridor. “Did you get what we needed?”

  “Huh?” Olin blinked sleepily.

  “Something to disable Raznin’s ship?”

  “Oh.” Olin nodded.

  “Good. You left it in the cargo hold?”

  “It’ll be here tomorrow night.”

  “Tomorrow night?” Gabie stared at him.

  “Might be easier to just let Michel know about them and do a runner,” Paz suggested, walking out of the dining cabin with a fat sandwich in his hands. Crumbs sprayed around him as he spoke.

  “Get some manners, Paz,” Misha growled, coming out of Emet’s cabin and closing the door behind her.

  “What?” More crumbs sprayed.

  Gabie brushed a couple off her shirt. “Doing a runner marks us immediately as the source of betrayal. We need to still be in the settlement when the peacekeepers close in. We need to be all surprised and stuff.” She looked back at Olin. “Tomorrow night? No earlier?”

  “Earliest I can get my hands on anything without anyone asking too many questions.” He squinted at her. “What’s your problem?”

  “Nothing.” She rubbed the uptilted tip of her nose. “It’s still plenty of time.”

  “Sure it is. We get out there, set the disabler, and hightail it back here. Get a message to your peacekeeper without him knowing it’s from us and he’ll hightail it to the hidden ship and we’ll set off the disabler. Raznin will be a sitting duck for Michel. We’re free.” Olin looked at her expectantly.

  “Right.”

  Tomorrow night, Gabie. As soon as night falls. Meet me at the tavern. You. One night. In my bed.

  Oh shit, wait... How was she going to avoid Shamon? No big deal anyway. She didn’t have any intentions of meeting him anywhere, so it didn’t matter. Right?

  “It’ll be better if you don’t come with us,” Olin informed her.

  “What? Why?”

  “Because you need to be seen to be here, in the settlement and docking bay. If you disappear someone might get suspicious and you could be fingered as the culprit that disabled Raznin’s ship.”

  “It’s going to be night time, Olin, where would anyone expect me to be but in my bunk?”

  “You’ll just need to ensure you’re seen at the tavern.”

  “Right. Fine.” She blew out an exasperated breath. “So who is going to the ship in my place?”

  “Misha and me.”

  “What? I don’t think so! You don’t know the way.”

  “You’ll show Misha tonight, then come back and she’ll take me tomorrow night while you swan around the settlement.”

  Gabie didn’t like the plan.

  Misha looked at her. “We’ve sorted it all out, Gabie, so suck it up.”

  “Oh, that’s nice. I thought I was captain here? Obviously I’m just supposed to do as I’m told. Forgive me. I didn’t know. Ideas of grandeur, obviously.”

  “Yeah, that, too.” Misha disappeared back into the cabin.

  “Tell me again why we can’t just dob Raznin in and watch?” Paz rubbed his face.

  “Because if he gets away he just might come looking for us,” Olin replied. “Think, boy. If we disable his ship they can’t get away when the peacekeepers attack.”

  “Oh.”

  Olin shook his head. “I’m sure you spray out half your brains with those crumbs.”

  Paz looked hurt. It was belied by the big bite he took out of the almost mangled
sandwich in his big, awkward hands.

  Heaving a sigh, Gabie rolled her shoulders. “So when do we set out? Misha?”

  “Midnight,” Misha’s voice answered from the cabin.

  “Bugger. It’s a walk and a half.”

  “It’s because by the time you get there, most people will be asleep,” Paz informed her. “You know, most people sleep between midnight and three in the morning.” He glanced at Olin. “Apparently.”

  “Cheeky bugger,” Olin said sourly, but there was a definite twinkle in his faded old eyes.

  “I better get the scanner blocker out then.” Gabie started for the control cabin. “I don’t want Raznin to spot us coming.”

  ~ * ~

  Running around a dense forest in the chill night air wasn’t Gabie’s idea of fun. Wrapped in a short cloak with a hood covering her head, she glanced back to see Misha studying the surroundings.

  The albino’s cloak was dark and hid the white of her hair. Her face was covered by a black lace net to hide the whiteness of her skin, but Gabie knew her friend was taking note of her surroundings to enable her to find her way back the following night.

  Correction, tonight, because midnight had come and gone.

  Two in the morning and a cold fog started to climb up around their legs. Bloody awesome... not. Gabie hated being cold, but her sense of humour, though not in a laughing mood, was not far below the surface. She didn’t feel too bad. True, it was cold and she was getting damp, but at least they had a plan going. They were preparing and she preferred action to waiting around, which was partly why it irked her to be hanging around the settlement while Olin and Misha planted the disabler that night.

  She’d much rather be in the thick of things, planting the disabler herself.

  It wasn’t long and she recognized the clearing up ahead. Pushing slowly and carefully through the bushes, she knelt down and studied the dark bulk of the spaceship. No lights surrounded it, and it would have been almost invisible to anyone not knowing it was there.

  Gabie and Misha sat for a while, watching the ship, waiting to see who was coming and going, but all was silent. Gabie had no doubt the scanner was working overtime, searching for anyone disrupting the area frequency, but the scanner blockers attached to both hers and Misha’s shirts kept their body frequencies scrambled enough that the scanner wouldn’t pick them up.

  No doubt Raznin would love to get hold of those little toys as well. Gabie grinned. Well, jerk, you’re not getting them. These are my secret little weapons.

  Slowly they moved around the ship, using the darkness and bushes as cover. It wasn’t the most comfortable of movements, but it was a necessary evil.

  By the time she and Misha were satisfied that they knew enough, they slipped away silently. It was four thirty in the morning before they walked into their own spaceship. By then they were both shivering. All Gabie wanted was a hot shower and her nice, warm bunk.

  Settling down into her bunk, feeling warm and cozy after her shower, she closed her eyes. Just before she drifted off to sleep, the words slipped through her mind. You. In my bed. One night. Her lashes fluttered open. Tonight. Slowly she smiled. There was the perfect alibi.

  And that, she was certain, was the cause of her heart fluttering. She’d found the perfect alibi. Being in a trader’s room. Not that she meant to go to bed with him. Hell no. But it was a good cover...

  Her heart fluttered like a butterfly imprisoned in her chest. Cripes, who’d ever have thought an idea could excite her so much? It definitely wasn’t the idea of being in his room, much less his bed—which she had no intention of getting into—it was the whole idea of the perfect alibi.

  Yep, the perfect alibi. How she was going to get out of going to bed with Shamon, Gabie had no idea. She’d come up with something, though.

  ~ * ~

  Mellar stood at the window, watching the sun shine down upon his domain. Streets glistened from the early morning rain, the sunlight reflecting off the puddles. Children laughed and played, and their parents quickly came out and ushered them inside. It wasn’t appropriate for them to be enjoying themselves when their leader was suffering anguish over the death of his wife.

  He smiled, but it soon faded. He’d waited long enough. He was posting the notice that Emet had fled. His wife’s murderer, her claimed outlaw that she’d cared for like her own son. A traitorous, murderous outlaw.

  The disc had not been found and Emet had disappeared. He’d deal with the disc bit if it ever reared its head. So far nothing had happened. And really, who was going to take his word against that of a claimed outlaw? Besides, he’d ensured that all records of his dealings had been deleted.

  Ah yes. Now all he needed to hear was how well his other business was going and things would be good.

  ~ * ~

  Snug in his heavy coat, Freeman watched the docking bay. Interesting developments were happening on this cold, foggy morning in the dark. Oh my, yes. He smiled to himself. And even more interesting things were going to happen.

  Oh yes.

  ~ * ~

  Michel wasn’t happy. He’d known all along that one day Gabie was going to take a major fall. She’d get her silly, carefree neck caught in a noose and he’d have to watch it tighten, and hope like hell he could get his childhood friend out of it without breaking the law himself.

  But now... well, the chit had gotten in well over her head. Hell. And he couldn’t do a whole lot to help her. God knows he’d tried, but up against the woman who’d visited him that night, he’d known his hands were tied. Plans were afoot and he could do nothing but stand and watch and pray like he’d never before prayed.

  Things were going to go to hell in a hand basket, and sitting in the middle of it was the major gift, all tied up in a satin ribbon.

  Gabie.

  Leaning his forehead against the cold glass, Michel sighed. His gaze went to the dim lights of the docking bay. The big Daamen trade spaceship loomed over the smaller craft. Not far off the Daamen ship was Gabie’s ship, Larceny. Full of contraband that no one could prove.

  He could feel a giant headache coming on.

  He’d wanted to act fast, but Freeman and his boss had stopped him. They wanted to watch and wait for a bit longer, see what else was going down. Observe the main players.

  Trouble, trouble, trouble.

  Lifting one hand to his chest, he rubbed. Now he had indigestion. He just knew it wasn’t going to go away for a while.

  Six

  When Shamon walked down the cargo ramp the next morning, he half expected to see a vacant bay where the Larceny had been. He wouldn’t have been surprised if Gabie had done a runner in the middle of the night. That she hadn’t gave him hope.

  He still couldn’t believe he’d been so blunt with her. Tomorrow night, Gabie. As soon as night falls. Meet me at the tavern. You. One night. In my bed. Shocked was the only word to describe her expression. Those plump lips had parted and those bright green eyes had widened.

  After the kisses they’d shared in her dining cabin, did she really think he wasn’t interested, that he couldn’t want her? Hell, just the thought of her in his bed was enough to make him need a cold shower just to think straight.

  The night, however, had given him time to think. He’d never forced a lass in his life. Well, he’d never even had to do much coercing to get a willing lass in his bed. One smile, one wink, and the wenches had been practically dragging him to their beds.

  But Gabie was different. She made him feel different, like he wanted to stamp his scent all over her and proclaim her as his, making sure the entire galaxy knew she belonged to him.

  Hell, he had it bad for her. Worse. She was like an itch he couldn’t scratch. How romantic. He grinned a little as he gazed towards the Larceny. Nay, he’d come to a decision last night.

  If Gabie wasn’t willing to make love with him, that would be it. He’d respect her wishes. He just wanted to ensure he had a good chance at seducing her before she could think of protesting. In fact, h
e’d know how interested she was by her turning up—or not—at the room door tonight.

  And if she didn’t turn up, he’d take that as a not interested. Then he’d just have to change the rules of the game to a little wooing. Romancing. For the first time in his life he’d be the one doing the chasing. Somehow it didn’t seem so hard. Suns, was he really challenged by the thrill of the chase?

  He’d be even more thrilled if she turned up at the room he was going to rent. But a chase wasn’t such a bad thing. It was... well, titillating, to be truthful.

  The way Shamon chose to see it, ’twas a win/win situation. He’d win her now or later. He’d probably go insane from desire if he had to chase her, but ’twould be worth it. There was a definite attraction between them, and he meant to fan the little sparks into a full-on flame. His fire was almost burning out of control at just the thought.

  Heddam had laughed himself almost sick, and Simon, who happened to walk in right when Shamon was telling Heddam of his plans, had just shaken his head and asked how could Shamon possibly woo her when the little smuggler and the traders would probably travel in different directions by the end of the week? The crew were heading home soon, and the smuggler would fly off to deliver her ill-gotten gains to some poor sap.

  Shamon just didn’t believe in wasting time when his mind was made up. A believer in the best laid plans, he had two—one for if she turned up at his door, and the other for if she didn’t.

  He called it being prepared.

  All was quiet at the Larceny, but it was there and as far as Shamon was concerned, it was a good sign.

  He strode into the settlement and went to the tavern, intending to rent the best room. As he entered the already noisy room, he looked around. The tavern whores smiled at him eagerly. The air reeked of ale, unwashed bodies, perfume, ale and food.

  And suddenly it wasn’t good enough. To have Gabie here, in a room in a tavern, was... cheap. It cheapened his feelings for her. It was almost an insult. How could he have Gabie in a bed which no doubt had been used by hundreds of men and wenches to slake their lusts?