The Thief Of Mardu Part 4

She wanted to shout with joy, to run to her family and share with them the news that she had in fact inherited the Araye gift of sensuality. She liked being a thief, truly, but the option had never before been present to be anything but. Now she could enter the world of the pleasurer, if she so chose.

She frowned, wondering why the thought of s.e.x with others felt so distasteful. And then her answer appeared from around the corner of the rock face.

Catam strolled toward her with both arrogance and possession stamped on his sensual face. His lips quirked at her nudity and she realized she'd been grasping her jacket to her b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

"No need for that," he drawled and pulled the jacket from her.

Whereas she'd before been unconcerned about her nakedness, now she felt vulnerable, and a tad ... ashamed? Disappointment filled her as she realized she may have disproved her frigidity, but she still didn't have the mindset to become a pleasurer.

"I can see you're having doubts," Catam murmured. He took one last lingering look at her and sighed. "We'd best save this conversation for when you're dressed. You might as well make use of the lake to clean up."

He glanced again at her body, seeming pleased to see evidence of his seed smeared on her thighs.

"I'll be a minute," she mumbled and hurried into the water, ignoring the deep chuckle that followed her.

She quickly washed herself clean and exited the water, only to have Catam staring at her as if she were his last drink of water in the desert.

"Maybe I'll wait behind the rock," he said in a gritty voice and disappeared.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Isa did her best to dry herself with her coat before donning her clothing. She couldn't help that her shirt and trousers stuck even tighter to her as a result of her wet body. With a shrug, she dropped her jacket to the ground and sought out Catam.

He lounged on top of the ma.s.sive rock like a lazy cat, swinging one leg over the side while he gazed at the sky.

Common sense told Isa she'd be better off running than facing Catam. Despite the incredible, mind-shattering s.e.x, she was still a thief, and he was still a peacemaker intent on bringing her to justice. Yet she couldn't make herself leave without trying to seek some understanding.

"We need to talk," he said, and she jumped. He continued to stare at the sky, and she hadn't realized he'd known she stood there.

He rose and stretched, then gracefully joined her on the ground.

"I've got a dilemma," he admitted and leaned back against the rock to stare at her. "If it were up to me, I'd spend the next few weeks f.u.c.king your brains out."

She blushed dark red at his crude language and he laughed. "Sorry, sweet, but it's true. Even now, after the incredible session we shared, I want you again."

She glanced at the bulge in his trousers and shook her head in disbelief. She felt too sated and relaxed to want s.e.x just yet. Was the man for real? He certainly looked too good to be true, and his s.e.xual prowess ... maybe he was one of those new pleasure droids?

"Isa?" He looked puzzled and she scrutinized him from head to toe.

"You are flesh and blood, aren't you?"

He flashed her a grin. "I am. If you want to blame something, blame yourself. I'm not usually this, ah, stimulated."

"Well then." She had no idea what to say to that. She was still having a hard time acknowledging that she could respond to a male s.e.xually with anything other than: "Maybe I'll come next time. Don't worry about it."

"If I was a normal peacemaker, this would be much easier," he said and took a deep breath.

"What do you mean a normal peacemaker?" Alarm flared as she realized for all Catam's seeming safety, he might be working for the real killers.

"What I mean is that I'm not normally a peacemaker."

She relaxed hearing that he did indeed wear the badge.

"So you're normally what then? A pleasurer?"

He snorted. "I wish. No, I'm a bounty hunter currently on leave to help my brother. Sernal's the peacemaker, but he's got too many responsibilities just now."

He stared at her, making her uncomfortable with his scrutiny.

"What?" She crossed her arms belligerently, hiding her nervousness with anger.

"I just don't see it." He shook his head and walked around her, studying her from different angles. "You're gorgeous. You have a body to kill for. And you're a thief."

A body to kill for? Gorgeous? She could really grow to like Catam if he continued to say things like that.

"I don't get why you'd murder a statesman, for Stars sake. Don't you have a brain in that pretty head?"

Suddenly his compliments didn't sound so wonderful.

"I do have a brain, you drun. If you'd use what small intellect Flor granted you, you'd realize I'm being set up." She glared at him, her arms akimbo.

Her black hair curled around her face, her eyes flashed like green danstone, and Catam wanted to lay her flat on her back and take her again.

Scowling at his lascivious thoughts, he focused on her combative stance and glowered at her when he realized what she'd called him.

"You know, sweet," he gritted through his teeth, "if you're trying to get on my good side, try not insulting me. I don't like it."

"You don't like it?" She looked incredulous. "I don't like having the law on my tail. I don't like being accused of a crime I haven't committed!"

"So you weren't in Statesman Klin's home the night he was murdered?" Disappointment settled in his belly. If he had a bek for every time one of his bounties protested his or her innocence, he'd be a rich man.

"I didn't say that." She shook her head and her cheeks glowed with pa.s.sion.

Down boy, he ordered his c.o.c.k.

"I was there that night," she explained.

"But?"

"He was dead before I arrived."

"Sure." He grimaced. That was the best she could do? The s.e.x must have muddled his brain. He'd actually convinced himself she might be innocent. No one who'd murdered another in cold blood could have taken him to wainu. At least, he hadn't thought so.

"Catam, listen to me," she urged. "I should never have taken a contract from Harron, but I did, and it was a mistake.

"He sent me to Klin's home in Voran. I was supposed to steal a priceless heirloom Klin had stashed in his wall safe, along with anything else I could get my hands on. Unfortunately, I missed my first opportunity to enter the study when a rather amorous couple surprised me in the wife's bedroom."

"Go on." The story had a lot of details. He'd see if she could keep them straight. One fact, however, held a ring of truth.

Catam knew of Harron. The slimy b.a.s.t.a.r.d had once tried to cheat a friend out of a priceless antique. Luckily, Sernal had found out and put a stop to his p.a.w.n brokering days. It appeared, however, that Harron might have taken to brokering other things, like theft and murder.

"I heard the man groan "Daarna" before he and she, uh, climaxed."

Catam wanted to grin. She sounded so embarra.s.sed, and after the intimacies they had shared. Then her words struck him. "Wait a minute. You heard him say Daarna?" Klin's wife?

Isa nodded. "I managed to sneak into Klin's study while they were occupied. But instead of the wall safe, I found Klin lying dead. His throat had been slit and he'd been stabbed in the belly." She scowled. "And he'd been stabbed with a Voranian knife, not by an Aran dagger."

"So you're telling me you never saw the statesman alive. What about the safe?"

"It had been opened and emptied before I arrived. I found Klin by tripping over him." She frowned. "Contrary to what you might think, I'm a d.a.m.ned good thief. I wear a mask and gloves, and my handprint was found on his wall because I slipped in his blood trying to get up from a fall."

Catam stared at her, thinking. It had bothered him that the thief had left a handprint, especially since the lab had determined a gloved hand left the print. Why would a thief be smart enough to wear gloves but not wipe up a handprint left in blood?

"I barely had enough time to hide before Daarna and her beau Arnath entered."

He didn't like where his thoughts took him. "Did you see Daarna and Arnath?"

"I saw the back of Daarna's body, and I can tell you she had dark, curly brown hair. I didn't see Arnath, though."

Daarna had to be Klin's consort. But Arnath?

Isa continued. "They made me sick when they started s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g each other right by Klin's dead body. There was blood all over the floor! They would have kept at it if Arnath hadn't cautioned Daarna to be careful."

She paused before she added, "He said something about not wanting to be seen together before tomorrow. I had a.s.sumed he meant he didn't want to be seen at her house when Klin had just been murdered. Now I'm not so sure."

"The elections began the following day," Catam said more to himself than to her. "Arnath Bedenzi beat out the minor compet.i.tion 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 s.e.x drive, making Klin's life h.e.l.l 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 p.a.w.n 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 h.e.l.l 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 a.s.sa.s.sin."

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 a.s.sa.s.sin'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 cl.u.s.ter 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 const.i.tuents.

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 pa.s.sed 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 facade 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 ma.s.sive 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.