Free Thief of Mine by Amarinda Jones

doing what she craved. Preludes sucked. “That was you being
manipulative.”
    “You could have stopped me and screamed at my offensive
behavior yet you met me outside and had sex with me,” Kit pointed out.
    “Whatever.”‘ Stella knew it was an inadequate response to
essentially what was an honest of assessment of the situation but there were
times for honesty and this wasn’t one of them.
    Seeing Stella didn’t want to pursue that line of thought any
longer, Kit slid the key into the lock, turning it as he went. As much as he
would like to focus on Stella Rowallan, the idol was why there were there.
    Stella moved over to look inside the locker. There was only
a khaki green duffle bag within. How disappointing.
    “Have you got the right locker?”
    “What did you expecting? The Arc of the Covenant with
lightning bolts shooting out?” Kit pulled the bag out and shut the locker.
    “Smart ass…” Stella muttered. Maybe she had expected more.
It wasn’t everyday you got caught up with a thief and an ancient idol.
    “Come along.” Kit grabbed Stella’s elbow and started
walking. They had what they came for and he was a great believer in getting out
while the going was good.
    Stella trotted along beside him.
    “I want to see the idol.”
    “Not now.”
    “What? I come all this way with you and I don’t get to look
at it?” That hardly seemed fair to Stella. There had to be some reward to all
this. She was still in two minds as to whether great sex was a reward.
    “You can look at it the car.”
    “But I want to go home.” Stella had visions of having a
sneak peek at the idol and borrowing train fare from the thief before she shook
his hand in farewell.
    “I’ll be taking you home.”
    Stella tossed up her options. Get a train and never see the
idol and Kit again? Or take him to her home and look at the idol? But then what
did she do with him at her home? Was it likely he would leave her in the
driveway and drive off? Decisions, decisions. None of them had to involve sex,
so essentially a decision should be easy enough to make. Eany meaney miney mo…
    “Fine you can take me home but you’re not staying.” Yep,
Stella was pleased that she sounded like she was back in control. Now she just
had to act it.
    Once in the car, Stella insisted on looking at the idol
straight away. Curiosity may have killed the cat but a curious Stella was no
pussy cat when impatient.
    Kit would have liked to have waited until they got to
somewhere safer but he could see the woman needed to be appeased. He pulled the
carefully wrapped idol out of the bag and handed it Stella.
    “How do you know which one is the real one?” It was not like
you could make a big red cross on it, was it? That surely had to affect resale
value.
    “I just know.” Kit had wrapped the real one securely to
allow no chance of mishap.
    Stella gently pulled back the soft covering and looked at
the face of the idol. She was incredibly aware that she held several thousand
years of history in her hand. It was about the size of her hand, made of stone
and smooth and worn to the touch. It seemed such a simple thing for people to
be fighting over to win for their own. The face of the feminine idol stared
back at her stoically. Skilful hands had carved a face of great reverence. The
eyes were almond shaped, the nose aristocratic and the hair bound and wavy. Was
it a goddess? Stella wondered as she took in the exaggerated curves of the
figure. It definitely indicated fertility. The carved breasts were large and
idol’s hips indicated great ability for child bearing. Who was this woman and
how did she come to attain the power to make modern man fight over her to
acquire her? She knew instinctively it was wrong for any one person to own it.
    “You have to return this, Kit. This is history and it’s
important.” She could feel that just by holding it in her hand. It was almost
like a warmth was radiating from the idol making her skin tingle. Possibly