Free Thieves In Paradise by Bernadette Gardner Page A

and I take that back to Celrax to buy rations and medicine for the colonists. It's strictly a business deal. There's no friendship involved."
    "If I don't at least return the selenite to Gremin, he'll hunt you, and the next bounty hunter who captures you may have orders to kill you himself."
    "Then I'm stuck, aren't I? If I have nothing to sell, I'm worthless."
    * * * *
    Her words cut Kol to the quick. She obviously meant worthless to her contact, but the deeper meaning was clear. This human judged her worth on what she could steal. Those who depended on the food and medicine her risky endeavor would buy didn't see her as a savior, merely a means to an end.
    "There must be someone to whom your life matters more than those crystals. What about your mother?"
    Pain flashed briefly in her golden eyes and she let out a harsh laugh. “I'm sure she would care if she was alive. The Dedicants executed her four years ago. One night, we didn't run as fast as we should have and she was captured."
    Kol closed his eyes. It bothered him that he felt her anguish. “You have no friends?"
    "My friends are starving on Celrax. If they had ships, they wouldn't be there waiting for me to sell stolen ... I mean, not stolen, but, oh, never mind. You get my meaning. Look, A'Kosu, I appreciate that you don't want to see me get killed, I really do. But from where I'm standing the only way to avoid the things you saw in your vision is for me to take the crystals and sell them to my contact as planned. I never had any doubt Gremin would hunt me down. I'm prepared to run for a while, until he gets tired and turns his attention to someone else. I can deal with that."
    "That's the life you plan to lead? Running in fear like your mother did until the day you're captured and killed?"
    "What other life is there?” She fixed him with a stare that arrowed right through his chest and constricted his lungs. Then she stalked off into the darkening forest.
    He waited a beat, unsure of what to say to her. When he caught up to her she had opened the communicator, but hadn't activated it. He closed a hand over her shoulder, and she stiffened at his touch. “I'll give you the selenite."
    She didn't turn, only bowed her head. “And fail in your mission? Gremin won't accept that."
    "I'll worry about Gremin. Call your contact and tell him to hurry. He must get here before the Valencians do."
    * * * *
    Charity sat before the fire A'Kosu had built and turned a single selenite crystal over and over in her hands. She'd won. She'd escaped from Gremin's influence without even really trying and soon she'd be free of the bounty hunter as well. Why wasn't she pleased with herself?
    On the far side of the crackling fire, A'Kosu stared into the flames. He'd been silent for so long, she'd begun to wonder if he might be having another vision. In the dark, with his features lit only by the firelight, he looked dangerous and surreal, born to be a warrior.
    That thought excited her, made her long to feel his hands on her again.
    She dismissed her growing desire as another reaction to the pollen. Though specs of the golden dust still fell lazily from the leaves, the musky, intoxicating scent had dissipated to just a faint perfume on the breeze.
    Perhaps they'd be able to resist the carnal urges tonight. Charity believed that, right up until the first plaintive mewling of the carnivores reached them through the shadows.
    Then A'Kosu's eyes met hers through the rising smoke and she was lost.
    They came together on the thermal blanket he'd given her to sleep on. As eager as the animals copulating nearby, they tore at each other's clothing until naked flesh met naked flesh.
    This time though, rather than fevered thrusts and a desperate rush to orgasm that would free them both from the thrall of the pollen, A'Kosu's movements were slow, measured. He spread her thighs gently and brushed his fingertips over her waiting sex. The soft touch made her moan for more and writhe beneath his muscular