Free Lover Enslaved: Thieves of Aurion, Book 1 by Jodi Redford Page B

propel herself against the door. The weight of her body slammed it open—straight into Ronan’s face. A howl of pain roared from him, right before he crashed backwards onto the floor. Blood spurted from his poor flattened nose.
    Mara stumbled forward. The deadened sensation in her legs took over and she buckled. Crying out, she scrabbled for balance. Like a felled tree, she plummeted on top of Ronan. His eyes rolled upward, revealing the whites of his corneas as he groaned.
    “If you fancied him more, you could have just said so.”
    She ignored Dash’s droll quip and rolled from Ronan. The side of her face bumped the knobby ridge of his elbow before thudding onto the worn runner covering the hard planked floor.
    “Damn bitch,” Ronan moaned.
    Geesh, it wasn’t as if she’d meant to bash his nose in. “I’m sorry.” She scrunched her shoulders and thumped her way upward until she and Ronan were eye to eye. “I swear I had no idea you were on the other side of the door.”
    “Not you. Server girl.” The red splotches of fury riding high on Ronan’s cheeks matched the blood gushing from his nostrils. “Stole my merca and ran off.”
    She blinked at him. “How did she manage robbing you?”
    “Drugged the goddamn wine. Took me at least five minutes to pry the bedroom door open.”
    The lingering remnants of Mara’s outrage melted into a hot ball of chagrin. Shifting her head, she met Dash’s blazing stare.
    Oh shit.
     
    A gasp broke from Mara when the medic inserted the toxin remover’s needle-tipped prod into her vein. At the moment, Dash didn’t feel the vaguest sympathy for her.
    The medic turned to him with an inquiring expression. “Anyone else?”
    Dash shook his head. “The two of them were the only ones who drank the wine.”
    Nodding, the medic tucked his lethal-looking device into the medicine bag and pulled out a roll of gauze and tape before walking to the bed. The elderly innkeeper backed up, her waterlogged eyes threatening to overflow. She wrung her hands and stared at Ronan. “He gonna be okay?”
    The medic remained focused on the task of examining Ronan’s face. “Nose will likely be off kilter, and his headache must be a bugger. But he’ll live.”
    Ronan yelped when the medic reset his nose.
    “I swear if I’d known Ceris was a lowdown thief, I never woulda hired her.” The innkeeper sounded as penitent as a sinner seeking absolution.
    Dash felt the sting of Mara’s scrutiny. Bad enough she thought him scummier than the bottom of Gael’dore swamp, now she obviously was running the comparisons between he and the server thief through her head. He wondered which of them she considered more despicable. “I need some air.” Furious at the gravelly catch in his voice, he stalked through the door.
    Purple storm clouds gathered outside the small window at the top of the stairs, mimicking his mood. Folding his arms, he stared at the whitecaps breaking against the rocky shore.
    Long ago, he’d stopped caring what others thought. So why did Mara dredge up old insecurities, make him long to be something better than what he was—a self-serving thief?
    The sweetness of luna flowers teased his nose—an invisible calling card announcing Mara’s sudden presence in the hall.
    “I’m sorry I overreacted, but how the hell was I to know she drugged the wine?”
    Her statement rattled loose a memory he’d long ago locked away. Before it could sink in its claws, he mentally wrestled it back inside its padlocked box and turned the key.
    Mara remained a silent force behind him. He practically felt her willing the words from him that would ease her conscience. They wouldn’t come. Not when the phantom of her harsh accusations continued beating against his brain. He might be guilty of many crimes, but raping a woman’s mind wasn’t one of them. The mere idea turned his stomach.
    His lips curled in a mockery of a smile. “True. Makes more sense I’d magically taken over your body, doesn’t