The Dream Thief by Kari Kilgore (books for 10th graders txt) 📕

the knife still hidden in the garment within her reach. "Word does get around once a trend like this settles in. Almost like a mania among people with nothing better to do. Who am I to judge?"

Rhysto shook his head, but he was smiling. He still held the knife behind her back. Loretta pulled her loose undershirt free and over her head, leaving her naked to the waist. No matter how intensely satisfying the next few hours turned out to be, she was determined to send him out of here with nothing more than half-truths in his possession.

"When this hidden supply of horrors runs dry?" he said, his voice rough. "How will you maintain yourself in such a lavish lifestyle?"

He cupped her left breast in his rough hand, then her right, squeezing each nipple hard enough to send heat coursing through her body. The high color in his cheeks let her know he hadn't lost his weakness for flesh. Her flesh in particular.

"My lifestyle is hardly lavish," she said. "Out here on the edge of the Fog in this tiny little house. But if it runs dry, I might have to recruit an associate to alternate visits with me. See if we can't set up a little bidding war and split the profits. These people like nothing more than having something their neighbor doesn't, especially if they paid a lot more than necessary to get it."

"Well then, darlin', sounds like I should send one of my own associates around to keep an eye on you, make sure no one with less-than-pure intentions decides to separate you from your hard-earned treasure."

Loretta arched her back and drew in her breath, giving up on hiding how much she was enjoying his rough manipulations. The words didn't matter, not now. All she wanted was for him to drop that damned knife. That and the sheer bulk of him put her at too much of a disadvantage. She raised both arms and pulled him into a bristly, whiskey-reeking kiss, then pulled his face toward her breasts.

"I certainly appreciate your concern, Rhysto. I do." She gasped at the heat of his mouth, and more at the surprisingly gentle pressure of his teeth. "I take very good care of myself and my treasure."

"I can see that you do." His breathing was faster as he bit the base of her neck, a spot that never failed to turn up the nerve endings throughout her body. "But I'd hate for anything bad to happen to such a dear friend."

Loretta grabbed the front of his jacket and slipped it down over his shoulders, not wanting him to think she was after his weapons. She was deploying her own weapon quite successfully.

He finally moved the knife away from her back and pulled his jacket off. She ran her fingernails through the hair exposed at his chest, then moved lower until she grasped the bulge in his pants. She felt heat even through the thick wool.

"I don't think anything bad is going to happen to me for the next few hours, Rhysto." She whispered against his ear before she bit his earlobe, paying close attention as he dropped the weapon belt on top of his jacket on the floor. "Nothing bad that I don't want, anyway."

He shifted away from her, holding her shoulders a little too hard. She couldn't forget even for one second how dangerous this man was, even when his mind was half-crazed over wanting to plunder each and every inch of her.

"Things will go very badly for you if I find out you're employing my competitors, Loretta. For you and for them. We'll all be so much better off if you tell me anything I need to know right now."

"Stand up," she whispered.

Putting herself into such a vulnerable position made her skin crawl, but she knew of no surer way to get him off this track. Her flesh and her senses knew what was coming and demanded she keep going. Loretta reached for his heavy belt. Rhysto got to his feet, never looking away from her eyes.

"You can ask every shaw pilot from one end of Alterra to the other," she said. "Ask every peddler and cart dragger besides. I'm not working with any of them."

She unbuckled the belt, knowing he would use it later no matter how agreeable she was right now. The hell of it was she wanted him to use it, very badly. Around her wrists or ankles, across her ass, sometimes even around her neck.

Her mind might have worked very hard to put the desire for this part of her life behind her, but her body had not cooperated. And her body was starving for what no one could do better than the man in front of her. She pushed his pants down, exposing the clearest proof that he felt the same.

"Do you swear it?" He was breathless now, his hands in her hair, lips parted. "Don't make me punish you, Loretta. Really punish you. Not the kind you like."

She leaned forward and ran her tongue along the length of him, and his whole body jerked toward her.

"I speak the truth, I swear it," she said, breathless herself. "Investigate all you want to. You'll see I'm not working with any of them. No one knows the kind of punishment I need better than you do."

Chapter 10

Karl opened his eyes in his dark apartment, as wide awake as he'd been fast asleep the second before. He heard no noise, and no part of his body hurt or needed to be emptied. He was simply awake.

He turned onto his back, glancing toward the window. No, not a trace of dawn. He'd only been out for a few hours, but he didn't feel like he had a chance of falling asleep again. He sighed and folded his arms under his head, trying to figure out what had bolted him awake.

He normally slept like a log, as did most people he knew who weren't permanent residents at