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

Much to her surprise, her purse was still in her skirts, and still stuffed full of ritterns from her last delivery. For all his bad habits and questionable business practices, she supposed Rhysto wasn't much of an out and out thief. He preferred to exert control and get paid that way.

Loretta crawled back onto the bed, tapping various hollow spaces on her massive headboard and the columns that supported it. Invisible drawers slid open, revealing they'd been no more disturbed than her purse. Her own tiny knives, another pistol, a garrote, and more than one numbing brass hypodermic were all intact. The larger drawers hidden under the bed skirts were similarly undiscovered.

He hadn't found any of them. Her resolve to get him out of her bedroom had faltered once she gave in to her own body's demands, but she was still relieved he didn't know her options. She closed the drawers and walked slowly into the bathroom.

She had to try three times to start the tiny boiler underneath her tub, but she didn't want to ask her day guard in to take care of it. Talking to Gus, possibly having to fire him, was going to be unpleasant enough already. Even after what had happened, she hoped he'd be able to stay on.

If nothing else, Loretta was going to need an additional guard to keep an eye on that damned back door for when Rhysto decided to return. Neither Bess nor anyone else could watch two doors at once, and he'd proved he could defeat her locks and probably any others she could buy locally.

Her grandmother had warned her about back doors, but Loretta had been too afraid of being trapped inside with only one way out. She could see the advantages of that now.

While the water heated up, Loretta stood over the toilet and used the uncomfortable tubed contraption and stinging solution the chemist refused to supply to unmarried women. His sympathetic wife was happy to provide that and the herbs and medication to back it up. Rhysto didn't bother himself with such things, but Loretta never failed to. She had no desire to have a child, certainly not one who would certainly have countless half-siblings scattered all over Alterra.

Necessities completed, Loretta stood in the middle of her three tall mirrors and turned from side to side. Rhysto had stayed true to her wishes, mostly. The bruises on her ass were only going to get darker over the next day or two, but all the other red marks would disappear by the end of the day.

Rhysto's attentions always left her feeling a bit the worse for wear the next day. Her consolation, besides all that exquisite pleasure, was she was quite certain she'd left bruises with her own handiwork. He hadn't asked her not to leave marks, after all.

She turned the valve, and hot water poured out the brass spigot into her copper tub, custom-made larger and deeper than she'd seen anywhere before. Extra copper could only be a good thing in this house.

Loretta turned the temperature up just a touch, added a long pour of healing elixir from a purple glass bottle, then opened the slow circulating flow. She wanted a good, long soak, and the water needed to stay hot.

Loretta sucked air in through her teeth when her toes hit the steaming surface, but she kept going. Now was not the time to get dainty and reluctant. With both feet in, she gripped the high sides of the tub and lowered herself as slowly as she could.

She couldn't keep from groaning when her privates went under, but her lower back welcomed the heat. She leaned against the curved tub, closing her eyes and sighing. She'd let a few lovers share in her bath and the amazingly fast and unlimited hot water supply, but she could never tell them where such wonders came from.

That was a secret too deep for even her basement to keep.

Rhysto seemed to believe her tales of finding things in plain sight, at least for now. She'd told no lies for him to detect or disprove. She still didn't believe for one second that he'd turned up after seven years for nothing more than a good roll, even one as spectacular as they'd had.

He'd be back, and possibly with much harder to answer questions. Worse, he could decide she needed to go back into her old line of work and bring a steady stream of pilots to sample the wares. That thought was enough to convince Loretta that something would have to be done. Whether she’d enjoyed herself or not didn’t matter. She never wanted another surprise visitor hiding in her closet.

After an hour of soaking, gentle washing, and making sure any traces of her evening activities were gone, Loretta got out and drained the tub. Even if she hadn't been staying in today, her ribs and breasts were in no shape for a corset. She knew her figure was just fine without one, but bruises and sore muscles did limit her choice of clothing a bit.

She'd go with one of her nightgowns and put a long coat over it to speak with her guards. She did drop one of her dainty but effective pistols into one pocket and a knife in the other. She doubted Rhysto would come back right away—far better to keep her off balance.

Loretta had never been one to take chances.

Loretta glanced at the indicator on her living room wall as she passed through. She had to admit that was one of the more clever ideas her grandmother had come up with.

Anyone who didn't know better would see one of several elaborate metal sculptures, like many others inside and outside the house. Even if a guest looked very closely, that's all the uninitiated eye would ever see. The only thing anyone could notice was one of several glass jewels scattered throughout the looping metal.

The one that mattered switched from red to green when the guard