Pirate's Price Read Online Free PDF Page B

some progress
with the leaders on her home world. Most everyone she spoke with
agreed that changes were desperately needed. Still, no one was
anxious to move against the empress. Anyone who opposed Empress
Bakula had a way of disappearing.
    The skimmer slowed and Rana looked up.
Silhouetted against the moonlit sky was a familiar ship, the sleek
lines and sweptback wings unmistakable even in the darkness.
“That’s my mother’s ship. Why did you steal a royal transport? She loves this ship.”
    None of the men replied to her objection.
The leader helped her down from the skimmer and one of the others
fastened a clip on the control console and sent the simple
transport speeding off in the opposite direction. This explained
how they’d gotten onto the compound without incident, but how had
they overridden the biometric security on the cruiser? It took a
member of the royal family to activate the ship’s primary
systems.
    A ramp extended from the hatch as their
small party approached. Someone must be inside the ship. She didn’t
bother with questions. The men were obviously focused on
escape.
    Would it be to her advantage to reveal that
this was not an ordinary kidnapping? All she really needed was a
ride off this rock and a place to hide while she… Her thoughts
skittered to a halt as she climbed the ramp. Though similar in
appearance, this was not her mother’s ship. The royal crest was
missing and the interior was not nearly as well maintained.
    “Where did you get a Devauntian cruiser?”
These ships were only issued to members of the aristocracy. Had the
owner been harmed because of her?
    The leader motioned to her left. “I’ll show
you to your quarters.”
    She studied the corridors as she walked,
hoping for a family seal or indication of who owned the ship. Her
captor scanned open the door to one of the staterooms and she
paused, unable to ignore her concern any longer.
    “No one was to be hurt,” she said. “That was
clear in the contract. How did you get this ship?”
    He urged her into the cabin and locked the
door with a voice command. “What kind of woman arranges her own
abduction? That question has bothered me ever since I received your
message.”
    “I have valid reasons for what I did and
they have nothing to do with you. If someone was harmed because of
our arrangement, I am partially to blame.”
    Pulling the face covering off over his head,
he tossed the fabric ring aside. He unfastened his jacket, his gaze
never leaving hers. His movements were slow, almost threatening,
yet the leap in her pulse had nothing to do with fear. Her nipples
tightened and heat cascaded through her abdomen. He was rugged and
unabashedly male, his formal attire accenting an underlying
savagery.
    A memory stirred in the back of her mind.
Simulated candlelight and brightly colored gowns, people crowding
the perimeter of a ballroom as they watched a dashing couple dance.
She tried to focus the image, to summon the details or
significance, but the memory slipped away. Why had this…criminal
made her think of a formal gala? It was more than just his
garments. He was somehow connected to the memory.
    “The ship was acquired long before you
entered the equation,” he told her. “In that, at least, you are
blameless.”
    “What’s that supposed to mean? How have I
failed to uphold my end of the bargain?”
    “You are either the bravest woman I’ve ever
met or the most foolish.” Challenge flashed in his bright, blue
eyes as he untied his neck cloth. “You have intentionally put
yourself at the mercy of men you know nothing about.”
    Despite his casual tone, the comment
rankled. Kashi had made the arrangements and Rana trusted her
handmaiden. That trust had never been tested in such a literal way
before, but Rana had no reason to doubt the other woman.
    She removed the pins securing her veil and
dragged it from her head. “If you harm me in any way, you won’t see
one credit of your fee.”
    He hesitated as his