Lovers in the Woods by Ann Raina Read Free Book Online Page B

knife and used the
haft to hit on his head. Doyakis slumped against the tree,
unconscious.
    “He won’t betray us again.” He got up again
and put the knife away in a practiced movement.
    “How did you know?”
    Sajitar checked the surroundings, then
mounted the B-horse again. He panted and shivered at the same time.
Looking at Rayenne, he realized that his sudden action had
surprised her, to say the least.
    “ You wear a uniform.” His
voice was rough. The happenings, starting with this morning’s death
of a police officer, got to him and he wanted
out —just call it quits and leave. He shook his head, running a
hand through his sweaty hair. Pain made him shiver. “There’s no man
in this corner of the world who wouldn’t comment on a woman in a
police uniform, believe me. Or they’d want to stay out of your
path. And he came right at us. So very friendly. Didn’t you think
he was suspicious?”
    Rayenne glanced at him, raising her brows
while a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.
    Sajitar nodded. “You knew.”
    “I did. I would’ve preferred him to take us
to his hut.” She turned her mount as she put away her gun. “So no
one is nice to a police woman, hmm?”
    “No, not around here. No one.”
    “Are there wild animals around?”
    Sajitar snorted.
    “He’ll be up and about in a short while and
tell those men that we got away once more. Don’t worry, he’ll be
his old grumpy self.”
    “Who’s worried?”
    He huffed, his glance wild and angry.
“Have you ever thought of changing clothes while we are
fleeing?”
    “No.”
    “Do it.”

Chapter
Three
     
     
    “Where did you get the knife?” Rayenne asked
when they had crossed another three miles deeper into Emerald
Green. The branches hung low and she had to duck down onto Bunty’s
withers frequently. “I had you searched.”
    “I have special places.”
    “Show me.” She waited for him to produce the
knife with a sly grin. “That’s my knife!”
    He shrugged.
    “ You took mine away, and I needed one, as
you see.”
    “You stole it!”
    “I borrowed it. Gimme back mine and I’ll
trade it for this one. Mine’s much better balanced.”
    “When?”
    “Earlier. Your B-horse was close to mine and
your knife…” He let the sentence trail off while the knife danced
over his fingers.
    Rayenne blushed. How she hated that he had
duped her!
    “What else did you take?”
    “What do you want to get back?”
    “ What? ”
    He sighed and put away the
knife, ignoring her demanding stare. “Unless you shoot me, Ray, which I’m quite
sure you won’t do, we are partners. You can try and treat me as a
prisoner, but that’ll do you no good. I know some things about
Emerald Green. I know about life here. You don’t. And we know now
that you can’t run back to the street to contact HQ unless you want
to have a meet-and-greet with Sanjongy’s gunslingers. What’s your
decision?”
    Rayenne looked away, embarrassed. She had
been proud of her independence, of her abilities. Out here, the sum
of her knowledge was less than what Sajitar had collected through
the years of just being a small criminal on this planet. It was
frustrating.
    She took a deep breath, composing her wits.
It was fruitless to be angry.
    “ I’m not into ridiculous games, Saji. We
both want to get through the woods alive. I agree, you know more
than I do, and I promise it will be to your benefit that you helped
me. But that’s all I can do.”
    “I guess I can live with that for now.”
    Rayenne looked
back at the withers of her B-horse, not knowing if she wanted to
interpret his reaction. Her job was to bring him safely to Belson
Park, no matter whether he was a criminal or just a witness.
    On one hand, and much to her surprise, she
enjoyed the ride through Emerald Green. There was no such wood
where she came from. The landscape of her home planet consisted of
forests, swamps and dense vegetation that changed with the
temperatures. Sometimes reading tracks was