Thief of Mine by Amarinda Jones Read Free Book Online Page B

boy.”
    “Don’t scare the tourists, princess. Remember, Brisbane
thrives on tourism.” Kit had every intention of being bare assed with Stella as
soon as he got the idol back to his home.
    “Just shut up.” Honest to God what more did she have to put
up with?
    “Are you okay?” Kit knew Stella had been through a lot and
he was concerned for her. They have only just met but Kit knew time meant
nothing when you met the right person. He was a man who lived on his instincts
and his instinct about Stella was she was more than just a woman he met and had
sex with. He also knew he would freak Stella out if he mentioned that. But he
could not deny the feeling that being with her brought him. He felt a strange
sense of wholeness he had never felt with anyone else before.
    “Do you care?” The look of soft concern in Kit’s eyes
momentarily threw her off balance. She almost believed he cared for her as more
than an acquaintance. But that of course was ridiculous. The only thing that
had between them was sexual chemistry and that could burn out mighty quickly.
    “I do care.”
    “I’m as fine as this situation allows.” Stella had the
strangest feeling that this thief of hers actually meant it. Or maybe she was
reading far too much into the soft chocolate brown eyes that held hers. Stella
knew they had to get back to the subject at hand. “Have you ever thought about
just giving the idol back to whomever you stole it from?” That seemed like it
would solve the whole people chasing them thing.
    Kit headed hand and hand with Stella toward the lockers. He
could not care less what people thought of him or Stella. They were not
important and they were beneath Stella’s touch anyway.
    “Camille stole it, and I stole it from her.”
    “Great, semantics. I suppose if you steal from a thief it’s
not a theft then?” Stella knew she could have easily pulled her hand from Kit’s,
but it felt kind of nice and she was tired, and what did a little bit of
support from another human being hurt? Stella knew if she looked at it like
that she could justify holding his hand.
    “Something like that.” Kit smiled at her words. Stella was
taking the whole thing about him being a thief in stride. Not a lot of people,
let alone women, could find that the slightest bit acceptable. Yet, Stella was
becoming more intrigued than horrified.
    “And where did the witch woman get it from?”
    “The Queensland Museum.” Kit explained about the relics that
had been collected in the desert outside the town of Beldarq. They had then
been sent on a cultural tour around the world, being loaned to countries like
Australia to put on display.
    “Well. I suggest the most logical thing would be to take it
back to the museum then.” Did one knock on the main door and hand it back or
what? She wondered why she had not heard on the news that an ancient artifact
had been stolen from the Queensland Museum. It would have been a big deal to
the State and to the people of Beldarq. Surely it was newsworthy?
    Kit instinctively knew Stella was not someone who broke the
law, although she might bend it to her own rules.
    “It’s not that easy. There is already a fake idol in place
at the museum.” Kit felt Stella momentarily pause in her step at his words. “When
Camille took the original, the museum was embarrassed and had to replace it
with a fake. Essentially they wanted to stop questions until they could find
who took the original.”
    “That’s why it wasn’t on the news.”
    “Correct, only a few people know it was nicked and all those
people want it for their own reasons.” Kit looked around him warily, the fine
hairs on the back of his neck rose in warning. He moved them along quickly. “The
idol is on loan from Beldarq. And they cannot afford to add to the unrest on
the Middle East right now due to the global political situation.”
    “I see…” Stella didn’t really, but this wasn’t her game
after all. She did, however, understand that