Rebel Heart (6 page)

"What now? As you can tell, I hold the gun."

The upper hand was his once again.

Time to end the game. The overlords would arrive soon. As the lady twisted her arm from his grip, Cameron reached out, his powerful fingers curling into the material of her shirt. He swung her around, intent on finishing this mission and seeing her home.

Reckless and as wild as a summer storm, she struggled within his grasp. His hold upon her was fragile, yet her shirt ripped.

The view beneath Cameron's gaze startled him, the image provocative and sexy as hell. She was exquisite, a work of art.

Believing her subdued, he loosened his grip. A mistake. She was a woman, yes, a wild impetuous, furious one. Any attempt at reasoning on his part would be wasted, and any thought of her submission was foolish.

He had nearly lost his hold on her. He caught her arm and pulled her around with such force that she stumbled, falling into him and toppling them both. He shifted in midair so his body would take the brunt of the fall. The air rushed from her lips, leaving her dazed and vulnerable. He swiftly rolled over.

Cameron straddled her hips again, his weight rendering her immobile.

He had wanted to know her mission. Yet the admiration for her stubborn courage and the sensual pull he felt for this lady surprised him. And for a brief second he had thought...hell, she was young, way too young.

With an inward shudder and the memory that reasoning and threats had all failed, he placed the gun beneath her chin. "Don't threaten a man with a gun unless you intend to use it."

Instantly, she was trembling beneath him, her hands clenched against his chest in defiance. "Blow me away, thieftaker, and be done with it." His captive lowered her lashes and held her breath. Her fingers tightened against him, winding into his own shirt as if pleading for courage. Suddenly, her eyes were open and gazing into his.

Seeing her eyes so close and the fear clearly shining from them, he felt a moment's compassion.

"What are you waiting for?"

The words spoken impetuously held the slightest tremor, the fear almost concealed.

He withdrew the weapon and holstered it.

"Despite my concern for the noise the gun would make, you surely tempt me. Two shots already--I cannot risk another. You're out of the City when you should not be. You refused to cooperate with me, an officer of the coalition."

"Liar! You are nothing but a despicable thieftaker!"

He looked at his uniform then grimaced, but went on anyway. "Then to make things worse, you attacked me. While purification is a severe punishment, I'd prefer to learn your name and why you are here in these woods. Something must be done. A thieftaker's hand in lieu of that other punishment."

"Coward! You mock, threaten, and now you think a child's punishment will loosen my tongue? You're a fool. Now let me go."

"Not until you talk. Perhaps your pack will provide answers," Cameron said.

"Drop dead...thieftaker."

With this last show of defiance, Cameron lost all concept of patience. He was up, pulling her by the wrist and heading through the forest toward her pack.

She struggled against him, resisted the show of force, but stumbled backwards when he let go of her and reached for the knapsack. Suddenly, she shrieked and dove at him.

Cameron was too quick. He upended her belongings. Specimens fell and scattered on the forest floor. Helpless against his strength, she sat back on her knees and watched. A tiny white flower fell from one of the smaller bags. She whimpered, her fingers trembling. An array of herbs, boasting a wealth of medicinal power followed. He sifted through them and knew full well the implications here. This was a greater offense than leaving the City. This was expressly forbidden to any except the medical team now assembled at his lab in Reding. "You dare too much," he said harshly. "Why are you collecting?"

"Find yourself someone else to torment and leave me alone."

"Who are you?" The deception had gone on too long. This was no game. He didn't know quite what he was doing. His anger was frustration, sweeping within, taunting everything he'd been brought up to believe. His fury was concern for her life. And she would not tell him the truth about her mission outside the City, would not even admit to any wrongdoing.

Irrevocably bent on ending this travesty and her foolishness, his gaze swept her daringly from head to toe, lingering at the soft curve of her breast, then the gentle swell of her hip. He meant to challenge her.

She had mocked him too many times.

Done him bodily harm. Attempted murder.

He stepped toward her. The fingers of one hand bound her wrists together, while his other hand moved boldly to uncover her head. She gasped, then a deep blush colored her face. A wealth of brandy-colored hair tumbled around her shoulders. Wild and unrestrained, just like the lady, it seemed to shimmer in the sunlight. With his gloves, he wiped away dirt from her cheeks. Only one smudge remained on the bridge of her nose. The sight of her small up-turned face, framed in cascading amber curls, made his breath catch, and his heart to pound fiercely. Even as he felt his muscles tighten, he realized he was staring into a pair of blue-gray eyes that appeared exceptionally innocent yet at the same time strangely beguiling.

"Admit it. You have disobeyed every law on the books," he whispered and gently ran his fingers through her hair.

"Take your hands off me. I understand quite well what brute force can accomplish. Now let me go."

He shook his head, still touching her. "Your name."

Her shoulders squared stubbornly.

"Enough," he said. "You'll stay with me."

Cameron froze suddenly. A movement almost twenty yards away caught his attention. The forest became mysteriously silent. Relief swept over him.

Jonathan Reese, his friend and confidant, stood in the shadows and with long forceful strides, approached.

Jonathan had come, dressed not in his usual City garb, but dressed as a barbarian, belying his position of counselor with the City and his authority with the coalition.

Cameron had known Jonathan for years. Jonathan was slightly smaller than he was, but Jonathan had a runner's grace and agility. Cameron held out his hand in greeting, and Jonathan clasped Cameron's hand in his. He carried a military rifle braced across his shoulders; a handgun rested in a holster around his waist. Jonathan's eyes were on his captive.

"Savage!" Jonathan called out in hushed tones, as if he meant to give warning. "Let her go."

Cameron was even more puzzled. He could not let her go, would not. Intemperate with an unrestrained need to discover her secrets, he would not allow the lady off this easy, despite Jonathan's command.

"I think not," he called out in defiance.

Jonathan's gaze flashed to his then to the girl's. Jonathan was furious with her, Cameron realized. Unspoken words flew between them as if they read each other's minds, the communication so subtle Cameron felt sure Jonathan knew this girl very well. A moment of jealous regard surged through Cameron, a fleeting thought of claiming this woman as his own insinuating itself in his mind, yet he quelled the impulse.

No matter Jonathan's command or his own feelings, he needed to know what went on here.

"Savage!" Jonathan called again. "Leave her. She is only a child and we've more important business this morning."

"I want my things back. And I'm not a child," she protested.

Cameron's lips tightened in a thin smile.

Cameron regarded her coolly and watched as she turned her head away. She lowered her lashes demurely. No innocent child would possess such a trick. Cameron almost smiled.

"Go," Jonathan commanded her. She stared, her gaze darting between the men.

He allowed her the freedom to leave.

She looked at Jonathan. "I cannot leave without my specimens. I..."

"Go!" Jonathan repeated. "Before I change my mind and take you back myself or before I allow Cameron Savage his request."

Cameron saw her eyes, clouded gray-blue, dusted beautifully with sparks of passion and fury. Eyes that seared into him and promised revenge even as she sought a way to retrieve the herbs scattered upon the ground. Eyes that matched Jonathan's.

Then she made one last request. "May I have the flower...the white one, there?" She pointed to it, her eyes pleading for this simple favor. Cameron wavered then began to deny her request.

"Yes." Jonathan interrupted his thoughts and before anything more could be said, she grabbed the fragile blossom and darted toward the convent walls.

Cameron watched Jonathan, the townsman, the coalition leader, a man who had done everything within his power to bring peace. "Everything is secure in my area. I would not have let her go, despite your command, had there been any sign of trouble."

"Do you know who she is?"

"No, although for a moment I thought...no."

Jonathan nodded. "You've guessed. Yet only logic forbids you acknowledge such a little hoyden is actually the daughter to DeMontville. My cousin."

"DeMontville's daughter? Which one?"

"Need you ask?"

"Tori..." The one word was emitted on a long drawn out breath. He remembered the first time he saw her. He'd been fascinated with her courage. Intrigued by her daring. Understood her wildness because it was inherent in his nature.

She was a little fool. With no sense to call her own.

Jonathan nodded again. "I'd swear to you she was up to no mischief, but I couldn't. She's had free run of the laboratory since her father banished her to this unholy place. She has set about to find the cure for the signe virus. And my friend, since that day in the forest, she hates thieftakers. Despises them."

"I figured that much out by myself," he said dryly. "I would have liked to take the flower back and have it analyzed."

"If I thought there was some basis for her research, I would have her lab dismantled and further use of the computers forbidden to her. She is far too impetuous."

"You cannot allow her out of the City again," Cameron warned softly. "Overlords use the trails nearby transporting goods overland to the sea. She doesn't think of the consequences before she acts. If she's in your care, Jonathan..."

"Only temporarily," he said stiffly. Then the slightest smile curved his mouth. "And I hasten to say that as soon as I can arrange a marriage for her, she will no longer be my concern."

"I'm not offering, but if I find she's causing more trouble, I'll gladly see she doesn't break anymore laws."

"You don't see the entire picture," Jonathan said softly. "She will not be controlled. She has suffered more than a woman should and now she feels invincible. No one can tell her what to do. No one."

"Her misdeeds might well see her dead," Cameron said angrily.

"She'll think twice about leaving the City again."

"Perhaps...but, if she were to stumble upon a thieftaker or a member of the syndicate, and if he were to take exception to her presence... Convince her to stay put and quickly."

"You're right, of course. I'll make sure she remains secure, even if I have to post guards at all her doors and windows," Jonathan assured him. Then he added urgently, "But now she has seen us together. What should I say to her?"

"Does she know of anything that has happened since she was banished here?"

Jonathan frowned. "Very little news reaches the outpost. It is why DeMontville chose this convent. The sisters who run it are not concerned with anything except their spiritual lives. Tori's been excluded from most everything a young girl does."

"No wonder she's turned into such a wild little creature."

"Don't be so harsh. They have kept her safe and the way her father felt, I believe he would have liked to strangle her himself." He paused. "So what do we tell her?

"As little as possible. I wouldn't want the responsibility that comes with encouraging her curiosity." As he spoke, he strode toward his glider. The camouflaged vehicle had blended into the forest.

Jonathan smiled slowly. He saluted smartly to Cameron as Cameron opened the door. "I wish you luck. God go with you."

"If we are successful, then perhaps we can sit back and relax," Cameron said, lowering the window and leaning out to address Jonathan. "One of the thieftakers has set up a handy little practice of ridding the thieves and the overlords of their rewards. He has played one against the other too many times and now I think it will all blow up in his face. When that is done, I will retire to the country and resume my own research."

Jonathan stepped closer. "You could do your research here. I'm sure Tori would let you have space in her lab."