Thief of Mine (16 page)

“No, I’m just tried and hungry and I think I have a leg
cramp.”

Kit moved toward her, smiling as she backed pedaled away
from him.

“You love me.”

“I don’t want to discuss this.” She backed into the trunk of
a large melaleuca tree.

“But I do, and I know something that’s really good for leg
cramps.” Kit said as he placed his hands on either side of her body to stop her
from moving.

“I suppose it’s sex.” Stella knew it was. That look in his
eyes was most definitely sexual and possessive. A surge of excitement ran
through her veins. “That’s your answer to everything.” Though all things
considered, it was a mighty fine answer, and she did have a leg cramp…

“I think you need to have me inside you now.”

“What? Here?” Stella snapped out, even though she knew that
was exactly when she wanted. “The police…”

“The police will just think that we are lovers just doing
what comes naturally.” Kit’s hands roamed up the inside of the sweater she
wore. “Come on don’t you want to erase the unpleasant memories of this evening
with my cock up inside you?”

Well when he put it like that…

“No, I don’t think this is a good idea.” What happened to
her plans?

“Liar, liar pants on fire,” Kit teased as he pushed the
sweater up over her hips.

“I don’t have any pants on,” responded Stella in a husky
voice that surprised her. Could she? Should she? She was already wet and ready
for action.

Kit smiled at the sound of her voice. Stella wanted him as
much as he wanted her.

“I know you have no panties on and I’m going to take full
advantage of that.” Kit lifted her into his arms, liking the way her legs,
cramp free, automatically wound around him in acceptance. “Hold on, princess.
He pushed her back against the tree, holding her with one arm and his body as
he freed his already straining cock. It automatically moved to her pussy.

“Kit I…” Stella gasped as she once again felt the welcome
thrust inside her.

“Don’t think…just enjoy.”

“Oh God, I really want to hate you…” Stella murmured as her
lips descended on his.

“I know, princess.” Kit’s tongue thrust into her mouth as
his cock thrust in and out of the tight, wet core of her. “How’s that leg cramp
of yours?”

“Shut up and fuck me, lover boy.” Stella felt the familiar
spiral of excitement building up inside her. She pulled Kit to her and urged
him on with a low moan.

Kit melded his mouth to hers and took the scream within him
as she came. He growled with satisfaction as his cock spurted hotly inside her.
The thought of Stella being pregnant with his child drove him on to expel every
drop inside her. He wanted everything with this woman. Love, a future, the
good, the bad and the ugly. Nothing less would do.

Stella slid weakly out of his arms. What was wrong with her?
She was so overcome with lust she had not used a condom. What an idiot. This
could never happen again. Unplanned pregnancies with a thief she was pretty
sure she loved did not seem to be the smartest move at the moment. She pushed
away from Kit.

“I want to go home… alone.”

“I’ll take you.”

“You’re never taking me again.”

“I’m not talking about sex, princess.”

“Good ‘cause neither am I.” Stella stomped off on wobbly
legs. She had to get home in peace and think. One thing was for certain, she
was never having sex again. She stopped. “Damn,” she cursed out loud. She
stomped back. “I need money for a cab.”

Kit gave her the money. As much as he wanted to be with her,
he realized she needed time to think. Such a lot had happened in a short time.

“See you tomorrow.”

Stella stomped off again.

“I’ll call if I need you,” she yelled over her shoulder,
knowing she would make damn sure she was never that needy again.

“You need me, princess.”

“I don’t need anyone,” Stella muttered to herself.

Chapter Eleven

Stella didn’t see Kit until late the next day.

“Camille has escaped.” Kit watched Stella trudge tiredly up
her driveway as she returned home from work. It was clear to him that she hadn’t
slept. The strain on her face and the dark circles under Stella’s eyes made Kit
want to pull her to him and try to give her whatever comfort he could. But the
lady in question had a clear “don’t touch” look about her.

Stella had had the worst day. She had not slept at all the
previous night. She then had to front up and work and listen to her whiny
pissant boss going on and on about unplanned absences and how she should try
and be more considerate and not to get sick in the future. Stella had been so
close to quitting. If it had not been for the fact that she had some startlingly
large bills and a mortgage to pay she would have told her boss to stick his job
in his ear. But she hadn’t. She had bitten her tongue and logged on, on work
time, to the online job network and applied for any job that seemed half way
decent. If she could jump from one job to another, then that would be one less
thing to think and worry about.

Stella looked up at the other thing that was on her mind.
Kit Kincaid. Why was he here when she specifically told him she did not want to
see him? Hadn’t she dealt with enough today? The ride home on the train had
been a hot nightmare of crammed in bodies. She wasn’t up to battling with the
thief. And if he was here for sex then he was out of his mind. She was never
having sex again. She swore that oath on a wine bottle last night.

“So, why would I care if Camille escaped?” Stella searched
in her handbag for her keys. If she had inadvertently locked her keys inside
her house this morning she was going to scream. Or maybe puke. Or maybe both.
She was a woman on the edge.

“She’s a dangerous woman.”

“So am I when I have PMS.”

Kit was only too aware how ruthless Camille and her
followers could be when she wanted something. The only thing that she could
possibly want now was revenge. Kit could look after himself. He was worried
about Stella.

“I’m being serious, princess.”

“So am I, and enough with the ‘princess’ stuff.” Stella
sighed with relief as she found her keys. Puking averted. She looked at Kit. He
had those big, concerned puppy dog eyes on her. They almost made her want to
melt into his arms and allow him to take away all the hurt and tiredness she
felt. Almost. The other oath she had sworn on that bottle last night was she
was going to toughen up and not be a ninny over this man.

“Look Kit, you pissed her off and she wants you, not me.”
Which, after the last interlude with Camille and her paintbrush, was fine with
Stella. Just thinking about Camille’s coven made her shudder with disgust at
the thought of anyone forcing themselves on another person regardless of
gender.

“But she knows I love you.” That was an unchangeable fact.
The only one who did not understand or did not want to understand that was
Stella.

Stella didn’t want to go over the whole love thing again.
She wanted to forget it—and Kit. Of course, both were impossible to ask for.

“How did she escape?”

Kit wasn’t particularly surprised that Stella changed the
subject. He knew her well enough to know this was the standard diversionary
tactic she used when faced with something she didn’t want to acknowledge.

“No one seems to know. Two guards were assigned her to take
her to the Watchhouse but she never made it. The story is she vanished from the
house before they could even get her into the van.” Kit knew there had to be
more to the story than that, but the police were not divulging anything more.

Stella trudged past Kit up the stairs.

“Maybe the witch thing is true.”

The smell of her perfume as she passed made Kit want to
reach out and hold her.

“Do you believe that?”

Stella turned to look at him. He was possibly the most
fascinating man she had ever met. And she knew in her heart she loved him. But
she would never let Kit know that. His power over her was so strong it scared
her. “What does it matter what I think? I’m out of the whole thing.”

“Are you?” Kit looked back at her meaningfully. He wasn’t
the only liar.

“I’m not playing any more games with you.”

“I want to keep you safe, princess. It would kill me if
anything happened to you. Camille knows that.”

Stella slid the key into her front door lock and pushed the
door open.

“I’m fine.” Stella knew she was more than capable of
handling the crazy witch woman. It was Kit she couldn’t handle.

“Are you really fine?” Kit wasn’t and he wasn’t scared to
admit it.

No, of course she wasn’t fine, but he didn’t need to know
that.

“Is that all you came to tell me?

“I love you, Stella.” Kit watched as she stiffened at his
words.

“How can I believe that? You’ve lied before. In fact, you
make a living out of lying.”

That was true. Kit knew it and was sorry that he ever had
given her reason to doubt him.

“But I never lied about loving you.”

“I have to go.” Stella didn’t add, “before I do something
stupid like cry over you.”

“This is not the end of us.” Kit moved toward her.

Stella walked inside her home, her body barring his
entrance.

“There was never really an ‘us’, Kit. We were two people who
had sex, that’s all.”

It was way more than that and they both knew it, but Kit
could see there was no point pushing it further.

“So what now?”

“You go and thieve and I’ll do what I have to.” Which would
include breaking into her emergency stash of Tim Tams.

“You’ll watch out for Camille?” Kit needed to know Stella
would be careful.

I’ll watch out for all intruders,” Stella assured him as she
shut the door. “…including you” she added softly. Kit Kincaid could not be
allowed in her life again.

* * * * *

The next morning, Stella stumbled from her bedroom and into
the kitchen searching for coffee. By her calculations she’d had thirty-four
minutes of sleep. She was going to be a mighty cranky woman today. Too bad, so
sad for those who had to deal with her. She made apologies to no one.

As she rounded the corner and came into the kitchen, Stella
stopped in shock.

“Oh what the bloody hell are you doing here?” Stella snapped
out loud at the last person she expected to see in her home. “How did you get
in?”

Camille smiled at Stella Rowallan.

“I’m a witch.” Camilla ran her eyes up and down the woman’s
pale legs. Her breasts were clearly bare under the tight tank top she wore. She
remembered how hot and fuckable the woman had been when she last saw her. It
was a pity the woman was so infatuated with Kit Kincaid.

Stella wanted to show no weakness with this woman. She refrained
from shuddering in disgust at the lascivious look the woman gave her. What part
of “hell no” did she not understand?

“Yes, you
are
a bitch,” agreed Stella, deliberately
using the ‘b’ word instead.

Camille was amused that the woman was not going to play
along with her game. That was okay. She had the upper hand and Stella would
soon know it. She held out a set of keys to Stella.

“I magically let myself in.” Camille threw Stella’s hidden
keys to her.

Stella caught them and dumped them on the counter. So much
for her new hiding place under the concrete garden gnome.

“What do you want?” This was no social visit. The sooner it
was over the better.

“Do you always wake up grumpy?”

“Piss off.”

“Charming.”

“What do you want, witch woman?” Stella repeated, not in the
mood to play games with this person.

“Maybe I want to see you all hot and tense and scared again.”

Stella shook her head in disgust.

“That’s never going to happen.”

“It happened once,” Camille pointed out, amused at the tight,
angry set of Stella’s lips.

“Only because you had to tie me down and shove a knife at my
breasts to do it.” Stella looked at her thoughtfully. Camille was no longer
wearing her medieval garb. She looked positively average in her jeans and
shirt. It was hard to believe just by looking at her that she was such a
nutcase. “Now tell me whatever it is you are dying to tell me and then leave.”

“I accept the idol is lost. But I’ve decided if I can’t have
the idol, then I want Kit’s email address.” Camille believed the contacts he had
on his email files would be like gold.

“I don’t know it.” Stella did but she was not going to allow
this freaky woman access to it.

“He was accessing your computer.”

“How do you know?”

“I had people watching you.” Camille smiled at Stella’s
expression. “You really should think about closing the curtains before you go
down on a man. Mind you, my followers wherever very impressed with your oral
abilities.”

That Camille wanted to upset Stella was obvious, however,
Stella was not going to take the bait.

“So go look on the computer.” She tried to sound as
disinterested as possible. While it was true Stella was annoyed at Kit, she was
not going to be the means to ruin him.

“I did while you were sleeping. I checked out the history on
your hard drive.” Camille smiled at Stella’s angry expression. “I can bring up
the email log in but I don’t know Kit’s password.”

“Oh well too bad for you.”

“What is his password?”

“How would I know?”

“Kit’s your lover.” Camille pointed out. “Lovers tell each
other personal things.

“He was someone I had sex with for a short time. Other than
bodily fluids nothing personal was shared.”

Camille moved over close to Stella. She had to admire her.
She did not flinch.

“I want the password.”

“Ask Kit.”

“Kit’s being very uncooperative at the moment.”

Stella looked at her. She didn’t like the sound of that