Lover Enslaved: Thieves of Aurion, Book 1 by Jodi Redford Page A

the waves. They didn’t stand a chance of keeping up with the jet-propelled Sea Surfer, but their efforts were admirable nonetheless and great fun to observe.
    “They’re something, aren’t they?” The wind snagged Dash’s words and tossed them into the sea.
    She felt ridiculously happy that he’d decided to drop the silent treatment. Clutching the ship’s rail, she turned to him. Her hair whipped around her face in a wild dance and he reached for the nearest strand, tucking it behind her ear. She shivered at the intimacy of the gesture.
    Uncomfortable with the emotions swirling inside her, she waved towards the playful sea mammals frolicking in the waves. “Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?”
    His dark gaze swept her face in a lingering caress. “Yes, I have.”
    They stared at each other until the electricity snapping between them became overwhelming and she looked away. Her verbal attack yesterday wounded him. Despite what he must think, she didn’t enjoy inflicting emotional pain on anyone. But her need for vigilant caution hadn’t lessened. Dash wasn’t merely a fae thief—he was a Maddoc. Letting her shields down with him would be foolhardy.
    “I’ve been mulling over what you said prior to us leaving Zalan.” At Dash’s frown, she leaned closer, using his larger frame as a wind buffer. “About not knowing where we’re going. I don’t understand how you lost track of the Rhyann rune.”
    A nerve jumped in his tensed jaw. “Trust me, it’s easier than you think.”
    Not the answer she wanted to hear. She expelled a frustrated breath. “Then how do you propose we find it?”
    He stared over her shoulder, his eyes an emotionless brown. “I know a man who might be privy to the rune’s most recent owner.”
    Her mood lifted. “You think he’ll help us?”
    “Not likely.”
    She sagged against the rail. Why couldn’t anything be simple?
    A shout sounded from one of the crew members manning the deck, and Mara turned as he sprinted towards the helm. Shading her eyes, she tried determining the source of the man’s excitement. Finally she gave up and looked at Dash. “What’s going on?”
    “We’re nearing shore.”
    She frowned. “We are?”
    No sooner did the words leave her mouth, the rocky coastline of Mer’daca appeared in the distance. Within seconds, the cliffs morphed from inconsequential boulders jutting from the sea into massive outcroppings towering hundreds of feet above the ocean. Mara gawked at them while the jet ship suspended its propulsion rockets and glided into the bay. She remembered Dash’s dissertation on the orgeel’s love of caves and took a nervous gulp.
    Additional crewmen scurried to their stations when the ship neared the pier pilings. Beyond the docks, the port city of Hagee sat nestled in the basin of the twin peaks of Mount Vire like an offering to the deity of volcanic harmony. From her research, she knew Vire hadn’t erupted in more than a century. She prayed the gods didn’t intend on changing that status quo anytime soon—at least not until her butt was safely parked on the Sea Surfer while it jetted back to Zalan.
    The ship putted into a waiting slip and one last ker-chug from the engine signaled they’d reached the end of the road—for the moment. Buffeting winds no longer a threat, Piper flitted onto the deck and watched the lowering of the gangplank with them. Relief shivered over Mara when no stray orgeels thundered up the carpeted gangway and snatched them between its scaly claws. Instead, Captain Borgander stepped through the door leading from the ship’s bridge. No scales on him, but he did have rather reptilian eyes.
    “Again, my apologies for the late arrival.” Borgander smiled, revealing a mouthful of tobacco-stained teeth and a solitary gold tooth. “Can’t keep the ladies off me, it seems.”
    Really? Mara shuddered at the idea of him rutting away on some poor female like a shaggy, potbellied wartobeast.
    “Have the