Read Online Taking Liberty by Jodi Redford - Free Book Online Page B

beside you.”
    â€œTerrific.” She threw her hands out in disgust. “We’re back to you dishing the sexist ultimatums again. Look, I know you’ve got bigger muscles than mine and that extra appendage between your legs, but I’m fully capable of fending for myself. I’ve been doing it my entire life.”
    Irritation shimmered in his dark irises. “You mean like how you were perfectly capable of fending for yourself back in the cell?”
    The taunting memory of her meltdown slapped her like an icy hand across the face. Having Lucus witness that mortifying scene was bad enough. Having him rub it in was just plain obnoxious. “Unless you want to end up winded, flat on your back like before, I advise never bringing that up again.”
    â€œIf you start doing as I say, you and I won’t have any issues.”
    Her fingernails biting into her palms, she stared at the arrogant set of his jaw. Oh man, it was tempting to say the hell with it and remind Lucus how capable she was of taking him down. But one quick scan of the area drove home the disheartening truth. To survive, they needed to stick together. “Fine.”
    â€œSee, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” Giving her arm a patronizing pat, he sidled past her and headed into the surrounding desert. “You coming?”
    A lizard scampered up the side of the rock and flicked out its long tongue. Great, even the local reptiles were mocking her.
    Â 
    They spent what felt like hours combing the nearby terrain for remains from the Starflight Folly. Other than a few stray pieces of twisted metal, nothing useful cropped up. Certainly nothing that would get them off the godforsaken planet.
    Rini used the toe of her boot to clear sand away from a strip of metal protruding from the ground. Satisfied she’d uncovered most of it, she stooped and pried the object from the desert’s tenacious grasp. She buffed the metal with the hem of Lucus’s shirt to get a better look at the symbol etched on the corroded surface. “This looks like one of the symbols from the rock.”
    Lucus stopped poking through a stack of charred cactus husks and strode to her. She handed him the metal piece for inspection. “Yep. This is probably from the Starflight’s masthead. Used to be captains would fly their ships with their crew’s names and rankings displayed. Not sure why the practice isn’t kept up.”
    She stared at the shadow of day-old beard gracing Lucus’s jawbone and became seriously irked when her nipples tightened at the idea of being teased by the dark bristles. “How is it you’re fluent in ancient Illonican?” she demanded in hopes of distracting her aggravating hormones.
    He gave the metal strip a final look before tossing it on top the burnt cacti. “When I first started trading, I did business with this grizzled farmer on Orrik who used to be a professor of languages.” A grin overtook his rugged features. “Guess Cal needed a change of pace from harvesting melons all day because he’d toss lecture books at me every chance he got.”
    â€œHmm, wish I’d known Cal when I was busting my hump trying to keep my grade point average steady at the ranger academy.”
    A teasing hint of challenge danced in Lucus’s eyes. “The girl who graduated top honors had trouble keeping up her grades?”
    â€œJust in languages and anthropology.” She batted away a persistent army of gnats trying to roost in her hair. The damn things were a nuisance, particularly when she already felt sticky and grimy.
    Lucus’s palm suddenly squashed against her forehead. She gave him a double blink and one corner of his mouth quirked. “One of the gnats snuck by you.”
    â€œUm…thanks.”
    â€œAnytime.”
    The heat of his skin continued seeping into her and she began to wonder if he’d forgotten where he’d plastered his hand. But then an