Fallen Rogue Read Online Free PDF

her a feral smile. Her eyes widened, then narrowed.
    Without warning, she threw a hard jab to his nose. His head snapped back. Well, the girl had some guts. He liked a little fire.
    Rome snatched her arm, pulling her close, then forced her down onto her back. He pushed her arm into her chest, holding her in place. He lifted his leg to straddle her. Tears and sparks blurred his vision when her knee solidly connected with his groin.
    Okay. Enough playing around. Still holding her arm, he tucked his pain away and sat on her hips, kicking his legs out to pin her lower body and lie on top of her. To her credit, she didn’t scream.
    Rome held strong while she tried to squirm away, but his bulk encased her slimmer frame. He was surprised by her solid strength. Every place his body touched hers was firm and coiled and hot.
    The woman kept struggling, her breathing coming in huffs, warming his stubbled cheeks. She thrashed around like a trapped animal.
    The photo had done very little justice to the woman. Hair the color of moonlit straw framed a face that wasn’t striking but fit well together. The green eyes held fathoms of depth that could never be captured on paper. And in stark contrast to the cheery picture, absolute terror and sorrow etched her features. This wasn’t the face of a villain. He’d seen enough of them to know.
    Her stamina was impressive. She didn’t seem to be wearing down. But he was getting impatient.
    “Stop,” he growled, and pulled out his gun to show her he meant business. “I’m taking you in one way or another.” He’d hate to have to shoot her. But he would.
    “Why?” the woman rasped. Her husky voice and bleak tone shocked him. Shouldn’t she be belligerent rather than surprised? She sounded downright confused. “I don’t understand. Why are you doing this to us?”
    Us? He took a quick look around. No, they were alone. What was she talking about? She was a wanted woman.
    “You did this,” he countered. Was she playing him?
    The woman finally stopped floundering and gave him an aching stare that shot straight to his soul.
    “You killed my brother,” she whispered brokenly, cold pain behind each word. She closed her eyes tight and cringed. Then she passed out.
    Rome cautiously released his hold, and her body sank to the floor, totally limp, her breathing shallow.
    Leaning on his haunches, he gazed at her. She’d thrown him for a loop. His duty commanded that he take her in. That was his directive. But something in her shattered voice touched him. And her eyes, wounded and searching. They tugged at the frayed edges of his heart.
    For the first time in his life, he doubted his orders. His instincts told him to help her. And usually his instincts were right on target. She was a firecracker for sure, but a dangerous threat? Of that he wasn’t so sure.
    His targets almost always fought back, but not in selfdefense. The guilty never asked why. But she had.
    Rome made a decision. He needed to find out more.
    He stuffed his gun into its holster and slid his arms under her amazingly broad shoulders and solid thighs. He stood, hefting her sinewy weight, and tossed her over his shoulder.
    He’d get his answers—one way or another.

C HAPTER F OUR
    Sunlight blasted through the window, blinding Harper as she stirred. She tried to raise her hand to block out the bright beams. Only her hand didn’t budge. She tried to move her other hand, but met the same result.
    Alarm flared through her body. She lay on her back with several layers of rope around each wrist. Making tight fists, she flexed her arm muscles and struggled against the secure bindings, but the more she fought, the tighter they became.
    Relaxing for a moment, she sat up a little farther only to find that she couldn’t move her feet. She strained her neck to see similar rope trussed around each ankle. Harper also noted that she was lying on a brown and orange plaid couch. The rope tied to her right arm disappeared over the seat back