Rebel Roused (Untamed #5) Read Online Free PDF Page A

of here!”
    Daren reared back, howling, blood gushing out of his nose. “Jesus fucking Christ! You broke my fucking nose!”
    Clutching his face with both hands, he lifted one black-booted foot and kicked me in the chest, sending me tumbling over backwards in the chair I was tied to. I felt bones crunch as my weight came down on my hands trapped behind me.
    Pain shot up my arms and I groaned.
    “You fucking bitch.” He pulled out his knife, grabbed hold of my right arm, and pulled. The pain in my wrist was excruciating, and I screamed as he wrenched me and the chair back up. “I should just kill you right now.”
    He walked around behind me, and I closed my eyes, praying he’d make it quick, but knowing that wasn’t the least bit likely. I tried to hold Dare in my mind and heart, warm myself with his love so my last thought would be of him and only him. I heard Daren move swiftly, braced myself for the blow as stale air swished around us, but felt the knife slice between my hands, and my arms swung free.
    My right hand throbbed and I couldn’t move my fingers, but I didn’t have time to do anything except gasp in surprise at my freedom before he grabbed me by the hair and lifted me to my feet.
    “LET HER GO!”
    No, no, no. He wasn’t supposed to come in here.
    My chest tore in half at the sight of Dare, his complexion pale, dark circles surrounding his sunken eyes. Bruises were forming on his face, his lip was busted, and his knuckles were bleeding, but he was otherwise none the worse for wear.
    I blinked back tears. I’d been wishing and praying to see him one last time, but now that he was standing in front of me, horror washed over me and all I could think was that he’d just sealed his own fate.
    His death.
    “And the prodigal rat returns.” Daren spat, pulled his gun out of the back of his pants, and pointed it at Dare. “Nice of you to finally join us.” He waved his gun toward the door. “Though you were supposed to have an escort.”
    “I got rid of them,” Dare said coolly. “It’s just you and me now. Let Ree go.”
    “ Dare …” I shook my head. If he thought there was even a chance his father was going to just let me walk out of here after all this, he was insane. I knew better. He had to know better after a lifetime spent in this monster’s shadow.
    “Let Ree go,” he said again, his eyes glued to mine. “I’m here. Take me, do whatever you want to me, just release her.”
    Daren tutted. “That would be too easy, wouldn’t it? I want you to suffer the way you’ve made me suffer all these years. My wife, my kids, my business—you’ve murdered them all. I had to watch from behind bars as everything of mine was ripped away. All because I let you in, you ungrateful, selfish bastard.”
    “That was all your own doing,” Dare said. “Your greed cost you your business. And you lost your family because you’re a malicious, psychotic son-of-a-bitch.”
    “Haven’t you learned yet that there are consequences for talking back to your father?” Daren backhanded me with his pistol, and Dare surged forward but froze as soon as his father trained the gun on him again.
    “I will fucking kill you if you hurt her again.” Dare’s eyes blazed, his whole body tensed as if he might pounce. But I hoped to god he wouldn’t. Not with that gun pointing right at his heart. “I will rip you to shreds, piece by little piece.”
    “Funny, that’s exactly what I was planning to do to your little whore.” Daren yanked me back against him, and my skin crawled at the feel of his hot breath on my neck. “Though maybe I should just shoot you instead.” I could almost hear the slow malevolent grin spread across his face. “As for you, Princess, I’ll get your daddy to set me up with a big, fat reward. I’ll be set for life, free to start over wherever the fuck I want. I hear California is the place to be these days.”
    My eyes traveled down his right arm to the gun in his hand. It was close