The Cursed (League of the Black Swan) Read Online Free PDF Page B

long it had been since she’d had sex. Way too long, if her reaction to Luke’s taut abs were anything to go by. Damn. She was all but drooling on the poor man.
    “What happened after the venom started working on me?” His voice was grim, and the narrow-eyed look he aimed at her was empty of any emotion or humor, so clearly he couldn’t read her mind. “I remember going fuzzy—oh, shit. Did I really threaten Miro?”
    “No, you just growled at him and then grabbed me and did something weird where we seemed to walk through a whirlpool without water, if that makes any sense, and then we were here and you collapsed.” She jumped up off the ottoman and took the used cloths and first-aid kit to the bathroom, more to get away from him than out of any need to clean up.
    She reached out mentally, tentative at first and then with a stronger push, but she couldn’t read anything of his thoughts. She’d never been able to do it before, but she’d wondered if the venom would interfere with his shields. Apparently not.
    “I’ll have to get him a present. Ogres are touchy,” Luke said. He stood up and pulled off the shredded remains of his shirt and tossed the whole mess in a corner.
    “He likes candy,” Rio offered, as she tried not to stare at his back and failed miserably. The broad, muscled expanse was scarred and bruised with old, healed marks and newer, raw-looking ones, and she wondered how much truth there was in the legends about his healing capacity.
    “Is that a fresh bullet scar?”
    He whirled around and scowled. “Nothing that needs to worry you. I protected you, didn’t I? Did something happen that you’re not telling me?”
    He crossed the room in two quick strides and lifted her chin with his fingers, staring down at her with eyes that had gone glacial. “Did they hurt you before I found you? Did they get their filthy hands on you?”
    “You’re the only one with his hands on me,” she began hotly, but then she realized what was going on and exhaled slowly. “Luke. I’m fine. Nobody hurt me. Even with the poison in your system, you protected me.”
    It was the way he was built. Mrs. G had once gotten a little tipsy on New Zealand wine and told her that Luke was like a warrior of old. She’d touched Rio’s hand and then looked off into the distance, as if seeing a scene from long ago, and spoken so softly that she might have been talking to herself.
    “He’s the best version of a warrior. Or maybe a cowboy gunslinger. He has to protect others or it damages something deep in his soul.”
    When Rio had asked a question, Mrs. G had shaken her head and changed the subject, but Rio had always wondered about that conversation. Now she was apparently seeing the gunslinger in action.
    He backed away, raking a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry. I needed to know—why are you here?”
    “I’m here because you brought me here,” she said slowly, wondering if the venom had completely worn off.
    He shot her a look. “I know that. Why were you looking for me? Was it the Grendel?”
    “Actually, it was Grendels, plural, but no, not exactly,” she said. “It was their boss, or at least I guess it was their boss. It must have been the same man. No way would I have two major evil villains after me at once, right?”
    “Rio,” he said, leaning back against his desk and crossing his arms over his chest. “Maybe start at the beginning?”
    She stared at him, helpless to stop herself. He didn’t even realize how gorgeous he was. Right now, when any other man would be posing and showing off those corded muscles on his arms and his delicious chest, Luke was just impatient for her to get on with it. Tell her story, so he could get rid of her, probably.
    Too bad for him. He was stuck with her, at least until they found that child.
    “From the beginning? Okay, fine. Today I saw a very evil man, except he wasn’t human, kidnap a human child in broad daylight. She was maybe ten or eleven, and she was