Unleashed: Declan & Kara (Unleashed #1-4; Beg for It #1) Read Online Free PDF

looked
aloof, a million miles away, even though he stood right there before
me in dusty boots and jeans.
    A lick of a tattoo slid
out under the sleeve of his t-shirt, coiling around the bulge of his
bicep. I wondered what it was. It looked like it might be the tip of
a snake, but then as I got closer I thought I saw a pattern.
    Sensing my interest, he
crossed his arms against his chest and brought his hands up over his
arms. I couldn’t see the tattoo anymore. I could see him stare me
down cold, unfriendly, almost reprimanding.
    I bit my lip and looked
down at the dirt. He’d caught me checking him out. And he didn’t
want me to. How embarrassing.
    “This here’s my
little girl, Kara.” My daddy gave me a pat on the head like I was
five.
    “Pleased to meet
you,” I said to Declan, cool and polite, trying save face like I
hadn’t just left a trail of drool walking over to him.
    He nodded in response,
dismissive.
    Turning toward my
father, my smile came back. “Daddy, can I head out to the lake
tonight? A bunch of us want to hang out.”
    “Is Bruce taking
you?”
    “Yes.”
    “Course you can,
princess.”
    Oh, no. The nickname
he’d been using since I was a little kid. Every photo from the ages
of three to five showed me in some kind of princess costume. I’d
loved it all, funny pointed hats with satin streamers out the top,
sparkly wands, and of course the big, poofy gowns I’d worn until
they were nothing but tattered rags. My father had indulged me, his
only child, the only girl on his big ranch. And until now, princess
had seemed like a sweet term of endearment. Now, though? I felt as
dumb as an 18-year-old with some corny dress-up princess hat on top
of my head. Why couldn’t he have just used my name?
    Sure enough, Declan had
a smirk on his face. Not the kind you could see breaking into a big,
fun laugh. A quiet kind, real controlled, that could be gone in an
instant.
    “Declan’ll be
staying down in the old cabin,” my father said. “Until
September.”
    His level, cool gaze
made me shiver. I couldn’t see much of his hair underneath that
cowboy hat, but I could tell it was dark. I could picture it hanging
low across his forehead like the lead singer of my favorite band.
Only I was pretty sure Declan would get himself kicked out of a band
in about 60 seconds. He looked dangerous, the way his eyes narrowed,
watchful. He kept one fist balled at his side, and even though he
leaned against the house, his chest stayed strong and solid like a
cobra waiting to strike. He looked like he’d been in a lot of
fights. And I bet most of them he’d won.
    “Have a good time,
sugar.” Daddy gave me another smile, then turned his attention back
to Declan. I headed straight into the house. I had places to go and
people to see. I wasn’t going to let that guy rattle me, no matter
how deadly sexy he was.
    But later that night as
I sat around the bonfire with all my friends, Bruce goofing around
like he couldn’t toast a marshmallow right for me so he could keep
eating them all himself, my mind wandered. What was Declan up to
right then? Was he back in the old cabin? I wondered if we even had a
TV set in there for him. The last person to live there had been an
older guy who’d come round several summers to help out when things
got busy. But that had been a while ago. Had anyone even tidied
things up?
    Maybe Declan had gone
out into town? We didn’t have much going on, but there were a
couple of places. There was the grill that stayed open until about
eleven and had a decent dartboard in back. But if I had to guess, I’d
bet he headed down to the Silver Dollar Saloon. I frowned at the
thought. I’d never been into the bar, of course, and my daddy had
warned me he never did want to see me hanging around that place. I
could see why. Late at night if we ever drove past the parking lot,
it would be full of 18-wheelers, motorcycles, clusters of men smoking
and drinking and more than likely a fistfight. Basically it