Wanted Read Online Free PDF

memories of her childhood at bay
for only so long. Then they poured out of her psyche – the miserable hours she
was forced to swim back and forth in the lap pool, endless hours of tears and
pain. Her parents were constantly berating her for being lazy and unwilling to
try to excel, as her mother had. A child has really only one desire in their
life – to please their parents. And she had tried, valiantly. But they could
never seem to acknowledge that. They were interested in her if she did exactly
what they wanted, with the expected results. Otherwise, she was a damned
nuisance.
    “Is it much
farther?” she asked; her limbs were giving out.
    “Not much. Hold
on, girl! You can make it!”
    Tierney felt
something hovering nearby. There was a black shadow in the water, with a fin.
    “It’s a shark!
Travers, help me!”
    “Stay calm.
We’re almost there!”
    “But I’m
bleeding! He’s coming for me. I know it!”
    She was
freaking out, losing every last bit of control.
    “Be still,
now!” Travers commanded. “Don’t let him see you panic!”
    She was crying,
hysterical, thrashing around like a fool, making herself a target.
    Then there came
a shot from far off, and another, and another. The water danced with every hit.
The shark scurried off into the depths of the sea.
    “Hello!”
Travers shouted. “Leave it to you to make a hero’s entrance!”
    Tierney looked
to where he was shouting. A ragged yacht was speeding towards them. At the helm
she could see Kiel Fortune, as beautiful and golden as a pirate in a
Technicolor epic.

 
    CHAPTER THREE
     
    Tierney woke in
a warm, clean bed on Kiel’s boat. She was naked, sheathed by a thin blue
knitted blanket. Her leg was bandaged, still stinging like the devil. Speaking
of whom, Kiel Fortune entered the room, eyed her with a strange melancholy that
unnerved her.
    “You feeling
better?”
    “Yeah, I guess
so. Did I pass out?”
    “You did.”
    “Sorry. You
must think I’m an awful wimp.”
    “No, actually
you’ve dealt with this stuff a lot better than most would. Is your leg still
hurting?”
    “Some, but not
like it was. Where’s Travers?”
    “He’s on deck,
minding things.”
    She glanced out
a small window. The sky was indigo, lit up with a crescent moon and about a
zillion glittering stars.
    “It’s night.”
    “Yeah.”
    God, what an
idiot she must seem to him! Usually she could talk to a guy with the sweetest
phrases and sexiest suggestions until he had to give in or bust. But she didn’t
know what to say to a man like Kiel. He wasn’t some airhead jock or moody
pianist. There were sorrows in his eyes that defied categorization. Things he’d
probably never reveal to a living soul. To a complicated, intelligent man like him
she was just a shallow, reality show diva, not worth the time of day.
    “I hope you
don’t mind but I had to take your clothes off. I washed them and hung them out
to dry.”
    “Oh, sure,
thanks.” He’d seen her naked? She wasn’t at her best asleep. Istvan said she
snored, and sometimes drooled – ugh! But who could believe anything he said?
    “You’re a … a
beautiful girl,” Kiel whispered unexpectedly. She dared to peer into his
cinnamon eyes, glistening in the dim lamplight. What was she seeing there now?
He closed the door, stepped closer; sat next to her on the bed. “Travers told
me everything.”
    “What do you
mean by everything?”
    “He told me
about the guys who tried to kill you two. And he told me why you’re here. You
came looking for me. Right?”
    She let her
gaze wash over his face; licked her dry lips in anticipation.
    “You must think
I’m really arrogant, or stupid, to come after you.”
    “No, I believe
if you want something, or someone, bad enough, you’ll find a way to get to
them. So, do you want me, Tierney?”
    She didn’t
answer in words but raised her arms and wrapped them about his neck. He leaned
in, touched her lips with his, opening them wide enough to taste her. The