Predator Read Free

removing his own backpack and reaching into it.
    “This is insane. I’ll charge you with—you know I will.”
    When he held up a length of rope, she screamed. And screamed again, her voice spiraling into the trees.
    No! Not rope being tied around her free wrist! But although she fought the restraint with everything in her, he easily tied it in place. Then, using the loose end to hold her arm up behind her, he pulled her trapped arm out from under her. She fought the inevitable, fought and swore and screamed again, but he easily lashed her wrists together.
    Not content with rendering her arms useless, he slid off her and grabbed the ankle next to him. Despite her resistance, he bent her knee up so her heel rested on her buttocks and hog-tied her ankle to her wrists. It mattered little that he’d left enough slack that she wasn’t in danger of losing circulation. What could she do with only one free leg?
    Still on his knees, he scooted away. Rolling onto her side as best she could, she locked her gaze on him. Much as she needed to scream, she feared that would enrage him. He stared back at her, his expression unreadable. Her heart beat like thunder, and yet an emotion she refused to acknowledge calmed and quieted what could have become panic. Every inch of her was alert and alive and focused on her beautiful captor.
    “What do you want?” she asked when his silence became more than she could stand. “Damn it, what is this about?”
    “It’s about following our destiny.” He swiped his hand across his eyes, then shook his head as if trying to wake up.
    “There’s no destiny involved. Nothing except you doing something…” She’d nearly said “something stupid”, but that might set him off. Being tied like this did strange things to her. It wasn’t all that uncomfortable, although her arms and leg would eventually start to ache. Still, having the use of one leg was…not comforting, exactly, but as if she’d been left with a small yet useless piece of freedom.
    Helplessness meant she could no longer function on her own. She’d been stripped of self-determination and direction. Instead of making all her own decisions, a stranger had taken over that role and responsibility. In many ways, her body now belonged to him.
    The thought rooted deep inside, but instead of panicking, she turned reality around and around in her mind. Of course she didn’t trust him, couldn’t imagine ever trusting a stranger who’d do something like this to her, but he’d narrowed her world down until nothing except her physical body mattered.
    And that body was displayed for him.
    He stood with a gracefulness that should have unnerved her. Instead, her awe of him grew. And when he retrieved her backpack and started going through it, she accepted what all the arguments in the world wouldn’t change.
    He could do whatever he wanted to her.
    To have that kind of power over a human life, to know that other human would die if he abandoned—
    No, he wouldn’t leave her like this. If she knew nothing else, she had no doubt of that.
    What have you done to me? Why this acceptance? If you’ve placed a spell over me, hypnotized me …
    Movement, maybe, on the hill behind him distracted her. From her position on the ground, she didn’t have a decent view of what had snagged her attention. All she knew was that whatever she’d spotted hadn’t been there earlier. If he had an accomplice—no, she had the feeling this man operated alone.
    Then what?
    Indicating her bedroll, he grunted approvingly, causing her to dismiss whatever was up there. His reaction to her spartan cooking equipment and prepackaged meals was the same, and when he pulled out her lightweight, all-weather jacket, he nodded. His continued silence was no longer getting on her nerves as much as it made her wonder what he was thinking. It went without saying that he was concentrating on her, maybe making his plans, maybe asking himself how things had gotten to this