Read Online Hunted by Ella Ardent - Free Book Online Page B

away once he’d had—or seen—what he wanted. He would have followed Damon the night before, just to see what he was going to do to Shara, but Lisa had changed that plan. Jared shadowed Damon easily, smiling in his conviction the other man didn’t even realize he was there.
    It was payback time.
    Jared tracked Damon for two hours, keeping him in view with such ease he was starting to feel smug. Damon looked as if he were tracking something—or someone—so he must have found signs of Shara’s passage. The easiest plan for vengeance, in Jared’s opinion, was to let Damon capture her again, but then turn the tables on the other man and steal Shara away.
    Maybe he’d let Damon watch him take her.
    Jared smiled in anticipation before he realized Damon had disappeared. He took a step forward, peering into the jungle, but nothing moved. He took another step, and then another, wondering where the other man had gone.
    Then the hard edge of a knife revealed the truth. Jared froze.
    “Looking for someone?” Damon asked, his knife at Jared’s throat. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you. We’re going to play a little game.”
    “At my expense,” Jared guessed.
    Damon smiled as he secured Jared’s wrists behind his back with a cable tie and pulled it tight. “Certainly not mine,” he murmured then pushed Jared into the small clearing ahead of them. Jared stumbled, losing his balance, and stepped into a pile of leaves. There was something wrong with the way the leaves were arranged, but he saw it too late to stop himself from falling into the trap.
    His step triggered the release of the rope. The heavy jute rope snapped, then slithered over the tree bough overhead. A rope net was lifted from the jungle floor, gathering Jared into it along with those leaves. He found himself hanging in a rope net, his hands bound behind each other, and dangling eight feet off the ground. He struggled and thrashed, guessing that the trap had been set for Shara.
    Damon was tying the rope that held the net aloft to a tree, and Jared would have bet he was a guy who knew his knots. He leaned against the tree once the rope was secured and smiled at Jared. “Don’t you think you should call for help?” he said. “You never know. Maybe someone will set you free.”
    Then the bastard walked away.
    And Jared bellowed in frustration. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be!
    * * *
    It was way too quiet.
    Shara perched in a tree, watching the clearing around the reservoir. She’d been sure the men would come to it, just to verify its location, but it had been hours since the helicopter had dropped them off and there was no sign of her hunters.
    Where had they gone?
    She might have been alone on the island, which wasn’t how she’d expected her birthday to pass. She’d actually been thinking of initiating a chase, by ‘accidentally’ appearing when one of the men was in sight, but their absence trashed that plan.
    There was no sign of the men, no sounds other than the wind rustling the top of the jungle canopy. It was shady close to the ground but too humid and still to be cool. Shara bit her lip and adjusted her position. It was already afternoon and would be night soon enough. She was feeling her exhaustion from being awake the night before, probably because of the heat, and hoped the hunt wouldn’t end so lamely that one of them scooped her up when she was sleeping. No, she had to get moving, get this hunt started. She was thinking she’d give it another hour, then sat bolt upright when she heard a shout.
    “Help!” a man cried, although she didn’t know which one of them it was. “Help! Get me out of this fucking thing!” he roared, and she knew it was Jared.
    Was he trying to draw her out of hiding?
    Or was he really in trouble?
    Of the three men, he was the one who it would be easiest to befriend. Shara remembered Jared’s offer to help her sleep well the night before. And really, it didn’t matter if it was a trick or