Read Online The Renegade Hunter by Lynsay Sands - Free Book Online Page B

front door suddenly opened behind her. Freezing on the top stair, Jo turned and glanced down toward the door, a sudden wave of wariness rolling over her as she saw the man entering. Tall, blond, and grim as death, he had already spotted her before he lifted his first foot over the threshold, and he was looking at her with the same intense stare she'd suffered all night as Sam had introduced her to the men at the party.
    Jo shifted uncomfortably under his piercing glare, her eyes sliding to the door of her guest room and the haven it offered, but before she could move, the blond said, "Come downstairs, Josephine. I need to decide what to do with you."
    Jo blinked at him in surprise, startled that the stranger knew her name, and then her gaze slid to the doorway to the living room as Mortimer suddenly appeared there.
    "Lucian?" he said with surprise and then glanced to Jo at the top of the stairs. He frowned when he spotted her. "Jo? You should be asleep. What are you doing still up?"
    "She just came from setting Nicholas free," the man Mortimer had called Lucian announced.
    Jo's jaw dropped at the words, and then her eyes shifted to Mortimer as he cursed and started up the hall toward the back of the house.
    "Don't bother," Lucian growled, bringing him to a halt. "He's long gone."
    Mortimer turned back, and then moved quickly to the door of the living room as Sam appeared there, her worried gaze seeking out Jo.
    "Josephine Lea Willan. What have you done?" Sam asked with alarm, and Jo grimaced at the use of her full name. She knew she was in trouble when Sam brought out the big guns, and using the full name had always been considered a big gun in their home while growing up.
    "I set him free," Jo said defiantly. "And why shouldn't I? I don't know what the hell's going on here, but Mortimer had no right to lock up Nicholas like he's some criminal. He's not a cop or anything, and Nicholas didn't do anything wrong."
     
    "Oh, Jo," Sam breathed, and then leaned into Mortimer when he slid an arm around her waist. Jo couldn't help but notice, though, that her sister's worried gaze was on this Lucian, person, as if her main concern was what he might do.
    Mortimer was also looking at the man, appearing to await something from him, Jo noted, and reluctantly turned her own gaze his way. It appeared this Lucian was the one in charge. A pity, she decided. He looked like a big meanie and his glare was making it hard for her to hold on to her defiance and not fidget nervously like a teenager caught returning after curfew.
    "She is Nicholas's life mate," Lucian said suddenly.
    Mortimer cursed and Sam muttered, "Oh crap," but Jo scowled at the man and asked, "What is a life mate?" She'd heard the term before from Mortimer and Bricker, but that had been in reference to Sam. She had just assumed it was the same thing as a girlfriend and she definitely didn't feel she could call herself Nicholas's girlfriend. A couple of kisses did not a girlfriend make.
    Much to her annoyance the man remained silent, his gaze solemn and intent, and Jo found herself grinding her teeth with frustration. Really, Mortimer had seemed all right up north in cottage country, but she was beginning to rethink her opinion of him. If a person was judged by his friends, he must be a weirdo because his friends were certainly strange.
    A sudden snort of laughter slid from Lucian and he stopped staring at her to turn to Sam. "I like her. She's feisty like my Leigh. Tell her she may go to bed."
    Sam's eyes widened and she glanced uncertainly from Lucian to Mortimer.
    When Mortimer nodded encouragingly, she
    cleared her throat and glanced to Jo. "Umm... Jo?"
    "Yeah, yeah, go to bed," Jo muttered, and spun away to head up the hall. She slowed, however, once she was out of sight of the railing and paused to listen. Much as she was relieved to get away from the penetrating stare of the man below, she wanted to hear what he would say next.
    "Is she really Nicholas's life mate?" Jo