Read Online The Vigilante's Lover: A Romantic Suspense Thriller (The Vigilantes Book 1) by Annie Winters, Tony West - Free Book Online Page B

learn more about Mia’s past.
    I want to know who she is, where she comes from, what the Vigilantes plan to do with her. She should have a career path, a training regimen. Maybe I can influence it, or at least know where she is.
    Unless she’s an enemy. In that case, she can rot along with Jovana and her ilk.
    I open the bedroom door carefully, quietly.
    Mia sleeps soundly in the bed. The red ropes loosely hold her in place, tied by the two women per my instructions. The knots are rough and unpracticed, but they do their job.
    Mia’s honey-brown hair spills over the fluffy pillows like strands of fine silk. Even though her arms are tied, she has managed to pin the covers with her elbows. The sheet is pulled to her chin, but I spy the strap of a red negligee.
    Armond must have sent word of my favorite color. Against her pale skin, the swath of crimson stands out like a warning flag.
    As it should. The last time I inspected a woman this closely, she got me sent to prison.
    Mia stirs as I cross the room. Her eyes flutter for a second before awareness hits and she wakes with a gasp.
    “Good morning, temptress,” I say.
    She stares at me and pulls against her bonds. A grimace creases her brow.
    “Are you going to let me up?” she asks. “This isn’t exactly comfortable.” Her words carry a hint of accusation.
    “In a moment. First, we talk.”
    She looks down for a moment as if to ensure her modesty, then lets her gaze slide back my way.
    “I am going to a Vigilante stronghold. There I hope to find out where Klaus might be and start the process of clearing my name.”
    Her eyes shine with some thought. Hope of being left behind, alone?
    “You are coming with me,” I add with a smile.
    “Why?” The shine is gone.
    “Because I need you. And I’m curious. The Vigilantes have info on everyone. Everyone except you. If I can’t find the answers I seek at the silo, I will extract information from you. I can make you talk.”
    Mia visibly swallows. She probably thinks I’m talking about torture. Poor girl.
    “Don’t worry, Mia. I like you, remember?”
    “Parts of you do,” she says blandly.
    Now she is behaving more like I expected.
    I approach the bed. Mia stiffens a little, which makes me smile. Back to her training. The frightened act.
    I know better. She stood naked before me last night and waited for me to kiss her. I didn’t give her the satisfaction, although I sorely could have used it myself.
    I pull out the first knot in the ropes binding her to the bed. She drops the scared expression and stretches her arm. Her sigh of contentment goes straight to my gut.
    I feel that hitch, that pull of desire. I quash it with a quick spike of anger.
    “Do not think for an instant that I will hesitate to do what it takes to keep you in line,” I say. I tug on the rope for emphasis.
    “Hey!” she says with a glare. She shifts on the bed and the sheet slips down to reveal the fiery lace negligee. It cups her breasts, pushing them into an impossibly deep cleavage, then falls in a sheer swath of red to where she is hidden again by the covers.
    Is she playing with me? I trust her even less than I did a moment ago. Still, my body’s reaction is swift. I want her. I have to clamp down on my jaw to resist the urge to press her down on the bed and end this charade right now.
    “Up,” I say.
    She jerks against the rope. “How?” A flash of anger makes her face even more beautiful.
    “Fine.” I untie everything except the binds around each of her wrists.
    “Hand me that dress,” she says. “And the bra.”
    I intend to make another searing remark. But instead, I turn to the red sweater dress draped over the side chair. Next to it, a small box holds a matching bra.
    I pass her the clothing, and she pulls it beneath the covers and disappears under a bulge of blanket.
    After a moment, the red negligee flies through the air. It hits the beige carpet like a bloodstain.
    I lean against the wall, my anger dissipating.