Tricked: A Dark Protectors Novella Read Online Free Page A

wondering how she’d ended up in it, as it had been in her bottom drawer ever since she’d won it at a bachelorette party two years ago.
    Slowly, she took inventory. Her chest didn’t hurt. Wow. She could breathe. Her body kind of tingled all over.
    Memories assailed her. Jared and a quickie…and then nothing. Embarrassment flushed through her.
    She pushed from the bed and stood, her legs easily holding her up. The mating. Feeling her neck, she found the twin bite marks. Okay.
    A sound caught her attention from the other room. Now her knees weakened. She could do this. Glancing around, she saw the matching robe lying over the end of the bed. After donning it, she tied it tight, pretending it was armor. Taking several deep breaths, she moved across the room and pushed open the bedroom door. “Hello?” She moved into the living room and turned toward the kitchen.
    Jared looked up from a pan holding something that smelled delicious. His thick hair was ruffled, and his chest was bare. Muscles moved in his arms and torso, while his ripped abs caught her eye. “You’re alive.”
    Yeah. She was alive. Holy crap. How had she not taken time to appreciate his hard body? Oh, yeah. Ensuing death. She swallowed and tried to concentrate on his rugged face. “How long was I out?” she asked, her stomach rumbling.
    “Four days,” he said, nodding toward the small table set into the nook. “Come eat.”
    “Four days?” She stumbled toward the nook, remembering belatedly that she was dressed way too sexily. “Who dressed me?”
    “I did.” He dished up two plates of eggs loaded with veggies and some sort of meat. “I bathed you, too.”
    She fell into the chair. “You did what?”
    He sat across from her and lifted one massively large shoulder in a casual shrug. “It became apparent that you were going to heal yourself while sleeping, so Chalton took Olivia away for a few nights. My brother was impatient with the need to mate, and since you were saved, we all figured you needed to sleep and wouldn’t miss them anyway.”
    Ronnie took a big drink of orange juice and tried to think. So he’d bathed her. How intimate. Heat flushed into her face. “We’re mated.”
    “Yes.” He dug into his eggs, his dark gaze never leaving her face. “How are you feeling?”
    Like her brains had been scrambled just like the eggs. “Stronger. Almost normal.” She reached for a fork. “Am I immortal?”
    “Not yet. It takes a little while for humans,” he said. “But your heart sounds strong and healthy, so you’re definitely on your way. If you’re still feeling tingles, that’s your body healing itself.”
    “I am.” The polite conversation was eating at her.
    “Then you’re not all the way healed.”
    Yet she was going to live. Happiness bubbled up. “Um, thank you.” She set down the fork to meet his gaze. She was now bound for eternity to this incredibly strong and dangerous male. Wow. “I wanted to thank you for saving my life.” The man had given up a lot so she could live.
    “No problem.” He polished off his eggs, his gaze dropping to her neck. “The bite will never completely heal.”
    “Oh.” She cleared her throat. “A little scar is a small price to pay for immortality.”
    “Isn’t it though?” he murmured thoughtfully.
    God, what was he thinking? She couldn’t read him. Or could she? Taking a deep breath, she tried to focus on his emotions.
    Strong and steel was all she got.
    “What are you doing?” he asked, kicking back in the kitchen chair.
    She shrugged. “Sometimes I can get feelings from people. I think I’m just intuitive.”
    “You’re an empath. In order to mate a vampire, you must have some sort of enhancement. Psychic, telekinetic, empathic…whatever.” He said the odd words as if they were everyday facts for him. “You’re probably a distant cousin to the witches. That’s the prevailing wisdom, anyway.”
    Her mouth dropped open. “No kidding.” At this point, she’d