Rules of Survival (Entangled Embrace) Read Online Free Page B

the verge of falling asleep.
    Everything was a little blurry at first when I opened my eyes. A mesh of watery colors and vaguely detailed shapes dancing circles in front of my face. I was lying on my back on a bed, but when I tried to roll over, something on my left side stopped me. “What the—”
    “Hey, hey, hey—don’t pull. You’ll break it.” At first I thought he meant my arm, but then he added, “Don’t wanna lose the room deposit.”
    I twisted to see Shaun standing over me, scowling. A chunk of hair fell into his eyes and he blew absently at it. “Where are we?”
    The bed dipped as he sank down on the edge. “Hotel.”
    The light coming in from the window was bright. Early morning. “How long have we been here?”
    Shaun shrugged. “You’ve been asleep almost a day.”
    “An entire day?” I cried. Not good.
    I scanned the room. It seemed like it was just him and me. Good. That was one good thing. One less person to deal with meant a better chance at escape. “Patrick?”
    “Had an errand to run. He’ll be back shortly.”
    I twisted back around to my left side to see what the problem was, and let out a surprised yelp. They’d cuffed my arm to the headboard. Wait. Not cuffs, really. The chain was too long. Shackles. They’d used leg shackles!
    “Pat wanted to leave the cuffs on,” Shaun said with a wink. “I convinced him these would be a little more comfortable. You can thank me later.”
    Thank him later? I wanted to suggest we switch places—then he could tell me how comfortable this was—but decided that wasn’t the tack I needed to take. I batted my eyes, remembering his reaction to my crocodile tears, and put on my best helpless kitten expression. “My arm is really sore…do you think you could uncuff me for a few minutes?”
    “Seriously? You just head bashed me and now you’re trying to play the femme fatale card?” He rolled his eyes and stood. “Do I look like I ride the short bus?”
    Shit. “Please?” I tried again. I even forced a little smile. “Look, I’m scared, okay?”
    He folded his arms. “No dice. I uncuff you and you bolt. Pat will skin me alive.”
    “No. Really . I promise I’ll be good. I won’t try to run—”
    “And I’m Satan.”
    “I don’t doubt it,” I huffed, letting go of the charade.
    Of course he wouldn’t buy it. Mom always said innocent was the one look I couldn’t pull off. I stretched my neck, tilting my head to the side. It was pounding.
    “You knocked me out,” I complained. “My head is killing me. Got any aspirin?”
    “Technically you knocked yourself out,” he replied with a laugh. It was a shame the guy was a dick. Besides being easy on the eyes, he had a great laugh. Infectious. It did funny things to my stomach. “And sorry, no aspirin. Patrick went to check things out. He seems like a hard-ass, but he’s a good guy. He won’t deliver you to Jaffe if he thinks the guy’s going to hurt you. Promise.”
    His promises meant shit to me. “No, he’ll just deliver me to the police. So I can burn for a crime I didn’t commit.”
    Shaun shrugged. “If you’re innocent, then they’ll figure it out.”
    I stared. Was anyone really that naive? “Of course they will. And rainbows are likely to shoot from my ass. Then, later, leprechauns are going to offer me a big fat pot of gold and a bottomless blueberry smoothie.”
    He blinked. “ Blueberry smoothie? That’s sick.”
    Sick? Was he crazy? “You have no taste—” Why was I arguing with this guy? His voice. It was totally his voice. It was deep with a hint of something dark and rugged. Despite the fact that he had me cuffed to the bed, I liked the sound of it. Plus, it was better than silence any day. “You’re going to get me killed.”
    He rolled his eyes and stood. “No one’s going to hurt you.”
    “I’ve got a news flash for you, Boy Scout. Someone already hurt me.” There was an edge of desperation to my voice, and even though Mom taught me to be