Shades of Darkness (Redemption Series) Read Online Free Page B

moment he tossed that female over his shoulder, stealing her away from her intended groom.
    It was an asshole move—no doubt about it. He wasn’t denying it, and sure as hell wasn’t going to apologize for it. He’d sat by long enough, letting Olivia flounder in her free will. Thank God, Rowen and his band of bastards had shown up when they did, wiping free his conscience and giving him the excuse to do what needed to be done—what in truth, would have been done whether they’d shown up or not.
    Rowen had just been the loophole he needed. There was no damn way he was going to stand by and watch Olivia walk down the aisle with that POS. Yeah, there’d be hell to pay, and a shitload of red tape to get the Council of the High Court off his ass when they discovered what he’d done, but it was a risk he was willing to take.
    Liam paused, drawing in a slow, deep breath—allowing himself a moment to enjoy the rush as his senses came back online, solidifying his bond with the woman, an indulgence he’d been too distracted to partake in while abducting her. Olivia’s bags were sitting by the door, a painful kick in the balls, reminding him that she’d intended to spend this night with another man. He snarled a ripe curse and grabbed the damn bags, jerking the door shut behind him.
    What in the hell was he thinking?—coming back here. If he’d had a brain in his head, he would have sent someone else—anyone else—to get Olivia out of here while he dealt with Rowen’s legion. Shit, Tate would have done it, and the brother owed him one. But the temptation to see her again, even if for a little while, had been too great to resist.
    So many things were different about her, and yet other things were exactly the same. Her scent, for example, was precisely how he remembered it. But her touch…it burned with a new fire that nearly snapped what little thread of self-control he had. Hell, he’d fled the car to keep himself from doing something they’d both regret. Things just weren’t that simple anymore… Ah hell, who was he kidding? They’d never been simple, only now they’d moved into a whole other realm of complicated. There was someone else. He’d known the day would come, thought he’d prepared himself for it even. But then again, that’s the thing with denial, it doesn’t matter how much you lie to yourself, eventually reality was bound to sneak up and bite you in the ass. And damn if he wasn’t missing a chunk of flesh.
    There was no denying it, Olivia had changed. Oh, how he missed those days when she’d been the little girl dressed in her tiara and costume jewelry, having afternoon tea with him, believing he was nothing more than her imaginary friend. He missed the unjaded young woman who’d given him her heart three years ago, that might as well have been three lifetimes, for all the suffering they’d endured since then. How he wished things could have been different between them. What he wouldn’t give to make it so.
    As Liam walked out the front door, he was suddenly hit with a sense of evil foreboding. Every muscle in his body tensed as his warrior instincts snapped to attention. Rowen was close. He could sense the dark undercurrent in the air. Shit, they were already searching for her.
     
    ***
     
    Olivia sat in the car, watching the front door of her apartment from the rearview mirror, waiting as the seconds ticked by for Liam to reappear. He burst out the door and descended the steps when suddenly his sure, determined stride faltered. Tensing, he stopped to crane his neck, looking behind him. After a brief moment, he swung back around. The glower on his handsome face darkened another degree, making him look downright lethal. His amethyst-colored eyes verily glowed with anger—not that she blamed him. It couldn’t be easy for him to see her wearing this wedding dress or hear her tell another man she loved him.
    As he strode toward her, she was taken aback by the sheer size of him, the fluid