Bounty Hunter- Ryder Read online

  “Wherever you think he’s going,” the voice said. “He surely will not be there.”

  “I beg to differ.” Tempest couldn’t help herself. She knew she should probably just keep her mouth shut, but her mouth always found a way of opening when she was trying to keep it shut. “I know the other place where he’s staying.”

  Ryder dropped his head into his hands.

  “You know nothing. The target is probably in another state by now. I was under the impression that you were professionals. I thought I could count on your company to get the job done. Was I wrong?”

  “We’ll get it done!” Tempest announced.

  Grant shot her a look that had her nearly slinking under the table. “Sir, we’re working on it. We’ll acquire the mark.”

  “Good.”

  “But about him,” Grant said, choosing his words carefully. “You hadn’t fully prepared us for what he could do… Perhaps now is the time to fill us in.”

  There was a long pause on the line.

  “The shifter has been enhanced.”

  Enhanced? Tempest listened closely. Was his mother a witch too?

  “With spikes?” Grant asked.

  “Yes. He has been enhanced with retractable spikes. As well as extra strength, speed, and endurance. He can run for days on end without tiring. He can bite through metal with one single snap of his jaws. He is highly dangerous and needs to be brought in immediately.”

  “Who did this enhancement?” Grant asked.

  “Just bring him in,” the voice said, clearly done with the conversation. “I know where he will eventually show up. It may be a few days, but I’ll call you with his location and I expect you to apprehend him this time. Your two million dollars is on the line.”

  The phone clicked off, and Grant slumped into a chair.

  “A few days,” Ryder moaned.

  “Grease was experimented on?” Bryce asked, looking confused.

  “Yeah,” Logan said with a sigh. “That explains the beatdown we received.”

  “And the spikes that nearly killed me,” Mack said.

  “Who would experiment on shifters?” Bryce asked.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Grant said as he rubbed his forehead, looking like he was at the start of a migraine. “He killed eighty-six people and we have to bring him in. If we don’t, we lose…” He couldn’t even say it. “We have to bring him in.”

  Tempest got lost in thought as the boys started to make plans. She had thought there was something weird about Mr. Creepy-Bear-Shifter-Guy. The poor guy had been experimented on. He was enhanced, just like her.

  She hadn’t been experimented on and tortured by mean men in lab coats, but she did have some enhancements.

  Her mother was a witch and all throughout her life had made her drink disgusting potions and rubbed fowl smelling oils on her skin. She cast spells over her while she was sleeping and made her chant the most ridiculous phrases on a weekly basis.

  Tempest grew stronger and faster as she got older. Her mother had done everything she could to make sure that her only daughter would be safe.

  Too bad there wasn’t a spell for clumsiness or forgetfulness because Tempest had those in spades.

  “What do we do now?” she asked Ryder after the guys had left. They were the only two at the table.

  He shrugged. “We get nice and familiar.”

  Tempest bit back her smile. That didn’t sound too bad.

  “This is so cool!” Tempest said, clapping her hands together as they walked outside. The sun was gone, and the backyard looked ah-maz-ing!

  The pool was lit up in a glowing turquoise, the stars were out en masse, the tiki torches were lit, Marvin Gaye was playing through the speakers, and Mack was roasting up something good on the huge metallic roaster that was bigger than him.

  “Are we having a party?” she asked. She looked down at her black leather skirt and white tank top. She was definitely dressed for a party.

  Ryder shook his head. “Nah, just a dinner. My aunt and Mack’s dad are coming to eat.”

  But it felt like a party. The drinks were flowing and everyone was in a good mood, laughing and smiling at the bar. There was even a guacamole dip! Tempest loved guacamole.

  “This is awesome,” she said, practically skipping the rest of the way to the bar.

  Ryder laughed. “I’m glad you like it. We have to enjoy this place while we can.”

  “What do you mean?” she said, the skip in her step suddenly gone. “You’re moving?”

  He sucked in a breath. “Maybe. If we don’t catch this guy.”

  She wanted to know more, but a big burly man who looked like he was part bear came rushing over. He glanced down at the handcuffs and grinned. “Ryder where can I get a bracelet like that?” he asked. “I’ll take one attached to a blonde.”

  “Tempest, this is Mack’s father. Bert.”

  He picked up her hand and gave it a kiss. “My lady. It’s a pleasure.”

  Tempest grinned when she saw Ryder frowning. Was that a hint of jealousy on his face?

  “Oh, leave her alone!” an older woman said as she rushed over and pushed him out of the way. She was a woman in about her mid-sixties who was dressed to the nines.

  “Tempest, this is Aunt Dorothy,” Ryder said before giving the woman a kiss on the cheek. “Grant’s mother.”

  Tempest shook her hand. Now she knew where the boys got their good looks.

  “Don’t mind this brute,” Dorothy said, pushing Bert away. They couldn’t have looked more like opposites. She was stately and well dressed with expensive pearls around her neck, and Bert was dressed in old jeans, an even older tank top, and had thick black hair popping out everywhere. His face was tough with broad features—not good looking in a classical sense—but there was something about him… his mischievous smile or the youth that still shined through in his eyes that made up for it.

  “Why?” he said with a grin as he saddled up to Ryder’s aunt. “You want me all to yourself?”

  She swatted him away, looking like she was outraged, but she wasn’t fooling Tempest. There was no hiding those blushing cheeks.

  “Those two are always flirting,” Ryder whispered when they returned to the bar, bickering the whole way. “It drives Grant crazy.”

  They joined the others at the bar and when Ryder sat down, Tempest took a second to check him out. He was wearing fitted jeans and a black polo. He looked sexy as hell with the gray tattoos decorating his skin. His hair was styled, and she knew that it was a sense of pride with him. He worked on it for half an hour, making sure every hair was in place. She knew this because she had been sitting on the toilet reading a magazine while she waited forever for him to finish.

  She was getting used to being so close to him—it was impossible to forget with the way their bodies kept bumping into one another. Every time the side of her breast brushed against his arm or she felt his hard round shoulders, there was a jolt between them. Like they were connected by more than just the handcuffs. It felt like they were connected by little strands of electricity snaking up and down their bodies.

  Grant handed her another one of those pink drinks that she loved and she sat back and just took it all in, enjoying the nice atmosphere. Mack was joking with his dad, and Bryce was closeby listening and watching everything. She smiled when she saw Bryce imitating him in a way that kids sometimes imitate their idols. They had the same hand movements and even laughed the same way.

  It had been a long time since Tempest had been to anything like this before. When her mother died a few years ago, her family life was pretty much over. She had an aunt and cousin somewhere in Vermont, but they had never been close. She had never approved of her mother’s witchy ways.

  She didn’t have many friends, okay, any friends. Living in your car wasn’t exactly conducive to friend making.

  “When I said you should find a girlfriend,” Aunt Dorothy said with a grin as she sat down beside them, “I didn’t mean that you should kidnap o
ne.”

  Tempest liked her already. There was something warm and inviting about her manner.

  “He’s just so in love with me,” Tempest said, hugging Ryder’s arm. “And the thought of not seeing me for even a second was just too much for him to bear, so he chained himself to me forever.”

  “Not forever,” Ryder said, but he was smiling. He even looked like he was enjoying having her body pressed up against his arm.

  “It’s like a fairytale,” Dorothy said with a starry-eyed look. “The hero attached to the heroine with a magic curse.”

  “Beauty and the Beast,” Tempest said with a grin.

  Ryder looked at her sideways, smiling. “Who you calling a beast?”

  “So, you admit I’m the beauty?”

  He just smiled and took a sip of his beer.

  “Hey, Dorothy,” Bert called out from the roaster. “Beauty and the Beast is taken. That’s us, baby.”

  She frowned, but her cheeks were blushing. “No. We’re more like Snow White and the Seven hundred rejections.”

  Bert chuckled as he turned back to the roaster.

  “Well, I think you two make a great couple,” she said, watching them with a smile. She looked like she was taking a mental snapshot of the two of them together. Tempest wished she could see the mental picture.

  “It’s only for a few days,” Ryder said. “Just a few more days.”

  Tempest smiled as she took a sip of her drink. It was going to be an interesting few days.

  She was sure of that.

  Chapter Six

  Ryder and Tempest

  “Can you fit any more milk in that bowl?” Ryder asked, shaking his head.

  This time it was Tempest who rolled her eyes. “I like filling my cereal bowl with milk all the way to the brim. What’s wrong with that?”

  “You finished all the milk! I don’t have any more for my coffee.”

  They continued their awkward dance in the kitchen as they both tried to prepare breakfast one-handed and attached to someone else.

  “Don’t spill that on me,” he warned as he grabbed his plate that had a dozen or so pieces of toast on it.

  “I’m not going to spill it on you,” she said as she carefully picked it up with two hands.

  “Aren’t you forgetting something?”

  She looked down at the bowl and saw there was no spoon. “Oh, right,” she said, turning around way too fast. She forgot that he was standing directly behind her and the bowl full of cold milk and soggy cereal slammed right into his chest.

  He took a deep breath and stared at her with a blank face as milk and colorful cereal chunks dripped down his shirt and onto their bare feet.

  “Oops, hehe,” she said, glancing down at his plate. She snatched one of his toasts and took a bite out of it as he stood there staring at her. “We’re you going to eat this?”

  It must have been around four in the morning when Ryder woke up having to pee. Badly.

  “Tempest,” he said, poking the sleeping beauty beside him. “Wake up.”

  “Go away,” she moaned, shooing him with a sedated arm.

  “I have to go pee.”

  “Go out the window,” she groaned into her pillow.

  “Come on,” he said, pulling her as he got up. She wouldn’t move. She was like a sack of potatoes.

  He grunted as he scratched his balls and yawned, dragging her behind him as he pulled her to the bathroom. She slid off the bed like a slug and let out an annoyed moan as he dragged her along the hardwood floor.

  Her handcuffed wrist was in the air as she laid on the bathroom tiles moaning as he lifted the toilet seat and started peeing.

  She was snoring by the time he flushed.

  “We’re not watching that!” Tempest said, crossing her arms. It sent Ryder’s hand flying and the back of his hand smacked her boob. She barely noticed it anymore.

  “Well, I’m not watching some boring reality show,” he snapped back. “Those things will rot your brain.”

  “It’s better than baseball,” she answered. “If I want to see men swinging big sticks around, I’ll watch porn.”

  “You want to watch porn?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

  She grabbed the remote from his hand and switched it back to The Real Housewives of Orange County. “You’re the worst.”

  Ryder charged toward the shed, practically dragging Tempest behind him.

  “What are you doing?!?” she shouted as she tried to regain her balance. Ryder grinned as he hurried his pace, dragging her along the grass.

  “You are driving me crazy!” he shouted as he ruthlessly pulled her along.

  “What is wrong with you?” she said, getting to her feet as he opened the door of the shed. “People love to hear me sing.”

  “No, they don’t. They really really don’t.”

  He grabbed the saw that was hanging on the top shelf and put his foot on the chain, pulling it tight.

  Ryder closed his eyes and tried to control his breathing as she started singing in the tune of N’Sync’s Tearing Up My Heart.

  “You’re not tearing up the chain, you know it’s true,

  We’re stuck together for-ever, me and you

  And no matter what you do, I’ll be right her-rr-e

  To a-no-hoy you.”

  Ryder had a crazed look on his face as he gritted his teeth and tried to saw the unsawable chain.

  When Tempest started doing the boy band moves while singing verse two, he looked at his sawable wrist and thought about it for a minute.

  “No,” he whispered as he placed the saw back on the shelf. He wasn’t that desperate.

  Not yet, anyway…

  But after a few more songs it might just well be a viable option.

  “No peeking,” Tempest said as she turned on the shower.

  Ryder was sitting on the tiled floor with his back to the tub. His hand was under the curtain, getting jerked around and sprayed by the warm water.

  “I promise,” he said, but he had his fingers crossed.

  Tempest wasn’t aware of this, but if you looked at the metal toilet paper holder, you could see a sliver of a distorted reflection inside the shower. He felt his breath quicken as he stared at the metal with unblinking eyes.

  As annoying as she had been over the past few days, Ryder could no longer deny that he was at least a little attracted to the girl. He hated to admit it, but it was true.

  His heart started to beat a little faster as she turned and he saw a distorted pink image in the reflection.

  That’s side boob! Or, maybe it’s an elbow.

  It was too hard to tell.

  But Ryder kept staring anyway.

  Tempest grinned as they walked to the bar for lunch. She had been waiting patiently for this and now the perfect moment was here.

  Ryder had just spent the last thirty minutes perfecting every single strand of hair on his head and was dressed up with jeans and even shoes on! This was going to be perfect.

  She tried to act normal, hiding her excited giggles as they walked by the pool.

  “What are you so happy about?” he asked with a warm smile. When they first met, he would have just rolled his eyes at her, but he wasn’t doing that anymore. Or, not as much anyway.

  “This!” she said, giving him a hard shove.

  She dug her heels into the ground and braced herself as he flew to the side, landing in the deep end of the pool.

  The boys burst out laughing by the bar and were cheering her on as Ryder popped back out of the water with a murderous look on his face. His wet hair was flattened to his head.

  “Now, we’re even,” she said with a grin.

  “And now we’re not.”

  He wrapped his hand around the chain.

  Uh oh.

  And yanked.

  “You tried this already, remember?” Tempest said as Ryder dragged her along the grass like she was water-skiing on land.

  “I’m trying it again.”

  Ryder went strai
ght for the chopping block and thrust the chain down onto it.

  He grabbed the ax as she started singing again. Why was she always singing?!?!

  “Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, oh no no.

  Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, oh no no.”

  This time it was Crazy in Love by Beyonce with Jay-Z.

  Ryder squeezed the ax hard and started slamming it onto the chain. Nothing but sparks.

  “You looking so crazy right now

  Ryder, you looking so crazy right now

  Swinging that ax is crazy right now

  Ryder, did I drive you so crazy right now?”

  Just when he thought she was done, she started rapping Jay-Z’s part while she shook her ass.

  “Ryder and the chain, crazy and deranged,

  He can’t figure it out; T be like baby you insane?

  He keeps chopping, but it’s unbreakable by design

  The only thing breaking up in here is his mind

  Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, oh no no.

  Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, oh no no.”

  “You rap too?” he asked, shaking his head.

  “I do a lot of things,” she said as she made weird hand gestures.

  “You know sign language?”

  “No,” she said, smushing her big eyebrows together. “These are gang signs. Because I’m from the streets.”

  Ryder sighed and kept on chopping.

  “Now, Sloth, now!” Tempest shouted, pointing at Ryder.

  The lion shifter was sitting on the lawn chair beside her shaking his head as he read his book.

  “We went over this!” Tempest said to the fat cat who was lying beside her. “When I say now, you attack. Go attack. Now!”

  The obese cat just yawned.

  Ryder’s shoulders shook as he chuckled.

  “I gave you half a bag of treats for this, you traitor,” she said, frowning at the cat who was stretching out, trying to get a belly rub.

  “He played you for a fool,” Ryder said as he stared at his book.

  Tempest frowned as she leaned down. “Attack him. Now,” she whispered into the cat’s ear.