Read Compelled (Vampires in America #10.5) for Free Online

took the manacles. Everything after that, I’ll check for myself.”
    He kissed her again. “I knew there was a reason I picked you as my mate.”
    “You didn’t pick me, fang boy. I picked you, and it was purely physical.”
    He gave her the smug grin of a man who knew exactly what he was worth.
    Cyn patted him on his solid chest and then left him to his master-of-the-universe affairs, heading to their personal quarters at the rear of the plane. Ten minutes later, she had changed into a T-shirt and shorts, and was sitting barefooted and cross-legged on the bed with her laptop in front of her. She settled in for a long night of what she did best . . . research. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t exactly what she did best—she was happier in the field with a gun in her hand—but that didn’t meant she wasn’t damn good at it. Before the sun rose, she’d know more than Nick did about their missing guard . . . and maybe even a bit more about Nick himself than she’d ever thought to look for.

Chapter Three
    ONE O’CLOCK CAME way too early. Actually, her alarm had been set for eleven o’clock, because she’d needed to get showered and dressed and then drive all the way to Lawrence where she was meeting Nick. As it was, she cut it too close. When she pulled up in front of the locked hangar where the Lear was secured, Nick was already waiting, leaning against a shiny red Ferrari, ankles crossed, looking for all the world like a man with time to spare and nowhere to go. Nick had always had that air about him, a carefree attitude that made it look like he hadn’t a worry in the world. She’d bought into it then, but now she knew better.
    “A Ferrari?” she said skeptically as she stepped down from the big SUV and closed the door.
    “If you’re going to drive, you might as well drive the best,” he answered cheerfully.
    “Uh huh. I think we’ll take my vehicle this afternoon.”
    Nick looked so aghast that she laughed. “The Ferrari doesn’t exactly say young couple on a cross-country road trip. I think Mrs. . . . what’s her name anyway?”
    “Anna Briley. Her son is Gary, Jr.”
    “Is Gary Sr. still alive?”
    “He is indeed. He’s an attorney with a large firm in Kansas City, very highly regarded. However, with any luck, we won’t be meeting him.”
    “Well, I think Anna will be more likely to talk to us if we show up in an SUV instead of a Ferrari. But at least you’re dressed for the part.” She gestured at his low-slung jeans and black leather jacket over a dark blue T-shirt. She could admit to herself that he looked good. But then, Nick had always looked good. She had excellent taste in men, after all.
    “We could be a wealthy young couple. Maybe I married you for your money,” he persisted, still pushing for the Ferrari. “Besides, I’m not comfortable leaving my car out here.”
    “I’ll have one of the guards move it inside the hangar.”
    Nick scoffed loudly. “If you insist on taking that truck, I’ll move my own car.”
    It was Cyn’s turn to scoff. “In your dreams. You’re not getting inside that hangar, and you know it.”
    He laughed. “It was worth a try. Where are you coming from anyway? I thought for sure the vampire would chain you to his bed during the day.”
    Cyn rolled her eyes, not bothering bother to address that last comment. “Getting up this early makes me hungry. I grabbed some lunch.”
    “The bloodsucker doesn’t let you eat?”
    “Nick,” she said impatiently. “What’s your problem with Raphael?”
    “He has you.”
    “Bullshit. You and I were never more than friends, and you know it.”
    “We were a little more than friends, darling.”
    “So we fucked when you came to town, but that’s all I was to you. A fuck buddy for when you visited LA.”
    “You make it sound so tawdry,” he drawled, then sighed at her stubborn expression. “Maybe I think you deserve better than a bloodsucking creature of the night.”
    “Fine. If you’re not going