Free Predator's Kiss by Rosanna Leo Page A

at the man who’d made the last exclamation. She knew him. She’d know that smug smile and fox-like stare anywhere. Harry Little from The Examiner . One of the paparazzi who’d been hounding her. “No.”
    “Ciao, Lia, babe. You’re a slippery little thing.”
    “Why won’t you just leave me alone?”
    Little shrugged, still snapping photos from a distance even though her hands were raised in front of her face. “Because right now you’re hot. Don’t worry, princess. As soon as the next Hollywood starlet gets a DUI, you’ll be yesterday’s news.” He took a few steps back.
    Ryland gaped at her and at Little as he quickly connected the pieces. “This is one of the little shits who’s been stalking you?”
    But before she could answer, Little disappeared into the woods. All they heard was his taunting voice calling back to them. “Lia Goodblood and Soren Snow together! I’ll tell the world about your tawdry affair and about your little love nest!”
    Soren blanched and grabbed Ryland’s arm. “Ry! We can’t let him.”
    “Scott will find out where I am,” Lia murmured.
    “I’m already on it,” Ryland grunted.
    Lia listened in a muddle as she watched Ryland pull a walkie-talkie out of his pocket, one she hadn’t even realized was there. He quickly muttered some directions, presumably to his security staff. Then he turned to Soren. “Stay with Lia.”
    Without another word, Ryland began tearing his shirt off and ran into the woods. Lia stared after him but couldn’t see him in the darkness. Within seconds though she heard an ominous grumble of warning.
    He’d become a bear again. Oh, God .
    Suddenly light-headed, she leaned against Soren, and he put an arm around her shoulders. “Ry will get him. Don’t worry. He knows these woods better than anyone.”
    “But he’s a massive bear. Wouldn’t he be faster running as a man?”
    Soren made a hum of amusement and narrowed his eyes at her. “Don’t be fooled by the cuddly exterior. Bears are deadly. We have an excellent sense of smell and we can move faster than you’d imagine.” He paused, considering. “Especially when our territory’s threatened.”
    Territory? Surely he meant the fishing lodge.
    Lia didn’t question Soren further. She couldn’t. Not while Ryland was out there in the pitch blackness, chasing down a sleazeball because of her. What if he got hurt in the process? What if Little was packing a weapon? It would be just like the scum to do so. She’d read that he’d pulled a knife on Sean Penn the last time the actor tried to seize his camera.
    While Soren eventually sat down at the picnic table and dug into a sizable hunk of fried halibut, Lia just stood at the edge of the woods, appetite gone. Waiting for Ryland to reappear.

Chapter 6
    Before another evening had passed, all hell was breaking loose at the lodge. And it was no wonder, Ryland thought bitterly. The picture of Soren kissing Lia had gone viral overnight and now the celebrity world was abuzz with the news the playboy percussionist was having an affair with the reclusive erotica author.
    Ryland sat in his office, nursing a headache of monumental proportions as he stared at the footage for the hundredth time that day. His brother, wrapping Lia in his arms, the way Ryland had wanted to do. It was enough to make him sick. Without thinking, he once again clutched the bottle of Pepto he’d kept close all day.
    And the worst part was he didn’t understand why it pissed him off so much. So she was pretty; so what? The world was full of sexy women.
    But at that precise moment, she was the only one he wanted to kiss. And Soren had beaten him to it. It had been like that all their lives.
    In high school, Soren lured numerous girlfriends away from Ryland, even the ones he didn’t particularly want to steal. He’d done it for the thrill, mostly, and to put a bee in his brother’s bonnet. And to get laid as much as possible. Since Soren had taken over the music world, Ryland