Free The Blind Tiger: An Unusual Paranormal Romance by Dawn Steele Page A

sexual object and not a person. His personal slave. He began to spiral into a deep loathing of himself, and by extension – her. And yet she aroused him more than ever. It was a complex psychological tangle.
    And now –
    Vladimir was right.
    Of course he was right. When had he ever been wrong? That was why Vladimir was the only person in the world that Zach truly admired and loved.
    Noah rankled him. The very existence of Noah was a slap in Zach’s face. Karen was supposed to desire no one else. Zach was the one who was supposed to be in control! And now she chose to give her heart and throw in her lot with a blind man.
    For that alone, Noah should pay. The one million dollar bounty was offered was merely a sweetener.
    He activated the communicator in his ear.
    “Boris? Are you in?”
    “We’re already in, boss. Sergei is moving upstairs. No one down here.”
    “He’s upstairs.”
    “Yes, boss. It’s pitch black in here.”
    Zach waited for a while. Then he heard a cry.
    “What’s the matter?” he rasped.
    There was a growl, and then the communicator was cut off.
    Zach sat up in his car. A gunshot rang out in the house. There came a shout and another gunshot.
    Zach reached for his gun in the glove compartment. Damn. He told them to take Noah alive.
    Well, dead would have to do it then.
    He got out. Damn fools. Send idiots to do the job . . .
    He pushed the front door of the house open. Boris was right. It was pitch black in here. Fuck. He needed the lights. Lights could only give a blind man the disadvantage.
    He reached for the switches. Light flooded the hallway.
    Boris lay in the lounge. There was a deep gash at his neck. Zach reached for the man’s pulse. It was very feeble, but still present. Zach frowned at the nature of the gash. It did not look as if a knife made it.
    He cocked his gun. He had to be very alert.
    Could a blind man do this? Noah had been evading bounty hunters for a long time. Unless he was just pretending to be blind.
    Zach’s mouth flattened into a grim line. He hated pretenders of any sort.
    He searched the lounge and the kitchen. The back door was locked.
    He went upstairs. At the top of the stairs, his man laid still – a victim of more apparent mauling. Again, the man was still alive.
    Zach explored the bedrooms, but there was no one to be found. The window of the master bedroom was wide open. The curtains billowed in the breeze.

RESCUE
     
    Karen had almost gotten one hand out of a strap when the door to the playroom opened. She froze.
    To her shock, a very naked Noah hurtled in. He was without his dark glasses, and his brown eyes were fraught with concern.
    “Karen?” he called.
    “I’m here!”
    “Thank God. I came as soon as I could.”
    She didn’t understand why he was naked. But he was beautiful. Beautiful enough to make her throat hurt. But she couldn’t really appreciate him now because they were in a rush. She only glimpsed his gleaming pecs and swimmer’s body, tapering into slim hips. His genitals were topped with a black thatch.
    Had Zach tortured him? Or worse?
    He ran to her and started to undo her bonds.
    “Hurry,” he said urgently. “I think they’re going to come for us.”
    “I wanted to warn you, but Zach captured me and tied me up. You’re right. He’s very dangerous.”
    “Let’s go.”
    “But we’re both naked. We need clothes. I can get you some of Zach’s.”
    He nodded tersely. “OK. But we have to hurry.”
    They ran out of the playroom. Karen hastened upstairs to get a few clothes. She hurriedly put on a tee and some jeans. Then some headlights outside arrested her. Her heart skipped several beats.
    Zach had returned.
    She thumped downstairs in panic.
    “Noah?” she hissed.
    But he already knew that Zach had returned. He faced the front door steadfastly.
    “Noah, we can go out the back door. We can run into the woods.”
    “No. He’ll be faster than you.”
    She tried to tug his arm away, but the front door opened. Zach stood