Free Bait: A dark erotic thriller (Hunter & Prey Book 2) by Kira Barker Page A

from everyone else in the world.  
    It was high time for me to end this—things could only go downhill from here.
    “Well, it was a pleasure, as always,” I said, not even emphasizing anything in that statement. “But unlike you, I’m not here for that alone.”
    Darren paused, but then took another step back, leaving enough room for me to remove myself from my perch.
    “I see. Still not ready to cast off your leash.”
    His barb stung, but I managed to fend it off with a simple gesture of my hand—the left now.
    “Nothing’s free in this world. But I prefer the leash I choose a lot over the one that’s forced on me.”
    With that, I left him standing there as I made my way back into the hall. By the time the curtain fell, I was back in my seat at Brigitte’s side, ignoring the wet stain that made my dress feel just a little icky. She shot me a side-long glance, but didn’t ask. A leash I might be wearing, but it was only a temporary one—and the day that I’d cast it off would come very, very soon.

Chapter 5

    I would have preferred to make a quick exit once people started to depart, but our work here wasn’t done yet. I helped myself to some champagne and forced a pleasant smile on my face as Brigitte continued to lead me through the rooms, pausing here for a moment, chatting there for a few more. It took a lot of restraint to refrain from seeking out Darren in the crowd, but in passing, I saw that he, Daliah, and the Mosses were crowded together with another couple roughly Alison and Ray’s age, making me guess that they were entertaining clients. They seemed in no hurry to depart, so I told myself to relax.
    I was surprised when about twenty minutes into this, Brigitte pulled me to the side, her eyes idly skimming the crowd.
    “You’re off the clock, as far as I’m concerned,” she said, her tone mildly teasing.
    Raising my brows in question, I eyed her askance. “That soon?”
    “Feel free to work the crowd on your own,” she offered. “But I’m done for tonight.” With that, she stepped away from me, and I followed her path through the people until she paused next to a sophisticated looking man in his sixties—which meant he actually looked ten years her senior easily, but the smile that spread across his face upon seeing her approach tore them right off his features. Her doctor, if I had to guess—the man who, according to her, had saved her from herself. They hugged briefly—although the way her hand stroked down his arm wasn't anything even close to casual—and together they turned to go, leaving me with a certain sense of melancholy. I didn’t need her verbal reminder to remember that talk we’d had, where she’d pretty much told me that the kind of arrangement that she had with that man was what I should seek out with Darren. Knowing what I did now, it was obvious that it never would have worked, but it still made me wonder what would have happened had I attempted to steer things in that direction. Would he have quit on me, leaving me with my heart heavy but my body and soul intact? It seemed much more likely that such a move would only have accelerated the inevitable, but without the trust he’d had in me until the very end—trust that had given me the one advantage that I’d needed to survive. As the saying went, I would never know.
    It wasn’t coincidence that just as I thought that, my eyes found Darren’s in the crowd. He’d probably been watching me for a while, dividing his attention between his oh-so-sweet fiancée, his clients, and the prize that he really wanted to sink his teeth into. As I held his gaze, I couldn’t help but wonder how to proceed. What we were doing wasn’t unlike playing a mental game of chess—only that I had a single piece left to move: myself. The way his gaze smoldered even across the distance told me that while I’d given a greater concession tonight than I’d intended to, it didn’t seem to have left me at a disadvantage. In fact,