The Rogue Hunter by Lynsay Sands Read Free Book Online Page A

barriers at all when drunk."
    Mortimer peered at Sam again, knowing he was being a fool to even hesitate.
    "Do you really want to wait another eight hundred years for another possible life mate to come along?" Bricker asked quietly.
    Mortimer grimaced at the idea, but argued, "We're up here to do a job, not chase women around."
    Bricker arched one eyebrow and then turned to Decker and asked, "Am I right in guessing that you don't know much about the social scene up here?"
    "Yes. How did you know?"
    "You don't even know your neighbors," he pointed out dryly, and then suggested quietly, "So, these gals may come in useful. We could perhaps learn the social hot spots and where most people go… which will be where the rogue is."
    Decker nodded slowly and then followed his thought to the obvious point. "And it will give Mortimer a chance to get to know this girl and better decide if she wouldn't make a fine life mate after all."
    "Exactly." Bricker beamed.
    Mortimer grimaced, but nodded in reluctant agreement. He'd give Olive Oyl a go, but really, he couldn't see them suiting. She just wasn't his sort at all.
    "Hello?"
    Mortimer turned sharply to see the woman in question now standing on the other side of the door. Tall, slender, lips curved in a wide smile, Sam peered at them through the screen.
    When he turned to glare at Decker, the other immortal shrugged and said, "I was controlling two. I lost my concentration."
    Mortimer snorted, not believing it for a minute.
    "We heard your generator start up and decided to come over and introduce ourselves," Sam said cheerfully, recapturing his attention. "We'd have done it sooner but you're never here when we are."
    When the men simply stared, she tilted her head and added with a grin, "If you actually are here now. You are the owners and not just renters taking the cottage for the week or something, aren't you?"
    "I'm the owner," Decker announced, sliding the screen door open and stepping out into the shade of the deck to take her hand in greeting. "Decker Pimms."
    "Hello, I'm Samantha Willan," she said, accepting his hand. "And these are my sisters Jo and—Oh."
    Sam blinked in confusion as she turned to gesture to her sisters, only to find them absent. A frown claiming her lips, she stepped back the way she'd come and squinted toward the yard where the other two women still stood. Mortimer followed her gaze, grimacing when he saw that they were both frozen in their own yard, their expressions blank.
    "I believe the one with the ponytail stepped on something," Decker said smoothly, his expression becoming concentrated on Samantha Willan's face. When her expression smoothed out, losing its confused look, Mortimer knew he was slipping into her thoughts and soothing her worries about her sisters' odd behavior. For some reason, that bothered him. He didn't particularly want her for his life mate, but didn't want anyone messing with her thoughts either.
    "They're coming now though, see." Decker's words made Mortimer glance toward the trees to see that the other two women were indeed moving forward now. He and Bricker were obviously bringing them along and probably giving them the thoughts that the ponytailed sister had stepped on something that held them up. Oddly enough, Mortimer didn't care that the men were controlling the other two women. It wasn't that he liked Sam better, but if she did turn out to be his life mate, he didn't want anyone playing with her head.
    "Are you all right?" Sam asked the girl with the ponytail as the pair reached them.
    "Yes, fine. I just stepped on something," Jo assured her vaguely, and then offered a smile to the men. "Hi, I'm Josephine Willan."
    "And I'm Alexandra," the last sister announced.
    "It's nice to finally meet my neighbors," Decker said calmly, and Mortimer just managed not to snort at the lie.
    "Things change," Decker muttered, letting Mortimer know he was still reading his thoughts.
    The knowledge just made him scowl. He thought it incredibly