Read Online Delta: Retribution by Cristin Harber - Free Book Online Page A

heard the bathroom door shut down the hall, he rolled into a pillow, ready to bury his head and find all the angry emotion he had clung to. But the scent of sugar teased him from the pillowcase. He breathed in deeply. Anger stayed at bay.
    Marlena was what he needed to survive Delta’s downtime… He shut his eyes and thought about how her touch soothed him.
    He opened his eyes when he heard her at the door. What?
    She stood there. Dressed. All the way down to her shoes on and purse on her shoulder. “I should get going.”
    He was dumbstruck. Then dumbstruck again for the harsh blast of disappointment burning in his chest. She was bailing on him. Again . Granted, this time he knew about it, but it still didn’t sit right. “Alright.”
    Turning on her heel, she waved over her shoulder and left him all alone. Trace dropped back to bed, face hitting a sugar-scented pillow. Everything hit him again, but this time, it hurt worse.

CHAPTER ELEVEN
     
    The gas pedal was pushed down as far as Marlena could stand it. Flooring it down the interstate didn’t help the knots in her stomach, and staring at the broken white line was going to make her dizzy if she didn’t stop soon. What the hell happened back there? Too many things to count. She’d gone all psychiatrist on the poor guy, practically pushing him into an emotional tailspin. Then she practically made love to him, wanting to pick up all his broken pieces and weld them back together.
    But even before that, when he demanded she obey… she did. And she liked it. Loved it. A hot blast of desire flooded her. It’d been incredible to give up control to a man that knew how to take it. And he’d enjoyed it. It’d been all for her benefit, and it was liberating. Confidence had soared in her mind.
    Trace had done her a favor. She pulsed between her legs, thinking about how she had come, and what she’d been doing.
    But… then she ran. Every thought she had, every minute of enjoyment was paused so she could get home. He’d made her feel wanted, so she ran. Science and engineering she understood, but relationships? Feelings? She sucked at them. How could she trust her feelings when the nice guys never turned out to be the nice guys?
    Well, hell . Trace wasn’t nice. He was ruined, in a way. Rough. Tough. A badass tattooed man. He was everything she could ever dream of, a hero who’d saved her. Then there was the insane, mind-melding sex.
    Not that he was asking for a relationship. It’d been the exact opposite, actually, but in her heart, she was falling for him, knowing that as lost a cause as he claimed to be, she was the one not good enough for him.
    Stop!
    Mar took a breath, trying to avoid a downward spiral. Her phone rang, and she dug it out while steering onto the interstate. She gave a quick glance at the caller ID. She should’ve guessed it. There was no way would Trace have let her run out on him.
    “What? Do you have a fairy godmother calling the shots, Cinderella? You have to run home at a certain time?”
    She cringed. “No.”
    “You turn into a pumpkin? Poof into some kind of troll?”
    “Does this line of questioning work on most girls, or is this something new you’re trying out on me?”
    He growled. “Why do you keep leaving?”
    “What’s it matter?”
    He remained silent as she passed a mile marker. “I’d guess for the same reason that you wanted to know what haunts me.”
    She never should have done that. “I don’t know why I pushed you. I’m sorry.”
    “You apologize a lot.”
    “I don’t—”
    “Ha.”
    He was right. “I think I only apologize to you.”
    “Tell me why Romatar took you, or tell me why you run from me.” Trace blew into the phone. “Tell me anything.”
    Didn’t he know that the more he talked, the more she fell for him? “If I tell you, I’d have to kill you.”
    Trace’s low rumble of laughter tickled her ear. “Give it a shot. I’d like to see you try.”
    God, so would she. It’d give her a good