Read Online Rebel on the Run by Jayne Rylon - Free Book Online Page A

youthful countenance. “I’m screwing this up.”
    “You’re not.” She reached out and cupped his handsome face, enjoying the rasp of his light beard on her palms. “I thought you didn’t feel it. I mean, you never acted like we were more than friends. Would ever be. So when your dad told me…I believed.”
    A lump formed in her throat and she swallowed. Hard.
    “Ah, Kae.” Bryce lunged to his feet, enfolding her in the towel and lifting her as though she weighed no more than Buster McHightops. He pivoted, placing her on the sink so he could meet her gaze once again. The towel rested beneath her, ensuring the cool surface of the counter didn’t reach her, the same way he insulated her from reality.
    Maybe that was why she didn’t flinch when he put his hands on her knees and pressed them apart, insinuating his bulk between them. Though his broad chest tapered to a trim waist, she spread her thighs for him, making it all too easy to imagine what it might be like to be intimate with him.
    As opposed to the gentlemen she’d taken before, he’d be raw and exciting. He’d strip away propriety and leave wildness behind. What kind of etiquette was there for exposing yourself so completely? Body and soul. 
    She didn’t know.
    But she hoped he’d teach her.
    Kaelyn reached around Bryce’s bare chest to splay her hands on his back. Even spreading her fingers apart as far as possible, she didn’t feel as though she held much of him. He was so big. As if he’d grown larger than life since she’d seen him last.
    “It feels good to have you hug me again, Kae,” he whispered into her hair as he cupped her ass, helping her squirm closer to him…closer to the edge.
    “Is that what I’m doing? It feels different.” A ragged laugh burst from her lungs. “It’s like you’ve been reincarnated as some badass version of the boy I knew. You’re so familiar. And…not.”
    “I’m not that person anymore.” He repeated what he’d told her earlier.
    “I know. And neither am I. But you’ve improved and I’m…” She stopped short of admitting how broken she felt.
    “You’re amazing.” Leaning in, he nuzzled their noses together. This close, she could spy the ice-blue flecks between the gray of his irises. “Don’t make me show you.”
    “What if I want you to?” she whispered. Never in her life had she needed that confirmation more than this instant.
    “Are you sure?” His breath ghosted across her lips. “Do you know what you’re asking for?”
    “Not really,” she admitted. “But I want you to show me. Whether that makes me a fool or not. This is for me.”
    “I wish I’d earned every bit of your confidence.” He groaned and slipped closer, his lips brushing hers as he spoke. “But I thank you for it anyway. And I’m enough of a bastard to take what you’re offering. Because I’ve wanted it for half my life. I never thought I’d see you again, Kaelyn. I never thought I’d find out what you taste like beyond that pathetic nibble I had.”
    With that admission, her heart cracked. Or maybe it reformed itself, slightly stronger than it had been before. She lifted her hands, caressing his neck on the way to burying her fingers in his hair. A tug and a whimper later, her mouth crashed into his.
    Doubts vanished. Instinct prevailed. Her lips caressed Bryce’s, nudging him to respond when he appeared frozen with either shock or disbelief. Her tongue emerged to flirt with the seam of his lips when he held back. The tension in the muscles that quivered around her proved his restraint. Except she suddenly hoped to rip that away from him. To make him as exposed as she felt in his arms, and in the world in general these past few days.
    His roar proved he felt it too, this powerful yearning that ensured she’d never be cold again despite the dampness on her skin. Or maybe the moisture gathering between her thighs, which had nothing to do with the bath she’d abandoned.
    For the first time since her