Read Online The Three Fates of Ryan Love by Erin Quinn - Free Book Online

there was one secret he couldn’t let her keep.
    â€œDid they hurt you, snowflake?” he asked carefully. If she answered yes, all bets were off. He’d make her tell him everything. And he’d make them pay.
    â€œNot in the ways you’re thinking,” she said. “Not physically.”
    He held her face, looked deeply into her eyes.
    â€œSwear it.”
    â€œI swear. No one has ever touched me.”
    Something sad twisted through those words. He heard the emotion clearly, but couldn’t find a way to decode it. Had she been imprisoned by someone she knew? Someone she trusted? Someone who should have touched her with compassion? Love, even?
    Her eyes darkened. He suspected that she’d guessed at his thoughts and it hurt her. The answers to his questions would probe a deep wound she wasn’t ready to have exposed.
    He got that, too. He exhaled softly and rested his forehead against hers. “Okay.”
    â€œOkay?”
    â€œI’ll help you find ‘north,’ but only under one condition.” He pulled back and watched as wariness moved behind her gaze. “If we can’t find your . . . friends or whoever it is you’re looking for, you let me get the police involved before we go our separate ways. No asking me to go on another wild-goose chase. No disappearing without a word to do it on your own. Do we have a deal?”
    She nodded, displeasure in the tight line of her lips and the lowered lashes that hid her eyes.
    â€œLook at me, snowflake.”
    She did, her gaze bright with defiance.
    â€œSay it. I want the words.”
    â€œWe have deal,” she said. “Your way. If we don’t find them, we go to the police.”
    He stared at her a moment longer, taking in every nuance of her expression. She wasn’t giving anything up, though. As crazy as it sounded, he’d have to take her at her word.
    If tonight had just been another night, maybe his answer would have been different. Nothing but ash was left of his old life, though, and a road trip with this intriguing woman held a lot more appeal than dealing with insurance companies and paperwork. Maybe he’d get answers and clear his head at the same time.
    â€œGood enough,” he murmured. “We can leave tomorrow.”

S abelle was too exhausted to smile. She’d gotten what she wanted. Ryan would take her where she needed to go. He’d let her keep her secrets. For now. She wasn’t so naïve that she thought he’d let her keep them forever, though.
    He still held her face, his touch so gentle it nearly broke her. How many times had she dreamed of his hands on her? His gaze seemed to see right through her, but he didn’t speak, and with relief she watched the tension drain out of him. She wasn’t used to such volatile emotions. They were freeing, but they were also frightening. She’d never realized she had so much passion bottled up inside.
    At last, he dropped his hands and leaned back against the counter again, all long bones and hard muscle. One leg stretched out in front, the other bent at the knee. White socks covered his feet and soft, worn blue jeans hugged him everywhere. Places Sabelle couldn’t help but notice. He’d caught her looking several times, but her scalding blushes hadn’t been painful enough to keep her from doing it again. She wanted to touch him. She wanted him to touch her . He’d riled her up with his questions, with his anger, and now she felt like a live wire sparking in a storm, gathering up all of her other confused feelings and electrifying them in the torrent.
    The soft rasp of his palms against the shadow of his beard teased her senses. In the Beyond, sensory stimulation was kept to a minimum for oracles. The Sisters didn’t want anything distracting them from their visions. Here on earth, everything was stimulating.
    â€œI can’t even see straight anymore,” Ryan said in a tired