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

voice. “I can’t think. Let’s get some sleep. We can talk about everything in the morning.”
    He took their cups to the sink and dumped their paper plates in a blue bin beside the trash, glancing out the window before turning out the light. Only the lamp in the front room kept the darkness at bay.
    â€œThe sun will be up soon. Come on.”
    He clicked his tongue for Brandy, who rolled to her feet with a grunt and lumbered to his side. When Sabelle didn’t move, he tacked on: “Unless you want to sleep down here. I can get you some blankets for the couch.”
    Sabelle looked around. Deep pockets of darkness seeped into the shadows. Textured and scheming. Devious. The thought of staying there alone propelled her to action. Ryan hadn’t waited to see if she’d follow, and she hurried to catch up as he climbed the stairs. The look he gave her over his shoulder glittered with dark amusement. It was better than his anger.
    Grimly, she followed to the top and down the hall to the room across from his boyhood bedroom. It took a moment before she understood. He meant for her to sleep there. By herself.
    She tried to get a grip on her dread before it took hold and owned her, but it moved too fast, tingling painfully through her limbs. She knew humans slept every night, many of them by themselves. It didn’t hurt them. But Sabelle wasn’t human and she’d never slept, not like they did. Alone. For hours at a time with their eyes closed, their bodies vulnerable.
    He let her use the bathroom first. He even produced a pack of new toothbrushes and gave her one.
    â€œWalmart,” he muttered darkly.
    She had no idea what that meant but thanked him. Afterward, she returned reluctantly to the room across the hall from his. As he passed, Ryan paused at the open door and looked in. At his feet, Brandy gave a huge yawn.
    â€œYou okay?” he asked.
    â€œYes,” she said, adding a few desperate nods in case he had doubt.
    Still, he hesitated, watching her with those beautiful, jaded eyes. What did he see? Did desire burn inside him as it did within her?
    â€œYou sure?” he asked.
    She was still nodding. “I’m fine,” she said, her voice a little too high. A little too thin. “Unless there are monsters under the bed that I don’t know about?”
    Her attempt at humor came with sharp teeth that snapped back. She had to bring up monsters. Ryan’s eyes narrowed.
    â€œI’m just across the hall,” he said.
    â€œI know.” But please don’t leave me alone.
    He turned without a word, stripping off his shirt as he entered his room and tossing it on the dresser. One hand ready to sweep his door shut and the other popping the top button of his fly, he glanced back and caught her watching him. She didn’t look away. His chest was broad, smooth, and browned by the sun, and all that muscle gleamed in the muted light. He was such a big man, tall, heavy with strength. If the Sisters could still play human, they’d be fighting over a prize like Ryan.
    A slow smile crinkled the corners of his eyes as he watched her watch him. Sabelle tried to appear unmoved, but Ryan’s smile did things to her head, to her body. After their dangerous conversation, it felt like sunshine in the cold.
    He left the door open, his pants on, first button undone, yanked the blankets down, and stretched out on top of the bed. Brandy circled in the corner before curling up and closing her eyes.
    â€œGood night,” Ryan said and turned out the bedside lamp.
    Sabelle crossed the hall to his open door. The light from the other bedroom crept in behind her and softened the darkness that caressed him. She could make out his shape, the golden stretch of his bare chest, the shadow of that intriguing trail of hair at his belly, a restless shift in position. She wished she could memorize the way the light played over the planes of his arms and chest, the taut, flat