Blood Wolf Dawning by Rhyannon Byrd Read Free Book Online Page B

Raging, intense pride and lust fired through his system, his blood thickening low in his body, while his heart thundered like something trying to break its way free.
    With another rough, guttural growl, Cian forced himself to slowly set her back on her feet as he loosenedhis grip on her arms. He knew that if he didn’t put some distance between them right then, there was a strong chance he was going to take her to the moss-covered ground beneath their feet and drive himself so deep inside her he wouldn’t ever find his way back out.
    “Who were those men?” she demanded, ripping out of his hold.
    “My brother,” he grunted, only to realize that his words didn’tmake any sense. “I mean, none of those men were Aedan. But I’m guessing they were working for him.”
    She blinked up at him with dark, gold-tipped lashes. “What are you talking about? You don’t have a brother.”
    “It’s a long story, but I’ll explain on the road.” Well, he’d explain some of it. No way in hell was he telling her everything.
    “Cian.”
    “Listen. Next time, he won’t senda bunch of human thugs. Those guys were just a game to him, Sayre. A message meant to let us know that he’s found you and has you in his sights. But he won’t play the game for long. Eventually, it will be
him
, in the flesh, and I know you don’t trust me, but you can believe me when I tell you that going head-to-head with Aedan isn’t something we could walk away from without paying for it first.Not here. Not alone.”
    She cut her gaze to the side and frowned. “I—”
    “Damn it, Sayre, look at me!” He worked his jaw as her narrowed gaze locked with his, then grated out, “I can’t let that happen. I
won’t.
I will throw you in my damn car and tie you up if I have to, though I’d rather you come on your own. I don’t want to hurt you, but there’s no way I’m letting you stay here. He’s
not
getting you.”
    She opened her mouth, then snapped it shut. He could see the indecision shadowing her gaze, her intuition battling against her desire to be rid of him. He could understand her anger, but he couldn’t let it get in the way of keeping her alive.
    “If not for yourself, then think about Jillian. About Jeremy and their kids,” he told her. Jillian had been pregnant when he’d left,so he knew the couple had at least one child. “You don’t think he’d go after them if he thought it would hurt you?”
    Color leached from her face, making the spray of freckles across her nose stand out in stark relief. “What the hell do me and my family have to do with any of this?”
    “He wants to hurt me, and he thinks you’re the way to do that.”
    A bitter laugh burst from her pinklips, and she shook her head in disbelief. “Then he’s a fool. I didn’t even mean enough to you to fuck. I was just a troublesome little girl you wanted out of your way.”
    Christ, she couldn’t have been more wrong, but he couldn’t tell her that. And he sure as hell couldn’t let himself think about that four-letter word that had just fallen from her lips—a word he’d never heard her say before.“Sayre, we don’t have time to argue. We need to be on the road ten minutes ago.”
    She stared up at him as the seconds stretched out, each one seeming to last longer than a lifetime while his hands itched with the need to reach out and grab her so that he could get her to safety. “Fine,” she finally agreed, looking as if someone had just thrown her firstborn off a cliff. “I hate it, but I’mnot going to cut off my nose to spite my face.”
    “Smart girl,” he murmured with relief.
    “
Woman
, Cian. Smart
woman
. I’m no longer a child.”
    “Uh, yeah. Got it.” Then he tacked on a “sorry” for good measure.
    Jabbing him in the center of his chest with her finger, she said, “You’re damned right you had better be sorry. Because this is
all
.
Your.
Fault!
”
    Guilt settled heavilyin his gut, and he knew he needed to tread carefully. “I