Breathe [Running to Love 3] (Siren Publishing Classic) by Allyson Young Read Free Book Online Page A

titillation of Lacey and Greg’s connection, instead of building their own. She felt kind of used, convenient, that this could be perceived as a one-night stand, and learned something extremely important about herself in that moment. She wanted what Greg and Lacey had, minus the whip and hanging thing. She wanted that incredible, powerful, obvious connection. This had been a mistake. It felt like Jace had misled her, set her up for something and then withheld it. It didn’t make sense because he had been so aware of her, had seemed to know…
    “Rowan?” Jace’s voice interrupted her train of thought. She wasn’t yet ready to face him, so kept her eyes closed and hoped he would leave her alone for a few more minutes. She felt him rise up beside her and run his hand down over her breast and down her side to the curve of her hip, before dropping a kiss on her shoulder. The bed dipped, and she heard fabric rustling. She peeked to see his nicely muscled ass disappearing into the adjoining bath. She wondered if she could get dressed and leave before he returned and had her answer when the shower kicked on. She felt like she had been abandoned and ignored the fact that she hadn’t responded to Jace when he had queried her, pretending to be asleep. She wanted to cry for some reason and decided to get moving and stave off the waterworks until she got home. She couldn’t face him. She wasn’t certain she could face herself.
    Fully dressed, although not taking the time to put up her hair, Rowan quietly let herself out of the room and made her way down the hall, backtracking to the green door. She barely managed to choke back a scream when Alistair materialized in front of her.
    “Saw you on the hall security feed, sub. Heading home so soon?”
    Rowan couldn’t look at him and kept her eyes on the floor. “Rowan!”
    His voice cracked like that whip thing and she immediately looked up and answered, “I need to leave, please. Just let me go. I’ve signed your forms and I won’t cause any trouble.”
    Alistair searched her face with eyes that now looked like shards of green glass, and then he nodded. “Not my business, but no woman leaves the club without an escort or at least a walk out to her car. How did you get here?”
    “Ashley drove us. Can you call me a cab?”
    “I’ll see you get one. Come on.”
    Rowan hurried after him, feeling as though she was mimicking the striking redhead from earlier, two steps behind and all. He yanked open the front door and looked up and down the street. A shrill whistle emanated from his mouth and a yellow cab pulled a U-turn and stopped right in front of them. She gave Alistair a quick, sideways glance and then thanked him. He pulled a couple of twenties from his pocket and shoved them at the driver before handing her inside and shutting the door. He hesitated and then spoke through the partly open window. “I don’t know what happened, Rowan, but I hope you aren’t running from something you’ve needed all your life.”
    She dropped her eyes again and the cab pulled away, and Rowan reflected on his words. Jace had had an initial impact on her like nothing she had ever felt before, but then she’d felt empty, had that used feeling, and she didn’t know if she could trust him after all. It actually seemed as if he had found her lacking, not worthy of educating. She shook any other thoughts out of her head and gave the driver her address. Funny how it hurt to breathe.
     
    * * * *
     
    Jace stood under the streaming water and pressed his forehead up against the tiles. He struggled to process what had just happened with that incredible woman. His old man’s nasty prophecy popped into his head and Jace tried, without success, to push it away. Right, his old man, that prick who used his fists and boots on his wife and kids as far back as Jace could remember, as well as the whiplash of his tongue, until he finally drove them all away, had arrogantly predicted Jace’s life. The