Rebel's Desire (Iron Portal Paranormal Romance Series) (Iron Portal Series Book 4) by Laurie London Read Free Book Online Page A

It looked as if he were capable of ripping off someone’s head right now.
    She found his outrage on her behalf strangely comforting and shook her head. “No, no. I’m fine. It’s…it’s my sister.”
    “What about your sister?” he demanded.
    She took a deep breath and wondered where to start. “She’s in trouble. Bad trouble. It’s all my fault and I don’t know what to do.” She covered her face with her hands.
    She felt Toryn’s hand on her back. His touch was calm and soothing amidst the chaos spinning out of control in her head.
    And just like that, she spilled everything. Toryn sat there and listened patiently. Not once did she get the vibe that he was repulsed that she and her sister were Talents. It was a relief, almost cathartic, to talk to him about what had happened.
    “So the other night when I ran into you,” she said, “I’d gone to Mr. Reaux’s club to find Becca. To reason with him. You know, come up with some sort of payment plan and—”
    “Reaux? As in Davin Reaux?” Anger flashed in Toryn’s dark eyes. “That’s who came for your sister?”
    “You know him?”
    Toryn cursed, scrubbed a hand over his face as if he were trying to wipe away what he’d just heard. “You went to confront Reaux? What the bloody hell were you thinking?”
    What was I thinking? Wasn’t it obvious?
    “He has my sister! What else was I supposed to do?”
    “That was foolish, Keely. And stupid.”
    She jumped to her feet and started to leave. She didn’t need his criticism. She’d been criticized enough in her life, thank you very much. Clearly, she’d made an error in judgment opening up to this man.
    He stood, grabbed her wrist and pulled her back. She hit his chest with an oomph. She tried to take a step backwards, but he wouldn’t let go.
    “Reaux is a sadistic, dangerous son of a bitch, Keely. Ye shouldn’t have tried to handle this situation on your own.”
    She was vaguely aware that he’d lapsed into a foreign accent.
    “What? And call the authorities? Admitting my sister and I are Talents would get me a one-way ticket to army boot camp.” She punched his chest in frustration. “So I’m supposed to wait around for something to happen? Hope the guy changes his mind? Well, I’m not a piece of driftwood, hoping that someday the tide will take pity on me and take me where I want to go. I make things happen or I go down fighting.”
    Something flickered in his eyes, but she was too angry to care what it was.
    “Confronting him isn’t the answer.” His tone was a little softer. With a hand on her back, he held her closer, and this time she didn’t fight him.
    “Easy for you to say,” she said, suddenly aware of how muscular he was. “In a perfect world, I’d have some recourse. But then, in a perfect world, my sister and I wouldn’t have to pay over a week’s worth of profits to that jerk just to keep the army from raiding our business and dragging us away.”
    Toryn remained quiet for a few minutes, a rock of strength before her. She felt the rise and fall of his chest as she breathed in his brisk, masculine scent, and her anger started to melt. It felt nice like this. In his arms. A respite in the face of a rising storm.
    She relaxed a fraction. “Becca says she’ll be back tomorrow afternoon, so hopefully I’ll find out what’s going on.”
    “Very well then,” he said, as if he’d just made up his mind. “Come on.”
    She cranked her head up to look at him. “Where are we going?”
    “To get you something to eat and then I’m taking you home.”
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    T oryn left the food truck carrying two plates of food and set them on the picnic table where Keely was sitting.
    “Thanks.” She handed him a napkin and a small package of plastic utensils, then wasted no time spearing a piece of meat from her plate and popping it into her mouth. She quickly followed that up with a huge bite of noodles.
    He enjoyed watching her eat and smiled to himself as he unwrapped his fork.