The Barrier Between (Collector Series # 2) by Stacey Marie Brown Read Free Book Online

you?” Ryker folded his arms,
leaning back in the diner chair, staring at me critically.
    It’s funny... after your brain has images of you
having sex with someone, real or not, you can’t help but look at
them different. The entire morning I could not look Ryker in the
eye. It pissed me off because we were hardly friends, yet this
nervousness stirred me, making it hard for me to sit still—like I
had restless ass syndrome. Yes, recently there had been a few
strange moments between us, but after they passed we both pretended
they never happened. I liked it that way. Now I felt like I was
sliding down a steep mountain not able to stop the momentum.
    What bothered me most was how all this reminded me of
when I first starting falling for Daniel. The giddy torture of my
chest clenching and stomach twisting into knots when I saw him. To
feel it again, so soon after Daniel’s death, made me disgusted with
myself and angry at Ryker. It felt like a betrayal to Daniel,
especially because Ryker was fae. He and Sprig were shifting my
feelings on fae, but it didn’t mean my emotions would change
overnight.
    The images relentlessly played in my mind when he
brushed by me this morning getting dressed, sending a flutter of
drunken bats through my stomach. Now the sensations wouldn’t go
away. His naked body on top of mine, feeling his hand slither up my
thigh, his lips consuming mine.
    “Nothing.” I shifted in my chair, staring at the menu
in my hand. We had stopped for breakfast at a café called Izel’s so
Sprig didn’t turn into a cannibal and start eating his own arm.
    “That. One,” a voice whispered from the bag on my
lap, before a long finger came up, tapping on the laminated
menu.
    “Yes. I got it the first ten times you told me.”
    His finger kept poking at the picture of the crepes
drizzled with honey and butter. I knew what I was going to order
the first minute we sat down and I spotted the word honey, but the
menu was a great distraction.
    Ryker’s stare still burned into me from across the
table. I sighed and set down my menu. “What?”
    Ryker sat forward, his elbows on the table. “You’re
being weird today.”
    “Weird?” I laughed. “I am a lab experiment. This
might be my normal.”
    “You know what I mean.”
    I tilted forward, mimicking his posture, placing my
elbows on the table. “My weirdness also could be contributed to
being taken hostage by a rock last night.”
    His lids narrowed. “And whose fault was that?”
    Mine. “Carrying one of the most powerful
objects in the Otherworld in your boot is such a great
plan.”
    “It was until you found it.”
    “ Bhean? ”
    “It’s stupid.”
    “Are you really in a place to judge me?” Ryker leaned
farther toward me.
    “The only thing I was stupid enough to do was get
caught by you,” I seethed, irrational anger squeezing my shoulders
to my ears.
    A nerve jumped along Ryker’s jaw. It was his telltale
sign he was angry.
    Rage boiled between us.
    “ Bhean ,” Sprig said a little louder.
    “What?” I growled at my bag.
    Sprig kept his eyes on me as he tapped the menu.
    “I. Get. It. Sprig! You want the fucking pancakes,” I yelled. Silence filled the café, eyes turned to
me.
    Ryker jumped out of his chair, grabbed me by the arm,
and wrenched me to my feet. “I think we need a little time-out,” he
grumbled and hustled me out the door.
    When we stepped outside, I yanked my arm from his
hand.
    “Fuck, Zoey. You want to completely expose us?” Ryker
threw out his arms, stepping into my personal space.
    “They’ll merely think I’m some crazy kook, talking to
my bag. Really not far from the truth.” I pressed forward, his face
only an inch away from mine. His nostrils flared, neither one of us
willing to back down. We stood there, panting with heavy
emotion.
    His gaze dropped, landing on my mouth. Then he
shifted back on his heels, licking his lips, and turned away from
me. “Let’s start toward the Mandor Waterfalls and work