Unbound by Sara Humphreys Read Free Book Online Page B

he would help her. That had to be his top priority. Hadn’t he just told Dominic that it wouldn’t be fair to bring a human woman into the Amoveo world? He had to help her with whatever mess she was running from. Then, after that, they could deal with the whole life-mate thing…or not.
    From this point forward, Zachary’s number one concern was to help Annabelle. But to do that, he had to get her to tell him what kind of trouble she was in.
    He stopped about three feet away and looked around, grateful that no one else was out on the beach this early. There were more people farther down by the town beach, but it looked like most of these houses on the strip weren’t occupied at the moment.
    â€œAnnabelle?” Zachary kept his tone gentle, worried that he’d upset her enough already. “Look, I know I just dumped a bunch of crazy stuff on you, and I’m sorry. I guess finding you here like this just caught me off guard. I never really believed I had a mate, and to be honest, I wasn’t even looking for mine. So if you don’t want to pursue it, that’s fine. But you can’t sit here all day. Come on.”
    She didn’t answer and kept her face turned away from him. She sniffled and her shoulders shuddered with a deep breath, as though she was doing her best to get her tears under control. Damn it. He could take anything, absolutely anything, except hearing her cry, because it made him feel helpless and out of control.
    As a Guardian and Amoveo warrior, there wasn’t anything worse.
    â€œListen, come back to the house and let me make you some breakfast.” Zachary stepped closer and extended his hand. “Come on. I promise I won’t say another word about the mate stuff or being an Amoveo unless you ask me about it.”
    Annabelle sniffled and turned to face him. His heart squeezed in his chest when she looked up at him with a tearstained face and watery eyes. She swiped at her cheeks and glanced at his extended hand, obviously weighing her options—which weren’t many.
    â€œI won’t ask you about it,” she murmured. Her pale green eyes latched onto his and her voice took a serious tone. “I can’t , Zachary.”
    Zachary nodded. He wouldn’t push her on the subject, but he sure as hell was going to get her to tell him what kind of mess she was in. In order to do that, he had to get her to trust him.
    â€œUnderstood.” Zachary waggled his fingers at her and jerked his head toward the house. “Come on. Breakfast first, and then I’ll take you into town. We’ll file a report about the robbery and you can find a phone. Maybe someone found your bag or wallet or something and turned it in. Hell, it could be down at the local police station right now.” He put one hand to his heart and made the sign of an X over it. “I promise I’ll behave myself.”
    â€œYou’re going to cook me breakfast?” Annabelle shielded her eyes from the sun. “And then we go to town? That’s it?”
    â€œScout’s honor.” Zachary held up one hand and waved the other at her. “Deal?”
    â€œDeal.” Annabelle placed her hand in his and held his gaze as he pulled her to her feet. Her body brushed his briefly, and he fought the driving need to pull her against him while keeping her fingers wrapped in his. A smile played at her lips as she leaned close and murmured, “Were you ever actually a Boy Scout?”
    â€œNope.” Zachary smirked and started walking backward, pulling her with him as he moved toward the house.
    â€œI should have known.” Annabelle laughed and shook her head as she withdrew her hand from his. She folded her arms over her breasts and sliced a sidelong glance at him while they walked. “You don’t strike me as the Boy Scout type, but you did a fine job of helping a wounded stranger.”
    â€œI wonder if there’s a badge for that?”