Rule Breaker(153)

            “If you need to talk, Emma and I are truly your friends. I hope you will remember that and not become too angry once you’ve had time to consider what I’ve told you.”

            She could only shake her head as she turned back to the girl. “Do you think I’ll change my mind and hate you later?”

            “I think maybe that is how I would feel if I had a mother, and she had not confided in me over such a decision,” Ashley agreed.

            “But mothers don’t always confide in their daughters, Ashley,” she told the girl bitterly, sadly. “Sometimes, things happen— Daughters make mistakes sometimes that their parents can’t forgive.”

            “No, Gypsy—” The other girl moved to cross the room when the bedroom door opened.

            Rule stood in the doorway, his expression heavy, torn. His blue eyes raged back at her, brilliant and concerned as Ashley turned to him quickly.

            “Ashley, you should leave now,” he told her gently as he stepped inside the room, his gaze moving to the Breed female with a hint of gentle demand. “Lawe and Diane are waiting for you to accompany them to dinner, I believe.”

            Ashley nodded, then turned back to Gypsy. “If you need me . . .”

            Gypsy gave her a small facsimile of a smile, but she couldn’t promise to talk later. She couldn’t promise she would even see the girl later. All she wanted to do right now was run. She wanted the silence of the desert enfolding her, the solace she’d always found in the wild, barren land surrounding her to sink inside the ragged wounds that were being uncovered in her heart.

            Laying her clothing on the bed, Gypsy faced the man who seemed determined to claim her now.

            “Where’s my motorcycle?” She was shocked at the ragged edge of her voice as she smoothed her hands over the material of the shirt covering her hips.

            “If you need to go somewhere, then I’ll take you.” He stood relaxed, but his eyes watched her too closely, and she was very much afraid he saw far too much as he held her gaze.

            “How long do you think that will work, Rule? How long do you think I’ll stand for you taking my independence and choice away from me? I want my cycle in the front of this hotel in thirty minutes, and you will allow me to walk out of here alone. I need to see my parents.”

            “Not alone.” His voice deepened, the growl that had seen her backing down earlier echoing in his chest again.

            That growl didn’t scare her any more than she would allow anything else to scare her.

            “Don’t make me run, Rule,” she warned him instead. “I promise you, neither of us will enjoy the experience.”

            Fury gleamed instantly in his gaze. The whites disappeared beneath the full blue, the black pupil dilating, and she knew she was facing a Breed who was more animal than man.

            “Run.” He was suddenly in her face, daring her, challenge evident in the animalistic rasp of his voice. “Go ahead, mate, run. I’ll enjoy the chase and when I catch you, I promise you I’ll make damned sure you never consider such a fucking foolhardy action again. Do you understand me?”

            She backed up before she meant to. It wasn’t fear that filled her, but nerves.

            Because this man, this Breed, would keep his word in ways she was sure she would never forget.





CHAPTER 22



Exhaustion had seeped into Gypsy over the hours she and Rule had engaged in a silent, nerve-racking standoff in his room. The meeting scheduled with her parents was canceled. No surprise there, she thought painfully as Rule and Jonas discussed the option just after Ashley left.

            Finally, desperate to find a moment to breathe that didn’t include his too-intent stare, she’d retreated back to bed.