Free Make Me Yours by Rhyannon Byrd Page B

Slavic language, Ryder punched him in the face, knocking him out just as the other one jumped on his back. Within seconds he had the man flipped over his head and sprawled across the hot asphalt. With a well-placed kick into the bastard’s face, Ryder left him in the same shape as his partner, both of the idiots bleeding and unconscious.
    Shoving the thug’s gun into her bag, Ryder threw the strap back over his shoulder and took a death grip on her hand, jerking her to her feet and hustling her toward the Jeep. He didn’t waste any time getting her inside, then made his way around the front, tossed her bag in the back, and climbed behind the wheel.
    â€œNow what?” she asked, gripping the seat belt with both hands as she watched him crank the engine.
    â€œRado has obviously figured out where you’re at,” he said, not even winded from the fight, though he flexed his right hand as if it was sore, before curling it around the steering wheel. “That means he most likely knows you’re here with me. We have to assume that my place is being watched.”
    Her grip on the seat belt tightened. “Which means what?”
    His expression was grim as he turned his head and looked out the back window, peeling out of the parking space so fast the tires squealed in protest. “It means we can’t go back there,” he grunted, giving her a hard look before accelerating out of the lot. “So I’m taking you to that safe house.”

Five
    AS RYDER STEERED THE JEEP THROUGH TOWN, LILY LISTENED to him talk to Ben on his phone. He told the sheriff what had happened, then arranged to have a patrol car sent to the motel, though he doubted Rado’s men would still be there. She knew if she hadn’t been with him that he would have taken the time to question and arrest them himself. Hell, if they’d tried to hurt her, instead of jumping him, they would have ended up dead. But he’d left them because he’d wanted to get her out of there as quickly as possible, his protective instincts making her heart beat just that tiny bit faster, even though she was still upset that he’d ended things in the motel room before making love to her. The way she saw it, if a man wasn’t willing to have sex with you after going down on you, then the odds were high that he just didn’t want you. That hurt. So much that she couldn’t think of a single thing to say to him after he’d ended the call, her arms wrapped tight around her middle as she tried to put on a brave face.
    But it wasn’t easy when she felt like a freaking idiot for running to him with her whole
I need to sleep with Ryder before I die
plan. What on earth had she been thinking? The guy had made it clear that he didn’t want to get down and dirty with her. Yeah, he’d made her come, but maybe that’d just been because he felt bad for not wanting her the way she wanted him. Which just made her pathetic. She wrapped her arms around herself a little bit tighter and stared out the window.
    â€œThe safe house is in the Westbrook neighborhood, on the north side of town,” he murmured, breaking the silence. “I have to swing by the station to get the keys, but that should only take a minute. Ben’s making arrangements for some extra security at the house, but we should beat them there.”
    Without looking at him, she asked, “Who’s he sending over?”
    He lifted his shoulder in a shrug, repeatedly checking the rearview mirror to make sure no one was following them. “I don’t know. But once they get there, I’m going to head back over to my place to pick up a few things.”
    â€œWon’t that be dangerous?”
    He shook his head. “Not if I go in on my own. I’ll be quick, and I know how to get in without being seen. I’ll also grab the stuff that you left in the guest room while I’m there.” As if he expected her to argue, he added,