Free To Love and Serve by Caridad Piñeiro Page A

emotions. With her uncertainty about what to do if the treatments failed and the contamination in her body stole her life away.
    Soon.
    Since that lost year, she had worked hard not to run away from any truth, even if she wanted to. She wouldn’t start now. She intended to go upstairs, slip into bed, and confront Ryder.
    She just…needed a little more time to prepare.
    …
    Ryder should have stayed at The Lair until closing time. Not that his staff needed him there for the place to run smoothly. Until Diana had come into his life, he’d been at either his bar or his restaurant virtually every night…mainly because he had nothing else to do.
    Maybe he should have gone to Diego’s when he’d called wanting to speak to him in person about Council business.
    But Ryder had wanted to be home instead.
    That had been hours ago, and Diana was still in her office. He’d be damned if he let her avoid him again. They had to face what had happened. Because of all the places he could go, the only place he wanted to be was here with her.
    Bolting from the bed, he dashed down the stairs, taking them two at a time. His feet barely touched the polished hardwood floors until he jerked to a halt in front of her door.
    Still closed. He heard the rustle of papers behind it, but he was tired of waiting.
    He flung the door open. She spun around with a shocked gasp, papers clutched to her chest.
    Her surprise flipped to anger.
    “Ever hear of knocking?” She skimmed her gaze up and down his naked body, and she arched a dark brow. “Or pants?”
    He smiled, loving her brashness, experiencing a brief moment of pleasure because his nakedness brought a flush to her pale cheeks and a glitter of life to those tired eyes. But the moment was spoiled by the shadows beneath her eyes and the weary droop of her shoulders.
    He sauntered toward her and only stopped when inches separated them.
    Her hands fluttered nervously as she set aside the papers. Then she laced her fingers together, and raked her gaze along his body again. This close, it was impossible not to hear the skip in her heartbeat and smell her growing arousal. It stirred his desire. Passion had never been an issue between them, but there was something more important binding them together now.
    “We need to talk,” he said.
    Her gaze dipped down again to his growing erection before fixing on his face. “Seems to me you have more in mind than just talk.”
    He cupped her cheek. “Were you really still working? Or are you just avoiding me?”
    “I’m not avoiding you.” She snagged his hand off her face and gripped it tightly, as if afraid of his touch.
    “I think you are.”
    …
    Diana sucked in a slow breath and held it, battling with what to say. Ryder waited, no doubt expecting her response to be as sharp as a jab. Instead, she feinted.
    “I was working on an important case.” She gestured to the papers and photos around them. She was so not ready for this.
    “ We’re more important than work,” he reminded, tugging his hand from hers and running his fingertip across her cheek, just below the circle of fatigue beneath her eye.
    She looked away, unable to argue with him, but she still needed more time to get her head straight from the chaos running rampant in her mind. He dropped his hand to gently clasp her chin and urge her to face him again. She swiped her hand across his arm, breaking the contact, and shoved past him.
    He chased after her and grabbed for her arm. “Don’t run away from me again, Diana.” She had never tolerated being manhandled, and she wasn’t about to let him get away with it. The violence inside her burst free and she blocked his attempt to catch her with a painful slash of her forearm.
    “Don’t.”
    Ryder stepped back from her, eyes narrowed. “Don’t what? Don’t touch you? Don’t love you? ” His body shook with anger and he fisted his hands so tightly his skin was almost a translucent white.
    She wished she knew what she wanted. But she