Rebel on the Run by Jayne Rylon Page B

some romance. Despite what she thought, he knew genuine adoration was a component of blistering hot attraction. Eli, Alanso and Sally then Kaige and Nola had shown him that. They blended affection and lust into something he’d die to give Kae. He thought of the flowers in the service station downstairs and the soft lighting of his lamp on the bedside table. His iPod was in the living room. In a few minutes he could at least improve on the sparse situation and give her a blend of both.
    Plus, he could use a pit stop after sucking down those beers with Kae.
    “Hang on. I need a minute if we’re going to do this right. I’ve got to go get some…protection.” He mumbled as he tried to engage his big head and silence the little one that screamed at him for letting her escape. Especially when he had condoms in the nightstand drawer. Silly, but he wanted to surprise her, just a bit. “You’re welcome to clean up if you want. I know I kind of distracted you before you were finished in the bathroom. Get ready, because I’m not going to pull my punches. You won’t be able to sleep through what we’re about to share. I promise you that.”
    “Oh.” She blinked up at him as if surfacing from a daze. “Sure. Okay.”
    It was torture to let her get up and escape the nest they’d made together, the cocoon of reminiscences rehashed mixing with memories they’d make tonight. Part of him panicked at the thought of letting her out of his sight. Afraid of squandering the amazing chemistry they’d enhanced this evening.
    “Kaelyn.” He couldn’t say what possessed him to call her back. Maybe it was the way her fingers trembled on the doorframe. He didn’t want her to get the wrong idea.
    “Yes?” She swallowed as she looked over at him. Even from across the room, the power of their connection impressed him.
    “Hurry back, lady.” He winked at her. “I’ll be waiting.”
    The smile she flashed lit up every shadow lingering in his soul. If one simple gesture could illuminate the far reaches of the darkness lurking there, he couldn’t wait to see what the fireworks of their joining would do.
    To them both.
    When she’d slipped into the hall, he jumped into action, turning the lights down low and racing in the opposite direction for the essentials in the other room. No one he bumped into bothered to stop him when they glimpsed the lust and need in his eyes.
    Alanso slapped him on the back as he returned with a bouquet, a cheap box of wine and his iPod in tow. Kind of pathetic, but the best he could muster. “Good luck, Rebel.”
    “Thank you.” He raced for his room with the impatience of a teenager after the prom, an event he’d missed and planned to make up for.
    Right now.
    All night long.

Chapter Six
    Kaelyn took a deep breath, thankful for the minute or two alone she had to compose herself before committing to a night of delicious torture. After all, she’d dreamed of sleeping in Bryce’s arms a million times. To do more than sleep would be beyond her greatest expectations.
    Her hands trembled, rattling the toothbrush someone had set outside the door to Bryce’s room in a plastic orange cup with her name scrawled on a piece of masking tape stuck to it. A comb and some other toiletries accompanied the thoughtful present.
    Part of her tried not to admit her and Bryce’s instantly rejuvenated chemistry and their ultimate lack of decorum on the bathroom sink had flustered her.
    But they had.
    She’d never experienced passion like that before.
    Everything in her life had been so sterile, generic. She hadn’t realized…
    Combined with the evening they’d spent proving that their easy connection hadn’t eroded in the nine years they’d been apart, she had no reason to say no to a second, bigger helping of nookie with Bryce.
    So when she’d proposed ramping things up for the night, she’d acted as worldly as she dared and shrugged her shoulder as if it would be no big deal to camp out in his bed, which