A Cowboy in Ravenna Read Online Free PDF Page A

near Chace, just to make sure he was safe, make sure no one hurt him or took advantage of him. It would be a challenge to his need to stake his claim on Chace, but he’d been fighting that feral part of himself for years. He might have given in if he was a normal shifter.
    “Ravenna was once a centre of the Christian Roman Empire,” Chace said, face buried in another of his guide books. “Amazing mosaics.”
    Mosaics? Trin blinked. Shit, he didn’t know anything about mosaics except they were something you put on the floor, right? He was going to come across as a barbarian on this trip, he recognised morosely. But at least Chace didn’t seem all worked up about Italian men. Probably he wasn’t going to Ravenna to hook up with someone.
    “I’m soooo tired,” Chace moaned.
    “You can lean against the window a little.” He rearranged their stuff so Chace could put his feet up, taking in the bruises under Chace’s eyes that one night of sleep would miraculously wipe away.
    He was so damned young he made Trin ache. Damn, he needed to keep him safe.
    “Do you think about…Sage a lot?” Chace mumbled, a long time later.
    Trin swallowed. “Yes. Every day.” When Chace didn’t push for more, he continued, “I still look for him in the supermarket or when I go to a new town…”
    Chace’s sleepy gaze was soft, like he’d touched Trin.
    “I’m not…whole without him.”
    “I wish I could give him back to you,” Chace said.
    Trin gave in, pushed some of the hair out of Chace’s eyes, flushing a little as the woman across the aisle paused her loud conversation in Italian to stare at them. Were his feelings so obvious? “Get some rest,” he said. “I swear you’ll have a good time in Italy. I’ll keep you safe.”
    Chace grimaced. “You make it sound like an ordeal, being here. I want you to have a good time too, Trin.”
    “Uh-huh.”
    Chace shook his head, a rueful grin touching his lips as he closed his eyes. “This commuter train takes a while to get into town. Wake me when we’re in Ravenna. We have to visit the House of Carpets.”
    The House of what? But Chace was already breathing deeply, colour returning to his cheeks.

    Ravenna reminded Trin of a university town with its long avenues of campus-like buildings, some constructed out of dusty, mud-coloured brick. “That’s an early Roman church.” Chace pointed as they walked. “See the dome?”
    It wasn’t very impressive from the outside, kind of lumpy with a single squat tower but it did look old, Trin guessed. “We’re going carpet shopping?” he asked, rubbing his stiff neck.
    “Carpet shopping?” Chace grinned. “Like I’d take you shopping. You hate that. If you’d use your BlackBerry properly, you could read my email with all the travel stuff.”
    “Yeah.”
    “You still don’t know how.” Chace sighed. “You and technology, I swear.”
    “I don’t like new stuff.”
    “Then you should like what we’re going to see now.” They hopped over slick tiles that led to the massive door of the church Chace had pointed out. Trin thought there were a lot of churches in Italy. In White Deer, Montana, there were only two.
    “The carpets are in here?” When they entered, he automatically removed his cowboy hat, wishing he hadn’t brought it since it probably made him look even more like an American hick, but it was a part of him, soft and broken in, and Chace thought it might be good when the weather got hot. Not that that was a problem today. It was still raining.
    He looked around, seeing a typical sanctuary with flickering candles and shadowy spaces. The air smelled of cool marble, dust and the drift of incense.
    “Follow me,” Chace said softly.
    He still didn’t see any carpets, but followed Chace through the church and then down some stairs. He smelt earth and old burials, his wolf senses not liking this place.
    “Oh my God,” Chace whispered.
    Trin’s eyes widened as he saw what had transfixed Chace—the