Isle of Night Read Online Free PDF Page A

exactly?”
    â€œYou wanted the coast. But tell me, Annelise: Will any coast do?” He gave me a squeeze, then removed his hand, and my shoulder felt chilled from the loss. But then he swept the hair from my neck and I tingled—no, I burned —where his fingers brushed my bare skin.
    Any coast, I had the urge to answer him, as long as it’s with you.
    I chafed my arms from the shiver rippling across them . I needed to get a hold of myself. I wanted to flee Florida, flee my family and my life, but was I ready for the point of no return? “Why not drive? Florida’s big, but not that big.”
    â€œAre you saying you don’t want to leave Florida? The Gulfstream IV can travel more than four thousand nautical miles.”
    â€œOh, well, that’s a relief, then. Particularly as I generally calculate things in terms of nautical miles.”
    His answering silence was loud.
    What was he thinking about? I spared a glance for him, unable to stop myself. He was watching me with that I expect more face I now recognized.
    I took a deep breath. Though I felt raw and exposed, I mustered some honesty. “I mean, yes. Of course. I long to leave Florida. My life here . . . It’s been hard. I’ve always dreamt of leaving.”
    I’d spoken the truth, but it had come out so quietly. Did my voice always go all hesitant and soft when speaking truly?
    All this honesty. And with a total stranger. It was too intense. I felt too defenseless. It was too much.
    He was too much. He made me feel so strange. Like, for the first time in my life, I knew what hope was.
    I looked back at the plane, wondering just who this guy was. I strained my eyes, trying to make sense of the shadowy cockpit.
    Ronan touched my chin, and it was a shock. His finger was warm and gentle, and I wanted to shut my eyes. I wanted to lean my cheek into his hand and stop time.
    What was happening? Maybe there was such a thing as knights in shining armor, and mine had a black T-shirt and a tattoo, and liked to hang out at the registrar’s.
    He turned my face to his. Not that it took any great feat of strength. I’d been longing to clamp an uninterrupted stare on him since I first spotted him.
    â€œI’ll take you someplace very far away.” Ronan’s voice was subdued, and it came out as a rasp. “Far from your father. From the people who don’t understand you.”
    He’d touched a nerve. I considered pulling away, but didn’t have the heart. Instead, I let my eyes fall into his, and they were so very green, the color of a deep, dark, haunted forest, and it made some delicious, dangerous sensation shiver across my skin.
    He toyed with the hair at the nape of my neck, and again I felt that buzz of electricity shimmer across my skin. He gave me a little half smile. “But will you have the courage?”
    I squinted my eyes shut tight, trying to clear my head. Something wasn’t right. He was just a guy, and I never had this sort of reaction to guys. Yet every time he touched me, I went all limp and easy. With one brush of his hand, the guy could probably sell me a bridge, much less sweet-talk me onto some swanky private jet.
    â€œWill you or won’t you, Annelise?” Heat fanned from his fingers, penetrating deep into my brain, confusing me, making me putty to his touch.
    â€œYes,” I heard myself whisper. “I will.”
    As I opened my eyes, he pulled away from me, and cold clarity prickled my brain like blood returning to a numbed limb.
    I watched Ronan as he studied his fisted hands. His muscles were tensed and his eyes looked fierce, making me suddenly uneasy. I was itching inside my skin, longing to feel his reassuring touch once more. Eager to break the silence, I asked, “Where are we going?”
    He gazed blindly out the window, resting his hands on the steering wheel. “Far away. Life as you know it will change utterly.”
    I stared hard at his