Smoke and Fire: Part 3 Read Online Free PDF

used to the Kinsey who gave all of herself to him, but that woman was gone.
    In her place was one more reserved and a little cold. A woman who didn’t trust as easily and assumed everyone was always lying.
    That’s what he’d done to her.
    No amount of lovemaking was going to redeem him or erase the hurt he’d caused. It didn’t matter that their bodies moved in a rhythm all its own, a tempo that was just for the two of them. Nor did it matter how much pleasure he wrung from her.
    None of it mended her heart that he’d so carelessly broken.
    That wasn’t true. It had torn Ryder apart to leave her, but he’d done it to protect Dreagan and the other Kings.
    Why hadn’t he gone back to her when he’d discovered the spell was broken and they could love again?
    He slowly pulled his arm from beneath Kinsey’s head and sat up on the side of the bed. He sighed, not wanting to answer that question—even to himself.
    Ryder stood and pulled on his jeans, not bothering to buckle them. He walked to the window, but he wasn’t looking out. His gaze was focused on his reflection.
    He hadn’t gone back to Glasgow for Kinsey because there hadn’t been time.
    Lie. Or a half-lie.
    There were occasions he could’ve gone. Why hadn’t he? What held him back? It wasn’t Con’s reaction, because Ryder didn’t give a shite about that.
    He ran a hand down his face, his reflection in the glass troubled—just as his heart was. Because the truth was he was scared he’d lost Kinsey.
    By not going to her, he didn’t have to face a truth he feared more than anything.
    And yet what did fate have in store for him? None other than dropping Kinsey right in his lap.
    Ryder closed his eyes. What an utter fool he’d been. All those times telling others that nothing scared him, when he’d known deep down in the pit of his soul that the mere thought of not having Kinsey’s love terrified him.
    He opened his eyes, his chin to his chest. His mistakes were in the past. Ryder was getting a second chance, and he wasn’t going to blow it again. Nothing—and no one—was going to get in his way of reminding Kinsey how good they were together.
    His image in the glass faded as he shifted his focus to beyond the window. The entire landscape was drenched in white. It was normally a time of year he loved, but that wasn’t possible this time. Not when everything he wanted was just out of reach.
    He braced his hands on either side of the window and glanced over at the bed where Kinsey slept. He should be rejoicing because she’d welcomed him, not worrying. But that was exactly what he was doing. Worrying.
    Worrying because something kept nagging at him. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but there was something he was missing. Something he should’ve seen—and he felt like it was important.
    Ryder grabbed his shirt and boots and quietly left the room. It was doing him no good to stay and contemplate what Kinsey was thinking when there was work to be done. Despite his millions of years on the planet, he had no clue what went on in the mind of a female.
    Something rammed into his shoulder. Ryder blinked and spun around to find Rhys wearing a deep frown.
    “Where the hell have you been?”
    Ryder ran a hand down his face. Fuck. He just now remembered hearing someone call his name through their mind link. Not once had he taken a night to himself, and that’s all he’d wanted. Ryder should’ve known something important would come up. It always did.
    “Tell me what you need,” he said to Rhys.
    Rhys lowered his gaze to Ryder’s hands that held his boots and shirt. “Get dressed. I’ll meet you in the computer room in a bit.”
    He watched Rhys walk away. A glance down showed his hands were shaking, he was shaking. With his inner turmoil about Kinsey, the danger of Ulrik and the Dark, MI5 on the grounds, and everyone constantly shouting his name, he needed a moment to himself.
    Ryder made his way downstairs through the secret doorway to the