Dragon-Ridden Read Online Free Page B

His
very blue eyes twinkled merrily at her. There was a slight bump in his nose and
a light scar bisecting one eyebrow. His black hair had gotten a little shaggy
in the past few weeks and now touched his collar. His chin was smooth shaven as
usual. Tate didn’t think she’d ever seen him with face hair. He was dressed
simply in brown leather pants and a long sleeved tunic.
    “What’re you doing here?” she asked
after regaining a little calm and forcing her ‘other half’ back a little.
    “The same thing you are, darlin’.
Trying to obtain lodging,” he said, pointing at the inn they stood in front of.
    Tate blinked. The weathered sign of
the Crow’s Nest was not what she had expected to see. She would have walked
past it if he hadn’t grabbed her. She wouldn’t tell him that, though. No need
to let him know he’d done her a favor.
    “You can’t,” she blurted when she
realized what he’d said.
    “And why not?”
    “You don’t usually stay with us
when we reach shore.”
    Although Ryu was a member of Jost’s
crew, he wore his breeding as another wears a coat. He’d shown up two months
ago but according to the crew had been a member longer than most of them. He
would disappear for a while and then reappear at will, and Jost never said a
word about it. He was one of the few who seemed to come and go at will. Tate
really would have liked to find out exactly how he was able to do that, but it
would have meant spending much more time with Ryu and asking dangerous
questions. No, thank you. She’d keep her own council.
    Since rejoining Jost, it felt like
Ryu was always watching Tate. At first she’d thought she was being paranoid,
but every time she turned around, there he was. It felt as if he was weighing
her, trying to find all of her secrets. As a result she was twice as guarded
and twice as combative whenever she spoke to him.
    “The Crow’s Nest is one of the
finest inn’s in the city. There’s good food and–“
    “Mattresses without flees,” Tate
finished, rolling her eyes. “I know. Danny gave me the run down earlier.”
    “Then there’s no reason why I
shouldn’t stay here. Unless you have a problem with it?”
    Tate bit her tongue on her response
and stomped into the Crow’s Nest. He caught up within two of her strides and
rested his hand on the small of her back. A sharp zing shot through her and her
entire focus spun down to the weight of his hand resting against her.
    “No touching,” she said, shoving
his arm away. A part of her protested, but she shoved that down as firmly as
she’d shoved his arm away. One of the first rules she’d formed was nobody was
to touch her. Not crew, not city folks, and most definitely not Ryu. If
one person got to touch her, then others felt they had a right. She had enough
trouble as it was.
    She didn’t know what his game was
or what he hoped to find out. Her secrets were hidden, even from her. There was
nothing that made her think he was attracted to her. She wasn’t exactly
beautiful, but neither was she ugly. Her hair was nice enough. When the sun hit
it just right, it looked like melted gold with flecks of a darker copper spun
in along with blonde highlights. Her skin was pale and her eyes a bright green.
At 5’6 she was neither short nor tall, just average for a female.
    “Ryu,” Trent yelled from a table in
the corner. “Over here.”
    With a lingering look at Tate, Ryu
headed over to the three at the table. Gritting her teeth, Tate followed. As
much as she disliked him, she wouldn’t let him chase her off from spending time
with her friends before they headed back out to sea.
    Riply was quick to pull up two
extra chairs for the newcomers while Danny flagged down a waitress for more
beer. With only one chair left unoccupied, Tate was left with no choice but to
take a seat next to Ryu.
    Stop being a ninny, she told
herself sternly. He’d be leaving with the rest of the crew once the week was
out, and she wouldn’t have to see him