added to the pile of guilt he already carried around with him, a permanent weight settled across his shoulders.
He tried to tell himself it was nothing more than a physical response. What man wouldn’t want Quinn Keller? She was gorgeous in an effortless, understated way. She was real, not bothering with the pretense that other women in their late twenties seemed to need—lots of make-up, flashy clothes, jewelry and heels.
She didn’t waste her time at expensive salons. Why would she when her chestnut hair had natural blond highlights, the kind women spent a fortune to get? Most of the time she kept it up in a bun or a ponytail, but he’d seen it down a few times over the years. And those memories...those were the ones that starred in his midnight fantasies.
Hair tangled in a mess down her naked back. His hands buried deep in the thick strands, holding her still as he claimed her mouth and made them both breathless.
The intriguing caramel color of her eyes. The way they flashed with flecks of gold when she was angry, impassioned...or heartbroken.
But it was her skin that really tormented him. So pale. So soft. And covered with freckles that gave her the illusion of being younger than she actually was.
If it weren’t for her large, pouty mouth she’d probably come off innocent as a nun. That mouth...
Jace stared down at her, unable to do anything but watch as her lips moved. The familiar burn seared across his skin. It settled into his gut, caustic and poisonous.
He couldn’t have her. He couldn’t touch her.
She was not his.
But, God, he wanted her.
When she was this close, it was so damn hard to remember why he needed to keep his distance.
He leaned closer. The warmth of her body slipped out to touch him, as surely as any caress. He was cold. Had been for a very long time. And while he knew the torture that awaited him when this moment was over, he couldn’t stop himself from taking and absorbing whatever he could for now.
The numbing pain and guilt would be back soon enough.
The relief Quinn always gave him was bittersweet. Amazing while he had it. But the crash back into darkness seemed to get exponentially more painful with each encounter.
“Jace, are you listening?”
Her soft voice cut through the fog. Jace curled his hands into fists and forced himself to think about something else. The MMA fight that was coming up tomorrow night. The one he’d been training months for.
He flexed his fingers before curling them tight again. Imagined his knuckles split and bleeding. The relief of a pain he could see, feel, understand and combat...unlike the constant ache he’d been unsuccessfully battling for the past two years.
Taking a step backward, Jace put distance between them. Quinn frowned, her eyes flashing with disappointment and hurt, but there wasn’t anything he could do about that. He could either do this or something they’d both regret.
Quinn was the last connection he had to Michael, outside of his family, and as much as being around her was personal torture, he couldn’t give that up.
He couldn’t give her up.
“I’m sorry, Quinn. It’s been a long day.”
He’d taken a couple weeks’ leave, not because he particularly cared about time off, but so he could prepare for this fight...and recover when it was over. He’d been at the gym at four this morning and spent ten hours punishing his body in preparation.
He needed these nights, for his sanity. Even if his doctors had warned him about the dangers of participating in such a high-contact sport.
He missed the physical tests and mental challenges of combat. The thrill and adrenaline high he got from pushing his body and mind past their limits. Since he couldn’t go into combat anymore, he’d found a substitute—amateur mixed martial arts.
No one in his life was particularly happy that he was doing it—especially his mother. But he craved this outlet. So most of the time he didn’t bother telling anyone about a fight until it was already done.
What his mom didn’t know about, she didn’t have to obsessively worry over.
Quinn tried to close the gap between them, compassion and concern clouding her beautiful eyes. Jace countered her move by taking another step back.
Her mouth flattened, and a deep sigh slipped through her lush lips.
“Never mind.” She turned away, heading down the hall.
A band tightened across his chest. Before he could stop and think he shot after her. Hand wrapped around her arm, he steered her back around to face him.
“Tell me.”
She shook her head. His grip on her arm tightened.
“Fine. Daniel sent me home because the husband of a woman I placed in a safe house last night came by the office and made some threats.”
Jace growled low in the back of his throat. The sound was out before he contemplated making it.
“What kind of threats?”
Placing her hand on his, Quinn gently pried his fingers loose. Jace glanced down and saw the faint pink marks he’d left on her pale skin. He tried to jerk his hand away, but she refused to let go.
“Nothing concrete. He threatened to pull funding for some of our programs.”
“Does he have that kind of influence?”
She frowned, a tiny pucker pulling at the space between her eyes. “Unfortunately.”
“But why would Daniel send you home over something like that?”
Quinn’s gaze dropped to the floor between them. Heat slowly crept up her skin. She directed her words down, as if she could bury them there. “I may have lost my temper and thrown a coffee mug.”
He made a choked sound, biting back a response that was equal parts shock, exasperation and laughter.
Only Quinn.
“Please tell me it wasn’t aimed at his head.”
“Nope, he was already gone.”
Thank God for small favors. Jace didn’t want to think what the guy’s reaction might have been if she’d hit a man who was clearly comfortable with beating his own wife.
“So he didn’t send you home because he was worried?”
“No, Daniel was plenty worried. Everett Warren is ruthless and cold.”
“Everett Warren?” Jace asked, his voice grim. Everyone in town knew the man, although not everyone realized just how crooked he really was.
The only reason Jace knew was because some of the guys he trained with worked for Warren, and not in his fancy office building.
While
