Something jabbed me then, right in the heart.
We stayed like that, side-by-side on our backs on the field of the dead, and I’d never felt so alive. My body burned with the need to do something, to touch her, but…
Fucking Saint.
I closed my eyes. Forced those ridiculous notions right out of my head.
But then, out of nowhere, Haley said, “Jax? I kind of want to kiss you.”
20
JAX
Another unplanned, uninvited smile stretched across my lips. I turned on my hip to face her, shocked to find she was already facing me, her eyes glittering, her body surrounded by the ethereal white flowers.
“You’re not talking to the jambalaya again, are you?” I teased.
“Not this time. And granola bars and MREs don’t inspire the same level of affection.”
“I see,” I said, hoping like hell she couldn’t hear my heart slamming against my ribs. “Is this a what-happens-in-Midnight-stays-in-Midnight thing?”
“It could be.”
Sure, itcouldbe. Just a little fun, right? No harm, no foul. A lot of women believed they could have that with me.
On some level, I got it. The scars, the mystery of the missing eye, the whole bad-boy-who-goes-good-for-you fantasy. And if Saint was any indication, I fit the profile; Haley had a thing for walking disasters.
But while I’d promised him I’d take care of her—and something about the woman brought out my protective instincts like nothing else ever had—that didn’t change who I was at the core.
A demon. A killer. A monster.
Being in this place only served to remind me of that.
I didn’t know what Haley saw when she looked at me the way she was looking at me now, but it wasn’t the truth.
“As tempting as your offer sounds…” I shook my head and flipped onto my back, swallowing my disappointment. “You don’t want me to kiss you, angel. Trust me on that.”
“I didn’t say anything aboutyoukissingme. I saidIwanted to kissyou.”
“Youwant your doom.”
“Maybe I do,” she whispered, shifting closer and sweeping her fingers through my hair.
Her touch was electric, and it made me shiver.
Fuck.
I was already fucking hard.
“Jax,” she whispered, her soft breath tickling my cheek, just below the eye patch.
And that was it.
I rolled on top of her, propping myself up to keep from crushing her completely. Her body was warm and soft in a hundred different ways—a hundred ways I hadn’t felt in so long, I barely remembered how good it could be.
What are you doing to me, angel?
“What’sthisnew game?” she teased, wriggling beneath me. “You’ve got me at a disadvantage here, but I think I’m okay with it.”
