Page 48 of Shattered Hearts

Riley’s panicked expression reminds me of all the reasons I don’t deserve to be married again, why another relationship with someone new would never work.

Who could ever accept me for what I really am? A brutal murderer.

I’m the villain of the story.And villains don’t get the girl.

I re-holster my gun and release his hair. Now unconscious, his skullthunksagainst Riley’s hardwood floor as I stand to my full height and remove the brass knuckles still dripping with this guy’s blood.

The adrenaline gushing through my system doesn’t slow, even after I’ve ended my rampage. Sweat clings to my forehead. God only knows what I look like.

A vicious, killing beast.

With so much force she nearly knocks both of us over, Riley launches herself at me. My arms encircle her just to steady us. I have no idea what’s happening. She locks her arms around my neck, crushing our bodies together while my heart threatens to beat out of my chest.

She tucks her head tight against my shoulder, uneven breaths hot against my skin. “Finn, you…thank you.”

Like fresh spring water bursting through concrete, my brain clears for the second time tonight.

Thank you?I don’t have time to process her words.

Riley places her gentle hands on my face, drawing back to meet my astonished gaze. Instead of hatred or disgust or fear, her blue eyes are full of tears.

She holds my face like she cherishes it, even as specks of her assailant’s blood smear beneath my fingertips.

Against all reason, Riley Brennan fastens her lips to mine.

Nothing could have prepared me for this. Though I’ve kissed Riley before, this time isn’t like the others.

For one simple reason. Riley kissed me first.

Riley wants me.

At first, I just stand there in silent paralysis. Her soft lips blunt the sharp edges of my broken brain until all that remains are smooth, breaking waves of desireand arousal.

Despite my lack of encouragement, Riley’s arms tighten around my neck. She applies her hot body to mine, thawing out my frostbitten system one kiss at a time. Synapses firing, hormones releasing, I feel carbonated on the inside.

Lust reawakens inside me like a volcano turning active after decades of dormancy.

Longing inflates my lungs and prompts my sluggish limbs into action.

My hands land hard on the small of Riley’s back, and she gasps against my lips. She wraps her legs around me, and I walk us right into the wall, my right hand climbing up into her soft blond hair. God, I want to lose my hands in her wavy tresses.

Her tongue darts out and slips between my lips, and I groan against her mouth. Her urgency is so powerful, I can’t deny her…even if I wanted to. Even though I know what a bad idea this is.

Fuck bad ideas.

I can’t resist this woman.

My cock hardens as Riley’s tongue teases mine.

Her kiss somehow cancels out everything wrong with this moment. Our shitty predicament, another man’s blood on my clothes, her near-death experience.

The stress and horror and violence of this situation aren’t exactly romantic. But Riley didn’t get that memo.

Wild noises rumble up from my chest. Against her lips, a growl escapes as I ram us into the corner between the window and the adjoining wall. Metalclangsas I shove over a lamp in my way. Our foreheads rock together as we stumble through the mayhem of her den.

In her kiss, I taste the same emotions racing through me. Relief, deprivation, greed, pleasure. My fingertips rake down her back and over her hip, tracing the line of her ass. I lean into her, and when I straighten up, she comes with me, legs folding around my waist.

Riley wanting me right now gets me so hot for her, I can hardly breathe. If she keeps kissing me like this, I…

---