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glaring back at him again. Well, it sure beat tears. This woman
was not the meek Karla he’d encountered in the hallways in this
house, or at the kitchen table, all these months, but the one he
remembered as a sixteen-year-old. The one he’d corresponded with
for almost nine years. Feisty, stubborn, and full of life. For some
reason, she seemed to have rediscovered that feistiness while he’d
been in the hospital. That seemed to be when everything went south
and her demeanor had changed.
    “Come again?”
    “You heard me. I said ‘bullshit.’ Joni loved
you and I know you loved her. You still do.” Karla’s hand reached
up to stroke his cheek and her voice softened. “But she’s been gone
a long time, Adam.”
    He winced. Guilt assailed him at how he’d
treated Joni, never able to love her the way she wanted and needed
to be loved. Guilt at how he knew he’d hurt Karla if she tried to
get that close to his heart, too. Guilt—the useless emotion that
threatened to consume him before he tamped it back down. Guilt
didn’t help anything. He couldn’t remedy anything about his
relationship with Joni. But Karla was another matter.
    “What would a young woman like you see in an
old man like me?”
    “Would you get your head out of your ass for
once, Adam, and see what’s been in front of your face for months?
You need a living, breathing woman who can warm your bed and your
heart. You need me, whether you’re fucking ready to believe it or
not.”
    “Watch your language.”
    “Excuse me? I’m only a few years younger than
Grant and she swears like a…well, a Marine.”
    “Grant is a Marine—you’re not. What’s
Grant’s age or swearing got to do with you?”
    Adam had no clue what was getting Karla so
riled up, but he stroked her arm to try and calm her down,
surprised when it seemed to work.
    “Adam, I don’t know what we have in common,
because you won’t let me close enough to get to know you. But I
know you served in the military, as did my brother. I know you like
to eat, so I’m having Angie teach me to cook, mainly for the joy of
watching you eat whatever I make.”
    “You don’t have to go to all the
trouble…”
    “Don’t interrupt.”
    Damned bossy woman.
    “I want to, Adam. I want to please
you.”
    His mind zeroed in on the words “please you”
and raced to images of Karla restrained for his pleasure. His dick
needed no further encouragement. Having her sitting in his lap felt
better than anything he could imagine. Then again, maybe not. Big
mistake.
    “I know you’re brave and kind and noble and
that you care about me or you wouldn’t have bothered to send
me all those letters for nine years—”
    “Being a pen pal isn’t a reason to fall in
love with a guy.”
    “I. Said. Don’t. Interrupt.” She glared until
he gave her a nod of the head. The woman had Domme written all over
her. A relationship between them would never work.
    “I know you got a mountain lion to chase
after you just to save me. And I know you’re my hero.” The
intensity in her eyes and catch in her voice caused his gut to
clench.
    “I’m nobody’s hero. Anyone would have done
the same when they saw you were in danger.”
    She winced, and he knew he’d hurt her again,
but he needed to divest her of the notion there would ever be
anything more between them.
    “Adam Montague, you will not degrade what you
did on that mountain any more than you will degrade what we shared
in your bed or I’m going to be the one wielding the whip and
striping your ass the way Damián does his masochistic subs.”
    “Sorry, hon, but I don’t swing that way.” Oh, yeah . Definitely a dominant. Shit. No fucking way
was she coming after him with a whip. “See? We don’t even
have kink in common.”
    His kitten leaned toward his ear and said in
the sexiest purr he’d ever heard, “Adam, when you bound me with
those ropes in Marc’s playroom, I was never so turned on in all my
life.” His dick felt like it was