Page 20 of Fierce Pursuit

I hated that another man got to see her first thing in the morning, before she had her coffee, her voice still husky from sleep. I hated that he was the last person she spoke to before bed, that he lived close enough to hear the rustle of sheets when she shifted in her sleep.

Even if he was too much of a coward to touch her, the fact remained…hecould have.

The thought made something dark and ugly coil in my gut.

The second I met Marina, I knew she was going to be a problem.

She had been barely twenty, all soft curves and sharp wit, and I had known instantly, I shouldn’t want her. So I pulled away from Veronika’s family. I refused to get close. Refused to build those bonds.

Because every time I saw Marina, it was a test.

And I had always known that at some point, I would fail.

I kept my word, though. I never strayed. I never let my hands—or my thoughts—go where they weren’t supposed to. And how was I rewarded for my restraint?

With her ending up here. Living with this dick.

This coward got to be in her space. While she read page after page of filthy books that turned her on, he lived under the same roof. How long until she sought a man to satisfy her?

How long until she got tired of waiting for someone worthy and lowered her standards to him?

No.

I had stayed away because it would have been wrong to fuck my wife’s sister.

It hadn’t mattered that Veronika was never faithful to me. What had mattered was theprinciple.

But Veronika was dead now.

And she had died because she took a lover and thenstole from him.

Why the fuck was I still holding back?

Guilt and lust warred inside me, a violent, intense mix.

I hadn’t been there to save Veronika.

But I was here now.

And Marina was mine to protect.

My eyes dropped to the unconscious bastard at myfeet. I considered it—considered putting him out of his misery. It would be easy.Tooeasy.

And not nearly as satisfying as I needed it to be.

Besides, I had promised Var minimal bloodshed. The more attention I drew before I got Gregor fully up to speed, the worse it would be for me.

No, I would wait.

Marina would come back.

And when she did, we would come to an understanding.

She would be under my protection.

The longer I pursued her, the more I realized there was nothing stopping me from having her under me as well.

The front door creaked open.

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