For One Last Kiss Read Online Free

whatever is needed, and you’ll comply. You know the Elders won’t think twice about sending a reaper to their eternal death.” Through his stern tone, she could hear his worry and concern. “I’ll always do what I can to keep you safe, but you must cooperate. You cannot protect Jack from something of this magnitude.”
    When he took her hand in his, she found her annoyance with him fading, though his words left her all the more worried about Jack.
    “ Lilly, you should use this opportunity to smooth things out between yourself and the Elders. It will only make your life easier, aye?”
    She looked at their linked hands with a sigh. “I’ll help you, even if it’s to prove you wrong. I owe him that at least.”
    His eyes pinned her to the spot, but she held his gaze, refusing to back down or look away. “Let me make myself clear. You’re to tell me immediately if he contacts you. It’s the only way I can keep you safe—not just from Jack, but from the Elders. You owe the man nothing, aye?”
    “ It’s doubtful he’ll search me out, anyway. You know our relationship dissolved years ago. Since then, I’ve only ever spoken to him in passing and by chance.” She let out a weary breath, wishing nothing more than to crawl under the covers of her bed and let sleep take her.
    “ What happened between the two you?” His tone was conversational, but she knew Mason, and nothing was ever that simple.
    “ Frankly, I don’t see how it’s any of your business. Whatever occurred between myself and Jack has no pertinence to your investigation.”
    “ As much as I adore you, Lilly, do not forget who I am. If I ask a question, you answer it.”
    “ Of course. What was I thinking to deny you?” She could not help her sarcasm, and breathed a sigh of relief when he threw his head back and laughed. He wasn’t someone you wanted to anger, yet she refused to cower or flatter—and perhaps it was why he tolerated her.
    “ You’ve always been nothing short of entertaining.” Mason brought her hand to his lips. “So, my dear, how is it he was able to walk away from you, for I’d not leave our bed if you were mine.”
    She yanked her hand away. “You take liberties, Mason.”
    “ What else are we to do with our time if we cannot take pleasure in each other? Without it, the years would feel like an eternity, and since we’re likely here for just as long, we may as well make use of our time.” He sat back and gave her the space she wanted, but in the end, he perked his eyebrows in question, waiting for her answer.
    “ Who’s to say it was he who left?”
    He scoffed. “Does it matter? For I do not care about semantics. Now tell me, or you can explain it all to the Elders—for that’s exactly what I’ll be forced to do if I return without the answers they want.”
    Her eyes narrowed at the threat. “You’re a right bastard, Mason.”
    “ And you’d not have it any other way.” His sultry smile and the spark in his eyes left her unable to deny it.
    Looking to distract herself and him before he took advantage of her weakness, she turned back to the issue at hand. “Jack had a family when he died, and he never got over the guilt of leaving them to fend for themselves.”
    “ He’s been a reaper for nearly twenty years. Surely he’s adjusted by now.” Mason settled back in his seat, stretching his long legs out in front of him.
    “ Maybe he has. I do not know. But you must understand, his family was everything to him. To watch his wife struggle to raise their children without him, while he still walked this world, unable to help—it only added to his guilt.” She settled back in her seat, her shoulder brushing against his. “The darkness that plagued him was too difficult to confront on a daily basis. I tried to help him move past it, but in the end it was too much for me.”
    “ I sometimes think you’ve yet to adjust to this life. You always seem so forlorn, when instead you should be enjoying all this