For One Last Kiss Read Online Free Page A

life has to offer.” He gave her hand a squeeze, comforting her.
    Perhaps he was right. She knew she should make the most of what she had, but her heart and head were still elsewhere. How could she not think of the life she left behind? The husband she’d never have. The child she’d never know.
    “ Did you love him, Lilly?”
    She turned back to face Mason, knowing it was best to be honest with him. “Jack? As much as he let me, although I cannot say our problems were entirely his fault.” She had hoped she could find a fresh start with Jack, and for a little while, she had found comfort and happiness.
    Mason scoffed with a shake of his head. “He didn’t deserve you.”
    “ Once again, you’re thinking with your head rather than your heart.” As always the case with Mason.
    “ Did he even think about making you his One?” A reaper’s marriage. When she looked away, he said, “I’m telling you, Jack was nothing but a fool, gifted or not.”
    She looked at him in question. “I thought that was just a rumor.”
    “ No, love. He had the potential to go far, aye? Picked up skills in a fraction of the time it took others. But in the end, he wanted no part of working closely with the Elders.”
    She was annoyed Jack had never mentioned it. “Can you blame him? This life is hard enough without constant scrutiny from the Elders.”
    “ It has its perks, my dear.”
    “ Maybe for you.” She shook her head, the images of the slaying haunting her. “Still, what we saw back there—that poor woman—that cannot be Jack’s doing. He’d been a physician in life, sworn to help people.”
    “ Then how do you explain his essence left at the scene? On the woman? I know it’s hard for you to think of him as a murderer, but there are few other explanations. I only wish we’d gotten there sooner—we’d be able to recreate the scene using his energy.”
    “ Thank you, but I’d rather not see the actual murder, Mason.” She shuddered to think of it.
    “ Of course not, but at the very least, you could see Jack’s role in it and stop questioning the facts.” Mason shifted to face her, their legs brushing as he bent his head towards hers. “Let’s not forget, he’s also gone missing. Only the guilty run.”
    “ He was only just summoned. Surely…” A bump in the road landed her in his arms, but when she tried to sit back, he held on to her, desire sparking behind his intelligent eyes. Doing her best to ignore him, she continued, hoping to distract herself from the warmth of his body—a body she knew all too well. “Surely he’ll answer the Elders’ call before long.”
    “ Perhaps.” When the carriage pulled to a stop outside her house, Mason helped her down and took her arm in his as he walked her to her door. “For his sake, I hope there’s a logical explanation.”
    “ There has to be. For the alternative is unthinkable.”

 
     
    Chapter Two
     
    “ Will you not invite me in?” Mason stood before Lilly with just inches between them. He brushed her cheek with the back of his hand, and then kissed her slow and sweet. Memories of their couplings flooded her head and sent a tingling warmth through her body, raising a need in her that refused to be ignored.
    She forced herself to pull away from his kiss, her breath shallow as her heart pounded. He made her lightheaded, dizzy, and after such a long and trying day, the last thing she wanted was to be alone. The image of that unfortunate woman was there every time she closed her eyes, and Lilly was desperate for a distraction.
    “ I don’t know, Mason. It wouldn’t be terribly appropriate.” Her protests were nothing but a poor attempt, and her defenses weakened further when he brought her hand to his lips. Too often she gave into the physical pleasures he could offer, for Mason was the one man who could make her forget the life she left behind—even if it was for just a few hours.
    He tilted his head in question, his gaze soft, luring her into