“Not really. Too many human groupies looking for a Shifter to grope. Plus, all my friends were at the fights tonight. I wanted to go.” Deni gave Jackson a motherly glare, and he shrugged.

“Speaking of groping . . .” Jackson trailed off, deliberately not looking at Jace or Deni. Will snorted as he took another bite.

“None of your business,” Deni said.

Jace said nothing at all, only looked amused. He betrayed no shame, no regret for their quick encounter in the darkness.

The boys got their snickering in, but Deni could tell they were relieved. Had they thought their mom was washed-up? Out of life because she sometimes went out of her mind? That maybe no other Shifter would want her?

Jace remained silent, letting them laugh. At one point, he caught Deni’s gaze and winked, and Deni’s blood started to simmer. It really was dangerous to have him here.

Jackson and Will retreated to their room after the meal to watch videos and sleep. Jace came to Deni where she looked out the window across the street, wondering if Dylan would return tonight, and wrapped his arms around her from behind.

“They love you,” he said.

Deni leaned back into his warmth. “They’re my cubs.”

“It’s good to see.” Jace let out his breath, heat tickling her ear. “I never knew my mother. She died bringing me in.”

Deni heard the sorrow in his words. She pressed her hand over his. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s always made me a little touchy, you know?” Jace held her tighter. “Afraid to get too close to anyone. It can happen so fast, losing someone.”

So true. “You have your dad,” she said. “And the rest of your family.” Though she knew no one could ever take the place of a lost loved one.

“I do. And my dad has done some shit that’s scared me to death, trust me.” Jace gave a little chuckle. “But it’s made me careful.”

Careful. Deni had learned to be that as well.

His closeness made her nervous, and not because she didn’t like it. Deni broke his hold and turned around. “Hope the couch is comfortable. Linens are in the closet in the hall.”

His gaze sought hers. “I’m sure it will be.” He touched her throat above her Collar, fingertips caressing. His jade green eyes darkened, but he didn’t speak. Whatever his thoughts were, he kept them to himself.

“Good night, then.” Deni rose on her tiptoes and gently kissed his lips.

Jace slid one arm around her, turning the kiss into something deeper. His mouth was a point of heat in the darkness, their lips meeting in silence.

Jace eased away, taking his hands from Deni and balling them into fists, as though stopping himself from reaching for her again. “Good night,” he said.

Deni swallowed, but didn’t move. “Good night.”

Jace took a step back. “You’d better go.”

Good thinking. If Deni stayed, she’d grab him, and they’d go down right here in the living room. Another chance for them both to lose control.

“Sure,” she said. “If you need anything . . .”

Jace held up one hand, fingers stiff. “Don’t say that. Too dangerous. Good night,” he repeated, firmly.

Deni nodded and made herself turn around, walk down the small hallway, and enter her bedroom. She looked back before she closed the door, seeing Jace standing in the living room, rigid, large, solid.

Shutting the door on him was one of the hardest things she’d ever done.

* * *

In the middle of the night, Collar payback hit Jace.

He opened his eyes in the dark, sweat rolling down his face, pain smacking him in the gut. He stifled his groans—no use waking up the rest of the house.

Payback happened when a Shifter prevented his Collar from going off while he was fighting. Helped a lot during the fight, but afterward there was always a backlash. The systems relaxed, the Shifter’s adrenaline dissipated, and the suppressed pain woke up and said hello.

Jace’s nerves were on fire. The pain started at his throat and poured from there into his body. He doubled up, still on the couch, rolling onto his side and silently fighting the agony.

Smooth, cool hands touched his skin. Jace had stripped down to his jeans to sleep but hadn’t put on anything else—he’d found enough blankets in the linen cupboard to keep his bare torso comfortably warm.

Deni’s touch cut through his pain. She knelt on the floor next to him, the fabric of her long T-shirt brushing his body. She wore a bracelet on her right wrist, a thin gold chain with a small charm that soothed when it touched him. She hadn’t been wearing it earlier tonight, but maybe she hadn’t wanted to risk it getting lost at the fight club.

Jace took a deep breath, trying to still his racing heartbeat. Deni drew her hands up his chest and across his shoulders. A few hours ago, Jace would have found the touch sexual, invigorating. Same hands, same woman, but now she calmed.

He laid his head on the arm of the sofa, forcing his body to open up from its cramped position. Deni moved her hands down his chest and to his abdomen, her touch firm but caressing.

Jace drew in another breath. Deni left swaths of relief as she pulled her hands across him, paths free from pain.

She leaned down and kissed his chest. Jace wound an arm around her and pulled her closer. It felt so natural to hold her to him like this. Maybe he’d known this woman in another life, perhaps they’d had a love for the ages there. Shifters didn’t believe in reincarnation, but Jace’s fogged brain liked the idea.

Deni kept kissing his body, kept stroking with her hands. Her lips were soft points on his hot skin, her hands so beautifully skilled. If Jace weren’t in so much pain he’d be aroused. He’d love to pull her up to straddle him, to hold her while she found pleasure in him.

He let out a whispered groan. Deni kissed his lips, stifling the small sound.

Jace held her, moving his lips to kiss her back. Wonderful, sweet woman. Her touch unclenched the tightness in him, feathering comfort through his body.

She’d risen from her bed, somehow knowing he was in pain, and had come out here, even after the wary good night they’d shared. Jace had made sure he’d been as quiet as possible, but she must have heard him or sensed his pain.

Jace kissed her lips again, stroking her hair. If they had time and freedom, they’d find so much together. He was Feline, she Lupine, he from the Vegas Shiftertown, she from the Austin. Distance, family, and laws kept them apart, but at this moment—who cared?