Status Updates From Shadows of Scandal (Guardia...

But, but what now? How? This asshole needs to die, like pronto. Come on a jack, kill him!

“Fine, then it is you that I don’t trust. You cannot stop them.” She lifted both her arms and slammed them into his forearms, breaking his hold on her and jumping a step backward. “And I am not doing this to you. I am not going to saddle you with me.”
“You don’t trust me?” The chill in his voice sent spikes along the back of her neck.
She shook her head.

Yeesh.

“Don’t get in her way?
A harsh chuckle erupted up from his chest.
That would be the first thing he would be tending to.”

“He shook her, trying to rattle sense into her. “You just said you were disposable and you are damn well not disposable, Willow. Do you understand me? Listen to me and listen well. You are not disposable. You are worthy of everything around you. Every smile and every laugh and every look of lust shining your way. Every touch. You are worthy of all of it.”

“What had been the start of an idyllic day in the countryside had quickly descended into the sort of hell he was accustomed to. A dead body. Two missing sisters. A wicked storm blowing in out of nowhere, with slashing rain, winds that broke branches over his head and lightning striking everywhere around him.”

Whoa, cue in the murder now!

A letter opener to the hand?!?

“I need a champion, Jack. One that will fight for breath until the end. Fight for me. You are my champion. You always have been.”

“Here is the magic about glass. If it is fired and molded in the right way, thick enough, it is extremely hard to break. Chip, yes. But shatter?” He shook his head. “To shatter it is really hard. You are not fine glass, Willow. You are the glass that can withstand anything. Withstand storms. Withstand eons. But that also means you hide within that glass, watching the world outside of you and not really living in it.

“You…you kissed me. Touched me.”

“I did. You think you’re not desirable?” Her shoulders lifted.

“You’re wrong.” He leaned in, his breath in her ear. “And that—that was not touching. Not for how I want to feel you under my fingertips. Believe me, when I touch you—when I am truly serious and really touch you—you will know it. And you will feel it from your scalp down to your toes.”

Jack bringing the swoon...