To Live by Dori Lavelle Page B

kissed the sword that stretched along one side of his back, and then ran the tip of her finger along its blade. She remembered looking at it from a distance, the first day she saw him.
    Shaun flinched and turned back onto his back. "Don't... don't touch." His tone was suddenly steely.
    Kelsey backed away, but said, "it didn't feel smooth as if... Did you get it to cover up a scar or something? It felt like one underneath."
    Shaun clasped his hands behind his neck and his face turned to stone. "It's nothing. Just forget about it."
    "Did you have an operation, or an accident?" She had no right to ask him these questions, but she couldn't hold her tongue.
    "I'd rather not talk about it. Please let it go. Why does it matter so much to you?"
    "I don't know why you're being like this." Kelsey bit back tears. "I know this is a one-night thing and there will be nothing more between us, but you've been a good friend to me. I care. I think you distance yourself from people to avoid getting hurt. What happened to you, Shaun? I think you're hiding something. Something happened that scarred you."
    Shaun climbed out of bed and picked up one of the towels from the floor. Wrapping it around his waist, he looked her straight in the eyes, silver lightning flashing in his. "Don't try to analyze me, Kelsey. Don't try to fix me. Don't try to make tonight more than what we agreed it would be." He ran a hand through his damp hair, the hair she'd massaged shampoo into an hour ago in the shower. "I had a great time. It was fuckin' great, but it can't be more. We can't be more."
    Kelsey sat up in bed, the crumpled bed sheet falling around her in waves. "Why?" She'd convinced herself she could have no-strings-attached sex with him and move on as if nothing happened. But   she had been unprepared for the emotions he'd unleashed from within her, the life he had breathed into her. In one night, he'd made her feel more alive than any man ever had, even her first love. She needed to understand why they couldn't be more, so she could move on.
    Shaun's gaze didn't waver. "If you want more than this from me, you'll get hurt." He shut his eyes for a long time. When he opened them again, they were like deep, dark, empty holes. "I don't do more." He unraveled the towel and tossed it on the bed. Then he pulled on his jeans and shirt.
    "Fine." Kelsey swallowed the lump lodged inside her throat.
    "I have to go." Shaun strode to the door, but then stopped and turned. "Fine," he said. "You know what? If you really want to know, I'll tell you. I killed someone." His voice was raw and drenched in pain. "That's what made me the person I am today."
    He opened the door and left, leaving Kelsey gaping at the door.
    She didn't move until thirty minutes later, when she heard his truck grunt to life outside, moments before it went roaring down the street.

Chapter Fourteen
    Kelsey was still in a daze when she woke up in the morning, and the aches in her body reminded her of what had happened last night. But she looked past the earth-shattering sex and focused instead on what Shaun had told her. Did he just admit to being a killer? No, it couldn't be true. Maybe he’d been joking. He had to be. Maybe later in the day he'd knock on her door and tell her it was all a tasteless joke. Until then, she'd clean her cottage and do laundry, to keep her mind off it all.
    As she shoved clothes into the washing machine, she remembered the look in his eyes when he'd told her. Fear, regret, pain. He had meant every word, whether she chose to believe it or not. She had slept with a man who was responsible for someone's death.
    She closed the washing machine door and reached for the washing powder, shaking her head. There had to be some kind of explanation, and she wished she could find out what it was. She wanted to understand him. Except he'd made it clear she should mind her own business. She'd try to respect that, but she wasn't sure how long she could.
    Kelsey had just turned on the