Holiday Scars (Quinlan Empire)

Here is Deborah Garland's "Holiday Scars." It's a MM novella in her (MF) Quinlan Empire series....might just read this one to be honest.

["Assassins and bodyguards don’t do holiday cheer.
But when you’re stuck sharing a bed with your brother’s best friend, the man you’ve secretly wanted for years, you start to believe in Christmas miracles.

BLADE
I thought my partner Jett was straight. Off limits.
Until the text meant for his brother lands in my phone.
Now I know exactly what he feels when he looks at me.
We’re supposed to be taking a break for the holiday away from the city.
Instead, we’re playing with fire in the woods.
Every glance, every breath, every touch is a risk neither of us can afford.
Because in our world, love is a liability.
All we have on this mountain is our secret.
Our truth about what we are to each other.
But what if I want more?

JETT
I don’t talk about the past.
The foster homes. The violence. The scars.
I do my job for Quinlan Empire and nothing gets rise out of me.
Except my partner, Blade.
He’s my brother’s best friend and the one man I can’t stop thinking about when the lights go out.
But that’s a line I can never cross.
Now we’re trapped together in a remote cabin for the holiday.
And the tension between us is thicker than the snow blanketing the mountain.
Blade is temptation and danger wrapped in one brutal, beautiful package.
When he finally touches me, there’s no going back."]

These two were a mess. Between their feelings, their friendships, their pasts, their futures. They didn't know what they wanted...until a near-death experience (or two--and a Christmas-tree-napping) threw their feelings into harsh relief.  

Trigger Warnings: drowning/near drowning, violence, fights, threats, gun involvement, mentions of torture, dead bodies/body disposal, childhood physical and emotional abuse, past thoughts of suicide, and more.

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