Fighting Temptation [Brac Village 11] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) by Lynn Hagen

pet the man, comfort him.
    “I never knew fire could go that high inside someone’s home.” Turi grabbed a towel as well, joining Carmine as he helped clean up. He tried to keep his distance, but every time he turned around, Turi was right next to him, wiping something close by. Carmine didn’t think the guy did it on purpose, but the closeness was causing havoc with his body.
    “I don’t think this black will come off of the counter.” Turi wiped harder, but Carmine already knew it was toast.
    “I’ll have to replace it.”
    “I can help,” Turi said as he tossed his towel aside. “I’m great with my hands.” The man held them up and wiggled his slim fingers.
    The statement made Carmine immediately glance at the man’s delicate hands and all kinds of wicked images came to mind of what the guy could do with those fingers. He quickly shook his head, trying to dispel those images.
    He was not going to let Turi in.
    “Why not?” Turi asked. “I really am pretty good with wood.”
    Carmine swallowed.
    The man had mistaken Carmine’s head shake for telling him no. How in the hell was he supposed to keep his distance? Turi’s scent was invading his lungs, pulling Carmine closer, making him want things he should be running from.
    “I wasn’t saying no.”
    “But you just shook your head,” Turi pointed out.
    Fuck, he couldn’t do this. He couldn’t keep pushing his mate away. Carmine pivoted on his heel, walking out the back door and pulling in a lungful of fresh air. Images of his father came to mind, the lost look, the pain and suffering. There were pieces of his father that the man had lost—a part of the man that had died with his mate—yet he had no choice but to move on, to live without the one person fate had given him.
    Carmine didn’t want to live like that. He never wanted to know what it was like to love someone so deeply, so unselfishly, only to lose that person and have to live without them. His father was proof that someone could live when their heart stopped beating.
    “What is it?” Turi asked from the doorway, his arms crossed over his stomach. “Is it the counter? I’m really sorry about that.”
    Carmine gazed into Turi’s twin emerald gems and knew he couldn’t keep a shield around himself. The wall that he had built, the promise that he had made to never love anyone the way his father had loved his mother was crumbling, falling down around him, shattering at his feet.
    He wanted to tell Turi the reason he didn’t want to love, but the words were caught in his throat. “I need to go for a run.”
    “I’ll finish cleaning up,” Turi said as he pointed over his shoulder. They stared at each other for a moment longer before Turi dipped his head and walked back inside.
    Carmine let out a long sigh before stripping down and shifting. He needed to clear his head, get away, and run before he gave in and went to his mate, claiming the man. The temptation to give in was so powerful, but Carmine was fighting it. He had to fight it or risk his own heart.
    He went for a long, hard run, making it back to the house around midnight. Carmine let himself in, cradling his clothes in his arms. He stopped in the kitchen to see that not only was the mess cleaned up, but aside from the burnt counter, the place was cleaner than Carmine had ever had it.
    He quietly moved through the house, wondering if Turi had fallen asleep on the couch. He hadn’t told the man where to sleep. Everything had happened so fast earlier that he hadn’t had a chance to let Turi know that there was a guest bedroom.
    When Turi said that he didn’t have modern things, Carmine was dying to ask how Turi had lived, fascinated that anyone could live so modestly. But he hadn’t asked. Carmine had been trying too hard to shut down his feelings that were growing for Turi.
    Carmine wanted to reach out to Turi and keep away from the guy at the same time. Never had he dealt with something so complicated before, so conflicting.