His Greatest Pain Read Free

twenty minutes he worked out, adding to the already hour and a half
he’d been at the gym. It was going on seven in the morning, and he still had a
full day of work ahead of him. The only thing that didn’t have him going
completely mad was the fact he could look forward to seeing Lauren at the end
of the day.
    He
grabbed onto the bag, braced his weight on it, and closed his eyes, breathing
out. Lauren, fucking Lauren, the one woman that consumed his thoughts, the one
person that made him want to be better. But Ace knew he could never be with her in the way he wanted. He
fought too much, had too much violence and darkness in him still, and although
she knew about his past and that his father had beaten him in drunken fits,
Lauren was still too pure and good for him.
    She
was his best friend, and he didn’t want to fuck up the only good thing in his
life.
    Ace
took a step back, pressed his hand to the bag to steady it, and then in a fast
move, using all of his strength, he slammed his fist into it. Pain exploded in
his knuckles, the tape surrounding his skin unable to block the impact well
enough. He cursed, clenched and released his hand, and turned to stalk toward
the locker room.
    Once
inside he slammed the door shut, knowing he needed to get a hold of his
emotions, but feeling his rage rise up. Working out at the gym helped get some
of that ugliness out, but it didn’t help all the time, like right now. What he
needed was a nice bloody fight, one that wasn’t quite legal, but where the cops
looked the other way because the place it was located wasn’t on the up and up.
But those were the best kind of fights, the raw, blood … gore. Those and bar
fights were fucking good at getting him loose and relaxed. He’d never change, never not have to
fight to get this nasty darkness out, but he dealt with it.
    Going
into the shower room he got undressed and turned on the tap, waiting for it to
heat up before stepping inside. The water helped his sore muscles, washed away
the sweat, but did nothing to help his anger. And then he thought about her,
all wet and slick as she showered with him. Of course she never had, but the image
of what she’d look like naked, waiting, needy for him,
slammed into Ace’s head with so much force he braced a hand on the tiled wall
before him. His cock jerked forward, punched out hard and demanding, and he
felt like a sick fucking bastard. He shouldn’t be thinking about Lauren when he
was juiced up like this, needing a fight to feel pain and give it.
    Groaning
in frustration he quickly washed, stepped out and toweled dried off, then went
over to his bag and got dressed. He’d work until he was exhausted, spend the
evening with her and enjoying the light she shed on his darkness, and he hoped
he’d be able to control himself enough that he didn’t ruin what he already had
with her.
    ****
    Lauren
stirred the cream sauce that would go over the chicken. She tasted it, wrinkled
her nose, and added more salt. She made dinner for Ace several times a week,
not because she had to, but because she wanted to. She had other friends she
spent time with, had the bookstore she helped manage with her mother, but Ace
was her one true connection in this world, as strange and ridiculous as that
might sound to some people.
    They’d
gone through a lot over the many years they’d been together. There had been ups
and downs, times where she grew frustrated that he couldn’t help himself to
move forward. But then she told herself she’d never experienced what he had,
and getting frustrated with him was not what she should be doing.
    After
making sure the table was set, turning off the oven but letting the food stay
in there to warm, she went into the bathroom to clean up. She had her long
strawberry blonde hair up in a messy bun, had sauce on her cheek and neck, and
quickly cleaned off her face with some water. The truth was she didn’t just do
these dinners because Ace was her friend. Her love for him had