To some who know him, Jax -- under the name Jackson Martin -- is a reputable restorer of antiquarian books. To others, in various guises, he's a man who double-crosses thieves, relieving them of what wasn't theirs to begin with ... although he doesn't return the stolen goods to their original owners. That isn't his thing.<br><br>When he's hired by Donovan, a book collector, to restore a damaged atlas, Jax meets the young man who runs Donovan's side interest, a no-kill animal shelter. Noel is wary of Jackson for reasons he can't explain. It doesn't stop him from finding Jax interesting ... an interest Jax returns despite knowing it will go nowhere.<br><br>Then Keegan, Jax's mortal enemy, appears bent on killing him. Will Jax be able to stop him before that happens? And will what he and Noel learn about each other end their budding relationship before it can become something more?

A Man of Many Parts

“Thanks to you.” Jax put an arm around him, giving him a kiss. “You were my guardian angel.”


“Only because I was there at the right time to help,” Noel protested. “It was his misfortune that he thought he could take on both of us.”


“His ego,” Jax replied. “Even more than that, it was his hunger to make me suffer by killing someone who was important to me. But enough of this. We have better things to do than rehash the past.” He smiled, kissed Noel again with a great deal more passion than he had with the previous one. It led, no surprise to either of them, to their retiring to Noel’s bedroom to show how much they cared for each other in a very physical way.


A call from one of Jax’s regular clients, four days after he’d come out to see Noel, ended their time together. “But only until I’ve finished the job,” Jax told him when he found him in his office at the shelter. “From what he said needed, it will be time-consuming, but when it’s over I’ll be back.”


Chapter 44