The breaking point of love
The very instant her cool, delicate hand brushed against the burning skin of his back, an invisible tremor ran through Jasper's entire frame.
The muscles of his back flexed in an involuntary, violent contraction, and he swallowed hard, trying with every ounce of his willpower to control his breathing, which had been thoroughly thrown into chaos by that gentle touch. It wasn't the raw pain that rattled him; it was this sudden, unexpected tenderness from a woman like Dana—he who, all his life, had known nothing but cruelty.