Scorched Ice (Fire and Ice #3)(11)

“I see,” she whispered.

“It will be okay,” he assured her, and she nodded.

The couple remained slack-jawed with their eyes glazed as Devon finished speaking with them. Turning away, Devon strode over to snatch his keys off the bar. “I’ll take them out and drop them off somewhere. When I let them go, I’ll order them to go to San Francisco. Once they arrive there, they’ll start their mission.”

“I’m coming with you,” Cassie said.

“Fine,” he said to her and took hold of her hand. “Go ahead of us,” Devon commanded the couple, “and neither of you is to do anything other than walk out to the parking lot.”

Cassie and Devon fell in behind the couple as they marched out the front door.

Julian bent, swept Quinn into his arms, and turned to speak with the others. “I think you’re better off getting rooms at the motel again.”

Quinn shook her head at him as he carried her out of the bar. The first rays of the sun were touching the horizon when he ran with her down the street and into the shadows of her apartment building.





CHAPTER 5


Quinn’s hand trailed down the etched center path of Julian’s abs in a lazy caress. Leaning over him, she nipped at his skin before licking a pathway up toward his mouth. He growled, his hand tightening on her shoulder.

Exhaustion clung to her, but she hadn’t been able to stop herself from tasting and touching him all day. She had no intention of getting out of this bed or going to sleep anytime soon. His hooded gaze met hers as she lifted her head to look at him. The wildness of his ice-blue eyes made her deadened heart leap.

He was stunning, but beneath his beauty lived the soul of one of the most brutal men she’d ever encountered. For her, or any of his friends, he would carve a path of destruction across the earth to keep them protected. His contrasting ruthlessness and devotion only made her love him more.

Just last night she’d been thinking she wanted nothing to do with the vampire race again; now she would do anything to help him succeed with his plan for the vampires. If anyone could bring the three different species together and keep them united, it was Julian. She had no doubt of that.

Passion simmered in his eyes while he watched her as she traced her fingers over his chin and across his lips. “I want you to do me a favor,” she said.

“Anything for you, Dewdrop.”

“I want you to kill Earl.”

She knew how he felt about Earl, knew what he wanted to do to him, and she understood why. When she’d had her hands on Earl in the hotel, all she’d wanted was to make his death as torturous as possible. She’d planned to bring him back from the edge of death only to push him toward it again and again until he finally cracked and there was nothing left to him but a broken shell. If someone had abused Julian the way Earl had her, she would have done anything to make them pay for it.

A part of her still wanted to make Earl pay for the pain he’d inflicted on her, her family, and her friends. That part wanted his suffering so badly it screamed to be set free in the room with Earl for days on end, even as she spoke about ending his existence. Seeing Earl pinned to the floor in such a way had shocked her and brought back a flood of memories, but it had also been a good starting point for him. There was so much she could do to the man who had destroyed her life while he was in such a position.

If she started down that slippery slope, she knew there was a chance she’d never climb up it again. To allow herself to torture Earl in such a way was to become like him, and no matter how badly she wanted him to suffer, she wouldn’t cross that line, and she didn’t want Julian to cross it either. She wasn’t willing to lose Julian to the violence she knew he craved in order to ease her deep-seated need for vengeance against a man who wasn’t worth it.

“He deserves everything I plan to do to him,” Julian said.

“I know he does. More than anyone, I know. But I don’t want it. I despise that man. What I did to him with my power was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before, and it was sadistic, but I don’t want you to have to do this.”

“And if I told you I enjoyed doing this to him.”

It wasn’t a question; she knew Julian relished making Earl suffer. She’d never had any doubts about who Julian was or what he was capable of. He’d never tried to hide it from her.

“I’d believe you,” she replied.

“And does it disgust you?”

“No,” she said honestly, “but it makes me fear for you.”

Clasping her cheeks in his palms, he drew her down for a deep, penetrating kiss that made her entire body quiver. His hands slid over her back, down across her side, before cupping her ass and pulling her on top of him. She moaned when she felt the swell of his arousal against her.

“Don’t worry for me,” he murmured, his lips brushing over hers. “As long as I have you, I’ll be fine. I can stay grounded with you, for you.”

“I have to worry. You can be so…” Her voice trailed off as she tried to think of the right word.

“Dark?”

“Maybe, I guess.”

“Twisted?”

She gasped when he slipped inside of her at the same time his fangs pierced her neck. She tried to remember what she’d been saying as his love for her swirled within her mind.