Scorched Ice (Fire and Ice #3)(12)
“Not twisted,” she panted, her fingers digging into the unyielding flesh of his chest.
His lips curved into a smile against her throat. Retracting his fangs, he licked away the drops of her blood left behind. “I can be,” he said as he kissed his way up her throat to her ear. “And I think you’d like some of the ways I could be.”
“I have no doubt,” she admitted.
He rolled suddenly, pinning her beneath him. Rising over the top of her, he gripped her hands and held them to the mattress. Quinn stared up at him as the tentacles of her power slipped free to seek him out. Her ability latched onto him, but not to drain, simply to connect them further.
“I can’t lose you,” she whispered. “I want Earl out of our lives for good.”
He lifted her hands above her head as he lowered himself over her again. “You’ll never lose me, not to the darkness, not while you live. I’ll always come back for you. Will you stop worrying about me if I kill him tomorrow?”
“Yes. I don’t want him so close to us either. He’s in chains, but chains can be escaped. Death can’t. I thought I’d be the one to end him, but…”
“But what?” he prodded when her words trailed off.
“But I’d prefer never seeing him again. I want to move on, with you. I want to know what it’s like to have a life with you. A life that doesn’t involve that bastard haunting me every second of it. I want to know what it’s like to live a day without fearing what will happen if I find him, or if he finds me. I’m ready to be completely free of him, and his death is the only way that can happen. If I have to be the one to end him, I will.”
“He’s mine. No matter what, I will be the one to kill him.” His eyes searched hers for a minute before he bent his head to nibble on her lip. “I will kill him tomorrow.”
She smiled as she drew her legs up and clamped them against his sides. “You sweet talker you,” she teased.
A cocky grin curved his mouth as he turned his head so that the tantalizing vein running through it was within her striking distance. “I know what you crave.”
She laughed as her heart swelled with her love for him. “Oh yes, you definitely know how to ease all of my cravings.”
She sank her fangs into his neck, re-establishing their soul-deep mating bond as he pierced her flesh again with his own fangs. She lost herself to the touch and feel of him when he moved over her.
***
Julian climbed out from the room between Clint’s garage with Earl’s body draped over his shoulder. Turning, he slid the cover back into place. Chris and Devon stood by the door of the garage, watching him. He’d asked Devon to release Earl from his mind control when he’d gone below, but Earl still hadn’t put up much of a fight.
Chris turned away from the spectacle of Julian’s handiwork; Devon didn’t. He’d promised Quinn he would kill Earl today, but he’d still taken the time to make Earl’s death as unpleasant as he possibly could beforehand.
“Cut your time with him short,” Devon said.
“Quinn asked me to,” Julian replied.
“I see.”
“I’m going to take his body out to the desert. The sun will get rid of whatever remains the coyotes don’t get tonight.”
Julian didn’t wait for them to reply before slipping by them and breaking into a run. The desert shifted beneath his feet as he raced through the night with Earl’s body dangling over his shoulder. The scent of the cooling sand and the feral aroma of the wildlife creeping through the night filled his nostrils while he ran.
He tossed Earl’s body behind a rocky outcropping and stopped to survey the night. The stars seemed to stretch endlessly on in the inky night sky. He searched for any hint of danger amongst the scattered cactus and rock formations, but the desert remained serene.
With Earl dead, Quinn was safer than she’d been in years. No other vampire would know upon seeing her that she hadn’t required direct blood from a vampire in order to complete the change. Despite that, any vampire who had heard the prophecy and saw her use her ability would know it was her. They may not understand the prophecy without knowing her history, but they wouldn’t care about that, not if they could find a way to use her for themselves.
Yet, instead of continuing to try to hide her away from the vampires, he intended to reveal her to them. Over the years, he’d learned countless times just how quickly something could unravel. He believed trying to hide her would most likely backfire on them one day. By revealing her, there would be vampires everywhere who would most likely fall into line with her and try to keep her safe.
He could only hope this decision was not the one that backfired.
He didn’t look at Earl’s body before he turned and ran back to where Quinn and the others were helping Clint put his bar back together. Running to the front of the building, Julian leaped up the stairs and pushed the door to the bar open. Clint and Quinn stopped trying to scrub the blood stains from the floor when he stepped inside. Devon and Chris had already returned to the bar and were helping the others put a fresh coat of dark stain on the walls.
“It’s looking good,” he commented.
“Should have this place up for sale by the time Hawtie gets out of the hospital,” Clint said.
“When is she getting out?”