Scorched Ice (Fire and Ice #3)(5)

Looking at the scar running across her right eyebrow up to her temple and the one down the center of her chin reawakened his urge to kill. All he could think about was tearing the throat out of Earl before beating him into a bloody pulp. Then, he’d let Earl heal before going at him again.

Quinn’s pointed chin jutted out as if she’d read his mind. Pretty, in a proud, willful way, with her high cheekbones and pert nose, she’d become his everything in such a short amount of time.

She tossed the glass into the trashcan and placed the dustpan on the bar. Her chocolate-colored hair swayed with each of her steps as she came toward him. Despite her five-nine height, she looked unbelievably small in the T-shirt he’d given her to wear. The shirt had belonged to someone else and had been too big for him. A set of baggy jeans he’d never seen before were cinched at her waist with a rope. The bottoms of the jeans barely touched her ankles, leading him to believe they belonged to Clint. He spotted the skimpy dress Helena had made her wear in the trashcan.

“Are you okay?” she asked when she stopped before him.

“Yes.”

Her eyes scanned over him. “Julian—”

“I’m fine.” He pulled her into his arms. The bloodlust slithering through him eased immediately at the feel of her. “You can always bring me back from the darkness,” he whispered in her ear.

Her shoulders sagged as her hands slid up his back and she hugged him closer. He felt the incredible swell of her power against him when his lips ran over her ear. She didn’t have to tell him what she’d experienced in that hotel as flashes of her imprisonment filtered through his mind.

For the first time in years, he kept his psychometry turned on. When they were changed, every vampire acquired some kind of special ability upon turning. With their vampire lineage, most Hunters were born with an ability. His ability to learn things from touching a person or an object they had handled was something he’d used often over the years to torment someone or to gain an advantage over them, but he often kept it turned off in everyday life. There were many many things he didn’t care to know.

However, in order to keep Quinn safe, he would keep his ability turned on twenty-four seven if he had to.

“Don’t,” Quinn whispered, turning her mouth to his ear. “Don’t see what they did to me in there.”

“How did you know?” he grated through his teeth.

“Your body is as hard as rock against me right now.”

Leaning away from her, he forced himself to relax as he brushed back her hair. He clasped the silken strands against her nape before bending to kiss her. She pressed closer to him and opened her mouth to his. His tongue slid into the warm recess of her mouth as he tasted her in leisurely, sweeping thrusts that left him hungry for more.

They’d abused her. They’d chained and beaten her, but she was here, with him. She was alive. He could taste her and feel her in a way he’d been petrified he’d never be able to do again.

He broke the kiss before he lost himself to her completely, something so easy for him to do when it came to Quinn.

“You should kill him,” she whispered. “Keeping him alive is a bad idea, Julian. What if he takes control of someone else’s mind?”

“I’ll kill him soon,” he promised. “And Devon has control of that part of Earl’s mind. He won’t be taking over anyone ever again.”

“What of the couple? Why did you want them brought here?”

“They’re going to spread a message,” Julian replied.

Quinn’s fingers stilled on his face. Her head tilted to the side. He didn’t know how well everyone was going to react to what he planned, but he believed this was the best course of action to keep them all safe. He’d realized a while ago that the vampires required a leader and direction, especially the younger ones.

Having them frightened and disorganized was far more perilous than having them grouped together with a clear set of rules. Many of them may not like the rules he intended to set forth, but they were going to be enforced, and he was going to be the one to do it. Even if it meant he’d have to immerse himself in the vampire way of life he’d spurned the entire five hundred seventy-six years of his vampire existence.

He would keep Quinn safe no matter what it took.

“What do you mean they’re going to spread a message?” she asked.

Julian glanced toward where Devon had earlier left the couple sitting in the poolroom. Quinn winced at the sight of them sitting with their hands in their laps, their eyes closed, and their heads bowed. Her eyes fell away from them, and she fiddled with the hem of her shirt as a tremor went through her. He took hold of her hands, enveloping them within both of his.

“They’re not going to be abused,” he assured her.

“Not having any control over your mind and body is a hideous feeling,” she murmured.

Julian wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her against his chest. When they were finally able to leave here tonight, he planned to spend the next week with her locked securely in his arms.

“I know,” Julian said as he kissed her forehead, “but this is necessary.” He looked to where Devon remained standing with Cassie by the tables.

“They’re in a state equivalent to sleep,” Devon said to Quinn. “They have no idea what is going on right now.”