I blew out a breath and wished, just this once, that I could catch a break. I wanted to spend the night being wined, dined, pampered, and ravished, and not particularly in that order.
What I didn't need was having to deal with the annoyed sensibilities of two alpha males who hated each other.
Though as far as alphas went, you couldn't ask for two finer specimens. Neither man was particularly tall - Kellen was probably little more than an inch above my five seven, and Quinn maybe an inch more above that. Kellen was a lean and muscular brown wolf, though he was more chocolate in tone than the muddy coloring so often seen in the brown packs. His face was sharpish but handsome, his eyes the most delicious shade of gold-flecked green. And dressed as he was in the black tux, he looked absolutely scrumptious.
Quinn was just as athletic looking, but there was more of a sense of grace and controlled power in the way he moved. His dark blue sweater emphasized the width of his shoulders, while the tight fit of his jeans drew the eye to the long, strong length of his legs. His shoulder-length hair was night dark, and so thick, so lush, that my fingertips suddenly itched with the need to run through it. His skin was not the white of most vampires, but a soft, warm gold, simply because he could actually stand quite a lot of sunlight. His eyes were vast wells of darkness the unwary could easily get lost in, and he had the sort of looks even angels would be envious of. Not that he was in any way effeminate - just beautiful. Truly beautiful.
The stairwell door slammed shut against my back, knocking me into the half-lit hallway. It said a lot about the tension between the two of them that neither actually noticed my arrival until then.
"What the hell is he doing here?" they said in unison, each one pointing at the other.
I ignored the question and walked to the door. "Play nice, boys. I'm just not in the mood for petty fighting tonight."
"Then you should not have invited him." Kellen's voice was cold.
"I didn't. He just sort of pops in unannounced whenever he feels like it." I twisted the key in the lock and opened the door. "How do you two actually know each other?"
"He and my father are business rivals and old enemies."
"Mainly because your fucking father keeps trying to kill me off."
"My father would never - "
"Your father would and has."
If I wasn't so tired I might have laughed. The two of them sounded like a couple of squabbling teenagers. What made it even more laughable was the fact that one of them was actually well over twelve hundred years old and should have known better.
"Gentlemen," I interrupted, raising my voice a little to be heard over their arguing. "Can we take this inside?"
The old cow who owned the building would have a pink fit if she found a vampire and a werewolf arguing in the middle of her hall. And as much as I hated her and didn't mind giving her the odd bit of aggravation, something like this might tip her over the edge and us out of the apartment. And not only did I love the warehouse-style apartment and the big wide windows that gave such a feeling of freedom, but the low rent.
I opened the door and ushered them both inside. Kellen walked over to the green sofa but didn't bother sitting down, while Quinn contented himself with leaning up against the wall near the TV. Both men had their arms crossed. Both still bristled with tension and anger.
So much for my much longed for evening filled with good food, good wine, and lots of sex.
I closed the door, threw my gym bag on the other sofa, and walked into the kitchen to get a beer. I had a feeling I was going to need it.
"So," I said, as I came back out. "To what do I owe the honor of this little visit, Quinn?"
The look he gave me could only be described as dark.
No surprise there, because that certainly seemed to be a favored expression when he was talking to me.
"We had a deal."
"Deal?" Kellen's gaze snapped to mine. "What sort of deal?"
"That he gets to see me solo when he's down in Melbourne." Trouble was, I'd only seen him once since we'd agreed to that deal. Most of our contact had come through dreams and, as good as they were, even I had to admit that wasn't enough.
"So you re still fucking him?" The annoyance deepened in Kellen's expression. "And here I was thinking you'd gained a little taste since Sydney."
"Apparently not." I took a swig of beer, felt the ice of it swirl all the way down. It felt good, but it certainly wasn't what I'd been looking forward to all day. "But who else I fuck is none of your business, anyway."
His gaze narrowed. Hardened. "You and I - "
"Are exploring options. Nothing more." I pointed a finger at Quinn. "If he were another werewolf, would you have any issue?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because alphas do not easily share something that they consider theirs."
I snorted softly. "Then it seems like you two have something in common, despite the race differences."
"We have a date tonight," Kellen said, his voice like steel. "And we are already extremely late."
Like I didn't know that. "If you want to go on ahead, I'll meet you there."
He sent a dark glance Quinn's way and shook his head. "I can wait."
"Seems to me like he doesn't trust you," Quinn commented.
Yeah, it did. What pissed me off, though, was not so much Kellen's distrust, but the fact that it was Quinn pointing it out. "This from the man who thinks all wolves are whores?"
"I explained that - "
I held up a hand. I'd heard that particular song before, and didn't believe it now any more than I had before. "That's not the point here, anyway. After two months of no-shows, you can't just walk back into my life and expect me to drop everything."
"There are reasons - "
"There always are," I cut in dryly. "But that doesn't excuse bad manners."
"I tried to call. Your line was always busy."
"Being taken off the hook will do that to a phone. You could have left a message."
"Could have, but I didn't." He hesitated, and just for an instant, his frustration swirled around me, thick and sharp. But what made my breath catch and my soul tremble was the depth of loneliness that lay underneath that eddy of emotion. I recognized that loneliness. I had shared too many nights with it of late.
"I just thought it would be nice to drop in and see you," he continued softly.
Part of me wanted to melt into his arms. The harder part knew I couldn't afford to. Not until I truly knew why he was here.
"Meaning, of course, I have no life and just sit around waiting for you?"
"That's not what I meant - "
"It's hard for me to ever know what you mean when you never bother taking the time to explain."
"And when do you give me the time?" he retorted, his anger a hot wash of emotion that seared at my skin.
I rubbed at the ache beginning in my head, and suddenly felt wearier than I'd ever felt in my life. Why did this have to happen now?
"You at least owe me the courtesy of listening," Quinn continued.
"She doesn't owe you anything," Kellen cut in. "You are not wolf. You have no rights - "
Something inside me snapped. "You know what? Neither of you have any rights where I'm concerned. I'm not a prized bone that can be fought over and won." Even if my hormones were dancing with delight at the idea of having two gorgeous men fighting to win my affections. "Right now, I'm not in the mood to deal with this. Why don't you both just get the hell out?"
Kellen's expression became as dark as Quinn's. "But we have tickets - "
"I don't give a fuck about the tickets, or the premier or whatever else you have planned. I've had a shit of a day, and it only seems to be getting worse." I glanced across at Quinn. "Nor do I care why you're here. Just leave."
Quinn studied me for a moment, then asked, "Why? This is something that needs to be sorted out."
"No, it doesn't. Because I'm seeing you both, end of story. If either of you can't accept that, then walk away. I don't care." Which was a lie, but one I wasn't willing to admit. "Get out. Both of you."
Quinn studied me for several seconds, then turned and walked out. I glanced at Kellen. "And you."
"So you're serious?"
"Totally."
His expression was one of disbelief. I couldn't say I blamed him, and part of me was hoping he'd put up a right, that he'd stay, and just hold me, comfort me.
But all he said was, "I'll call you."
"Do that."
He hesitated, his gaze sweeping me briefly, then he followed Quinn out the door. I closed my eyes against the sudden sting of tears. Not because the night I'd been so looking forward to had just been so thoroughly shot to pieces, but simply because neither of them had asked me if I was okay. Neither of them had even seemed to notice that I was battered and bruised. They'd been far too busy snarling at each other and trying to stake their claim to even notice something as obvious as my swollen jaw and cheek.
And yet both of them claimed to care for me.
I would have laughed at the irony if it wasn't so damn sad.
I scrubbed a hand across my eyes, then pushed away from the wall and headed into the bathroom. I lit a candle as the big old tub filled up, added some lemony-lime bath salts to the steaming water, then stripped and eased into the bath. Where I just relaxed, and tried to ignore the screaming frustration of my hormones.
I don't how long it was before I realized I was no longer alone, but enough time had slipped by for the water to become tepid.
I opened my eyes. Kellen stood in the doorway, one shoulder resting against the frame, his expression a mix of fierce desire and even fiercer determination.
And he was holding the biggest bunch of red roses I'd even seen.
Something inside me melted. Rejoiced.
"You really have to learn to lock your door when you have a bath," he said softly.
"But if I did, nice men bearing beautiful roses wouldn't wander in."
"Not only flowers," he said, and produced a small tube from behind his back. "But massage oil. I figure all those bruises meant a hard day at the office."
"And here I was thinking no one noticed."
"It took me a while." He placed the roses and the oil on the sink, then took off his jacket and rolled up his shirtsleeves before sitting on the edge of the bath. "I was too busy protecting my territory to even notice said territory was in pretty bad condition."
"I'm nobody's territory."
He smiled and dipped a hand in the water, touching my leg and gently running a finger up and down my thigh. Heat ignited low down, and trembled through the rest of me as furiously as a firestorm. My body might be battered and bruised, but everything else was in full working order.
"When you are with me, you're mine," he refuted softly. "And I'll fight all comers to reserve that right."
I raised an eyebrow. "Even vampires with a fierce right hook?"
"Even vampires. Though I cannot believe you're still with that particular vampire."
"I like him."
"Then I must accept him as competition. But don't expect me to be happy about it."
I smiled. "Asking that wouldn't be fair."
"No." His gaze rose to mine. The desire so evident in those mint green depths scorched deep. "I want you, Riley."
My name rolled off his tongue as sweetly as a lover's kiss, and my whole body seemed to hum in answer.
"I guess if you're gentle, we might be able to manage a kiss or two."
He reached between my feet and pulled out the bath plug, then turned on the hot water. "And a caress or two?"
I pursed my lips, as if considering a question there could only ever be one answer to. We both knew it. The smell of my arousal was as thick as his. "I suppose there's a few unbruised places to find."
His gaze drifted clown, a slow perusal that was all-consuming. Heat prickled across my skin, and my nipples hardened, as if reaching for his caress. Bone-tired and body weary I might be, but I was also a wolf who hadn't had any sex for almost a week. And that ache took priority over all others.
"I can see one or two interesting possibilities," he murmured, leaning forward to replace the plug then turn off the tap. "Seeing it's such a big bath, do you mind if I join you?"
"Please do." It came out husky, thick with desire.
He smiled and rose, then unhurriedly began taking off his clothes. I enjoyed the show, the gentle reveal of skin and muscle. The candle's dancing light lent a rich warmth to his chocolate colored flesh, highlighting some areas of perfection while leaving others to shadow and imagination.
When he was fully naked, he stepped into the bath, but rather than lying beside me, as I'd expected, he lowered himself over me, using his elbows to keep his weight off me even though his body covered mine as completely as a blanket.
"Nice," he murmured, his breath whispering across my lips.
"Very." The heat of him washed over me, and the wet, raw scent of masculinity and desire had my heart racing so hard I swear it was going to tear out of my chest. I ran a hand down his muscular back, letting it rest on his rump and pushing him down lightly. The thick heat of him pressed in all the right places, and I sighed. "Very nice indeed."
The words had barely left my lips when his mouth claimed mine. He was a man who knew exactly what he wanted, exactly what I wanted, and his kiss reflected that. It was urgent, hungry, his mouth plundering as our tongues tangled, tasted, teased.
God, the man could kiss.
After what could have been hours, he groaned, an almost demanding sound that vibrated through my mouth. A sound I understood completely. Because, just like him, I wanted more than just his lips. I wanted him inside, deep inside, thrusting long and hard.
I moved my legs to give him greater access, then raised my eyes to his. "If you want me so badly, why don't you take me?"
"Because I'm trying to be considerate of all those bruises." He pressed himself between my legs, sliding his cock back and forth, teasing, but not entering.
"I don't want consideration." But it came out a strangled sound as the heated tip of him began to slide inside.
"Then what do you want?" he murmured, withdrawing briefly. "This?" he added, sliding back inside again, harder and deeper this time.
Pleasure rippled through me, and I groaned. Heard his answering chuckle.
"I'll take that as a yes."
"Do," I gasped, and almost came as he rammed himself deep.
Then he began to move, to thrust, and I closed my eyes, savoring and enjoying the sensations flowing through me as the heat of him filled me and the cooling water lapped with ever more force across our skin.
He took his time, stroking slow but deep as he licked and nipped and kissed. Eventually the pressure began to build low in my stomach and fan through the rest of me, first in languorous waves, then quicker, faster, until it became a molten force that made me tremble, twitch, and groan. Had me wanting more, and yet not wanting it all to end so soon.
His breathing became as harsh as mine, his tempo more urgent. Water rocked over the bath's edge, splashing across the tiles, but right then, the only tide that mattered was the one of pleasure rising between us, and boy, was it rising. I shuddered, writhed, until my moans filled the night and it felt as if I was going to tear apart from the sheer force of enjoyment.
"Let go," he whispered, pressing butterfly kisses against my nose, my cheek, my lips as he thrust deep and hard inside me. "I want to hear it. Feel it."
As if his words were a trigger, my orgasm hit, and suddenly I was shuddering, squirming, my moans so loud they'd surely have to hear them in the apartment next door.
Then he was coming with me, his lips capturing mine as my body clenched around him, his kiss urgent as his body thrust and thrust, until there was nothing left but exhausted, joyous satisfaction.
For several minutes afterward we didn't move, just allowed the cooling water to wash the heat from our skin and our breathing to return to normal. Then he stirred and gave me a sweet, gentle kiss.
"Far better than attending a premier," he murmured. "Though I have to admit, I was intending to take you during the show."
I grinned. "Imagine the headlines that would have created, 'Son of billionaire thrown out of premier for indiscriminate sex'."
"Oh, there wasn't going to be anything indiscriminate about it - and we had a private box."
"I do like a man who thinks ahead."
"Rather than a man who thinks with his head?"
The cheeky twinkle in his eyes made me chuckle. I raised my hips and rubbed myself up and down his penis. He may have just reached the heights, but he was half ready to go again.
There were definite advantages to being a werewolf, and a revved up sex drive was certainly one of them.
"Thinking with the lower head can sometimes have its advantages."
"Hmmm," he murmured, brushing my lips with another kiss. "Shall we retreat to your bed and discuss just what those advantages might be?"
"Most definitely."
So we did. And much enjoyable "discussion" was had.
It was only later, when I was lying warm and replete in the circle of his arms, that he asked the question I'd been waiting for all night.
"So, how did you get all the bruises?"
"Training." I yawned, fighting tiredness and the need to sleep, simply because the subject of my bruises would lead pretty neatly into the fact that I'd be disappearing for a while.
"Given the intensity of the bruising, I'd have to say it was more a beating."
"I'm a liaison. Given we have to work with guardians, we've got to know how to defend ourselves. As you can see, it gets pretty full-on."
His fingers were caressing my arm, not in a sexual way, but a caring, protective way. It made me feel warm and fuzzy inside - which wasn't something I'd really experienced before and I wasn't sure what to make of it. It wasn't love - I'd been there before, knew what it felt like, and this wasn't that. It was oddly different - safer, nicer.
"So, now that they've beaten you to a pulp, I'm gathering the training is over for the next year or so?"
"I'm afraid not." I looked up at him. "As of tomorrow, I'm on a survival retreat. I won't be able to contact anyone."
Anger, and frustration, seared the depths of his beautiful green eyes. "At all?"
"I'm afraid not."
"For how long?"
I shrugged. "It depends on how well I cope." And how fast we brought down the bad guys.
His hand slid down my side and across my rump as he pulled me closer. "I've only just found you. I'm not too happy about having to let you go again."
Neither was I. But then, if turning my life upside down for several months meant actually getting my life back on track, I wasn't about to grumble. "Look at it this way - I'm going to be one frustrated wolf when I return, so you can be sure the reunion will be a good one."
He grinned. "Now that sounds a little more like it." He shifted slightly, turning onto his side. My head slipped from his chest to his arm, but it felt just as good resting there. "I'm guessing, then, that I'd better let you get some sleep."
I slid a leg over him and adjusted my position as I pressed him close. A shiver of delight ran across my skin as he sheathed himself inside. "I guess you should."
He did. But only after several more hours of loving.
Kellen left at seven. I grabbed some clothes then walked into the bathroom for a quick shower. Once dressed, I headed toward the kitchen to make myself breakfast. Only to discover Quinn sitting cross-legged and elegant in my living room.
I stopped short. He'd changed sometime during the night, because he was now wearing black on black. More than ever he looked like a dark angel - a sinfully sexy dark angel. "I really am going to have to start locking my front door."
"It wouldn't keep me out."
True. Once I'd invited him past the threshold of my home, there wasn't one damn thing I could do to stop him entering anytime he pleased, as often as he pleased.
I crossed my arms and stared at his beautiful but emotionless face.
"What do you want?"
He studied me for a moment, then said, "Would you like to have breakfast with me?"
Surprise rippled through me. Of all the questions I'd been expecting, that wasn't one of them. "Why?"
He raised an eyebrow. "You have to eat, don't you?"
"Yeah, but that's not what I mean."
He shrugged. "You told me two months ago that I needed to pamper you, romance you, to win your heart. Perhaps I've finally realized that was good advice."
"And perhaps tomorrow pigs might fly. Why are you really here, Quinn?"
He didn't react to my barb, and that was almost scary. Perhaps he really was trying to show me a different side of himself. And yet, instinct whispered all was not as it seemed, and I was never one to ignore instinct. It had saved my ass far too many times.
"I'm merely here to see you, and to have breakfast with you. Nothing more, nothing less."
"And I'm not on your menu? A quick snack on the side?"
Amusement glimmered briefly in the dark depths of his eyes. "It would be a bonus, but no." He hesitated, and the glimmer disappeared, lost to the sudden flash of annoyance. "I have attended to my blood needs, in much the same manner as you've attended to your own needs."
"I didn't ask Kellen back. He came of his own accord, bearing roses and an apology." I paused. "Have you even noticed my bruises?"
"Only a blind man could not."
"And you didn't think to comment - not even a simple 'gee, they look bad'?"
"Would they have felt any better if I had?"
They wouldn't, but I might have. "You know, for a very old vampire, you're sometimes awfully obtuse."
He shrugged. "Will you come to breakfast?"
"No." I spun on my heel and walked into the kitchen to flick on the kettle.
"Why not?"
Though I'd heard no movement, he was suddenly standing in the doorway, his arms crossed as he leaned casually against the doorframe. His presence seemed to dominate the small kitchen in a way no bigger man could have. He was all dangerous energy and devastating masculinity, wrapped in an outer layer that was urbane and sophisticated. And I was as attracted to the power underneath as much as I was the gorgeous outer wrapping.
I just didn't quite know what to do with the package as a whole. Or that I was entirely wise being 'many sort of relationship with him. Two months ago I'd discovered that, for the first time in my life, I was fertile. Currently protected against pregnancy, but fertile all the same. The doctors were certain it wouldn't last, that my vampire genes would eventually assert themselves and I would once again become the werewolf equivalent of a mule, but it was a revelation that had changed my whole perspective when it came to Quinn. Yes, I wanted him. Fiercely. But I couldn't and wouldn't risk going exclusive with him. Not only because that might mean missing the wolf who was my destined soul mate, but for the simple fact that if the drug that had made me fertile didn't actually cause any other chemistry changes within me, then this might be my one and only chance to conceive. I'd wanted a family of my own all my life - wanted that whole white picket fence and two kids ideal - and I had no intention of missing the opportunity it it came along. And if ever there was a certainty in my life, then it was this - Quinn might be able to give me the white picket fence, but he could never give me a child. Never, ever.
Of course, he knew all this, just as I knew he wanted something more than what I was willing to offer. What that something was he wouldn't say - I wasn't even sure if he knew himself.
But why would he state that he had no intention of going anywhere until we'd explored this thing between us, then basically stay away for two months? Why show up again so suddenly? It didn't make sense - and everything this vampire did, he did with a purpose in mind.
His gaze touched mine, and those luscious dark eyes were rich with awareness and hunger. Hunger that was both sex and blood driven. Despite what he'd said about sating his needs earlier, his hunger was right here, burning between us, stronger, more alluring than ever before.
And it only intensified the feeling he was here for more than what he was saying.
"Answer the question, Riley," he said, voice soft yet holding a note that suggested it was almost a demand. "Why won't you have breakfast with me?"
"Because I have to leave for work very soon."
"Why?"
"Because I'm due to start at nine, and the goddamn train takes half an hour to get there on a Saturday."
The fact that Rhoan and Liander were picking me up here at eight-thirty was something he had no need to know. Though it did mean I'd have to get him out of my apartment before then. The minute he saw Liander, he'd know the mission to infiltrate Starr's cartel was on.
And he'd want in.
I turned away from him and grabbed a mug, then picked up the jar of instant coffee and dumped several spoonfuls into the mug. My preference ran to hazelnut espresso, but this was the best we had until payday. Rhoan had gone on one of his shopping sprees again, and left us with very little in the bank. I did have some very nice sweaters to show for it, though, which I suppose was something.
"Is Gautier the cause of those bruises?" Quinn asked.
"No."
"You lie, Riley."
I didn't say anything. There was no point.
"So you have passed the final step to become a guardian?"
I looked over my shoulder at him. "I've passed one test with him. The real fight with Gautier lays ahead."
Which was nothing but the truth, but he was staring like he knew something was up, that I wasn't telling him the entire truth.
Being a dhampire with strong psychic skills generally made me immune to the caress of a vampire's mind, but when it came to this vampire, there was no such protection. Not only had we shared blood, but we'd created a link that went far deeper than mere psychic touch. It was a link not affected by distance or the presence of psychic deadeners. A link that made him able to read my surface thoughts as easily as he drank blood.
Which was why my shields were currently up high. Whether it helped or not I had no idea, because I certainly wasn't going to risk reading him.
"Is it not usual for those who fight Gautier to be given leave? Why are you going in today?"
"Why are you so damn fixated on this?"
He shrugged. I wasn't for an instant believing the casualness behind the gesture. "I'm curious, that's all."
"Yes, it is unusual. But then, I'm not the usual guardian candidate, am I?"
"No, you are not."
I frowned at the edge in his voice, but the kettle chose that moment to whistle its readiness, and I turned away from him to pour my coffee.
Bad mistake.
Though my hormones quickly formed a differing opinion as his arms slid around my waist. "Why is it so hard to believe I am here to see you?" He lips brushed the side of my neck, sending a shimmer of delight right down to my toes.
But as much as my hormones had formed a cheer squad for some vampire loving, the itchy feeling he was here for more than just me wouldn't go away.
"Why did you suddenly show up on my doorstep after two months of no contact?"
"We had contact."
"One night in two months? Hardly enough loving to keep a gnat awake, let alone a werewolf."
"Running a multinational business sometimes takes more time than I would wish." He slid one of my top's shoestring straps off my shoulder. The brush of his lips against the flesh between my shoulder and neck felt like the touch of flame. "And our deal was you could be with others when I wasn't there. I'm sure you didn't go without."
"Oh, I didn't, trust me." I tried concentrating on making myself a coffee but it was damnably hard when he was so close, so warm, and so very, very tempting. "And you're saying you had no time to even leave a message?"
"Why did I need to when we were sharing erotic dreams at night?" The second strap slid away with some help from his fingertips, then the top itself was being tugged down to expose my breasts. The warm air caressed my skin, as enticing as the man behind me.
"They were only dreams, Quinn. It would have been nice to have something with a little more substance."
"Which is what we now have."
His hand splayed across the flat of my stomach. Heat pooled under his fingertips, flared across my flesh like a flash fire. Lord, his touch was even more intense than I'd remembered.
His hands slid up to my breasts, pushing them together as he began to tease and pinch my engorged nipples. I squirmed against him, wariness momentarily forgotten as every inch of me vibrated with the hunger now flowing through my veins.
As if sensing the fall of reluctance, he began to kiss me, caress me, tease me, until tiny beads of perspiration covered my skin. Until every inch of me was trembling, and I was hovering on the edge of a climax, aching for the release he was keeping from me.
When his caress finally moved down, I groaned in relief. His fingers played around my thighs, close but not close enough to where I actually wanted them. Needed them. After a few more torturous moments, he hooked his thumbs under my panties and pushed them down my legs. I stepped free, then toed them to one side. He pushed up my skirt as I widened my stance, then his fingers were slipping through my slickness from behind, caressing and teasing until I was moaning from equal measures of pleasure and frustration. His soft chuckle whispered heat across the back of my neck, then his fingers were in me even as he pressed his thumb against my clit. As he began to stroke, inside and out, I shuddered, writhed, until it felt as if I was going to tear apart from the sheer force of pleasure.
And then he was in me, claiming me for real and in the most basic way possible. I groaned again as he gripped my hips, his fingers bruising as he held me still for too many seconds.
But oh, it was so glorious, just standing there, my body throbbing with need, his body deep inside mine, heavy and hot with the same sort of need. I loved the way he seemed to complete me. It had nothing to do with his size or his shape or anything physical, because I'd certainly been with men who outstripped him in all those areas.
This was far more - was almost as if when our flesh was joined, our spirits combined and danced as intimately as our bodies.
He began move, not gently, but fiercely, urgently, and I was right there with him, wanting everything he could give me. The deep down ache blossomed, spreading like wildfire across my skin, becoming a kaleidoscope of sensations that washed through every corner of my mind. I gasped, grabbing the bench for support as his movement grew faster, more urgent. Then everything broke, and I was unraveling, groaning with the intensity of the orgasm. He came with me, but it wasn't just his juices that flowed into me. So, too, did his mind.
And he was raiding my thoughts and my memories as fast as any thief fearing discovery.
Anger unlike anything I'd felt before surged through me, and without even thinking about it, I lowered my shields and let him have it with every ounce of psychic strength I had.
He made a gargled sound, then the force of my psychic punch wrenched his body from mine and he was flying through the door, out into the living room, where he landed with a thump on his back.
I re-shielded fast. Pain hit, but it might as well have been a leaf tossed on the wind, my anger was so strong. I grabbed my knickers and marched into the other room.
"You bastard!" I flung the panties at him, though why I had no real idea. It wasn't like it was a knife or a stake or anything that useful.
Which is probably just as well, because right then, I would have used either one of them.
He rubbed a hand across his eyes, then slowly raised himself up on his elbows. "How the hell did you do that?"
"What the fuck does it matter, given what you just did?"
"If you'd tell me the truth for a change, I wouldn't have to resort to such measures!"
His voice was as loud and as angry as mine, but there was a tremor in his tones that suggested I had hurt him. Part of me was fiercely glad. Part of me hated it.
"I have a right to privacy. In my life, and in my thoughts."
"This is different."
"Why? Because you're a twelve-hundred-year-old vampire who no longer has to obey the rules?"
"And yet, for all my age, and for all my psychic skills and knowledge, you just ripped through my shields as if they were paper. And then you sent me flying. You couldn't have done that a few months ago."
A cold hard knot formed deep in the pit of my stomach. He was right. God help me, he was right. Even though Jack had been training me in the fine art of breaking through psychic shields over the last few months, I'd never managed to break through all his shields, no matter how hard I'd tried. And Quinn was far more powerful than Jack.
I licked my lips, and pushed the thoughts away. Now was not the time to think about the implications of his statement, or what it might mean to the future I so desperately wanted.
"Don't try changing the fucking subject."
He sighed, climbed a little unsteadily to his feet, and redressed himself. "I admitted to you months ago that I was, in part, using you. You were my quickest way of finding information about my missing friend - information that the Directorate, and my friendship with Director Hunter, wasn't providing. That hasn't changed - though the reason certainly has."
"So that's why you're back now?"
"Partially. Something changed yesterday afternoon. Something is happening. I can feel it."
He could feel it? How? We hadn't shared dreams in any way yesterday, so he couldn't have leeched information that way. And, usually, he could only catch my thoughts if he was physically near.
But maybe he had been. Maybe he'd been here in Melbourne all along, and just hadn't contacted me.
Bastard.
"So the real reason you came to my apartment last night was for a little extra information gathering? I bet it sucked having your grand plans foiled by Kellen's presence."
"It wasn't the only reason I was here last night. I did want to see you."
Yeah. Believing that big time. "How in the hell could you supposedly feel anything when we're supposedly only sharing erotic dreams and nothing more?"
He didn't answer. No surprise there. The bastard never answered questions that really mattered.
He walked toward me and held out my panties. I snatched them from his hand and threw them to the floor. And some childish part of me wanted to stomp all over them - or maybe its just that I wanted to stomp all over Quinn, and with no hope of achieving that, they were the next best option.
"Was I ever anything more than just a convenient source of information?" I asked bitterly.
He reached out, his fingers briefly caressing my check with heat until I jerked away from his touch. His hand dropped back to his side, but the determination in his eyes said he was far from defeated.
"There has always been something more between us."
"Yeah, great sex."
"More than that. I care for you, Riley. Deeply."
I snorted softly. "You keep saying that, and yet you couldn't even be bothered coming to see me for the last two months. The only reason you're here now is the fact that you sensed something was happening with the case."
He studied me, arms crossed, face impassive. But there was nothing impassive in his eyes. Nothing impassive in the explosive swirl of emotion scorching my skin with heat.
"If it was your brother they'd snatched and killed, would you not do everything in your power to exact revenge? Even if that meant betraying someone you cared for greatly?"
"That's different - "
"No, it's fucking not! Henri was my brother in all but blood. I will not let these fools get away with his murder. I will have my revenge, no matter what I have to do!" He paused, then added softly, "Or who I have to hurt."
I held up my hands, not pushing him away but certainly ready to. "Don't touch me."
"This will not end here," he said flatly. "I won't let it."
"Right now, you have no goddamn choice. I want you to leave and I don't want you to come back and I don't want to see you again."
He snorted. "You'll see me, not only in your dreams, but on the mission. It starts today and I will be involved in it."
So he'd gotten that much from me. Bastard.
"Go," I said fiercely, "before you make me do something I might not regret."
He studied me for a moment, then spun on his heel and walked to the door. But he stopped with his hand on the knob, and looked over his shoulder at me. "I'll see you at the Directorate. And you had better tell Jack about that increase in power, or I will."
With that he left. The door slammed after him, the noise reverberating through the sudden silence. I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples for a moment, then turned and headed for the shower. And though I could wash the smell of him from my skin, there was no washing away the feel of him in my mind. No getting away from the huge sense of loss and betrayal.
And I hated that, hated that he'd reduced what was between us to that. Because he was right - there was something more, something that had the potential to be magical. Not soul-deep magical, perhaps, but still so very good. His actions might not have destroyed that, but I really didn't know if I would ever be able to get past them.
I lifted my face to the cooling water, letting it wash away the sting from my eyes. After a while, I got out and re-dressed, then headed into the kitchen to make myself another drink.
And it was there, while I was nursing the steaming mug of coffee, that I finally let myself think about the way I'd attacked Quinn.
I'd never had that sort of power before. Yeah, I rated extremely high in all the Directorate telepathic tests, but I'd never gotten anywhere near reading Quinn's surface thoughts before, let alone busting through any of his shields.
I had tonight, and with such power the force of it had blown him across the room.
Had anger allowed me to tap the reserves Jack kept insisting I had, but had never used? Or was this the first sign that the drug Talon had given me was finally beginning to affect my system?
I didn't know.
But I had a bad feeling I was going to find out, and all too soon.