Arctic Fire
Erica Stevens
Copyright © 2016 Erica Stevens
All rights reserved.
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DESCRIPTION
For the past six years, Quinn has looked forward to the day when she would finally have her revenge against the vampire who slaughtered her family. What she never expected is for that vampire to walk into Clint’s bar and unleash terror and death on her small desert town. With more people dying every day, Quinn realizes she must delve deeper into her power than she’s ever wanted or dared to before in order to save her loved ones.
As new enemies and allies arise and good friends are lost, Julian will do whatever it takes to keep Quinn from the clutches of the vampire who stalks and torments her. Even if it means becoming the vampire he once was and swore he’d never be again.
Also from the author
The Captive Series
Captured (Book 1)
Renegade (Book 2)
Refugee (Book 3)
Salvation (Book 4)
Redemption (Book 5)
Broken (The Captive Series prequel)
Vengeance (Book 6)
The Fire & Ice Series
Frost Burn (Book 1)
Arctic Fire (Book 2)
The Kindred Series
Kindred (Book 1)
Ashes (Book 2)
Kindled (Book 3)
Inferno (Book 4)
Phoenix Rising (Book 5)
The Ravening Series
Ravenous (Book 1)
Taken Over (Book 2)
Reclamation (Book 3)
The Survivor Chronicles
Book 1: The Upheaval
Book 2: The Divide
Book 3: The Forsaken
Book 4: The Risen
Books written under the penname Brenda K. Davies
The Vampire Awakenings Series:
Awakened (Book 1)
Destined (Book 2)
Untamed (Book 3)
Enraptured (Book 4)
Undone (Book 5) Coming spring 2016
Historical Romance
A Stolen Heart
Special thanks to all the fans. Love you all!
Table of Contents
Also from the author
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Where to find the author
About the author
CHAPTER 1
“You know Clint is going to be pissed at me for letting you stay in here after hours.”
Julian shrugged at Quinn’s words. He draped his arm around the back of the chair as he leaned back to watch her wipe off one of the last tables. “Don’t care,” he replied.
She shot him a look as she tucked her rag into her apron and stepped away from the table. That look guaranteed she wouldn’t be as cuddly tonight as she had been last night, but he was willing to have her annoyed with him if it meant keeping her safe.
Plus, he couldn’t deny he liked watching her as she worked. She had her chocolate-colored hair pulled into a ponytail that accentuated the angles of her face. The faint scar running from her right temple to her eyebrow, and the one running from her bottom lip to beneath her chin, were more visible with her hair back, something deliberate on her part.
She saw her scars as displaying to the world what she felt were her sins for killing her uncle when she was first turned into a vampire. It didn’t matter that her uncle would have died anyway or that she’d had no control over her actions. She wore those scars to punish herself for that night. He saw her scars as her battle wounds; ones she should be proud to wear as they marked her as the warrior she was.
He would love her if her entire face were covered in scars. She wasn’t beautiful in the delicate, classical sense, but with her honeyed eyes, proudly pointed chin, pert nose, and high cheekbones, he found her to be more beautiful and alluring than anyone he’d ever known. He also couldn’t deny he enjoyed watching her trim, athletic body as she glided from one table to another. Her ass fit nicely in her formfitting, black pants that hugged her thighs.
Yep, he could definitely get used to watching this, even if he had to endure the daggers she kept sending his way as she worked. He’d offered to help and received a snap of the towel in response, which was fine by him. He was a beer drinking, blue jeans kind of guy, but manual labor wasn’t something he’d done much of since becoming a vampire.
“You’ll care when I get evicted from my apartment, and you’re out on the street,” she said with a huff.
He gave her a wicked smile that caused her to stop scrubbing at the table. The color flushing her porcelain skin told him his smile had affected her even as she narrowed her eyes at him and thrust her chin out. “Then you’ll just have to stay at the motel, in my room, with me.”
Her full mouth pursed. “I’d get my own room.”
“I’d be more than willing to share,” he replied with a wink.
“I’m not.”
“Come now, Dewdrop, you would enjoy yourself.”
***
Oh, Quinn had no doubt she would thoroughly enjoy herself with him. Looking at him was enough to make her insides turn to goo; what his mouth and hands could do to her was an entirely different ballgame. The worst part was that the conceited ass was also one of the most considerate, kind, and irresistible men she’d ever encountered.
She still felt like a teen in the early stages of puppy love, and couldn’t help but smile every time she recalled their date last night. The picnic on her roof had been perfect; he’d been perfect, which was something she’d never believed possible, given how arrogant he could be and how many times she’d considered giving him a solid punch in the nose.
She’d completely lost her heart to him last night. The realization didn’t make her feel like running through fields of grass while singing; instead, it chilled her to the center of her core. She loved this cocky, brutal, killer of a man, who was vastly more experienced with the world and women, more than she’d ever dreamed possible. She was petrified that loving him would cause her to lose him like she’d lost everyone else she’d loved in her life.
Dropping her rag on the table, she planted her hands on her hips. “Perhaps I wouldn’t enjoy myself.”
One of his black eyebrows quirked up. “Is that a challenge?”
It was a lie, they both knew it, but she refused to be swayed by those ice-blue eyes and entirely delectable mouth—a mouth she knew could make her forget her own name. “No, it’s not. It’s simply a possibility.”
He grinned arrogantly as he leaned toward her. “No, that is not a
possibility, and I think it is definitely a challenge. Believe me, Quinn, I’ll make sure you enjoy yourself very much.”
Her toes curled so deeply into her black boots, she felt like she’d bore a hole through the soles. If she had a heartbeat, it probably would’ve beat straight out of her chest. Instead, she thrust her shoulders back as his gaze did a hungry perusal of her body that made her tempted to jump on him. She didn’t know how someone could infuriate and arouse her so much at once, but Julian had somehow perfected the art of it.
She opened her mouth to answer him when she heard the knob on the door turn. “Crap,” she muttered. Her annoyance over Julian’s refusal to leave had distracted her from locking the door. “I’m sorry,” she called to whoever stood beyond the door. “But we’re closed.”
She took a step toward the door with the intention of locking it. Julian came out of his seat so fast, she didn’t see him move until he stood before her. Quinn took an abrupt step back from him; her eyes darted toward the door as it opened and four men stepped into the bar. Their distinct lack of heartbeats told her immediately they were vampires.
Her heart plummeted as she realized she’d been discovered. Her hands subtly fell to the stakes tucked into the holsters at her waist. The vampires never looked at her; immediately, their red eyes latched onto Julian.
“If it isn’t Julian, the betrayer of our kind. I thought it was you when we spotted you from outside,” one of them murmured while two of the others grinned. The fourth vampire cracked his knuckles, as if readying to fight.
The chiseled muscles in Julian’s back rippled; the icy blue of his eyes became a fiery red. “You boys are asking for more trouble than you can handle,” he growled.
“Oh, I doubt that,” the first speaker replied.
Quinn went to step out from behind Julian, but he held his arm out, pushing her back. “Stay out of this.”
“Like hell!” she retorted.
Julian’s shoulders hunched when the vampires gave her a leering grin. The sound that came out of his chest made the hair on her nape stand straight up. He grabbed hold of her hands, pulling them away from the weapons at her waist.
“You’re to stay out of this.” She glared at him. “I mean it, Quinn. Stay out of this.”
“You should probably listen to him, Quinn,” one of the intruders snickered.
Her eyes shot to the mouthy intruder; she glowered at him as her fingers itched to throw one of her stakes right between his eyes. Julian pushed her back further. “I can fight,” she hissed at him. “Better than most.”
“Not this time,” he said as he pulled a stake from the holster at her waist. “They’re mine, and I won’t take the chance of you getting hurt.”
She snorted in disdain. “That’s not—”
“Stay out of this!” he snapped at her.
Quinn’s teeth grated together so forcefully she could hear them scraping against each other. He’d never yelled at her before. It infuriated her at the same time she worried about why these vampires had him so on edge. What was it about these vamps that had him treating her like she was the useless little woman who should be baking cookies? He’d always respected her ability to fight.
Her eyes slid back to the intruding vamps. If the two of them fought side by side, these vamps would be easy to take down, but if he was hell-bent on being a chauvinistic ass, who was she to argue? “They’re all yours,” she said and stepped away from him. His features softened in relief. “And I hope they kick your ass.”
She only half meant it, but he deserved the ass whooping. His eyes sparkled; he grinned at her before spinning away to face the vampires charging at him. Julian fisted his hands and smashed them into the back of a vamp who wrapped his arms around his waist and propelled him backward.
Quinn’s hand instinctively went to one of her stakes again, but she stopped herself from removing it from the holster. Screw him, she thought. He thinks he’s so big and bad; let him deal with these guys on his own. She really did hope he got staked, maybe not through the heart, but a good shot to somewhere that wouldn’t kill him might deflate his ego a little.
Bang!
Quinn winced as the barstool crashed off Julian’s back and splintered into a dozen tiny pieces. The broken shards clattered and rattled as they exploded through the air and bounced off the walls. Clint was going to lose his mind if he found out another stool had somehow been broken.
She tried to remember if there were any extra stools in the basement, but she couldn’t recall off the top of her head. She hoped so; she had no idea how she would explain this to Clint. There were only so many stools she could “trip over and break,” and there wasn’t enough super glue in the world to put that one back together.
Oh well, I’ll figure it out later.
Grabbing hold of one of the chairs in the poolroom, she turned it toward the main barroom and settled in to watch the fight. She leaned the back of the chair against the wall before pulling a package of peanut butter cups from her apron pocket. Mountain Dew and peanut butter cups were her leftover vices from her human years, and the reason why Julian sometimes called her Dewdrop.
The fresh scent of chocolate and peanut butter tickled her nostrils when she tore open the wrapper. The smell did nothing to prick her appetite, but it was still tempting and comfortingly familiar.
Julian swore loudly and drove the palm of his hand up and into the nose of a vampire lunging at him. The coppery scent of blood filling the air from the vamp’s shattered nose did what the candy had not. Hunger immediately rolled through her stomach; she pushed it aside as she continued to unwrap her sweet treat.
Julian snarled when a vampire leapt onto his back, putting him into a chokehold that did nothing but piss him off. Reeling backward, he slammed the vamp into the wall. The glass mirrors, with numerous beer logos etched into them, rattled against the wall. The Budweiser clock with the prancing Clydesdales swung back and forth like a pendulum, threatening to fall at any second.
“Hey, watch the merchandise!” she yelled at Julian. “If you break that clock, I’m going to kick your ass!”
Julian’s eyes flashed angrily toward her as he flipped the vamp over his back and onto the floor. Holding the vamp’s neck, he kept him pinned to the ground as he spoke to her, “I could do without the commentary from the peanut gallery!”
Quinn rolled the peanut butter cup wrapper in her hand and shoved it into her pocket as Julian drove the stake through the vampire’s heart. “You know us delicate little females, we can’t get our hands dirty, but we sure do like to gab,” she blithely replied.
His scowl deepened, but before he could say anything, another vampire lunged at him. The vamp wrapped his arms around Julian’s waist and knocked him onto the floor. That had to have tickled, and not in a good way. Quinn nibbled at the ridged chocolate edge, making a circle around the cup as she watched the melee before her.
She had to admit, watching him fight caused butterflies to flit through her stomach. He was so strong and powerful, and she loved the way those thick muscles rippled as he moved. She had to fight the urge to lick her lips. The impulse had nothing to do with the chocolate lingering on her mouth and everything to do with the way he heaved that one across the floor with barely a flick of his wrist. He’d barely broken a sweat; the others looked as though they’d gone ten rounds with Mike Tyson.
The vamps had still barely looked at her as all of their concentration remained focused on Julian. Julian and his friends had been so concerned about vampires finding her, they’d forgotten Julian had pissed off more than a few in his lengthy life, and with his attitude, they’d all take a chance to spill some of his blood.
She didn’t blame them.
Leisurely, she pulled the chocolate top off the peanut butter cup after she finished eating the sides. He deserves a good smack upside the head. Just as she thought it, one of the vamps landed a solid blow to his temple. Julian drove his fist through the vamp’s chest. Blood dripped from between his fingers when
he tore the heart free and crushed it in his hand. The vamp’s lifeless body slumped to the floor as another one cracked a table on Julian’s back.
She winced again. He’d pissed her off with his highhanded behavior, but she didn’t like seeing him injured in any way, even if she would like to be the one beating on him right now.
She liked that he wanted to protect her, but she didn’t have to have a watchdog by her side at all times, and she definitely didn’t like being kept out of a fight. She’d survived eighteen years in hiding with her family and six years as a vampire on her own. She would survive whatever the world threw at her next.
Quinn turned the cup over and pulled off the bottom layer of chocolate as Julian took another punch to a place no man should be hit. Good thing vampires can’t reproduce. His face flushed red; he doubled over as he covered his nuts. Kind of like shutting the barn door after the horse is out.
As one of the vamps grabbed a broken stool leg from the ground, she half rose out of her chair, prepared to kill him if it became necessary. Julian may have pissed her off, but she wouldn’t stand by and let him die because he’d turned into a macho man for some reason tonight. Julian swung an uppercut that shot the vamp’s head back and sent him flying into the bar. The vamp shook his head before launching back to his feet.
“Hey! Watch the glasses!” Quinn protested before sliding back into her chair.
Julian’s eyes were the color of fire when they met hers. Both his arms shot out at the same time, crashing through the chests of the vampires lunging toward him. With a vicious curse, he ripped their hearts from their chests and stomped them into the ground.
Quinn rolled the remaining peanut butter into a ball and popped it in her mouth before rising to her feet and wiping her hands on her apron. Julian wiped his hands down the front of his blood-splattered, body-hugging, midnight blue shirt. The cut of his shirt showed off his broad shoulders and chiseled stomach.
“Did you enjoy the show?” he inquired.
“Immensely.” She opened the closet door beside the bathroom and pulled out the cleaning supplies. “You deserved it. Besides, I thought women shouldn’t be fighting or whatever crazy idea was going through your mind tonight.”
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