Quinn

by D. B. Reynolds

  Striding after him, she shoved her way through the packed back room where she’d known she’d find him that night. And what had you expected would happen when you found him, you idiot? she asked herself. Had she thought they’d go back to her house and have some more human style sex?

  Yes, she realized. That’s exactly what she’d thought.

  “Hey!” she called, reaching out to grab the back of his jacket. He spun with a snarl, and Eve belatedly thought that grabbing a pissed off vampire from the back might not be the best idea. She held up both hands. “Just me,” she said quickly. “Can we talk?”

  He blinked lazily, but his eyes were anything but. They were sharp and unwavering, and, for the first time, she saw that they glowed from within. It was a cool white gleam that radiated like cracked ice through the crystalline blue of his irises. “More talk, Eve? I didn’t come here to talk.”

  She swallowed back the nasty retort that leapt to her lips. No, he’d clearly come to the pub tonight to suck and fuck. What pissed her off was that he hadn’t even thought to call and see if she was in town. Or available. Wait. Was she available? Fuck.

  “I know,” she said fighting for calm. “But this will only take a moment.”

  He nodded his head once, then pulled his snack close and whispered something in her ear. She gave him an adoring look, then hurried across the room and rejoined her friends.

  Eve wanted to ask what he’d told her, but didn’t want him to know she cared. “Can we go outside, where it’s quieter?”

  He shrugged, as if he didn’t care either way, then headed for the exit, without even bothering to make sure she followed. Bastard. He was going to make this difficult.

  The minute they were through the door, he spun, grabbed her by the waist, and pulled her around the side of the building where it was definitely quieter. It was also dark and cold, and utterly empty of other people. He didn’t give her a chance to react, however, just pressed her up against the wall, holding her there bracketed between his muscled arms as he braced his hands to either side of her. He was so close, she could feel his warmth, could smell his skin. She wanted to rub herself up and down that big, beautiful body. She’d had dreams of him last night and had woken up wet and empty with longing. She ran her hands along his sides, then looked up and met his too-knowing eyes. She dropped her hands.

  “What is it, Eve?” he murmured, leaning in to dip his head into the curve of her neck.

  Now that she had him, she didn’t know what to say.

  “Come on, sweetheart. Let’s talk.” He continued his exploration of her skin, nibbling her neck from just below her ear, pushing aside the open collar of her sweater to kiss the dip of her throat, and then shoving the soft wool even farther to bare her collar bone. He took it between his teeth and bit down until she could just feel the pressure of his bite.

  She jumped in surprise, and then shivered.

  Quinn made a disgusted noise. Stopping at once, he lifted his head and put space between them. “Why are you here, Eve?”

  “I live here,” she said, having to force the words through a throat that was all but crushed beneath the pounding of her heart. “I just stopped in for a pint,” she lied, not wanting to admit she’d been looking for him.

  He stepped back. “Then don’t let me keep you. I have a friend waiting.”

  “A friend? Is that what you call her? Why are you being such an arse?”

  “Me? Let me explain how this works. I’m a vampire. When I come to a pub like this, it’s not to join the debating society. I want blood, and I want to fuck. Those two things frequently go together with my kind.”

  Eve’s temper was rising. She’d tried being reasonable. It hadn’t worked.

  “So, my darling Eve, you either give me what I came here for, or I’ll go back to someone who will.”

  “That’s it?” she demanded. “You just whore yourself out to a random stranger for blood?”

  His eyes had that icy glow again. “Tread carefully, Eve. My patience is not unlimited.”

  “Your patience? Your patience? What am I supposed to do while you’re fucking the flavor of the night? Hang around and wait for you to finish up?”

  He gave her a disbelieving look. “I don’t care what you do. We’re not a couple. You can’t handle the truth of what I am, and you’ve made it clear that you’re unwilling to give me what I need. So, there, you wanted to talk? We’ve talked.” He slammed a fist into the side of the building, then straightened and turned to leave.

  Eve grabbed the front of his jacket with both hands, more furious than she could ever remember being. She yanked him close, knowing he had to be letting her do it. “Fuck you!” she snarled.

  He gave her a tiny smile. “That’s the idea, darling.”

  “I hate you,” she hissed, then tightened her fists in his jacket, intending to pull him closer. She was slammed against the wall instead, his body crushing hers, his mouth coming down on her lips.

  They ate at each other as if starved for the taste, their teeth clashing and tongues fighting for dominance. She tasted blood and didn’t know if it was his or hers, until he groaned in sensual pleasure. She shivered in the knowledge that a tiny taste of her blood had elicited such a powerful response. It thrilled and terrified her in equal measure. But she didn’t stop.

  He grabbed her hips and lifted her higher, slipping a thigh between hers until she wrapped her legs around his waist, and his hands dropped to cup her ass. She was rubbing herself against him, the thick seam of the jeans she wore pressing against the hard ridge of his cock. Her fingers reached for his belt buckle, but he flexed his hips away from her touch.

  “Not here,” he growled.

  “Where?” She barely recognized her own breathless question.

  “Your place.”

  Eve gave a tiny scream of frustration, but knew he was right. They couldn’t fuck against the back wall of the pub, for Christ’s sake. She wasn’t even wearing a skirt. She’d have to get practically naked to make it possible.

  “Fine,” she snapped. “Let’s go.”

  He lifted her higher and demanded another kiss. It was just as fierce and out of control as the first one, but there was a knowledge to it. Because they both knew that the next time they kissed, it was going to end with his cock in her pussy. And his fangs in her neck.

  EVE DIDN’T EVEN remember getting to her flat. They must have walked, because she’d walked to the pub, and she’d have remembered if they’d taken Quinn’s SUV. But the only thing that registered was practically falling through her front door, his hands on her ass, their mouths tearing at each other, until the door closed, and they began ripping at each other’s clothes instead. Quinn threw her on the bed and pulled off her boots, then stripped her tight jeans and panties together down her legs and off. She tore her own sweater over her head and was working on her bra clasp, when Quinn gripped it in one hand and snapped the thin band. Some part of Eve’s brain registered the knowledge that she should protest the damage, but the rest of her body only knew that it wanted to be naked as quickly as possible. And speaking of naked . . .

  She went up onto her knees and attacked Quinn’s belt and zipper, while he yanked his long-sleeved T-shirt over his head and toed off his boots at the same time. Eve shoved his jeans past narrow hips, noting the absence of underwear as his cock sprang into hard and glorious view. She stroked her fingers up and down the thick shaft—once, twice—and bent to take it in her mouth, but Quinn stopped her.

  “No,” he said simply, then hooked her under the arms and tossed her higher on the bed, shoving his hips between her thighs and his cock into her pussy with a single, masterful thrust. They both froze for an instant, their eyes meeting in shock at the sheer intensity of the connection between their bodies. Eve’s breath stalled in her lungs, and her heart seemed to stop for a moment before resuming a st
uttering beat. Quinn stared at her, his penis buried deep, his hands cradling her face. He held motionless for a heartbeat, then bent his head and kissed her. It was almost tender at first, as his hips began to move in short strokes, his cock pulling out no more than an inch before sliding back in. It didn’t last long, as his kiss deepened, and the hunger between them roared.

  QUINN WITHDREW his cock and held it there, waiting for Eve’s eyes to open, to know that it was him she was fucking. She made a tiny noise and lifted her hips, searching for him, before her eyes came open.

  “Quinn,” she whispered, staring up at him. Her hands on his chest, she closed her eyes briefly, then opened them again. “I don’t hate you.”

  “I know.” He moved then, plunging his cock deep into her body, her cry of pleasure a sweet sound as his hips began pistoning in and out, his groin grinding against her clit with every new thrust. Eve was clinging to him, her strong fingers digging into the muscle of his shoulders as she tried to hold on, her small moans of desire riding panting breaths as he fucked her hard, angry that she’d rejected him, that she’d tried to deny this connection between them, a connection that went deeper than flesh. Blood deep.

  He hooked his arm behind Eve’s knee and pulled her leg higher and wider, opening her even further to his demands, his claiming. She cried out as the first tremors of climax shuddered through her body, her abdomen clenching beneath him, her inner muscles shivering in anticipation. Quinn reached between them and stroked his thumb once over her clit, that tiny nub of nerves reacting as if a switch had been thrown, as she exploded into a trembling, thrashing orgasm. Her teeth closed over his shoulder, and he reveled in the pain, his cock growing impossibly harder as her pussy flooded with heat and cream, making her passage slick and welcoming his renewed assault.

  Quinn growled low in his chest and bent his head, his mouth going to her ear. “It’s time, Eve.”

  She shivered once, but her pussy clenched around his cock at the same time, letting him know it was desire, not fear, that caused the reaction.

  He twirled his tongue along the curves of her ear, then slowly licked his way down to her neck. Her vein was plump and eager when he drew it into his mouth, sucking hard enough that her pale skin would bruise. He wanted her marked, wanted no doubt that she’d been taken. She was his.

  “Last chance,” he murmured against her skin.

  She trembled, but arched her neck, inviting his bite.

  Quinn’s fangs slid eagerly from his gums. He was more than simply hungry for blood, he was hungry for this woman’s blood. His fangs sliced through her silky skin, encountering the slight pressure of her vein, before piercing that, too. Blood flowed. As sweet and thick as fresh honey, it rolled down his throat in a velvet wave of sensation. He swallowed over and over, a growl of satisfaction rumbling in his chest, as Eve suddenly began to tremble beneath him.

  “Quinn?” she asked in a tiny voice. And then the euphoric in his bite slammed into her, and he had to cover her mouth with his hand to smother her scream as she soared into a second orgasm, this one far more powerful than the first, her slight weight bowing against him as her muscles bucked and rippled uncontrollably.

  Quinn lifted his mouth from her neck, managing to lick the wounds closed, before he surrendered and rode the wave of her climax, her pussy clamping down on him so hard that the pulsing of her sheath was like fingers gripping and releasing his cock in rhythm. He groaned, then lifted his hand from her mouth and kissed her, as heat filled his balls and roared down his cock, and they crashed together into a final, utterly out of control, orgasm.

  EVE LAY CRUSHED beneath Quinn’s heavy body, not feeling trapped, but some other emotion that she didn’t want to examine too closely. She didn’t want to think about that other thing either, but no one had ever accused her of being a coward.

  Sex with a vampire. Yep, that was the thing she didn’t want to think about. She’d just had sex with a vampire, most especially including him biting her neck. She shivered, remembering it, and had to tighten her arms around Quinn when he noticed and started to shift his weight off her. If he moved, she might fly apart.

  “No,” she murmured, holding on to him. “Stay.”

  “What am I, a dog?” he muttered. But he said it with humor and settled his full weight on top of her again, his only concession being to lower her leg from where it had been hooked over his arm. Smoothing his big hand along her thigh, he massaged the strained muscles and would have straightened her leg completely, but Eve wrapped her leg around the back of his thigh instead. He made a rumbling sound of pleasure and flexed his hips, his very firm cock reminding her that vampires had much faster restorative powers than humans.

  Good God.

  If Eve hadn’t already figured out why women lined up to have vampires suck on them, she sure as hell knew now. Quinn had already given her the most mind-blowing climaxes of her life, and that was before, when she’d thought he was an ordinary human. But this last orgasm, the one they’d shared after he’d taken her blood, had positively fried her brain. And he was ready to do it again. She didn’t think she’d survive it, survive him. Because the truth that was settling into her heart and making her lungs catch was the creeping knowledge that this was more than great sex. This might be . . . Shit. She couldn’t even think the word.

  Quinn kissed the side of her neck, right where he’d bitten her. The skin was tender, but not raw and bleeding the way she’d assumed it would be.

  “I have to go, sweetheart.”

  Eve’s stomach plummeted. “You don’t have to,” she whispered, knowing it was going to hurt when he left.

  He kissed her forehead and rolled to the side, taking her with him. “It’s late, and we’re driving back tonight.”

  “You could stay here.”

  “An enticing offer,” he murmured, taking her mouth in another luscious kiss. “But I have enemies.” He slipped his arm out from under her and stood, taking all that heat and desire with him.

  Eve watched him get dressed, unsure what she was supposed to think about that last statement. He had enemies. And so. . . . What? Was he implying she could be bought? That she’d give him up to those enemies? Or maybe it was that he didn’t want to put her in the path of the people—vampires?—who meant him harm. Maybe he was worried about her safety, rather than his own.

  She could ask him. But he might not tell her the truth, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to know which one it was, anyway.

  Fully dressed, Quinn bent over and pulled the covers up to her chin, then kissed her again. The kiss was still delicious, but some of the explosive anger between them—the very thing that had triggered their earlier passionate collision—had returned. He bit her lower lip as he pulled away, tugging it between his teeth just enough to hurt.

  “Be good, Eve.”

  “I will if you will,” she responded, eyeing him uncertainly.

  “You’ll hear from me,” he growled, and then he was gone, using that damn vampire speed of his that didn’t even give her the satisfaction of throwing something at him.

  QUINN MOVED, USING his vampiric gifts to get away as far and as fast from Eve’s flat as his considerable power allowed. It wasn’t only that he needed to meet up with the others and get back to the Ballsbridge house. It was also to escape the overwhelming temptation of Eve herself. For the first time since he’d been made a vampire, he’d considered remaining in his lover’s bed through the day. It was insane and dangerous. Even if he’d been able to trust her, and he wasn’t yet certain that he did completely, her tiny flat wasn’t equipped to provide him with a secure daytime resting place. He’d never seen her place in the daytime, for obvious reasons, but he doubted the pale curtains on the main window blocked the sunlight, and the door was so flimsy as to barely qualify.

  Garrick would knock his lights out for even thinking about it. Even Adorjan might be tempted to se
t aside his respect for Quinn’s position and whack some sense into him.

  Reaching the now-deserted pub, he was happy to see the Range Rover still standing in the parking lot, looking like a metal and glass indictment of his poor judgment. At least according to Garrick. Striding over to the vehicle, he dug in his pocket, then realized he didn’t have the damn key. Even if his cousin had left it unlocked, he couldn’t—

  “Looking for this?” Garrick strolled out of the pub, dangling the key fob from his fingers.

  Quinn winced privately, but reminded himself he was the vampire lord here, not Garrick. “Great, you’re here. Where’s Adorjan?”

  Garrick studied him for a moment, then drew a deep breath. “He’s waiting at the house. You want to stay here or—”

  “No, we’re going back to the city, and we’ll have to ignore the speed limits to do it,” Quinn said, sliding into the passenger seat.

  His cousin joined him, punching the ignition before he was fully seated. “I’ll let Adorjan drive. He’s been dying to break the law ever since we got here.”

  Quinn thought that they’d already broken more than a few laws. Murder, for one. Smuggling, criminal conspiracy, racketeering . . . He could go on. But all he said was, “Good. Because we’re going to be breaking a few more very soon.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Dublin, Ireland

  QUINN WOKE IN THE security of his new private suite in the Ballsbridge house. It was nice to finally have a safe place to spend the day, but all he could think was that it would be even nicer if a certain hot redhead was waking up next to him. He quashed that thought before it was fully formed. Sure, he was attracted to Eve. What man wouldn’t be? She was gorgeous and sexy and as fiery as hell . . . and if any other man laid a hand on her, he’d kill him.