Quinn's Undying Rose (Scanguards Vampires #6) (17 page)

Shit.

Quickly, she tore her gaze away. “I just wanted to ask about the bottles in the fridge.” Her voice was shaky at first, then normalized. “You’re not leaving them there while Blake is here, right?”

“No, I asked Nina to move them.”

“I’ll help her then.” Rose turned and left.

“Rose . . .” he murmured and shoved a hand through his hair, but she didn’t turn back.

Behind him, Wesley pulled away from the wall.

“Sorry, Quinn. I didn’t mean to be disrespectful. Won’t happen again.”

His voice sounded deflated, and the exuberance he’d heard in him earlier was gone. Suddenly, Quinn felt like an ass, robbing him of the excitement this assignment presented for him.

“No hard feelings,” he assured him and looked at him.

***

Rose rushed down the stairs and headed for the kitchen. Overhearing Quinn talk about her in such a passionate tone had sent a thrill through her entire body. He still considered her his, and while she’d always hated any possessive overtones from men, it was different with Quinn. Knowing that Quinn wanted to possess her like this and would kill any man who touched her, was a bigger turn on than she’d ever imagined. The thought electrified her, stirred her in a way nothing else ever had.

She felt flushed when she reached the kitchen and was grateful for the fact that vampires couldn’t blush. At least it would save her from having to explain to anybody she encountered, why she felt so out of sorts.

Pushing the door open, she stepped into the kitchen. There was Nina, rather than dutifully emptying the refrigerator of the incriminating bottles of blood, sitting on the kitchen table, locked in a passionate embrace with one of the biggest vampires she’d ever seen: Amaury. Nina’s legs were wrapped around her mate’s waist, their lips fused together so firmly that Rose had to wonder whether the jaws of life were necessary to pry the lovers apart.

Suddenly the door closed behind her, the sound alerting the two. Amaury whirled his head around, the expression on his face catapulting Rose back against the door.

Good God, she’d never seen such lust-filled eyes. Were all these vampires totally love crazed? First Samson, now Amaury. As if they couldn’t get enough of their mates! As if they truly loved them. Was this even possible? Could vampires love like that? Could they have tender feelings like that? Feelings that were honest?

“Excuse the uh . . .” Amaury grinned from one ear to the other. “ . . . show of affection. But my wife here totally overpowered me. You can blame her.”

Nina let out an annoyed huff and slapped her hand against his shoulder, which had no effect whatsoever on her huge mate.

“Look who’s calling the kettle black!” She clicked her tongue then smiled at Rose. “Don’t mind him. He’s just some big oversized Neanderthal I made the mistake of tying up one night.”

She jumped off the table and rolled her eyes. “Now he’s following me everywhere.”

Amaury snatched her hand and pressed a kiss on it. “You can tie me up any day.”

Uncomfortable about their continued affectionate banter, Rose put her hand on the door handle. “I’d better leave.”

Amaury raised his hand. “No, stay. I’m out of here to help Quinn with a few things. I’ll leave you girls alone.”

He brushed past her and left the kitchen.

Nina’s laugh followed him. “Do you need anything? I was just going to organize the kitchen.”

“Let me help you with that. We need to move the . . . uh . . . bottles, you know.”

Rose figured it was better not to mention the word blood anywhere in the house, particularly since everybody constantly seemed to walk in on each other and overhear things they shouldn’t.

“I was just about to do that when Amaury interrupted.” She walked to the refrigerator and opened it.

The natural poise with which Nina moved and spoke impressed her. Her mate was so much bigger and stronger than she, yet she’d handled him as if she were the one in charge.

“It doesn’t bother you?”

Nina pointed at the bottles. “The blood? No, I’ve never been squeamish.”

Rose smiled. “I meant being with someone who’s clearly so much . . .” She hesitated.

“Bigger?” Nina shook her head.

More powerful
, Rose had meant to say, but bigger worked too.

“He would never hurt me. He would give his own life to save mine if he had to. Not that I would accept it, frankly. I’d kick his big butt if he tried that again. But you get the picture.”

“Again?”

Nina waved her off. “Don’t remind me. He almost got himself killed saving me from some crazy v—” She quickly glanced at the door before continuing. “Anyway, I know he would do it again in a heartbeat.”

The clans Rose had lived with had never put such stock in their human lovers, certainly not when it came to the point of protecting a human against one’s own species. That choice was always clear: vampires came before humans. Humans were expendable. While she didn’t subscribe to this mantra herself, she’d seen enough to realize that this attitude was widespread.

“I suppose someone like him is rare.”

Nina shrugged and placed a couple of bottles onto a tray. Rose reached into the refrigerator and followed her example.

“That’s the only way I know them. I think all of Scanguards’ men are like that. Yvette, too. They’re tough, but when it comes to their mates, they’re like little tame kittens or cuddly bears like Amaury.” She leaned closer. “Just don’t tell them that we’ve figured them out, or you’ll get a show of testosterone.”

Rose laughed. She liked Nina. She hadn’t gotten a chance to exchange more than a couple of words at the party when she’d been introduced, but now that she was able to chat with her, she realized more and more that Nina would never let herself be used by anybody, least of all her mate. Which made Rose wonder about one thing: did she enjoy Amaury’s bite?

But she couldn’t ask her that. It was too personal, and it was none of her business. But since Quinn had told her at the party that a bite represented the greatest sexual pleasure a vampire could give his partner, she was intrigued.

Rose had never allowed anybody to bite her and quickly severed any ties to any vampire who’d even made the attempt. Whenever she had to feed off a human, she had put herself into a state akin to a trance, where she would not truly realize what she was doing. She’d separated her mind as much as she could from what her body was doing. She had never enjoyed it.

But now, remembering what she’d seen Samson and Delilah do, and knowing that Amaury and Nina did the same, she couldn’t help but wonder how two human women could remain so happy when at the same time, their mates hungered for their blood on a daily basis. What were Delilah and Nina getting out of this?

“Something wrong?” Nina suddenly asked.

Quickly, Rose pasted a smile on her face. “No, nothing.”

“You haven’t met many like them, have you? I mean—” She lowered her voice. “—vampires who are mated to humans.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but how can it work? There’s no balance of power in such a relationship. We’re so much stronger than humans. How can you not feel that you’re in an inferior position?”

Nina chuckled softly. “Because love is a great equalizer.”

“But when he bites you . . . sorry, forget it. I didn’t mean to get personal.”

Rose placed another bottle on the tray and closed the refrigerator door. “Where shall we put those?”

“Rose.”

She looked back at Nina. “Yes?”

“I love his bite. I crave it. I don’t think I could ever live without it.”

“I wish I knew what that meant,” Rose murmured more to herself than as a response to Nina.

When she turned away from Nina, she caught a movement at the door. Quinn stood there, looking at her, his eyes shimmering golden, his lips lightly parted. She stopped breathing, and for a moment she was transported back to their wedding night. He’d looked at her like that when he’d made her his wife. With such love, such passion.

She knew she could trust him with her body. But could she trust him with her past?

19

Quinn turned on his heels before he could follow his first impulse: to take Rose into his arms and sink his fangs into her lovely neck, to show her what his bite would do to her. It made no difference that she wasn’t human. His bite would have the same effect Amaury’s bite had on Nina.

He was glad when he ran into Blake as soon as he turned a corner. At least having to deal with his grandson would keep his mind off Rose’s enticing neck.

“You’re just the man I’m looking for,” Quinn said, and steered him away from the kitchen, knowing it hadn’t been made
human-proof
yet.

Blake grinned. “Hey, cool digs.”

“Come, I want to introduce you to one of your trainers.” Then he raised his voice. “Amaury, where are you?”

“Looking for you,” his voice came from the living room, before he popped his head out into the hallway. “Are we going over the rules?”

“Thought we’d start with that,” Quinn said, entering the room.

Blake followed him like a well-trained puppy. “Rules?”

Quinn exchanged a quick smirk with Amaury, before turning to him. “You’ll have rules coming out of your ears by the time we’re done here. But, first things first. This is Amaury LeSang. You’ve lucked out. He’s our best trainer.”

Eagerly, Blake shook his hand. “Bond. Blake Bond.”

Noticing how Amaury’s lips twisted, Quinn instantly shot him a warning look to compel him to remain serious. Encouraging Blake’s 007 routine would only make matters worse. It was best to ignore it. His ego was big enough; now it was time to take him down a notch and make him realize that he had a lot to learn. Why that idea pleased him, Quinn didn’t really want to examine. Maybe in some small way, Blake reminded him of himself as a young man when he’d thought he could conquer the world, when he’d thought even going to war would not change him. He’d thought he’d be prepared for everything that was thrown at him. Well, he hadn’t been prepared for death.

Pushing back the rising memories, he motioned to the sitting area.

“We have a lot to discuss. There are ground rules every trainee has to comply with. Break one, and you’re out. Orders will be followed. Think of this as boot camp. Once you pass this, you’re ready to join the general trainees.”

“Huh?” Blake asked as he dropped onto the sofa. “This is not the real training yet?”

“It is,” Amaury cut in. “It’s where you get taught the basics, you and one other trainee. Only once you have those down is it safe to let you join the other trainees.”

Blake’s eyes lit up. “So, you’re saying this is dangerous?” The thought seemed to excite him.

“Absolutely.”

Quinn shot Amaury a scolding look. Great, now he would have to come up with some seemingly dangerous element of training just to keep the kid interested.

“Like what?”

“We’ll go into that later,” Quinn deflected. “Rule one: you won’t leave this house unless it’s in the company of one of the trainers or another trainee. You have to understand that there are other outfits out there that love poaching our recruits, and they will go as far as practically kidnapping a trainee just to throw a wrench into our operations.”

A deep frown built on Blake’s forehead. “Kidnap? You’ve gotta be joking. Why would somebody do that?”

“Because we’re too valuable,” Wesley’s voice came from the door.

He entered with long strides, an air of confidence around him. It appeared that the dressing down he’d received only minutes earlier had pearled off him like he was made of Teflon.

“I’m Wesley.” He stretched his hand out, and Blake jumped up to shake it.

Quinn nodded at him. “Wesley is the other trainee.”

“Hey,” Blake greeted him.

“Take a seat. To address your question, Blake, I’m afraid Wesley is right. You are too valuable. We’re making a large investment in you, and we’re prepared to protect this investment. In order to help us with our task, we require our recruits to be in top physical condition . . .”

After leaving Blake to a rigorous physical exercise program in the gym in the basement, under the supervision of Oliver, Quinn nodded to Amaury.

“I’m going on a perimeter check.”

Quinn welcomed the cool night air as he stepped outside into the dark. He wasn’t wearing a jacket, but the cold didn’t bother him.

Unsuccessfully, he tried to shake off the unease that kept creeping up on him. While he knew bringing Blake in was the best way to protect him in the short term, he also realized that in the long run, the only way to keep him safe was to eliminate the threat. If only he knew what Keegan really wanted.

His schooled eyes surveyed his surroundings as he walked along the sidewalk. The light of the streetlamps lining the quiet residential street threw dark shadows of his form onto the pavement.

He missed nothing: not the young man who stood hovering over his dog as the animal did its business, nor the car that tried to squeeze into a parking spot that was entirely too short for it.

With a sigh, he turned left at the end of the block. In the distance, several cars could be heard passing. There was light in the neighboring houses, but nobody was outside. His gaze drifted up to the windows and the roofs. No movement. Then his eyes roamed the gardens, his vampire night vision easily penetrating the dark shadows the bushes and trees created.

This was routine for him, and he or Amaury would perform this check several times a night. His actions were so automatic, so familiar to him, that his mind drifted back to Rose.

Why had everything gone so wrong?

He could still taste the bitterness in his mouth when she’d rejected him after he’d come back from the war a changed man. Her frightened look had shredded his heart, so much so that he was ready to die there and then.

London 1814

Quinn didn’t bother with the carriage, leaving his coachman waiting. As the heavy door fell shut behind, the knocker echoing the sound, he fell into a frantic run as if a slayer were chasing him with a wooden stake. He couldn’t get far enough away from Rose and the pain she had inflicted on him by rejecting him.