Warrior Betrayed: The Sons of the Zodiac 3 (23 page)

A long, heated drag of suction as she swirled her tongue along the underside of his cock. With clever fingers, she added pressure and he felt the telltale tightening at the base of his spine as she used both her hands and her mouth on him.

“Montana.” Her name dragged from his chest on a rush of air.

“Hmmm.” She never broke contact, the word humming around his cock and sending another round of hard shocks through his system.

She never let up.

She simply stared up at him with that liquid-blue gaze and that was all it took.

Quinn gave himself up. Vulnerable, naked—physically and emotionally—it was in that moment he knew.

He was hers.

He’d be hers until the stars fell from the sky and the heavens exploded.

Forever.

Unable to bear it another moment, he reached for her shoulders and pulled her forward. “Montana.”

His body on the brink of madness, she only made it worse as she slowly crawled up to settle herself on top of him. Her husky voice showed him she wasn’t unaffected by what lived between them. “Quinn.”

Fingers trembling, he reached for her waist and settled her over himself. Hips arching, his body fought a desperate battle for more pleasure as he pushed upward to drive himself even deeper within her.

When she began to move, Quinn gave her the lead as she rode him. He felt the sweet curves of her ass as she fell back onto him over and over again and gazed on the glory of her breasts as they moved in rhythm with her movements.

As her inner muscles clamped around him, Quinn let go. Arching upward, he used his hands to drag her down, their lips and tongues merging in tempo with their bodies.

A low moan began deep in his chest, carried forth in the power of his orgasm. And as he gave his body up to the heat that raged between them, Quinn’s promise was turned on its ear.

As Montana cried out above him, her orgasm overtaking her, Quinn went blind.

Montana stretched like a cat. The satisfaction of being made love to before nine a.m. was such a welcome change of pace she wasn’t sure she could ever go back to board meetings.

Board meetings…

The thought lodged in her mind and like an insistent insect, buzzed in her ear, refusing to be ignored.

Board meetings.

Florida.

“Oh shit.” Montana sat straight up and glanced at the clock. “Quinn.” She pushed at his shoulder to get his attention. “Quinn.”

“What? I kept my promise, didn’t I?”

“I know. But I didn’t.”

Quinn shifted and rolled to his side, his gaze alert. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“The board of directors meeting in the Florida Keys. It’s in a few days at our resort. I have to get it all canceled. I can’t risk these people. I have to get this taken care of.”

Montana reached for her robe and dragged it on. “I can’t believe I forgot this. I can’t believe I was so irresponsible. It’s like Jackson died for nothing. And Laura. And Tony.”

“Montana.” Quinn dragged at the back of the robe, but she flitted out of his reach.

“Would you get
up
?”

“Montana.” All traces of sleep left his voice as he said her name in three crisp syllables. “Calm down.”

“I have to take care of this.”

“
We
will take care of it. Let me get dressed and I’ll have you back at the brownstone in five minutes.”

As she watched him drag on his clothes from the night before, Montana couldn’t help but wonder if she had five seconds.

How could she have forgotten Jackson so quickly? Or the threat that hovered, just waiting to strike?

True to his word, Quinn had them both back at the brownstone in less than five minutes. Montana had immediately asked after her mother and Callie directed her to a second-floor guest room.

“Find out anything else?” Quinn scrubbed a hand over his jaw as he looked up at Brody and Rogan. Both men had followed him into the security center and they’d been suspiciously quiet as Quinn scanned the continuous stream of reports from the various monitors.

Brody started first. “Her mother’s worse. I didn’t think it was possible, but she is. Exponentially worse than last night when they brought her here.”

“Why didn’t you call us back here?”

“We didn’t know. Ava and Callie just found her about fifteen minutes ago. She fainted in her room.”

Another reason Montana would be beating herself up.

Fuck.

“Something else arrived a little while ago.”

“Here?”

“At Montana’s. Ilsa and Kane stayed there last night, keeping watch.”

“They didn’t have to do that. Arturo left his message all over Montana’s office. What reason did he have to go back?” Even as he said the words, the look on Brody’s face left Quinn with the sinking suspicion he’d misjudged.

“Yeah, well, apparently there was a part two. Pull up the feed you’ve got going on Montana and look at the security in her building.” Brody pointed to the screen as Quinn typed in a few keystrokes.

It wasn’t lost on Quinn that Rogan moved up first to look at the data.

“A messenger delivery?”

“He checks out clean and the service has no record of who gave them the package that was delivered to Montana’s doorman.” Brody pointed toward an envelope Quinn hadn’t noticed on the edge of his desk. “Take a look.”

Quinn flipped through the various sheets of papers, not sure of what it all meant. “These are dossiers on each of the new board of directors.”

“Yeah. With personal details about each individual as well as details on each of their families,” Rogan pointed over his shoulder at the photo on top. “Joy Justice, head of Justice Cosmetics.”

Quinn scanned the page again. It was only on a closer look that he saw what he was supposed to see. “Joy Justice has three children, ages five, seven and ten. And their names are circled.”

“It’s like that on all of them,” Brody added. “Everyone has a weak spot and Arturo’s going to use that to his benefit.”

“So we get there and get all of them into protective custody. I run a fucking security business. It’s what I do, Talbot.”

Brody shook his head. “Look at the last page.”

As Quinn flipped to the very last page, after the dossiers, he saw it. The thin disk clipped to the page, the kind used to capture photos on a digital camera.

“We haven’t had a chance to watch it yet, but we think he’s got them already. Hostages.”

Montana tucked her mother in, rewrapping the blanket around her frail form. Eirene had gotten worse overnight, and Montana couldn’t help but wonder how long she really had left with her.

And she’d spent the time with Quinn.

“He’s a wonderful man, Montana.”

The guilt racking her system threatened to choke her as Montana gazed down into Eirene’s knowing blue gaze. “He’s a distraction, Mother.”

The blankets fell away as Eirene reached out. “He’s your future, Montana. You were right to spend the time with him. To heal from the horror of yesterday.”

“How can you say that?”

“Because I can see your happiness. For the first time, my sweet precious baby, I can see it. On you. Around you. When you’re with him, you’re right where you’re supposed to be.”

“Moth—”

Eirene held up a hand to stop her. “It’s your time with him and you need to take it.”

“But you needed me last night.”

“Callie took care of me just fine.” Eirene released her grip on Montana’s forearm and smoothed the covers. “Besides, orgasms are good for immortals. Aids in building up strength.”

A choked laugh caught her by surprise. “Mother!”

Eirene actually looked a bit offended. “I was young once, too, Montana. I know about these things.”

“I’m sure you do.”

“Damn straight,” her mother grumbled and Montana couldn’t stop the small giggle. “And there’s something else I know. Men like Quinn Tanner don’t come along every day.”

“No,” Montana mused, an image of his dark eyes filling her mind’s eye. “They don’t.”

“You have to reach out and take joy where you find it. I did that and despite all my other regrets, I’ve never once regretted that.”

“You mean you and Daddy?”

“Yes. Oh, he was magnificent. Jack Grant, the bold businessman out to conquer the world.”

Montana smiled at the sweet ache in her mother’s tone and the wistful yearning that filled her gaze. “Sounds pretty special.”

“It was. And it made me realize I didn’t know what special was before that.”

Montana settled herself on the bed and leaned forward. The oversized sweatshirt she’d pulled on before leaving the ranch house was warm and cozy and she reveled in the feeling of connection.

A conversation with her
mother
.

“You had other beaus before Daddy?”

“Oh yes. Mount Olympus is quite the scene, actually. Gods, demigods, immortals and so on. There’s always someone to keep an eye on and my sisters and I had our eyes on many.”

A bittersweet sort of awe filled her chest as Montana thought of her mother as a young woman.

Not as a mother. Or a wife. Or even a frail human. A young, healthy woman with the world at her feet.

“Sounds like you had fun.”

“I did. And it was fun. And then I was the first to get serious with someone and things changed. I was engaged once before, you know. Before I met your father.”

“You were? Was that guy a mortal, too?”

“Oh no. He was perfectly acceptable in every way. Everyone loved him, my mother most of all. The problem was, I didn’t love him.” The haze of memory in Eirene’s gaze shifted back to the present. “Just like you didn’t love Stephen.”

“You knew about that?”

“Darling. Just because I’ve not been physically present doesn’t mean I haven’t watched out for you. I knew from the first he wasn’t right.”

“Because you didn’t like him?”

“Because he wasn’t right. The two of you didn’t fit. Just as Arturo and I didn’t fit.”

The sharp, pointed flare of understanding stabbed at Montana, her chest going tight at her mother’s words. A coincidence. That had to be it.

It had to be.

Desperate to keep her voice calm and not over-react, she pressed Eirene. “Arturo?”

“He was a gorgeous man. I’ll give him that. Dark Latin features and the most incredible bedroom eyes you’ve ever seen. But it just wasn’t enough. He was a pretty package and that was all.”

Montana thought of the man she knew as Arturo Veron. A beautiful exterior wrapped around a depraved, dishonest soul. “How’d you meet him?”

“He was in service to my mother. One of her Warriors.”

Her stomach flipped over at the truth. “Like Quinn?”

“Exactly like Quinn. Arturo is a Taurus Warrior, too.”

“Your mother dated Arturo Veron?”

“She was engaged to him, too.” Montana walked through what she’d learned from Eirene, including the history of her courtship with Arturo. Her increasing discontent with him. And finally, the Warrior’s anger when Eirene broke the engagement.

“Did she give you a sense of when this happened?”

Montana couldn’t help but be impressed at Quinn’s security room. He sat at an oversized leather rolling chair before a bank of monitors that would have made NASA weep with envy. Pulling her gaze away from an image of the front entrance of Grant Shipping on one of the monitors, she nodded. “Several millennia ago.”

“Which makes more sense.”

“How?”

“I couldn’t understand how I missed him. I’ve got intel on all the individuals joining your board of directors and he never popped for me. He never registered and I haven’t been able to figure out why.”

“You think he defected from being a Warrior before you ever became one?”

“We’ll have to confirm with your mother when she ended the relationship, but that’s exactly what I think.”

“Do we have to tell her?”

“You didn’t?”

Montana knew it wasn’t fair, but she just couldn’t bring Eirene any more grief. “At first, I was so surprised I couldn’t say anything. And then the more I thought about it the more I realized I didn’t want to upset her.”

“She needs to know. And if she does know, she may be able to offer us some additional information.”

She couldn’t hold back the small sigh. “I know you’re right. I just wanted to spare her the pain.”

Understanding and acceptance filled the depths of Quinn’s gaze. “I know.”

“Do you want to know something else?” Montana moved forward and laid a hand on his shoulder. With her other hand she ran a finger down the stubble on his chin.

“What?”

“I think your interest in finding out more means there’s finally something you’re not taking responsibility for.”

His hands fisted in the bunched material of the sweatshirt at her waist. “Maybe I’m mellowing a bit.”

Montana bent forward and pressed her lips to his. “The guys will be shocked.”

“We’ll keep it as our little secret.”

Montana moved into his lap, their lips never breaking contact. As one moment spun into the next, she marveled at how desirable Quinn made her feel.

The soft, sure press of his lips let her know how much he wanted her. She reveled in the deft stroke of his hands, gentle, yet knowing, as he touched her. And the sense of security—of protection—she felt each and every time he wrapped his large body around hers.

Settling into his lap, her head against his shoulder, Montana allowed her gaze to travel the width of the security screens again before alighting on a stack of papers next to his keyboard. “What is this?” Montana grabbed the papers, Quinn’s answering “Wait” seeming to come from a distance.

“But…but these are my board of directors.” The pain and guilt over Jackson, Laura and Tony roiled in her stomach like a bad meal. “What is this, Quinn?”

“Arturo’s next targets.”

Ice-cold fingers seized her nerves as she flipped through the dossiers. “Does he have them, too? These people he’s clearly targeted.”

“I’m afraid so.”

Montana stood and moved back several steps. She didn’t deserve the warmth of Quinn’s arms or the feeling of safety to be found there. She didn’t deserve to feel anything while these people suffered. “Where? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“We believe they’re being held in Florida. I was about to find you when you found me.”

“But they’re in danger.”

Quinn’s dark eyes offered a solemn promise, as did his words. “We’re going to get them back, Montana. We’ll get them all back.”

“But they’re in danger because of me. Just like Jackson and the others.”

“They’re not going to end up like Jackson and the others. I promise you that.”

“Damn straight, they’re not.” With the clarity that can only come in the midst of adversity, Montana knew what had to be done.

What role she had to play.

Quinn stood and moved toward her. “What do you mean?”

“We’re going after him. If I’m the one Arturo wants, he can have me. And we’re going to take him down.”

Arturo finished checking on the last of his hostages, before slamming the heavy iron door to the room in disgust. The Florida warehouse had proven a perfect place to hide people, but
fuck all
, if he wasn’t rethinking this part of the plan.

These people were so damn annoying he was tempted to kill them all and punt with a new idea.

Stalking toward a makeshift office, Arturo scanned through what he’d missed the past fifteen minutes on the various security cameras he had on Montana.

It had been so easy. Was the woman that trusting or just that stupid?

Three successive board meetings at Grant Shipping and he was able to get communications equipment inside the building each and every time. He had cameras and listening devices in all key areas of her office and she was oblivious.

He didn’t even need to use any of his immortal skills to do it.

Gods, how did these humans live like this? They had the most voracious appetites to fuck one another over in every way imaginable, yet they still believed in one another.

Trusted one another.

“I thought we might find you here.”

Arturo whirled around from the screens, Enyo’s long, lean form filling the doorway of the makeshift office.

An unexpected wave of panic shot through his stomach in short, hard jabs.
Fuck
. How did this woman manage to throw him off? One look from her and he felt his balls shrivel up.

Painting on the cocky grin he’d worn since his birth so many millennia ago, he lifted his eyebrows and projected as much disdain as he could. “We? You weren’t kidding when you said you wanted to bring reinforcements. And how thoughtful of you. I’ve always had a special fondness for twins.”

Enyo moved through the door and on her heels was an equally tall, equally lithe woman with matching features. Even though they were obviously sisters, Arturo couldn’t help but notice some very clear differences.

Where Enyo had a sheen of refinement and, dare he say it—elegance?—her sister looked like she’d walked straight off a battlefield.

From the tips of her shit kickers to the tight leather that covered her ass, the woman screamed “Don’t fuck with me” like a blinking neon sign.

Enyo moved in even closer and Arturo fought the inclination to back up a few steps. He’d be damned if he’d give her the satisfaction. “Eris and I aren’t here to indulge your perverted little fantasies.” She let out a small, tinkling laugh that ran like razor blades down his spine, “not that I don’t enjoy a good perverted fantasy or two. But, be that as it may, I think our relationship needs to stay strictly professional.”

“You do?”

“Yes. Sadly, Arturo, I’ve thought about it and decided I needed to test our partnership before we attempted any ‘partners with benefits’ relationship.”

Enyo reached out and stroked one long finger down the front of his jeans. He watched, mesmerized, as the rich bloodred of her nail stood out in stark contrast to the dark color of denim. And fuck, if she couldn’t make him respond. His cock shot to attention like an over-eager schoolboy raising his hand.

“Of course, if you act like a good boy and do what I ask, I may change my mind.”

Willing his body under control, Arturo nodded toward the other woman. “So Eris is your sister?”

“Yes. I had this sudden realization that she and I hadn’t spent nearly enough time together lately, so I decided to remedy the situation.”

“And what does your little family reunion have to do with me?”

Enyo shot a glance over her shoulder where Eris waited in the doorway. “A lot, actually.”

Eris stepped forward and came to stand next to her sister. Under any other circumstance, Arturo would revel in the close proximity of two women, especially when one had a hand still planted firmly on his groin.

But something about the two of them set off warning bells.

“We decided that you’ve got something we want.” Eris’s voice was low and dark, evoking all the warmth of a torture chamber.

“What’s that?”

“The goddess of peace.”

Arturo flicked a wrist. “She’s a means to an end.”

Enyo pressed harder against his jeans. Even though it was just the pad of her index finger, the threat was as clear as if she’d taken a knife to his balls. “Then you won’t mind if we call dibs on her. When you offered me access to the Warriors, Eirene and her daughter, you didn’t say I couldn’t pick and choose.”

Arturo weighed the situation. He could always agree and then fix things to his advantage on the boat. He’d planned this for quite some time. All he needed to do was bluff his way through and then leave the Warriors to deal with the
ladies
.

“Fine. Eirene is yours.”

At the satisfied smile that spread across Enyo’s face, Arturo knew he’s made the right choice. Hell, he liked to live on the edge and it was his own damn fault he invited a nest of vipers into his midst. Might as well play out the hand and use them to his advantage.

They walked in here like the Olsen twins, but it was no secret on Mount Olympus the two women were rarely in agreement on anything.

If he played his cards right, he could use them to distract the Warriors while he took care of Eirene and Montana and then he’d still get his prize at the end.

He really did enjoy a pair of sisters every now and again.

Extending a hand toward the monitors, Arturo pasted a smile back on his face. “Ladies, let me show you what I had in mind.”

“You’re not going to be the lure, Montana.” Quinn shook his head as a wave of—frustration? Anger? Bone-numbing fear?—rocked his gut. “Arturo is dangerous and he’s been working on this for far longer than any of us know. He’s methodical and stubborn and you’re not walking into the middle of that.”

Montana shook her head as she pointed a finger at her chest. “Quinn. I am the bait and there’s nothing we can do to change that. This isn’t going to stop unless we make a bold move. You all can protect me. Hell, if someone would teach me, I could protect myself with this supposed immortal power I’m gaining.”

They were all assembled back in the kitchen, more heaping plates of food bookending the countertop, as Quinn, Montana and the other Warriors sat and planned their strategy.

Rogan and Drake took the end of the table, plowing through matched plates of lasagna while Kane and Ilsa sat next to them with a map of the Florida Keys spread out just beyond their own plates of food. Brody and Ava stood at the counter with laptops open and Callie kept herself busy baking a batch of brownies while interjecting into every single conversation.

“Montana’s right. You have to let her go on this, Quinn.”

Quinn bristled at Callie’s interference. “I don’t have to let her do anything.”

“Actually, you do,” the nymph shot back. “This is her destiny. And you have to let her live it.”

Raw fury pumped in his veins—at the situation, at Callie’s flippant remarks about fate and destiny and, damn it, at the fear he couldn’t protect Montana. “Her destiny is fucked up because of a shitty decision Themis made about Eirene. That has nothing to do with Montana.”

“It has everything to do with her.” Callie shoved the large mixing bowl across the counter and stalked over toward him. The entire kitchen went silent at her outburst, everyone still as statues. “You can’t keep her from this.”

“I have to keep her safe.”

Callie got in his face and refused to back down. “You have to support her and believe in her and do everything you can for her. But you can’t take this away for her.”

And there it was.

Just like with Kane and Ilsa, the truth reached up and slapped him in the face.

Just as he couldn’t take away their pain. Or their trials. Or the roadmap of their destinies.

He couldn’t do it for Montana.

Throwing his napkin on the table, he stalked from the room. The truth hurt, but the knowledge he had to let Montana enter the battle tore him to ribbons.

“I know you don’t care for me very much, but I’d like to say something to you.”

Quinn stared at the screen before him—whatever he’d sat down at his computer to do bogged somewhere in his brain. He couldn’t think. Fuck, he couldn’t even function on autopilot.

Montana wanted to walk straight into Arturo’s plans.

Plans the ex-Taurus had no doubt been honing on for quite some time. He might not know Arturo Veron personally, but Quinn knew himself.

Knew what he was capable of.

Knew the stubborn, methodical ways of the bull that rode on his shoulder and influenced his life.

Whirling in his chair, Quinn’s gaze landed on Eirene, where she waited at the door to the security center. He stood immediately, reaching for her frail forearm and leading her to his chair. “Please sit down.”

“I hate this,” she grumbled as she lowered herself into the seat. “I knew it was my destiny eventually, but I hate it.”

It was the first he’d heard anything from her but a serene view of the world and it was a surprise. “Illness. Sickness. The life of an immortal ensures these aren’t worries. Hell, they’re not even fleeting thoughts.”

Eirene nodded as she folded her hands in her lap. The blue of her veins was visible in stark relief against her paper-thin skin. “I thought myself so unbeatable. Even those first years in my mortal body, I thought myself invincible. And now look at me.” Eirene looked down at her body, disgust riding her features when she glanced back up at him. “I’m dying.”

“Yes.” A callous acknowledgment for a callous situation.

“And I’m leaving my baby at the most difficult trial of her life.”

“Seems like you’ve done that from the first.” The words were out before he could stop them and strangely, after he’d spoken, Quinn acknowledged he was glad he had. This woman had given Montana a lifetime of hurt and he wasn’t all that willing to cut her any slack, despite the evidence death was waiting to claim her.