Frost Burn (The Fire and Ice Series, Book 1) (20 page)

Turning her around, he took four steps before placing her down on the couch and following her onto it. Pushing her back onto the plump cushions, he leveled his body over top of hers. Her hands pushed the back of his shirt up, his skin bunched beneath the fingers skimming across his flesh. He couldn’t get enough of tasting her, as his hands slid up her silken thighs to the bottom of her baggy t-shirt. The almost cinnamon scent of her blood was an alluring temptation that only excited him further. The silky feel of her creamy skin ensnared him; pushing her shirt further up, he flattened his hand against her stomach as he tried to steady himself. He’d never be satisfied until he possessed her in every way, but he wanted to savor her and take his time.

The prick of her fangs against his bottom lip rattled his resolve to go slow and nearly sent him over the edge. His hand slid further up to brush over her ribcage. She jerked beneath him; her hands dug into the flesh of his back as he ran his hands over her skin. Unable to control them, his own fangs lengthened in eager response. He nipped at her bottom lip before drawing it into his mouth and lightly licking over the area he’d just offended. Drawing on his firm restraint, he fought against biting down on her full bottom lip and bringing forth the blood he so desperately craved.

The deep, probing thrusts of his tongue sweeping into her mouth caused her to tremble. A small moan escaped her; she arched up beneath him, her hips thrusting against his. Hunger for her body and her blood surged as insistently in him as lava from an erupting volcano. He’d been walking a fine line with her, trying to keep his distance, his control. He felt that line fraying as the blood in her veins called to him. With a more forceful growl, he withdrew his hand from her shirt to clasp her face in between his palms.

“Julian!” His name was a pant that drove him further beyond the thin layer of control he was barely holding onto.

Her head fell back as his mouth slid away from hers. He kissed her cheek before taking her ear into his mouth and sucking on it tenderly. Her hands slid up his back, leaving a trail of fire over him. The heat of her skin burned into his as he pressed his lips against her neck and the vein running just beneath the surface. His lips skimmed back, he raked his fangs over her tender flesh but didn’t pierce it. Her blood was there, begging to be tasted. All he had to do was bite down.

Her body stilled beneath his, her warm mouth turned into his neck, and her lips rested against him. The pull of her blood was so potent it caused saliva to rush into his mouth, but he remained still against her. This was different than any of the other times he’d exchanged blood with a vampire. He cared for her, but this line wasn’t one he was ready to cross. It would leave him vulnerable in a way he hadn’t been since he’d been imprisoned and tortured in that hellhole with Cassie.

Pulling his mouth away was one of the most difficult things he’d ever done, but he pressed a kiss against her skin and did so. His disappointment vanished as he dropped his hands down again to skim over her body. He wouldn’t taste her now, but he had his control back and he planned to take his time and enjoy her like he’d originally intended. His palm flattened against her thigh as he pulled back to look into her smoky honey eyes. His finger traced over the scar on her chin, her penance, her punishment for a mistake she’d had no control over. He touched the scar running across her temple before bending to press a kiss to the one on her chin.

“Julian, no…”

“Shh,” he whispered as he kissed the one on her temple next. She remained rigid against him, unable to relax as he gently touched the heartrending reminders of her past. “You don’t deserve them.”

Bending his head to hers again, he was about to reclaim her mouth when a knock sounded on the door. A low grumble of displeasure rumbled through his chest. Judging by the scents in the air, Chris and Melissa stood on the other side of the door. His upper lip skimmed back, the words,
go
away
, lodged in his throat, but no matter how badly he wanted to continue this, there were more important things they had to deal with.

His fingers slid through her silken hair as he turned back to her. Her enticing lips were swollen from his kisses, but the smokiness had faded from her eyes. She’d briefly let her walls slip; he could see them going back up now. “Don’t shut me out,” he told her as he ran his finger over her bottom lip.

“I’m not.”

He tilted his head to study her. “Dewdrop I can almost see the fortress growing behind your eyes. Don’t shut me out.”

“You won’t let me.”

He laughed as he bent to press a kiss against her lips again. “No, I won’t.”

He kissed the tip of her nose before reluctantly pulling away from her and rising to his feet. Holding his hand out to her, he helped her to stand. She hastily fixed her t-shirt and pushed back her hair. “I have to take a shower,” she mumbled.

The idea of her in the shower caused his blood to flash boil with lust. He briefly contemplated kicking Melissa and Chris out of here, but he didn’t think the action would be well received by anyone. Forcing himself to release her arm, he took a step away from her. She gave him one last look before hurrying away.

Keeping his face impassive, he walked to the door and pulled it open to let them in. “Everything ok?” Chris asked.

“Fine,” Julian assured him as he closed the door behind them.

“Took you a while to answer the door.”

“Some of us like to sleep.”

“Uh huh,” Chris said, his gaze went pointedly toward Quinn’s closed door.

Julian abruptly stepped in front of him to block his view of her door. Melissa smirked at him and plopped onto the couch. Chris whistled maddeningly as he walked over to join his friend. “Cassie’s still itching to come down here,” Melissa said.

“I’ve talked to Devon, he knows to keep her away,” Julian replied.

Chris laughed. “Let’s see how good that works out for him.”

“I definitely don’t envy him.”

“So, any theories on how a vampire is the one committing these murders without any of us knowing a vampire was in our presence the night of the fight?” Melissa asked.

“Not one,” he admitted and dropped onto the couch beside Chris. “Maybe it’s some kind of cloaking ability we’ve never encountered before.”

“Fantastic,” Chris mumbled.

Julian agreed as he propped his feet on the milk crate and rubbed tiredly at the bridge of his nose. Whatever was going on, he had a feeling he wasn’t going to like the answer.

Quinn stepped away from the coyote she’d caught and fed from. It glanced over its shoulder at her before vanishing behind one of the numerous outcroppings of rock rising up from the desert. The cool air slid over her skin, causing goose bumps to break out on her arms. She tilted her head back to take in the moon hanging just above the horizon and the thousands of stars glowing from the midnight tapestry above her.

She hadn’t been born in the desert, but it had become her home over the years. With her inability to deal with the sun, she’d often considered going somewhere safer for her, she felt at home here amongst the shifting red and orange sand though. Felt at home amongst the numerous wildlife, large and squat prickly cactuses and the wildness of the terrain around her. Maybe staying here was another way to punish herself by having to be locked away for large portions of the day. Or perhaps it was the barrenness of the desert, the loneliness of the rolling dunes and cactuses dotting the landscape that called to her.

It didn’t matter what it was, all that mattered was she’d somehow always felt safe hidden away here. Until now. Now a monster had invaded her home and was killing innocent women and children. And not just killing them, it was turning them into monstrosities, and she had no idea who it was or how to stop them from doing what they were doing.

She wiped away the blood on her mouth with the back of her hand. Her gaze involuntarily drifted over her shoulder as Julian released the coyote he’d been feeding from. The moonlight spilled over his chiseled features and lit his hair with its silvery radiance. The memory of what had transpired between them earlier flooded her mind; her lips tingled as she recalled the heat of his mouth burning against hers.

She’d been kissed before; felt up and nearly had sex with a boy she’d dated for two months during her senior year of high school. If her family hadn’t been murdered, she probably would have stayed with that boy, at least through the summer and maybe even her first semester of college. After the murders, she’d locked herself away from people until she was certain she could be trusted around them. When she’d reemerged she’d been guarded, caged, unwilling to care for anyone again. She was a monster, she’d killed her uncle, she’d consumed the blood of her loved ones; she deserved more than the scars marring her face and body. At least the scars showed the outside world a small piece of the hideousness within her. She’d made friends in this town, but she’d always known those friendships were tenuous at best. One day she would have to leave here, and people died far too easily.

This man had managed to break past the walls she’d so carefully constructed around herself over the years, and she didn’t know how to handle it. He wasn’t in love with Cassie, or so he said, but what was it he wanted from
her
? And why did he have to keep tearing at her walls, keep coming at her until she had nothing left to defend herself with?

His gaze mirrored the Arctic Ocean when it slid to her. It was a chilling color but warmth still spread throughout her as she held his unwavering eyes. A smile curled his mouth as he rose with the flowing grace of a river rippling over rocks. She could watch the mesmerizing way he moved every day but then she realized she was getting way ahead of herself. There was no way of knowing how long he would be in her life.

Still, she couldn’t deny that seeing him standing in front of the window, his arms open to the warmth of the sun, had been one of the most magnificent things she’d ever witnessed. He’d been so achingly beautiful that it had tugged at her heart in ways she’d never experienced before.

She glanced away from him and back toward the shifting sand of the desert as the wind rippled over the dunes. The fresh influx of coyote blood had helped to ease her hunger, but it did nothing to dampen the desire he’d managed to create within her.

She brushed back the hair from her face and wiped the sand from the knees of her pants as she tried to gather her scattered thoughts and emotions. What was she going to do about him? She didn’t think she’d ever figure out the answer, but when his hand wrapped around her elbow she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to know it.

He walked with her toward the back of Clint’s bar. If they started to run they could cover the three miles to the bar in less than two minutes; she found she far preferred walking with him. She stayed close to his side, welcoming the heat of his body. Just touching him warmed her from the tips of her toes to her hair.

“Are you going to search for whoever is doing this again tonight?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” he answered. His thumb stroked over her arm as they walked, sending a firestorm of yearning through her body. “I don’t like the idea of leaving you.”

“I can take care of myself.”

His head tilted as he studied her with an amused twinkle in his eyes. “I know you can, but you also don’t want to come up against a child again.”

“No, I don’t,” she admitted. “But if it’s going to die…”

“Not all of them die from it, but all of them have to be put down.” Quinn shuddered at the words. “I don’t think there will be any more children coming for us though.”

She swallowed before turning to look at him. “Why not?”

“Whoever is doing this made their point. They think they’re smarter; they’re playing with us, and they’re going to pay for that.”

The cold didn’t cause her to shiver this time; the merciless flash in his eyes did as they met hers again. His kisses could melt her like a flame melted chocolate, but there was only so much warmth in him. “How are we going to find them?” she inquired.

He pondered her question before shaking his head. “I’ll find a way. They may have some kind of cloaking ability that makes them appear human. They can’t cloak their memories from me though. And I think they want to be found; they mistakenly believe they’re stronger than me, but they don’t know who they’re messing with.”

His voice was a lethal rumble. She knew, without a doubt, if he discovered the vampire who had turned the girl, there would be little left of them. It was the matter of finding the vamp before they could kill any more children.

***

Quinn dropped the tray onto the bar and pulled her apron off. A hot bath sounded like a little bit of heaven right now. She’d forgotten the extremely popular, local band,
Kerosene
was playing tonight. Not only did her feet throb and her head ache, but she’d been groped more times than a tour guide in a dark haunted house. At least a dozen men had walked out of here tonight having received a good zap; she’d smacked more than her fair share of hands, and one of them wouldn’t be having sex again for a good week. She had bills to pay, but there was only so much she would tolerate. If she was too tired by the time she got home to take a bath, she was at the very least going to scrub herself down.

Chris, Melissa, and the others were still in the poolroom, talking with the members of the band as they packed up their equipment. They were all that remained in the bar, and she couldn’t wait for them to head home. Angie glanced up at her from behind the bar, her eyes were bloodshot and her hair straggled around her pretty face. Quinn was about to ask her how she’d faired through the night when the door opened. Her hand instinctively went to the stake strapped at her side; it fell away when Julian stepped inside.

He met her questioning gaze and gave a barely discernible shake of his head no. Quinn’s shoulders slumped, she plopped onto the bar stool and dropped her chin into her hands. It was more than the crowd that had worn her down, but also the ever-present worry some Chucky-like child would barge in here to try and kill them. She didn’t think she could take that horror again.

Her skin prickled from the aura of power he emitted seconds before Julian’s hands came down upon her shoulders and he began to massage them. Quinn relaxed into his touch, her body swayed instinctively closer to his. Angie’s mouth parted, her eyes shot back and forth between them.

“Long night?” The low rumble of his voice caused her body to tingle all over.

“It was a ball buster,” Angie replied. She dropped her rag on the bar and leaned across it toward them. “Good tips though.”

“Yeah,” Quinn murmured but she didn’t care about anything else as his hands continued to knead her flesh. He could work miracles with those hands, something she knew well from earlier. Right now, he made her feel cared for in a way she hadn’t felt in the past six years.

Her eyes closed, her back pressed against his chest. His hands slid from her shoulders down her arms, the warmth of his lips pressed against her ear as he spoke. “If you like, when we get back to your place, I can get some lotion and give you a proper massage.”

Her eyes flew open; her mouth went dry as she met the wicked twinkle in his eyes. She’d thought he was teasing, but meeting his gaze now, she knew he’d been dead serious. She didn’t know how to respond. “If you’re ready for me?” he murmured.

That was the question, was she ready for him? She definitely felt more for him than anyone else she’d ever encountered, but was she ready to give herself over to him so completely? Her heart had been destroyed once already; she’d spent many years keeping it safely tucked away, but this man insisted upon wiggling his way into it.

“We haven’t even been on a date yet,” she managed to choke out. It wasn’t the best way to deflect his question, but it was the best she could come up with right now.

His gaze searched hers; his smile was endearing as he leaned forward and pressed a kiss against her forehead. “We’ll just have to remedy that now won’t we, Dewdrop?”

The vulnerability in his eyes pulled at her but the idea of having her heart shattered again caused a lump to form in her throat. He was putting himself out there right now, and she couldn’t think of one word to say in response.

Thankfully she was saved from having to answer by the band trudging into the main bar area. “Quinn, Angie,” the lead singer said with a tip of his cowboy hat. “I’m sure we’ll be seeing you ladies soon.”

“Have a goodnight, Raylan,” Angie said and Quinn gave a brief wave of her fingers.

“You guys should be getting out too,” Quinn said to Julian. “While we lock up.”

She reluctantly moved away from the fingers making her muscles quiver and rose to her feet. Angie walked around the bar and began to gather empty glasses from the tables as Chris, Melissa, Luther, Lou, and Zach emerged from the poolroom. Melissa and Zach had their heads bent close together; they were both laughing as they walked.

Luther had told her earlier he’d looked up her family and confirmed they’d been listed as dead years before their actual deaths. Her birth had never been recorded, her existence never known about. These were things she’d already been told. It was still a relief to know that no one had ever known about her, until now. Luther hadn’t discovered anything else of importance in his search through her family’s history.

“I’ll be right outside,” Julian told her.

“I wouldn’t expect anything less.” Placing her hands in his back, she nudged him toward the door.

“Oh wait!” Melissa cried and spun back toward the poolroom.

Lou, thrown off by her abrupt change in direction took an awkward step to the side. His foot became entangled in the bottom of one of the tables. It skittered to the side when he fell heavily against it. Angie let out a startled yelp and lunged forward as a glass slid over the wooden surface toward the floor. Julian’s hand shot out; he snagged hold of the glass before it could crash to the floor and create a much bigger mess.

Angie gawked at the hand that had moved with the speed of lightning. “Ah, thank you,” Angie stammered, her fingers brushed over his when she took the glass from him. Quinn started to turn away when Julian stiffened perceptively, his nostrils flared and his hand shot out to wrap around Angie’s wrist. “Hey!” Angie cried out. Julian kept hold of her wrist, his eyes burned into Angie’s as he searched her face. “Let go of me!”

He released her so abruptly that Angie took a stumbling step back. Grabbing hold of her wrist, she held it against her chest as she rubbed at it. Julian continued to loom over her, his jaw locked as he stared at her relentlessly. “Asshole,” Angie muttered before hurrying past Quinn and toward the bathroom.

Quinn rounded on him when the bathroom door closed. “You hurt her!” she accused. Julian’s eyes remained focused on the bathroom. “Julian…”

“It’s her.”

“What?” Quinn demanded and even the others looked at him as if he’d just said the sun had fallen from the sky.

“She’s not a vampire but she
is
who the memories came from.”

“Impossible,” Quinn said flatly. “Angie’s a good person, she’d never harm anyone.”

The muscles in his arms stood out as his hands clenched and unclenched. She was half-afraid he was going to launch himself across the bar, break down the door to the bathroom and rip Angie out of there. He remained where he stood, a muscle jumping in his cheek as his teeth grated together. His head turned toward her. Quinn’s eyes widened when she came face to face with the barely leashed savagery running below his surface. He’d told her he was lethal and not to be messed with. Looking at him now, she fully realized how brutal he could be.

“She’s a good person, Julian,” she insisted again.

“Maybe she is, but you’re not going to be alone with her in here again.”