Quinn's Undying Rose (Scanguards Vampires #6) (27 page)

Rose sighed in relief when she heard the SUV that carried Blake enter the garage. She felt like hugging him when he walked into the foyer, but refrained from such a show of emotion. Knowing her grandson, he would have misconstrued the situation and thought she was coming onto him.

Thomas and Eddie were right behind him. She had met Eddie very briefly at Haven’s party, but had had more contact with Thomas when she had given him information on Keegan. Adding two more vampires to the guards at the B&B filled her with confidence. Not that she had any illusions that they could trick Keegan into thinking for very long that Blake wasn’t at the B&B. He had to suspect that they were bringing him back. It didn’t matter. Protecting Blake at the B&B was ultimately safer than keeping him hidden at Thomas’s house. By now Keegan had to know about Scanguards and was probably already trying to hack into their systems to find out where Blake could be hidden.

“So we won, huh?” Blake grinned from one ear to the other and looked at Quinn and her.

“Good work,” Quinn praised. “You must be starving. Why don’t you join Nina and Wesley in the kitchen? I think they cooked a late supper.”

“Great! I can eat a whole cow!” Blake claimed and patted his belly.

“And then you might want to get some shuteye. It’s well past midnight, and you’ve got a long day ahead of you.”

“Sounds good.”

Blake trotted off toward the kitchen. As soon as he was out of earshot, Thomas pointed toward the stairs.

“Eddie and I will get situated. Which rooms are available?”

Only now did Rose notice the small backpack Thomas had slung over his shoulder.

“There’s only one room empty on the second floor, next to mine. If you guys don’t mind sharing?” Quinn answered.

Rose caught an odd expression on Thomas’s face, as if he would rather stay by himself. Knowing that Quinn would most likely not use his room anyway, she figured there was no need to make the two guys uncomfortable.

She tugged at Quinn’s arm and leaned closer. “Why don’t you give up your room?” she murmured.

Immediately Quinn stared at her. “Why would I—?”

He stopped, his gaze suddenly dropping to her mouth where her tongue darted out to moisten her suddenly dry lips.

“You won’t need it.”

Realization darkened his eyes, lust suddenly blazing from them. Without breaking eye contact, he gave Thomas new instructions.

“Take rooms 23 and 24. I’ll move my stuff into Rose’s room later.”

“Great!” Thomas answered, relief evident in his voice as he headed up the stairs, Eddie on his heels.

A moment later, Quinn pulled her into his arms. “How can I thank you for the invitation?”

Need bubbled up in her. She bit her lip. “It’s not as much an invitation as it is a demand.”

His mouth twisted into a smile. “How so?”

“As a wife, I have certain rights. One of them is to be bedded by my husband.”

She noticed his Adam’s Apple move as he swallowed. Then his hand on her back slipped lower, palming her backside and pressing her closer.

“Your husband has certain rights too, as well as duties. As luck would have it, they coincide with yours.”

“Well, then I’m a lucky lady.” She rubbed herself against him, feeling the ridge in his pants swell and harden.

Quinn’s eyes shimmered golden as he expelled a hasty breath. Rose smiled, relishing the power she had over him. To turn him into a man controlled by his desire made her feel strong and desirable. How had she ever managed to live without him for so long?

“Are you busy right now?” she husked.

His lips moved closer, hovering over hers. “I’ve got all the time in the world.”

Sliding her hands down to his buttocks, she dragged his hips against hers, enjoying the hard outline of his flesh rubbing against her stomach.

Everything else was forgotten. Quinn’s presence, his arms around her, the evidence of his desire pressing against her belly, sent her back to her wedding night. She’d been scared; yet at the same time, she’d been curious. And when he’d revealed his male glory to her, she had salivated. She’d never seen anything more exciting. And it remained true until today. Quinn was still the only man who could make her feel like a real woman. It didn’t matter that she now had the body of a vampire.

“Take me now,” she whispered and slanted her lips over his mouth.

Somebody clicked his tongue, making Rose snap her head to the side and step out of Quinn’s embrace.

Zane leaned against the door to the living room, arms crossed over his chest, eyes rolling.

“Get a room.”

Quinn gave him a sideways grin. “Good advice.” Without being the least bit embarrassed, he took her hand and turned toward the door.

Rose avoided Zane’s assessing gaze as she walked past him, feeling more than a little flushed. The fact that Quinn’s colleague knew exactly what they were about to do shouldn’t bother her, after all, she was no blushing debutante anymore. However, it made her nervous.

“Maybe we’d better go over our plan of action before Keegan attacks again,” she said quickly, trying to slip her hand from Quinn’s. But he held on, as if he’d foreseen her action.

One side of Zane’s mouth pulled up slightly. He seemed to enjoy her discomfort. “I can cover you for a half hour.”

Winking at her, Quinn addressed his friend. “Make that an hour. And thanks. Appreciate it.”

Less than a minute later she found herself outside the door to her room on the second floor, Quinn’s hands all over her, his mouth kissing her greedily.

“God, woman, if you keep playing me like that, I’ll lose all respect of my colleagues.” Despite the complaint, there was no reprimand in his voice.

“Do you care?”

“Right now? Right now, all I care about is getting inside you.”

The feral look in his eyes sent a lightning bolt through her core, making her body hum with excitement. His hands were already on her jeans, reaching for the top button, when she turned the door knob and pushed the door inwards.

They tumbled into the room. Quinn slammed the door shut with his foot and pressed her against it, when a movement caught her eye.

“What the f—?”

Pushing Quinn away from her, she glared at the two intruders: Thomas and Eddie. Their guilty conscience was pasted as thickly on their faces as makeup on an old whore. Thomas held a device in his hand that looked like a wand of some sort.

“What are you doing here?” Rose tried to keep the rage under control that started boiling up in her.

Thomas and Eddie exchanged terse looks.

“Answer her!” Quinn demanded. “Because I’d like to know too.”

“Crap,” Eddie cursed.

Thomas straightened his shoulders. “We’re sweeping the room for bugs; standard procedure.”

Rose narrowed her eyes. She’d never heard such bullshit in her life. “Bugs, my ass! You’re looking for the flash drive, aren’t you? Go on, admit it!”

“Fuck!” Quinn hissed, making her shift her attention to him.

“Did you know of this? Did you?”

He glared back at her. “No, I didn’t! You should know me better than to think I’d go behind your back.”

He held her glare for several long tense seconds without wavering. Satisfied that he had told the truth, she nodded.

“If I’d known about it, I would have stopped it,” he added and turned to his two colleagues. “I want an explanation. And I want it now. Whose idea was this?”

“Samson ordered it,” Thomas admitted grudgingly.

Rose felt suspicion about the owner of Scanguards rise in her. “Why?”

Did he want the list for himself, knowing how valuable it was to anybody who had it in his possession? Did he want the power that came with it? So much for trusting Scanguards and their high ethics. Clearly, no such thing existed in the vampire world.

“He wants to make sure it’s destroyed,” came Thomas’s curt reply.

“I don’t believe you!” she cried out. “You all want the same: power, control, supremacy. With the information on the flash drive you’ll have all of that and more. Anybody who possesses it will try to use the information for his own purposes—and depending on how strong this person already is . . .” She allowed her unfinished sentence to linger in the air, before continuing. “So don’t tell me Samson wanted to destroy it. If he did, he wouldn’t have gone behind my back searching for it!”

Thomas’s calm demeanor didn’t change. “You do him wrong. Samson has no need for power. He’s content. Finally content.”

Rose caught an odd tone in his voice, almost as if he seemed somewhat envious of his boss. He took a step closer before he continued.

“He doesn’t lust for power. He felt that the flash drive would be better protected if it was in Scanguards’ hands. You’re not trained for this. And it’s exactly what you hired us for.”

“What I hired you for? I hired you to protect my grandson, not to snoop around in my personal affairs. I’ve kept the flash drive from Keegan’s hands so far, and I’ll continue to do so. It’s safe. He’ll never find out where it is. And it will stay there until Keegan is dead. Only then will I destroy it.”

Thomas stared at her, then stumbled back two paces. “And what if we don’t get him? Are you prepared to run for eternity?”

Rose thrust up her chin. “If I destroy the data now, I might as well paint a target symbol over my heart and walk outside for him to stake me. The flash drive is the only protection I have against Keegan. He won’t kill me as long as he knows I’m the only one who knows where it’s hidden.”

She felt Quinn reach for her hand and squeeze it.

“She’s right, Thomas, and you know it. Once Keegan knows the data is destroyed, what’s stopping him from going on a killing rampage? At least now, he’s still trying to negotiate. It’s giving us the best chance we’ll ever have to set a trap for him. He has to come to us because he wants something from us. Once that something is gone, we have no way of reeling him in.”

A skeptical look crossed over Thomas’s face. Next to him, Eddie shifted from one foot to the other, rubbing the back of his neck at the same time.

“He has a point,” Eddie said. “It’s better if nobody else knows where the drive is. It’s the only thing that will keep her safe.”

“What about Blake?” Thomas challenged, looking back at her. “He’s still as vulnerable as the day you stole the data.”

“I trust Scanguards to keep him safe.” She smiled at Quinn, whose eyes radiated with warmth.

He mouthed a silent
thank you
to her.

“Well, at least you’ve picked the right gang to protect him,” Thomas answered drily.

Eddie grinned and slapped his mentor on the shoulder. “Because we’re the best at this.”

“What about Samson?” Thomas threw in.

“I’ll talk to him about this,” Quinn answered.

29

Blake blinked as a faint ray of sunshine tickled his nose through the half-closed curtains. He’d been too tired the night before to pull them shut completely and had fallen into bed after gorging himself on the delicious stew Nina had cooked.

He squinted at the radio alarm on the nightstand. It was already midday. Sitting up, he listened for any sounds in the house, but it was quiet. He padded to the window in his pajama bottoms and pulled up the sash to let fresh air into the room. Instantly, the room was even brighter than before.

He pushed the curtains back and looked down into the back yard, the fire escape right outside his window partially blocking his view. As he pulled his head back in, he bumped against the window.

“Ouch!” he complained, rubbing the back of his head.

His eyes caught at the glass, and he suddenly noticed that it seemed much darker than a conventional windowpane. He leaned in to inspect it and noticed what appeared to be a thin plastic film covering the glass. It had a light brown color. Odd! Why would somebody want to darken the room when San Francisco wasn’t exactly graced with all-year-round sunny weather. There was no chance of overheating in this foggy city.

He shrugged and held his overly full stomach. The rich food was giving him heartburn. Maybe he should have warned Nina that he was lactose intolerant so she would go easy on the cream she’d poured into the stew. But he would have rather bitten his lip than do so. He didn’t want to be looked at as a weakling by his trainers. For all he knew, they would drop him from the program like a hot potato.

And what an odd program this was. Their unconventional hours were only the start. Spending half the day and evening at the safe house in Twin Peaks had been strange to say the least. He’d passed the time playing Wii with the other agents. Were they actually paying him for this? He could hardly believe his luck.

Feeling another bout of heartburn assault him he turned to his bag and rummaged through it, but realized quickly that he’d forgotten to pack antacids in his haste. Oliver and Cain had rushed him when packing his stuff to move to the house, and now he was paying the price for it. Somewhere in this house they had to have some sort of medicine cabinet stocked with the basics.

Without getting dressed, he left his room, wearing only his PJ bottoms, and trotted downstairs.

It was still quiet despite the late hour. Suited him fine; he wasn’t a morning person anyway, and if this company preferred to operate later in the day and into the night, he had no objections.

Nobody had really explained the layout of the home all that thoroughly when he’d moved in two days earlier, so he decided to simply open a few doors to see what he could find. Truth be told, he was antsy and raring to do something, preferably take part in another training exercise. And this time, he wanted to be the decoy. He was sure that Wesley had had fun in that role. Now it was his turn.

Pushing the first door along the first floor corridor open, he entered and looked around. It was an office. He glanced around quickly. It was tidy. Trying a few of the drawers, he realized that everything was locked. Shrugging, he left and continued his explorations.

When he reached the next door, he eased it open and peered inside the room. An oversized washer and dryer lined one wall. Since there was no chance of finding antacids in a laundry room, he turned to leave, but something odd caught his eye. He pivoted and took two steps into the room.