Her Private Avenger

by Elle Kennedy

  She tried to ignore the image of Quinn’s body falling backward from the impact. God, she hoped she hadn’t hurt him. She wasn’t a violent person, not usually anyway.

  But she wasn’t crazy, either, and she’d be damned if she was going to be forced back into that psych ward.

  Twigs snapped under her sneakers as she ran, trees whipping by her face. Her cheeks grew flushed from the cold. She came dangerously close to slamming into a branch, but kept moving, slipping several times on the layer of slush beneath her feet.

  Sucking in oxygen, she tried to pay attention to her surroundings, but she had no freaking clue where she was going. If she stopped for a minute and looked for her previous tracks, she’d be able to find her way back to the main road, but she couldn’t risk it. No doubt Quinn was right behind her.

  Keep going, she ordered herself. Keep going. Keep go—

  She was suddenly jerked backward as a big hand yanked at her sweater from behind.

  “Damn you!” came Quinn’s infuriated voice.

  He grabbed her shoulders and twisted her around, and the look in his eyes caused a lump of fear to lodge in her throat. She’d never seen him like this, his green eyes glittered with menace, his lips an angry slash across his face. She swallowed when she noticed the scrape on his left temple, the thin trail of blood on his cheek. He’d been cut when the pot had shattered. There were even little white pieces of ceramic caught in his dark hair. No wonder he looked like he wanted to throttle her.

  His fury seemed to escalate when he caught sight of her face. “Don’t!” he snapped. “Don’t you dare be afraid of me.”

  “I—”

  “A lot of things might have changed in two years, but not that. I would never hurt you. Never.”

  Her heart thudded against her rib cage, making each individual rib tremble. “I’m sorry,” she murmured.

  “For what?” he shot back. “Using my head like a piñata or thinking I was going to hit you just now?”

  She cringed. “Both.”

  Quinn shook his head angrily. He looked like he was struggling to rein in his temper. “Damn it, Morgan. Do you think I want to be here right now? Do you think I enjoy chasing after you in the woods at midnight?”

  “Then let me go,” she begged him.

  “I can’t.”

  She heard the pain lining those two words, and when she lifted her head to meet his gaze, her breath lodged in her throat. A kaleidoscope of emotions reflected back at her, the most prominent being sorrow. And then his eyes dropped to her mouth, and desire joined the mix.

  She stared at him, transfixed, while a rush of pleasure poured into her body. He still wanted her. Oh, God, he still wanted her. The happiness she received from the realization was so strong she nearly keeled over backward. For two years she’d longed for this man, woken up in the middle of the night searching for hiswarm body. And in those two years, he hadn’t contacted her. Not even once. She thought he’d gotten over her. That he’d somehow managed to exorcise the powerful attraction bonding them together.

  It was unbelievably satisfying knowing he hadn’t, that she wasn’t alone in the longing department.

  “Damn you,” he said again, his voice thick.

  “Quinn…” she began.

  But he didn’t let her finish. Even as her lips formed his name, his lips were swallowing up the sound. He captured her mouth, kissing her so deeply that all thoughts drained from her head. Common sense left her, too, as she kissed him back frantically. His lips were firm, his tongue hot and insistent as it slid into her mouth as if it belonged there. No, because it belonged there.

  Morgan leaned into his hard body, angling her head for better access, drowning in his familiar kiss. As their mouths meshed and tongues tangled, she realized there would never be anyone else for her. She was his.

  I missed you.

  The words bit at her lips, so she kissed him back with more fervor, before those silly words could find a way out. But God, how she’d missed him. Missed this—his hot spicy taste, the way his five o’clock shadow deliciously scraped her cheek.

  “Damn it.”

  His sudden curse jolted her from the haze of passion. She gasped as he pulled back, the sensual contact snapping like a bungee cord.

  Morgan looked up at him with wide eyes, her brain working so fast she feared it might shut down like an overloaded computer.

  And Quinn…he was looking at her in horror, as if he couldn’t believe what he’d done and with whom.

  “Jesus,” he muttered, dropping his hands from her. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”

  She struggled to steady her breathing. Hard to do when her entire body still felt winded from that explosive kiss. “Then why did you?” she whispered.

  He went silent, his brows drawn together in a frown. But instead of answering the question, he simply cleared his throat and said, “I can’t let you go back to Autumn alone. You could be in danger. You need to be home, where your father can protect you.”

  “My father only wants to protect himself.” She rubbed her temples in frustration. “He had me committed, even after I told him I didn’t drive my car off a bridge.”

  Quinn didn’t respond, simply frowned.

  “I need to find the truth,” she murmured. “I’ve been trying to figure out what happened to Layla for ten years. I can’t stop now.”

  “Layla is dead,” Quinn said emphatically.

  “Yeah, and someone tried to kill me after her body was found.” Tears pricked her eyelids. “When she disappeared, I knew she was dead. And I was right.”

  “Yes, you were. So why can’t you let it go now?” He suddenly g. “Forget it. I know why you can’t. Because you’re Morgan Kerr.”

  She shot him a faint smile. “That’s me, always the troublemaker…”

  Quinn didn’t return the smile. “Please, Morgan, let me take you home.”

  “No.”

  He let out a sigh, but before he could open his mouth to object, she hurried on. “Look, I know you don’t owe me any favors. If anything, I’m the one who ought to be making amends.” Her voice wavered. “But please, Quinn, do me this favor. Come back to Autumn with me.”

  He muttered a hasty expletive. “I already said no.”

  “And I’m trying to change your mind. I think the smartest move would be having you with me.” She forced herself not to think about that crazy kiss or their turbulent history as she continued. “You’re a mercenary. You could keep me safe, and since we both agree there was foul play out on that bridge, then my safety is definitely an issue.”

  He stayed silent. A gust of icy wind swept through the woods, lifting Quinn’s dark hair, and Morgan noticed the blood on his temple had dried. She was tempted to reach out and touch the wound, but kept her hands to her side. She could clean the cut later. After he agreed to come with her. Which he would. She could see the resolve in his eyes crumbling.

  She decided to give him one last push.

  “You once told me you’d always protect me.” She tilted her head. “What if I go alone and get hurt? Could you live with that, knowing I’d asked for your protection and you denied me?”

  He gave a short bark of a laugh. “That’s low, sweetheart, even for you.”

  She shrugged. “Did it work?”

  Quinn released a heavy sigh. “What the hell do you think?”

  Of all the stupid, moronic, asinine things Quinn had ever done in his thirty-two years of life, this one took the prize. What was he thinking, agreeing to take Morgan to Autumn? During the entire hike back to the main road, where he’d left his car, he’d been asking himself that question. And now, as he unlocked the doors of the black SUV, the answer still eluded him.

  The best he could come up with? That flowerpot to the head had knocked a few screws loose.

  “Thank you for doing this,” Morgan said as she slid into the passenger seat.

  He started the engine, then turned on the heat full-blast, hoping it might thaw the useles
s block of ice his brain had become. He couldn’t do this. Just being near this woman was pure torture. He was aching for her, angry at her, torn between pulling her into his arms and pushing her far, far away.

  Setting his jaw, he spared her a glance and said, “Buckle your seat belt.”

  He was about to move the gearshift when she reached out to stop him. Her hand was cold, but feeling her slender fingers on his hand sent a shot of pure heat to his groin. Unable thought about the kiss they’d shared in the woods.

  Again, what was he thinking? Kissing her had been foolish on so many levels. It had been wrong, and pointless, and…unbelievable. The second their lips met, he was transported back in time. The jolt of arousal, the sense of belonging, the sheer rightness of having Morgan’s mouth pressed against his own. It was almost as if they’d never parted.

  He abruptly shrugged off her hand, angry at his train of thought. No matter how mind-blowing that kiss had been, it didn’t change a damn thing. He and Morgan had parted. She’d cast aside the man she supposedly loved so her dear old daddy’s reputation wouldn’t be tainted.

  “Let me clean you up first,” she said softly, completely oblivious to the turmoil riddling his body.

  “I’m fine,” he said gruffly.

  “Humor me.”

  Gritting his teeth, he watched as she rummaged around in her purse, finally pulling out a small pack of tissues and a travel tube of hand sanitizer. “This will do the trick,” she said with a nod. She squirted some hand sanitizer on a tissue. “Lean forward.”

  He didn’t move. No way was he leaning closer to her. Last time he got too close, he’d ended up with his tongue down her throat.

  Morgan rolled her blue eyes. “Why is it that when it comes to injuries, men are either big babies or irritating tough guys?” Without waiting for an answer, she slid toward him and swiftly pressed the tissue to his temple.

  He flinched, ignoring the tiny sting of pain, and patiently sat there as she wiped up the dried blood on his cheek. When her scent wafted up to his nose, that intoxicating dose of flowers, honey and woman, he held his breath, determined not to let it affect him. Damn it, she was too close. Way too close, and…why was she running her fingers through his hair?

  He hissed out a breath, and her hand froze. “You have…ceramic in your hair,” she said, her husky voice coming out shaky.

  Quinn curled his fingers around her slender wrist and moved her arm away. “I can do it,” he muttered. Avoiding her eyes, he raked the tiny shards from his hair, then repeated his earlier request. “Will you buckle up now?”

  When she was strapped in, he shifted gears, drove off the gravel shoulder and pulled onto the dark two-lane road.

  “So…I guess I should call my father,” Morgan said. “Do you have a cell phone?”

  His voice came out brusque. “There’s no service out here. We’ll call him when we get closer to civilization.”

  That was one call Quinn wasn’t looking forward to. No doubt the senator would be furious when he found out where they were headed, nor would he be pleased that Quinn had decided to stick around and help her.

  “Tony will be worried, too,” Morgan said absently. “Remind me to call him after I speak to Dad.”

  “How’s your brother these days?” Quinn found himself asking. He’d always been fond of Morgan’s er brother. The guy had a lust for life, a perpetual lopsided grin and a contagious live-in-the-moment attitude that Quinn had always found oddly refreshing.

  “He’s doing well,” Morgan replied, smiling. “He’s happily working at that advertising firm. And he actually has a girlfriend. Finally got over his commitment issues.”

  Ah, commitment issues. Quinn knew all about those. In fact, when he’d first met Morgan, the last thing he wanted to do was enter into a relationship with her. For a former foster kid who’d pretty much been abandoned by everyone he’d ever cared about, getting close to someone had been as appealing as having his legs waxed.

  Yet Morgan managed to break down his walls. Snaked her way right into his heart, until he’d actually started to believe happily ever after didn’t just exist in fairy tales.

  Evidently he should’ve stuck to his original viewpoint.

  “I think the first item on our agenda should be talking to the medical examiner,” Morgan said, snapping him from his thoughts. “I was in town the day Layla’s body was found, but the M.E. couldn’t meet with me until the next morning. Unfortunately, my car wound up in the river that night, so I never made it to the meeting.”

  “Were Layla’s remains buried or cremated?”

  “Neither. The M.E. still needed to properly examine them, so we held a memorial service at the church. There might be a burial in a few weeks, if Layla’s parents feel up to it.”

  “You need to be careful about who you speak to,” Quinn warned. “We still don’t know who tried to kill you, but there’s a high probability that someone from town caused the accident.”

  She swallowed. “What if they try again?”

  He could feel those beautiful blue eyes on him, and when he turned, he saw the anxiety in them. It was almost the exact same expression she wore the week before their wedding, when she’d asked him if he minded postponing it until after her father’s reelection campaign.

  He’d minded, all right. Minded so much he’d dropped an ultimatum in her lap, one she promptly tossed right back at him.

  “Quinn?” she prompted.

  He knew she wanted reassurance, a promise, a guarantee that he would stick by her side during this potentially dangerous investigation.

  He was tempted to tell her to go to hell.

  But when he opened his mouth, what came out was, “As long as you’re with me, you won’t get hurt, Morgan.”

  Too bad he couldn’t say the same for himself.

  Chapter 4

  They were about forty minutes from the town of Autumn when Quinn pulled in to the parking lot of a twenty-four-hour gas station. He didn’t need gas. Nature wasn’t calling, either. But the past half hour, which involved long silences broken by’s tentative attempts at making conversation, had finally gotten to him.

  Parking in front of the small, well-lit building, he shut off the engine and grabbed his cell phone from the cup holder he’d shoved it into.

  “Are we calling my father?” Morgan asked, that husky voice tinged with—shockingly enough—bitterness.

  Well, it was about damn time he heard that tone in relation to the senator. God knew he’d felt that same spark of bitterness hundreds of times over the years. Yet he’d tried to be decent about it, hadn’t revealed precisely how much he loathed the man who’d sired her, all the while wondering how Morgan could be so blind to Senator Kerr’s machinations, why she constantly defended the bastard.

  Her father’s constant interference in their lives had been annoying, to say the least. If Quinn made dinner reservations for the three of them, Edward canceled them, forcing them to dine wherever he chose. For Morgan’s birthday, they’d planned a trip to Fiji—only to abandon their plans so Morgan could attend some fancy-pants dinner her father insisted she go to. Quinn, of course, wasn’t on the guest list. Morgan’s father tried hard to keep Quinn’s association with his daughter under wraps. Apparently a soldier for hire wasn’t good enough for a daughter Senator Kerr didn’t even truly care about.

  Quinn had put up with it all, while Morgan remained unaware of his feelings toward her father. But then came the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back—the senator’s insistence that they postpone the wedding. Quinn hadn’t held back after that, and all the malicious—and well-deserved—thoughts he’d ever had about Morgan’s father spilled out during that last confrontation. “I’m making the call,” he corrected. She opened her mouth to object but he held up a hand. “Don’t argue with me on this. We both know how easily you give in to the man. If you want to go to Autumn, I make the call.”

  Without letting her respond, he pulled the door handle and stepped out of the SUV.
The late night air immediately chilled him, but he welcomed the cool rush. Anytime he was around Morgan he was liable to get hot. Uncomfortably so.

  Pausing near a trash can overflowing with coffee cups and dirty wrappers, he punched in the number for the senator’s private line.

  “Did you find her?” came the brisk answer.

  As always, he stifled the urge to spit out a nasty reply. “Yes,” he said.

  “Thank God. I knew you would. Are you on your way back to the city?” The relief in the senator’s voice was unmistakable. No doubt Kerr considered this another successful triumph. Tuck Morgan back in the psych ward before she could stir up trouble for dear old dad.

  Quinn wished he could see the man’s face when he dropped the next bomb on him, but he could live with hearing the outrage.

  “Actually…” He grinned. Couldn’t stop it, couldn’t help it. He’d dreamed of sticking it to the senator for years. “I’m not bringing her back.”

  Deafening silence.

  Followed by a foul curse, then, “What? Why the not?”

  “She doesn’t want to come home,” he said simply. “And I don’t feel inclined to take her.”

  “You son of a bitch. That wasn’t our deal.”

  “We didn’t make a deal. I told you I’d find her, and I did. I never said I would bring her back.”

  He’d planned on it, though. When he found her in the cabin, he had every intention of driving her right back to D.C. and depositing her on Edward’s doorstep. But that was before she told him what really happened on the bridge. No matter how badly he wanted—no, needed—to be away from her, he couldn’t abandon her if she was in danger. If he left, who would protect her?

  “I swear to God, Quinn, if you don’t get in the car and drive her back to the hospital where she belongs, I’m going to sic every cop in the city on you.”

  “Let me guess, you’ll charge me with kidnapping? Yeah, I expected that threat.” Quinn’s grin widened. “You won’t do it, though.”

  “I sure as hell will.”