“So, he kidnapped your mate?” Roger asked.
There was a longer hesitation this time before Cord answered more honestly. “We were working out those details when that fucking vampire interrupted.”
Two of the other shapeshifters snickered, and Cord turned to growl at them. Roger had to respect the way he instilled fear in those around him so easily. The ones who’d been laughing dropped their eyes to the ground and fell silent.
Roger chuckled. “Let me be totally honest with you. I don’t care if the female is yours willingly or not. I’ve always preferred less willing partners, so I’m not likely to judge you. You want the female, and I want the vampire. I believe we can work together to make this happen sooner.”
Still, the shifter hesitated. “I’ll consider your offer,” Cord finally said, and Roger got the impression this was his way of saying no.
The dismissal was enough to piss Roger off. With a motion of his head, he signaled the guards. They took aim with the tranquilizer guns and fired. Three shifters went down right away, but Cord dodged the shots and made his way into the woods with another shifter fast on his heels.
“Should we go after them?” one of the guards asked.
Roger merely shrugged. “Why bother? We’ve got three to experiment with. Since we are currently without a scientist, we can start with testing their pain tolerance and endurance,” he said, wishing he could find a way to bring Craig back to life to torture him for the inconvenience he was causing.
“Maybe we should hold off in case that Cord guy changes his mind,” one of the guards suggested.
This guard was younger and recently turned.
“That might not be a bad idea,” he said, giving the guard an approving nod. It never hurt to pretend you appreciated the input of those below you, as long as they didn’t let it go to their heads. “What’s your name?” he asked, honestly not remembering.
“Patrick,” the guard said and offered nothing more, much to Roger’s relief. He hated it when they thought he was encouraging conversation.
Looking around, Roger motioned three of his guards forward. “Tie them up and then carry them back to the compound. I’m not sure how long the tranquilizer will last, so give them another dose.”
“It might kill them if we give them too much,” Patrick said before ducking his head, obviously realizing his mistake in questioning Roger’s order.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t,” Roger said, choosing to ignore Patrick’s outburst this one time. “It would be a pity to lose such fine specimens.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
They’d spent the last two days pretending Danny hadn’t tried to mark Quinn during sex, but Danny suspected they each had different reasons for avoiding the topic. As for Danny, he hated losing control like he had. Of course, it was even more complex than that. He also wasn’t comfortable feeling so connected to a woman he’d just met. Talking it out with Cam had helped some, but the perfect mate stuff was hard to accept. His refusal to stay at Quinn’s house was already pissing Max off, but he had no intention of staying there unless Quinn invited him.
Besides, he couldn’t stay with the shifters forever. There were responsibilities he couldn’t ignore. Today, he’d assured himself, would be the day he left the shifter community. That resolve had lasted all of ten minutes after he’d woken up. Then he’d headed off in search of Quinn and breakfast—not in that order. The last thing he wanted was to act like some ravenous vampire around Quinn. Up to this point, he’d avoided taking blood from her.
Quinn’s reasons for steering clear of the topic of him trying to mark her seemed to be more complicated. After two days of doing little more than spending time with Quinn, Danny was beginning to understand her better. Being an outsider in a close-knit community couldn’t be easy. Other than her cousins, Quinn didn’t have many friends. People in the community kept their distance from her because she was seen as a temporary member. No one expected her to change at twenty-seven, and they all expected Max to send her away.
“You know what we should do,” Danny asked as he sat beside Quinn while she sewed.
She looked up from the pants she was making and raised an eyebrow. “I’m almost afraid to ask.”
Danny chuckled. “Smart girl. I’ve been known to suggest some pretty crazy things.”
Setting the pants down, she studied him. “Is this one of those crazy things?”
“Might be,” he admitted with a shrug.
Quinn grinned at him. “Then suggest away. I could use something crazy in my life today. Sewing is the most boring thing in the entire world.”
“We should leave,” he said.
“Leave?” she asked. “As in go off for the day? Max would have a fit if I walked out of here for a little exploration. He’s convinced Cord will try to kidnap me again. In fact, he’s probably got spies making sure I don’t leave the lynx territory.”
“I was thinking something more permanent,” Danny explained. “There’s a vampire settlement up north where they live a more natural life. There are plenty of humans there too, and from what I hear, they’re accepting of outsiders.”
Quinn didn’t say anything. Danny could tell she wanted to say yes, but she most likely thought he was out of his mind for suggesting something like this. This was her home, even if it was temporary. The thought of leaving it would frighten her—or so he thought. Quinn’s response proved he still had a lot to learn about his mate.
“You can’t just run from your demons, Danny,” she said. “They’ll follow you. If you’d said you wanted me to go to your home with you, I might have considered it.”
“Why?” he asked.
“Why what?” She looked bewildered.
“Why would you agree to go there with me? You seem pretty determined to avoid having me claim you as mine,” he nearly snapped, and instantly regretted his tone. He also couldn’t figure out why this was bothering him so much.
Quickly getting to her feet, Quinn forgot all about the pants she’d been sewing and started to storm off. “Stupid, arrogant vampire!”
“Don’t call me that,” Danny growled as he pursued her. He wasn’t so much angry as aroused. The idea of Quinn running from him triggered his instinct to subdue her, and based on her scent, she wanted to be subdued—chased at the very least.
“Don’t call you what?” she demanded, spinning to face him.
“Don’t call me vampire,” he insisted.
“That’s what you are!” she nearly shouted. “You are a vampire. I’m part mage. We both need to get over this denial thing we have going on and accept what we are. I am sick of the way both of us are trying to hide from it. I’m not a coward, and neither are you.”
“Really?” Danny asked as he stalked toward her, stopping only when he was so close that she had to look up to make eye contact. Brat that she was, Quinn stared at his chest. “If you’re so brave, then why don’t you want to talk about what happened between us?”
“We had sex,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “It was great sex, but still just sex. What’s there to talk about?”
“I tried to mark you,” Danny reminded her.
“So,” she challenged, finally looking up at his face. “You’re a vampire. Vampires bite. Why is this such a big shock to you? We didn’t talk about it because I didn’t want to embarrass you by bringing it up.”
Danny snorted. “Yeah, that’s why you didn’t bring it up.”
“What exactly are you suggesting?” she demanded.
“Just what it sounds like,” he said with a smirk. “You’re terrified of how it made you feel when I tried to mark you.”
She opened her mouth to argue, but then she turned away. “You’re right,” she said. “I’m afraid of how much I wanted you to mark me, and I’m confused by how much I wanted you to stop.”
“I’m confused by your reluctance too,” he admitted. If she were a vampire or a human, it would make perfect sense. They didn’t really know each other very well, an
d he was pretty sure he should be more apprehensive about it. While he was a little embarrassed about his almost overwhelming need to claim Quinn, there was no part of him that felt like it would be a mistake. Of all the things going on in his life at the moment, this was the one thing that made perfect sense, and he didn’t understand why.
“It would tie us together,” she explained.
“We’re already tied together,” he said. “I felt the bond between us the moment I woke up with you in my bed. If I was revealing everything about my past, then I must have felt it that first night.”
“So, you’re in love with me after a few days?” she scoffed.
“I’m not sure love has anything to do with what’s going on,” he admitted. “Don’t get me wrong, I like you, and I can definitely see myself falling in love with you, but that’s not why I want to mark you. Before you accuse me of anything, it also has nothing to do with protecting you from Cord or making Max happy.”
“I know why you want to mark me,” she said. “I know all about shifter mating and the instinctual desire to claim your mate. With most, it’s not this strong, but some get a little crazed. You’re obviously one who gets crazed.”
“I’m not a shifter,” he reminded her. “Cam also told me this only happens when you find your perfect mate. He said most settle for less.”
“Do vampires act this way?” she asked, studying him. “I mean, I’m sure they don’t mark each other, but is there some instinct that draws them to their mate?”
Danny cocked his head to the side and thought for a moment. “Not normally. At least, I don’t think they usually act this way. The exception was Simon, my friend Layla’s mate. The wood nymph I know said he was acting like a shifter.”
Quinn looked thoughtful. “That’s interesting.”
“How so?” he asked.
“You said your vampire friend acted differently when taking a shifter as a mate. How was it different? What did he do that was like a shifter?”
“After seeing her with your cousins for the first time, he pinned her to the ground and bit her neck, but not like he was feeding on her. Simon marked her,” Danny explained. “Layla has a scar on the back of her neck from it. The idea didn’t come to him on his own. Your cousins said he needed to mark her to keep her safe, but he wouldn’t let her cover it at first.”
“That’s interesting,” Quinn said. “From what you’ve said, he shouldn’t have wanted to mark her.”
“I shouldn’t want to mark you,” he said.
“I could see how a full-blooded shifter might put off pheromones when she’s in heat to attract a mate, even if he’s another species, but I’m only half shifter and not old enough to have a heat cycle anyway.”
“Layla’s half human,” he reminded her.
“So, maybe it’s the mixed genes that cause this reaction in vampires,” she said thoughtfully. “I was assuming it was the shifter blood you’ve been given, but it might not have anything to do with that.”
“The only way to find out for sure would be to bring some female shifters to the born vamp settlement and see if any vampires try to mark them.”
Quinn snorted. “Max would never go for that. In fact, you’re lucky he’s out hunting, or he might have a fit about you even joking about that.”
“Would he try to stop you from leaving with me?” Danny asked because he couldn’t stay with the shifters forever, and he sure as hell couldn’t see himself leaving Quinn behind.
“No,” Quinn said. “Near as I can tell, he’d push me out of the community with you,” she grumbled.
Danny pulled her against his chest. “That must be difficult for you.”
“I’m used to not belonging,” she said. “At least, Max would only be sending me away with you because he thought I’d be happier.”
“Even if his motives are good, it still must hurt,” he said.
Quinn let out a sigh. “Fine, it hurts, but this is just the way things are.”
Pulling back slightly, Danny placed his hand under her chin and gently lifted her face until she was looking at him. “Then why not run away with me? Why not leave all the stress behind?”
“We’ve already covered this,” she said in a tired voice. “I won’t run away with you because you can’t run from your problems, Danny.”
“Why the hell not?” he asked, but then he let out a sigh of frustration. “Okay, so I’m running away from problems that will just follow me,” he admitted. “I need to deal with this crap.”
“Does this mean you’re ready to go home?” she asked with a strange mix of hope and nervousness.
“Not yet,” he said without hesitation. Going home was still part of his plan, but not today.
“I guess I should be happy I got you to agree to this much,” she said as she pulled away from him and started to walk away.
Danny wasn’t ready to let her go—not by a long shot. He moved so quickly that he caught her completely off guard when his arm snaked around her waist and pulled her against his chest. “Not so fast,” he murmured against the back of her neck. “I want you to know something.”
“What’s that?” Her voice was breathy, and the scent of her arousal wrapped around him.
“I’m going to hold you to what you said,” he whispered in her ear.
“What do you mean?”
“When I’m ready to go home, I’m taking you with me,” he promised.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Quinn’s mouth hung open, and she had no idea how to react to what Danny had just said. Clearly, her body wasn’t having any problem reacting. Nope, the throbbing between her legs reached an almost unbearable level as she fought the desire to rub against him like a lynx in heat. To be honest, she’d wanted to do that the last couple of days. Sad how addicted she was to Danny after only one time together.
“Nothing to say?” Danny asked with a chuckle. “Could it be I’ve made you speechless?”
“Hardly!” she scoffed, but it came out in a breathy fuck me voice, which canceled out the attitude she’d been trying for. Slipping out of his arms, she turned her back on him so he wouldn’t see the way her erect nipples pressed against her shirt.
“How about if I help you out with this conversation,” he murmured.
“How do you plan on doing that?” she asked, wondering when they’d gone from arguing to foreplay. Maybe the arguing had been foreplay. It certainly turned her on.
Danny glided toward her until he was almost touching her. Keeping his body separate from hers, he wrapped one arm around her and splayed his fingers across her belly. Leaning forward, his lips almost touched her ear.
“I was thinking I’d fuck you until all you can do is scream my name,” he said, allowing his fangs to graze her ear lobe.
Quinn shuddered and swayed into his body. “That doesn’t sound like an improvement in my conversation skills,” she said in a strained voice.
When Danny pushed her hair to the side and his teeth rested on the skin at the back of her neck, Quinn wasn’t sure how she managed to stay on her feet. While her mind rebelled against the idea of Danny marking her, her body welcomed it, practically begged for it.
Pulling back slightly, Danny lifted his hand from around her waist to cup one of her breasts.
“I would never hurt you,” he said.
Quinn turned in his arms and placed a hand on his cheek. “What if I want you to hurt me? Remember, shifters like it rough.”
“How do mages like it?” he asked, leaning forward to nip her lower lip.
Quinn looked down, not sure she wanted to remember who she was at that moment. She was still no closer to understanding what any of this meant than she had been two days ago. For now, she just wanted to forget.
“No hiding from what we are,” Danny reminded her. “Those were your rules. I’m a vampire. You’re part shifter and part mage.”
“I don’t even know what that means,” she admitted.
“Then we’ll figure it out together,” Danny sa
id before kissing her tenderly. Gentle was the last thing Quinn wanted. She bit his lower lip, drawing blood, and then pushed him back. The growl Danny let out sounded much like a shifter.
“You wanna play rough?” he asked in a guttural voice.
She gave him a saucy smile and took a step back. “You don’t know rough, vampire,” she taunted.
His lips curled into a playful grin. “Is that so? Shall we test that theory?”
“I’d rather test some of your new vampire instincts,” she said. Quinn had noticed that his desire to chase her made Danny a little uncomfortable. No, it seemed to be his arousal when he thought about subduing her that made him nervous. She had no problems with that instinct. In fact, she was more than a little turned on by it and had every intention of teaching her vampire to enjoy it.
“What did you have in mind?” Danny asked, crossing his arms in front of his muscular chest.
“Let’s see how fast you are,” she said with a wink before taking off. There was a possibility Danny’s fear of what he was would be too strong for him to pursue her, but she’d be willing to bet that wasn’t the case.
It wasn’t long before she heard Danny’s curse as he took off after her. She dodged a tree, making her way further from the shifter houses. She was still well within their protected area, so no one could complain, but she’d prefer to get a little further away before Danny caught her. There was also this part of her that wanted to challenge him. In the end, it was all a game. They both knew she wanted to be caught. They both knew the outcome of this game, but that didn’t change the adrenaline racing through her veins as she broke through the trees and sprinted into the clearing near the creek.
Not ten feet into the clearing, Danny tackled her from behind, rolling so his own body took the impact of the fall. Her squeal of delight turned to a giggle as she tried to free herself. Okay, she didn’t really try too hard.
“Where do you think you’re going,” Danny drawled as he rolled to pin her beneath him.
With her hands pinned above her head, Quinn struggled because she wanted to know that she couldn’t escape. The shifter in her wanted Danny to prove he was strong enough to dominate her physically. “You look hungry,” she panted out when she caught sight of his fangs.
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