by Jane Cousins
Was he teasing her? After yesterday at the hospital? After sharing the anomaly with her? Seriously? Just how often did the man touch a complete stranger and share a steamy, hot image of the two of them having sex together? From his cavalier attitude, all the freaking time.
She was that unmemorable? Ouch, that kind of stung her ego.
So, if just any poor unsuspecting woman had fallen into his arms he’d be flirting and teasing her right at this moment? Way to make a woman feel special?
“You... you have some kind of nerve. You know that?” Quinn’s blue eyes sparkled with silvery pinpricks of light. She wasn’t just angry, she was seething. Bloody hell, would this song never end? It must be some sort of extended mix. She tried to breathe away the anger, centre herself. “Okay, so you screwed up my business card yesterday in a fit of pique. I get it. You were pissed off being tied up and all. But to act like you don’t remember what happened that day in the bar...” Quinn’s heart was racing and all she could see was red. Anger eradicating in a split second all of her control and her carefully guarded secrets. “When we touched? The sex-” Cripes, she was out of control. Instantly she clenched her lips together. Horrified by what she had almost let slip out.
“Sex?” Matias’s head was whirling. They had met more than once and he hadn’t bothered to record the details down? She mentioned the hospital, the bar... and sex. Them? Together?
Quinn’s cheeks burned with hot colour. “Don’t look at me like that. Goddess, do you have so many women in your life they just blur together?”
“You’re the one who brought up sex.”
“Because of what we saw when we touched.”
Matias was officially confused as hell. “What we saw?”
He was really going to make her say it, wasn’t he? He was an asshole. She took back every nice thing she’d ever thought about him. Well, except that he had a great chest, no one could dispute that. “The image of us... having sex.”
“You had a sex dream about me? Was I any good?”
Grrr, she fought the urge to punch him. That would be childish and achieve nothing. Instead she took a deep breath and then a second. “It wasn’t a dream. It was an anomaly.”
“An anomaly?” Matias wasn’t sure whether to laugh or shake the woman until she made some sense.
“When we touched, we both saw it, the vision... of us together.” Sweet Merciful Lady, colour her bright red in embarrassment.
Matias frowned. Damn, he’d had a vision of this gorgeous woman naked? He hadn’t thought he could despise his memory loss any more than he did, but the hits kept on coming. Wait. The blonde had said vision... as in the future? “We’re fated to have sex?”
“No!” Quinn shook her head so quickly and vehemently that her teeth all but rattled.
“You sure? You can’t seem to stay away from me.” He looked down at their close proximity.
“I knew I should have left you to rot in the psych ward strapped to that bed.”
Matias frowned. He was having a hard time keeping up with the conversation. “Kinky. Or is that another dream you had starring yours truly?”
He had to be laughing at her. There was no other explanation. Though the grin was gone from his face, Quinn got the distinct impression Matias was still teasing her. The smug... asshole. She’d show him. She would... the song chose that moment to finally come to an end and the crowd around them instantly began to disperse.
Thank Heavens. She could make her escape. Run fast and far from the Five Alarm Bar and Matias Yanez. Declare both of them nuclear waste levels off-limits. In fact, why not declare all of Haven Bay off limits. She would start grocery shopping over at Reverie Valley. And she would visit all her patients at home or they could come to the office located at her house. Perfect. A sensible solution to an annoying problem.
Excellent, but why do you still have your arms around the man’s neck if you are so darn sensible?
Quinn dropped her arms immediately to her sides. But one big, six-foot-two-inch problem prevented her from making good on her plan of a hasty exit. “Let me go. The song is over.”
Matias didn’t want to release her. If he did he would lose this gorgeous creature and this moment forever. He’d go to sleep tonight and wake up tomorrow and none of this would have happened. Even if he recorded the details down, it would be meaningless.
He wouldn’t be able to capture how the blonde aroused him, not just on a sexual level, but on an intellectual one as well. How good it felt to make her smile, laugh, relax. How her scent of mimosa, gardenias and vanilla caused his stomach to knot in anticipation, wondering if she tasted half as good as she smelt.
How her soft blue eyes flashed with glints of silver when she was angry or let her guard down. And how much pleasure it gave him to sneak under her shields and have her respond to him as a woman would to a man she was attracted to.
Fuck, but what choice did he have? He couldn’t even ask her out for a drink or cook her that meal they’d discussed. He couldn’t afford to form friendships... relationships. Not with his memory loss problems.
Saint Medard, he didn’t even dare pursue a desperate one night stand. Not when they both lived in the same town. Not when he gut deep knew that one night would be a hollow experience. A bittersweet moment that he was sure if he were to try and capture it in his journal, would only twist the knife in deeper in regards to his isolated existence come the next day.
He should drop his hold. But still an insane part of him wanted the answer to one simple question. “I still don’t know your name?”
A red haze of anger dropped down over Quinn’s vision. Her heart raced. Her blood pressure no doubt rocketing through the roof. And all idea of calm control fled. She didn’t care what anyone thought. What the gossips might say. She wanted out of here, now. She was done with what ever bizarre game Matias was playing.
Flattening her gloved hands against Matias’s chest, she pushed off just as he let her go. Oops, she stumbled back and would have fallen except Matias grabbed her arm just above the elbow. He steadied her. Quinn looked down in horror. His hand was so close to the edge of the glove that she didn’t dare breathe or move.
“What? What’s wrong?” Matias read the fear that flashed through her silvery blue eyes.
“Please.” Quinn whispered out the plea. She just needed him to let go carefully.
Every protective instinct Matias had fired. Automatically his grip tightened, the edge of his little finger slipping over the material of her glove and grazing the bare flesh of her upper arm.
Water dripped into Quinn’s eyes, as a wet and naked Matias Yanez held up a soapy sponge and closed the distance between them. Lowering the sponge to her clavicle and gliding it slowly... erotically down over her breasts to her stomach. Her breath catching in her throat, desire firing every nerve ending. Heat and need filled his dark eyes as he gazed down at her. Stepping closer still, he backed her up against the wet tile of the shower alcove. The sponge moving between her legs, causing her to gasp in surprise and arousal. His other hand came up to tug on her wet hair, drawing her attention upwards once more as he leaned down to kiss her and then...
Quinn managed to take a hard won half-step back from Matias. Breaking contact. Her breathing coming in harsh, rapid pants. Her breasts ached and she was turned on, wet... ready. Staring at Matias, frozen in shock before her, hot colour flooded into her cheeks before receding just as rapidly, leaving her silvery blue eyes wide and fearful.
Whipping around, Quinn dodged several family members still on the dance floor and headed for the door. Wedding cake cutting ceremony be damned. She needed to regain control. What she needed was fresh air, a low fat yoghurt and a lengthy meditation session.
Matias watched the blonde bolt. Too shocked and aroused to do anything but watch her go. Crap, he turned, and slowly walked towards the bar. What had just happened? A vision? A promise?
Fuck, and he still didn’t know her name. He supposed he could make enquiries among the remaining
guests, but to what end? He couldn’t go after her. Or contact her. All of his reasons for remaining isolated and distant remained. And writing any of this down? It wasn’t even an option. Half of it didn’t make any sense and the other half? Well, what would be the point? To give him a tantalising view of just one more thing in his life he could never have? No, the beautiful blonde was best forgotten.
Back behind the bar, Matias began loading up the trays for the drinks waiters. Operating on automatic, a stoic, blank expression plastered on his face. He just needed to make it through the rest of the day. Come tomorrow, he wouldn’t even remember what he had lost.
Huh, well, at least he had one answer. Now he knew what the hell an anomaly was. Both a gift and at the same time a curse.
Chapter Nine
“Sorry.” Quinn hurried out of the Transporter, walking into the last place she expected to be on this bright, sunny, Sunday morning. The Five Alarm Bar.
She would have laid good money yesterday on the fact that she would never be setting foot in the place again and yet here she was, barely a day later, willingly bearding the sexy… no, she meant surly, lion in his den.
Heavens. Her calm equilibrium, hard won following several hours of meditation last night and an extended sunrise yoga session this morning, evaporated in a heartbeat. Her stomach was in knots. Both cold and hot shivers were racing down her spine. Her chest felt too tight. And her skin was tingling and hyper aware.
Quinn was ultra grateful the chair next to Nell had been left vacant for her. Sinking onto the seat, she reluctantly let her gaze travel around the table, taking note of the others who’d been called here today.
On her immediate right sat Elijah, another cousin, and Head of the family Enforcers. His slate grey eyes gave away no clue as to what was going on.
Next to him sat Nico Yanez. Who was half turned in his chair, leaning over whispering low and fast into his brother’s ear. And then of course there was Matias. With dread she met his gaze... his stoic shuttered and blank gaze. What the hell? Where was the smugness? Or the sleazy knowing look she’d been steeling herself to face?
Then it happened, so quick if she hadn’t been staring at him she would have missed it. Matias’s gaze flicked to Nico, back to her, and then he acknowledged her with a very slight, sharp nod of his head. Almost as if his older brother had impressed upon him the need to be polite.
Wow, and to think she’d dithered for a precious ten minutes over what to wear. Going with the fitted blue silk long-sleeve top, cream leather skirt that fell below her knees and matching ankle boots. Then wasted another five minutes braiding her hair up into an intricate coronet. Just so Matias Yanez could gift her with a disdainful nod. Grrr, he was obviously back in asshole mode.
Just look at him. Sitting there with his arms crossed over his muscular chest. Rich toffee eyes flat and watchful. The sleeves of his white shirt were rolled up, the antique gold coin on the leather strap tied around his tanned throat glinting dully. His dark curls were slightly damp, suggesting he wasn’t long out of the shower... ooh, shower. A wave of heat flooded through Quinn to centre between her legs. The second anomaly flashing through her head in uncomfortable technicolour.
How could he sit there and look so darn unaffected? No, he had the right idea. Just ignore their encounter had ever happened. She should be grateful. And follow his example.
Quinn shifted her attention to the final occupant at the table, Mac McKenzie, yet another of her cousins, dressed in his police uniform. His dark blue eyes fixed upon the Yanez brothers as if he expected them any moment to make a break for the door. Of course Mac and his three brothers always watched the Yanez brothers closely. Their baby sister, Riordan, worked at the bar and her older siblings were notoriously interfering and over-protective.
Nell cleared her throat. Flipping open the manila folder she had on the table in front of her. “Okay, now that everyone is here, we have an emergency... or rather a troubling mystery to solve.”
“A mystery?” Nico looked pointedly at Mac and then Elijah. “One that involves my brother and I and requires a policeman and the Head Enforcer to be present?”
Nell glanced down at the contents of the folder. “This is about the events that happened Friday. The attack on you that took place on the Low Eastern Coastal Road and the fact that one of our apprentice Enforcers went missing for seven minutes during roughly the same time frame.”
“Missing, how?” Matias frowned.
“We were at the training centre. One moment Jodie was there, the next, she was gone.” Elijah ran frustrated fingers through his brutally short blonde hair. “We... I had always assumed her magic involved nothing more than her turning invisible for three second bursts. This time she was gone for about seven minutes, we’re guessing, but we think she Translocates somewhere.”
“And I have the test results to prove that hypothesis.” Nell tapped a finger on the document in front of her.
“Why don’t you just ask her?” Nico enquired.
“Because she’s in a coma.” Nell supplied. “Please. Before any more discussion, let me tell you what the lab found. Twenty-one year old adult female was admitted to Emergency, unresponsive, with no immediate sign of significant injury or trauma. Active brain waves were present. Reflexive responses to stimuli recorded. Subject... sorry, Jodie, was covered in a large amount of trace evidence inconsistent with the training centre location. Her clothes were damp and smelt of sea water. Our technician found traces of mud, vegetation, black sand and blood. There was also fresh blood found on the blade she kept in a hip holster.”
“You have our sympathies. But I am still confused as to what any of this has to do with us?” Nico folded his arms across his chest, unconsciously copying his brother.
“Because when Seb, our lab tech genius, ran the blood splatter traces found on Jodie, it came back as a close familial match to you two.”
The table erupted. Mac went for his gun, only Nell’s quick staying hand preventing him from drawing it. Likewise, Quinn’s fast reflexes kept Elijah from leaping out of his seat.
“Are you saying we attacked her?” Tight anger flashed across Nico’s face.
“Is she who I fought?” Matias looked as if he’d been punched in the gut. “A girl? No-”
“Hold it.” Nell’s tone was soft but firm, quiet instantly descended. “I said familial. And there was no y chromosome present in the blood. Do you have a sister?”
Nico paled, a hand shooting out to grip Matias, who looked ready to leap across the table and shake some answers out of Nell. Matias tried to break his brother’s hold but Nico refused to let go. Pulling him close, the two began having a rapid-fire tense discussion in Spanish. After a few minutes the tension drained out of Matias and he relaxed reluctantly back into his chair. Though Nico kept a steadying hand on his shoulder.
“We have a sister.” Nico confirmed finally. “But she’s been missing for almost a decade.”
“Missing?” Mac McKenzie’s brow furrowed.
“Yes. We spent almost nine years looking for her. Until we ran out of places to look.”
“Okay, before this discussion spins out of control. Let me just inform you that though the light trace of blood spatter on Jodie matches that of your sister. The blood on her blade does not.”
“That still doesn’t mean they didn’t fight.” Nico pointed out.
“True, we won’t know precisely what happened and where, until Jodie wakes up. But... just to confuse the issue more, when Seb ran the blood on the blade he got some very unusual results.”
“Unusual how?”
Nell frowned. “As in not quite human.”
“Monster?” Elijah growled out the word.
“No, when I said not quite human, I meant it. According to Seb, there is human dna present, but it is intertwined on the same strands as that of a jaguar.”
“Some sort of were-beast?” Nico looked worried.
“As far as I’m aware, in regards to Enforcer history of the Sanct
uary, we have no records of were-creatures existing.” Elijah shook his head in denial.
“Yes, well the rest of the lab results might explain that.” Nell flipped over to the next page. “According to Seb, the mud is pure, as in uncontaminated by modern man. No fuels, no chemicals. And the vegetation he found traces of on the soles of Jodie’s boots, whilst there are similarities, he says the dna strands appear, at first glance, to be a more primitive variety of currently documented plants.”
“What are you saying, Nell?” Quinn had an idea but she wanted Nell to state her theory out loud.
“That where ever Jodie went for seven minutes, it might be more accurate to investigate where in time Jodie went, or alternatively, what plane of existence she travelled to.”
Quinn rubbed her temples, ignoring the questions that were being fired at Nell. Her cousin hadn’t undersold the mystery factor when it came to this all hands on deck emergency. And what the hell was going on with Matias and Nico having a sister who was missing? Maybe that explained his surly attitude... no, she wasn’t going to excuse his behaviour.
And she shouldn’t even be thinking about the man right now. She should be thinking of possible avenues to investigate to help solve this mystery of where... when, Jodie had disappeared to so it didn’t happen again... oh, shit.
Quinn slammed her hand down hard on the table to get everyone’s attention. “What’s to stop it from happening again?” She noted the blank looks sent her way. “Jodie disappearing! We don’t know the trigger. But we do know wherever she went, she needed a weapon.”
Both Nell and Elijah scrambled for their phones.
“I’ll make sure she’s fully dressed.” Nell dialled the nurse’s station.
“And I’ll get Taite to arm her.” Elijah started speaking into his phone and then halted, looking to Nell. “Should I have an Enforcer in contact with Jodie at all times? If she does disappear... or get taken, maybe she can take back-up with her.”
