The Vampire Legacy; The New Queen Rises (13 page)

"It's personal," I replied to him and looked
up at him, then at my hands.

"It always is," Quinn said and touched my
hair. "So, what is so personal that you can't share it with the
rest of us?”

"You don't seem to understand, Quinn. I can't
tell you," I argued with him.

"Just tell me why?" Quinn said softly. I
looked over at the other side of the driveway then I turned and
looked at him fully.

"It could kill my son if you interfered.
Keeping this to myself is the best way to insure his safety," I
explained to him quietly. He nodded, and looked up at the moon
quickly, then back at me.

"Who's involved? Michael?" He asked. I shook
my head, looking at him.

"You are the most stubborn man I know,
Quinn," I said and walked towards the house.

"And, if I promised not to do anything that
might upset this person?" Quinn asked. I turned, looked at him as
he followed me, then walked right up to him and stopped.

"Keep pestering me about this, La Rouge, or I
swear I'll rip out your tongue," I replied to him. Quinn smiled and
looked down at me, his hands on his hips, and then he leaned down
close to my face.

"I like it when you're feisty, Ash," he said
and smiled at me evilly. "But, watch what kind of threats you make
and to whom."

"Oh, come on, Quinn! Give me a freaking
break," I yelled at him in anger then I sighed and rubbed my
forehead. "I'm going inside to say goodnight to your brother, then
I'm going to bed. Do me a huge favor?"

"What's that?" He asked me.

"Leave me the hell alone tonight, and maybe
I'll confide in you tomorrow."

"And, what if I don't want to know tomorrow,
can I bother you tonight?"

"You're trying my patience."

"Do I make your blood boil?" He smiled at me.
I knew that this was a trick question that would lead to him asking
if I was attracted to him. I had enough things to juggle without
worrying about Quinn.

"Just stick to Lauren, okay?" I told him and
watched his face light up. "But, Quinn, if you hurt her, I swear
I'll ..."

"You'll what?" He asked.

"Be careful," I said and walked into the
house.

It was late and as I undressed and crawled
under the covers, I found that I still couldn't sleep. I tossed and
turned for another couple of hours, and then sometime in the night,
I fell asleep. It was a dark, depressing sleep, without dreams or
noises and it lasted until I awoke, around noon the next day.

I made my way down to the patio, where lunch
was being served, dressed in a pair of light Capri pants and a
sleeveless button down shirt. When I got there I was greeted by
Lauren, who looped her arm through mine and walked with me to the
table, where Quinn and Michael sat.

"So, what did you do in town last night?"
Lauren said then covered her mouth and looked at the boys. I shook
my head as she said a quiet sorry to me.

"You went to town?" Michael asked. Quinn
looked at me smugly then went back to reading the newspaper. I
nodded and continued eating my lunch. "Where would you be going so
late?"

"I had a feeling about something, but it
didn't pan out," I replied and looked at him, then up at Quinn.
"What time did Julian leave?" I questioned.

"About six this morning, he said he would
call later. He left an envelope on his desk for you," Michael said.
I nodded and finished my lunch without another word, then got up
and walked down to the beach, and watched the waves as they crashed
against the shore.

8

As I sat on the end of the ramp, I thought of
a plan to get Jack back. I knew that my husband would have a few of
his friends with him when we met, but all I could think of was to
try to get information about Jack's whereabouts out of him. Since I
knew he would never actually bring me to where they were hiding
him.

I stood up and walked down to the water’s
edge, slipped off my shoes and bent over to roll up my pant legs,
when I heard footsteps on the planks of the ramp. I turned and
looked at Quinn, who was, surprisingly without his tan duster. He
walked down to the edge of the ramp, with his hands in the pockets
of his black Dockers. He wore a white dress shirt with them and he
looked very good. For a change he looked normal.

"Hi," I said and went back to what I was
doing.

"Hello," he replied. "How did you sleep last
night?"

"Lousy, thanks for asking," I replied and
walked out into the water and looked down at the dirt below. "So,
did you come to pester me about last night?"

"Actually, I just wanted to know if you were
okay," he replied quietly, showing a side of him that I rarely saw,
and he looked at me as I glanced at him. "So, are you? Okay, I
mean?"

"Yes," I said and splashed around in the
water, then shrugged. "No."

"Which is it?" He asked and crossed his
arms.

"I'm not all right Quinn." I walked out of
the water and up to him. I grabbed my shoes and stood just on the
other side of him. "I feel like I'm on the verge of a nervous
breakdown and I have to meet someone tomorrow night."

"Who?"

"Whoever has my son!" I told him.

"Tell me, what I can do to help you?" He
asked me. I looked at him and sighed.

"You can't do anything. I have to do this on
my own." I walked up the ramp away from him and he followed. I
turned, looked at him quickly and sighed. "Leave me alone,
Quinn."

"No," he said and crossed his arms again.

"NO? What do you mean no?" I asked him.

"My brother asked me to protect you, and
that's what I'm going to do," he said softly.

"If your brother told you to jump off a
bridge, would you do that?" I asked him.

"I'm just doing my job," Quinn said and
looked at me in anger.

"I don't need your protection; I don't need
your brother's protection. All I need is my son back," I said and
leaned on the railing. "I don't see why the two of you feel the
need to protect me all the time."

"Because Julian loves you; and because I care
about you too," Quinn said and sighed, this made me look at
him.

"Oh, please, I don't need this now."

"What do you want from me, Ash?"

"I told you what I wanted, to be left
alone."

"Who has him Ash?"

"You're starting to piss me off," I yelled at
him, getting closer to breaking down.

"Yeah, well ...good, maybe it will knock some
sense into your infant mind."

"Infant? If anyone's an infant, it's
you."

"Ash, I just want to help."

"If you want to help so badly, get Jack back
from my husband. If you want to help me, you can tell David that
he's making a huge mistake coming between me and my son." I watched
as his facial expression changed as I felt my eyes start to glow
and my teeth begin to grow. "If you really want to help me, Quinn,
stop this burning feeling in my veins, the anger that is driving me
insane, and the fact that I just want to drop dead right here and
now."

I was crying and ranting off the top of my
head. I walked up to Quinn and hit him on his chest, then put my
hands against him and leaned my forehead on his chest. He wrapped
his arms around me and held me tightly.

"Shh," he whispered in my ear. "It's going to
be okay, Ash. We'll get him back."

He kissed my cheek and put his head on my
shoulder. I felt the strange tingling that flashed through my body
as he held me close and then he started kissing my neck, then my
cheeks, and he glanced at my eyes as he kissed me on the lips.

This started the fire, as his kisses became
more passionate and my body responded to his, he unbuttoned the
sleeveless shirt I wore and slid it down over my shoulders, as we
knelt on the deck. I ran my hands through his hair as he kissed the
hollow of my neck, then down to my breasts, where my bra exposed
them. Slowly, he leaned me back to lay down on the wooden ramp. I
grabbed at his shirt, pulling it out of his pants. He rose his body
off from mine and unbuttoned the first couple buttons as he
continued to kiss me, then I unbuttoned the rest, slipped it over
his shoulders, and then pulled it off from him totally.

Slowly, as he kissed my bare skin and I ran
my hands over his hard body, I realized what I was doing. He
glanced at me, suddenly, his hair falling in front of his eyes, and
looked me deep in my eyes. I reached up and touched his cheek, my
eyes filling with tears.

"I'm sorry, Quinn," I told him softly and he
sat up as I struggled to get up and began to button my shirt. "I'm
so sorry."

I turned and walked away quickly, leaving him
there, on his knees without a shirt on.

I sat in my room for most of the day thinking
about what I had done, or was about to do. It kept running through
my head, and of all the things I thought about, I could only say
one thing; that I had let this happen. I knew how I was around
Quinn, yet I was constantly alone with him. Then I decided to do
the only thing I could.

After dinner in the house with Lauren,
Michael and David, I watched Quinn walk out to the stonewall, just
outside the dining hall, and sip a vodka on the rocks. I excused
myself and walked out towards him. We hadn't spoken since earlier
and I felt odd just walking up to him. I slid my hands in the front
pocket of my jeans and stepped up beside him as he looked out over
the lawn and the ocean.

"Hi," I said softly. He looked at me then
back out at the lawn.

"Hi," he replied quietly.

"Quinn, I ..." I said then stopped. He stood
straight and looked at me. "I think we need to talk."

"We did talk earlier and look what
happened."

"Yeah, well, that's what we need to talk
about," I said and took a deep breath. "I don't think we should be
alone together anymore."

"That's probably a good idea," he replied.
"But, why?"

"What?"

"Is it because of Julian or is it because of
me?"

"Quinn, I love Julian, with all my heart," I
told him and sat up on the wall. "You know that."

"How?"

"How what?" I asked again. "You're not making
any sense."

"How can you love him when you haven't seen
him for eight years? How can you be sure that it's him you love and
not the idea of disobeying your parents by being with him?" He
questioned and looked at me with confusion. "Sure, you haven't seen
each other in eight years, but have you made love to him, has he
shown you that type of love, that kind of total intimacy?”

"I have loved him since we first met. We are
connected and we're meant to be together," I told him, reassuring
myself in the process. "And, just because we haven't had sex
doesn't mean that he doesn't love me just the same."

"Yeah, well, if you were so meant to be with
him, Ash, what the hell were you doing with me earlier?" He
questioned.

"I can't explain it, Quinn," I replied and
rubbed my forehead. "I don't want to hurt Julian, but I don't want
to hurt you, either."

"Do you love me?" He turned and looked out at
the grass again, then glanced at me. I looked at him, quite shocked
and at a complete loss for words. "Don't lie to me, either. I know
what I felt out there."

"I love you, yes, but like a brother," I told
him. He stood and leaned in close to my face, and stared me in my
eyes. He looked at my lips then back at me.

"You don't do what you and I did earlier with
a brother," he said and walked away. I sat there on the wall and
looked at my feet.

About an hour later, as it started to get
dark, Lauren came out looking for me. She found me up near the two
large trees that grew out in the yard, about fifty feet from the
wall that I had been leaning on. She touched my shoulder and I
looked at her quickly.

"I should have never come here," I told her
and broke a twig in my hand. I looked at her and the two of us
began to walk around the grounds. "I should have just handled this
on my own."

"Why, what happened?" Lauren asked. I shook
my head, thinking about how fascinated she had been with Quinn the
night before. I tried to think of a reason not to tell her, but she
had the right to know.

"Quinn happened," I replied and she looked at
me quickly. "When we're together, we kind of have this chemistry
between us that can either irritate us both or start a chain of
events that could jeopardize my future with Julian.”

"You didn't sleep with him, did you?" Lauren
asked.

"No, but I'm sure it would have ended up that
way if I let it continue," I said and looked at her. "I'm sorry,
Lauren, I'm an awful friend. If it makes you feel better, he and I
promised to not be alone again."

"It’s okay, Ash, it's not like we were
married or something. I mean, I just meet the guy," Lauren said,
but I could feel the betrayal in her heart.

"I just wish Julian would return so that I
can get some of this off my chest. I need to have him close to me.
I'm so confused." I sighed and rubbed my eyes. Lauren put her arm
around my shoulder and we walked in silence for a while longer.

That night, I tossed and turned in bed. I
knew I had gotten some sleep, but I wasn't sure how much. Softly, I
heard the sound of my name and I opened my eyes. Julian walked into
my bedroom, dressed in the suit he was wearing for his meeting, and
he sat on the edge of the bed. I smiled at him and reached up to
touch him. He leaned into my touch and then kissed me passionately
on the lips.

He took off his coat as he kissed me and
began to unbutton his shirt as we lay back down on the bed. I
helped him with the rest and watched as he threw it off the bed. He
pulled at my nightgown up until it was over my head and on the
floor, then I watched him look over my naked body. Slowly, he
touched my skin with his fingers, tracing my body as a painter
would, from the top of my head, down to the bottom of my feet and
back up my inner leg. He looked at me then, as he knelt between my
legs, and kissed his way up, from the ankle of my right leg, to my
mid-section, where he lingered for a bit, giving me goose bumps and
feelings that I had never quite felt before. He kissed my navel and
my breasts, stopping to pay close attention to my hard nipples, and
then he kissed me on the lips as he skillfully slipped out of his
dress pants and laid his naked body against mine. He stroked my
cheek and ran his fingers over my lips as we slowly made love.