She knew how he felt about Earl, knew what he wanted to do to him, and she understood why. When she’d had her hands on Earl in the hotel, all she’d wanted was to make his death as torturous as possible. She’d planned to bring him back from the edge of death only to push him toward it again and again until he finally cracked and there was nothing left to him but a broken shell. If someone had abused Julian the way Earl had her, she would have done anything to make them pay for it.
A part of her still wanted to make Earl pay for the pain he’d inflicted on her, her family, and her friends. That part wanted his suffering so badly it screamed to be set free in the room with Earl for days on end, even as she spoke about ending his existence. Seeing Earl pinned to the floor in such a way had shocked her and brought back a flood of memories, but it had also been a good starting point for him. There was so much she could do to the man who had destroyed her life while he was in such a position.
If she started down that slippery slope, she knew there was a chance she’d never climb up it again. To allow herself to torture Earl in such a way was to become like him, and no matter how badly she wanted him to suffer, she wouldn’t cross that line, and she didn’t want Julian to cross it either. She wasn’t willing to lose Julian to the violence she knew he craved in order to ease her deep-seated need for vengeance against a man who wasn’t worth it.
“He deserves everything I plan to do to him,” Julian said.
“I know he does. More than anyone, I know. But I don’t want it. I despise that man. What I did to him with my power was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before, and it was sadistic, but I don’t want you to have to do this.”
“And if I told you I enjoyed doing this to him.”
It wasn’t a question; she knew Julian relished making Earl suffer. She’d never had any doubts about who Julian was or what he was capable of. He’d never tried to hide it from her.
“I’d believe you,” she replied.
“And does it disgust you?”
“No,” she said honestly, “but it makes me fear for you.”
Clasping her cheeks in his palms, he drew her down for a deep, penetrating kiss that made her entire body quiver. His hands slid over her back, down across her side, before cupping her ass and pulling her on top of him. She moaned when she felt the swell of his arousal against her.
“Don’t worry for me,” he murmured, his lips brushing over hers. “As long as I have you, I’ll be fine. I can stay grounded with you, for you.”
“I have to worry. You can be so…” Her voice trailed off as she tried to think of the right word.
“Dark?”
“Maybe, I guess.”
“Twisted?”
She gasped when he slipped inside of her at the same time his fangs pierced her neck. She tried to remember what she’d been saying as his love for her swirled within her mind.
“Not twisted,” she panted, her fingers digging into the unyielding flesh of his chest.
His lips curved into a smile against her throat. Retracting his fangs, he licked away the drops of her blood left behind. “I can be,” he said as he kissed his way up her throat to her ear. “And I think you’d like some of the ways I could be.”
“I have no doubt,” she admitted.
He rolled suddenly, pinning her beneath him. Rising over the top of her, he gripped her hands and held them to the mattress. Quinn stared up at him as the tentacles of her power slipped free to seek him out. Her ability latched onto him, but not to drain, simply to connect them further.
“I can’t lose you,” she whispered. “I want Earl out of our lives for good.”
He lifted her hands above her head as he lowered himself over her again. “You’ll never lose me, not to the darkness, not while you live. I’ll always come back for you. Will you stop worrying about me if I kill him tomorrow?”
“Yes. I don’t want him so close to us either. He’s in chains, but chains can be escaped. Death can’t. I thought I’d be the one to end him, but…”
“But what?” he prodded when her words trailed off.
“But I’d prefer never seeing him again. I want to move on, with you. I want to know what it’s like to have a life with you. A life that doesn’t involve that bastard haunting me every second of it. I want to know what it’s like to live a day without fearing what will happen if I find him, or if he finds me. I’m ready to be completely free of him, and his death is the only way that can happen. If I have to be the one to end him, I will.”
“He’s mine. No matter what, I will be the one to kill him.” His eyes searched hers for a minute before he bent his head to nibble on her lip. “I will kill him tomorrow.”
She smiled as she drew her legs up and clamped them against his sides. “You sweet talker you,” she teased.
A cocky grin curved his mouth as he turned his head so that the tantalizing vein running through it was within her striking distance. “I know what you crave.”
She laughed as her heart swelled with her love for him. “Oh yes, you definitely know how to ease all of my cravings.”
She sank her fangs into his neck, re-establishing their soul-deep mating bond as he pierced her flesh again with his own fangs. She lost herself to the touch and feel of him when he moved over her.