Lifting her fingers, she ran them over his broad cheekbones, tracing the curve of his beloved face. Her hands trailed over his square jaw and then his lips. He was the most striking man she’d ever encountered, and he was hers. His eyes softened further as his fingers threaded through her hair.
Resting her head on his chest, she slid her fingers over his carved abdomen before running them up his arm. On his right bicep, she followed the lines of the weeping angel tattooed there. The tattoo was appropriate for him. He was stunning enough and vicious enough to make the angels cry.
She’d spent eighteen years of her life hating vampires and training to learn how to kill them, and then she’d become one. She’d never believed she could fall in love with one, never thought she’d ever trust one enough to even like them, but she trusted and loved him more than she’d ever considered possible. At one time in his life, Julian had been a brutal murderer, the epitome of everything she hated about vampires. She knew he still had it in him to be ruthless, but then, so did she.
CHAPTER 2
“What do you intend to do with him?” Devon inquired as he gazed at where Earl sat on the floor before Julian.
Julian glanced at Devon when his friend stepped off the stairs and into Clint’s hidden room beneath his garage. Julian had never liked Clint, the man who owned the bar where Quinn worked, mainly because the guy knew how to irritate the hell out of him. However, he had to admit he did respect the man who was born a Guardian but had been hidden away in this town by his parents to keep him safe from The Commission.
Clint knew there were vampires who killed humans and those who didn’t, in this world. Because of that, Clint had watched out for Quinn and cared for her when she’d first come to town, even though he’d eventually come to realize she was a vampire. Julian may be tempted to break Clint’s neck half the time, but his loyalty to Quinn had secured his life.
“I intend to do plenty with him,” Julian replied as he returned his attention to Earl. “Release him from your mind control.”
“Julian—”
“Release him, Devon. I’m many things, but I’ve never been one to torture the helpless. Besides, it won’t be much of a fight between what Quinn did to him earlier and the fact that I’m far stronger than he is.” Julian knelt before Earl and pointed the tip of one of the foot-long knives he’d taken from where Clint had them set out on one of his benches in this room, under Earl’s chin. A bead of blood formed on Earl’s skin from where the knife pricked him. “You’ll never be able to take control of my mind.”
Earl’s eyes flickered, and sweat beaded across his brow, but he remained immobile while his mind was firmly locked within Devon’s control. Julian set the other knives he’d take from the bench on the hard ground for later use.
Julian rose to his feet and stepped back before looking to Devon again. “Release him. When I’m done with him, you can take control again to make sure he doesn’t get into anyone else’s mind.”
Devon bowed his head, and in the next instant, Earl leaped to his feet. Julian grabbed him by his nape and dragged him back. The man kicked and squirmed in his grasp, squealing as he writhed to get free. Julian felt him trying to dig at the edges of his mind and chuckled as he clamped down harder on Earl’s neck.
“Won’t work on me. I’m too old for you,” Julian murmured.
Lifting him up, he smashed Earl back down. Earl howled when something in his back cracked, but the sound was quickly cut off when Julian plunged a knife into his sternum to pin him to the ground. Earl’s hands and feet kicked against the ground, and his fingers clutched at the knife, but Julian leisurely pulled one of his hands away. Smiling at Earl, he held the hand to the ground as he drove the knife through Earl’s palm.
“It’s not as much fun when it’s you, is it?” Julian murmured to him.
He leisurely pulled Earl’s other hand away from the handle of the knife in his sternum. Flattening it against the ground, Julian slammed a knife through his palm to pin it down as well. A thrill of pleasure went through Julian, and his lips skimmed back to reveal his elongated fangs. So often he struggled to keep his brutal nature in check, but with this man, he planned to savor every second of his torture and eventual death.
Earl’s eyes rolled in his head as he struggled against the knives pinning him down. Julian had driven them deep enough that he wouldn’t be going anywhere anytime soon.
“Julian,” Devon said in a warning tone of voice.
“Earl and I, we’re not done yet,” Julian replied, his gaze raking over Earl as he lifted a knife from the ground and flipped the handle of it in his hand. “He’ll pay for what he’s done to Quinn over the years.”