Maximum Risk (23 page)

He raised a hand to stop her. “I got it.”

Trying not to lose her temper, she followed him up the stairs and into his bathroom. She stood in the doorway and watched him fist a handful of shirt behind his head and pull it off. A cut that looked suspiciously like a knife wound gashed across his abs. It didn’t look deep enough for stitches, but bled profusely.

Helpless, she observed while he used a washcloth to stop the bleeding. All the while saying nothing to her.

Finally, she couldn’t take the silence anymore.

“That man was one of them, wasn’t he?”

A muscle jumped along Quinn’s jaw and for a moment she thought he wouldn’t answer her. “Yes.”

Her stomach churned. “From the house?”

He didn’t look at her. “Yes.”

Somehow, she’d known. “Did he tell you anything?”

He crouched down and retrieved a First Aid kit from under the sink. “No.”

Her gaze traveled over his broad shoulders, seeing faded red marks where she’d raked her nails across his skin just a few short hours ago. How things had changed so quickly. Now he treated her like he had on the helicopter.

Which meant he blamed himself for something.

“What will you do with him?”

He tossed the washcloth in the sink and reached for a bandage. “Let us worry about that.”

“So what happens now?” She didn’t mean with the intruder and he knew it. What happened between them. He couldn’t pretend things were the same. They weren’t. And if he thought he could just shut her out after last night, he had another thing coming.

“What happens now is I’m going to find every one of those bastards and put an end to this.”

His tone was low, rough with anger. It wasn’t like him to act reckless. She moved into the room and put a hand on his arm, felt the muscles bunch beneath her touch.

“You can’t go after them yourself.”

“The hell I can’t.” A tremor quaked through him. He met her gaze. Fire burned there, seeking an outlet.

“Quinn,” she whispered.

He reached up and cupped the nape of her neck, pushing her back against the wall. Her breath caught seconds before he ground his lips down on hers. His body pressed into hers, hard and unyielding.

Avery gripped his shoulders, her body burning. Quinn’s mouth devoured hers. Taking, demanding, possessing.

His hands cupped her breasts, thumbed her nipples through her shirt. When he ripped her shirt off she gasped for air. Then he dropped to his knees and sucked a nipple into his mouth, rolled it between his teeth. She threw her head back, arched into him, tunneled her hands through his hair and urged him closer.

He trailed his hot mouth down her navel and to the waistband of her cargo pants. Roughly, he tore them off her. His hands wrapped around her thighs, lifted them onto his shoulders and then he lowered his head and feasted on her. There was no tenderness. No petting. Quinn controlled her. And it turned her on more than she dared admit.

“Now, Avery,” he growled against her wet flesh and dragged her over the edge. She had no choice but to ride it out until finally he brought her down.

But he wasn’t finished.

He put her feet on the ground, shucked off his pants, grabbed a condom out of the First Aid kit and rolled it on, then returned to wrap her legs around his waist.

Her heart started to race and her body juiced in anticipation as he plunged inside her. Dear God, there was nothing in the world like being filled by Quinn Wolff. She leaned her head back against the wall and let out a sigh of pure bliss, contracting her walls and hearing his groan of pleasure.

He pulled out then surged inside her, the tension building. With a growl he swung her off the wall and carried her to the bed. He thrust inside her once they hit the mattress and she gasped at the full contact. Much better.

Quinn bent his head and marked her flesh just above her breast, his pace increasing. She couldn’t hold out much longer. This primal side to him was incredibly sexy. The headboard bounced off the wall. Her fingers dug into his flesh, taking him all in.

“Avery,” he grunted as he climaxed, carrying her over the edge with him.

She pressed her cheek to his chest, seeing stars, knowing she was never going to recover from this.

She had fallen in love with Quinn Wolff.

****

“I have to go.”

Quinn rolled out of bed, grabbed his pants and walked into the bathroom, cursing himself the entire way. Add another fuck-up to his list. Avery didn’t deserve what he’d just given her. He couldn’t get the images of her out of his mind and he’d wanted to kill the bastard downstairs for what he’d done to her.

Then she’d touched him and all he’d wanted was to be inside her.

He’d treated her like an animal.

Fuck.

He disposed of the condom, stepped into his pants and raked a hand through his hair. No time for apologies now. If she ever forgave him. Hell, he didn’t deserve her forgiveness after his brutal treatment.

Striding into the bedroom for a shirt, he glanced at the bed to see Avery still stretched out beneath the sheets, hair spread over his pillow like copper fire. She sat up and the sheet fell to her waist, exposing her beautiful breasts. And there, above the right one, was a mark. Not from being held captive, but made by him.

His gut clenched. Angry, he grabbed a t-shirt and said on his way out, “One of my brothers will stay with you while I’m gone.”

Downstairs he called Nate to come sit with Avery, and prowled the house for the five minutes it took his brother to get there. He met Nate at his Jeep.

“You look like shit,” Nate said, climbing out.

“Kell call you?”

Nate frowned. “Yeah, about thirty minutes ago. He’s out back with our guest.”

“Why the hell weren’t you with him?”

Nate narrowed his eyes. “What’s up with you, bro? I was at Dani’s covering for Evan while he was here. He’s our best interrogator, remember?”

Quinn scrubbed a hand over his jaw. Damn, he needed a shave. Of course Evan was here. He had knowledge of pressure points on the body and marital arts training that proved very useful in interrogations. Maximum pain with minimum strikes.

“Chris is with him and Kell is doing what he does best. No one else is getting past our security. Savat is over at Mom and Dad’s. Avery is watching us from the window,” Nate added. “I should get inside.”

Quinn didn’t turn around to look. “Keep her there.”

“She’s not going anywhere.”

While Nate went to watch over Avery, Quinn made his way through the woods to the pole building and keyed in the code to get through the door. He bypassed the war room where Kell should have been and entered the door hidden in the back corner. His brother was running the perimeter, watching all their sixes. That was what Kell did. Stayed out of sight to protect them.

Chris leaned against the wall, biker boot propped next to his knee, arms crossed over his chest. He glanced over when Quinn walked in, expression masked.

In the center of the room, secured to a chair, sat the man who had stood over Avery’s bed with a knife. The bastard who might have taken part in torturing her in that house. The one who could have fired the bullet that killed Ryan.

Evan walked over. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“Why the hell not?”

“Because I’m working and you aren’t thinking clearly right now.”

Quinn stared his younger brother down, but Evan didn’t retreat. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Evan, shorter than Quinn by three inches, said softly, “Yes, you are.”

Chris pushed off the wall and clapped a hand on Quinn’s shoulder. “Come on, bro.”

Unwilling to undermine his brother’s authority in front of their prisoner, Quinn retreated from the room. Chris followed him out and stood with him behind the one-way window where they watched Evan approach the man.

“Get anything from him yet?” Quinn asked, hitting the speaker button on the wall so they could hear what Evan was saying.

“No, but it won’t be long. Evan’s going at him hard. I hear you took a turn at him.”

“I wanted him dead.”

“Join the club, bro. If Evan wasn’t so good at getting people to talk I’d be in there taking my turn.”

Through the speaker Evan asked, “Where is Ramil Diakameli? We know you’re here under orders.”

“Avery did the right thing,” Quinn said. “Stop blaming her.”

Chris scoffed. “How long are you going to—
sonofabitch
. You slept with her.”

Quinn faced his brother, prepared for his wrath. He wasn’t prepared for the right hook that slammed him into the wall. Tasting blood he glared at his brother. “Goddammit, Chris.”

“That’s for breaking Rule Number One.” Chris returned his glare.

A low grunt of pain came through the speaker, followed by Evan’s calm, controlled voice.

Chris wasn’t done. “You’re benched, big brother. No longer captain, until you start thinking with the right head.”

Quinn swiped a thumb over his lip to wipe the blood off. “Like hell I am. This isn’t a football game.”

Pain shot across Chris’s face. “No, it’s not. But you still slept with your fucking charge and that makes you the biggest idiot in the universe.” He shook his head. “You’re in a tailspin, bro, and if it was any of us you’d do the same.” Then he turned his back to him to stare through the window at the interrogation.

Ironic, coming from Chris, who always seemed to be in a tailspin for one reason or another. His brother lived fast and loose and it caught him often in the form of a jealous husband or boyfriend. The tables had never been turned before and Quinn didn’t like it.

“I’m not stepping down. Stay with Evan. I’m gonna go update Dad.”

A muffled shout of agony came from inside the other room.

Chris grunted and turned his attention back to the window. “What the fuck ever. Go get your head on straight. You’ve done enough damage.”

Quinn walked away. He’d rather Chris kicked his ass than say those words to him. Physical pain, he could control. The echo of his brother’s words as he stepped into the warm summer air couldn’t be ignored.

No matter how he tried, the truth couldn’t be ignored. And from this moment on he’d do his damndest not to do any more damage.

Beginning with Avery.

Chapter Seventeen

Avery stared at Nate. “Quinn went to his parents’?”

Nate fixed those bottle-green eyes on her. “I take it he didn’t tell you he was going?”

“No, he didn’t. Where’s the guy who broke in? And what about Quinn’s wound?”

He rose to his feet. “I’m gonna go for a swim. Wanna join me?”

Avery shook her head. Even if she were able to swim yet it was the last thing she wanted to do. Wrap her hands around Quinn’s neck and squeeze maybe, but swim, no. Just the thought of going in the water without him made her shudder.

And that only made her more irritated.

After the way Quinn possessed her body, her soul, and her feelings afterward, she wanted to be close to him. Not so she could do something stupid like tell him how she felt, but so she could hold on to that moment for just a little longer.

He’d run off like he’d been set on fire.

Obviously, she was the only one who’d been changed by this morning’s interlude. He couldn’t get away fast enough. As much as she tried not to let it hurt, it did.

“You sure?” Nate asked. “Might cool you off.”

She couldn’t tell by his tone if he was being serious or a smart ass. His expression told her nothing. Darn these Wolff brothers. They played their cards close to the vest. Well, all of them except Chris. He laid his cards on the table.

“I can’t swim, you know that,” she said, still searching his angular features.

“You can. Your mind just has to give your body permission again. Come on, it’ll give you something to focus on besides putting my brother’s head on a platter.”

“I knew it,” she muttered, following him outside. Bright sunlight beat down on them, warming her instantly. Never would she underestimate any of the Wolff family. They may keep their thoughts and feelings to themselves, but they didn’t miss a beat.

Nate stripped down to his swim shorts, all corded muscle and tanned skin. But the sight of him didn’t make her pulse race like Quinn did.

“Swimming is very therapeutic.” Nate headed toward the lake.

Avery hesitated, staring at the dark water. “You’re dodging my questions and it isn’t going to work. Why are you here instead of Quinn?”

Over his shoulder, Nate said, “Ask him.”

“He isn’t here.”

“He’ll be back.”

Annoyed, she glared at his back. Were all the Wolff brothers obstinate? When it didn’t appear he was going to wait for her, she swallowed her unease and went after him. “Where’s the man who broke into Quinn’s house?”

Nate walked down the dock and made a clean dive off the end. Blowing out an annoyed breath, she stalked after him and stared into the dark water rippling beneath the wood planks. Immediately her vision began to narrow. Lightheaded, she sank down to her knees to wait with her eyes closed until her head stopped spinning and the memories that threatened faded.

She would not go back there. Not with Quinn’s brother somewhere in the dark depths of this lake. No, she would wait for him. Strengthening her resolve she waited, eyes trained on the horizon and not on the lake.

And waited.

Then waited some more. Until minutes had passed and she began to worry.

How deep was the water here? What if he hit his head and needed her help?

“Oh, God, no,” she murmured, coming to her feet.

She was in no position to save someone’s life. Just the thought of diving into the dark water made her heart pound and her ears ring.

Where was he?

Damn it. She had to check and see if he was floating somewhere down there.

Wringing her hands together, she leaned over the edge to search the water, gasping. Nothing. The inky black water hid its depths. If Nate was down there the only way she was going to see him was to jump in.

Dots danced in front of her eyes at the thought and she gripped the edge of the dock. Smooth wood dug into her palms.