Resisting Ruby Rose (The Ruby Rose Series) (6 page)

What was happening? He wasn’t exactly attacking me, more like provoking me. Testing me. And I was letting him.

“Not bad, Ruby Rose,” he whispered with his lips touching my ear, sending shivers down my back. Adrenaline mixed with some other chemical in my body that I had no control over, and I paused for a breath and to let my muscles relax. But only for a moment to catch him off-guard, then I dipped, seizing him off-balance. Sweeping his feet off the ground took every ounce of energy I had left, but when he buckled onto his back, I pounced on top of him and put my elbow under his chin. He was now lying flat on the floor with my legs straddling him. I blushed with anger and embarrassment.

Sofia must’ve been keeping Liam in his chair with her gun, because there was no way the skirmish was a completely silent one.

“Really not bad,” Quinn said, smiling too much for someone who just got his head smashed against the ground. “I don’t think even your two-hundred-fifty-pound boyfriend could have pulled that off.”

“What is this?” I demanded with false confidence, knowing he could pull an escape move and
I’d
be the one on my back next. “Why are you provoking me?”

“Curiosity, I suppose,” Quinn said. A smirk formed on his mouth. We were too close for practically strangers. “I’ve been told what a prodigy you are. Had to see for myself.”

“What?” I pulled away, releasing my arm from his chest. But when I realized that I was now just sitting on him in far too sexual a position, I rolled off to the floor.

“Agent Skryker said we might be good partners, and I’m afraid he might be right.” Quinn sat up, and though the room was dark, I saw his eyes light up.

Partners? What kind of partners? For what? I didn’t understand, but I couldn’t gather all my thoughts to ask one intelligible question. It was all too much: our near silent sparring session in the dark, the excitement in his eyes, the way he smelled, his proximity, the dead bodies outside, the thought that Liam and Sofia were in the next room. “Wait, isn’t Sofia your
partner
?” I blurted out.

“Sometimes,” Quinn said as he cocked his head. He understood what I was really asking. He wasn’t oblivious as to how fascinated I was with him. I didn’t even know the guy, and somehow I had a sense that he was more like me than anyone
I’d
ever met.

Here we were, on the floor of a dark dining room, surrounded by Martinez’s mercenaries who’d been ordered to kill me and my three friends, and all I wanted to do was find out who Quinn really was and what he wanted from me.

“Why are you really here?” I asked, whispering, even though I shouldn’t have had to.

He stared at me, unblinking, for several moments. I didn’t look away.

“Let’s make a deal,” he said, getting up and offering his hand to pull me up as well. I took it, even if it could spin and pin me. I knew by this point that he wasn’t here to hurt me. “If you help me get everyone out of this cabin alive, I’ll tell you everything.”

I was still holding his hand when a shadow near the doorframe emerged. “Am I interrupting something?”

CHAPTER 9

Liam stood against the opposite side of the window in our master suite. With all the lights off and only slits of moonlight shining through the curtains, all I could see was his face. His hurt and angry face.

One of us should’ve said something, but I was afraid of what was coming. A fight—and not only the one with Martinez’s men waiting for us outside. A big, ugly fight right here, right now, between the two of us. His temper would flare.
I’d
close him off. H
e’d
slam something.
I’d
use stinging words.

So I didn’t say anything. I stared out the window until I thought I saw a movement. Pulling the rifle to my shoulder, I looked down the scope, but without night vision, it was useless. I watched the spot in tense silence for what seemed like hours.

“I’m sorry,” Liam said eventually, so quietly that I couldn’t be sure
I’d
actually heard him right.

I lowered the rifle and turned to him, but he wasn’t even looking at me. He was still glaring out into the night with a creased brow and pale moonlit eyes.

“I shouldn’t have gone after LeMarq without you.” There was sincere regret in his voice.

What? No throwing of furniture? No screaming matches? No days-long silent treatment? No defensive explanations about how things weren’t what they might have seemed with Quinn? This was not how the Roses resolved things—with prompt apologies. I had no idea what to do. Logic told me to apologize in return. To express my gratitude for such a mature reaction to a very challenging set of issues. Maybe even to reach out and reassure him that I still adored him. But instead, I kept hold of my rifle.

Suddenly, his hands were on my face and his body was against mine, completely disregarding the dangerous weapon now wedged between us.

“Liam,” I whispered, forcing enough space to place the shotgun on the windowsill and transfer my clutch from the weapon to his arms. “Do you have a death wish?”

“Maybe I do,” he said, moving one hand to my hip to draw me closer, and the other to the back of my neck. His fingers traced through my tangled hair, which didn’t exactly hurt, but somehow caused my eyes to water. Or at least that’s what I told myself as we stared at each other through the darkness.

When his lips touched mine, no tenderness remained. No innocence. No tingling anticipation. No sweet promises. Instead it was all desperation. All desire. All rage. All burning fire. Scorching me with the way he pressed his mouth to mine and clasped my body against his.

My eyes shut as my body responded to his. His grasp too tight, his breath too ragge
d . . .
but he needed me. And I needed him, too. W
e’d
been through so much, and now we were on the precipice of so much more.

“I’m sorry, too,” I finally said, breathy and lightheaded from the way both his hands were now moving through my hair. “For too many things to even lis
t . . .
”

His lips silenced me again. Fierce and warm, pushing me backward into the wall. His urgency consumed me—so many emotions pulsing between his body and mine. Clenching his shaggy hair in my hands, I let the passion free-fall. If only for a few moments, no one and nothing else mattered. Adversaries, misunderstandings, and murderers meant nothing. In this moment alone, we belonged together, wrapped in each other’s embrace. Except when Liam’s lips left mine to travel down my neck, and his hands crushed my body against the wall a little more roughly than he probably intended, another boy was suddenly on my mind.
Quinn.
I stiffened.

“Last night was supposed to be so different,” Liam said, perhaps feeling the change. “I wanted to tell you something. I was about to tell you, but then yo
u . . .
” Liam stopped to find the right words, but he didn’t have to.

“I know,” I said, licking my lips and tasting him on me. “I shouldn’t have said anything about seeing LeMarq, and maybe you wouldn’t have had t
o . . .
”

Neither of us were doing very well at articulation. Finishing these difficult sentences could only open more wounds when we were right in the middle of closing them.

“I need to tell you what I wanted to say last night.” Liam held my face in his hands again, a gentleness returning to his touch.

“OK.”

“I want to tell you that there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you. That you have changed my life. In a good way. Even after last night, I still believe that. Whatever happens tonight or tomorrow, I want you to know that I love you, Ruby Rose.”

I’d
known it was coming. I definitely heard it approaching in the distance and saw it speeding toward me like an unstoppable freight train. But it still knocked me off the tracks.

It was my turn to tell him I loved him, too. It was simple etiquette, and neatly within the rules of Serious Dating 101. So why couldn’t I muster the stupid syllables? He had to know that I had very little practice at this kind of thing. With my background, years of therapy, and fear-of-abandonment issues, it was easier for me to land a sweet roundhouse in a pair of stilettos than say the words “I love you.” Even when I felt it.

“Time to go.” Another voice broke into our private moment. We both jumped at the intrusion. “Bring your guns.” It was Sofia, whose hair and getup were so black that we couldn’t see exactly where she was.

“Why? What’s going on?” Liam asked, pulling away from me.

“No time to explain,” Sofia said as she moved out. “If you want to live, follow me.”

I grabbed my gun and headed out of the room, Liam right behind. Downstairs, everyone was on high alert. Even Alana had a gun in her hand. Despite knowing it was my dad and me who taught her how to handle one, I felt a pang of guilt for her now having to use it. Sh
e’d
never so much as killed a ladybug, and she might have to shoot a human being.

“Dude!” Chase whisper-shouted at Liam. “This guy thinks we’re going to go out there guns blazin’, like some suicidal cowboys.” Chase nodded his head toward Quinn, who was at the window scanning the outside again.

“No one’s ‘blazin’ any guns,
’
 
”
Quinn responded, imitating Chase’s surfer boy accent. “Now listen, we have two choices. We stay here and let them come in after us, riddle the place with bullets, or set the place on fire—
or
we make a run for it while it’s still dark and there’s cover.”

Still dark? I looked down at my watch. 4:40 a.m. Where had the whole day and night gone? Too much hesitation and sitting around arguing amongst ourselves seemed like a major mistake at this point. I rolled my neck with fatigue, trying to find the adrenaline to get my mind operating at capacity.

“Time is no longer on our side,” Quinn said. He felt them coming, and I felt it, too. “They have to figure help is probably on the way—phones have been down for almost twenty hours, and none of you have checked in with your keepers. They’re about to make their last play. I say we run.”

“How are we going to run? And where to? Back to L.A.?” Liam asked Quinn directly, with undisguised hostility.

“Sofia and Liam will act as decoys and make a run for it in the vehicle you brought.” Quinn pointed toward the front door. “Sofia will put on one of Ruby’s hooded sweatshirts so no hair is showing, and with any luck, they’ll think she’s Ruby. Most of the men will go after them, considering Ruby is their priority target. I’ll lead the rest of you, including the real Ruby, out the back to my vehicle, approximately a hundred yards south of here.”

“No,” Liam cut in. “I’m not leaving Ruby.”

“Yeah, precisely,” Quinn said, calmly and logically. “That’s exactly why they’ll follow you. They’ll assume Ruby is with you. If you want to protect Ruby, you’ll do this.”

“Of course I want to protect Ruby,” Liam argued back. “But your way is not the only way. Why don’t you dress up like me and go with Sofia?”

Quinn only had time to give him a quick look of disdain before he gave Sofia a nod and she brought over his black pack he originally came in with. He reached in and pulled out several ultrathin bulletproof vests. My eyes widened at the sight of them.
I’d
always had a thing for gear.

“Everyone put these on.” He handed them to the four of us. I gave Quinn and Sofia another once-over and realized they’d been wearing theirs all along. Alana just stared slack-jawed at the reality in front of us.

She hadn’t said one word to me or to anyone else, as far as I knew, since Sofia and Quinn came in several hours ago. I took a vest and crossed over to the other couch to sit next to her. “Here, let me help you put it on.”

All she did was nod. She wasn’t mad at me. She wasn’t even freaking out like I would have anticipated. She was listless, as if in shock. Chase, too. Though he might’ve have had an extra dose of fatigue from being out most of the night before.

“It’s going to be OK, Alana. I promise,” I said as I helped her pull the vest over her head and secure the straps. I remembered that my dad once told me I should never make promises I couldn’t keep. That’s why he never promised me he would always come home. That h
e’d
never leave me. He knew all too well how high the chances were of breaking his word. But I didn’t take my words back. I would do anything to save her, Liam, and Chase from this mess.

“Take these,” Quinn said to me, handing me several full clips and a handgun that looked an awful lot like my first gun-love, Smith. I let the weight of it in my hand fill me with energy. I could do this.

“Ruby, we don’t have to do what they say.” Liam put his hand on my arm. “We can wait it out. Help has got to be here soon.”

“Yeah, but we can’t be sure it’ll be soon enough.” I put one of the clips in, letting the slide and click tell him what words alone couldn’t convey. I was ready to fight. Everyone was. All the weapons had been passed out, cocked, and loaded. Even Alana’s.

“Liam,” Quinn said with finality. “Follow Sofia’s lead. I will take care of Ruby. Do you understand?”

As if ganging up on him, Sofia grabbed Liam by his bulletproof vest with surprising strength. “Let’s go.”

“Everyone else, follow me,” Quinn ordered as he made his way to the rear of the room.

“Holy shit,” Chase muttered as he watched Sofia almost drag Liam in the opposite direction. Liam wasn’t exactly resisting, more like waiting for me to fight for him. “Is this happening?”

Liam finally broke Sofia’s hold on him as they reached the door. “We need to stay together, Ruby. I’ll do anything to keep you safe.” A glistening resolve formed in his eyes. Even from across the room, the glare penetrated me. I knew h
e’d
kill again, or die trying, to get me out alive. I didn’t doubt for a second that he would risk everything for me.

“If you want to keep her safe, come with me,” Sofia said, not backing down. “Now.”

“Go, Liam,” Quinn ordered, herding Alana, Chase, and me toward the back of the house. I could have fought against it, but I didn’t. I could have argued that it was too dangerous, but I didn’t. Instead I walked backward, following Quinn—knowing he was right. This was the best plan we had.

As I watched Liam’s heart break, I thought about using the L-word, just in case I never got another chance. But again, I didn’t. He was risking his life to keep me safe, and I was letting him. His disappointment turned to resolution as he gave Sofia the nod of acquiescence.

Only then did I see how Sofia was communicating with Quinn—through earpieces. She put one finger to her ear and confirmed, “In position.” She was wearing my soft pink Roxy hoodie with bright yellow rays of sunshine, filling it out in the chest area far better than I ever could. She might’ve been the sexiest bodyguard of all time.

I took Alana’s hand and led her to the back door. Joining Quinn in the kitchen, Alana, Chase, and I stayed low beneath the window line.

“In position,” Quinn spoke into his earpiece. “On my count.”

“So what?” Chase started. “We just run and hope for the best?”

“No, I go first.” Quinn pulled out what looked like a hand grenade out of his vest.

Alana gasped when she saw it, expressing what I felt.

“It’s a diversion,” Quinn explained. “I throw it out and run. I signal for you to run. I’ll cover you. Simple as that. Understood?”

“Understood,” I said taking the initiative. “I’ll cover you.”

I squeezed Alana’s hand, not sure who I was trying to reassure—her or me. She was shaking.

Quinn eyed me as if gauging my composure under pressure, which quickly made me straighten my jaw and assume the ready position. Both hands on weapon, eyes up, steady breath.

“Five. Four. Three. Two.” Quinn nodded as he reached for the door handle. “One.” He opened the door and threw the grenade out into the forest line.

An explosion rocked the whole mountain, or so it seemed. And before I knew it, Quinn was gone. The door was left ajar, and I assumed his previous position to look out, cover him, and watch for his signal. Soon the night was alive with the sound of gunfire coming from every direction, and I lost my visual on him.

I pulled my gun in tight. How could we be expected to go out into that?

A moment of panic crept in with the crisp night air. I couldn’t even find Quinn in the dark, let alone be ready for his signal. Alana started whimpering until Chase had the good sense to hold her. She wouldn’t make it if she couldn’t pull herself together to run.

Another explosion went off to our left, and I pulled the door shut a little more. But when a smattering of pebbles hit the door, some of them flying through the crack, I realized it was Quinn’s sign to run. I didn’t hesitate.

I grabbed Alana by the arm and gripped my gun. “Go.”

Head down, I led the two of them outside and across the open backyard, lit by flames. We sprinted as fast as we could while sounds of rapid fire and death swirled around us. I could’ve sworn I felt bullets zip past my body, but I didn’t stop moving until I hit a cluster of trees for us to hide behind.

In the distance, the sound of Big Black rumbling to life and peeling away filled me with hope. Perhaps all of Quinn’s “distractions” worked and helped Liam get away.