"I know, but-"
"No. You have to consider these things now, before you make any decisions you'll regret."
I stared at him for a moment. "You want Kye in the family?"
He snorted. "God no. I just want you to be fully aware of all the implications before you make any lifetime decisions."
"Kye isn't a lifetime decision." He was a problem I might never get around.
"Realistically, he's more lifetime than Quinn right now. He's your soul mate. How can you promise anything to Quinn when Kye is out there?"
"I can't, but-"
"You cant," he cut in. "So you're left with the possibility of two men who won't share, one of whom who has already proven he will go to great lengths to make you his."
I jerked away from his touch again and thrust to my feet, taking several steps away from him before I stopped. I breathed deep, but it still didn't do anything to ease the turmoil within me.
"This might be all a moot point anyway," I said eventually, "because I might not be like you. I might not even want anyone else now that my wolf has found her soul mate."
Hell, Ben had been like that. He might take other lovers now, but certainly not when his soul mate was alive. And with the games fate was playing, it'd be my luck to be more like Ben than my brother-and the result would be the loss of a man I really wanted over one I didn't.
"Then this arguing is pointless. You need to uncover all the facts before you worry about the consequences."
I closed my eyes. It was a moment, a discovery, I really didn't want to make. Because once I knew, I would face the hardest decision of all.
"It's only going to get harder the longer you leave it, sis," Rhoan said softly. "Just do it. Now. Then you'll know, one way or the other."
"Okay, okay." There really was no point in putting it off any longer, and sitting here stewing over it certainly hadn't gotten me any closer to a solution. He was right. It was better to know than to worry over what might or might not be. I turned around and held out my hand. "I need your keys."
He reached into his pocket, then tossed the keys to me. "You don't want company?"
I smiled, though it was a pale shadow of its usual self. "I think this is something I'd better do alone."
"Be careful then, won't you?"
"Quinn's not going to hurt me."
"I meant, be careful driving. I don't think you're in the best frame of mind for concentrating on the roads."
This time, my smile was warmer. "I won't dent your car, bro. I promise."
He snorted. "I'm more worried about you denting yourself."
"I won't do that, either."
"Good. Then get."
I got, but with a whole lot of reluctance.
I went home to shower and change first. Luckily for me, Liander wasn't there, because the last thing I needed was to go through the whole explaining thing again. I just wanted to get over to Quinn's, discover what I had to discover, and then make any decisions I had to make.
It was still very early in the morning, so the traffic hadn't yet reached its peak. I parked in the Langham hotel's underground lot, then made my way up to Quinn's suite.
One there, I dug the key card out of my wallet and swiped it through the slot. The lock clicked and I pushed the door open. The suite was dark, but I could hear the soft timbre of breathing coming from the bedroom. I doubted he'd be asleep. Not now that I was in the room. The beat of my heart was a cadence that would have woken him immediately.
I took a deep breath, trying to ease the tension that was rolling though my body. It didn't help-nothing would. Not until I had my answers. I forced my feet forward, stripping down as I went, scattering shoes and clothes haphazardly across the lush carpet.
He reached for me the minute I slipped in beside him. Every muscle was so tightly wound that his caress felt like a blow. I shuddered a little and tried to relax. But how could I do that when what happened in the next few minutes might be the end of a relationship that had barely begun to blossom?
"You're later than I thought you might be," he said, kissing my cheek, my neck, my shoulder. "Were there problems with the job?"
"Let's just say there were some discoveries made that have caused monumental problems."
I ran my fingers down his cheek and lightly across his lips. He kissed each fingertip gently. And again, it felt like a blow.
"You're very tense," he commented, his dark eyes on mine. "Would you like me to draw you a scented bath?"
"No." Because how on earth could I relax until I knew? "I'd much rather be kissed senseless until everything else just slips away."
Please let it all slip away.
Please let it be like its always been.
"That I can also do." A smile curved his lips as he gathered me in his arms.
For the briefest of moments, something within me fought his touch. Fought him. And the fear surged.
No, I thought. No.
Then his lips were on mine, and I forced myself to relax. Thrust away the fear, and concentrated instead on the kiss, on his scent, on the heat of his body pressing so close to mine.
The tension within seemed to ease a little, and while the ice didn't melt, I didn't have any immediate urge to reject him, either.
But was I supposed to have such an urge?
Ben had never really explained the finer points of sex once he'd met his soul mate. All he'd said was that he simply didn't want another partner when she was alive.
Concentrate, I thought. Don't think. Don't worry. Just do.
But it was easier thought than done.
The tension continued to roll through me in waves, but as his kisses and caresses moved down my body, a dreamy sense of enjoyment soon joined it. It wasn't the heat and the fire that marked many of our encounters, but then, it didn't need to be.
Slow was good, too.
He continued to tease me, touch me, tasting and exploring every part of my body with his hands and his tongue, making every inch of me tingle. Every inch of me ache with wanting him.
Wanting not just him, but the truth.
I needed the answer, more than I'd needed anything in my entire life.
"Please," I whispered, with an urgency he couldn't yet understand.
He chuckled softly, then wrapped his free hand around my neck and kissed me hard. As his mouth claimed mine, he slid into me. It felt good, and it felt right, as if in that one moment of unity, our souls had merged and danced as one-and all I wanted to do was cry in relief.
It might not be as strong as what I'd felt with Kye, but it was there, and it was real, and it meant that I had the choice. That I didn't have to destroy what had only just begun.
Then Quinn began to move, and everything else slipped away, lost to the glory of the moment. All I could do was move with him, savoring and enjoying every tiny sensation flowing through me. I shuddered, writhed, as the sweet pressure built, until it felt as if I was going to tear apart from the sheer force of it. Then it all did tear apart, and his body was slamming into mine so hard the whole bed shook. When his teeth entered my neck, it heightened everything all over again, and I came a second time.
When I finally caught my breath again, I took his face between my palms and kissed him long and slow. "You have no idea just how much of a relief that was."
He rolled to one side and gathered me close. It felt so right in his arms that I just wanted to cry. At least I was still free to enjoy all this. Fate had left me that, if nothing else.
"There's nothing like a good dose of lovemaking to ease a body's tension," he said, a smile in his voice.
"Yes." I hesitated. The cowardly part of me just didn't want to fess up about what had happened and why I'd been so tense, but that wouldn't fair. Besides, he had to know, because we'd no doubt be dealing with the consequences soon enough. "You know those discoveries I mentioned earlier?"