Marcy Jacks The Vampire District 5 James's Risk(1)

The Vampire District 5

James's Risk

James Flynn has captured the most handsome man he's ever met.
The problem is that Quinn Rossi is a fire mage, and one of the

men who attacked James's friends.

Quinn does not set off his evil alarm bells. In fact, the naive man
is so innocent and trusting that he latches onto James for

protection, slowly falling for him, until he can prove that he
wanted no part of the attack.

But when a fire starts and Quinn is blamed, James realizes how
much he's grown to love the other man, and he runs away with

him. Soon it becomes apparent that on their own, out in the wild,
they stand no chance of surviving or evading capture from

vampire slavers, and after James has risked everything to keep
Quinn safe, he must take another risk—to return to the village and
place himself at the mercy of his peers, and possibly take Quinn's

place if blood is demanded.

Genre: Alternative (M/M or F/F), Fantasy, Paranormal
Length: 38,263 words

JAMES’S RISK

The Vampire District 5

Marcy Jacks

EVERLASTING CLASSIC

MANLOVE

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JAMES’S RISK
Copyright © 2013 by Marcy Jacks
E-book ISBN: 978-1-62242-851-9

First E-book Publication: April 2013

Cover design by Harris Channing
All art and logo copyright © 2013 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

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JAMES’S RISK

The Vampire District 5

MARCY JACKS

Chapter One

“I don’t want him dead, Brian,” James said to their village leader.

“Please.”

The first night that James Flynn had brought the fire mage home

with him, he’d endured the strange, outraged, and sometimes fearful
looks the other villagers had sent to the captive man. It was easy for
him to ignore those questioning gazes as he dragged the younger man
behind him in the iron shackles he’d stolen from the dungeon of that
vampire lake house he and the other members of the human resistance
had raided. He didn’t want the poor guy to be any more frightened
than he already was, however, so getting him out of sight was
imperative.

The shackles were perfect, really. James always thought that he

would be disgusted by the sight of such things, considering what
vampires used them for, but no. He’d found a suitable use, and it
wasn’t like they were on any of his friends. The fire mage couldn’t
use his powers without overheating the metal and hurting himself, so
he didn’t even try to fight back, and there would be no surprise
attacks in their sleep. He couldn’t use his powers at all, and he was as
helpless as any mortal human instead of the paranormal creature that

8 Marcy

Jacks

he was. He’d tried to escape a time or two, but James had always
caught him, and now they were here.

James could barely get the man to speak. He didn’t know his

name and could only make a guess at his age, which was somewhere
in his early to midtwenties, but God, he was gorgeous. James had
him, he was glad when Hawke had made the decision to keep him as a
prisoner, and now James couldn’t let him go.

It made Will uncomfortable, that was for sure. The man was a

vampire, and a healer mage, so clearly he was going to be
sympathetic to another mage in chains, but James had no interest in
putting Will in irons and leading him around. No, he, along with the
rest of the village, Hawke in particular, all liked the vampire. Will
was one of the few vampires whose existence they were willing to
tolerate, probably due to his being a healer and having tended to their
sick and wounded ever since Hawke had brought him to the village.

The fact that they’d married one another only sealed the deal as

far as everyone was concerned. Will was one of them.

Noir was another vampire that the villagers had taken a shine to,

even if it was somewhat more reluctant than it had been with Will,
probably because he was an assassin and a killer. But it was with his
help that the West Village of free humans had managed to get
information on their vampire targets before attacking, and why losses
had been down to a minimum.

James didn’t want to think about the only man whom they’d lost.

He told himself it was the only reason why he bothered with keeping
the fire mage around and defending him, even though everyone else
had long since lost hope that the guy would offer them any helpful
information. It had nothing to do with those deep eyes that looked so
imploringly at him whenever James was on guard duty, which was
most of the time.

Everything had gone to shit after their team had apprehended the

vampires’ vacation home. Vaughn was missing, and his hunting dogs
were damn near useless without his guidance, whining the way that

James’s Risk

they did now that their master was no longer around. The problem
was that no one knew who had taken him. The mages who’d been
lurking around, hunting for a fae that they could cut up and turn into a
potion, or maybe it was the vampires? There hadn’t been an actual
attack when Vaughn went missing. He’d only gone off on patrol, so
there was no way to know, and the fire mage was their only lead, if
they could just get him to talk.

A week had passed, and there had been rains and fogs. Of course,

that meant that the dogs couldn’t track where their master had been
taken to, or if he was dead or alive, nothing.

It was all very frustrating. There were murmurs in the village

about just killing the mage and getting him out of their hair, but James
continued to stall them, without entirely knowing why. Vaughn had
been his friend, a good friend. If the fire mage couldn’t, or wouldn’t,
help him find the man, then he probably should die, at least for his
part in attacking the house while James, Hawke, and the other
assassins and guards of the West Village were occupying it.

Instead he was defending the man. “What if he’s telling the truth?

He might not know where Vaughn is. We can’t just kill him.”

Brian West wasn’t an old man, but he was still pretty damned

skilled for late middle age. He and his wife, along with a few select
other individuals who were either not around anymore, or dead, had
all founded the village. Though he hadn’t done it alone, and James
had been just a kid at the time, it was both Brian and his wife Felicia
who’d seen to the safety of the village and had helped it grow by
taking in recently escaped human slaves, or drifters.

Of course, there was the odd time when one of the members of the

village would step out of line in some way, but he was always fair in
his judgment, and only once had James ever see Brian put another
human to death. And that had been after the guy had turned out to be
a psychopath beyond help, who’d not only attacked other members of
the village, but also threatened to expose their whereabouts to the
nearest nest of vampire nobles.

10 Marcy

Jacks

It was for that reason that James was fairly sure the mage would

be safe, so long as James continued to put in a good word for him.

Brian had a thoughtful look on his face as he stroked his mostly

silver beard. His face still looked relatively young, but it was the
beard that gave him away every time.

“At this point it would be too much of a risk to just let him go. I

know you had him blindfolded when you brought him here, but he
will find his way back home eventually. With his powers, he could
even put burn marks into the trees and leave a trail for any vampire
slaver to follow if he wanted to sell the information of our
whereabouts.”

“Then that’s all the more reason to keep him here,” James said.
Hawke was in the same room where this conversation was taking

place. He was Brian’s son, and even though he was always the one
leading the raids, or going out on solo missions, it was pretty much
unsaid that he was the one next in line to take over running the village
when Brian decided Hawke was ready.

Or after Brian died.
This little private meeting they were having was currently taking

place inside of their small house around the old kitchen table that had
one leg that was much too short, and would have made the table
unusable, if Hawke hadn’t put the big book of vampires’ laws and
lords under it to steady it.

They were both staring at him now, curious expressions on their

faces. It made him uncomfortable and twitchy whenever someone
looked at him like that. Like they were trying to see through him.

“What?” he asked.
“James,” Hawke started. “Bringing him here was your idea. We

didn’t need to. There was plenty of time to question him at the lake
house.”

“He wasn’t saying anything,” James defended. “How are we

supposed to find Vaughn if he doesn’t speak?”

James’s Risk

“And yet, despite that,” Brian said, and he folded his arms,

tapping a long finger on his bicep. “You won’t let anyone near him to
make him speak.”

It wasn’t like Brian was really gunning for torture. Mages may

have been part of the paranormal society, but they could still be
human. Anyone could be born with magic, and it was only after the
mages had grouped together to try and kill Owen and take his infant
son, both of whom were at least partially fae, that everyone realized
that even the mages had their own prejudices.

The vampires enslaved humans and drank from them.

Werewolves hunted and ate them—for the most part—and the people
in the mage district didn’t even want anyone on their land unless there
was some magical talent. That was what both Hawke and Will had
thought. Turns out, they were wrong about the mages. It explained
why the fae hid away in their own district in the North, a haunted land
that everyone pretty much stayed away from. If James was part of the
fae, he wouldn’t want to risk being caught and cut up in some mage
soup either.

Despite that, the mage he’d caught and locked up didn’t give off

the vibe that he was a killer. James could still recall with absolute
clarity the fear that had been in his voice that night when he’d caught
the guy and put a knife to his skin, one of the few times he’d ever
spoken.

He’d said please. He’d begged for his life, and he’d said that he

hadn’t even wanted to be there.

James couldn’t blame him for not wanting to talk to anyone, even

to him. Despite where he had been, he’d clearly been telling the truth
about not wanting to be there. James didn’t have all the details, but he
was willing the bet the guy had been conscripted, or taken hostage. If
mages could hunt down and kill fae for potion making or whatever,
then why wouldn’t they want someone with fire-wielding abilities to
help them?

12 Marcy

Jacks

“I think the time for torture has passed, and if we let anyone rip

out his fingernails or tie him down to pour water up his nose, he’ll
only start shouting out the things he knows we want to hear. He’ll
give us a location, whether it’s correct or not, and we’ll get sent on a
wild goose chase.”

He didn’t want to mention that, after a week, Vaughn might

already be dead anyway. He didn’t point that out because he didn’t
want to believe it.

“I’m just trying to figure out why you want to keep him so bad,”

Hawke said.

“Because he might still be able to help us find Vaughn.” Whether

he was dead or alive was another question, but even a body brought
home for a proper funeral was better than nothing. “Even if he can’t,”
James said, only hinting at the thing that scared the hell out of him.
“Then he can still give us information on the mages. They attacked us
to try and get to Owen. They’re clearly a bigger threat than we
thought they were if they’re willing to try that shit on a group of
armed men.”

Brian rubbed his eyes. It was the sort of movement that made

James think he was fighting off a headache.

Hawke was still giving him that suspicious, there-has-to-be-more-

to-this-than-you’re-saying look.

“I’m going to get back to the barn,” James said, hooking his

thumb over his shoulder, as if the two men didn’t know which barn he
was talking about. It had been the same one that Will had been locked
in when he was a prisoner of Hawke’s. “I’ve said what I wanted to
say, so I’m going to get back and watch him so you can both think it
over. Unless there was more you wanted to discuss?”

Brian sighed. “I want to keep the people in this village calm.

There’s been enough surprises for the last couple of weeks what with
a werewolf, three vampires, and a fae all coming to live here. I like to
think after all that, that the people are open-minded and patient
enough to be able to accept his presence for a little while longer, but

James’s Risk

it’s been a week and so far there’s been nothing out of him. It’s not
just his powers that make the people wary of him. It’s the fact that he
could very well be the enemy.”

“What do you suggest?” James asked. He tried to remain

professional as he asked his question, like he wasn’t worried at all. It
was something he’d thought he’d mastered, keeping his emotions
hidden, considering all the dangerous jobs and raids he’d done over
the years.

Now, he wasn’t so sure that he managed to keep the worry out of

his voice.

“He is still human, despite his powers,” Brian said. “Will is a

mage, too, so it’s not like the villagers have never seen magic before
either, but his fire powers and inability to cooperate do put others on
edge.”

That had been mostly Hank’s fault. He was a real shit disturber,

always looking for ways to stir a pot. James suspected it all stemmed
from his frustration at being forced to work with the animals and tend
to the land, when he really wanted to go out fighting.

It wasn’t that there was something wrong with him. He was

physically fit and able, but he was a terrible shot, and he couldn’t
even go out hunting with the others when ammunition needed to be
conserved. His hands got to shaking too much whenever he held a
gun, which made it impossible for him to hit a target. That, and his
complete inability to follow orders kind of made him more of a
liability on the field instead of an asset.

Basically, Hank was bored and angry and liked keeping people on

their toes.

“Just try to get him to say something,” Brian asked. “You’re the

one who caught him, and you’ve been kind enough to him when he
was brought here. We can’t let him go, regardless of whether or not
he can tell us anything about Vaughn. Get him to help in any way you
can, and I’m sure the villagers will come around. They’ve already

14 Marcy

Jacks

done it for three vampires, a werewolf, and a fae. What would be a
mage added to that if he made himself useful?”

James had to force himself to keep from biting the inside of his

cheek. He’d wanted the mage around. He’d wanted to question him,
and he’d wanted to keep him safe. Forcing him to stay in the village
permanently and against his will had never been part of the plan.

Shit.
“I’ll see what I can do.” He’d already been away from the barn for

too long, and Hank had once attacked Will back when he was a forced
guest and locked up. He didn’t want that happening to the mage. “I’ll
head back and start talking to him,” he said.

Brian nodded, and James was dismissed. He had no idea what he

was going to say or do that would help him to save the man’s life.

James’s Risk

Chapter Two

For a lack of anything better to do, Quinn moved his chains

around just so he could hear them jingle and make noise. He was
bored and scared shitless. Emptying his mind and focusing on the
chain, however, calmed him, in an odd way.

He’d thought by now that Julian would have found him, rescued

him and brought him home, but there was still nothing, and Quinn
was still trapped here.

Fuck. He never should have gone out so far from the house. His

cottage was kept hidden for a reason, and he had to be a show-off and
try to go after the better prey.

Hunting had been scarce lately. He and his brother were having

trouble bringing in food because all of the animals were being
frightened away due to all the fighting that had been happening
between the humans and vampires. It had been overly hot lately as
well, and not even Julian’s ice magic could help with it, or provide
enough water to keep their small garden of vegetables alive.

Quinn had been tired of being hungry and tired of letting his

brother take care of him. He was a fire mage, dammit! The power of
fire was one of the more coveted powers among mages. Quinn wasn’t
very powerful, but he should have still been able to burn the eyes out
of his attackers before they’d gotten these damn shackles on him.

Instead he’d frozen. It was like his brother had hit him with a frost

spell as a joke, and Quinn couldn’t move. Some of the men had even
made fun of him, asking him if he was about to soil himself when the
shackles went on, and it took everything Quinn had to not weep
pitifully as he was restrained and led away.

16 Marcy

Jacks

He was no real man. He hated himself for being a coward. He

hated himself for traveling so far away from the cottage, for being
forced along to help those other mages, and for being so helpless
when he was captured by the humans.

They seemed to think he knew something about their missing

friend. Quinn knew that the moment he said he didn’t know a thing he
would be tortured as a liar until he said anything to make it stop. Or
they would believe him, and kill him because he was their enemy. He
was convinced that the only reason he was still alive was because
he’d stayed silent.

Perhaps the large man, the one with the kind eyes, James, also had

something to do with it. Quinn had been terrified of him at first, and
rightfully so after the man had threatened him with a knife if he so
much as produced a small flame.

Ever since then, Quinn got the feeling that he was being more than

guarded. It was almost as if he was being protected.

He certainly hadn’t starved since he came here, that was for sure.
One of the large barn doors opened, flooding his dark space with

light so bright that he was momentarily blinded. Despite that, Quinn
looked up expectantly and squinted through the light, attempting to
see who was coming.

He was sure the large figure was James, bringing him his evening

meal and coming to sit with him again. As stupid and foolish as it
was, he’d come to like the presence of the handsome man. He had
green eyes that were soft and gentle, when they didn’t appear angry
with killer rage, and he had a hair color that Quinn had never before
seen. Not really. It was pale blond, but in the light, it glinted with
auburn and gold. The man only had the shortest of stubble for a beard
surrounding his pink mouth, but Quinn was convinced that if he
allowed it to grow out, it would be the same.

“Just coming to make sure the mage prisoner was comfortable, no

need to stand up on my account.”

James’s Risk

Fuck. This was not James, and despite the man’s words, Quinn

did stand up. He stood up and stepped back as much as he could
before the slack of his chain ran out.

It was locked around a thick and sturdy beam from one of the

empty stalls. The animals had all been cleared out of here, leaving its
entire use as a prison just for him. And now he was alone with Hank.

All the man ever did was glare at him and stare. Quinn hated him,

and he was pretty sure that Hank hated him as well.

Hank, however, was grinning. He didn’t let off an air of bad

energy. Not that Quinn could read such things, but there were always
ways of telling by body language and facial expressions.

That didn’t mean the man was planning on playing nice, however.
He was tall, a little over six feet, which meant that he towered

over Quinn. He had pale blond hair, like James, but it was dull and cut
much shorter. He also had the coldest blue eyes Quinn had ever seen
on any man.

It hadn’t taken him long to figure out that Hank got off on being

cruel to any paranormal hostages that came into the village. He was a
chatty man, and Quinn knew about what had almost happened to Will,
who was both a vampire and a healer mage.

Where the hell was James?
As if reading his thoughts, or maybe he just saw the discomfort on

Quinn’s face, Hank laughed a little, as though someone had just said a
funny joke. “Your protector is out talking to the head of the village,
mage. Just you and me until he gets back.”

Quinn shook his head. “You’re not supposed to be here.”
Fuck. He immediately knew that he shouldn’t have opened his big

mouth.

Hank hooted. “You do speak! I was starting to think you were a

dumb mute or something.”

Quinn sealed his lips shut, refusing to take the bait.
The man was here to annoy him, pester, poke, and prod. He hated

the paranormals, Quinn could tell that much, but he wouldn’t hurt

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Jacks

Quinn. James, and the leader of this village, had already made it clear
to everyone that he wasn’t to be harmed.

Unless that order had been revoked. Or Hank was here on his

own, regardless of the rules. Quinn knew by now that just because
someone put a rule in place, didn’t mean that it couldn’t be broken.

He started to shake.
Hank just kept right on staring at him. “You’re a pretty big

coward for a fire mage, aren’t you?”

Fuck him.
“Come on, say something to me again.” Hank took another couple

of steps forward. This time Quinn moved off to the side to try and
avoid him, but the chain kept his movements limited. Hank knew this
and cut him off, shoving him against the stall, the hard wood pressing
against his back.

He grunted at the rough treatment, but he’d been in these same

chains for weeks now. If this was the worst the man could do, then
Hank would take it and not complain.

Just because he was scared shitless didn’t mean he had to let the

bastard know about that.

When Quinn tried to shove him away, Hank barely moved, and he

just grabbed onto the heavy iron links of the chain nearest to Quinn’s
wrists, and forced him to keep still.

Hank was at least six inches taller than Quinn was. There was

nothing he could do if the man wanted to intimidate him like this.

He opted for pretending that he wasn’t intimidated at all, and he

stared up into those cold, pale blue eyes with as much defiance as he
could muster.

He was stunned by the somewhat thoughtful expression that was

on his face as Hank stared back down at him. For the first time, there
was no curled lip or suspicious sneer. Hank looked at Quinn’s face,
his cheeks, eyes, and jaw, studying him.

“You’re a human,” he said. “How can you be one of us and one of

them at the same time?”

James’s Risk

Just lucky, he supposed.
When Quinn didn’t answer, Hank’s giant hands clasped around

his shoulders and slammed him back into the stall. The action was so
fast that Quinn hadn’t had any time to defend himself against it, and
he smacked his head.

“Answer me!”
“Hank!” a sharp voice barked, and Quinn wanted to sigh out loud

and sing to the heavens.

James had come back. He was here to watch over Quinn and get

Hank the hell out of here.

Hank released Quinn’s shoulders, rubbed his jaw, and then backed

away a step. He hardly looked like he cared that he was just caught
doing something he shouldn’t have been doing. He appeared more
annoyed than anything for being interrupted.

“What do you want?” Hank demanded.
James stepped out of the way of the open barn door, clearing the

path. “Get the hell out of here. Don’t let me catch you in here without
permission again.”

“You’re the one who left him alone unsupervised for so long.

What if he’d tried to escape?”

“You’re not a guard so that’s not your concern,” James said.
Hank bristled, as though he’d just been insulted in the worst

possible way. “I live in this village, too, you asshole. If you’re
fucking around on the job and putting my safety, as well as the safety
of everyone else who lives here at risk, then it is my business.”

“Take it up with Brian if you have a problem,” James said. His

stoic expression never changed, and his eyes were hard and his lips
were thin as he glared at the other man. “Just get the fuck out.”

Hank kept his back straight as he marched toward the door. He

and James muttered something hotly to each other, but they were so
far away and talking so low that Quinn couldn’t understand a word of
it. He was pretty sure he wanted no more part of their village drama
anyway.

20 Marcy

Jacks

It was only after James slammed the barn door shut, leaving the

both of them in near pitch-black, that Quinn became aware that James
was holding a small bag.

Finally, he’d brought lunch.
“Sorry about him. He’s, ah…a pain in the ass. Likes causing

trouble.”

Quinn got that part already. He didn’t take his eyes away from the

bag.

Even though it was near total darkness, James seemed to realize

where he was looking, and he held the bag up. “I brought you
something,” he said with a smile.

James moved over to the crates on the far side of the barn. They

were used for Quinn’s chairs, and a table for eating, but they were
also kept out of the way when not in use. It was as if the village leader
feared he would try and break them to use the splintered wood as a
weapon.

Yeah right. Quinn liked to fantasize about what it would be like to

be strong enough to do something like that and make a brave and
daring escape, but even if he was left alone with the crates, even by
accident, he knew he would be too much of a chicken shit to do
anything with them.

Just like he was too much of a chicken to speak to anyone this last

week.

It was another reason why lanterns weren’t allowed in here, and

Quinn hadn’t been allowed to so much as see a real fire since being
locked up. The villagers feared that he could be able to control the
already burning flames from a distance and wreak havoc, and they
were right, but again, Quinn wasn’t even sure if he would have the
balls to do something like that.

He settled for moving away from the spot where Hank had shoved

him, and then sat down on one of the crates when James finished
arranging it.

James’s Risk

It was sick, the way he looked at the man’s ass when he bent over

to pick up the crates and then put them down again and arrange them.
He tried not to be so obvious as to just look over and stare, in case
there was someone spying, but if there was anyone else around that
Quinn wasn’t aware of, then all they would have to do was take one
look at him to see the way his eyes were turned as far as they could
go, just so that Quinn could stare at the fine muscles on the other
man’s legs out of the corner of his eyes.

He was so completely screwed.
When the makeshift table and chairs were set up, both Quinn and

James sat down. James did so with a sigh, and he pulled a loaf of
bread, a small brick of cheese that was wrapped in cloth, and a bottle
of wine from the bag he’d brought.

There was also a single butter knife, but no butter, or any glasses

for the wine. James took the knife. Of course he wouldn’t give it to
Quinn to hold.

“You and I are going to have a conversation,” James said. What

worried Quinn was that his voice held none of the patience and
understanding he’d previously used when trying to get Quinn to
speak.

It made Quinn start to sweat a little, which in turn made him

squirm, and his wrists itch even more than he was used to.

James then uncorked the wine and took a long drink before

settling the bottle down where Quinn would be able to reach it.

His green eyes were hard and serious when they finally looked at

each other. It made Quinn’s entire body go stiff with the anxiety of
what he was about to hear.

“I can’t protect you anymore,” James said. “I want to. I don’t want

anything to happen to you. I—” He abruptly cut himself off, then
cleared his throat.

“Brian is losing patience with you, and I doubt the village will be

out looking to give Hank a real punishment for making
things…difficult for you.”

22 Marcy

Jacks

Difficult was an understatement. Quinn knew that the guy wasn’t

done messing with him by a long shot. Likely, things would only get
worse.

“You need to talk to me, say something,” James implored him.

“Brian doesn’t want to give the order, but if everyone in the village
thinks that you’re protecting the people who took Vaughn, maybe
even killed him, then there will be nothing I can do to protect you,”
James said.

What had Quinn the most worried, and what had him reaching for

that bottle to take a long drink of the alcohol inside, was that the man
sounded completely serious. The ball was already rolling to put Quinn
to death for something he had no part in.

All this time, James had been protecting him from that?
James shook his head when Quinn continued to say nothing. He

broke off a piece of the bread and started slicing the cheese brick
when Quinn could keep silent no longer.

He’d already spoken to Hank, and apparently the village was

calling for his blood no matter what he did. He might as well start
talking, if only to beg for his life.

“Please,” he said, clutching the bottle tightly in his fists.
James looked at him, his eyes wide and mouth slightly agape, as

though he was witnessing some kind of miracle.

Quinn started to shake, both from fear and cold, and he couldn’t

stop himself now that he’d started. “Don’t let them kill me. I—I’ll tell
you anything you want, just, let me go.”

James’s Risk

Chapter Three

He did it. James could hardly believe his luck and he barely dared

to move in case he fucked it all up and wound up scaring the poor guy
back into silence.

He was just sitting there, shaking and clutching at the bottle of

wine with his pale fingers. James had to tread carefully here. He may
have caught the man, and he’d done his best to keep the guy safe for
the last week, but being anyone’s prisoner, put into chains and locked
in a barn, would make it difficult to build trust.

James put some cheese slices on the bread and placed it closer to

Quinn for him to take. He slapped his hands together to remove
crumbs, trying to go for the picture of patience, before they got down
to it.

“Okay, let’s start with your name. Does that sound good?”
The man nodded, and some of his dark hair fell into his eyes. His

eyes that were so dark and shaped just so that James had only ever
seen them on one other person.

James wouldn’t let himself think about that.
The mage’s hair was getting long, but there was no way anyone

would suggest a haircut now. The poor guy would see someone
approaching him with a pair of scissors or knives, and he would flip
out and likely hurt himself.

“Quinn Rossi,” he said, not reaching for the bread and cheese.
That was…a nice name. Quinn. James didn’t think he’d ever met

a Quinn before.

“James Flynn. You already know that, but I figured we should

have some proper introductions now that we’re finally speaking.”

24 Marcy

Jacks

Quinn took another long gulp from the wine bottle. It was one of

the objects that had been raided from the vampires’ vacation home,
right before Vaughn went missing.

“Look, Quinn,” James started. “I want to be honest with you about

this. You know where you are. You’re in a free human village. You
might not know where exactly, but I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t be hard
for you to figure it out if you managed to escape, and then lead the
rest of your mage friends back here,” James said, thinking of Brian’s
warning and what it would mean for the village if Quinn decided to
do just that.

“Why are you telling me that?” Quinn asked, looking up at James.

He had the dark brown eyes of a puppy that had been repeatedly
kicked.

Fuck.
“I just want you to understand why the village hasn’t taken off

those chains yet, and why Hank was so volatile.” James swore that if
he ever caught the man near Quinn again, he was going to fuck him
up. He didn’t care anymore about the rules, or what they used to have
together. Enough was enough.

“Do they plan on letting me go at all?” Quinn asked. He then

pried one of his pale hands off of the bottle of wine and reached for
the bread with cheese slices, as if he could hold back no longer on
taking it.

The poor man must have been worried that something had been

done to it, but hunger would force a man to eat almost anything.

James had once eaten grass after a particularly harsh winter when

the hunting was bad. It had given him the worst stomach pains
imaginable, and he’d promised himself that he would never do it
again, but then, one winter later, he’d done just that after nearly two
weeks without food, and the snow had finally started to melt and grass
began to sprout.

“That’s hard to say,” James said, getting back to Quinn’s question.

“What can you tell us about Vaughn? I’ve already told you about him.

James’s Risk

The guy who disappeared right before your men attacked the house
and your leader tried to take Owen.”

Quinn stuffed the bread and cheese in his mouth now until his

cheeks stretched out like some kind of hamster. It took James about a
second to realize that the man had done it because he was afraid the
food would be taken away from him.

Was he about to say something that James wouldn’t like hearing?
He was trying to speak through the food, but of course, his voice

was muffled.

It was stupid and completely the wrong time, but James found it

hilariously funny. He laughed, so deep that it went all the way into his
belly, and when he leaned back, he nearly fell off the crate he’d been
sitting on.

Quinn finally managed to get enough food down his throat that

now he was chewing like a normal person, and looking at James like
he’d just lost his mind.

“Sorry.” James wiped tears from his eyes with the heel of his

palm. “That was just too much.”

“At least you have a sense of humor,” Quinn said, swallowing one

more time and finishing with the food that had been in his mouth.

“Not really. I think everything’s just been getting to me. I’m

scared shitless of what you’re about to say.”

Quinn washed down the cheese and bread with some more wine.

“Yeah,” he said after swallowing. “Me, too.”

James waited, nerves in a tight bunch, and he was on the edge of

his seat, practically leaning across the crate they were using as a table
just to hear what he was about to say.

“I don’t know where your friend is. That’s the truth. Those other

mages, maybe they did find him and maybe they didn’t, but I had
nothing to do with his disappearance.”

James had known it was possible he was going to hear something

along those lines, but that didn’t stop it from sitting the wrong way in
his stomach. He leaned back in his chair and regarded the other man

26 Marcy

Jacks

coolly. He’d been told he had an imposing stare before, and he
wanted the other man to see it now, just in case Quinn was lying to
him.

Be calm. He had to be calm. “There is that possibility, considering

we were also fighting with the vampires at the time, but they
retreated. The odds that they were the ones to come back, just to take
a single man, are relatively slim.”

“What if they wanted to question him like you’re doing to me?”

Quinn asked.

The question made so much sense, and was so logical, that there

was nothing James could say to that. God, he hoped his friend wasn’t
off somewhere being tortured for information. If he was, then the
vampires would do anything and everything to Vaughn to make him
say the location of this village right here and now.

The fact that vampire slavers hadn’t tracked them down yet could

only mean that hadn’t happened. If Vaughn was alive and in the hands
of vampires, then he was either lying through his teeth—and through
the pain—or he was already dead.

He cleared his throat. “Is there anything you can tell me that will

prove what you’re saying? Anything at all to at least give us some
evidence, something that will keep the villagers from demanding your
head.”

That had apparently been the wrong thing to say, since Quinn’s

impossibly deep brown eyes went inhumanly wide with fear.

“I won’t let them cut your head off. I won’t let them kill you,”

James said.

God, the man looked so young when he was trembling like that

and his eyes watered with tears. “How old are you?” James asked.

“Twenty-four,” Quinn answered.
He’d passed the bar for adulthood some time ago, but clearly this

was a new situation for him. There were no visible scars on him that
James could trace back to handling blades, or being cut by one. There
was always the chance that he had his fair share of scars beneath his

James’s Risk

clothes, but James wasn’t about to ask him to strip, and aside from the
calluses on his hands and fingers from hard work, there was nothing
to suggest a life of hardship.

This man was not an assassin or a guard. If Quinn was either, then

he was an amazing actor and playing James’s little crush like an
instrument. That couldn’t be it, though. James’s gut was telling him
that this was a farmer, and nothing else.

“What were you doing there that night? You said you were

supposed to light the way for the other mages.”

It was how James had captured him. It had been ridiculously easy,

which was the main reason why he didn’t want anyone in the village
to hurt the man now that they had him. It would almost be unfair of
them considering the lack of fight there had been.

That, and James wouldn’t have been able to forgive himself if

he’d let any harm come to the other man. Some of it really was about
doing the right thing, and not just what his cock wanted.

James was good at listening to his instincts. So far they hadn’t led

him astray, and he could only pray to God that they never would
either.

If this man died, however, because James had been the one to

catch him, and had said nothing when the group had collectively
decided to keep him as a prisoner, then no amount of good instincts
would save him. He would die, and it would be entirely James’s fault.

“I just want my friend back. I don’t want anything to happen to

you for that to happen. Just tell me as much as you can and I’ll speak
with the village leader. I’ll even speak with the villagers, calm them
down and make them understand if I have to.”

It was his only shot, really.
Quinn still had the look of a terrified animal that knew it was

about to be led to slaughter, but there was finally a glimmer of hope in
his eyes.

“You would do that?” he asked.

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Jacks

“I don’t know how many humans you’ve been around in your life,

but we’re not monsters. We don’t want to needlessly kill you.”

He left out the warning that most humans, when frightened and in

groups, could and would do terrible things when they felt threatened.

Best to leave that out instead of scaring the man more. The last

thing James wanted was for tears to fall from those pretty eyes.

God, he was so screwed.
“I was out hunting,” Quinn said. “I went farther away from my

house than usual because it was getting hard to find and grow food,
and that’s when I was picked up.”

James broke off another large piece of bread and put more cheese

on it. He handed it to the other man and listened intently. “Tell me
everything you can.”

James’s Risk

Chapter Four

Vaughn had no idea where he was. His limbs felt heavy and stiff,

like he hadn’t been getting his proper exercise in forever. He knew
what that felt like. There had been one time, several years back,
before the village had the advantage of having a mage healer living
with them, that he’d fallen sick with fever. It had been right after
winter, when the sky couldn’t seem to decide to drop snow or rain.

Vaughn had just gotten his first puppy, and he’d been training it

outside when the weather had gone south. First cold rain, then
freezing snow and wind.

He could remember laughing about it after getting home,

changing into dry clothes, and then getting into bed.

He’d woken up two days later with the worst chills, and he hadn’t

even been in his own house anymore. Apparently, when he didn’t
wake up the next morning to feed his new puppy and let it outside, it
had started to cry, loudly, which had basically alerted the entire
village that something was wrong.

He’d been brought to Brian’s house, and the man’s wife, Felicia,

had been caring for him with all the affection she could while
Vaughn’s father had paced outside.

Vaughn had always been a little jealous of Hawke for having

Felicia for a mom after that day.

Apparently he’d made it through the worst, and it was just a

matter of time before he was back on his feet.

It had taken forever, and by the time Vaughn had been allowed to

move again, his entire body had been stiff and sore. Kind of like now.

30 Marcy

Jacks

It was a struggle just to move his fingers and toes, never mind

shifting his arms or legs. It was like having rigor mortis set in on his
body, only he was still alive.

He probably should have been grateful for his inability to jump

out of the strange bed he was in and demand where he was, because in
the next moment the door to his room opened. Despite the situation,
Vaughn’s body was so relaxed that it was easy for him to keep on
pretending he was sleeping. It was a struggle to keep himself awake
while his eyes were closed.

“Our brother is out there somewhere with that servant, and he

thinks that we want to kill him,” spoke the voice of a man who did not
sound familiar at all.

Another man spoke. He sounded guilty, like something was eating

him up inside. “I never wanted—I mean it wasn’t supposed to happen
like this. I thought the servant would take advantage. I still can’t
believe you—with that werewolf.”

“Marrok,” the other man corrected sharply. It seemed they were

the only other two people in the room. Vaughn was in a bed now, and
not in some freezing and damp concrete dungeon.

Maybe he wasn’t even in the vampire’s home anymore. Could

these two people be humans? Had he been rescued? The fact that one
of them had spoken about a werewolf was what kept him from
opening his eyes and exposing himself. He knew Anderson was a
werewolf and everything, sure, but Vaughn had known Anderson for
years. He trusted the man. He wasn’t about to put his blind faith in a
couple of strangers he didn’t know. Their werewolf friend could be
dangerous.

“His name is Marrok and he’s part of the family now,” said the

irritated man.

Made a werewolf part of his family. Either these two men were

werewolves or they were very understanding humans.

Vaughn risked opening his eyes. It felt like he had about a

month’s worth of crusty buildup that kept them glued shut.

James’s Risk

The first man had dark, yellow-blond hair. It was short, but had

that look that was in with the noble men where they arranged the bit
of hair at the front and centre of their foreheads to spike out just a
little.

The other man couldn’t have looked more different, at least in

terms of coloring. He had the darkest black hair that Vaughn had ever
seen in his entire life. It was longer, too, and had it not been tied back,
it likely would have gone to his shoulders. His eyes were just as dark,
but there was a discomfort in them, whereas the other man continued
to stare at him. Not quite glaring, but it was almost as if he was
waiting on the darker-haired man to step out of line and say
something. A fight was sure to break out then.

Despite those differences, there was something in their faces that

told even Vaughn’s foggy brain that perhaps they were related.
Maybe it was the square chins on lean jaws, the shape of their eyes.

The darker-haired man was taller, but not by much, and despite

that, he still spoke to the blond as though he was the one in charge.

Uh-oh.
They both looked over at him, and the blond smiled brightly. It

showed off his perfectly white teeth, and maybe it would have done
something to ease Vaughn’s worry, had it not been for the twin fangs
that were there.

“You’re awake. Finally, good. We have some questions for you.”
Vaughn thought it best to try and test the limits of his body. He

suddenly wasn’t feeling so stiff anymore, and he managed to throw
the heavy quilt off of his body and roll off of the soft mattress.

Both vampires rushed to him, and he tried to push them away.

“Get away from me!” he yelled.

He tried to yell it, anyway. His voice came out slurred, like he’d

had too much to drink.

A hand was pressed to his forehead, and there was nothing

Vaughn could do to push it away. “He’s still sick with the fever,” said
the darker-haired man. “Tristan, he needs more medication.”

32 Marcy

Jacks

“If we give him too much we could end up killing him like that,”

Tristan said.

“Fuck you both,” Vaughn said, and while his voice was still

drunkenly slurred, this time his words came out clearer.

The darker-haired one laughed. “He’s got spirit. I have to give

him that.” Then his eyes became, not sad, but imploring. “We don’t
want to hurt you, human. We’re just looking for our brother.”

Vaughn wanted to yell back some rude reply, even with his heavy

tongue, but then the man’s words seemed to penetrate his fizzled
brain, and he really looked at him.

Daren, his memory supplied. This was that vampire who’d come

to see him when he was locked inside of their dungeon. He was also
the one who’d apparently brought Vaughn here after he was too sick
to mouth off to him. Too much, that was.

He’d mentioned something about a brother the last time, too. “I

don’t know anything,” he said.

He hadn’t expected them to believe him. He expected them to

start pulling out their knives so they could slowly cut into him, feed
from his blood, take everything from him until he was too weak to
fight back.

Not that he could fight back now.
“He has to be lying,” Tristan said, though he didn’t sound

accusing and he hardly looked happy about it as he and his, brother?
Yes, they were brothers. They both picked him up and put him back
into bed.

“You said Frederik ran away. He wouldn’t have known for sure

that the humans had made it to the lake house and he would have
gone back to check on you. They must have him.”

There had been no vampires in the house when Vaughn had been

there. The place had been completely deserted.

“No vampires,” he tried to say.
They both frowned at him.

James’s Risk

Daren addressed his brother instead of speaking to Vaughn again.

“Are you sure he would have done that?”

“You almost didn’t leave after you’d found out he was gone. If I

had been forced to go after Marrok”—his voice choked, weirdly
enough. “Anyway, if I was in his position it’s what I would have
done. He must be with the humans.”

And if that’s what they were so sure of, then Vaughn was going to

be in for the worst time of his life.

He sighed out a depressing curse before he let his head fall back

into the pillows, and he passed out again.

* * * *

James had listened carefully to the mage’s story, and he made the

decision that the man couldn’t possibly be a threat. He was a dead
end. He couldn’t know about where Vaughn had gone. He was either
dead or with the vampires. The mages didn’t have him.

“Speak with him once and that’s your impression, is it?”
Hank, of course the man had to be there and start speaking when

James gave Brian his report.

Most meetings, especially the ones that were deemed a concern to

the population of the village, were held publicly so that everyone
could hear what Brian had to say, or the opinions of the guards who
were leading certain tasks.

That last part usually fell to Hawke, and this time it would have,

too, since it had been his decision to keep Quinn for questioning.

James, however, had been the one to finally get him to speak. He

was the reason they had Quinn in the first place, and he’d listened
when the other man spoke.

“Yes, that is my impression,” James snapped. This odd jealousy

that Hank seemed to have was really starting to annoy him. Hank
loved stirring the pot and keeping the guards and human assassins on

34 Marcy

Jacks

their toes, but even this was getting to be damn near hostile, even for
him.

He was going to have to speak with him privately when this was

all over.

The nods that came from some of the villagers weren’t very

encouraging.

“I don’t want anyone to be too hasty here,” Brian said. “The fire

mage, Quinn, has been in our care for a week now, and I want all of
you to remember that he hasn’t been violent, hasn’t made any threats,
and no one has come for him. Hawke and his men were all very
careful when they brought him to make sure that they left no trace
anyone could follow, and by now we are certain that there is no threat
for a coming attack. Even if there was one, killing him now would
only make the problem worse.”

There were the usual murmurs and questions to a statement like

that. Not everyone understood the finite details of just why they were
still keeping the mage, why they didn’t just kill him, or why they
couldn’t let him go.

Hank wasn’t helping. He seemed to be not only making the fear

that everyone had of Quinn worse, but was encouraging them to push
Brian for an execution.

“We’re not executing him,” James said, his voice louder than he’d

intended.

Everyone sitting around the fire outside all turned to look at him.

He hoped that the darkness of the night and the orange lighting would
hide how hot his face felt. He’d said it, however, and he wasn’t about
to take it back.

“That’s not up to you,” Hank said. “You can’t make that

decision.”

James was tired of this. “I’m making it my decision. I’m not

letting anyone go near him with the intention of hurting him. If
anyone tries, not only will they have to get through me, but I will take
him and leave the village if I have to.”

James’s Risk

Hawke and his entire small family all stared at him with raised

brows, clearly not having expected that. Noir was smirking at him.
James thought it was a smirk. His face was so scarred it was hard to
tell sometimes, but he almost looked proud of James for having the
balls to say something like that to the entire village. The same went
for Frederik, the other vampire in their group.

Anderson and Owen both just smiled soft, relieved smiles at him.

Neither of them were warriors, but they were paranormals, and it was
likely that they were happy to have someone finally, and openly,
offering to protect the mage that was a guest of their village.

Unfortunately, as for the rest of the village, his words didn’t

exactly have the desired effect. The people didn’t appreciate having
their fears belittled and challenged like that, and all he got from
everyone else was either angry glares or disapproving stares.

Hank smiled like James had just given him a gift, all wrapped up

nice and pretty.

“What do you care if he’s put to death? He’s a God damn

paranormal, and his friends probably killed Vaughn.”

“Probably isn’t good enough for me to take the risk of putting an

innocent man’s blood on my hands. I won’t do it. I won’t let anyone
else do it either. If we want our freedom so bad and we want to live in
a world where humans don’t have to fear vampires or whoever else is
out there, then we need to prove to them that we’re better. Blindly
killing anyone without proof of guilt will only make the paranormals
think we’re dangerous. They’ll search us out even more than they
already do. It’s inviting trouble.”

“We want them to think we’re dangerous!” Hank said, staring at

James as though he thought he might have lost his mind. “That’s how
we stay safe. They think twice before searching for new slaves.”

The round of nods that went around the village was disheartening.

It wasn’t everyone, and James couldn’t exactly get a head count in the
three seconds it took before they all stopped, but it was roughly half
the village. Maybe more.

36 Marcy

Jacks

Not good.
Thankfully, Brian spoke up before James could go over there and

punch Hank in his stupid face.

“I think everyone has enough to think about for tonight. I want

you all to know that I am taking this seriously, and James, I do trust
you and your instincts on this, but we simply can’t release him yet.
We need to know for certain if he’s telling us the truth. Not with
torture,” he clarified quickly after James opened his mouth to argue.
“I agree with you. I want us to be better than the vampires who
enslaved us.”

Both Will and Frederik winced at that, but Brian either didn’t

notice or said nothing because he knew that now was not the time to
comfort the two former vampire nobles who were also standing
around the fire with their spouses.

That was Owen and Hawke’s job.
Had the village been any bigger than it was, there would likely

have been some trouble when Brian dismissed everyone. As it was, it
was late, and pretty much everyone was tired after the long day’s
worth of work they’d put in growing their food and taking care of
their families.

The villagers got up and went back to their houses, ready to put in

a good night’s sleep. There were only one or two other people who
stuck around to have a quick conversation with Brian, and of course,
Hank was one of them.

“I really think you should get someone else to guard the mage,” he

said, turning his head only a little, as if he sensed that James was
approaching. He kept right on talking, not bothering to lower his
voice in an effort to keep James from hearing. “Clearly something’s
going on here. He’s favoring the man when he should be watching out
for the village’s best interests.”

Brian, ever the patient and understanding leader, simply folded his

arms, somehow making the position look not defensive, but like he

James’s Risk

was giving all of his attention to Hank’s worries. “All right, how do
you believe he is offering favoritism?”

“Just the way he’s so fast to jump to the guy’s defense. I get that

mages look human, but the fact that they have powers means they’re
not.”

“There are quite a few nonhumans in this village now, Hank,”

Brian said. “They are so far proving themselves to be useful and
valuable to our cause.”

“And don’t forget it,” Hawke said, his teeth clenched as he stared

down at the other man. Hawke had married Will, who was not only a
vampire, but a healer mage. He’d been the first nonhuman to arrive
and be made welcome after the village discovered how much nicer it
was to have a healer on hand, and after Will had saved the life of
Hawke’s mother, who was Brian’s wife.

Hank raised his hands, all innocent-like, as if he was somehow

being misunderstood. James knew very well that, despite everything,
Hank still didn’t like Will, and he didn’t approve of how many other
nonhumans had arrived in the village lately.

He knew Owen was a fae, and when he found that out, he’d

basically thrown his hands in the air and walked away muttering to
himself. If he knew that Owen was also the one to give birth to his
and Frederik’s son, and that the child wasn’t a product of some liaison
with a woman, he would probably start a riot somewhere.

“I get it, and he’s fine with me,” Hank said with some reluctance.

“But we don’t know this guy, and I swear I think James is only so
protective because of—” Now Hank did cut himself off, and he
looked over at James, for the first time appearing reluctant to open his
mouth.

James knew why, and he bristled hotly. “Because? Don’t let me

standing here stop you. Who does the mage remind me of, Hank?”

James’d all but dared the man to say it, and he was pissed off at

himself for being unable to hide his mixed emotions for Quinn as well
as he thought he could.

38 Marcy

Jacks

Apparently, Hank had noticed, and the motherfucker was going to

use it against him.

Now Hank was angry again, all fired up and defensive because of

the daring tone James had used. “Because he reminds you of Josh,
you asshole. You’re using the memory of my brother to protect that
fucking paranormal.”

“I am not, and they look nothing alike.”
Not exactly true. There were some similarities. The eyes were the

biggest giveaway, but it wasn’t like their voices were a spot-on match,
or their height, hairstyle, jaw, skin tone, and…yeah, maybe he had
been paying a little bit more attention to Quinn’s body than he should
have. His dick twitched just thinking about it, and he had to quickly
think about something else before he got a hard-on.

If it hadn’t been so long since he’d been laid, this wouldn't be a

problem.

“I could tell it the second I finally got a close-up look at him,”

Hank said, glaring at James.

“Which was when you entered the barn without permission to

terrorize him. Like you tried to do with Will.”

“What?” Hawke said, his body suddenly going stiff, as if he was

just on the edge of springing over to Hank and grabbing him to
demand some answers.

Not because Hank had already tried something on Will. Hawke

knew about that, and he and Hank had almost come to blows over it
more than once already. No, it was likely the fact that Hank was still
up to his regular bullshit on another mage that made Hawke ready to
spring.

“I was just checking everything out. I didn’t hurt him. Even if I

did, what are you going to do about it, marry him, too?” Hank
demanded, and Hawke’s hands clenched into fists.

“That’s enough, the both of you,” Brian said, clearly having lost

all patience, which was saying something.

James’s Risk

Both men reluctantly stepped away from each other. James had

barely noticed either of them advancing, and Hawke apologized to his
father while Hank only snorted and sent one more hateful glare in
James’s direction.

Brian sighed, and he sounded exhausted. “James, you and I are

going to have a talk. I know it hasn’t been that long since Josh…well,
either way I think it’s best if you don’t guard the barn tonight.”

James wanted to protest that so badly, especially with the little

victorious smirk that Hank sent him.

He’d never much liked the fact that James and Josh had been

together, and now he was using his dead brother against James.

Fuck him.
“I’m not letting old feelings for Josh cloud my judgment,” James

said. “It was a year ago, he’s gone, I get that, so what reason would I
have to take it easy on a fire mage just because there’s some
similarities? I know they’re not the same person. It’s not like I can
think he was reincarnated into a twenty-four-year-old.”

Never mind the fact that James didn’t believe in reincarnation, but

the numbers just didn’t add up. By a whole lot. Same eyes or not,
James knew they weren’t the same person.

“Even so,” Brian said, looking extremely uncomfortable. “Just for

tonight, I think you should let Hawke take over. He’ll watch the boy,
make sure he’s safe, and you and I can have a long talk in the
morning.”

“But—”
“I’m not changing my mind on this,” Brian said, his voice sharp.
Hank was frowning, and Brian immediately zoomed in on that.

“I’ve warned you about what would happen when you abuse the
prisoners.”

“Yes, sir,” Hank said. The man was actually pouting, as if he’d

hoped that bringing those ridiculous accusations against James would
somehow put him in charge of Quinn, so that he could terrorize the
man some more.

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“Yes, well, Oliver has been having some trouble cleaning up after

the dogs since Vaughn disappeared. You’re going to help him with
that until the end of the week.”

Now Hank really looked like he’d swallowed something bad.

“Yes, sir.”

“Hawke, go to the barn before something else happens, the rest of

you,” Brian didn’t even finish. He just shook his head and waved
them off, the picture of a disappointed father.

Brian was pretty much a father figure to almost every man under

thirty in the village. James wasn’t exactly under that number, but he
still felt the sting of the man’s disappointment.

When Brian walked away, hand in hand with his wife, James

couldn’t help but get one more jab in there. It was the part of him that
couldn’t not answer a challenge like the one Hank was so obviously
throwing in his face. “This isn’t over.”

“Not by a long shot,” Hank agreed, and he walked away.

James’s Risk

Chapter Five

Quinn damn near jumped out of his skin when a man who was not

James entered the barn. It wasn’t Hank either, but that didn’t make
him calm down.

It was that Hawke guy, the human who had incredibly fast

reflexes, strength, and speed.

During one of Quinn’s escape attempts, back when he and the rest

of the warriors from the village were still on the road, it had been
Hawke who’d caught him and brought him back, and not James.

It made Quinn wonder whether the guy was really a human or not,

and it was all the more reason to not trust him.

“Just here to watch you for the night. Don’t get all antsy and don’t

try to attack me or anything,” he said, setting the lantern down and
putting it on a low burn so that it still produced enough light to see by
but left most of the barn in darkness.

As if Quinn could do something like that so long as these damn

chains were on his wrists.

God, he was such a coward, and his wrists were seriously starting

to itch him. The chains chafed his skin, but he didn’t dare ask anyone
to take them off because he knew what the answer would be. The only
thing he could do was try not to move around so much, but that plan
had gone completely to shit after Hank had grabbed him.

Now he found himself rubbing the metal against his skin on

purpose in an effort to make the itching stop, even though he logically
knew that was only making it worse.

Hawke didn’t seem to notice. Probably because of the way Quinn

crouched away from him until the guy fell asleep.

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Quinn didn’t know how it was possible that he could sleep with

how cold it was in here.

Quinn had been given a blanket to go with his bed of clean hay,

but it was thin and had more than a few holes in it. It was barely good
enough to act as a scarf.

Quinn waited until Hawke’s snoring got to be so loud that it

practically echoed throughout the barn. It couldn’t be comfortable
sleeping on that cot, especially when he was used to sleeping with his
spouse.

Quinn was forced to try and use some of his fire magic for

warmth.

He only used a little, enough to warm his hands instead of

producing an actual flame. The warmth went into the metal, and
Quinn pressed his cuffs against his face and chest to try and get some
of that warmth into his body. Then he rolled the blanket up around the
cuffs to warm it before throwing the heated cloth around his
shoulders.

Of course, with how thin the blanket was, the heat didn’t last.

God, he was so cold.

Quinn burrowed himself into the haystack. It was loose, so that

made it relatively easy.

Hawke continued to snore, but the sound softened.
Were his reflexes and hunting abilities so good that he could

somehow know, even in his sleep, when Quinn was moving around?

Quinn didn’t want to risk it, so he tried to be as quiet as possible

as he struggled to get comfortable.

It was a struggle every night.
Because of it, he was learning how to harness some of his powers

so that he could at least conjure some heat for himself without
producing fire. It was tricky, and the first time he’d tried, he’d
overheated the shackles he wore and nearly cried the night away with
the burning pain on his skin.

James’s Risk

Now, it was just a matter of keeping calm and collected. He only

needed to clear his head and focus his thoughts, and he had almost
full control. Just a little more heat…

The barn doors burst wide open with a thundering crack that

probably split the wood.

Quinn yelped and jumped, and Hawke rolled out of his cot,

knocking it over, and he had a bow and arrow ready so fast Quinn had
to wonder if the man had ever been sleeping at all.

It was Hank. Of course it was.
Quinn scrambled from the little nest in the hay he’d been making.

He’d almost warmed up, too.

Hawke lowered his weapon when he saw who was coming, but

remained on guard when he took note of the way that Hank was
walking.

“I’m tired of this. I want that fucking paranormal out of my

village.”

“Hey, Hank. Hey!”
Quinn was already moving away from the other man as far as the

chain would allow, but that wouldn’t have been nearly enough had
Hawke not jumped forward and tackled him. They both rolled around
in the hay, exchanging punches.

Quinn stayed as far away from them as he possibly could,

watching as they battled each other, and knowing that if Hawke lost,
Hank very well might try and kill them both.

Thankfully, Hawke got a hold of the other man and seemed to

restrain him in seconds. Hawke had both of Hank’s wrists in hand,
and he crossed them over the man’s chest, holding them in place with
relative ease, even when Hank began bucking and screaming.

Then he finally seemed to stop, but his chest was rising and falling

in rapid succession, and his nostrils flared like an angry, wild horse. “I
fucking hate you,” Hank said.

“Good. You can tell that to my father after you explain why you

lost it and tried to kill the prisoner.”

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Quinn wanted to be sick.
“Are you okay?”
It took him three seconds to realize that Hawke was speaking to

him, even though he hadn’t taken his eyes off of Hank.

Guess now that Quinn had started speaking, it was expected he

would answer when spoken to. He might as well.

“Uh, yeah. I’m fine.”
Hawke nodded. “I’m taking him out of here, but I’ll be back for

you soon.”

With that, Hawke yanked the other man up, releasing his hands

but then taking hold of the collar of his shirt. “Let’s go.”

Hank sent one last glaring look at Quinn, and then allowed

himself to be led away.

“Thank you,” Quinn called when they’d just left the doors,

thinking that maybe a little gratitude was in order, considering Hawke
had just saved his life.

Hank was the prime reason why Quinn wanted to get out of here.

Being a prisoner for anyone, warlocks, vampires, humans, was
something he’d never wanted. It was why he and his brother lived
alone and out of the way.

Hawke he was still a little unsure of, but if tonight was anything to

go by, he and James were probably the two people he should be
looking for help from the most. It seemed neither of them wanted him
dead, and James certainly promised up and down to do everything in
his power to make sure that Quinn got out of this alive.

It was ridiculous the way he wished that James had been here

instead. He just felt safer around the other man. Somehow, he felt that
Hank wouldn’t have bothered showing up at all if it had been James
in here watching him instead of Hawke.

Quinn had been just about to fall back on his bed of hay, seeing as

his heart rate had returned to normal, when he noted how much
brighter, and warmer, the barn suddenly was.

James’s Risk

He looked toward the cot Hawke had knocked over when he

rushed up to greet Hank. It was like the second his eyes landed on the
overturned thing, fire burned through the material, revealing the
slightly larger fire behind it that was feeding on the dry hay.

Hawke hadn’t just knocked over the cot. He’d knocked over the

barely burning lantern that had basically been their nightlight, and the
tiny flame had grown and spread out.

It wasn’t very large, but it was wide, and it was moving toward

the side of the barn, where there was more dry hay, and the wood of
the barn itself, not to mention the wood that had been chopped and
stacked in the corner for later use, to fuel it.

“Hey! Someone help!” Quinn yelled. Maybe Hawke was still

nearby out there and would hear his voice.

A wall of hot flames suddenly went up. It was like everything in

the barn was as flammable as a match, and now the fire couldn’t be
stopped.

Quinn could start fires with his hands, when he wasn’t shackled

like he was, but he’d always had to be careful with his power because
he couldn’t control the flames once they had been let loose. The fire
never let him control it. It always had a mind of its own.

Just like now, and still no one was coming to his aid.
“Someone help! There’s a fire in here!”

* * * *

James was a light sleeper. Adding that with the fact that he was

incredibly pissed off about Hank keeping him from watching Quinn
that night, and it had been nearly impossible for him to fall asleep
anyway.

He’d only started to doze off when the sounds of shocked yelling

came in through his open window, and the smell of burning wood.

His small little shack that he called a home wasn’t close enough to

the campfire that the village meeting had been held around for the

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Jacks

smell to be so strong. He all but flew out of his new bed and burst
through the door to his house, nearly taking it clean off the hinges.

Everyone just stood around gawking like fools. Some of the

women covered their mouths with their hands with the shock they
were in, and the men just stood there, watching the barn burn.

Maybe they thought there was no point in trying to save it,

considering the fire had basically claimed the barn for its own.

That was the barn where Quinn was. Had he escaped?
The man’s voice, filled with panic and barely audible through the

raging fire, gave him his answer. “Help! Someone help me!”

Jesus Christ! He was still shackled inside!
James started running for the barn, but then stopped when he

spotted Hawke, Brian, and Hank, all rushing out of their own house,
jaws entirely dropped. Felicia was behind them, and her face took on
a similar look at the sight of the burning barn.

James ran to Brian. “I need the keys to the shackles!”
To his credit he didn’t hesitate.
“Hawke, where are they?”
Hawke rushed back inside to collect them.
James could still hear Quinn yelling for help. Somehow, now that

his life was at stake, it was like everything wasn’t moving as quickly
as he would have wanted it to. He saw Noir and Anderson now
ordering people to line up while Frederik and Owen collected buckets
from the well. There were procedures for fires, and now that
everything was getting put into place, he should have been able to
calm down, but no one was going in for Quinn, and James was
starting to panic.

When Hawke came back out, keys in hand, James snatched them

away and ran for the burning doors. God damn it was hot.

“That stupid mage lit the barn on fire! Let him burn!” Hank yelled

after him.

James really was going to punch him.

James’s Risk

Only one of the doors was open, but barely, and it was burning

hot. James tried not to touch it, but the fire practically reached for him
and licked at his face and skin and hair as he squeezed through the
slim opening.

He immediately had to drop to his knees as the thick smoke was

so much more suffocating inside than out. He took in a lung full of the
stuff and choked, dropping to his knees and coughing and hacking
just to breathe properly again. The air was so hot it was almost as if
he was getting no air at all.

That had been a dumb mistake. James would have at least thought

the smog wouldn’t have been so bad, considering how it billowed out
of every crack in the structure. Guess that showed what he knew
about fires. It was like stepping inside a wood stove. A dirty wood
stove that only produced black clouds. Because of how dry everything
had been, and all the hay and wood, almost every inch was lit up to
some degree.

Not Quinn. Now that James was down, he could see through the

burning in his eyes that Quinn was, too. He’d been smart and got low
to avoid choking, unlike James. He also had that ratty little thin
blanket with him, and he was using it to snuff out any of the smaller
flames that were near him, as well as push away the stray bits of hay
that would light up and try to take him, too.

Quinn was so fixated on his task that he didn’t notice James

coming to him until James took hold of his shackles and started
fighting to get the key inside of the lock.

Quinn jumped, which only made it harder for James to line up the

key. He took hold of the irons, and God damn! They were hot to the
touch. The thick support beam that the chain was wrapped around
then locked on to was on fire, and he could see some of the chain that
was right in that fire had turned red with the heat.

Christ, he had to get Quinn out of here.

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Quinn’s lips moved, but whatever he’d said had been so soft that,

even though James was right next to him, he couldn’t hear the man
over the roaring of the fire or his own choking gasps.

Flakes of sawdust that hadn’t been cleared away and bits of straw

that had been stacked and stored on the second level of the barn fell
down like red burning snowflakes, and when they touched the back of
James’s neck, he hissed and slapped them away. Quinn also slapped
at his back, the places James couldn’t reach. Because of his T-shirt, he
probably wouldn’t have noticed if any of the little fiery bits had
landed on him in those places until they’d burned through the cotton
and done some serious damage.

It was like he was being bitten over and over again by flesh-

hungry bugs.

“Please, help,” Quinn said, and this time James did hear him. The

man was shaking and looking around as though he’d never seen a fire
like this before in his entire life. Ironic, considering he was a fire
mage. Couldn’t he control it?

“I’ve got you,” James said, then started coughing again as the

words used up oxygen he didn’t have. James got himself somewhat
under control and held his breath, hoping that could help to keep him
steady.

He spared Quinn only the briefest of glances before focusing back

on the shackles, which were clearly rusted to the point where James
was having trouble getting them unlocked without snapping the key.

If he snapped the key, then he was going to use every ounce of

strength inside of him to snap that support beam, unwind that burning
chain, and get Quinn out of here, and he didn’t care if it killed him.

After enough juggling and fighting with the stupid key, James

managed to turn it, only bending it a little, but he didn’t snap it, and
the shackles popped off of Quinn’s wrists.

Quinn scrambled away from them, and James immediately

dropped the shackles because of how hot they were.

James’s Risk

He tried to spin around and follow the other man out the door, but

even though he was still on his hands and knees, it was like his
equilibrium was suddenly shot.

Maybe that feeling of not being able to breathe wasn’t entirely

from the heat in the air. He shouldn’t have held his breath for so long
because that definitely hadn’t helped.

James tried to move forward, but his body just pitched to the side.
At least he’d managed to get Quinn out.

50 Marcy

Jacks

Chapter Six

Quinn stopped when he realized that James was no longer

following him. It wasn’t hard to figure out. Quinn had been in such a
panic to get out that he’d immediately shot forward the second those
scalding-hot cuffs were off of his wrists, but James was such a large
man that it was next to impossible for Quinn to not be aware when he
was near.

Quinn had known it when James had come to his rescue, not

because the man was practically on top of him, but because it was
hard to not sense his nearness.

The fact that he didn’t sense it now when he was so close to the

doors, doors that were burned almost clean through, made him turn
around to make sure he was wrong.

He wasn’t. James really was not behind him. He was lying down

on his side, as though someone had knocked him over. He wasn’t
moving, despite the little fires from the bits of hay and sawdust that
he was practically lying in.

Quinn yelled for him and turned to go to him, but he didn’t get

back up again. Quinn had sort of hoped that his voice would yank
James out of unconsciousness and he would spring up and follow, but
it didn’t happen.

The beams above his head groaned with the fire that was eating

through them, and fuck, if he didn’t turn around right now and get out
of there, he was going to get trapped in here and burn to death.

It was so ridiculous that he almost started to laugh. A fire mage

burning to death. His memory would live forever in the minds of

James’s Risk

other mages as that guy who was so laughable that he’d died from the
element he was supposed to be able to conjure.

Quinn wasn’t about to leave him. James had kept him safe. He’d

also kept him a prisoner, but Quinn had always been safe with him,
and he’d risked his life to get into the barn and release him. Quinn
was not about to let him die.

He made it over to the man and rolled him over. It was hard to

tell, but he was sure that James was still breathing.

Quinn didn’t bother searching for any other signs of life. He had

no time for it.

A voice from outside that barn screamed for him. “James! James!”
It was that other human, Hawke. Likely the fire was keeping him

at bay. Now would be a great time to have an ice or water mage
nearby. Quinn’s brother would certainly be able to help. But he
wasn’t there, and Quinn had to do this on his own.

He wasn’t going to be able to do it crawling, and the smoke was

low. Quinn was going to have to drag him out.

Another loud groan from somewhere above him had Quinn taking

a deep breath very quickly and standing up. He put his hands beneath
James’s armpits, and God the man was heavy! All that muscle
certainly looked good but it was doing Quinn no favors now.

He shuffled backward, toward where he thought the door was.
Quinn was going to have to judge how close he was by the heat,

but it was so hot already that he wasn’t sure he would be able to tell
clearly where the walls or door were.

Then a hand grabbed him by the elbow. It was only through force

of will that he didn’t inhale a gasp.

Someone had come into the burning barn. They must have been

crouched low to avoid the smoke, because they were leading him out.

Quinn asked no questions and he wasn’t about to look a gift horse

in the mouth. He followed eagerly.

Getting out of the barn was a relief, but the smoke was still

billowing out, so he had to drag James several feet farther away

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before he was able to take in a deep breath. By then he himself had
almost passed out because of how long he went without inhaling. By
then, Hawke had grabbed James by the feet and together they were
taking him to one of the houses where a woman and a pale blond man
rushed to greet them.

“Oh Christ, you’re both burned up,” said the man. Quinn had seen

him a time or two before, but wasn’t sure of his name.

The woman with the brown braid held out her arm to Quinn.

“Come inside. We’ll get you some water and take care of your burns.”

Was he burned? He didn’t feel that bad. He felt great. Just being

out in the cool night air was like having cold water splashed over his
body, and the same for when he breathed it in.

He didn’t want to let go of James, and he didn’t, even when the

woman took him by the arm and helped him up to her door. Quinn
would allow Hawke to carry James’s legs, but only because the two
men seemed to be friends, but Quinn wasn’t about to let the other man
out of his sight.

He was breathing hard by the time he got inside of the small

wooden house. It was such a relief to be inside of a structure that
wasn’t on fire. Hawke led them over to a tiny bedroom where there
was a small bed, and together they put James down on top of the
blankets, effectively ruining them.

Damn, they were both covered in smoke.
“Will? Can you…?” Hawke motioned to his unconscious friend.
The blond man stepped forward, rolling up his sleeves. “I’ll try.”
Quinn was amazed by the soft blue light that seemed to come out

of the man’s hands when he placed them over James’s chest. At first
Quinn thought he was a light mage, and he had no clue what the man
thought he was doing, or how he expected it would help James, but
then he spoke.

“He’s got a lot of smog in his lungs, but I can clear it out. Skin

damage, too. He’ll heal fine eventually on his own, but I’ll speed that
up,” he said.

James’s Risk

So this was the healer mage that Quinn had heard about. Wow.

He’d never seen healing powers in the works before. Actually, now
that he really looked, this was the same man that had been tending to
that pregnant fae when Quinn had been captured back at the vampire
house.

At the time, Quinn hadn’t been paying attention to him, his name,

or what he looked like, because he’d been too fixated on the ever-
widening, and gross, open slice that was on the fae’s stomach. Then
there had been the added stress factor of being captured, again, and by
humans this time.

At least James was going to be okay.
“Let me through. I want to see him!” Hank yelled from outside of

the room, and then suddenly appeared at the doorway with Brian
behind him. The older man hardly looked pleased as he glared at the
back of Hank’s head.

Hank, however, only had eyes for James.
Quinn stepped out of the way when Hank rushed forward, but

only because he thought the man might plow him down if he didn’t
move.

The angry and suspicious look that Hank sent to Will as he took

hold of James’s hand was enough to put Quinn back on edge. Maybe
he was only angry because he wanted to be the one to hold James’s
hand.

Not his place, he reminded himself. That was definitely not his

place.

“You’d better not let him die. If he dies I’m holding you

responsible.”

Will didn’t even take his eyes away from his patient to answer.

“He’s not going to die. Even if I wasn’t here. I’m just clearing his
lungs, and you holding his hand like that isn’t helping with his burned
skin.”

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“What?” Hank looked down, and must have finally noticed how

red James’s hands were. The one that Hank held so tightly looked on
the verge of bleeding, and he dropped it carefully back on the bed.

Hawke stepped behind his…lover? No, Quinn heard they were

married. Anyway, he came up to stand protectively behind his
husband while the healer mage worked. “You’d better be careful
about threatening him like that, Hank. I might think you were serious
or something and have to kill you for it, instead of just kicking your
ass.”

“Whatever, Hawke,” Hank muttered. Then the man looked over

and finally noticed that Quinn was standing there after the woman
with the braid came in with a bowl of water and cloth and tried to lead
him out for treatment somewhere less crowded.

Too late, Hank noticed, and he jumped to his feet and advanced.

“You dirty son of a bitch. Tried to burn down the barn, did you?”

“No, hey!” Quinn tried to back up, but Hank rushed him and

grabbed him by the collar of the rags his clothing had become. He
practically ripped Quinn’s shirt off with how weak the material was,
but he still managed to knock him over. There was a small scream
behind him as the woman was knocked over as well and pinned
beneath both Quinn and Hank, and the water she had been about to
use to treat Quinn’s burns spilled all over the floor, soaking him as he
and Hank rolled.

She was such a thin and dainty-looking woman that she could

hardly put up a struggle against their combined weight, and Quinn
couldn’t get off of her, but of course, the two men in the room who
weren’t treating James’s injuries shouted and jumped into the fray.

Hank was pulled off of Quinn while the village leader helped his

wife up. Quinn thought she was the wife, anyway. They had to be
connected somehow with the way the older man was checking on the
woman, cupping her cheek and paying special attention to the little
splotch of blood that was there.

James’s Risk

She shrugged away her husband, not unkindly, and repeated that

she was not bleeding.

Only then did Quinn realize how much his own body hurt. He’d

been in the same fire that James had been in, and for much longer,
and Hank had practically body slammed him into the ground.

Quinn reached behind himself to where the pain was at its worst.

At first he thought the wetness he felt was water, but then he pulled
his red, swollen hand back and saw the blood.

James’s voice, which somehow managed to sound frail and strong

at the same time as the healer finished with him, was the only thing
that penetrated Quinn’s foggy mind. “What happened? What—?
Quinn!”

* * * *

It took James a split second to realize where he was, locate Quinn,

and then realize that the man was bleeding. There had been some kind
of scuffle happening between Hawke and Hank, which was not a
surprise, but the fact that Felicia seemed to have been involved in
some way because of how soaked her clothes were, and the blood on
her face, did send off alarm bells inside of his head.

She was being taken care of by her husband, and James only

wanted to get to Quinn. Will barely seemed to notice the man as his
eyes were fixated on his husband and Hank. He seemed to be having
trouble deciding whether or not he should jump between them and try
to pull them apart.

That would have been a mistake. He wasn’t a warrior, so James

was going to decide for him what he should do.

He grabbed Will by the wrist as he flung himself out of bed. The

other man made a shocked noise, clearly not having expected that
with all the distraction that was happening around them, but too bad
for him.

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Jacks

James dragged him over to Quinn. He had a pained look on his

face, and was clearly a little afraid when James and Will came to his
side so quickly. Everyone else had loved ones to worry about so no
one had seen him bleeding on the floor. James couldn’t blame him for
being a little wary.

He was pressing his bloody hand to his back as he tried to sit up

properly. “I won’t hurt you,” James said when Quinn just continued to
stare at him with those wide eyes.

He nodded, thankfully, and James took that as his permission to

get to work. Or to shove Will at him and get him to heal the other
man. “Do something,” he commanded. “Please.”

Will nodded. His hands were gentle as he reached for the area that

Quinn was clutching at. God, his skin was peeling in some places.
“How bad is it?” James asked, and he looked down at his own hands.
Sure enough, he looked tanned and healthy as he normally did. Will
must have already worked his magic.

“It’s hard to tell,” Will said, then he started speaking to Quinn.

Apparently he’d fallen back into the habit of not speaking at all as his
fear consumed him. Considering what he looked like, James couldn’t
blame him. “I need you to move your hands. I’m going to try and take
off your shirt.”

James had been trying to save him. Clearly he hadn’t gotten the

other man out of that burning building in time if this was what he
looked like. On his wrists there seemed to be even worse burn
damage. He could tell where the hot cuffs had been pressing against
his skin, and there was a heavy red stripe around them that leaked
puss and blood and was rapidly beginning to swell.

“Oh, baby,” James said.
Quinn twitched a little at the name, and out of sheer

embarrassment, James pretended to not notice as he took hold of
Quinn’s fingers and brought his hand closer so he could have a better
look.

God damn, what had he been thinking?

James’s Risk

Will pulled out his pocket knife, and Quinn stiffened a little. He

would have pulled away if James hadn’t been there to soothe him.
“He’s just going to cut away your shirt. I promise he won’t hurt you.”

It was hard trying to get Quinn to believe him on words alone.

James made sure that he spoke softly and that there wouldn’t even be
something in his body language that would give the other man reason
to panic. Will had talked to him about this once before. He had to
keep his energy calm if he wanted the people around him to be calm
as well.

Incredibly enough, it seemed to work. Quinn nodded. “Okay.”
Will got to work, gently cutting away the ruined garments. He was

going to need some new clothes after his skin had been repaired, that
was for sure.

There was definitely some bleeding. It looked like Quinn’s skin

had ripped, possibly when that idiot Hank had knocked him over. The
burns had made it easy, and his skin was red and fragile. Even Will
hissed at the sight of it before pushing the skin back down into its
proper position.

James thought he might puke, but Quinn just continued to stare at

him.

Right. He was in pain, but he wasn’t freaked out because he

couldn’t see how bad his own wounds were. Right. James had to keep
it under control. He didn’t want to give Quinn any reason to panic.

“It’s not that bad,” he said, managing to believe it when that

familiar blue light left Will’s hands as he started to repair the flesh.
James stroked Quinn’s fingers without even realizing it. “You’re
going to be okay.”

“I’m sorry,” Will said, shaking his head. “I would have gone to

you sooner, but I thought being a fire mage and all that you wouldn’t
have been burned so badly.”

“It doesn’t work like that,” Quinn said.
James could understand Will’s confusion, however. The vampire

was a healer mage, and according to him, he’d never been sick a day

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in his life, and cuts and scrapes had always healed much quicker than
normal, even by a vampire’s standards.

James supposed there was a real difference between healing and

fire. This was certainly a lesson he wished he didn’t have to learn.

“I won’t be able to heal him all the way tonight. I’ve already

given you so much, James, but I’ll repair the skin enough so that it
doesn’t do…that again if he falls over.”

“Make sure you get his wrists, too, then,” James said, looking

down at the swelling, which he swore had grown in size. “They’re
pretty bad.”

Hank chose that moment to shove Hawke away from him. James

looked up. Apparently everyone else had gone silent and started
watching when he hadn’t noticed, and now they were all staring down
at him and Quinn.

Hank was stomping toward the door with all the grace and poise

of a five-year-old throwing a tantrum.

“What’s his problem?” James asked, having a pretty good idea

already.

“He was worried for you,” Quinn answered.
That was a shock. “More likely he’s going out to start up some

more propaganda. What happened to the barn?” he asked.

As if they’d just remembered it, Brian and Felicia darted toward

the door to check on the efforts for putting out the fire.

The fact that Hawke didn’t move was very telling.
“Hank said that you started the fire,” he said, doing that thing he

did where he was forced to ask an insulting question but managed to
keep his voice neutral and unaccusing. “Did you?”

James would have yelled at him if he didn’t respect the man so

much. As it was, it was hard enough to keep the glare off his face as
he stared up at Hawke.

He probably failed on that one.
“No!” Quinn shook his head quickly. “I didn’t! You knocked over

the lantern when Hank came into the barn and tried attacking me.”

James’s Risk

“He what?” James couldn’t believe it. He could, actually, but still,

the gall of Hank unnerved him sometimes.

Hawke nodded, his arms half folded while he scratched at his

chin. “I’d just taken him out of there to talk to Brian. I remember
knocking over the cot, but not the lantern, so it’s possible.” Hawke
then looked back down at Quinn. “You were dragging him out of the
fire. James, you definitely passed out at some point.”

Quinn had saved him? He looked sharply at the other man, and

Quinn met his eyes. “You fell over and weren’t getting back up. I
tried dragging you out, but he had to come in and help,” he said,
nodding to Hawke.

Still, Quinn had saved him. He could have left James to die. Hell,

James could hardly have blamed him if that was what he’d tried to do,
all things considered. He might have even escaped in the confusion.
Instead he’d stayed in that burning barn for longer than he needed to
and saved James’s life.

It made his anger for Hank all the more up front in his mind. He

couldn’t ignore it now. Hank was the reason that fire had started, and
Hank had tried attacking Quinn again when he was already injured
from the burns on his body. “I’m going to kill him.”

“Now, wait.” Hawke held his hands out, trying to be the

peacekeeper.

Sure, he was a killer and a skilled hunter whenever he and his men

went out to hunt down vampire slavers and assassins, but when it
came to the people in his father’s village, even he had to try and keep
people from ripping each other’s heads off in anger sometimes.

“I’m sure there’s an explanation,” he said, but even he couldn’t

sound like he believed what he said. “Maybe.”

“Well, I’m going to go and hear it. If it’s not good enough, then

I’ll kill him,” James said, and he shot up from his spot on the wet
floor, doing everything in his power to keep from looking down at
Quinn as he did.

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He’d held his hand and called him baby, and now he was off to

defend Quinn’s honor against Hank’s weird hatred. Quinn probably
thought he was out of his mind, and James couldn’t handle seeing
that.

All he wanted to do was get into a nice bloody fistfight that would

get rid of some of this adrenaline he had from nearly being killed, and
discovering just how much more he was attracted to Quinn than he
thought.

He wanted to fuck the other man. He constantly visualized putting

him on his hands and knees. Or bending him over a piece of furniture,
or putting Owen’s legs high onto James’ shoulders and making him
moan and keen so loud that the entire village heard it. He wanted the
other man in ways he’d never thought he would want anyone after
Josh had died.

And he was pissed off about it. About the danger, about his

feelings, and about not being able to act on them.

The man had even saved his life after James had unlocked his

chains. He had no hope to resist this attraction. He wasn’t going to let
anyone hurt him, not the village people, not Brian, and definitely not
Hank.

James’s Risk

Chapter Seven

Hank was so incredibly enraged that he punched a hole in the wall

of his house. It hurt like hell, but at least the pain helped him to take
his mind away from the turmoil that was really going on inside of his
head.

James was in love with that mage. Of course. Why couldn’t he

have seen something like that coming? He wanted to punch another
hole in the wall just to get some more of his anger out, but he didn’t
want to have to fix it later, or get his hand patched up if he ended up
breaking several of his fingers in the process.

He doubted Hawke would let him near Will after all of that

anyway. Hank didn’t much want to be around the other man either.

It was all killing him.
The door to his small house burst open so fast that it nearly

slammed again on James before he got the chance to enter. His eyes
were all fire and brimstone as he approached Hank, his body tight and
ready.

So many times Hank had imagined James looking at him like that,

only he would come in and grab Hank into a long and passionate kiss,
and they would fall into the nest of blankets that was his bed and
enjoy a nice long fuck.

No. James wasn’t looking at him with some sort of passionate

lust. Passionate hate maybe. Actually, it was definitely passionate
hate. He could never catch a break.

He didn’t try to fight back when James grabbed him by the collar

and pushed him against the wall. It was pathetic how Hank enjoyed
the closeness of their bodies too much to be threatened by what was

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happening. James was clearly here for a fight, and all he could think
about was how nice and warm James felt, being as close as he was.
Their noses were practically touching.

“What the hell is your problem?” James asked through clenched

teeth. “You attacked him. Quinn was injured because you can’t keep
your God damn temper under control.”

“Right, because there’s more dangerous things for me to be

worried about than a fire mage inside of my village, right?”

“Not your village,” James said, seething. “If you don’t like that

he’s here, then fuck off and leave.”

All the air left Hank’s lungs. It was like he’d been sucker

punched. “You can’t tell me to do that. This is my home. I’ve lived
here as long as you have.”

Neither of them had been born into the village, but they’d arrived

when they were children. Hank, his older brother Josh, and James
hadn’t been part of the same camp of humans running and hiding
from slavers, but they’d arrived within days of each other.

And then James and Josh had practically become inseparable.

Even now James wouldn’t look at him. He’d rather turn his attention
to a dangerous creature. It was grossly unfair.

“Your point is?” James asked. “You think that if you live here

long enough then you’re exempt from being banished for starting
fights the way you do? For sneaking in to where prisoners are being
held and starting shit up?”

“The fire mage nearly burned down the barn! It’s his fault you

nearly died! And we’ve got to build a new barn now,” he added, just
in case James thought that Hank was actually worried about him or
something.

“You make me sick,” James said.
That hurt worse than anything.
“He couldn’t use his fire powers because he was wearing iron

shackles. They would have overheated and burned his skin clean off.

James’s Risk

He was still wearing them when I got into the barn. I had to unlock
them or else he would have died.”

All James cared about was that damn mage. “You barely know

him, what does it matter if he dies. Unless you want to fuck him?”

James actually stepped back. Somehow this turned into a match of

words instead of fists, so Hank kept on going. “That’s it, isn’t it? You
want to fuck him? Are you lonely or something since my brother isn’t
around anymore to give it to you?”

James sneered at him. “If it weren’t for your brother, I would kill

you. I want to kill you.”

No. Hank was wrong. Hearing James tell him that he made him

sick wasn’t the thing that could hurt worse than anything. That was.

Maybe that was why he did what he always did. It was a reflex,

really. Hank acted without thinking, and he reached for James’s
throat.

The other man tensed up and tried to push Hank away. He’d

clearly been expecting an attack, but Hank surprised him when he
pressed his lips to James’s instead.

He was frozen and didn’t move. It was the shock of it, it had to be.

Hank wouldn’t lie to himself and think that the only reason why
James didn’t push him off right there and punch his face in was
because he was about to kiss him back or something.

Hank actually liked it. He’d always liked shocking people, and

now he was doing that with the added benefit of kissing the man he’d
wanted since he realized that he had an attraction to men.

His cock was instantly hard, and his blood continued to pulse and

hammer through his veins even when he pulled away. They just stared
at each other. James’s eyes were wide, like he couldn’t believe what
had just happened. Hank wouldn’t let go of him. He wanted to keep
the feeling of his fingers touching the other man’s skin for as long as
possible, until it was a memory that would never go away.

God, he really wanted to drag James to bed with him. He almost

did it, and thought maybe James would actually go along with it and

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see reason. He was human and the fire mage wasn’t, so maybe James
would choose him. Maybe his cock was only acting like it was
because, despite everything, the tolerance of the village, Hank had
never slept with another man before, or even kissed one.

He took a step back while simultaneously leaning forward for

another kiss, hoping to lead James to his bed. James didn’t move
forward with him. He stepped back as well. Then he shook his head.

“I can’t do this.”
Now Hank’s heart was fluttering and pumping fast for an entirely

different reason. “Why?”

“You’re Josh’s brother. I can’t…I don’t see you like that.”
James’s soft and gentle words were like the hard punches he

suddenly wished they’d exchanged. Of course, what had he been
thinking? James would never want to be with Hank. Hank was the
reason Josh was dead.

Hank’s defensive nature suddenly kicked in, overriding his

embarrassment, and he wanted James out of his house. “Get the fuck
out of here then.”

“What?” James asked it like he didn’t understand Hank’s anger.
“You think I wanted you? I was just trying to see if you would do

it. Keep you away from that fucking dangerous fire mage so you don’t
kill yourself and everyone else in the village. Fine, go back and put
everyone else at risk if you want because you would rather fuck
someone you barely know. Piss all over my dead brother’s memory if
that’s what you want so bad. He looks like him, doesn’t he? The eyes.
Don’t think I didn’t notice it.”

“Hank—”
Now Hank did punch him. He wasn’t a warrior, after Josh had

been killed Hank had stopped doing guard duty and his muscle tone
had gone down a little, he couldn't even hold a gun without shaking,
but he still had pretty decent muscle build and size, and he didn’t
forget how to throw a punch. It knocked James back a step, but
otherwise he stayed on his feet. “I said fuck off!” Hank yelled, and he

James’s Risk

started pushing James toward his door that was now barely hanging
on by its rusted hinges.

Finally he managed to push James out and slam the door that

miraculously didn’t break off, but by then he could barely catch his
breath, and he slid down to the ground and held his head in his hands
while his eyes blurred.

* * * *

James stared at Hank’s door for probably a solid thirty seconds.

And, considering what had just happened when he was inside of the
little one-room house, that was a long time to be gawking.

He finally shook himself out of the stupor he fell into and started

walking back to Brian’s house.

He could still feel the press of Hank’s mouth on his, and it was

just on reflex that he brought his hand up to wipe away all traces of
the man with the back of his hand. When he realized what he was
doing, he dropped his arm back to his side and kept on walking,
hoping that no one had seen that, or suspected.

It wasn’t that he had anything against Hank. Aside from the fact

that the guy was much too full of himself and had no regard for the
rules, it was, well, he was Josh’s younger brother. James never
exactly saw Hank in the brotherly way, but he definitely never saw
him and thought he could make a potential life partner out of him. It
was too weird. He and Hank were too different.

Not that there was anything wrong with the man.
Great, now he was defending him, and after Hank had stirred up

all of this shit, too.

Reminding himself of what had nearly happened, and of Quinn’s

injury, and that he and James had nearly died because of the barn fire,
which was nearly out at this point, having eaten away at almost all of
the barn, which had collapsed on itself, was enough to put things back
in perspective for him.

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He felt bad for Hank’s predicament. Enough that he didn’t want to

see the guy’s feelings get hurt, and he wasn’t about to tell anyone
about that kiss either.

It seemed that, toward the end after James had rejected him, Hank

had wanted to be left alone anyway.

James just wanted to get back to Quinn, and fuck Hank for

throwing Josh in his face, as if Josh would disapprove or something
just because Quinn was a fire mage. Hank needed to grow up and stop
blaming everyone else for his problems. Had he really expected James
to fly into his arms after all the stunts he’d pulled over the years?

He sighed with relief when he made it back to Brian’s house and

there wasn’t a mob of angry villagers out front demanding Quinn’s
head.

The barn was still going to take up most of their time. It had fallen

over and there was no saving it now, but the fire still needed to be put
out permanently.

It made James shiver to think that he’d been inside of that barn,

and now it was a destroyed heap.

He let himself inside and saw that Quinn and Will were now

sitting at the small kitchen table that was almost immediately in front
of the door. Hawke leaned against the counter, regarding the both of
them, but clearly still waiting to see if he could be needed to defend
his husband.

The other man barely glanced at James when he stepped back into

the house. “Do Will and I need to go over and put Hank back together
again?” he asked.

Will looked up at James when his husband asked that question.
“No,” James said with a sigh. “He’s, uh, just upset. I think it’s

better to leave him alone for now.”

Now Hawke did look at him, and it wasn’t a look that James

really liked.

James’s Risk

“I’m being serious. I didn’t hurt him and he didn’t hurt me, but he

is still pretty mad. Maybe you should go and talk to him later. He
listens to you better.”

Right. James just didn’t want to be the one to do it because he was

a complete and total coward.

Hawke shrugged. “All right, but if he turns up dead tomorrow or

something, you know I’m going to have to come looking for you.”

“Great.” James went to stand beside Quinn, and he gently took

hold of one of the man’s hands to get a look at the wrists. The
swelling was down and there was only a little redness there. Some of
his skin was peeling, dry bits that were coming off of him as though
he was a snake of some kind, getting ready to shed an old skin for
something new.

That was a sign that he was healing, though. At least James

thought it was.

“Are you okay?” James asked, putting his hand on Quinn’s

shoulder now.

The other man nodded. Someone had put a plate of vegetables in

front of him, and he and Will were sharing it. Likely to get their
energy up, vitamin intake, and all that other stuff that Will had been
harping on about since he’d gotten here.

“Yeah, thanks,” Quinn said, then his eyes turned imploring.

“Look, please don’t get in any trouble for me. I appreciate what you
did, and I don’t like being attacked or anything, but he’s a human and
part of your village. Maybe you should just let him vent his anger and
he’ll be okay.”

“And I should let him vent by attacking you?”
“I said I didn’t like being attacked,” Quinn said with a slight

frown. “I’m not asking you to let him come after me, but I just think
everything would be better off if…I don’t know…I wasn’t here,
maybe?”

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“Nice try,” Hawke said, a little half smile pulling up on his lips.

“No, really, I mean that. You want us to just take you out of the
equation to help keep the peace in the village. That’s brilliant.”

“Shut up, Hawke,” James said, glaring over his shoulder at the

other man.

Hawke raised his hands. “Sorry, sorry. I couldn’t help myself.”
James made a disapproving sound and turned his attention back to

Quinn.

Hank had said he was pissing all over Josh’s memory by wanting

Quinn so badly, but he didn’t think so. It had been a year. More than
that, actually. It was going on thirteen and a half months.

James had loved Josh, and there was no doubt in his mind that

Josh had loved him back, but Josh was gone now, and James had
mourned for him. He couldn’t keep on mourning. He wanted to live
again.

James felt like he was kicking himself in the teeth for wanting

Quinn so badly, not because of Josh, but because there was no way
that Quinn would return James’s feelings. He was being kept here as a
prisoner, and he wanted to leave. This wasn’t going to end happily,
but James would die before he let Quinn’s end be the same as Josh’s.

“Why can’t we let him go?” he asked.

James’s Risk

Chapter Eight

Quinn didn’t think he’d heard that right. The fact that everyone

had gone silent and looked at them both meant that James had spoken
and said something outrageous, but it wouldn’t have been…No.

Then James said it again.
“Don’t look at me like that. I’m serious. Hank is going to get the

village riled up against Quinn, and you and I both know he didn’t start
that fire, so why can’t we let him go?”

Hawke narrowed his eyes at James. “I won’t go against my father.

I know he didn’t do it, and I won’t let anything happen to him.”

“What choice will you have if it comes to a vote and the village

decides to just kill him?”

Quinn’s breath got caught in his throat at that. He really couldn’t

breathe for a few seconds. They were talking about his life, almost
like he wasn’t there. It made him angry.

“I’m out of your shackles now in case you hadn’t noticed,” he

said, and all three men turned to look at him now. He glared at all of
them.

“I’m sick of being a prisoner here for something I had no part in. I

won’t let your village decide to kill me just because it’s convenient. I
won’t want to do it, but I will defend myself if necessary.”

“We caught you once before,” Hawke reminded him.
James actually lowered his head, as though he was ashamed of

that fact. Because he was the one who’d captured Quinn in the first
place?

“I know, and you might do it again. In fact you probably will be

able to catch me again. But I’ll fight back harder the next time. I’ll be

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fighting for my life, so if the people who are coming after me are
doing it with the intent to kill me, I will try and kill them first.”

Quinn’s whole body was shaking by the time he finished

speaking. His words were strong, but he’d never liked confrontations.
Threatening to kill people who might try and lock him up again was
probably about as confrontational as he’d ever been. He was surprised
with himself, but still angry with everyone else for trying to make
decisions for him.

“I get that you’re upset,” Hawke started.
“Of course I’m upset!” Quinn yelled. His voice was so loud and

clear in the small house that the healer who’d been tending to his and
James’s wounds actually got up from his seat to stand next to his
spouse. “I’ve been a pretty good sport about all of this so far. I
haven’t tried to hurt anyone, despite what you all did to me. I never
did anything or withheld information about your missing friend. And I
didn’t start that fire in the barn. Enough is enough. If your stupid
village can’t stand the fact that I’m around here then just let me go.”

The stupid comment was probably taking it a little too far.

Hawke’s narrowed eyes were a testament to that.

Now Quinn was breathing hard. If Hawke so much as took a step

toward him then Quinn was going to piss himself and pass out from
the sheer terror that was running through his body. Every nerve was
on end, but he didn’t care anymore. He wanted out. He wanted out of
here.

“I want to go home. My brother is probably out looking for me,

and I just want to go back.”

“You have a brother?” Hawke asked.
“Yeah, and like I said, he’s been looking for me the whole time

I’ve been away. Kind of like you’ve been looking for your friend right
before you gave up and kidnapped me instead.”

“We were only making sure you didn’t know anything about his

disappearance. We’re still not a hundred percent on what you do or
don’t know about that, by the way.”

James’s Risk

“Hawke,” James said, his tone a warning.
Quinn stared at him. The man was giving his friend, the man who

was apparently something of a leader, a hard stare.

Oddly enough, just looking at James was enough to make Quinn’s

body relax. He was still scared out of his mind, but at least now he
had something else to focus on.

Hawke might have been the one to put the shackles on him, but it

had been James who captured Quinn in the first place by putting a
knife to his throat. He shouldn’t have felt so safe around the other
man. Maybe it was all that time they’d spent together, James speaking
to him while Quinn said nothing back. He’d grown to trust that the
man really wouldn’t harm him.

Still, he had to ask him, “Why did you come into the barn and

save me?”

James turned and sharply looked at him now, only there was

shock on his face instead of a low, simmering anger. “What?”

“Your friend is missing somewhere, probably dead, and everyone

in the village thinks I had something to do with it. They all either
want to torture me for information or kill me for revenge in case he
really is dead. Why didn’t you leave me to burn?”

James leaned slowly across the table, their bodies coming

especially close since they were practically sitting right next to each
other.

“Why did you come back for me after I passed out from inhaling

the smoke?”

That was an odd question. “Because it was the right thing to do.”
That, and out of every intolerant person in the village, James had

been his one bright light. The only person whom Quinn felt safe
enough to sleep around whenever the man was put in charge of
guarding him in the barn.

He wasn’t about to tell him that, however.
James nodded solemnly at the answer he had given. “Same for

me. It was the right thing to do. Getting you home is also the right

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thing to do. We’ve had you for long enough, and you are right. Our
treatment of you has been terrible. You have no information on
Vaughn, and it’s time we sent you on your way.”

“James,” Hawke said, and now he was doing the whole warning-

message-in-his-voice thing.

James half turned in his seat to look at him. “I’ll go with him.”
“What?” Hawke asked, falling back a step.
Quinn wasn’t sure he’d heard that right either. “What?”
“I’ll be your escort back to wherever you came from. I don’t know

what the village would vote on if it came down to that. God knows
they let Anderson and Frederik and everyone else who isn’t human
who arrived stay. But I won’t even let it get to that point. I won’t take
the risk with your life. I’ll take you out of here tonight if you want.
We can leave while everyone else works on cleanup, and no one else
has to know.”

When James finished speaking, he turned and looked at Hawke, as

if daring him to challenge what James had just offered to do. Quinn
could barely believe it.

“You would do that?”
James wouldn’t look away from Hawke. They were practically

inside some kind of silent battle that only they were privy to.
“Absolutely.”

They kept right on staring at each other, and then Will finally

cleared his throat. “I should go.”

“No, you stay,” James demanded.
“Don’t tell him what to do.”
“I don’t want him warning anyone that we’re going to leave.”
Will touched Hawke’s arm, and the change was almost instant as

the other man stared down at him softly. “It’s okay, Hawke.”

Will then looked at James. “What if I just went into the other

room? It still needs to be mopped up, and something tells me that the
fewer people there are to witness this conversation, the better.”

James’s Risk

James’s lips thinned, and then he finally nodded. “Fine.

I’m…sorry as well for my tone.”

Will waved it off, and he actually smiled as he walked to a tall but

thin cupboard in the corner of the little house, opened it, and pulled
out a mop and bucket before leaving.

Quinn caught the cautious glance the man sent him before Will

shut the door behind himself.

Will was going to have to work pretty hard to not hear anything

that was being said if that little door was the only thing in his way. At
least he could always claim ignorance, and maybe that was the point.

Hawke and James went back to their little staring contest, but

Hawke was the first person to blink.

“Look, I know this must have something to do with Josh. You

couldn’t save him, so—”

“Leave him out of this,” James snapped.
Quinn didn’t miss that. It would’ve been impossible not to, but

maybe this was one of those situations where it was best not to ask.

Clearly Josh had been someone important to James, and it was

also clear from Hawke’s words that the man was dead.

Unless Quinn wanted James to end up the same way, he needed to

speak up and make the two other men stop talking like he wasn’t in
the room. “I’m getting the feeling that if you do this,” Quinn said, “it
won’t be something that the village would easily forgive.”

“It won’t be,” Hawke said sharply, his large arms crossed, which

only seemed to make them bigger and scarier. “He’ll be considered a
traitor, especially because he took you with him. Unless you’re
planning on giving him a place to live then I doubt even my father
would be able to help him after that. Is that what you want? For him
to live as a fugitive in the vampire district? To get picked up by
slavers? Or even die out in the wild?”

“Fuck you, Hawke,” James snapped.

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Quinn covered his face and rubbed his forehead. He had a

headache coming on, and now his chest was starting to hurt with the
magnitude of Hawke’s words.

No, he didn’t want James to get hurt or die. “I don’t want to die

either,” he muttered.

He flinched when he felt something touch his back. When he

looked up, James was pulling away from him, as though Quinn had
used his powers to burn the man.

Fuck. He wanted James to touch him, but he’d probably screwed

that one up right now.

James recovered quickly.
“I’m taking him, Hawke. You’re not going to stop me, and I won’t

come back either if that’s what it takes.”

“If you would just give the village a chance, they’ll see reason like

they have before and they’ll make a vote.”

“I’m not taking that chance with his life,” James snapped.

“Hank’s already upset and I don’t want him blaming Quinn for the
loss of the barn and getting everyone all worked up. I’m not going to
risk his life, and I don’t care how small you say the chances are that
they would demand he die.”

Quinn wanted to cry. The last week of being chained up and

questioned, of wondering if he would ever see his brother again, or if
he would live, all caught up with him in a mad rush.

“Thank you,” he said, and his voice broke on those words.
He reached out and grabbed James’s hand just when the other man

looked at him, and he squeezed it hard.

“I don’t know you very well, or at all, I guess, but thank you for

offering to do this for me.”

He rubbed his eyes with the heel of his palm to keep the burning

sensation in his eyes at bay, but even he knew that the two men in
front of him could tell that he was on the verge of crying.

“You’re welcome. You’re right, enough is enough. You’re scared

and angry, and I want to take you home.”

James’s Risk

Quinn actually managed to smile through all the mixed emotions

that were surging through him. He felt better than he ever had since
being captured. He felt hope and gratitude, and the extreme urge to
protect James as much as James was willing to protect him. He
wouldn’t let any vampire slavers get him, and he wouldn’t let the man
fend for himself out in the wild either.

Hawke released a long sigh, reminding them both that he was

there. “I guess with the way you two keep on staring into each other’s
eyes like that, that the conversation is pretty much done. You’re not
going to change your mind and try to wait it out, James?” Hawke
asked.

“Absolutely not.”
It was ridiculous how much Quinn enjoyed the way that James

squeezed his hand when he said those words.

Hawke shook his head and rubbed his face, all while one hand

was on his hip. He looked very much conflicted, like he didn’t want to
do what he was about to do. “All right. I’ll help you pack up a bag.
You both still need clean clothes, warm ones, too, if you’re about to
go out. I’ll get some food and water together, too, but with him
around I guess I won’t have to worry about giving you any matches or
lighters for a fire.”

Quinn thought that they were being lied to. He was so convinced

of it that he nearly jumped when Hawke bent down to retrieve
something from beneath the cupboards under the counter and then
came back up again.

There was no weapon in his hands, however. He held onto a

leather bag and shook it out, and then he started packing supplies into
it.

“You’re really serious?” James asked, though it didn’t sound

much like a question as he smiled at the other man.

“Just hurry up and help me, and then the both of you can get out

of here. If anyone asks, I’ll say that I sent you back to your house with

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the prisoner and that you were going to watch him. I’ll deny knowing
about this and Will is going to deny, too.”

Now Quinn thought he should thank this man. He was taking a

great risk here by making a decision like this without the blessing of
the entire village. “Thank you for this,” he said.

Hawke barely spared him a glance before looking back at James.

“I hope he’s worth it.”

James then in turn, looked down at him, and Quinn’s face went

incredibly hot. “He is.”

James’s Risk

Chapter Nine

Vaughn couldn’t take being bedridden anymore. Being down in

the basement and suffering from the cold and hunger was almost
better than this.

He was being practically pampered. No, actually, he was being

pampered. As far as prisoner treatment went, this was VIP stuff. It
was like he was a king or something.

He shifted in bed, and this time when he tried to get out and put

his feet down on the floor, he did so without falling flat on his face.
He was still a little wobbly, but he got the job done as far as he was
concerned.

There was no one else in the room with him, so either the place

had been stripped down to prevent him from harming himself or
others, or the vampires assumed that a human couldn’t cause any real
damage.

He looked toward the fireplace. The fire inside was still large and

bright, so someone must have come in to tend to it when he’d been
out of it, but there were no fire pokers around for him to grab.

Vaughn had never been inside of a vampire mansion before, not

including the lake house, but he was willing to bet that this place was
at least four times the size of that place. For that reason alone, he
looked around in case he should find a hidden cupboard, or some
place where the metal rods would be kept out of sight instead of in the
open.

There was nothing.
Well, the fire was still going, and the grate hardly looked like it

was locked. Maybe he could break the legs off of one of those nice,

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polished wooden little table things, light it up and then burn down the
door.

Solid plan, unless the fire got out of hand and he ended up killing

him since no paranormal creature in their right mind would rescue a
human from a fire.

He shuffled over to the little table in question, just sitting beneath

the tinted window, ready to try it out anyway when the lock on his
door clicked, and the heavy wooden door swung silently open.

The vampire stopped when he noticed that the bed was empty, but

then he turned and found Vaughn standing off near the window.

Daren, one of the vampire lords who ruled this mansion, actually

had a silver tray in his gloved hands. There was a steaming bowl of
something on it, along with a glass of juice, and what looked to be
another small bowl filled with cut-up fruit.

Vaughn could barely remember the last time the man had come to

him, but it had been with a tray similar to that.

Vaughn almost blushed when the thought of the way the vampire

had to hand-feed him. Vaughn had been too weak and sick to lift his
hands very much, never mind eating like a normal person.

As though reading his mind, Daren spoke. “Because you are over

there, can I assume that you can feed yourself this time? As well as
eat everything on your plate?”

Vaughn’s growling stomach was the deciding factor in getting

him to walk over to the other man. He might hate it, but he had no
strength to fight back with. He would need food if he was ever going
to do that.

Still, it threw him off so much that the vampires who owned this

house and were in charge of so many human slaves had been so
hospitable to him. Daren put the tray down on the nightstand next to
the bed that Vaughn had been sleeping in, and then turned around as
if he was about to leave.

He was. Shit.
“Wait,” Vaughn said.

James’s Risk

Daren stopped and turned. The guy wasn’t wearing a suit and tie

or anything as formal as that, but the dress pants and silk shirt that had
a few open buttons below his neck did give the impression of wealth.
Daren was definitely one of the lords, and not a servant, yet he was
always the one to bring Vaughn his food.

“Why are you doing this?” he asked.
One of Daren’s perfect black eyebrows lifted just a little. He had

the deepest and darkest eyes that Vaughn had ever seen. If he didn’t
know any better, he would have thought they were black. A pure
black, and not just an incredibly dark brown. He was handsome and
privileged, yet he must have done something wrong to be forced to
serve a human his meals.

“Well? Why are you bringing me my food on a silver tray with

nice china?” There was only a single spoon on the tray and no forks
or knives. Guess whoever thought to do that didn’t realize that if
Vaughn really wanted to, he could break the china and use those as
weapons just as well as any butter knife.

Daren’s lips thinned. The man was pale, and Vaughn really hoped

he wasn’t being given any special treatment because they wanted him
nice and healthy to feed from later.

“My brother and I have decided that, should any human servants

come in to serve you, that would only insult you, since you are a free
human and all.”

The fact that Daren had called him a free human when he clearly

was not any longer threw him off.

“Why do you care if I’m insulted or not? And those people are

your slaves, not your servants. There’s a difference.”

“I suppose you are right. It’s not like they are being paid, but

Tristan takes better care of them than my father or older brother
would have—”

“I don’t care how well you think they’re being treated,” Vaughn

snapped. “What do you know about being a slave, or about being
helpless while someone else dictates what to do with your life?”

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Daren actually snarled at him, and he showed his fangs. It took

everything Vaughn had to not take a step back.

But the vampire lord didn’t charge after him. “I know more than

you think on that subject, and I also know that the people under my
brother’s care are well fed, receive medicine when they need it, and
are now learning how to read and write. Do not presume to judge my
family as monsters. My younger brother is missing because he was in
love with someone he thought to be human, and you and your men
ransacked the lake house.”

“Yeah, poor you, having to give up one of the ten summer houses

you own. I feel really sorry for you.”

Vaughn doubted they would have done it, but now he was hoping

that after Hawke and the others had taken everything they’d needed or
wanted from the house, that they’d burned it down afterward just to
keep these vampires from taking it back.

Daren’s snarl only deepened, and this time he did charge after

Vaughn.

Vaughn wasn’t wearing any shirt, and had on only a pair of black

silk pajama bottoms, so the vampire was forced to grab him by the
shoulders.

Vaughn tried to push him away, but of course, his strength was no

match for an angry vampire’s.

They both tumbled down on the messy bed.
“You listen to me, human,” Daren snarled. “My brother is

missing, and your damned village of idiots is out there hunting him as
we speak. I am kind to you out of courtesy for the fact that you may
not have had something to do with it. You are being treated well
because I do not want to see a human fall sick and die for no reason,
but if your village has captured my brother while he was out trying to
find his lost lover, then I will make you pay, do you understand?”

Vaughn didn’t know what scared him more. The fangs, which

were clearly showing, that the man was on top of him, or that his dick
was hard and pressing into Vaughn’s cock, which was swift to react.

James’s Risk

It was such a weird feeling, knowing that he wasn’t wearing a

shirt, and was being pressed down on the bed, and was wearing these
ridiculous pajama pants, that he was struck dumb and couldn’t speak
for a solid minute.

Daren was good looking, that was easy to see now that they were

inches from each other, and from what Vaughn could feel of the man,
he had a very nice body beneath his clothes. That was the only reason
he could feel his own heartbeat in his dick and he was suddenly short
of breath. This was a normal reaction. He absolutely did not want to
fuck a vampire.

Goddamn it.
It was just the guy’s adrenaline that made Daren hard as well,

Vaughn told himself. Other men’s cocks got hard when they were
overly angry or excited all the time, this didn’t mean anything. For
either of them.

But then, Daren didn’t move or say anything either. It was like he,

too, realized where he was, and they both just stared at each other.

Daren’s mouth closed, hiding his fangs, and his nostrils weren’t

flaring angrily anymore.

Vaughn’s breaking point came when the man’s dark eyes lowered,

as though he was looking at Vaughn’s lips.

Vaughn’s blood pressure spiked as his cock throbbed with

pleasure at the thought of what Daren might want to do.

“Get off me,” he said, terrified that he would orgasm right then

and there.

He didn’t expect the other man, vampire, whatever, to do as he

said, but he did. Daren moved off of him, stood up, and he
straightened his clothes.

Nice try, Vaughn wanted to say. He already knew that the man’s

dick had gotten hard for him. The worst part was when Vaughn
adjusted himself on the bed, and the stupid silk pants he wore slid
against his own cock and a shiver of pleasure rippled through his
body.

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Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
“I’ll leave you to your lunch,” Daren said. His voice sounded

normal, despite everything, and he wasn’t looking at Vaughn now. “I
will return for your tray shortly, and since you are now well enough,
we will talk then.”

Daren turned and moved toward the door, leaving Vaughn alone

with his thoughts. Christ, how was he going to get out of here?

James’s Risk

Chapter Ten

“You said you had a brother? What’s his name?”
Quinn was glad they were speaking. It helped to calm his

pounding heart, considering they were running away from James’s
village. Walking, more like it, but they were doing it under the noses
of everyone who lived there, even the village leader. He hated to think
of what would happen should they get caught. He hated even more to
think about what would happen to James, if they were caught or not.

“Julian,” Quinn said, thinking of his older brother. “He’s an ice

mage.”

“Really?” James asked, sounding genuinely interested.
“Yes. It comes in handy, especially when we were younger and I

was still learning my powers. If I ever set anything on fire that I
wasn’t supposed to by accident, he was always there with a quick
spell. A few times I nearly set fire to our house. That was when I was
younger, mind you. I have better control now, but we never lost the
house because of him.”

“Sounds great, and I bet you both never have to worry about

hauling around fresh water.”

“That’s actually true. We always just let the ice melt in a pot

before boiling it and drinking it. With my power, it’s fairly easy to
keep us warm in the winter as well.”

“You two sound like you make a real team.”
“Yes,” Quinn said.
“Look, I don’t want to give you any bad news, or possibly bad

news as the case is, but if he is looking for you, then you’ll have to
take into account that he hasn’t found you yet in the entire time

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you’ve been gone. He’s either an incredibly bad tracker or he’s given
up.”

Quinn ducked his head. “Yes, I know. I only mentioned Julian

back there because I wanted to give Hawke something to think about,
but neither of us are very skilled trackers. Hunting is something we’ve
never had an easy time of.”

“I’d believe that.”
Quinn looked at him curiously, and James shrugged. “Well, don’t

take this the wrong way or anything, but it was way too easy finding
you each time you tried to escape while we were on the road. You
leave too many tracks. Even now you’re walking kind of, I don’t
know, loud I guess.”

“I walk loud?” Quinn had never heard of such a thing.
“You break almost every twig you step on and I see you’ll brush

branches out of your way instead of making room for the trees. It was
how Hawke kept on finding you whenever you escaped. It was how I
found you, too, actually.”

“Really?”
“Yeah,” James said, laughing as he thought back to that day, like

it was a fond memory. “I could hear you fumbling through the trees,
and I guess you were having trouble seeing so you kept on making
quick fireballs for their bursts of light. I almost thought I was being
set up for a trap, especially when you stopped to stand so close to
me.”

Quinn thought back to that day. Every branch seemed to be

reaching out to grab at him, and he couldn’t see for the life of him.
The mage leading the attack, Alden, if Quinn remembered right, knew
he wasn’t a good fighter based on how easily he’d been caught by his
men, so Quinn’s only job was to light the way when it came time for
the mages to retreat or escape from their attack.

Looking back, knowing now that he was safe and that James

wouldn’t have hurt him, he supposed it really was sort of funny.

James’s Risk

Quinn couldn’t help but laugh a little as well. “I’m glad you were

the one who found me.”

James looked at him, and Quinn smiled back. “I like you, to be

honest. I didn’t at the time, but I do now. And I want you to know that
I won’t let anything hurt you. You’re taking a big risk for me, and I’ll
take care of you. I won’t send you off to fend for yourself out in the
wild.”

James’s large brows lifted more and more with every word that

Quinn spoke. He was starting to think that maybe he shouldn’t have
said those things, but then James smiled at him again.

What was it about that smile that just made Quinn want to melt?
“I appreciate that, but I don’t think your brother will like having

me around so much, especially since I was one of the men responsible
for taking you.”

“That other mage was responsible. He kidnapped me first. I

shouldn’t have even been so far away from home.”

James looked at him strangely. “How old did you say you were

again?”

Quinn looked at him funny. “Why?”
“Well, you’re hardly a kid. A little young, sure, but you should be

able to decide how far from home you want to go.”

“Not when I can barely hunt on my own, and there’s danger to

traveling alone. My brother and I are usually together, but that time
we weren’t.”

“Can I ask why?”
Quinn really wished he didn’t asked, but the man was risking so

much for him that he felt he should tell the truth. It wasn’t like it was
a big deal, really.

“We argued,” he admitted. “It seems so stupid now that I think

about it, and everything that happened after makes it seem so small. I
mean, we were having trouble growing crops, and he got sick and
didn’t want me going into any of the mage villages by myself. He’s

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only about two minutes older than me, but I swear he thinks he’s my
father instead of my brother.”

“And then?” James prompted.
“Well, he did get better eventually, but the arguing kept on going.

He went off to think, and that bothered me even more. He can go off
into the woods and do whatever by himself, but I can’t? I figured if I
went out and caught us a buck, or even some rabbits by myself, then
he would have to stop treating me like a kid. Now…”

Quinn could hardly make himself continue. James put his hand on

Quinn’s shoulder, and it was like having an adrenaline shot of support
just rushing through him.

“You don’t have to say anything else,” James said. “I’m sorry I

brought it up.”

“No,” Quinn said. “It’s just that, if something now happened to

him because he was out looking for me, I don’t know what I’d do. I
don’t think I could forgive myself. Logically I know he only acts the
way he does because I’m the only family he has left, but I guess I just
let that get away from me.”

“It’s not stupid that you feel that way,” James said, and his voice

was soft. “We argue with the people we love all the time. I’m glad
those other mages didn’t hurt you, because now I’m going to take you
back home, and you can tell your brother that you’re sorry. Hopefully
he’ll say the same to you, but I don’t know him. Either way, I hope
you both will reconcile.”

“And if something’d happened to him?” Quinn asked. He was

getting more and more miserable the longer this conversation went
on.

“I doubt it. You seem pretty strong to have survived the things

you have. I’m sure he’s the same way. You said he was two minutes
older than you. Did you mean that literally, or…?”

Quinn laughed. “He’s my twin, yeah. Though we don’t look

exactly alike.”

“Wow,” James said.

James’s Risk

“What is it?” Quinn asked.
James looked at him. “You’re cute, and you have a twin.”
Now Quinn’s face felt unbearably hot. In fact, everywhere on him

felt hot. He had to admit to himself that he didn’t mind the sensation.
James thought he was cute, and he liked it, but the man was still just
teasing him. “Shut up.”

James laughed.
God, that laugh. It went straight to his cock, and it throbbed

unbearably between his legs. He had to shift around just to keep the
other man from seeing it.

He’d known something like this would happen. This lust of his

had been simmering below the surface, barely visible even to him
until now.

James was a handsome man, and now they were alone and flirting,

no fear or danger or chains to be held between them.

“What’s wrong?” James asked.
“Uh, nothing,” Quinn said, and he wondered briefly whether he’d

be able to sneak off into the trees at some point to take care of the
ache in his cock and balls.

Then he wondered why he should bother. Maybe James would be

willing to take care of it for him.

* * * *

Hank had torn off out of the village the second it became known

that James and Quinn had left.

Hawke had been in on it. He could tell the second the guy had

started playing dumb. Hawke wasn’t dumb. He was a stickler for the
rules and a pain in the ass, but he was the farthest thing from dumb
that Hank had ever seen in his entire life.

James hadn’t escaped. Hawke had given them permission to go.
Hank was done with caring about the fire mage. If he was gone,

then good, but he couldn’t let James leave and never come back. He at

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least had to see the other man again and try to convince him to return
home.

The two men had a ten-hour head start, but that wouldn’t stop

Hank. They were leaving a trail, which would have been odd, but
Hank knew the reason for that, too.

Now that he was gone, James didn’t expect anyone from the

village to follow.

Hank only hoped that they weren’t traveling fast, and he prayed

that if he ran long enough, he could catch up without killing himself
in the process.

* * * *

James and Quinn decided to pack it in for the night. They’d done

a lot of traveling, and James knew all about conserving energy. They
had to eat and they had to rest if they were going to make it very far.

They were also a good distance away from the village now, and

the farther away they went, the better their chances were of running
into vampire slavers or human mercenaries who worked for them.

That was a new one, and also a kick in the teeth because it was

one more thing that everyone needed to worry about.

Thankfully, of the supplies that Hawke had given them for their

journey, a camouflaged tent had been one of them. There were only
two of those in the entire village, so James had been immensely
grateful to receive it.

“We’ll put it under that tree over there. The branches are hanging

pretty low, so that will help to keep it even more hidden.”

“Do you really think someone might be coming around here while

we’re sleeping?” Quinn was clearly trying not to sound scared when
he asked that question, but James could see it in the way the younger
man’s hands trembled as they set up their small camp.

It didn’t take much time to get everything together. All their

equipment was designed to be set up and put away in record time.

James’s Risk

James pulled the small string on the side of their folded tent when

they got under the tree with their things, and it sprang into shape, just
as it was supposed to.

“You never know, and considering how far we are from the

village now, I’d say it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

Quinn swallowed hard and nodded. “Should I…” he trailed off

and started looking around. “Make a fire or something?” he finished.

“No. We’ve got enough food and none of it needs to be cooked.

We can use body heat tonight to keep warm,” James said, and then his
face and body became incredibly hot, and he knew he was blushing
all the way down into his toes. “Not that it should be that cold out
tonight. I mean, it seems a little warmer out than yesterday.”

“I guess you’re right,” Quinn said. James sighed and let his heart

go back down to a normal rate when Quinn didn’t seem to pick up on
what James was so nervous about.

They opened the packs of dried fruit and meat that Hawke had

given them and sat down beneath the tree and in front of their tent to
eat. James was careful to eat slowly, as he always did, but it was when
he watched Quinn devour his food that he had to reach a hand out to
stop him.

“You won’t give yourself the chance to get full if you do that,” he

said, smiling at the other man. “Take it slow, or you’ll be starving all
night.”

Because Quinn had already finished most of his food before

James could tell him that, he decided it wouldn’t hurt anything to give
the man another small pack of dried chicken and let him nibble on
that as well.

“Like me. See?”
“You’re so big. Your muscles, I mean,” Quinn said quickly, and

he blushed deeply at that. Odd. “I don’t know how you can stay that
size and not eat so much.”

“Genetics, I guess,” James laughed. “You look pretty good

yourself, considering you’ve lived out on your own for so long. With

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your brother, yeah, but I don’t know if I would have been able to
survive without the village to take care of me when I was a kid.”

“You’re doing it now,” Quinn said. “I mean, if you don’t intend

on going back.”

And wasn’t that a bummer. James looked down at his hands, and

then back up at Quinn. “I think it’s worth it.”

Quinn blushed again. The color even went to his ears. It really

was cute.

James looked back down at his hands when Quinn said nothing

and focused back on his food. He’d already known that their flirting
would probably not lead to anything else. Quinn was scared and
probably felt alone the whole time he’d spent in the village.

Hell, James could say with almost complete certainty that he did

feel alone, and that was likely the reason he’d attached himself to
James so thoroughly.

It didn’t mean the younger man wanted him, or would ever want

something with him. Quinn was a nice guy, and he felt he owed James
a debt for helping him escape. That was the only reason why he
would ever talk about taking care of James.

James had never thought he would find someone he’d be

interested in after Josh had been killed. He and Josh had been together
for so long that James even figured he would be no good at flirting,
and that his social skills, as far as dating and sex went, would be
down the toilet.

Yet here he was. In lust with Quinn, flirting with him, wanting

him. If he was honest, it was more than lust, but he wasn’t willing to
look too deeply at that right now. They still had to make it back to the
mage border where Quinn lived before he would be safe.

James got up from where he sat and dusted himself off. The pine

needles had been stabbing him anyway.

“I’m turning in,” he said. “Come on inside when you’re ready to

go to sleep.”

James’s Risk

Maybe if he was sleeping in there first, it wouldn’t be so awkward

when Quinn came into the tent.

“Okay,” he said.
It was such a small tent. It couldn’t be big, of course. Something

overly large couldn’t be easily hidden, no matter how great the
camouflage was. It was long enough that his body could easily fit, and
there was some room for another person, but they would be packed
fairly tightly within the small space.

James groaned. There were no pillows and only a thin bedsheet

he’d folded a couple of times so that the ground wouldn’t be so hard
beneath him. He would never get comfortable in here, and he doubted
he would fall asleep before Quinn decided to come in. Just thinking
about the man made his dick react.

It was going to be a long night.

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Chapter Eleven

Quinn was fairly new when it came to being around other people

for long stretches of time. It wasn’t like he and his brother never saw
anyone else. They did still have to go into town from time to time
where the mages sold their wares.

Quinn and Julian couldn’t be entirely self-sufficient no matter

how much they tried. Trading animal furs or the herbs they’d grown
for potions was sometimes the only way to get food and clothes
whenever things got rough.

But Quinn had never gotten to know those people. His family had

stayed away because it was a fact that the warlocks were becoming
more and more power hungry, and all throughout the mage district,
there were some rich warlocks who were taking on similar ideals as
the vampires.

So the family had packed up and left, moving to the very edge of

the district and hoping to stay out of sight from both sides. Quinn had
been young when that had happened, but he could still remember the
deaths of his parents from illness, and then it was just him and his
brother.

No one had ever looked at Quinn the way James did. Aside from

his brother, no one had ever risked their life for him either.

James was taking a chance with more than his life as well. It was

his livelihood that was also on the line. He’d offered to take Quinn
believing that he would be forever banished from his own village, and
that he would have nowhere to go. Quinn had told the man that he
would care for him, but he couldn’t have known that at the time.

James’s Risk

Quinn also wanted him. He wanted James to stay with him. He

didn’t want to go inside of that tent and have a quick one-time-thing
romp. He’d experienced those with some of the mages who worked in
pleasure. Those had been fun, but going home with no one hadn’t
been.

Quinn quickly put everything away that needed to be away. James

had warned him that animals could also track them if they smelled the
food, and he didn’t want a bear sniffing around when he was in the
tent with James.

When he finished putting everything back in its proper place, he

moved to the small tent.

He froze with his hand on the flap. James had forgotten to zip it

back up to keep the bugs out, so he pushed it out of the way just a
little when he heard it again.

Not his imagination. James was on his side, facing away from

Quinn, and while he couldn’t exactly see every little detail, the
position of his hand, as well as the way his arm was moving, coupled
with the quiet sighs he made, told Quinn exactly what the other man
was doing.

And didn’t that just get his heart racing. Was he thinking about

Quinn? Considering the open flirting they’d been doing ever since
leaving the village, not to mention the dozen or so hints that had come
before that, Quinn was willing to bet that he was.

Well, they were both adults, and they both wanted each other.

Quinn was hardly quiet when he crawled into the tent.

James’s movements instantly stopped, but his body didn’t tense

up the way Quinn would have expected, considering what he’d just
been caught doing. It looked more like he was pretending that nothing
had happened, and that he was sleeping.

Did he not realize that Quinn had already seen him?
Quinn zipped down the tent flap, and he stretched out beside

James. He looked at the back of the man’s blond head of hair. He
wished James would stop pretending and turn around so that he could

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see those green eyes of his. Would the stubble on his jaw tickle or
poke at him?

After about thirty seconds it became clear that the other man was

just going to continue to pretend to be sleeping. If Quinn waited any
longer, then that would become a reality. No one could keep their
body that relaxed and still in the quiet night and not drift off.

Quinn inhaled a deep breath, prayed for courage, and then he just

went for it.

He rolled up behind James and wrapped his arm around the man’s

middle, spooning up behind him as if they were already lovers.

That got his attention all right. James jerked as he was embraced,

and with his cheek pressing against the right spot on his back, Quinn
could feel how fast and how hard his heart was working.

It was contagious in that it got Quinn’s heart pumping as well.
“What are you doing?”
Quinn pressed a soft kiss to the back of James’s neck, and when

his fingers found the opening of the fleece jacket he wore, he dipped
them inside, searching for more skin. “What does it look like?”

James groaned. “God damn,” he said.
Quinn almost took that for a rejection, but before he could react,

James quickly turned around, and Quinn found himself wrapped up in
the man’s larger arms and pressed against his incredibly muscled
chest.

He was kissed harder and more passionately than any of those

pleasure mages had been able to do, even with the use of their magic.
It was so jolting, and it gave Quinn such a delicious high that his cock
was already standing on end and making his pants tight.

The fact that his dick was pressed so close to James’s and creating

friction when they both moved against each other didn’t help matters
either.

That was fine. Quinn wanted this. He wanted James’s hands on

him, he wanted the other man’s tongue in his mouth, and he couldn’t
get James out of his clothes fast enough.

James’s Risk

Finally Quinn managed to open the jacket James was wearing and

lift up the T-shirt he’d been given to replace his destroyed clothing.
He raked his nails down the man’s sculpted chest.

James moaned through their kiss, so he did it again.
“You’re going to kill me,” James said, and then he pressed his

mouth to the side of Quinn’s neck, and oh God, it was so good.

“I want you so bad,” Quinn said, and he felt empowered now that

the words were finally out of his mouth. “Fuck, I want you.”

James quickly started on with Quinn’s clothes. They were both a

complete mess, each trying to get the other’s clothes off instead of
working on their own, which might have been faster, but he wasn’t
exactly in the right frame of mind to be thinking about anything other
than the destination.

He was momentarily blinded when his jacket and shirt went above

his head, but they quickly came off. James grinned at him, kissed him,
and then released him so that he could turn onto his back and get his
pants the rest of the way off on his own.

Quinn thought he should do the same or they would never get full-

on skin to skin. He kicked away the baggy jeans he’d been wearing
and turned back into James’s arms at the same moment James did.

They held each other and continued kissing for what seemed like

forever. A good kind of forever.

Quinn had never been able to just take his time like this before.

The other men he’d been with, few that there were, hadn’t much liked
kissing and never really let him do it, even though he’d been paying
them.

Now, with James cradling his body with one arm and cupping his

jaw with the other, Quinn didn’t understand how he’d gone for so
long without this feeling. He’d needed this so much and never even
knew it.

He tried to do the same to James, cup his prickly face with one

hand while holding him close with the other, but the sheer size he had
on Quinn made it difficult.

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James still seemed to like it, however, so he didn’t pull away.
“You sure you want to do this?”
James’s voice was quiet when he asked the question. Clearly he

was afraid of the answer he would get.

Quinn could hardly believe the man had any doubts left. He

looked down between them to where their cocks were still waiting
and pressing against each other, and he tried to lighten the mood.

“Very sure.”
James blew out a laugh and kissed him again.
The beard neither tickled nor poked. It actually felt very nice

against Quinn’s mouth. He was used to it already.

Then James cursed and pulled away, and he started rummaging

through one of the spare bags that was in the tent with them.

“Please tell me that Will gave you some health salve for the rest of

your burns,” he said.

Quinn had been feeling so good he’d forgotten that there were

some parts on him that were still a tad sensitive.

“Yeah, it should be in the pocket there,” he said.
“Ah ha,” James announced, and came back with the little wooden

jar that Quinn recognized.

“My burns don’t hurt, you know. I don’t think I need a treatment.”
James blinked at him. “What? No, I mean, you will eventually,

but this is for, ah…” he trailed off, and Quinn didn’t understand in the
least.

“For what?”
“Well, we’re going to need something to, you know, ease the

way.”

Quinn’s face heated as he felt incredibly foolish. He’d completely

forgotten that they wouldn’t have any lube. Of course they wouldn’t
have been traveling with it.

“Will that really work?” he asked.

James’s Risk

James planted a long kiss on his lips, but that was as far as it went

before he started to twist off the wooden cap with the leaf carved into
it.

“I guess you’ve never tried this before. It’s slick, and it’ll work in

a pinch for sure. Might even be better than using lube because it’s a
health salve.”

Quinn had never even thought of that. It only made him more

eager because they could actually go all the way.

“You should lie back,” James said, that eager glint never leaving

his eyes.

Quinn grinned and did as he was told. If anyone had told him a

week ago that he would be so keen on having sex with the same man
who’d captured him and put a knife to his throat, he would have
thought that they were insane. Yet here he was.

Quinn spread his legs, hooking one of them over James’s arm as

he knelt before his cock and got to work. It took Quinn a couple of
seconds to get over his usual embarrassment for letting someone see
him like this, but when he did he was entirely relaxed. Then James
pressed his first finger into Quinn’s pucker.

“You’re tight,” he said, and there was clear approval in his voice.
“It’s been a while,” Quinn admitted, and then opened his mouth to

inhale deeply when James pressed his finger inside all the way down
to his first knuckle.

It burned, but in a good way that he’d missed, and it felt so good

to have someone do this for him. Quinn gasped as he thrust his hips
gently to try and make James’s finger go deeper.

“Fuck, that’s nice,” he said, and James wasn’t even touching his

prostate yet.

James chuckled and continued the slow torture, but then, because

he must have noticed that Quinn’s cock was all by its lonesome, he
leaned his head down just enough, opened his mouth, and the head of
Quinn’s dick vanished between his wet lips.

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“Oh! Fuck that’s good,” Quinn said, and he thrust against both

James’s fingers and his mouth. He kept his lips tight as he sucked on
Quinn’s cock, and building pressure in his balls, all over inside of
him, was so damn sweet.

Why did it take them so long to get to this point? They should’ve

been doing this a hell of a lot sooner.

“You’re damn right we should have,” James said after he pulled

his mouth away from Quinn’s dick.

He was talking out loud now. Well, it wasn’t like he had said

anything that wasn’t true.

Quinn looked down at his lover. His entire body was trembling

with the urge to just grab for James, throw him down, and rut against
him mindlessly until he came. “Now that we’ve agreed on that, you
think you can”—his eyes moved down to his aching prick, which was
dark in color and leaking at the tip—“get back to what you were
doing?”

James actually pressed an openmouthed kiss to the head of

Quinn’s cock, and then reached his tongue out to play with the
sensitive underside. “Because I'm so good at it?” he asked.

“Yes,” Quinn said, hissing the word out as he threw his head back

and squeezed his eyes tightly shut until he saw bright spots.

“No,” James said.
Quinn snapped his eyes open and stared down, horrified. “What?”
James was still smiling playfully up at him, so at least Quinn

knew that he wasn’t having some cruel prank played on him, but then
there was still James’s denial to be dealt with.

“Don’t worry, I'm not planning on leaving you hanging. For

long.”

Quinn groaned and let his head drop back again.
James crooked his finger and started thrusting it gently forward

and back, clearly searching for Quinn’s prostate as he stretched
Quinn’s asshole.

James’s Risk

Quinn brought his head back up to watch the other man work, and

he couldn’t help but grab hold of his now neglected dick and stroke
himself, slowly, as he watched James work. There was something so
incredibly erotic watching such a large and strong man working
gently and patiently between Quinn’s legs.

“You’re beautiful,” Quinn said.
He hadn’t meant for the gasped words to leave his mouth, but they

did, and he wasn’t about to take them back.

“From my position, you’re the beautiful one,” James said, and

then he added in another finger, even as his hungry eyes moved down
to Quinn’s hand.

Quinn had to grip and squeeze the very bottom of his cock,

preventing his orgasm, as James continued to tongue the head of his
dick while thrusting his fingers inside of Quinn’s pucker

This time he did find Quinn’s prostate, and Quinn arched his back

and gasped at the sensation, nearly thrusting his entire dick inside of
James’s mouth in the process. He squeezed his eyes shut and had to
tighten his fist around his cock even more, to the point where it hurt,
to keep from coming, but he couldn’t for the life of him stop his hips
from thrusting back against James’s hand. It felt too good. This
wasn’t going to last. He was going to come and then it was going to
be over and—

“Hey,” James’s gentle voice cut off his inner ranting.
Quinn forced himself to open his eyes and look at the man.
James stroked his thigh with his free hand, as if he was trying to

calm a wild animal. “If it’s fast tonight, that’s fine. We can’t really
take our time out here anyway. When we get to somewhere safe, your
house, I will do to you all of this and more.”

Quinn shivered. “Tell me. Tell me everything you’re going to do

to me when we finally get somewhere safe.”

James actually planted a kiss on the side of Quinn’s knee, and he

shivered again. Really, that spot was somewhat sensitive to the touch
of James’s mouth. He never would have known that.

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“I intend to lick and kiss every inch of your body,” he said,

kissing the inside of Quinn’s thigh this time. He then reached for the
health salve and coated his dick thoroughly in the stuff. His cock was
so big that he needed a lot of it.

“I’ll put my mouth right here,” he said, and then pressed the blunt

head of his cock against Quinn’s asshole. “And I’ll make you come
just from the feel of my tongue alone.”

He pressed inside just enough until the head of his dick pushed

past the ring of muscle.

Quinn’s body tensed up, but he knew how to make himself relax.

He knew his body’s limits, and he wasn’t afraid.

He watched the sweat building on James’s forehead as the man

struggled with holding still. He was trying to keep from hurting
Quinn.

If it was possible, Quinn thought he might have fallen in love with

the man right there just for that.

He wished he could just tell James that he was ready and have the

man slam his dick inside of him, but he couldn’t. He had to wait for
his body to adjust.

When it finally did, he reached around and gripped the back of

James’s ass and pulled the man closer until he was balls deep inside
of him.

They both groaned at that, then sighed.
“I take it you’re ready?” James asked, but he already knew the

answer because he was already moving. It was a gentle rocking
motion, but he was still moving, and Quinn was still gripping the
swell of the man’s firm ass because he didn’t want James to pull
away. The push and pull of his cock, moving back and forth, not just
touching but completely filling the walls of his ass, filling him up,
was so absolutely wonderful that now that Quinn had it, had this man,
he knew he would never be able to go without him.

His voice was breathy when he nodded and answered. “Yeah.”
Understatement.

James’s Risk

101

Then all Quinn could do to hold on was watch the changes in

James’s face. His eyes screwed shut almost immediately and he
breathed deeply through his mouth. Quinn heard some noises that
suggested he was definitely having a good time, but then realized that
the majority of those happy sounds were coming from him.

Then James started to move faster, his dick touching just where it

needed to inside of Quinn’s body, and then he really started to make
noise. Their flesh slapped together and all Quinn could do was hold
on for the ride.

James pressed his mouth to Quinn’s lips, which got his attention,

even as the other man sped up.

“Not too much noise,” he said, though each of his words were

separated by a groan and barely audible through their combined hard
breathing.

Quinn was beyond rational thought. He was already coming and

he wanted it now. “Fuck me. Please, I’m coming, do it!”

James groaned and kissed him again. It worked well enough to

keep them quiet, but it was funny how they both had a difficult time
keeping their mouths connected as James thrust his cock inside of him
with an almost violent passion.

Quinn couldn’t even reach his hand between them to touch his

own dick, but he didn’t need to. His balls went tight and his cock
swelled even more as he started to come, and he shouted out his
release between James’s lips.

James slowed down his wild thrusting, but only so that he could

move his cock harder and deeper. He actually started to thrust his hips
in a circular motion that just made everything that much better and
then he groaned and shuddered, his body stilling at the right time
where his dick was pushed right up against Quinn’s prostate. Quinn
clutched him tightly as he felt the man’s warm cum shooting inside of
him, against his prostate, and it very nearly sent him over the edge all
over again.

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James collapsed on top of him with a long sigh that Quinn

returned. He kept his arms looped limply around the larger man and
soaked up his body heat.

“That was…wow,” he said, unable to put it into words. He

laughed instead. “Holy shit.”

James lifted himself just enough so that he was now on his

elbows, and he stared down at Quinn with the deepest warmth he’d
ever seen.

It was right there that he decided that he really did love this man.

Somehow, through all the fear Quinn had felt during his time in
captivity, he’d fallen in love with James Flynn, and he never wanted
to be apart from him.

James gently took him by the chin and pressed a soft kiss to his

lips. “Yeah,” he said, and he stared into Quinn’s eyes, still very much
in lust, but there was also a hint of something else as well. “Wow.”

James’s Risk

103

Chapter Twelve

Daren had eventually returned for the tray, but they didn’t talk

like he’d said they would. He just picked up the mess and quickly left,
without even looking at Vaughn.

What in the hell was his problem?
Daren had to wait several hours later before he found out. It was

so damn boring inside of the room he’d been given. It was odd
thinking of himself as a prisoner when he was laying on a luxurious
bed with more quilts and pillows than he’d ever owned in his entire
life, but despite the comfort and the books he’d been given, there
wasn’t much for him to do.

There was always work to be had in the village. Vaughn hoped the

dogs were being well cared for without him, but he knew Oliver
would be taking over that job well enough without him. Vaughn had
been given some books, but he didn’t touch them.

The last thing he wanted to do was relax with a book in his hands

and let his guard down.

That, and he wasn’t the best reader anyway, and now was

definitely not the time for him to be practicing.

He nearly drifted off, feeling more lazy than he ever had, when

the lock on the door clicked, and the heavy reinforced wood swung
open.

It was Daren. Of course. Who else would be coming to see him?
“Time for our talk?” Vaughn asked, and he swung his legs over

the side of the bed and stood up. He wasn’t sure he wanted to be
laying down on that bed while Daren was in the room. His body was
still recovering from what had happened.

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Even now, just looking at the other man made his cock stir. That

made him angry.

Daren stepped forward. “I do not wish to talk.”
He wasn’t stopping. He was getting all up in Vaughn’s personal

space, but he didn’t back away because he didn’t want to be the one to
show weakness.

“All right, what do you want to do?” He said it as a challenge,

knowing perfectly well what Daren wanted, thinking the prim and
proper vampire would chicken out or something.

Stupid, stupid thing for him to be thinking. Daren reached for him

and kissed him.

Holy God. He’d never been kissed like this before. The man was

strong, and he wrapped his arms around Vaughn’s waist, his hands
resting on his lower back, nearly on his ass, pulling him close. His
dick was hard, like the last time, and dammit if Vaughn’s cock wasn’t
responding as well.

The man’s lips were soft and warm as they moved against

Vaughn’s mouth. He would have expected them to be hard and cold,
but they weren’t. The strangest thing was that, while Vaughn kept his
eyes wide open for how stunned he was, Daren’s eyes were shut.

He was into it. The other man wanted this and was clearly lusting

after Vaughn, not just trying to scare him.

Worse still, Vaughn liked it.
That was what scared him the most. Using every ounce of strength

inside of him, he pushed against Daren’s chest. The man was a
vampire, so he was strong, but Vaughn had just enough strength
inside of him to make the guy stumble back a little.

He stumbled even more when Vaughn punched him.
Only then did he realize how fast his heart was beating. He

couldn’t seem to take in a proper breath, and his whole body was
shaking from the exertion. He didn’t need to say anything. Apparently
the look on his face was enough that Daren took the hint.

“Forgive me,” he said, and then he left.

James’s Risk

105

Vaughn remained standing even after the door was shut and the

lock clicked back into place. He couldn’t bend his knees to sit down
even if he’d tried.

Almost against his will, his shaking hand lifted, and his trembling

fingers touched his lips.

Fuck. What the hell just happened?

* * * *

Of course James couldn’t have any peace for very long. He and

Quinn had woken up snuggled together, naked, but not cold, and
they’d decided to make the time for one more nice and fast bout of
lovemaking before heading out.

James couldn’t stop looking at Quinn as they hurried to pack up

their equipment, and he caught the way the other man stole glimpses
of him.

Even if the other man didn’t love him, what they had was enough,

and James was happy with it. It made everything more than worth it.

The problem was that just when they had their belongings packed

up again and bagged, James heard a sound coming from the bushes.
Something was moving toward them.

“What is it?” Quinn asked, coming to stand beside him.
James put the bag down. He could faintly see the outline of a man

coming toward them through the trees. There was no way they could
outrun him if he had others with him, not when he was that close.

Damn it, James should have thought to start covering their trail

sooner instead of waiting so long. He hadn’t cared if anyone from the
village had found the trail because he’d convinced himself that no one
would bother to follow him after turning traitor and leaving with the
man who’d supposedly tried to kill him. It was for that reason that he
hadn’t bothered with hiding the more obvious of his and Quinn’s
tracks right away, but he also didn’t want to lose any time getting far
away from that place.

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He hadn’t hidden the tracks well enough, because this guy was

walking, stumbling really, in a nearly straight line right toward them.

“What should we do?” Quinn asked, and it was clear that he could

see the man coming as well.

At least Quinn could always throw some fireballs at him if things

got out of hand.

He was about to tell him to go back under their tree and hide for a

few minutes, when the shape of the man through the woods got to be
a little clearer.

“Wait a minute,” he said, and then took a step forward and

squinted. “Holy shit.”

“Who is it?”
“It’s Hank. What the hell he’s doing all the way out here, I have

no idea,” he said, and then called out to the other man. “Hank! What
are you doing out here?”

Hank replied, but James could barely hear him. He stepped out of

their former camp space and back into the thick of the trees. He was
just in time to catch the other man before he could collapse.

“Found you,” Hank said with a smile. His eyes were still open and

he was aware. No injuries on him that James could see.

“You’re dehydrated. Did you chase after us all that time? When

did you stop?” James reached into the bag over his shoulder and
pulled out a water canister.

“I ran most of the way,” Hank said, and then took two long gulps

of water before James took it away from him. They both knew that
drinking too much water too fast could be dangerous, and the last
thing that James wanted was for the stupid man to end up killing
himself somehow.

“Hank, you shouldn’t have done that.”
“I want you to come home,” Hank said.
James would have pulled away from the other man if he didn’t

think that Hank might just collapse helplessly on his face if he did.

James’s Risk

107

Instead James decided to focus his energy on letting the man

down as gently as possible. “You know I won’t be able to do that. I
abandoned the village and took Quinn with me. They wouldn’t take
me back even if I wanted to go back.”

“I’ll put in a good word for you,” Hank said, and now there was

some desperation in his voice and eyes. “I won’t let them hurt you,
you know that. We’ll say that the fire mage tricked you, or he
kidnapped you. You weren’t feeling so well after you ran into a
burning barn. The people know that you weren’t in the best shape.
They’ll understand.”

James was already trying to quiet the other man down. It was

starting to hurt hearing Hank speaking like this. He’d always thought
of the other man as a joker who didn’t know when to quit, maybe a
little too carefree, and after Josh had died, he’d really started to just
not care.

Or so it had seemed. James knew the truth now. Hank did care. He

cared for James, and James was about to rip his heart out. Again.

Christ, this would be so much easier if he still hated the man for

lashing out too much.

“I left with him because I’m in love with him,” James said. He

wished there was something he could do for the pain that immediately
sprang into the other man’s eyes, but there was nothing. It was the
truth and even though he’d thought he wasn’t ready to admit it to
himself or anyone else, well, there it was. He had to make Hank see
that.

Hank inhaled a shaky breath. “I love you.”
God damn if that didn’t just break James’s heart, because there

was nothing he could do about the other man’s pain. Even if he had
known about Hank’s feelings, he wouldn’t have done anything about
it before either. James had been with Josh for most of his life, and
he’d been genuinely in love with him and expecting to spend the rest
of his life with him. Then Josh had been killed and James never even

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wanted to think about looking at another man again. Until Quinn, that
was.

“I’m so sorry, Hank,” James said.
Hank actually looked like he might start to cry. The last, and only,

time that James had seen tears on the man was when he’d come back
from a raid without Josh at his side, a dead look in his eyes, and
James had to hear all about what had happened.

Then Hank looked over James’s shoulder, and the meanest scowl

he’d ever seen was suddenly on his face.

James turned, already knowing what he would see.
Quinn stood there, several feet away from them. He’d clearly

heard the whole thing, and James had completely forgotten about him
while he’d been trying to comfort Hank.

James pulled his arms away from around Hank’s shoulders and

stood up.

“I’m sorry,” he said again, knowing how completely worthless

those words were. “This is what I’ve decided.”

“Does he even love you back?” Hank asked, though now he was

staring down at the ground. On his hands and knees like that, he
looked like a broken man.

James looked over at Quinn. The other man’s eyes were so wide

that James could see the whites all around his deep brown eyes. “He
doesn’t need to,” James said. “I’m standing by my decision.”

James wanted to go over to Quinn. He wanted to put his arm

around the other man’s shoulder and pull him close, but just in case
Quinn didn’t love him, which was a huge possibility, he decided to sit
tight.

An action like that would only show an image of unity when there

might be none. Quinn and James were getting along better now, but
they’d only spent a single night together. Quinn still had to deal with
learning about James’s feelings before he could say what his own
were, and James did not want to pressure him about something like
that.

James’s Risk

109

Still, his heart made the tiniest jump when Quinn smiled at him. It

was the kind of thing that gave him hope. A lot of it.

Hank abruptly shot to his feet. James tensed when he started

marching straight to Quinn.

“Relax, I’m not going to touch him,” Hank said, sneering at James

now.

Great. He was going back into his defensive shell.
So long as it was defensive and not offensive, James decided he

would stand by and listen to what Hank had to say to his lover.

Quinn, to his credit, didn’t back away in fear like James would

have expected him to considering Hank had knocked him over and
caused his burned skin to tear open only two nights ago.

He stood his ground, and James never felt so proud of him.
Still, James nearly stepped in when Hank pointed his finger right

under Quinn’s nose. “I swear to God, if you ever hurt him I will find
you and fuck you up. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” Quinn said.
“Do you have any idea what he’s giving up to leave with you? He

has friends back at that village and people who love him.”

“I know.”
“Hank,” James said, keeping the warning in his tone light just in

case Hank started losing it.

“You’d better take care of him,” Hank said.
“I will,” Quinn replied.
Hank said nothing else. He turned on his heel and was about to

march away from the other man, but then something shot out from the
trees and blasted him in the leg.

James was already rushing to them, but Hank screamed and fell

over. His leg was encased in a block of ice.

James knew immediately what was happening at the sight of that,

and before he could make it to Quinn and Hank, he was forced to
duck and roll out of the way as another shot of blue light flew from
the trees, heading in his direction.

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It just barely missed hitting him in chest, and as he moved out of

the way, he felt the frost building on the hairs of his arm as he dodged
that spell.

Another blast came. And then another. James was getting dizzy

with all the dodging and rolling he was doing, and he was starting to
lose sight of where the frozen blue blasts were coming from.

They could only mean that Julian was moving around in the trees,

keeping James in his sights the entire time. That wasn’t so great for
him, because then the attacks suddenly stopped coming.

Hank was still on the ground, clutching at the part of his leg that

wasn’t frozen inside of an imperfect block of ice, and all the while
Quinn stayed with him. He rubbed his hands up and down the ice,
summoning just enough of his power to produce heat to melt the ice
without lighting his hands on fire.

He spoke frantically to Hank, clearly as startled as the other man

over this new turn of events. What caught James’s attention was the
way that Hank was grabbing at the collar of Quinn’s shirt with his
free hand.

It was clearly a panicked move. Hank knew that Quinn was the

only one who could save his legs before the frostbite set in and started
doing some serious damage to the flesh.

If James was looking at it from an outsider’s perspective,

however, as the brother of someone who had gone missing for nearly
two weeks, James would have thought the same thing.

He lifted his hands, knowing that the ice mage was hiding himself

somewhere that he couldn’t see, and if the man really wanted to, he
could send one of his spells at James’s head and kill him almost
instantly.

“We surrender. You don’t have to do this. Quinn isn’t our

prisoner.”

Quinn looked up. He had about half of the ice melted, and then it

seemed to dawn on him as well just who was attacking them. “Julian,
is that you?”

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111

“I’m here.”
There was a shuffle in the bushes almost directly behind where

James had been standing. James spun around immediately.

“No fast movements, friend,” said the man who was Julian. He

raised a hand and pointed it at James’s chest, but no spell came out. “I
can put your whole body in a block of ice and I promise you will
suffocate long before you freeze to death.”

Jesus Christ. If there was anyone out there in the world who

thought that fire powers were more dangerous than ice powers, well,
they hadn’t met this guy before.

Quinn had said that he and Julian were twins, but aside from the

hair and eye color, they didn’t look the same at all. Julian had more of
a square jaw, and his shoulders were wider. He probably had about an
inch or two of height on his brother as well, and his eyes weren’t as
wide. There was complete distrust in those brown eyes, and nothing
of the man that he loved in them either. Even though Julian was
painted to be camouflaged, the same way the tent that James and
Quinn had used last night was, it was easy to see that they still looked
similar the way brothers did.

“Julian, don’t hurt him,” Quinn said as he continued to melt the

ice. “These are friends.”

“That one didn’t look like a friend,” Julian said, nodding to Hank.
“Fuck you,” Hank said, and his teeth were chattering.
“Maybe later, blue eyes,” Julian said.
That actually made Hank shut up. He was clearly taken aback by

having a paranormal say that to him.

Julian grinned but then put his eyes back on James. “All right, my

brother went missing for what seemed like forever and I’ve been
worried all this time thinking he was kidnapped, sold, or possibly
killed, and here the both of you are, with him in your little group, and
you’ve got equipment for traveling I see,” Julian said, leaning just a
little to the side to get a look at the bags of supplies that James had
dropped a while back.

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“Quinn, were you kidnapped by these people?” Julian asked.
Fuck, he was so dead.
“No, some mages who were hunting a fae did it. That’s when I

met James and his friends. They got me out of there and James was
getting ready to take me home.”

Though James was incredibly touched that Quinn would defend

him, he knew they couldn’t lie about this.

“Technically, I did kidnap him. We discovered him with the other

mages well over a week ago. One of our own friends went missing,
and by now he is presumed to be dead, so Quinn was brought in for
questioning.”

“You motherfucker,” Julian said, and James realized that he was

about two seconds away from being put inside of a popsicle so thick
that Quinn would never be able to get him out in time before he died.

“It wasn’t like that. He wasn’t tortured. I did my best to make sure

he stayed safe.” Christ, that sounded like a lie even to James’s ears,
and it practically was. James hadn’t kept Quinn safe. He’d almost
died in that barn fire, and more than once someone had gone to him to
try to threaten and scare him into speaking while he was chained up
and helpless, not just Hank.

Yeah. He was definitely dead.
“Julian, he saved my life,” Quinn said.
It seemed the man was willing to listen to his brother before he

started summoning his spells, or whatever it was that mages did to
conjure their magic.

“How?” he asked, all the while keeping his eye on James.
“When I was being…detained, it was in a barn. I was given a

blanket and fresh hay to sleep on, and I always had food and water, so
please don’t think anything bad right now, but there was a fire in the
barn. It started burning and I couldn’t get out.”

“And I bet the only reason there was a fire was because you were

trying to escape in the first place.”

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113

James could hardly miss the way that Julian’s hand was still raised

to him, ready to blast him at the slightest provocation.

“No, Julian, it wasn’t me. An oil lamp got knocked over and it just

got out of control. If James hadn’t come in and risked his life, I would
have died. He almost died because after he unlocked me he passed
out.”

“So in the end you were the one that had to save him,” Julian said.
“Lay off of him,” Hank said.
God, he was going to get them both killed.
“I’ll deal with you later, Blondie.”
“Blondie?”
Julian ignored Hank’s outrage, even when Quinn finished melting

through the ice enough that Hank was able to break free of it on his
own and stand up. He was forced to lean on Quinn just to keep his
balance. His leg must have gone numb.

He was lucky that was the only problem he was facing.
Julian took note of that as well, and he finally lowered his hand.
James hadn’t realized just how much his heart had been racing

until those magic fingers were no longer pointed at him.

“All right. I’m sorry I attacked you. Thank you for not torturing

my brother too much and for only almost killing him. Because, you
know, it would’ve been terrible if you really had.”

“Julian,” Quinn said, a tired sigh in his voice. Clearly the two

brothers’ differences also stretched to their personalities.

“What? Let’s get out of here, Quinn. I’m glad you’re safe and I’d

like to give you a hug, but I won’t feel a hundred percent at ease to do
anything until we’re away from these people.” Julian sent James one
more suspicious glare just for good measure.

“Actually, Julian.” Quinn made sure that Hank would be able to

stand on his own before he stepped away from the man and walked
over to where James stood.

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It was clear from the way Julian’s eyes widened that he was

shocked when Quinn took James’s hand and laced their fingers
together.

James was a little stunned, too, but more in a pleased, happy inner

tingling kind of way, and he gripped Quinn’s hand back.

“James is coming with us.”
Julian’s eyes remained wide, but he didn’t blink. Hank actually

started to hobble away and out of the trees. He clearly didn’t want to
be around while this was all being said.

“Say that again?” Julian asked.
So Quinn did, and then he started to explain. “James wasn’t

supposed to let me go. He didn’t have the village’s permission and he
didn’t want to risk that they would think I was responsible for lighting
their barn on fire.”

“Because you’re a fire mage,” Julian said, and his lips thinned

with the implied insult that, of course the fire mage would be the one
to light things on fire, regardless of whether or not he had a good
reason for it.

“Yeah,” Quinn admitted, then continued on strong. “But they

were afraid of me for a good reason. I was with those other mages
who attacked their warriors and may or may not have kidnapped and
killed their friend. I didn’t want to be there, but I was, so I can’t
blame them for thinking the things that they did.”

Quinn looked off in the direction where Hank had disappeared

when he said those words, and James squeezed his hand in what he
hoped came off as reassuring.

“So you want him to come with us because now he basically can’t

go back to the village?” Julian asked. “What are they going to do to
him if he did try to go back? Kill him? And you’re trying to tell me
that these are rational people?”

“I doubt it would get that far,” James said, feeling the need to

defend the very people who had taken him in and basically helped to
raise him when he had nowhere else to go as a young kid. “I would

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115

have friends to defend me, and because there’s already some
paranormals living in the village, my guess is they would eventually
understand. They wouldn’t like it, but they would understand. The
village leader wouldn’t let them execute me. I might get ten lashes or
something.”

He was pretty sure about that last part, anyway. Of course he

would have to be punished. He was a traitor and an abandoner, and he
would rather be with Quinn than face any punishment for doing what
he knew was right.

“He loves me, Julian,” Quinn said, narrowing his eyes at his

brother, then he blushed. “And, I love him, too.”

Julian got that wide-eyed look again. “What?”
James could barely contain the emotions that were rushing

through him. He suddenly felt like he had enough energy to rush back
to the village, and then to this very spot once more, yelling out to the
world that Quinn had just announced his love for him.

He never thought it would be possible to feel happiness like this

after he’d already lost the man he loved, but he did.

Quinn turned and looked at him, a little nervous smile on his lips.

“I really do. And I’m not just saying that because you said it first and
I feel guilty or something.”

“We haven’t known each other for that long,” James said, but that

didn’t stop him from loving Quinn so damn much. Maybe he only
said it to give him an out should he, in actuality, not be sure about his
feelings at all.

James didn’t have to worry. Quinn’s smile only got brighter. “I

know,” he said. “But you were always the one there who kept me safe
and calm when otherwise I think I would’ve gone insane. You took all
the risks for me, and I can’t see you do things like that and not be
affected. I love you, too,” he said.

The romantic thing to do would have been to sweep Quinn clear

off of his feet and kiss him. Or maybe even to just push him against
that sturdy tree over there, pressing their bodies close together while

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Jacks

kissing him. Hell, he could even lean down to capture his perfectly
pink mouth right now and it would have been amazing.

The problem was that they still had Quinn’s brother to contend

with. The man was clearly protective of his only family, and
considering everything that had happened to Quinn in recent days,
James couldn’t blame him.

“Well, that’s very touching,” Julian said, clearly not impressed by

their declaration. Christ, the man probably thought that James had
brainwashed his brother. “And while I suppose I need to respect my
brother’s decision, don’t think I won’t be watching you, human.”

“His name is James,” Quinn said. “Call him by his name.”
“Fine, James,” Julian said, and then his lips actually pulled up in a

sinister, I’m-going-to-get-you type of smile. “If you ever hurt my
brother, you’ll be an oversized ice cube.”

“Julian!”
Julian raised his hands. “I’m initiating him into the family. We

can’t be sort of in-laws without a few good death threats between us.”

“Then, you’re fine with this?” Quinn asked.
“For now, and depending on whether or not you turn out to be

everything my brother says you are,” Julian said, pointing his finger at
James, but this time he didn’t get the feeling that he was about to have
a spell shot at him. “If you really care about my opinion of you and
are looking to get some bonus points, however, you can hook me up
with Blondie.”

Maybe the only reason why James considered it was because he

figured a fling would be just the sort of thing Hank needed to help
him get over James’s rejection.

That, and he really didn’t want Julian to hurl frost spells at him.
That definitely wasn’t a good enough reason.
“Hank is, well, he’s going through some things right now. It’s

probably better if you leave him alone.”

“He went off to be alone from the looks of it,” Julian said, and he

stared off in the direction Hank had gone in one more time.

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117

The man was still in view through the trees. Sort of. He looked

more like a distant shadow. Clearly he wasn’t in any position to be
heading back to the village by himself just yet. He was still
dehydrated and would definitely have to make sure there was no real
damage done to his leg before he could start walking long distances
on it.

“Just leave him alone. We’re going to stick around for a bit and

I’ll give him one of the water canteens I have so he can get back. I
might even have to escort him there.”

Actually, once he stopped to think about it, there was no might

about it. He would have to walk Hank back to the village. It was way
too dangerous for someone to be out by themselves like this, and
Hank’s leg was now compromised.

He sighed. “Yeah, I’m going to have to walk with him. I don’t

want to risk that the damage you did will slow him down and get him
stranded out here far away from any help.”

Julian actually had the decency to look a little ashamed of himself

at that point. He rubbed the back of his neck, glancing over at Hank
before looking at James and Quinn. “Yeah, well, if you’re so sure
about that village of yours not wanting to hurt you, then maybe when
you get there you both should stay there.”

“I wasn’t planning on taking Quinn with me. He could go with

you and I could just get directions or something.”

“I won’t leave you behind, James,” Quinn said. “I’ll go with you.”
“I won’t risk your life like that,” James said right away.
“I thought you said the village was likely to let you off the hook?”

Julian asked, becoming suspicious once more.

“They are, I mean, for me, yeah, maybe, but Quinn is a

paranormal and I didn’t want to risk that they would vote on whether
or not he could stay, or if he could live. Some things have already
been spread around, and I’m not willing to take the chance with his
life—”

“No one’s said anything, James.”

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All three of them turned to see that Hank had started walking back

to their clearing.

He must have decided he was done giving them privacy and

wanted back into the conversation or something. In fact, he suddenly
looked like he had something important to tell him.

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119

Chapter Thirteen

James didn’t feel like getting the man in trouble with Quinn’s

brother, so he didn’t want to blurt out that Hank had been spreading
fear for him, but how was he going to tell the man to keep his mouth
shut before he confessed and it wasn’t just his leg he had to worry
about?

“Hank, you don’t have to say anything—”
“Don’t try and talk for me. I know you think I was getting

everyone all worked up against him so that they could do whatever
needed to be done to prove he didn’t have anything to do with
Vaughn’s disappearance, but I wasn’t.”

James blinked at him. “You…really?”
Hank had an annoyed scowl on his face when he turned away

from him and crossed his arms. “Yes, really. I don’t stir shit up half as
much as you and Hawke think I do. Just because I hate paranormals—”

“Watch it, Blondie,” Julian said.
Hank glanced at the man. He didn’t acknowledge the warning, but

he did change his tone. “I wasn’t spreading propaganda against either
you or Quinn. People were just afraid, and I was standing around
listening to them talk. Before I left, there were some talks about
sending someone after you, but not to bring you back to punish you
and kill him. Felicia was worried, so was Carl’s mom, and most
everyone else who’s been around since you and I were kids. There
were even talks of letting you and the fire mage live in the village as,
I don’t know, citizens, like the other paranormals do if that was
something you wanted so bad that you were willing to run away from
the village to get it.”

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James could hardly believe what he was hearing, but he did. Hank

wouldn’t lie and risk James’s safety. He knew that now, but there was
such a sincerity in his voice as he spoke that it made James just know
he was also telling the truth when it came to Quinn.

He was genuinely touched.
“Does that mean you don’t have to give up your family?” Quinn

asked.

James looked down at the other man. Quinn’s eyes were so wide

and open that James knew this man would follow him wherever he
went, even back to the village that had condoned him to be chained up
in a barn for a week.

“No one there is actually related to me,” James said.
He noted the way Hank winced out of the corner of his eye.
“No, but they’re still your family, right? People there love you and

will miss you, and you and Hawke seemed to be good enough
friends,” Quinn said, then he ducked his head a little and scratched at
the side of his neck. “And what about your other friends? Vaughn,
too. News could come back to the village about whether he’s alive or
not, and you should probably be there when that happens.”

“Quinn, look at me,” James said, and he took hold of the other

man’s shoulders to make sure that they faced one another. “I would
never make you go back there after what they”—James had to cut
himself off and start that part over—“after what we did to you. It’s
not fair to you.”

Quinn smiled at him, the most reassuring smile James had ever

seen on him. “And it’s not fair for me to ask you to give them up and
come and live out in the middle of nowhere with me. That’s your
family back there.”

It was clear that one of them was going to have to make a sacrifice

here, and James was going to be damned if Quinn was the one to do
it. It would be so easy for James to just shrug his shoulders and take
him back to the village now that Hank had basically said there was

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121

going to be no vote on Quinn’s life like there had been with Noir, but
he wasn’t about to do that to him. He loved him too much.

The fact that Julian had stayed silent for so long was telling

enough, and James looked at the man. “Well?”

“Well what?”
“This is your brother here. You attacked Hank and me because

you thought we were hurting him, and now he’s talking about going
back to the place where he was in chains for so long. Don’t you have
anything to say to that?”

Julian shrugged. “Yes. I don’t want him back there, but, and I

suppose I might as well say this now, it’s not like he can come back
home with me.”

Now Quinn was the one to speak up. “What? What do you mean?

What happened to the house?”

Julian sighed and shrugged a little helplessly, and it was only then

that James took note of the bag he was also carrying on his back.

“The house was found by a bunch of vampire trackers. I guess

they decided to head within the mage border a little and see if they
could find any of the mages who were attacking one of their houses.”

James thought back to that day. “It was the humans who were

there first. I was part of that team.”

Julian shrugged again. “Yeah, well, somehow they found out that

mages were there, too. I don’t know if they have the whole story on
what happened. Hell, Quinn just told me about it now, but now the
vampires are getting pretty territorial it seems. They’re even taking
mages for slaves at this point. Mostly the weaker ones whose powers
don’t double as weapons. Healers and pleasure mages and what have
you. The point is, they know where the house is and we can’t go back.
You’re both pretty lucky I was the one to attack you first, actually.”

“Why is that?” James asked, suspicious.
“I told you, they’re getting territorial. There are slavers all over

the place. There’s no way you’re all getting any farther than this
without getting caught. It’s dangerous just standing here.”

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James felt like the ground had fallen out beneath his feet. Not

getting any farther without getting caught…It was over then. He had
no choice. “We have to go back.”

The second the words left his mouth he looked down at Quinn,

and he felt his heart start up in a panic. He couldn’t make Quinn go
back there, but it wasn’t safe out here either.

Quinn must have seen into his mind, because he took James’s

hand and pressed a kiss to his knuckles. “You go back. I’ll stay with
my brother and we’ll find a way.”

“No!” James snapped. “We stay together. I’m not letting anything

happen to you. I won’t let the slavers take you and I won’t let the
village hurt you.”

“You have to decide, James.”
“Then I’ll take the risk and go with you. You both have magic.

I’m trained to fight. I won’t leave you, Quinn.”

James said those words, and he meant them, even though he knew

their chances were slim to nothing if Julian was right about the
slavers. If they stayed out here, they would likely be captured. Hell,
James’s size made stealth damn near impossible for him, and he was
surprised he’d made it out of the village unseen.

Quinn’s eyes remained sad, as if he was certain this was the end.

“I’m not going to risk your safety any more than you would risk mine.
We tried, James, but I don’t think this is happening.”

James wanted to fight against him, but the throbbing pain in his

throat kept him silent, even as he shook his head in denial. They’d just
gotten together—finally!—they couldn’t end it like this.

“I already told you, you can come with us.”
James could still hardly believe that Hank was giving them this

information. “You have to be absolutely sure about this,” he said.

Hank shifted uncomfortably. He wouldn’t look anyone in the eyes

and left his arms crossed. “I guess I should start making up for bad
behavior,” he said. “It’s not like they can’t defend themselves if
anyone in the village tries something.”

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123

“You know that better than anyone, eh, Blondie?”
Hank scowled. James was going to have to tell the other man that,

if he wanted to get into Hank’s pants so bad, that he should probably
stop calling him that, but at the moment, the only thing he cared about
was Hank’s message.

James wasn’t done. He wasn’t satisfied yet that everything would

be A-okay if he just turned around and went back to the village. “I can
go back with Quinn?”

Hank nodded.
“And he’ll be safe?”
“More than likely,” Hank said.
“Why didn’t you mention this before?” James asked. “When you

first found us?”

Hank shrugged, looking a little too much like he didn’t care. “You

were set on leaving before, now there’s nowhere else for either of you
to go without risking your lives even more than you already are. I
wouldn’t have said anything if you were both set on eloping, but then
he”—Hank looked at Julian—“said that there were slavers out in the
area.”

He had a point there, and it was exactly why they all had to go

back. It was done. The only place that was safe was, ironically, the
very place that James had been trying to save Quinn from. James
sighed and rubbed his face with his hands. “I can’t believe that after
we came all this way we have to turn around and go back.”

“It’s okay, James,” Quinn said, and he touched James’s shoulder,

smiling now that some hope had finally been presented to them. “I’m
happy to go wherever you go.”

He meant it. James could tell, and it was enough to make his heart

squeeze.

“I would have left with you,” James said. “I swear I wouldn’t

have looked back, but now that we know about this…” he trailed off.
Everything just seemed to be going to hell as far as their plans to
elope went.

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“I know,” Quinn said. “But I also know that you’ll keep me safe,

and I’ll do the same for you. We’ll work it out.”

Quinn’s hand found James’s again, and like before, their fingers

laced together in a way that just made everything seem not so
frightening.

James swore to himself, right then and there, that if the village

really would demand blood, then he would make sure they would get
it. He would take Quinn’s punishment, no matter what it was. If it
came down to a vote, then he would take the blame for the fire and
make sure that whatever they voted on, whether it was ten lashes,
banishment, or death, he would be the one to pay, and not Quinn.

“It’s great that you’ve got someone in your life that you trust like

this, Quinn,” Julian said, sending the pair of them a limp wave, as if
to remind them of his presence. “But I’m kind of homeless here, too,
and if it isn’t too much trouble, I’d like to tag along and make sure
this village of yours is actually safe before I let you walk back into it.”

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125

Chapter Fourteen

Quinn could feel the emotions running off of his lover as they

both stepped back into the village, holding hands tightly, as if they
were a pair of teenaged runaways instead of grown men who had been
in genuine fear for each other’s safety.

Hank and Julian were now with them of course, and even though

Quinn was still reserving his judgment of Hank, Julian liked him well
enough to tease him, so maybe it was good enough as far as payback
went.

James was clearly torn between embarrassment for having run

away with Quinn and suspicion for what the people of the village
might do now that they were back on West Village property.

His body was tense when the villagers finally seemed to notice

him and Quinn, along with Hank and Julian walking back in the
middle of the village as though they had never left.

Felicia, the wife of the village leader, was the first to notice James

and rush to him for a long hug. She kissed his cheeks and stroked his
hair as if he were her own child, and she smiled at Quinn and asked
about why Hank had a slight limp. She looked curiously at Julian, but
she said nothing.

Brian was the next to come, along with Hawke, and then what

looked like almost every male member of the village.

Of course it wasn’t all of them, just a whole lot, and judging from

the sizes of the men, they were all probably part of the group of
hunters and warriors that James had worked with long before he’d
ever met Quinn.

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What followed was round upon round of hugs and back slaps that

quickly made James lose his tense stance. It made Quinn glad for the
fact that they’d come back. Quinn would have hated it if he was the
reason why James could no longer be with these people. He could say
they weren’t related by blood all he wanted. These people were his
family, and they loved him.

Brian was the first to look over at Quinn and ask the obvious

question. “I suppose this means we have another paranormal to add to
our growing population?”

“Two,” James said, turning and looking at Julian. “This is Julian.

He’s an ice mage, and he’s Quinn’s brother.”

He was quick to speak to the rest of the men who all stared

curiously at the new guy. “He’s very talented with his spells. He can
make sure we always have fresh water, and his spells work really well
as attacks.”

Hank grumbled on that last part, but no one seemed to notice.

Eventually he left the group and walked away.

Quinn couldn’t help but watch him go, noting how, aside from

quick inquiries on his limp, no one really stopped to give him the
same welcome that James had been given.

He wondered about the man, but then caught his brother also

watching as Hank limped away back to whichever small house was
his.

Quinn was suddenly relieved. Julian was something of a joker in

his lighter moods and darkly sarcastic in his worse tempers.

They might actually be good for each other.
With the joyous welcome by the men and women who acted as

hunters and guards for the village, it was clear that there would be no
punishment for James because he’d basically stolen Quinn and run
away with him, and there was also not going to be any vote for Quinn.
For his life or whether or not he would be allowed to stay.

James’s point had been made, and the villagers wanted to keep

him too much to risk that he would leave them.

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127

Quinn had never been more proud of anyone in his life. Even

Julian took note of the look on his face.

“If you keep on smiling like that these humans will think you’re

weird.”

“It’s you they’re staring at. They already want to recruit you as a

guard. I can tell.”

“Well, I am pretty amazing.”
It was the fact that Julian said it so casually that made Quinn

laugh.

Everything felt perfect. He knew it wasn’t. He was on the wrong

side of the border of the vampire district and several days away from
the mage district. There was a war brewing, and there would always
be fighting, but he had James here with him, and his brother, and so
many people who now believed he had nothing to do with the
disappearance of their friend. He might actually start making friends
for the first time in his life.

For now, things were looking bright.
However, it was because of those more grim reasons that Quinn

and James couldn’t celebrate immediately like they wanted to.

James brought Quinn and Julian to his small house and basically

told them to make themselves at home while he spoke with the village
leader. Plans to initiate Julian and test him for how useful he could
actually be were already underway, but Julian still wasn’t comfortable
with leaving Quinn alone just yet.

“Really, I’m fine,” Quinn had said. Will, the vampire healer, had

already come to see them once the sun went down, as did Owen and
Frederik with their small son, and even Felicia.

Quinn wasn’t worried, but Julian still was. He just didn’t want to

admit to it, which was why he was leaning against the far wall,
pretending to examine the bookshelf which was basically facing him
on the other wall.

“For all you know they’re planning how to best kill us before we

can get our guard up.”

128 Marcy

Jacks

“They are not.”
“I’m just saying, I get that you think there’re cute guys here, but

you shouldn’t let that get your guard down.”

He was clearly talking about Hank and not James, and Quinn

didn’t feel like arguing with him.

Then James came back, still smiling and practically bursting with

energy.

He had eyes only for Quinn, and Quinn couldn’t help but rush

over to him. He was drawn to the other man and now that they were
together and safe, he couldn’t not put his hands on him and kiss him.

He was vaguely aware of his brother in the background. “All

right. I know when I shouldn’t be around and the last thing I want to
see is someone taking off my brother’s clothes.”

Quinn thought he heard Julian saying something about finding out

which house was Hank’s, but he couldn’t be one hundred percent on
that one just because he was so focused on James’s lips, and his
tongue, his hands, and his dick. God, he wasn’t going to make it to the
small bed in the corner of the square house.

James made an effort to try for it anyway. It wasn’t until the back

of Quinn’s knees touched on the old metal frame and he fell backward
and conked his head on the wall did the both of them come out of
their lust-filled trance.

“Fuck!” James cursed. “I’m so sorry. Fuck!”
“It’s okay.” Quinn laughed, and he rubbed his head just to make

sure everything was still in order. “It sounded loud but it really didn’t
hurt.”

James didn’t smile as he gently put his fingers through Quinn’s

hair to check for himself that there was no blood or something. It
wasn’t until he released a heavy sigh that Quinn realized that
something was wrong.

“What is it?” he asked. “Is it something you and the other guards

talked about?”

James’s Risk

129

“What? No, uh, actually they’re being really great about all of

this,” James said, and when he sat beside Quinn on the bed, the
mattress dipped heavily and the metal framework released a loud
groan in protest.

James shut his eyes against the sound, and then Quinn clued into

what the problem was. “You know, my bed back home was really a
bunch of blankets on the floor that I used for my mattress. The house
Julian and I shared was about the size of this one, but trust me, you
have nicer stuff. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”

“I just.” James looked down and behind them at the old and

offending mattress with the quilt that had been patched so many times
it was difficult to tell what the original pattern was. “I want to make
sure that you never have any regrets about this. I can’t offer you a lot,
and as for the bed, I know I have nothing to complain about because
some of the other people in the village sleep the same as you used to.”

“Really?” Quinn asked.
“Yeah. Do you remember those mattresses we put on the cart and

dragged with us when we left the lake house?”

Quinn nodded.
“They went to some of the families who’ve been waiting for real

beds. There are others who still sleep on the floor, and the only reason
why I have this bed is because, well, it’s pretty much only good for
one person.”

Quinn looked down at it. “Two if we’re the type who snuggle

really close.”

Now James smiled, and Quinn was glad. He wasn’t a warrior, but

if the only way he could protect James was from the emotional stuff,
then he would do it gladly and he would be good at it.

Quinn cupped his cheeks and kissed him. James still needed to

shave. His stubble had grown into a real beard, but Quinn was
thinking that he might actually like how it looked. Maybe he could
convince James to keep it.

130 Marcy

Jacks

The bed groaned again as they got closer, and James groaned right

along with it. “The whole damn village is going to hear me making
love to you. I think I miss our tent.”

Quinn put his hand down on the quilt and mattress, testing their

softness. The mattress would be pretty small, but if they were
positioned right it could still be fairly comfortable.

He grinned and got up, pulling James along with him. “Don’t tell

me you’re actually going to go and get the tent,” he said.

“Nope,” Quinn replied, and he started pulling the mattress off of

the frame. Because of its size, it was so easy, and he didn’t even need
any help before it was on the floor.

“What are you doing?” James asked.
“We can put the mattress back later, but your floor doesn’t make

squeaking sounds, does it?”

James’s eyes brightened immediately. “You’re a genius. I love

you.”

Quinn thought he might actually start glowing from the

compliment like he was some kind of sun sprite or something.

They made quick arrangements of the quilt and single flat pillow,

and then their clothes came off.

Quinn had been right. While he was on his back, his legs up and

over James’s shoulders, there was definitely room enough for two.

Quinn sighed when James pulled his slick fingers out of his ass

and lined up the blunt tip of his hard dick and pushed himself inside.

Quinn’s fingers clutched at the quilt and mattress beneath him,

and he tilted his head back and opened his mouth in a silent moan at
the delicious, burning intrusion.

“Ah, God. Fuck me, yeah.”
“I will,” James said, pulling back and then thrusting forward until

Quinn felt entirely filled up. “I’ve noticed that you like talking dirty
when you’re horny.”

“Uh huh,” Quinn agreed as the heat climbed all the way up his

body, and all he could focus on was James’s cock inside of him. He

James’s Risk

131

tightened his asshole almost without intending to, and James let out a
deep groan, so he did it again.

James moved slowly, however, not fast like Quinn would have

expected him to considering they no longer had to worry about the
creaking of the bed frame to give them away to everyone who
happened to have somewhat decent hearing.

“Faster,” Quinn commanded, and he reached down to grab hold of

his cock, which throbbed and ached for attention between his legs. He
hadn’t been with James since before they were found by Hank
yesterday morning, and that suddenly seemed like ten lifetimes away.

James shocked him with his answer. “No.”
That made Quinn blink up at him. “What?” Why did the man

insist on saying no all the time?

James took hold of his wrists and pressed them above his head.

Now he practically had Quinn bent in half, and he loved it, but he
desperately wished for at least some friction on his dick.

“What are you doing?” he asked, though it came out more like a

breathy gasp.

“The last time we were together,” James said, his voice hard and

rough as he tried to hold back his own pleasured moans as he
continued to move his hips. “I told you I was going to lick and kiss
every inch of your body.”

Quinn’s heart rate just spiked. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” James said, though whether he was agreeing with Quinn,

or just enjoying himself a little too much, he couldn’t say.

Then James started talking again. “This isn’t to get you or me off.

This is just the buildup to the main event.”

“What main event?” Quinn asked, and each word he spoke was

punctuated with a gasp. His eyes fell shut and he arched his back into
James’s thrusting hips and the hard cock that was driving inside of
him, touching him just where he needed to be touched.

“Never told you,” James said, and he pressed a quick kiss to

Quinn’s mouth. “The guys. I have two days off to be with you. Not

132 Marcy

Jacks

leaving this spot at all. And neither of us is coming until I’ve had my
mouth on your dick, and on your ass, at least once.”

As if to show him just where James intended to put his mouth, he

reached down with one hand and took hold of the base of Quinn’s
cock, which was just in time to prevent him from coming.

Quinn was strung so tight he knew he was done for the second

James released his dick, and all he could do was beg. “Please, please.
I want to come. Let me, I need to—”

“Soon, baby, I promise,” James said, and he held onto Quinn until

he wasn’t in danger of spilling himself before James wanted him to.
“We have two whole days to get to know each other better before I go
back on duty. Before that time is up, I’m going to show you over and
over just how much I love you, and you’re going to be begging me a
whole lot more than this.”

Quinn believed him, and James continued on teasing him,

thrusting his cock into him just enough that the very tip of his dick
barely touched Quinn’s prostate, but it was still enough to make it
sizzle, bringing him to the brink again and again.

“You are. Such a. Tease!” Quinn said, the pitch of his voice rising

and falling as James thrust forward and back, switching between his
shallow plunges and occasionally going balls deep and staying there
to really strike at Quinn’s prostate.

“And you love it,” James gasped back. His pupils were incredibly

dilated, his skin a healthy glow from the exertion, and there was never
a sexier sight in all the world.

Quinn reached for James’s face, and even though it meant he was

practically bent in half, James took the hint and leaned down for a
long and luxurious kiss.

His slick tongue thrust forward and back, almost in sync with his

hips and cock, and that only made Quinn even hotter for the other
man. He desperately grabbed for his balls, preventing himself from
coming too soon as James made love to him in every possible way
with his mouth, tongue, and dick.

James’s Risk

133

Quinn didn’t need the sex as proof of James’s love for him, but it

was pretty damn nice regardless. He tried to tell the other man that he
loved him back, and that he planned on loving him for the rest of his
life, but all his throat and mouth would release were long and breathy
moans.

There was always the afterglow for that, he supposed, and he

would make sure to tell James as well. He’d tell him every day and
night that he loved him. Quinn promised himself—during the brief
seconds when he was able to have coherent thoughts as James moved
them both around and started licking and kissing the inside of his
thighs—that he was also going to return these amazing sexual favors
any way he could.

James was apparently the one who liked being in control when

they were in bed, which was fine with Quinn, but he knew how to be
a bottom and still hold the control over sex as far as rhythm and speed
went, and James was in for a real treat the second Quinn got him onto
his back.

Quinn would never let James regret the risks he took for Quinn’s

sake. No matter where their journey took them after this, Quinn would
always be there for him and support him. He was going to make sure
that the reward had been worth the risk.

THE END

WWW.MARCYJACKS.COM

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Marcy Jacks lives and works in Ontario, Canada, where she is

fervently pursuing the writer’s life while writing about lots of
gorgeous guys. She is currently writing her next story and loves
hearing from readers. You can reach her at
authormarcyjacks@gmail.com.

For all titles by Marcy Jacks, please visit

www.bookstrand.com/marcy-jacks

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

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