With a tearing sound, he ripped away the mermaid’s beautiful skin.
At the same instant, a loud bang echoed through the room.
Maddox jumped, then fury surged through him.
“Which bastard dares to ruin my fun… Ah!”
A hand grabbed the back of his neck, and he was yanked up like a fish on a line. Before he could struggle, he was thrown through the air. With another thud, he slammed into the wall and crumpled to the floor.
His body ached, and his head spun. He was about to curse when a tall figure loomed over him. When he saw who it was, the profanities died in his throat.
Julian’s face was a mask of ice, so cold it looked like it might crack. He snatched a thin blanket from a nearby chair and covered Quinn.
Zeke, who had followed him in, was in a state of shock, his eyes wide.
He had followed Julian to the security room. When Julian saw Chase lead Quinn into Maddox’s room and then emerge alone, he had taken off like a shot. It was Julian who had kicked the door open.
Zeke stared, completely stunned, because in all his life he had never seen Julian look so urgent and furious, let alone so panicked, an emotion he couldn’t even comprehend on a man who was the very definition of unshakable.
Watching Julian hurl Maddox against the wall before gently covering Quinn with a blanket, Zeke was completely unprepared for the final glance Julian sent her way, a look so saturated with a raw, unguarded emotion he never imagined possible that, in that one silent moment, he finally understood everything.
“Stop the ship. Dock,” Julian demanded as his voice was like it had been carved from a glacier. “You take him. Lock him up. And Chase Sterling.”
“Right,” Zeke said, grabbing Maddox. As he was about to drag him out, Julian spoke again, “Wait!”
Zeke looked back. Julian was leaning over the bed, holding down the struggling Quinn.
“Get Gunnar Harrison here. As fast as you can.”
Gunnar Harrison was his personal physician.
Zeke was confused, asking, “Do we need a doctor? For her condition, you could just help her out. Or at least a cold shower…”
He trailed off when he saw the look on Julian’s face.
“Okay, I’ll call him.”
He dragged Maddox out like a sack of garbage and thoughtfully closed the door behind him. He was still reeling. He looked down at the unconscious Maddox and shook his head.
Zeke could only shake his head. He had always known Julian had a fire banked deep inside him, but seeing it finally unleashed for a woman was a terrifying sight to behold.
Maddox was finished.
Inside the room, Quinn had finally kicked off the blanket. Her face was flushed with an unnatural, feverish heat, a rosy blush that spread across every inch of her exposed skin, creating a breathtakingly sensual image that would make any man’s blood run hot. As Julian’s own throat tightened and his Adam’s apple bobbed convulsively, he leaned down, fighting his own instincts as he tried to cover her again with the blanket.
But just as he moved, Quinn, lost in the fog of her drugged consciousness, caught a familiar scent, cool, distant, and intoxicating, like the clean air of pine trees on a snow-capped mountain, and unlike before, her body responded not with fear, but with a deep, instinctual longing.
Before Julian could react, a slender arm shot out, her long, delicate fingers winding around his wrist like a tenacious vine, a touch so intimate and unexpected that he felt a jolt of panic. It was the first time a woman had ever been this close to him, let alone touched him. Her fingers were long and delicate, and even through the sleeve of his shirt, he could feel the scorching heat of her palm.
Julian’s throat worked. He reached down and took her delicate wrist in his hand, intending to gently but firmly pry her off.
He didn’t want to use too much force, which only gave her the opportunity to get closer.
Quinn’s body was on fire, but the surface within her reach was cool and comforting. Her mind was a complete fog, her actions driven by pure, primal instinct. To her, the coolness beside her was a life-saving antidote.
She pressed her whole body against him, letting out a soft, contented sigh.
But it wasn’t enough.
The fire inside was raging, leaving her parched and desperate. A deeper, more urgent fire had been kindled, awakening a craving she had never known. She didn’t understand it and didn’t know what to do. Her every movement was pure, raw impulse.
It took every ounce of Julian’s self-control to pull her off him. His hair was a mess, his shirt wrinkled. He felt like he was on fire.
He was panting as he covered her with the blanket and then pressed his own body down on top of hers. The weight and strength of his body finally managed to hold her still.
Quinn couldn’t move, but she was in agony. She twisted beneath him, soft, breathy moans escaping her lips.
Julian was going insane. His body was about to explode, and he couldn’t do a damn thing. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the sounds she was making were a direct assault on his last shred of control.
Why wasn’t the yacht docking? Where was Gunnar?
For the first time in his life, Julian knew what it was to be in hell.
Looking at Quinn’s flushed face, the sweat-dampened hair at her temples, and remembering Zeke’s words, he hardened his heart, scooped her up, and carried her into the bathroom.
Cold water was what she needed to cool her down.
But he hesitated. What if the water was too cold? What if she got sick?
As he was thinking, a pair of arms wrapped around his waist from behind.
Quinn had escaped the blanket in the tub and was drawn to his scent, pressing herself against his back.
Her dress had been torn by Maddox. The top half was gone, leaving only a black bandeau. As she stood to hug him, the rest of the dress pooled around her ankles. She was wearing little more than a bikini.
Julian gritted his teeth, took a deep breath, and turned on the shower.
When he turned around, he nearly got a nosebleed.
Her body, as white as snow, was on full display. The man who prided himself on his iron self-control was on the verge of losing it.
Cold water rained down. Before it could envelop her, Quinn had pressed herself against him again. This time, they were face-to-face. She clung to him tightly, her legs trying to wrap around his waist.
The strength difference between them was immense, especially since Julian was a trained fighter. Subduing her would have been easy.
Julian didn’t hesitate any longer. He grabbed the showerhead, about to douse her.
But in the next second, he froze.
Quinn had wrapped her arms around his neck, pressed her body against his, and she was kissing him.
Her eyes were closed, her thick lashes wet with tears. Her kisses were messy, desperate, and helpless.
The bathroom filled with her intoxicating scent. Julian felt like he was drowning in it.
She kissed and even nibbled at his face from his nose to his lips. She whimpered and moaned, a small, helpless animal begging for something she couldn’t name.
The next second, a torrent of cold water cascaded down on them both.
At that moment, Quinn wasn’t the only one who needed it.
Julian wanted to jump into a frozen lake to cool himself down. Otherwise, he didn’t know what he might do.
The cold water worked. Her burning skin began to tremble, and she instinctively clung tighter to the man in front of her. She didn’t know what was happening. She was hot and cold at the same time. She was so uncomfortable.
The man wasn’t responding, which made her even more desperate and more lost.
She started to cry softly, pressing herself even harder against him.
“It hurts…”
Her voice was like a spell, winding its way into his ears.
Julian took a deep, shuddering breath. The cold water couldn’t extinguish the fire raging inside him. She was in pain, but so was he.
Her soft sobs tore at his heart.
He tilted his head back, his jaw tight, his face a mask of restrained agony.
Then he swooped down, his mouth finding hers in a desperate, searching kiss.
It was like lightning striking dry tinder.
Julian was clumsy, and Quinn was innocent, but none of that mattered against the overwhelming force of biological need.
It was pure human instinct.
Quinn felt like she had been wandering in a desert for an eternity and had finally found an oasis.
The man was mesmerized, kissing her until she could barely breathe. She cried out, not knowing how to express what her body was craving.
Julian jolted back to his senses, his large hands on her slender waist. The cold water running over them quickly turned warm.
His Adam’s apple bobbed again. His eyes were bloodshot, and his breathing was ragged.
The tub was overflowing.
He couldn’t think anymore. He grabbed her arms and forced her to sit down in the tub.
Quinn gasped, a moment of clarity breaking through the haze. The handsome face of the man was inches from hers.
It wasn’t Chase.
Her body was still burning. She unconsciously tore at the fabric on her chest. The thin bandeau finally gave way, floating to the surface of the water.
Julian whipped his head to the side.
But Quinn called out his name, “Julian…”
All reason and all restraint vanished in an instant.
His hands were cold. Quinn, following her instincts, grabbed one and pressed it to her body.
The sensation under his palm made Julian bite down so hard that he thought his teeth would shatter. His shirt was soaked, clinging to the broad muscles of his chest.
The touch of his palm made Quinn let out a soft, contented sigh. She opened her eyes, her beautiful gaze as soft and inviting as a spring river.
Julian wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her hard against his chest. Her soft body slammed into him.
“Just hold on,” he rasped, his voice deeper and darker than ever.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.