Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Collin and Angus checked the Town Car’s brakes before Collin sent Angus into town to pick up Quinn’s things and an order Collin had placed at a small boutique for additional clothes.
Silence hung between them as she tried to process what had happened.
She’d almost died, and the killer seemed unconcerned about extra casualties. No one was safe.
He’d escorted her to the room to shower and change, like the personal security of a celebrity, before disappearing to make some calls. After her shower, she walked out into the room to find her luggage and bags of new clothes sitting on the bed.
Quinn’s vow to solve the mystery weighed heavy on her chest. If she didn’t, someone could get hurt. Her lips pinched together as she rubbed her neck, replaying everything in her mind that had happened to try and figure out what, if anything, she’d missed.
She was standing in her bra and underwear, absently digging through her suitcase when the door flew open, pulling her from her thoughts.
Collin entered the room. His gaze met hers and dropped from her eyes to her shoulders to her breasts, slowly and seductively sliding down the remainder of her body.
The air around her seemed to dance with sparks from an invisible electric charge, and she felt a ripple of excitement. “Do you like what you see?”
“I…uh. I’m sorry to interrupt. I should have knocked.
” Collin crossed the threshold with a tray in his hands and shut the door behind him.
She should have kicked him out, or clutched clothes to cover her nearly naked body, but all her inhibitions had diminished with her two near-death experiences.
Who was she kidding? Inhibitions ranked right up there on her list with vegetables. She didn’t like either.
He watched her seductively, his aura pulsing with need, as he crossed the room to sit the tray on the dresser. He cleared his throat to speak. “Mavis heard about our mishap and wanted me to bring these up. Her way of apologizing for the accident.”
“She wasn’t responsible.” Quinn took a cookie off the plate and bit into it. “But I’ll never turn away her cookies.” She smiled and ate the cookie while pulling some clothes from her bag.
Collin moved behind her. He rested a warm palm on her arm, sending a shock of need and desire coiling through her body. In any other place, she might have thrown herself at him. The thought had crossed her mind.
He placed a tender kiss on her neck, making her sigh in pleasure. The prolonged anticipation to see what he’d do next was almost unbearable. Her pulse quickened in response to the feel of his lips. Had it been so long since she’d had her needs sated?
“Is that your way of apologizing for the accident?”
“Aye, you’re beautiful, Quinn.”
Quinn licked her dry lips. His words sent a tingle of need coursing through her body. She craved more, silently wondering how far he’d let things go.
“I almost died twice in your country,” she teased, hoping he’d take the hint.
His hands moved to her hips, and he pulled her flush against his body, wrapping her in a seductive warmth. His heated breath traveled up the column of her neck as he placed kisses against her skin.
She knew the Highlander had a brain, and from the feel of him, he had a lot more notable attributes she would like to explore before saying goodbye to his motherland.
Quinn dropped the clothes back into her bag. She didn’t need them…yet.
“I can kiss all your wounds.”
Her momma would have been appalled at the dirty thoughts coursing through her mind. Her sisters would want a play-by-play. Quinn reached between their bodies and ran her hand over his jean-covered crotch. “This would be easier if you had on your skirt.”
“Next time,” he whispered before spinning her in his arms and crushing his lips against hers. He tasted of chocolate chip cookies. She smiled against his lips.
“You stole a cookie,” she whispered. Her voice came out husky and wanting as his lips traveled down the other side of her neck while one hand moved to unhook her bra.
“I plan to steal a lot more than your cookies,” he said as the bra slid to the floor. His gaze landed on the cuts on her chest from the car incident, and it was as if someone flipped a switch. His touch gentled, and his brows dipped.
Gone was the brazen Highlander who looked ready to ravish her.
Her cheeks heated as she watched him slowly pull away.
The cuts on her chest vaporized her chances of joining the foreign affair touchdown club.
Surely they had something similar to the mile-high club but for tourists who were looking to score.
“I’m sorry.” He dropped his hold and took a step back, putting more space between them and breaking whatever hold he’d had over her. “I donae know what came over me.” He met her gaze. “When I’m near you, I cannae help myself.”
“Why would you want to?” She had two choices. One to let him walk out the door and let her libido die down to a simmer or the second…to finish stripping and get the extra points.
The decision was ripped away when he turned and stormed out the door, leaving her trying to calm her racing heart.
“Nice…my first play was a fumble.” Quinn was left hot and bothered.
She couldn’t deny she wanted him and wouldn’t turn him away.
Two more minutes and Collin would have gotten more than a simple thank-you for delivering her cookies.
It wasn’t as though he would have been a one-night stand.
More like several nights, had she gotten her way.
Sleeping with him would have been a more pleasant way to pass the time than trying to unravel a curse she didn’t believe in.
She needed to get to the bottom of things and quick.
It was time she had her chat with Gwinnie, and she knew just where to find her.
After dressing, she wound her way through the castle, ignoring the look of hatred from the blonde Barbie as she passed.
She’d started up the small staircase, taking two steps at a time, but by the time she reached the top, she was gasping for air and clutching her side.
Her desire to talk to the ghost slowly dwindled with each step.
The door to the tower stood open. Gwinnie herself stood in the middle of the room as Quinn entered.
The apparition pointed toward the painting leaning up against the wall.
A satin-dressed version of Quinn stared back at herself.
A shiver skirted down her spine as she gazed upon it, inspecting each paint stroke.
A ruby comb poked out of the unruly red hair.
The woman in the painting had Quinn’s mother’s eyes and her father’s cheekbones.
The lady in the picture could have been Quinn’s twin.
Quinn shook her head. This was impossible. She didn’t believe in curses. “Your gypsy was a medium. She must have actually seen me coming.”
“Aye,” the ghost answered. “She did, and you must leave.”
“Why?” Quinn asked, yanking the sheets off the other paintings that Collin had told her about to get an overall picture of what the medium had seen.
“They must never know how the emerald disappeared. Some mysteries are never meant to be solved.”
“I hate to break it to you, lady, but I plan to figure this out.” Quinn turned to find that Gwinnie vanished, replaced by the big, brooding, red-bearded Highlander.
“’Tis better if you leave the sins of the past where they lie to save your own life.”
Quinn tilted her head and crossed her arms over her chest. “Why is everyone trying so hard to get me to leave? Your warning is a little late, by the way. Someone has already tried to kill me twice, and I’m still kicking.
” Quinn turned back to the paintings and slowly moved down each one until she stood in front of the one depicting someone handing over the stone to an unseen person.
Both hands in the picture were those of men. “Help me solve this.”
The ghost shimmered to hover beside her, leaving the entire right side of her body ice cold. “You’d risk your life for the Menzie name?”
“I don’t know about that, but my momma didn’t raise me to run from my issues, and she did have the common sense to teach me right from wrong. There is something real and wrong going on here, which someone is willing to kill for, and I plan to find out exactly what it is.”
“You could die,” he grumbled as he studied her. Interest twinkled in his eyes, as if he was sizing her up for the challenge ahead.
“And Scotland could be overrun with pizza joints. Are you going to help me?”
His hardened gaze narrowed onto hers, so she mimicked his look. If he thought a simple disgruntled look would dissuade her, he’d never met her family.
“Find this book and you’ll find your answers, but donae say I dinnae warn you.” He swished over to the third painting of an old library. He gestured to one of the books in particular, making her step closer. The faded black, worn-out spine had symbols down the length instead of words.
“What does it mean?” she asked and turned to find Redbeard had vanished.
“What is it with you Scotts needing better manners?” Quinn yelled out just as Collin walked into the room.
“Who you yelling at, luv?” he asked, gazing around the empty room.
“Redbeard, your relative.”
“Ah.” He gave a slow nod. “You might have a point then. His mother ruled the castle with an iron fist. It’s said that the staff and nobles alike were afraid of her.”
“So, Redbeard’s mom was Gwinnie’s mother-in-law? Gwinnie and he were married?”
“Aye.”
“That explains a lot,” Quinn said, grabbing the sheets and recovering the pictures.
“Quinn.” Collin rested a gentle hand on her arm. “We should talk about what happened in your chamber.”