Double Alchemy: Climax by Susan Mac Nicol Page A

face? Did she scratch you?”
    Quinn kissed Cade, his lover’s concern and love for him like a welcome-home present sitting on the hearth. “Valensia got a little irate at something I said but she calmed down and I got out in one piece, virgo intacta .” He grinned wickedly. “I didn’t have to hump anyone but I got the book!” He pulled it out of his jacket pocket with a triumphant flourish.
    Cade gawped at him. “She just gave it to you? What did you have to promise her to get it?” He frowned. “No, don’t tell me. I’ll probably get all upset and then we’ll argue and everything will just go to pot.”
    Quinn shrugged, knowing his silence would drive Cade crazy, and went into the house with his boyfriend hot on his heels. He took off his jacket, and as much as he wanted to go upstairs and study the book, he knew he still had a little bit of conversation with Cade to complete. Best get it over with.
    “I didn’t have to promise anything. It appears Valensia has mellowed somewhat with me since our last encounter. Prickly on the outside but surprisingly a little more relaxed beneath. So apart from a scratched face, now I have the book and I’m praying all the hopes we’re pinning on it to find the man we’re looking for won’t let us down.” He looked longingly across at the stairs down to the basement. “So I thought I’d go to the library and see what I can find out.”
    Cade shook his head in resignation. “You’ll be impossible to talk to until you get this out of your system. Fine, off you go. Dinner will be a while.” He glanced at him slyly. “I have a few things of my own I need to sort out anyway. I had another text from Cooper. That man is becoming quite a stalker.”
    Quinn frowned. “Cooper? Who’s Cooper?”
    Cade sighed. “I’ve told you about him. He’s this rather forward young man at work who keeps me asking me out. Unfortunately he has my mobile number and insists on texting me rather sweet anecdotes now and then.”
    Quinn shook his head darkly. “Does he know you have me at home? Is he becoming a bit too much?”
    Cade laughed. “Yes, he’s well aware of you. And I can manage Cooper, I promise. It’s rather flattering having a young man pursuing me so ardently.”
    Quinn was a little put out at Cade’s obvious enjoyment of having another suitor. “Exactly how old are we talking about? And I can’t have Valensia, but you can have Cooper?”
    Cade scowled at his laconic retort and Quinn smiled at him.
    “Cooper didn’t have me imprisoned in a bedroom so he could screw me every time he felt like it. You know it’s not the same. And Cooper is twenty-eight.” Cade smirked.
    “Wow, a whole seven years younger than you. He sees you as his sugar daddy then?”
    Cade stared at him in exasperation. “I doubt that. He’s just one helluva flirt.” Quinn gazed at Cade innocently, and Cade heaved an exasperated sigh. “This is going nowhere, is it? Off you go then, down to your poxy basement. I suppose I’ll see you at midnight.”
    Quinn grinned, needing no second urging. He was soon seated at his desk in the basement, the book in front of him, staring at it with a mixture of apprehension and expectation. “Right, let’s see what we have here.”
    He reached out and gently took a sharp, thin knife from his custom-made toolkit, very slowly slitting open the plastic sheath. “I can’t believe they’ve just wrapped it in bloody plastic!” he exclaimed to himself angrily. “A rare seventeenth-century book treated as if it’s the latest paperback off the shelf. It’s just as well I’ve got it now. It’ll be taken care of properly.”
    Quinn had no intention of ever giving the book back. It was part of his collection now and he’d fight to the death to keep it that way. He slid the plastic carefully off the book and as it came free from its wrapping, his nostrils flared and he felt his Withinner’s unease as well. The book reeked of death. It smelt of mildew, sweat,