Quinn's Lady by Amanda Ashley Page A

word.”
    “No!” She looked up. “This is just all so new to me.”
    “New?”
    “I have never felt this way about anyone.”
    “Never? What about Serepta’s father?”
    “He taught me much of what I know. We shared a very brief relationship. It burned hot and quick and then it was over.”
    “But you kept in touch.”
    “How could we not?” she asked. “We had a child together.” She had been fond of Nardik. Untouched and curious. Flattered by his attention. But he had never touched her heart. Never made her feel the excitement, the anticipation, that Quinn stirred within her. Was it love? Or merely a stronger, deeper passion than what she had felt for Nardik? And how was she to know?
    “So,” Quinn said, leaning across the table. “What now?”
    “I guess that’s up to you. The village is my home, my life. It’s enough for me. Is it enough for you?”
    Quinn leaned back in his chair, arms folded over his chest. Was it enough for him? He had never had a home of his own. Never stayed in one place long enough to put down roots of any kind. Working for Jagg didn’t count. The year he had spent with Serepta was the longest he had lived in one place, but he hadn’t been there willingly.
    “Quinn?”
    “I don’t know, Red,” he admitted. “But I’m ready to try.”
    #
    Seleena thought about his words off and on the rest of the day, whether picking herbs to prepare a poultice for Nannie Bednar, or shopping for a roast for dinner. That night, sitting across from him at the table, she couldn’t help wondering what it would be like to have Quinn stay with her indefinitely. To go to bed at night, knowing he was in the next room? How long before she surrendered to the desire in his eyes? To the yearning of her own heart?
    How long would it take before he grew bored with her quiet life, before he grew restless and moved on? Did she want to enjoy his company for however long he stayed, knowing it would break her heart when he left?
    “There are no guarantees in life,” she told the cat as she got ready for bed that night. “Better to snatch what happiness I can instead of worrying about what might never happen, don’t you think?”
    Pleased with her decision, she crawled into bed and closed her eyes with Freyja’s disapproving hiss rumbling in her ears.

Chapter 12
     
    The sound of breaking glass, grunts of pain, and Freyja’s urgent meows woke Seleena. Sitting up, she glanced around the room. The cat was nowhere to be seen, but her frantic cries grew louder.
    Slipping out of bed, Seleena padded barefooted into the living room, only to come to an abrupt halt at the sight that met her eyes. Freyja, spitting and hissing, was trapped in a net. Bits of broken crockery littered the floor. Three Enforcers, all with long, bloody claw marks on his cheeks, were dragging three of their downed companions through the doorway. A half-dozen others, heavily armed, were in the act of restraining Quinn. His chest, neck, and hands were bound with thick silver restraints. She caught a quick glance of his bloodied face before they hustled him out the door.
    “Here, now!” she exclaimed, hurrying after them. “What’s going on?”
    One of the Enforcers turned to face her. “We received an anonymous report that a fugitive was staying here.”
    “You had no right to barge into my house without my permission,” Seleena declared, arms akimbo. “Or a warrant, or something.”
    The man reached into his pocket and withdrew a sheet of paper. “Got it right here,” he said, waving it in front of her face. “You’re lucky we don’t haul you in as an accomplice.”
    For a brief moment, Seleena considered using her magic, but before she could conjure a spell that would effectively incapacitate almost a dozen men without the danger of doing any permanent harm, they were already out the door and speeding away.
    She stared after them. There were times when having a conscience was a terrible inconvenience. Had she practiced