Well, Doll, by now I hope you've read and loved Empire of Savages. You may be wondering about the interaction between Vox and Quinn. As soon as these characters popped into my head, I knew there was more to them. Vox with his protective instincts and caring for his deaf sister. Quinn and her loyalty to her friend. These two are going to be explosive!
Here's a bonus scene from Quinn's POV...
Quinn
I’m safe inside the car.
I’m safe inside the car.
I’m safe inside the car.
No matter how many times I repeated the mantra, I didn’t feel any safer in the car. I knew that Dimitri’s brother had ties to the Savage Hunt Motorcycle Club, but I hadn’t realized his twin had been in prison, too. I wondered what for. I watched my best friend and the man who looked identical to Dimi talk—her with arms folded across her chest, her shoulders hunched. Him with his jaw tight and a distant look in his green eyes.
If I didn’t know that he was D’s brother, I would’ve been terrified at the sight of him. Tattoos crawled up his neck and covered both his muscular arms. Thick thighs. A perpetual dark slash of his brows. The energy he gave off was menacing, but I caught a glimmer of Dimitri in him. They were twins, after all. He couldn’t be all that bad.
Isla and Nick began walking down the long driveway that led away from the clubhouse, disappearing from sight, and leaving me alone with my thoughts. Isla had left the keys in the car, so I turned on the radio, fiddling with the dial until I found a station that wasn’t playing music from the seventies. Scrolling through my social media feed, I became engrossed with a story about a popular celebrity couple and their breakup. They’d only announced it a few hours ago and there were already memes circulating with reasons for their breakup—everything from her standing in front of him at concerts and blocking his view, to never getting him the cool cereals from the top shelf at the supermarket.
I glanced up, though, when I felt eyes on me. I turned my head to find a large man standing outside my window—menacing with the weight of his stare. With a scream, I jerked away from the glass, my chest heaving like I’d run a marathon despite only moving a couple of inches. I stared at the man, taking him in. Arctic gray eyes were fixed on my face, his focus leaving me feeling like I was being locked on by a sniper’s scope. Dark hair was buzzed close to his head, but it was the skull mask that covered his face from the top of his nose to his chin that unsettled me the most.
He was terrifying. My heart was still knocking against the cage of my ribs, and I swallowed roughly, unable to look away. And still he stared. Not backing down. And I knew that he was doing it on purpose. Flames of indignation were suddenly licking through my blood. This bastard was trying to intimidate me.
Fuck that.
Nobody has the right to make me feel inferior. Was I scared to come here with Isla? Absolutely. But she was my best friend and there was no way I was going to let her come alone. My hand was on the window control before I knew what I was doing, the tip of my finger depressing the button and lowering the glass that had been my only protection…
A warm breeze blew through the car, carrying with it the scent of sugar cookies. Was that… was that coming from him? And, Jesus, how was he even better looking? I mean, there was only glass between us before. What the hell?
I narrowed my eyes at him. “What the hell do you want?” I demanded, thankful that my anger was still bolstering my words. Nothing could’ve been worse than sounding like a simpering little girl when talking to a man like this—a man who looked like he would kill me before he helped me.
Instead of answering me, he turned his head to the left, making my gaze flicker to the side mirror. Isla was on her way back with Nick. When I shifted my attention back to the man, he was back to staring at me.
Sick of being watched so carefully, I asked hotly, “Just tell me what you want, Skeletor, and put us both out of our misery.”
He cocked his head to the side, and I braced for the gun to be put to the side of my head. What the fuck was I thinking antagonizing this man? My mouth always seemed to get me in trouble. Just as I was about to tell him to fuck off, he took off, walking over to a motorcycle that was parked under a small awning. I’m ashamed to admit that I watched him. Watched the way his thick thigh swung over the body. Watched the way he tightened the black gloves, tugging them down more firmly on his fingers. Watched when he glanced in my direction one last time before starting the bike with a deep, throaty rumble and left the compound.
Yep, I was so fucked.