Mark Vincent has risen from senior special agent to Director of Interior Affairs in the WBIS. Lately, life has been sweet for him -- in addition to his promotion, he's found a partner in Quinton Mann, who can almost match his ability in the intelligence field, in spite of the fact Quinn's CIA. Mark has also found a condo in Alexandria with the help of Portia Mann, Quinn's mother, and it's closer to Quinn's town house than Mark's present apartment. Sweetest of all, Mark plans to take Quinn to his island in the Caribbean for the holidays.<br><br>Quinn's glad he has the holiday with Mark to look forward to -- something is going on at Langley, and he feels he's being kept out of the loop. To make matters even worse, useless missions and sleepless nights filled with nightmares are leaving him exhausted. But then his mother's life if threatened, and Quinn discovers the accident that resulted in her hospitalization was no accident. The obsessively self-absorbed Senator Wexler is involved, and while Quinn considers himself a civilized man, now he's out for blood.<br><br>Up until this point, Mark has stayed out of Quinn's CIA business. But hurting Quinn and those he loves isn't a smart move, and Mark has every intention of seeing Wexler pays. Quinn demands to come along, and while Mark isn't happy, he finally agrees, and they set out together to deal with the senator. There's just one catch: this will be the first time Quinn sees Mark at his deadly best, and Mark isn't sure how his lover will react.

Forever

“Thanks, Quinn. You’ve got magic fingers, you know that?” I opened an eye and watched as he wiped his palms on a tissue, then rolled down his sleeves and fastened the cuffs. “Fuck. I have to get up and lock the door behind you.”


“That’s the price one pays for paranoia.” He opened a drawer, took out a pair of shorts, and handed them to me.


“That’s the price one pays to stay alive.” I eased them on and stood up, relieved to find most of the soreness gone.


“Right. I knew that.” I grinned to show I was kidding him back, but his eyes told me I hadn’t convinced him. I followed him out of the bedroom.


“Give me a call when you know what your schedule is like.” He draped his riding jacket over his arm, waited for me to unfasten all the locks, and then reached for the doorknob.


Chapter 9