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

I opened the first box and found a roll of toilet paper, a little camp stove, all manner of canned goods with colorful Costa Rican labels on them, and, of course, a can opener.


The mattress was in the second box, as well as the pump, sheets, towels, and a couple of pillows. The pump was a foot-activated one, a smart move on Mark’s part, since it would take a lot of breath to blow up the mattress if the generator didn’t work.


By the time it was on the bed and covered with sheets, I was perspiring profusely. I tugged out my shirttails, unbuttoned my shirt, and removed it, but my undershirt was clinging uncomfortably, so I shed it as well. Feeling a little cooler, I returned to the living room.


Mark must still have been busy trying to get the generator going. Was it giving him a hard time?


I wasn’t uneasy, however. I had every confidence in my lover. And if worse came to worse, I could think of any number of ways to pass the hours of the night.


Chapter 102