Hunger Embraced (The Hunger Series) (23 page)

We looked at each other until he turned away, hiding his eyes. I leaned into his hand for a moment then righted my posture. Time to change the subject. “I’ve decided to complete my ceremony. It’s taking me some time to adjust to the idea of not being human. I know I’ve never really been fully human, but I was raised as one and have always thought of myself that way. I know it’s frustrating for you. This is all so overwhelming.”

He pressed another kiss to my knuckles and held my hand.

I released a shaky breath. “I didn’t think were-whatevers were real. How many other things are there? Like the Loch Ness monster, Big Foot, that sort of thing. Why didn’t you notice the other day?”

“You’re a vampire and you didn’t believe in were-creatures?” He gave me a sideways glance and another of those smiles that said everything and nothing all at the same time. “I don’t know about Nessie or Big Foot, but most of the creatures considered myths now are real. Many of them are extinct or have evolved so much from their original form they’re not really recognizable in traditional definitions. And I didn’t notice the other day because I was distracted.” His voice hit a lower octave, and I squirmed. Ear sex. That voice was ear sex.

“Really?” I couldn’t keep the excitement from my voice. Cool. “So fairies, like Tinkerbell, those are real? And how about leprechauns? Goblins? The Chupacabra!”

“I’ve never met a fairy that was in any way comparable to Tinkerbell except for the time she tries to kill Wendy. Bloodthirsty, nasty creatures. They’re part of the family tree of the Fae, and you’d do better to read up on the old Celtic legends about the Tuatha De before you encounter one. As for Chupacabra, well, I think you met the base for those legends earlier today.”

I shuddered at the thought of Stephan and his court out skulking around above ground attacking innocent little goats and cows.

“I thought you said that type of court latches on to a stronger one and parasites it.”

“They do, but if there is not a ready food source available and they get desperate enough, they’ll go after livestock. In rural areas without a large human population it could become necessary. They emerge from the ground long enough to grab an animal and take it below. It hasn’t happened in a long time. They’ve gotten powerful enough that the Council doesn’t scatter them as they used to. The Guardians are too few, and our race has declined enough that losing even monsters as abhorrent as those is a cause of concern.”

“But vampires are an apex predator.” He nodded in affirmation. “Well, then shouldn’t we be on the rise? The human population is exploding, even with the AIDS epidemic and all the wars everyone seems engaged in.”

“According to the lore, that’s where you, well, people like you come in.”

I sighed. “What if I don’t want to help? What if I think we’ve had our run? After what I just saw, I don’t think we need more of those things running around.”

“We’re not all the same. Miri, how many humans commit atrocities against one another? Very few vampires kill their food. Many of them live quite happily together, like your father did with his court. We’ve had to adapt to survive. Even the Flesh Eaters can live well enough on the raw meat of animals if they supplement their diet with blood.”

“I still don’t want to be forced to be in some kind of codependent mess with Adrian, and I don’t want to be the slave of this Council or Stephan. I’m not a broodmare or oracle or whatever to be farmed out.”

Daniel drove the car into the parking lot of his building and then around the back to a row of one-story garage buildings. He stared at the steering wheel. He raked a dirty hand through his hair and sighed. “I understand that. But meet some more of our kind before you make such sweeping judgments. OK?”

I shrugged non-committally. Turnabout was fair play.

He reached over and tweaked my hair. “Nothing is going to be easy with you is it?”

I couldn’t stop the grin that spread my lips and hurt my cheeks. “You’re just figuring this out?”

Chapter Fifteen

He opened the garage and parked the car next to a black Audi. I had been expecting a Mercedes for some reason. We climbed from the car and retrieved my bags. He left the bucket o’ nasty and the other assorted bits and pieces in the trunk. I didn’t know what his plan was, but I didn’t really want to ask.

“T.T.B., do you have days like this often?”

“Only since I met you. There was that time in Vancouver—no, this is definitely worse.” He hefted the duffel with the majority of my clothes in it over his shoulder and winked at me over the roof of the car. I giggled despite the crusty crap dried all over me, and he chuckled in response.

The setting sun sank into the far horizon of Lake Erie. I cleared my throat and started for the door of the building. The empty lobby echoed as we strode across and entered the elevator.

Daniel took my things into the guest room I’d woken up in the last time I’d visited. My chest panged in disappointment, but I shrugged it off. We had to live together for awhile, and if we shared a bedroom, there was sure to be an accident. Like, he’d fall on me, through no fault of his own, and we’d both be naked. It looked like he felt the need to re-establish some boundaries.

He emerged and, frowning, said, “I need your clothes.”

I cocked an eyebrow and bent over to pull my boots off in the foyer. Traipsing through someone’s house in dirty footwear was rude. And these were definitely filthy. “Why?”

“Anything that has gotten blood on it must be burned. I have to erase any trace of our existence away.”

“Oh. Man, I really dig these boots. That sucks. And my jacket was left behind.” I untied the knot in his shirt and started to unbutton it. He made a pained sound. I looked up. He had turned his back to me, the muscles standing out against his undershirt in beautiful, rippling focus. From the top of his broad shoulders to his narrow waist and wonderfully defined ass, Daniel looked like a man in terrible pain. I wanted to ease that pain, if only he would let me.

“Sorry. I forgot.” I wandered down the hall to his room, making sure to drop the shirt next to his foot as I passed by. The ridiculously deep tub called my name, and I felt entitled to soak until all the nasty was off my skin. “I’m going to get in your tub, OK?”

He didn’t answer, so I took that as a go-ahead and started removing the rest of my clothes to leave in a heap next to the giant marble platform and tub. Wall-sized mirrors flanked the basin on three sides. All I needed were some candles and I could pretend I was on an island paradise in the South Pacific.

This provided an opportunity to continue to chink away at his resolve. I wanted him, and I wasn’t going to fight fair to get what I wanted. He may be bound by some kind of restriction, but I sure as hell wasn’t. Before some psycho got their hands on me, I’d try like a woman on fire to do what I wanted. And right now, I wanted Daniel.

I set the stopper in the tub and turned on the water. I rooted around until I found bath salts. There was a nice stack of fluffy towels and washcloths, but I decided to pretend I hadn’t found them.

The mirrors in the room revealed the true extent of the mess stuck all over me. Black and green chunky goop stuck to my back, hands, and even my legs. Blood crusted to my neck and chest and spattered my face and forearms. The thought of a soak in the tub lost its appeal. I needed to get cleaned up first or I’d be lounging in dead vampire guts stew.

The shower stall caught my eye. It was more of a room within a room than a stall, comprised of two clear glass walls, stone tile work up the remaining walls and floor that matched the tub surround, and multiple shower heads at different heights. Shelves carved from the stone tiles jutted out, bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and body wash perched on them in precise rows.

Hell yes, I needed to use that.

I cranked the water up in there as well and scrubbed the worst of the blood and mud from my body while the tub filled. The water ran brown, then red, then pink. I probed the wound to my shoulder with my fingers and hissed at the sharp pains that shocked through me. I used a shaving mirror attached to the right hand wall to look at it. The holes had healed over, and the skin was shiny and pink. My mobility wasn’t hindered in any way, but it still hurt.

When I left the stall, the water in the tub had reached a depth that would cover me to my collarbone. After dropping the body wash on the floor next to the platform, I stepped in and sank down to my neck. Absolute heaven.

I closed my eyes and listened to the water running down the hall in the guest shower. All that hiking and adrenaline this morning had done a number on me. I wasn’t out of shape, but running through tunnels, being attacked by starved Incubi, and carting severed heads around would reduce anyone to mush. Then climbing up a hill while holding the head, a nice long walk to steal a car…. If Daniel hadn’t fed me, I’d be flat on my back passed out.

The water turned off, and I heard the muted thump of a door closing as he emerged into the hallway.

“Chicken.” I said the word under my breath, knowing he would hear. He didn’t reply, just sauntered into his adjoining bedroom and started rummaging around.

“Hey T.T.B., would you mind getting me some clothes and towels?” I rested my forearms on the ledge around the tub, hoping to catch a glimpse of him naked.

He appeared in the doorway wearing a pair of well-worn jeans that clung to his thighs and groin like a second skin. “What would you like to wear?”

I wanted to peel his pants down and see if he had on another pair of those silk boxers. Part of me hoped yes, and part of me hoped no. The possibilities for either were delicious. Daniel hadn’t bothered to put on a shirt yet, and I wondered if it was on purpose. Perhaps he wanted to turn my game on its head.

“Doesn’t matter. I want to eat something and then take a nap. I’m pretty tired.” I took my time and studied his abdomen and chest, lips, nose, until finally making eye contact. I let him see the appreciation I had for his body on my face.

He nodded and left the room, returning with a pile of clothing that he set down on the vanity. Then he rummaged in the towel cabinet and placed two on the ledge of the tub all while managing not to look at me while I lounged there. Dammit, I had even leaned back to give him a good view. He held up a washcloth and looked like he might toss it to me. That would never do, so I stood up abruptly and turned around.

I peeped at him over my shoulder and combed my hair around to the front. His eyes widened in surprise and darkened just as quickly. He stood there frozen, his stare glued to my reflection in the mirror directly opposite me.

“Would you mind washing my back? I think there’s vampire goo on it.”

His nostrils flared, and he closed the distance. My nipples hardened. His gaze shifted to my ass, so I put all my weight on my right leg to cock my hip out. That merited another deep breath and a slow blink.

“Kneel down. Please.”

I lowered myself to my knees in the water. It came up over my breasts, and I tried to formulate an argument for why this would never work if he was going to wash my back. He knelt next to the tub before I came up with something and began to lather the washcloth. Gripping my left shoulder with one hand, he moved his right over my upper back and shoulder blades with a thoroughness that left me aching. He scrubbed across my lower back, being careful to never dip too low. I fought the temptation to stand up again so he’d have to touch my ass, but the man was a masterful masseuse. Relaxation spread through every muscle he caressed and stroked.

“What do I have to do to get you to rub my whole body like that?”

He stilled and leaned in close to my ear. The tickle of his breath against my neck and earlobe gave me chills when he finally spoke. “Perhaps if you would behave I could be persuaded.”

“Perhaps I would behave if you would stop being so damned stubborn.”

I reached up and around to grab the back of his head with my right hand and pressed my fingers into the soft hair at the nape of his neck. I liked the texture of it when I ran my hand upward, against the grain. He drew lazy circles on my shoulder with his thumb. I turned my head and caught his lips in the barest whisper of a kiss, a light, teasing brush I followed by running the tip of my tongue along the lower.

Both of his hands were on my shoulders, running down to my biceps and back up. It was all the encouragement I needed to kiss him harder. I took his lip between my teeth and bit it before licking the hurt away. One or both of us groaned the moment before his bare chest collided with my back. The bunch of curls in the center of his chest grazed my skin. He leaned into the kiss, biting down and grazing my mouth with the barest hint of fang. He was careful not to cut me, teasing with the sharp tips, and sucking my tongue.

He held me in place when I tried to turn around. Frustration built, and I chafed my thighs together. I was so exhilarated by the intimate, slow sharing that I’d take it any way I could get it.

He retreated and held me at arm’s length. “I must go.” But he sat there, still rubbing my shoulders and upper arms, staring at my mouth as though it held the answers of the universe.

“Mmmm.” I tugged at his left hand until he gave in and took the index finger between my lips. I licked the digit from base to tip and then sucked it hard before releasing it with a light pop. He shook his head as though dazed and staggered to his feet.

“This is dangerous. This is crazy. I must leave before—” An erection strained the front of his pants.

“Before what, T.T.B.? Before you give in to what you want?” I stood up, and he spun back around. I liked the way his eyes raked me from top to bottom and hinged on my breasts before he could meet my eyes again. “Before we have sex again? Before you face your feelings?”

“I cannot, Miranda. No matter how much I want you. I would give up and destroy anything, everything for you. I would forsake every vow, tear apart the bricks of the temples of every god known to existence. It is not, you are not, meant for one such as me.” His voice broke on the words, and his shoulders rose and fell. In a flash of blurred motion he moved to the far side of the room.