Hunt Me (6 page)

“You need to feed. That’s what’s causing the
pain.”

Feed...
what? “Feed. What do you
mean—feed?”

“Sugar, you’re a vampire now. What do you
think I mean?”

He sucked in a breath and that was when he
smelled it. Something lush, rich…
ripe
.

Drew was barely even aware of the next few
seconds. There was a woman there, and then she was in his arms. It
was a blur—a hot, brutal blur. Some part of his mind remained sane,
almost horrified. He had to stop, he knew he had to, but he
couldn’t, he just couldn’t—it was so
fucking good
—

And then two hands gripped his head, prying
him away.

Snarling, snapping, he fought with whoever it
was tearing him away.

That hot, heavy fog. Only got worse. Then
somebody was whispering to him. “Calm down, sugar. You can do
this—you made it through the worst. You can make it through this,
just trust me. Breathe, just breathe. That’s it, sugar... that’s
it.”

Sugar...

“Dakota.”

A hand touched his face. “Yeah. It’s me. I’m
here. You with me?”

Misery gripped him. What had he done? “That
woman—what...how could I…
aw, fuck…
”

“Come on now. Open your eyes.”

He couldn’t. Not ever again. What had he been
thinking?

“Beth.”

“I’m here, D.C.” That voice—Drew didn’t know
that voice.

Opening his eyes, he found himself staring at
Dakota’s face for a long moment. Then, he shifted his gaze past her
and saw the other woman. She had blood all down the front of her
shirt. But she was alive. Alive—how?

“What is going on?” He sat up, looking
between Dakota and the other woman.

“Don’t you think you’ve got enough to process
right now?” Dakota’s eyes, dark and gentle, rested on his face.
“Beth, thank you.”

“Not a problem, Dakota.”

Drew called out after her, but he was
ignored. Ignored, and left alone with Dakota. “How is she still
okay?”

“We can talk about that later. Right now, we
have more important things to talk about. Like me beating you, for
example.” She jabbed a finger into his shoulder. “What were you
thinking? You have any idea what you did to me?”

Scowling at her, he rubbed his shoulder.
“Damn it, what are you trying to do—put a hole through me?” Then,
giving into the urge, he reached for her. As bad as he had felt
earlier, as sick as he suspected he should be, he shouldn’t have
been able to do it. Hell, he shouldn’t even be
alive.
But he
pulled her into his lap like she weighed nothing. He actually ended
up using too much force—and they ended up on the floor when he lost
his balance. That was just fine with him. Fisting a hand in her
dark hair, he closed his eyes. “Well, I guess I understand a little
bit more about all those secrets you. But, Dakota, security?
Couldn’t you do any better than that?”

“Shows how much you know.” She sniffed. “I do
work in security, just not the sort you would think. You still
haven’t answered me. What in the hell were you thinking? You didn’t
have to do that—you didn’t have to do this. Not for me. I don’t
think you realize exactly what you have done. This is permanent—it
can’t be undone.”

“What makes you think I would undo it?”
Opening his eyes, he stared at her, combing his hand through her
hair to toy with the ends.

“Duh.” Rolling her eyes, she shifted around.
As she did, Dakota grew aware of one thing—Drew was feeling better.
A
lot
better. Swallowing, trying not to think about it, she
stared at him. “Drew. Two things, one... you dumped me. Two... your
girlfriend is here, she’s a vampire—you’re a vampire—maybe you two
can ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after… if you
really love her. If you don’t, you’re stuck in one very long life
and you very well may hate it. It’s not a fun one, and it can be
pretty damn lonely. You shouldn’t have done this.”

“My girlfriend.” He rested his hands on her
thighs. He had a look in his eyes, a heated, slumberous one that
she knew all too well. “You know, you really ought to tell me how
you knew about her. She’s not exactly my girlfriend. We were kind
of dating, and we were going to get more serious. But…” He sighed
and shrugged. “Then the other night happened. And we need to talk
about that. About just what
did
happen.”

Stiffening, she stood and moved away. “I
didn’t hurt her. Somebody else did. They’ve already been dealt
with. I got there too late to save her—she was already bleeding
out. I did the best I could, and the best I could do was bring her
over. I realize it’s not good enough, but it was—”

“Hey, that’s not what I’m talking about. I
know you didn’t hurt her. Already figured that much out. It just
took me a while.”

She shivered as his voice sounded in her ear.
Close, very close. He was already so quiet…usually, it took a baby
vamp a while to settle into their skin. It wasn’t taken him much
time at all.

As his hands closed around her shoulders, she
set her jaw. “Then what else is there to talk about?”

“Don’t you think maybe we can worry about
Nicole and everybody else
later
?” He pressed his lips to her
shoulder. “Right now I want to talk about you. You’re right, I
don’t fully realize just what I did. But I do know one thing—I did
this because I knew it was the only way I could have what I really
wanted. I broke things off with you because I didn’t think I would
ever have that. And as I was, I guess I was right. This sounds
crazy, but while you were talking with that guy, I started seeing
things—images in my head—I saw me, like this, I knew this was how I
had to be if I wanted to be with you. And I wanted that more than
anything for the past two years. I just didn’t think I’d ever have
it—
that
was why I ended things.”

He tugged on her shoulders, forcing her to
turn around. “I leaped before I looked. There is no doubt about
that. Am I going to regret it? It’s possible. But the only way that
will happen is if I did it for the wrong reason—I did it for you,
because I think you feel the same way about me that I feel about
you. I love you. I’ve been in love with you almost from the time I
met you. I just didn’t think you were right for me, because of all
your secrets.” He grimaced and reached up, probing his mouth. “I
wasn’t prepared for this kind of secret, though. It wasn’t you the
needed to make some changes. It was me. And I’ve done that. So...
am I right or am I wrong? Did I do it for the wrong reas—”

The rest of the sentence never made it out of
his mouth. Dakota lunged for him.

He caught her in his arms.

“You idiot…” She muttered against his mouth.
“You stupid idiot. Yes, damn it. I love you.”

He groaned and trailed a hand down her back,
toying with the hem of her dress. “Good.” His other hand, he
wrapped around her waist, locking her body against his.

She rocked against him, pressing closer, but
it still wasn’t close enough. Questions, demands, everything else
faded from her mind. The two of them had plenty of time to talk, to
figure the rest of things out. Right now, a bigger need dominated
her mind.

“You know what, sugar? It’s been like…three
months since I’ve seen you naked.” She caught his lower lip between
her teeth and tugged. “That’s way too long.”

“Is it?” He caught the hem of her short black
dress and pulled—too hard.

Dakota heard fabric tear and she might have
been irritated, but the befuddled look at his face distracted her.
“You’ll have to get used to it…you’re stronger than you were.”
Shrugging out of the remains of the dress, she dealt with her bra
and panties, lifting a brow at him. “I like my pretty stuff in one
piece.”

He was still staring at the ruins of her
dress. With a look at his hands, he looked at her. “I didn’t…I
mean…”

“Shhh.” Catching his hands, she brought them
to her breasts. “That’s some of the stuff we need to talk about.
But later. Touch me. I won’t break or tear, I promise.”

“But…”

“Touch me.” She moved closer, crowding closer
and going to work on his jeans. “Just touch me…please. Damn it, I
thought I wouldn’t have this again, be with you again.”

She could feel the burn of his hunger, too, a
purely physical hunger now. But he was worried…
that
she
could scent, wrapping in the air around them. Staring at him from
under her lashes, she smiled. “Drew…you should know…I play
dirty.”

For a vampire, lust and the desire for blood
often went hand in hand. Her fangs had been threatening to emerge;
now she let them. As she rose on her toes to kiss him, she bit her
own lip just before she pressed her mouth to his.

He stiffened, went to jerk away. Chuckling,
she clutched him tight. “Baby…you can’t hurt me this way.”

“Dakota…”

“You won’t hurt me.”

He shuddered. Then, with force that would
have bruised her had she been human, he hauled her against him.
There was barely enough room between them for her to push his jeans
out of the way. She managed though. He sucked on her lip and the
sensation was so damn erotic, it drove her
insane
…

Tearing her mouth away, she gasped,
“Bed.”

“Fuck the bed,” he growled. He lifted her
up.

And then, without waiting another second, he
pushed inside.

Oh…hell…

Groaning out his name, Dakota gripped his
shoulders, sinking her nails into his shoulders. Her head fell back
and dimly, she found herself thinking, it was damn good thing she
didn’t
have
to breathe…because she couldn’t.

Strong hands gripped her hips, dragged her
up. “Look at me.”

Forcing her eyes open, she stared at him,
into those beautiful eyes that had haunted her dreams for the past
two years. Curling arm around his neck, she pressed her brow to
his. “I love you.”

“Yeah?” A slow, heated smile curved his lips.
“I love you, too…”

His hands curled into her ass as he turned
and took a few steps, until she had the wall at her back. “I’m not
going to break a wall, am I?”

Dakota laughed. “If you do, you won’t be the
first…” She gripped his hips with her knees. “Now stop talking.
Make love to me already.”

“Bossy…bossy…” His eyes glowed as he pulled
back.

Then he surged back against her, deep, hard.
She cried out, arched her back. He did it a second time, a third,
as he worked a hand between them and stroked his thumb over the
hard knot of her clit. Hot, liquid delight burst through her. Her
heart ached for him and the pleasure, even as it tore into her, it
remade her.

“Mine…” he muttered against her neck.
“Finally mine.”

“Always. I always was, sugar.” Arching her
neck to the side, she pressed him closer…she needed…

As he sank his teeth into her neck, they both
exploded.

Fuck…

“I bit you.”

His head was still reeling. Shuddering, he
lifted his head and stared at Dakota’s neck. Then he gaped at he
realized the holes were closing. “I…fuck. I bit you. And you’re
healing.”

“You bit me…and I loved it. Now take me to
bed,” she said, her low, raspy voice smug and pleased. “And maybe
this time, I’ll bite you. Later on, we can have that talk…”

“But…”

She pressed a finger to his lips. “Later. We
have plenty of time to talk, sugar. We need a night just for
us…”

Dazed, stunned, he looked back at her neck.
Then into her eyes. She was smiling. Didn’t look worried at all.
Shit. She was right.

“Yeah.” Dipping his head, he whispered
against her mouth, “You know what…yeah.”

* * * * *

Look for more Wickedness—releasing every six
weeks—all year long...

*January*

Karin Tabke

BAD TO THE BONE

*February*

Sylvia Day

ALL REVVED UP

*April*

Cathryn Fox

TORN BETWEEN TWO BROTHERS

*May*

Shiloh Walker

HUNT ME

*June*

Beth Williamson

LUCILLE’S LAWMAN

*August*

Nikki Duncan

THE BACK-UP FIANCE

*September*

Mackenzie McKade

DEADLY DESIRES

*November*

Shayla Black

WICKED TO LOVE

* * * * *

To learn more about the
Wicked Reads
and The Wicked Writers, visit:

www.TheWickedWriters.com

* * * * *

Biography

Shiloh Walker has been
writing since she was a kid. She fell in love with vampires with
the book Bunnicula and has worked her way up to the
more…ah…serious works of fiction. She loves reading and writing
anything paranormal, anything fantasy, and nearly every kind of
romance. Once upon a time she worked as a nurse, but now she writes
full time and lives with her family in the Midwest.  She
writes paranormal and contemporary romance, as well as romantic
suspense.

Check out her next
Hunters
book, due
out in June!

UNKNOWN PAST

Something strange is happening to Nessa.
Ever since she survived a near-death experience she’s not exactly
who she used to be—and enjoying every minute of it. Then she’s
called upon to go to battle against darkness. If only she could
remember why.

UNEXPECTED LOVER

Dominic is having his own problems with
memory, sanity, and hallucinations. Sent to Excelsior, the covert
Hunter training facility, he senses a female presence that seems so
hauntingly familiar. That’s because he and Nessa share a forgotten
past.

UNSEEN EVIL

As Nessa and Dominic regain their memories,
their strange mission against evil becomes clearer. And all the
more dangerous because whether they should trust each other is the
still the greatest unknown of all.