Longed-For Hunger (7 page)

Nyx arched her back and tried to bury her fingers in his hair. Keeping her held against him, and without breaking the suction of his mouth, Denger yanked out the piece of leather that held his hair gathered at the back of his neck. When it fell around his shoulders, she sank her fingers into it and roughly held him to her. After paying the same attention to her other nipple, he lifted Nyx and placed her on the center of the bed. He followed her down, coming to lie on the mattress next to her, propped up on one arm. “I want to see all of you, Nyx,” he said, his voice deepened by his arousal.

Her hands went to the top of her jeans and slowly undid them. “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours,” she said with a playful smile.

He gave her a closed-mouth grin, his fangs on the verge of dropping down. “I’ll show you mine, but first I get to have my way with you.”

Making short work of pulling Nyx’s jeans and panties off, he stared down at her curvy body. His cock jerked inside his jeans, straining against his zipper. He wanted to hold on to her flared hips, holding her in place as he moved inside her. But he made no 51

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move to do that. Instead, he settled between her legs and moved lower down her body. He kissed the underside of her breasts before he licked and kissed a path across her ribs and down to her flat stomach.

Inching even lower, he placed featherlight kisses from one hipbone to the other. Nyx moaned and shifted beneath him, lifting her hips. Denger used his shoulders to spread her legs wider apart. The smell of her arousal had his fangs dropping. He could hear the sound of her rapidly beating heart, her blood surging through her veins. Though his fangs ached to sink into her skin, he ignored his clamoring blood hunger and concentrated on what he was doing—pleasuring the woman who was to be his mate.

Careful not to look up at Nyx, he said, “I want to feel you come against my mouth before I take you with my cock.”

“God, yes,” Nyx moaned.

Needing no further encouragement, he licked her pussy from bottom to top. The taste of her juices on his tongue made a bead of pre-cum leak from the tip of his cock. Denger fought the urge to rip off his jeans and sink deep inside her. Before he did that he wanted her to come, to hear her cries of pleasure filling his ears. With his mouth on Nyx’s pussy, he alternated between lapping at the opening of her body and swirling his tongue around her clit. Her whimpered moans grew louder as she lifted her hips to grind against his mouth. He doubted it would take much for him to send her into an orgasm. Aching to be inside her, he pushed a finger and then a second inside her core while he stimulated her clit with his tongue. He pumped them in and out, then sucked her clit into his mouth. Nyx cried out as her pussy rhythmically clamped around his fingers while she climaxed.

Keeping his lips pressed tightly together, he shucked off his jeans and settled his hips in the cradle of her thighs. Nyx reached between them, fisting his cock in her hand. He closed his eyes and groaned as he fought not to come when she pumped it up and down his full length.

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Unable to take any more, he pulled her hand off his shaft and brought the tip to her moist entrance. Surging forward, he sheathed his cock to the hilt. The feel of her pussy closing around his length had him fighting not to lose it. Being deep inside Nyx felt even better than he’d thought it would. Even though he was on the large size, her pussy took every inch of his cock, squeezing him tight.

Arching his back, he pulled almost out and then surged back inside. He set a steady rhythm in and out. Nyx held on to his biceps and wrapped her legs around his waist, taking him even deeper. His climax built and built until he thought he would explode. Sex with Nyx wasn’t like any of his other sexual encounters. This was no quick joining just to scratch an itch, or when he needed to feed.

Pumping his hips faster, Nyx’s inner walls fluttered with another orgasm. As her pussy clutched at his cock, clamping down in a tight fist, Denger let out a bellow of pleasure as his climax took him over. He continued to ride her, filling her with his cum. He collapsed on top of her, mindful to rest most of his weight on his arms so he wouldn’t crush her. When Nyx’s arms came up and started to stroke his back, his blood hunger surged to the fore. The need to bite her, to have her blood filling his mouth had him fighting a battle inside himself. It was one he came damn close to losing. Instead of burying his fangs in her neck, he shoved his face into one of the pillows and sank them into it instead. He didn’t release it until he once again had his blood hunger well under wraps.

Rolling to his side, Denger shifted Nyx in his arms so she lay with her head pillowed on his chest. It was a special kind of torture to have her lying naked against him, his blood hunger clawing at his guts, wanting to feed from her to be absolutely certain she was indeed his mate. But it was a torture he wouldn’t give up for anything. Now that he’d slept with her, he couldn’t put off telling Nyx what he truly was for too much longer. Already, his blood hunger had increased to the point where it was more than just a minor nuisance. And eventually, the chances of him slipping up and 53

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giving her a good flash of his fangs were good. Having to hide what he was from the rest of mortal kind, Denger hated that he still had to keep it hidden from Nyx. He looked at her when he felt her body go lax against his. He smiled. Her eyes were closed and her chest rose and fell with each even breath she took in sleep. He’d give her a week to become closer to him, then he’d tell her about him being one of Ra’s Chosen warriors.

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Chapter Seven

Nyx slowly came awake when the hard, warm body she snuggled against shifted out from under her. She blinked open her eyes in time to get an excellent view of Denger’s muscular chest before he bent over and picked up his jeans from the floor. Still facing her, he stepped into them and did them up. She sighed with regret. At the sound, Denger smiled when their gazes met. “You’re awake.”

She lifted her head and rested it on her hand. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to fall asleep on you.”

He bent and gave her a quick kiss on the lips before he picked up his t-shirt. “You don’t have to apologize. I didn’t mind.”

She followed his movements with her eyes as he pulled his shirt on and tucked his long hair behind his ears. His gaze then went to the floor as if he were searching for something. “You’re leaving already? You don’t have to, you know?”

Obviously spotting what he was looking for, Denger bent to pick it up. Nyx saw it was the piece of leather he’d used to tie back his hair. He pulled his hair into a ponytail and retied it, which caused her gaze to follow the flexing of his large biceps. Denger nodded. “Yeah, I have to go. I wish I could stay longer, but I can’t.”

“When will I see you again?”

“Do you work tomorrow?”

“No. Since tomorrow is Sunday and Janet doesn’t open the bookstore, I’m off again.”

“All right. Then how about I take you out for lunch tomorrow?”

Nyx pushed herself up to a sitting position and took hold of a couple of belt loops on Denger’s jeans. She used them to tug him closer to the side of the bed. “How about 55

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instead you come and take me out for supper, then we can spend the rest of the night together?”

He brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes. “I wish I could, but my nights are usually not my own.”

Nyx let go of his belt loops and trailed her hands around his sides and down to his muscled ass. “I thought you said you didn’t work.”

Denger bit back a groan when she kneaded his ass with her fingers. “Ah…I don’t, but I have a commitment I have to keep. Something I do every night.”

She inched closer to the edge of the bed and rubbed her cheek against Denger’s abs.

“Are you sure I can’t convince you not to do whatever it is you have to do tomorrow night. It’s only for one night.”

“I’m positive. By the gods, Nyx, if you don’t stop touching me like that I won’t be able to leave.”

Nyx lifted her head to look at him. “I said you didn’t have to leave. I’m sure we can find lots of things to do to pass the time.”

Denger gently pried her hands off him and took a step back. His chest rapidly rose and fell and there was an impressive bulge in his jeans. He shook his head while his heated gaze ran over her naked body. “With you sitting there like that, I’m tempted to say the hell with it and stay, but I really can’t.”

“I can’t even tempt you stay just for an hour longer?” She locked her gaze with his.

“I don’t think once was enough.”

His hands fisted at his sides and a muscle jumped along his jaw. “I can’t. If I touch you again, I would want you for longer than an hour. I’d make love to you until neither one of us could move. So that being the case, I’m going to leave while I still can.” He pulled a cell phone out of the front pocket of his jeans. “Give me your phone number. I’ll call you tomorrow before I pick you up for lunch.”

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Nyx sighed as she admitted defeat. She rattled off her phone number and Denger programmed it into his cell. “I guess I’ll have to wait until tomorrow then.”

“I’ll make it up to you. I promise.” He swooped down, kissed her until she was breathless before he pulled away again. “Don’t get up. I’ll let myself out.”

From the high vantage point of her balcony-styled bedroom, Nyx watched Denger walk out the door. A wide smile spread across her face as she let herself drop back down onto the bed. Making love with Denger had been as intense as she’d thought it would be. He’d given her two mind-blowing orgasms. The man knew how to use his hands, lips and tongue. She hated to admit it, but sex with her late husband hadn’t been nearly as satisfying. Derek had been more of a sweet, gentle lover. Not like Denger, who took as good as he gave.

Stretching her arms up toward the headboard, Nyx then lowered them so the back of her hands rested on either side of her head on the pillow. She rubbed them back and forth against the material. Her baby finger ended up getting snagged on a small hole. She sat up and pulled the pillow onto her lap. Her small apartment-sized washer and dryer were getting up there in age. She hoped the washer hadn’t decided to eat pieces of her laundry the last time she used it.

Upon closer inspection, Nyx noticed there wasn’t one hole but two equally spaced apart.
Strange.
They were perfect small circles. Even stranger, when she pulled the pillowcase off, she saw the exact same holes. Whatever had made the holes in the pillowcase had gone right through.

Nyx used her thumb and index finger to measure the space between the holes. They were two clean puncture marks. To her fanciful thinking, they looked as if a vampire had taken a bite out of her pillow. She smiled and shook her head at her overactive imagination. First she pictures Denger as the vampire hero in the book she was reading and now this. As if a vampire snuck in her room while she and Denger were in bed and tested his fangs on her pillow. Yeah, sure. And she doubted Denger went all dental on it either. Aside from the time when they had first bumped into each other and she 57

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thought she saw fangs peeking between his lips, she hadn’t seen any indication of him having any. And from the amount of kissing they’d done, she would have noticed. Not that she really expected Denger to have fangs. Vampires were only real in books and in movies.

She put the pillowcase back on before she returned the pillow to the bed. Looking over at her bedside clock, Nyx saw it was late afternoon. She gathered up her discarded clothes and carried them down the stairs to the bathroom. Since Janet had known about her lunch date with Denger, she’d wrestled a promise out of Nyx to call her as soon as the date was over. Deciding she needed to talk to her friend about what had happened with Denger, Nyx dressed and then settled on the couch to have a long conversation with her friend.

* * * * *

The demon Sek watched his undead warriors train deep inside his lair. Mot, the other demon Apep, the demon god, had unleashed on the mortal world stood at his side. Ever since Ra’s Chosen warriors had almost destroyed Sek the month before, Mot had been dogging his heels. It wasn’t out of any concern on the demon’s part. No, Mot was looking for any weakness to use against him.

“We need more undead warriors,” Mot said without looking at him.

“I’m adding to their numbers.”

Unlike the regular undead, the warrior kind were harder to create. For a mortal to be turned into an undead warrior, certain parts of his soul had to remain. It was a delicate task and one only Sek or Mot could accomplish. Then there was the training each one had to go through to learn how to master a sword. It all took time and couldn’t be rushed.

Mot bared his fangs. “You must work faster. The number of your undead warriors doesn’t match mine.” The demon turned his head to look at Sek. “If your run-in with 58

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the sun god’s warriors has left you too weak for the task, I’ll gladly take over doing all the turning.”

Sek bared his own fangs and hissed. “Apep fully restored me.”

There was no way he was going to let Mot amass the majority of their undead warriors. Whoever turned them was ultimately their master, who they obeyed without question. If he didn’t keep Mot in check, the chances of Sek finding himself on the receiving end of an undead warrior attack were great. It was something he wasn’t about to let happen.

Mot gave him a stare that said he didn’t believe him. “Time will tell. I’ll leave you now. Night will fall soon. When it does, I’ll leave to my own lair, but I’ll return tomorrow night to see if you have put this one to good use.”

Once the other demon left the training chamber, Sek went back to watching his warriors. The pressure Mot was putting on him he blamed fully on Ra’s warriors. And one in particular—Denger. It was that particular warrior who had staked him with a long dagger, pinning him to the ground to burn in the sun. If not for Apep telling Mot where to find Sek, he would have been destroyed. Mot took great relish in reminding him how the sun god’s Chosen had bested him to the point where it almost cost him his life. The only reason Mot had saved him was because Apep had demanded he do so.