Reincarnated Hunger
Marisa Chenery
Book five in the Ra’s Chosen series.
Unlike his fellow warriors, Kysen already found his mate—the woman who stirred his blood like no other. But he’d been mortal at the time. When she died, he vowed to never love again. He feared the day Ra’s decree that all his warriors take mates would fall upon him. How could he spend eternity with a woman he could never love? But when he stumbles upon the spitting image of her, he wonders if his beloved has returned.
Cena is disappointed in men. Perhaps reading too many romance novels has done her in, but no man lives up to what she’s read…and dreamed. For years a faceless man has entered her sleep, filling her dreams with passion. Once she meets the tall stranger who stares at her with longing, her dreams come to life. Now she wants him in her bed. But once she has him there, her life changes forever. Thrust into a dangerous world she never knew existed, she must cheat death in this life to keep him.
An Ellora’s Cave Romantica Publication
www.ellorascave.com
Reincarnated Hunger
ISBN 9781419932762
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Reincarnated Hunger Copyright 2011 Marisa Chenery
Edited by Grace Bradley
Cover art by Syneca
Electronic book publication January 2011
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This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.
Reincarnated Hunger
Marisa Chenery
Trademarks Acknowledgement
The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:
Crock-Pot: Sunbeam Products, Inc.
Mustang: Ford Motor Company
Suzuki: Suzuki Motor Corporation
An Old Legend
In Egypt of old, the sun god Ra held sway, worshiped as the father creator. Each day he rode the skies in his solar barque, bringing light to the land. And every night he traveled through the dark underworld until the dawning of a new day.
During his nightly voyage Ra faced his greatest adversary, a being of such evil and darkness, people shuddered—the demon god Apep, the eater of souls. Ra and his companions battled the demon, defeating him each night only to face him again when darkness fell once more.
It is said that one night Apep gained the upper hand, which caused thunderstorms to rage and the earth to shake. Using the chaos he had created, Apep unleashed two evils into the world. Two demons called Sek and Mot were set loose to bring down mankind by collecting souls for their dark master, turning mortals into soulless shells commanded by Apep.
To counteract Apep’s evil minions, the sun god chose six warriors. He gifted them each with immortality and the powers needed to defeat their enemies. As Ra’s Chosen, the warriors fought the evil that threatened to take over, pushing it back, to stand between man and demons.
Some say to this day Ra’s Chosen still fight to protect the unsuspecting mortals around them. In the shadows they stalk their prey each night, ever on guard, forgotten by those who they had been charged to watch over.
Chapter One
Kysen was in a mood and wanted to be alone with his thoughts. The Japanese Friendship Garden seemed as good a place as any. The converted space in Phoenix’s warehouse district where Ra’s Chosen had made their headquarters had become a fuller place now that four mates had moved in with the warriors. Only two of them remained unmated—Takan and himself. Not that he thought he’d find his mate any time soon, or really wanted to, for that matter. He’d found that one woman meant for him and had lost her when he’d still been mortal in ancient Egypt.
Kysen wandered the garden’s park, letting the quiet and beautiful scenery sink in. He liked to come here from time to time to walk and let his thoughts drift where they may. Mostly they tended to center around Acenith, the woman he was supposed to have married. Even thousands of years since her death, he hadn’t stopped loving her. Ra had said all his warriors would eventually find their mates, but Kysen didn’t think another woman could take Acenith’s place in his heart. He’d much rather be alone than be tied to a woman he could never love.
He was quite happy with the encounters he had with the women he chose as donors. Taking their necks, drinking their blood while he had sex with them, he could handle. With no chance of having to form any kind of commitment since he had to wipe him and his feeding from their memories, he didn’t have to worry about the woman making demands he couldn’t meet. They both got what they wanted—he, the blood he needed to keep himself strong, and she, enjoyable sex—with no fuss and no muss.
Lost in thought about the woman he would give anything to have in his arms again, Kysen drew up short just outside the Japanese Tea House inside the Garden. All the times he’d come here, he’d never taken the time to go inside the house to attend one of their tea ceremonies. Hearing voices inside, he stepped onto the brick path that led to the entrance. Today seemed like a good day to remedy that.
An older Japanese woman dressed in a traditional kimono met him at the door as Kysen crossed the threshold. “Welcome to the tea house. I’m the tea master. Can I have your name? I need to check you off my list.”
“My name?” Kysen asked.
“Yes. You must be preregistered to attend today’s tea ceremony.”
Since this was a spur-of-the moment thing, of course she wouldn’t find his name on her list. Normally he would have gone through the steps to register and come back another day, but for some reason he felt as if he needed to attend the ceremony today. Leaving didn’t sit well with him.
Looking the woman in the eyes, Kysen planted the suggestion in her head that his name was on the list. When he finished, she said, “Come and take a seat at the table, Kysen. We were about to begin.”
He walked to the long black table and took a seat closest to the door. Kysen gave the mortals sitting near him a closed-mouth smile, making sure he didn’t flash them his fangs. He didn’t feel so bad about butting his way into the ceremony when he saw there were more than a couple of empty places at the other end of the table.
The tea master crossed to another table that had been set up directly across from the one where he and the others sat. All the implements she needed to perform the ceremony were set out. Kysen’s gaze quickly skimmed over the woman who sat in a chair at the end of that table with her head bent, her face mostly hidden from view. She was also dressed in a traditional kimono. He refocused his attention on the tea master when she began the precise movements of the ceremony.
Partway through it, Kysen caught the other woman shifting in her seat out of the corner of his eye.
He turned his gaze in her direction once again. Now that she’d lifted her head to watch the tea master, he found himself unable to look away from her face. The tea ceremony forgotten, his gaze greedily drank the woman in.
It couldn’t be, but what he saw said it was. The woman sitting quietly across from him was the spitting image of Acenith. Everything about her was the same. The same straight black hair, the same brown eyes, even the small pert nose was a match for the woman he’d lost so long ago.
The world seemed to disappear around Kysen. The urge to get up and pull the woman into his arms to see if her mouth tasted the same just about had him acting on his thoughts. His heart beat against his ribs in a rapid tempo. He so much wanted to believe she was his lost love come back to him. Raised in the ancient Egyptian faith and a warrior of one of its gods, he believed in the possibility of reincarnation. It was that belief that had kept him sane after Acenith had died, and it was part of the reason he’d accepted Ra’s offer to become one of his warriors. Immortality offered a better chance of him finding her again.
She rose from her chair and Kysen watched her pick up a tray from the table next to where the tea master poured the hot tea she’d finished making. His libido kicked into high gear as Acenith’s lookalike slowly worked her way down the length of the table toward him, offering sweets to each person as she went.
When she stood directly in front of him, she said, “Can I offer you a sweet to go with your tea?”
Kysen looked her in the face, his gaze skimming over the oh-so-familiar features. She might be wearing traditional Japanese dress, but her looks were pure Egyptian, same as his own. His cock hardened and his blood hunger rose to the surface as he looked her directly in the eyes. On the outside, she appeared calm, but with his acute hearing the sound of her rapid pulse echoed in his ears. She also acted as if she didn’t recognize him. In answer to her query, he shook his head, not trusting himself to speak without betraying the rollercoaster of emotions he rode.
When she returned to the table as the tea master made the rounds with the tea she’d poured into cups with no handles, Kysen once again found he’d lost the ability to look away from the woman he suddenly wanted above all else. He didn’t know if she was his Acenith reincarnated, but he couldn’t walk away until he’d at least had a chance to talk to her one-on-one.
There was a good chance she wasn’t what he wanted so badly, simply because he hadn’t started showing the signs of finding his mate soon. Yes, she caused his blood hunger to grow, but feeding and sex usually went hand-in-hand. The throbbing of his fangs in tempo with the throbbing of his cock proved that. But with his need for blood the same as it had always been, it meant she might not be the one destined for him. Kysen didn’t care though. He didn’t need the signs to know he couldn’t let this woman slip through his fingers. Mate or no mate, he needed to get to know her better.
Taking a sip of his tea, Kysen knew he wouldn’t be leaving the Gardens after the ceremony finished. He’d stick around and wait for the woman who could possibly be his lost love to leave. The idea of being alone with her made his cock and fangs throb even harder.
* * * * *
Cena Barns snuck another quick glance at the large man who sat alone at the end of the table. The way he looked at her made her heart beat faster. He was beyond gorgeous. With his short, straight black hair—which just brushed the collar of his black t-shirt—light brown eyes that almost appeared gold and features that stood out as more rugged than handsome, she was more than a little attracted to him. She had a hard time not staring at the well-defined muscles his snug-fitting t-shirt did nothing to hide. And judging by how much higher he sat from the rest of the people at the table, she figured he had to be well over six feet tall.
As he lifted his tea cup and took a drink, Cena watched the movement of his throat when he swallowed. She then lifted her gaze to his mouth. The sight of him licking the excess moisture from his lips had her biting back a moan as she pictured what it would feel like to have his mouth on her skin. It took everything she had not to let show how the mere sight of him affected her.
The hunger she so easily saw in his eyes every time he looked at her did nothing to help her keep calm. Nor the fact that she found him vaguely familiar. He reminded her of the man she sometimes dreamed about. One she never really caught a clear glimpse of. Giving herself a mental shake, Cena pushed the thought of her dream man away. He wasn’t real, but the man who stared at her as if he wanted to devour her was.
When the tea ceremony ended, the man filed out with the rest of the guests and Cena ignored the surge of disappointment that washed through her. What did she expect? It wasn’t as if he’d come here looking to pick a woman up. So he might have looked at her with hunger in his eyes, that didn’t mean he’d been prepared to ask her out. The tea house wasn’t exactly a bar for singles.
After she helped her boss clean up, Cena went to the backroom and changed out of her kimono and into her street clothes. Being late afternoon, this had been the last tea ceremony for the day. She’d only been working here for the last couple of months, but loved the fact there was no stress involved. She enjoyed working with Emiko, the tea master. Emiko had also taught Cena a lot about the Japanese culture. She was even trying to teach her a bit of Japanese, which usually ended up with the pair laughing at Cena’s poor ability to pronounce the words properly.
Back in the main part of the tea house, Cena called to Emiko who stood at the other side of the room. “I’m leaving now.”
Emiko crossed over to where she stood near the door. “You’d better hurry if you want to catch up with him.”
Cena frowned. “Him who?”
The older woman gave her a knowing smile. “The man who spent almost the entire tea ceremony staring at you as if you were a great delicacy. I bet he’s still around in the garden somewhere.”
She blushed. “You noticed, huh?”
“You might consider me an old lady compared to your twenty-nine years, but I’m not blind when it comes to a man being attracted to a member of the opposite sex. Now hurry up and go see if you can find him before he gets away.”
“I doubt he’s still hanging around out there. He could have looked as if he were interested, but he never spoke to me.”
Emiko took Cena’s arm and opened the door. “Go on with you. There’s no hurt in trying. I’ll see you on Monday. Have a good weekend.”
With a smile, Cena shook her head. “I’m going. You have a great weekend as well.”
She walked outside and followed the brick path out to the garden. Cena had taken only a few steps when she spotted the man she and Emiko had just been talking about standing near the short fence that enclosed the tea house. Surprised that he was still here, she slowed her steps as he approached.
When he stood in front of her, he gave her a closed-mouth smile. “Hi.”
“Hi,” she said haltingly.
He stuck out his hand. “I’m Kysen.” His deep voice held a slight accent.
She put her hand in his much larger one, feeling the rough callouses on his palm. She also had to crane her neck to look him in the face. He had to be at least six and a half feet tall. Compared to her five-foot-three, he made her feel small. “I’m Cena.” She barely stopped herself from sucking in a loud breath when his fingers stroked the top of her hand.
“Cena,” he said, “is another form of Acenith. It’s also an Egyptian name.” He looked at her with longing and hunger in his eyes.
“I know. My mom’s great grandmother was Egyptian so my parents decided to give me an Egyptian name. Is there something I can do for you, Kysen?”
Having yet to let go of her hand, he continued to stroke her skin. Cena responded to his touch. Gazing at his handsome face while each brush of his fingertips seemed to leave a shot of electricity behind caused her nipples to tighten beneath her tank top. An ache built deep inside her pussy, reminding her it had been a while since she’d found a man who interested her. The last man she’d allowed into
her life had been well over a year ago, and even then they had only causally dated.
Kysen jerked her out of her thoughts by taking a step closer. “Actually, there is. You could tell me you’re free to have dinner with me now.”
“Now? It’s only four-thirty,” she said, really not thinking before she spoke.
He gave her a small, crooked grin, making her just about forget her own name. “If it isn’t good for you, how about tomorrow?”
“No, now is fine. I just thought it would be a little early to eat.”
Even though they’d just met, Cena didn’t want to pass up the chance to go out with Kysen. There was always the possibility he’d change his mind tomorrow. She didn’t make a habit of going out on dates with men she didn’t know, but in a strange way she felt as if she already knew Kysen. Most of it had to stem from the fact he remarkably reminded her of her dream man. It had to be that. No way could it be from the fact he made her horny just by staring at her. Change that, he did make her horny and make her melt into a pile of mush just by staring at her.
As if he’d known where her thoughts had gone, Kysen’s grin turned even sexier as his gaze seemed to eat her up. “It’s not that early, and I find myself to be quite hungry. How about you?”
Cena swallowed. If he kept staring at her like that she wouldn’t be able to stop herself from taking a bite out of him while she ran her hands all over every delectable inch of his hard body. As it was, she had a hard time tearing her gaze from his mouth.
“I definitely could do with something to eat,” she said, a bit breathless.
“Then it’s decided.” Switching her hand to his other, Kysen stood at her side and linked their fingers together. “My car is parked at the garden’s entrance.”
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