Hunger Embraced (The Hunger Series)

by Jennifer James

  “Wait, seriously? That works no matter what flavor?”

  He nodded and cut another bite from his pizza. Well, at least I knew there was some hope. Although I had no idea how to accomplish it. Maybe I could Google it later. Serial killer 101.

  “What happens if you don’t do it right?”

  “You first.” His gaze was direct and had weight behind it, as though he was trying to use his will to force me to answer. I wondered if this was what he did to my boss. My chest constricted, and I buried my hand in the jelly bean bag. Fortification was the only way to answer this.

  “His name was Tommy Henderson.” I shoved six jelly beans into my mouth, and they tasted like glue.

  “He was human.”

  It wasn’t a question so I didn’t respond, just chugged my water. “My father told me there are four different types of vampires, is that true?”

  “Yes. But remember what I said about variations among a population. What happened with Tommy?”

  “I killed him, OK? He was a smart, sweet guy who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He tried to help me and instead he got sucked dry. His parents don’t even know what happened to him. They think he’s missing—ran away or was abducted.” I grabbed my plate and took it to the sink. “I’m a murderer. I shouldn’t have ever left the house. I tried to climb out the window because I didn’t want to have sex. I fell out of a tree, and he tried to help me. Instead, I practically raped him, and then…and then he died. Right there on the lawn while my father and his court watched.”

  I squared my shoulders, daring him to say something. Daniel sat at the table and looked at me, concern filling his dark blue eyes.

  “Don’t look at me like that. I’m alive and that poor boy isn’t because I was trying to save myself for love. All I had to do was pick one of the vamps in my father’s court, but I let my own embarrassment and nerves get the better of me. I ruined that family.”

  “Miranda, there was no way for you to know what could happen.” He came to me and tried to hug me, but I pushed away from the counter and walked into the living room. The food turned to cement in my stomach.

  “My father explained things to me after. He told me I hold something inside me that will always be looking for food. A Hunger. That I have to sleep with the vampires who seek me out or risk losing control of it and killing again. So I do what he said. I sleep with any hungry vampire who wanders into my path, and if it gets rough sometimes, so be it. I’ll fuck them and keep the Hunger in check. But I won’t feed it. Not if I can help it. They get fed, and I stay sane. Win-win.” I shrugged. “I’m alive, and I have to pay for it. Today wasn’t the first time it was…unpleasant. I’m not that naive innocent any longer, am I?” Bitter laughter escaped my lips and hung in the air between us.

  I met his gaze. “What I want to know right now is who was he? Adrian Kaiser, the guy from the bathroom. As much as I hate him for what he did… You want to know what’s really fucked up? I may not have wanted it, not at first. But by the end, by the end I liked it.”

  Daniel stared at me, a terrible frown of pity and sadness on his face. He rocked forward as though he was going to take a step but stopped. A long-fingered, elegant hand reached up and ran through his hair.

  “You must feed, Miranda.”

  I shook my head and dug my fingers into my elbows.

  “Yes. You must. Or you will die.”

  My face remained a frozen mask. Maybe I wanted to die.

  He sighed. “Adrian is your mate. Only a vampire mate can harness your power as he did. The only explanation for what happened is you are a fated couple.”

  Fated. Fated. Fated.

  NO! Nonononono…no…not him…

  Fated couples. It was the stuff of fairy tales. A vampire’s version of Snow White or Cinderella. Of course my Prince Charming would be an arrogant asshole with sadomasochistic tendencies.

  Chapter Six

  I made it to the bathroom before I threw up, emptying my guts until there was nothing left but burning in my throat and cramped, sore stomach muscles. My eyes itched, and I rubbed at them with the back of one hand. Daniel handed me a cup of chamomile tea and crouched next to me on the floor. I took a few sips to oblige him, but even that roiled in my stomach.

  He picked me up and held me upright while I brushed my teeth. One arm scooped under my knees and the other cradled my back. When I finished, he carried me across the hall to the guest room.

  I buried my hands in his shirt and shook my head.

  “Don’t want to be alone?” The question tickled the top of my head, and for some reason the sound of his voice made me feel calmer, more centered.

  He turned on his heel and headed toward the end of the hall, walking through the open door. I stared at the deep chocolate brown of the walls, the cream accents, and the lush dark purple comforter on the bed. It took some maneuvering, but Daniel managed to move the comforter out of the way and lie back on the pillows with me cradled in his arms like a child. The last thing I remembered before falling asleep was the comforter covering me and his hand running through my hair in reassuring strokes.

  * * *

  When I woke, Daniel was curled on his side with one arm thrown over my waist. The heavy, warm weight of his body behind mine took up more space than it should have. He breathed in deep and slow, still asleep. When I realized he was naked, I rolled over carefully, trying not to wake him so I could slip out the other side of the bed.

  Mortification burned through my veins as I remembered the night before. I’d had a semi-breakdown and thrown up for half an hour. Then I’d been afraid to sleep by myself. Looked like Miss Independent had left the building.

  I couldn’t resist one more peek at him. He was classically handsome with a beautiful nose and chin, so strong and straight, balanced by high cheekbones and an unlined forehead. Even his eyebrows looked like they’d come off a template for a statue of male perfection. His lips were my favorite feature though—full and wide, with a slight pout to the bottom one. It just begged to be nibbled on. I reached out and traced his lower lip with my fingertip, and the soft, slick texture of it made me wonder what other body parts might feel like.

  His eyes opened and gazed into mine. Incredibly blue, such a clear and endless blue, they were nothing less than a reflection of a perfect summer sky. There was ring of gray around the pupil with lines radiating out like a starburst. Beautiful.

  We laid there and stared at each other for a few minutes in silence. It wasn’t the awkward silence of near strangers. It was filled with half-formed promises and wishes. The thought of a future filled with waking up to his face every morning sped my heartbeat to a gallop.

  “Yes, take him…he is ours…”

  I frowned, rubbing my temples with my fingertips. The voice grew stronger every day. Cold, bitter disappointment filled my chest as I considered what it said. I could never have it. Yesterday’s events had irrefutably proven to me that I would forever be at the mercy of my curse. My father called the Hunger a gift. But who was it a gift for? Adrian forced me to lose control and wielded my Hunger against me. The vampires that came to me and fed off my body and blood left me exhausted and filled with self-hatred. I couldn’t see it as a gift.

  I scooted closer to him, anger fueling the motion. If my fate was to be nothing more than food, never someone’s beloved, then damn it, I would take what I wanted here and now. He caught my hand before it connected with his chest and the tattoo I found so fascinating.

  “Miranda—”

  “Shhh. For once, I want to have sex where I’m not treated like I’m disposable. I’m tired of being used. You said,” I looked at his Adam’s apple, unable to meet his stare, “you said I can’t h-hurt you with my magic.”

  “You cannot. But this isn’t the time. What happened yesterday bordered on assault.” One thick knuckle caressed my cheek. “It’s too soon.”

  I shook my head. “I told you before. I-In the end I wanted it. I liked it.”

  “He used his ma
gic against you.” Fury colored the words, and the room became brighter, bathed in blue light.

  “You disapprove.” I finally met his eyes, and he nodded once. My hip dragged on the sheet, and I slid closer. “Help me erase it. Please? You’re not hungry, I can tell. Make lo—” I swallowed that close call down. “Have sex with me. Just normal sex. Not because you’re hungry and I’m the perfect food. Because you desire me as a woman. I want to feel like a regular girl, just once.”

  He clasped my hand to his pectoral, the tattoo thrummed with life, and his heart beat under my palm. “You’ve never had sex without it being about feeding.” The statement held a note of sympathy, and I knew he’d been dipping in my head again.

  He knew the truth; there was no reason for me to respond to the statement. I stroked my thumb over the inked sword hilt and avoided the jewel tones of his eyes.

  The warmth of a reassuring caress from the pad of his thumb across the back of my hand gave me the courage to glance up at his face.

  “I can’t promise not to bite you. I’m not hungry, but arousal tends to override sense with instinct.”

  “OK.” My teeth worried my upper lip. Now that he’d agreed, I didn’t know what to do. I’d never had a negotiation about sex before.

  “Come here.” His right hand smoothed over my upper back and lower. I let him tug me the rest of the way across the bed. Heat flowed over my side, down my waist to my hip and thigh, following his fingers. It was like a rolling massage, almost like being in a jetted bathtub. The magic reminded me of water trickling over rocks.

  Relaxation spilled through my muscles, and I snuggled into his chest, inhaling his scent. I licked my way up to the hollow of his collarbone and sucked hard on it.

  “Are you trying to give me a love bite?”

  “If you mean a hickey, then yes.” I broke away for a moment. “I’ve never gotten to give one to someone before. You’re my guinea pig.”

  He chuckled and tucked his hands behind his head. “Best of luck to you then. But I think you’ll find I heal too quickly for it to work.”

  “Oh. Damn.” I frowned and leaned back. “How powerful are you, anyway?”

  He shrugged and hauled me back down until I lay against him. “Enough.” He tickled the skin of my back from shoulder blades to the base of my spine then back up again.

  I arched my back into the strokes, and they became more serious, venturing lower until both hands slid beneath the elastic waistband of the cut-offs and encased my cheeks. The thick length of his erection swelled between us, jabbing me in the abdomen.

  Man, I wanted to roll over and straddle him. Put my palms on his chest and go to the rodeo.

  “Yes.”

  “Yes, what?” I asked.

  “You can be on top.”

  I sputtered and did a push up so that I could see his face. He stilled next to me. “Listen here, buddy. You can’t just dip into my head whenever you feel like it. It’s rude. If you’re going to have to have sex with me, it’ll be flying blind like every other dude out there.”

  “This time only, Miranda. I want to be assured that you are…not frightened at any point.”

  Like I was some kind of delicate piece of china. The fury roared to the surface again. “You mean not about to lose my shit because of the asshole from yesterday.” I would not be defined by Adrian’s version of seduction.

  He slipped one finger down between my cheeks and teased my pussy, drawing wetness out and smearing it back up to my anus. “If that is how you wish to put it. Tomorrow I will not read you without your permission. But for tonight, it is my price.”

  “Fine.” I pouted until the teasing caresses along the lips of my vagina became serious. Sparks of heat flared into my belly. My nipples tingled, and I wiggled my hips in encouragement. He breached my entrance and withdrew to glide a slow circle around my clit. When he rolled fully onto his back, I moved with him, my thighs plastered to his.

  “May I have a kiss?” He lowered his head to the side and waited for my reply.

  The sweetness of the question melted me. Our mouths met and moved over each other with slow brushes of lips and tongue. The edge of one of his fangs grazed my flesh, opening a small cut, and he sucked on it hard, releasing me when the wound closed. I wished I had fangs of my own so I could do the same to him.

  He sliced himself and shoved his tongue into my mouth. His blood was hot and potent with unspent magic. It tasted of the cleanest water I’d ever drank—the most refreshing thing ever to cross my lips.

  Perhaps the mind reading wasn’t so bad.

  He slid my shorts down and off, coaxing my thighs apart even further until my knees rested on the mattress and I straddled his waist. I assumed he’d move to penetrate me, but he continued to kiss me and tease my pussy with his fingers.

  I curled the edge of the T-shirt in my hands, hauling it up nice and slow so that I could watch his face as my stomach and breasts were revealed. He smiled at me, tracing first one, then the other areola in a careful, teasing circle. I arched my back, thrusting them out, enjoying the slow, gentle touch. His magic continued to follow wherever his flesh touched me, warm and kneading on my skin.

  I scooted back and was prodded from behind by his shaft. He hissed and raised his knees, the movement tipping me forward and away from his groin.

  I moaned and planted both palms to squiggle back, fighting gravity and his seriously strong abs. The tattoo pulsated under my hand. He captured my mouth in a deep kiss, but I refused to be distracted from my mission.

  T.T.B. released my lips and moved to my neck, releasing a humming purr against my carotid. I swept my hair away and offered it to him freely.

  Both of his fangs scratched at the skin, once, twice, and then breached my body at the same time he flattened his legs and positioned me above the head of his shaft. It teased my pussy, so hot and thick. I shifted again, and he let out an encouraging sound as he drank from my throat. I lowered myself onto him.

  “Yes! Yes…Daniel…mate…let me feed…”

  I flinched away from the voice. It screamed and roared, feral and uncontrolled. Daniel shifted beneath me, and the pleasure from his deep penetrating stroke distracted me from the noise in my head. His cock was larger than Adrian’s, but my body had healed overnight, and the pain I’d endured yesterday faded to memory. I rocked forward until the blunt edges of the head slipped out. When I thrust myself back down, his shaft dragged over my clit one slow inch at a time, my juices bathing him. I didn’t stop until his testicles were snug to my ass, reveling in the control he gave me.

  “Mmm…that feels amazing.” He gripped my ass with both hands and rocked his hips up at the same time and I gasped. “Oh, fuck, that’s even better.” A low hum vibrated against my throat, and he teased my puckered hole with one finger.

  Each suction from his mouth sent a throb through my body to my nipples and clit. I hoped he never stopped. I was content to lie there and let him swallow every last drop of my blood while I undulated my hips on his cock. The angle was perfect for stimulating my hood, and with the added bonus of the things his bite did, an orgasm coiled in my belly.

  I pinched and twisted his nipples, and he growled, burrowing his fingers into my flesh. He bit down on my neck harder, and where before I’d had nothing but pleasure, a sharp zap of pain jolted through me. The digit that he’d used to tease my anus slid inside, and I moved away in surprise, stroking my clit over his cock. The pleasure of the dual penetration and the pain from his bite combined to ignite the orgasm that had been coalescing in my belly.

  The muscles of my abdomen and pussy clutched at his cock, bathed it in my fluids. He fed at my neck until I whimpered from aftershocks and then released my throat.

  My heart hammered, and I lay on his chest, his dick still stiff inside me. I knew he had to want to move, but he held still other than smoothing his hands over my back. When my breathing returned to semi-normal, I sat up all the way and moved his palms to my waist.

  I’d never had sex in th
is position. It was powerful, dominant, and I studied his face as I used my hips and thigh muscles to ride him. He cupped my breasts, tweaking my nipples as I moved on his shaft.

  His licked his thumb, then used it to circle my clit, alternating light touches with heavy pressure, and I slowed to enjoy the tease. He sat up, supporting his weight on his elbows, and cupped the back of my head. He twined my hair around his fist, and I met him halfway. Our teeth banged together, and I bit down on his tongue, sucking on his lips. Desperation to have him inside me in every way possible filled me. He broke away with a growl, and I bit down on his neck, enjoying it when he pulled my hair and rubbed my hood even harder.

  “Fuck yes,” he moaned.

  Sweat gathered behind my knees, and when I let go of his neck, our eyes met. His stare spilled power over the room, bathing it all in reflective blue light. It dazzled me, reminding me of a sunny day on the ocean where every wave sparkles like diamonds in the sun.

  “You’re beautiful. And so tight…so tight.”

  He grunted when I came down especially hard. I arched my back, a silent request for him to take my breasts between his teeth. He flicked his thumb over me, then bent and caught my nipple with his teeth, sucking the stiff peak into the hot wet cavern of his mouth. Sparks of sensation shot through my body, and I came again, collapsing down on his thighs, falling into his torso. He caught me with both arms, rolled over, and plunged into my pussy four more times, his cum pumping out in hot jets.

  His tongue speared between my lips, blood welling from it and coating the inside of my mouth. I drank it down, the flavor more intense on the heels of orgasm than before.

  He moved to pull out and I held onto him, wrapped my legs around him to keep him still.

  My eyelids fluttered closed. “Not yet.”

  He kissed my forehead and shifted to the side, tugging me with him. His cock softened, but I wasn’t ready to have him pull out. I wanted the connection.