Longed-For Hunger

by Marisa Chenery

  She gave his hair another painful yank. “I saw you hanging out across the street from the bookstore. Why are you following me?”

  “Take it easy,” he said. “I like my hair attached to my head. I just thought we could talk.”

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  “If you wanted to talk, why didn’t you come into the bookstore instead of waiting until now? I saw you standing across the street for my entire shift.”

  “I didn’t want to bother you while you were working.”

  That wasn’t exactly the truth. He hadn’t gone inside the store mostly because he wouldn’t have wanted to leave. Given how they didn’t even know each other’s names, he didn’t think she would have appreciated him dogging her heels with a raging hardon while trying to keep his extended fangs out of sight.

  “So instead you decided to play the stalker and sneak up behind me in a parking lot?” she asked and gave another yank on his hair.

  “I can assure you I’m not a stalker. After we bumped into each other I only thought to get to know you better. It wasn’t my intention to sneak up on you. How about we start from the beginning again? I’m Denger. I’d offer you my hand, but you have my arms pinned to my sides.”

  Not that he was really complaining. With her perched on his chest as she was, it just seemed to arouse him even more, especially since her jean-covered pussy wasn’t all that far from his face. That thought had him fighting to keep his fangs from dropping once again.

  When she didn’t move from her position or say anything, Denger decided now would be a good time to try a little experiment—to see if he could wipe her memory or not. If he could, he wouldn’t totally wipe her memories of him, just his coming up behind her in the parking lot. If he couldn’t wipe her, it would be another sign she was his mate.

  Latching onto her gaze with his, he concentrated as he tried to erase the memories. He slammed into a mental brick wall. Just to be sure, Denger tried a second time with the same result. The only indication that she’d felt his attempts was the small furrowing of her brows.

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  She was his. He barely managed to stop himself from flipping her onto her back and taking her mouth in a heated kiss. He had to play it cool. She was still leery of him. He sure as hell didn’t want to scare her off now that he’d found her. Denger tried once again to get her to relax enough to release him. “Not that I don’t mind you sitting on me like this, but the pavement isn’t exactly comfortable. I promise I won’t jump on you once you let me up.”

  She seemed to think it over for a few seconds, then slowly unwound his hair from around her hand and slid off his chest to stand beside him. Not wanting to spook her, he took his time getting up. So far so good. She didn’t bolt once he stood at his full height.

  He stuck out his hand. “I’m Denger.”

  “Nyx,” she said and placed her hand in his.

  Denger closed his fingers around hers and gave her hand a small shake. He deliberately held it a little longer than was necessary before he released it. “A lovely name for a lovely lady.” He then watched her cheeks pinken slightly.

  “Ah, thanks. It’s nice to meet you, Denger.”

  “I apologize if I gave you the wrong impression. I thought if I left I wouldn’t see you again. I didn’t want to take that chance.”

  “Uh huh. Well, can I suggest the next time you want to introduce yourself to a woman you take the more direct approach?”

  “Thanks for the suggestion, but I doubt there will be a next time.” Nyx started to move away. Denger stopped her. “Wait. I want to see you again.”

  Nyx turned around to face him. She then said reluctantly, “I don’t know.”

  “It doesn’t have to be a date date. Just coffee. We can go to the coffee shop that’s down the street from the bookstore. Say tomorrow afternoon?” Denger watched Nyx’s gaze run over his body while she thought over his invitation. When she reached the 16

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  crotch of his jeans, her attention snapped back to his face. He shrugged. “I’m not going to deny it. I’m attracted to you.”

  Her face flushed once again. “I don’t know if I should see you again.”

  “Why not?” Denger then thought of something else. “You’re not married, are you?”

  If she was, he didn’t know what he’d do. He already thought of her as his. He didn’t want to have to steal her from another man, but if that was what it would take to claim her as his, at this point it was something he was willing to do. Nyx shook her head. “No… No, I’m not married. Not anymore.”

  “You’re divorced.”

  “No. My husband died of cancer three years ago.” Before Denger could say something else to convince her to see him, she added, “I haven’t started to see other men yet. It’s been a really long time since I went out on a date of any kind. I don’t know if I’m ready.”

  Even though it had been a few years since she’d lost her husband, he could hear the sadness in Nyx’s voice when she spoke about him. Feeling the need to comfort his mate, Denger reached out and stroked the back of his fingers against her cheek. “I’m sorry for your loss. It’s just coffee. Think of it as a small test to see if you’re ready to start dating other men.”

  Nyx searched his face. She then bit her bottom lip and nodded. “All right. I’ll go out with you for coffee. I have to work tomorrow afternoon but I get a half-hour break at three. We can go out then.”

  He smiled. “I’ll be there.” Having won that concession out of her, he quickly leaned in and brushed her lips with his, wishing he could taste her fully. “We’ll take baby steps.” Pulling away, he started to walk backward. “Until tomorrow.”

  Denger turned on his heel and left the parking lot. Walking away from the woman who was to be his mate was hard, but at least he now knew who she was and where to find her. The rest would hopefully fall into place.

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  * * * * *

  Returning to Ra’s Chosen’s headquarters, an old warehouse they’d converted into living quarters, Denger parked his Mustang in the docking bay they used as a garage. He hurried to the door that was connected to the headquarters proper. After punching in the code on the number pad, then pushing down on the stone beneath it, the door unlocked. He swirled his tongue around the tip of his index finger to heal where the needle from the stone had pierced it, taking a drop of his blood. The stone was a gift from Ra and would only unlock the door for Ra’s Chosen and the mates of two of the warriors, Blythe and Desiree.

  Denger wasted no time going to his personal quarters to change for a night of hunting the undead. Dressed in black leather pants and t-shirt, he strapped his sword to his back before he pulled on his black leather jacket to hide it from view. Ready to face what the night would bring, he headed for the kitchen on his way to the meeting room to meet up with the rest of the warriors. He found Blythe and Desiree there.

  When she saw him, Blythe stood and took a thick sandwich out of the fridge. She handed it to him. “Sorry, the others ate your share of dinner when you didn’t show up. So all you get is a ham sandwich.”

  He took a big bite, chewed, then swallowed. “This is fine. I’ll get something after I come back tonight.”

  Blythe narrowed her eyes in his direction. “Don’t you dare make a mess of the kitchen.”

  “I promise it will be spotless when I’m done.”

  The kitchen was Blythe’s domain and she didn’t tolerate anyone making a mess of it. Considering she cooked all the meals and was really good at it, no one put up a fuss about her rules.

  “It better be,” Desiree said with a grin. “I would hate to wake up tomorrow to find Blythe had killed you.”

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  “I’m not that bad,” Blythe said with a laugh. She looked at Denger. “So what kept you out all day? It had to be something pretty important to cause you to miss dinner.”


  He wolfed down half the sandwich before he answered. “You could say that.”

  The next thing Denger knew, Blythe had her arms wrapped around him and was hugging him tight. “You found her. I’m so happy for you.”

  He hadn’t made it any secret that he was out searching for his mate. Akori and Kysen, two of his brothers-in-arms, found great glee in giving him grief about it, especially Akori. That warrior thought being mated was akin to being handed a death sentence. Akori loved women, all women, and never wanted to settle down with just one. According to Ra, Akori wouldn’t be exempt from finding his mate. All the warriors would eventually find theirs.

  Denger gave Blythe a squeeze before he disentangled her arms from around him.

  “Yes, I found her.”

  Desiree got up from the table and came to stand beside Blythe. “I guess we’ll soon have another mate joining us. Unless you already have her here locked in your quarters.”

  “That better not be the case,” Blythe said, crossing her arms over her chest. When they had first met their mates, Blythe and Desiree had been witnesses to Mehen and Set taking down the undead. Since Ra had decreed no mortal could retain the memory of the undead, and neither Mehen nor Set could wipe the memory from the women, they’d brought them against their will to their headquarters for the rest of the warriors to try to wipe. None had met with success. Blythe had been quick to accept her new life with Mehen but Desiree hadn’t been quite so accepting of Set.

  “No, I don’t have her locked in my quarters,” he reassured the women. “I met her this afternoon, so no undead were around to mess things up.” The undead only preyed upon mortals at night, going out to steal souls for their demon god, Apep. “For your information, I’m taking it slow with her. I’m going to meet her for coffee tomorrow afternoon.”

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  A loud groan sounded behind Denger. “By the gods, not you too?” Akori asked in a pained voice.

  “Don’t start in on Denger, Akori,” Blythe said. “I know you and Kysen in particular have been bugging him about trying to find his mate. Like I’ve said over and over again—your time will come. You’ll find your mate too. Dad said so.”

  Ra was Blythe’s father, something she hadn’t learned until after she’d become mated to Mehen. Her mortal mother hadn’t taken the news well of Ra being an Egyptian god when he’d revealed the truth about himself and had left him when she was pregnant with Blythe. After giving birth, her mother had left Blythe with her grandparents and basically dropped off the face of the Earth. Now that father and daughter had found each other, they spent a lot of time together trying to make up for all the years they had been apart.

  Akori moved to Denger’s side and shook his finger at Blythe. “What did I say about you saying that nasty M word? There will be no mate for me.”

  “You can run, but you can’t hide, especially from a god,” she quickly shot back. Knowing where this would eventually lead, to neither one of them backing down, Denger said, “Thanks for the sandwich, Blythe. I’ll finish it on the way to the meeting room.” He then grabbed Akori by the arm and pulled him out of the kitchen. The rest of the warriors were already there when they arrived. Denger swallowed the last of his sandwich and went to sit in one of the empty chairs at the long table while Akori took the other.

  Mehen nodded in Denger’s direction. “I knew you’d make it back in time to go out hunting. I don’t think you’ve missed a night to hunt the undead since you were chosen by Ra.”

  It was true. Put a sword in his hand and he became an ultimate killing machine. Out of all the warriors, Denger would be the first to admit that he was the most bloodthirsty. He lived to fight, which had brought him to Ra’s attention. 20

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  Akori snorted. “That’s probably about to change. Lover boy over there found his mate.”

  Mehen smiled. “Is that true, Denger?”

  He nodded. “Yes, and before you can ask, since both Blythe and Desiree already did, I don’t have her locked in my personal quarters.”

  “No, he doesn’t. He’s got a date with her tomorrow afternoon,” Akori said with disgust.

  Kysen burst out laughing. “A date? What happened to the take-charge-take-noprisoners-Denger I know and love?”

  Denger flipped Kysen off. “She’s my mate, not an enemy I have to fight.”

  “Ignore him,” Takan said as he shook his long bangs into his face, something he did more often than not. “There is nothing wrong with taking things slow.”

  “I agree,” Set said. “Just because Mehen and I were forced to bring our mates into our world before they were ready does not mean it will happen to the rest of you. Your blood hunger will give you a bit of a timeline, but don’t push too soon. You don’t want your mate trying to run from you at every turn.”

  Set spoke from firsthand experience. Desiree had tried to escape the headquarters more than once before she had truly accepted Set as her mate. It had taken her almost being attacked by an undead to get her to stop fighting Set and the feelings she had for him.

  Now that all the warriors had had a chance to comment about his finding his mate, the conversation changed to the upcoming hunt that night, much to Denger’s relief. Talking about Nyx made him long to be with her. Kysen’s comment about him was basically true. When he wanted something he didn’t back down until he got it. But with Nyx, knowing she hadn’t really moved on from the death of her husband, that type of attitude wouldn’t work. Even though it went against his nature, he’d take it easy with her. As long as his blood hunger didn’t ride him too hard, he could hold out until he got her to trust him.

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  After Mehen assigned them each a section of the city to hunt in, Denger eagerly made his way to the docking bay. A night of hunting was just what he needed to distract his thoughts from Nyx. If it didn’t, it would be a hell of a long night. 22

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  Chapter Three

  Nyx spent most of the night tossing and turning in bed. It was thoughts of Denger and their coffee date that kept her awake. She couldn’t stop wondering if she’d made a mistake by agreeing to see him again. She was attracted to him, there wasn’t any doubt about that, but Nyx found herself feeling guilty that she did. A small part of her felt as if she were betraying Derek. Thoughts such as that were part of the reason why she hadn’t let another man into her life.

  Shortly after nine in the morning, Nyx gave up on trying to sleep. The couple of hours she had managed to get would have to be enough. After a shower, she dressed and got something for breakfast.

  With plenty of time still left before she had to go into work, she plunked herself down on the couch and picked up the new vampire romance she’d started to read the night before. It was the third book in one of her favorite series. Usually it didn’t take much for Nyx to find herself completely engrossed in a book, letting the setting and characters take her out of her real world. But that didn’t happen this time. Every time the book switched to the hero’s point of view, she found herself picturing Denger as the vampire.

  When she reached a scene where things were heating up between the hero and the heroine, Nyx had to put the book down. She could all too easily picture Denger doing the things the hero was doing to the heroine to her. Her thoughts caused her longcelibate body to come out of hibernation. Where before she was content to read her romance novels, she now found herself longing for Denger’s touch. By the time she arrived at work, Nyx was having serious second thoughts about going out for coffee with Denger. If only she’d thought to ask for his phone number, she could have called him and told him not to show up.

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  Janet took one look at her face and said, “All right, what’s up? You look stressed as hell about something.”

  Stowing her purse under the counter, Nyx said, “I’ve done something that I’m now regretting.”

  “What did you do?
”

  Nyx took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “I kind of agreed to go out for coffee on my break today with a man.”

  Janet let out a whoop. “Let me guess, you’re going out with Mr. Beefcake from yesterday.”

  “Yes, but now I’m not so sure I should.”

  “Aw, hon, you can’t back out now. You need to do this. I’m sure Derek wouldn’t want you to be alone. He would have wanted you to move on with your life. And I knew it was you Mr. Beefcake was watching yesterday.”

  Nyx shook her head. “His name is Denger. And it’s because of Derek that I’m having second thoughts. I feel as if I’m betraying him, betraying his memory.”

  Janet put her arm around Nyx’s shoulders. “It’s understandable that you would feel that way, but you don’t have to. It isn’t as if you’re breaking your marriage vows. You’re a young widow. No one would expect you not to find another man to share your life with. I’m not going to let you back out of your coffee date with Denger. Even if he doesn’t turn out to be the right one, at least you’ve taken that first step. It’ll be easier when the next guy you get the hots for comes around.”

  “Who says I have the hots for Denger?” she asked with a chuckle.

  “Oh, please. You have the hots for the man or you wouldn’t be trying to run from him. Hell, if I wasn’t a married woman, I would be trying to jump his bones. He’s gorgeous and has a body any woman would love to have pressed against hers all night long.”

  Nyx laughed. “If only poor Pete could hear you now.”

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  “He knows I’m all talk and that I’m all his. He also knows how to keep me well satisfied, if you know what I mean.” Janet winked.

  “Too much information. The celibate in the store does not need to hear that.”

  Janet rolled her eyes. “Well, hopefully the celibate won’t be celibate for too much longer. From the looks of Denger, I would say he would end your dry spell if you let him.”