Primal Desire (Heart of the Huntress Book 6)

by Terry Spear

  For a couple of blocks, Selena had managed her composure after her brother had torn into her. Normally, she was good at burying her feelings. But she believed her nerves were on edge, all having to do with her sister’s disappearance, the note about it from her friend, and she still felt groggy from—she wasn’t sure what. The vampire’s attack on her, most likely. So, she attributed her inability to deal with her emotions in a rational way—to everything else going on with her.

  Tears blurred her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. She cursed feeling any emotion about it any further. She was what she was. She would not allow a hunter to kill an innocent vampire. If she had to do it all over again, she would. She was certain some hunters would feel the same as her, but they didn’t want to end up like her, in trouble with the League. She needed to get home where she would be safe. Then she would take care of herself.

  But what if the vampire came for her again? She must have some connection to him, but she had no idea what it was. Had she killed one, and there was another? The wolf perhaps?

  Cool, damp mist suddenly enveloped her, and she shivered. Then a man appeared before her, too close for comfort, his massive build stealing her breath. He was blond, had brilliant blue eyes and a gargantuan smile. She recognized him at once. “You’re…you’re the guy who was dancing with Atreides’s girlfriend at the club.”

  “Ragnar,” he said and bowed.

  She didn’t feel any animosity from this man.

  Before he could say another word, a sudden flurry of flapping filled the air, and Atreides appeared, his look black. He grabbed Ragnar by the throat and pinned him against the brick building.

  Selena stood dumbstruck as if Medusa had turned her to stone. Had Atreides and his friends—as they all suddenly stood around them in a semi-circle watching Atreides—intended to follow her wherever she went?

  “What the hell are you doing here?” Atreides asked the hulking blond vampire, his voice low and angry.

  Expecting Ragnar to break free as big as he was, Selena watched in awe as the man merely smiled. “You want the huntress, yet you let her roam the streets on her own. Ja?”

  “You will leave here,” Atreides said to Ragnar.

  “If you have no intention of making the huntress your ward, I will watch over her.”

  Selena observed the battle of male vampire wills and shook her head, not believing that Atreides and his pals had been spying on her, nor that Atreides’s enemy, Ragnar, had been also. Hell, had they seen the way her brother had treated her?

  “Leave, Ragnar, now,” Atreides ordered.

  “What say you?” Ragnar asked Selena.

  “Goodnight.” She stalked off, hoping to get to her apartment without any further trouble. If she could just hail a taxi…

  Atreides released Ragnar and appeared in front of Selena, blocking her path. With a gasp, she took a step back. Seizing her wrist, he pulled her to his van. “You will tell me where you live, and I will take you there. I will have no more games.”

  She cast him her most hostile look, but he ignored her. Nearly making her run, she tried to keep up with his long stride. She hated the way his touch heated her inside, when she was annoyed with the way he tried to control her. But for now, she had little choice.

  “Where do you live?” Atreides asked, his voice annoyed.

  “Riverview Apartments. I already told you.”

  “You said Rivercrest.”

  “I did?” When did she say that?

  He stared at her for a moment, then shook his head as he walked her to the vehicle, then made her sit in the passenger’s seat.

  “I just moved in. Maybe I got it mixed up.”

  “She told you after she was hit,” Basil said. “Maybe she had been confused.”

  She suspected he was right.

  “Why don’t you like Ragnar?” she finally asked, wondering if the man had put the moves on Atreides’s vamp girlfriend before and that was the reason. She could understand that.

  Atreides remained silent though, his countenance darkening, if that was possible.

  An uneasy silence filled the vehicle, and she figured the vampires weren’t even communicating telepathically with each other. They probably figured her to be more trouble than she was worth, so why were they bothering?

  Which made her change her view of them a little more. They had been protecting her all along. Yet, she reminded herself, they probably hadn’t had a good diversion like this in a long time either.

  Or maybe it all had to do with worrying that someone would tie her assault directly to the members who frequented the club, and they wanted to make sure she got home safely so no connection could be made. That was more likely.

  When they arrived at her small apartment complex, Atreides and his friends escorted her to her front porch. She was tired, feeling as though she could sleep nonstop for a week. Then she realized her key to her car and her apartment were still in the vehicle—that had been stolen. For a moment, she just stood there, trying to figure out what to do next. Then she remembered the crown frog prince statues under the shrubs next to her door. One of them had a hidden key.

  She retrieved the key and then she unlocked the door and stepped inside. Immediately, Atreides commanded, "Call your family."

  He and his friends stood at the entryway to her apartment, unable to enter, but they didn’t force the issue. They were attempting to keep the status quo. Vampires out, hunters in. Even so, it appeared he wasn’t going to leave her alone unless she proved to him that someone was coming to watch over her.

  She was torn between acquiescing, when she knew she couldn't call her family, and coming up with a foolproof strategy to get rid of him. She took a deep breath, grabbed her portable phone off its stand, and called Tara Green, hoping she could fake a scenario with her friend without Atreides or his friends becoming suspicious. “Tell my brother to come see me. I’ll explain later.”

  “What?”

  Not good.

  “Daniel’s not speaking to you, unless something major has changed that,” Tara said, sounding suspicious.

  Avoiding looking at Atreides or his friends, Selena studied the carpet under her feet and hoped the vampires couldn’t hear Tara’s words. “He’ll be here within the hour? Thanks! I’ll talk to you…”

  “You’re not making any sense, Selena. What about Twilight? Did you meet with her?” Tara asked.

  Selena glanced back at Atreides. His scowl had deepened. Ohmigod, he hadn’t heard Tara’s comments with his enhanced hearing, had he?

  “Uhm, no, she wasn’t there. Or at least, uhm, didn’t come forth.”

  Suddenly, Tara blurted, “Yes, yes, come in, Atreides.”

  “What did you say?” Selena’s gaze shot to Atreides.

  Tara said, “What did I just say?”

  She’d just invited the vampire in. How in the hell had he done that? He had controlled Tara’s thoughts through the damned phone?

  Atreides moved like a panther, sleek, sure of himself, the wicked look of satisfaction playing on his lips. He motioned to his friends with a wave of his hand, and they all entered the apartment.

  Before Selena could react, Atreides tore the phone from her grasp. Immediately, her heart pounded, and Selena grabbed for the phone, but Colt intercepted her and pulled her away.

  Atreides’s eyes glittered with malice, and he said into the phone, “What would Selena need to see Twilight about?”

  “Who is this?”

  A vampire who would know the truth from the huntress one way or another. “A friend of Selena’s. But a vampire bit her last night. She needs a hunter’s protection in the event the rogue returns for her. Why wouldn’t her brother do it?”

  “She has…she has had a falling out with her brother.”

  “What about a cousin? Her father? Who else could protect her?”

  “Who is this?”

  “You’re not a huntress, are you?” Tara Green was a human, or Atreides couldn’t have so easily controlled her mind,
which didn’t make any sense since most hunters only associated with their own kind. Though very little about the huntress made any sense.

  “No. I’m her friend. Why…why don’t you protect her?”

  “She needs a hunter’s protection. Why did she need to see Twilight?”

  “You’re…you’re a vampire, aren’t you? My God, you’re a vampire! You made me invite you into her apartment, didn’t you? She’ll kill me.” Tara let out her breath. “I don’t know why Twilight needed to see her. She said she had information for Selena.”

  “About her sister?” Atreides kept his eyes on the huntress. She jerked her wrist away from Colt and collapsed on the white leather sofa. In fact, now that he had a chance to look at the place, he noticed how it looked like a puff of cloud, from the white leather couch and loveseat and the white-washed wood end tables and wood tables, to the ceiling fan overheard, its five white blades twirling around.

  “What kind of information did Twilight have for her?” he asked the human.

  Selena’s eyes darted to Atreides’s.

  “I told you I don’t know.”

  “Who can Selena call to protect her?”

  “No one. Sounds to me like you’re it. That would be a real switch.”

  He could hear amusement in the human woman’s voice, but he was not amused.

  “I’ve gotta run. Nice talking to you. Keep her safe, will you? She’s the only huntress friend I’ve got.”

  The phone clicked dead.

  Atreides glanced at Selena, looking red-faced and small as she sat on the couch. He crossed the floor to join her. “You have a human friend. You were meeting with a blood bond for some kind of information, and your family won’t protect you. What kind of a mess have you gotten yourself into?”

  She tilted her chin up and glowered at him. “I haven’t gotten myself into any mess. It’s my…” She shook her head. “My business is none of your concern.”

  “When you walked into my jurisdiction and were attacked by one of my kind, it became my business.”

  “We can’t let her stay here alone,” Basil warned.

  “She can still come to my ranch,” Colt offered, looking hopeful.

  Atreides rubbed his chin, realizing he had no other choice but to put her under his protection until he could discover what information she needed from Twilight and why her hunter family was ostracizing her.

  “Colt, Renault, search her place for huntress weapons.”

  The two men bowed and vanished.

  Selena’s back stiffened. “I’m perfectly fine here, as long as you don’t invite my attacker into the place.”

  His friends reappeared and shook their heads, which confirmed Atreides’s suspicions. Her kind had banished her from carrying weapons. Yet she had somehow kept a sword for her defense. She was a rogue huntress. None of her kind would aid her, and without other weapons at her disposal, she was no match for a renegade vampire. Despite his misgivings, he would not leave her at the mercy of the one who had targeted her.

  “Pack your bags. You’ll return with me.”

  Selena’s eyes narrowed. “You won’t tell me what to do.”

  “You don’t have a choice, huntress. Either you come with me, or I stay here with you.” Though he had no intention of staying here with the huntress.

  Renault grinned. “What will the neighbors think?”

  “Fine.” Selena stormed off down the hall.

  Colt snickered. “I guess she’s worried about her reputation.”

  “I doubt she has much of one to protect,” Atreides said under his breath.

  “Meaning?” Colt asked.

  “She’s a renegade,” Basil offered. “I knew when she came to the club that she wasn’t a typical huntress. Hell, first your brother Daemon gets tangled up with a huntress who was a borderline renegade, Atreides, and now you are involved with one who is a full-fledged renegade.”

  No, she wasn’t a typical huntress at all. Which made her that much more dangerous.

  “Basil, can you locate Twilight for me? I want a word with her at once. It sounds to me like she knows more of the story than she’s telling us.”

  Basil bowed his head. “I will see to it, Atreides.” He cast a glance down the hall, then looked back at Atreides, his brow furrowed. “The huntress will complicate matters.”

  “No doubt.”

  Basil gave a sardonic smile and vanished.

  Chapter 8

  “I’m proud of you, Daemon,” Tezra said, stretching out on a chaise lounge in the dark beside a pool of warm water in the Virgin Islands. “Atreides needed this time to prove to you that he could run the clans without your watching over his every move. That’s part of why he’s so restless all the time and gets into trouble, just trying to prove his worth.”

  Daemon snorted, then began untying Tezra’s string biking top, kissing her shoulder while he did so. “It was only because of your insistence that he couldn’t do much damage while things are fairly settled down in the area for now that encouraged me to do so. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have given him an inch.”

  “He did just fine while you were in Florida helping the hunters and other vampires take out the rogues.”

  “Maison and Voltan were watching over the situation.”

  She shook her head and slipped her hands down his bare chest, her fingernails raking the top edge of his swim trunks. “He deserves your faith in him.”

  “You have no idea all the shenanigans he has pulled over the centuries. But this one time…” He kissed her deeply and she moaned into his mouth.

  “Daemon,” she whispered against his lips.

  “At least while your sister is at the hunter school,” Daemon added, pulling off Tezra’s bikini top and dropping it on the chaise lounge, “she’ll be safe and sound.” His fingers began untying Tezra’s bikini bottoms.

  “You could just pull them down,” she said, amused.

  “It’s the untying and letting it slip away from your body that intrigues me more.”

  His fingers slid between her legs, and he smiled. “Wet already and we haven’t even gotten into the pool yet.”

  She moved against his fingers, raking her nails over the erection pressing against his swim trunks.

  He groaned and jerked off his trunks, unable to hold back. He still thought of Tezra as a borderline renegade, but all his now. He was just glad his brother had hooked up with a vampiress and seemed to be satisfied enough, although Atreides had talked of wanting a huntress just like Tezra, even though Daemon knew he jested.

  One renegade huntress in the family had been problematic enough. Two would be a disaster.

  Thankfully, Daemon had convinced Atreides he wouldn’t want Tezra’s sister for a mate. No other huntress in her right mind would hook up with another vampire—so Daemon knew in that regard, he had no worries about Atreides.

  On the drive back to Atreides’s home, the vampires all began talking again about how they had room enough for the huntress at their homes.

  Atreides gave them all cold looks. He was in charge now, and the huntress was his to protect.

  “All right,” Renault said, “so you don’t want any of us to take her home with us, but you have your butler and housekeeper, and no one else to protect you. At least Daemon has Voltan to serve as his bodyguard, should the need arise. But you have no one. We could stay with you and see that she has extra protection should the rogue attempt to get to her again.”

  Atreides could imagine his friends all vying to win the huntress’s favor. Not that they would want her as a mate or anything, but just to be able to show off to the others of their kind that they had made inroads with a huntress. They would be the talk of the clans for years to come, just as Daemon had been when he took Tezra for his own.

  Still, their point was valid.

  “Until we sort this out, you can stay in the guest rooms.”

  Everyone was grinning, but the huntress. She had fallen asleep in the farthest back seat in the van. If Atreid
es hadn’t been concerned he might need their help in protecting the huntress while they looked into this matter, he would have said no.

  “What do you think this is truly about?” Renault asked.

  “It could be anything from a vampire just being a psycho with no rhyme or reason for the attack, a way to get back at the hunters who have murdered some of our vampiresses with no just cause, or a way to start a war between our people and theirs. There’s just no telling.”

  “And Twilight’s involvement?” Colt asked.

  “She doesn’t like hunters. Yet when she came into the room to see Selena, she seemed more than interested in her. I thought it was just because the huntress was acting so out of her element and that intrigued Twilight, but then she’d said she’d intended to rendezvous with her,” Atreides said.

  “I would love to hear the reason,” Renault said.

  “I’m sure we all would,” Atreides said. “It was something to do with Selena looking for her sister, but we don’t even know who she is.” He realized he should have asked Tara Green if she knew who Selena’s sister was.

  “I found Twilight sleeping at a hotel near the club. Do you want to have me take her to your house or the club?” Basil communicated to Atreides privately.

  “My house. See you there in a few minutes,” Atreides said telepathically back. To his friends, he said, “Basil found Twilight. They’ll meet us at my house.”

  “Maybe she’ll be able to shed some light on this,” Renault said.

  “If she knows who the rogue vampire is and didn’t tell me already, she’ll be banned from all vampire establishments,” Atreides said.

  “Amen to that,” Colt said.

  When they arrived at Atreides’s home, lights illuminated the gardens out front of the two-story brick mansion and Atreides first noticed Iconia’s yellow Mustang sitting in the long, curved driveway. Hell.

  “More trouble,” Colt said. “How about I carry the huntress into the house so Iconia won’t be quite as pissed about it. The huntress is still sound asleep.”