Primal Desire (Heart of the Huntress Book 6)

by Terry Spear

  Her mother kissed Selena's forehead and then her dad kissed her cheek. Daniel squeezed her hand, but no one said anything to her, not wanting to disturb her if she could sleep through Rosa's whispered words.

  "Let's eat," her dad said, definitely sounding like he was in charge of the situation.

  Atreides was actually glad Selena's dad would do that so that she couldn't argue about it. At least he didn't think she would.

  They left the room then and sat down at the dining room table. Atreides felt bad that he hadn't woken Selena, but her parents hadn't wanted her awakened either. But he knew Selena would be upset with him if she missed out on her dinner and attending the family gathering.

  "Are you really all right?" Rosa asked Daniel, his arm bandaged up.

  "Yeah." He winked at her. "Better than all right."

  "So tell us how you met Selena," her dad said to Atreides.

  He knew Selena had told them what had happened. Was he trying to get verification that it had all happened that way? He told them all that he had seen, but not about the dance he'd had with Selena. "I was afraid she was after a rogue vampire," he said. "I was afraid she was going to just stir up trouble."

  Her dad smiled. "Yeah, that sounds like Selena. Once she has it in mind to do something, nothing will stop her."

  That could be a good thing and bad, Atreides was thinking. He just hoped Daemon was as happy about him mating her as Atreides was.

  "You're the right man for her," her dad said.

  Atreides was relieved her father would feel that way about him. He didn't want to be the wedge between Selena and her family.

  "I knew it right away when you took care of her when hunters wouldn't." Her dad gave his son a chastising look, well-deserved, Atreides thought. Her dad also cast a reprimanding look in Rosa's direction. Also deserved.

  Though Selena's sister and brother had apologized to her, it still was true. Not only were they hunters who hadn't watched out for her, they were her family, which made their reactions worse.

  "Dig in," Atreides said, wanting everyone to enjoy their meal before it got cold.

  "I agree with my mate," her mom said.

  Atreides had hoped Selena's mother would feel the same way about him as her father did, so this was good tidings.

  "We can see how she feels about you. You are perfect for her. How does your brother feel about this union?" Selena’s mother asked.

  "I'm sure he'll be fine with it."

  "You haven't told him about it yet?" her dad asked, pausing to take another bite of steak.

  "I didn't want to upset their vacation," Atreides said, making a mistake in saying so. "I mean, if my brother had known all the trouble I've had, not with Selena, but with the rogue hunters, he would have returned right away with Tezra.”

  "Tezra," her mother said. "She will help Selena make the transition as well."

  "That's what we figure."

  "We're glad for you both," her dad said then. "But we want to know if things change when Daemon returns home."

  So they weren't fooled by Atreides's attempt to try and show that he believed Daemon would be fine with him and Selena mating.

  Selena suddenly appeared in the dining room, arms folded across her chest, and frowning at Atreides. She'd startled everyone and four hunters had their swords drawn. Her parents hadn't seen her using a vampiric mode of transportation yet, so it was probably sinking in a little more that she wasn't exactly like them any longer.

  "It was my decision, Daughter," her dad said. "Join us before you fall down."

  Atreides was already helping her into the seat beside him, trying not to smile at her dad's words, or appear too grateful her dad had made the decision for her and wouldn't hear another thing about it.

  "I told you I wanted to eat with everyone."

  "You are, Selena," her mother said. "Just a little late. You were tired, sound asleep, and even Rosa's talking to us in your room didn't wake you. What were we to do? You are a bear when you are tired. And after being injured so? You needed to rest further."

  Selena was already eating her steak. It appeared she hadn't lost her appetite, though halfway through her meal she sat back in her chair and looked sleepy all over again. He wanted to carry her back to bed, but he suspected she wouldn't go for it and they would have their first fight as a mated couple.

  Instead, everyone talked about the battle, what worked, what went wrong while Selena made the greatest effort to stay awake. Atreides appreciated that they were trying to keep the subject off how tired she appeared. The way she was so lethargic, reminded him of when she'd been so savagely attacked before. Atreides was dying to ask her if she wanted to return to bed, but she could return herself there, so he knew she didn't want to.

  All her family members were glancing at Selena, looking at her with worried expressions, feeling as Atreides did. That she needed to be in bed, sleeping, to recover from her wounds faster. They finished the meal, all but Selena, and Atreides saved the rest of her steak for her for later. Then he carried her to the couch and his housekeeper brought a blanket and pillow for her.

  They all took seats in the living room where they continued to discuss hunter strategy, while Selena rested her head on Atreides's shoulder and was fine like that for a while. The next thing he knew, she was lying on the pillow on his lap and was sleeping soundly. Everyone seemed pleased to see the way Atreides handled the situation with Selena and were comfortable with her being there.

  He still wanted to take her to bed, but he suspected he would wake her and as long as she was happily sleeping there while they all discussed issues, he would do so.

  He was surprised to hear her family speaking about hunter strategies though, since he was a vampire.

  "So what do you think about the change in this game?" her father asked.

  He wasn't sure if her father meant the business with having huntresses who had been turned working with them or—

  "The gun issue," her father clarified.

  "The vampires can dodge bullets, vanish, as long as we're not hit before that happens. Selena didn't stand a chance because she entered the apartment first to invite me in, was shot, not expecting it, and then had to transport to somewhere safe—the extra bedroom. She was unconscious for a few minutes before she could invite me in and then I immediately came to her aid. I wanted to take her out of there right away, but she was insistent that we take down the hunters, so they didn't get away from us and kill some more."

  "She's persistent when she's after a rogue," her mother said.

  "And she was right in taking down the hunters before they could kill any more innocents," her dad said.

  "If we have trouble with this in the future, those who have to hunt rogues down of this nature, might have to wear bulletproof vests. We all heal faster, but if we bleed out before we can get to safety, it could be bad news for those who are newly turned or who are hunters. As far as it goes for us, the ancient vampires, it shouldn't be an issue. If that's the case, the League might have to call on us to come and help out against hunter rogues. Or rogue vampires who might decide that's the way to go. In a way, I would have liked to have kept this news from the press, so to speak. But there was no way to keep it under wraps because of the injuries Daniel and Selena had suffered," Atreides said.

  "I agree," her dad said. "When it comes to a situation like this, we need to be aware of what had occurred anyway, to decide how to handle it best. If we don't, and it occurs again and we're wholly unprepared again, that's not good either."

  "True." Atreides stroked Selena's dark hair.

  "The hunters were staying in a bad part of town. Do you think they had the guns for that reason?" her mother asked. "They wouldn't have been successful against gunmen if they were using only swords."

  "No," her father said. "If that were the case, they would have used swords in an honorable fight. They wouldn't have drawn guns and used them against a huntress. They knew who Selena was. Rosa. Daniel. They might not have known the
huntresses turned, but they knew enough of the hunters that they should have dropped the guns and grabbed their swords to fight. They didn't because they planned it that way."

  "Did they even have swords in the apartments?" Rosa asked. "We were in such a hurry to get Selena out of there, we never looked."

  "The hunters who investigated the crime scenes found their swords near their bodies. They were armed with both. Maybe in the event vampires came after them and they knew they would have to kill them with a sword to the heart or remove their heads,” Daniel said.

  They were talking for about an hour when Selena suddenly groaned and sat upright, groaning again. When she saw her whole family sitting in the living room, she let out her breath. "I thought you had gone home."

  "No, we didn't want you to think we had abandoned you. We were visiting with Atreides. Are you finally ready to retire to bed?" her mother asked. "We are. We've had a delightful time, and next time, we would love to have you both to our home for dinner."

  "We would love it," Atreides said, glad her mother said they were ready to go home. He enjoyed visiting with them, but he really wanted to take Selena to bed where she belonged, and he suspected she wouldn't retire to bed until he did.

  "Oh, yes, that would be great," Selena said.

  "We have an early hunter meeting to go to," her dad said, standing and stretching.

  "I have some calls to make," Daniel said. "Great dinner, Atreides."

  "Thanks, we'll do it again sometime."

  "I need to get my beauty sleep after all the hunting we've been doing at night. I have been burning the candle at both ends," Rosa said.

  "I need to return to bed," Selena said.

  Atreides knew everyone agreed, though they didn't say so.

  Then they all left after giving Selena hugs and kisses, and even Selena's mom and Rosa gave Atreides a hug. Except for Selena and Tezra, well, and her younger sister, he hadn't had hugs from huntresses.

  "When Daemon returns, we'll be sure to have you over again and let him meet everyone," Atreides said.

  "Yes, we would like that." Then her dad and the others went outside, Daniel taking Rosa home and their parents driving their own car.

  Atreides shut and locked the door, then grabbed Selena up in his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he carried her back to bed.

  "Are you staying with me?" she asked.

  "Yes. What startled you so when you were sleeping on my lap on the couch?"

  "I had a nightmare about being assailed by a barrage of bullets. That has never happened to me before. Fighting a vampire that suddenly appears is one thing, and I'm usually prepared for that. Except for when the vampire attacked me.”

  "I'm sorry. I will always regret I wasn't able to protect you better."

  She kissed him. "You couldn't have. I shouldn't have been so brash in running into the room to fight them all on my own."

  "That's normally your way, sword out and ready for a fight. No one would have expected them to begin shooting,” Atreides said.

  "True. So what did you think of my parents?"

  "I highly respect them. As far as I'm concerned, your family is my family. And they were completely accepting of me and of our relationship. "

  "I'm so glad for that. I'm so sorry about the steak. It was delicious. As fast as my family scarfed them up, I know they loved them too. I just couldn't eat all of it."

  "I saved it for you."

  "I thought you had said that. Thank you."

  "You're welcome." Then he kissed her.

  "Make love to me."

  He smiled. "When you are all better." He wasn't about to hurt Selena no matter how much she wanted this. Later, he would surely take her up on it.

  Two days later, Daemon and Tezra flew in from their vacation in the middle of the night, and Atreides went along to pick them up, as was their custom, their driver driving the limousine. Maison and Voltan were with them. Atreides had wanted to go alone, to iron things out between his brother and him, and not have Selena in the middle of it. He wanted his brother, for the first time to meet her, to be as gracious toward her as her parents had been toward Atreides.

  "So how did everything go?" Daemon asked, his brows raised.

  "Everything was fine."

  "You are seeing a new woman," Daemon said. "Someone I don't recognize."

  Atreides should have realized they would smell Selena's scent on him as much as they hugged and kissed each other as new mates.

  "About that," Atreides said.

  "We know all about it," Daemon said, shocking the hell out of Atreides.

  He'd been trying to find the words to tell them what had happened that wouldn't make his brother too angry with him.

  "Who told you?" Atreides asked as the driver drove them home.

  "The president of the League, Selena's father, her brother, her sister, King of the fringe hunters, Iconia. And a vampire who has come into our territory, though he often runs as a wolf, Quail, who has asked me to allow him to join the clan."

  Atreides closed his gaping mouth.

  "Why didn't you bring Selena with you?" Tezra asked, smiling at him. "I have met her before, and I know we will become best of friends."

  "I wanted to tell you what had happened first." Atreides appreciated that his brother and his mate would trust in him enough to let him accomplish the mission without interfering. "When you learned of what was going on had you wanted to return and take over the clans to resolve the situation?" He had to know the truth. He couldn't imagine Daemon being fine with what had been going on.

  "I was having too good a time with Tezra. We needed this time alone. And you needed to prove to yourself that you could handle the difficulty, no matter what."

  Atreides was having a difficult time believing that his brother hadn't been chomping at the bit to return home and straighten everything out. It wasn't exactly that Atreides felt Daemon didn't trust him to do the right thing, but that he was always ready to take care of a crisis, whatever it took, and leaving it to his younger twin brother to handle wasn't something he would normally do.

  Then Tezra channeled her telepathic communication to Atreides privately, "Yes, he was dying to return home to oversee things. But he knew you were handling things just the way he would have done, and there was no sense in him returning early from our vacation when you were getting a handle on it."

  That's what Atreides figured. He wasn't sure Daemon felt that Atreides was handling things just fine. He suspected Tezra had a hand in convincing him to leave well enough alone. And he appreciated her for it.

  "How is Selena and her brother?" Tezra asked.

  "Her brother is milking his injury for everything it's worth—getting lots of huntresses' attention. Selena is getting much better. She wants to meet you tomorrow night. She figured you would be tired from your journey home, and she would have another day to rest up." Which was true, but Atreides knew she had made the suggestion because she knew how unsure he was about speaking with his brother about this whole situation. Though he thought her resting up for another day was a good idea too.

  "That works for us. Did you want to have dinner at our house then?" Tezra asked.

  Atreides hesitated. He hadn't thought they would want to have dinner right away after they got home from their vacation and he was wondering if Selena would prefer to be in the comfort of their home, or in Daemon and Tezra's.

  "At our house," Daemon said. "She needs to visit with us there since she has never seen the place. We'll prepare dinner. She has been through a couple of ordeals. Let her rest up and we'll treat her to a feast."

  "All right. At your house then." Atreides was so relieved all of it was out in the open, even though he thought he was going to have to do a lot of explaining.

  "We're proud of you," Tezra said, "Aren't we, Daemon?"

  "Yeah, I couldn't have done a better job than you did."

  Atreides couldn't have asked for better praise from his brother and he felt so much better a
bout it now. "Thanks. I didn't want to trouble you when I knew I could handle it.” Which Atreides knew for sure, but he just hadn't been so sure his brother would have wanted him to take care of matters. Well, he was actually sure his brother wouldn't have left it up to him to do. Especially if Tezra hadn't had a hand in it. He would have to thank her later. But he had to know, had anything he had done been in secret? “Was everything I was doing reported back to you?"

  It bothered him that there were spies in the clans who might have been reporting every little thing back to Daemon. Which reminded him of the dance he’d had with Selena and what all was said about that! And the way he had danced with the fiery huntress before she'd even been turned!

  "No. You'll have to fill us in on all the details," Daemon said. "The League Council contacted me so that I knew they were working with us now, and they wanted to make sure it was fine with me. Iconia told me about you protecting a huntress and taking her home with you. But then she told me later that it didn't matter, everything was fine, Iconia and you had broken up and she was happily seeing Ragnar. I pressed her about the huntress, but she just said all that had been handled."

  Atreides appreciated that Iconia had made a complete turnaround where Selena was concerned. He didn't expect the women to become fast friends, but anything was possible.

  "We want to meet with Selena's family as soon as possible also," Tezra said. "Since I'd lost most of mine, it will be great to expand our family."

  "It's going to really work out well, I think, with having ties to the League and they're coming around with working with the fringe hunters too. But I'll let Selena know you want to meet with them too," Atreides said.

  The rain started and pelted the car as they drove to their home. Tezra gave Atreides a hug. "We're so glad you took charge so we could have our vacation."

  Daemon hugged him also. "You did good. You know what this means, don't you?"

  "You're going on more vacations?" Atreides was hopeful Daemon felt that he and Tezra could now.

  Daemon smiled. "Yeah, and if I need to help out others in need, like even the hunters turned against the rogue vampires in Florida, I can do it without worrying that you can manage things on your own. You've made some real changes that should benefit all our kind. You've made me proud."