The Hunter: A Vampire's Obsession: Book 4

by Stephanie Rylai

  She laid over him, knees on each side of his legs. Her hips picked up and dropped back down to move him in and out of her. Both of their breathing was ragged. Thomas’s hands ran up and down her sides as he caught her lips with his. Their kiss was hot and passionate as she rode him. His hips glided to her hips, helping move her up and down faster. There was something exciting and erotic about having sex in public, though she knew she would have never done it if they had been in a crowded city. But that wasn’t even a thought in her mind, her entire brain captivated by Thomas and their sexual encounter.

  His hands moved from her hips and went up her skirt, grabbing her ass with both hands and used it to aggressively pull her down on his member. Soon, neither of them could breathe well enough to share the kiss, her lips just hovering right above his as they panted. Thomas looked into her eyes, making it incredibly intimate. They weren’t just fucking, there was emotion in their actions. Some of it may have been alcohol and other parts of it desperation from not seeing one another, but there was real affection and feeling behind it all. The way he grabbed at her, kissed her, breathlessly moaned her name, there was no hiding there was something more to it.

  As they both neared climax, his hands left her bottom to wrap his arms tightly around her, pressing her body to his with one hand gripping the back of her head as he brought her lips to his for a deep kiss. Her pelvis moved rapidly, pushing them to the edge of ecstasy. Her pleasure peaked, causing her legs to quiver as she continued to move on him. It wasn’t long after until he climaxed as well, groaning against her lips. Elora didn’t bother even removing herself from him, just laying her head on her shoulder as she tried to relax as she came down from the orgasm.

  Elora awoke cuddled into a warm body. Her eyes slowly opened, her vision a bit blurry from the sleep. When her gaze found Thomas’s sleeping face pressed into her neck, a drowsy smile came to her lips. It was hard for her to admit, but she had missed him deeply. She reveled in his goofy humor, flirtatious banter, and rough touches. It was refreshing when the people around her treated her like a delicate child. Her cool hands ran the length of the arm he had draped over her, goosebumps in the wake of her touch. The cool skin seemed to stir him, despite being snuggled into her cold body. “Hey there,” she purred to him as his eyes gradually opened.

  He gave her a grin and pressed a kiss to her cheek, “Hey,” he breathed.

  Reluctantly, he sat up and gave a stretch before glancing to the nightstand next to him, “Or, should I say good morning,” he chuckled.

  The comment made her jolt up in the bed, “Morning?” she questioned, eyes wide.

  She hadn’t even given it a thought to what time it was. Elora didn’t remember much after their encounter in his car, so it was hard for her to guess when she fell asleep.

  Peeking around him to see the clock said 10:02 AM, Elora buried her face in her hands, “Goddamnit. I should have left hours ago.”

  She was going to be stuck in the motel room all day, unable to escape without touching sunlight.

  Thomas ran a hand down her exposed back, “Hey, it’s alright. You can of course stay here. I’ll stay in with you.”

  Elora’s face lifted from her hands, looking back over to him. She was touched that he was so understanding. He seemed to have a rather goo understanding of vampires, or maybe he just figured it since the bit about sunlight was a rather popular theory. But the thought made her think back to getting drunk the night before. What had he injected her with? Her eyes followed him as he stood from the bed, finding a pair of boxers and slipping them on.

  “Last night was fun,” she began innocently enough.

  “It was,” he agreed, a smirk on his face.

  “What exactly was that you gave me anyway?” she asked, still sitting on the bed with the blankets pulled around her.

  Thomas seemed to freeze for a moment, his eyes darting away from her. Silence hung in the air for a couple of seconds before he finally opened his mouth to speak, “It was the blood of a dead man.”

  Elora’s face sculpted into a look of horror.

  “Deadman’s blood?” she asked him, wide-eyed as she climbed out of the bed.

  Deadman’s blood was a very effective poison to vampires, able to kill a vampire within the matter of just an hour if left untreated—the only treatment being to bleed them, feed them human blood, and bite them to get vampire venom in their blood. Even then, deadman’s blood could kill an unfortunate vampire. “What? Were you trying to kill me or something?” she asked him, a bit of bite in her voice. Her brain couldn’t wrap around the idea that Thomas had found her in that bar, confessed he had feelings for her, injected her with deadman’s blood and then had sex with her. What kind of fucked up freak was he? What kind of game was he playing?

  “No, Ella. It wasn’t like that. It really was just to get you drunk,” Thomas tried to assure her, pacing over to her.

  When he tried to touch her arm, she jerked away from his touch.

  He ran a hand over his face before letting out a heavy sigh, “Look, I did some research on it. Yeah, deadman’s blood could kill vampires, but in tiny, minuscule doses, it actually can give the same sensation as being drunk. I wasn’t going to hurt you, I promise. What I told you last night was all true. I care for you.”

  It was hard to believe, but she eased. How did the others not know about that? Then again, it was probably a good thing they didn’t know. They were destructive enough sober. She didn’t drop her guard completely yet, though she eased just a bit. At least he hadn’t planned on hurting her.

  “Why did you have deadman’s blood in the first place?” Elora questioned.

  Thomas let out another sigh, “That, I will admit some wrong. I had it in case you tried to turn against me. I know how strong you are, and know I wouldn’t stand a chance. It is just a safety measure.”

  “Oh,” she mumbled.

  Well, that was fair. Thomas did know she was a vampire, and she was a lot stronger than he was. It did level the playing field if she ever did get mad enough to attack him.

  “Sorry,” Elora mumbled, “I understand now.”

  “No need to apologize, I would be the same way in your position,” he told her, putting an arm around her.

  “Now, I know you’ve eaten, but I’m starving so I’m going to order some breakfast,” he informed her, pressing a kiss to her forehead before going to find his cell phone.

  Elora relaxed, sitting back down on the bed after she pulled back on her panties and sweater. She was starting to realize he really, truly cared for her. If he had syringes filled with deadman’s blood and hadn’t used them to end her when he had the chance, then she didn’t have too much reason to doubt him.

  CHAPTER SIX

  The two of them spent the entire day together, laying in bed, playing cards at the dining table, watching bad TV, anything to pass the time. As the hours ticked by, they got to know each other more and more, sharing funny experiences and fond memories. Elora felt herself growing smitten by him, feeling almost like a giddy school girl. Thomas seemed to be completely at ease around her as well, opening up even without the help of alcohol. The only thing he wouldn’t budge on was telling her what he did for a living, saying he didn’t want her wrapped up in his troubles. Elora could only speculate it was something illegal. But it was fine if he didn’t want to share that part of his life with her, it was just a small part of who he was.

  When it turned to evening, Elora could have left, but she decided to stay with him instead. They watched old westerns, and Thomas ate Chinese. When the evening turned to night, Thomas started knocking back some beers he had in the fridge; and he injected Elora with another small dose of deadman’s blood. She fed from him, they had sex. And, she made the same mistake again of falling asleep and waking up after the sun came up. Thomas didn’t mind at all, spending yet another day with her.

  That time, when night fell, Elora knew she had to return to the nest before they started searching for her. Thomas gave her a long, aff
ectionate kiss as she went to leave the motel. It was sorrowful to leave his side, Elora uncertain how much time they would actually have together before they would be on the move. Yeah, he said he would follow her until the end of the Earth, but she wasn’t sure how much the nest would like a human following them.

  With her bike and his car being at the bar outside of town, she had to get a taxi to the bar before she could even get back to the warehouse; Thomas was going to retrieve his car shortly after she left but wanted to get dinner first. It wasn’t a horrible detour, but it took a full hour for her to get home thanks to wrong turns made by the taxi driver. When she arrived at the nest, everyone was gone for the night, and she was actually rather glad. Her body had switched to being awake during the day after her two days spent with Thomas, so she yearned for sleep. Elora changed her clothes before climbing into her hammock to sleep.

  After a long while, she was being jerked from her hammock. It was Abigail, who was wide-eyed at her.

  “Where have you been!?” she exclaimed to her friend, hands going to her hips.

  Elora rubbed her tired eyes, “Thomas and I bumped into one another. I accidentally overslept and had to stay the day with him. Why are you freaking out?” she asked.

  Her words only made Abigail’s eyes widen more, “So you were with Thomas?” she clarified.

  “Yeah… Why?” she questioned hesitantly.

  “Ella… Thomas is a hunter,” Abigail informed her with a serious expression.

  “What?” Elora snorted. “No, he’s not. I mean, he knows about vampires, but that doesn’t make him a hunter.”

  “You don’t understand,” Abigail said, shaking her head.

  “Last week, while you were in your funk, Clarissa, Jade, and Rianne all went missing. At first, we thought they had just ran off, rebelling against Lance or whatever, but a couple of the others found their bodies a few nights ago. Their heads were cut clean off.”

  Elora’s eyes widened at the news. Three girls were dead?

  “That’s horrible… But what does that have to do with Thomas?” she asked, no understanding the correlation.

  “The night before last, Thomas was in the bar we were in, talking to Cassie. They go outside. I got mad because he had already hurt you, you know? So, I followed them out to tell him off. They were both gone by the time I got out there. She never came back. On the way home that night, we found her body.”

  Elora was just floored, unable to comprehend it all.

  Her mind slowly worked through some of it, and she shook her head, “Just because he was the last seen with her, doesn’t mean he did it…” she muttered, her mind starting to wonder if he had slept with yet another vampire.

  “True, but I asked around the nest, and all of the girls were last spotted with a man that fits his description to a T. Blonde hair, bright green eyes, tan, and muscular. He’s a hunter, El. You’ve got to stay away from him. He’ll kill you.”

  Her friend held her gaze for a long time, wanting to show her the seriousness of the situation. Thomas had actually killed their nest members? If he was, then why hadn’t he killed her? Her heart felt torn, feeling the sting of betrayal that Thomas was killing off members of a group she had considered somewhat of a family. No wonder he wouldn’t tell her what he did for a living. And while it hurt and gave her a bit of fear for her own safety, she cared deeply for him—and after the two days she spent with him, Elora was starting to think she loved him. Before she could say anything to her dear friend, the door to the warehouse opened. In walked a handful of vampires, one of them being Lance.

  Instantly, his eyes locked onto her and a deep scowl fell over his face. He ran over to her, snatching her by the arm and dragged her outside. He towered over her, his brown eyes boring into her.

  “Where in the fuck have you been?” he snapped at her, his eyes burning with anger.

  “Somewhere that is none of your business,” Elora retorted stubbornly, crossing her arms over her chest.

  But then, Lance sprung a hand back and collided it with her cheek. The sheer force behind it made her lose her balance, stumbling back. Her hand went to her face, her cheek stinging from it. If she had been human, that could have very easily broken her cheekbone.

  “Don’t play goddamn games with me, Ella,” he growled.

  “You’ve been fucking a hunter?! Really?! Do you know what you’ve done? Do you know the lives you have cost?” He towered over her yet again, staring down into her eyes. “You are the most naïve, selfish girl I have ever met in all of my years. You’re going to tell me where he is, right now.”

  “I’m not telling you any goddamn thing,” Elora spat at him.

  “Do you realize what you’ve done? Do you know how worried I’ve been? The last two nights and tonight, all I’ve done is search for you, thinking you were dead. I haven’t slept or fed because of how worried sick I’ve been over you!”

  Thank god I had gone to a bar out of town, Elora thought to herself, glad that they hadn’t been able to find her or Thomas.

  She stood her ground, glaring hard at him, “I never asked you to worry about me. How many times do I have to tell you I’m not interested in the slightest. I don’t want you. I never have, never will.”

  Lance shoved her, “You stupid girl. I love you and you just spit in my face. This isn’t about that. This is about the fact that you’re boning a hunter, a hunter who has killed members of our family. You tell me where he is right now, or else.”

  “Or else what? What could you possibly do?” Elora barked.

  He snatched her by the top of the head, his fingers having no mercy as he pulled at the roots.

  “You don’t want to know what I’ll do,” he seethed through clenched teeth.

  His knuckles were white as he clutched at the short brown locks. It felt like Lance was going to scalp her with his bare hands. Her hands instinctively flew to his, trying to pry his fingers away from her.

  “Why do you have to do this to me? Why choose a pathetic human over someone like me? What can he do for you? Hm? I can provide the vampire life for you, give you things you deserve. Love you the way you can deserve. He’s weak and malleable. I’m strong and everlasting. I’m all you ould ever need.”

  Elora’s eyes were hard as she glared at him.

  “It’s not about need, Lance. It’s about want. And I don’t want you. Never have and never will.”

  He scoffed, “You can’t say you never wanted me. We’ve dated before.”

  She glared at him, “I never wanted to date you. I dated you because you hounded and nagged me until I did. I figured I would give you a shot, but all you turned out to be was a possessive, obsessive, controlling meathead who just wants to basically own the person you are with. I’m not even with you and you try and control me. You just have to suck it up, Lance. I don’t want you, I never will want you and I—”

  Her words were interrupted by his lips crashing against hers, stealing a kiss from her as if that was going to persuade her what she was saying wasn’t true and that she did like him. The kiss only sickened her, her stomach churning. Elora brought her knee up and collided it with his crotch. He hissed as he fell backwards, letting her free from his grasp. A hand went to his groin while the other hand reached to strike her, managing to punch her in the face as she fell back. Abigail finally stepped in, standing between the two, facing Lance with rage-filled eyes.

  “And who in the hell do you think you are, putting your hands on her?” she snapped at him.

  Lance snorted, “We aren’t humans, Abby. She can hold her own.”

  “It doesn’t excuse the fact you are attacking her!” she interrupted.

  Lance shoved Abigail out of the way, hovering just mere inches from Elora’s face.

  “You’ve fucked up,” he snarled.

  “I’m going to drain that little human of yours if it’s the last thing I do,” he seethed to her, venom in his voice.

  “Oh really? Is that because of the dead vampires, or because o
f your remarkable jealousy?”

  Elora snapped back at him. “Because you weren’t threatening that before.”

  Lance went to strike her again, when Abigail pulled on his arm and got him to face him. Elora didn’t have a chance to hear what Abigail was laying into him about, turning and high tailing it to her bike. She jumped on it and cranked it.

  “Ella! No!” Abigail called after her. “It’s almost dawn!”

  But Elora didn’t care. She kicked off and sped out of the parking lot. Leaving just at dawn would be the only way to make sure no one followed her. No one would dare go out at that time, terrified of dying by the heat of the sun. She drove like a bat out of hell, not paying attention at all to speed limits or traffic signs. She had to get to Thomas, to figure out what exactly was going on and to warn him about Lance’s promise.

  As she turned onto the road leading to town, she could feel her skin starting to ache as though it was sunburnt, the sun coming just over the horizon. By the time she found the main street, it felt like her skin was sizzling. Elora fought through the pain, knowing she needed to get to Thomas’s as fast as possible to get relief from the sun. As she pulled into a parking space, Elora was almost immobilized by the pain. Her jaw was clenched as she got off the motorcycle and hurried to his door. Her fist banged against the splintered wood, leaning against the wall of the building as she closed her eyes tightly. She continued to bang on the door until it opened.

  “Holy shit, Ella! What are you doing?!” Thomas exclaimed as he pulled her inside.

  Shutting the door behind them, he helped her into a chair before hurrying to draw the curtains at the window to keep all the sunlight away from her.