Hunger Embraced (The Hunger Series) (5 page)

I hit “T” to skip ahead to the right section in contacts.

Tasty Pizza, The Golden Wok, Thibodeaux House, T.T.B.-Daniel…

Son of a bitch vampire!

Daniel had put himself into my contacts list. So not only did he overstay his welcome, eat my candy, and interfere in my job, he’d been in my phone snooping around. Who does that kind of crap? I almost smiled at the last name he’d put in for himself but stopped with a scowl. Just because it said T.T.B.-Daniel did not mean he was forgiven or cute. Or funny. Or strangely generous. No, no, no to all of it. He was being all alpha male and stepping on my independence. I definitely did not need any of that.

I snarled for a full minute at the screen for good measure before highlighting Thibodeaux House.

The phone rang ten times before I hung up and tried again. Another ten rings. No machine or voicemail pickup. The lack of voicemail wasn’t a surprise, but someone usually answered the phone. Chills raced up my spine.

The vamps in my father’s court are not restricted by daylight and tend to keep a schedule pretty similar to a human’s. At least, I think they do. I’d never spent much time there finding out.

They also keep humans around to feed on. Playing food to the Incubi doesn’t appeal to me, but for some people, it’s an easy trade off—lots of sex, no chance of a disease, almost no danger of pregnancy, and a great place to live. The Incubi don’t even kill their food often, at least, not that I’d seen.

A sick feeling settled into the pit of my stomach, and I swallowed hard against a wave of acid making its way up my throat. My mother’s number appeared on the screen, and I tried her. Chances were good she’d know where my father was. The phone rang. And rang. The sick feeling tightened into a knot that twisted and coiled over on itself.

My parents and I didn’t communicate well. Or often. The night I left, I’d sorta screamed at them, broken a few things, and stomped out the door without looking back. Seven years should be enough time to forgive me and look past my destruction of a few antiques. We were all grownups now.

I didn’t have any other ties to the vamp community to contact. Perhaps I shouldn’t have spent so much time chasing all my so-called “conquests” out the door before even learning their names.

I hated second-guessing myself. A fingernail found its way between my teeth.

If my parents simply weren’t answering my call, that would be one thing. But I knew with a certainty deep in my gut it was more than that. My father wanted me to stay a part of his court, but he’d let me go when I insisted on leaving. He’d known. And still he’d let me go. The never-ending stream of hungry vampires—and the consequences of feeding them while not feeding myself—might have sent someone else home crying and ready to toe the line. Phillipe Thibodeaux counted on it. Wikipedia probably featured his picture in the pages on arrogance and self-assured, overbearing nobility.

My mother, Eleanore, on the other hand, well, our relationship didn’t even qualify for much besides a footnote mention. She’d given birth to me and promptly handed me off to a nanny. Pleasing my father was her sole focus in life. Giving birth to me pleased him, so she’d performed as asked. After she finished incubating, she viewed me as simply one more accomplishment to hold over the heads of the other concubines. I was an item on a checklist created to garner favor, and that was all.

Be chosen for sex the most times this month—check.

Be complimented on oral sex technique—check.

Give birth to female child—check.

Get back into bed with Phillipe—check.

My phone chimed while I stood there staring at it wondering what to do. Anna again. The message popped up under the first one she’d sent.

I’m home. Call me.

Another text followed a few minutes later.

What’s wrong? Call me or I’m coming over.

You’d think a five-foot-two-inch blonde with porcelain skin and the build of a fine-boned doll would be agreeable and sweet. And Anna could be. She could also be rather pushy and brash.

I wondered for the thousandth time if she was psychic. I’d never asked her out loud, but she was strangely attuned to my emotions. Any time I was upset, I’d get a call or text in minutes. If she caught any of the sex, she never mentioned it.

My phone rang as I punched in a reply. Composing a message took forever on my old-style cell.

“I’m fine.”

“Right. That’s why I’m sick to my stomach right now. You’re ruining my enjoyment of this pint of Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip.”

Uh oh. “Did you guys break up?”

A loud sniffle sounded followed by rueful laughter. “Yeah. I hate it when you’re right, M.”

A spoon scraping porcelain followed by a loud sigh vibrated in my ear.

“So, what’s your deal? Your anxiety is making my pity party worse times, like, fifty. You were, uh, fine earlier and then whammo! Sledge hammer o’ upsettedness to the forehead.”

“I tried to call my parents and can’t reach them.”

And had a vampire here yesterday who can read minds. He was super-hot and gave me an amazing orgasm before he made me bacon. But I can’t see him again because he’s going to totally screw up my life.

“Oh, is that all? And when did we have the breakthrough in our ‘determined not to associate with our family’ psychosis?”

“Ah well…I guess I just realized it’s stupid to keep shutting them out.” My thumbnail came off in my teeth, and I moved onto the forefinger, biting it down to the quick.

The clank of metal on porcelain and more rustling came through the phone’s speaker.

“Right.” Anna sighed loudly. “I guess you can tell me the truth later. Hopefully you settle down enough so both of us can get some rest.”

“If you’d come with me to see Lane, I’m sure she could—”

“M. Please. You know how I feel about that bullshit. Next thing you’ll be telling me ghosts are real and you’re holding leprechauns hostage in your basement.”

For someone with obvious gifts, Anna could be incredibly dense. I didn’t push her too hard about it though. Then I’d have explaining of my own to do about what
I
am. Our relationship works well because she doesn’t ask too many questions and neither do I.

“All right I’ll try to settle down. Maybe drink a box of wine or two. It’s probably nothing. Maybe they’re on vacation. What happened with Dennis the Stache?”

Her latest guy, while cute enough, wore ridiculous facial hair. One of those guys whose beard came in all spotty and thin, but he insisted on trying to grow a goatee and mustache. And something was off about him that I couldn’t put my finger on. I don’t know why Anna didn’t see it. Maybe she didn’t want to. On the surface he’d seemed fine, lack of horny thoughts aside.

“Ugh. Well, he would rather be with someone else. Who’s not female.” Embarrassment colored the words. I grimaced in sympathy.

“So he took you to the Falls and started trolling?”

“No. No. I don’t think he knows it. The sex was just, I don’t know, just OK. And even when I would try to go kneepads optional on him, he wouldn’t always get it up.”

“OK, but that’s not necessarily a sign of anything. He could just be stressed out from work or whatever, right? You never had a feeling before?” I popped a few jelly beans in my mouth and flopped onto the couch.

“No, the lack of bombardment was part of the appeal. It’s hard to date when you’re trying to ignore all the sex feelings. Combine lust with anger or jealousy and it’s a no fly zone. As far as stress…that’s what I thought at first. But he took me out. To a club. Said he wanted to buy me a lap dance. Like a kinky sex thing. That’s fine. Whatever. Only once we were there, it was obvious he was more turned on by watching the strippers than me getting rubby with the guy and was disgusted with himself for it. So I left.”

“Oh, honey, I am so sorry. Look, it’s time for you to meet Lane. You gotta get this under control.”

“No. Absolutely not. I’m not into that New Age mumbo jumbo bullshit. Stop pressuring me to meet your freaky friend.” Her voice increased in volume until I had to hold the phone away from my ear.

“Stop yelling at me! Geez, I’m only trying to help.”

“I don’t want that kind of help. I don’t need that kind of help,” she shouted.

“OK, I’m sorry. I’ll see you tomorrow, OK? I need to replenish my stash.”

“Yeah. Fine. OK. Bye.”

“Bye.” I said the word to myself; she’d all ready hung up. I hated fighting with Anna. She was my only friend. We’d had the argument about her meeting Lane more than once, but this was the first time she’d ever yelled at me. There was a deeper reason she didn’t want to meet the witch, but I had no idea what it could be.

I plugged my phone in to charge and picked up the note Daniel had left me once more, tracing the letters with my fingertip. Bone-deep fatigue settled over me, and I wandered to my bedroom, tucking the sheet of paper into my robe pocket. A pair of jeans tangled around my foot as I stumbled to the bed and moved the comforter down to climb in.

No matter how I lay, I couldn’t get comfortable. Comforter on, comforter off. Sheet, no sheet. The alarm clock ticked over so slowly I wondered if I’d wandered into an alternate universe.

Finally, around 3:00 a.m., I fell asleep. Plagued by dreams where a man hidden in shadow called to me over and over, I woke several times. No matter where I went, he called to me. The voice seemed familiar, but something was wrong with it. The shouts sounded garbled, gurgling almost. They terrified me.

I ran down unfamiliar cobblestone streets, the stones slick and rough beneath my feet, calling for Daniel. He never came.

Chapter Four

After lunch at my desk and a dessert of five Chewy Sprees, I stood and headed to the restroom. I passed Pencil Neck—the guy who liked to look down my shirt anytime he came to my cubicle—and he averted his gaze. I’d accidentally rolled my elbow into his balls this morning. Oops. I grinned in satisfaction at the memory. Now if someone could develop a spray or amulet to keep the horny vamps going in a new direction, life would be close to perfect.

One pervert down, hundreds to go…

I reached the corridor to the bathrooms and was about to turn the corner when a wave of heat hit me. It hurt, like being wrapped in a spider web of supercharged static electricity.

Oh no. Not here!

I rushed into the women’s room, slammed into a stall, and locked the door. It wouldn’t keep him out, but it made me feel better.

The outer door opened and closed. Sensation sizzled across my skin. I had to bite my lip to hold in an involuntary whimper. A pair of men’s brown dress shoes appeared on the floor in front of my stall, the tips peeking beneath. I swallowed past a knot in my throat and blinked. The terrible electricity became something else. It still hurt, but where it danced along my breasts and thighs it turned into a delicious heat I found incredibly arousing.

A light
tap-tap
sounded on the door of the cubicle, and I unlocked it without thinking, my body moving to obey the unspoken command. The vampire on the other side had dark hair, an olive complexion, and chocolate-brown eyes topped with straight, black brows and beautifully thick, sooty lashes. He was short for a man, perhaps only five eight or so, but the muscles of his biceps and chest strained his shirt. The perfect V shape of his torso tapered into a slim waist, and while his thighs weren’t as big as Daniel’s, they took up enough space in his pant legs to be evident. He cocked an eyebrow at me when I finished my perusal and returned my attention to his face. This was a man who expected attention and deference and received them.

He held a hand out to me—palm up. I placed mine in it and stepped forward as he kissed my knuckles. His beautiful mouth was full and yet still seemed cruel. After he lifted his lips away, he licked a lazy line between my middle and fore finger, increasing the electrical charge. I inhaled and my breath hitched. He smiled and drew me into his embrace, caressing my ass before resting his palm on the small of my back.

“You’ve grown into a beautiful woman, Miranda. This pleases me.”

I blinked. Surely I would have remembered meeting him in the past.

His faint accent held notes of a language I couldn’t place. He led me to the vanity and put my hands on the counter, stood behind me, and seized my waist. His gaze captured mine in the mirror’s reflection. Unlike Daniel, his power didn’t leak out of the dark abyss of those deep brown eyes. The waves of hot, sparking energy and electrical currents intensified.

I should have panicked at the loss of coherent thought, but I didn’t. Usually I ran the show with the vampires who sought me out. I said where and when. Having the decisions stripped away was a relief, even while a small part of my brain screamed at me about how abnormal the situation and my reactions were.

Goosebumps broke out on my skin as he used his thumbnail to scrape the back of my thigh, and I shifted my feet, squirming under the irritating sensations, but he held me in place. He reached higher and traced along the edge of my panties, sliding his finger beneath the edge to trace my buttock. The elastic bit into my skin when he snapped it, shoved my skirt up over my hips, and pressed between my shoulder blades until I bent at the waist. He placed his foot between both of mine, kicking at the heels of my pumps to make room for his thigh. I struggled to keep my legs together.

This was wrong. I had to get away from him. Not here, not at work. Not with him. I’d lose myself.

“You will cooperate, or I will restrain you.” The statement was accompanied by a smack to the right side of my ass. I closed my eyes and blushed in shame at the pleasure accompanying the pain. He inhaled loudly and chuckled under his breath.

“You cannot hide it from me, Miranda. We were made for each other, and I know what your body needs, what it craves. How you bend toward me, even though my essence dancing along your skin causes you pain.” He reached up, grabbed my ponytail, and smiled. Another smack struck my ass. “You like it rough, don’t you?”

“Spread your thighs.” He jerked on my hair for emphasis, and I couldn’t help but whimper as the pain became pleasure. A part of me wanted to continue to struggle against him, but I knew somehow that the more I fought, the rougher he’d get. The dark desire to fulfill his wish surged through me. It would be a mistake. I chose to relent instead, and he stepped fully between my legs.