Wilder, J. C. - Shadow Dweller 2

by Retribution(lit)

  Little things about her had changed. She was terrified of storms. Where before she would've raced outside to embrace the fury of nature's wrath, thunder now sent her into a panic that would have her climbing into the closet for protection. She refused to go to bed in the nude. No matter how many times he undressed her and they made love, she would dress before she went to sleep. And she was always armed, even in the shower.

  How long until she would feel safe again?

  How long until they all felt safe?

  Only when Mikhail is dead.

  "What are you thinking?" Jennifer's voice broke into his thoughts.

  He beheld her lovely face. "I was thinking how beautiful you are." He chuckled when she blushed. "And I was wondering where the pizza guy is. I'm starved."

  "I don't know if I can spend all of eternity with a man who doesn't eat meat on his pizza." Her smile was mock serious.

  He pushed away from the doorframe and snorted with laughter. "Well, that won't stop you from eating more than your share." He walked across the deck and pulled her into his arms. "Last week I had to fight you off to save my share. I'd have starved to death if I didn't"

  Jennifer rolled her eyes. "Oh puh-leeze." She poked at his belly. "You have enough to live on for a while."

  Mac looked down at his flat stomach. "I resent that remark, young lady. I have the body of a man one-tenth my age."

  "You should give it back as he's probably looking for it by now." She snickered.

  Mac grabbed her by the waist and spun her around against the deck rail. Before she could draw breath he pressed his body into hers, slipping a leg between her thighs. "Are you laughing at me?"

  Jennifer grinned, trailing fingers down the ridges of his belly. "With all of my heart."

  He blew a smacking kiss on her collarbone. She squealed and jerked in surprise, knocking the bag of crumbs off the railing to the grass below.

  "Look what you made me do," she laughed.

  He didn't spare the mess a glance. "The birds will clean it up." He rocked gently against her body, catching the spark of desire that leapt to life in the depths of her eyes. "All the little vampires are asleep in their coffins. What shall we do for the afternoon?"

  Jennifer giggled, "Shai and Val do not sleep in coffins. They sleep in a bed like normal people do."

  "Mmm," Mac lowered his head and kissed the shadowed valley between her breasts, losing himself in the scent of her skin. A faint crack of thunder had her tensing in his arms. He raised his head to see her gaze locked on the distant storm clouds. Pain pierced his heart at the expression of fear that streaked across her face. He caught her chin, turning her to him. "Jo, I'm sorry Mikhail hurt you. I kick myself everyday for leaving you alone that morning."

  She shook her head. "I'm not going to lie to you. Mikhail did hurt me that day, and others too. I want to see him suffer for it. In the end he gave me you, and for that I will always be grateful to him."

  Touched, Mac tucked her against his chest. "I do fear for the future, Jen. Mikhail is wounded. From what Val told me, he was possibly blinded. Mikhail is a wanted man and he is being pursued by many of the preternaturals. There is no telling what he will do."

  Jennifer shivered. "What do you think will happen? He has invoked the law of seven, a direct challenge to the authority of the council. What will happen to Alexandre?"

  "If Mikhail can challenge Alexandre and win, he can take control of the Council regardless of his past actions. He will head the governing powers of the preternaturals including you and I. There are many out there who believe Alexandre's time of iron law is no more. They want freedom to create more creatures at will."

  "Alexandre wants what is best for us all," she objected. "The last thing we need is a massive influx of new vampires running around."

  "He is a fair man, and a hard man. On himself and others. All we can do now is wait until Mikhail resurfaces and until then, we have to try and keep everyone safe and accounted for. Especially Maeve."

  "Poor Maeve, she's been through so much. What will happen to Fayne and Renault?"

  "Fayne has taken in the albino's child." Mac chuckled. I don't think he ever thought he would be a father at this late date."

  "The child is a mortal?"

  "Yes. He was sorely abused at the hands of Edward. Fayne said the child has some rather unusual psychic gifts. The albino used him as an interpreter, since he was mute. As for Renault, no one has seen him since he left here a few months ago. Bliss says that if he doesn't reappear within a few months she will go after him."

  Jennifer shook her head, "So many ruined lives, all for what?"

  "Power, prestige, the ability to govern those weaker, " Mac kissed her throat. "Men have killed for less."

  "Mikhail doesn't realize this but he is the weakest of them all." Jennifer's fingers tangled in his hair. "What about you, my high priest, what shall you do?"

  He kissed the tender skin of her inner breast, eliciting a sigh. "I think I shall study the old ways and make love to my woman."

  Jennifer chuckled. "'Your woman'?"

  He smiled and nipped at her skin, his nose brushing the Sun. "My wench? My old lady, my..."

  "I am no one's wench." She laughed and punched him lightly on the shoulder. "Don't you forget that."

  "So what should I call you?" He pulled back to look her in the eye.

  "How about Jennifer?" She grinned.

  "How about Love Goddess?"

  "I like the Goddess part..."

  "How about heart of my heart?"

  She stilled. "Sounds good to me," she rasped.

  "Stay with me, Jennifer. Let me love you for eternity."

  She shook her head and his heart nearly stopped. "You have that backward," she choked out, tears flooding her eyes. "Let me love you for an eternity, Mac. I love you so much it hurts right here," she placed her hand in the center of her chest.

  Relief flooded through him and he pulled Jennifer against him. "I knew that even if you didn't." He kissed her forehead. "So, tell me something, does this mean you want to be on top?"

  * * *

  One With The Hunger

  Book I: The Shadow Dwellers

  by

  J.C. Wilder

  Copyright © 1998 Lisa Hamilton

  Previously published by Dreams Unlimited.

  Cover Art by Emily Black

  Cover Art copyright © 2001

  Published in Canada by LTDBooks, 200 North Service Road West, Unit 1, Suite 301, Oakville, ON L6M 2Y1 [www.ltdbooks.com]

  All rights reserved. The use of any part of this publication reproduced, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written consent of the publisher is an infringement of the copyright law.

  National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication Data

  Wilder, J. C., 1965-

  One with the hunger [computer file]

  ISBN 1-55316-070-3

  I. Title.

  PS3623.I45O54 2001 813'.6 C2001-902072-4

  Dedication

  For those who dare to dream...

  Chapter 1

  "I think you should take a lover."

  Shai paused, her baked potato-filled fork poised in mid-air. She stared aghast across the table at her friend. "Excuse me?"

  "Ohhh, yes," breathed Melanie, "tall, dark and handsome." She twirled a lock of icy blonde hair around her forefinger and fell back against her chair, a smile curving her full mouth. "And rich, of course."

  "I think it's a wonderful idea, if I do say so myself." Vivian, the instigator of the conversation, leaned forward, her elbows on the pristine white tablecloth. The stub of a Spanish cigarillo burned between her fingers as she pointed at Shai. "Just what you need to get out of your rut." The rich smoke from the imported cigarette drifted lazily around her head then vanished, vanquished by the efficient air conditioning in the restaurant.

  "I wasn't aware I was in a rut," Shai said pointedly.


  Vivian rolled her beautiful blue eyes and looked at her as if she were, at the very least, a dimwitted child. "Well, of course you don't see it, dear, that's what your friends are for... to point out these things."

  "Even if I don't ask you to," Shai muttered.

  Erihn ignored her. "Why do you think we bought that outfit for your birthday?" She waved her speared shrimp in Shai's direction. "Vivian said we had to prime the pump, so to speak."

  Shai glanced at the new clothes she wore. Granted, the clothing that had appeared in a beautifully-wrapped package on her doorstep earlier in the afternoon weren't her normal cup of tea. The short, black velvet skirt, long-sleeved black silk blouse and brilliant emerald green silk jacket weren't bad. In fact, they looked lovely on her, she admitted shyly.

  Before tonight she would never have dreamed of wearing such a revealing ensemble. She had to fight the urge to tug down the skimpy skirt every time she moved. She'd never worn anything in public that only covered her to mid-thigh; it simply wasn't proper. But it wasn't the clothing that worried her; it was the lingerie that had accompanied the gift.

  "I'll bet she isn't wearing them," Jennifer, a dark-haired, sloe-eyed woman, speculated.

  "Think so?" Vivian stubbed out her cigarette. "Enlighten us, little Shai. Are you wearing the naughty underwear Jen and I picked out?"

  "That's rather personal." Shai stalled, setting down her fork with a clang before reaching for her wineglass. The deep burgundy resembled blood inside the Irish crystal. In the dim lighting of the restaurant, the liquid glowed and shimmered as if lit from within.

  She took a hesitant sip, her mind scrambling for an excuse for not wearing the deliciously sexy lingerie. Too small, maybe? No, Jennifer would see right through that one. Damn! She wished they'd not gone shopping together last week. She set her glass down once more.

  Maybe she could say a panty raid had occurred while she was in the shower. Or armed guerillas had entered her apartment and stolen them at Uzi- point.

  "Looks like you're right. She isn't wearing them." Melanie untangled her hair from her finger and returned her attention to her plate.

  "I'm not sure why I put up with you guys," Shai grumbled. She picked up her fork and stuffed the now-cold bite of potato in her mouth, chewing as she glared at her four friends.

  "Because we're family in every way that counts," Erihn answered matter-of- factly. "And you love us."

  Jennifer grinned like a well-fed Cheshire cat. "That still doesn't answer the question. Are you wearing the naughty bits Viv and I bought for you?"

  Shai felt the blush heating her cheeks. While she'd been delighted with the clothing her friends had picked out, the lingerie was intimidating for someone who'd religiously worn plain white cotton all her life.

  The black lace demi-bra and matching thong had lain on the bed until the very last minute. As she was getting ready for the evening, she'd kept glancing at the lingerie, torn between her desire to don it and her wish that it would vanish into thin air. In the end, she'd relented.

  Sitting in the trendy New York restaurant wearing an outfit and lingerie that would have cost her a week's pay, Shai felt truly free for the first time in her life. She shifted in her seat, her bottom bare against the black silk half-slip. The whisper of black-seamed thigh highs felt foreign and sexy against her skin.

  "Yes, I am." She slapped her fork down on the table with a thump. "And I like it."

  "Bravo, darling." Viv raised her glass in a mock salute.

  "I suspected as much." Jennifer shrugged out of her black velvet bolero-style jacket to reveal gleaming porcelain skin and a tiny black leather bustier. "Maybe I should take another lover," she commented to no one in particular.

  "Wore out Marcel already?" Melanie asked. She picked up her glass of wine and finished it off.

  "That's the problem with men today." Vivian reached for a new cigarette from Melanie's pack. "No stamina."

  Erihn swallowed a gasp as she ducked her head. Her face half-hidden by a wing of rich brown hair, she busied herself with digging a chunk of crabmeat out of a claw. "More ginseng? Powdered deer antler?"

  "It would be hard for anyone to keep up with you, Viv dear. How many days a week do you go to the gym?" Melanie asked.

  "Three." With a flick of a gold lighter, she lit a fresh cigarette. "I can crush a tin can between these thighs."

  "Is that why you go through so many men? You crush them to death?" Melanie teased.

  Shai glanced at Vivian. "And this is a good thing...how?"

  "Maybe Viv is into recycling," chortled Erihn.

  Vivian eyed Erihn's Rubenesque figure. "It wouldn't hurt you to go once in a while."

  "Oh no, not me." Erihn caught the waitress's attention and waved her hand at the empty wine bottles to show that they needed another one. "What would I do with a man?"

  A tender look entered Vivian's eyes. She reached over and brushed Erihn's hair away from her face. Her nimble fingers lightly traced the scar that marred the young woman's cheek.

  A madman in Central Park had ended Erihn's budding modeling career seven years ago. In broad daylight, he'd grabbed her as she'd left a photo shoot. He'd kidnapped and terrorized her for three long, agonizing days before the police had caught up with him. She'd escaped with her life and a horrendous scar that would forever mar her face. But it wasn't the exterior scars that concerned her friends, it was the ones hidden deep inside they worried about. To this day, Erihn refused to speak of the incident that had forever changed her life.

  "I think you're perfect the way you are," Vivian murmured.

  Tears glittered in Erihn's deep brown eyes. "Thanks."

  Shai felt the tears stinging her own eyes. This was why she loved these women. Because they were family in the ways that counted the most. They were there when they needed one another and even when they didn't. For the past two years, they'd laughed and cried together, sharing their lives as only they could with other women. In a silent toast to her friends, she picked up her glass and drank.

  "Well, I for one have no desire to crush anything between these thighs," Jennifer spoke. "Anything that gets between these legs will sigh with pleasure...not pain." Shai choked on her wine. Without missing a beat, Jennifer pounded her on the back as she continued. "I haven't had any complaints yet."

  "Nor will you ever, dear," Melanie said. She grinned as the waitress appeared with another bottle of burgundy. "Can you grab some of these here?" She waved her hand at the empty wine bottles that littered the table before returning her attention to her friends. "Of course, that doesn't fix the matter at hand."

  "Which is?" Erihn asked.

  "Finding a lover for Shai," Vivian frowned at the young woman. "Weren't you paying attention at all?

  "Well, of course I was. I'm sitting right here."

  Shai leaned back, the base of her wineglass hitting the plate with a chime of fine china. "How in the world did we get on this topic? Who says I need a lover anyway?"

  "I did, dear." Vivian captured the bottle of burgundy before Melanie could help herself. She leaned around Erihn to fill Shai's glass and then her own. "It's your thirty-first birthday today and, in the two years I've known you, you've never mentioned a man once."

  "So?"

  "This needs to stop." Melanie liberated the bottle from Viv and filled her own glass. "Come to think about it, I've never heard you speak about any men. What's up with that?"

  Shai picked up her glass and took a quick swallow. How in the world was she going to get out of this one gracefully? She set the glass on the table before she spoke. "Just because I don't need a man to make my life complete, does this make me a freak?"

  "Yes," they all spoke in unison.

  Shai rolled her eyes. "So much for woman's lib. It's lost on you guys. I don't see anything wrong with being alone."

  "I do. It simply isn't natural." Jennifer leaned forward to pick up her case and extract a cigarette. "Take me, for example. I'm a very successful journalist and I'm not in a relationsh
ip. However," she dropped the case on the table, "I do have several gentlemen I can call to entertain me and take the edge off."

  Shai blinked. "Take the edge off what?"

  "Sex, dear." Vivian snared a crab claw off the platter in the center of the table and set to freeing the succulent white meat. "You know, to get your rocks off?"

  "To get nailed," Jennifer returned, her tone wry.

  "To poke the hole in the doughnut," Melanie chimed in.

  "You ladies are so vulgar," Erihn spoke without heat.

  Vivian grinned, "Thank you, little mouse." She popped the chunk of crab, dripping with butter, into her mouth.

  "Oh, brother." Shai rolled her eyes again.

  "You're a virgin," Melanie announced.

  Silence reigned at the table as Shai found her friends hushed for the first time that evening. They watched her, their expressions ranging from doubt to wonder as they pondered this idea. She squirmed in her seat, uncomfortable with their questioning stares.

  She wasn't a virgin...but she wasn't far from the mark either. In fact, Melanie's off-hand statement was a little too close for comfort. Hasty fumblings in college with a nearsighted computer major didn't make for a satisfied woman. After her somewhat anti-climactic experience, she'd decided that sex wasn't all it was cracked up to be, so she hadn't pursued it further. However, technically, she wasn't a virgin.

  "I am not," she protested. "Just because I don't sleep with half of the New York Yankees..."

  "I object." Vivian dipped another bit of crab into her container of drawn butter. "It was only the first baseman and the shortstop." A sensual throaty laugh escaped her. "And let me say, my dears, he was anything but short."

  "Really?" exclaimed Melanie. "Do tell."

  Vivian shifted in her seat. A soft smile played about her thin, red-painted lips. "He had this thing about biting my toes as he came." She shook her head. "Very strange, as I'd never seen that particular trick before. But he did have this amazing maneuver with..."