Hunger Embraced (The Hunger Series)

by Jennifer James

  A covered plate rested to his right with a cup of tea beside it. My toes curled against the cheap tile as I took him in, hesitating in the doorway between the kitchen and living room. He was huge—over six feet tall, with broad shoulders and a pair of the thickest arms and legs I’d seen in a long time. The vampire would be at home in any NBA lineup.

  Now that I was no longer in my “uniform,” I didn’t quite know how to act around him. I should take the robe off. It’s easier to deal with them that way.

  I toyed with the belt and discarded the idea. I didn’t want him getting ideas about more sex right now. In a few days my energy levels would return to normal, and I wanted to keep things that way. He hadn’t drained me as badly as others in the past, but I knew if I gave him another go round, I was going to be flat on my back in bed.

  Screw it.

  I held my hand out for the food, which he passed with that same smirking curve to his lips. I wanted to wipe the look off his face with a sarcastic crack about him trying to cover up a lack of intellect with his snotty smile, but I let it go when I saw the plate. Toast, eggs, bacon, fresh slices of cantaloupe, and hash browns all competed for space on my crappy, chipped china. I plucked a piece of the fruit up and took a healthy bite. The sweetness of the melon exploded against my tongue and I moaned, swiping at the juice dribbling down my chin. Daniel seemed to take my eating as a sign I wasn’t about to start in on him again about leaving, and his shoulders relaxed a smidge.

  OK, so I’d give him until I finished. Then I was kicking his ass out.

  He followed me into the living room and hovered three feet away. Maybe I’d get lucky and he’d leave on his own.

  He took a deep breath, dropped his gaze to the floor, cracked his knuckles, and shifted his weight around.

  Nope. No such luck.

  I munched on my bacon with enthusiasm. It was cold since I’d been in the shower for so long, but still delicious. I would have gotten a half-stale doughnut from the ever-present box at the office if left to my own devices. The eggs were next, scooped up on the toast. Well, at least my tummy was happy. In fact, I felt better than I usually did after being breakfast for one of the big, fangy, and bangy.

  A frown creased my forehead when I realized my hash browns lacked ketchup. A pair of thick, denim-clad legs suddenly appeared in front on me. I hadn’t even heard him move. He held a bottle of Heinz and the cup of tea out to me.

  “Peace offering,” he said with a small, genuine smile.

  I almost smiled back until I processed that he’d zipped into the kitchen and back out again in a creepy fast move. Instead, I accepted the proffered items and set the mug on the floor. The liquid looked like the right color, a milky blonde, but only a taste test would confirm if he’d put in the right amount of sugar.

  All right this was just getting too cozy. Time to serve some walking papers.

  “Look, I appreciate the food and all, but you really need to leave. I have to call work and try to talk my boss into not firing me, even though this is like the fifth time this month I’ve been obnoxiously late.” I popped the top on the ketchup and squirted it on to my potatoes in a thick red stream. “Then I’ve got to try to catch the next bus—which is in about twenty-five minutes.”

  I shoveled the hash browns down and surged to my feet, taking the mug of tea with me. An experimental sip revealed it was in fact perfect. One more reason on the list to speed him and his mind reading on outta my apartment. The guy was some kind of uber-powerful vamp and possibly a stalker. Or both. Neither of which I wanted to deal with. I’d have to do a warding spell after he left so he didn’t come wandering back in later. Ten steps transported me to the kitchen.

  “I’m not a stalker.” The low pitch of his voice did nothing to reassure me. T.T.B. had gone back to silent mode, capping his magic and any noise he made when he walked.

  The plastic lid of the ketchup bottle cracked when he closed the flap before tossing it at the counter. It bounced off the back splash and spun in a circle until I stopped it.

  I’d hit a nerve. Hmm. I focused on his statement as I righted the ketchup. OK, but that didn’t negate the super powerful part. The heat of his body rose to mine through the thin flannel of my robe, and I clenched my fingers against the cheap Formica, fighting the urge to turn around. He maintained a tiny space between our bodies, and if I held still, we wouldn’t touch. I wanted to close the gap.

  His right forefinger traced the back of my hand and skimmed over my arm up to my neck until it rested on my fluttering pulse. I tipped my head to the side, and he lifted my wet hair away, bent over, and licked the spot twice. When I rose to tiptoe to chase his retreating mouth, he reclaimed the skin, sucking it between blunt teeth.

  The sharp scrape of fangs sent a sizzle of lust traveling through my flesh straight to every erogenous zone. It also snapped me out of the spell he wove.

  I jerked out of reach and spun on my heel. The horny vampire before me disappeared behind a mask of indifference. It was creepy to watch. In a blink, all the heat and desire radiating from his body disappeared behind a careful wall of nothing.

  “Really? Not a stalker? Well then you’re damned rude. You can’t just go around plucking thoughts out of my head whenever you feel like it. You never told me how you knew my name or how you knew the phone number to the office.”

  “Does it really matter? The vampire world is shrinking. It’s not like there are thousands of un-Blooded Incubi women running around wreaking havoc. As for the mind reading, if you’d quit shouting your thoughts at me, I might be able to ignore them better.”

  He actually glared at me. I found the look refreshing and so much better than the smirk. If I angered him enough, perhaps he’d leave just to get away from me.

  “No, keep him… Don’t send him away… I’m so hungry…”

  I brushed the voice in my head aside. The voice was stupid and had no survival instincts.

  A perusal of the kitchen revealed a room cleaner than I remembered it being earlier, but no sign of what I needed—my cell phone. “Yeah, well making me food and cleaning up after was nice and all, but I asked you to leave. More than once.” I shooed him out of my way and wandered into the living room. My purse sat on the floor next to the couch. I didn’t remember discarding the bag in that spot. “I did my duty. So why don’t you just take yourself to wherever it is you lurk?”

  T.T.B. followed me, finger combing his hair back from his face. “Your duty? Is that really what you think?” His shook his head and that beautiful hair fell back into his eyes. “Who… You should be feeding as well.”

  I flicked a finger at his unruly mane. “Some product might take care of that.” Ignoring his question, I rummaged in my purse, trying to find my cell phone. I lost it so often I should glue the damn thing to my forehead.

  “Like I said before, I called your boss. You’ve got the rest of the day off.”

  My wallet bounced on the couch along with three different lip glosses, half a roll of Chewy Sprees, and some pennies when I unzipped my bag and then dumped the contents out.

  “Fantastic, genius. I can’t afford to take a day off without pay. It’s hard to maintain this kind of luxury as it is.” Looked like I wouldn’t be replacing my jelly bean stash or paying the electricity bill anytime soon. “What did you tell Her Highness? I was worn out from sex and wouldn’t be in, or that I was puking my guts out because of the bender I went on last night? She’d buy either. The woman despises me.” The phone wasn’t in any of the inner pockets of my purse. I swept everything I’d taken out back inside and closed the zipper.

  “I told her you weren’t feeling well and needed time to recover. She allowed you a vacation day.” He crossed to the couch and folded the ratty afghan I’d left crumpled at the other end into a perfect rectangle, then placed it dead center on the sagging back cushions. “What does it matter? You have no need to worry about it today, so why don’t you settle down so we can talk.”

  “I need to know what you said so I ca
n keep my story straight. I don’t think telling her I had a sex emergency is going to gain me any sympathy.” I toyed with my purse straps. T.T.B. snagged one of them with his index finger and tugged, but I held on and refused to relinquish the space between our bodies. “You know what, the longer you stay here, the more you wear out your welcome. You should have left hours ago, after you got what you came for.”

  Heat flared in his eyes in a burst of energy then was so quickly hidden I thought I’d imagined it. I got closer to him and pushed on his chest, but he didn’t budge. A change of tactics was needed.

  Instead of shoving him away, I reeled him in until we mashed against each other, widening my stance and encasing one of his thighs between my own. We both still held my purse. I twisted my arm back so that his wrapped around my waist.

  I walked the fingers of my free hand up his chest to the hollow of his throat, caressed the underside of his jaw, and slipped through the seam of his lips. The muscular warmth of his tongue enfolded them, and he nibbled the tips until I withdrew and moved my palm to the nape of his neck.

  T.T.B. allowed me to pull him in closer with the slightest pressure from my fingertips against the short hair at the base of his skull. When he was in range, I took command of his mouth, sucking the delightful fullness of his bottom lip—then licking it. The arm around my waist tightened, and he let go of the strap in favor of gripping my ass. The weight of the bag jerked into my knuckles, and I dropped it a second later.

  Our tongues met, his chasing mine into my mouth, where I bit down, then laved the hurt away. He let out the rumbling purr I’d heard earlier and didn’t resist when I began to move him backward across the room.

  A few steps were all it took until he was in front of the door. I ran the hand on the back of his neck down his shoulders to his ass and let myself enjoy how firm and round it was for a moment. The hardness of his erection poked me in the belly, and I moved my hips in a slow circle against it. T.T.B. became more aggressive in the kiss, giving me the opening I needed.

  I reached behind him, flicked the deadbolt over, twisted the knob, and yanked the door open. I turned my face away from the kiss and swallowed. A cold draft swirled into the confines of my robe—he’d worked the belt free of its knot and spread the panels of fabric apart. The heavy, aching weight of my breasts tingled under his touch when I thrust up against his palms for a moment. “Oh hell—”

  Thirty more seconds and I’d have him on the floor. He gripped my ass, and the scent of his power wafted into the air. I bit down on his collarbone through his shirt and tucked my nose into his neck. My clit pulsed. Time to cut this off. “So, thanks for the orgasm, thanks for the breakfast, and buh-bye.” Stepping back at the same time that I shoved him in the chest as hard as I could, I disengaged our bodies and sent him over the threshold.

  I slammed the door and threw the lock over. There. Hopefully he would go away now. The taste of his lips and tongue filled my mouth and set my heart racing. I rubbed my hand over my face and ignored the wet, aching throb of my pussy, letting my head hit the wall next to the door with a thump.

  “Miranda, let me back in.” The sound of his voice was muffled but compelling. Imagining the way his magic overflowed his eyes and spun them into water-colored jewels didn’t help me resist him.

  “No. Go away, T.T.B.”

  “You need to know… There are things we need to talk about. I’m sorry about what happened.” I imagined him standing in the hall, frowning at the door. “Fine, I’ll leave for now, but I’ll be back later.” A single rap sounded through the metal before his footsteps finally receded.

  Well, of course I needed to know things. Doesn’t everyone? I had a feeling he referred to Things, and the last time a vamp had told me “things I needed to know” it hadn’t ended well for me. So I wasn’t in a hurry to hear him out. Besides, he was damned creepy powerful, and though my life chugged along not exactly as I would have liked, it was OK. I lived on my own and did pretty well. Complications like a certain tall, tanned, and blond, surfer-boy vamp were not needed. Even if he had a face like a carved Roman statue and the most talented tongue I’d ever had clasped between my thighs.

  Chapter Three

  My alarm emitted its usual annoying, intermittent beep the next morning when I pressed the off button with a lot less force than usual. I’d already been awake for about two hours, curled up beneath my old, faded comforter. The soft, fluffy blanket provided a perfect complement to my mood. My stomach roiled as I chewed on Daniel’s words from the day before. Actually, the events of the whole day looped through my thoughts on repeat.

  My call to the office after shoving him into the hallway approached downright bizarre. My boss, Shelly, spoke to me in a voice dripping sugar, and I almost asked her who she’d been playing hide the pickle with, but I managed to control myself. She’d even told me not to worry about taking the day off, and if I needed another day to recover from the food poisoning to call her tomorrow. In fact, she gave me the day off with pay. She’d even offered to have someone deliver Gatorade because “you know how those stomach ailments make you lose electrolytes.”

  Not long after that, I found a note from Mister Home Invasion himself propped on the carton of eggs he’d bought.

  Make sure you eat some more protein today. Not just jelly beans.

  T.T.B.

  It looked like calligraphy and confirmed my suspicion about his age. He was older than dirt.

  Didn’t matter. I still wanted to see him again. Naked.

  Generally after getting groiny with a vamp, fatigue and nausea plagued me for a few days or more. Yet here I lay, wide awake and ready to start the day two hours early with nary a twinge.

  Power arced around him, the magic contained in his body intimidating and strong enough to crush me. Yet he’d dominated me into a gentle surrender and tucked me into bed.

  Hopefully he’d stay away with all his mysterious pronouncements of “things I needed to know.” I wanted him to.

  Did I really believe it? Ah, no.

  I crawled out of bed and put on my favorite dark pink, lacy lingerie with the assumption I wouldn’t run into any vamps or creeps other than the ones at the office today. Putting them on always made me smile, so by the time I headed out the door with my hair in a sensible French twist and minimal make-up, my mood improved considerably. I even put in the pearl ear fobs my nanny Stella bought me for my sixteenth birthday.

  I’d made a decision about yesterday while I ate eggs and toast standing at the counter for breakfast. It was time to call my father for a long overdue chat.

  Considering how many vamps I’d fed recently, I assumed he knew my location. The lack of edicts to return to the coven gave him some brownie points. He’d probably totally blow them within thirty seconds of answering the phone.

  * * *

  Work bordered on pleasant. Shelley took a very rare day off, so I caught up on the things I’d missed without a constant barrage of new folders and stacks of paper flung across my desk. What had Daniel said to my boss? The version he fed me was obviously truncated, but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t tempted to thank him. He’d totally invaded my life and privacy, but damn if the man wasn’t effective. One phone call and Shelley became as malleable as soft butter.

  To be fair, she did have some legitimate complaints. I came in late pretty often and spent a good chunk of my day sending her male counterparts on their way. Sometimes I was downright rude, but they still wouldn’t stay away. For someone like Shelly—who looked kinda like an angry Buddha—the constant flirting, aping, and sexual innuendo added insult to injury. Short and squat, she had an unfortunately placed mole on her right cheek. Add a nasty attitude and the signs of thinning hair, and not only do you never get laid, but you also have no friends.

  I was on the bus home before I knew it. I’d never experienced such a normal, boring day at the office. I hoped for more of the same on the walk home from the bus stop. Feeling as though I’d earned a splurge, I stopped and ordered Chin
ese takeout before heading into the drugstore next door to the restaurant. I needed to restock my jelly bean stash after yesterday’s scarfing incident with a certain someone I refused to think about. This morning after breakfast I’d finished what was left in the bag.

  Tomorrow I’d go to the grocery store. But for today, spicy garlic chicken, jelly beans, and some new nail polish in Silver Dollar Sparkle were in order.

  * * *

  My Chinese was perfection, my toes were painted, and the time had arrived to call my father. I dug in my purse for my phone only to discover it was missing again. The cracks in the couch yielded fourteen cents and linty popcorn. I searched all the flat surfaces in my apartment and then resorted to looking under the furniture. The battered Nokia was under the couch, all the way to the back against the wall.

  Things tended to move around my apartment and end up in places I didn’t leave them.

  I flipped it open, ignoring the text from my friend, Anna, for the moment, and began to scroll through the contacts. She’d just gotten home from an extended weekend in Niagara Falls with her current boyfriend. I thought he was off, but she seemed to like him. I’d never picked up a single stray, sexual thought from him. It was weird.

  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.