Hunger Untamed H3
Page 26
“So...where do we go from here?” Lucy asked.
“Wherever you want, doll, so long as I’m by your side.”
Lucy wrapped his shirt around her fist and tugged until he leaned closer. Her mouth brushed his, the taste of her familiar and welcoming. There wasn’t anything more in this world he could have asked for beyond this woman.
“Can I ask you something now? Why did you come back? I thought...”
She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a piece of notebook paper. It had been folded into a square, which Lucy straightened. Her gaze went to the words on the page, a smile lifting her cheeks as she read from it. Then she looked at him and said, “In all my years as a blood slave, I have been wooed by captains of industry, leaders of small countries and the gloriously wealthy. In exchange for my affection, they would offer me jewels and furs and cars and anything my heart desired. But I always turned them down. Never thought what they were saying was sincere. But then I got this letter from a vampire who could make me laugh and who’d held me when I’d cried. I read his letter and I knew I couldn’t give him up. I’d needed to cool down, but I would have been an idiot to let him get away.”
The first letter he’d sent her had been pages long. In between apologies, he’d explained meeting with the Council and striking a bargain that kept them safe. They’d known about Sage’s death and as he’d suspected, would do anything in exchange for more information. An ex post facto sanctioning of Lucy’s turning seemed a small price to pay. After he’d told them about the lycans’ interest in Sage, he’d gotten their documented approval. He’d been light on the details about the lycans, not pointing to Locke or anyone in particular, but supplying just enough to plant a seed. What they did with it was up to them. The vampires’ hatred for lycans alone would have them spinning for the next hundred years in a futile search.
Hell, he’d even notified Locke of the Council’s interest in his pack. The lycan seemed to shrug off the additional attention, almost as if he expected nothing less. Without evidence, he doubted the Council would make a move against any of them because it could lead to very bad things, he’d said.
Whatever. Victor had eased his conscience by telling him about the scrutiny. If Locke didn’t think anything of it, then neither would Victor.
As the days passed and Lucy hadn’t called him back or even sent a text, he’d tried to be less intimidating with his intensity and stick to the basics of what he needed her to know. Something in his words must have struck a chord, thank the universe. He tilted his head to read the words, curiosity building. From his vantage, he couldn’t read the page. “Which one did it for you?”
“They were all lovely. All of them. You have a way with words.”
For fuck’s sake, was he blushing?
Lucy slid the page forward. “But this one? It grabbed on and wouldn’t let go. It’s one of the short ones. It says, I bought a cookbook.”
His ears burned. “I like cooking for you,” he muttered.
Lucy reached for his face, her soft hand stroking over the good side of his jaw. It didn’t matter who else was in the room with them, because at the moment he couldn’t see anyone else. She had his undivided attention.
She leaned forward, and Victor met her halfway, their mouths brushing. He pulled her closer, drawing her into his lap so he could kiss her properly. They’d been apart for too long, and he missed her.
“You know I love you, right?” she asked in a soft voice.
He kissed her again, getting drunk on her taste. Memorizing it. “You are my heart,” he murmured, his lips brushing hers. “I love you, too.”
Tucking herself next to his body made everything right in the world. “Now that I’ve got all these great skills and no job, I need to get a new one.”
“Oh, yeah? What kind of job are you thinking?”
“I’m a crack shot and know how to gouge a man’s eyeballs out. I’m thinking mercenary might not be a bad deal. I bet I could get Locke to hire me for my first job.”
Victor growled before he could call it back. “Over my d—”
“Shh,” she said, hushing him with a finger over his mouth. A quick touch of her lips followed. “Gotcha. I have no interest in a werewolf. I’m more interested in a vampire who can take me home to his bed and while he’s deep inside me, drink his fill.”
Victor stilled, aware of the depth of trust she showed him now. Aware he’d never break it again. “You and me, forever,” he said softly.
“You and me,” she agreed.
Epilogue
Councilman Henry Renner stared at the empty chair. Four of the other Council members refused to come in, choosing to teleconference the meeting. Juliet Markeley sat at the end of the table, sipping on tea. The bone china in her hand could have been a ceramic mug in comparison to the woman’s delicate features. Abioye Negasi, as dark as Juliet was fair, waited with his hands steepled, obviously deep in thought.
The death of Giancalo Sage had shaken them all through their core.
They were the elite. The untouchable. The seven men and women ruled over all vampire communities of the world, their will and edicts absolute.
“What do we know?” Henry asked. For the first time since he’d joined this group, he questioned how many vampires still believed in the purpose of the Council. The group’s mission seemed to have shifted over the last thirty years. Perhaps he should start paying attention to what the whispers said about them.
Abioye said, “Sage was held by a group of lycans. He’d been wanted for information about crimes they thought vampires had committed.”
Henry frowned. “What would Sage know about lycans?”
“It’s hard to know at this point. We could pick up some of their leaders, find out what they know.”
“And risk a skirmish?” Councilman Upton’s quiet voice came through the speaker in a cloud of static.
“If they took Sage and killed him, I think a skirmish is a more than reasonable response, don’t you, Victoria?”
Murmurs of assent seemed to come from everyone.
Henry wasn’t convinced yet though. It didn’t make sense to him that the werewolves would become violent overnight. They were missing something important. However, if they didn’t make an example of someone, and do it quickly, they risked the vampire community looking at them as if they were weak and incapable of protecting themselves. That would never do. “Do we ask their leaders to step in? Hand over the suspects?”
“So that they can send us whomever they want, scapegoats or martyrs convenient to their cause? I shouldn’t think so. If we go in asking for their help instead of demanding it, who knows what the outcome might be? I suggest something a little more forceful.”
Henry’s gaze shot to the phone in the center of the table, his ears ringing. He couldn’t believe the words coming to him right now. “War?”
“Of course war,” Juliet said, in a voice made of pure honey.
Over a single vampire? He didn’t particularly dislike Sage, but he didn’t like him either. A supernatural war between species made his stomach ball into a knot. If they did this, there’d be no turning back.
The financial repercussions would tear a hole in their society alone. Generally speaking, vampires amassed enormous wealth because of their longevity and their community. Was this smart money?
“We’d be culling the ranks,” Abioye said.
Ah...there was the financial gain. Any who didn’t make it out of a war intact would leave behind their assets to be absorbed by those who did. Henry could appreciate this plan.
“This would be our legacy,” Henry said. They had to be sure. “The legacy of this Council administration.”
Upton spoke. “I don’t think we have any choice. We leave ourselves too vulnerable otherwise. Even our own community might decide to start targeting Council. Do you want to spend the rest of your days looking over your shoulder?”
No one responded.
“I know we don’t have an odd number for thi
s vote, but we do have a quorum. What say you all regarding this matter of war?”
Henry listened, first to the disembodied voices on the phone, the ones who all agreed this was a good idea. Then Juliet gave her assent. Followed by Abioye. Only his vote left to decide.
He said, “Aye.”
This was it. No turning back.
Vampires versus lycans.
War.
* * * * *
Also available from Dee Carney
and Carina Press
Hunger Aroused
Hunger Awakened
Taming Her Wolf
About the Author
Dee Carney started her writing career in elementary school, creating amazing journeys starring her friends, where everyone lived happily ever after by page five. Since then, she’s been a waitress, a teacher, a scientist and a nurse.
Today, Dee is a bestselling, award-winning author of over thirty novels and novellas, including those penned by her erotica-writing alter ego, Morgan Sierra. To buy the next book in this series, please visit Dee’s website here or at deecarney.com/bookshelf. To find out about other releases by Dee, sign up for her new release newsletter here or at http://eepurl.com/bbMt4X.
Don’t miss the first two books in Dee Carney’s Vampire Hunger series. HUNGER AROUSED and HUNGER AWAKENED are available now!
HUNGER AROUSED (Vampire Hunger, book one)
Jasmine is sick in bed when a sexy stranger breaks in and reveals she’s suffering an irreversible case of vampirism. And because her turning wasn’t approved by the Council, he must kill her once the transition is complete.
Corin’s honor demands he do his duty, but he cannot execute the lovely woman while any part of her humanity remains. Every hour they spend together—every sensual encounter they share—finds them growing closer. Now Corin will have to choose: kill the woman he loves, or go against everything he believes to set her free.
HUNGER AWAKENED (Vampire Hunger, book two)
There’s something inside of him, some dormant part that’s been awakened. And now it wants to be set free...
Something’s wrong with Sebastian Kent. Already considered an outsider in the vampire community as a half vampire, half something else, he’ll do everything in his power to hide his weakness. But when sickness strikes, he has no choice but to turn to a human for help—a woman whose touch provides his only relief.
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Craving more sinfully sexy shifter romance from Dee Carney?
Don’t miss TAMING HER WOLF!
TAMING HER WOLF, Fire Creek Shifters, book one
“Chock-full of passionate sex, this romance from Carney keeps readers satisfied. Highly recommended.”
—Library Journal, starred review
For disgraced physician Kim Sharpe, Fire Creek was supposed to be a sanctuary, a place to hide from media scrutiny and the public eye. But when a group of wolf shifters breaks into her clinic and demands she save the life of a pack mate, her serene world unravels. And when the wolf dies despite Kim’s efforts, she’s dragged into a hunt she can’t control, led by a man she desperately wants to understand.
All shifters live with their beasts, but Chris “Brick” Preston’s is dangerously close to the surface. And it wants Kim. Sex keeps the beast sated for now, but unless Kim can help him find a more permanent solution, Brick risks becoming a feral, banished—or put down—by his pack.
With each incredibly intense encounter, Brick and Kim grow closer. But time is not on their side. When Kim is faced with betraying the pack in order to save Brick’s life, the consequences may be more than they can survive.
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ISBN-13: 9781459290402
Hunger Untamed
Copyright © 2016 by Dee Carney
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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