A Hunger Like No Other

her…

Instead he ripped open his own shirt, then placed his huge palms against her back to draw her to his chest. He groaned when their skin touched, and electricity seemed to flash through her. Lightning split the sky.

He rumbled foreign words against her ear. She felt they were…tender words, making her think she'd lost her mind. She went limp, her arms hanging while he shuddered against her, his lips so hot in the pouring rain as he ran them down her neck, across her face, even brushing them over her eyelids. There he knelt, clutching her; there she lay, boneless and dazed, as she watched the lightning slash above them.

His hand cradled the back of her head as he moved her to face him.

He seemed torn as he watched her with some fierce emotion—she'd never been looked at so…consumingly. Confusion overwhelmed her. Would he attack or let her go? Let me go…

A tear slipped down her face, warmth streaking down amidst the drops of rain.

The look disappeared. 'Blood for tears?' he roared, clearly revolted by her pink tears. He turned away as if he couldn't stand to look upon her, then blindly swatted at her shirt to close it. 'Take me to your home, vampire.'

'I-I don't live here,' she said in a strangled tone, staggered by what had just occurred, and by the fact that he knew what she was.

'Take me to where you stay,' he ordered, finally facing her as he stood before her.

'No,' she amazed herself by saying.

He, too, looked surprised. 'Because you doona want me to stop? Good. I'll take you here on the grass on your hands and knees'—he lifted her easily until she was kneeling—'till well after the sun rises.'

He must have seen her resignation because he hauled her to her feet and pushed at her to get her moving. 'Who stays with you?'

My husband, she wanted to snap. The linebacker who's going to kick your ass. Yet she couldn't lie, even now, and never would have had the nerve to provoke him anyway. 'I am alone.'

'Your man lets you travel by yourself?' he asked over the downpour. His voice was beginning to sound human again. When she didn't answer, he said with a sneer, 'You've a careless male for yourself. His loss.'

She stumbled in a pothole and he gently steadied her, then seemed angry with himself that he'd helped her. But when he led them in front of a car a moment later, he threw her out of the way, leaping back at the sound of the horn. He swiped at the side of the car, claws crumpling the metal like tinfoil, sending it skidding. When it finally stopped, the engine block dropped to the street with a thud. The driver threw open the door, dived for the street, then darted away.

Mouth open in shock, she frantically scrambled backward, realizing her captor looked as though he'd… never seen a car.

He crossed to her, looming over her. In a low, deadly tone, he grated, 'I only hope you run from me again.'

He snatched her hand and again lifted her to her feet. 'How much farther?'

With a limp finger, she pointed out the Crillon on Place de la Concorde.

He gave her a look of pure hatred. 'Your kind always had money.' His tone was scathing. 'Nothing's changed.' He knew she was a vampire. Did he know who or what her aunts were? He must—otherwise how could Regin have known to warn her about him? How could he know her coven was well-off?

After ten minutes of her being dragged across avenues, they pushed past the doorman of the hotel, garnering stares as they entered the palatial lobby. At least the lights were dimmed. She pulled her soaked jacket over her ruined blouse and kept her head down, thankful that she'd braided her hair over her ears.

He released the vise-grip on her arm in front of these people. He must know that she wouldn't attract attention. Never scream, never draw the attention of humans. They were always more dangerous in the end than any of the thousands of creatures of the Lore.

When he draped his heavy arm across her shoulders as if they were together, she glanced up at him from under a wet lock of hair. Though he walked with his broad shoulders back, like he owned this place, he was examining everything as if it was new to him. The phone ringing made him tense. The revolving doors had done the same. Though he hid it well, she could tell he was unfamiliar with the elevator and hesitated to enter. Inside the lift, his size and his energy made the generous space seem cramped.

The short walk down the hall to her room was the longest of her life, as she devised and rejected plan after plan of escape. She hesitated outside the door, taking her time retrieving the key card from the inch-deep puddle in the bottom of her purse.

'Key,' he demanded.

With a deep exhalation, she handed it to him. When his eyes narrowed, she thought he was about to demand 'key' again, but he studied the door lever and gave it back to her. 'You do it.'

With a shaking hand, she slid it in. The mechanized buzz and then the click of the lock were like knells to her.

Once inside her room, he checked every inch of it as though to make sure she was in fact alone. He searched under the brocade-covered bed, then tore back the heavy silk drapes to reveal one of the best views in Paris. He moved like an animal, with aggression at every turn, though she'd noticed he favored one leg.

When he slowly limped to her in the hallway, her eyes widened and she eased backward. Still he continued toward her, studying her, weighing…before his gaze settled on her lips.

'I've waited a long time for you.'

He continued to behave as if he knew her. She would never forget a man like him.

'I need you. No matter what you are. And I'll wait no longer.'

At his baffling words, her body inexplicably softened, relaxing. Her claws curled as if to clutch him to her, and her fangs receded to ready for his kiss. Frantic, she rapped her nails against the wall behind her and tapped her tongue against her left fang. Her defenses remained dormant. She was terrified of him. Why wasn't her body?

He placed his hands against the wall on either side of her face. Unhurriedly, he leaned in, brushing his mouth against hers. He groaned from the small contact and pressed harder, flicking her lips with his tongue. She froze, not knowing what to do.

Against her mouth, he growled, 'Kiss me back, witch, while I decide if I should spare your life.'

With a cry, she moved her lips against his. When he stilled completely as if to force her to do all the work, she slanted her head and brushed his lips lightly again.

'Kiss me like you want to live.'

She did. Not because she wanted to live overmuch, but because she thought he would make sure her death was slow and torturing. No pain. Never pain.

When she darted her tongue against his as he had done to her, he groaned and took over, cupping her neck and head so he could hold her as though for the taking. His tongue stroked hers desperately, and she was shocked to find it was…not unpleasant. How many times had she dreamed about her first kiss, even knowing she would never receive one? But she was. Now.

She didn't even know his name.

When she began shivering again, he stopped and broke away. 'You're cold.'

She was freezing. Being low on blood did that to her. Being tackled into the wet earth and soaked through hadn't helped. But she feared that wasn't why she shivered. 'Y-yes.'

He raked his gaze over her, then gave her a disgusted look. 'And filthy. Mud all over you.'

'But you…' She trailed off under his lethal glare.

He found the bathroom, yanked her inside, then tilted his head at the fixtures. 'Clean yourself.'

'P-privacy?' she croaked.

Amusement. 'You have none.' He leaned his shoulder against the wall and crossed his muscled arms, as if awaiting a show. 'Now, undress for me and let me see what's mine.'

Mine? Bewildered, she was about to protest again, but he jerked his head up as though he'd heard something, then bolted out of the room. She slammed the bathroom door, locking herself in— another laughable gesture—then turned on the shower.

She sank down on the floor, head in her hands, and wondered how she would get away from this lunatic. The