Dayhunter Read online

  “What about him?” the hunter asked, jerking his head toward Nicolai. “He wasn’t the sacrifice.”

  “Maybe he was, in a last minute change,” I suggested.

  “Sacrifice?” Nicolai finally chimed in. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “Did you know you were to be handed over to the harpies?” I inquired, letting my eyes drift shut again. Nicolai’s agitation had caused his own powers to swell and brush against my skin. They weren’t as soothing as Danaus’s, and I found myself trying to huddle closer to the hunter.

  “Harpies?” Nicolai’s voice jumped from its usually deep, rough tones. “That’s what was in the room with us? No, I didn’t know anything about it.”

  “Why tell him when he might put up a fight ahead of their arrival?” Danaus said to me. “The naturi might not have been interested in damaged goods.”

  I fought back a snicker by biting my lower lip. It was a cold and heartless way of putting it, but it was also probably very accurate. “I think what Jabari said was true. Nicolai wasn’t part of their original agreement. Maybe it was decided later that he would act as a deposit against any damage done to the female in the Coven’s custody. Maybe he was a gift. I don’t know. In the end the important thing was our appearance and us walking out with Nicolai. It implied that the Coven couldn’t stop us. The naturi now have a new reason to fear us. Nicolai was just a pawn.”

  “Thanks,” the wolf grumbled.

  “Look at it this way,” I countered, turning my head so I could look at him. “If you had been truly important to the Coven’s plans, I would have never gotten you out of there. And don’t worry. Once this naturi uprising has been put down, Jabari will come to claim your head the first chance he gets.”

  It was a grim and ugly truth. At best I extended Nicolai’s life by a matter of days. If he was good at hiding, maybe I gave him a few months. But in the end we both knew that Jabari would eventually hunt us down.

  Turning my head back to Danaus’s chest, I was suddenly overwhelmed by the scent of his blood. It wasn’t only the smell of it pulsing beneath his skin, but it was dried on his skin and soaked into his shirt from where the harpies had gouged his shoulders with their claws. Clenching my teeth, his warmth and blood beat against me, tempting me. The beast inside my chest shifted and pushed my soul down into the dark shadows of my body, fighting for dominance. The need for blood swelled within me until it nearly blotted out all thought. My head fell back, my lips parted so I could feel a brush of air across my tongue. It was only then I realized I was losing the struggle to stay in control.

  I violently shoved against Danaus’s chest, tumbling out of his strong arms. I hit the ground with a bone-jarring thud, which helped clear my thoughts. Huddled in the grass beside the sidewalk that led to the Coven, I dug my fingers in the dirt and clenched my eyes shut. I wouldn’t bite Danaus. I wouldn’t drink from him if he was the last creature that walked this earth. Wasn’t it enough that he and Jabari had control of me? I wouldn’t be controlled by the hunger as well.

  “Don’t touch me!” I shrieked when I heard the two men draw closer to me. “I—I just need a couple seconds.” With my eyes clenched shut, I drew my sore and protesting body into a tighter ball. “Go to the boat. I’ll be there in a minute.”

  “I’m not leaving you,” Danaus firmly replied. “It’s too dangerous.”

  “What’s wrong?” Nicolai asked. I could feel the werewolf a couple feet away off to my right.

  “She’s starved,” Danaus answered before I could open my mouth. “She needs to feed.” His words stunned me into silence. I forgot that he could sense my emotions. I read his so clearly, but forgot that mine poured into his mind just as easily. He knew I was fighting back the hunger and had taken a chance carrying me anyway. Was he testing me? I had no doubt that he would have cleaned my clock if I’d taken a nip at him.

  Pushing down the hunger to more controllable levels, Danaus’s emotions crept back into my brain. I could hear his heart pounding in his chest as if he had run a marathon, his emotions a chaotic mix of fear and…something else. Adrenaline? Hunger? His overriding fear and frustration were crushing the other emotion, so I couldn’t clearly make it out. And in truth I don’t think either of us wanted to know just yet the other emotion Danaus was feeling.

  “Mira, can you drink from lycans?” Nicolai asked, kneeling beside me in the grass. Some nightwalkers could drink from lycanthropes. Most could not. I could. I had some guesses as to why I could, but the implications were not the sort of thing that would help extend my life span; not that much could at this point.

  “Go away, Nicolai,” I muttered, slowly untensing the muscles in my arms so I could move away from him quickly if he reached for me. I was in better control than a couple minutes ago, but it would be too easy to go back over that edge. “I didn’t risk my neck saving your worthless butt just to drain you a few hundred yards from the hall.”

  “The offer stands,” Nicolai said, and then returned to his feet without touching me.

  Shuddering, I unclenched my fingers and pushed to my feet as well. The hunger still throbbed in my chest, but I was in control again. As long as I could keep a physical distance from the two men, I could fight back the urge to feed until we reached the main islands of Venice. There, I could blend into the crowd and choose my prey from the hordes that filled the city.

  The trip back to the hotel was quick and silent, with Nicolai and Danaus keeping as much distance between me and themselves as humanly possible. I nearly sighed with relief when we landed at the docks next to the Cipriani, but Nicolai didn’t give me a chance. The wolf stood in front of me as I tried to exit the boat, grabbing both of my arms in his large hands. My body instantly came alive with his energy and physical contact. I was holding on by a thread, only vaguely aware of what he was saying.

  “Can you honestly hunt tonight without killing your prey?” he demanded, his voice like granite. His large hands loosened their grip on me when I didn’t try to pull out of his grasp.

  “Yes,” I hissed, gritting my teeth. It was all I could do to keep from sinking my fangs in his neck right there. He was so warm, with his life and essence beating against me in endless waves. Danaus and Nicolai were slowly driving me insane. I needed to feed before I did something truly stupid.

  “You’ve saved my life twice,” he said tightly. The least I can do is offer my services.” Before I could come up with some witty reply, the lycan bent down and tossed me over his shoulder. I don’t remember passing Danaus, going through the lobby, or even riding the elevator up to our suite. My mind was occupied with his tight rear end and wondering if it was worth trying to sink my fangs into one of his cheeks. I decided it wasn’t—his blue jeans would probably absorb most of his blood before I could get it down my throat.

  “Mira!” Tristan’s shocked voice tore me from my preoccupation long enough to look up at the young nightwalker through thick strands of my red hair as we entered my suite.

  “I’m fine,” I called as Nicolai headed for one of the bedrooms. “Go play with Danaus. We’ll talk before dawn.” My last word was cut off by the door slamming shut.

  Nicolai tried to dump me on the bed and take a step away, but I didn’t let him. The second my back hit the bed, I reached out and grabbed a fistful of his dark burgundy T-shirt. I barely scooted out of the way in time before he fell backward onto the bed with a bounce. In the blink of an eye I was straddling his hips, one hand entangled in his long blond locks, pulling his head to one side to expose his beautiful neck.

  I wanted to ask him one last time if this was what he wanted. I wanted to give him a chance to back out, but I couldn’t. There was only the red haze of hunger filling my brain. Enough of me was left to be aware of the fact that I was in a safe location with a source of blood. Willing or not was no longer important. I would console myself later with the thought that having brought me up there, he supposedly knew what he was getting into.

  The second his warm blood hit my
tongue, the world faded away. There was nothing beyond the warm body lying beneath me and his beating heart. All the aches and pains subsided and the beast inside my chest sighed with relief. I relaxed against him, gentling my hold on his head. One of us moaned as he wrapped his arms around my body, pressing me against his hard length. Drinking his blood, I slipped into his mind, sending a hundred feelings of pleasure through his body. This time I was sure it was Nicolai who moaned, his fingers sliding down my back as they searched for the edge of my shirt.

  The first touch of his hands on my skin sent me scrambling off his body. Crawling to the top of the bed, I sat with my back pressed against the wood headboard. With my head tilted back, I ran my tongue over my teeth, taking in the taste of him. His heartbeat and heavy breathing were the only sounds in the room. I hadn’t taken much blood from him, nowhere near as much as I needed. I would have to feed again later, but his blood took the edge off my hunger and gave me back a measure of control.

  Nicolai shifted on the bed, and I opened my eyes to find him lying on his stomach looking up at me, a wide grin playing on his lips. My eyes drifted to his neck to find that the wound was already healing on its own. That was one of the nice things about feeding on lycans—they healed so fast there was little chance of leaving behind any evidence you were ever there.

  “You’ve not fed enough,” he said, his voice a low, husky rumble.

  Shoving my right hand through my hair, pushing it back from where it fell around my face, I smiled at my companion. “I’ve had enough to get me to my next meal,” I murmured, feeling a little more relaxed for the first time in several nights. “I’ll not drain you to satisfy my cravings.”

  Nicolai chuckled. “I’m not offering all of my blood,” he said, a smile lightening his features, easing back some of the worry lurking around his eyes since I’d first met him. He slid his right hand up to lightly wrap around one of my ankles. “But I can take more than that little snack.”

  “For some reason, I get the impression you’re offering more than just a meal,” I hedged, my eyes pointedly slipping down to look at the long fingers wrapped around my ankle. This hadn’t been a part of my plan when I sank my teeth into his neck.

  “And you’re opposed to the offer?” he inquired, making no effort to keep the sarcasm from his voice. Pushing to his knees, Nicolai sat up and pulled his shirt over his head, revealing acres of tanned skin and muscles pulsing with warmth and life. I think he dropped the shirt over the side of the bed, but I honestly couldn’t drag my eyes from his chest or his arms.

  I’d been with my share of handsome men during my extended lifetime; human, lycan, and nightwalker. I’d been with enough to think that my head couldn’t be turned by a nice body or a handsome face. But Nicolai was putting my resolve to the test. He didn’t have the same, almost frightening beauty that Valerio possessed. Nicolai had his flaws. There was a long white scar on his chest, stretching above his heart. His stomach seemed almost too thin for his frame, making me wonder if his meals recently had been too sparse or infrequent. But it was this perfect combination of frailty and strength that was intoxicating.

  With considerable effort I closed my eyes, but the image of his chest seemed to have already been burned into the insides of my eyelids. “I don’t want your body in exchange for your life.” I had to force the words from my mouth because something in me simply ached to run my tongue over his chest.

  His laugh caused my eyes to open my eyes and focus on his handsome face again. Slowly, he reached down and took both of my ankles in his hands, making me feel very small. With a quick jerk I slid down the bed toward him so I was laying flat on my back with my knees brushing against his hips. Planting his hands on either side of my head, he leaned down until his lips were inches from mine.

  “The blood was in gratitude for my life,” he whispered, his lips brushing against mine with each word. He moved his head, running his lips along my jaw as he spoke. “The sex is as much for me as it is for you. We’ve both had enough death and violence during the past few days to last a lifetime. And it’s not over, is it?”

  His question gave me pause, waking me up from the spell his husky voice was weaving. I met his eyes and found those large copper-brown orbs asking me the same question I had seen in the eyes of Tristan, Sadira, James, Alexandra, and, for even a fleeting moment, Danaus. Were we going to survive? Was I going to protect them? Was there a hope to cling to? And for some reason, they all looked to me to be their savior. A pariah among my own kind. The Coven’s anathema.

  Threading the fingers of my left hand through the golden wave of hair that cascaded down to frame his face, I pulled him closer so that my lips brushed against his. “It doesn’t matter. There is only now,” I whispered. Nicolai smiled against my lips as he leaned in to kiss me.

  My eyes fell shut and there was only the feeling of his lips and his warmth wrapping around me like a wonderful cocoon, smothering all thoughts of the rest of the world. My tongue easily slid between his parted lips, and the taste of him reminded me of honey and fresh bread, memories of a home I was forced to leave years too early. My fingers left his hair to slide down along his massive shoulders, taking in skin that seemed impossibly soft. I turned my head and trailed kisses along his neck as I ran my hands down his back, lightly scratching him with my nails as I dragged my hands back up to his shoulders.

  “Still looking for a bite?” he chuckled, nuzzling my neck before his lips finally settled on my earlobe. A sigh escaped me as the tip of his tongue ran along the edge of the sensitive piece of flesh. Tension that had hummed throughout my body for so many endless nights was beginning to unravel from each one of my muscles.

  “Hmmmm…There are far more interesting places for me to snack,” I teased. Planting my heels in the bed and wrapping my arms around his waist, I rolled us over so he was lying on his back and I was straddling his hips.

  Surprise lit his eyes, but he quickly recovered. He didn’t seem willing to relinquish control that easily. His hand shot out to snake around the back of my neck, pulling me back down so his mouth could reclaim mine in a long, deep kiss. His tongue slid along one of my fangs until finally pricking it. There was no fighting the moan that swelled up in my throat at the taste of his blood. Stretching out my legs on either side of him, I pressed the length of my body into his as I sucked blood from his tongue until the tiny wound finally healed on its own.

  As a shiver ran through me, I broke off the kiss and slid my mouth down along his jaw near his ear. “You’ve done this before,” I purred.

  “Been with a vampire?” he asked, running his hands down my back to cup my rear end. As he pressed my body closer to his, he arched his hips, grinding his hardened body into mine. “Oh, yeah. Surprised?”

  “No,” I laughed, pushing up with my hands braced each side of his head so I could look down at him. But the laughter died when I thought about it. He had been held to Jabari’s side while at the court. I knew the horrors the Coven’s court were capable of. “While you were here?”

  Nicolai cupped my cheeks with both of his hands and tried to pull me back down to him, but every muscle in my body had stiffened and he couldn’t move me. “No,” he said in a firm but gentle voice. “No one’s touched me while I’ve been here. My experience came well before Jabari.”

  I sucked in a cleansing breath of air, trying to wipe away the moment of tension. I agreed that we both needed to heal, and sex would at least give us a moment of that. But doing something that mirrored anything he may have been forced to do with another nightwalker would not help him.

  Nicolai pulled me back down and we got lost in another series of drugging kisses that only left us needing more, needing to be closer. The scent of his blood just below his warm skin beckoned to me. His blood was wonderful, better than pure human. It was richer and more potent, but my hunger for his blood was steadily being overpowered with the need to know every inch of his long body.

  Nicolai had no problem with my intentions, and was already pulli
ng my plain cotton shirt up and over my head as I sat up. Once again straddling his hips, I reached back to unfasten my lacy black bra. He snatched the opportunity and, sitting up, pulled the bra down to free my breasts.

  My eyelids fell shut as his tongue slowly circled the left nipple before taking it into his mouth. The fingers of my right hand fumbled with the clasp twice before I finally used both hands to undo the bra. The wonderful moist heat on my left breast and his strong, kneading fingers on my right had successfully scattered my thoughts to the wind. My hands fell to his shoulders, then of their own will slid into his hair, holding his head gently imprisoned as I arched my back, pressing closer to him. Lifting his mouth from my breast, his breath skimmed over the damp flesh, sending a chill dancing over my whole body before he shifted to the other breast, his tongue briefly dipping into the valley between them.

  A soft sigh whispered past my parted lips. There was only Nicolai and his gentle hands and seeking mouth. How long had it been since I had last been touched like this? Weeks? Months? For a heartbeat the memory of the last time I’d had a moment like this drifted through my brain, but I quickly pushed it aside. So many mistakes made. So many lies and denials that only ended in death. I needed this now, a break from the ghosts that haunted me, to escape the pain that waited for me. To bask in gentle hands that didn’t want to hit, stab, or tear.

  Forcing his head up, I kissed him deeply as I pushed him back to the bed. “I need another snack,” I murmured when I finally lifted my mouth from his. Inching my way lower, I kissed and licked a long trail down his chest to the waistband of his pants. I kissed the hard bulge at his groin as my fingers pulled at the button of his jeans. I kissed him again, but this time my teeth lightly scraped against the thick fabric. I wouldn’t dare bite a man there. Any sane man would faint dead away in a heartbeat, but the tease had been enough to increase Nicolai’s heart rate again.