The Hunger Saga Read online

  How long had he felt the same way?

  I didn’t bother trying to speak, I just held the space for him, until he finally raised his gaze back to mine.

  “Was the weed that serious, or are you really lost in thought?” he asked with a half-hearted laugh.

  I licked my lips and stared at him until he started to mimic my smile in an expectant way.

  “You wanna know what I was thinking?” I murmured and paused until he hesitantly nodded. “I was just wondering, if you were the type of guy to kiss on the first date?”

  His eyes lit up, only to widen with horror just as fast. He opened his mouth like he had some explaining to do.

  Had I read him wrong?

  I leaned forward, and his chest slowly swelled and stilled. I was controlling his breath and his eyes were swimming and scanning my face.

  “Relax,” I whispered, before sliding my hand along his cheek. I used the other to tease a thumb along his jaw. When our lips were so close that I could feel the tingle between us, I looked up at him from beneath my lashes and gave him one last chance to back out, “Yeah?”

  He blinked, once and then twice. I thought for a moment he hadn’t heard me, but then he gasped, “Yeah!” like he was afraid I’d take it back.

  There were no take backs, and I didn’t need another word of encouragement. I captured both sides of his face in my hands and took control of his mouth. He kissed me back like he’d been wanting to do it just as long as I had. Each time I tried to break away, he suckled my lower lip and begged me to stay without uttering a word.

  His hands on my back were dangerous.

  “Fuck,” I whispered against his lips and slid my hand down his chest, until I could plant it there. “No more. I won’t let you get drained over this. . . .”

  “Please don’t say that . . .,” he whispered, leaning his forehead against mine. “I’d rather be drained over a night with you, than to spend an eternity of misery with him and have ignored my feelings. . . .”

  I wrapped my arms around him and tried to ignore the twitch of my cock. I might have had a little more luck if he didn’t smell so damn good.

  “Fuck . . .” I moaned against his neck and gripped his shirt dramatically in my fist.

  “Stop whining and do something about it,” Jules purred behind me. I planted my hand against the brick of the fireplace and stared into Jay’s eyes.

  “Julie . . . my . . .”

  “Julie will do,” she assured; it was the first time she’d invited me to be informal. My heart thundered and I waited for the punchline. Her hand settled on my shoulder and convinced me with a flutter of her thumb that she was serious.

  “Jay?” I raised the question with my brows.

  “Please—” he started, but I smothered whatever else he was about to say. I grabbed his shirt and start to take it off him. He snatched ahold of it, and for a minute, I thought he’d fight me over it.

  “He’s going to have you bared?” I reminded him, when he sucked his lip and seemed to be contemplating.

  He swallowed hard and his eyes shyly flitted from me to Julie.

  “Stop looking at her,” I demanded, and without thinking, I reached out and forced his attention back toward me. “You just worry about what we’re doing.”

  “Okay,” he shakily agreed, locking his hands around my neck.

  “Good. Help me out, undress me,” I encouraged, only to find his hands stiffening against my back. It took him a second, but he slowly started to comply. My shirt was inched up my back, until I lifted my arms for him, and it was slid over my head. The minute he shifted his focus to drop it, I undid his jeans.

  I wasn’t sure how anyone made it through high school and their first summer of adulthood with their virginity intact, but here we were. I mean, I knew why. He’d tried to take a girl’s virginity when we were in junior high school. They were both pathetically inexperienced and nervous, and she ended up freaking out and insisting he stop.

  He’d been an introvert before, but after that, he was hopeless around girls.

  His finger nervously flitted over my belt. I reached to his face and pulled him in for another kiss that seemed to settle his shaky hands.

  “You okay?” I asked, after I’d kissed and nuzzled him a while. He turned toward me, returning the gentle kisses. It was adorable, and in the blink of an eye, it was more. His lips became demanding and his tongue started to caress mine.

  I had an inner war with the part of me that wanted to pin him down and fuck the hell out of him. I had to go slow.

  Going slow, however, would possibly lead to more discomfort than necessary, so I hooked my thumbs inside his pants and boxers and started to lower them all at once. Ripping the shy bandage off so to speak.

  He sucked in air and planted both hands on my chest before I even had half of his ass out.

  “Angel!” He panicked, like I’d just buried myself in him.

  “Hmm?” I raised my brows and smiled down at him.

  He blinked a few times and slowly slid his hands down to my pants. I waited until he started to slide mine down, before I began to shove his the rest of the way off his hips. I didn’t give his nerves time to rethink it, I stepped out of mine and bullied him with my body until he walked backwards out of his.

  The sofa caught him behind the knees, causing him to sprawl out on it with a startled gasp. I didn’t give him an inch, I went with him, hovering atop him with one knee planted on the sofa. I didn’t just kiss him, I raped his mouth this time and ran my hand over his shoulder, down his chest, and secured a hip.

  I begrudgingly abandoned his swollen lip and nipped at his chest, earning myself a hiss and a startled cry that ended in an awkward laugh.

  “Shh,” I whispered, pressing a kiss between his nipple line and navel. I took my time, biting and licking until I reached his belly button, that was when I looked up at him again in that way that I knew snatched souls.

  His drew in a rugged breath and his lids grew heavy. When I tilted my head and started to go for the area where that trail broke into curls, he twitched before I could even make contact with the skin. I tried to smother a laugh, but it echoed in my throat. He was hard and brushing against my throat and cheek.

  I kept my eyes on him and turned toward his girthy cock. Now that I was confronted with it, I guess I couldn’t blame the young lady for having freaked out. It wasn’t just a dick; it was a destroyer.

  And a Goddamn shame that it had been neglected. I pressed a kiss to the puffy ridge of his crown and swiped my tongue over the glistening drops.

  He sucked in air so hard, I thought he would choke on it, and his hands clamped on my shoulder and upper arm. I skimmed my fingers from the middle of his thigh, up to his hip and twirled my tongue around the tip of his dick. He made the sweetest sounds and bucked with anticipation each time I used a little pressure.

  “Angel,” he called.

  I worked him from root to tip and he started to bite back moans. Nyx, how I wanted to hear them. I reached up and pawed his stomach.

  He cried out and tipped his head back. That was it. I was gone. Keeping time with the throbbing in my cock, I worshipped him. Gagging and denying myself air just to hear another throaty moan and feel the timid twitch of his hips.

  Once he drew close, he started to relax. For a few moments, in the end, he even managed to fuck my mouth a bit before he realized he was doing it. By then, the entire base of his cock was coated in my saliva.

  Chapter Seven

  Jaysen

  The purgatory that our friendship had become was insufferable.

  Wanting something you couldn’t have was bad enough, but wanting someone that was so painfully close—that was a special type of hell. I knew people talked about this kind of thing, but they weren’t talking about this. They couldn’t be. This was different and so incredibly intense. He was my best fucking friend. One could say my only friend if they pressed past the surface of superficial connections.

  His hair slid through my
fingers, and my mind raced my lungs. All I could do was hold him and try my damnedest to breath. I’d never felt anything so intense. My mind was blown, until he started grazing kisses across my stomach and the sofa shifted with his weight. That was when I remembered that we were only getting started. His teeth seized a nipple and I hissed in anticipation of pain that never arrived. He quieted me with a kiss, but the faint pop of a lid started me all over again.

  He squirted something on his fingers and tried to paint his target. It was slick and cool, but I still flinched like his finger was on fire the first couple times he brushed them against my ass. Panic flooded through me, but I tried not to show it. Whether I wanted to or not, in a few months, I’d be doing this with the Executioner, I might as well get used to it with someone I wasn’t deathly afraid of.

  His mouth gently trailed down my throat and greedily began to suck at an area that that had a direct line to my soul. I ran my hands up his back and anchored them on his shoulders when he raked his teeth over the area and sank two fingers inside me.

  Much to my surprise it felt good, there really wasn’t any pain. If there was, I didn’t notice once he zeroed in on that spot. My cock was aching, and I timidly began to fuck his fingers.

  He made those guttural appreciative sounding noises again and I almost came.

  “Turn over,” His breath fanned behind my ear, and the throaty gravel of his voice sent a spark up my spine.

  My breath quickened, and I slowly rolled, only to be caught and positioned, so that one leg dangled off the side of the couch.

  It was real.

  It was happening after all the years of purgatory. I dug my knee into the sofa and hesitantly rolled my ass toward him. Trusting him, in ways that I’d never trusted any other human being.

  What if it taking dick was just as horrible as Samantha had made out?

  He grabbed the sides of my hips and snugged me against his cock. I swore I could feel it pulsing against my lube-smeared crack. I moaned before I realized it and hid my face against the cushion.

  His fingers laced in my curls and he lifted my head back and nipped at the side of my mouth.

  “Don’t hide from me.” He quietly growled.

  His kissed and nipped a path down my neck, then I felt him teasing his way to the center of my shoulder blades. Every inch of my body was anticipating his next touch and trying to meet it.

  It came in the form of a kiss. One that I should have expected but had long forgotten. He pressed the crown of his cock to my entrance and reached around my face. Palming it so that I was forced to confront his nuzzling.

  I gasped, as adrenaline-laced panic flooded my body. My cock, however, was twitching to its own tune. I pressed back, just a tiny bit and he pulled away.

  “Shh,” He whispered, before raking his teeth on my earlobe. That electric tingle shot down my spine, and I unintentionally rolled again. This time he answered. He gently bit my shoulder and rocked his body. The initial sting caused me to moan, but then I clamped my lips together and gasped against the pressure. It almost paralyzed me with anticipation.

  I was about to try and stop him, when he slid his hand away from my jaw and claimed my dick.

  He started to slowly stroke it in time with his thrusts. The pressure was maddening. I gripped the cushion for support and found his fingers quickly tangling with mine instead. His name spilled from my lips a few times, but before I could cry out for him to stop, the terrifying pressure bled into the waves of mind-shattering pleasure.

  His tender thrusts and reassuring hold on my hand turned into needy fucking. His body rocked against mine, and our mouths warred until he finally buried himself in me and locked his hips causing me to go over the edge with him. Angel was ready and fisted my crown just as I cried out. He acted like catching ribbons of cum was the most natural thing in the world.

  Chapter Eight

  Jules

  They were gorgeous together. Watching them had left me dizzy with thirst. I’d have liked to have given them their space and moment, but I couldn’t. My fangs had long since popped, and I was having to concentrate to keep that ridiculous growl from catching in my throat.

  I sounded exactly how I felt, like a cat who was about to pounce.

  I kept my steps even, but there was nothing I could do about the fierce way I grabbed the side of Angel’s face and exposed his vein.

  Jaysen gasped wildly and his eyes grew big. I held his gaze and lowered myself toward Angel’s throat. I ran my tongue over Angel’s pulse point and he swallowed, instantly breaking out with goosebumps. Rather than make him steep in the anticipation, I sank my fangs in and groaned against the whimper he fought off. It bled into a rugged moan once enough of my venom was in him to dull the pain.

  Jaysen’s pale-blue eyes darted between us and his hands trembled against Angel’s side. I slid my hand over it, and he hurriedly planted the other one against Angel’s chest like he was contemplating throwing us both off of him.

  When his eyes met mine again and settled there, it almost felt like he was trying to read me. It stole my entire concentration, and I almost choked. I licked the blood from Angel’s wound until it healed itself, then went to the bathroom to clean my mouth and fix my makeup.

  It was touching to hear Angel fuss over him and assure that he was alright. However, there was also a sickening thought that came with all of that; Angel was one thing. Dom would be another. There would be no lovey dovey. Dom wasn’t your average Dark One. While his body might have been young, his soul was carrying more fleas than even I could count. I didn’t know what they were. Only that they vibrated with a fury that I prayed I never met. I’d no doubt he could throw every last one of them toward the crowd if he was mad enough. His soul, not the one he was born with. I meant the one that became his after the harvest; it is considered to be the oldest. Dom wasn’t always Dom. He was Domani, a loyal friend to Talon. To prove his loyalty and love, he took the spirit of the Executioner and bound it to his own. The man killed his own sire, who had killed his sire before. It was simply the way of Shadow Keepers. Demons, as the mortals would have it.

  Nasty creatures, and he was the father of them now. I cringed and felt sorry for Jaysen all over again. I bit my lip while Angel nuzzled and held him. There was no way anything that soft and cuddly would survive the darkest of the Dark Ones.

  Even if he does, he will never survive the Executioner

  I froze with the sudden thought, and my heart broke for him. Angel, too. Jaysen was all he had talked about. How excited he would be when his friend’s time finally came.

  I took my time brushing my teeth and was going to put on more make-up, but then I heard the soft murmur of Angel’s voice and what sounded like Jaysen quietly pleading. I shut the water off and strained until I had focused on their whispers.

  I might as well have had my ear between them.

  “I’m just . . .” Jaysen struggled with a sigh. “I don’t do good with surprises. All these scenarios have been in my head, and it looked as scary as I believe it will be, but then . . .”

  “Then what?” Angel encouraged.

  “Then you moaned, and you were getting hard against me, like it didn’t hurt at all . . .” He tore in a breath that seemed like it’d never catch. “Do you think . . .?”

  It got quiet, and then I heard the telltale sound of kissing.

  “It’s me, Jaysen,” Angel whispered. “When have you ever had problems talking to me?”

  “Only since the feelings started.” It was quiet for a little spell, and then I heard Jaysen licking his lips and nervously swallowing. “I don’t want you to get mad at me . . .”

  “Mad at you . . .?” Angel laughed.

  “I’m serious.” Jaysen protested.

  “Fine.” Angel agreed, easily enough. “I won’t get mad. Out with it . . .”

  “. . . Will you ask her to bite me?”

  His question surprised me, and I absently put a hand to the door. It gave me up with a rusty squeak that made someone
choke on air outside.

  Rather than seem silly, or convince them that I’d been eavesdropping, I pulled my dress over my head and stared into the mirror at my lacy underclothes. They were a little too see through, so I donned the thigh-length robe, tied it loosely, and headed off to join them.

  “Please . . .,” Jaysen whispered.

  “Only if you do it my way,” I spoke up, and they both turned to look at me.

  “Uhm—” Jay started.

  “She’s fucking beautiful, isn’t she?” Angel mused, Jay’s awkwardness made him smile, but he managed not to outright laugh at him.

  Jay’s pale-blue gaze shot toward the door.

  “You don’t have to, though I’d advise you settle in for the night. The party’s over, and I’m sure Talon told your mom he caught you out here.

  “Wait, what?” Jay spat.

  “Fuck me,” Angel whispered, running a hand through his messy hair.

  What the fuck was I thinking? I had no right to even fantasize about Dom’s property, but here I was ready and willing to sample the fruit. Did it really matter? I’d already let Angel do so. In the end it was under my leave, so that kind of made me the thief, didn’t it?

  I was going to end up drained and executed just so my progeny could have a good night.

  “Come here,” I reached out and said, much more firmly than I intended.

  His eyes widened, and he suddenly seemed unable to look at me. Each time he found the nerve, his lips twitched but no sound came out, then he’d start to search the floor again.

  “Get some rest.” I smiled.

  “Wait.” He stepped toward me and turned back toward Angel, betraying a vein in his throat that was bounding. “. . . Promise you won’t be mad?”

  He looked so scared, I was shocked when he finally turned toward me and rolled his shoulders up toward his jaw like he was giving his throat a goodbye hug.

  He reached out hesitantly, only to pull his arms back with embarrassment.

  “I’m sorry . . .,” he apologetically mumbled. “I-I’m not sure how . . . uhm.”