A Wicked Hunger (Creatures of Darkness 1) by Kiersten Fay Read Free Book Online Page B

release was detrimental to her sanity. As though, if she didn’t orgasm soon, she’d explode.
     
    * * *
     
    Mace sank his fangs into the dazed waitress he’d lured into the dark alley behind the late-night diner. She let out a little moan from the erotic effect of his bite, making the trade of blood beneficial to both parties. It wasn’t sexual on his part, not this time.
    It was necessity.
    Breathing in Cora’s essence had brought forth his true nature, his hunger…as well as his inexplicable animalistic desire for her. Yet the woman who fed him now did nothing for him. She looked wrong, she sounded wrong, she even smelled wrong. Nonetheless, he needed to slake his hunger before returning to the motel room.
    Not that he doubted himself around Cora. He could control baser instincts better than most. But still, Cora did something to him that he couldn’t describe, made him crave more than just her vein and a quick fuck.
    Giving her his blood hadn’t helped matters. A connection was always formed with the blood-gift, which was why it was so rarely done, and always with a mutual understanding of what to expect.
    Taking from humans was a different matter. There was little to no risk of solidifying a bond. Ultimately, their essence wasn’t strong enough to leave a lasting mark. Taking from other vampires, however? That was a whole other bag of problems. Mace, himself, had never shared blood with one of his own kind. Bonds like that went both ways and, depending on the strength of the vampires and the frequency of the act, took longer to fade.
    Whatever nexus Cora gleaned from his blood would resemble the spirit with which it was given and wouldn’t last more than a few weeks. If anything it should help her to trust him, at least for the time being.
    He hoped she hadn’t ingested too much, though. Her wound had appeared worse, slathered in her own blood, than his examination had revealed. The good news was that it should heal fairly quickly and leave no scar behind. However, too much vampire blood, without proper faculty, would overload the system and bring on…specific urges.
    He sucked the woman’s vein more deeply.
    He’d suspected as much when he’d been cleaning Cora’s wound. The massage, he had to admit, had been a misstep. He wasn’t the only one to become aroused. 
    He needed to be strong, mentally prepared, to deal with the situation in a detached, chivalrous manner. There was no doubt in his mind she would never trust him again if he couldn’t manage that. Not to mention, if he took advantage of her now, it would enforce her already forged hatred of his kind.
    Not nearly satisfied, but no longer thirsty, he compelled the waitress to forget him and sent her on her way. He retrieved the to-go bag that he’d ordered beforehand and walked the twenty yards back to the eclectic single level motel with cracked faded paint and burned-out parking lamps. The lot was empty but for the stolen motorcycle in front of room one-oh-three and what looked like the husk of a pre-uprising hick-mobile. Rust eaten and dilapidated, the truck perched at the end of the lot like a sad memorial to bygone days.
    When he entered the room, Mace was relieved to find Cora already in bed. Her head was sandwiched between two pillows with her arm slung over the top. Maybe he hadn’t given her too much of his blood after all.
    He crossed to the table and set the food down.
    “Mace?”
    The tremors in Cora’s voice made him go tense. She peeked at him from under the pillow. From what he could see of her expression under her fluffy shield, she appeared to be in pain.
    “Are you alright?” he asked.
    She shook her head. “Something’s wrong. I feel…I’m…I can’t…”
    Mace squeezed his eyes shut. “Shit.” Definitely too much blood. The scent of her desire invaded his nostrils. He clutched the back of a nearby chair. The aroma was like an electroshock wake-up call to the section of his brain that was purely primordial. He