Hunger Aroused by Dee Carney Read Free Book Online

very small amount of his blood, the sire would drain her. Enough to make the heart stop pumping. That’s the key to transition. During that time, his blood blossoms within her veins and, like a virus, grows and overtakes the system. It won’t work otherwise.”
    â€œOh my God.”
    â€œSo for you to be changing now, your heart would have stopped beating sometime in the last few days. At the risk of asking the obvious, can you think of any time that might have happened?”
    â€œNo. Of course not.”
    â€œThen we’re back to where we started.”
    Her mind continued its rapid turning and processing of information. “Not quite, Corin. You said you had to find my sire. Now that you know he’s not really responsible for changing me, not really, what now? Is there still a warrant on my head?”
    He turned his face away and said softly, “It’s still not my decision to make, Jasmine.”
    â€œThen why are you here? Why are you helping me? You’ve already said it’s not your responsibility!”
    â€œI don’t know, honestly. The council needs to be informed. The rules have changed.”
    She had no idea what rules he referred to, but yeah, she’d have to agree whatever rules he talked about had changed. She didn’t ask for this. Still didn’t want it in her life. Their liaisons kept her sated and sane, but when he was finished, when he came to complete whatever task drove him, what happened then? This was not a romance blooming between them. They shared passion at its most primitive. He didn’t offer love, nor would she have accepted it, but knowing his views hadn’t shifted, that some mission overrode anything that could happen, made her want to weep.
    His leg moved, and Jasmine lifted her head. Corin sighed. “I have to think.”
    She watched him leave the comfort of her bed, and pulled the disheveled blanket across her lap. Ever stoic, Corin tucked in the shirt she’d tugged free from his pants, pacing the room as he did.
    Watching him move was a lesson in stimulation for the senses. He walked with the grace of a jungle cat, his height and mass lending him an air of fluidity. Granted, just about everyone stood taller than she, but Corin filled the room with his presence. A being larger than life.
    In another time and place, she would have relished the idea of being pursued by him.
    â€œAren’t you hot?” she asked, more to keep her thoughts along a more reasonable line.
    His head jerked around. “What?”
    â€œI think we can agree you’ve pretty much camped out here, if only for the time being. That leather duster doesn’t look incredibly comfortable.”
    She didn’t like the look that crossed his face one bit. Danger lingered there. Another reminder that he planned on ending her life. She forced herself not to dwell on it for the moment. She had to focus on this new world he introduced her to and how to ultimately stay alive.
    In one smooth move Corin pushed the duster from one shoulder, letting gravity take it off the other. Her pulse quickened as she watched. Hidden beneath the leather, he wore a sleeveless black tee. Toned, muscled arms flexed as he caught the duster and draped it over the edge of the bed. The black material did an impressive job of hiding the hard cuts of his abdomen, but she’d already felt them during her exploration before. Even now, her mouth went dry with the memory.
    She scrutinized two leather straps circling around his back, and she stilled. “Gun?”
    Corin didn’t answer at first, instead sliding his arms free of the straps. “Guns don’t work on our kind.”
    Our kind.
    Her gaze drifted to the contraption he held in his hand. Four wooden stakes—stakes?—were strapped inside a holder, dangling deceptively. As if they were only along for the ride and had no intention whatsoever of doing in anyone. “Are