Hunger Revealed (5 page)

It didn’t matter how hard the chains
dug into his wrists and legs. Corin began to choke against the
tether around his neck, but he struggled against it anyway. If he
didn’t get to Jasmine first, it wouldn’t matter what happened to
him.

“…
Origin for us
all…”

His vision blurred when the first
vampire latched onto her arm, fingertips digging into her flesh
until it blanched white. His stomach heaved, but Corin yelled above
their chanting. Yelled to get their attention because it would be
him—not her. They would take him. Please gods. Him.

“No! Jas!
Jas…
” His head whipped
around as someone touched his cheek. It was a slight caress, and in
his frantic struggling, he should have missed it.

“If you can help her, go. This wasn’t
what was supposed to happen.”

One of the acolytes stood
dangerously close, a cowled hood blocking her identity, but he
heard and recognized her voice. Only as he looked into Moira’s
frightened eyes did he realize that he could move his neck freely,
as well as his feet. A soft
snick
later, and the chains at his wrists went
slack.

“Thank you,” he rasped before
launching himself toward the men holding his wife.

Chapter Five

Corin would have paid good money to
have his ash stakes in hand, ready to plunge them into the hearts
of the men intent on bleeding out his wife, but there were other
ways to kill a vampire. Just took a little longer.

He grabbed the closest vampire by the
head, wrenching until something popped. There hadn’t been enough
time for the man to fight back. Before his body hit the floor,
Corin slammed an elbow into the next guy’s face. When he dropped, a
gap formed between bodies, big enough to wedge himself into. Corin
grunted as he yanked on a tie, the sudden snap a moment later
sending a wave of hope through him.

“Jasmine—
move
!”

Her blue eyes were round with pain and
fear, but she followed through. Jasmine lifted her free hand and
pushed it into the hair of the blonde whose lips were latched onto
her wrist. Jasmine squeezed her eyes shut, but pulled hard,
releasing a soft cry of triumph when the woman yelped. Ignoring the
bleeding wound, Jasmine worked on freeing her hand.

Satisfied that she could work on
getting out of the ties, Corin barreled into two more men, lifting
them off the ground to slam their bodies against the concrete
floor. He whirled, incisors bared, a growl rumbling from his throat
ready to face any more attackers. “Mate?” he called. A red haze
covered his vision as he scanned their surroundings.

There were so many people in the room.
Too many. He could continue to take down the vampires, but he
wasn’t stupid enough not to realize that the humans could overrun
him if they wanted.

“Almost done!”

The Reverent Father stood ramrod still
at the end of the table, farthest away from Corin. They locked
stares, and in that moment, Corin knew the face of a zealot,
determined to let his faith guide all of his actions, even if any
of those actions drove him straight down the road to hell. He
glared back at Corin. “She is a miracle to be shared with the
world!”

“You idiot,” Corin growled back. “The
only miracle is that she agreed to be my wife. Her transformation
was as mundane and common as dust.”

Jasmine’s head snapped up.
“Hey!”

Her indignation snagged the Reverent’s
attention. He grabbed her from behind, beneath her chin, fingers
curling into the skin of her neck. Her hands scrabbled against his,
futilely trying to get him to release her. One leg remained
tethered to the altar, and there was no way she could obtain the
leverage she needed to get away from the madman.

Paralyzed with indecision and fear for
her safety, Corin stood at the opposite end of the altar, trying to
sort the best way to get to her. The Reverent Father’s supernatural
strength could easily snap her neck should he so desire.

In a nauseous wave of feeling, Corin
was transported back to the last time Jasmine’s life had been in
danger. The complete feeling of helplessness that overwhelmed him
at hearing the woman he loved cry out in pain and terror. As if
thrown back to a year ago, he heard her screams echo in his ears,
louder than the rush of blood going through them now.

He looked into her face…and she was
smiling at him.

Smiling
.

“Jas?” Confusion wrapped around his
brain.

Her blue eyes held none of
the doubt and worry assaulting him now. She’d stopped struggling,
keeping her hands gripped on the Reverent Father’s wrists. A petite
woman, she’d never before seemed as fragile to Corin as she did in
that moment, but there was an inner strength in her that shone like
a beacon. It wasn’t just strength, he realized. She radiated
trust
. Trust in
him.

By the gods, he would not lose that
trust.

“You and me,” he said in a low voice
to the Reverent Father. “Let’s you and me dance and put an end to
this.”

“I have no quarrel with you,
executioner. Allow us to revel in who she is and to share her
miracle.”

Corin almost shook his head in
disbelief. The asshole just didn’t get it. And probably never
would.

Without another word, Corin vaulted on
top of the altar. He deliberately landed on top of his wife,
knocking her from the Reverent’s grip. She fell back against the
table, but immediately curled in, staying out of his way and away
from the Reverent as much as possible.

The vampire took too long to recover,
and Corin struck with a right hook. When it connected with the
Reverent’s jaw, Corin felt the tremor vibrate down through his
toes. Sharp pain flared in his knuckles, but he mentally tamped
down the discomfort to something he could tolerate it without
distraction.

He didn’t want to leave Jasmine
unprotected on the table, but he had to take care of the immediate
threat. This had to end once and for all.

Launching himself at the fallen
vampire, Corin grabbed him the lapel of his shirt, dragging him up
from the floor. He brought their faces to within an inch of each
other. “Yield,” he snarled at the man. “Call this off and
yield.”

The Reverent Father bared
incisors dripping with saliva and blood. “She is
a…
miracle
…”

Corin’s stomach curled with
realization. So long as the Reverent Father lived, he would
continue this quest.

Therefore, he could not
live.

The invisible mask of stoicism that
Corin wore when ordered to execute a vampire slid into place, and
Corin brought his mouth to the other man’s throat. Without a second
thought or reservation, he bit into the center of his neck and
yanked his head back. He pulled while the Reverent Father flailed
wildly, trying to free himself, without success. Eyes closed, Corin
held on as the man thrashed, his life’s blood pouring out of the
new wound. Moments later when the struggle ceased, he dropped the
body without looking at it again. Exsanguination of a vampire was
lethal and permanent…

“Hey,” a soft voice said.

Startled, he whirled to find Jasmine
standing at his side. “Christ,” he murmured, pulling her into his
arms. Apparently, she’d used the time to free herself of the last
restraint.

He was tired. So goddamned tired, but
he knew a roomful of humans and a few remaining vampires separated
them from the exit. Their fight wasn’t over yet.

“This wasn’t supposed to
happen,” a woman’s voice said. “This was supposed to be a
celebration of life. Not…not
this
.” Corin watched Moira push
through the crowd, which hovered only a few feet from where the
Reverent Father and the other vampire’s bodies lay. “We weren’t
supposed to hurt her. And we were never to touch her consort. What
happened? Why did this happen?”

There were the shuffling sounds of
feet, but no one answered her questions.

“I swear to you, she is no more
miraculous than you and I,” Corin said, hugging Jasmine closer.
“Let us go in peace to live our lives. Find your miracles
elsewhere.”

Moira nodded, and the tension still
holding Corin hostage released as, one by one, the others in the
room began to nod and back away too.

~*~

Jasmine held Corin’s hand as they
slowly ambled down the long driveway leading to their home. He was
covered in blood—none of it his, thankfully—and she still wore the
purple negligee the cult had provided. Fatigue washed over her, but
with every step closer to the house, a little more of it
dissipated. “You could have let Moira drive us up here,” she
admonished, not looking forward to another quarter mile of the
trek. They lived in the middle of practically nowhere, just the way
they both liked it. No neighbors. Just them and nature.

“It’s bad enough she knows where we
live. Wasn’t going to take her right to the front door.”

“She wasn’t part of the problem. I
think she just wanted something to believe in.”

“Yeah, well, she’s the Council’s
problem now. There are consequences for knowing about the existence
of vampires. She’s probably going to find out the hard way that
knowing is not necessarily a good thing.” He’d reported the cult’s
activities to his superiors, leaving it up to them as to what
happened to the remaining vampires and humans.

Jasmine took simple pleasure in the
way the damp earth felt beneath her feet. With the moon glowing
down on them, it seemed they were being highlighted in the most
ethereal way. Cicadas sung into the night, their voices echoing in
the trees. “There’s nothing wrong with wanting something better for
yourself.”

Corin paused, then twirled her into
his arms. “Do you need something better?”

She looked into his eyes, finding
comfort in his warm hold, pausing to think over the best
answer.

That moment at the ranch when she’d
seen Corin falter, hopelessness casting a shadow over him, she
recalled his earlier confession about his dreams, and it made an
important decision for Jasmine. She couldn’t allow him to continue
to feel as if he couldn’t be there for her when she most needed it.
Especially when his very presence in her life drove every
heartbeat. He’d given her the gift of deciding the fate of her
other attacker, Sijourn Vartan; the Reverent Father’s demise was
something he’d needed.

“I have almost everything I need,” she
responded at last.

A dark eyebrow lifted.
“Almost?”

She shrugged. “I’m still hungry. Never
did feed me.”

Corin chuckled before stepping away.
With a slow, deliberate playfulness, he stripped off the bloody
shirt and chucked it into some bushes a few feet away. He went to
one knee, tilting his head back to expose the line of his neck.
“Come here, mate of mine, lest I accidentally starve
you.”

Seeing him make himself so vulnerable
for her brought the arousal Jasmine previously ignored roaring back
with a furious rush. There didn’t seem to be an inch of her husband
that wasn’t solid muscle and placing her hands on his pecs for
balance only reinforced that belief. She dragged her mouth over his
neck, inhaling the coppery scent coating his skin. When her tongue
darted out to taste him in glorious decadence, she shuddered in
bliss. “I thought you were hungry,” Corin said in a low voice.
Intensely hoarse.

“Very,” she whispered.

Corin reached up and cupped Jasmine’s
head, bringing it closer to his. Their lips came together in a kiss
that rocked through her being. She moaned a wanton sound, and Corin
reacted to her signal by scooping her body into his arms. He gently
laid her down on a carpet of grass, his strong arms a safe
haven.

Jasmine arched beneath him, needing to
connect to him physically. Hardened nipples brushed against his
bare chest, sending sparks of pleasure bolting through her. He
continued to plunder her mouth, kissing her thoroughly, each erotic
brush of lips deepening her want for him.

Her pussy was hot and swollen, and
Corin rolled between her thighs, his leg brushing against her
center. Separated by the thinnest, barest material, she felt the
touch as if it was skin against skin. She writhed, encountering the
stiff outline of his erection tightening the front of his trousers.
He wrenched his mouth away from hers, and slid his hand to her
drenched panties. A sound of supreme satisfaction spilled from him,
and he left her throbbing center long enough to release his
cock.

She took advantage of the way his neck
slid close to her lips and kissed the thumping pulse. The rhythmic
beat seduced her with its simple beauty and erotic lure. Her
incisors throbbed almost painfully so close to what she needed.
Corin lined his cock up with her slick center and at the same
moment he thrust forward, Jasmine pierced his flesh with her
teeth.

“Gods,” he moaned, roughly.

The sweet, sweet taste of blood
flooded her mouth, and overwrought nerves laid claim to her senses
as her husband’s thrusts filled her completely. Jasmine’s eyes
slammed shut, extreme ecstasy flooding her veins. She clung to
Corin, riding out the luscious torture until at last she’d drank
her full and licked over the small bite to seal it closed. Better
to focus on the other thrill of him.