Hunger (Seductors #2)
Read Hunger (Seductors #2) Online
Authors: B. L. Wilde
Table of Contents
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, locations and events are fictional, and any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © B.L. Wilde 2014
The right of B.L. Wilde to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, nor stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior written permission from the author.
Cover Design by Jo Matthews © 2014
Cover image © Vasilchenko Nikita shutterstock.com
Back Cover/Interior Image © Dmitriy Shironosov 123rf.com
Interior Formatting by Written Elegance 2014
ISBN-13: 978-1499501001
ISBN-10: 1499501005
Acknowledgments
Firstly, I’d like to thank my editor, Jo Matthews. Your gift of friendship keeps me writing, and I’d be lost without you. You are my rock in this crazy publishing world. Thank you for everything you do.
I want to thank my amazing pre-reading/proof support team, Liz, NeeNee, and Andrea. You ladies are the best. Thank you for taking the time to help Hunger be all that it can be.
I’ve been blown away by the support The Seductors Series has received so far. I want to give a special mention to a few blog members that have become friends to me: The Hive Book Reviews (love ALL you ladies), Reading Renee (Renee, the first member of Team Oliver), Sizzling Pages (Cariad, my fellow Brit Chick), Halos and Horns (Tracie, you’re amazing), My Family Hearts Books (Tonya, I love you!), and Miscellaneous Thoughts of a Bookaholic (Christina, a fellow lover of the male form). Thank you for loving TSS as much as me!
These blogs are only to name a few, and all of your support has been incredible. Thank you!
Lastly, my readers. Your words and reviews touch my heart. I’m so happy you are on this journey with me.
Now, let’s get on with Jade and Oliver’s story, shall we?
Love,
B.L.Wilde
For Jo,
Who is on this journey with me every step of the way.
Lust is Desire for the body;
Love is Hunger for the soul.
Prologue
“You’ve done amazingly well, Jade,” Sonia praised from her seat behind her desk. Once I’d arrived back at headquarters, she’d requested to see me.
“I told you I’d complete this mission.”
“I’m sorry that I ever doubted you.”
“Oliver will try everything to find me, though. You’ll need to make sure the cleanup crew doesn’t leave anything to chance.” I had to admit I was worried. I could only
imagine
how he must have reacted to waking up and finding me gone. I couldn’t dwell on that, though. It would drive me insane.
“You have nothing to worry about, Jade. You know our defenses are untouchable. Of course, you’ll be on lockdown for at least three months, just to be safe.”
Three months!
Great!
“Can I help intelligence while I’m here? I need to be doing
something
.” I had to keep myself busy. I couldn’t let my mind wander to thoughts of
him
.
“I’m sure Miles would be happy to have you,” Sonia mused, “but take a few days to regroup first. You must be exhausted.” I was—physically
and
emotionally. “I know it can’t have been easy for you.” I looked up at Sonia with a frown. “I’m not the heartless bitch everyone thinks I am. I know you formed a bond with Mr. Kirkham.”
“It was a bond I was able to break, Sonia. Don’t worry about it.” She could be trying to trick me, so I wasn’t going to openly admit that I’d developed feelings for Oliver.
“You’re one of the strongest Seductors I have. I need to make sure you won’t do anything stupid.”
“If I’m on lockdown for three months, I can’t see myself getting into any trouble.”
“It happens to all Seductors at some point, Jade. All you need to do is focus on your work—it will help you to let go. Hell, it might even make you
more
dedicated, if that’s at all possible.”
“This won’t affect my work,” I assured. “It was just sex. Okay, it may have been
great
sex, but that’s still all it was.”
Sonia eyed me carefully before she spoke again. “I will let you know once the blueprints have been received by our client. This mission will be a good payout for you. Why don’t you take a nice vacation and clear your head before you go on lockdown? We’ll just need to make sure the location is untraceable.” I nodded, but it didn’t feel right knowing I was going to be getting money by betraying Oliver. I’d never had this feeling about a mission before. “That’s all for now, thank you.”
I walked out toward the pool to find Georgie. She was sitting in one of the lounge chairs reading a book until she spotted me.
“How did it go?” she asked warily, getting up.
“The mission is complete.”
“Come here, baby girl.” She pulled me into a tight hug. “I’m so proud of you. It couldn’t have been easy.”
“It was pure torture,” I whispered into her ear, holding her tighter, “but do you know what the hardest thing is?”
“What?”
“Knowing that right now he’ll be trying to find me. It will destroy him when he keeps hitting dead ends. I can’t even think about what’s crossing his mind right now. We became so close on the last visit, and he told me things I never thought I’d want to hear. Oh, Georgie, the way he loved me…I can’t even explain how good it felt.” A few of the Seductors around the pool seemed to be watching my mini breakdown with interest, but I didn’t care at the moment. It was all starting to hit me—I was never going to see Oliver again.
“Hush,” she cooed, rubbing my back comfortingly. “I know it hurts, Jade. We’ve all been there, but you’ve done the right thing. We have no other choice until our contracts end.”
“I shouldn’t have let him fall in love with me. I could have played a bitch so he wouldn’t be hurting right now. I could have done this all so differently, but being with him…I…I…I just kept losing myself. I…did it all wrong.”
“Stop that!” Georgie snapped, shaking me. “Don’t doubt your skills, Jade. There is a reason you’re the number one Seductor here. You are
brilliant
at what you do! It wouldn’t have mattered what character you played. He still would have fallen for you.”
“Have you ever doubted being a Seductor?” I questioned, pulling back from her.
“Is that what all of this is about?” Georgie looked around, knowing this conversation was becoming a little too dangerous. If anyone overheard us, they might report back to Sonia. “Come on, Jelly Bean. I need to grab something from our room,” she muttered, noticing Alicia wasn’t too far away from us with her head tilted slightly in our direction. Yeah, I knew she was trying to listen in. Alicia had
always
had it in for me. She hated that I made more money than her and got first pick of the top jobs. Not to mention I had to clean up her mess on a mission last year.
Molly was out on a mission for a few days, so Georgie and I had the room to ourselves. I loved Molly, I really did, but she was younger than Georgie and me, so she didn’t have the same life experiences.
“What is going on in that head of yours?” Georgie had a look of fear in her eyes as she slumped down onto my bed next to me.
“I’m not going to do anything stupid.” First Sonia, now Georgie? Jeez! What did they think I was going to do—throw myself at Oliver and beg him to take me back after everything I’d done? The truth was, if I wasn’t so ashamed of myself, and it wasn’t so dangerous for him, I might have actually considered it.
“Good, because I couldn’t watch you being hunted down if you decided to make a run for it. Where would you even go? Back to him?” Damn, she was good. Was I that easy to read right now?
“I’m not even thinking that,” I lied.
“Where has this doubt suddenly come from, then?”
“It’s not easy to let go of something you’ve never had before. I guess it’s just hard to wrap my head around the fact that it’s over.”
“Your paths might cross one day when you leave The Seductors. Stranger things have happened.” I knew that was true. It was the main clause in the contract that made me sign over five years ago. I had the choice to be Jade Phillips again when I left, or an identity I had been previously for the Seductors. I could even be someone completely new. It was the deal of a lifetime—being able to start all over again, with no baggage to hold you down. Not that it mattered in this case. Oliver wouldn’t be available in five years, and I wasn’t delusional enough to think he would be. Some amazing woman who actually
deserved
him would have snatched him up by then and would be having amazing sex for the rest of her life. Plus, there was no guarantee I would even be allowed to contact him. And if I could, how would I explain a name change to him? I was sure the Seductors wouldn’t allow it anyway. Oliver was a top priority mission. It was too dangerous to go back to those.
“That’s never going to happen. I can’t sit here thinking about that for the next five years, either. It would drive me insane. I need to forget him.”
“And you can do that, can you?”
“I have to,” I stressed, running my hands through my hair before getting up to pace the room. “It’s going to drive me crazy being cooped up in here for three months.”
“How serious are these feelings you have for him, Jade? I’ve never seen you this worked up before.”
Did I tell Georgie the truth? Damn! If I didn’t tell her, who could I tell?
“I think I’ve fallen in love with him.” My voice was just a whisper, but saying the words out loud was like stabbing a hot dagger straight through my heart. I loved him; I
really
loved him.