Longed-For Hunger (2 page)

Nyx scooped up the first stack of books. “I know. I just haven’t met the right guy yet.”

And she did know. She still counted the days since she lost her husband to cancer. At least she wasn’t counting the hours as she’d done in the beginning. Derek had been the love of her life and her high school sweetheart. They’d married when they were both twenty-one. Losing him three years ago had been a blow Nyx hadn’t been sure she would survive. Even now, years later, she still felt as if she would never be whole again. 10

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“The reason why you haven’t met the right guy is because you haven’t exactly been looking either,” Janet said. “You’re only thirty. You’re too young to be moldering away. I still think I should set you up with my cousin. He’d be perfect for you.”

“No you won’t. No blind dates.” This wasn’t the first time Janet had suggested she set her up with her cousin. Janet meant well, but Nyx didn’t want her first date since losing her husband to be with a man she’d been set up with. Janet held up her hands in surrender. “All right. I won’t push.”

With a nod, Nyx said, “I’ll be at the front then.”

She turned and walked to the display windows. Even though Janet had said she wouldn’t push, the chances were good she would bring up the topic of her cousin being good for Nyx again. She smiled. Janet had become a close friend shortly after Nyx had started working for her. Only two years older, Janet sometimes took on the big sister role, looking out for Nyx. After Derek had died, Janet had been there for her every step of the way.

At the first window, Nyx put the stack of books on the floor and took out the ones already on display. Once it was empty, she took the second stack of new books to the window. Standing, she mentally organized them the way she thought they should be displayed then set to work.

A quarter of the way through the first stack of books, she looked out the window. Nyx straightened when she caught sight of a man standing directly across the street watching the bookstore. It was the same man she’d bumped into earlier. There was enough distance between him and the window that she couldn’t tell if he was watching her or not. Stupidly, the thought that he might actually
be
watching her set Nyx’s heart beating a little faster. He really was gorgeous.

“What has you so preoccupied?” Janet asked behind her. “I said your name twice and you still kept staring out the window. It must be something interesting.” She moved to stand next to Nyx. “Whoa, mama. Look at that beefcake across the street. Is he the reason why you didn’t hear me?”

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“Maybe. I’ve had a chance encounter with him.”

Janet cleared her throat loudly. “Ahem. And exactly when did that happen? You’re holding out on me. I thought you said you hadn’t met the right man yet. If Mr. Beefcake over there doesn’t do it for you, you need your head examined. If I wasn’t married, I wouldn’t mind a little close encounter with that one.”

Nyx chuckled. “I’m sure Pete would be happy to hear his wife is lusting for another man.”

“Hey, I’m married, not dead. I can look. And don’t try to steer the conversation off you.”

“What I meant by encounter is that we literally bumped into each other just before I came into work. We apologized and then he went on his way.”

Janet elbowed her. “Obviously you left a lasting impression or he wouldn’t be across the street watching the store.”

“Or he could be some nutcase who has decided I’m to be his next stalking victim.”

“He can stalk me any time he wants.”

Nyx rolled her eyes. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.”

“I think you should go out there and talk to him.”

“Ah, I don’t think so. Who knows, he could only be waiting for someone. Like a girlfriend or a wife.”

“Chicken.”

She shook her head. “I’m not chicken. Now leave me alone so I can get the displays finished.”

With one last sigh, Janet turned and walked to the back of the store. Nyx did her best to ignore him while she worked, but her gaze seemed to unerringly drift to the window and then across the street. Each time she looked, he still stood in the exact same spot, not seeming to have moved.

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When the hours went by and Nyx went to look out the front window from time to time only to find the man still there, thoughts that he could
indeed
be a stalker played through her head. If he was interested in her as Janet thought, why did he just stay outside on the sidewalk and not come into the store?

By the end of her shift, she’d almost convinced herself that the chances of him being a stalker were pretty high. Nyx dragged her feet about leaving and even tried to talk Janet into letting her stay until she closed the bookstore for the day. But Janet only shooed her off.

Prepared not to look across the street, Nyx left the store. She’d only taken two steps when she found her gaze drawn to him, but he wasn’t there. Telling herself she was being a fool for feeling disappointed, Nyx continued down the sidewalk. With the two new vampire romances she’d purchased, she’d go home, curl up with one of them and read, just as she did every evening.

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Chapter Two

Denger watched the little mortal walk down the sidewalk from the entrance to an alley two stores down from the bookstore. Once she was far enough ahead, he followed her.

The need to know if she was truly his mate had had him standing for hours across the street from where she worked, watching her through the large windows. Every time he’d caught sight of her, the more he hoped she was indeed his. He’d also spent most of the day with the hard-on from hell. He craved her body and her blood. Just the thought of sinking his fangs into her soft flesh while he took her body had caused them to drop more than once. He’d had to hide them from the mortals around him. She turned into a parking lot and he hurried to catch up. Just as he closed in on her, she quickly swung around, lifted her leg and kicked out the flat of her foot, which connected with one of his kneecaps. Caught off guard, Denger’s leg gave out. Before he could recover, she kicked his other knee and gave him a hard shove so he landed flat on his back on the pavement. She wasted no time jumping on his chest, pinning his arms with her legs as she painfully took hold of his ponytail and wrapped it around her fist. Even though he would have no problem getting himself free, Denger let her believe she’d overpowered him. He had to hand it to her, for such a little thing she’d managed to get the drop on him. With a man of his size, that was impressive. He smiled. “I have to say this wasn’t quite what I expected.”

She gave his hair another painful yank. “I saw you hanging out across the street from the bookstore. Why are you following me?”

“Take it easy,” he said. “I like my hair attached to my head. I just thought we could talk.”

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“If you wanted to talk, why didn’t you come into the bookstore instead of waiting until now? I saw you standing across the street for my entire shift.”

“I didn’t want to bother you while you were working.”

That wasn’t exactly the truth. He hadn’t gone inside the store mostly because he wouldn’t have wanted to leave. Given how they didn’t even know each other’s names, he didn’t think she would have appreciated him dogging her heels with a raging hardon while trying to keep his extended fangs out of sight.

“So instead you decided to play the stalker and sneak up behind me in a parking lot?” she asked and gave another yank on his hair.

“I can assure you I’m not a stalker. After we bumped into each other I only thought to get to know you better. It wasn’t my intention to sneak up on you. How about we start from the beginning again? I’m Denger. I’d offer you my hand, but you have my arms pinned to my sides.”

Not that he was really complaining. With her perched on his chest as she was, it just seemed to arouse him even more, especially since her jean-covered pussy wasn’t all that far from his face. That thought had him fighting to keep his fangs from dropping once again.

When she didn’t move from her position or say anything, Denger decided now would be a good time to try a little experiment—to see if he could wipe her memory or not. If he could, he wouldn’t totally wipe her memories of him, just his coming up behind her in the parking lot. If he couldn’t wipe her, it would be another sign she was his mate.

Latching onto her gaze with his, he concentrated as he tried to erase the memories. He slammed into a mental brick wall. Just to be sure, Denger tried a second time with the same result. The only indication that she’d felt his attempts was the small furrowing of her brows.

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She was his. He barely managed to stop himself from flipping her onto her back and taking her mouth in a heated kiss. He had to play it cool. She was still leery of him. He sure as hell didn’t want to scare her off now that he’d found her. Denger tried once again to get her to relax enough to release him. “Not that I don’t mind you sitting on me like this, but the pavement isn’t exactly comfortable. I promise I won’t jump on you once you let me up.”

She seemed to think it over for a few seconds, then slowly unwound his hair from around her hand and slid off his chest to stand beside him. Not wanting to spook her, he took his time getting up. So far so good. She didn’t bolt once he stood at his full height.

He stuck out his hand. “I’m Denger.”

“Nyx,” she said and placed her hand in his.

Denger closed his fingers around hers and gave her hand a small shake. He deliberately held it a little longer than was necessary before he released it. “A lovely name for a lovely lady.” He then watched her cheeks pinken slightly.

“Ah, thanks. It’s nice to meet you, Denger.”

“I apologize if I gave you the wrong impression. I thought if I left I wouldn’t see you again. I didn’t want to take that chance.”

“Uh huh. Well, can I suggest the next time you want to introduce yourself to a woman you take the more direct approach?”

“Thanks for the suggestion, but I doubt there will be a next time.” Nyx started to move away. Denger stopped her. “Wait. I want to see you again.”

Nyx turned around to face him. She then said reluctantly, “I don’t know.”

“It doesn’t have to be a
date
date. Just coffee. We can go to the coffee shop that’s down the street from the bookstore. Say tomorrow afternoon?” Denger watched Nyx’s gaze run over his body while she thought over his invitation. When she reached the 16

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crotch of his jeans, her attention snapped back to his face. He shrugged. “I’m not going to deny it. I’m attracted to you.”

Her face flushed once again. “I don’t know if I should see you again.”

“Why not?” Denger then thought of something else. “You’re not married, are you?”

If she was, he didn’t know what he’d do. He already thought of her as his. He didn’t want to have to steal her from another man, but if that was what it would take to claim her as his, at this point it was something he was willing to do. Nyx shook her head. “No… No, I’m not married. Not anymore.”

“You’re divorced.”

“No. My husband died of cancer three years ago.” Before Denger could say something else to convince her to see him, she added, “I haven’t started to see other men yet. It’s been a really long time since I went out on a date of any kind. I don’t know if I’m ready.”

Even though it had been a few years since she’d lost her husband, he could hear the sadness in Nyx’s voice when she spoke about him. Feeling the need to comfort his mate, Denger reached out and stroked the back of his fingers against her cheek. “I’m sorry for your loss. It’s just coffee. Think of it as a small test to see if you’re ready to start dating other men.”

Nyx searched his face. She then bit her bottom lip and nodded. “All right. I’ll go out with you for coffee. I have to work tomorrow afternoon but I get a half-hour break at three. We can go out then.”

He smiled. “I’ll be there.” Having won that concession out of her, he quickly leaned in and brushed her lips with his, wishing he could taste her fully. “We’ll take baby steps.” Pulling away, he started to walk backward. “Until tomorrow.”

Denger turned on his heel and left the parking lot. Walking away from the woman who was to be his mate was hard, but at least he now knew who she was and where to find her. The rest would hopefully fall into place.

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* * * * *

Returning to Ra’s Chosen’s headquarters, an old warehouse they’d converted into living quarters, Denger parked his Mustang in the docking bay they used as a garage. He hurried to the door that was connected to the headquarters proper. After punching in the code on the number pad, then pushing down on the stone beneath it, the door unlocked. He swirled his tongue around the tip of his index finger to heal where the needle from the stone had pierced it, taking a drop of his blood. The stone was a gift from Ra and would only unlock the door for Ra’s Chosen and the mates of two of the warriors, Blythe and Desiree.

Denger wasted no time going to his personal quarters to change for a night of hunting the undead. Dressed in black leather pants and t-shirt, he strapped his sword to his back before he pulled on his black leather jacket to hide it from view. Ready to face what the night would bring, he headed for the kitchen on his way to the meeting room to meet up with the rest of the warriors. He found Blythe and Desiree there.

When she saw him, Blythe stood and took a thick sandwich out of the fridge. She handed it to him. “Sorry, the others ate your share of dinner when you didn’t show up. So all you get is a ham sandwich.”

He took a big bite, chewed, then swallowed. “This is fine. I’ll get something after I come back tonight.”

Blythe narrowed her eyes in his direction. “Don’t you dare make a mess of the kitchen.”

“I promise it will be spotless when I’m done.”

The kitchen was Blythe’s domain and she didn’t tolerate anyone making a mess of it. Considering she cooked all the meals and was really good at it, no one put up a fuss about her rules.