Longed-For Hunger (4 page)

“I’m fine with the half hour,” she said.

“No, you’ll take an hour.” Janet took Nyx by the arm and walked her around the counter until she stood next to Denger. “If you come back before the hour is up, I’ll kick you back out of the store. Now go and enjoy yourself.”

Knowing Janet would do just that, Nyx shook her head before she headed for the bookstore entrance with Denger at her side. Once they were on the sidewalk, her stomach felt as if it had butterflies in it. She’d never been outgoing with the opposite sex. Only with Derek had her shyness gone away. She’d felt comfortable with him right from the start.

She glanced at Denger from the corner of her eye. He was the total opposite of Derek. Her late husband hadn’t been as muscular or as tall. He’d only been a few inches taller than her. Denger’s six and a half feet made her feel positively short. In a perverse way, his largeness made her feel safe and a bit nervous at the same time. Then there was the whole sexual vibe he gave off. Testosterone practically oozed out of him. She could easily picture Denger taking a woman to his bed and making love to her until neither one of them could move. Sex with Derek had been nice. He’d been a gentle lover who had thought of her needs before his. He had never been as wild or desperate to have her like the heroes in the romances she read, but he had never left her wanting. When they reached the coffee shop, Denger guided her to a table at the back of the room. After she told him what kind of coffee she wanted, he went to the counter to 27

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place their orders. It didn’t take long for him to return with two steaming cups of coffee in his hands. He placed one on the table in front of her before he took the chair across from hers.

Denger blew on his coffee then took a sip before he said, “I’m getting the impression that I’m making you nervous. You haven’t said a whole lot since I arrived.”

She gave him a small smile. “Maybe a little. I’m a bit out of practice when it comes to this.”

“If it makes you feel any better, it’s been a while for me as well.”

Nyx chuckled. “I find that hard to believe.”

“It’s true.” He took another sip from his cup. “I don’t normally do dates.”

“I thought this wasn’t supposed to be a
date
date.”

He grinned. “All right, I don’t normally do coffee dates. Is that better?”

A smile tugged at her lips. “Yes. I bet you don’t have problems when it comes to women. I can see them throwing themselves at you.”

“Some do.” Denger’s suddenly heated gaze latched onto hers. “But I find I much prefer it when the woman knocks me on my ass in a parking lot.”

Nyx’s cheeks heated with the reminder of their encounter the evening before. “I got lucky.”

“I think it was more than luck. It takes skill for a woman your size to get the drop on a man as large as I am.”

“Well, I have taken a few karate and self-defense classes. You’re the first person I’ve actually used it on outside of a classroom.”

“In that case, you were taught well.”

The conversation lapsed when they both drank their coffee. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence. Nyx glanced around the coffee shop and noticed that more than a few women were staring at Denger. With his long, waist-length hair, remarkable build and good looks, it didn’t surprise her. She looked back at Denger to find him watching 28

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her. If he noticed that he’d drawn some female stares, he didn’t show it. He seemed to be completely focused on her.

After he gave her a long, lingering look that made her slightly breathless, Denger asked, “So, how long were you married to your husband before he died?”

Nyx took another swallow of coffee. “Five years,” she said softly.

“I don’t mean to pry. I’m just trying to get to know you better.”

“It’s okay. It has been three years. It doesn’t hurt as much as it did when Derek first passed away.”

“You were with him for a while then.”

“Yeah. Derek and I started dating in high school. We married right after he graduated from college.”

“Do you have any kids?”

“No. We were waiting until we could afford a house. Then Derek got sick and it just never happened.”

“So you’re completely alone.”

“Not really. I do have family.” Talk of Derek was only making Nyx feel guilty again. “Do you think we can change the subject? It’s kind of hard to talk about my late husband while I’m out with a man for the first time since I lost him.”

Denger swore under his breath in a language she didn’t understand. “Sorry. I told you I’m not very good at this.”

Not thinking, Nyx reached across the table and put her hand over his. “It’s all right. No harm done. How about we talk about you?” She smiled. “It’ll be my turn to put you in the hot seat.”

He captured her hand in his and rubbed his thumb across her knuckles. “As long as you let me hold your hand like this, I’ll answer any of your questions.”

There it was again, that heated gaze of his that seemed to melt her insides. Her pussy clenched when he stroked his thumb across the back of her hand once again. 29

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God, was it so long since she’d last felt a man’s touch that simply holding his hand turned her on? Apparently so, because with each stroke, her nipples grew taut and wetness pooled between her legs.

Denger dragged in a deep breath through his nose and made a sound that suspiciously sounded almost like a groan. His heavy-lidded gaze skimmed along her face and down to the side of her neck. The expression of longing he wore intensified. Nyx’s heart beat faster. She wasn’t completely unaffected by his stare. He jerked his gaze back to her face. “Ask away,” Denger said in a voice gone husky. Nyx licked her lips and nodded. “Okay. What do you do for a living?”

“I don’t work.”

Stroke
.
Stroke
. Denger’s soft caresses against the top of her hand were making the rest of her body stand up and demand attention. “You don’t work?”

“No. I don’t need to.”

“As in you’re rich?”

“Exactly.”

“Okay.” It figured that Denger would be good-looking and rich. “Must be nice.”

“I earned it. Believe me.”

“Does that mean you live in a big mansion somewhere in the suburbs?”

Denger chuckled. “No. The suburbs are too tame for me.”

Yeah, she couldn’t picture him in the burbs doing yard work on the weekends.

“Then what do you do with your days?” She looked at his wide chest. “You obviously spend a lot of time in a gym working out.”

“I like to train to keep on top of my game. As for what I do with my days, pretty much whatever I want.”

Nyx didn’t miss the wicked glint in Denger’s eyes when he said that last part. She shivered and it had nothing to do with being cold. The meaning of his words wasn’t lost on her. She could picture him lying in bed, his hard body naked and aroused, 30

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waiting for his lover to join him. He’d reach down and take his hard cock in his hand and—

She gave herself a mental kick. She had to stop daydreaming about Denger like that. It was so unlike her. Maybe it was because of her age. Weren’t women supposed to hit their sexual peak when they turned thirty? It didn’t help that Denger still held her hand in his much larger one and with each breath the scent of his cologne filled her nose.

Picking up her coffee cup, she looked inside to see how much was left before she drained it. Fortunately, it had cooled enough so she didn’t burn her tongue. “How about we go for a walk before I go back to work? Unless you need more time to finish your coffee?”

Denger tipped his cup back and emptied it. “A walk is exactly what I need.”

They stood and he took her hand to lead her out of the coffee shop. Walking as they were, Denger brushed up against her side from time to time. Nyx fought the urge to lean into him. She’d hoped the walk would help to get her wayward body under control, but obviously not. More aware of Denger at her side than ever, she hoped he didn’t try to kiss her. If he did, she had a sneaky suspicion she’d be all over him. 31

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Chapter Four

He was in trouble. His good intentions to take things slow with Nyx had already started to crumble. He’d almost screwed it up when he’d first arrived at the bookstore and had caught her in his arms when she’d stumbled. Before he realized what he was doing, he’d projected his thoughts to Nyx—thoughts of the pair of them in bed together. When she’d started to breathe faster and the scent of her arousal perfumed the air around them, he’d been hard pressed not to drag her to him and take her lips the way he ached to.

After that, he’d managed to keep his thoughts to himself. But sitting across from Nyx while he held her hand and the scent of her arousal grew strong once again, his cock had throbbed painfully inside his jeans. His fangs ached just as much. The fresh air was helping him to keep himself under control, but not by much. The longer he spent with Nyx, the more he wanted her. And she wanted him. Her scent told him so. He purposely guided Nyx down the sidewalk in the opposite direction of the bookstore. He didn’t want her trying to ditch him early if they got too close to it. Denger jerked his thoughts back to his surroundings when Nyx said, “If I forget to say it later, I want you to know I enjoyed having coffee with you.”

“Does that mean you’ll see me again?”

She turned her head and smiled. “I think so.”

“Can it be a real date the next time?”

“Maybe, since you made my first foray into the social scene easy.”

A woman carrying a load of shopping bags stepped out of a store directly in front of them. To avoid Nyx banging into her, Denger pulled her tighter to his side. Nyx let out a small gasp when the side of her breast came in contact with his arm. Arousal and 32

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blood hunger slammed into him. He couldn’t take any more. He had to have just a small taste of Nyx before he went out of his mind with wanting her. Having intimate knowledge of most of the alleys in Phoenix from all the years of hunting the undead, he ducked down the nearest one with Nyx in tow. He followed its length until he came to a dead end where there was a small alcove out of sight of the street. He pulled her into it, took her in his arms and claimed her lips with his as he backed her up against the brick wall.

At first, Nyx just stood there, but when he moved his lips over hers and swept his tongue across them, she let out a sigh and opened for him. Denger tangled his tongue with hers and deepened his kiss. His first real taste of her caused a loud groan to rumble out of him. Feeling her arms come up to grip his shoulders had him holding her tighter. He ground his erection against her while he slanted his mouth across hers, making sure her tongue didn’t come into contact with his fangs. The feel of her pressed against him was sweet hell. He slowly dropped his hands from her waist to her ass. Molding her jean-clad flesh in his hands, he lifted her so his cock came in contact with her pussy. Nyx moaned into his mouth, her fingers tangling in his long ponytail. Rocking his hips against her, he moved from her mouth, drawn to the side of her neck. He dragged his tongue across the large vein there, barely resisting the urge to drag one of his fangs along her skin.

The sound of her rapidly beating heart and the taste of her in his mouth had his fangs dropping. Trembling as he fought to bring himself back under control, Denger buried his face in the crook of her neck and held her tight.

“Denger?” Nyx asked in a breathy voice.

He squeezed her tighter. “Just give me a few seconds to calm down.”

Once his fangs receded and he could breathe without panting, he lifted his head to look at her. The sight of her lips swollen from his kisses and her eyes dilated with passion made him want to continue what they had started. Instead, he slowly let her down on her feet, keeping his arms around her waist.

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“I hope I didn’t overstep,” he said. “I’ve been dying to kiss you since I arrived at the bookstore.”

Nyx shook her head and placed her palms flat on his chest. “No, you didn’t. Truth be told, I hoped you would kiss me.” She swallowed. “Since our coffee date has gone well, would you like to come to my place and have a late dinner with me? I get off work at six.

Denger wanted nothing more than to have dinner with Nyx but his nights were not his own. All of Ra’s Chosen had to be out on the streets hunting undead, especially now. The month before they had managed to take out one of Apep’s demons, Sek. They also figured it wouldn’t be too long before Mot, the second demon Apep had unleashed on the world, would make his move against them.

He groaned. “I wish I could but I can’t. I have something I have to do tonight.”

“Oh. Never mind then. I understand.” Nyx’s gaze dropped to his chest. Denger place a finger under her chin and forced her to look up at him. “It isn’t that I don’t
want
to have dinner with you. Believe me, I would much rather spend my evening with you.”

“All right. Then how about lunch? I don’t have to work tomorrow.”

He gave her a closed mouth smile. “Now that, I can do. You’re not going to get rid of me that easily.”

“I guess it’s a date then.”

Releasing Nyx, he took her hand in his and lead her out of the alley. “And one that I’ll be looking forward to.” Back on the sidewalk, he turned them in the direction of the bookstore. “I better get you back to work before I get you in trouble with your boss for being late.”

“Knowing Janet, I doubt she’ll mind. She’s happy to see me out with a man. At least now I don’t have to worry about her pushing her cousin on me again, wanting me to go out on a blind date with him.”

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Denger definitely didn’t like the notion of Nyx seeing another man, even though she hadn’t. It was the whole idea of the unknown man being a potential rival that got to him.

When they reached the bookstore, he held open the door for Nyx then followed her inside. To give Janet the message that Nyx was taken, he put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her against his side as they walked to the back counter. He was pleased that Nyx didn’t resist, even when Janet looked up from what she was doing and smiled at them.