A Hunger Like No Other Read Online Free PDF Page B

want to anger you,” she said with a shaky breath. “I just want to go—”
    “Do you know how many vampires I’ve killed?” he murmured, either ignoring or not hearing her words.
    “No,” she whispered. She wondered if he truly saw her.
    “I’ve killed thousands. I hunted them for sport, stalking their lairs.” He ran the back of his dark claw across her neck. “And with one swipe of my claws I severed their heads—before they even woke.” His lips brushed over her neck where he’d trailed his claw, making her shudder. “I could kill you as easily as taking a breath.” His voice was a low rumble like a lover’s might be, gentling her, so inconsistent with his cruel words and actions.
    “Are you going to k-kill me?”
    He smoothed a strand of hair from her lip. “I have no’ decided. I’ve never hesitated a second before you.” He was shaking from holding his position above her. “When I wake from this haze—when this madness clears, if I still believe you are what you are…who knows?”
    “What I am?”
    He took her by the wrist and forced her hand to his naked shaft. “You feel me hard. Know that the only reason I’m no’ inside you right now is because I’m weak. No’ because of any concern for you.”
    Briefly closing her eyes with embarrassment, she tugged at her hand until he finally let it go. “You would hurt me that way?”
    “Without a second thought.” His lips curled. His gaze seemed intent on her face, but his eyes were still vacant.
    “And that’s just the beginning of the things I’ll do to you, vampire.”
    3
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    T he next morning Lachlain lay beside her, sleep barely shaken off, as content as he’d been in hundreds of years. Of course, he’d been in hell for nearly two hundred of those, and now he was clean and fed, and toward morning he’d slept like the dead with none of the grueling nightmares of the last week.
    She’d lain tense and still for most of the night. It was as if she suspected any movement on her part might make him want to come again. She’d have been right. Courtesy of her soft hand, he’d ejaculated hard, shockingly so. She’d eased the heavy ache in his ballocks, but he’d still wanted to be inside her.
    All night he’d squeezed her to him. He couldn’t seem to stop himself. He’d never slept the night with a female before—that experience was reserved for a mate—but apparently he liked it. A lot. He recalled speaking to her, but not what he’d said. He remembered her reaction, though. She’d looked hopeless, as if she’d finally realized her situation.
    She’d attempted escape one last time, and again he’d enjoyed letting her think she was about to succeed before he dragged her back and tucked her into his side. She went limp, then passed out. He didn’t know if she’d fainted or not.
    Didn’t particularly care.
    He supposed it could be worse. If he was going to possess a vampire, she might as well be a beautiful one. She was a hated foe, a blood drinker , but beautiful. He wondered if he could put meat on her bones. Was that possible for a vampire? Drowsily, he reached forward to touch her hair. Last night when it had dried, he’d found it curled wildly and was a lighter blond than he’d thought it. Now he marveled at the glossy locks shining in the sun. Lovely, even for a vampire—
    Sun.
    Mother of Christ . He leapt from the bed, yanking the curtains closed, then rushed back to her, turning her in his arms.
    She was scarcely breathing, unable to speak, pink tears of blood tracking from her dazed eyes. Her skin burned as though with fever. He rushed her into the bath, fiddling with the unfamiliar dial until the water streamed out icy cold, then put them both under it. After several minutes, she coughed, breathed deep, then went limp again. He gathered her closer to his chest with the crook of his arm, then frowned. He didn’t care if she’d burned. He had burned. Because of her kindred. He merely wanted to keep her