Hunter's Surrender (2010) Read Online Free PDF Page B

worked to control the energy coursing in her.
    Moments later, he turned the bike off the highway. They followed a track back into the desert and pulled up in front of a house.
    Glass and wood nestled in the desert like they belonged there. On one side of the house was a large wooden deck, and beyond that the dark expanse of the Mojave Desert.
    He swung off the bike. "Come on."
    Dominique followed him inside. He flicked on some lights, illuminating a large open kitchen and living room.
    Beautiful desert landscapes graced the walls. The furniture screamed male--oversized, leather, worn. Large glass sliding doors led onto the deck and his kitchen was compact, but looked well-used.
    It surprised her that she easily pictured Rand in the kitchen wearing low-riding jeans, shirtless, with a fry pan in hand.
    And she pictured herself sitting on the counter, hair loose, wearing his shirt and laughing.
    Dominique shook her head and walked toward the glass door. Where had that thought come from? She'd never seen any ajna share that kind of relationship. Certainly not her parents.
    The ajna court was cold and ruthless. No one showed their true feelings for each other. No one dared show such weakness.
    She stared out into the night. "You like the desert."
    "Yeah. No one to bug me."
    No one to kill. No one to care about. She pressed a palm to the glass. Rand surrounded himself with nothing, yet inside, this house was a home. A sanctuary.
    "The guest bedroom's all yours. First door on the right. If you need me, my room's at the end of the hall."
    She spun. He stood in the doorway to the hall, a shoulder leaning into the doorjamb. He watched her with hooded eyes.
    She did need him, but so far the baddest vampire hunter in the business was turning out to be nobler than she'd thought possible.
    "Do you need to feed?" he asked.
    His question startled her. "No. Not yet."
    She felt the first faint beat of hunger, but she could last the night.
    "I don't feed off a host. I'll need to find a blood bank." There were plenty who made their wealth off supplying blood to vampires.
    "You never feed from the living?"
    She studied Rand's blank face. "The ajna court believes they've moved past it." Although there were whispers that many did differently behind closed doors. Whispers of the pleasure. "I've never fed from a human before."
    His green eyes registered surprise. "And I've never let a vamp feed from me before."
    They stared at each other in the charged silence. Dominique eyed the tanned skin of his neck, heard the strong, steady thump of his heart. Her belly coiled. It was too easy to picture sinking her fangs into his skin.
    He cleared his throat. "Well, I'm heading to bed."
    Dominique rubbed her hands up her bare arms. Suddenly the thought of being alone terrified her. Since Vilein's savage attacks, her dreams had turned into twisted nightmares where she relived every single minute again and again.
    She moved to a shelf on the wall. It held a small wooden carving of an eagle and one framed photograph.
    Dominique picked up the photo. "Your father?"
    "Yes."
    How could one word hold so much emotion? She ran a finger over the faces in the picture. A very young Rand--no more than ten or eleven--wore a cocky smile and stood beside his father. He favored Brody Wilder, both of them big and broad, with rough-hewn handsome faces.
    In the boy's eyes, Dominique saw adoration, love and belonging. She turned her head, eyed Rand through her lashes. She saw none of the boy in the man. No doubt he'd died the night one of her kind had killed Brody.
    "You look like him." She wished she could see Rand smile like that again.
    "I have my mother's eyes." Rand moved closer.
    Dominique looked up. His face was impassive but those ever-present shadows in his eyes flickered like smoke.
    "What happened to her?"
    "She died not long after I was born. My father grieved for her every day."
    So Rand had only ever had his father, until even he was taken away. Dominique set the photo