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    A Hunger Like No Other
    A Hunger Like No Other
    A Hunger Like No Other
    Ebook402 pages6 hours

    A Hunger Like No Other

    By Kresley Cole

    4.5/5

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    About this ebook

    For fans of Ali Hazelwood’s Bride and Ruby Dixon’s Ice Planet Barbarians series, an innocent young vampire and a powerful werewolf king are drawn together by an unexpected soul bond in the electrifying start to Kresley Cole’s New York Times bestselling Immortals After Dark series—now with a stunning new cover.

    Half vampire, half Valkyrie, Emmaline spent her entire sheltered life hidden among the Lore in New Orleans surrounded by the loving, yet overbearing coven who raised her. All Emmaline Troy wanted was a trip to Paris –to investigate her parents’ mysterious deaths there all those years ago. And to finally have a small adventure and perhaps even a first kiss.

    But one crowded city night, as she’s making her way down a street, she’s knocked off her feet by striking werewolf. He’s towering, intimidating, and has an infuriatingly seductive Scottish brogue. And he won’t let her go.

    The Lykae King, Lachlain MacRieve, has been imprisoned in the catacombs beneath Paris for over a 150 years by his sworn Vampire enemies, but the scent of his Fated Mate on the streets above gives him the strength to finally escape from his subterranean prison. Lachlain has waited for Her for centuries, and the last thing he expects is the bewitching vampire mix who seems to want only to escape his grasp.

    Yet he knows only she can soothe the fury within him and he’s determined to make her his by the next full moon.

    As Lachlain convinces the hesitant but fiery Emma to accompany him to his ancestral home in Scotland, the pair will come up against ruthless creatures, ancient evil, and the irrevocable pull of Fate. Will their desire deepen into a love that can bring a warrior to his knees and turn Emma into the fighter she was born to be?
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPocket Books
    Release dateApr 1, 2006
    ISBN9781416523000
    Author

    Kresley Cole

    Kresley Cole is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Immortals After Dark paranormal series and the young adult Arcana Chronicles. Her books have been translated into over twenty foreign languages, garnered three RITA awards, and consistently appear on the bestseller lists in the US and abroad. Before becoming a writer, Cole was a world-ranked athlete, coach, and graduate student. She has traveled over much of the world and draws from those experiences to create her memorable characters and settings. She lives in Florida with her family and “far too many animals,” and spends any free time traveling. You can learn more about her and her work at KresleyCole.com or Facebook.com/KresleyCole.

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    Reviews for A Hunger Like No Other

    4.5/5

    228 ratings46 reviews

    What our readers think

    Readers find this title to be a great and captivating read. The action and drama keep readers on the edge of their seats, and the writing is beautiful and creative. However, there are some negative aspects, such as disturbing toxic relationship themes and explicit sexual content. Despite this, many readers still love the book and are eager to continue reading the series. Overall, this book is recommended for those who enjoy thrilling and steamy paranormal romance with strong characters.

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      Excellent read. I really enjoy this series. Bravo Ms. Cole
    • 5/5
      Excelente novela, siempre combinando el romance con tragedias y dando un final positivo
    • 5/5
      Absolutely loved it!! I started reading & couldn't stop. Everytime I told myself I needed a break, I had chores to do, I found myself rushing to finish them so I could hurry and return to find out what would happen between them. Stayed up WAY past my bedtime just to finish. I can't wait to read the next in the series. This author is going on my list of favorites!
    • 2/5
      Great story but exxtremely disturbing toxic relationship thems; ability to write super steamy sex scenes but the majority of them are non-con, dub con, rape, threats of rape, dominance fetish of no means yes if you just force it, and for some odd reason giant cocks that could split a human in two. this is the second book in the series and I feel like I'm getting an intimate look at the author's kinks.

      If you're into the same kinks have at it but if you're not this is your warning about sexual assault, and sexual assault as a fetish. I'm going to keep reading her books for the story and the pieces of the sex scenes I can pretend aren't sexual assault until either I run in to one she's written that isn't bonding predicated on rape or I hit my absolute limit with the toxicity and sexual violence and intimidation fetish.
    • 5/5
      Once I began reading, I could not put the book down.
    • 5/5
      This book was awesome, it had me not wanting to stop reading for anything. There's a lot of action and twists to read through. This is a must read for everyone
    • 4/5
      Lachlain....Scottish werewolf and King of the Lykae, meets his mate in Emmaline, a half-vampire, half-Valkyrie. At first he is stunned by the fact that his mate is an enemy. Emma is having a hard time adjusting to being on her own for the first time and is quite overwhelmed by Lachlain, plus she has to deal with her overbearing Valkryie aunts. Emma finally finds her strength and goes after what she wants in order to prove to herself (and others) that she is not a weakling. I quite enjoyed their story and will continue on to the next tale.

    • 5/5
      Prob one of the best of Cole! Love it!
    • 4/5
      Love this series. Hot vamps,and werewolves with lots of steam.
    • 5/5
      4.5 Stars - I loved it! Scottish werewolf and timid female with a spitfire hidden inside. YES PLEASE!
    • 5/5
      I loved the action and the drama. I was on the edge of my seat almost the whole book. I could NOT put this book down and I read it in one night. I would have liked to know more about the pasts of the characters, but this book was great and I will read it again!
    • 5/5
      This is a must read. Beautiful, creative writing at its best.
    • 5/5
      5-Stars!

      I started reading the IAD series with this book and I was definitely hooked!

    • 5/5
      I don't know what I was expecting but, enrapt as I was, I read with only a few breaks within a few hours.
    • 2/5
      I enjoyed the start of the Immortals After Dark series, but this still can't dethrone "Demon from the Dark" in my affections. Between this and the prequel novella, all I can think is that Valkyries are funny, and complete bitches. Oddly enough, one quality does not negate the other. On to book 3!
    • 4/5
      A Hunger Like No Other
      4 Stars

      Synopsis
      Emmaline Troy is a halfling - half Vampire and half Valkyrie. She is also the predestined mate of Lachlain MacRieve, the leader of the Lykae clan who has nothing but hatred in his heart for the Vampire Horde. But Lachlain has waited millennia for his mate and nothing will stop him from claiming her - not even the ancient evil from her past which threatens to destroy them both.

      Review
      *Note: this is actually book #2 in the Immortals After Dark series and is preceded by The Warlord Wants Forever. While it is not necessary to read the novella in order to grasp the basic premise of the story, there are events that could be better understood by reading it.

      Cole's world building is intriguing but needs more background information on the various Lore species, particularly the three that feature prominently in the book - the Vampires, Valkyries and Lykae. The plot is typical of the fated mates trope and the vampire threat could have been better developed. The dialogue is hilarious and the writing mainly flows smoothly but some of the transitions between scenes are sudden and disjointed.

      Loved the steamy and intense chemistry between Lachlain and Emma. You can't go wrong with a sexy, hot highlander who is also a werewolf (although it is a little disappointing that he doesn't actually shift into a wolf). While he is borderline psychotic at the beginning of the book, this is understandable considering everything he has gone through and, in fact, his ingrained sense of honor does reassert itself quite quickly. Some readers may be offended by his behavior toward Emma but it should be taken within the context of his characterization and the world Cole has built, i.e. the ongoing war and conflict between the different Lore species.

      Emma is a likeable heroine and her transition from shy and timid lass to self-confident and kick-ass vampire slayer is a highlight of the story.

      The secondary characters are also well-developed and intriguing, especially Emma's aunt Nix (all of her aunts are hysterically funny) and Lachlain's best friend, Bowen who looks like he will slot into my favorite tortured hero category.

      Overall, a promising beginning to a compelling series and I look forward to reading more.
    • 4/5
      If you are new to this series I would highly recommend that you read the novella The Warlord Wants Forever before reading A Hunger Like No Other. It will help introduce you into the world and to Valkyrie convent that the heroine grew up in. Also the couple that is in the novella shows up in Hunger and I was glad that I knew their back story.

      I've had this series on my TBR list for over a year and finally decided to start it and I'm so glad I did. Kresley Cole has been added to my list of favorite authors. She does an excellent job of mixing romance and humor. I find myself laughing a lot at the chicks in the Valkyrie convent. I can't wait to read more about them in the next books.

      I love how Hunger tied in with the novella and I can see how the secondary characters are going to have their lives intertwined with each other. The time line for Hunger and Warlord was parallel to each other. It was fun to see what was happening to Emma and the other Valkyrie gals while Myst was off having her adventure with Wroth in Warlord. And it was nice to see Myst and Wroth again towards the end of Hunger. We get to see a little more into their HEA.

      Wow. This is sounding like a review for two books. LOL Ok enough about the novella, let's dig into Hunger.

      Lachlain is a sexy lycan that has been tortured by vampires for 150 years. Which means he pretty much hates them as race. After he smells the presence of his mate nearby, he escapes the dungeon he is chained up in to find her.

      That's where Emmaline (Emma) comes into the picture. She is Lachlian's mate but when the two finally meet he can't believe that fate would hand him a vampire mate. He is downright mean to her in the beginning. Emma is terrified of this dark and sexy lycan.

      I've seen in other readers had a little hard time with liking Lachlain in the beginning because of the he forces sexual acts onto Emma. I didn't have this issue. It was a build up and with his hatred to vampires because of his past I could see where he would use those scenes as a way to get back at them through Emma. He started out thinking she was an evil leech. But over the course of their time together he learns he was wrong about Emma in so many ways.

      With so much against them and the back and forth between the two not trusting one another; their love for each other brings them together.

      I've really enjoyed this series so far and I'm adding Kresley Cole to my list of favorite authors. I can't wait to start the next book, No Rest for the Wicked.

      Narration side note: I must say that I've not really enjoyed male narrators in the past but Robert Petkoff does a great job with the voices and I love the sexy Scottish brogue that he gives to Lachlain's character.
    • 4/5
      I loved this first full length novel of the Immortals After Dark series. A Hunger Like No Other is a unique paranormal romance. I'm not sure what sub-genres I would tag this one with. Urban Fantasy? Vampire Romance? Paranormal Romance? All of the above?Emma is mix of Valkyrie and Vampire. She has been sheltered all her life. She doesn't know who her parents are. So, she travels to Paris to get more information about them. But, once there, she finds she is the captive of a Lykae.Lachlain has been help captive for over a century by the most evil Vampire alive. When he catches a scent of his mate, his breaks free. When he finally locates her, his stunned to find the mate he has waited thousands of years for is a Vampire.I highly recommend this one. I hope the rest of the series stays on track with this one.
    • 4/5
      I loved this book.I loved the main characters of Emma and Lachlain. I liked their interaction with each other as well as with the other characters. And I felt like at the climax of the novel they stayed true to their characters.I also liked the other characters that are no doubt going to appear later in the series popping up in what felt like natural circumstances. I hate when characters make an appearance just because they can. But in this novel it felt appropriate. But my adoration of this novel might have been a little biased since I adore novels with Scottish leading men.
    • 4/5
      I was looking for a new series after Lara Adrian's Midnight Breed and I do believe I have found it. Now this series is definitely not like any other I have read and the author is a bit different with his writing, but boy of boy can they tell a story. A Hunger Like No Other is the first book in the The Immortals After Dark series. The book is an enjoyable read with the romantic tension between Lachlain and Emma effectively holding the readers attention. There are several relationship issues that they have to work out; his hatred of vampires (when she is one) and her not wanting to have anything to do with him because he's a werewolf. HILARIOUS mating, these two. Emma developments from being afraid of her own shadow to someone who is self-confident and a power to be reckoned with. This series is definitely an original and not like any you have read before. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a little romance and some nice sexy scenes. :)
    • 4/5
      Just as J.R Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood was my crack for 2011, I have a feeling that Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark might be my substance of choice for 2012. Cole has created an extraordinary alternate world filled Lore, which she describes as sentient creatures that are not human. With the various creatures (Vampires, Werewolves, Valkyrie) in this alternate world, Cole has set up her series to have a variety of love lines. I say bring it on. The more the merrier!
    • 4/5
      My thoughts:I actually started with book 10 or so, fell deeply in love and knew that this was the paranormal romance series for me. So I read book 1, which is a novella (you can get it for free on her website), and then this book. And what I felt then I felt again, she is so good! At first I was a bit taken aback. Lachlain was crazy, too demanding, a brute, a barbarian, I called him so many names. And with any other book I would have frowned, but somehow Cole made me fall for that dog (as some of Emma's family happily calls the Lycae). I have no idea how she manages it, but he just creeps under your skin and stays there.Poor Lachlain, tortured, dying, and brought back to life for 150 years. No wonder he was a bit crazed. He was all alpha, so very alpha. He was also later very protective and sometimes the whole mine thing just makes a girl weak in the knees. Then we have Emma, she is no kickass female, she is actually weak and timid. But all women do not need to be kickass. She just does not want conflicts, but little by little this little weakling gains more strength. They are suited for each other.This is what I want paranormal romance to be like. I am smitten and I like it. The book has plenty of passion, and two people that are so unlikely to fall in love, they are enemies, but they are destined to be together and the road there is not easy.The whole universe is interesting with many different "creatures" running around, making alliances and waging war against each other.Conclusion:Would I recommend this book, yes! Will I read more, I sure will :DRatingMade me love Paranormal romance again
    • 5/5
      I love this book. It captured my attention from the 1st chapter and then I couldn't put it down.
    • 4/5
      Didnt have high hopes but I really liked the sound of the main F Character! it was a little slow but it was worth it!
    • 5/5
      This book was so damn good I couldn't put it down. It literally consumed me until I finished it. The dog didn't get fed, the kids are crying, but I sure like this story. Great chemistry, great story line, no romance corn here. Great stuff. Can't wait to read the next one.
    • 4/5
      BDB fans recommended this book as I finished the BDB series, and I am glad I listened. Now, I enjoyed BDB more, but I really enjoyed this first book to the IAD series. This book has more creatures than vampires (i.e. fairies, werewolves etc) but it's all good. I enjoyed Cole's writing and I enjoyed the evolution of their Lachlain & Emmaline's relationship. It was nice to see Emma growing up and taking control of herself and her destiny. No more puny Emma, hello Demestrius slayer. I really liked the scenes when Emma drank from Lachlain.
    • 4/5
      Welcome to the world of Kresley Cole and the Lore. If you love paranormal romances featuring feisty heroines and sexy alpha males, these are the books for you. Passion and fate collide when gentle half-vampire Emmaline Troy is captured by the fierce Lykae king, Llachlain MacRieve. While A Hunger Like No Other is the first book in Cole's action-packed and intricately plotted Immortals after Dark series, readers should note that the first story appears in the anthology Playing Easy to Get.
    • 2/5
      I thought I would like this book more but for whatever reason it just didn't work for me.I couldn't figure out how to say Lachlains' name so I just pronounced it Lack Lain, which was kind of odd for me. He was your typical Alpha male; overbearing, annoying, and 100% male. I didn't really like him. I liked the beginning, how he was introduced, but other than that he was just kind of too caveman like for me. It wasn't just that he said what he felt (because most of the time he did) but he just didn't say any of the right things. I think the book would have been a lot shorter and quicker had he stopped messing around and just said what he felt (that is, after he stopped hating her for being a vampire). I can't fault the guy too much. He lived a very long time at war with vamps and then he was out of commission for 150 years.I liked Emma in the beginning (sort of) when she was timid and nice. I guess being around a demanding alpha male changes you because she quickly annoyed me. I don't know why, especially since I didn't like Lack Lain all that much, either! She became whiny and rude, just the same as him, and that was just too much for me. Her change from HATING him to loving him was just too abrupt for me. I must have missed it as I still don't believe/know what happened. Or was that what Lack Lain was waiting for the entire time??Her Aunties, the Valkyrie, all came out as psychotic in this one - and not that good psycho that I like. I did like hearing their stories though. I wonder which ones have their own book. Is this series about the Valkyrie finding love??In the end I gave it two stars. I didn't really like it, but I didn't hate it either. So two stars for just being ok.Ask me what I'll do next though?? Yep! I'll be reading the next book in this series. Glutton for punishment, that Peep. I really like her titles for some dumb reason. No Rest for the Wicked is up next. How could I seriously skip a book with that title.
    • 1/5
      The so-called hero, Lachlain MacRieve, is a werewolf. I knew it was a bad, bad sign when the "timid" never-been-kissed heroine, Emmaline Troy, turns out to be--I kid you not--half Valkyrie and half Vampire. (The cheesy "I'm-so-embarrassed-to-be-seen-reading-this" cover was another clue.) Fortunately, my suffering was brief, because by page 10, having chased down our heroine, our hero is sexually assaulting her, ripping her clothes off and threatening her with death. I guess it's all supposed to be OK since she's "his mate, the one woman made for him alone." (At least that might mean other women are safe from him.) And they say the old bodice ripper is dead! And this one got a win from the top Romance genre award. And people wonder why so many have contempt for the romance genre? No way this piece of crap would have won a Hugo or Nebula. Stopped reading at page 12. One of the Immortals After Dark series, I won't be reading more.
    • 3/5
      She's only in her 70's, a very young immortal. Sired by a vampire on a valkarie. She's visiting Paris.He's much older, an immortal werewolf who has been imprisoned underground for a few centuries.Her scent breaks through the pain and gives him a reason to awaken. She's never tasted live human blood before but when he feeds her she changes.At 70 she should have been a bit more worldly wise and strong. After the first day he went beserk on her credit card I would have been online organising it to be cancelled or for a code word. I dislike very passive characters who are supposed to be more modern, I would have been much more annoyed with the kidnapping too. I'm still a bit ambivalent as I read through it quite quickly but it left a bit of an aftertaste that I'm not sure I want to revisit the authors world.

    Book preview

    A Hunger Like No Other - Kresley Cole

    1

    One week later . . .

    On an island in the Seine, against the nighttime backdrop of a Gothic cathedral, the denizens of Paris came out to play.

    Emmaline Troy wound around fire-eaters, pickpockets, and chanteurs de rue. She meandered through the tribes of black-clad Goths who swarmed Notre Dame like it was the mother ship calling them home. And still she attracted attention.

    The human males she passed turned their heads to regard her, frowns in place, sensing something, but unsure. Probably some genetic memory from long ago that signaled her as their wildest fantasy or their darkest nightmare.

    Emma was neither.

    She was a co-ed—a recent Tulane grad—alone in Paris and hungry. Worn out from another failed search for blood, she sank onto a rustic bench beneath a chestnut tree, eyes riveted to a waitress drawing espresso at a café. If only blood poured so easily, Emma thought. Yes, if it came warm and rich from a bottomless tap, then her stomach wouldn’t be clenched in hunger at the mere idea.

    Starving in Paris. And friendless. Was there ever such a predicament?

    Couples strolling hand in hand along the gravel walk seemed to mock her loneliness. Was it just her, or did lovers look more adoringly at each other in this city? Especially in the springtime. Die, bastards.

    She sighed. It wasn’t their fault that they were bastards who should die.

    She’d been spurred to enter this fray by the prospect of her echoing hotel room and the idea that she might find another blood pusher in the City of Light. Her former hookup had gone south, fleeing Paris for Ibiza. He’d given little explanation for abandoning his job, saying only that with the arrival of the risen king, some serious epic shit was brewing in gay Paree. Whatever that meant.

    As a vampire, she was a member of the Lore, that stratum of beings who’d convinced humans they existed only in imagination. Though the Lore was thick here, Emma had been unable to replace her pusher. Any creatures she could scout out to ask fled her because she was a vampire.

    They scurried without knowing that she wasn’t even a full-blooded one, nor that Emma was a wuss who’d never bitten another living being. As her fierce adoptive aunts loved to tell everyone, Emma cries her pink tears if she dusts a moth’s wings.

    Emma had accomplished nothing during this trip that she’d insisted on taking. Her quest to uncover information about her deceased parents—her Valkyrie mother and her unknown vampire father—was a failure. A failure that would culminate in a call to her aunts to get them to retrieve her. Because she couldn’t feed herself. Pitiful. She sighed. She’d be razzed about this for another seventy years—

    A crash sounded. Before she had time to feel bad for the waitress getting docked, another crash and then another followed. Across the walk, a table umbrella shot fifteen feet up to be batted high in the sky, fluttering all the way to the Seine. A cruise boat honked and Gallic curses erupted.

    Half-lit by the walk’s torchlights, a towering man turned over café tables, artists’ easels, and book stands selling century-old pornography. Tourists screamed and fled in the wake of destruction. Emma shot to her feet with a gasp, looping her satchel over her shoulder.

    He was cutting a path directly to her, his black trench coat trailing behind him. His size and his unnaturally fluid movements made her doubt he was human. His hair was thick and long, concealing half his face. Several days’ growth of beard shadowed his jaw.

    He pointed a shaking hand at her. "You," he growled.

    She jerked glances over both of her shoulders looking for the unfortunate you he was addressing. Her. Holy shit, this madman had settled on her.

    He turned his palm up and beckoned her to come to him—as if confident she would.

    Uh, I-I don’t know you, she squeaked, backing up, but her legs met the bench.

    He continued stalking her, ignoring the tables between them, tossing them aside like toys instead of varying his direct pursuit of her. Furious intent burned in his pale blue eyes. She could sense his rage more sharply as he neared, unsettling her, because her kind were considered the predators in the night—never the prey. And because, at heart, she was a coward.

    "Come." He bit out the word and motioned for her again.

    Eyes wide, she shook her head, then leapt backward over the bench, twisting in the air. She landed facing away from him and began speeding down the quay. She was weak, more than two days without blood, but terror made her quick as she crossed the Archevêché Bridge to exit the island.

    Three . . . four blocks covered. She chanced a look behind her. Didn’t see him. Had she lost him?

    Sudden glaring music from her purse made her cry out.

    Who in the hell had programmed the Crazy Frog ring tone into her cell phone? Her eyes narrowed. Aunt Regin. The world’s most immature immortal, who looked like a siren and behaved like a frat pledge.

    Cell phones in their coven were usually for emergency only. Ringers would disturb their hunting in the back alleys of New Orleans, and even a vibration would be enough to trigger a twitching ear in a low creature.

    She flipped it open. Speak of the devil: Regin the Radiant.

    Little busy right now, Emma snapped, taking another peek over her shoulder.

    "Drop your things. Don’t take time to pack. Annika wants you at the executive airport immediately. You’re in danger."

    Duh.

    Click. That wasn’t a warning—that was narration.

    She’d ask the details once she was on the plane. As if she’d needed a reason to return home. Just the mention of danger and she would scamper back to her coven, to her Valkyrie aunts who would kill anything that threatened her and keep malice at bay.

    As she tried to remember her way to the airport where she’d landed, the rain started to fall, warm and light at first—April lovers still laughing as they skipped under awnings—but swiftly turning to pounding cold. She came to a crowded avenue, feeling safer as she wound through traffic. She dodged cars with their wipers and horns going full-force. She didn’t see her pursuer.

    With only the satchel slung around her neck, she traveled quickly, miles passing beneath her feet before she spied an open park and then the airfield just beyond it. She could see the diffused air around the jet engines as they warmed, could see the shades on every window already drawn tight. Almost there.

    Emma convinced herself she’d lost him, because she was fast. She was also adept at convincing herself of things that might not be—good at pretending. She could pretend she took classes at night by choice, and that blushing didn’t make her thirsty.

    A vicious growl sounded. Her eyes widened, but she didn’t turn back as she sprinted across the field—

    Claws sank into her ankle. She was dragged to the muddy ground and thrown onto her back. A hand covered her mouth, though she’d been trained not to scream.

    Never run from one such as me, female. Her attacker didn’t sound human. "You will no’ get away. And we like it." His voice was guttural like a beast’s, yet his accent was . . . Scottish?

    As she peered up at him through the rain, he examined her with eyes that were golden in color one moment, then flickering that eerie blue the next. No, not human.

    Up close, she could see his features were even, masculine. A strong chin and jaw complemented the chiseled planes. He was beautiful, so much so that she thought he had to be a fallen angel. Possible. How could she rule out anything?

    The hand that had been covering her mouth roughly grasped her chin. He narrowed his eyes, focusing on her lips—on her barely noticeable fangs. "No, he choked out. No’ possible. . . . He yanked her head side to side, running his face down her neck, smelling her, then growled in fury, Goddamn you."

    When his eyes turned blue, she cried out, her breath seeming to leave her body.

    Can you trace? he grated as though speech was difficult. Answer me!

    Tracing was how vampires teleported, disappearing and reappearing in thin air. Then he knows I’m a vampire?

    "Can you?"

    N-no. She’d never been strong or skilled enough. Please. She blinked against the rain, pleading with her eyes. You have the wrong woman.

    Think I’d know you. Make sure, if you insist. He raised a hand—to touch her? Strike her? She fought, hissing desperately.

    A callused palm grasped her nape, his other hand clenching her wrists as he bent down to her neck. Her body jerked from the feel of his tongue against her skin. His mouth was hot in the chill, wet air, making her shudder until her muscles knotted. He groaned while kissing her, his hand squeezing her wrists hard. Below her skirt, drops of rain tracked down her thighs, shocking her with cold.

    "Don’t do this! Please . . ." When her last word ended with a whimper, he seemed to come out of a trance, his brows drawing together as his eyes met hers, but he didn’t release her hands.

    He flicked his claw down her blouse and sliced it and the flimsy bra beneath open, then slowly brushed the halves past her breasts. She struggled, but it was useless against his strength. He studied her with a greedy gaze as rain splattered down, stinging her naked breasts. She was shivering uncontrollably.

    His pain was so acute it nauseated her. He could take her or he could tear open her unprotected belly. . . .

    Instead he ripped open his own shirt, then placed his huge palms against her back to draw her to his chest. He groaned when their skin touched, and electricity seemed to flash through her. Lightning split the sky.

    He rumbled foreign words against her ear. She felt they were . . . tender words—making her think she’d lost her mind. She went limp, her arms hanging while he shuddered against her, his lips so hot in the pouring rain as he ran them down her neck, across her face, even brushing them over her eyelids. There he knelt, clutching her; there she lay, boneless and dazed, as she watched the lightning slash above them.

    His hand cradled the back of her head as he moved her to face him.

    He seemed torn as he watched her with some fierce emotion—she’d never been looked at so . . . consumingly. Confusion overwhelmed her. Would he attack or let her go? Please let me go. . . .

    A tear slipped down her face, warmth streaking down amidst the drops of rain.

    The look disappeared. "Blood for tears? he roared, clearly revolted by her pink tears. He turned away as if he couldn’t stand to look upon her, then blindly swatted at her shirt to close it. Take me to your home, vampire."

    I-I don’t live here, she said in a strangled tone, staggered by what had just occurred, and by the fact that he knew what she was.

    Take me to where you stay, he ordered, finally facing her as he stood before her.

    No, she amazed herself by saying.

    He, too, looked surprised. Because you doona want me to stop? Good. I’ll take you here on the grass on your hands and knees—he lifted her easily until she was kneeling—till well after the sun rises.

    He must have seen her resignation because he hauled her to her feet and pushed at her to get her moving. Who stays with you?

    My husband, she wanted to snap. The linebacker who’s going to kick your ass. Yet she couldn’t lie, even now, and never would have had the nerve to provoke him anyway. I am alone.

    Your man lets you travel by yourself? he asked over the downpour. His voice was beginning to sound human again. When she didn’t answer, he said with a sneer, You’ve a careless male for yourself. His loss.

    She stumbled in a pothole and he gently steadied her, then seemed angry with himself that he’d helped her. But when he led them in front of a car a moment later, he threw her out of the way, leaping back at the sound of the horn. He swiped at the side of the car, claws crumpling the metal like tinfoil, sending it skidding. Once it finally stopped, the engine block dropped to the street with a thud. The driver threw open the door, dived for the street, then darted away.

    Mouth open in shock, she scrambled backward, realizing her captor looked as though he’d . . . never seen a car.

    He crossed to her, looming over her. In a low, deadly tone, he grated, I only hope you run from me again.

    He snatched her hand and again lifted her to her feet. How much farther?

    With a limp finger, she pointed out the luxurious Pavillon.

    He gave her a look of pure hatred. Your kind always had money. His tone was scathing. Nothing’s changed. He knew she was a vampire. Did he know who or what her aunts were? He must—otherwise how could Regin have known to warn her about him? How could he know her coven was well-off?

    After ten minutes of her being dragged across avenues, they pushed past the doorman of the hotel, garnering stares as they entered the palatial lobby. At least the lights were dimmed. She pulled her soaked jacket over her ruined blouse and kept her head down, thankful that she’d braided her hair over her ears.

    He released the vise-grip on her arm in front of these people. He must know that she wouldn’t attract attention. Never scream, never draw the attention of humans. They were always more dangerous in the end than any of the thousands of creatures of the Lore.

    When he draped his heavy arm across her shoulders as if they were together, she glanced up at him from under a wet lock of hair. He walked with his broad shoulders back, like he owned this place, but he was examining everything as if it was new to him. The phone ringing made him tense. The revolving doors had done the same.

    Though he hid it well, she could tell he was unfamiliar with the elevator and hesitated to enter. Inside the lift, his size and his energy made the generous space seem cramped.

    The short walk down the hall to her room was the longest of her life, as she devised and rejected plan after plan of escape. She hesitated outside the door, taking her time retrieving the key card from the puddle in the bottom of her purse.

    Key, he demanded.

    Exhaling, she handed it to him. When his eyes narrowed, she thought he was about to demand key again, but he studied the door lever and gave it back to her. You do it.

    With a shaking hand, she slid it in. The mechanized buzz and then the click of the lock were like knells to her.

    Once inside her room, he checked every inch of it as though to make sure she was in fact alone. He searched under the brocade-covered bed, then tore back the heavy silk drapes to reveal one of the best views in Paris. He moved like an animal, with aggression at every turn, though she’d noticed he favored one leg.

    When he slowly limped to her in the hallway, her eyes widened and she eased backward. Still he continued toward her, studying her, weighing . . . before his gaze settled on her lips.

    I’ve waited a long time for you.

    He continued to behave as if he knew her. She would never forget a man like him.

    I need you. No matter what you are. And I’ll wait no longer.

    At his baffling words, her body inexplicably softened, relaxing. Her claws curled as if to clutch him to her, and her fangs receded to ready for his kiss. Frantic, she rapped her nails against the wall behind her and tapped her tongue against her left fang. Her defenses remained dormant. She was terrified of him. Why wasn’t her body?

    He placed his hands against the wall on each side of her head. Unhurriedly, he leaned in, brushing his mouth against hers. He groaned from the small contact and pressed harder, flicking her lips with his tongue. She froze, not knowing what to do.

    Against her mouth, he growled, Kiss me back, creature, while I decide if I should spare your life.

    With a cry, she moved her lips against his. When he stilled completely as if to force her to do all the work, she slanted her head and brushed his lips lightly again.

    Kiss me like you want to live.

    She did. Not because she wanted to live overmuch, but because she thought he would make sure her death was slow and torturing. No pain. Never pain.

    When she darted her tongue against his as he had done to her, he groaned and took over, cupping her neck and head so he could hold her as though for the taking. His tongue stroked hers desperately, and she was shocked to find it was . . . not unpleasant. How many times had she dreamed about her first kiss, even knowing she would never receive one? But she was. Now.

    She didn’t even know his name.

    When she began shivering again, he stopped and broke away. You’re cold.

    She was freezing. Being low on blood did that to her. Being tackled into the wet earth and soaked through hadn’t helped. But she feared that wasn’t why she shivered. Y-yes.

    He raked his gaze over her, then gave her a disgusted look. And filthy. Mud all over you.

    But you . . . She trailed off under his lethal glare.

    He turned toward the bathroom, pulling her inside, then tilted his head at the fixtures. Clean yourself.

    P-privacy? she gasped.

    Amusement. You have none. He leaned his shoulder against the wall and crossed his muscled arms, as if awaiting a show. Now, undress for me and let me see what’s mine.

    Mine? She was about to protest again, but he jerked his head up as though he’d heard something, then bolted out of the room. She slammed the bathroom door, locking herself in—another laughable gesture—then turned on the shower.

    She sank down on the floor, head in her hands. How would she get away from this lunatic? This hotel boasted foot-thick walls between the rooms—a rock band had stayed next door to her and she’d never heard them. Of course, she didn’t envision calling for anyone—never scream for a human’s help—but she was contemplating digging her way out through the bathroom wall.

    Soundproof walls, twelve floors up. The lavish room that had been a haven, protecting her from the sun and nosy humans, was now a gilded cage. She was trapped by some being, and Freya only knew what.

    How could she get away when she had no one to help her?

    *  *  *

    Lachlain heard a squeaking wheel, smelled meat, and limped for the room’s door. In the hallway, an old man pushing a cart yelped with fright at the sight of him. Wordlessly, he gaped as Lachlain snatched two covered plates from the cart.

    Lachlain kicked the door closed. Found steaks and devoured them. Then pounded a hole in the wall at a sharp memory.

    Flexing his now bleeding fingers, he sat on the edge of the strange bed, in a strange place and time. He was weary, and his leg pained him after running the vampire down. He pulled up his stolen pants to inspect his regenerating leg. The flesh was sunken and wasted.

    He tried to push away memories of that loss. But what other recent memories did he have? Only those of being burned to death repeatedly. For what he now knew had been a hundred and fifty years. . . .

    He shuddered, sweating, and retched between his knees, but kept himself from vomiting the food he needed so badly. Instead, he ripped his claws through a table by the bed, just preventing himself from destroying everything in sight.

    In the last week since his escape, he would be doing well, focusing on his hunt for her and his recovery, seeming to acclimate; then something would put him in a rage. He’d broken into a manor to steal clothes—then destroyed everything inside. Anything he didn’t recognize and understand, destroyed.

    Tonight, he’d been weak, thinking unclearly, and still he’d gone to his knees when he’d finally picked up her scent once more.

    But instead of the mate he’d expected, he’d found a vampire. A small, fragile vampire. He hadn’t heard of a female one being alive in centuries. The males must have been secretive about them, cloistering them all these years. Apparently the Horde hadn’t killed off all of their own women, as the Lore told.

    Christ help him, his instincts still said this pale-haired, ethereal creature was . . . his.

    The Instinct screamed inside him to touch her, to claim her. He’d waited for so long.

    He put his head in his hands, struggling not to lash out again—to get the beast back in its cage. But how could fate rob him once more? For more than a thousand years, he’d searched for her.

    And he’d found her in what he despised with a hatred so virulent he couldn’t control it.

    A vampire. The way she existed disgusted him. Her weakness disgusted him. Her pale body was too small, too thin, and looked like she’d break with her first stiff fucking.

    He’d waited a millennium for a helpless parasite.

    He heard the squeaking wheel, going much faster past his door, but his hunger was sated for the first time since the ordeal began. With food like tonight’s, he would shake off any physical trace of the torture. But his mind . . .

    He’d been with the female for an hour. Yet it had been an hour during which he’d only had to push the beast back twice. Which was a considerable improvement, since his entire existence was of constant bleakness interrupted only by rages. Everyone said a Lykae’s mate could soothe his any woe—if she really was his, she had her bloody work cut out for her.

    She couldn’t be. He must be delusional. He seized on that idea. The last thing he’d regretted before they forced him to the fire was that he’d never found her. Perhaps his damaged mind played tricks.

    Of course, that was it. He’d always pictured his mate as a buxom redheaded lass with wolven blood who could handle his lusts, who would revel in the raw ferocity with him—not this fearful wisp of a vampire.

    Damaged mind. Of course.

    He limped to the bathing chamber and found the door locked. He shook his head as he broke the knob easily, then entered a steam-filled room. She was balled up on the floor against the opposite wall. He lifted her by her arms. Still wet and dirty?

    You’ve no’ cleaned yourself? When she only stared down at the ground, he demanded, Why?

    She shrugged miserably.

    He glanced at the cascade of water within a glass enclosure, opened the door, and ran his hand under it. Now, this he could use. He set her away, then stripped.

    Her eyes widened, focused on his cock, and she covered her mouth. You’d think she’d never seen one. He let her look her fill, even leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest while she stared.

    Under her rapt gaze he grew hard, his length distending—his body, at least, must think she was his. When she gasped and lowered her gaze, his wasted leg caught her attention, seeming to startle her even more. That alone embarrassed him, and he stepped into the water to break her stare.

    He closed his eyes with pleasure as the water washed over him, his erection stiffening even more. He sensed her tensing to run, and opened his eyes. If he’d been stronger, he would’ve hoped she would try it. Looking at the door like that? I’ll catch you before you make it from this room.

    She turned back, saw he’d grown harder, and seemed to choke on a cry.

    Take off your clothes, vampire.

    I-I will not!

    Do you want to come in here with them on?

    Preferable to being naked with you!

    He felt relaxed under the water, even magnanimous after the excellent food. Then let’s make a bargain. You grant me a boon and I’ll return one.

    She looked up at him from under a curl freed from her tight braids. What do you mean?

    He put his hands on each side of the door and leaned forward out of the water. I want you in here, unclothed. What do you want of me?

    Nothing of value equal to that, she whispered.

    You’ll be with me indefinitely. Until I decide to let you go. Do you no’ want to contact your . . . people? He spat the word. I’m sure you have much value to them, being so rare. In fact, keeping her from her vampire kin would just be the beginning of his revenge. He knew they’d find the idea of her being fucked repeatedly by a Lykae as revolting as his clan would find it.

    She nibbled her red bottom lip with one tiny fang, and his anger banked again. I doona have to grant you anything! I could just take you in here and then in the bed.

    A-and you won’t if I agree to be in there with you?

    Come willingly and I will no’, he lied.

    What will you . . . do?

    I want to put my hands on you. Learn you. And I’ll want your hands on me.

    In a soft voice, she asked, Will you hurt me?

    Touch you. No’ hurt you.

    Her delicate blond brows drew together as she weighed this. Then, as though in great duress, she bent down to her boots, unfastening them with a buzzing sound. She stood and grasped the edges of her jacket and ruined blouse, but she seemed unable to proceed. She shook wildly, and her blue eyes were stark. Yet she was agreeing—in a flash of insight, he knew she wasn’t agreeing because of any reason he could fathom. Her eyes seemed so expressive, but he couldn’t read her.

    When he loomed closer, she peeled the wet jacket and blouse away, then the shredded undergarment beneath them, hastily draping a thin arm over her breasts. Shy? When he’d heard of the orgies of blood the vampires reveled in?

    Please. I-I don’t know who you think I am, but—

    I think—before she could blink, he’d ripped her skirt clean from her body and tossed it to the ground—that I should at least know your name before I set to touchin’ you.

    She shook harder if possible, her arm tightening over her breasts.

    He studied her, his gaze drinking her in. Her skin was perfect alabaster covered only by her strange pantalettes, the black silk that was like a V on her body. The front was transparent jet lace and teased against the blond curls between her legs.

    He remembered his two fleeting tastes of her skin in the howling rain and unnatural lightning, and his cock pulsed, the head growing slick with anticipation.

    Other men would find her exquisite. The vampires would. Human males would kill for her.

    Her trembling body was too small, but her eyes . . . wide and blue like the daytime sky she would never behold.

    M-my name is Emmaline.

    "Emmaline," he growled, slowly reaching forward one claw to slice away the silk.

    2

    She’d been a fool to agree to this, Emma decided when the remains of her underwear fluttered to her ankles.

    She shouldn’t trust him, but what choice did she have? She had to call Annika, her foster mother, who would be frantic when the pilot reported Emma had never shown up.

    But was that really the reason she’d agreed to this? Maybe it wasn’t so selfless a reason. Throughout her life, men had asked things of her—things her hidden vampire nature made impossible. Not this male. He knew what she was, and he wasn’t asking the impossible,

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