Fanged Desire (Leyore Coven #3)

Chapter 24

Addison

The cab ride was quiet, but not comfortably so. It was the kind of quiet where you’re hyper-aware of every sound: the hum of the engine, the subtle crackle of the radio, the squeak of the cab driver’s seat as he adjusted himself.

Hunter sat beside me, her body stiff, her gaze fixed on the window. Her fingers tapped out an uneven rhythm on her thigh.

I glanced at her, then quickly looked away again. What happened at the lab – and everything that had happened after – played on loop in my head. I brushed my fingers over the small twin punctures on my wrist. I hadn’t expected her to drink my blood. Hell, I hadn’t expected to offer . But now that I had, and she had, I couldn’t quite figure out where we stood.

“So,” I mumbled, lowering my voice and keeping one eye on the cab driver, “is this vampire hideout as sketchy as it sounds?”

Hunter’s lips twitched, the closest she’d come to a smile since we got in the cab. She kept her eyes forward, muttering under her breath, “It’s not sketchy. It’s discreet.”

“Discreet. Right.”

After another beat of silence Hunter blew out a breath, picking at a loose thread on her sleeve. “This place is actually… uh, kind of unique.”

“Unique how?” I raised an eyebrow, making sure to whisper. “Please tell me it’s not a blood bank or something equally unsettling.”

She glanced at me out of the corner of her eye, and I caught a faint grimace tugging at her lips. “No, but you’re not far off. It’s… a hotel. For vampires and their contracted humans.”

I blinked, trying to process her words. “Like a… a vampire love hotel?”

“Not just love,” she butted in quickly, almost defensively, and then quickly lowered her voice again. “It’s discreet. Private. Safe. Humans and vampires meet there for all kinds of reasons.”

She stole another glance at the cab driver, but the guy seemed oblivious to our hushed conversation, happily tapping out a tune on the steering wheel.

I narrowed my eyes, catching the slight flush in her cheeks. “You’ve been there before.”

Hunter cleared her throat, her knuckles tightening on her knees. “Yeah. A while ago. After Selene and I… ended.”

“Ah.” I nodded solemnly. “The post-breakup era.”

Hunter groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Can we not?”

I grinned, momentarily distracted from my anxiety. “No judgment here. I mean, everyone goes through phases.”

Hunter shot me a look that was equal parts exasperated and amused before turning her eyes back to the window.

The city lights blurred past, familiar but distant, like a life I didn’t belong to anymore. My thoughts turned to my sister, as they always did, and my chest tightened.

“Do you think she’s still alive out there?” The whispered words clotted in my throat, a painful notion I hadn’t dared consider until now. “Penelope?”

Hunter’s reflection met my gaze in the glass before she turned back to me.

“Yes. And we’re going to find her,” she said firmly. “No matter what it takes.”

Her certainty was comforting, even if I didn’t fully believe it.

“Thanks for coming after me back there,” I murmured, tracing patterns on the worn leather seat between us. “I don’t think I said that yet.”

Hunter’s expression was unreadable, stiff and suddenly sullen like the memory left a bad taste in her mouth. There was a little bit of bite to her words, a venom directed at my captors. “I wasn’t going to let them take you.”

I glanced up at her, but whatever I wanted to say got stuck in my throat. The cab slowed to a stop on a dead-end street and the hotel loomed ahead, nestled between a cluster of trees that seemed determined to swallow it whole.

“This is us,” Hunter said, already reaching for the door handle.

Inside, the lobby was quiet and dimly lit, exuding both luxury and secrecy behind the understated facade. A young man in a sharp suit greeted us and Hunter booked a private room with the kind of ease that suggested she was very familiar with the process. I kept my mouth shut, though I couldn’t resist a small, somewhat condescending side-eye as she handed over more of my hard-earned cash.

Once we were inside the room – a sleek, modern space with heavy curtains and plush furniture – I let out a long breath and sank into one of the armchairs. Hunter lingered by the door, her gaze darting around like she was expecting someone to burst in.

“Relax.” I sighed, kicking off my shoes. “If this place is as secure as you say, we should be fine.”

She eventually moved to sit across from me, but her posture remained rigid. “I just… I hate that they got to you. That they had you.”

Her words caught me off guard and I frowned, straightening up. “Hunter, you came for me. That’s what matters.”

She shook her head, frustration flickering across her face. “Cathy could’ve… It could have been bad. if I’d been faster, maybe…”

“Stop.” I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees. “You’re not a superhero, Hunter. You’re a – well, a vampire which I guess is close – but above all else, you’re just one person. And you saved me.”

Her lips pressed into a thin line before her shoulders slumped, and she dropped into the chair opposite me. “I’m not letting them take you again.”

I watched her for a moment, taking in the sharp set of her jaw and the tension radiating off her in waves. She was so different from the cool, composed woman I’d first met, the one who seemed like nothing could faze her. She’d thrown her whole life into jeopardy because of me. And still, I had to ask more of her.

“When are we going after Cathy?”

Hunter lifted a tired gaze, running a hand down her face. “We need to wait for Caden. He’ll be scoping out the best way to break in, figuring out security layouts and all that. He still knows his stuff, even if he’s traded in stakeouts for diaper duty these days.”

Caden, who I’d only recently learned of, was apparently an expert at juggling toddlers and top-secret investigations. It came as no surprise that Hunter was seemingly close friends with an ex-private detective.

“And once we’ve got the info?”

“Then we go in,” Hunter said simply. “But until then, you need to rest.”

I arched an eyebrow. “You mean we need to rest. You could do with a break too, you know.”

“I’ll stay up and keep guard.” She shook her head, waving a hand at the door. “Just in case.”

“Hunter, this place is a random – albeit very fancy – hole-in-the-wall. I doubt anyone’s going to find us here.”

When she didn’t budge, I softened my tone. “You’ve been running on fumes since the lab. You need rest as much as I do.”

Her jaw worked like she wanted to argue, but I stood and crossed the room before she could. I tugged gently at her arm, trying to coax her toward the bed. “Come on. You can tell me all the things you’ve gotten up to under these sheets.”

Hunter let out a short laugh, though it sounded strained. “You don’t want to know.”

I grinned, but when I glanced up at her I could see the faint shadow of shame in her expression. She let me tug her toward the bed and sat down gingerly, like she wasn’t sure she was allowed to relax. I settled down beside her, a little unsteady myself considering the events of that evening.

For a while we stayed where we were, and then Hunter leaned her back against the headboard, sighing as she stared up at the ceiling.

I mimicked her actions, shoving a pillow under my shoulders as I lay down beside her.

“You know,” I said after a beat, watching her from the corner of my eye, “my life has never been more chaotic than it is right now. But when I’m with you… it’s weird. I feel calm. Comfortable. I feel like I can handle anything. Like I’m safe.”

Hunter’s gaze flicked to mine, her expression unreadable. “That’s dangerously close to admitting your feelings. And we both agreed we wouldn’t do that.”

I shrugged, even as my heart pounded in my chest. “We’re about to break into a crazy lady’s mansion on a harebrained rescue mission. We might die. The least I can do is admit that I think you’re all right.”

That pulled a genuine laugh from her, low and rough, and it did something electrifying to my insides. Hunter turned to face me fully, lifting a hand to brush a strand of hair from my face. For a moment her expression was so raw, so open, that it stole the breath from my lungs.

“You’re more than all right.” She said it quietly, her thumb brushing against my cheek. “I’ve kissed countless lips in this building, all their faces blur together. But none of them…” She paused, her eyes searching mine. “None of them ever got to me like you have.”

Her words, or maybe the way she was looking at me, and the way she cradled my face – it sent my heart into overdrive.

I wasn’t sure who moved first, but the distance between us disappeared in an instant.

It was like the room had erupted in flames, engulfing both of us in a matter of moments. Hot and choking and untamed. Hunter and I were entangled, burning in the same fire, caught in a desperate need that eclipsed everything else entirely.

Her lips brushed against my neck, a feather-light caress followed by teeth, sharp canines – pointed fangs. My skin prickled where her mouth moved but I refused to pull away, refused to budge in my acceptance of who, and what she was. Her hands, strong and sure and possessive, tugged off my coat and settled at my waist. I clutched at her back, felt taut muscles flexing beneath my fingertips where they slid under her shirt.

I was expecting a tussle on the bed, a collision that could damn well destroy the headboard. But Hunter had other plans. All at once, she jerked backward and tugged me to my feet and suddenly I was pressed against the wall, her body pinning mine as she kissed me with an intensity that left me tender and jelly-legged.

My fingers climbed her spine, tugging at her loosened shirt while she wedged a thigh between my knees, pinpointing that sensitive spot between my legs and bombarding my senses, snagging my bottom lip between her teeth. I responded by grinding against her knee, breathless and desperate as Hunter did away with my bra.

Her hand slid down my side, fingers digging into my hips before trailing across my stomach. When those wandering digits unzipped my jeans, delving in to cup the damp fabric of my underwear, I gasped. Her fingers traveled along the cleft, and I felt her smile against my mouth when she found my clit, stroking ever so gently until I groaned, breathless and desperate for release.

Hunter pulled back for a moment and I clung to her, unsteady and sucking in air, dropping my forehead to her shoulder. Her breath fanned across my skin, alluring in my ear as she whispered, “I don’t think I have it in me to take things slow.”

I let out a shaky laugh, my hands instinctively fisting in the fabric of her shirt. “Yeah, I figured that out about you.”

She chuckled, the sound low and rough, vibrating against my throat. She caught me by surprise then, yanking my jeans down to my knees with ruthless efficiency while her teeth sank into my shoulder. The pain was sharp, intoxicating, a jolt of electricity that thrummed through my body. Her fingers felt like fire, sparking every nerve they touched, and suddenly my head was jerking back, a breathy gasp clawing up my throat, my seizing body craving more.

One of her hands came up to fist in my hair and her mouth claimed mine again. The kiss was fierce and unapologetic, a demand rather than a question, and I responded with equal fervor, my hands clawing at her back as I arched into her.

So desperate in my need for release, when she nudged my legs apart I could do nothing but comply – and then her fingers entered me and I could think of nothing but the skilled strokes that drove me to ecstasy, the unerring accuracy of her thumb circling my clit.

When she pulled back again, tilting my head to examine my face, her voice was a husky murmur. “What’s that grin for?”

“You’re really good at this,” I sighed breathlessly, the words barely audible as her fingers threaded through my hair, tugging damp strands from my face.

Hunter let out a soft laugh, the sound warming me from the inside out. “Yeah, well. I’ve had practice.”

Her lips found mine again, cutting off any response I might’ve had, and I melted into her. I let her take the lead, my body yielding to her touch. I let the world outside this moment slip away, and surrendered to the way she made me feel – alive, desired, safe in her arms.

I struggled to stand, propped against the wall where I shifted my weight. I could barely manage to tug her shirt open, buttons popping in my urgency before her mouth was on mine again, fierce and hungrier than ever before, while my hips rolled to meet her probing fingers.

Every poignant thrust drove me closer and closer to that coveted release, and I moaned into her mouth when the oncoming orgasm rocked through my body with a scorching intensity. Before I was done spasming around her fingers Hunter pulled me from the wall, turning both of us to slam my body down on the bed.

In the time it took to suck in a breath my jeans and underwear were thrown to the floor and Hunter was between my legs, her tongue delving between the slick folds of my epicenter, drawing another breathy moan from my lips. My fingers fisted in the sheets as she continued her sensual feasting, my back arching off the bed while she ravaged me with her tongue.

Finally, when I’d been transformed into a quivering, breathless mess, clutching at her shoulders and begging for contact, Hunter climbed my sweat-slicked body, dragging her tongue up my torso and straddling me on the mattress. With her palms cupped to my cheeks, she pressed her lips to mine, murmuring against my mouth.

“I should have known.” Her voice was a low rasp, a prickle up my spine. “From the moment I met you, I should have known that you’d be the one to undo me.”

"You're not the only one undone," I whispered against her lips. "Hunter, I..."

But the words caught in my throat as she kissed me again, cutting off my confession with a tenderness that left me weak in her arms. The intensity in her eyes softened for a moment and I saw not just the strength, the dominance – but the vulnerability she hid from the world.

She didn’t need to say anything else. Every touch, every lingering kiss, spoke volumes. She might have been the one in control, but this moment belonged to both of us.

And I held on, trusting her with everything I had as she carried me past the point of oblivion.