Desire Unchained

Dammit. Kynan sank to the couch and in a fit of childish, drunken rage, he swept his hand across the coffee table, sending the empty bottles and bags of chips flying. When the last beer bottle stopped rolling, clunked up against the TV stand, he flopped back onto the cushion and threw his feet onto the now empty table.

This was so screwed up. He knew better than to drink, because his thoughts always detoured to Lori. Sometimes he remembered the good times, the entire days they’d spend in bed, making love and talking about the future, vacations they wanted to take, the kids they wanted to have. Other times he’d think about seeing her in Wraith’s arms, his fangs buried deep in her throat.

What had it been like for her? Had she been afraid for her life, or had she enjoyed it? Had she been waiting for Kynan to save her, or would she have let Wraith take her right there in front of him?

He wanted to scream at the top of his lungs and hope Lori heard him, wherever she was. She’d left him with so many questions and so much anger, and he wasn’t so drunk that he didn’t recognize that he needed help to get out of the quicksand of despair that was sucking him down slowly.

“Wraith,” Kynan blurted, “bite me.” Okay, maybe he really was drunk.

Wraith paused as he reached for the door handle. “Come on, Ky. I expect a better comeback from you.”

“It’s not a comeback. I want you to feed from me.” I’ll take Things You Never Thought You’d Say for a hundred, Alex.

One tawny eyebrow shot up. “How much have you had to drink?”

“Not enough to affect my judgment.” That was a totally drunk thing to say.

Wraith snorted. “I don’t care about your judgment. I’m wondering ’cause I get a righteous high from the alcohol in the blood.”

“Do you ever have any thoughts that don’t revolve around you?”

Wraith appeared to consider that for a moment. Then he shrugged. “Nope.”

Which wasn’t true, because the demon definitely cared about his brothers, no matter how vehemently he denied it.

“Just do it.”

Wraith stepped away from the door, his eyes narrowed as if he expected Kynan to spring a trap. “Why do you want this?”

“I’m curious.”

“Bullshit. You’ve hunted my kind for years, and now you want to let one suck you dry? And why me? Why not find some hot female vamp for a nice fuck and suck special?”

“I don’t trust anyone else.”

“You shouldn’t trust me,” Wraith growled.

“I don’t. But I know you won’t kill me. The hospital means too much to you, and I’m a damned good doctor you can’t afford to lose.”

“You’re a fool if you think anyone or anything means anything to me.”

“Whatever.” Kynan crossed his feet at the ankles. “You going to bite me or what?”

“Not until you tell me why.”





“I’m giving you a free shot at my blood and you’re playing hard to get? What kind of vampire are you?” When Wraith just stood there, Kynan rolled his eyes. “Oh, come on. My blood’s eighty proof. You want it. You know you do.”

Wraith’s eyes sort of glazed over, because, yeah, he wanted it. But the damned demon wouldn’t be deterred. “Tell me.”

“Fuck you.”

“Not my type.”

Ky sighed. “I hear you don’t usually feed from females.”

“Female humans. Demon females and male humans are on the menu.”

“Why male humans, but not females?”

“Because men don’t give me wood.”

“That’s a relief.”

“Only if I plan to feed from you. Which I don’t. Unless you tell me why.”

“Because I want to know what my wife felt when you bit her, dammit!” Kynan roared, surprising himself at the ferocity and suddenness of his anger.

Wraith turned away. “I didn’t want to,” he muttered. “I swear.”

Kynan slapped his hand over his face and rubbed his eyes. Shit, he was tired. “I know.”

He heard a rustling, the creak of the chair cushion next to him. Wraith’s hand closed on his forearm and brought it to lie, palm up, on the armrest. Ky’s heart began to pound hard in his chest. He didn’t look. Couldn’t. Then came the pain as Wraith’s daggerlike fangs sank into his wrist. A second later, warmth washed over him. Tingles spread through his muscles and nervous system.

God, this felt good.

He slid Wraith a glance. “This isn’t like, vampire gay, is it?”

Wraith snorted and shot him the finger.

Vampires were freaking strange. But he was starting to see why some humans willingly allowed vamps to feed from them. The high was powerful, and probably addictive.

He could imagine how it would feel to have a female doing this. At his throat, pressed up against him, lying on top of him or under him. His body began to stir as Gem became the female crushed beneath him, her teeth latched on to his throat—except she wasn’t a vampire, so the whole idea was ridiculous.

A stream of sensation shot up his arm when Wraith took a particularly strong pull, and damn him for putting the Gem scene in his head earlier, because now he couldn’t get it out of his head. It had been so real it felt like a memory instead of a fantasy.