Read Online Hunger Aroused by Dee Carney - Free Book Online Page B

security. It was the only place he trusted with unwavering doubt to keep them safe. A place where he could obtain weapons and had untraceable access to the Internet. Complete sanctuary.
    They wouldn’t be staying long. None of the Council or their subordinates knew about this house; not to his knowledge anyway. He wanted to ensure it stayed that way.
    He caught a glimpse of her wide eyes taking in the white-washed walls, the rows of shelving where organizers hid from view their contents. Everything about his home, including the garage where other homeowners stored their castaways, had an order to it. A place for everything, and everything in its place.
    Kind of like the woman getting out of the car.
    She fit here. He could spend the next hundred years arguing with himself that this feeling arose because he’d helped see her through part of her change. Maybe it was because she’d attracted him with physical beauty long before he’d noticed anything else. Might have even been the way she tested him at every turn, not bending at all when he pushed.
    He could blame any and all of those things, but the truth of the matter was, she fit here. Deep in his soul, he hummed with contentment that she stood here now.
    This wasn’t right. He’d lived for centuries as a killer. Starting off as one who bloodied other men for sport. Who killed when later, the sight of blood wasn’t enough to satisfy his masters. He trained hard. Learned too well, too easily what brought others to their knees before him.
    What did his goddess do? She was in health care. A healer. He had no right to put blood-stained hands on her, yet every time she came near, no matter how strong his determination to not do so, he fell prey to her lure.
    â€œCome on,” he grunted.
    Jasmine didn’t speak as they walked inside. Her quiet steps reflected her pensive mood, and he wanted to push. Anything to get her talking. Since his threat, one he had no intentions of following through on—well, hadn’t, until her body indicated she might actually enjoy it—she’d been a little too quiet.
    He led them past the sparse kitchen table, through a hallway unadorned with pictures or decorations and into a living room where the lack of colors at once embarrassed him. He wished now he’d put more effort into interior design, or at least making it more comfortable for visitors. Except he didn’t have visitors, so really it didn’t matter. It hadn’t.
    Jasmine stood in front of the crème-colored couch, studying him with still-wide eyes. Rusty manners brushed off, he opened his palm and indicated she should sit. “Please,” he added. Once she sat, he asked a question that had been bothering him. “Tell me, why did you stop to help that man? You didn’t know him.”
    She exhaled. “It’s who I am. I have to help people. No one should have to die if someone is around them who can prevent it. He wasn’t critical, but I had to check first.”
    â€œNot everyone is meant to live. Not everyone should.”
    â€œThat’s heartless.”
    â€œIt’s the truth.”
    Her head fell back against the headrest, before she lifted it again. “This is insane. I’m so lost.”
    Simple words that tugged at his heartstrings. She looked so small, so fragile in the expanse of cushions perfect for his frame. At least resting himself there had been the intention when he purchased the furniture set. However, the past five minutes were the longest he’d spent in this room since buying the house.
    With a sigh, Corin dropped onto his knees and lifted one of her feet onto the top of his thigh. Unthinking, he started to unlace her shoe.
    â€œWhat are you doing?”
    He lifted his eyes to meet hers. “The shoes are new.”
    â€œYeah?”
    â€œThey’re hurting your feet.”
    She lifted her other foot onto his thigh when he finished with the first one. “How did