Read Online Hunter by Night by Elisabeth Staab - Free Book Online Page A

Her clothes, soaked with blood and rain and spattered with dirt and tree sap, had seen better days. Still, after everything she’d just gone through, her dark eyes challenged him.
    “Are you okay?” She nodded and brought her hand to her face, but he grabbed it preemptively. “Don’t touch. Do me a favor and look to the left.”
    She complied. A deep cut across her cheek oozed steadily. Unexpectedly dark and lovely… for human blood.
    Lee’s fangs thrust into his mouth. He ignored the pulsing ache in his cheeks and gums. All that life-giving fluid of hers. All… over… her. “I’m going to stop the bleeding.”
    A blink and slight nod was all he got in the way of approval. She sat still, even though she probably didn’t know what he was about to do. And he didn’t explain, because around Alexia, he barely kept his will on a leash. Darkness pressed in around them, but she didn’t complain and didn’t act nervous as he pushed against her. His cheek brushed against hers as he swept his tongue over her cut. The smooth, delicious warmth of her human blood slid down his throat and deep into his gut. A throbbing need took root. Merciful heaven .
    He’d dealt with his share of human fluid over the centuries. In battles, prisons… The odor pungent and reminiscent of dirty pennies. Alexia might have soft, olive skin and doe-like eyes, but he’d expected nothing more of her blood than the same astringent copper.
    He sucked a deep breath and took another swallow, trailing his tongue again gently over warm, wet skin. Alexia’s blood tasted pure. Clean, with hints of all that tea and raw honey she loved to consume. Lee had never perceived anything so refreshing.
    “Lexi…” Unable to say anything else, he licked from collarbone to chin, cleaning the blood from her skin. Across her jaw. More. Dear fucking God… like breathing, he wanted more.
    ***
    Alexia held herself perfectly rigid. Her fingers dug into the straw beneath her as the near-dark and the quiet hum of the night air wrapped around them. Rain drummed steadily on the barn roof, a soothing white noise. Lee’s tongue slid soft and warm along her cheek.
    Gentle.
    She hadn’t been prepared for gentle. The surprise of his careful touch tripped her heartbeat, making it stutter and stumble. Lee stood tall and broad, like a Sherman tank with arms and legs and deceptively tranquil eyes. He projected “fuck off” to anyone who dared look at him askance. He killed bad guys for fun and games. He did not clean blood off silly humans the way a mama cat would bathe her kittens.
    Oh, but… His tongue traced along her jaw, and a breeze in its wake made her shiver.
    “Cold?”
    She squeezed her eyes shut. “No.” She shook her head. Another breeze, another shiver gave her away. The rain had caught them outside, and her clothes were soaked. “Okay, a little. I get cold easily, and my clothes are wet.” Also, your tongue is on my neck.
    “Here.” He pulled off his jacket and slid it around her shoulders, tugging the lapels together. The jacket, with its fleece lining and its warm, dry interior, swallowed her whole.
    “It’s okay. I’ll be fine. You don’t need to give me your coat.” She shrugged it off again.
    Strong hands returned the jacket to her shoulders. “I know you take great pride in making up for your size by being unbearably stubborn, but wear the damn thing. Please. This isn’t fucking chivalry. This is about keeping you from getting sick and getting you to the queen intact. Now.” He grasped her chin gently in the crook of his thumb and forefinger. “Hold still. I need to finish cleaning your face. Make sure your nose is set. I’m going to give you some blood to make sure the break heals quickly. Okay?”
    His blood. Hoooboy. She swallowed. “Okay.”
    Alexia tried to stay nice and calm on the outside. Inside, her body heated at the suggestion. To her own personal embarrassment, she even got a pleasant, tingly little throb going between her