Page 18 of Lured

Given how much time I had spent following the trail of the shooter instead of her, I feared she would also become lost in the crowd, but when I rode down the elevator to the lobby again, I couldn't detect a trail that led out. She was still in the hotel or casino and she hadn't left yet.

With her job not being done, it appeared as if she still wanted to carry it through, but the shooter had left. The knowledge that they were acting independently as far as I could tell had me hoping that they weren't working together, but I knew hunters often worked in teams.

That said, there had been something desperate about this woman. Almost cocky. She had known what level of danger she was in, yet she had faced it anyway. That much I had to admire.

Eventually, I found her trail, back on the level of the shooter and heading toward that room. My anger grew as I retraced my own steps from less than an hour earlier. This whole situation was seeing me on a wild goose chase it seemed.

There was no trail of her scent coming back again, but the other two vampires had either given up their investigation or left to try to follow the shooter as well. I didn't know which, but I knew I was the only one following the hunter from earlier.

When I reached the room to find the door shut and still no trail that left I paused. The hunter was on the other side of this door, I was sure of it.

As I reached for the key card, the photos I had tucked into my sleeve shifted, reminding me that they were there. I pulled them both out, knowing I should be sure of the second target.

My confusion only grew as I stared at the two pictures. One of them was Ludis, confirming that he was being hunted. But the other was the girl. Her beautiful face was looking at someone just off camera, her eyes lit up in a smile. Whoever had taken this photo had captured a stunning moment in her life.

But the most important element of this discovery was knowing that she had been a target. Whoever this shooter was, they had wanted Ludisandthe hunter dead.

In all my experience I had never seen hunters turn on each other and it made me fear this wasn't a hunter, but if the woman wasn't a hunter, what was she?

There was only one way I was going to find out. After stuffing the photos into my pocket, I put the master key card into the door and yanked it open. She was standing in the middle of the room, her eyes wide as she saw me sweep in.

I moved swiftly, going straight for her. With one hand I grabbed her throat and with the other the hand that went for the blade concealed against her leg. My momentum carried me forward, pushing her back until I had her lifted up against the wall, my body pressed against hers and my fingers a single squeeze away from crushing her throat.

Inhaling, arousal flooded through me. She was intoxicating and I was instantly torn between devouring her and taking her body over and over again.

Chapter 8

Anais

The true-blood vampire had come into the room and overpowered me so quickly that I'd not been able to react. I tried to suck in air, but his grip was tight. At the same time I tried to reach for my blades, but he'd also pressed his body against me and his leg was in the way of one and he had my arm pinned on the other side.

He was in the way of me doing anything. And he was far stronger than me. There was nothing I could do. No room to move and barely any air to breathe.

I was sure I was about to die, devoured. This vampire looked at me with nothing in his eyes but pure hunger and leaned in toward my throat.

Although I tried to wriggle again and fight the grip, he was far too strong and there was nothing I could do. He was going to kill me and solve all my problems.

To my surprise, he took his time, being far more restrained than I had ever seen a vampire being as he leaned in toward my neck. I closed my eyes, no longer even attempting to struggle or break free. He could do as he pleased.

At the same time, I could feel his manhood bulging, pressing against me. I had turned him on. The thought gave me a grim satisfaction. I was at least attractive to him. Or he got off on taking hunters. He had to know that was what I was.

He didn't bite me, instead leaning in against me, inhaling against my skin. The grip around my throat made it so hard to breathe that my body began to tingle and I had to gasp.

“You know I could snap you in two and it wouldn't even be difficult,” he said as he relaxed his grip a little and let me breathe. I gasped for air, sucking in huge lungfuls as I tried to recover. “It would be so easy and you would die so quickly.”

“I don't doubt you could,” I replied, each word making me aware of his hand still around my throat. He'd grown even harder, his cock almost throbbing against me now. His desire was so obvious and firm it was almost painful. “But if you were going to do so, I think you'd have done it already.”

“You don't think I'm going to kill you?” he asked, his fingers tightening a little again. “You don't think I want to?”

I had to concentrate to speak, moving my body almost painful under his grip. “I don't think you want you. Hurt me, maybe. Possibly even teach me a lesson, but you wouldn't be pressing your hard cock against me and breathing me in like a fine wine if you didn't want something else more than to kill me.”

He let me go and took a step back. I panted, still up against the wall, my own hand going to my throat to try to rub away some of the pain. I had no doubt that he'd have left bruises and I was going to have a sore throat for a few days.

Although I'd said what I did with a certain element of truthfulness to it, I hadn't expected it to work. I might have been thinking about it, but I had expected him to kill me either way and just get off on it, or, as I'd said, have some very different plans for me. Right now he was looking at me as if I had slapped him and he didn't know what to do about it.

His anger didn't return, but he sat down on the end of the bed. I still didn't dare move. Despite my words I just didn't seem to feel unsafe with him. I knew I ought to. This was a vampire and I was fairly sure he knew I was a vampire hunter. We were enemies.

He should almost certainly want me dead. And I was nervous. There were still different options. But the words had been the first thought I'd had and the most honest to say at the time.

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