Page 165 of The Hunt
My hunger stirred, and my vision sharpened. I quickly closed my eyes.
“Jenna, stop.”
“Oh. Sorry.”
“Go open the window, please.”
A moment later, a cool breeze caressed my skin. I focused on my hunger as I breathed, willing it to go back to sleep. It didn’t surprise me when it refused to listen this time. Its cooperation had slowly decreased throughout the day. My bag of chocolate was already gone, and Mom had spent a fortune feeding me desserts while in the city. She hadn’t batted an eye, but I knew Mrs. Quill had been watching me closely.
“Are you okay?” Jenna asked.
I was far from okay, and we both knew it. The knock that sounded on my door would have been a convenient save from answering. However, I knew it could only be one of two people and considered neither a “save,” given my current state.
“Come in.” I opened my eyes, defiantly letting my hunger show as the door opened.
Mrs. Quill’s gaze swept over us as she entered, lingering on Jenna instead of me.
“You’re both positively stunning,” she said with a wide smile.
“Eliana did my hair and makeup,” Jenna said from near the window.
The fresh air wasn’t helping. I could still smell her. The lust was barely there and no longer for me. Likely she was thinking of her upcoming kiss with Fenris. It didn’t matter. I could smell her, and my hunger was twisting dangerously inside of me.
There was no way I’d make it through an evening in a closed space with gods knew how many of my peers.
“Jenna, I need a private moment with Mrs. Quill.”
“Sure. I’ll wait by the front door.” She hurried from the room.
“Is everything all right?” Mrs. Quill asked.
“Far from it. I’m hungry and don’t want that to wreck tonight. Will you help me?”
“Of course. Do you want to go to the—”
I shook my head.
“We both know there’s no need.”
She crossed the room and held out her hand. I didn’t need to touch her to feed, but the simple contact made feeding feel less like taking and more like accepting. I forced myself to sense her desire and love for her husband then coaxed it higher.
The gentle scent of blueberries perfumed the air. It wasn’t what I craved, and my mind drifted to the lava cakes of my dreams. My stomach growled. While Mrs. Quill’s energy wasn’t what I hungered for, it was what I needed if I had any hope of making it through tonight.
Yet, I couldn’t bring myself to feed and realized it wasn’t only her energy that was the problem. She wasn’twhoI wanted.
Involuntarily, Fenris’s image popped into my head. I yearned for him as much as I rejected the possibility. His safety and happiness were the reasons I needed to go to the club tonight and the reasons behind my misery. I recalled his expression just before he left me in the woods, and my heart broke all over again.
But not all my memories of him were painful.
I remembered the way Fenris felt behind me that brief second before he tried to move me. To save me when I hadn’t wanted saving. Nothing had ever felt so deliciously right.
And I let my yearning for Fenris free for just a few moments.
Words tumbled softly from my lips.
“Picture his face. His eyes. His smile. Remember his touch. How he feels when he’s next to you.”
The scent of Mrs. Quill’s attraction and affection for Mr. Quill exploded in the air around us, snapping me out of the memory.
