DarkHunger (2 page)

“Fine, I’ll pack and be in Florida by tomorrow night,” Ian answered.

“Great—”

Logan was cut off by Meagan’s loud squeal.

“Oh my God! A trip to Florida! I know I would enjoy the nighttime life there. It has been years since I’ve been to Florida. I’ve heard that it’s a much better place to vacation since the last time I visited.”

Did Ian say
he
would be there by tomorrow, or
we
? The reason for the trip was to get away from her.

“She can’t come! I will not have that witch in my home, brother.”

Logan hadn’t liked Meagan for a long time now, ever since Ian told him of their recent arrangements, or more like her arrangement to go out and fuck anyone while he stayed home looking out the window like a little lost puppy. Logan told him to dump her before it got worse. He doubted it could get any worse. It took two to make a relationship work and so far, he was the only one trying. They had problems. More problems than he could name.

There were couples who had been together for many years and didn’t have the problems they had. The rumor was that couples who were together for so long were soul mates. There are two types of mates. Mates you create and mates who are born.

Not that he believed that anyone could be born to be your other half. In fact, he hadn’t met anyone who had found his or her
born
mate. It took a lot of hard work and patience to make any relationship work, which was what he wanted to do with Meagan.

Work hard and make the relationship work.
In a couple of years, they would forget about her cheating and be happy for the rest of their lives. They could work on it later, but for now, he wanted to get away from her.

Ian looked into Meagan’s blue eyes, hoping she hadn’t heard Logan’s outburst. “You can’t go, Meagan,” he said softly.

Meagan frowned and let out a low growl. “Why not?”

“Logan said there are werewolves running around the area where I’m staying and I don’t want you in a situation where you could get hurt. Why don’t you stay here and once it’s clear, I’ll send for you to come and we can spend a mini vacation together. We can visit my brother’s new club.”

“Fuck no. I don’t want to visit that bit-witch,” he heard Logan whisper.

When Meagan took a deep breath, he was sure that she would fight him about going. No matter what, she couldn’t go and that was that. Finally, he was being the man-uh-vampire he was supposed to be.

Meagan looked at him, her blue eyes shining mysteriously. Hmmm, he wondered what she had on her mind. She had that gleam in her eyes when she wanted to get away with something.

“Fine, I’ll stay, but you promised me a vacation.” She smiled.

“I always deliver what I promise.”

“Yes, you do, but know that this vacation will cost you something else.”

Ian frowned. “What else would it cost me?”

Meagan’s grinned widened. “Don’t worry, lover, it’s only something that I think it’s time to do. Go, take care of what you need to, and I will come later.”

When Meagan leaned over to kiss him on the lips, he turned his head, letting her lips touch his cheek instead. There was no way he would kiss her mouth after another man’s cock had been there not too long ago.

Meagan’s eyes widened, and she stared at him for a moment, probably wondering why he pulled away from her, which should have been obvious to even an idiot.

“Well, I’ll let you finish up your call with your brother. Maybe we can go to dinner tonight before you are off to Florida. Is that a good idea?”

Ian almost told her to go to dinner with the man she just had sex with. The need to scream at her about how she was a whore and he didn’t want to be with her burned his insides, but instead of following his heart, he smiled and nodded. “That sounds great.”

Meagan rose from her seat and left his apartment.

“Why do you put up with her?” Logan asked.

“I don’t know.”

“Do you still love her?”

Did he love her? How could he love someone who had taken his heart and stomped all over it? Did he really love someone who didn’t take love seriously? He believed that Meagan had truly loved him at one point in their relationship, but now she was using him. She used him for his money because she didn’t have any, and she didn’t want to work to earn some. He paid for both apartments. He gave her money to go shopping. To be honest, if he left right now, she would have nothing. She would be nothing. Leaving her would be the right thing to do, but he couldn’t make her suffer like that.

“I don’t love her like I used to, brother. I think it’s more of convenience than anything.”

“Convenience? Well for her it’s convenient. She gets to go out and fuck whom she wants while my brother sits at home waiting on her to return. You pay all of her fucking bills and give her the freedom to shop at will. The only person it’s convenient for is her.”

“I know, Logan, you don’t have to say it again.”

“Oh, yes I do, because you don’t understand when you are being used. I’ll drill this into your sorry ass until you understand there are other women out there who would kiss the ground you walk on. You think she’s having more fun fucking those humans? I doubt that, unless you are not as full blooded as I thought you were. She does it because she gets away with it with humans. Other vampires could smell you on her and wouldn’t sleep with her. If not for that reason, she would probably be fucking our kind also.”

Logan had told him this hundreds, maybe even thousands, of times and he hadn’t listened, knowing that his brother spoke the truth.

“I know, and in time I’ll make my own decision to move on and not a moment before.”

“Whatever you say, Ian,” Logan spat. “I hope it’s sooner than later. I love you, brother, and I hate to see anyone hurt you. I’ll see you when you arrive.”

Before Ian could get another word in, the line went dead. He knew that Logan didn’t like the situation he allowed himself to be put into. Matter of fact, a lot of his kind didn’t approve of the situation, but none of them had the last say so in what happened in his relationship. He did.

Ian picked his iPad up, determined to finish the news before he had to drag himself out for a dinner with Meagan. He would rather stay home and do absolutely nothing.

Chapter Two

Kayla Louis halted the puppy on the scale. Even though she was a puppy, she still felt like she weighed a ton. Well, not a ton, but she was heavy. Mr. Anderson loved his Great Danes and so did she, but this puppy was going to give her a hernia.

The dog barked loudly, her tail wagging playfully as she tried to jump off the scale to Kayla.

“Be still, Princess,” she instructed softly.

Princess barked playfully at her, trying to get into her arms. There was no way she would be able to get the animal’s weight with her moving so much. Kayla had been Princess’ vet since she was two months old. Now, at six months, the dog had become playful and always wanted Kayla to carry her.

“Tyler!” Kayla yelled for her friend. “Come help me get Princess to sit still.”

For some reason Princess didn’t like Tyler. Funny thing, it wasn’t only Princess who had a problem, as most of the animals didn’t seem to enjoy his presence lately. When Tyler started working here a year ago, the pets loved him. They would flock to the end of the cages when he came around, and some would nearly knock him down to get his attention. Now, they seemed to be afraid of Tyler. They would run to the far end of the cages, some shaking in fear when Tyler walked into the room to feed them. Dogs would bark at him. Cats would hiss loudly. The birds would fly around in the cages, almost knocking themselves out by running into the cage walls.

After seeing that the animals were hurting themselves, Kayla decided to use Tyler as more of a cleanup person after they did the examinations, and to assist her when she had to perform surgeries on sedated animals. She did what she could to keep Tyler away from the animals until she needed him.
Like now
.

Tyler walked into the room and Princess started barking and baring her teeth.

Kayla watched as Tyler ran his large hands through his blond hair. His blue eyes shone intensely under the bright examination lights. Looking into his eyes was like looking into deep pools of lust. No other words could explain how his eyes looked but lust.

God, in only a year, Tyler went from being small and petite to what stood before her today. He had started working out as far as she could tell. His arms were twice the size they used to be. His blond hair matched his tanned skin tone. He had let his hair grow longer, giving him that rowdy guy look. He seemed to have changed in front of her eyes, and she liked what she saw in him. Sadly, she would never date anyone she worked with. Tyler’s father had been her custodian since she opened the Paws Pet Rescue. Soon after he started, he begged her to hire Tyler, telling her that his son needed to learn responsibility and learn what he needed to know become a vet, not that she ever remembered Tyler speaking to her about wanting to become a vet. Anyhow, Tyler had been a great helper, and soon her business had grown to a point where she had to hire her best friend, Julia.

Together, they were keeping this place in shape. If they kept growing, she would have to hire more people. She had a business she loved, and it grew every day. Too bad her parents didn’t see it her way. Why would the great
Louis and Louis
law team want their only child to be a veterinarian? No, having their daughter watch over filthy animals wasn’t in the Louis’ big book of life. They wanted her to become a lawyer like them, and they wanted her to take over the family business.

Too bad, Mom and Dad! I’m happy with my life. I am able to pay my bills. And one day, whenever I decide to have sex, I’m going to give you grandchildren. I’m not in need of any money, so why not be happy for me?

Kayla knew that would never happen. They would never be happy for her until she dropped the animal business and went into law school.

“What’s wrong, princess?” Tyler’s deep voice spoke softly, bringing Kayla back to reality. “You’re frisky today, girl.”

Tyler raised his hand to touch Princess, making her growl under her breath. She took a step back on the scale and sat down. She kept growling softly as Tyler walked closer to her. Kayla knew that the dog would move away from Tyler, but she just wanted to know why.

“I don’t know why the animals hate me so much when I have nothing but love for them,” Tyler said sadly.

Kayla looked at the numbers on the scale, writing it down in the chart.

Princess had stopped growling, but she kept her eyes on Tyler, watching to see if he would move closer.

“I don’t know, Tyler, maybe they will stop sooner or later. Thanks for the help, by the way. I know that me using whatever it is the animals hate about you against them is wrong, but it helps in situations like this.”

“It’s okay. I’m used to it by now. And you can use me anytime,” Tyler said, a wide grin on his face. “I’m here for your use.”

Kayla’s eyes widened at that comment as he walked away. She knew it was an innocent comment, but she had a feeling that he meant it as more of a personal use over any other expression. She knew Tyler had a crush on her. Julia had told her a couple of months ago how Tyler confessed his undying love for her as they cleaned up the cages. At first, Kayla was thrilled and actually thought of moving forward with a romantic relationship with him. Hell, she was a twenty-three year old virgin. It’s not like she was getting any younger. She needed to move forward with her life, and Tyler seemed like the perfect piece to her puzzle.

Tyler, on the other hand, was a twenty-six-year-old handsome guy who had the women who came in to bring their pets drooling over him. She believed that half of them brought their pets back in for an early exam just to see Tyler. It puzzled her that Tyler never took any of the women up on their offers. She didn’t understand until Julia told her of his love for her.

She felt so bad that she wouldn’t accept his love for her by returning it to him. She would love to get rid of this annoying virginity thing, but it wouldn’t be with Tyler. She considered Tyler forbidden fruit.

Julia’s unexpected voice brought her out of her Tyler daydream. “Earth to Doctor Louis.”

“Good girl,” Kayla said as Princess jumped off the scale, running to Julia.

“She’s really attached to me,” Julia said.

“No, she just knows you carry the treats.”

Julia laughed and reached into her pocket, giving Princess the treat she was scratching at her pocket to get.

“Told you,” Kayla said as the dog sat beside Julia, devouring her treat.

“What are we going to do tomorrow?”

Kayla frowned, staring into Julia’s green eyes. “What do you mean
what are we going to do tomorrow
?”

Julia sighed and rubbed Princess on the head. “Tomorrow is Saturday. We have not been out in months. I need to make sure my shaker still works. How about we go to that new club,
Diamond
? I heard that it’s awesome inside. It’s not just some old run of the mill place. The manager put some money into fixing it up.”

Kayla groaned. She didn’t want to go to a club. She was happy getting up tomorrow and helping Jack with cleaning up the place. She enjoyed coming in on the weekends, checking on her animals.

“I don’t wanna,” Kayla pouted.

“Please, Kay, for me? I promise not to keep you out too late, and there may be hope yet of getting rid of that pesky virginity thing of yours.”

“You’re a brat sometimes.”

“I know, but will you, please?” Julia sung. “I can tell the others to reserve one of the blue rooms.”

“The blue room? What’s that?”

“I heard that if you have a group of three to five people, you can reserve the blue room where you get your own personal server. When you get tired of dancing, you don’t have to sit around the bar where people are running into you all the time. You can go upstairs and relax in the blue room area.”

“That sounds like fun. Okay, I’m in, but I’m not staying long.”

“Great. I’ll get the others to meet us there around six. Is that a good time for you?”