Gale Stanley Symbiotic Mates 1 Hunter and the Hawk

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He'd heard all the stories. How eons ago vampire-
hawks had tried to organize the peregrines in the hopes of
using their ability to dive at high speeds against the Lycans.
According to legend, the outcome had been less
than successful and more trouble than it was worth. He'd
never seen anyone actually communicate with the dumb
birds and he tended to discount the stories.
Abbi, on the other hand, was fascinated. She'd been
studying their genome sequence to see if they were actually
related to the Kindred. All that had been put aside when her
blood studies showed results. Now she focused all her
attention on Lycan hematology and genetic code. A small
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Hunter and the Hawk Gale Stanley
sample taken from Hunter's finger revealed significant
differences between Lycan blood and Kindred blood. When
they were mixed, other changes occurred. The blood she
took from Aidan after he'd fed on the Lycan showed
extraordinary mutations. Aidan tried not to dwell on what it
all meant. For better or for worse, he'd signed up for this
and he was willing to accept the consequences.
Even the subtle changes he'd begun to notice in his
body. A heightened sense of smell and hair growth where
there'd been none before were disquieting but manageable.
His attraction to Hunter was not. The agreement between
him and the Lycan had been a business arrangement, one
that he'd initiated. He had thought he could handle anything
that came of it. But somehow he'd been turned into a giddy,
love-sick fledgling. And the wolf probably had no idea of
the impact he'd made on him.
They were a perfect match sexually anyway. Each
seemed to know what the other needed. No words were
necessary. And he'd never had such an intense orgasm
before. If anyone had told him he'd share such intimacy
with someone so seemingly incompatible, he would have
said they were crazy.
Of course he wanted more, but it was totally out of
the question. They'd parted agreeing not to see each other
again, unless they had good reason. But he found himself
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Hunter and the Hawk Gale Stanley
thinking about Hunter at odd moments, wondering what he
was doing, who he was fucking&
No. He wouldn't go there. The Kindred were not
jealous people. Blood and sex were closely related. Feeding
and fucking were physical needs that had to be filled, and
most of the time it really didn't matter who did the filling. If
they were lucky enough to find affection with a mate or a
partner, it didn't mean they wouldn't share. They were
never strictly monogamous, not like the Lycans, or how the
Lycans used to be.
He'd thought about trying to contact Hunter. Since
he'd tasted the Lycan's rich blood, it seemed no one else
could satisfy his hunger. But he refused to put the man in
jeopardy until they had concrete evidence that Abbi's
theories would help both groups. Then they would ask for
more blood. So far Abbi's tests had been inconclusive, but
one could only hope.
For the past week, something else had been off. His
sleep had been filled with disturbing dreams that he hadn't
bothered Abbi with. He put them down to his increasing
hunger for blood and sex.
Yesterday, he'd been particularly restless. A
gnawing hunger ate away at him and he didn't know how to
satisfy it. Last night, rather than feed at the Parrish, he did
something he hadn't done for years. He flew into town and
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Hunter and the Hawk Gale Stanley
looked for fresh prey.
The bars in town closed at two. He picked one in a
rundown area, and perched on a rooftop across the street,
waiting impatiently for the last stragglers to emerge.
He knew immediately who he wanted. The drunk
walked with an unsteady gait, his rubbery legs threatening
to buckle under him. When the man wondered off from the
others, Aidan dove, shifted in mid-flight, and landed behind
his unsteady prey as he reached an alley. The drunk
stumbled and gave no resistance when Aidan pulled him in
the dark corridor between buildings.
Aidan tackled him, and the body, soft with fat,
cushioned his fall. He sank his fangs into the throat. The
blood tasted like water and he couldn't get enough to
quench his thirst. He drank and drank and drank, suddenly
realizing the flow had turned to a dribble, the heartbeat
abnormally slow.
He'd almost killed the man and still he wanted
more. The human must have been sick, weak with anemia
or some other blood disease. He flew home, shifted, and
crawled under the blankets, weak and shivering with cold.
His hands dug into the sheets. His gums ached with
a need to bite into something. He wanted to hunt again, but
this time he wanted to fill the void inside him with the flesh
and muscle of his prey. He wanted meat. He rarely ate
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Hunter and the Hawk Gale Stanley
meat. Even his hawk hunted mainly for sport. Like all born-
Kindred, the mainstay of his diet was blood.
Nauseated, he leaned over the side of the bed, but
nothing came up. He lay back, clutching his stomach. Pain
like he'd never known shot through his body. His muscles
cramped, limbs flexing and moving of their own will. The
hurt spread, finding every space in his body, going from
bad to worse before it finally receded.
From the far corner, a scrabbling noise in the wall
broke the tomblike silence of his bedroom. He lay perfectly
still, listening. There it was again. A tiny heartbeat thumped
in his ears. The musky smell of rat seeped into his nostrils
and made his stomach growl with hunger.
He got off the bed, dropped to the floor, and
followed his nose. As he got closer, the rat darted past him.
His arm shot out and he grabbed the rodent by its tail. He
swung it hard and bashed its head against the wall.
The smell of blood renewed the ache in his gums.
Saliva dripped over his chin. He brought the body up to his
mouth and opened his jaws to feed. At the last second, he
gagged and tossed the carcass across the room.
He put his head in his hands. What's happening to
me? Terrified, he reached for the phone to call Abbi.
Another pain shot down his spine and bowed his
back. "Fuck, fuck, fuck."
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* * * *
Abbi injected something in Aidan's arm and
withdrew the syringe.
"What are you putting in me now?"
She looked at him sympathetically. "It's just
something to relax you."
The cool cloth she placed on his head soothed him.
"What's wrong with me?"
She shook her head, her face creased with worry. "I
don't know. Not yet, anyway. This is uncharted territory but
I'll find out."
"I feel drained, hungry all the time. I almost killed a
man tonight. It can't go on." His eyelids drooped.
"It won't. I promise I'll do everything I can to help [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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