Mating the Huntress (Monsters and Mates, #1)

by Talia Hibbert

Luke was a solitary creature by nature, loyal to the loving parents who’d raised him, but with no desire to forge connections elsewhere. Until he’d found her. Now, for the first time, he knew loneliness. Felt the gap of her absence. Felt true hunger.

Chas, I know you’re kind of… shy—” She tried not to snort. “—but you don’t need to be shy with me.” He opened his eyes and watched her with an urgency that almost, almost swept her away. “If you want something—anything—you should just tell me. I’ll give it to you.”

She cut him off with a kiss. Ah, fuck. His brain burned out in the blink of an eye, coherent thought suddenly impossible. Stars exploded against the darkness of his mind, flames of need and pleasure and uncontrollable hunger ripping through his body until he was nothing but sensation.

Grabbing her other wrist, Luke arched a brow and asked, “You done?” “Nope,” she clipped out, and head-butted him. In the nose. For fuck’s sake, that hurt. He let her go, mostly because he was worried she’d just concussed herself on his face. “Chastity. Are you okay?”

Christ, she wasn’t shy at all, was she? The hesitation, the demure smiles and lowered lashes—it had all been a trap. She wasn’t sweet or gentle or biddable. She was a bloodthirsty fucking murderer. His heart sang.

“I could no more rip out your throat,” he said honestly, “than rip out my own heart.”

“I’m telling you I’ve never eaten anyone who wasn’t asking for it.”

“Maybe. You are evil,” she muttered. But he didn’t miss the hint of a question in her voice, the way her brow arched on that last word. Evil. “I might be,” he allowed, “but so’s the Prime Minister.” She pursed her lips, dropping all pretence now. “I meant that you hurt people.” “Again, the Prime—”

But she gave him a real smile, one that lit up his heart, and actually laughed. The sound was so beautiful, he almost passed out.