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HUNGER
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Dear Reader,
Welcome to the second short tale set in the world of the Blood Rose!
The Blood Rose Tales are longer than a short story but shorter than a novella, just right for telling those stories that develop a unique aspect of the world of the Nine Realms!
“Hunger” explores how a woman responds to being a blood rose, when she has no idea that’s what she is. Brianna demands so much more than what Yolen’s willing to give. In turn, Yolen has his reasons for holding back, including his resistance to become a mastyr vampire. But will they have the courage to resolve their issues, or lose the chance of a passionate happily-ever-after?!?
Enjoy!
Caris Roane
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Chapter One
“If you still refuse to budge, I don’t see the point. We should go our separate ways.”
Brianna sat with her boyfriend in their favorite bar, The Long Tooth, uncertain whether to break up with him or not. She tugged her shawl around her shoulders, her throat tight.
“Don’t do this.” Yolen looked hurt, but she refused to get lost as she always did in his dark brown eyes and in the scent he gave off like smoky wood, burning by a river. Sweet Goddess, she craved that scent. “You know I love you. Tell me you know I love you.”
She drew in a deep breath. “I do. But I need more from you and yes, I know you hate hearing that.”
He narrowed his gaze and leaned back in chair. “Wait a minute. Is this because I’m not going to your exhibition?”
“In part.” Her art show was their current bone of contention, but might just be their last. “This is the first one I’ve had in a year and given the write-ups in the Bergisson News, this could be a turning point in my career. At the very least, I want my boyfriend there and I don’t think that’s asking too much.”
His expression hardened and his gorgeous eyes started throwing off sparks. “So I was right. We wouldn’t even be having this conversation if I’d set aside my work schedule to be with you at the gallery tomorrow night.”
She sighed because this meant getting to the heart of things. “You’re missing the point. The exhibition is only part of the problem.”
“And I think you’re being ridiculous. We’ve got a great thing here.” He crossed his arms over his chest, which of course made his biceps look like the size of small boulders. A shiver raced through her all the way to her toes. She loved his body, loved making love with him. Hell, she loved everything about him, except that he was so damn obstinate about the strict box into which he’d crammed their relationship.
Friday nights.
That’s all she ever got.
“You’re not listening to me.”
He compressed his lips. Not a good sign, but a very familiar one. She knew what would follow almost as certainly as night followed day. She tensed up, waiting for the lecture.
But he surprised her. Instead, of going into his full-blown diatribe on how his plan was best for all concerned, he slid his arm around her shoulders and held her gaze. He was only a few inches away and she was pretty sure her heart had just slammed out a few extra beats. “This is the way I keep you safe. Don’t you get that, Brianna? Distance is good given that those of us in homicide are targeted by the enemy. Try to remember what happened to Alec and his woman. She died because she was with him when the wraith-pairs attacked. And he was a mastyr vampire.”
“I know you believe what you’re saying, but seeing you only once a week just isn’t working. I can’t explain it, but I get so hungry for you and I need so much more—like talking to you throughout the week, being with you, sharing your bed—”
Suddenly, he dropped his arm off her shoulders. “Fuck. I know what this about. It’s because I won’t embra
ce my mastyr calling, isn’t it? You and Ethan, always on me about this.”
She widened her eyes, startled how he’d shifted the subject. “I never said that,” she responded, shoving at his arm. “I do not pick on you about your refusal to rise to mastyr status, nor does Mastyr Ethan.”
