Free Hunter's Blood by Erica Hayes Page B

and I sure as hells don't have to like you. So keep your smart-ass chit-chat to yourself, and let's kill some demons. Okay?"

 
     
    Chapter Two
     
    The second his former protégée's snapping blue eyes locked on his, Luka's fangs jabbed at the inside of his mouth, and for a hot scarlet moment, all he could think about was blood.
    Her blood. Her hair, crisp and warm on his fingers. Her lips, parting breathlessly under his, all those years ago.
    He sucked in a shuddering breath. Five years in hell, at a demon's ice-hearted mercy. He'd survived excruciating torment only by holding on to Gina's image, waiting for the day when he'd see her again. His last good memory, one the demon couldn't take away. Her scent, her saucy smile, the breathtaking beat of her pulse. She'd kept him alive and sane. It hadn't seemed futile at the time.
    But it sure as hells did now. She loathed him, and he couldn't blame her. His captivity was a well-guarded secret, lest the hellmongers use it to undermine human confidence in the Hunters. She probably thought he'd just walked out, on the entire Hunters Guild as well as on her.
    She tilted her round little chin up, stubborn. The heart shape those tempting cinnamon-brown lips made was almost more than he could take without moving closer for a taste. Those zinging blue eyes still set his pulse to sprinting, and her stunning curves sucked his gaze in. She'd not changed a bit, yet there was something…
    She propped her hand on her hip, teasing, and her eyes flashed in mock invitation. Shiny dark hair sprang over her shoulder, and her breasts swelled tight inside her leather vest. "See something you like, professor?"
    His cock hardened at the suggestion, and inwardly he laughed. There was something, all right. He'd left her a girl, a star-struck student he shouldn't have messed with but couldn't keep his hands off that one fateful night.
    Now, she was a simmering armful of red-hot woman. And he wanted her more than ever.
    Oh, yes. He'd take up right where he left off. His tongue in her mouth, fangs clashing, her hands ravenous on his body. Her dark curls would spring over his fingers when he tugged out the clip, ripe with her luscious woman-scent. He'd rip that tough-girl leather vest away and roll her ripe pink nipples between his lips until she begged for mercy or more. Slide his tongue between her legs and suckle her, pierce her, her blood sliding over his tongue, down his throat…
    The flashes hit him, and he reeled.
    Thirsty heat, dust, a river of rotten blood. Burning rocks searing his back. Shackles biting wrists and ankles, chains dragging him helpless, the stink of rust and burnt meat. Bereft of magic, his bloodstone ripped away. Excruciating pain, the demon's serpent voice whispering vile torment, flesh bursting apart, bones splintering, hot vampire blood gushing, more and more until the demon's ferocious appetite was satisfied, only it never was, over and again and forever…
    Luka bit his tongue, and the fresh blood in his mouth snapped him out of it.
    Dizziness swamped him, and passed.
    Since he'd escaped hell—was it six weeks ago already?—the flashbacks plagued him. Especially when he thought about sex. He'd tried to touch a woman, some pretty girl he'd met in a bar. Tried to make love to her, to defeat the waking nightmares, but it hadn't worked. Even feeding was a chore. His wounds were healed, his body whole, but he couldn't shake off dark memories of five tortured years in hell.
    One day soon, when his magic was at full strength, he'd storm back in there with bloodspells blazing, and eat that fucking demon's heart.
    But he couldn't do it alone.
    He'd stolen his bloodstone back, and his blood magic was regaining its former power. But he'd barely survived. To defeat the demon, he needed more.
    More magic. Like Gina Santangelo's. Her bloodstone glowed brighter than almost any he'd seen. Meld her power with his, and he'd more than match the monster.
    Never mind that it was unethical to