A Dark Hunger by Natalie Hancock Page B

away and hissed at him. “You fool!”
    He pushed her
against the wall, pinning her there with his body as a couple
walked around the corner. Surquyn was still naked, her dress
forgotten in their hurry. “Fight the hunger.”
    She struggled
against him. “Get off me!”
    Riyzan smoothed
her hair back and kissed her nose. “I will, when you are not
controlled by your hunger.”
    “Riyzan!”
    He pulled her
head back by her hair and ran his lips across her neck. “You cannot
continue to let your hunger get the better of you.” He felt her
shudder against him. “You need to learn.”
    Surquyn sucked
in air. “I can’t fight it,” she whispered.
    Riyzan heard
the defeat in her tone. “You can and I will help you.”
    “You’ve already
done what you can. This hunger isn’t like any hunger I’ve
experienced before…I do not know how to control it.”
    Riyzan met her
gaze and held it. When he’d first changed Surquyn into a vampire,
it appeared nothing had changed—until she had fed on blood for the
first time. It became apparent how much she hungered for the elixir
of life and how much her hunger reigned over her when she hungered
for it. He had taught her to control her urges for blood when she
was around others, but not how to control it when she was angered
or aroused.
    Surquyn gripped
his shirt tight. “Please, help me control it before it kills
me.”
    Riyzan put his
forehead against hers and exhaled slowly. He’d never seen her so
vulnerable. She’d always been so fearless and strong. The drastic
change into a vampire had changed everything. “Let us go and I can
help you.”
    Fear flashed in
her eyes. “Where will we go?”
    “Do not fret. I
will take you somewhere where you cannot hurt humans when your
hunger takes over.” He kissed her gently before taking his suit
jacket off and covering her with it. He took her hand and smiled as
he led her away from the scent of blood that drifted around
them.

Chapter Two
     
     
    “Oh, Riyzan!”
Surquyn faced him, her mouth open in surprise. “I thought you
destroyed this place when Layla and Akila were born?”
    Riyzan chuckled
as he pulled Surquyn close. “This was our first home together, why
would I have gotten rid of it?”
    Surquyn smiled
as she rested her hands on his chest. Leaning up, she kissed him.
“After everything I did…well I wasn’t sure you wanted to have the
memories of our time here.”
    “I would never
get rid of this place. As I said, it was out first place together
and where Layla and Akila were born. There are no bad memories
here.”
    “You sound like
Layla.” Surquyn exhaled hard and turned away from Riyzan’s gaze,
trying to control the emotions swirling inside. She’d done so much
bad in her life, destroyed so many lives and ruined those who were
closest to her. Although she was slowly making up for those things,
she would never forgive herself, even if others did.
    Their
home—their first home—was exactly how she remembered it. Walls and
a high ceiling made from stone with elaborate markings carved in
them. Stone floors covered in beautiful rugs from Egypt. They stood
in the entrance—or cave of the mountain—through an arch there were
three rooms. A living room with a kitchen attached. A bathroom and
a bedroom complete with all the furniture they needed. Below them
were more rooms, including a ball room, training room, weapons room
and a dining room that was used only when close friends and family
came around.
    Within the
walls there was plumbing and electricity. Like any other house.
    Surquyn
remembered cooking meals over the fire that would blaze warmth
through the rest of the home. Remembered cuddling up to Riyzan in
front of it and giving birth to Akila in the very room they stood
in.
    Layla was born
outside, in a crevice during a storm.
    Their home was
like the castle she always dreamt of living in. Riyzan had made her
fairytale come true when he built their home in a large snowy
mountain that overlooked a