Hunger Embraced (The Hunger Series) by Jennifer James Page A

on a deck.
    The heat of his thighs radiated through the afghan and thin material of my skirt. He had stripped to a pair of boxer briefs, but I was too freaked out to care. He peeled the blanket from my fingers, cupped the back of my calf with one hand, and slipped my shoe off with the other. After lining both shoes up with careful precision next to the surround, he moved to the buttons on my shirt and slid them free. When he reached for the zipper on my skirt, I grabbed his hands and shook my head.
    “Miranda, I will not harm you. I just want to get you undressed and into the bath.” His hands smoothed endless circles on my back.
    “I…I…what if…”
    I couldn’t say the words. I was too terrified to say them aloud. I didn’t want to hurt him. It was strange enough to be here in his apartment letting him remove my clothes when I barely knew him. What if that terrible power came back and sucked him dry? Now that it was awake again, I didn’t think I could stuff it back into the box I’d kept it in for the last seven years.
    He shook his head and sighed. “You cannot harm me. Not in the way you are worried about.”
    He tugged at the waistband of my skirt until I lifted my hips and helped him shimmy it off. My thigh highs gave him no trouble as he rolled them down, placing each one in the corresponding shoe. God forbid I put a nylon on the wrong leg. He unbuckled my bra one-handed. A part of my brain that had detached itself from the rest of the gibbering mess wondered how he had gotten so good at undressing women. He stood, holding me as though I weighed nothing, and stepped into the tub. Feeding vampires—and not feeding my own Hunger—tended to keep my weight down, even with the massive candy eating habit.
    When we sank beneath the water, I sighed. Warm, scented liquid flowed around us in a soothing cocoon. I took another deep breath and relaxed further. The shudders began to slow, and I closed my eyes as I leaned my head against his chest. It was a good chest, tanned just like the body parts I’d been lucky enough to see before and smooth except for a patch of blond curls right in the middle.
    Daniel hummed under his breath, the sound reverberating through his chest and into my ear. He repeated the same song until the shivering stopped. His chest flexed against my cheek, and I curled my right hand around his arm, not wanting him to get out of the water. Water cascaded over my hair, and then I heard a popping sound followed by a cool trickle on my head.
    Long, strong fingers began to massage my scalp with slow, thorough strokes. The shampoo smelled wonderful, and I didn’t protest when he lifted me up to get to the rest of my hair. He caressed my scalp until every last shudder had left me and I was practically purring. I let him push me back against his arm and rinse me off before starting over again with conditioner. I almost wished I hadn’t shoved him out the door of my apartment so quickly the other day. He cooked, he washed hair, grocery shopped, gave amazing, toe-curling orgasms. Yes, he did sneak jelly beans and needed schooling on the rules about personal boundaries, but wow.
    “What do I have to do to get you to rub my whole body down this way?” It was safe to ask him since my eyes were closed and I wouldn’t see him if he rejected me.
    “Hmm…let me think about it. I’m very expensive.”
    I looked up at his face, and he winked. I giggled and blushed, butterflies settling in my stomach. I cleared my throat and snuggled my head back against his palm. “Well, let me know when you figure it out.”
    “As my lady commands.” He rinsed the conditioner away and rooted around for something out of view.
    He turned me to face forward and began to lather my shoulders and back with a sea sponge, stilling as he came around to the front of my body. I took his hand and guided it across my collarbone. The sponge dipped down over each breast and then below the water to my belly and thighs. Daniel wrapped