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

hands. He kissed me in a swell of possessive, anxious energy, grinding his teeth into my lips and shoving his hand under my shirt.
    When he broke away, we both panted. He rested his forehead against mine and met my eyes. “If you were mine, I would never use you the way Adrian did.”
    “I know.” I tucked his hand against my cheek and closed my eyes. Time to get back on track before things devolved into a sex extravaganza. He had information I needed.
    “It cannot happen again.” He took a steadying breath and licked my mouth. “Sex.”
    “Why?” A whine entered my voice, and I swallowed. “Why not? Adrian?”
    “No. There are…restrictions. Laws I must follow.” His fingers delved behind my ears and coaxed me in for a long sweet kiss, only retreating when I clutched at his back and plastered my body to his. “No, Miri. We cannot.”
    He used his superior strength to hold me at bay when I strained to reach him.
    I sucked in a deep breath to slow my heart. “It’s not fair, kissing a girl that way then telling her no more sex.” He swallowed and opened his mouth to speak, but I poked his chest to distract him. Nothing he said in that moment would be something I wanted to hear. “So, answer my questions. You tried to distract me with making out, but I asked you a question. What’s the deal with your apartment-condo thingie here and why do you have to announce yourself?”
    He stole another kiss and settled back down as though nothing had happened.
    “Phillipe and I are old acquaintances. Your father granted me permission to hold a residence in his kingdom many years ago. Even so, I have to announce myself because it is the proper protocol when intending on staying in a differing kingdom than the one you belong to for a time. If I were merely passing through in my travels, it would be the polite thing to do but not required. Kingdoms are won and held by power and control. It would be politically damaging for him to appear weak if I were here without letting him knowing my intentions and agreeing to some rules of conduct while I am in the area.”
    I finished my breakfast while he spoke and let the information rattle around my head. If what he said was true, that meant Adrian didn’t have my father’s consent to be in the area. Although there was that contract he mentioned… Maybe I could get lucky and Adrian was an interloper. I hoped so, because that may afford me some help from the coven. Otherwise, I ran the risk of being shanghaied.
    I hopped off the bed and wandered around looking for the cutoffs Daniel had peeled off me the night before. He watched me traverse the room, answering my questions about the courts and how they were structured. It was basically a monarchy ruled by the most powerful vamp in residence. Lower ranking vamps rarely challenged the ruler or their inner circle; they’d be hamburger in seconds.
    Each monarchy was its own little island with its own laws. The only hard and fast rule was when you were traveling: you either stopped in and asked for permission to stick around—which could be tricky because the monarch may decide to collect you—or you left a tribute gift and hurried on through. Even ambassadors weren’t completely safe.
    My anxiety built with each new snippet of information. My father and mother hadn’t answered my calls, and it made me think perhaps Phillipe had been overthrown. If someone else was in charge of the coven T.T.B. insisted I belonged to, I could be in really deep shit. Daniel had been here for a few days and hadn’t been accosted. That added to my suspicions that he was considered pretty powerful among other vampires or had huge balls. He didn’t seem crazy.
    I was really only concerned with keeping myself from being kept like a circus freak and being able to kill vampires if I had to. I’d taken a basic self-defense course a few years ago, but I wasn’t stupid. The best way to stay out of trouble was to stay far away from it. Vampires are really,