The Hunger Read Free Page B

as she put the cleaning supplies away and hurried to gather her stuff so she and Tully could leave.
            “I know we haven’t worked together long, but if there is anything you need to talk about, let me know.”
            Mia felt the unfamiliar prick of tears as her manager gave her a shy smile. She’d never had anyone to confide in. Problems were solved decisively where she was from, and there was no need to deliberate. This new human condition she found herself part of was more comforting than shed expected.
            “Thanks. I really appreciate that,” she replied, giving Tully a shy smile of her own.
            She could tell the other woman wanted to say something else but pulled back at the last minute. Mia was grateful because even though she was awed by the new emotional world she inhabited, she wasn’t completely comfortable with the complexity of it all. Instead they turned off the lights and Mia waited patiently as Tully locked up.
            “Let me give you a ride home,” Tully said.
            “Thanks, I’d appreciate that,” Mia replied.
            Tonight she wouldn’t chance another late-night stroll that would place her in the path of her own personal Big Bad Wolf. As she walked with Tully to the woman’s beat-up, economy-sized car she felt a sense of relief at the thought her and Galen’s paths wouldn’t cross. They quickly got inside and sat in a comfortable silence the short distance to her studio. Mia thanked her as she got out of the car and had never so sincerely met those two words in her life. As she walked to her front door she felt the anxiety of anticipation settle in, but she wouldn’t let it weigh her down.
            Even as she stepped into the familiar confines of her studio, she couldn’t shake the feeling something big was about to occur. It was her lack of sleep, she thought to herself, and her nerves were just tightly wound because she’d deprived her body of the rest it needed. There was a quart of dark chocolate ice cream in the fridge that would help take the edge off.
            “This new carelessness is starting to concern me.”
            Mia froze at the sharp tone of Galen’s voice. She’d never been the recipient of this type of reprimand, and it stung unpleasantly.
            “This is my sanctuary,” she replied with her own sharp tone.
            “You know better than most that nothing is ever truly sacred. Even if you have joined the herd, you should never forget what it was like to run with the pack,” he growled, stepping out of the shadows and confronting her.
            “I can do whatever I damn well please,” she replied.
            He stared at her with those too-intense, sea-green eyes, and she felt as if he were taking her apart layer by layer. The longer he stared, the more her body craved the touch of his hands instead.
            “Yes, I guess you can,” he finally said softly.
            Mia expelled a sigh of shock. He wasn’t supposed to agree with her. Instead he was supposed to push and prod until she became so angry all she could think about was putting as much distance as she could between them.
            “What is it you would do tonight?”
            Her bad-boy predator was very clever, she realized. This new capitulation wasn’t something she could ever think of as sincere. He was still plotting and as always when he took away her need for anger, her desire for him had opportunity to flare stronger. Two nights she had tossed and turned as images of denied pleasure flittered through her brain, leaving a physical imprint on her body. It was torture and the temptation of him was far too great for her to ignore. Because he was a clever hunter, she knew it was all part of his grand plan ,, but she was once a clever hunter herself and knew how to play the game as well.
            “It seems I will be damned,” she