Chapter 2 – Hungry For A Kiss

(Brielle’s POV)

I hated it when my group belittled what I could do, and today I was given a small task. Either I was new to the group, or they just could not entrust the job to me because I was a woman.

As Giles said when we first met last week, I looked delicate and someone who wouldn’t dare step on a cockroach. Adam and Bryce even encouraged me to change my mind, maybe work as a supermodel or just join beauty competitions. Only Gen, another woman in our group, didn’t comment on me joining the group, but I was not too fond of it when she looked at me as if her eyes bored through my clothes. It was only when Bryce told me his sister is a gay woman that I concluded that Gen was treated as one of them despite being a woman.

I was back to being an outcast in the group, the weak one and the member who would only make them move slow because everyone thought I was a princess that needed to be saved in times of danger.

We all worked under the Order of the Orion, the hunters of supernatural beings that threaten the balance of good and bad. For generations, only the sons of the Chosen Templars became hunters, but soon they began to recognize the strength and power of the daughters wanting to follow in their father’s footsteps.  

Both my parents were hunters, and when they realized my potential, they began training and honing me from the day I recognized a demon inside someone’s body. I was five by then.

It sucked being part of the Midnight Outcasts Hunters because Giles said I was only able to get in the group because my father held a high position in the Order, and my mother was one of the respected teachers in the field of hunting and fighting.

Tonight, all I had to do was sing and make sure to lure everyone with my beautiful voice while we waited for Monty, a shapeshifting monster they had been hunting for months. From where we sat, on the small stage of Wild Side, we saw him entering and sitting at the far end of the bar.

Another man came in, chatting animatedly with the locals. With his build and looks, he could pass as a tourist, someone who wanted to enjoy the night in a bar that has already been part of the history of the small town of San Rafael.

From where I was sitting, Giles hissed, recognizing Raven, a rogue and a blood-drinking vampire who had drained several victims across the country. For the past years, he could be considered a serial killer by ordinary people, always confusing the police and making them think he was human by leaving some traces. Only his clues would never reveal him as a fifty-year-old vampire, and it would be impossible to catch or kill him unless they used a silver bullet or put a silver stake in his heart.

“Lucky day!” Adam muttered, smiling and winking at me. “You’re a lucky charm!”

I faked a smile as I began singing the song I practiced last night and filled the small bar with what they described as my angelic voice.

“Bryce and I would go after Raven,” uttered Giles in a low voice. “Don’t lose Monty,” he nodded at Gen and Adam, leaving me out again.

A few minutes later, another customer entered the bar, walking toward Thomas. He sat on the bar stool and kept his eyes on Raven for a while before locking his gaze on me.

“Agent? Police?” asked Giles as he played the drum, not familiar with the man, but with the way he would sometimes take a quick look at Raven, checking on him if he was still there, an obvious act he was following him.

Maybe for people inside the bar, not even Thomas would notice it, but hunters like us could read him like he was one of us, only he looked like he had no idea who he was running after.

“That one’s yours, Barbie,” teased Gen, scoffing at me.

I smiled at the man gazing at me as if looking through my clothes. If only I could share my thoughts with the team, I wanted to complain about why I got this kind of job when I was as good as any of them.  

Gen was the first one to stop strumming the guitar, putting it beside her chair, and standing up when Monty stood up and walked toward the back door. She flipped her midnight black wavy long hair to her back, walked to Adam, and whispered something to him. He only nodded but continued to play on the organ piano.

 Giles placed the drumstick on top of the drum and bumped his fists with Bryce’s, giving him the cue when they saw Raven walking past us with a beautiful woman with him. Bryce put the guitar back on the side and pretended to laugh with Giles as they headed to the restroom, but they would make a U-turn later to catch up with Raven.

Adam and I were left, and his fingers played the keys well until I finished the song. He walked toward me, leaning his head to mine, so close to my ear that he looked like he was kissing my ear.

“He’s standing up. I don’t care what you do, but don’t let him follow us, Barbie,” he whispered before turning his back on me.

I sat at the table and smiled with the locals, who congratulated me on my beautiful voice. When I saw the man walking toward the back door at a fast pace, I had to stand up and dashed toward him, grabbing his arm to stop him.

“Wait,” I said sweetly, but when he turned around, the word I described him a while ago as handsome was not enough. He was a god… a Greek god, so gorgeous that when I met his blue eyes again, I almost forgot why I was stopping him.

“I’m sorry, I’m in a hurry,” he said in a rich baritone voice, not breaking his gaze at me. “I’m trying to catch someone.”

A while ago, I thought this was the easiest job, but now, I could hardly think as I started melting in his gaze. I smiled at him, suddenly feeling embarrassed.

“Me, too. I’m trying to catch someone. I’m Brielle,” I said, saying my name and wondering why I had to say it.

His eyebrows raised, making him more charming and breathtakingly handsome. I had to do something before he could run away from me.

“I’m trying to catch you,” I said, placing my hand on the back of his neck, and since he was taller than me, I had to raise my heels to brush my lips to his mouth.

I almost laughed when I felt his body jerk, definitely surprised by what I had done. My eyes closed, afraid to feel embarrassed in front of this stranger. His lips were cold but delicious as I tasted the whiskey I saw him drinking. I nipped on his bottom lip, not because I was trying to distract him, but because there was something extremely pleasing about him.

He has an intoxicating smell, like his scent was inviting and gratifying. I gasped when he finally gave in, parting his lips and welcoming my tongue, but I didn’t expect my first kiss with him to be so glorious that I thought I saw fireflies dancing around us as he deepened the kiss.

I moaned, enjoying my little task and drowning myself in this ambrosial moment, but I stopped, pushing him slightly away from me, when I heard a sound coming. It was fast, but what surprised me was when the stranger swiftly moved in front of me, protecting me as he picked up a pipe and hit Monty in the face.  

“Hmm,” I heard him mumble when he saw Monty standing up, hissing angrily and showing us his fangs and long forked tongue. He tried to make his tongue longer, reaching the veins on my neck, but before he could advance to me, the stranger hit his head again with the pipe, causing Monty to growl but fall to the ground.

The stranger shook his head, sighing as he looked at me. “Are you alright?” he asked worriedly, his hands on my shoulders steadying me. He must have thought I was shocked that he placed his palm on my cheeks, checking if I was hurt.

The small folding knife in my pocket, which I was about to get, remained hidden in my pocket. I tilted my head, peeking at Monty, but he escaped.

I heaved a sigh as I thought of him escaping when I had him already. “Do you know what that was?” I asked him, hoping not to sound angry at him.

“A drunk man?” he raised his eyebrows, guessing.

A drunk man? “Why did you hit him with the pipe?” I was surprised he saw the pipe in the dark when I didn’t notice it. He must have hit him pretty hard because Monty was strong, but he fell to the dirt.

“He attacked us, and I must say, whoever he was, he disappointed me,” he smirked.

My eyebrows raised. “You’re disappointed? Why?”

He didn’t answer me. Instead, he pulled me closer to his body and lightly cupped my face with his hands, kissing me again. This time, it was not as careful as our lips first molded a while ago. As I parted my lips for him, he unleashed the magic of what his tongue could do to mine. He kissed me hungrily, and as our kiss deepened, only then did I realize I was as hungry as he was.