Page 18 of Art of the Hunt
“That’s a reasonable point. I haven’t had sex that was tied to intimacy in centuries. But you’re human; you all are programmed to seek intimacy as well as sex. Cutting both of those things out of your life will eventually cause your body to start to deteriorate.”
“I happen to be healthier than I’ve ever been in my entire life. And by the way, our bodies are going to deteriorate anyway. It’s called getting old. Happens to every single one of us.”
She eyed his buff body. Definitely no deterioration going on there. “But you need to be healthy in here too.” She tapped his left pec, which flexed and rippled.
“My heart’s just fine.”
“Your heart is lonely.”
“My heart is not—” He snapped his mouth closed and shook his head. “Look, Artemis, thanks for helping apprehend the guy who stole the ice cream truck. And thanks for joining me for lunch. And for the ride up the coast. And, I suppose, for helping that couple in the park, even though I still don’t understand a lot of what happened.”
"You don’t understand the concept of childbirth? How the baby gets from inside the uterus into the world?”
He narrowed his eyes, and she swore she heard a low growling sound before he spoke through clenched teeth. “I have to get to work.”
If she didn’t back off, he might very well have a heart attack from stress, not loneliness. She lifted her arms like people did in the movies when the cops shouted, “Freeze!”
“Go do your boring paperwork. I’ll find something else to occupy my time until you’re ready to do the interesting part of your job again.”
He opened and closed his mouth several times and then, with another shake of his head, stomped up the steps to the police building and disappeared through the door.
Now what was she supposed to do?
The problem was, she doubted he would call on her when he was handed his next case, and the only way she could be sure to be around when it happened was if she went into that building and hung out in the bullpen.
Except Hunter had made it perfectly clear that he needed a break from her.
Okay, she’d give him that break.
She hopped onto her Harley and cruised the streets of Chicago until she came across a bar with a dozen bikes in various makes and models parked in front. It wasn’t the Gods of Thunder MC, but that was okay. Artemis wanted a drink and to get lost in a crowd for a bit while she determined her next move.
She could just keep showing up at the precinct each morning and tag along each time Hunter was sent out on another case. Eventually, he’d accept her presence, grudgingly give in to her persistence.
But she didn’t want their relationship to be like that. She wanted it to be mutual.
She wanted them to be friends. Maybe…
No, just friends. Anything else would interfere with the friendship she imagined they’d have some day. Even though she’d suggested he needed to get laid and the idea of him having sex with any other woman was as revolting as if he were Orion doing it. But that had been different.
She and Orion had started out as friends and then lovers, but she hadn’t had to press him into the friendship. In fact, he approached her. And Orion would not have ever hooked up with anyone else, so the comparison was hardly the same.
Not that she had any idea whether Hunter would feel the need to take her up on her advice—with someone else.
He was as closed off as any human could be. Hell, he was as stoic and determined to go it alone as most gods she knew. Why was he so dogged about this idea that he’d be happiest all by himself?
Clusters of people stood on the sidewalk, drinks in hand, chatting and admiring the bikes. Despite the hot summer sun beating down on them, there was lots of leather. Lots of ink-covered skin, too, and piercings in more than just earlobes.
Artemis had found her people.
She parked her bike, slid out of the padded leather seat, and stretched. When she opened her eyes, a sea of them stared back at her.
That wasn’t unusual, although this stare didn’t feel like the stares she was used to. The ones that basically said, “Hey, you want to get laid?” No, these stares were…a little afraid, truth be told. Not what she would have expected from this crowd.
Until she glanced down at her shirt.
Aw, crap.
She forgot to use her magic to clear the blood and gore from her outfit after she’d helped Gina birth her baby. She looked like she’d just come from filming a slasher movie.
