Night Embrace by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Talon is a Dark-Hunter, an immortal hunter and slayer of Daimonites- descendants of the God Apollo who have turned to drinking the blood and souls of humans to extend their lives. However, since Apollites, the children of the God, will only live to the age of 27 anyway before disintegrating in a painful and agonizing fashion, too many of them make the choice to live no matter the cost- the cost of the lives of other humans.

But Talon is no normal Dark-Hunter. His life is cursed by the Celtic God Camulus, whose son Talon slew when he was still alive. In retaliation, Camulus killed Talon's wife and unborn child, and has hated him ever since. Now, he's teamed up with Dionysus, a Greek God who also bears Talon no love, to torment him further.

Sunshine is an artist who lives in the French Quarter of New Orleans, so when she's stalked by Daimonites, it's Talon, who's assigned to the city, who steps in to save her. But when he's run down by a Mardi Gras float almost immediately afterwards, Sunshine steps in and brings the wounded warrior back to her apartment to tend to his wounds.

After surviving a day in her sunny bedroom and the realization that she's a vegetarian and health-food eater, Talon finds himself attracted to Sunshine because she reminds him of his wife. He repays her help with a night of hot sex, but finds himself strangely disappointed that she doesn't get attatched to him like other women do afterwards. Even though he would back away from someone who wanted more, he feels disappointed by her reaction.

But Sunshine's relationship with Talon brings her to the attention of the two Gods, and may have endangered her life. And it seems that his relationship with her is something the Gods want- it ties into their plans to have Revenge on Talon and accomplish a greater revenge on the Dark-Hunters as a whole. Not only are they in the city, but so is Styx, Acheron's twin brother, and he's masquerading as Acheron to keep Talon and Sunshine together and prevent Talon from doing his job.

But why do the Gods want to keep Talon busy? What could they be planning that requires the absence of the Dark-Hunters from their job during New Orleans' busiest tourist season? And why does Talon feel so comfortable around Sunshine? Could she be the spirit of his wife reborn? And can Talon keep from losing her again, when as a human, she is nothing but a target for the Daimonites? And what of Sunshine? Can she reach out and grab hold of what she wants to keep from losing Talon a second time?

I like how Sherrilyn Kenyon set up this story. Talon is a Celt, whose life long ago was hard and ill-starred. Not only did he lose his wife and their baby, but in the end, his people were ready to sacrifice himself and his sister to counteract their tribe's run of bad luck. Since then, his sister's Spirit has hung around to counsel him, but the time will soon be coming when she can no longer stay- her spirit must be reborn. And for all his toughness, Talon doesn't look forward to that.

Throughout the story, Talon's perceptions are played with by the Gods arrayed against him, keeping Acheron from contacting him and giving him Styx in place of Acheron to give him conflicting orders. But Sunshine, who has long been interested in Celtic imagery, finds herself having dreams of Talon in which she calls him Speirr, his name back when he was alive and human. But even though she is just a normal human woman, she is willing to fight for Talon, to try and interfere and intercede with the Gods on his behalf to return his soul to him so he can live with her and be her husband.

Reading their interaction was both hot and sweet, and I liked how Sunshine kept Talon off-balance with her unusual ways and attitudes. She may seem flaky, but within her, there is a core of pure steel that enables her to fight for the ones she loves and win. I loved this book a lot, and the re-introduction of past characters in the series- along with future ones like Zarek. This is one of the earliest Dark-Hunter books and introduces many future characters, so it's definitely one you should read, for both the interesting story and the hot, hot loving. Recommended.