Vampire King of New York (20 page)

“Max, can I touch her eyes?”

Pulled from his thoughts, he found himself floating in front of the statue’s face. Evelyn reached out to touch her. He moved closer so she could accomplish it.

“It’s perfect. She looks so real.” Her hand caressed the statue’s eyelid.

“Are there any other parts you want to touch?”

Evelyn giggled and it was fun holding her close when she laughed. The vibration singing through her body was erotic. “Bad Max.”

“Shall we fly up to the crown now?”

“Yes, but I want you to hover so I can touch it.”

“Of course, you do.” Max smirked and sprinted upward to the crown. Everything she did and said either amused him or reminded him of sex. Her hair fluttered in his face. The scent of roses and honey filled his nostrils, and every part of him responded. Damn. If only they could be alone.

Evelyn reached out to touch the crown. He moved them closer.

“Ouch.” She jerked back her hand.

He leaped through the air and landed on the statue’s head behind the crown. With Evelyn in his lap, he took her hand, “Let me see.”

Her blood sang to him. He put her injured finger into his mouth and sucked. Her eyes half-closed and she sighed. Her taste was potent; every drop was liquid gold coursing like lava in his veins.

“Max, you’re going to make me rip off your clothes, if you keep doing that.”

He grinned, the injured digit still in his mouth. “What do I get if I suck all your fingers?”

She removed her finger from his lips. Then she turned to take in the view of city lights. “Maybe after this you should take me home.”

With a frown, he leaned back. “Are you angry with me?”

“No, I just want to be alone with you.”

“We are alone up here.”

“I don’t want to be thinking of falling off while we’re …”

He kissed her, moving her beneath him. “We won’t fall off. I promise.” Max nuzzled her neck. She unbuttoned his shirt. Oh, her hands on his skin felt like fire licking him, warm in its embrace, stirring him to action.

“Max,” she whispered, then whimpered in his ear, sending sparks of sheer lust through his being. “Max.” She pulled his hair. He unbuttoned her blouse and was about to dismantle her bra with his teeth.

“I don’t want my clothes flying around Long Island Sound,” she said with a giggle.

Reaching up her skirt he slipped her lace panties down and off. She gasped in his arms, when her panties were freed. Max tucked them into his pocket and made a mental note to put them on her later and rip them off. He didn’t want to ruin his record.

“Max.” Her voice had grown husky. Her eyes were small slits gazing at him like stars.

Looking down at her, he took one of her soft white hands, and finger by finger sucked each one.

Her breath caught. Max could feel the fierce heat of her passion wash through him. It was a shame he couldn’t hear her thoughts, but experiencing her feelings … He released her fingers and kissed his way to her breasts. He pushed the bra down. The silk blouse flapped in the breeze as his tongue coaxed one crimson nipple into a tight peak.

“Oh, Max.” She writhed beneath him.

Exploring her partially clad body, he slipped his hand under her skirt. Max thrust a finger into her core, pushing deep, teasing her nub. She was velvet soft and wet, trembling with need. He felt her tighten around his finger and pushed in further until she cried out.

“Max.”

He breathed into her ear. “How may I please you, my darling?”

“Please, now.”

“Tell me what you want.”

“Max, I want you. Enough with the fingers.”

He thrust his length into her. Immediately he felt her tighten around his hard, thick shaft. The moan escaped his lips before he could stop it.

Evelyn smiled, her hand caressing his face. “Tell me what you want, Max.” Her grin was almost wicked, as if she’d figured him out. Then she rolled. The momentum rolled them right off the head into the sky. Her face, panic-stricken as her heart beat out of control. Max held her firmly, floating without even a thought. Still her heart raced.

The next thing Evelyn knew she was lying in a soft bed with Max on top of her. Cold sweat soaked her body. Trembling, she peered up at him. “Max, we fell off the statue.”

He kissed her on the forehead. “Not really, my love. When we reached the sky, we were floating.”

“But I felt like I was …”

“I know. That’s why I teleported us to my bed on my yacht.” He kissed her eyes, even though tears slipped down her face.

“David doesn’t teleport.”

“No, I haven’t had the time to teach him. It takes prolonged concentrated effort. There were many other things that took priority in his education. It’s on my to-do list.”

“Am I on your to do list, too?”

He brushed his lips against hers, lingering there. “No, beloved. You are my heart. You could never be on a list.” His words breathed hot against her mouth. She parted her lips instinctively wanting more of him, beckoning him to enter.

“Max, remember I’m human. I could die of fright.”

“I’m sorry. Believe me, Evelyn, after waiting over a thousand years to meet you, I’m not going to risk your life.” He kissed her, holding her against him. Evelyn loved the feel of him and more and more she was tempted to say the words.

“Max. Max,  let’s get undressed.”

She felt his reluctance in withdrawing from her, but he did gently. Then he focused on removing her clothes, piece by piece. She did the same with him. At times, touching him distracted her and she lingered, raking fingernails over abs and well-developed thighs. He moaned his pleasure.

“I thought we were getting undressed.” Max half-closed his eyes, savoring her touch.

“Sorry. I just want to play with you over and over again.”

When the last item of clothing had been cast aside, he pulled her into his lap. She wrapped her legs around his waist and felt his hard length against her core. They were face-to-face. His mouth took possession of hers, parting her lips to allow his tongue to invade and stroke her into submission. He pressed his tongue beneath hers, caressing from below, and she cried aloud, a wordless sound more like a baby animal in the jungle.

After kissing her long and breathless many times she swooned into partial ecstasy, he proceeded to make love slowly, tenderly, ministering to every inch of her with seductive licking meant to entice and tighten. His caresses lingered in her every curve, teasing and then stroking her to heightened pleasure. Each measured touch drove them into an intense storm of passion. When they joined, she was ready, squeezing, caressing, tightening, releasing from within, guided by his gasps and moans. He drove deeper, harder into her.

She felt something click in Max. The pounding of their bodies slamming into each other created a tremor. His fangs descended.

Evelyn opened her eyes. “Max, your eyes have gone silver.”

He growled, as though unable to prevent it. “Among the ancients, there is a rite where we mark our mates. I want to mark you as mine always, Evelyn.”

“No. I’m not ready. I need more time. I have a choice.” Fear tore her out of the ‘lost in pleasure’ feeling.

Max closed his mouth and drove into her.

Evelyn clung to him. Wave after wave of his passion’s fire possessed her. He lifted her upward. She was almost too weak to move, too weak to press. Then the largest wave by far consumed her, and everything in her body felt the force of their joining—a hot, white blaze of power.

She melted in his arms. Slowly he moved them back down to the mattress, where they remained entwined for hours.

When they parted, she shivered. “I’m sorry, Max. I’ve let you down.”

He kissed her eyes, nose, and mouth tenderly holding her face, his fingers caressing her at the same time. “No, my love, you have not. It’s a modern world. I should have expected that you wouldn’t want to be marked.” Getting up, Max dressed.

Evelyn bit her lower lip. “Where are you going?”

“I was dressing for dinner, but if you’d prefer to come as you are I won’t mind.” He grinned that devilish smile of his. She laughed mostly out of relief that she hadn’t hurt him. At least she hoped she hadn’t.

Evelyn dressed quickly and followed him into the galley. It was an elegant dining room at sea, all in rich rosewood and gold trim. She didn’t realize until the food was placed before her how hungry she was. Her Lobster Newburg was delicious and almost distracted her from Max. Almost. When the Baked Alaska came out, she confessed she was already too full. Max sat next to her.

“What if we shared a dessert?”

“Well, I guess.”

Max scooped some into a bowl. Then dipped his spoon in and touched the delicious mixture of ice cream, cake, and meringue to Evelyn’s lips. “Open, please.”

She did and he carefully placed the spoon in her mouth. Evelyn swallowed.

“How was it?”

“Divine.” She took over the spoon and scooped some out for him. When she brought it to his lips, he kept his mouth closed.

“Open.”

He opened, revealing his fangs fully extended. Evelyn stopped transfixed. At least a Telkhine was still a human. Max wasn’t human. He was a hell of a dangerous creature. Still she was transfixed by his fascination with her, his declared love. She put the spoonful in his mouth, which immediately closed. His eyes never left hers.

“What are you thinking, my love?”

Evelyn felt her heart jump. She kissed him. She didn’t know what else to do.

Max jumped up. “Let’s go outside.” He rose and brought her along with him. The moon shimmered on the water. It had started its descent. Night would fade soon, and she would have to make a choice.

“Look. There’s blood on the water,” he said.

She grimaced and shook her head. “The savage. Only his blood is left. Soon that will be absorbed into the sea too. It’s sad that he became savage. Could you ever become like that?” In her mind, she wondered about David. About Laura, but shook her head free of that idea. Not her sister. Never.

“My creator was evil, but she created me for a purpose and making me savage would have defeated that.”

“What purpose did she have for making you a vampire?”

Max sighed. “I hate her. I will always hate her. Because of her I could not return to my family.”

Evelyn walked further down the deck looking back at the city. One thought absorbed her:
Maximillion Vander Meer, what purpose did she have for you?

Max was avoiding it, but here and now Evelyn had backed him into a corner. “Please, don’t judge me until you’ve heard it all.”

She took a seat in a deck chair.

He leaned back against the railing. “The men and I maneuvered the ship into an inlet that became a river, not any I had known before. There was a village. We attacked them at night. There was no moon, only darkness. In the forest around the village, the animals were silent.

“We attacked. So did they, with their fangs and claws.”

“They were vampires? You attacked a village of vampires?”

“Yes. My men were captured and tortured for sport. Then the villagers drank from them, draining them of their lives. I was among the few they kept for slaves. The queen saw me and ordered me chained to her bed for her pleasure.”

“You were a sex slave?”

“Yes.” He studied her face looking for an indication of her feelings. He felt nothing from her and was baffled.

“Did you enjoy it?” Her hands trembled.

He knelt by her chair and placed her hands on his heart. “No. No, I didn’t. She controlled my body like a puppet, making me do things I didn’t want to do. I existed in a sex-crazed trance. Only when she briefly left me alone to torment others, did my mind clear enough to realize my desperate state. My heart and soul belonged to Svenna, my sweet wife that I could never see again. The queen made me a vampire, but I fought her mind control. She was what we would call an amoral. She passes for civilized but in reality is far from it.”

“So, she had sex with you a lot?”

“Damn, I hate where this conversation is going. Yes. After countless occasions where she usurped my control, I decided it would be best to go along with her, to please her.”

Evelyn went white. She turned away from him.

“You were her boy toy.”

“I did what I had to do to lull her into a false sense of security, hoping my chains might be loosened or even taken off, if she believed we shared a bond. I wanted to go home, Evelyn, more than anything.”

“Your pretending to have a bond with her eventually worked?”

“It took seven years. Seven long and horrible years.”

“How did you escape?”

A savage soared at them. Max threw Evelyn to the deck, and the creature crashed into the railing. Lightning struck it, frying it on the spot into ash.

“Whoa. It’s a little dangerous out here. We’d better go back inside.” Trembling, Evelyn got up and went in. Even though the savage frightened her, she could no longer bear the agony of his tale. Whoever Max’s maker was, Evelyn hated her, too.

He followed her. “There was supposed to be only one left.” Suddenly his vision glazed, and Evelyn sat at the table watching. She had seen the same lack of expression in the eyes, when Laura and David mindtalked. After a moment, Max took a seat facing her.

“What was that about?”

“Noblesse. She said they’d found another savage and then lost him.”

“I hope you told her we found him.”

“Yes. It’s a good thing your sister was on top of her game tonight. What would you like to do next?”

“I had thought of asking you to take me back to the top of the statue, but perhaps that’s not a good idea. I did want to look around more, without getting, well, you know.”

“I can do that.” He winked. “Without you know. I think the coast is clear right now, if you want to go.” He held out his hand.

Evelyn stood up and took his hand. Going outside the night air had grown gentle and warmer with the coming morning. It was still hours away but Evelyn could feel it. Max walked to the railing and then turned to her. She faced him, leaning against him and hugging him to her. He returned her embrace.

It was almost imperceptible, the subtly of his ability to float. No flamboyant soaring, which she knew he was capable of. He was being careful with her, acknowledging her humanity. Even though when others treated her like a frail flower, Evelyn resented it, she actually liked it when Max treated her that way. She held in a giggle when she realized he was inhaling her hair. This would have been a moment when mindtalk between lifemates could have come in handy. She would have loved to know what he was thinking.