Vampire King of New York (22 page)

“Of course, I do. Should I come by at six? I have theater tickets.”

“Yes. Thank you, Max, for not being mad at me.”

“Oh, my love, I could never be mad at you.”

“Goodbye.” She ended the call.

Max handed the phone back to David.

“Well?”

“She wants the day to think, and I’m taking her out tonight.”

David’s expression made him worry.

“I know she doesn’t want to be a vampire. I’m willing to have her remain a human. It’s enough just to be near her.” He shook his head.

“I know that’s not always true.” David had a way of cutting to the bone.

“She turns my blood to liquid lava, and it becomes harder and harder to restrain myself from touching her.”

“I’ve noticed certain similarities between Laura and Evelyn. I’m seeing you suffer the same way I suffered when Laura and I were first together. I was crazy in love, and gave her my apartment without a thought as to where I was going to live. Lucky for me, she summoned me back and, well,  she was just as fired up as I was.” David smiled from the memory of that first night of passion. Max didn’t have to read his mind, the thoughts radiated out like heat.

“Max, do you want to come over and sleep on the sofa?”

“No. That would be intruding on her time to think. I want to show I respect her wishes.”

“She loves you.”

“She hasn’t said that.”

“I know she does,” David said.

“She hasn’t said it to me.”

“Okay, I’m going home now. You know how to reach me.”

Max locked the door behind him and went back to the booth. He summoned Vincent to come with the car. It was going to be a hard day. He didn’t know if he’d be able to sleep without her.

“Everything’s okay now?” Laura asked, hopeful when Evelyn put down the phone.

“Yes, I guess. He’s taking me out tonight.”

“Are you going to be all right with not seeing him during the day?”

“Sure. Why wouldn’t I be?” Evelyn was beginning to regret that decision. Already she ached for his arms around her. She didn’t wait for Laura to answer but got up and walked into her room.

Laura followed her and sat on the bed. Evelyn followed her routine for bed, even though it was daytime. When she came out of the bathroom in her nightgown and slippers, Laura was still there.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“No, but I have to be.” She sat down beside her sister. “When did it happen that I need him so much every part of me aches?”

Laura leaned over and hugged her. “It’s a lifemate thing. They make us crazy, but it’s all right.”

“Why is it all right?” Evelyn asked, baffled by her sister.

“We make them crazy, too.” She laughed.

A knock at the door caused them to pause. “Who is it?” Evelyn asked.

“David.”

“Come in.”

He came in and the first thing he did was hug Evelyn. “He loves you, you know.”

Evelyn nodded. She got up and slid back the covers. Then taking off her slippers, she eased under the sheet and blankets and got comfortable.

“You’re going to go to bed during the day, Evie? You’re developing vampire habits.”

Yawning, she smiled. “Max kept me up all night. I need to get some sleep. Now everyone out.”

David left first, but Laura lingered. “Evie, if you need me, you know how to call.”

“I know.”

After reaching for the lamp on the nightstand and turning off the light, Evelyn settled among the pillows. No matter what she tried to think about, she couldn’t manage to sleep, tossing and turning, and tangling the sheets. She felt cold and sad. Biting her lower lip, Evelyn worried that she’d been unfair to keep Max away. Closing her eyes once more, she breathed out. This time she focused on Max, feeling his strong arms around her, his heat against her skin.

The world opened up
.

Forest surrounded her on every side. She crawled on her hands and knees looking under brushes for the rare herbs needed for the poultice. The man jumped on her out of nowhere. He dragged her kicking and screaming into the clearing.

“Scream. No one will hear you.” All she could see was his yellow teeth in her face.

Then he flew off her. Blood splattered everywhere. He screamed but no one heard him except her. No one came from the village to his rescue. The huge silver white wolf ripped him apart, piece by piece, until he was no longer recognizable. Svenna lay there in the dirt, trembling, too terrified to move. The wolf stood on the remains. Then it turned and walked over to her.

“Goddess Freya, protect me for the sake of my children.”

The wolf licked her face and then backed up.

Even covered in blood, it had a noble face. She reached up to touch it, and it didn’t flinch in fear or growl in threat. The wolf merely looked at her with its glacier blue-gray eyes.

Max! Svenna didn’t know it was her husband. Evelyn was separate now from Svenna watching the scene, realizing that Max had come home and in his wolf form watched over and protected her from a distance. He had come home but she never knew it.

The scene drizzled away like water through her fingers. Evelyn rolled over in the bed. It felt incredibly soft. She turned again.
Oh
. Evelyn gasped at the discovery. She was dreaming of being asleep. When she opened her eyes, she was facing Max. She brushed her fingertips against the deep red wine comforter. Soft. Her hands seemed so pale against it. He reached for her face, barely touching her.

“You had a bad dream, my love?”

She hugged him, pressing her face against his shoulder. Skin against skin set her blood on fire, but Evelyn resisted. There would be time for that. Now her heart was breaking and she had to tell him.

“Max, make me a promise.”

“Anything.” He stroked her hair. She could feel his love in his embrace, in the way he touched her.

“Never leave me again.” She looked up into his eyes.

“I had to go away on a raid. You understood that.”

“I had a dream that evil would touch you. I couldn’t see what. It hid in the darkness.”

“You were right. I was wrong to brush aside the warning in your dream.”

“I stood in the water for hours weeping. I couldn’t bear your leaving that last time. Your mother and father had to take me home. Max, don’t ever leave me. I want to be with you wherever you go.”

“Are you sure of that?” He kissed her forehead, her eyes, her nose, then her mouth, possessing her like he never had before.

Evelyn sat up in bed. She stared down at her hands resting on the powder blue comforter. After wiping the tears from her face, she walked out of her room and down the hall to the kitchen.

Laura was sitting at the table. “You need me, Sis?”

Evelyn flopped into a chair, holding her head in her hands. “Is it possible to love someone so very much that the fabric of your being can’t exist without them?”

David walked into the room, his robe loosely tied around his waist. His magnificent chest, everything a girl could dream of to run her fingers over. Evelyn couldn’t help but think her sister lucky to have a guy who was easy on the eyes and noble of heart too. David sat in a chair beside his wife.

He put his cell phone on the table. “Max is number one on my speed dial.”

“Max is number one? I would think Laura would be. Besides I thought you always mindtalk.”

“Stuff happens and you need a cell phone. When you’re done just leave it on the kitchen table.” He nuzzled Laura’s ear and set her off giggling. “Lauuurrraaa, come back to bed soon.” Then he got up and left.

Evelyn picked up the phone. “Obviously, David thinks I should call Max.”

“Then do it, if you really want to.” Laura left too. Evelyn sat there looking at the phone. She wanted someone to debate the matter with, and it was clear that Laura wouldn’t.

She pressed one, and held the phone to her ear.

“Hello?” Max’s voice sounded uncertain.

“Max, it’s me.”

“Evelyn, you’re using David’s phone?”

“Um. You used David’s phone yesterday, so turnabout is fair play. Um. I guess.”

“Are you feeling all right?”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have woken you. You go back to sleep.”

She was about to hang up when she heard him say, “I wasn’t asleep. Having kept you up all night, I would have expected you to be asleep by now. Did you have a bad dream?”

“I guess. I don’t know.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“I don’t think I can. My thoughts are such a mess.”

“We can talk about other things until you feel better.”

Evelyn sighed. “Max, I’m just going to come out with it. I need you to come over.”

Suddenly there was no Max on the phone. Evelyn stared at it. Did the connection drop? There was no dial tone, but no comforting voice either. Did something happen to him? Just when she was going to get David and tell him something might be wrong, she heard a soft knock on the front door.

She looked through the peephole. It was Max. It wasn’t the sophisticated Armani suit Max. With his blond hair tousled, he wore a sweatshirt with the Minnesota Vikings logo on it, jeans, and sneakers. She liked the Viking touch. It made sense, but she still had to stifle a giggle.

“Come on in.” She walked into the kitchen and sat down. He followed her and took the seat right next to her instead of across.

“What’s up?”

“I can’t sleep. I’m sorry for getting you over here, but I try to sleep and then I start worrying that something bad has happened to you.”

He got up and went into the cabinet taking out two glasses. Then he went into the fridge and poured milk for her and a blood for himself. He placed both into the microwave. “I figure after a little warm milk and blood, we’ll try to sleep again.” The beep went off. He took them out and placed the milk in front of her.

Max sipped his blood. After a thousand years, meeting her was worth the wait. The feeling of being needed washed over him like a spring waterfall full of sweetness and excitement. Of course, he wanted to be with her, but it was nice to know she needed his presence just as much.

The blood on his tongue heightened the happy sensation already coursing through his veins.

David walked into the kitchen. He also poured some blood into a glass and put it in a microwave. “Can’t sleep either, huh? I’m just hoping when you two do get to bed, you manage to keep the noise down.”

“Noise?” Embarrassed, Evelyn turned a lovely crimson.

Laura walked in. “Yes. You know all the moaning and sighing and crying out in pleasure.”

“Oh, yes, please, keep the noise down,” Hatcher said, sauntering in and taking a chair. “David, could you pour me a blood too?”

David poured him one straight from the fridge.

“You could always sound proof the rooms,” Hatcher said.

“I don’t think that will be necessary,” Max said, feeling the waves of embarrassment and general dismay from Evelyn.

She got up and hurried out of the room, leaving her milk half finished.

“Oh fine,” Max muttered.

David chuckled when Max brushed past him following Evelyn.

She went into the bedroom and shut the door. Max followed her inside and shut the door again.

“I hope you’re not really upset with them. They were just having a little fun at our expense.”

“Do you think we really make that much noise?”

He took her into his arms. “I think we should make more.”

Evelyn’s face blazed red. Then a light seemed to strike her and she laughed. Twisting her fingers in his hair. “I think we should make more noise right now.”

Kissing her, he pushed her down onto the bed. The honey taste of her skin against his lips melted into him. Blinding fire ignited in his senses.

Evelyn gasped, breathing his name. Each place she touched made his fire hotter, more urgent. Their clothes slid off with amazing fluidity. He eased her under the covers and under him. He teased each nipple into a tight red rosette. Max couldn’t think. His body’s impulses rushed through him registering each of her reactions and commanding a response. He suckled her. She moaned beneath him. He nuzzled her breasts enjoying their softness against his face. When he closed his eyes, he saw a baby feeding. Max wanted her and the life they could create together.

Evelyn squirmed under him. She moved her hands creatively against his body, rubbing his back, raking fingernails against his thighs.

The need to bite her was overwhelming. His fangs had descended with the rush of desire. It took everything in him not to sink his fangs into her satin soft flesh, to remain strong and hold fast his restraint

“Max,” she whispered in his ear before biting his lobe.

If Evelyn ever decided to become a vampire, she would be a new kind of fun. Not that he would push her to that decision, but he certainly wouldn’t discourage her. He reached down between her legs and found the hot, slick moisture beckoning him, demanding his entrance. He slid his shaft into her.

Evelyn arched her back in response, her eyelashes fluttered. His push was slow and methodical. Max wanted to enjoy each nuance, each tremor of her body. He especially liked it when she pushed against him. He believed, or at least hoped, that even though she hadn’t said it yet, that Evelyn had grown to love him. Perhaps she had loved him at their first meeting but was holding back. He pushed deeper. She cried out. He pushed faster. She trembled beneath his touch.

Faster. Deeper. He felt her body meld with his. Thoughts streaked through his brain of long winter nights in his home in Iceland with her in his arms. Of the joyful passion of creating a child together. The more he thought about this, the happier he got. He drove into her, rising up on his knees, pulling her with him, pushing her harder.

Evelyn bit his shoulder, hard. Max felt the explosion within him, then inside her and it echoed through him again and again. They collapsed sideways on the bed.

He held her tenderly, unwilling to give up their joining.

“I can’t believe I did it again. I’m sorry I bit you.” Then she closed her eyes. A moan escaped her lips.

“My love, you may bite me anytime you wish.”

Evelyn shivered, grasping his arms. “Max, it not fair.”

“What?”