Ruby Red Rebels

RUBY RED REBELS

“I need that bracelet,” she said. “I’m not leaving here without it.” “You goin’ to tell me why?” “You still haven’t told me why you’re so interested in it.” When Max wasn’t smiling, his eyes got even more intense. They bored into her, as if capable of reading what was written in her thoughts by only a glance, and after a moment of scrutiny, he nodded. “Word is, Ruby’s looking to sell. My job is to make sure that doesn’t happen.” “Why?” “Why is it my job, or why can’t it happen?” “Both.” A ghost of his amusement returned. “Because I don’t like seeing good people get hurt, even if I am a vampire,” Max said softly. “And the kinds of people who’d be interested in that bracelet, well…let’s just say, better the devil you know.” Serena knew exactly what kinds of people would be interested in the bracelet. The same kind who had no qualms about threatening an entire family for the sake of a few dollars. The same kind who’d follow through on their promise to draw and quarter her father, then drink from the remains. The same kind who promised even worse for her if they didn’t get what they wanted. She took a deep breath. His gaze flickered for a second to

her rising chest before returning to her face. “There’s just one thing wrong with that,” she said. “I don’t know you.” “Maybe.” Max leaned in until his nose almost touched hers. “But I’m all you’ve got.”

RUBY RED REBELS BY VIVIEN DEAN

AMBER Q UILL PRESS, LLC http://www.AmberQuill.com

RUBY R ED R EBELS AN AMBER QUILL PRESS BOOK This book is a work of fiction. All names, characters, locations, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, or have been used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, locales, or events is entirely coincidental. Amber Quill Press, LLC http://www.AmberQuill.com All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be transmitted or reproduced in any form, or by any means, without permission in writing from the publisher, with the exception of brief excerpts used for the purposes of review. Copyright © 2008 by Vivien Dean ISBN 978-1-60272-199-9 Cover Art © 2008 Trace Edward Zaber

Layout and Formatting provided by: Elemental Alchemy

PUBLISHED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

RUBY RED REBELS

CHAPTER 1 She expected neon splashing across the barren desert floor. She expected sleek convertibles and jacked-up pickups chromed to the hilt in the parking lot. She expected a bouncer the size of a Texas oilrig guarding the front door and music that made the air vibrate, seeping out every time someone exited or entered. Ruby Red had none of that. From behind the wheel of her battered ’91 Mustang, Serena Darville stared in disbelief at the low-slung blot on the horizon. If it wasn’t for the telltale tumbleweed painted in scarlet filigree on the heavy front door, she’d think she was at the wrong place. This looked like any country-and-western bar 1

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in any backwater southern town. No way did this look like some kind of notorious vampire hangout. But it was. The tumbleweed she’d been told marked its threshold was right there, for any and all to see. Behind those weathered walls were some of the southwest’s most dangerous monsters. Getting drunk. Serena was an idiot to be voluntarily walking into their midst. Too bad she was also desperate. Turning the rearview mirror toward her, she checked her appearance one last time. Her black hair was pulled into a tight ponytail at her nape, sleek and efficient. The harsh style accentuated the angles of her face, the high cheekbones, the wide mouth, but those were the only indications of her Kiowa heritage. She was too much of a mutt these days to be able to claim kinship with the Native American tribe. With eyes the shade of summer moss and skin more likely to burn than tan, Serena usually got slapped with the “exotic” label. There had even been drinking games in college when friends would try and figure out where exactly her ancestors had come from. Not one person ever picked out the branch of the family that had turned out to be bloodsucking fiends. Of course, nobody ever called them that to their faces. That was the surest way to get a set of unwelcome fangs buried in your jugular. Grabbing her purse off the passenger seat, Serena climbed out of the Mustang, took a deep breath, and headed for the entrance. She didn’t bother locking the car. If one of the 2

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vampires inside wanted to steal her beater, Ford’s crappy locks weren’t going to be able to do a thing to stop them. A blast of heat walloped her as soon as she opened Ruby Red’s front door. With it came the pungent smell of cigarette smoke, the tickle of grease, and enough whiskey to make her lightheaded long before she reached the bar. There was music, too—Waylon Jennings and his “Lonesome, On’ry and Mean” sending an unwanted charge through her veins—and she had an unconscious sway to her steps as she cruised through the tightly packed tables for the first barstool she could see. The bartender stood in front of her, even before Serena managed to get her ass comfortable on the circular seat. He looked like the actor who’d played Wyatt Earp in the old fifties show, complete with square jaw, dimpled chin, and black-and-white exterior. Everything about him was a shade of gray, and against the neon of the various beer signs hanging on the wall, it made him stand out. “A Lone Star, please,” she said. He didn’t move. “You sure about that?” He had a voice that sounded like thunder before a huge storm. “This might not be the kind of bar you think it is, baby doll.” Deliberately, Serena fingered the simple silver cross that hung in the valley between her full breasts. “I know exactly what kind of place Ruby Red is. And don’t tell me you don’t serve beer. My shoes were sticking to the floor all the way over here.” The bartender stared at her for another moment before shrugging. “It’s your neck. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” 3

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As he turned toward the taps, Serena let out a long, silent breath. His wasn’t the first warning she’d gotten about the bar. She really hoped it wasn’t the last. Waiting for her beer gave her a minute to give the joint a closer look. The interior was as rustic as its storefront, though those weren’t peanut husks scattered on the floor. She bit the inside of her cheek to tamp down her automatic response to the polished bone shards and focused on the clientele, drinking in every pair of Levi’s, every tobacco-filled cheek, every belt buckle that she could see. Nearly three quarters of them were men, and the few women who interspersed the crowd looked just as rugged as their male counterparts. Nobody looked like they might know a thing about rare jewels. Best bet, she’d find somebody who thought Swarovski hired their own miners. “Here’s a little tip.” The murmured words in her ear came with a drawl and whiskey-soaked slide that would have raised goose bumps even if she wasn’t nervous about being in a vampire bar. “Always look ’em in the eye, darlin’. Don’t do that, and they’re going to think you’re dinner.” Serena twisted around to find herself staring into the bluest eyes she had ever seen. Laugh lines marked their corners, and the sensual mouth was curved into an amused grin. His shoulder-length dark hair was mostly hidden by a white cowboy hat, swept back to reveal the silver studs in both of his ears. He hadn’t shaved, either, his jaw rough with stubble, but that didn’t hide the slight pallor in his skin. It just masked it a little. It probably made it easier for him to pass when he was 4

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in human company. Because if Serena didn’t know to look for it, she would never have pegged him for a vampire. It was never good when you couldn’t pick the enemy out of the crowd. “I’ll take that under advisement,” she replied, keeping her tone cool. The bartender placed her beer in front of her, giving her the perfect opportunity to turn away from the stranger’s attention. Her gaze flickered to the shot glass he then set down for her new neighbor. Apparently, she wasn’t going to be drinking alone. “See, already you’re asking for trouble. If I wasn’t such a gentleman, I’d be looking at you like a tasty treat right about now.” Behind the counter, the bartender snorted and shook his head before heading down to the opposite end of the bar. “Someone thinks you’re lying,” Serena observed. “Will thinks everybody who walks through those doors is a liar.” “Most bartenders usually know their patrons better than anybody.” “And most bartenders usually don’t finish their shift by draining the last patron standing.” The stranger was still grinning when she glanced over at him. “Take it as you will.” He clearly wasn’t going anywhere. Serena had half a mind to pick up her beer and move to one of the few empty tables, but then that might encourage some of the less attractive vampires in the place into thinking she was fair game. This 5

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one seemed content to play the game, and if he was easy on the eyes, what was wrong with that? He knocked back his shot with practiced ease and set the glass down on the inner half of the counter to indicate a refill from the bartender. “So if Will here knows his customers so well…” His mouth curved in amusement as he spoke, his gaze deliberately flicking over her form-fitting black tank top and the outline of her legs in her jeans. “I guess that means you’ve got a few backroom secrets of your own you’re toting around.” Only years of practice with cousins who could read every single body rhythm kept Serena’s heart from skipping a beat. “You’ve got an awful lot of opinions for me, considering I don’t even know who you are,” she replied evenly. The cold beer soothed her throat, making it easier to focus on the here and now, and not on the later when everything might go all to hell. “Max Markow.” He even tapped the front brim of his hat as he nodded at her, as if they were being introduced in polite Texas society. “Now you get to tell me your name.” “I get to? Did I win some door prize I don’t know about?” That easy smile returned. He kept his fangs well out of sight, this one did. “I’ve been called worse in my day.” In spite of her better judgment, Serena snorted. “You might even be called worse yet tonight.” He toyed with his shot glass as Will carried over a bottle of Jack Daniels and refilled it. “If it means I get to stick around 6

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with your company, I’m goin’ to reckon it’ll be worth it.” She sipped more of her beer, taking a minute to look around the room again. The song had changed on the jukebox, some retro country thing she didn’t recognize, and while a couple had taken to the tiny dance floor, almost everybody else remained in their seats. How many of them are human? I can’t be the only one in the room, can I? But the more she looked, the more convinced she was. Which made Will the bartender’s warning even more ominous. “Wanna dance?” The offer didn’t come from Max. It came from a gangly vampire with watery gray eyes and a receding hairline who’d sidled up to the bar when she wasn’t paying attention. Now, he had one hand braced on the counter next to her, pinning her in. “No, thanks.” Serena tried to make it sound less cold than she felt, but the way the new vamp gripped the bar more tightly meant her attempt hadn’t worked. “Now that isn’t very friendly of you.” She shrugged. “Considering I didn’t come in here to make friends, I don’t see where that’s a problem.” He leaned in, his thin lip curling back to expose his fangs. There was something caught in between two of his lower teeth, and Serena tore her attention away before she figured out what it was. “Come on, pretty girl like you wants to have lots of friends, I can tell. Legs like that were just made for—” “Finish that sentence, Darryl, and I’ll nail your tongue to 7

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the wall.” The threat came from Max, his good-natured tone still all too prevalent. When Serena glanced back at him, however, something cold had settled in his face. If she had harbored any doubts about him being a vampire—which she hadn’t, not in this place of all places—they would have disappeared with a single glance at the predatory gleam in his eye. “This ain’t your jurisdiction, Markow.” “Lucky for you. ’Cause if it was, your ass would be ash instead.” Something about the set of his muscles told Serena it wasn’t an idle threat. The way Darryl immediately backed off told her the exact same thing. “You get tired of having to take that stick out of his ass, you know where to find me,” Darryl said to her. He ambled off, but not before he’d flipped Max off one last time. Serena whirled to face Max. “Jurisdiction? What the hell are you?” “What?” He feigned surprise. “You mean you don’t know everything there is to know about walking into a bar like this?” Clicking his tongue, Max picked up his shot and saluted her with it. “Here’s to learning new things.” Her jaw dropped, snapped shut, then opened again. “I know plenty,” she argued. “I definitely know how to deal with drunk guys in bars.” “Oh, Darryl isn’t drunk yet. He saves that for after he’s had his dinner for the night.” His intention didn’t go unnoticed. “I wasn’t going to be, no 8

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matter what you think.” “Because you’ve got a pretty little cross hiding between those prettier tits?” His hand moved like quicksilver, faster than she could see. Serena only felt a slight tug on the back of her neck, and then her necklace was sitting on the bar in front of her, the clasp broken. “Hey!” Scooping the cross back up, she fiddled with the small loops, trying to get them to go back together again. Nothing worked. She ended up shoving the wad of silver deep into her front pocket. “I’m just saying—” “Well, don’t.” Serena picked up her beer and slid off the stool. “I didn’t come in here for company, and I definitely didn’t come in here for show-off vampires to try and prove just how ‘ooo, scary’ they can be. So if you don’t mind, Mr. Markow, I’m going to take my Lone Star, and I’m going to go sit at the other end of the bar, and you’re going to leave me the hell alone. Got it?” She didn’t wait for an answer. She just marched down the length of the bar and took a seat as far away from him as she could get. As soon as she lifted her mug to her mouth, Serena realized her mistake. Her new position had her facing the irrepressible Max Markow eye-to-eye, and as she gulped at her beer, he cocked a single brow in definite amusement. She almost choked swallowing it down, but as soon as she could, 9

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she set down her drink and swiveled to face the crowd. Her would-be dance partner Darryl was watching her from a corner table, though his attention kept darting to Max at the opposite end of the bar. Other vampires kept glancing in her direction, often enough for Serena to feel their hungry gazes like icy rain across her skin. But for the most part, everybody ignored her. It was like talking to Max had given her a get out of getting bitten free card, because she sure as hell should have been a tasty treat, at the very least. That was the way she had planned it. She chewed the inside of her cheek. It was a catch-22. If nobody talked to her, she was never going to find the diamonds. But she’d brushed off the one vampire who’d asked her to dance without even considering him as a possibility, and the other vampire who’d approached her now sat at the other end of the room, leaning back in his stool as he regarded the rest of the room. Talking to vamps—finding the bracelet she needed to get her father out of the trouble he’d buried himself beneath—was her only hope. She had followed the trail all the way to Ruby Red. If she gave up now, her father was a dead man. Draining the rest of her beer, Serena gestured for Will to come back over. “Another Lone Star.” She waited a few seconds, hoping that would make her next request seem casual. “So do you not get many people with a pulse in here? Or did I pick a bad night to show?” She tried to keep her voice low enough so that all the preternatural senses in the room wouldn’t pick up on every 10

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word. As it was, she could’ve sworn she saw Max frown over Will’s shoulder, but then the bartender was blocking her view, his broad shoulders bowing as he bent down to speak to her. “We get our fair share,” he said. “But I don’t think that’s what you’re really interested in knowing, baby doll.” “Oh?” She took a sip of her beer, hoping to quench the sudden dryness afflicting her throat. “And what is it you think I want to know?” “You want something,” came the blunt response. “A looker like you comes waltzing in here smelling like a Sunday spread, but you turn down a dance offer and walk away from Wild Bill Hickok back there. That means you’re looking for somebody in particular.” His too-full lips pulled back into a cold smile. “You got an agenda? You better be prepared to follow it through. ’Cause you don’t come into Ruby Red looking for a little distraction. Humans only walk through those doors on their own if they want to ride the fang and risk a little more than a dance by the time they leave.” She was used to threats. She was somewhat used to vampires. But she wasn’t used to feeling so out of control of her situation. “Maybe you’re not as smart as I thought you were,” Serena managed. “Because not everything in this world is about a wham-bam-bite-me-ma’am. Some of us don’t give a flying fuck about where you put your fangs.” Though his smile faded, Will deliberately ran his tongue along the edge of his teeth, drawing her attention to the fangs he let descend. “Maybe not everything in this world. But this 11

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isn’t the world, baby doll. This is Ruby Red. And the rules are just a little bit different here.” She sat there, staring at him with eyes she refused to blink, until he shot her a sloppy grin and turned away. Only then did Serena allow the breath she’d been holding to slowly release, though she remained rigid on her bar stool. This had been a mistake. It wasn’t really her problem anyway. It was her dad’s, and if he could just stop believing every dumb thing people told him, he wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place. But that was the kicker. It was her dad. And she knew without question that he would be doing the same thing for her, if she needed his help. Of course, he probably wouldn’t have made it as far as this. Something shiny along the way would have distracted him. This was her own fault for not being able to let anything go. Across the bar, Max knocked back one more shot before sliding off his seat. A wave of relief washed through Serena, but that grounded out as soon as she saw him head in her direction. “Can’t you take a hint? I’m not—” His unrelenting grip on her elbow cut her off with a squeak. The smile he’d worn earlier was gone, but when he tried to start pulling her away from her seat and toward the door, she dug her heels in. “What’re you doing?” she hissed. His hold was like steel, though, and she stumbled into his hard chest when her footing 12

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slipped. “Let me go!” Except he wasn’t. His other hand had grabbed her ass as soon as she started to slip, and it had the unfortunate side effect of staying there as he held her firm against his body. “You’re out of your league, darlin’.” The words were low enough that she had to strain to hear them, much like she’d tried with Will and obviously failed. “Now I’m goin’ to walk you out to your car, and you’re going to buckle yourself up nice and tight, and you’re goin’ back to whatever big city you call home and forget all about Ruby Red, you got that?” “Who are you to boss me around like that?” “Well, will you look at Markow…” Darryl’s voice rode over the music, singsonging out to anyone who wanted to hear. “He must be hoping for some TLC when we get through with him here. Can’t say that I blame him. The girl’s the most biteable piece of ass to walk through those doors in a long time.” Her anger swerved directions, away from Max and toward the redneck vampire who couldn’t take no for an answer. Before there was a chance to do anything truly stupid, however, Max cursed beneath his breath, shoved her hard enough to send her sprawling to the floor, and whirled to face his opponent. He moved so fast, she never saw him pull the stake out. She didn’t even see it fly through the air. She just saw the surprised look on Darryl’s face as the wood embedded in his chest. And then the look of fury as he crumbled into ash. 13

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CHAPTER 2 As soon as the stake left his fingers, Max knew it was a mistake. He had no authority in Ruby Red except for the reputation that preceded him, and just because Darryl Teer was a dumb, lecherous son of a bitch, that didn’t mean Max could toss some wood through his chest because he went a little overboard with his big mouth. It sure as fuck made him feel good, though. He’d wanted to get rid of the pain in his ass for years now. He heard the girl scramble to her feet behind him, her heart pounding loud enough to make every cock in the bar jump to attention. She was going to say something, probably something abrasive that would piss everybody off; Max just 14

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knew it. It would get her killed, too, if they weren’t careful. All he’d wanted was to get her out, get her away from harm before things fell into the shitter, but Darryl had been quicker than he’d anticipated. Now, he’d be lucky if he could get both of them out of Ruby Red with all their pieces still intact. He wouldn’t vouch for unscratched, though. From the way the place fell silent after Darryl crumbled, things were about to get real ugly. “Shouldn’t have done that, Markow,” Will said from behind the counter. “This ain’t your jurisdiction, and Darryl didn’t do anything wrong.” “Yeah, but there wasn’t anything right about Darryl, either,” Max drawled. No weakness. One spot of vulnerability, and the rest of the patrons would be on him with fists and fangs. “More right with a vampire who knows what he is than a vampire who spends his time stabbing his kind in the back,” a beer-bellied man near the jukebox piped up. Max grinned. “Technically, it was the front. Memory serves, I was the one who had his back exposed in this little spat.” Wrong answer. Chairs scraped across the floor as half a dozen men rose to their feet. The girl’s heat at his back grew warmer as she pressed a little closer, a distraction he didn’t really need at the moment. It was tempting to shove her back to the floor, but Max didn’t want to risk having his hands otherwise occupied in case somebody decided to be braver than dead ol’ Darryl. 15

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“I am not in the mood for seeing my place trashed tonight.” The voice came from the back of the room, behind the dance floor, behind the tables, behind the hallway that led to the dank bathrooms that never got used. It slithered along Max’s skin like a hundred small water snakes writhing around his limbs, and his fangs descended in automatic response as the crowd parted for its owner. She sauntered through the bar, Levi’s tight, T-shirt tighter, with her red-flecked eyes fixed on Max. The last time he had seen Ruby Varnes, she’d been leering at him from the other side of a funeral procession. That had been over a year ago. He would have preferred another year go by before he had to deal with her again. But he probably should have known better, coming into her place of business. Ruby came to a stop in front of him, head tilted back in order to meet his eyes. She was tiny, a product of her times, five-foot-nothing and ninety pounds soaking wet. Her hair tonight was bleached blonde, which made her brown eyes look even darker. Max had no idea what her original hair color might have been. That would require being intimate with Ruby in ways that made his stomach retch, and he wasn’t curious enough to find out to suffer through that. Others had. For all her matchstick figure, word was Ruby was a dynamo in bed. She was a dynamo period. Ruby Varnes was one of the most powerful vampires in Texas and had been since long before it joined the union. If he could ever bring her down, it 16

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would be a feather in his cap that would see him through to the second half of the century. That was why he’d braved coming to her business, after all. Nothing else had the power to make him hazard running into his ex-partner’s killer. “You’re looking tired these days, Max,” she commented casually. “Not getting enough sleep?” He ignored the blatant dig about the nightmares that had plagued him after Javier’s death and shot her a grin he didn’t feel. “No rest for the wicked, you know.” Her thin lips peeled back into a smile that was more of a snarl. She never showed her fangs in public. Age had a way of giving you more control over it. “You should be all tucked away, nice and cozy then. Unless you’re not playing Starsky any more. Or were you Hutch? I never could keep the two of you straight.” Ruby shrugged. “I guess it doesn’t matter anyway. One without the other is just a has-been looking for a comeback.” She was trying to provoke him into starting a fight. It was the only way she could keep the authorities from staking her outright. Oh, but it was self-defense! He came after me! I wasn’t doing a thing… Max hooked his thumb through a belt loop to keep from reaching for his other stake. “Something I can do for you, Ruby?” The girl behind him inhaled sharply at the mention of the name, but the rest of the club was too focused on the staring contest between him and Ruby to notice. He felt her creep forward, her breasts soft against his back, and with his fangs 17

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already in full view, his cock began to harden in response to the promise of fucking and feeding that she unintentionally offered. Shit. I do not need this distraction right now. “You seem to have done a good job pissing people off already,” Ruby said. “Maybe it’s time for you to call it a night.” “Hey, he was sticking up for me.” The sound of the girl’s angry voice made Max want to turn around and shake her. Getting more involved than she already was, was the surest way to get herself killed. Ruby tilted her head to the side in order to see around Max’s shoulder. Hunger sparked in her eyes, and her nipples visibly tightened. “Now if this tasty treat is meant to be a peace offering, Max, I might be inclined to just forget about this little fracas.” He felt the girl’s intake of breath in preparation to speak and shot a hand back to grab her slim wrist. Her pained cry cut off any further retort she might have shared, giving him the chance to say, “This one’ll get stuck in your teeth. I’ll just get her out of here, and the rest of you can go on about your business.” When he turned to lead her out of the bar, however, he ran smack into Will’s broad chest. “Oh, for crying out loud…” With a roll of his eyes, Max turned back to Ruby. “Look. You and me got problems. I get that. This girl…” He hooked his free thumb back at her, ignoring her annoyed, “Hey!” “…is just getting in the way of 18

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you and me settling our differences, once and for all. Let me get her out of here, and I’ll just mosey on back inside so we can have ourselves a nice chat, okay?” Not looking away from her, he nodded toward Will. “I’ll even let Lurch here escort me in and out. We got a deal?” Ruby’s eyes narrowed, and the tip of her tongue appeared as she ran it over the edge of her teeth. “I’m thinking…not.” The girl squeaked as she was torn out of Max’s grasp, and for as fast as he was on the draw, there was something to be said about having a room full of vampires out to get you. They might have all been slower than him, but when a football team worth of pissed off vamps launched themselves at your every available limb, it was next to impossible to come out on top. Max came out on the bottom. Pinned to the sticky floor by three hulks and Ruby’s boot on his groin. And his hat knocked clear across the room. “Don’t do this,” he warned. “You think I’d really come out here without somebody knowing where I am?” Her gaze grew contemplative. Thank the devil, Ruby was not a stupid vampire. “Take him down to the cellar,” she ordered. “We’ll lock him up until I figure out whether or not it’s safe to get rid of him.” It felt like his shoulders were pulled out of their sockets when they hauled him to his feet. Before they’d taken a step, though, Will grunted. Max glanced back to see him pulling the girl more tightly against his broad body and her heels banging against his shins. 19

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“Toss the girl in there, too.” Heads whipped around to stare at Ruby, and a round of protests rumbled from the crowd. She silenced them with one glare that reverted to a smirk when she turned back to Max. “When the hunger gets too bad and our dear Detective Markow has to kill her in order to survive, we’ll have the perfect excuse to get rid of him. All that wonderful technology that’s been fucking with us can prove they’re his fang marks in her dead body, and we’ll be off the hook.” “You can’t do that!” Ruby smiled at the girl. “Really? I think I just did.” *

*

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The cellar turned out to be exactly that. Dark, dank, and deep. Three words Max hated. Well, he didn’t hate “deep” when it was used in other scenarios. In fact, he could think of quite a few different ways that he liked that particular word. But underground by at least two stories was not one of them. To its credit, the packed earthen floor was clean of bugs, and the stray webs in the corners might have been pretty under any other circumstances. The candles Ruby had tossed down with them cast flickering shadows that made the delicate filaments sparkle. There was one wall lined with empty, dusty shelves, another with the built-in stairs that led up to the trapdoor they’d been lobbed through, and pallets that had probably served as beds and seating for previous prisoners lining the other two. A door he hoped might lead out opened into a tiny bathroom, complete with rust-stained shower stall 20

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and drippy sink. Whoever Ruby had held down here before had obviously been human, if there were accommodations like a toilet already in place. That didn’t necessarily make Max feel any better about the situation. The girl stood in the middle of the room, looking around as if she wasn’t entirely sure what to do next. By candlelight, she was even more beautiful than she’d seemed upstairs. The shadows darkened the green of her eyes, but they also sharpened the angles of her face. She looked like something out of an East European fashion spread, except biteable. Very biteable. Which was exactly what Ruby was hoping for. Fuck. “So are you still goin’ to play hard to know and not tell me your name?” Max asked, sprawling on top of the nearest pallet. “Because the way I see it, we’re in this mess together, darlin’.” She whirled to face him, jabbing a furious finger in his direction. “You’re the reason we’re in this mess,” she snapped. Her eyes were flashing, and the new surge of frustration from her skin made her smell like nirvana. “I was doing just fine until you refused to leave me alone.” Max cocked a brow. “Will was getting ready to wear your ass as a hat. But hey, if you think that’s fine, more power to you.” Something in her faltered. “He was not.” “Was. Which was why I was trying to get you out of there 21

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before everything went to shit.” His response seemed to make her deflate. Plopping down on an adjacent pallet, the girl leaned heavily against the wall, closing her eyes as she banged her head gently against it. “This was not how I saw this working out,” she muttered. Curiosity got the better of him. “And what exactly did you see working out?” The banging stopped. Tilting her head in his direction, she cracked an eye to look at him again. The way she regarded Max reminded him of a wary cat, one that had gotten cheated out of a treat more than once and now didn’t know what to expect when offered another one. “She called you ‘detective.’” She was changing the subject without answering his question. That was fine by him. At least, she was talking and not yelling. “Are you a cop?” “That’s a generous term for it. Call me a…peacekeeper.” “Peacekeeper. Except you don’t freelance. That’s what they meant by jurisdiction. So you must work for somebody. Paycheck. Rules.” Max nodded. “Too many of those, sometimes.” “Including, don’t kill humans.” “Yep.” She chewed on that for a second, her gaze unwavering. “You still haven’t told me your name, darlin’.” “How long can you go without feeding?” she asked instead. Max pushed the long hair off his face. His head felt too light without his hat. “Long enough, if I’m stuck with 22

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somebody I know by name rather than just a pretty, anonymous girl who’s too stubborn to see I’m on her side,” he said evenly. It took her so long to speak again, he had time to count her eyelashes. “Serena.” She paused. “Darville.” Max grinned. “It’s nice to meet you, Serena Darville. Even if the circumstances are less than ideal.” He didn’t have time to appreciate the flash of a smile she shot him before what she said sank in. It took him a minute to make the connection, but when it did, things started making a whole world more sense. “Darville?” He waited for her nod. “Any relation to Jim Darville?” Her smile vanished. He didn’t need to see the twitch in her jaw to know what the name meant to her. “Cousin. Why?” Max shrugged, trying to put her at ease again. “Just explains why you weren’t fussed upstairs. If you’ve got vampires coming to your family reunions, then a place like Ruby Red must seem like old times to you.” She looked away, plucking at a loose string on her jeans. “I wouldn’t go that far.” “How’s Jimbo doing these days? Still getting himself into trouble?” “I don’t know. I haven’t seen him in years.” She was lying. Without the distraction of the sounds and smells of the bar, Max could read her body’s signals without hindrance. She had a tight control on her heartbeat, but she 23

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didn’t know how to rein in her sweat glands. It wasn’t much, probably just the faintest of moisture on her top lip or in the small of her back, but it was enough for him to taste in the dry, dusty air. “Probably good thing for you, then,” he said, casually continuing her charade. “Last I heard, he was on the hunt for some mystical thingamajig that’s supposed to ease the hunger for vamps. Give ’em a longer life without having to feed so often.” Serena tried to hide her body’s response to his words by putting it to work, stretching out on the pallet and throwing her arm over her eyes as if she was trying to sleep. “Well, the Jim I know wouldn’t have so much luck with that. He fell out of the family tree and hit every branch on his way down.” Max snorted. “Yeah, that sounds like ol’ Jimbo.” He mirrored her pose, positioning himself so that he could keep an eye on her while still looking completely at ease. “Good for him, though. ’Cause word has it, Ruby’s the one with the thingamajig now. And as you can see, she doesn’t like to play especially nice.” She didn’t speak long enough for anyone human to think she’d fallen asleep. Max knew better. “Is that why you’re here?” Serena finally said. Her voice was deceptively low and even; her blood was thundering away. “You and Ruby seem to have some sort of history.” “History isn’t the half of it.” “What did she do? Kill your sister or partner or something?” 24

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It was meant to be a joke. He knew that; she was just fishing for information. It still stung. When he didn’t immediately answer, Serena dropped her arm to stare at him. “Oh, Jesus, I’m sorry. I was just—” “Yeah, I know what you were just.” He waved her off. “Don’t worry about it. It’s got nothing to do with how we’re going to get out of here.” “How are we going to get out of here?” His gaze strayed to the trapdoor again. Max sighed. “I haven’t figured that part out yet, darlin’.”

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CHAPTER 3 For as frightened as she was being thrown into an underground cellar by a bunch of pissed off vampires, Serena knew her situation could be far, far worse. They’d locked her up with a vamp who was as law-abiding as they got. She wasn’t even their primary concern; they just thought of her as collateral damage as they tried to set this Max Markow up for a legal staking. Being used as bait didn’t rate high on her plans, but considering she’d sauntered into the bar in the first place knowing that might be how far she’d have to go to get to the bracelet, she wasn’t in any boat to be making hypocritical complaints. Besides, for all his charm and aw-shucks smiles, Max seemed bound and determined to stick to doing the right 26

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thing. Serena sincerely hoped he was as stubborn about getting out of here as he’d been in trying to get her out of Ruby Red. She’d never heard of vampire cops, but she supposed it made sense. Somebody needed to keep the population under control, otherwise they’d lose their food supply. It made her wonder how Max had become a vampire in the first place. As far as she knew, there were two ways. First, there was the Dracula methodology, made popular through the media, where you drank a vampire’s blood, died, then dug yourself out of muddy ground to be reborn. From what she could tell, those vamps tended to be dumb and not last very long. Then there was genetics, which was how her cousin Jim came into being. A vampire—either born or created—mated, and no matter whether their mate was human or not, their progeny carried the vampire gene with them. It was entirely possible for a vampire/human couple to have both vampire and human children; the misinformation floating around that vampires couldn’t procreate screwed a lot of human girls over. Vampire flesh was as alive as human, just different, animated by the demon genetics that took root inside them. There were times Serena wanted to sit down all the stupid women who’d fallen prey to popular culture and shake some sense into them. “Their blood flows!” she wanted to shout. “How else do you think they get hard in the first place?” But nobody ever thought about that. They tried to explain it away as “magic.” Maybe girls who believed in magic deserved to be 27

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knocked up by vampire spawn. None of that answered the question of which kind of vampire Max was, but if Serena was taking bets, she probably would have wagered on born. She’d thought he blended well upstairs, which was usually wisdom that only came with age. Now that she’d had a chance to talk to him a little bit more, she realized he really was that smart. Even if he wasn’t quite smart enough not to pick a fight in the middle of a bar packed with hillbilly vampires who hated him. Right now, he was pacing out the cellar space, his gaze first fixed on the floor, then on the join where the wall met the floor, then on the wall itself. She knew what he was doing, but by the time he started his fourth revolution, Serena was feeling dizzy. “Is that actually helping?” she said. “Because there isn’t exactly a carpet in here to wear through to escape.” “We’re not going to get out of here on our looks,” he replied without stopping. “Well. You might, darlin’. Though I’m thinking you wouldn’t be too thrilled if one of them upstairs decided to play hero for you.” No, she wouldn’t, but she didn’t need to tell Max that. He had her number already. The flickering candlelight kept her from being able to read him as easily as she had in the bar. He didn’t need the illumination to see her clear as day, but now, walking in and out of the shadows, Max looked more like a vampire than ever. His steps were silent, no matter how many he took, and 28

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his features so intent that shadows obstructed his eyes from view. A small part of Serena was still on edge about being locked away with him; he was going to need to feed sooner or later, just like Ruby had already argued. There was another part that believed he’d try to fight the hunger as long as possible. Otherwise, why would he have tried so hard to get her out of the way before everything hit the fan? One thing she didn’t need light to see was the way his shirt strained over his back. Max Markow was made of muscles, muscles that had been hidden away by his casual posturing upstairs. He wasn’t the tallest guy, but with his sleeves rolled up, there was no mistaking the sculpture of his forearms, which led up to tightly defined biceps and broad shoulders. He was someone she’d want on her side in a fight, and more, he was someone who’d pin a woman to a mattress or a wall and keep her there until she was begging for mercy. Her cheeks flushed with her wayward thoughts. Just before she averted her gaze, she caught Max faltering in his revolution around the room. His nostrils flared. Shit. Stupid vampire senses. Serena bolted to her feet, almost tripping over them as she tried to make it look casual. “Be back in a minute,” she said before disappearing into the bathroom. She turned to lock the door behind her, but there wasn’t any such luxury. She was probably lucky it shut at all. Or that there was even a door to hide behind. The bathroom was disgusting by almost any standards, 29

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with its decades-old plumbing and grimy walls. There weren’t any bugs, though, which was a small miracle considering the dank interior, so she felt reasonably safe as she sat down on the closed toilet lid and buried her head in her hands. Did you have to go looking for the fountain of youth, Dad? You couldn’t have bought a nice red convertible like every other midlife crisis? She wished she could blame Jim, but all he’d done was mention the bracelet in passing. How valuable it was. Her dad was the one who’d gone off in search of everything he could learn about it, then discovered the so-called mystical properties associated with it. If he’d only left it alone at that, none of this would have happened. But no, that would have been too easy for Lew Darville. He had to go and get a fake one made, then pawned it off on Jim’s friends as the real thing in order to fund his search for the true bracelet. Not all of Jim’s friends were as dumb as he was. Especially friends who dealt with loan-sharking and collecting on debts. It took them less than a day to figure out they’d been tricked. Less than that to corner Lew. Only three minutes for them to issue their ultimatum. Give over the real bracelet. Or Lew and his family would die. The phone call from her father had been panicked. “Get out of the state,” he’d said. “Find yourself a new job.” He might as well as said, “Find yourself a new life,” because that was sure what he meant. But Serena liked her life. She liked her not-quite-glamorous-enough reporting job 30

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for the Dallas Morning News . She wasn’t going to throw it all away because her father was obsessed with losing his hair. Of course, throwing it all away was sounding pretty good right now. If she’d taken her father’s advice, she wouldn’t currently be wondering how she was going to get out of this hole with her pride and her pulse intact. Rising to her feet, she stood in front of the sink and turned on the tap. The water that gushed forth was warm but clear of rust or dirt, and she pulled the band from her ponytail in order to let her hair fall free. Her sleek appearance was gone. Struggling with Will when he hauled her down to the cellar had her looking like something a pack of cats had dragged in. It was frivolous—meaningless, really, in the grand scheme of things—but Serena threaded her damp fingers through her hair, smoothing down the flyaways before securing it back in its holder. If she looked put together, she might feel put together. It was a standby from high school, college, and every date she might have felt nervous about. Sometimes, it actually worked. Hopefully, this would be one of those times. By the time she opened the door again, Serena thought the worst of the arousal that had driven her behind closed doors was gone. Then Max looked at her. Just a tilt of the head sideways as he glanced in the bathroom’s direction. His eyes caught the candlelight, and for a second, they glowed gold. A fresh flood of desire washed through her. “Feelin’ better?” he drawled. 31

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“Much.” Jerk. His gaze raked over her. She felt it all the way to her bones. “You look better.” “So I looked like shit before? Thanks.” She wasn’t in the mood for another round of verbal foreplay. “So did you figure out how to get us out of here yet, or do I start screaming and hope for the best?” Max clicked his tongue in reproof. “Don’t you watch horror movies? The screamer’s always the one to bite it first.” He grinned and leaned against the wall he stood next to. “Though maybe that’s the rationale you’re goin’ for here. Because if I’m the first biting, well…” He let the thought trail off, though his implication wasn’t lost on her. They needed to get out of here before the hunger blinded him to reasonable thinking and drove him to kill her. She wanted to believe his earlier assertions that he could control it, but Serena wasn’t stupid. Sooner or later, without blood, his vampire self would win. There was nothing either of them could do about that. “You didn’t answer my question.” Turning her back on him, Serena went to the bottom of the stairs and looked up at the trapdoor. The cracks were perfectly smooth; it opened upward, so the hinges were on the opposite side. “How are we getting out of here?” “With help. I wasn’t blowing smoke when I told Ruby people would be worrying about me. As soon as I’m missed, we’ll be out of here. We just have to wait it out.” He sounded so sure, she couldn’t help but look back at 32

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him. “How long is that going to be?” Max didn’t move. He just took too long to answer to make her feel safe. “I told them to give me three days.” “Are you shitting me?” Three days was a lifetime. Three days could cost her job. She was expected back in Dallas on Monday morning; it had taken every favor she was owed to finagle not getting bothered at all this weekend. A lot could happen in three days—the world could end, Heroes could get canceled, her dad could end up being fed to a bunch of neuron-deficient vampires. Her eyes widened. She could end up being a vampire’s dinner. Could Max go three days without feeding? She hated that it made her feel so helpless. She hated that her first instinct was to scream like a girl and hope for Buffy the Vampire Slayer to come charging in and rescue the day. She hated that, for a second, she’d thought she was safe with this particular vampire, that he wasn’t going to hurt her, that he actually gave a damn about whether or not she got out of this mess alive. Her surprise tightened into a dark frown when she realized he still wore that same shit-eating grin. He wasn’t bothered by this. By any of it. “Why is it you’re here again?” she asked warily. She was discovering Detective Max Markow—or Peacekeeper, or whatever title he held—had a tendency to avoid answering questions. This repeating herself was going to get very old, 33

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very fast. “Is it about the bracelet?” Max cocked his head and took a step closer. “Now, I don’t remember telling you it was a bracelet, darlin’. I thought you said you didn’t know much about Jimbo’s business dealings.” Shit. But she was sure he’d mentioned it. He’d recognized her surname, asked about Jim, then brought up the whole issue of looking for the mystical… Serena held herself perfectly still, unblinking in spite of the sinking sensations in her stomach. Thingamajig. That was what he’d called it. She had been careful about sidestepping any knowledge of what he was talking about before, but now, with her hazardous thoughts and betraying body, she wasn’t as focused. In fact, she was downright distracted, like he was a shimmering mirage in the middle of a desert and she’d been wandering for days. “If you’re here because of the bracelet…” His voice was low and even, his paces toward her matching it. “This would be the time to tell me. Because Ruby Varnes isn’t someone to trifle with. She’s goin’ to be the meanest vampire you will ever know, if you get out of here alive to tell the tale, that is.” Serena refused to back away. “A few seconds ago, you were telling me not to worry. You can’t have it both ways.” “Neither can you.” “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Max came to a halt right in front of her. “I’m not stupid, Serena. I can tell you’re lying. And as much fun as this is, goin’ back and forth with you, all it’s goin’ to do is get one or 34

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the both of us hurt. Or worse, dead. Now, I didn’t come here tonight, looking to get staked. And I’m pretty sure you’d rather walk through that front door and get back to your safe little life. But none of that is goin’ to happen until we lay down our cards to see whether or not we’re on the same side here.” Gone was the good ol’ boy routine. Gone was the joking manner. Gone, even, was the smile that had lit him up, both upstairs and down. This was Max stripped bare of pretense. Not even Serena could doubt him now. “I need that bracelet,” she said. “I’m not leaving here without it.” “You goin’ to tell me why?” “You still haven’t told me why you’re so interested in it.” When Max wasn’t smiling, his eyes got even more intense. They bored into her, as if capable of reading what was written in her thoughts by only a glance, and after a moment of scrutiny, he nodded. “Word is, Ruby’s looking to sell. My job is to make sure that doesn’t happen.” “Why?” “Why is it my job, or why can’t it happen?” “Both.” A ghost of his amusement returned. “Because I don’t like seeing good people get hurt, even if I am a vampire,” Max said softly. “And the kinds of people who’d be interested in that bracelet, well…let’s just say, better the devil you know.” Serena knew exactly what kinds of people would be 35

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interested in the bracelet. The same kind who had no qualms about threatening an entire family for the sake of a few dollars. The same kind who’d follow through on their promise to draw and quarter her father, then drink from the remains. The same kind who promised even worse for her if they didn’t get what they wanted. She took a deep breath. His gaze flickered for a second to her rising chest before returning to her face. “There’s just one thing wrong with that,” she said. “I don’t know you.” “Maybe.” Max leaned in until his nose almost touched hers. “But I’m all you’ve got.”

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CHAPTER 4 The more he talked to Serena Darville, the more Max liked her. She had balls of brass. Even confronted with an unknown vampire, even cornered with the truth about her cagey lies, she refused to quaver. Sure, she’d hightailed it off to the bathroom earlier, but that hadn’t been about fear. That had been about some sudden spark of desire, maybe a fanciful thought about what they might do to pass the time in the dank prison. Max wasn’t about to hold it against the girl if she got hot for him. Hell, he would have encouraged it, under any other circumstances. Every time she argued with him, her blood got a little bit warmer, which got his cock just a little bit harder. And she was beautiful. And smart. And he… 37

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He really needed to get off this train of thought before it derailed completely. Serena didn’t back off when he leaned in, but there was a definite roar through her veins that got his attention. “So we’re partners, is that what you’re saying?” she asked softly. Her breath was sweet, all traces of the beer she’d had upstairs gone. Max fought the urge to lick his lips, because really, that was dumber than shit for a vampire to do in front of someone he was trying to get trust him. “That’s what I’m saying.” “Was it your partner that Ruby killed?” Max blinked. “Yeah.” “Not exactly the highest recommendation to be your new one, now is it?” His mouth twitched. Something about this girl always made him want to grin like a fool. “Maybe not,” he conceded. “But again—” “—you’re all I’ve got. Yeah. I heard you the first time.” With a sigh, Serena finally moved back, sitting on a low riser as she stared past him into the room. She had smoothed her hair in the bathroom, looking more put together like she had before their unfortunate incarceration. It might have been an attempt to make herself feel better, but Max immediately decided he liked it better the other way. She didn’t strike him as the kind of woman who’d be fussed about a little mess. She was the kind that liked to get into the trenches—like this business with the bracelet. And if it left her a little sweaty, a little smudged, all the better, Max thought. The look suited 38

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her. It suited her well. “My dad went and did something really, really stupid.” She still wasn’t looking at him, and the slight hesitation in her words told him just how reluctant she was to be making this confession. “And if I don’t get that bracelet, he’s going to be dead, my family’s going to be dead, but, oh yeah, I won’t have to mourn for too long because I’ll be dead, too.” Max whistled low under his breath. “That sounds a little too like bad bookies to me.” “Could be because that’s what it is. Except they’re good at what they do, otherwise they wouldn’t have realized he was trying to scam them.” The gaze she turned up to him was selfdeprecatory, her mouth twisted into a wry smile. “I probably look like an idiot, huh? I’m not usually. Just when it comes to my dad.” “And saving your own skin.” He sat down next to her, not waiting for her to inch over to give him more room. Their thighs touched, and even through two pairs of jeans, he felt the heat of her firm flesh. “But I don’t think you’re dumb. Maybe suffering from a little bit of an angel complex, tryin’ to save family and all.” Serena snorted. “I’m no angel.” He tilted his head to look at her. “Good for me, then. Angels bore me to tears.” She wasn’t unaware of his presence. Just in the seconds he’d been sitting down, her temperature had risen by half a degree. There was a fresh stain high across her cheeks, too, 39

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unmistakable to anybody with heightened senses, but it was the way she squeezed her legs together—just a little bit, as if she was trying to give him room—that betrayed her attraction the most. “Three days is a long time for us to be stuck together,” she said. When she stopped, expecting him to say something, his eyes narrowed. “Not necessarily. Think of it like a long weekend away.” “Don’t you usually pack food for long weekends away?” So that was what was bothering her. As it had every right to, Max knew. She had firsthand knowledge of vampire doings, and just because she knew how to put on a brave face didn’t mean she wasn’t still scared as all fuck. “I’m not going to bite you, darlin’,” he said, trying to sound more confident than he felt. “You’ve got my word on that.” “I’ve got your word now.” Her green eyes fixed on him, bright with nerves. “What’s that word worth when you’ve gone two days without a drop of blood? Can you honestly tell me I’m one hundred percent safe if you’re starving?” He couldn’t. And they both knew it. “But you can control it when you’re not starving, right?” Serena was pressing. “Let’s say I buy the white hat routine. You don’t kill people. But I know you still have to eat. So how do you do it?” Max wasn’t sure he liked where this was going. “Same way any other vampire who doesn’t want to see the wrong end 40

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of a police stake does. Why are you asking?” “So blood bars, fetish parties…” She swallowed. “Do you have a wife?” “No.” “Girlfriend?” “No.” “Boyfriend?” Max grinned. “Not with as much as I like a nice pair of tits.” “So I’m asking you. As long as you’re feeding regularly, you don’t ever lose control, right?” There was only one destination she had in mind for this conversation, and while his fangs and cock loved where they were headed, his mind was another matter altogether. “You don’t want that,” Max warned. “I could tell the second you walked in you’re not a bitehound.” With a frustrated sigh, Serena pushed off the stairs and started pacing around. Where his earlier paths had had purpose, she meandered in random patterns that he was pretty sure mirrored her thought processes at the moment. “It’s not a matter of what I want,” she argued. “It’s a matter of what’s going to keep me alive long enough for this rescue you’re so sure is coming.” “So you’re too weak to walk up the stairs when it happens? I don’t think so.” “I won’t be weak. You’re not going to take too much, remember? Just enough to take the edge off your hunger.” Max shook his head. “Without you eating, it’s not the 41

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worth the risk.” “I’ve got water. And blood replenishes itself.” “Yeah, well, it doesn’t taste the same if you’re starving to death.” He caught her arm when she passed close enough, dragging her to a halt. “I can’t say I don’t appreciate the offer, darlin’, but me feeding from you isn’t an option if you’re not eating, either. So let it go, right now.” Her eyes glowed in the dim light, wide and haunted. Max had the sudden urge to pull her onto his lap and kiss her senseless. She looked like it had been a long time since somebody had taken her mind off these worries about her dad. When her shoulders sagged, he knew he’d won the fight. “Why don’t you take a nap?” he suggested. “I’ll keep on the lookout to see if there’s another way out of here, and then we can trade off once I start gettin’ tired.” Serena clearly disliked this idea as much as she’d disliked his earlier ones, but after a moment, she nodded and pulled away. His fingertips dragged along her forearm before disengaging completely, and her residual heat warmed him even after she’d settled onto the pallet. “Don’t let me sleep too long.” She curled up on her side, her back to the wall. “We’re partners in this. I pull my own weight.” Max smiled. “I’m sure you do.” He stayed on the stairs as he watched her struggle to relax. He really was serious about the rotations; one of them needed to be completely alert at all times just in case someone decided to come down. He didn’t believe for a second that Serena was 42

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capable of doing anything to stop a vampire from having his way, especially without a weapon of some sort, but it gave her the chance to wake him up so that he wasn’t completely taken unawares. It took nearly half an hour for her breathing to slow. Only then did Max stand up. It was time to start being smart about this whole situation. Air was coming from somewhere. The candles couldn’t burn without it, and he didn’t think Ruby would keep facilities available for humans if they were just going to suffocate them. The trapdoor wasn’t sealed airtight, but those slivers weren’t enough to keep the air as fresh as it smelled. That meant ventilation. Max went straight to the one room he hadn’t had a chance to explore yet. The small space was damper than the main room, but the scent of Serena overpowered the mildew. Closing the door behind him, he leaned against the wall for a moment and closed his eyes, inhaling the smells as deep as he could. It wasn’t helping his libido. For that matter, it wasn’t helping the desire to taste her, either. It had been next to impossible to turn down what she’d been offering, even though he didn’t really have much of a choice. With the attraction sparking between them, her blood would have been rich with lust. The only thing that tasted better than that was fear. And Max didn’t feed off fear anymore. He ran his tongue along the edge of his teeth, hoping to coax back his fangs. It was bad enough he’d lost control in 43

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front of Ruby. He didn’t need to do it in front of Serena, too. He didn’t need to imagine what sinking into her soft flesh would feel like, or how her skin would taste. What he really needed to do was stop thinking about her entirely and get back to getting them out of here. Water still clung to the inside of the sink where she’d turned on the tap. The shower was dry, but when he looked up at the ceiling, there was a rusty grille covering a small, rectangular space. An air duct. It was too small for anybody to crawl into, which made it useless as an escape hatch. But its moorings were crumbling with age, the moisture in the room conspiring with time to weaken them. With a little work, it might be possible to bring the whole thing down, and depending on how the duct snaked down through the ground, it could be possible to climb up. It would be a tight fit, but it wasn’t like he needed to breathe. His gaze drifted to the doorway. Serena needed to, though. And there was no way she could make such a climb. If he went—if there was even a space for him to go—he’d be leaving her alone. There was no way she’d agree to something like that. She’d probably think he was deserting her. It would only be partially true, since he had every intention of coming back to get her, but what if, for some reason, he couldn’t? She’d be left to fend for herself. That wasn’t acceptable. Max carried a pallet into the bathroom, propping it against 44

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the wall to use for grips in order to get high enough to inspect the ceiling. A closer look said that he was right. He could tear the duct out with his bare hands and not even get a scratch, most likely. Grabbing the grille, he yanked it out, turning his head away from the plaster that fell around his head. He shut his eyes against the dust, waiting until the sound of it hitting the floor had faded away before looking back. Bingo. The air duct was set within a hollow wall, disappearing up into the blackness. It was likely to go all the way up to the surface, which meant they could get out of here without having to risk the stairs. There was only one problem. There was no way in hell his muscled shoulders and chest would ever fit through the narrow gap. Still, Max wasn’t going to at least try. Grabbing the wooden rail that edged the bottom of the wall, he pulled himself up. He made it as far as sticking his head into the musty space. Just as he’d figured, he was too big to fit any higher. Serena wouldn’t be, though. Her breasts might make it a tight fit, but he was pretty sure she’d be able to wedge herself in. Craning his head back, he squinted up into the darkness. The air was stale, and it was hard to tell just how high it went. It was entirely possible it only went up another level, but even if that was the case, maybe Serena could kick the wall out into the first basement and come around to the trapdoor to let him 45

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out. She was fit, and the walls were only plaster. He didn’t see any reason why she couldn’t do it. Well, except for the part of whether or not she could make the climb in the first place. It took entirely different muscles to make a vertical climb like that without any gear. He’d have to talk to her about it when she woke up. Max dropped back down to the floor and dusted the plaster dust off his jeans. His shirt was coated as well, and he quickly stripped out of it in order to shake it clean. More stuck to his skin, leaving him gritty in ways that only happened after he’d staked a few vampires. He needed a shower. There was nothing he hated more than the feeling of vampire ash clinging to his pores. The water never got better than lukewarm, but Max stepped under the spray anyway, grateful for the chance to clean up. He was more than aware of what an affectation it was, needing to be clear of dust. The others always called him fussy because of it. But death meant something different to him than it did to the others. A lot of vampires became cops, just for the violence. They didn’t care as much about the actual rules they were meant to enforce. It was legalized bloodshed, without fear of retribution. Not for Max. His reasons were far more personal. Bowing his head beneath the water, he let it pelt over his shoulders and run down his broad back for long minutes. It was easier to think this way. Forget the distractions of trying to get the bracelet away. Forget the distractions of a beautiful, sexy woman in the next room offering her blood. Forget the 46

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distractions of dust that reminded him too much of deaths that shouldn’t have been. Think about the immediate need to get the fuck out of Ruby Red. With both his and Serena’s neck intact. The soft tap at the door almost went unnoticed. But by the time Max turned his head, ready to call out that he’d be there in a minute, the door was opening. “Did something…” The words faded as her gaze lit on his bare back. Even through the steam, Max saw the heat rise in her cheeks. It was exactly the wrong thing to see. Because it made what stolen heat he’d acquired from the water go straight to his cock.

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CHAPTER 5 She didn’t think he was going to actually be in the shower. She’d woken up, stiff and sore, to the sound of running water. Serena’s first instinct was to search for Max, and when she didn’t see him, her gaze had gone straight to the bathroom. Maybe he’s found something drove her to her feet, compelled her across the room, had her opening the door. But as soon as she saw the pale sculpture of his muscled back, she froze. This most definitely wasn’t what she’d expected. Without his shirt on, there was no denying the power of his broad shoulders, or the way they tapered down to his tight ass, or the firm thighs she’d only felt through denim. The feeling of being trapped in a B-movie on Skin-emax was only 48

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exacerbated when he turned to look at her. Because then she got a full view of his thick cock, and the way it immediately began to rise as soon as he saw her. Serena whirled and slammed the door shut. With sweat on her nape that had nothing to do with standing in a room full of steam, she bolted back to her pallet and laid down, turning her back to the bathroom while she attempted to go back to bed. I see nothing. I hear nothing. I know nothing. Except she had. And there were a few other senses the bad girl in her wished had gotten into the act. When she heard the door open, she squeezed her eyes shut, pretending to be asleep. Seconds passed. Maybe a minute. Not a peep came from behind her. That could mean any number of things, like he hadn’t moved, or he had moved and she hadn’t heard him, or that he was right then, at that very moment, hovering behind her, ready to— “Are you all right?” It took everything she had not to flinch at the unexpected sound of his voice. When she didn’t answer, Max sighed. “I know you’re awake,” he said. “So either you roll on over and tell me what got you up in the first place, or I come over there and roll you myself.” It was full testimony to just how far her thoughts had gone when her brain automatically went to the place of you’re not the only one who wants a roll. Stifling her embarrassment, Serena sat up, swiveling around to face him. 49

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He wasn’t naked, but he wasn’t fully dressed, either. Max only wore his jeans, worn and wet where they clung to his legs, and his shirt dangled from his hand. Water still dripped from his hair, too, making it look darker than it had before, but Serena was momentarily captivated by the chest that was as scrumptious as the back had been under the shower spray. “You weren’t in here,” she said, fighting to keep her voice even. “I was just looking for you.” “You didn’t have to rabbit off so quick. It’s not like we’re both not adults here.” “Yes, but one of us is a half-naked adult.” The corner of his mouth lifted. “If you’d rather I was fully naked—” “No!” Now it was a full-blown smile. Tossing his shirt onto the stairs, Max ran his fingers through his hair, wringing out more of the water. “This whole arrangement might play out a tad more smoothly if you’d just own up to liking me, darlin’. There’s nothing wrong with that.” “You’re a vampire. There’s everything wrong with that.” She caught her breath as he sauntered closer. Each step cast a brighter golden light across his skin from the candles, making him appear almost human. Almost, she had to remind herself. Which is the same as not. “It wasn’t that long ago, you were offering yourself up for my dining pleasure.” He came to a stop in front of her and crouched down, resting his arms on his knees as he met her eye to eye. “Are you honestly telling me, you’d be more 50

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comfortable with my fangs in you instead of other…more private parts?” Serena didn’t know what she was telling him. Offering to feed him had been about ensuring her survival. If he wasn’t hungry, then he wouldn’t go crazy. But the way Max spoke made it sound sexual. Which completely wasn’t helping in keeping her focus away from his chest. There had been a devilish gleam in his eyes when he’d posed his question, but the longer Serena took to respond, the darker they got. “Don’t tell me the cat’s finally got your tongue,” he said softly. “I didn’t reckon you’d get rattled quite so quick here.” “I’m not rattled.” Her protest came out barely a whisper. It didn’t do much for her credibility. “Why are you hitting on me?” “Is that what I’m doin’?” “You know it is.” “No, I know you get all dewy and start smelling like crème brûlée whenever you look at me twice. I’m just wondering why it is that scares you so much.” Being called scared was something else entirely. It was enough to make her sit up and stick her chin out in protest. “You’re a vampire, remember? All I am to you is food, and don’t think I’m going to forget that.” Very slowly, Max shook his head. “You’re a hell of a lot more than that, darlin’. I think what bothers you is that I actually know it. Because I look at you, and I don’t see the damsel Ruby did. You’re human, yeah, but that doesn’t mean I 51

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can’t appreciate you for more than what’s flowing through your veins. Otherwise, why is it you think I’m so quick to go up against my own kind to defend you?” It wasn’t often Serena got stunned into silence. She was quick on her feet, quicker on the tongue. But Max’s words trapped every defensive instinct she possessed and threw away the key. Because there was no denying the low sincerity of his voice or the direct burn of his gaze. Lifting his hand, Max dragged his callused thumb across her lower lip. “What would you do if I kissed you right about now, darlin’?” Kiss you back. The answer remained frozen in her throat, though. He moved too swiftly for her to get it out. Serena thought he was doing it to prove a point. We’re on the same side here. I’m not your enemy. But there was a difference between being stuck in a predicament together and leaning into a caress that shouldn’t have happened in the first place. His mouth was sin incarnate, the sweep of his tongue as it traced the seam of her lips tantalizing. He did nothing to press his advantage, but Serena opened to him anyway, inviting him in with a captured sigh. Somewhere she heard a growl. Strong hands cupped her face, holding her still, and the kiss became bolder, the explorations more thorough. She gripped his arms, as much for her own balance as it was to keep him from going anywhere, and answered every thrust of his tongue with one of her own. 52

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Her head was spinning by the time he gave her room to gasp for air. “You had no right doing that,” she sputtered. Max didn’t let her go. His hands slid further along her jaw to hold the back of her head, his strength implacable. “I think I made my point, though.” “What, that you take anything you might want?” The corner of his mouth lifted. “Well, at least I’ve got you admitting I might want you now. Now how about we work on you admitting it back?” “I don’t see what good any of this accomplishes. I already agreed we were on the same side, didn’t I?” “Because bein’ on the same side means total honesty.” He pulled her closer so that their lips were just about touching. There wasn’t any room to move, either nearer or further away. His grip was too strong. When he spoke again, she felt each word against her mouth. “Tell me you want me, darlin’. Or I’m goin’ to prove it to you the hard way.” She had been poised to admit that very thing until he gave her the ultimatum. “Why do you vampires always think you’re God’s gift?” she bristled. “Because you’re not. There’s something seriously wrong with the fact you even exist.” “That’s an argument for another day. Right now, I think we need to get certain other things cleared, once and for all.” His kiss this time was crushing, the power in his body as he pressed her back to the pallet undeniable. Serena wanted to fight it, would have done it even knowing she couldn’t match 53

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his strength, but the second his tongue touched hers, she reacted. Her arms wrapped around his bare back, and her legs parted to give him room to stretch atop her. Everywhere he touched turned to flame, and she had no choice but to kiss him back in hope of extinguishing it. Though his mouth was brutal, his hands were not, roaming over her soft body to caress the flesh he found. He cupped a breast, tracing the hard tip of her nipple with his thumb, before smoothing his palm down her stomach to pop the button on her jeans. She was too lost in his kisses to realize he’d pushed her pants down until it was too late. Her bare bottom scraped across the pallet, and Serena broke away from his lips, panting and hissing as she attempted to scoot out from beneath his hard body. “Oh, no, you don’t,” he chuckled. He trapped her wrists in the space of a single blink, pinning her down. “You wanted me to have a taste of you, remember? That’s exactly what I plan on.” Her pussy clenched at the suggestion in his voice. “I didn’t mean like this!” The rest of her denial choked in her throat as his free hand slipped between her legs and found her sensitive lips. Serena arched upward, instinctively pushing against the contact, though when Max laughed again, she promptly collapsed back down. “You’re wet,” he said. “And you liked it when I kissed you. Now why is it you won’t say the words?” 54

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“Will that make you stop?” He grinned. “Probably not.” Serena groaned when he pushed three fingers deep inside her. He was right. She was excited. And the more he touched her, the more she didn’t want him to do anything close to stopping. She squeezed around him, and the flare of lust in his eyes almost made throwing caution to the wind worth it. Hell, there was no almost about it. Because as soon as he let her go in order to slide down her body, she dug her nails into his shoulders and held on for dear life. Serena watched him lick a path over her twitching stomach, occasionally nibbling at a tender patch of skin. He never lingered for long in any one spot, spreading the sensations as assuredly as when he’d covered her body with his own. By the time his mouth hovered over her mound, she was convinced she was going to split out of her own skin, like a peach left in the sun to ripen. “You are a delicious little treat, aren’t you?” Max murmured. Except he wasn’t looking up at her. His attention was fixed on the swollen folds of her pussy, the fingers he’d continued to slide in and out of her spreading her even wider. “You’ve been teasing me ever since you sashayed into the bar.” “No, I haven’t,” Serena panted. She propped herself up on her elbows in order to better watch him. “You weren’t even there when I came in.” “Oh, I was there all right.” When he glanced up at her, it wasn’t with the brilliant blue gaze she’d grown accustomed to. 55

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His pupils had dilated almost completely, and it was nearly pure obsidian glittering back at her. “You were just too focused on making it to the bar with your pretty little neck intact to notice.” He could have been right. There wasn’t time to argue before he turned his hand, his fingers still buried in her pussy, in order to bare her clit. Without looking away from her, Max leaned down and flicked his tongue across the tip of it. Electricity shot up her body. Serena cried out, bucking upward, but he pulled back far enough to keep her from reaching his mouth again. “I’m the tease?” She glared at him as she settled back onto the pallet. “If you’re going to do it, do it. Stop playing around.” “Because you want me.” “No, I want the flying purple people eater sitting back there in the corner. Of course, I want you. Are you happy now?” His sensual mouth curved into a pleased smile. “I’ll be happier once I’ve gotten the full taste,” he said. With that, he lowered his head again. Now that she’d made her confession, Max seemed content to slow things down a bit. He dragged his tongue along her soft flesh, slipping between inner and outer lips as if learning every inch of her body with his mouth. She shivered when he reached the top of her opening, but instead of touching her clit again, he simply glided over it, the faintest of pressures against the growing ache. 56

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The thrust of his fingers changed as well. With each swipe of his tongue, he drew his hand out, stroking more than anything else now. It made her squirm against him, hoping for more, but he kept up that maddening pace, languorous and heady, until it felt like her chest was going to explode. “Are you…you’re not…” Articulating the questions was beyond her means. Serena swallowed against the tightness of her throat and tried to even out her ragged breathing. “Know you won’t believe me…” When he spoke, his voice sank right into her, washing through her like a hot summer wind. “But I’m thinkin’ the taste of your sweet little pussy here might even be better than tapping into you elsewhere.” His fingers curled to press against the front wall, unerringly finding her G-spot. “I reckon I could just about drown in you, darlin’.” He was right. She didn’t believe him. Not entirely, anyway. Because somewhere deep inside her, where the sincerity of his words reached past cynicism to fan a small romantic flame, a tiny part of her did. As her muscles began to tremble, Serena reached down and threaded her fingers through his hair. Even wet, it was thicker than she’d imagined. Softer, too. Easy to hold onto. Easier to pull harder against her. Max chuckled. The sound reverberated throughout her midsection and made her pussy seize. “Far be it for me to deny the lady,” she heard him murmur. His fingers left her passage, but there wasn’t time to 57

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protest before she felt his tongue curl around her clit. Serena gasped, grinding against it. More, she thought. All she knew was that she wanted more. More came in the shape of a slicked finger, rubbing over the tight opening of her ass. How he could have known it was a turn-on for her, Serena had no clue, but she bore down against it, encouraging him to press farther. Do it. You’ve done everything else, hotshot. Don’t you dare deny me this. He didn’t. Max pushed his finger inside at the same time he bit down on her clit. Serena’s orgasm ripped through her. Pulse after pulse of fire tore through her veins and she screamed, the sound echoing off the walls. Vaguely, she was aware that Max could bite her now and she wouldn’t be any the wiser, but his teeth never moved, his mouth never moved, the only thing that moved was the strong finger he’d buried inside her ass, and that was only making the crescendo inside her head even more extreme. She thrashed against the pallet and felt her heel connect with solid muscle before Max grabbed her ankle. It took the power of his grip to start bringing her back down to earth. Sweat dripped into her eye as she panted for air. “Holy shit,” she muttered. She squealed when he licked one last time across her over-sensitive clit, but choked more of them back as he rested his cheek against her leg. “I guess I pretty much proved your point, huh?” “In the very best way possible,” he replied. His hardened 58

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fingertips grazed along her inner thigh, tickling but not enough to make her move. “You really should believe me, by the way. I meant it. Every word.” It took a second for her fuzzy brain to put together what exactly Max was saying. In spite of her earlier trepidation, Serena laughed and tousled his hair before letting her arm flop, boneless, back onto the pallet. “You just made me come, Max. You didn’t make me stupid.” His answering laughter rang throughout the cellar.

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CHAPTER 6 If she didn’t have such a grudge against vampires, Serena Darville was exactly the kind of woman Max could take to town and stay with a while. Everything about him was fired up for her at the moment, from his dick to his funny bone, and contrary to what she might think, he was perfectly content staying where he was at the moment, lying there with her heat searing his cheek. “So how did I get to be the lucky gal to benefit from all your years of experience?” she asked. “Don’t look at me,” Max replied. “If I’d planned something like this, we wouldn’t be stuck in a basement without a pillow for our heads.” 60

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Her body shifted as she propped herself up on her elbows. Max felt the weight of her gaze, but didn’t bother looking up. He was too fascinated by the way the muscles quivered under the skin every time he drew his fingertips across her inner thigh. “You seem to be doing just fine with my leg for a pillow.” She fidgeted as if to dislodge him. “Are you going to move?” “Eventually. Maybe. Like it just fine right here if you don’t mind.” Her breath was evening out, her body rhythms returning to normal in the aftermath of her orgasm. She inhaled as if to speak, but apparently thought better of it, lying back against the pallet. A faint tickle brushed across the back of his head, and it took a moment for Max to realize that she was touching him. Petting him, almost. It was curiously intimate, more so than he would’ve expected from her. And it made him smile. “So why were you in the shower?” she asked after a few minutes of comfortable silence. “And is there enough water left over for me, because I’m more than a little sticky here.” Reality came tumbling back. “I was checking the bathroom out to see where the fresh air was coming from, and I got a little dusty.” Reluctantly, Max sat up, fighting off the urge to give her swollen pussy one more lick. She was still glistening from her arousal, and every once in a while, her clit would pulse with her heartbeat. It was very tempting to eat her out again, but he probably shouldn’t have done it in the first place. The prospect 61

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of proving her wrong, however, had gotten to him. Besides, if an orgasm made her a little more amenable to his suggestions, he wasn’t one to argue. “There’s an air shaft that runs up between the walls,” he continued. “It looks like it might go all the way to the surface, but I’m too big to fit inside it.” The flush in her cheeks was due to coming, but it heightened at the mention of a potential escape. “A way out?” Serena scrambled for her jeans, swinging her legs around him in order to get them back on. “Why the hell are you in here distracting me with sex if there’s a way out?” “Now, you weren’t complaining a minute ago, darlin’.” “A minute ago, I didn’t realize you’d actually found something useful to us.” She stood up, shimmying into her jeans. “Let’s do this thing.” Max grabbed her wrist before she could bolt. “We can’t just go busting out all over whenever the fancy takes us. We need to consider our odds in making matters worse if we get caught.” “So we don’t get caught. That’s easy.” She tugged uselessly against him. “Let’s go.” “Just like we weren’t expecting to get tossed down here?” “That was an accident.” “And goin’ barreling into a room full of vamps when there’s nowhere to run is just stupid.” Rising, Max grinned at her, in spite of the frustration creasing her forehead. “And here I thought you were just telling me I didn’t addle your brains a bit with my tongue.” 62

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Her jaw clenched. He could almost see her mentally counting to ten. “What are you suggesting then?” “I’m suggesting…” Max loosened his hold on her, testing to see if she’d bolt. “We try this when we’re least likely to get caught at it. What time is it?” Serena glanced at her watch. “Four-twenty.” “So the bar’s closed, and the sun’ll be up in a couple hours. Believe it or not, we just got lucky.” Turning on his heel, he marched for the bathroom, Serena close behind. She snorted when she saw the plaster littering the floor, but wisely held her tongue. Max stepped out of the way to allow her room to stand directly beneath the duct. He fully expected her to tell him where he could shove his little plan; seeing her next to the hole in question made it look more impossible than ever. But Serena didn’t say a word. Her dark hair trailed down her spine as she tipped her head back to examine the opening, and she twisted her body back and forth more than once in order to get the full perspective. “How many times have you been here?” she asked without looking at him. “Enough. Why?” “Where is this going to come out at?” Max did the mapping in his head. “If you took it all the way to the end, you’d probably come out in the storage room somewhere.” “Which could be locked. And wouldn’t help us at all.” 63

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He grinned. Serena was a smart one. “I don’t think I could climb to the top anyway,” she went on. “That’s a long way up.” “Next floor up is just the basement, though. We saw this wall when they brought us down, remember?” There was every possibility she hadn’t. She’d been held tightly against Will’s chest the entire time, unable to move. But Max had seen the plaster walls that partitioned off the floor above them, and he was nearly positive that this was one of them. Serena finally stepped back and looked at him. “But I don’t have your strength. Even halfway up, I’m just going to be hanging there like a piece of wet spaghetti stuck to the wall.” Crouching down, Max picked up a larger piece of plaster that had fallen from the ceiling. “Here,” he said, passing it over. “Try breaking that.” When she crumbled it easily between her hands, he gestured overhead. “I’ll lay money the wall’s the same up there. All you have to do is give it a good kick and break your way through.” “And that kind of noise isn’t going to bring everybody running?” “Well, that there’s the risk. It’s late enough that there aren’t any customers left upstairs. I’ll bet Will’s gone, too. And Ruby doesn’t sleep here. She’ll have left a vamp or two on guard, but that’ll be it. This close to dawn, we could get lucky and have them be passed out or asleep already.” “So why don’t we wait until after the sun rises?” 64

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Understanding dawned almost as soon as the question was out of her mouth, however, and the lines in her brow disappeared. “Oh. Because then you’re stuck in here, too.” It was almost heartwarming the way she’d forgotten for a second about him being a vampire. But Max didn’t put too much stock in the slip. She was focused on the plan, not on him. Even if he could still taste her every time he licked his lips. “It’s your call,” he said. “You’re the one who’s goin’ to be most at risk with this plan. There’s every chance Ruby’s put her men on guard in the basement and not upstairs. You could be kicking that wall out, right on top of their heads.” “But if I don’t try it, we’re stuck here until whatever cavalry you’ve got waiting comes riding in, in three days.” “Pretty much, yeah.” Serena chewed at the inside of her cheek as she looked back up at the ceiling. He knew what she was thinking. If she did get caught, she’d be alone, and there was no telling what vampires might do to her without Ruby around to leash them or Max there to drive a few stakes through their bodies. In fact, the more Max thought about it, the more he thought maybe it wasn’t such a good idea after all. There was nothing wrong with waiting, especially when the risk— “Okay, but you’re going to have to hoist me up there.” Max blinked a couple of times before her agreement sank in. “You sure about that?” The look in her eye answered for her, even though she still said the words. “Anything’s better than sitting on my ass and 65

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waiting.” Maybe she didn’t want to see it, but Max smiled at her anyway. “Well, from the angle I’m goin’ to have of your ass during this little grand adventure, I can’t say that I’m in a place to be complaining, darlin’.” Though she rolled her eyes, he caught the slight curve of her mouth as she turned away. “We’re going to have to build a better base for you to stand on, though,” Serena commented. “Because if you think I’m going to let you climb onto that pallet and try to keep your balance as well as try and balance me, you’re nuts.” He supposed he could have argued that he was far more graceful than she gave him credit for, but it was a minor point and Max really didn’t want to tarnish the truce that had been built between them. Together, they dragged more of the pallets out of the main room, and she stood out of the way as he broke them up into smaller chunks that would fit inside the shower stall. Eventually, he’d built a three-foot dais that looked more rickety than what he’d used to climb up the first place, but Serena seemed pleased with the entire endeavor, even shooting him a smile that went all the way to her eyes. “I’d tell you to keep your hands in decent places, but considering where your mouth has already been, that would probably be hypocritical of me, huh?” she teased. Max returned her grin. “It’s just good to know you’re not going to hold it against me.” He climbed up onto their platform, holding his hand out to her. “Now, c’mon, darlin’. 66

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Let’s hoist your caboose and get out of this joint.” Her body was warm and solid as he pulled her up against him, but Max didn’t let himself appreciate it any more than the few seconds it took to grasp her hips and lift her toward the opening. Her head and shoulders disappeared into the duct, and Serena twisted her torso in order to get her arms over her head. “This is going to be tricky.” Her voice sounded hollow, drifting down from the opening. “There’s not a lot to hold onto.” “Don’t worry about it until I get you to a level where you can’t stand on my shoulders,” Max said. His hands slid down the back of her thighs, keeping her firm as he found a good grip on her calves. “Then use your knees and back to brace against the walls. You’re only going to be able to go a few inches at a time, but if you take it slow, you’ll do just fine.” Her agreement was muffled as he pushed her even higher. The scent of sweat rising to the surface of her skin began to fill his nose, and for a moment, Max wondered if that might not end up being a beacon for whatever vampires Ruby left on guard. If they were in the first basement, Serena wasn’t going to stand a chance. She reeked of sex and assertion. Any vamp with a nose wouldn’t be able to resist. There wasn’t time to change their minds, though. As soon most of her legs were in the duct, Serena pulled one of them away from his hold in order to brace that knee against the wall, just as he’d told her. There was a distinct crunching sound, and the leg he still held stiffened. 67

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“What’s wrong?” he asked. A few seconds of silence passed. Though her body blocked most of the hole, he felt her twist slightly. She must have been looking at something. “I think I broke some glass,” Serena said. Some of the unneeded tension disappeared, and she pulled her other leg away from him. “Don’t worry. Just be prepared to catch me if I slip.” Max didn’t need the reminder. Especially when he caught the distinct smell of blood. “Did you cut yourself?” he called up. There wasn’t an answer. All he saw was the back of her legs and the bottoms of her shoes as she slowly crept up the wall. He didn’t like this. Something was going to go wrong. Serena smelled like dinner now, and even his fangs were starting to get that distinct itchy feeling when there was something tasty looming on the horizon. All it was going to take was one vampire in the wrong place, and she was going to be dead. And there wasn’t a damn thing he could do to stop it. His whole body tensed when he saw her drop. She slid several inches before her toe found a spot to dig in. If she died because of his fool-brained idea, Max would never forgive himself. She was too smart, too nice, to fall prey to vamps like Ruby. She shouldn’t have been there at all, but if he had his way, he’d get her safe away from the bar, then look into this bookie problem her father was having. What 68

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they were doing wasn’t illegal by vampire law, but there might be something Max could do to help. Like catch them doing something that was illegal and stake them for that. A shower of plaster dust fell on top of his head. He changed his angle on the dais in order to try and peer past her legs, but her body was too readily blocking his view. The best he could make out was that she’d drawn her foot back. There was blood visible trickling beneath the leg of her jeans. “Ready to kick the shit out of that wall, darlin’?” He deliberately kept his voice light. Serena didn’t need to know how nervous he actually was. “If I see a vampire in there, I’m jumping back through the hole,” she replied. “You ready to catch me?” “Always.” Every muscle in his body tensed in anticipation. Her foot lashed forward. “Fuck!” The pain in her voice made him wince. “What happened?” he called out. “It feels like I kicked a brick wall.” It might not have been a brick wall, but it was entirely possible that there was something in front of the partition to keep her from pushing her way through. “Try climbing up a little farther,” he offered. “Does the wall feel hollow under your hands?” “No, hang on…” It dawned on him as she shimmied up further that if there were vampires waiting in the first basement, they were going 69

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to be well clued in on Serena’s arrival long before she crashed through the wall. The fact that he couldn’t hear anything and that nobody was storming downstairs wondering what the racket was boded well for their odds. He hoped. “Okay, I’m going to try it again.” Max stayed perfectly still as she kicked at the wall again. This time, her foot went straight through, and he was blind from the plaster that fell in his eyes. By the time he’d rubbed it away, another shower came down, and he had no choice but to step off the platform. A different kind of thud came after the fourth kick. One directly overhead. “I’m through!” Serena called. “And I’ll be right there!” Maybe she would. But Max wasn’t going to leave the bottom of that hole until she was standing right behind him. He wasn’t going anywhere until he knew for certain she wasn’t going to need him there.

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CHAPTER 7 Serena had always considered herself to be in good shape. She worked out on a semi-regular basis, she could chase up five flights of stairs in order to make a late interview without losing her breath, she’d been known to be the last dancer on the floor at more than one college party. Climbing a wall with only her legs and back for leverage and then having to kick it out was in a totally different league. Her breathing was labored by the time she fell through the opening. All she could do was stay in the same spot she landed, crumpled into a boneless ball as she waited out the pounding in her ears. Somehow, she managed to call out to Max waiting below, but her muscles took a long time to react 71

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to the instructions she gave them to move. If there were any vampires waiting on this level, she was so dead meat. Resting her palms against the floor, Serena pushed herself upright, ignoring the wavering in her thighs as they protested being used again. When they got out of here, she was going to sleep the entire day through. Then she was going to call into work on Monday and tell them she’d be on her laptop at home. And then, she’d call her dad and give him another piece of her mind for dragging them into this mess in the first place. Because she was still going to have to come back for the bracelet. It was either that or start a whole new life somewhere else. She liked the life she had. She was going to fight just a little longer. A single light bulb mounted high in a corner offered the only illumination in the room. Serena didn’t need much more to see the same supplies lining the walls, the accoutrements of running a bar—even a vampire bar—stacked elsewhere. She held her breath as she rounded the partition wall, but the other side was just as deserted. Whoever was guarding them—if anybody was guarding them—was upstairs. Her heart sank when she saw the heavy boxes barricading the trap door that led down to the second cellar. That was why Max hadn’t been able to budge it. The boxes were too heavy and the angle too awkward for him to move them. Serena went back to the hole in wall, leaning over the crate that blocked the part of the wall she must have kicked on her 72

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first attempt to break through. “There’s stuff on top of the trapdoor,” she called down to Max. “I’m not sure how I’m going to move it.” “No guards?” “No.” “Is there a dolly or anything around you can use? Even if you only get a little bit off the door, maybe I can push from this side until it opens.” It took a few minutes of looking around to find a dolly lying forgotten in the corner, its wheels dusty and rusted from disuse. It squeaked and complained as she pushed it around the wall, but it slid underneath the bottom crate with ease. It didn’t move with ease, though. Putting all her strength into it, Serena couldn’t get it to budge. Standing back, she surveyed the blockage. If she wasn’t forceful enough to move it, she needed to displace the mass somehow. Her weight alone wasn’t enough. So she needed to weigh herself down more. She found a bottle of what she really hoped was wine that looked like it would fit on top of the dolly. Hoisting it up, she balanced it on the iron bar, locking her arms on either side of it as she gripped the handles. Next, she stood on the leverage rod running between the back wheels and carefully leaned back, trying to make the whole thing tilt. The boxes shifted on the floor. One inch. Then another. Sweat dripped into her eye as Serena pulled harder, and she blinked against the sting. Everything groaned as they started to move. Crates. The 73

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dolly’s wheels. Serena. She ground her teeth together until her ears hurt, fighting through the strain. Help came when she didn’t expect it. The ground shifted at her feet, and too late, she realized she was standing on the edge of the trapdoor. She heard a single grunt of exertion, and then the boxes she was trying to lift off toppled sideways, crashing with a loud boom against the floor. The dolly snapped back with it, but the box of wine that she had been holding precariously against her fell onto her, her feet shoved upward as the trapdoor opened. Serena fell with a startled cry back onto her ass, the wine crashing against her ribs. Something jabbed into her midsection, but there was little time to wonder about it before a bottle rolled out of the box and onto the floor. It smashed, drenching her in wine, just in time for Max’s head to appear from below. “Well, if there is anybody in the building, that’s pretty much guaranteed to bring ’em down on us,” he commented with a quirk of an eyebrow. Serena glared at him. “A little warning might have been nice.” She wasn’t going to tell him that she’d been standing on the trapdoor. He wouldn’t shoulder any of the blame then. He emerged from the cellar, but instead of stopping to see if she might be hurt, Max went straight to the stairs that led up, poised on the bottommost riser with his ear cocked. When she opened her mouth to speak, he held up a hand to cut her off, keeping it there as he listened. Several minutes passed where all she heard was the trickle 74

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of wine running across the floor. “I don’t think anybody’s here,” Max said. “Ruby must have sent everybody home, thinking we weren’t going anywhere.” He scanned the room, surveying the mess before settling on where she was still sprawled. “Are you okay, darlin’?” He didn’t have to ask. He could’ve just come on over and helped her up. But just as Serena was thinking that, there he was, crouching down in front of her, his eyes blazing as they met hers. Before she had the chance to try and find a footing, his arms slid beneath her back and knees, scooping her up against his chest. “Too much glass,” he offered in explanation. He turned and set her down at the steps, his hand remaining at her back as she steadied herself. Looking at him now, after everything, after having him between her legs, after having him beneath her lifting her overhead to freedom, should have been more embarrassing than it was. She hadn’t come to Ruby Red looking for a date, or a distraction, and she wasn’t the type of woman to so readily give into an attraction, even when the man was as tempting as Max Markow. There had been a few moments of what the hell was I thinking? as she’d been inchworming her way up the wall, but now, facing him, seeing the genuine concern in his eyes, Serena didn’t feel any of that. She didn’t even feel that much worry about him being a vampire. She’d offered herself to him and he’d turned her down. And it certainly wasn’t because he didn’t want to. That 75

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meant something. He jerked his head toward the ceiling, breaking the spell. “Let me go first. If there’s goin’ to be a fight, they’ll go for me first. That’ll give you time to make a run for it.” Serena ached too much to argue with him. And she smelled like merlot, which was making her more than a little lightheaded. At least it masked the scent of her body a little bit, though now anyone with a nose, not just a supernatural one, would be able to follow her trail. Stepping aside, she hung back as Max climbed the stairs. When she moved, they creaked. When he moved, there wasn’t a sound. She felt like a moose coming up behind him. The door at the top was locked, but Max snapped it with the first turn. Darkness greeted them, cold and complete, and the faint smell of blood and beer drifted down as he pushed the door wider. Serena closed the distance between them, seeking out his shoulder for guidance, but two steps into the storage room the stairs led to, Max relaxed. “Nobody’s here,” he said quietly. “What time is it?” “I don’t know. I need light.” His strong hand took hers, their fingers threading together. Max led her away from the basement door, his path unfaltering. Right now, vampire eyesight—and down below, vampire strength against the barricade—was a godsend. They stepped into a hallway that was just as dark as the room they left behind. Max paused, and the shift in the way his fingers held hers told Serena he was looking around them. “We’ll go out the back exit,” he said. “If there’s anybody 76

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in the parking lot, that’ll give us some notice.” Not for the first time, she was grateful he was such a pro at this. There were worse people to have on your side than a cop who knew his way around a sticky situation. Even if it was a vampire cop. Outside Ruby Red, night still blanketed the earth. Without the sun, the air had grown chilly, and Serena shivered as they rounded the corner of the building. Max stopped, but when he glanced back at her, his features inscrutable, she shook her head. “I’m fine,” she said. “Let’s just get out of here.” The parking lot was deserted except for her Mustang and a pick-up that had seen worse days than her poor car. Releasing her, Max walked to the opposite end of the bar and looked around. She let out a sigh of relief when he didn’t find anything. “Everybody really did hightail it out of here,” she heard him muse, though his low volume probably meant he didn’t mean for Serena to overhear. He said it like Ruby had surprised him. It was a good thing he hadn’t shown such uncertainty inside the cellar. Serena wasn’t sure she would have come over to trusting him as readily as she had. “Well, it’s been real.” She wasn’t sure what else to say. She just wanted to get out of there, go home, and shower the entire experience away. “Thank you. For everything.” The last thing she expected was to see him grin. “And what is it you think you’re goin’ to do right about now?” he asked. 77

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Serena frowned. “Go home.” “And where’s that?” “That’s not your business.” His good-natured shrug only annoyed her further. “Well, unless you live in walking distance, it just might be my business.” “What are you…” Her voice trailed off as her gaze darted to her parked car. Damn it. She might not have locked it, but it still required keys to run, and Ruby had ordered those taken away from her before she’d been locked away in the cellar. “They could still be inside,” Max continued. “But you’re goin’ to have to do some searching for ’em, I’ll bet. And there’s no guarantee they’re even here.” “And you live in walking distance, I suppose.” “Nope.” He hitched a thumb toward the pick-up. “That’s mine.” “You don’t have your keys either. I saw them take them away from you.” His smile widened. “The difference between you and me, darlin’, is that I’ve been in this type of situation more than once before.” The heel of his boot crunched in the grit as he turned and walked to the truck. Serena watched as he reached inside one of the wheel wells and then scowled when he pulled out a key. “Want a ride?” he asked. “And see? I even offered without making you ask for it.” With a sigh, Serena left behind her car to approach the 78

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pick-up. “Fine. I live in Dallas.” He leaned back against the truck, hooking his thumbs through his belt loops. It drew attention to his groin and just how broad his shoulders really were as they strained against his shirt. When did he get dressed again? Probably when she’d been looking for the dolly. And no, she wasn’t disappointed that she couldn’t see his spectacular chest anymore. “You do realize there is no way I’ll make Dallas before dawn,” Max said. “Tell you what. Come back to my place for the day. You can shower, get some rest, and I’ll wash your clothes up. I’ll drive you to Dallas tonight, and we can figure out together how we’re going to take care of this little bracelet problem the two of us are having. Okay?” He made it sound so reasonable. Too reasonable. “I’m not sleeping with you.” Max tilted his head. “I don’t remember asking you to.” “I’m not some damsel you need to rescue.” “’Course, you’re not. You’re the only reason we’re not still locked inside. But maybe now it’s my turn to do some driving.” He chuckled. “Literally.” “Why are you doing this?” she blurted. It was frustrating how even-tempered he was about the whole thing. “I’m not a vampire. I’m not in whatever jurisdiction you might have. You didn’t even know who I was twelve hours ago. Why don’t you just drop me off at a bus station and let me fend for myself?” He fell silent at that, but it was too dark to see exactly why. Serena didn’t think for a moment she’d confounded him, or surprised him, or said anything that he’d need to think over in 79

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order not to misconstrue. When it came to reading people, Max Markow was one of the best she had ever seen. But why he simply leaned there against the back of the pick-up, not saying a word, escaped her. “It’s not that I’m not grateful,” she tried again, lowering her voice. “I am. I’m just confused. I don’t understand your motivations here.” “Because I’m a vampire, and you’re not.” She gritted her teeth. “That’s part of it, yeah.” “Maybe we’re not all cut out of the same cloth as your cousin, or Ruby and Will, or those bookies your old man got tangled up with. Maybe some of us just want to live our lives like everybody else. And maybe I just like you enough to want to help. Without expecting anything in return.” Serena didn’t want to believe him. But just as she’d pushed aside her natural indecision in the basement, she did so again here. He’d proven himself. Again and again. There was no reason for her not to give in to the ultimate trust. “Okay,” she said. “And thank you. Again.” Pushing off from the truck, Max went to the driver’s side door, unlocking it and climbing in. “Don’t thank me until you’ve seen the state of my house,” he joked. “I’m a workaholic bachelor. Cleaning is at the bottom of my to do list.” It was on the tip of her tongue to comment that his truck seemed to fit the same profile, but Serena just pushed aside the folders and backpack that rested in the passenger seat and climbed in. 80

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“As long as you have hot water, that’s all I care about.” He shot her a smile that gleamed in the moonlight. “Say that again after you’ve seen my place, darlin’. I dare you.”

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CHAPTER 8 As soon as he saw the state of his apartment, Max wondered if maybe he shouldn’t have suggested taking her to a hotel instead. He’d warned her, of course. He’d known that there were beer bottles on the coffee table from Thursday and his all night meeting with Brady and Jonathan about the marauders coming in from Tulsa. He’d remembered the boxes of weapons stacked in the corner he was storing for Central, some of them half-opened to show nasty implements of violence. He’d forgotten, however, about the laundry he probably should have picked up a week ago, and the pretzel crumbs he needed to vacuum out of the sofa cushions. To her credit, though, Serena didn’t say a word. Her gaze 82

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just swept over the room, taking it all in. “I don’t have much to eat or drink,” Max said, sidestepping the worst of the mess to head for the kitchen. “Some coffee, maybe some chips. But if you want something, there’s a kid I use down the hall to run errands for me during the day. I can send him to the store for whatever you want.” “What I really want is a shower. And clean clothes.” She plucked at her shirt, which had dried stiff where it didn’t stick to her skin. “It’s going to be stained, but at least it won’t feel like I’m wearing cardboard.” “This way then.” He veered his course, leading her down the narrow hall. Stopping outside the first door, he pushed it open, revealing the one room of the house he knew was pristine. “You got a few choices for what you want to use.” He opened a small cupboard over the toilet. There, lined along its narrow shelves, was a wide array of shampoos and body washes. “Just take what you want.” Her brows lifted. “You either have a lot of girls through here, or a secret love affair with The Body Shop. I’m not sure which thought is more disturbing.” Max grinned. “You get into as many scrapes as I do, and you start taking your cleanliness a little more serious.” He gestured toward the toilet. “Just leave your things there. I’ll take them when I bring you in a towel. I’ve probably got some old sweats you can wear while we wait for your stuff to get clean.” “Thanks.” 83

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She pressed up to the edge of the counter to give him room to squeeze past her. At the last moment, she touched his arm. “I’m sorry I was such a bitch back at Ruby Red. I’m just…” She grimaced as the words failed her. Max ignored the heat suffusing through his body at the faint weight of her fingers on his bare forearm. “No need to apologize,” he said, and meant it. “But for what it’s worth, that little attitude you’ve got was exactly why I never worried too much about us getting out.” He left before he gave in to the urge to wax even more poetic on how great he thought she was. Serena might be treating him more politely, or letting her guard down around him a little bit more, but the fact of the matter was, he was still a vampire. He didn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell getting anything more from her but the most casual of relationships. As he dug through his drawers, looking for something that would fit her without appearing too bedraggled, Max wondered when in hell it had been he’d even started considering pursuing anything more with Serena Darville. Being attracted to a beautiful woman was one thing, but his life was too complicated to introduce something like a relationship into it. Reflecting on what it might be like to go out with her on an actual date should never have entered his mind. Yet, that’s what he had done for most of the ride back to his apartment. Serena had remained nearly silent, watching the passing scenery through her window. He’d glanced at her out of the corner of his eye every chance he got, but every time he 84

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opened his mouth to chat, something happened to make him close it again. A random whiff of her body, the wine not succeeding nearly well enough to mask the sweat and arousal that still came from her pores. A glimpse of her reflection in her window. With nothing else behind her. A passing thought that maybe some of his cases might take him into Dallas, if he could arrange it. He wasn’t even going to think about how badly he wanted to sink his fangs into her. Just one taste. That was all he wanted. But that was never going to happen. Carrying everything back to the bathroom, he tapped on the door once. “You decent in there?” Her voice carried back to him over the sound of the running water. “Don’t tell me that would actually stop you!” With a smile, Max turned the knob, easing it open enough to give him room to reach inside. “I’ll just leave everything here on the seat,” he said, repeating his earlier statement. Steam already curled along the tile walls, and though he knew he shouldn’t, he glanced in the direction of the shower. The curtain was mostly translucent, but on a joke, Max had bought one with red ducks on it, complete with little devil horns and fangs. He was surprised Serena hadn’t commented on it when she’d walked into the room, but maybe after the mess of the rest of his place, she wasn’t willing to argue with a little questionable décor in the one room that was actually spotless. 85

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But through the clearer sections, he saw the outline of her body, the full breasts, the hard nipples pointing skyward as she ran her hands through her hair. His cock jumped to full attention in three seconds flat. He might have gotten a taste of her sweet little pussy, but his mouth watered from wondering what it would be like to suck her nipples past his lips. That’s where he’d bite her if he had the chance. Melting into a soft, full tit was as close to heaven as he’d ever find. He was startled when the edge of the curtain pulled back, and Serena poked her head out to gaze at him. Long strands of black hair clung to her cheeks, and she’d already scrubbed the rest of her make-up from her face. Without the liner and mascara, her eyes appeared larger, but it did nothing to strip away the intelligence and humor that had struck him from the very beginning. “You’re staring,” she teased softly. Max relaxed, leaning against the edge of the sink. “And you’re beautiful. Sounds like a perfectly natural reaction to me.” “Do you ever stop flirting, Max?” “Not usually, no.” “How am I ever supposed to know when you’re serious then?” His smile was a slow crawl across his face. “And who says I can’t be serious when I’m flirting?” She glanced at the pile he’d left for her. A flush crept up her neck, staining her skin the most delicious pink. It might have been a reaction to the heated water. Max was opting to 86

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believe it was a reaction to something else entirely. “There was glass in my jeans,” she said. “I hope it’s not going to tear anything up in the wash.” Max shook his head. “I brushed it off for you. But you’re not bleeding any more, right?” He already knew she wasn’t. He’d be able to smell it if she was. “Right.” She lifted her eyes back to his. “You’re still staring.” “You’re still beautiful.” The muscles in her throat worked. “I know I’m going to regret this later, but you’re welcome to come in and join me if you want. You’ve got to be just as dusty as I was.” “If I want?” Max tilted his head, letting his gaze slide down her obscured body. “What about what you want, darlin’? ’Cause I’ve got all day to get cleaned up. I’m not goin’ anywhere.” “If I didn’t want you in here, I wouldn’t have invited you, now would I?” “Why is it you’re still having such trouble saying the words?” He knew he didn’t have to press. He knew it was probably the surest way to lose her completely. But Max wanted to hear them. The only thing better than hearing Serena admit wanting him in the cellar was hearing her come for him. “Not like you haven’t already had the practice.” He only caught a glimpse of her annoyance before she slammed the curtain back into place, the rings squealing across the rod. “You’re insufferable.” 87

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Max pulled his shirt over his head as he toed off his shoes. Just because he wanted her to actually say it didn’t mean he wasn’t going to get in there anyway. “Consider it a learning experience,” he said. “It’s good for you.” “So are brussel sprouts, but that doesn’t mean I stuff my face with them every chance I get.” His belt buckle clinked against the tiled floor when he dropped his jeans. “Well, now you’re just giving me ideas.” He didn’t bother hiding his erection as he stepped into the shower behind her, but Serena didn’t look around anyway, giving him the chance to appreciate the gorgeous contour of her ass the split second before he pressed to her back. She stiffened as he wrapped his arm around her waist, but didn’t pull away. Good for her. Better for him. “Just say it,” Max whispered in her ear. His tongue darted out to catch water running in rivulets over the delicate lobe, the taste of her an explosion even masked as it was by everything else. “Is it really that bad?” Slowly, muscle by muscle, inch by inch, Serena relaxed against him. He wasn’t much taller than she was, which allowed his cock to nestle in the crack of her ass like it was meant to stay there. His flesh tightened when he felt her begin to rock against him, ever so slightly, like it was something she knew she shouldn’t but wanted too desperately not to. “Fine.” There was surrender in her tone, coated with need. “I want you. Even if you are a vampire.” Max smiled. “Well, at least I know it’s not because of it.” He splayed his hand over her belly, allowing the tips of his 88

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fingertips to graze along the top of her mound. “But don’t worry. I’m not interested in a quick suck. You’ve got too much else goin’ for you to settle for that.” A small whimper escaped her throat as he continued to caress her. The tiny undulations of her body made his cock feel like it was going to burst, but it was the sounds she made that made his mouth water. Max dropped his mouth to her shoulder, skimming along the slope. Back. Forth. Memorizing the angle. Learning the soft spots. Then he did the same to the other side, etching that path into his memory until he knew he could retrace it in his sleep. By the time he finished, Serena’s whimpers had turned into moans, and the heat that rose in the close shower came from her, not the water. “I want to fuck you,” he admitted. “But that means getting out and getting a condom, and I really don’t want to let you go right now.” “Do you think…” She was breathless already. How would she sound with his cock pounding into her, when he was doing everything he could to drive the air from her lungs? He watched the muscles in her neck tense and shimmer as she twisted to glance back at him. “What if you fucked my ass instead?” He kept waiting for the punchline, but it never came. “It’s not nice to tease the horny vampire,” he warned lightly. “I’m not.” She reached between their bodies and curved her palm around his cock, sliding it up and down between her soft cheeks. “Your kink’s blood. Mine’s this.” 89

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Her beautiful eyes gleamed with honesty. In fact, for all her spit and vinegar, he wasn’t sure there was a dishonest bone in her body. Being private or evasive wasn’t the same as willfully lying, not in his book. He’d lived with vampires for far too long, understood that way of thinking to appreciate the difference. “Still might be better to get a condom.” Last chance. They might not have to worry about pregnancy this way, and humans might not be able to contract vampire diseases or vice versa, but it could still be a fussy subject for some women. Serena shook her head. “All this water? We just won’t let it go to waste.” Max gripped the back of her head, holding her still as he brought his lips down to hers. There was something sultry about her wide mouth that he found irresistible and had ever since seeing her sip at her beer. Thoughts of what it would look like wrapped around his cock made him groan, but just as alluring were the images of it pulled into a blazing smile. Fuck, but he was falling hard. The crash he knew was inevitable was going to hurt like a son of a bitch. But that would be later, after he got a sampling of what it felt like to be buried inside her tight body. Without breaking the kiss, Max slid his other hand around to cup her breast, enjoying the slick skin where she’d already started to soap up. The nipple hardened into a tight point as soon as his callused thumb brushed over it, reminding him of his earlier fantasy, and he consciously willed his fangs back, loath to lose her over a moment’s lapse. 90

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Serena broke away, panting and wide-eyed. “You kiss like you’re never going to get the chance again.” Her tongue ran over her swollen mouth. “I never know what to make of you, Max.” “I’m not all that complicated. What you see is what you get.” “Except for the vampire part. Because I know you try to pass. I can tell.” The slant of his smile did little to ease the knot she’d hit with her accurate assessment. “There’s a big, wide world out there, darlin’. I’m just not interested in missing out on it, just because I’m a little sun sensitive.” Her small hand stroked up and down his cock, the pulse that echoed from her more than hypnotic. She took several seconds to tear her gaze away, as if waiting for something he might add, but even then, the ducking of her lashes simply preceded the brush of her mouth against his. “Water’s wasting,” she breathed. “Are you going to fuck me or what?” There was no or what as far as Max was concerned. He peeled away from her back, already missing her heat, and reached for the soap. Her heavy eyes watched as he slicked his fingers, but she turned around when he began to trace a path down her spine. He felt every knob, every ripple of muscle, not stopping until he reached the tight rosebud of her ass. The tip of his finger traced over and over the hole, just as he had done when he’d been eating her out in the cellar, but Max was too enraptured with her responses to press further just yet. 91

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He must have missed this part the first time. The second he touched the small opening, her muscles clenched, everything tightening in unison. She looked poised to explode at any given moment, her breathing increasingly ragged. When he slipped his index finger inside, just up to the first knuckle, a sound not unlike a gasp came from her throat. “Oh, God…” Max bit back the obvious retort. He didn’t want to shatter the spell. Her back arched more with each inch he pressed inside. By the time it was completely buried, the ends of her long hair trailed over the upper curve of her ass, her face uplifted as if she was praying to some higher power. Serena slowly exhaled as he eased out, but everything wound again with re-entry. He wasn’t surprised the vamps at Ruby Red had been all over her. If they could see her now, they never would have considered locking her up with Max. “More,” Serena whispered. His cock jumped at the hunger in her voice. It was going to be glorious when he finally got to bend over her, but for now, he settled on adding a second finger, gently scissoring them against the constricting walls once both were inside. He pumped in and out, and when he caught sight of the swell of her breast, he yielded to the temptation to touch further. Serena whimpered when he grazed over her nipple this time. “You’re killing me here. I swear to God, you’re doing all this on purpose.” “I’m just giving you what you’re begging for, darlin’. Just 92

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so happens, it’s exactly what I want, too.” She shot him a wicked smile over her shoulder. “You want you, too? I always knew you vampires were a narcissistic bunch.” Max chuckled. “Well, I can’t argue with that. I can, however, do this…” He didn’t bother with three fingers. On his next pass, Max curled together all four and twisted them into her hole. Serena bucked against him, almost forcefully enough to knock him off-balance. He hadn’t been expecting it. He certainly wasn’t expecting it when she straightened and grabbed the back of his neck, dragging his mouth to hers as she twisted to seal their mouths together. Her tongue was sharp and dangerous, tangling with his in a mind-numbing dance as her body writhed against the intrusion in her ass. Max didn’t know which way was up and which was down by the time she finally gasped for breath. He only knew he had to get into her as soon as inhumanly possible. His hand slipped free of her flesh, gripping her hip while the other dragged the wet tip of his cock down the hot hollow. It stopped at her waiting entrance, and when he felt the muscles twitch against him, he slowly pressed forward. Her mouth opened in a silent cry, caught in the pleasure and the pain of his steady stroke. The heat of her was excruciating, searing into his cock. It was heightened by the shivers that had started the second the head pushed through the tight ring of muscles, rippling through her body in delicious waves that made her feel more like a wild animal 93

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than ever. It called to the monster in him, more so than he liked. Serena was a woman who would make it very easy to forget every good intention he ever had. She accused him of trying to pass. That was true. She had no idea how close he was to abandoning any more pretense about what he was in favor of letting his fangs descend. But if he did that, he was afraid she’d freak out, walk away when things between them were starting to get interesting. She didn’t want a vampire lover. She wanted him, yes, but probably just because he chose to pass. Max didn’t let it stifle the fire surging through him as he bottomed out in her tight channel. Serena had turned fully around so that her shoulder blades rested against his chest, a slim arm arching around to grasp the back of his neck, but it was seeing the stain across her cheeks, the rapid rise and fall of her breasts as she gulped for air, that did him in. “Do I take it slow?” he murmured. Grasping her hips with both hands now, he eased out, taking the pace of rubber bands slowly being stretched. That was what he felt like, taut and ready to snap, but he kept his cool even fixated as he was on the perspiration that was starting to gleam on Serena’s brow. “Or maybe that wasn’t slow enough.” Pushing back in at a more languorous tempo made his hands shake. He had to hold onto her slick skin tighter in order not to betray how badly this was getting to him. When his balls brushed against her ass again, Serena 94

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whimpered. “A little faster. Please.” The last word was a punch to the gut. Women like Serena didn’t ask for what they wanted. They took it. They made arrangements to get it as they needed. She was smart and efficient, independent and strong. Women like Serena didn’t beg. “Please, Max. Don’t stop. Don’t you dare stop.” He turned his head and ran his lips along her high cheekbone, the tip of his tongue gathering the taste he found there. “Whatever you want, darlin’.” His thrusts took on speed, oiled from the water and soap he’d used to stretch her, but Max never stopped the rain of kisses he left along her skin. She clenched around him on every stroke, making it damn hard to maintain any sort of even rhythm. It threw him off. Made him feel like a teenager getting his first piece of tail, like he didn’t know what he was doing, when in reality, he knew exactly what he wanted and was eager to take it all. Serena helped in smoothing his tempo every time it got a little bumpy. Her hand was steady at his nape, threading through his damp hair to make his scalp prickle, and the sudden stream of encouragement from her lips made his cock jump in excitement. She hadn’t been quite this vocal in the cellar, but something had loosed her tongue. Desire, maybe. An impending orgasm, definitely. Because he felt it with every shudder of her body. It made him hold onto her even more tightly. Her words became disjointed, shards of passion falling 95

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around them to leave him twitching and on the edge. He wasn’t going to come, damn it, not until she did. But she seemed to be waging the same war, every once in a while shifting her footing on the slick tub so that their angle was just a little bit different or their speed was disrupted. It finally reached the point where Max let go of her hip to slide his arm around her waist, pinioning her against his body so that only her toes grazed across the bottom. “Just let it go.” His tongue darted out to trace the shell of her ear, nibbling at the tender skin. It would be easy to exert enough force to draw blood, even without fangs, and the temptation was great. It ran close to the surface of her skin, waiting to be set free. But not yet. “You feel…” When his hand slid down to her pussy, she choked on the rest of the sentiment, everything inside her going rigid. He’d only meant to tease her a little, but the desire that coated his fingers, the way her little clit twitched at just the slightest of glances, drove him deeper. The next time he slammed into her ass, Max pushed three fingers into her pussy. It was enough to draw a scream from her throat. The muscles convulsed and danced, and she clamped so hard around his cock, he saw stars. He sank his blunt teeth into her shoulder as he came, blast after blast coating her tight walls. Something inside wrenched sideways, knocking his world just slightly askew. Max shut his eyes against the sensations ripping through him, drowning 96

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in the physical instead of the other that threatened to emerge. By the time sanity started to drift back, the water had gone cold and Serena was lax in his arms. Loosening his hold on her, Max set her carefully back down, wary of rubbery muscles making either of them clumsy. He shifted his hips to allow his cock to slip out of her ass, missing her heat as soon as he was free. Would it be so bad to just have another go? Not for him. But he didn’t know what Serena might want, and he wasn’t going to press his luck any more than he already had. “I think I’m going to need a long nap after all this,” she said, her voice lazy and satisfied. The ends of her hair dragged across his chest as she turned to lift her mouth to his again. “Guess I’ll be pulling vampire hours today.” Max licked his lips after the kiss ended. His mouth tingled. “You’re welcome to my bed if you want it. I’ll take the couch.” She didn’t look away. “Don’t go running off on my account. If there’s room for both of us there, you might as well stick around.” Her mouth slanted. “As long as you don’t do something like sleepbite, that is.” The same something that had torn through him when he came returned, leaving his body hot even without her touching him anymore. Max stomped on it as best he could, but it had a stubborn streak a mile wide, stubborn enough to poke at him even after he’d put on his best I can wrangle with the best of ’em smile. “You just don’t want to be rid of me,” he teased. 97

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Serena rolled her eyes before turning away, but her amused grin didn’t fade. “Right. You’re a hot piece of vampire ass, and I’m dying from lust for you.” He reached for the soap at the same time she did, their fingers grazing for a second too long. “And it’s about time you recognized that, darlin’. About time.”

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CHAPTER 9 Max Markow slept like the dead. It shouldn’t have surprised Serena. This was, after all, his downtime. But when she woke up at four o’clock, wide awake, with his arm heavy around her midsection and his nose buried in her hair, it had taken very little effort to escape the bed without waking him. The mattress had squeaked, and she’d accidentally kicked his shin trying to slide out from where he had her pinned, but when she stood next to the bed, waiting to see if he would stir, nothing happened. He laid there with his dark hair hiding half his face, his long lashes hiding those amazing blue eyes, his sensual mouth as soft and relaxed as it was in any of his devastating smiles. It 99

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was mildly disconcerting not to see any movement in his chest, but Serena ignored the faint disquiet to focus on the sweep of powerful shoulders that narrowed to that fantastic ass. Sex with Max had been mind-blowing. Both times. More than it should have been. Serena didn’t give herself over easily to partners she trusted, let alone ones she knew inherently not to have faith in. Max might be a vampire, but he’d never used it as a weapon as she had witnessed so much during her life. He didn’t glory in the added power it gave him, didn’t gloat about his superiority. He took his lot and tried to find a real place in the world, and that, more than anything else, was what Serena was responding to. That, and the fact that he was the best kisser she’d ever known. In the shower, she’d sought out his mouth at every opportunity, even when it made her back spasm to twist so uncomfortably in order to find it. Max’s kisses were like promises made at sunset, the hints of cool ecstasy yet to come. She kissed him, and the world vanished except for everywhere he touched her. Serena fled the room as soon as she was able to break through the spell reliving the feel of his cock inside her ass had woven over her body. The apartment was dark and quiet, which meant the clothes they had thrown into his dryer before crashing for sleep would be done now. As she’d predicted, there were distinct blotches left on her tank and enough splatters on her jeans to give them that distressed designer 100

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look she couldn’t afford. She put them on anyway. It was too dangerous wearing Max’s T-shirt for long. The state of his apartment didn’t bother her as much as he might have thought. Serena didn’t spend that much time in her own place; she knew how things could pile up when you weren’t there to take care of them. It could have been a lot worse, actually. Nothing was growing, no piles were moving that shouldn’t be. There was even a weird sense of order about how he left things, and if she thought it was a little crazy to understand the patterns of a cowboy vampire, Serena didn’t let herself dwell on it. She was looking for one thing. And she spotted it on a desk half-buried under file folders in the corner. Glancing down the hall, she listened for any noises from the bedroom before sitting down in front of the computer. She had no desire to violate his privacy, but she needed to know if she could get online. Booting up the machine took a couple minutes, the faint whirr of the hard drive refreshingly normal as she waited. It loaded straight into Windows, no password necessary, and she stifled her excited, “Yes!” when she saw the connection icon in the corner. Serena launched a browser and immediately went off to her web-based mail. She had everything from work forwarded to her personal account, so that she could read it when she was out on assignment. The paper was insane about controlling what went in and out of the office, but she circumvented the usual red tape by arguing her need for accessibility out in the field. Not all the reporters were so lucky. Serena didn’t argue. 101

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She took what she got and she ran with it. Her inbox was crammed with crap from Human Resources and announcements from IT. Most of it was meaningless to her, so she bypassed it all to start composing the e-mail she wanted to send. Nobody had known where she was going the previous night. She wanted to keep it that way. But she wasn’t ready to run away yet. Max might want to work together on the bracelet issue, but she was pretty sure his answer wasn’t going to be handing it over to the vampires who wanted her and her family dead. The response came back almost right away. I don’t know where Jim is. What’s going on? —Dad Serena drummed her fingers across the top of the keyboard, debating her options. The last thing she needed was her father storming Max’s castle, which was exactly what he would do if he found out that she’d figured out where the real bracelet was. I’ve got a vampire problem. I was hoping for some advice straight from a reliable source. There. That was mostly true. An answer came back within two minutes. Are they after you already? They said they’d give 102

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me until next Friday to get them the bracelet. I didn’t mean for you to get tangled up in this mess, but you’ve got to run. Get out of your apartment and just pick a direction and drive. —Dad Serena frowned at the message. She hadn’t meant for him to go in that direction, but considering how worried he’d been about her, she probably should have anticipated it. I’m not at my apartment. I’m at a friend’s. But I’m safe, don’t worry about me. She hit send knowing he wasn’t going to believe her. She probably shouldn’t have tried him in the first place. The next message took almost ten minutes to arrive. Serena used the time to shoot off a few more e-mails, one to the vampire historian who had told her about Ruby Red’s existence in the first place, another to her boss, explaining she was on the trail of something for a potentially big story and would likely be out in the field Monday. It gave her another twenty-four hour window to see if she could get her hands on the bracelet, even if she knew going back to the bar was out of the question. But she had to keep trying. I still can’t find Jim, but now I’m worried about you. Tell me where you are so that I can come and pick you up. —Dad 103

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Yep, there was the response she’d expected in the first place. I told you, don’t worry. I’m safe. My friend knows vampires. Just do me a favor and lay low, okay? I’ll call you in a couple days. Serena checked her mailbox one more time before logging off. If she stayed on, her father was likely to keep hounding her to go into hiding, or worse, to tell him where she was. She didn’t need the added stress of holding him at bay on top of everything else. She poked her head back into the bedroom to see if Max was still asleep. He hadn’t moved from where she’d left him, the same strands of hair over his cheek, his hand still halfhanging over the edge of the bed. Just looking at him made a burn of desire start licking its way through her veins, but she shoved that aside, ignoring how tight her nipples felt or how she kept squeezing her thighs together at the thought of his thick cock. This wasn’t playtime. This was save her ass time. When this was all over, she was unlikely to ever see Max again anyway. Except he was pretty. And nice. And a great kisser. And… Vampire, darlin’. Don’t forget the fangs. Jesus, even her thoughts were starting to sound like him. Retreating back to the living room, Serena found a spot at the end of the couch to sit and think. What to do, what to do… 104

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The fact was, she had no idea what to try next. She was outmatched going to Ruby Red on her own and learned that lesson the hard way. It was obvious Ruby had the bracelet if Max was taking the risk and going to her place of business, but how did she get close enough to Ruby to find the bracelet now? A sudden thought made her blood run cold. If she did somehow manage to get the bracelet, she was suddenly convinced Ruby was not the kind of vampire to just sit back and take it. She’d go after it. And she’d likely start with Serena. Or Max. She squeezed her eyes shut. Damn it. She didn’t want to get him embroiled in her father’s idiocy, too. He was more than capable of taking care of himself, but he’d been distracted enough last night by her to get caught. There was no telling what would happen if she distracted him a second time. She didn’t want him to get hurt. When the answer came, it seemed so simple that she wondered why it was she hadn’t thought of it in the first place. She didn’t need the bracelet after all. She just needed Max. *

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He woke up with an, “Oomph!” as something plopped down in the small of his back to cover his body. It took a moment for Max to make the connection that it wasn’t a something but a someone, and that said someone was soft in 105

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all the best places. That said someone also had hard nipples boring into his back, though the effect was muted by the shirt she wore. He smiled without opening his eyes. “Think you got our positions reversed, darlin’. I’m supposed to be straddling your ass.” “Wake up. We need to talk.” Serena’s voice was bright and charged. How long had she been awake? And what fucking time was it? “It’s almost five,” she said. Max wondered if he’d said the question aloud. “Which means we don’t have a lot of time before sunset to get everything arranged.” His eyes slit, and he peered up at her. “What’s there to arrange? I thought I was driving you back to Dallas tonight.” “New plan. Though we’re probably still going to Dallas.” There was a fresh gleam of excitement on her face, her wide mouth pulled into an inviting smile. She’d dressed— damn it—and looked ready to go out and embrace the day. Max stuck his head beneath his pillow. “You have enough energy to light up the whole city after dark,” he complained. “Wake me up in an hour. We can talk then.” The slap of her hand against his bare shoulder stung. “We’re talking now. You said you wanted to help.” “I also want to sleep. Vampire here, remember? Only thing that gets me up before sunset is a good fuck, and it looks to me that ain’t what you’re promising.” Serena was still above him for a few seconds before 106

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clambering off. He missed the weight of her before he even heard her feet touch the floor. “Fine. You sleep. I’ll go set Ruby up all on my lonesome, and you can explain to your chief or whatever you have to answer to that a reporter did what you couldn’t.” By the time he pulled the pillow off his head, she’d walked out of the room. “What’re you talking about?” he said as he emerged from the bedroom, nearly tripping over his jeans as he pulled them on. He frowned when he saw her sitting at his computer. “What the hell have you been doin’ all day?” Serena didn’t bother turning around. “The same thing I’ve been trying to do ever since my father told me about that stupid bracelet. Save both our necks.” She had an e-mail client up on the screen, one she minimized as soon as he approached. “But you’re not interested, so just go on back to sleep now. I’ll take care of everything.” Her features were placid when he grabbed the back of her chair and whirled her around to face him. “I’m awake now, which was exactly what you wanted by dropping that little bombshell back there. So let’s cut the crap, okay? What’s goin’ on?” “I had a revelation while you were asleep. I figured out that if I went after the bracelet like I wanted, Ruby was never going to let me get away with it.” Max snorted. “Well, I could’ve told you that. I even remember offering to help you.” “Yeah, but you know and I know I was never going to take 107

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you up on that.” She smiled. “Except now I am.” She hadn’t flinched when he’d gotten in her face, and the shit-eating grin she wore now only made him want to grin back at her. Shaking his head, Max let the chair go, retreating to the couch and flopping down in the corner. “Okay, darlin’. Dazzle me with your brilliant plan. Because it has to be brilliant, you know, if you want any chance of comin’ out of a face-off with Ruby and still having your neck intact.” “That’s the brilliant part. I’m not going to be the one she’s going to face off with. You are.” “I am.” “Yep.” “I hate to break it to you, but unless I find the bracelet on her premises, Ruby Red’s out of my jurisdiction. Just like they said it was.” “So where is your jurisdiction?” “Here in Longview. I can get away with a little bit around, but they gotta be extenuating circumstances.” “Define extenuating.” He had no idea where she was going with this, but until he heard what she had in mind, he was going to play along. “Mortal danger to an unwilling human that brings undue attention to vampires in general. Just about anything that drags in human cops. Messing with anything magical that might create more chaos than we’ve already got.” He tilted his head in amusement. “Which one are you bound and determined to take advantage of? And don’t say mortal danger, or I’ll have 108

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to lock you up just to keep you safe.” Serena rolled her eyes at his overprotective tone. “I think we’ve already established I can take care of myself. But that’s beside the point. You’re going to be waiting in the wings to bust whoever is left standing.” Even without hearing details of what she had in mind, Max knew he wasn’t going to like it. The notion of finally getting Ruby—having an excuse to stake her, to pay her back—was tempting as always, though. He’d been working toward this for a long time, and if he had to have a human partner to make it happen, there were a lot worse people he could saddle himself with than Serena Darville. “I could always just call the right people in Dallas and have them take care of your dad’s bookie problem,” he said. “You won’t have anything to worry about then.” Serena shook her head. “I’m not willing to wait until they actually do something that merits punishment. Right now, it’s just threats. But if we go with my plan, I get rid of those, and you get rid of Ruby. Now are you in or not?” There was really only one answer to give. “Count me in, darlin’.”

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CHAPTER 10 Somebody somewhere in the grand scheme of controlling things had a weird sense of humor. Unlike her visit to Ruby Red the night before, clouds rolled across the heavens, blown in wisps and chunks by a brisk wind that cut through skin, bypassed bone, and went straight to the marrow. The moon was nowhere to be seen, probably hiding away because it recognized the portents of the hours to come. Everywhere around the small bar, blackness rolled in to remind visitors that day was long gone. Anything they would find in this little corner of the world would be a wicked surprise. Brave it if you must. Serena didn’t have much of a choice in the matter. In order 110

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for the plan she and Max had hashed out to work, she needed to be here. She was mildly curious what kind of reaction their escape had evoked, and how her reception would be if she walked in through the front door. But she wasn’t so stupid not to realize that was suicide. Even Max wasn’t braving that method of entry, and he had a lot more—and better—weapons than she did. All Serena had was a pulse and an ironclad desire to see this thing through to the end. Well, according to Max, she had her looks, too, but frankly, she didn’t think those would make much of a difference in the long run. From what she’d heard, the vampires her father had bilked weren’t all that discerning. Under protest, Max had bought her a new top and a jacket to protect her against the elements. “Oh, I’ll make you pay me back for them, darlin’,” he’d teased in that delectable drawl of his. “But it’s best for the both of us if you’re not dead of a desert cold before the party even gets off the ground.” She’d squelched the desire for her inner feminist to toss the clothes back at him. It helped that Max looked her over with obvious appreciation, even if he did keep his hands to himself, but in the long run, Serena knew she had to swallow her pride and do what was necessary. If she wanted this plan of theirs to work, they needed to act as a team. There were worse vamps she could be partnered with. There were even worse people, too. She’d stayed in the protection of his truck for as long as she dared to get away with, but as soon as fears began creeping in that her guests might be early, Serena got out and 111

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took her position at her car. She much rather would have liked waiting inside the vehicle, but it was still locked. She was lucky Ruby hadn’t had it towed. But five minutes before the appointed time, headlights appeared like pinpricks in the night, slowly growing larger as they approached the bar. Serena stiffened where she sat on the hood of the Mustang as a long, black convertible eased into the parking lot. It could just be another customer, even if she hadn’t seen anybody come in or out since she arrived. When the car pulled up alongside her, though, barricading her from the bar, she knew. Waiting for them to climb out, she kept her features even, focusing on controlling her breathing so she didn’t come across as terrified as she was. They’d smell fear, but a little bit of anxiety might be expected. It was looking like prey she didn’t want. There were three of them. Two of them looked just like she’d thought they would—big, bruising, just enough bloodbellied to make them look intimidating and not like they’d glued their asses to a couch for the last twenty years. It was the third guy who took her by surprise, even more when it became obvious he was the one in charge. He was tall and rangy, with a mop of dark curly hair that had probably gotten his head patted more than once when he’d been a child. It was hard to be sure with only the light of the cars to go by, but she was pretty sure his eyes were blue. They looked pale and ghostly compared to his black hair, not helped at all by his pale complexion. He looked Joe Collegiate, all the way down to his Dockers. This was the last place she would 112

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have pegged finding a vampire like him. “You are way better looking than your dad,” he said with a sheepish smile as he approached. God, he even sounded like he was nineteen. “Serena, right?” She smiled. “Right.” Sliding off the hood of the car, she held her hand out to him in greeting, unflinching when he squeezed hers a little too tightly. He towered over her by a good eight or nine inches, and his shoulders had that slight hunched look adolescent boys got when they grew too fast and didn’t know what to do with their height. Had he been born a vamp? Serena was going to bet no. His two bodyguards treated him with the utmost respect. That kind of attention had to be earned in the vampire world, not inherited. This guy had been turned when he’d been young. There was no telling how old he really was then. Alan Kerney. Big Al. The terror of the illegal gambling underworld. Apparently, nobody she was meeting these days was as she expected. “I have to say, I was a little surprised to hear from you,” Al said. “Your father…well, we expected him to run as soon as he realized he wasn’t going to get away with fucking us over.” He ventured all this with that same smile, as if talking about backstabbing and killing to pay off debts was the same as discussing the weather. If it was a ruse to put her at ease before pouncing, it wasn’t working. “Dad doesn’t always think things through.” She kept the smile on. Maybe Max had been right and it really was her best 113

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weapon. “But I take after my mom’s side of the family.” Al laughed. “Good for both of us then. I mean, no offense, but most of you Darvilles wouldn’t win any science fairs, if you know what I mean.” “Neither would this one. I’m more of an arts kind of gal. Slap a thesis in front of me, and I’ll give you an essay that’ll make you salute.” The smile smoothed out, still present but cold. A rattlesnake smile. He’d strike when she least expected it. “You’re not planning on writing yourself out of this little situation, though,” Al mused. “Because that would just support my whole theory. And you’re too pretty to leave lying on the side of the road in pieces. They’d be pretty pieces, sure. Well. What would be recognizable, that is.” The warning in his words sent ice water through her veins. “No, no writing for me. Tonight, I’m all about action.” When he took a step closer, she smelled the faint musk of his cologne. It made her stomach churn, and the sudden, irrational question of where Max was made her bite her cheek. “You have the bracelet?” “No. But I found it.” Flint hardened his eyes. “I don’t like people playing with me.” “I’m not playing.” She jabbed a finger toward Ruby Red. “Your bracelet’s here, but that’s a vampire bar, and like you said, I’m not stupid. You really think I’d go waltzing into a place packed with vamps all by myself? Please.” Al glanced back, though his flunkies never moved. “So if 114

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you haven’t been in there, how do you know the bracelet’s here?” “Do you know who owns this place?” “No.” He turned back. “It’s just a hick bar. It’s not even in the city. How important could it be?” Serena smiled. That kind of smug self-important thinking was exactly what she’d been counting on. *

*

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The strains of Jessi Colter’s haunting voice filtered from the front of the bar, but Max’s attention was focused on the hallway in front of him. As far as he could tell, nobody was back here but Ruby herself, which suited his purposes just fine. Serena’s crazy plan was going to need all the help it could get. He was just as crazy to be going along with it. His gun hung at his side, loaded with the wooden bullets he’d had specially made for the thing. He hadn’t dared bring it in with him the night before; Will would have noticed him packing as soon as he crossed the threshold. But he had no intention of going out to the front, and even Ruby would be wary if he was armed. She was dangerous at the best of times, lethal at the worst. He was going to do everything in his power to keep the pendulum swinging toward the best side of things tonight. He came to a stop outside the closed office door. She was in there. He could smell her through the wood. It was likely she had picked up on his scent, too, but with so many other vamps out front, he was counting on her not realizing he was 115

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there until it was too late. The knob turned easily in his grip. He caught a flash of white-blonde hair before he was slammed into the wall, but he’d been prepared for an attack. His elbow smashed back into her chest, breaking her hold just enough for Max to sweep his leg out. He swiped across her calves. In the next moment, he whirled and leveled his weapon, watching her fall back onto the chair that sat in front of her desk. He could have warned her. He probably would have if this was in any way official. But Max didn’t give a fuck about official right then. He just knew he had to let her know he was serious. The gun roared in his hand. Ruby cried out as the bullet slammed into her forearm, blood spraying over the paperwork on his desk. She stumbled back against it, fingers clawing at the wound, and when she pulled out the wooden bullet from the muscle, she stared at him in disbelief. “Next one goes through your heart,” Max warned. He edged away from the door. The last thing he needed was for Will to come storming in and overpower him. “Now sit down.” She held her hand over the wound. Blood seeped through her pale fingers, outlining them in scarlet, but the glare she shot him was deadly. “What do you want?” she snarled. He cocked a brow. “Not so much fun when the shoe’s on the other foot, is it? Maybe you should’ve thought twice about 116

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tossing me in your cellar last night. Being nice does wonders for the morale.” Heavy footsteps pounded down the hall. Max shifted his angle just enough to cover the entrance as Will appeared in the doorway. His eyes flickered from Ruby to Max to the gun, then back to Ruby again, narrowing further with each sweep. “I wouldn’t recommend any heroics,” Max said. “She’ll be ash before you take one foot inside.” Ruby’s mouth thinned to a white line. “Stay there, Will.” Each clipped word sounded like she’d had to drag it out of her mouth. “You still haven’t answered my question, Max.” Oh, but it felt good to have the bitch in his sights. He would have loved to forget everything but the pungent taste of revenge, but he knew there was a beautiful woman outside relying on him. The look in Serena’s eyes when he’d left her in the truck was all he needed to stick to the original plan. “I’m actually here to do you a little favor.” For the first time since walking into the bar, he grinned. “Ain’t I a swell guy?” “The best,” she mocked in a flat one. “And shooting me is supposed to be good for my health, is that it?” “No, that just makes me feel good.” “So what is it?” “You’ve got wannabe thieves on your property. I thought you’d want to know about them.” In spite of the pain she had to be in, Ruby rolled her eyes. “If you knew how many times vamps have walked in here, wanting something of mine, you wouldn’t be wasting my 117

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time.” “You get a lot of takers for a certain little bracelet, then?” He watched her closely. He knew she had the bracelet in her possession, and the rumors had been that she was planning on using it for something big. The only thing Max didn’t know was where she might be keeping the thing, which was why he’d finally braved her place of business, in hopes of getting a hint there after a search of her home proved pointless. So he was ready. He’d planned exactly how he was going to bring it up. Keep her on her toes so that her reaction would be undeniable. He just had to be quick enough to catch it. When her foot slid a few inches to the side, he had his answer. “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about,” she replied smoothly. “Really? Because there’s a few boys from Dallas outside, just about to come tearing in here looking for it. They seem pretty convinced you’ve got it stashed somewhere.” “Then they’re idiots.” Max shrugged. “Well, I never claimed they weren’t. Doesn’t change the fact that they’re still out there.” She looked at Will and jerked her head. After a cursory glare at Max, Will turned and headed down the hallway. When they were alone, Ruby started to edge toward the corner of her desk. “I didn’t say you could move.” She froze, though her lip curled back into a sneer. “I’m bleeding all over the place. I just want to clean it up.” 118

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Glancing around, Max spied a jacket hanging on the knob behind the door. He grabbed it and tossed it at her. Ruby’s disdain remained in place, but she caught the garment with a fluid motion and held it over the wound. “Interesting escape you and your little girlfriend made,” she commented. “I didn’t think you’d go for the air duct.” “Underestimating me has always been your biggest flaw, Ruby.” Will’s heavy steps returned. Both of them had their eyes trained on the doorway when he filled it again. “Well?” Ruby demanded. “Three of ’em,” Will confirmed. “Black convertible; don’t recognize any of ’em as being regulars. And the girl’s with ’em, too.” Her brows shot up. “After the bracelet, huh? Sounds more like a set-up to me. What on earth did you think you were going to get away with in here, Max?” He smiled, wide and genuine. “Why don’t you go on out and ask them what they want then? Take Will. Hell, take half the bar. I’m tellin’ you the truth here. They came here for one thing and one thing only.” Ruby regarded him for several minutes, assessing his every reaction. Max knew what she was searching for, but this time, she wasn’t going to find it. He didn’t even blink when she finally looked to Will. “You said there’s only three of them?” “Yep.” “It would explain why the girl came here last night.” To 119

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Max, “Why are you selling her out?” He shrugged. “She’s only interested in saving her own skin. Besides, she’s not one of us. I don’t need her meddling in vampire affairs when I have a job to do.” Her eyes narrowed. “You want these men.” “They’re bad news.” Max winked. “And they’re actually in my jurisdiction.” As Ruby considered it, shouts came from the main room. Will frowned as his head snapped around, but Max didn’t let his gun waver. “Oops,” he said in mock innocence. “Looks like time’s up.” *

*

*

This was not part of the plan. Gritting her teeth to keep from wincing, Serena stood next to Al, his grip like iron around her elbow. His bodyguard buddies were arguing with a couple no-necks she recognized from the fight the night before, while Al merely looked bemused by the entire situation. She hadn’t wanted to come in with him, but once he’d grabbed her arm, she knew she didn’t have a choice. Where the hell was Max? And why hadn’t he gotten Ruby outside in time? Fear that something had happened to him flashed through her mind, but just as quickly as it poked its head up, Serena kicked it to the curb. Vampires could smell fear. She wasn’t going to give them that weapon. Besides, Max was a big boy. 120

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He could take care of himself. He’d figured out how to get them out of a locked cellar two stories below ground, hadn’t he? But a tiny part of her was still worried. They were a team. Even if he did have fangs. The argument that had started to turn into a fracas died out when the door that led to the back slammed open. Just as she had the night before, Ruby Varnes came sauntering out, her customers parting the way like the Red Sea before her. The only difference was in the blood-stained bandage wrapped around her left arm. Serena’s gaze jumped to the doorway. Will, as gray as ever, followed Serena, and then there was Max, same cocky grin curving his mouth, standing in the exit as if he was a king surveying his domain. She fought back her smile. Arrogant bastard. “What the hell is going on out here?” Ruby snapped. The manners and even temper she’d displayed the night before were gone. Serena guessed getting shot made this particular vampire a little cranky. Al glanced at Serena as Ruby approached. “That’s the one,” she said, before he could ask. Abruptly, he let her go. Valuable bracelets would always be more important than a single human life, apparently. “Nice place,” Al said, ignoring the direct question. “The outlaw country theme really works for it.” Ruby’s eyes flashed. “It would be a shame to start a fight in the middle of it, then, don’t you think?” 121

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The lift of Al’s shoulder should’ve been a noncommittal shrug. Instead, it came across as the gesture of someone who clearly felt they were better than those surrounding him. “Nobody seemed interesting in answering our questions. Sometimes people need persuading.” “Sometimes people ask the wrong sort of questions.” Nobody was paying any attention to her. With all eyes focused on the two arguing in the middle of the room, Serena had the freedom to start edging back toward the exit. She glanced at the doorway to the office. Max was already gone. “See, it’s that kind of can-don’t attitude that has you out here in the sticks,” Al was saying. “What happened to being friendly to your neighbors?” “I don’t know you.” Ruby’s voice sent a chill down Serena’s spine. “And I don’t like you. And if you don’t tell me what you’re doing here in the next ten seconds, you won’t live to see the following ten.” Will and a few of the others Serena recognized from the night before took a distinct step closer. Al simply continued to smile. “You’ve got something I want. A little bracelet that’s owed me for a debt.” “I don’t owe you a damn thing.” “That doesn’t mean I’m not going to take it anyway.” That was all Serena needed to hear. She was close enough to the door now to make a run for it. As someone crashed through one of the tables, she grabbed the door handle and yanked it open. 122

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Her feet pounded against the ground as she bolted for the truck. Shouts and snarls filtered through the exit behind her until the door slipped closed again, but then she was at the pick-up, fumbling to open it, climbing inside. Her shin slammed against the edge of the door, and she grimaced as she pulled up her feet. Sweat slicked her hands, and they slipped more than once as she shut the door behind her. Using her fist, she locked it, then flattened against the seat to reach across and lock the other one. Her heart pounded as she laid there, out of sight. This was the plan, she kept repeating to herself. This was the plan. But it killed her not knowing what was happening inside Ruby Red. She couldn’t even hear anything except the roar of her own blood. The urge to sit up and peek was overwhelming, but Serena knew if she did that, she risked being seen, just in case the fight had come outside. She dropped her arm over the edge and fumbled under the seat for the stake she had stashed there earlier. When her fingers curled around the smooth wood, the edge of her panic smoothed a little bit. Seconds passed. Then a minute. Two. Serena still couldn’t hear anything. There was a spare set of keys under the dashboard. From her angle, she saw them taped to the dark plastic, ready for her to use. Just in case, Max had said. He didn’t elaborate, but she knew what he meant. Just in case he didn’t make it out. What they had never decided, however, was how long to 123

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wait. Five minutes? Ten? Longer? With every second that passed, she grew more and more frightened he wasn’t going to be able to find the bracelet. A gun could only hold so many bullets, and Max was only one vampire. He’d be outnumbered if they caught him stealing. He’d be— She jumped as the lock popped up behind her. A blast of cold air hit her face before she could sit up, and then there was Max, grinning at her as she gazed up at him. “You’re in my seat, darlin’.” Scrambling up and over, Serena watched him climb in as if he didn’t have a care in the world. A glance over at Ruby Red revealed nothing. The doors were still shut. Nobody else had come outside. “Is that it?” she asked. Max slid the key into the ignition. “That’s it.” Throwing the truck into reverse, he reached over and plucked the stake from her white-knuckled hand, tossing it onto the floor. “Buckle up now. It’s time to get you home.” He didn’t say another word as they squealed out of the parking lot. The headlights cut across the dark night, revealing the black ribbon of highway stretching ahead of them. Dallas was at the end of this road. And if Serena never saw another vampire again in her lifetime, it would still be too soon.

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CHAPTER 11 “Did you hear me? They’re gone. All of them. Nobody knows where.” Serena switched the phone over to her other ear, reaching for the glass in the cupboard overhead. “I heard you, Dad. This is a good thing, remember? Stop looking a gift horse in the mouth.” “I’m not. I know I should count myself lucky, but it’s just…” He took a deep breath. “There’s talk. And after some of the things you were asking me about Jim—” “I already explained that.” She had. As soon as she’d gotten back to Dallas. But her father seemed reluctant to believe her, even now, nearly a week after the entire Ruby Red 125

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incident. “You’re not talking to Jim again, are you? Because that’s how you got into that mess in the first place.” “No, no, I’ve learned my lesson.” But as he prattled on, Serena didn’t believe a word he said. A horse didn’t change its color just because it got scared a little bit. Without having been in the thick of things, she suspected her father would continue searching for the bracelet he was never going to find. She hadn’t asked Max about it. Not on the ride home, where neither of them really spoke. Not when he’d walked her to her door, reminding her not to invite strangers into her apartment. Not in the six days that had elapsed since she’d last seen him—six days of pretending not to care that she missed him a little bit. She was pretty sure he’d found the bracelet, but that was as far as it went. He had his life to live, and she had hers. She didn’t even like vampires, she was constantly reminding herself. A knock came at the door as she was stirring her iced tea. “I have to go, Dad,” she interrupted, setting down the spoon and walking out to the living room. “Somebody’s here.” “You need to stop by here this week some time,” he said. “There’s something…” The rest of it was lost when she squinted through the peephole in her door. Because there, on the other side, stood Max Markow. Serena said her good-bye and disconnected without listening to any more of her father’s explanations. Tossing the phone back onto the couch, she turned the deadbolt and 126

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opened the door. His smile was immediate. “You better’ve checked first.” She blinked. Oh. The peephole. “Of course, I did.” “And you answered anyway?” He tilted his head. “I think I’m flattered.” That was when she noticed the heavy pack slung over his shoulder. “Are you going someplace? Let me guess. You need someone to shimmy up some more walls for your new case.” “Well, I’d be hard pressed to find anybody who shimmies like you do, darlin’.” His smile faded, and he glanced over her shoulder. “Mind if I come in? There’s something we need to talk about.” Serena held the door open wider, stepping out of his way, but when he didn’t move, she blushed in embarrassment. “Oh, right. Come on in, Max.” He stopped at the edge of her living room, surveying the tidy disorder. “Single life looks pretty much the same, no matter who might be livin’ it,” he observed with a wry smile. Rounding the end of the couch, she sat in the corner, picking up the magazine she’d been looking at earlier from the other cushion and tossing it onto the coffee table. “I didn’t expect to see you again,” she admitted. Her eyes followed him as he dropped his pack and settled at the opposite end, bending a knee in order to face her. “What are you doing here?” He toyed with a seam on the couch, and she had to tear her attention away from his fingers to focus on him when he spoke. “Ruby walked out of the fight in one piece. And she’s pissed. My bosses transferred me to Dallas to keep her from 127

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staking me.” Her eyes widened. “I didn’t think it would be that bad.” Max shrugged. “Oh, she’s had her own little vendetta against me for years now. This just kind of makes it official.” A sudden frisson of fear made her pulse jump. “But Al’s dead, right? My dad—” “—is safe,” Max finished. “That bunch are all gone. He’s not the one you have to be worrying about.” The flood of relief was temporary as his implication sank in. She’d traded one threat for a bigger one. And if she survived, Ruby Varnes was a lot harder to steer clear of than loan shark vampires. “Hey.” She looked up to see Max had slid closer, any amusement wiped from his handsome face. His knee now touched hers, and he reached an arm along the back of the sofa to lightly touch her shoulder. It was meant to be reassuring. It didn’t stray anywhere it shouldn’t. But the strong contact mixed with the memories of what exactly he’d done with those fingers, and Serena shivered. He mistook her reaction for fear. “This is why I’m here,” Max said. “Until this blows over, or until we get Ruby for something else, or until Ruby decides neither one of us is worth wasting any more energy on, my job is to keep an eye on you and your family. Keep you safe. You have no idea how much you helped us, getting a hold of that bracelet. We owe you. I’m not goin’ to let you down, darlin’.” “You’re just one vampire, though. And no offense, but 128

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you’re not even a big vamp.” The corner of his mouth lifted. “Yeah, but I’m a mean shot, and even better, I care about what happens to you. You won’t get that anywhere else.” Her ears flamed as the heat crept up her neck. Swallowing against the lump in her throat, she glanced at the pack he’d dropped to the floor. “There is no way you packed that whole apartment of yours into that one tiny bag,” she commented. Max chuckled. “Everything’s out in the truck. That there’s for you.” “You come bearing gifts? Is that a vampire trick?” “I come bearing weapons. Stakes, mostly. Some holy water. Stuff you can carry when you’re out and about on your own, without making it obvious that you’re packing.” Her attention flew back to the pack. Weapons made the danger all that much more real. Living around vampires her entire life hadn’t quite prepared her for this. “She’s not goin’ to get to you.” His soft voice pulled her back to the moment, away from images of tiny, blonde vampires with big cowboy bodyguards. Max’s bright eyes were just as gentle as his tone, and his hand moved from her shoulder to caress the line of her jaw. “I’m not goin’ to let her.” “You might not have a choice,” Serena said. “You can’t be around all the time.” “I’ll be around as much as you’ll let me. All you have to do is say the word.” 129

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“There’s still travel time. If they stake out my apartment…” Slowly, she looked around. The idea forming was bad, monumentally so. But the more concrete it became, the more Serena realized it might be her best bet. “Where are you living?” she asked. He shrugged. “I’m just crashing with some buddies right now. But don’t worry. I’ll find someplace close.” “I have a suggestion.” She took a deep breath. “You can’t get much closer than right here.” It took a few seconds of silence for him to respond. “That’s not a good idea,” he said softly. “Why? I have an extra room. You need a place to stay. It sounds like a great idea.” “It would be…if I didn’t like you as much as I do.” The confession came slowly, his gaze unwavering. He meant it. She could see it in his eyes. Hell, she heard it in his voice. When she didn’t speak right away, Max gave her a sheepish smile. “I wasn’t goin’ to tell you, ’cause I didn’t want you to feel uncomfortable havin’ me as a bodyguard. But if it’s too much, you don’t ever have to see me. I’m an expert at blending in.” His last statement made her snort. “Right. You blend. Hate to break this to you, Max, but I’d notice you in a stadium packed full of cowboys. There isn’t any way I’m not going to know exactly where you are at all times.” He dropped his hand back to the couch, his eyes wary. “So what are we goin’ to do then?” 130

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“You’re moving in.” “That can’t happen.” “Why?” “Because just sitting here is making me want to kiss you,” he confessed. “There is no way the two of us bein’ under the same roof isn’t goin’ to make me want even more.” It was do or die here. If he hadn’t told her how he felt, Serena might not have had the nerve to plough ahead. But he had, and she’d spent six days wondering if he was all right, and now she had the chance to make it all better. Grabbing his hand, Serena used it for leverage to slide closer. “You’re moving in,” she said. Before he could protest again, she covered his mouth with hers. The moment her tongue touched the seam of his lips, Max groaned. Powerful arms came around her body, crushing her to him, and he buried one hand in her hair to hold her still as he forced the kiss to deepen. She shifted to make the position more comfortable, but as soon as she settled across his lap, she felt his erection growing against the back of her thighs. Her muscles quivered. She had forgotten what an excellent kisser he really was. Max massaged her scalp, fingertips stroking in a soft counterpart to how hungry his mouth was. Their tongues tangled, sharp and electric, and every time Serena tried to gasp for air, he only pulled her more closely to his chest. Her head was spinning by the time he finally stopped. “I told you I wanted to kiss you,” he rasped. She didn’t know where she got the strength to lift her lids 131

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and meet his eyes, but somehow, Serena garnered it. Emotion blazed within the blue depths, alongside the fierce desire his body couldn’t deny. There was an instant when his eyes widened, and she realized she’d betrayed just a little bit too much in her need to look at him. “You talk too much,” she muttered before devouring his mouth again. This time, she wound her arms around his shoulders. The thin material of her T-shirt did little to hide her hard nipples, and Serena rubbed against him, encouraging rougher contact as she sank into the kisses. She liked how the world disappeared when he touched her. Like nothing else mattered but them. Each touch was a pinprick of pleasure that swelled to encompass every cell, every inch of skin, every nerve ending. “Keep that up, and I’m goin’ to want to do more than kiss you, darlin’,” Max muttered against her mouth. “Are you moving in?” “With a welcome like that? Hell yeah.” “Then don’t stop.” Max growled. Cupping her ass, he rose from the couch, carrying her several steps with their mouths fused together before grinding to a halt. “Better tell me where your bedroom is, or I’m goin’ to use the wall to fuck you.” Her thighs clenched at the thought of him pounding into her, the hard wall at her back, his hard chest at her front. As tempting as it was, though, she thought her bed might be better 132

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for this first go around and jabbed a finger down the hallway. “All the way at the end.” Max moved before her voice had faded away, kicking at the door without having to break stride. They reached the end of the bed, and he released her, letting her slide away in order to fall back onto the disheveled blankets. She was back up on her knees before he could start stripping, fingers fumbling with his buttons as their hands got in each other’s way. Max eventually gave up, abandoning his clothes to cup her face and start kissing her again. Serena moaned in response. “We are never going to be naked if you keep that up,” she said. The tip of his tongue tickled the corner of her mouth. “I’ve been dreaming about kissing you for a week now. I plan on getting my fair share.” She finally managed to get his shirt open and out of her way. As she smoothed her palms over the hard muscles, Max shuddered. “The way you’re acting, I almost think you’ve been dreaming about more than kissing,” Serena teased. “Yeah, well, if I told you about all the dreams, you might not have been so quick to invite me to stay.” Though his mouth still moved hungrily over her skin, his words slammed through her desire, making Serena pause long enough for Max to pull away. His hands were hard where they gripped her arms, and after a long moment where neither of them spoke, he forced her back to sit down on her heels. 133

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“I’m still a vampire here, you know,” he said. It surprised her how serious he was about the topic, though after how vocal she’d been about her dislike for his kind, she didn’t blame him for being cautious. “We do this, and we do it ’cause you’re okay with that. No other way. I’m not interested in a one-night stand. Not even a two-night stand. I like you too much not to give this a real shot, which means no pretending what I am.” Serena nodded. “I know. Considering how many times I had to remind myself that I don’t like vampires just so that I wouldn’t miss having you around, I think it’s fair to say that I trust you, no matter what you are.” She couldn’t help her grin. “We’ll just count the vamp thing as a character flaw.” His somber mood brightened again, and a wicked glint appeared in his eye. “I’ll give you character flaws.” Max pounced then, moving so fast she barely had time to breathe before she was pinned beneath him. He palmed her breast, catching the visible point of her hard nipple between his fingers, and captured her wrists with his other hand, twisting her arms up and over her head. Without looking away from her, he slid his hand down her stomach, beneath the elastic waistband of her sleeping shorts, and slipped between her thighs. “You drive me crazy, do you know that, darlin’?” He traced along her outer lips, satisfied at the moment to torture her with how close he was without yielding to the lure of more. “I’ve got a feeling you’re goin’ to be keeping me on my toes.” 134

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Serena squirmed, desperate for more. The heat rose inside her flesh, consuming any more rational thought, and she squeezed her eyes shut in an attempt to keep it under some semblance of control. She whimpered when the tip of his tongue traced her quivering mouth. “Close your eyes like that, and I start to think maybe you’re pretending I’m somebody else,” Max taunted. That made her gasp, and when her eyelids shot open again, he was smiling down at her. “That’s better. I think you’re probably one of the prettiest things I’ve ever seen. Please don’t hide from me.” It wasn’t so much that he complimented her that made her melt. It was his use of the word, “please.” “Are you going to talk all night?” Serena wrapped her legs around his hips, pulling him as close as she could get. She didn’t have any misconceptions that he could break free at any moment, but this wasn’t about power. This was about telling him what she wanted. “The expiration might go off on the condoms I have in the nightstand, the way you keep going on and on and—oh!” The hard line of his arousal slammed against her covered pussy as Max twisted to the side. He had to let her go in order to get it out, and she took advantage of the new freedom to yank her top off over her head. When he sat back, the foil packet in his hands, Serena folded her fingers around his and took it away. “I want to do this,” she said. 135

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He paused long enough to make her wonder if he was going to argue. Every second he regarded her was another where her nerves jumped, her heart pounding out a bass line that would put any techno club to shame. But then he smiled again and climbed off the bed, stripping out of his Levi’s to reveal muscular thighs and his thick cock. Her mouth watered as she rolled the latex down his length. “At some point, you’re going to have to let me return the favor from the cellar.” She reached between his legs and cupped his balls, the faint covering of hair adding to the staccato of her excitement. “Maybe we can stay safe from Ruby and her gang at night by just staying in bed.” “You will not hear me complaining about that.” Curving his hand behind her neck, Max kissed her again as he pressed her back to the mattress, giving her room to shimmy out of the rest of her clothes. Serena spread her legs and sighed into his mouth as the head of his cock nudged against her folds. When he pushed inside, slow and steady, the sigh turned into a groan, and her heels dug into the back of his legs. “Oh, this is even better than I thought it would be,” she whispered. Max sheathed the rest of his length, shuddering when his heavy balls came to rest against her flesh. “Guess I wasn’t the only one dreaming about how good we’d be together.” “God, no.” “When were you goin’ to tell me?” She smiled. “And admit to something before you did? I 136

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don’t think so.” As he began to move, she lifted a hand and traced his full lower lip. “Do me a favor, though.” She waited until he lifted his thick lashes and met her gaze. “Let me see.” His rhythm faltered as her meaning sank in. “You don’t want me to bite you,” he said, though the careful way he chose his words made it clear he hoped otherwise. “No. But you said it yourself. You’re still a vampire.” She slipped a fingertip past his lips. “I should see that.” Max pushed back into her pussy, then held himself there, muscles straining, eyes bright. She felt his teeth shift, the razor sharp fangs protracting until they pricked her skin, but she didn’t move away, barely even breathed until they were fully exposed. Delicately, she touched the tip, unsurprised when there was a brief sting. A bead of blood welled on her fingertip when she withdrew it from his mouth. As she turned her wrist to suck it away, however, Max ducked his head and caught it instead, his lips closing around the finger as his tongue swiped the blood away. He didn’t let go. His body resumed the tempo he had already set, this time harder as he drove in and out of her, and Serena was left clutching at his powerful back, shaking with each thread of new desire winding through her. She didn’t know which to focus on—the attention his tongue was lavishing on her finger, all the while never breaking her skin, or the way he stretched and filled her, the coarse hair at the base of his cock grinding into her clit. After a few minutes, it didn’t matter anyway. It coalesced into a seething pool, fiery and maddening, and she had to gasp for air 137

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that suddenly seemed more precious. Max finally let her finger go, but as a respite, it was merely an illusion. His mouth crashed to hers before she could exhale. Any niceties about protecting her from his fangs vanished. The added attack made both of them tense, though Serena thought it might have been the faint taste of her blood that spurred Max closer to climax. Her arms went around him, her legs tightened even more, and when the new hold altered the angle of his body slightly higher, his cock brushed across the front wall of her pussy, hitting a fresh spot. She cried out as her orgasm exploded, her shouts muffled by his ravenous kisses. While the world blazed in a fury of white around her, Max continued to thrust almost violently into her channel, following her over the edge only seconds later. He tore away from her mouth then, his brow dropping to rest on hers, and the words that issued forth almost undid her yet again. He was still murmuring by the time their muscles began to relax, more of the same, though his tone had softened to match his slowing body. “Knew when I saw you at Ruby Red, you’d be something special. I can’t think of another woman who’s ever gotten to me like you have, darlin’. Not a one…” He kissed her then, soft and sensual. Though she didn’t fear the fangs anymore, Serena was mildly relieved that they were long gone, leaving her certain that the moans that came from his throat were due entirely to her and not the taste of her blood. She held him tight, following when he rolled onto his 138

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back. By the time she lifted her head to gaze down at him, she was convinced this was the best decision she’d made in a very long time. She said so out loud. The statement drew another smile from him. “Brilliant as well as beautiful. I think I hit the jackpot.” Laughing, Serena slapped at his shoulder. “As long as you remember which one of us came up with the plan that made all this possible, that’s all that matters.” “Oh, no worries there. Only you’d think siccing vampires against each other was a good idea.” It was his turn to laugh as she pretended to escape, tightening his arms around her to hold her close. The sound was rich and comforting, drawing her back against his chest more effectively than his touch. Maybe the events that had drawn them together might have been a little insane, but there was nothing crazy about how he made her feel. And if she ended up falling in love with this gorgeous, infuriating, sexy as anything vampire—which Serena couldn’t deny any longer was a very real possibility—well, it would make one hell of a story.

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VIVIEN DEAN

Vivien Dean has had a lifetime love affair with stories. A multi-published author, her books have been EPPIE finalists, Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice Nominees, and reader favorites. After spending her twenties and early thirties traveling, she has finally settled down and currently resides in northern California with her British husband and two beautiful children. For more information about Vivien and her books, visit her website at http://www.viviendean.com

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