But Max, when he finally looked up at her, didn’t have a trace of amusement or annoyance on his face. He looked almost—understanding? She hadn’t expected that.
No, she was expecting to tear his clothes off and have her way with him at the earliest opportunity before a vampire bite sidetracked them, and now in her bedchamber, she wasn’t sure that was going to happen. There was too much going on now for a sane person to think about that.
She gave a soft snort at that thought. Since when had she ever been a sane person? Sane people didn’t cut short their holidays to stake things that went bump in the night.
But tonight, she thought as she retired to her room, she could finally get some rest.
The grandfather clock downstairs chimed ten times. Early for her; it was prime vampire hunting time, but she was tired from her lack of sleep the night before, and when she touched the spot on her neck where she was bitten, she still felt a twinge of pain. Damn, but that was a bad bite. She wanted to hunt tonight, but Max would probably want to go with her, and she couldn’t have that. For now, it would be best to wait until she heard from the London branch and then stake vampires with one of their hunters.
Would Max still be awake? Ada toyed with the idea of knocking on his bedchamber door, see if he was amenable to … anything, really. She was surprised to find she really enjoyed his company and they hadn’t even jumped into bed yet. That was unusual for her, and, she suspected, him too.
A soft knock at the door made a smile spread across her face. Maybe he was thinking along the same lines she was.
She opened it, unsurprised to see Max standing in the corridor. His shirt collar was unbuttoned, his hair mussed like he’d run a hand through it. He looked disheveled and delicious, and she prayed he wasn’t here just to talk about vampires.
His uncle was murdered, you twit. Of course he’s thinking about vampires.
Well, that put a damper on her ardor.
“May I come in?” His voice held a hint of a promise, and Ada thought she might have been wrong about her initial impression.
“Please do.”
He smiled at her formality, and held up a half-full bottle of port and a pair of glasses. “Nightcap?”
“I didn’t know this was proper,” Ada teased. “Are all Englishmen this welcoming to their lady houseguests?” She held the door open for him.
“No,” he admitted, setting the bottle and glasses on a fussy little table. He poured an inch of port into each. “Just for you, Ada.” He handed her one of the glasses and she clinked it against his in a silent toast.
For some reason, that made Ada feel a little giddy. He liked her, more than just as a possible lover, she hoped.
Why was she hoping for that? She’d never cared before. Why should she now?
“I hope I get a cable soon,” she said, steering their conversation back to her thoughts. “I hate feeling so powerless, and not knowing where to go.”
“You were all right staking vampires in Switzerland and France, though, were you not?” he asked. “From what you’ve told me, and what I saw at the Langham Hotel, you’re capable of caring for yourself in strange places.”
The compliment warmed her in a way the port didn’t. “It’s different when I’m not alone,” she said.
“Am I a hindrance to you?” His eyes grew serious.
“No, more like a liability.” She spoke without thinking, and saw hurt flash across his face. Damn! “That’s not what I meant, Max. I mean that it’s more dangerous hunting vampires when you’re with someone inexperienced.”
“I know what you meant.” He looked down at his glass. “I understand the powerlessness, but more than that, I feel like an ass. I’ve been gallivanting around the world for years, ignoring the only living family I had, doing whatever I wanted, while Uncle James physicked the sick and you rid the world of monsters.” His eyes, sad and defeated, met hers. “I’ve been thoughtless and selfish. I have to change that.”
Ada shook her head. “You haven’t. I know asses. I’m related to a few of them. Believe me, Max, you’re not one of them.”
Max sat down at the small table near the window, and Ada followed. “Tell me about your family,” he said. “Why are you a vampire hunter, anyway?”
Ada exhaled noisily. “I didn’t have much choice. Everyone in my family with the ability to sense vampires—which is all of us, so far—become Searchers.”
“Searchers. That’s an unusual name.”
“It used to be Suchers.” Secret societies of vampire hunters that sprang up around Europe hundreds of years ago, and traveled—along with a good number of vampires—to the Americas. “My family came to America from Germany. That’s why I was in Europe, actually. I was finally taking a trip to Dresden.”
“Do you have family there?” he asked.
“None that I know of, but it’s where my grandparents came from. The dhampir ones. I wanted to see where they started out. I’d been planning the trip for a couple of years.” She sighed again. “I’ve hardly had a chance to actually travel. I didn’t even make it to Dresden. I staked a pair of vampires when I landed in Berlin and I haven’t stopped moving since.”
“When this is over, I’ll take you to Dresden.”
Ada turned startled eyes to Max. “You can’t be serious!”
“It’s the least I could do,” he said. “I owe you my life. You should be able to enjoy your holiday, without vampires imposing upon it. I know of a lovely hotel we could stay at while we’re there.”
He was serious, she realized. “I may take you up on that offer,” she said carefully.
“Please do. I like Dresden. I think you’ll like it, too.” He swallowed the last of his port but didn’t pour himself any more. “You haven’t said yet why you became a Searcher.”
“I had to,” she said again.
“But if you didn’t have to become one, what would you have done?”
Longing swept through Ada at the thought of her shelved dreams. Longing and regret. A bitter taste seeped into her mouth at the memories. “You’ll laugh,” she cautioned.
“I won’t.”
“I wanted to be an airship pilot. I started taking lessons when I was seventeen,” she said. Her words were rushed; she wanted to get out the whole story before Max could find it amusing. “I’d been staking vampires for a couple years by then, and I was tired of it. I wanted something different. I’d always wanted to fly. I enrolled in courses at the New York Academy of Flight, but they’re so expensive.” And an unexpected nest of newly-turned and very bloodlust-crazed vampires turned up in Chicago and required help from the New York branch. That mess had taken weeks to clean up, and a few vampires managed to escape for parts unknown anyway.
Max didn’t laugh, though, just quietly regarded her through clear dark eyes.
“I wanted my own airship,” she confessed. “I thought I could do both, use the dirigible business as a cover for hunting vampires. And see more of the world,” she added wistfully. “I didn’t have much of a choice when it came to joining the Searchers. When you’re a Burgess and you have the sense, you join, no more questions.”
“I would never laugh at you for that. It’s an admirable dream, one that’s still within your grasp.”
She hadn’t intended to tell Max all of that, and still felt embarrassment wash over her at her confession, even though his reply was encouraging. “Well, it’s been eight years since my last lesson. What about you?” she asked, changing the subject. “Why don’t you ever come back to England?”
“I’ve never liked staying in one place too long,” he said. “I always wanted to travel and write, and I’ve done quite a lot of both. It’s good that I did, because they were the only things I was ever proficient at. Uncle James pushed for me to follow him into medicine, but I lack both the inclination and the intelligence to do so.”
“But you’re so smart! You write so well!”
“A propensity for writing tall tales does not mean one is especially intelligen
t. I was an average student, at best. Certainly not someone who should be holding sharp knives over patients.”
“What about your parents?” she asked.
“Passed on. My mother when I was born, my father in a submersible accident when I was a boy. I don’t remember either of them.”
He spoke of his parents’ deaths matter-of-factly, as if they didn’t bother him. Maybe they truly didn’t, Ada thought. She missed her own parents fiercely, but she grew up with them. It had been ten years since her mother died of pneumonia, five since her father was hit by a carriage in Brooklyn. At least they hadn’t died at the hands of vampires. Ada would always be grateful for that.
“No siblings?” she asked.
“None. It was just me and Uncle James, and we didn’t always see eye-to-eye on a great deal of issues.” He paused. “Most issues, actually. He thought I was wasting my potential, as he called it. When he wasn’t busy in his laboratory or the hospital, of course. I left England as soon as I reached my majority and rarely returned. I last saw him four years ago.” He turned sad eyes to Ada. “I’m unsure if I regret his passing so much as regretting that we could never seem to have a relationship. I’m mourning what could have been, not the man himself. Does this make me a terrible person?”
“Of course it doesn’t. You can’t help how you feel, just how you act on your feelings.”
“The least I can do is find out why he died.” His gaze turned flinty, determined.
“I’m happy to help you with that. Staking vampires is what I do best. Well, one of the things I do best.”
Damn! She hadn’t meant to let that innuendo slip out. The man was pouring his heart out to her, and now he was going to think that all she wanted was something carnal from him.
She did, but so far she just liked him. She cared about his opinions and feelings, which wasn’t something she usually expected to do with her lovers, nor did she expect it in return.
Max’s eyes darkened at her words, and she thought she might not have misstepped, after all. “What else do you do best?” he asked. An undercurrent, thick and darkly exciting, laced his voice.
Awareness rippled through Ada, and all thoughts of her aborted trip to Dresden and vampires flew from her mind. She was remembering the Max who had kissed her so thoroughly outside the Langham Hotel last night—was it only last night?—and she uttered a quick, silent prayer that his mind might be on the same page as hers right now.
“That information is need-to-know,” she said, her voice light.
“What if I told you I needed to know?” His mouth hovered inches from her ear, breath tickling her skin, and a shudder wracked through her at the teasing sensation.
Rational thought fled her mind. “I’d probably—oh, God!—agree.” His tongue had found the sensitive spot just under her ear, where her pulse beat in an increasing tattoo. She turned her head, her lips finding his, and let him pick her up and carry her back to the bed dominating the room. He kneeled over her, leaving a trail of kisses over her neck where her stupid high-necked dress didn’t cover her skin.
He had flicked open her dress’s buttons and peeled it away from her body before a sobering thought derailed her ardor. “Max, stop.”
Immediately his fingers stilled, and he sat up, balanced on his knees on either side of her. “Are you all right?” he asked, alarm lacing his words.
“I am,” she said. “It’s you I’m worried about.”
What was it about this man that made her care about him? She’d rescued other men from vampires before and sent them back to their lives without another thought about them. She’d done the same with other lovers, as well.
Ada didn’t like caring about other people. It made things so much more complicated.
Still, she forced herself to explain. “I just—I want you to want this,” she said softly. She swallowed, trying to dislodge the lump in her throat and failing. “You’re grieving, and I don’t want you to do something you might regret later on.”
He touched his thumb to her lips. “I don’t think that will happen, Ada.”
“I don’t want to be a distraction, Max,” she said.
He shook his head. “You aren’t. Ada, I don’t know what it is, except that it’s not all because you saved me last night, but I think the world of you. I want you no matter the circumstances.”
The words warmed her, not just in body but in soul. It wasn’t a feeling she was accustomed to, but she liked it. “All right,” she said.
“All right, I can stay the night with you?”
Anticipation sent tingles down her spine that radiated through her body. Somehow, she had the notion that spending one night together might not be enough. “Yes,” she said, not bothering to try to hide the breathiness of her reply.
His eyes sparkled, and a small smile quirked the corner of his mouth. His nimble fingers resumed unbuttoning her dress, revealing the corset she’d been damning since arriving in Europe. He pushed her dress down her body and tossed it over the side of the bed, and she didn’t look to see where it landed.
Max unhooked her corset, pulling the sides apart. Ada involuntarily rolled her shoulders, releasing some of the stiffness in her back it caused. She drew in a deep breath for the first time in hours. “Thank you,” she said.
His lips hovered an inch above hers. “What for?”
“Taking off that damn thing. I hate it.”
“You don’t wear one in New York?” He actually looked a little intrigued at the idea.
“When I do, it isn’t as restrictive as this,” she said. “It isn’t nearly as uncomfortable.”
He trailed a line of kisses down her throat to her collarbone, and any remaining thought about her corset fled her mind. He pushed her well-worn shift up her body, pulling it over her head and throwing it somewhere in the vicinity of her corset. His hands skimmed over the pale flesh of her belly next, until they landed at the tops of her thighs, where her stockings were tied with mismatched ribbons.
“Wait,” she said.
He paused, fingers poised over one stocking. “Ada?”
She sat up and reached for his shirt, grabbing a fistful of cloth. “Why am I the only one getting naked?” she asked.
“Because you look much better undressed than I do.”
She giggled at that, because she knew it wasn’t true. She’d lost weight since starting her journey through Europe, and besides that, she had scars. Scars from fighting with vampires, old marks from childhood scrapes. But as she unbuttoned Max’s shirt and his eyes never left her face, she could tell he wasn’t seeing her imperfections, and that warmed her in a way she hadn’t experienced before.
He really did care about her. She believed that now.
His shirt unbuttoned, she pushed it off his shoulders. He stripped off his undershirt before she could, and she was finally able to feast her eyes on his bare skin. He was, as she suspected the first time she saw him accompanying Lisette Babineaux, just as firm as he looked.
A puckered, circular scar marred one shoulder, small and dark. “What’s that?” she asked, running her fingers over it.
“I had a fencing accident when I was in university,” he said. “It turns out I’m terrible at defending myself and holding a foil at the same time.”
“How badly did it hurt?”
“Not as much as vampire fangs, but it was certainly more than a pinch.”
Ada ran her tongue over the spot, savoring Max’s sharp intake of breath at the sensation. Her hands slid down his chest to his trousers and deftly unhooked the buttons there. Her hand brushed over the hard bulge of his erection, and she slipped her hand inside his loosened trousers to stroke his cock.
He groaned in response, pushing up to meet her hand. His mouth crashed down on hers, tongue sweeping into her mouth. The sensation sent waves of heat wracking through her body, starting at her dampening sex and fanning out.
She broke away from him long enough to whisper, “We need to take these off.” She pushed at the fabric o
f his trousers, but he was faster. He slid them down his hips and kicked them away, along with his drawers.
He leaned over her, mouth inches from a nipple stiffening in the cool air, but she halted him, her hands on his shoulders. “Wait,” she said.
Max paused, a quizzical look on his face.
Ada sat up, and he did likewise, resting on his knees. Her gaze roved over him. “I just wanted to take a look first.”
He grinned, without a trace of self-consciousness. “What do you think?”
Ada ran her finger over the center of his chest, along the light dusting of hair that arrowed down his body, brushing over his cock with a teasing, feather-light touch.
He closed his eyes for a second, fighting for control.
She wrapped her hand around him, feeling desire pulse through the delicate skin. She leaned down, licking the head. His hands fisted in her hair.
She took him in her mouth, her tongue sliding over him.
He thrust into her, a moan escaping his throat. “Mother of God,” he said, the words sounding pained. But he urged her on, guiding her as she sucked him.
“Damn.” He pulled away, and she looked up. Desire still smoldered in his eyes, and he pushed her back against the pillows, moving her still-stockinged legs apart. He settled between them, his lips finding her neck. “Ada, can I try something with you?” His breath tickled her ear.
“Yes.” Her voice was breathless and her heart pounded so hard she thought he must have noticed. His erection bobbed against her hip and she strained upward, wanting it inside her.
“Tell me if you want me to stop.”
“I don’t think that’s going to happen, but all right,” she said.
“Raise your arms.”
The command in his voice sent a shiver of anticipation down Ada’s spine, and she obeyed. He guided her hands to the posts on either side of her head.
“Keep them there,” he said.
He rolled one stocking down her leg, then the other, and Ada immediately knew what he planned. Excitement coiled in her belly and she kept her hands at the headboard.
Blood Ties Page 7
