“Like I said before,” Maya continued, dropping her voice to a breathy whisper. “I wasn’t asking for permission.”
“Olivia, can you please talk some sense into her?”
“Our coven is a family, Shane.” Olivia’s voice, edged with sadness, pulled Maya from her battle of wills with Shane. “Maya isn’t a prisoner here. If she needs some space and wants to get a job somewhere else, then while I may not agree with it, I respect her right to choose.”
“Really?” Maya’s voice was strained.
“Yes.” Olivia leaned into Doug’s embrace and lifted one shoulder. “I’m not thrilled at the idea of you working for a guy like Rat, but you have every right to make this kind of decision for yourself.”
“Thank you.” Maya fought back tears and looked around the room at the rest of the coven. All of them looked at her with the same accepting and slightly sad look that Olivia had. Except for Shane. He was visibly furious.
“You would allow her to go work at the very club where a pack of wolves is about to congregate?”
“It doesn’t thrill me, but I’ll have to trust Maya to behave properly.” She leveled a stern gaze at Maya. “And if you do decide to work there, I will expect you to be back at the apartments immediately after work, at least while the wolves are in town.”
Without another word, Maya launched herself off the ground and flew over the bar before gathering Olivia in a weepy hug.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “Thank you so much, Olivia.”
“You’re welcome.” Olivia pulled back and looked Maya in the eyes. Brushing Maya’s blond hair off her face, she cradled Maya’s cheek lovingly and her tone grew serious. “Just remember what we’ve said about the wolves, Maya. They are nothing like human men… Do you understand what I’m getting at?”
You can’t glamour a wolf the way you can the human boys. Trixie’s voice drifted into Maya’s mind with sisterly concern. You better be careful, girl.
Have you ever tried it? Maya asked. When Trixie didn’t respond, Maya knew what the answer was. Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing.
“I understand.” Maya nodded and swiped at the tears that fell in spite of her best efforts to stop them. She knew Olivia didn’t want her toying with a werewolf the way she did with the humans, and that was fine by Maya. She didn’t miss the glare Shane was giving her but avoided catching his eye. “And no live feeds while the wolves are in town. I promise. But tonight…I’m going hunting.”
In a blink, Maya flew to the front doors of the club and stopped just before leaving. She spun around, her long, blond hair spilling down her back, and winked at a visibly annoyed Shane. “If you insist on tagging along, then you’ll have to catch me first…old man.”
“Fine.” Pulling on the leather sentry gloves, Shane took a step forward with his sights set firmly on her. “I’ll even give you a head start.” He took one step closer. “Ready?”
A surge of anticipation mixed with adrenaline shot through Maya and she placed one hand on the massive wooden doors of the club. Her chin titled defiantly and she nodded. “Always.”
Shane took another step nearer. “Set.”
“Seriously? There are only a couple of hours until sunrise. I won’t be out that long.” Maya’s eyes narrowed, and in spite of her best efforts, she couldn’t stop the smile that played at her lips. “Don’t you have better things to do?”
Shane shook his head and whispered, “Go.”
The last thing Maya saw before flying out into the crisp November night was the sexy smile on Shane’s face. Flying swiftly through the dark Manhattan sky with Shane in hot pursuit, one thought kept racing through her mind.
For the first time in a long time, Maya wanted a man to catch her.
Chapter 3
Shane gave Maya a healthy head start, allowing her the space he knew she so desperately craved, but he never lost her scent. He whisked through the city sky, high above the streets littered with humans squeezing the last bit of life out of the night, and he realized that he was smiling.
Maya Robertson, the youngling vampire with a penchant for troublemaking, was by far the most beguiling vampire he’d encountered in four centuries. She was defiant, impulsive, and flirtatious, but he saw a frighteningly fragile woman hiding behind her blustery bravado.
That was the woman he wanted to discover. No, “wanted” wasn’t the right word. Needed. He needed to peel back the mask she wore to reveal the woman buried beneath pain and fear. Memories of seeing her attacked in the dreamscape came roaring to mind. Shane growled and increased his speed when he tuned in to Maya’s scent. It was an unmistakable combination of violets and Ivory soap, a clean, fresh scent that stood out in stark contrast to the sharp-tongued vixen she showed to the world.
There was more to Maya than met the eye, and admittedly, there was more between the two of them than trading spirited barbs. Not only had he been pulled into the dreamscape, but at the club, he could have sworn he actually heard her voice in his mind. Her voice full of longing and sadness… I wonder what it feels like to be loved that way?
At least he thought he did, but it was so frustratingly brief, Shane wasn’t certain if he’d imagined it.
The only other vampires with whom he could still telepath were his two surviving siblings. His maker was long dead and Shane had no progeny. He’d never created another vampire because the responsibility was more than he was prepared to take on. He had always been tied to his work, and until these past few months, that was all he’d been interested in.
Meeting Maya had changed the game.
The sound of light, feminine giggling whistled up from the park below as Maya’s scent grew stronger. He could tell she’d found her prey for the night. Shane sharpened his focus and tuned in to the sound of Maya’s voice while he made a swift, silent descent into one of the dark, wooded areas of Central Park.
He scanned the darkness of the hauntingly quiet area with both the heightened night vision and the sonar-like senses of a vampire. She was close. The incoherent mumbling of a human man rumbled along with the soft, hypnotic tone of Maya’s unmistakable voice. Shane set his mouth in a tight line at the realization that she had glamoured a human man. Again.
He was flooded by a sudden and unexpected wave of jealousy, and his fangs erupted on a growl when he spotted her amid the shadows of the trees. She had pinned the man against the trunk of a massive oak tree, and her blond hair glinted in the moonlight while she held him there easily. The guy couldn’t have been more than twenty-five years old, and the disheveled suit he wore looked like it belonged to his father.
Based on the strong scent of booze in the air, the boy was highly intoxicated and didn’t need much glamouring, but Maya clearly didn’t mind. His round, youthful face lolled to one side, and a wistful smile bloomed as Maya whispered seductive promises in his ear. Shane moved closer but stayed behind a neighboring tree. Maya hadn’t spotted him yet, and for the moment, he wanted to keep it that way. The ability to conceal his presence was one of the unique gifts he’d perfected over time.
Maya loosened the boy’s collar, baring the sensitive skin of his throat, and her delicate hand cradled his chin before she tilted his head with her thumb. Shane fought the urge to fly over there and pull her off the incapacitated human to create distance between her flesh and his. The feelings of jealousy were ridiculous, but that didn’t make them any less real. He’d watched thousands of vampires feed over the years, even his maker, and had never been rendered so totally and completely out of sorts.
Maya lifted her bare leg and wrapped it around the boy’s, which pushed her short skirt to dangerous heights. Her silky-looking blond hair spilled down her back in tempting waves, and Shane’s fingers curled at his sides as he imagined what tangling his hands in those long locks would feel like. His body tightened at the mere idea of touching Maya, of brushing his fingertips up her firm, toned legs and
discovering what was hidden beneath that little black skirt.
Shane blinked. What the hell was wrong with him? He hadn’t thought about a woman in that way in centuries, yet here he was, standing under a tree in Central Park with the beginnings of a hard-on.
The boy moaned and mumbled something incoherent, pulling Shane from his thoughts. Maya pressed her body tightly against the boy, and just before sinking her fangs into the neck of her prey, she whipped her head around, locking gazes with Shane.
He froze. No one had ever spotted him or picked up on his presence unless he allowed it.
Until now.
A fanged grin cracked Maya’s face. Winking at Shane, she whispered, “I win.”
A growl rumbled low in his chest at the sight of Maya piercing the tender flesh of the boy’s neck. The eyes of her prey widened briefly, and his body went limp while Maya fed. After not even a minute, Maya released him, licked his wound closed, whispered a new memory into his ear, and stepped back. The glamoured human mumbled something incoherent, staggered toward the path, and wandered off into the night no worse for wear.
Shane’s eyes narrowed. Something far more than the desire for blood was driving her. She’d barely fed and couldn’t have gotten enough to sustain herself for long, which could mean only one thing—she would want to hunt again.
Maya adjusted the black leather bustier and repositioned the emerald necklace that was ever present around her long, lovely neck. She ran her hands through her hair and watched the boy disappear into the night, but Shane couldn’t take his eyes off her.
Her alabaster skin practically glowed in the moonlight. Shane removed his leather gloves, the ones he wore to protect himself from the silver weapons he used in battle, and shoved them into the pockets of his long coat. He flexed his bare hands and allowed himself to imagine what it would be like to touch her. To run his fingertips along the curve of her shoulder, to trace a line down the length of her neck with his tongue and sink his fangs into the sweet spot beneath her ear. The wickedly decadent images flickered through his mind, making his body tighten further.
In the blink of an eye, and without realizing he’d done it, Shane had closed the distance between them and found himself standing directly behind her. Maya’s petite frame was dwarfed by his own and wavered just inches from him.
“I knew you liked to watch.” Her voice, quiet and edged with bitterness, cut into the silence of the night. Maya spun around and stormy, dark blue eyes latched onto his. “Do you get off on that?”
“You are the one who challenged me to follow you.” Perplexed by her obvious anger at his presence, Shane knit his brows together. He inched closer, his gaze wandering over her face, memorizing every curve. “Or did you forget?”
Maya’s eyes widened with every inch of personal space that he invaded, yet she didn’t retreat. “I remember telling you and everyone else that I’m tired of having my every move monitored.” She placed her hands on her hips and met his challenging stare. “You’re a sentry and supposedly some badass warrior, but you’re spending the last hours of your night spying on me? What’s your deal? Are you trying to get brownie points with Doug and Olivia? Do you get some kind of bonus for following me around and messing with my life?”
“Hardly.”
“Then what’s your damage, dude?”
“Actually”—Shane tilted his head slightly to one side and folded his arms over his chest—“that was going to be my question for you.”
“What?” Maya blinked and took a step back. “Me? What are you talking about?”
“Yes, you.” Shane leaned closer and his voice dropped low. “Why do you insist on hunting but barely feed on your prey?” Maya said nothing and took another step backward, but Shane persisted. He dropped his hands and continued moving toward her, even though she moved farther away.
“You only hunt men, and from what I’ve observed over the past few months, your taste in human men is… Well, let’s just say it’s questionable. You don’t just hunt, Maya. You court, seduce, and lure them in much the way one would with a lover, and yet you clearly don’t love them. In fact, I’d say it’s quite the opposite.”
“I like the hunt.” Maya tilted her chin defiantly but gasped when she backed right into the trunk of a massive oak. “What’s wrong with that?” she whispered through trembling lips. “Besides, what would a stodgy old vampire like you know about love?”
“Nothing.” Shane placed his hands against the tree on either side of Maya, caging her in. He leaned in so his face was just inches from hers. “I know little of love, but I’m well schooled in hunting, whether it’s to feed or in battle. It’s not what you’re doing that intrigues me, Maya, but why you’re doing it.”
“I-I’m hunting, like any other vampire does.” Her voice lowered to a whisper, but the anger and defiance had been replaced by fear and uncertainty. “For the blood.”
“No.” Shane shook his head slowly. Brushing a lock of blond hair off her face, he ran his thumb along her jaw. Her skin was warm and smooth beneath his. Although vampires felt cool to the touch to humans, they were felt warm to other vampires because their body temperatures were the same. But Maya’s flesh seemed hotter and more enticing than any Shane had encountered.
He tilted her chin, forcing her to look him in the eye, and to his surprise, she didn’t resist. “If it were only about blood, youngling, then you would simply glamour a human, feed, and release him. No.” Shane traced the line of her full lower lip with the edge of his thumb, and sadness tugged at whatever was left of his heart. “We both know there is much more at play here than the need for blood.”
“Then spill it.” Maya’s features hardened, and her hands balled into fists at her sides. Dark blue eyes glittered up at him with fierce determination. “What is it that you think I’m after?”
Memories of Maya being dragged into the alley and the look of pure terror and helplessness in her eyes came roaring back—and in that instant he knew. He felt like a fool for not realizing it the moment he’d woken from the dreamscape. When the realization dawned, something deep inside him shattered into a million tiny pieces.
“Power,” Shane whispered. His fangs burst free, and Maya let out a gasp of pleasure. “Control.” He placed a gentle kiss at the corner of her mouth. “Domination.”
Maya’s body quivered, the subtle vibrations fluttering over Shane in erotic waves, like a siren song, willing him closer. He brushed his cheek along hers and nuzzled her hair to the side, exposing her long, lovely neck. He placed his hand on the trunk of the tree, once again framing Maya’s petite frame with his far larger one.
“Do I frighten you?” he asked, taking in every beautiful feature of her face.
“No.” A smile played at her lips, and he stilled when her hands found their way to his chest. “You’re arrogant and bossy, but no, I’m not afraid of you.” Her grin widened and charmed him beyond reason. “Annoyed, not afraid.”
Maya giggled, filling his head with the sweet, clean scent of Ivory soap in an almost intoxicating way. A gust of wind wafted over them, bringing with it the thick scent of desire, and he had to taste her. Shane’s gut clenched hotly with need. Sensing what he wanted, Maya tilted her head, offering herself to him instinctively as one leg slipped enticingly between his.
“I have to taste you, Maya,” Shane whispered between kisses down her throat. Her body quaked and she moaned in response. He lifted his lip and gingerly ran the tip of his fang along the curve of her neck, knowing what he needed to do. “Will you let me taste you?”
“Yes,” Maya whispered. Her fingers curled around his wrists and her back arched, offering him what he so desperately needed.
On a curse, Shane let his fangs pierce the pristine flesh along her throat. The instant the warm sweetness bathed his tongue, lights burst behind his eyes and the world around him fell away. He’d drunk from humans and vampires, and even a fairy o
r two, but no one tasted anything like this. Maya’s blood was sweet and thick and sent tentacles of power through him like lightning.
He leaned in and drank greedily, and one word ran through his mind: bloodmate. The word repeated over and over like a heartbeat. It thundered through his head relentlessly. Amid the flashes of light, one image came roaring into mind—a smiling old woman who was wearing Maya’s necklace.
Who am I?
Maya’s mind merged with his like a thunderbolt and Shane reared back, shocked by the sudden and combustible psychic connection. Maya looked up at him through large blue eyes, and Shane watched the two tiny holes on her neck close, leaving no evidence behind.
Running one finger along her jawline, he captured her heavily lidded gaze with his. After tasting her blood, Shane was certain that Maya was far more fragile than she would have anyone believe. She was lost and reminded him of someone fighting her way through the fog with no one else in sight. Alone and frightened.
To his surprise, he was unable to read her blood memories. That was a first. It was as though all of her memories were shrouded in secrecy, hidden from anyone and everyone. The strangest part was that he didn’t even think Maya knew she was doing it.
Even though he wanted nothing more than to claim her as his, words of caution ran through his head. For all her bravado, Maya Robertson was clinging to her existence with every ounce of strength she had. She was the most haunted soul he’d ever encountered.
Shane could not take her or tell her about the possibility that they were bloodmates until she knew she was safe with him, and she’d never feel safe until she rid herself of the demons that haunted her. Shane knew all too well about demons. He’d let the memory of his maker haunt him for more years than he cared to admit.
Maya wasn’t haunted by her maker. Instead, she was tormented by a human life she could barely remember and a vicious attack she couldn’t forget.
Vampire Trouble Page 4
