1 Dicey Grenor (7 page)

Aw. That’s so
sweet. Now tell this imbecile to get lost
, Max said as he squeezed again.

Another moan
escaped my lips.
Remi
frowned.

I swear I only
meant to respond to Max with my mind, but I was confused.
Anxious.
Scared.
Before I could get hold on my emotions, a
finger slipped in me and my nipple was pinched. My back felt weighted as if a
strong body was pushed against me and I could feel an erection. I didn’t think
Max would risk exposure in public, but sometimes he surprised me.
 

Then I looked down
to where my body was being probed. If he’d really been materializing from mist
to flesh, my clothes would have moved and they didn’t. I relaxed because at
least that indicated Max was contacting me psychically. All I had to do was
remember he was only touching my mind and I’d be all right.

Easier said than
done...

A second finger
slipped in and they both started moving in and out. My skin flushed. “Oh, shit.”

“Are you okay?”
Remi
asked.

I jumped up. “
Remi
, I
gotta
go to the ladies
room,” I said then ran off. “Max, please don’t do this in public,” I whispered
as I pushed the door to the bathroom.

I looked under
each stall and thanked my lucky stars they were unoccupied. Leaning on the
counter, I stared in the mirror until Max’s image came in clearly. Sure enough,
he was standing behind me, pressed closely with one hand dipped between my legs
and the other holding me in place as he stimulated my breast.

“You’re a bastard,”
I said as coldly and viciously as possible while he continued doing such sinful
things to my body. I meant what I said, but my body responded favorably to him.

“You don’t mean
that, Willow.” He grinned as he dragged his hand from my legs to his mouth. He
licked both fingers slowly while staring at me in the mirror.

“Why are you here?
Can’t you just leave me alone?”

“No, Willow. I
cannot. You are my bride and you belong here with me.”

With his hand
removed from my cookie, I was able to sound more convincing when I said, “Damn,
I hate you. You don’t need me. Go back to the rock you crawled from under and
leave me the hell alone.”

 
He grabbed my arms and swung me around to face
him before my brain could process the movement. Of course, if anyone walked in,
I’d look like I was talking to myself. But I could see him clearly, his
eternally young Celtic face…with those emerald green eyes, short blond hair,
dimples galore and pouty lips. If he put those lips on me I was done.

“You knew what you
were getting into when you asked me to turn you. I told you how it worked. You
would be and are mine. If you did not want this bond you should never have
completed the ritual. I was very clear about that.”

“If
I’da
known I would be worse off, I wouldn’t have. Believe
me.” Not entirely true. Becoming a vampire had been the single best thing I’d
ever done with my miserable life.

He didn’t have to
know that.

“I thought you
liked being a vampire,” he smirked.

Asshole.

“I do. I just hate
being wedded to you. I should have worked harder to find another
maistre
to turn me.”

“That is neither
here nor there.” He dropped my arms and turned his back to me. Nearly a minute
passed before he ran a manicured hand through his nape hair. “I thought you would
have come back to me by now, Willow. That is the only reason I agreed to your
leaving to begin with. Why have you not? Is it because of that human you have
been taking blood from out there in the booth?”

He’d spat out
human
like a curse word and swung around abruptly.

“We gave it a
couple of years, Max. I told you I couldn’t handle it anymore. I can’t be one
of your many puppets. I’m not a trophy for your shelf. I need to be me, an
individual…independent, self-reliant. Besides, you weren’t forthcoming about
everything that would happen between us. Being able to invade my mind, my
dreams, was not part of it. I didn’t knowingly sign up for that.”

“You like it when
I make you come in your sleep. Or do I mistake the toe curling and the way your
pussy glistens?” He moved in close and ran a thumb across my bottom lip.

I stepped back,
managing to bump into the sink. Not putting much distance between us.

“My body may
respond to you, but you shouldn’t take that to mean I want you popping up at
your
will. If you weren’t so fucking selfish and overbearing I may even come around.
But as it goes, you want what you want and to hell with my feelings.”

There was a
startling knock at the door.

“Willow?
You in there?
You okay?”
Remi
said.

I moved towards
the door.

“You open this
door and I am going to be all over you like a bomb in Pearl Harbor,” Max said
through gritted teeth. “I’ll make you come right in front of your lover boy. Or
maybe I should go there, disembowel him and spread his remains as weed
fertilizer.”

It was time to
beg, appeal to his…oh, who was I kidding? He was evil through and through, but
I needed him to back off at the moment.

“
Puh
-lease
don’t
do this right now,
Max. I’m here with someone.
Someone who has no beef with you.”

“And I should care
because…?” His face distorted into something menacing. I shook my head and
looked down. I couldn’t believe I was doomed to an eternity with this asshole.
Maybe vampires were really damned ’cause this was pure hell on earth.

“Because he’s my
friend and…and…”

“And?”

“You can always
come back later today. Come see me around noon—my time—and we can be together
without interruption.”

His eyebrows
raised, his jaw dropped. “You will not fight me? You promise to give yourself
to me freely?”

“Yes.” I gulped. I
really hated him. But damn if my cookie didn’t clench at the thought of him
coming to me later when the sun was high and my drapes were drawn tightly. It
would be just him and me. Good times.

“You know I’ll
just be in your head, right? I cannot come from my hiding place yet. You will
be okay with me lying with you through your mind?”

He’d been a
high-profile celebrity-type vampire before the HPA was passed. If he came out
of hiding now, he’d be recognized immediately…and hunted as the evil monster he
was.

Remi
knocked on the door and opened it.

Yes. Yes!
I
shouted mentally to Max. Then I folded a hand towel like I’d washed my hands
and threw it in the trash.

Max blew me a kiss
and disappeared. I would never forget his Cheshire-cat-who-ate-the-canary grin.
Motherfucker.

Turning to
Remi
, I smiled. “Yes. I’m okay. Must’ve been something I
ate earlier.”

I followed him
into the hall and back to our booth.

“I thought I heard
you talking to someone. Were you on the phone ’cause I didn’t see anyone else
in there?”

“No. I don’t even
have a cell phone.”

To talk to my
maistre
vampire, I never needed one.

Chapter 7

Tension in his
apple red Audi Roadster
rose
as
Remi
killed the engine and the lights.

We were parked in
front of my motel room, and I knew he was expecting an invite. I risked a
glance in his direction and met that same
ol
’ creepy
yet beautiful stare. Yep. He wanted to come in. Part of me wanted him to, but
the rational side was winning out. We should keep our relationship professional
like it always had been. Besides, shit with Max in the diner had been too close
for comfort. He’d sanctioned human blood withdrawals since it was necessary for
my existence, but not sex. I could imagine what Max would do if he caught me
getting warm and cozy with
Remi
after catching me out
with him.

But Max was a man
of his word, so far anyway. If he was planning to visit me at noon, I didn’t
have to worry about him popping up within the next few hours. The real question
was whether I trusted myself to be in my room alone with
Remi
.

I looked over at
the digital clock. It was nearly five o’clock. Could I keep my hands and fangs
off him? Did I really have to?

Remi
spoke first. “I’m not expecting sex or anything. I
know I came on strong earlier, but I can behave.” He looked towards my room
door. “I just don’t want the night to end. I feel like I’m getting to know you
better.” His eyes shifted to me again, traveling over my breasts. “Maybe you’ll
let me touch you a little like I usually do? Since I won’t see you again until
next week?” He stretched his hand out to touch me then dropped it on his lap.
Was he demonstrating how well he could keep his hands to himself or proving how
hard it was to do so?

“
Remi
…”

 
“We could be good together, Willow. Will you
at least consider my proposal? About living with me?”

Hell no.
“Sure.”

“Liar.
But that’s—”

I awakened with a
start. No, that was an understatement. I was downright panicky, nearly pissing
myself. It had come on so suddenly this time, without warning.

When you have
narcolepsy, you get used to falling asleep at the most inappropriate times, but
geez. Being in the car with
Remi
during an episode
was all wrong. He’d admitted to fantasizing about killing me. Could there be a
worse keeper for my virtue when I’d hit the sudden REM? Maybe it didn’t count
since I was already dead. But still. He didn’t know that.

I looked around
expecting to find my guts spilt across the seat with him bathing his dick in it
when he said, “I didn’t touch you. I swear.”

He stubbed out a
nearly-finished cigarette into the ashtray, rolled his window up, and stared
out.

He knew what I’d
been thinking, but didn’t sound offended. He sounded matter-of-factly, like it
was the most logical thing to be afraid of him when I fell asleep. Security
wasn’t here to keep
Remi
in check. I was completely
justified in being suspicious. He knew it, and I knew it.

Now what the hell
had he been saying about
living
with him? Yeah, right.

I shuddered. The
possibilities were scary. Not only was he not roommate material, he wasn’t a
good carpooler either. I hadn’t been thinking clearly when I’d gotten in the
car with him.

“So, how long have
you had narcolepsy?” he asked as he ran a trembling hand through his hair.

That wasn’t the
conversation I expected, but it was better than continuing the old one. And why
was he so nervous?

I looked down in
his lap.

Oh.

He was poking
through his jeans with what must have been one ache of an erection. He really
had restrained himself.
Impressive.
He’d been on his
best behavior even when I had passed out right next to him in a relatively
confined space.

He suddenly
slapped his palm to his forehead. “You know what? I never thought to ask if you’re
seeing someone. I just assumed not.” He paused. “Well? Are you?”

“Uh…” I’d never
had to explain my relationship with Max before. “It’s complicated.”

“I’ve never seen
you with anyone. You stay at the motel alone, don’t you?”

“Like I said—it’s
complicated.”

“I really wish you’d
open up to me.” He scratched his head. “You need someone to protect you,
provide for you…love you. I can do all that. I’m single, no kids. You’re like
my girlfriend. I don’t see anyone but you.”

“We’re not dating,
Remi
. I’m sorry. I can’t be your girlfriend. I can
see you at the club but that’s it.”

Silence.

I hated ending the
night on that note so I thought of something to talk about. “How long have you
been a
necrophiliac
?” I asked.

He chuckled, “You
first.”

“What?”

“I asked how long
you’ve had narcolepsy.”

Oh, yeah. He had
asked that. “It’s genetic so I was born with it. I had an aunt who was
narcoleptic so when I first started showing signs in my teens, my parents knew
what was going on.” I flashed back to the prayer meetings and attempted
exorcisms. Since my parents were convinced narcolepsy was demon possession,
they had summoned all the deacons and elders of the church to cast it out of
me. When that hadn’t worked, they’d put me on a water and unleavened bread fast
and tried beating it out of me. I had been quarantined and forced to pray the
Lord’s Prayer every hour for…

“Willow?” I shut
off the memories and looked at him. “Are you okay? I asked if there was a cure
or treatment for it.”

“No cure. And as
far as treatment goes, you name it, I’ve tried it: acupuncture, hypnosis,
medication, routine therapy…”
Exorcism, spells
…

“Lobotomy?”

I laughed. “Okay. Not
every
thing.”

“Are you on any
medicine now?”

“No. I visit a
doctor often to be tested for clinical trials and I attend a sleep disorder
support group though.”

“A
group of narcoleptics?
I didn’t realize it was so common.”

“It’s not. Most of
our group members have psychosomatic issues manifested by insomnia. I’m the
only one with narcolepsy but it helps being around other people who suffer from
sleep disorders. The psychiatrist who facilitates it is a caring man. I like
him a lot. I came back to Houston after being gone a year because he built a
clinic in the Medical Center.”