Blood Guilt (23 page)

“I can’t bring it back,” she managed. “But we have more to think about than you and me. We have Robbie. There’s some connection between him and us. I think he needs us both, and I want to suggest to you that we look after him together. Like his parents. And maybe in time, you’ll feel something for me again. If you don’t, it doesn’t matter,” she added quickly. “Just be there for Robbie when he needs you. Hell, we’ll both be dead in a few years anyway.”

The last came out on a laugh, but she was aware how easily it could turn into a sob, and she sprang up from the bed, already running away from him when he moved, blurring across the bed to seize her wrist and jerk her back.

She fell onto the bed, and he loomed over her.

“I feel,” he whispered. “I feel for you. If the love is there, we can learn to trust.”

She touched his cheek, his lips. “Love,” she whispered. “You said ‘love.’”

“What would you call it?”

She began to smile, not sure she could bear any of this. “I’d call it love,” she said and kissed him.

There was a jerk as her night shirt was ripped and flung across the floor. His weight was on her, between her thighs, hard and heavy and so exciting that she had to push upward into his hips. Even his clothes couldn’t hide the rigid erection she rubbed against. And then his teeth bit into her throat, and her mouth opened in a silent cry. Her blood streamed out of her veins and into his mouth and she clung to him in the dizziness of sudden bliss. His body bucked, moving with speeds she could barely see or understand. Just that a moment later, he was naked in her arms, drinking more of her blood and pushing inside her. The world rocked with wild, savage pleasure, and she was about to lose control.

“What if Robbie wakes up?” she gasped, hanging on to the last, almost invisible thread.

He detached his teeth from her neck and licked greedily at the wound.

“Our door is temporarily locked. He’ll have to get used to that, because it’s going to happen a lot.”

Her hands scrabbled at his back, feeling it ripple and shake under her caress as the intensity rushed on her, breaking like some endless wave over her helpless, convulsing body.

“Oh yes,” Maximilian whispered, and she felt his mouth return to her wound, gulping down the blood with her pleasure as he rammed into her hard and stayed there. He reared up with the force of his climax, leaving her throat at last. Her blood was on his teeth, his lips, and she’d never seen anything so exciting in her life. And when he fell on her mouth for a long, fierce kiss, her world felt perfect.

Or almost. “You,” she panted against his lips, “are going to have to buy me iron supplements.”

She had her reward when his lips smiled on hers. “I will,” he promised. “This is a special occasion, and I couldn’t help myself. But I promise I won’t take so much again.” He kissed her and rolled so that she lay sprawled on top of him. “Or at least, not at once,” he amended.

She propped her chin on his chest to regard him. “You’re actually quite appallingly truthful, aren’t you?”

He only smiled at that and stroked her hair with one lazy hand.

“Will you be faithful?” she asked, her own smile dying on her lips. “To me?”

He appeared to consider the question seriously, a faint frown contracting his brow. “I can’t imagine wanting anyone else. Do you want me to be faithful?”

“Yes,” she said, “I think I do.”

“Then I will be. And if I ever feel differently, I’ll tell you.”

She blinked. Unexpected laughter hissed between her teeth. “All right,” she agreed. It would be a life of revelation with Maximilian, and it would be
fun
.

“For the record,” he said, “I’ll kill any man—or vampire—who touches you.”

The smile died slowly on her lips, for he was serious. Deadly serious. The dark glints in his eyes told her so.

“Does that bother you?” he asked.

“Of course it—” She broke off, staring at him. “Actually, no. I think I like your jealousy. But no jumping to wrong conclusions,” she added severely. “We have to talk to each other, honestly, like this.”

“Very well. In that case, would you like me to fuck you again before Robbie wakes up? Slow, this time, and gentle.”

Lust raged once more, soaring through her body which she’d thought sated for the day, for the
week
by its last, massive orgasm.

“Yes, please,” she whispered and kissed his mouth. Her hair fell forward around his face. His hands slid down her back to her hips. And the bedroom door rattled.

They froze. Their gazes held, and then they separated. But that was fine too. There was Robbie. And Maximilian’s whispered promise in her ear.

“Later…”

Chapter Nineteen

The house couldn’t have been more different from Mihaela’s modern, impersonal flat. It was big, old, and rambling, and it needed a lot of work. But it had character and beauty, a wonderful gem hidden among the narrow streets of Buda’s Castle District. Maximilian and Robbie were in love with the stone.

“What do you think?” Mihaela asked when she’d thrown open the front door and ushered Elizabeth and István inside.

“Wow,” Elizabeth said, awe in her voice. “It’s amazing.”

“The legal stuff should be completed in January,” Mihaela said, dancing ahead to show them the rooms on the ground floor. “This is the kitchen. Or will be.” She didn’t need to explain more. There was a tiny gas cooker and a few broken cupboards. She threw open another door. “And there’s a huge basement down there.”

A burst of childish laughter drifted through the door, making Mihaela smile. “Robbie’s playing basketball with Maximilian.”

Elizabeth laughed. “This I have to see,” she said with determination and brushed past Mihaela to go down the stone steps. Mihaela glanced apologetically at István in his wheelchair.

“I can’t make the stairs,” he said. “But look.” He pushed the chair back, away from the steps, and, laying a hand on either of its arms, he slowly stood up. He even took a few steps.

Mihaela rushed toward him with an instinctive desire to help, but he held up one hand and turned and walked back to his chair, where he sat down again—with relief, it was true, but the improvement was monumental.

“I have no words,” Mihaela said happily. “I’m so pleased for you.”

A smile flickered across István’s lips. “I know. I’m pleased for you too. I wasn’t sure how I’d feel, seeing you here, but I’ve never seen you so happy or enthusiastic. Is that down to
him
? Or to Robbie?”

“Both,” Mihaela said. She hesitated, then, “I know it’s odd of me. After all I said and feared for Elizabeth. But you can’t choose these things, can you? It just—happens.”

The voices from the basement, mostly Elizabeth’s and Robbie’s, had grown closer, along with footsteps on the stairs.

“What about the adoption?” István asked. “Is it legal?”

“It will be,” Mihaela said. “I went over Konrad’s head to Lazar, who’s arranged it with the authorities with minimum fuss.”

“He didn’t balk at Maximilian’s name being on the certificate?”

Mihaela twitched her eyebrows. “Détente, remember? Saloman is still flavor of the month, and he spoke for Max. Not that I believe the adoption of children by vampires is something that will be generally encouraged or publicized just yet. But this is a special case.”

István nodded. “And a beginning.”

Robbie bounded into the kitchen with Elizabeth at his heels. He ran immediately to Mihaela, babbling about how many times he’d got the ball in the basket and how often Max had from the opposite end of the basement.

Maximilian himself followed Elizabeth into the kitchen. Casually, Mihaela pulled the dirty curtain across the window to keep out the ray of low, winter sun.

Maximilian nodded to István, a gesture reminiscent of Saloman, although in Maximilian it was more casual.

István nodded back. His eyes weren’t exactly hostile, but they weren’t so very friendly either. István was reserving judgment, which was all Mihaela needed right now.

Maximilian, never one for small talk, took something from his jeans pocket and walked over to hold it out to István. “Mihaela told me you wanted to see this.”

István held out his hand, and Maximilian dropped the stone compass into it. István’s eyes lit with enthusiasm. “Thank you. This is fascinating. May I keep it for a few days?”

Maximilian nodded.

István lifted his gaze to the vampire. “Can I take it apart? If I put it back together?”

“No,” Maximilian said. His brows twitched. “It doesn’t come apart. It’s melded together for eternity.”

István looked skeptical, but as he turned the compass in his hands, a frown began to contract his brow. “Okay,” he allowed. “But I can study it, experiment on it?”

Maximilian shrugged. “Sure. It can’t be damaged.”

“So can you just hang out here whenever you like?” Elizabeth asked. “Even though the house isn’t officially yours yet?”

“Up to a point,” Mihaela replied. “The previous owner’s dead, so we’re not in anyone’s way. We’re not living here, but we come over most days to measure and plan and get used to the place.” She ruffled Robbie’s head as she spoke. “Robbie’s learning Hungarian so he can go to school here. He’s already made friends with a couple of local kids, which helps enormously. In many ways.”

“There’s a garden as well,” Robbie said eagerly. “Do you want to see?”

“Yes, please,” Elizabeth said promptly.

Robbie ran to open the door, and Maximilian stepped back into the shadows. It was Mihaela’s only regret, that she could never enjoy the sun with Maximilian. She smiled at him, touching his hand as she walked toward the door. Maximilian’s fingers threaded through hers and slid free. Her skin tingled with warmth as well as ever-present desire.

It was a tiny, almost casual gesture, but she could see at once that it wasn’t lost on either Elizabeth or István, who each pulled their gaze back to the door.

“I haven’t had a garden since I was a child,” Mihaela said. “This one’s a bit of a wilderness, but it’s small, and Robbie and I have big plans for it.”

“We’re going to grow strawberries, ken?” Robbie said with enthusiasm. “And peas. And flowers and stuff. And Santa Claus might bring me a trampoline!”

He scampered through the long, overgrown grass, pushing back the weeds and overhanging bushes as he went.

“And this is what you want,” Elizabeth said. It wasn’t a question, so Mihaela didn’t answer. She just smiled. She’d smiled a lot since returning from Malta.

“And the hunting?” István asked.

“Oh, I’m still a hunter, still part of the network.” She turned to face them. “I went to see Konrad, told him how much I didn’t appreciate what he did in Malta. And told him once and for all that his militant group was wrong, and I wouldn’t be joining it.”

“I told him the same thing,” István said.

“I don’t underestimate the difficulties,” Mihaela said anxiously. “I’m caught between two worlds, like you, Elizabeth. But I feel I’m in a unique position to help.”

Elizabeth kicked at a stray stone with the toe of her boot. “Robbie tells me you’re all going to the Angel Club tonight.”

István brought his gaze sharply back to Mihaela.

“I know it’s not an entirely suitable place for a child,” she said quickly. “But it will be early in the evening. Saloman will be there. Maximilian thinks it’s necessary to show the vampires that Robbie’s under his protection, with Saloman’s approval.”

“A sort of ‘hands-off”?” Elizabeth guessed.

“Exactly. Not that it was a big risk anyway, but Robbie is prone to seek out telepaths, and although we have more control over him than any of his previous carers, we can’t guarantee that he won’t wander over to the wrong vampire, especially here where there are far more than in Edinburgh.”

She glanced at Elizabeth, only half joking. “I’m not looking forward to the Angel, to be honest. I know Maximilian used to have a thing with Angyalka.”

“A century or so ago,” Elizabeth said wryly. “It’s you who’s saved Maximilian and holds all his attention.”

Mihaela smiled faintly and pulled a stray leaf of a bare bush. “How can you know that?”

“Saloman,” Elizabeth said simply.

Although in her heart she already knew it to be the truth, it warmed her to hear the words. “I suppose it’s whether or not
Angyalka
knows that bothers me,” she confessed. “I can’t work her out.”

Elizabeth shrugged. “She’s a realist, essentially. A pragmatist. She’s very fond of Maximilian. In fact, if you ask me, he’s the one person she’d defy Saloman for. But that’s loyalty and no bad thing. I don’t believe she thinks of Maximilian as a lover.”

As Mihaela drank in her words, she became aware that István’s gaze was fixed steadily on Elizabeth. She wondered if he knew something they didn’t.

But before she could ask, Elizabeth added, “There’s been some trouble at the Angel. Rumors spreading about vampire behavior. It brings in some odd humans, some curious, some there to cause trouble. Saloman wants to work with the hunters on it, but Angyalka’s dragging her heels. Maybe you can talk to her.”

“Maybe,” Mihaela said doubtfully, still watching István who, suddenly becoming aware of her scrutiny, merely smiled faintly.

“I can’t wait,” he said, “for your housewarming party.”

Mihaela laughed. “Hunters, vampires, neighbors, and Robbie’s friends, all under one roof?”

“Sounds fun,” Elizabeth said as they turned back toward the kitchen door. Maximilian’s shadow moved within, making Mihaela’s heart lift and dance.

She smiled. “It will be,” she promised.

About Marie Treanor

Marie Treanor lives in Scotland with her eccentric husband and three much-too-smart children. Having grown bored with city life, she resides these days in a picturesque village by the sea where she is lucky enough to enjoy herself avoiding housework and writing sensual stories of paranormal romance and fantasy.

Marie has published more than twenty ebooks with small presses, (Samhain Publishing, Ellora’s Cave, Changeling Press and The Wild Rose Press), including a former Kindle bestseller,
Killing Joe
.
Blood on Silk: an Awakened by Blood novel
, was her New York debut with NAL.