How To Marry A Millionaire Vampire (19 page)

He winced. “I should have known that would be a problem.”

“Well, duh! Why on earth do you need so many of them?” Oh, jeez. Dumb question. Any man would probably jump at the chance.

With a sigh, he turned and paced back to the kitchen area. He tugged at the tie that hung loose around his collar. “It is an ancient tradition for every coven master to keep a harem. I have no choice but to honor that tradition.”

“Yeah, right.”

He pulled the tie free and tossed it on the kitchen table. “You don’t understand vampire culture. The harem is a symbol of a coven master’s power and prestige. Without them, I couldn’t command any respect. I would be a laughingstock.”

“Oh, poor baby! Trapped in an evil custom against your will. Wait a minute, I think my eyes are tearing up.” Shanna held up her hands and waited a few seconds. “Oh no. False alarm. Probably allergies.”

He scowled at her. “More likely indigestion from your acidic wit.”

She glared back at him. “How amusing. Excuse me for not fawning over you like one of your ten harem girls.”

“I wouldn’t want you to.”

She folded her arms across her chest. “That’s why I left, you know. I found out you’re a womanizing pig.”

His eyes flashed. “And you’re—” His angry expression slowly cleared into a look of wonder. “You’re jealous.”

“What?”

“You’re jealous.” With a grin, he whisked off his jacket with the flair of a victorious matador and draped it over the back of a kitchen chair. “You’re so jealous, you can hardly stand it. You know what this means? It means you want me.”

“It means I’m disgusted!” Shanna turned her back on him and paced toward the door. Damn him. He was far too clever. He knew she was attracted to him. But a vampire with a harem of ten women? If she was going to date a demon, he could at least be a faithful one. Good God. She couldn’t believe she was in such a predicament. “Maybe I should contact the Justice Department in the morning.”

“No. They cannot protect you like I can. They don’t even know what kind of enemy they’re facing.”

That was true. As far as she could tell, her best chance for survival was with Roman. She leaned against the wall next to the door. “If I stay with you, it can only be temporary. There can’t be any sort of relationship between us.”

“Ah. You do not wish to kiss me again?” He stared at her so intently, she was ready to squirm.

“No.”

“No touching?”

“No.” Her heart rate quickened.

“You know I want you.”

She swallowed hard. “It won’t happen. You have a whole harem to keep you happy. You don’t need me.”

“I have never touched them. Not intimately.”

Who was he fooling? Of all the ridiculous things to say. “Don’t take me for an idiot.”

“I’m serious. I’ve never physically shared a bed with any of them.”

Anger spiked inside her. “Don’t lie to me. I know you’ve had sex with them. They were talking about it, about how it had been a long time, and how they missed you.”

“Exactly. It’s been a long time.”

“So, you admit it. You’ve had sex with them.”

“Vampire sex.”

“What?”

“It’s purely a mental exercise. We’re not even in the same room.” He shrugged. “I simply plant the feelings and sensations into their brains.”

“You mean it’s some sort of mental telepathy?”

“Mind control. Vampires use it to manipulate mortals or communicate with each other.”

Manipulate mortals? “That’s how you got me to implant your tooth?” She winced. “I mean your fang. You tricked me.”

“I had to make you see it as an ordinary tooth. I regret that I couldn’t be completely honest, but under the circumstances, I felt I had no choice.”

He had a point. She wouldn’t have wanted to help him if she’d known the truth. “So you really didn’t show up in the dental mirror.”

His eyebrows shot up. “You remember that?”

“Sorta. Do you still have the splint in your mouth?”

“No. I had Laszlo remove it last night. I was so worried about you, Shanna. I could hardly function without you. I was calling to you mentally, hoping we still had a connection.”

With a gulp, she recalled hearing his voice in her sleep, “I—I’m not comfortable with you invading my head whenever you feel like it.”

“You needn’t worry about that. You have an incredibly strong mind. The only way I can get in is if you let me.”

“I’m able to block you?” That was good news.

“Yes, but when you let me in, our connection is stronger than any I have ever experienced before.” He walked toward her, his eyes gleaming. “We could be so good together.”

Oh Lordy. “It’s not going to happen. You’ve already admitted that you’re having sex with ten other women.”

“Vampire sex. It’s an impersonal experience. Each participant is alone in his or her bed.”

Participant? Like a team of soccer players, working one ball down the field? “Are you saying you do it with all ten at the same time?”

He shrugged. “It’s the most time efficient method of keeping them all satisfied.”

“Oh my God.” Shanna slapped a hand across her forehead. “Assembly line sex? You’d make Henry Ford proud.”

“You may joke, but think about it.” He pinned her with an intense gaze. “All sensations of touch and pleasure are registered in your mind. Your brain controls your breathing, your heart rate. It’s the most erotic part of your body.”

She felt a sudden urge to press her thighs together. “So?”

The corner of his mouth lifted. His eyes gleamed hotter, like molten gold. “It can be extremely satisfying.”

Damn him. She locked her knees together. “You’ve never actually touched any of them?”

“I don’t even know what they look like.”

She stared at him, then shook her head. “I’m finding this hard to believe.”

“Are you calling me a liar?”

“Well, not intentionally. It just seems too weird.”

His eyes narrowed. “You do not believe such a thing exists?”

“I’m having a hard time believing you can satisfy ten women without laying a hand on them.”

“Then I will prove to you that vampire sex is real.”

“Yeah, right. How do you propose to do that?”

He smiled slowly. “By having it with you.”

In his corner of the ballroom, Ivan Petrovsky was still biding his time with Angus MacKay and his moronic Highlanders. The French fop Jean-Luc Echarpe was approaching with yet another Scotsman.

MacKay greeted them. “Did ye find them, Connor?”

“Aye,” he replied. “We checked the surveillance cameras. They were exactly where ye thought they’d be.”

“Are you talking about Shanna Whelan?” Ivan asked. “I saw Draganesti take off with her, you know. Is that his modern Vamp way of doing things? When in danger, run and hide?”

With a growl, Connor stepped toward him. “Let me snap his scrawny neck once and for all.”

“Non.” Jean-Luc Echarpe blocked the Scotsman with his walking stick. The Frenchman stared at Ivan, his eyes an icy blue. “When the time comes, I want him.”

Ivan snorted. “What are you going to do to me, Echarpe? Give me a fashion makeover?”

The Frenchman smiled. “I guarantee no one will recognize you afterward.”

“And the chemist?” Angus asked Connor. “Is he safe?”

“Aye. Ian is with him.”

“If you’re talking about Laszlo Veszto, I have news for you,” Ivan said. “The man’s days are numbered.”

MacKay’s bland look said he was unimpressed. He turned to the Highlander with Ivan’s watch. “Well?”

The Scotsman shrugged. “It looks like a normal watch, sir. But we canna be sure unless we open it.”

“I understand.” MacKay took the watch, dropped it on the floor, and stomped his foot on it.

“Hey!” Ivan jumped to his feet.

MacKay picked up the broken watch and examined the crushed innards. “Looks fine to me. A good watch.” He handed it back to Ivan with a twinkle in his eye.

“Bastard.” Ivan tossed his ruined watch on the floor.

“Wait a minute.” Connor stepped back and looked at the Russians. “Ye have four of them.”

“Right,” MacKay said. “Ye said there were four at the house in New Rochelle.”

“Aye, there were,” Connor replied. “But there was a driver, too. Where the hell is he?”

Ivan smiled.

“Bugger,” MacKay muttered. “Connor, take a dozen men and scour the premises. Call the guards outside and have them search the grounds.”

“Aye, sir.” Connor motioned for twelve men to follow him. After a few quick words, they divided up and zoomed off at vampire speed.

The gap in the line of Highlanders was quickly taken up by Corky Courrant and her crew from DVN. “About time you let us get a good shot,” she snarled. She turned to the camera with a bright smile. “This is Corky Courrant, reporting for Live with the Undead. There’s been one exciting event after another at the Gala Opening Ball. Here you can see that a regiment of Highlanders has taken the Russian-American vampires prisoner. Can you tell me why, Mr. MacKay?” She jammed her microphone under Angus MacKay’s nose.

He scowled at her in silence.

Her smile stretched wider and froze. “Surely you don’t take prisoners without just cause?” She jabbed the microphone at him once again.

“Go away, lassie,” he spoke softly. “This is none of yer business.”

“I want to talk.” Ivan waved toward the cameraman. “I was invited here, and look how they’re treating me.”

“We havena harmed you.” MacKay drew a pistol and pointed it at Ivan. “Yet. Where is the fifth person of yer group? What is he up to?”

“Still trying to park the car. You know, for a party this big, you really should have valet service.”

MacKay arched a brow. “Perhaps I should warn ye these bullets are silver.”

“Will you try to kill me in front of so many witnesses?” Ivan sneered. He couldn’t have wished for a better situation than this. He not only had the attention of all the guests at the Gala Opening Ball, but everyone watching DVN would also hear his message. He levitated onto his chair and waited for the music to end.

Echarpe slid a sword out of his walking stick. “No one wants to listen to you.”

“Will the Gala Opening Ball end in bloodshed?” Corky Courrant whispered in a loud voice. “Don’t touch your remote!”

Ivan made a small mocking bow as the music ended. Unfortunately, the bow left his neck misaligned, so he had to pop it back into position.

Corky Courrant faced her camera with a beaming smile.

“Ivan Petrovsky, Russian-American coven master, is about to make a speech. Let’s hear what he has to say.”

“It has been eighteen years since I attended one of these balls,” Ivan began. “Eighteen years that I have been forced to witness the tragic decay of our superior way of life. Our old traditions are laid to waste. Our proud heritage ridiculed. A new politically correct philosophy of the modern-day Vamp has insinuated itself into our midst like a plague.”

A murmur began in the crowd. Some didn’t like his message, but Ivan suspected there were others who longed to hear him.

“How many of you have grown fat and complacent on this ridiculous Fusion Cuisine? How many of you have forgotten the thrill of the hunt, the ecstasy of the bite? I tell you tonight that this false blood is an abomination!”

“Enough.” Angus raised his pistol. “Come down from there.”

“Why?” Ivan yelled. “Are you afraid of the truth? The True Ones are not.”

Echarpe lifted his sword. “The True Ones are cowards who hide in secret.”

“Not anymore!” Ivan looked straight into the camera from DVN. “I am the leader of the True Ones, and tonight we shall have our revenge!”

“Take them!” Angus lunged forward, followed by his men.

Ivan and his followers leaped high into the air, then vanished as they teleported from the building. They landed outside in the garden.

“Hurry!” Ivan yelled. “To the car.”

They zipped across the lawn to the parking lot. The car was empty. Vladimir was nowhere in sight.

“Crap,” Ivan muttered. “He should have finished by now.” He pivoted, scanning their surroundings. “What the hell happened to you?” He stared at Katya.

She glanced down and laughed. “I thought the night air was bit chilly.” Her skirt was gone, leaving her naked from the waist down. “When we jumped into the air, the Frenchman tried to grab me. I guess he got a hold of my skirt, and it came off.”

“Jean-Luc Echarpe?” Galina asked. “He’s so cute. And so are the Scotsmen. Do you think they’re naked under those kilts?”

“Enough!” Ivan took off his jacket and tossed it at Katya. “Need I remind you two bitches that you belong to me? Now get in the car.”

Katya lifted a brow and instead of wrapping the jacket around her hips as he had intended, she put the jacket on. Her private parts were still on display. Alek gawked at her, his mouth hanging open.

Raw pain stabbed at Ivan’s neck. “Do you want to spend the rest of your existence without eyeballs?” he growled.

Alek jerked to attention. “No, sir.”

“Then get the ladies in the car and start the damned engine.” Ivan gritted his teeth and snapped his neck.

A blur in the dark raced toward them. Vladimir. The vampire stopped beside him.

“Did you find their storage facilities?”

“Da.” Vladimir nodded. ‘The explosives are ready.”

“Good. Let’s go.” Ivan spotted Highlanders racing toward them. This was it. He reached for the cuff link on his right sleeve. He had suspected the Highlanders would empty his pockets, so he’d hidden the detonator to the C-4 in his cuff link. One punch of the button and Draganesti’s precious stockpile of synthetic blood would be gone.

Shanna was speechless. Vampire sex? She wasn’t sure such a bizarre phenomenon even existed. Well, there was certainly one way to find out. Should she even consider it?

Well, she couldn’t get pregnant from it. And since he wouldn’t even be in the same room with her, it had to be perfectly safe. No bites, no holding, no unnecessary roughness. No little vampire babies flying around the nursery.

She groaned. Was she seriously considering this? She’d have to let Roman into her mind. Who knew what awful things he could do to her? What deliciously wicked sensations he could—oops. That line of defense wasn’t working.

He had taken a seat at the kitchen table and was watching her with his gold-tinted eyes, looking infuriatingly amused by the whole situation. As if he knew she would say yes. The rascal. Wasn’t it enough for him to confess to being a vampire? But no, he had to propose vampire sex in the same evening. Extremely satisfying vampire sex.

Her skin pebbled with goose bumps. He was so intelligent. And he wanted to concentrate all that mental power on the one task of pleasuring her? Good God. She was tempted.

She glanced at his eyes and immediately felt his psychic power encircling her head like a cool breeze. Her heart pounded. Her knees turned to rubber. A loud blast deafened her ears. The floor shook beneath her feet. She grabbed at the wall to steady herself. My God, did he do that to her?

Roman jumped to his feet and dashed to the phone. The room trembled again, and Shanna stumbled toward the easy chair.

“Ian! What the hell is going on?” Roman yelled into the phone. He paused to listen. “Where was the explosion? Was anyone hurt?”

Explosion? Shanna sank into the chair. Oh jeez. She should have known when the Earth moved, it wasn’t related to sex. They were under attack.

“Did they catch him?” Roman cursed softly.

“What’s going on?” Shanna asked.

“Petrovsky got away,” Roman grumbled. “It’s all right, Ian. We know where he lives. We can retaliate whenever we wish.”

Shanna gulped. It looked like a vampire war had started.

“Ian,” Roman spoke into the phone. “I want you and Connor to take Shanna back to the house. And Laszlo and Radinka, too.” He hung up. “I have to go. Connor will be here soon.”

“Where was the explosion?” She followed him to the door.

He picked up his cape and used it as insulation to turn the locks. “Petrovsky blew up a storeroom of synthetic blood.”

“Oh no.”

“It could have been worse.” He slid back the bar. “The storeroom was far enough away from the ballroom that no one was hurt. But it’ll put a dent in our supply.”

“Why destroy synthetic blood? Oh.” Shanna winced as the answer dawned on her. “He wants to force vampires into biting people again.”

“Don’t worry.” Roman touched her shoulder. “What Petrovsky doesn’t know is that I have other plants in Illinois, Texas, and California. We can make up for the shortage on the East Coast if we have to. He hasn’t hurt me nearly as bad as he may think.”

Shanna smiled with relief. “You’re too smart for him.”

“I’m sorry I have to go, but I need to check the damage.”

“I understand.” She pulled open the silver door so he could leave.

He grazed his knuckles down her cheek. “I can be with you later tonight. Will you wait for me?”

“Yes. Be careful.” She wanted to hear more about the upcoming war. Roman zoomed down the hall at lightning speed.

As Shanna shut the door, she realized her mistake. He meant he would come to her tonight for vampire sex. And without realizing it, she had agreed.

Thirty minutes later, Shanna was riding in the back of a limousine with Radinka and Laszlo. In the front seat, Connor sat next to Ian, who was driving. Shanna realized now that Ian was much, much older than fifteen. She eyed her companions, trying to figure out if they were all vampires. Ian and Connor definitely were, and they slept in those coffins in the basement. Laszlo was such a sweet, little, cherub-faced man. It was hard to think of him as a demon, though she supposed he was.

Now, Radinka was harder to figure. “You… you went shopping for me during the daytime, didn’t you?”

“Yes, dear.” Radinka poured herself a drink from the small wet bar. “I’m mortal, in case you were wondering.”

“But Gregori—“

“—is a vampire, yes.” Radinka tilted her head to look at Shanna. “Would you like to hear how it happened?”

“Well, it’s none of my business.”

“Nonsense. It involves Roman, so you should know.” Radinka sipped her Scotch and gazed out the tinted window. “Fifteen years ago, my husband, God rest his soul, died of cancer and left us with some horrendous medical bills. Gregori had to leave Yale and come home. He transferred to NYU and got a part-time job. I needed a job, too, but I was inexperienced. Luckily, I found a job at Romatech. The hours were atrocious, of course.”

“The night shift?” Shanna asked.

“Yes. After a few months, I adjusted and found I was very capable. And I was never intimidated by Roman. I think he likes that. Eventually I became his personal assistant, and that was when I began to notice things. Especially in Roman’s lab. Half-empty bottles of blood, still warm.” Radinka smiled. “He’s like an absent-minded professor when he’s hard at work. He would forget to give himself time to drive home before sunrise. So he’d have to teleport home at the last minute. One second he would be in his lab, and the next, he was gone.”

“You knew something was weird.”

“Yes. I’m from Eastern Europe originally, and we grow up with tales of vampires. It wasn’t difficult to figure it out.”

“Didn’t it bother you? You didn’t want to quit?”

“No.” Radinka waved a hand elegantly in the air. “Roman was always very good to me. Then one night, twelve years ago, Gregori came to pick me up from work. We only had one car. He was in the parking lot, waiting for me, when he was attacked.”

Connor twisted in his seat. “Was it Petrovsky?”

“I never saw the attacker. He was gone by the time I found my poor son, dying in the parking lot.” Radinka shuddered. “But Gregori says it was Petrovksy, and I’m sure he’s right. How could you forget the face of the monster who tries to kill you?”

Connor nodded. “We’ll get him.”

“Why would he attack Gregori?” Shanna asked.

Laszlo fiddled with a button on his tuxedo jacket. “Most likely, he thought Gregori was a mortal employee at Romatech. He made an easy target.”

“Yes.” Radinka gulped down some Scotch. “My poor Gregori. He’d lost so much blood. I knew he would never survive a trip to the hospital. I asked Roman to save him, but he refused.”

A chill crept over Shanna’s skin. “You asked Roman to turn your son into a vampire?”

“It was the only way to save him. Roman insisted he would be condemning the boy’s soul to hell, but I wouldn’t listen to him. I know Roman is good.” Radinka gestured to all the vampires in the car. “These were all good, honorable men before death. Why would death change them? I refuse to believe they’re condemned to hell. And I refused to give up on my son and let him die!”