Chapter Nine

Max crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against a marble pillar next to the indoor fountain. It had probably been sixty years since he’d waited on a woman this long. In his London years, if a female had kept him waiting longer than ten minutes, she’d have found her own way home.

He tapped his foot. Was Erica playing with him? He’d seen that galvanizing flash of mischief in her eyes and it made him want her that much more. As frightened as she was, as focused on finding her sister, there was a part of her that enjoyed the game. He’d seen it once too often to believe it was a fluke. She wanted to test him, to tease him and see how far she could go. She wanted him to lose control with her and if only she knew how close he was to doing just that--and how he would ravage her if his desire took flight unchecked--she’d probably climb out the bathroom window and catch a cab home.

Maybe that’s what she had done.

When a raven-haired beauty strolled out of the bathroom, a new worry assailed him. Had the two women spoken? Max vaguely recognized the woman--her name was Veronica--or Vera, something with a V. She belonged to one of Gregori Nachevik’s upper echelon, one that had stayed behind to keep tabs on Jake Beaumont when the new vampire king assumed power. She was about as powerful as a human got in the vampire world. Her influence probably surpassed even that of the king’s concubine, whom Max had heard was also human.

It made a strange sort of sense. A powerful male vampire would be wise to avoid a liaison with a vampiress. She’d be more apt to stake him while he slept and assume his power. A human ‘mate’ or even a privileged feeder was a much wiser choice to keep a man’s secrets and to warm his bed--considering that humans actually had warmth.

Where was Erica?

When she came out, he’d give her exactly what she wanted. He’d upbraid her, gently but with a promise of more to come, and he’d detail how he was going to punish her for insubordinance. He could tell her things that would bring that sexy blush back to her cheeks and make her tremble under his touch. He licked his lips at the thought.

Did she know how much power she had over him? He’d known her less than twenty-four hours and yet she was burned into his psyche deeper than any of the women who had shared his bed and fed his hunger for decades back in London.

He was one breath short of barreling into the ladies’ room when she appeared. Her hazel eyes were wide and her honey-toned skin had gone deathly white.

He crossed over to her and grabbed her elbow more to hold her up than to admonish her. “Are you all right? What happened in there?”

“Elena--I heard her voice through the vents. She’s trapped here.”

“What? You heard her?”

“She begged me to help her. Max, she’s here. We have to find her.”

Max held her frightened gaze and a warning tingle went off at the back of his neck. Whatever she heard, she believed it was her sister, but the whole thing seemed so outrageous. Was it possible that Elena Talbot had been taken prisoner by a vampire mate and was actually being held against her will at Gregori’s? It made no sense.

He tugged Erica behind the pillar where the echoing gurgle of the fountain would drown out their conversation.

“Erica, do you realize what you’re saying? If Elena is here, there’s no way we can get her out. I’m going to have to get back-up.”

“What kind of back-up?”

“I’ll call my partner and some of my colleagues. We may have to get permission from the king to search the place.”

“Just do it, Max. I have to save her. I know she’s here. I know it was her voice.”

He didn’t dare tell her that he found it too incredible to believe. He looked up at the ornately painted ceiling above them. There were private dining rooms upstairs, and probably a few special rooms below the main floor as well for guests with unusual tastes. A vampire might hold a feeder in one of those rooms--a feeder who had made agreements she wasn’t prepared to keep.

“The only thing we can do right now is leave,” he said, softening his grip on her arm.

“No! We have to--”

He clamped his hand over her mouth and pushed her farther into the corner behind the fountain. “Shh!” He hissed in her ear. “We cannot cause any kind of scene.”

She struggled against him and he felt her teeth on his palm. If she broke his skin and drew blood, she’d feel it instantly. The deadly desire to drink was overwhelming when it hit. If she drew even the smallest amount of his blood into her mouth she’d be compelled to take more until the change began.

He pulled his hand away and turned her in his arms, then pushed her against the wall. “Don’t do that.” His breath in her ear was ragged. “Don’t ever bite a vampire, do you understand?”

She nodded but didn’t go still. She pushed back against him and a small sound escaped her lips. In response he held her tighter. “Erica, Erica.…” He wanted to hold her and comfort her, but at the same time, if they’d been in private, he wouldn’t have been able to control himself. He had to get her out of here and get away from her before he did something she’d regret.

“We’re leaving. Don’t make another sound.”

Slowly he turned her to face him. The defiant fire flickered in her eyes only for a moment, then dull fear replaced it. Max straightened and swallowed hard. There was someone behind him. A vampire.

* * * *

Erica held her breath as a shadow fell across the alcove. She saw a man, broad shouldered and barrel-chested, in a dark three-piece suit. She didn’t dare raise her eyes to his.

She sank back against the wall and tried to quell her shivering as Max turned around.

“Everything all right, Maxwell?”

“Mr. Carlisle. Everything is fine.” He held his hand out and Erica slipped her fingers into his. He brought her into the light and into the scrutiny of the vampire who owned Vera Nighe.

“Who is this sweet morsel? Maxwell, you’ve been holding out on your friends at the club, haven’t you?”

“Her name is Ricki. She’s very new.”

“She looks it. No offense, but the lady is shivering. What have you done to her, Max?” Carlisle laughed and held his hand out to Erica. She glanced at Max who gave her leave to step forward and allow the other man to kiss her hand.

As Carlisle brushed his cold lips over her skin, he breathed in her scent and held it as one savors the smoke from a fine cigar. Erica cringed and fought off a shudder of disgust. Under other circumstances she might have found Benton Carlisle handsome and perhaps charming, but the evil light in his eyes left her terribly cold.

Vera hovered behind him. She wore a sympathetic smile and briefly Erica wondered if she might find an ally in this mysterious woman. If only she could find a way for them to be alone together again.

“I was about to take Ricki home. She’s had quite enough for one night.”

“Surely you have time to join us in the Round Room for dessert.”

Max glanced at Erica and his look told her it was an invitation he didn’t dare refuse. In a strange way, she was glad. The longer they stayed inside Gregori’s the better her chance of locating Elena.

“We’ll see you there.”

Carlisle nodded and gestured for Vera to follow him toward the curving staircase that led past the fountain to the club’s upper floor. With a quick glance over her shoulder, his lovely companion sashayed after him.

Max hesitated just a moment and his hands tightened on Erica’s waist. “This isn’t good. Benton Carlisle shouldn’t have any interest in me.”

“What’s going to happen now?”

Max sucked in a breath and leveled a stone-cold gaze at Erica that made her heart rise into her throat. “You’ve been disobedient tonight. And I’m going to have to punish you for that. I’d say if you want to get out of here in one piece, you’re going to have to keep it up.”

* * * *

The Round Room was a universe apart from the rarified atmosphere of Gregori’s first floor dining rooms. Here, the walls were painted black, and like After Dark, a pulsating beat rattled Erica’s bones when she stepped over the threshold.

Inside, a complex lighting system created dizzying effects on the walls and the floor. Swirling spirals of color, stark white strobe lights and prismatic arcs illuminated the patrons who were oddly transformed from the elegant personas they wore downstairs.

Everywhere Erica looked, there were vampires feeding. Rather than tables and chairs, the room held couches, divans and banks of oversized pillows. Much like Club Dead’s grotto, the scenes taking place ran the gamut from a couple locked in a lover’s embrace to orgies involving several humans and vampires trussed in tight leather, chains and spiked collars.

She pressed herself back against Max, and she felt his hesitation. In here, he might not be able to protect her from the others if they wanted her. That thought terrified her. Giving herself over to Max was one thing, but to a group of ravenous vampires--she could never do that.

“We won’t be here long, I promise,” he said close to her ear. He nudged her forward a step just as Vera Nighe appeared. The lovely woman Erica had met in the ladies’ room looked different in the fractured light. Her skin looked much paler and her eyes seemed sunken. The delicate buttons on the front of her cream-colored dress were open, exposing the deep valley between her breasts.

She smiled at them and offered her hand to Erica.

“Come with me, sweet one ... I’ll get you a drink.”

Erica looked back at Max. His expression was stony. “No. She stays with me.”

Vera pouted and surged closer, shimmying forward to bump her hip against Max’s. “Now’s not the time to be selfish.”

“Maybe later.” Max pulled Erica away from Vera and led her toward an unoccupied couch. He drew her down to sit next to him then gently eased her body across his. Cradled in his arms she felt another conflicting surge of emotions. Had they been alone, she would have felt cherished, and desirable, but here, on display in front of so many others, she felt exposed. She stiffened when Max lowered his head to her neck.

“Please don’t,” she said when she felt the tips of his fangs against her skin. “Not here.”

“I have to--”

Erica struggled against him and he held her tighter. The feel of his hands commanding her to mold against him would have been irresistible if she wasn’t suddenly so afraid. “No.…”

“Maxwell. I’m glad you decided to join us.”

Erica looked up as Benton Carlisle’s shadow fell over them once again. Also transformed, he’d become a frightening caricature of his former self. His elegant suit jacket and crisp white shirt were gone, replaced by a leather vest and pants. In one hand he held a coiled whip and in the other a leash that connected him to a woman who wore nothing at all.

“Mr. Carlisle.” Max’s voice was low and steely. Erica tensed as he pushed her gently off his lap.

“Max ... why don’t you come with me for a moment? There’s some business I’d like to discuss with you.”

“Business? Now?”

“It’s rather important. It involves security here at the club, and I know your department often looks into private affairs if there’s a special request.”

Erica stared up Carlisle, entranced. It shocked and amazed her to see this man, who only a short time ago looked like the consummate corporate executive, now dressed in leather and leading a naked woman around on a leash. The absurdity of hearing him discuss business with Max made Erica’s stomach turn.

She cast a sympathetic glance at the woman, who responded by bearing bloody fangs in a vicious snarl. The vampiress, apparently bored by the proceedings, tugged on the chain that dipped from her slender throat to Carlisle’s fist.

Her reward for impatience was a tap with the handle of Carlisle’s whip. She pouted, but with her red-tipped fangs protruding the expression looked dangerous rather than demure.

Erica looked away.

“We’ll only be a moment, Maxwell. I promise not to keep you from your lovely lady very long.”

Erica’s heart twisted when Max rose. He gave her a grave look that would have melted her heart if he’d held it longer than a second. As she watched, his expression morphed dangerously and his fangs grew.

“You stay right here. Don’t move, no matter what.”

She nodded. She had no intention of moving an inch. As long as everyone else in the room kept their distance, she’d be fine ... for a few seconds at least.

Max moved off with Carlisle and Erica wrapped her arms around her herself. She folded herself up on the soft couch and forced herself to scan the room for a sign of Elena. With so many people writhing in the darkness, she couldn’t focus on any specific features. Her gaze fell inadvertently on the sparkling chains, the spiked collars and the undulating flesh all around her. She shivered as the image of the naked vampiress tethered to Benton Carlisle played through her mind.

“Good! You’re alone!” Vera’s voice broke through Erica’s reverie and she looked over to find the other woman kneeling before her. In Vera’s hands rested a wine glass full of what appeared to be the same dark liquid Max had sipped during dinner. “I brought you a drink.”

Erica eyed the glass. The sumptuously sweet smell reached her and her mouth watered for a taste, but Max hadn’t given her leave to accept a drink.

“I’d better not.”

Vera pouted and swirled the liquid enticingly in the glass. “It tastes like candy. It will help you relax. I know this place can be overwhelming the first time.” Vera smiled at her and swayed to the insistent beat. “Once you get used to it, you’ll love it here. You can be completely free.” She held the glass up for Erica to sniff the sensuously sweet aroma again. The bouquet was so strong Erica could almost taste it. She wanted to so badly.

Erica looked up from the depths of the wine and gestured toward another vampiress who wore a dress that looked like chain mail. The female’s narrow hips were girded with a heavy leather belt to which her arms were tethered with cuffs. Two men who appeared human led her across the room to a collection of pillows. When they pushed her to her knees, Erica looked away.

“She doesn’t look very free to me.”

Vera laughed. “She’s a vampire, darling. She’s in complete control of that scenario. In time you’ll learn. You have all the power.” The woman made a sound like a purr and settled herself on the floor at Erica’s feet. “Max needs you much more than you need him.”

Erica took another look around the room. In the distance she thought she saw Max and Carlisle but she wasn’t certain. She leaned closer to Vera and tried to whisper over the pounding music. “Have there been a lot of new feeders around lately?”

Vera nodded. “Take a sip and I’ll tell you more.” She tapped the rim of the glass and held it up to Erica. As Vera looked up, the heavy curtain of her dark hair fell back to expose fresh bite marks just under her left ear. “It’ll give you strength.”

“Strength for what?”

Vera grinned. “Whatever Max has planned for you.” Mischief sparkled in her eyes. “It’s fortified with herbs like those energy drinks they serve at the human bars now.”

Erica looked at the wine again. She wondered why Max hadn’t offered her any during dinner. “Maybe when Max comes back.”

Vera sighed and took a deep sip of the wine herself. With a shrug, she set the glass down on the floor and rose. She held out her hands to Erica. “Do you want to dance with me?”

“Dance? With you?” Was beautiful Vera coming on to her?

“Just for fun, come on!” Vera pulled Erica to her feet and tugged her to an open section of the floor where several couples swayed to the music. A moment later, as a comfortable haze descended over Erica’s vision, she found herself swirling around in time to the beat. Vera’s hands on her hips, guided her in an undulating rhythm that made her forget Max and Elena ... and everything else.