Chapter 4
Chapter Four
MAX
Tilda is all I can think about. I did something wrong, but I’ve replayed that afternoon over and over in my head, trying to find the moment, and I have no idea what it could have been that sent her running.
I waited ten days to give her some space before I couldn’t wait any longer, and under the guise of returning her dish from the cookies, I arrive just after dark. When I knock, I catch the scent of a high mountain lake coming from behind the house.
When there’s no response to the second knock, I walk around the side. I scan from the back corner of the house. Her scent is strong, but there’s no sign of her. “Tilda?”
I hear just a hint of air rushing into her lungs, she says, “I’m up here.”
I walk around the back side of the tower Sam built for Mari to meditate.
It’s just a step for me to go over the wall.
The other side is open, and there she is, taking my breath away.
Dressed in a silky white jumpsuit that clings to her lithe body, her hair hangs loose and curls where it reaches the floor of the tower.
An array of colorful pillows enhances the beauty of her pale hair and white clothes.
“I…um…I brought your dish.” I hold up the gray-and-brown dish.
“I’ll come down.” She’s perfectly balanced as she takes the steps around the outside of the tower.
Still, I rush back around to offer her my hand. There’s half a beat where I think she might not touch me, but then she lays her tapered fingers over my hairy, hulking mitt. I let my breath out, not having realized I’d been holding it.
“Thank you, Max.” She takes the plate from me. “I’m sorry about the other day.”
“I wish I knew what I did to scare you away. I promise you it was never my intention.” The plan was not to mention what happened, but since she brought it up, I can’t resist the chance to know what I did.
“It wasn’t you, and I wasn’t afraid. I’m a vampire. I have little to fear, especially now that Pierre is gone.” She walks onto the deck and opens the slider. “Please, come in.”
Following, I duck through the slider, and I’m grateful for somewhat high ceilings. My home was built for my size. This was built for humans, but at least I don’t have to crouch. Once she’s put the plate in the kitchen, she turns and places her hands on the long island counter.
An upright piano stands in the front room with two chairs and a bookcase on one wall. The kitchen is open, with a post at one end of the island and a dining area between the front door and the den in the back of the house, with sliders leading to the deck.
I assume the hall to the right of the kitchen is the way to the bedrooms. I don’t want to think too long about where she sleeps, or I’ll embarrass myself.
She stares at the counter, with her hair concealing her face.
With my heart in my throat, I say, “You couldn’t get away from me fast enough. If it wasn’t me, what was it?”
As she looks up, it seems like her canines have elongated. The blue of her eyes is barely visible as the pupils are blown. “It was your blood.”
My cock stirs and thickens. I have to gather my wits before I manage to ask, “You want to bite me?”
“I know that sounds horrible.” She takes a deep breath. “I know that I should have control of these urges.” Another pause to breathe. “Mari is trying to teach me to meditate so that I can find peace and not feel the urgency of my vampirism.”
My body’s response does not match her thoughts. “You did control your urge, Tilda. You didn’t harm me, and as far as I know, you haven’t harmed anyone since you’ve been here in Harmony Glen.”
“The urgency is usually controllable even if it’s uncomfortable.” She stares at the counter as if it holds some answer. “When you pulled out the stool for me at your house, the blood running through your body sang to me.”
“Sang? Does blood do that?” I have keen senses, but I don’t hear blood flowing through veins. Sometimes I can hear a person’s heartbeat when they’re stressed.
She swallows hard and balls her hands into fists. “Not usually. I mean, I’ve never heard that before.”
“Do you hear it now?” I listen to see if I can detect what she’s talking about.
With a nod, she grits her teeth. “I hear it like angels calling my name.”
I can see that she’s struggling to stay behind the counter and using it to keep her distance from me. “Why do you think I’d be opposed to you tasting my blood?”
Looking up, her eyes get impossibly wider, and her tongue slides over her long canine tooth. “Most people don’t want to be bitten.”
“I’m sure that’s not true. I’ve heard a vampire bite can be pleasurable. When I was in officer training, a guy from Los Angeles told me that there are clubs for vampires and humans who want to be bitten.”
She pulls a face. “Those people are obsessed with the romance of vampires. They want to be bitten for the endorphin rush. They don’t understand that a vampire can lose control and take too much.
Humans have only ten to twelve pints of blood.
Take too much, and they can die, or worse, you have to turn them into a vampire to save them. ”
“Listen.” I round the counter.
She backs away.
Stopping, I hold up both my hands in peace. “I am not human. Also, just so we’re very clear, I like you, Tilda. I’ve thought of little else since you first came to town.”
Instead of continuing to back away, she steps forward. “Why didn’t you say something?”
“It was my job to keep you safe. I wouldn’t want you to think I was taking advantage of the situation.”
Her jaw ticks. “I need you to leave, Max.”
“Because you want to bite me?”
Nodding with a jerk, her eyes fill with pain. “It’s very hard to resist tasting you with the way your blood sings to me.”
“What if I invited you to drink my blood? What if I offered it to you? Would that ease your ache?” Seeing her in so much discomfort sends my need to protect her into overdrive. “I have a lot more blood than a human.”
Knuckles white on the edge of the counter, she says, “I could hurt you if I lose control.”
“I don’t think you will.” I step closer.
Her chest rises, and she gulps air, but doesn’t back away. “How can you be so sure?”
Running my knuckles down the curve of her jaw, I breathe her in, and it’s like the elixir of life. “I have no idea, Tilda. I just know you would never harm me or anyone. It’s just your fear, not reality.”
“You don’t know that,” she whispers. “I’m a vampire, a natural killer.”
“That’s Brochet talking. I’m sure he said a lot of things and maybe some of them are true, but vampires are hunters, and that doesn’t always mean killers.” I thread my fingers through her hair and tilt her head back. “I’d like to kiss you. Would that be alright?”
With a swallow, she nods.
I’m so much taller than she is that I have to take a half a step back to lower my mouth to hers. Sweet and soft, her lips are perfection. I linger for a long moment and pull back, studying her blue eyes.
Long, sharp fangs tip over her bottom lip. I kiss her again and trace my tongue along one canine. “Is this alright, Tilda?”
A low rumble starts in her chest and emerges as a growl. “Your blood smells sweet and spicy.” She wraps her arm around my neck, pressing her nose just under my ear. “The way it sings to me is maddening, Max.”
I grip her ass with both hands, lifting her off the ground. “You can bite me. I trust you.”
The way she growls makes my cock thicken and strain to get out of my pants. With strong legs, she presses her center to my abdomen.
The scent of her arousal fills me, and it’s all I can do to keep from taking control of this encounter. However, I know this has to be up to her. She needs me to submit to prove that she can control the vampire side of herself. “Your scent is driving me mad.”
Holding my shoulder, she leans back and meets my gaze. “Are you strong enough to break the contact if I can’t?” Voice filled with worry, she still rocks her sex against me. The thin, silky material of her jumpsuit and my tee shirt is no barrier to her wetness.
“You would never harm anyone. I’m sure of it.” I brush her hair back from her worried eyes. “I’m strong enough.”
Her pupils dilate. She grips my back, pressing her lips to mine. Her cool tongue traces the crease between my lips.
Opening for her, I let my tongue touch hers. It’s like a bolt of electricity lights between us. Leaning her against the kitchen island, I press my cock between her legs, unable to control my groan.
“Max,” she breathes. With just a slight shift of her head, her fang nicks my lip.
Pleasure courses through me. My cock was already hard, but now I feel like it could drive nails. The stitching of my jeans’ zipper tears. “Fuck! That’s…”
She licks the spot and hums. “You taste so good, Max. I need more.”
A euphoric haze nudges at the edge of my awareness. “Take what you need.”
“Are you sure?” She sucks my bottom lip between hers. Reaching between us, she grips me through my pants. “So big. Do you want to take me into the bedroom?”
“More than anything in the world, but I think, not yet.” My grip on control is slipping as she rubs her small hand over my bulge and stares into my eyes.
She pops open the button of my fly, pulls the zipper, and my cock pops free. Gripping my neck and shoulder, she pulls me tight with vampire strength. Rocking her hips, she moans, and her wetness coats my cock even through her clothes.
A low moan leaves me as she grips me tight with her legs, creating even more pressure.
Her teeth graze the side of my neck, and my balls tighten.
“Tilda.” I wish I were good with words, but her name is all I can manage.
There’s a prick of pain as her fangs pierce my skin, then a flood of pleasure. Completely lost in the glory of her vampire elixir flooding my blood, I have no control. Holding back my orgasm is not an option, and I spill my seed between us while lying against her on the countertop.
As she drinks and moans and humps, my cock grows hard again. She grips it, massaging from base to tip, and between the sensations of her mouth and hand, another tingle begins at the base of my spine.
I roar as another orgasm grips me, and I come again. My seed drips over her jumpsuit and down her thigh.
While she sucks blood from my artery, I grip the seam between her legs and tear the fabric. Pressing my thumb through the hole, I slip it along her wet folds.
She moans, sucks, and her hips jerk against my digit.
Finding her clit, I rub softly around in a circle until her hips find a steady pace. “Come for me, Tilda.”
Releasing my throat, she licks the wounds and screams, arching her back. “Max. Max. Max.”
The sound of my name mixed with her pleasure is almost enough to make me come again. It’s more than enough to make me hard, considering her toxin flows through me like a triple dose of Viagra.
I tease her clit, softly then firmly, until she’s writhing and chanting my name.
Tearing her jumpsuit farther, I slip two fingers inside her tight sheath and groan as my cock jumps, jealous of my digits.
She is so wet and soft. “You have the most beautiful pussy. One day, I’m going to fill you all the way up, sweetheart. ”
Her slit tightens around my fingers, and she screams as a flood of juices coats my hand.
It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
Pressing my body to hers, I slip my hands free and hold her while her pleasure ebbs. The mixture of our juices might look like a mess, but the scent is pure aphrodisiac.