Free Vampire King of New York by Susan Hanniford Crowley Page A

death. It has been a common malady among the ancients that they reach a point when they no longer want to live. In two days and nights of complete exposure, they burn to dust.”
    Max captured her lips with his, pushed her mouth open and caressed inside her cheeks with his tongue. She moaned into his mouth. Evelyn didn’t mean it but she couldn’t help herself. It was the way Max kissed. After several more kisses, most of them deep and lingering, Evelyn relaxed, the tension melting from her shoulders and arms.
    She kissed him. “Good day, I guess, Max.”
    “Good day, Evelyn, my dearest.” He moved his body so it wasn’t heavy on top of hers, but she was still mostly underneath him. She felt him relax. With her hand on his chest, his heart barely beat beneath her fingers. She peered up at him. Max was asleep, his eyes closed, his mouth partly open revealing a vicious set of fangs.

    Night tingled her toes. It descended and touched her eyes with a whisper of breath. Evelyn never realized she could feel the onset of night. Max shifted in her arms. Her head was on his chest, her fingers entwined with his golden chest hair.
    A warm pressure on her mouth woke her. He was kissing her again. Oh, God, how she loved everything about this man. He nibbled her lower lip and sat up.
    “Are you awake, my Evelyn?”
    Sometimes he could be aggravating. “I’m not your Evelyn, Max.”
    “Are you sure about that?” He leaned over her, his fangs grazing her neck.
    “Don’t you dare?”
    “I said I wouldn’t.” He kissed her shoulder. His hand slipped onto her breast and she removed it. He chuckled. “If I didn’t have to patrol tonight, I would stay and show you how much I worship every inch of you.”
    Evelyn shivered. It had been a long time since she was properly worshipped. “My supplicants usually buy me dinner and expensive gifts first.” She was joking, of course.
    He leaned up on his elbows gazing down on her. “Supplicants, huh?” He narrowed his gorgeous blue-gray eyes and then smiled. Evelyn suspected a bit of mischief there. “From this moment onward, I will worship my goddess properly. I beg your forgiveness for having to leave you.” He bit through the strap of her nightgown and nudged it down, revealing her breast.
    “What are you doing?”
    “Worshipping you.” His tongue rolled her nipple in a caress.
    Evelyn clawed the sheets. Then she pushed against him. He released her, and she sat up. “You have to patrol, so it’s no use worshipping me now. Besides you’re going to cost me a fortune in lingerie.”

    “I’ll buy you a new nightgown, something in black lace and sheer panels.”
    Yikes. She was way past hot and bothered. “Max, go patrol. Just do me one favor.”
    “What’s that, my Evelyn?”
    “Don’t get killed.”
    “I have someone to live for.” He practically flew off the bed, threw on his clothes then paused. He leaned down and kissed her. “I’ll call you. I don’t know when, but I’ll call.”
    Max was gone. He was that quick. For all the months, she had lived with David, you’d think she’d be used to it. As for calling, well, that was such a guy thing to say, she almost laughed.
    Evelyn was shelving a book on the Superstitions of New Orleans, when her cell phone went off in her pocket. She ducked into the stacks for some privacy.
    “Hello.”
    “Hi, my Evelyn.”
    Correcting him wasn’t going to work and she knew it. “Hello, Max.”
    “I’m sorry I didn’t call yesterday. I went from patrolling to several meetings today at my corporate office. I was thinking. Tonight there’s a special pre-opening of the Viking exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History. Would you be my date?”
    “That sounds like lots of fun. Did you catch the killer last night?”
    “No, not yet. But we will. Is there an Arnhem Knight at the library?”
    “Yes. Hatcher has been reading about World War II for hours now. He keeps pretending he’s not watching me.”
    Max chuckled.