The Pixie Prince

by Lex Valentine

Marty nodded. “Oh, it will, but did you ever stop to think that maybe it will affect her in a good way? Alexa needs a life of her own. Hanging out with you is no way to spend the rest of her life.”

  “Hey!” Max glared at the waiter with an injured expression. “Bliss is gonna be hanging out with me for the rest of her life.”

  “Are you kidding me?” Marty shook his head and laughed. “You’re gonna be hanging out with her. Big difference there, ass model.”

  “Oh, ha ha. Very funny play on the semantics there, buddy. It’s still the same thing.”

  “Look, Max. You don’t really have any issues. Neither does Bliss. The biggest issues the two of you have are her brother and Alexa and a mattress that hasn’t shown up yet. Am I right?” Marty asked pointedly.

  Max pondered his words for a moment. “Yeah. You’re pretty much right.”

  “Well, then deal with Alexa. Tell her the truth. If you don’t tell her, she’s gonna be more hurt because she’ll think you thought she was too weak to handle the news. As for Olivier, maybe Bliss needs to not worry about him so much. Maybe the fact that Bliss and Lucien worry about him all the time has Olivier thinking he’s a lost cause, when really, he’s not. And call the mattress company and throw your celebrity weight around. I bet the mattress shows up tomorrow.” Marty gave an emphatic nod.

  After Marty left, Max began to realize just how right the waiter was. Max and Bliss had held off on bonding because both of them had let what happened to Alexa and Olivier get to them. Of course, now that Max knew the truth about vampire bonding, the consequences of the ritual scared the fuck out of him. If something happened to him, he didn’t want Bliss dying. She, of course, scoffed at his worry. They were immortals. Immortals didn’t die that often. Usually, if they were fae, they opted to go to the Afterworld on their own, the way Max’s father had. Vampires could bring about their deaths in several physical ways, like burning or decapitation. They didn’t have the option of going to the Afterworld of their own volition until after they reached the half-millennium mark.

  Thinking of his father made Max remember the mattress. Now that was one thing Marty had been spot on about.

  He pulled out his cell phone and called the mattress company, putting on his best upset celebrity act. Ten minutes later, the company’s president had personally promised that Max would have a new mattress in the morning.

  Left with his martini and thoughts of Alexa and Olivier, Max decided that a little chat with Bliss about her brother wouldn’t be amiss. As for Alexa, one more martini and he would head over to her penthouse and tell her the truth. He waved at Marty to bring him another drink. If he was gonna beard the vampiress in her den, he needed liquid courage.

  By the time Max stepped out of the cab at Alexa’s building, he was sober again. Talking to his best friend about his love life had never been difficult before, but now it wasn’t just a conversation about sex. He had to talk to her about stuff that would remind her of her past. He didn’t want to cause Alexa any pain. The thought that he might ate at him like acid.

  She answered the door dressed in faded button fly jeans and a tiny cropped t-shirt that showed off her magnificent chest. Max had seen her dressed that way a thousand times before, but this time he noticed that her shirt was sky blue. She didn’t dress all in black like Olivier. He stalked into her living room, noting that the blinds were open even though it was broad daylight. The wide glass panel of the slider was specially tinted though, so no sun reached Alexa’s skin. He would have bet that Bliss’ brother never opened the blinds.

  Max flopped down on his favorite chair and put his feet on the coffee table. Alexa sat on the sofa across from him. “Does Bliss let you do that?” she joked.

  “Umn, no. But she likes her coffee table. You don’t like yours,” he pointed out.

  Alexa chuckled, the sound rich and full of amusement. “I can’t get one I like. Putting your feet up on my coffee table is such a habit that you’d forget and put them on the new table.”

  When Max didn’t reply right away, she eyed him thoughtfully. Before he could open his mouth to explain things, she said, “Three weeks is a long time for you to hang out with a woman, Maximilian, my friend. Do you want to tell me something?”

  Max squirmed in his seat. Alexa was smart. Smarter than him by a longshot. He should have known better than to leave things so long.

  “Yeah, I guess I do,” he sighed, running a restless hand through his hair. “Bliss is my mate.”

  No sooner than the stark words left his mouth than he wished he could take them back, because Alexa’s face became impassive.

  “I figured as much,” she said coolly. “You’ve been really into her. I’ve never seen you this way about a woman before.”

  “Holy hell, I’ve never felt this way before. It’s amazing and fucking scary as shit,” he muttered, eyeing her carefully, watching for some sign that his admission hurt her.

  She sat motionless on the sofa, her big violet eyes watching him intently. “Did you bond with her yet?”

  Max shook his head. Why the hell did she have to be so calm? It freaked him the fuck out.

  “Why not?”

  He stared at her, aghast. He couldn’t believe she would ask him such a question. He leaned forward, his elbows on his jean clad knees. “Alexa, how can you ask me that after what happened to you?” he said urgently. “After what happened to Bliss’ brother?”

  A fleeting expression of abhorrence crossed her piquant face. “Do not compare me to that idiot with a death wish,” she replied, her voice stony with dislike. “Everyone knows he’s trying to kill himself, the asshole. He has a family, people who care about him, yet he pulls that bullshit. He’s a moron. If I had siblings who loved me, I would be grateful for what the gods had given me. I was fucking left alone, and I’m not trying to die. He has so much more than I do, yet he’s a stupid ass about life.”

  Alexa’s opinion of Olivier Wilde made Max’s brows shoot up to his hairline. Until that day at Butcher’s Block when Marty had mentioned it, he and Alexa hadn’t even known who Olivier Wilde was. Now, Alexa apparently knew all about Bliss’ brother. It seemed that Marty was a lot smarter than Max gave him credit for.

  “If something happens to me, I don’t want Bliss to die,” he told Alexa.

  She rolled her eyes at him. “Don’t be an ass, Maxie,” she said scornfully. “While it’s true that Acerbians who lose their mates face a horrific death by starvation, it’s not always as bad as you think. In every case but mine and that asshole’s, when a vampire’s mate dies, the vampire accepts starvation because it allows them to join their mates in the Afterworld. If something happened to you, I’m sure Bliss would rather go to the Afterworld with you rather than be left behind.”

  Max stared at Alexa. How was it that Alexa and Olivier hadn’t been given the option to go to the Afterlife with their bloodmates? Olivier had fallen into a coma. Bliss thought that Alexa must have done the same. Perhaps the fact that they’d been conscious had kept them from following their spouses into the other realm. By the time they woke up, no longer starving, it was too late.

  Alexa’s cool words cut into his reverie. “Just fucking bond with her already, Max. She’s gotta be dying to bite you.”

  Max sat back in his chair, stunned. “Alexa, I…”

  His best friend let out a deep sigh and the impassive expression on her face melted away. Max saw the pain in the depths of her huge violet eyes.

  “Max, you gotta live. That is what life is all about. Just because I lost my mate is no reason for you to deprive yourself and Bliss of the happiness that is waiting for you. Just let her bite you.” She rubbed the side of her face wearily. “I always knew that one day, you would meet your mate. I knew I would lose some of your time and attention when that happened. But I never once wanted you to be mateless or unhappy just so you could be there for me, to help me keep the darkness away.” Her eyes grew shiny with unshed tears, and Max felt her pain as if it was his own. “I want you to be h
appy, Maxie. I wouldn’t wish my life on anyone, especially you, ’cause I love you. Please, go home and bond with her.”

  Nothing had gone as Max had thought it would. Alexa had always been logical, and he had never been able to argue with her. He couldn’t find fault with her logic this time either. He got up and pulled her off the sofa and into his arms. She was the best friend he had ever had. For some ridiculous reason, deep down inside him, he’d been afraid to tell her about Bliss, afraid he would lose her friendship. Yet, here she was, handing him Bliss on a platter.

  “Alexa, you know I love you,” he mumbled into her dark hair.

  She choked out a laugh. “Yeah, I know you do, Max. Now go home and tell Bliss that you love her ’cause I’ll just bet you haven’t said the words yet.”

  She pushed him away, and Max could see that one tear had spilled over and streaked down her face. He reached out and wiped her wet cheek with his thumb. “You’re the best friend I ever had,” he whispered hoarsely.

  “Ditto,” she replied with a smile.

  Chapter Seven

  When Max got back to Carpe Noctem, the sun had set, and the doors had just opened for the evening. He found Bliss upstairs, eating leftover lasagna. As soon as he walked in, she took her plate to the sink.

  “I expected you a couple of hours ago,” she said as she rinsed the plate.

  Max sat down at the counter and sighed. “I went to see Alexa.”

  The plate clattered in the sink, and Bliss shut the water off. She turned to face him, her expression guarded. Max made a face at her. “It’s not what you think,” he told her.

  Bliss dried her hands on a dishtowel and tossed it aside. “Then what is it?”

  “She told me to go home and let you bite me.”

  Bliss’ blue eyes widened in shock.

  Max laughed. “Not what you were expecting to hear, is it?”

  She shook her head and Max got up, coming around the end of the counter to take her in his arms. “Alexa is not Olivier. She wants me to be happy.”

  “Olivier wants me to be happy,” she protested.

  Max shook his head. “Olivier is sunk deep into his own vision of life. His only focus is his own pain. He uses it to control others including you and Lucien. He had not one thing to say when you told him I was your mate. All he did was give you that look that basically asked if you wanted to end up like him.” Max sighed and kissed the top of her head. “There are no guarantees, Bliss. All I know is that I really don’t want to end up like your brother and if you don’t bond with me, I will. I will be incredibly unhappy.”

  Bliss relaxed against him, wrapping her arms around his waist. “I see your point. And I’m glad you told Alexa. I didn’t like it that you were hiding this from her. If I was your friend, I’d have punched you for not speaking up.”

  “Yeah, well, Alexa’s not usually violent with me, thank the gods,” he laughed. “That’s not to say she hasn’t gone all vampire on some of the fan girls who stalk me.”

  Bliss chuckled, her hands sliding inside the back of his t-shirt to caress his skin. “So you wanna do this tonight?” she purred, her eyes glowing electric blue.

  Max shook his head. “My mattress will be here tomorrow morning and I have a photo shoot in the afternoon. I’ll meet you at my place for dinner and afterward, we’ll break in the new mattress, okay?”

  She nodded her agreement. “My very own Prince and the Pea. How awesome is that?” She grinned.

  “Not very,” Max grimaced. “You have no idea what I look like after sleeping on a regular mattress. All black and blue like someone ran over me a few times with a car.”

  “Oh, I’m sure it’s not that bad,” she said, dropping her arms from around him and returning to the plate in the sink.

  “You have no idea,” he repeated. “I’ve been sleeping in your bed since I met you. I have no problems here. The moment I have to sleep on something else, you’ll see exactly what I mean.”

  Bliss finished washing the plate and stuck it in the drainer. “You know, you never did tell me the whole Pixie Prince legend thing,” she reminded him as she dried her hands again.

  Max leaned over and kissed her briefly on the lips. “Tomorrow night I promise to come clean about everything. I’ll tell you about Alexa, about what Marty said about Olivier, and about the Pixie Prince legend. After that, you can let me fuck that sweet little ass of yours on my new mattress, and we can get down to the biting and bonding stuff.”

  Bliss ignored his remark about fucking her in the ass. “What did Marty say about my brother?” she asked suspiciously.

  Max waved her off. “Tomorrow. I know they need you downstairs, and I’m gonna go take a shower and watch some TV.”

  One sleek, black brow arched up, and she pointed a finger at him. “I’ll let you off the hook for the moment, but tomorrow night, all bets are off. You’d better come clean about anything and everything before we bond, mister.”

  An expression of innocence settled on Max’s handsome features. He held up both hands in a gesture of surrender. “Yes, ma’am. All my secrets revealed.”

  “That’s more like it,” she said. “I’ll make sure I bring the fur-lined handcuffs.”

  “Oooh. Promise?” he asked with a grin of delight.

  “You betcha!” She winked at him and went down the stairs to the club.

  Max stared after her for a moment, wondering how the hell he had gotten so lucky. Not only was his best friend the coolest vampiress ever, so was his mate. As he turned toward the bathroom, he cursed himself for not asking Alexa if the biting thing hurt…

  Chapter Eight

  Rushing home from his photo shoot, Max wondered if Alexa had everything ready. Usually, if he put her in charge of something, it was always done to perfection. However, he and Bliss would bond tonight and he needed it to be special so he worried. He unlocked his door and strode into his penthouse apartment to find that Alexa had outdone herself.

  The place sparkled. The table in the dining area gleamed with white linen and expensive china and cutlery. A bottle of the best champagne chilled in a bucket on the table beside two crystal flutes. Elegant candles stood in the center waiting to be lit.

  In the kitchen, Alexa had left him a note with instructions about dinner, which currently resided in the warming oven. In the bathroom, a note taped to the mirror reminded him to pick up his wet towels and not leave the room a mess.

  But in the bedroom, Alexa had outdone herself.

  The huge bed was draped in gold satin and brocade. Max didn’t recognize the linens so he figured Alexa must have bought them. One side of the bed was turned back invitingly, showing the golden silk sheets beneath. Scattered all over those sheets were red rose petals whose sensuous fragrance filled the room. Max touched the sheets, feeling his hand sink into the space foam mattress. A sigh of relief escaped him. The mattress had arrived.

  He looked around, noting that Alexa had placed candles all over the room. He would have to figure out how to excuse himself to light them before he brought Bliss here. Everything screamed romance and love. No way could Bliss could walk into the bedroom and not know how special she was to him.

  An hour later, Max was showered and dressed in a designer suit, his long blond hair pulled back in a queue tied with a plain black ribbon. He’d put away the wet towels and cleaned up after himself, then went around collecting all the notes Alexa had left for him. He had just finished lighting the candles on the table when the doorbell rang.

  Beset with anxiety and nerves, he needed all his strength not to run to answer it. This was the first time Bliss would be in his house, his bed… And tonight, not only would she bite him for the first time, he would tell her what he felt for her before they bonded. He wasn’t worried about her reaction, just that he would do or say something wrong. He wanted everything to be perfect, right down to every sound he uttered. Trying to stay calm and focused, he walked to the door and opened it, then gasped out loud.

  A form-fitting blue velvet
dress skimmed Bliss’ figure. The tight velvet sleeves ended in points at her wrists, and the neckline plunged to show off the curves of her creamy breasts. Her dark hair was slicked back behind her ears instead of in its usual sleek bob. Sapphires gleamed in her ears and at her throat. Her height shocked him until he realized she wore spike heeled sandals. Her toes peeped out from between glittery straps, perfectly pedicured and painted blood red. Dangling from her hand were the furry red handcuffs.

  Max’s cock stirred. They had yet to play with the cuffs. He figured tonight would be the perfect night since his headboard was brass and the rails were made for handcuff games. He held the door open, and Bliss stepped inside, her caramel scent filling his nostrils. His cock stirred more strongly this time. Max shut the door and bent to kiss her. Before their lips touched, she turned her head and his mouth brushed her cheek.

  “Hello, Max,” she said in a deep, sultry voice.

  Max swallowed hard. She was deliberately provoking him! Well, he thought, two could play that game. He picked up her free hand and turned it, kissing the inside of her wrist and letting the tip of his tongue touch her flesh briefly. When she sucked in a breath, he dropped her hand and led the way to the dining room.

  He seated her and poured the champagne, sitting down across from her at the candlelit table. “To our future,” he murmured, holding up his flute.

  Bliss tipped her glass until it clinked against his. “Our future,” she repeated, her eyes glowing with emotion.

  Max wasn’t sure what they ate. He followed Alexa’s note to the letter, and Bliss seemed to like it. It all tasted like straw to him, but it only Bliss mattered, and she seemed quite happy. When she declined dessert, he blew out all the candles but one. Bliss asked to use the bathroom, and he showed her to the small half bath near the front door. Running to the bedroom with his candle, he rushed to light all the candles Alexa had placed there. He had just lit the last one when he heard Bliss’ voice.

  “Max?”