The Highwayman

by Michele Hauf

  A shrugging nod was all he could manage. Had he said too much? He had. Stupid, Max, why didn’t you just keep your mouth shut?

  “I think I need to think about this one. I’m not sure how I feel right now.”

  “It wasn’t purposeful. I swear it to you.”

  “And on the airplane? You shadowed again. Did you do so knowing you might climax again?”

  “No, I—” Yes. “It was just the nightmare. You were initially dreaming of us again, but it didn’t go so far that time.” He winced, knowing he sounded like the voyeur of the century. And what kind of creep did that make him?

  He avoided the truth now—that he had wanted to see if her dreams could make him feel again. How did he put into words the pining for a sensation that he’d not had for so long?

  “I need to be alone,” she said, still unable to meet his eyes.

  “Of course. I’ve some contacts to make. I’ll do it in the lobby. Aby?”

  A shudder trembled her shoulders and she looked away from him. He felt her rejection stab his heart.

  “I didn’t do it thinking I could get something from you without asking. It surprised the hell out of me. And you have to know, it was the best feeling I’ve known for centuries. Thank you.”

  He walked out and closed the door.

  In the hallway Max hung his head and exhaled.

  Had he just lost the girl?

  Chapter 16

  “W here are we walking?”

  Max hooked his arm through Aby’s. She didn’t balk. All morning long she’d thought about what he’d revealed to her last night. He’d been genuine. She believed he honestly hadn’t gone into her dreams on some kind of voyeuristic quest. And that he’d actually climaxed should make her feel great. He’d gotten something from her he hadn’t been able to achieve for centuries.

  But that he’d gotten it without her knowledge still bothered her. She didn’t want it to bother her. She wanted to embrace him and kiss him and say, “Way to go! Let’s try that again.”

  She needed more time though. Dream sex was a new one for her.

  The Seine flowed quietly to their right, and he’d pointed out the Eiffel Tower in the distance as their destination. The day was overcast, dreary, but walking alongside the Highwayman lifted her spirits.

  She wanted him, but on her own terms. Terms they were both aware of, awake or sleeping. Was there anything wrong with that?

  “The seventh arrondissement,” Max finally answered. “In the Eiffel Tower’s shadow, and down the street from Les Invalides, an old military hospital and veterans’ home. Ginnie told me about a seer who can track auras, and I trust her judgment.”

  “Ginnie?”

  “A friend of mine.”

  “I thought you didn’t have friends.”

  “I met Ginnie in Berlin at the turn of the twentieth century. She’s a financial whiz, and has been helping me with my portfolio ever since. I guess you could call her my accountant, but she’d prefer Total Lifestyle Rescuer. She pulled me out of some hard times.”

  “Sounds like a smart chick. But old.” They paused to let a silver Smart car pass on the cobbled street before crossing it. “The turn of last century?”

  “I didn’t mention she’s a vampire.”

  “That explains a lot. So you never had the desire to hunt her? I mean, you hunt all sorts, right?”

  “Yes, but Ginnie has never been a threat. She lives under the radar. She’s good folk. I think you’d like her if you two ever met.”

  Aby doubted it. She disliked longtooths, Severo’s word for vampires. In fact, it was Severo’s dislike, now that she thought of it.

  Perhaps she was due for meeting the vampire and forming her own conclusions about whom she liked and whom she did not.

  “Let’s cross here.”

  They skipped across a wide street and Max filed down a neighborhood featuring three-and four-story houses and larger buildings. Over the rooftops, Aby spied the spire of the famous iron tower. “I want to go up there while I’m here.”

  “This is a business trip.”

  Right. Back to all business then. Max fluctuated from business to pleasure so quickly, she was beginning to get dizzy.

  He stopped at a street corner and drew up her hand to kiss the back of it. A wink and his sexy, secretive smile with the dimple dove into her heart. There was that dizzy feeling again.

  “You think about what I told you last night?” he asked.

  “Haven’t been able to stop.”

  “So?”

  She shrugged and slipped her hand from his. “I’m still thinking.”

  “You’re by my side today. That’s got to count for something. I’ll take what I can get.”

  She was changing him. Making him tolerant. More—damn, he hated to admit it—gentle. Max was happy to please his sparkly thing.

  And what was wrong with that picture?

  Nothing, actually. Most normal red-blooded men did enjoy a good flirt with a sexy woman. Many pursued them and had girlfriends. It was what men did. It made them happy. It was that whole circle-of-life thing.

  Max couldn’t deny he wanted to be normal. He’d tried with Rebecca to touch normality. It had worked a few years, and then had failed miserably. Did that mean he had to swear off relationships ever after?

  Nope. And yet, his brain still hadn’t caught up to his body. The ol’ cerebrum clung to the darkness, forming dismal ideas of the future.

  He should stay in the now and enjoy what he had with Aby.

  But that was much easier said than done. Especially after he’d revealed the big one last night.

  Could she get beyond what he’d done to her and accept she had been the catalyst to the greatest pleasure he’d had in centuries? He wanted to celebrate that with her, not worry it might wedge them further apart.

  Max threaded his fingers through Aby’s.

  Please, God, just give me this one thing. Haven’t I sacrificed enough?

  The seer’s home was a narrow two-story set between two larger buildings, almost as if an afterthought.

  Max pushed open the iron gate. Aby skipped in first through the small garden fronting the property, her attention drawn to a tall pink flower. The small plots of land on either side of the cobblestone walk were lined with flowers Max didn’t have names for. Bees buzzed about ruffled purple blooms and birds chirped at hanging feeders.

  “It’s magical,” she said, eyeing a particular yellow bird and licking her lips.

  “Don’t even tell me,” Max said, noticing her interest in the bird.

  “Hey, a cat’s got to eat sometime.”

  He’d remember that next time they were in a restaurant. Chicken for his bird lover.

  Aby strode up the porch to ring the buzzer. Before she could touch the button, the door opened to reveal a tall, slender woman with kind blue eyes.

  “Oh, lovely,” she said at the sight of Aby.

  Aby smoothed at her wrinkled dress. “Bonsoir, I am Aby.”

  “Maximilien Fitzroy,” Max offered from over her shoulder and held out his hand to shake the woman’s. “Ginnie sent me. She said you could help me locate a missing friend.”

  “You’ve traveled far,” the woman said. “Come in and I’ll make tea.”

  Seating her guests in the front porch, the seer then excused herself to collect tea.

  Aby plopped onto the wicker love seat and twined her fingers into Max’s. He leaned in to kiss her quickly. She tasted like the champagne and orange juice that room service had delivered for breakfast. He’d never eaten an orange, but the sweetness on Aby’s breath made him crave the fruit.

  “Is it okay I still kiss you?”

  In reply she kissed him back, this time tracing her tongue over his lips. “Yes, it is. But no dream walking for now.”

  “I can live with that. I want you to be happy for me, Aby. Happy that together we achieved something I haven’t known for so long.”

  “Don’t push, Max. Just give me time.” With a sigh, sh
e dismissed the conversation and looked about the porch. “This is the neatest place, all the flowers and this cozy porch. I think I need to plant flowers when I get home.”

  He stroked her hair and she nuzzled against his shoulder. “This coming from the chick who refused the gift of a plant in favor of a kitty toy. Maybe you should hire a gardener. That seems more your speed.”

  “I could deal with that. Mmm, your hand is warm.” She opened his palm and traced his lifeline. “It goes past your wrist.”

  “A lot different than yours.”

  “I’ve never seen anything like it.” She kissed his palm.

  The tiny moist touch stirred him, and Max knew if he didn’t end this flirtation he’d be very uncomfortable when the seer returned.

  Thinking of the devil…The old woman popped in with a silver tray loaded with teacups and a plate of tiny frosted cakes.

  “I’m Beatrice, by the way. I haven’t seen Ginnie for a few years. I hope she is well?”

  “Très bien,” Max reassured her, finding that he utilized his long-abandoned French when he was around those who spoke it. He refused the tea with a polite nod.

  Aby sipped the warm brew, while Max drew in the scent of chamomile. Pure, sweet and fruity, like Aby.

  “You’ve come for insight,” Beatrice said to Max. She glanced expectantly to Aby. “You’ve all you need if you accept her for what she is.”

  Max’s jaw dropped, but he resumed his calm when Aby noticed. What was with all these psychic witchy sorts? They all wanted to wheedle into his love life.

  “It’s not about Aby,” he said with forced casualness.

  “It is, Maximilien. You will learn that soon enough.”

  Accepting her advice with a tight-lipped grimace, he then said, “I’ve a former partner—”

  “In crime,” Beatrice finished knowingly. “Yes, you rode the high roads in the eighteenth century.”

  Ginnie had said this woman would blow his mind.

  “You mustn’t be frightened,” Beatrice said to Aby. “You are strong.”

  “Oh, I’m not frightened. Just out of sorts to be in a new city. But I have Max to protect me.”

  “Yes. Ahem. Don’t suffer fools.” She said the last with a glance to Max.

  If she could see the trouble he and Aby were having right now…Nah, she couldn’t. Could she?

  “About my partner,” Max insisted. “I believe he may still be in France, possibly Paris. I need a fix on him.”

  “You don’t feel him?” Beatrice asked. “Since setting foot on French soil, you’ve not noticed the tug within you?”

  Max clutched his chest. “Those weird sensations? Yes, a sort of knowing. But I can’t follow it by any means.”

  Beatrice smiled and shook her head. “I’ll need something that belonged to your Rainier.”

  “It’s been centuries. I don’t—” Max tugged open his jacket. “Maybe.”

  He produced the small silver disk from an inside pocket.

  “A silver demi-écu.” He handed it to Beatrice. “Rainier and I both held it at one time.”

  “Before someone shot at you,” Beatrice finished.

  No points for the seer on that one. It was pretty obvious from the hole in the coin.

  Aby set down her teacup and leaned forward to examine the coin Beatrice held between two fingers. “What happened to it?”

  “A bullet went through it. I’ve carried it with me since seventeen fifty-eight.” Max smirked. “‘To danger, to adventure.’ That was our motto.”

  “Cool.” Aby smiled at the seer and the woman nodded sagely.

  Beatrice closed her fingers over the coin and stared straight ahead. “Rainier Deloche,” she said.

  “Yes,” Max agreed. “Do you get a vision of him?”

  The old woman closed her eyes tightly, winced then opened them wide. She looked beyond Max and Aby, as if seeing into eternity. “He’s half a foot shorter than you are. Brown hair and bold brown eyes. Freckles?”

  “Yes, he had them on his nose.” She was impressive. “Can you get a fix on his location?”

  “I see him…”

  “Yes?”

  The screen door creaked, and in walked a man with brown hair and bold brown eyes set above a freckled nose. “Hey, Max, long time no see.”

  Chapter 17

  “I knew the moment you landed in Paris,” Rainier said.

  The trio had bid Beatrice adieu after Rainier’s surprise entrance, and now stood across the street from her home, arms leaning on the bridge railing overlooking the Seine. The Trocadero loomed across the river. A short jog to the right of the famed hotel bloomed the Tuileries.

  Aby stood at Max’s side, and Rainier to his left. The breeze from the Seine wasn’t pleasant, but Aby took it all in. She might never get back here.

  “We’re connected,” Rainier continued. “Today’s the first time I felt you near. I couldn’t get to town fast enough. Took me a while to track you though. Had to use a spell. How the hell have you been, Max? Damn, it’s good to see you. Are you going to introduce me to the little lady?”

  “Sorry.” Seeming to surface from a daze, Max rubbed Aby’s shoulder. “This is Aby. She’s a friend.”

  Despite the noncommittal label of friend, Aby offered her hand to Rainier. He had the whitest teeth and a sexy smile. A charmer, she felt sure. He wore his brown hair shaved military short and the trace of a goatee edged a square jaw. He didn’t smell as clean as Max, but human toxins didn’t taint him, either.

  In fact, she thought she smelled brimstone on him. But it couldn’t be. It must be Max.

  “Not vamp or were,” Rainier said, as he held her hand in a firm handshake. “But I’m not sensing human, either.”

  She looked to Max. “Familiar,” he offered.

  Rainier nodded knowingly. “Good for you, man. Business partner?”

  “She’s just a friend.”

  “Uh-huh.” Rainier winked at Aby. “That’s not the vibe I’m getting from her.”

  “Still the same old Rainier,” Max said. “Look, I’m at the end of my rope. Seeing you, and confirming your immortality answers some questions. I know the two of us each carry a half of that damned deprivation demon within us.”

  “Deprivation demon? I’ve never thought of it as that.”

  “That’s what it is, I’m sure,” Max confirmed. “Gandras? Though I’ve never found it listed in demonology texts.”

  “Whatever. Been an interesting few centuries,” Rainier replied as he turned to look over the river. “The whole immortality thing is pretty sweet, eh?”

  “I just want to sleep,” Max said.

  “Sleep? I get more than enough. You, ah…have the, er…sex thing?”

  “Yes.”

  “Man, that rocks.”

  “It rocks?” Max’s fingers tightened over Aby’s hand. “Not being able to climax is your thing?”

  “Not climax? Hell, Max, I can’t come enough. It’s like a disease. I see a woman I nearly shoot the wad. Er, sorry, mademoiselle. Wait, you mean, you…can’t?”

  “Sounds like you got the complete opposite package I did. You sleep, have sex. Can you eat?”

  “All hours of the day. It’s like I can never get full, you know? Don’t put on any weight, either. Still got the same ripped abs I had in the eighteenth century.”

  “Max can never be fulfilled,” Aby said, “and Rainier’s become a glutton. That’s interesting.”

  “Come now, I wouldn’t go as far as gluttony,” Rainier commented. He slid a sharp eye across her face, then clamped a hand across Max’s back. “Hell, man, I’m glad I wasn’t dealt your hand. Hey, you figure out the shadow thing? You do that, don’t you? The dream walking?”

  “Yes. It’s as close to staving off the madness I’ll ever get.”

  “True, so true. There is a certain madness to getting all you want. LSD works, too, you know.”

  Max smirked. “So does absinthe.”

  Aby lifted a brow at that statement. Ther
e was so much she didn’t know about him. But every morsel she learned was like a gift, something she wanted to hold and keep to herself.

  But the demon couldn’t be the deprivation demon Max suspected it was if it had gifted Rainier with all he wanted. What, exactly, was it, then?

  “So what?” Rainier said. “You want to exorcize this thing?”

  “As quickly as possible.”

  “Uh-huh. Gotta tell you, Max, I’m not seeing a need. Sure, if I was in your pitiful predicament. But my life? It’s sweet.”

  “You mentioned that a few times,” Max said blandly.

  Tension tightened the muscles in Max’s arm resting along hers. He was so close to what he wanted. And she wanted it for him. Rainier had got it all, and Max had been deprived.

  “You bring her along to bridge the demon?” Rainier asked.

  “Aby’s the best.”

  Rainier’s gaze found Aby’s and she had the distinct feeling he had already undressed her and was running his fingers over her body. Not a pleasant feeling. There was something about him, beyond the brimstone, that put up her hackles.

  “So we going to do the double-dating thing again? Max, I gotta tell ya, when you show up for a visit, you really know how to bring the treats.”

  Max gripped the man by his lapels and shoved him against the cement railing so hard, Rainier’s jaw clacked. “You won’t lay a hand on her, Deloche. She’s not for you.”

  “So she is yours. How does that work if you can’t get it up?”

  “I can still—” Max released him with a shove. “Can we do this?”

  “This is sudden, Max. First reaction would be a resounding hell no. But I can understand your agony. No reason we can’t discuss it further.”

  “Further?”

  Rainier shrugged. “Like I said, immortality rocks.”

  Max swiped a hand over his face.

  Aby felt his distress. To come so far, and find his only hope wasn’t on board with him had to be devastating. If she were more skilled, she’d unhook the whip from Max’s side, wrangle the bastard with it, and force him to agree to whatever her lover wanted.

  Rainier crossed his arms high over his chest. “Where are you two staying?”