Freedom: A Vampire Blood Courtesans Romance Read online

  Freedom: A Vampire Blood Courtesans Romance

  Flora

  A K Michaels

  Michelle Fox

  © 2016 by A K Michaels and Michelle Fox All Rights Reserved

  This book, or any portion thereof, including cover art, may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission by the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Cover Design by Monica La Porta

  Edited by Missy Borucki

  Proofread by Tammy Payne of Book Nook Nuts Proofreading and the girls of A K Michaels’ Minxes

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  Table of Contents

  ~ Chapter 1 ~

  ~ Chapter 2 ~

  ~ Chapter 3 ~

  ~ Chapter 4 ~

  ~ Chapter 5 ~

  ~ Chapter 6 ~

  ~ Chapter 7 ~

  ~ Chapter 8 ~

  Author’s Note

  Contact Ava

  Blood Courtesans Series

  Ava’s Other Work

  ~ Chapter 1 ~

  I cherished the feel of Max’s arms around me as I woke. I’d never get over how he made me feel: loved, cherished, and adored. And here I was in the most luxurious room in New York. Well, it was in my eyes anyway. I loved the Big Apple and Max was forever indulging me in my quest to take in every single tourist attraction the city had to offer.

  He spoiled me and I knew it, but who wouldn’t love the man in their life doing so?

  The last few months had been a whirlwind of excitement, travel and the best damn sex a girl could have. Aye, you heard me right. I swear there’s no other woman who’s been treasured and worshiped the way I have and Max was the sexiest man alive. Oh wait, scratch that, we’re both vampire and dead, but each and every day I felt more alive than I ever had when I was actually alive. That’s the truth, plain and simple.

  Okay, I may be biased but who can blame me?

  I’d never in a million years thought I’d be brave enough to become a Blood Courtesan. Damn, but to then be one and find Max, well, what can I say, the Good Fortune Fairy was most definitely shining on me that day for sure.

  My life as a prisoner of my father and his dang pack of wolves was long gone. Now, I had a man who literally idolized me, body and soul, and he was always whisking me away to some new place. Who knew I’d be a high-flyer? Certainly not me.

  Max was fulfilling my every wish and desire.

  My vampire, my lover, my soul-mate.

  Damn, I was going all mushy, again. But I couldn’t help it, he made me feel divine and I treasured him in ways I didn’t even know existed. I snuggled closer, my back to his front, wiggling my ass against him, his laughter blowing my hair.

  “Flora, you know I’ve got a meeting in just over an hour,” his hands tightened around me. “If you don’t stop misbehaving I’ll be late.”

  “Moi?” I giggled.

  “Yes, you,” he said as his growing arousal pressed into me. “You’ll be the death of me, sweet cheeks.”

  “It’s all your fault,” I teased as I ground myself against him. “If you hadn’t turned me then I wouldn’t have all this pent up energy.”

  “Pent up energy, huh?” Max leaned lower, nibbling my shoulder, his fangs scraping the skin and causing me to shudder with desire. “I better help you with that.”

  “Yes, please,” I moaned as he moved my hips, positioning himself behind me. I craved his touch, his love-making taking me to heights I’d gladly throw myself from.

  Thud! Thud! Thud!

  Loud banging on the door had me jerking and cursing at the same time. “I’m gonna kill whoever’s at that damn door!”

  “Now, now,” Max chided as he slapped my ass. “I’ve told you before, no killing the staff is allowed.”

  “Damn it, Max, they know they’re not allowed to waken us and it’s not even dusk yet,” I moaned loudly at the loss of his body against mine.

  He grabbed a robe, tugging it on as he strode toward the lounge and the door. “That means it must be important.”

  “Hmm, being Mr. Reasonable isn’t what I want right now,” I pouted. “I much prefer Mr. Sexypants and I want him back here, in bed with me.”

  Max paused at the bedroom door, raising an eyebrow. “Mr. Sexypants? I’m not entirely sure that fits but if you could stop having a strop for just a moment, I’ll deal with whoever’s at the door.”

  “Strop?” I threw a pillow at him, once again forgetting about my new vampire strength and watched aghast as it sped toward him violently. Luckily he managed to knock it out of the way with a flick of his wrist admonishing.

  “Flora!”

  “Sorry, I keep forgetting this supernatural strength thing I’ve got going on now,” I replied sheepishly.

  “Behave.” Max smirked cheekily. “Or I may just have to swat that fine ass of yours.”

  “Promises, promises,” I quipped, jumping up to run to the bathroom to brush my teeth. I was hoping for some hot and steamy sex once he’d got rid of the interloper and wanted my breath all nice and minty.

  My new enhanced hearing picked up Max’s words, angry and upset as he raised his voice. “What? How? When did this happen?”

  I threw down my toothbrush, rushing back to him. He had a phone at his ear as one of his assistants, Charlie, stood nervously at the door. Max’s face whitened with anger as he snapped. “I’ll be there as soon as I can. I’m so sorry, Graham. Whoever’s done this will pay when I get my hands on them. For now, I want you all to stay inside the Manor and bar the doors and windows.”

  “What?” I asked as Max returned the phone to Charlie, snapping out orders to charter a jet.

  “Max,” I grabbed his arm as worry took over, causing my stomach to clench. “What’s wrong with Graham? Tell me!”

  Charlie rushed away and Max finally turned to me, his eyes dark as night, his body thrumming with anger. “There’s a problem in Scotland. We have to pack and leave now.”

  “Pack? Leave?” I asked, dumbstruck. “I thought you had some important meeting and then we were going to visit with Kristos and Myra. What’s going on?”

  We’ve only been in New York for a few weeks and I was beginning to enjoy it. The big city that never slept was the perfect place for a couple of Vampires and I had been looking forward to catching up with Myra. What on earth was going on?

  Max stomped toward our bedroom and the massive walk-in wardrobe, barely containing his anger. “Flora, there’s been a death at the Manor and we have to go, now.”

  “Okay,” I rushed in, grabbing a suitcase and throwing clothes inside. “But I’m sure you can multi-task and pack at the same time as telling me what the hell is going on.”

  Max stopped, turning to look at me with fury in his eyes. “Someone, or rather some fucking wolf, has killed Graham’s son-in-law, Patrick. They found him a little while ago after they went looking for him because he didn’t turn up for breakfast. There’s no doubt it was Shifters so we need to get there to deal with that situation and protect Graham and the rest of his family.”

  “Oh ferfucksake!” I squealed, my voice rising as my own anger took root. “I’ll kill the feckers! Rip their damn throats out! Poor Graham and Isa. How’s their daughter dealing with this?”

  “Graham sounded shell-shocked when I was speaking to him,” Max ground out. “I could hear Isa and Agnes crying in the background. I swear, Flora, I’ll hunt those responsible down and they’ll find out first-hand how I deal wi
th murderers.”

  “Poor, Patrick, he didn’t stand a chance against wolves,” I said sadly, a tear escaping to run down my cheek.

  The thought of losing a person I loved was not something I could dwell on. I feared if that happened I’d lose it completely and wreak havoc wherever I went.

  “I know, baby.” Max came over, cuddling me against him. “Right now we have to haul ass and get there as quickly as we can.”

  “Sometimes being a vampire can come in handy,” I said as I flew around so fast I was a blur, packing my case, dressing, and rushing to the door a mere few moments later.

  Max was right behind me, his own case in his hand. “Let’s roll.” He opened the door and led me out.

  I was on my way back to my homeland, Scotland, but this definitely wasn’t the way I’d pictured it. No. This time I’d be doing all in my power to help Max take out whoever had murdered an innocent human and I had a sinking feeling about who was responsible.

  Wolves, within distance of the Manor? Had to be my father’s Pack and that meant I’d be facing my tormentors head on. I bet that Donald, my father’s old Beta was behind this. Him and his little group of cronies.

  Good. It was something that had nagged me since I’d left Scotland and I couldn’t wait to face the demons from my past. This time I wouldn’t be a weak girl, this time I’d be a powerful vampire with speed and strength on my side. I won’t be afraid to stand toe to toe with those fuckers and mete out some much needed justice.

  They didn’t know what was coming their way and I relished in that thought as we drove toward the private airstrip Max used.

  “Are you all right?” he asked, obviously feeling my inner turmoil.

  “Aye.” I put his mind at rest. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I was blocking you.”

  After he’d taught me how to close my mind to others I sometimes forgot to turn it off.

  “You weren’t,” he said, reaching over to link his fingers with mine. “I got all of that, Flora, but you can’t just go off on your own filled with anger and rage. That’s a sure way to get hurt, or worse. You might be more powerful now, but not even I could take on an entire Pack of wolves.”

  “I’m just so damn angry,” I wheezed out furiously.

  “I understand that,” Max cajoled. “But we’re not sure which wolves, or Pack, are involved yet. We need to wait and confirm that before taking the next step. Okay?”

  “Come on, Max.” I rolled my eyes at him. “Wolves near the Manor means one Pack, and one only, is involved. The next Pack is miles away and would have no reason to do this, plus they’d then start a Pack war and if that’s what they wanted there’s easier ways to go about it.”

  “I see your logic but sometimes things aren’t quite so clear cut,” Max sighed heavily. “I’m not jumping to conclusions, Flora. I’ll know soon enough who’s to blame and then I’ll take the appropriate action.”

  “I hope that includes me.” I stared hard at him but his face was inscrutable as his vivid blue eyes gazed back.

  “You’re still a newly turned vampire and as such you haven’t come into your full powers yet.” He paused then shook his head. “I’d rather deal with this on my own, anyway, you’ll have a very important job too.”

  “What?” I scowled up at him, eager to show that damn Pack I was no longer a scared young girl.

  “Graham and his family will require someone to guard them and keep them safe.”

  Max reached over, cupping my face. “I think you should stay with them and ensure they’re not attacked again.”

  “While you go off and ‘take care of things’!” I couldn’t help my voice rising as the thought of Max being in danger tore at my guts.

  “Flora, I’m very old, ancient in fact, and that means I’m powerful. I’ll be perfectly fine and . . .”

  “No.” I held up a hand, my finger pointing and wiggling at him. “We’re a team, always and forever, us together. If you go, I go, and we’ll find another way to protect Graham, Isa and Agnes. In fact, I think when we get there we should send them away until this is dealt with. That way they’re safe and we are free to focus on who did this.”

  Max narrowed his eyes, his tone showing his unease at my words. “I’ll think about it.”

  When he turned away I felt him close off his mind to me, a pang of sadness running through me as he did so. He reached for my hand, his fingers wrapping around mine as his thumb rubbed my skin. I grabbed on tight, unsure as to why he’d shut me out, and feeling hurt that he’d done so.

  “I need to think,” he murmured as we arrived at the airstrip.

  Aye, right. I thought as I tried to conceal the sting of his rejection. I probably didn’t do a good job because as soon as we were sitting on the sleek jet he shook his head, exhaling.

  “I don’t mean to hurt you, baby, but I need to figure some things out and I don’t want you interrupting every time you disagree with me.”

  “What?” I asked, my hands flying around in front of me. “I’d never.”

  “Flora,” Max chastised. “You do it all the time and usually it’s not a problem, but this, this is a dangerous situation and I have to choose the right way to deal with things so nobody else gets hurt. That includes you. I’m not sure what I’d do if you came to any harm.”

  I could feel the sincerity, and worry, flowing from him so I sat back and buckled up, relenting somewhat.

  “All right, I understand that, so I’ll leave you in peace to think.”

  “Thank you.” Max gave me a small smile, one that had my stomach doing somersaults and my thoughts were definitely sidetracked from the trouble we were heading for.

  “Enough with that.” He shook his head. “Or else I won’t be able to think clearly.”

  “Sorry.” I smirked as I tugged out my tablet, opening it up to start reading. “I’ll just sit here like a good little lady and read my book.”

  “Damn,” he chuckled. “If there’s one thing you are not, it’s a ‘good little lady’ but that’s just how I like you, sweets.”

  “I aim to please,” I quipped before lowering my eyes and getting lost in the words before me.

  ~ Chapter 2 ~

  We arrived at the Manor just before eight at night due to the time difference, which meant Max and I had hours of darkness ahead. I hated that I wasn’t as strong as he was, especially when it came to sunlight. I soon felt weak and ill if I was outside during the day but luckily we were in Scotland, in winter, which meant it really didn’t brighten up for very long. A few hours a day was all the daylight my homeland got at this time of year.

  I hated that when I was human, but right now I was silently gleeful of that fact. It meant there would be less time that Max would be on his own to deal with whatever threat we were facing.

  As Max pulled into the courtyard, I sighed with relief. I understood his reasoning on hiring a car and not using the helicopter that was at his disposal. He didn’t want to alert anyone to our arrival, but his insistence of not using the car’s headlights had me hanging on for dear life. Although he kept telling me to relax, that he could see just fine, I wasn’t convinced and kept expecting us to crash horrifically.

  I rubbed my fingers to ease the tension as we stopped and I saw Graham peek out the front door. I got out and waved, trying to ease his obvious fear. “It’s us, it’s okay.”

  As soon as he saw me he opened the door fully and rushed toward us, his face ashen, anxiety and dread seeping from him in huge waves. “Mr. Steele, Miss Flora, I’m so glad you’re here.”

  Max strode around the car and stopped in front of Graham. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here when this happened but I’m here now and I’ll get to the bottom of things.”

  “Thank you, Sir,” Graham bobbed his head. “I have to admit I’ve been terrified since we found poor Patrick. I couldn’t stand it if Isa or Agnes were hurt and I’m just glad the grandkids are away at University. It doesn’t bear thinking about them being he
re right now.”

  Max said something but I couldn’t concentrate as emotions overwhelmed me. Feelings of . . . shit, I wasn’t even sure what they were as there were so many of them. One that stood out was one of closure: I hadn’t had any. I didn’t face the people who’d made my life miserable and in that split second I realized I needed that. I had to deal with their harsh treatment of me, the bullying, physical abuse, and plain evilness.

  Standing here in the winter’s darkness in the land of my birth, I struggled not to scream loudly at the moonlight sky.

  Max was at my side a moment later, his strong arms circling me and pulling me to his welcoming body. “Flora, are you all right, baby?”

  I fought to tamp down the hatred that now ran freely through me. I didn’t want to frighten Graham and so I hung onto Max, letting his strength flow into me before I nodded. “I’m okay.”

  “We’ll talk later,” he whispered softly.

  “Aye,” was all I could manage to utter.

  Graham had already retrieved our luggage, heading up the stairs to the door. “I’ll take these to your room and then I’ll show you . . .”

  His voice trailed off and Max filled the silence. “Of course. Where is he?”

  “The stables,” Graham struggled to answer and my heart went out him, his scent of his sorrow hanging in the air around us. “It’s where I found him.”

  “We can go ourselves, Graham,” Max said softly. “You don’t have to come.”

  “I do,” Graham’s voice hitched. “It’s not just Patrick I have to show you.”

  As he disappeared I looked up into Max’s face. “Wonder what he means?”

  “I guess we’ll find out soon enough.” Max leaned down, his lips softly caressing mine as he mumbled. “I should’ve let you confront them before this, I’m sorry.”

  Reaching up I tugged his hair. “Stop it. You just wanted to keep me safe and I still remember how I felt at the beginning. Jeez, some days I couldn’t even concentrate far less deal with a Pack of wolves, but I’m much stronger now and I think I have to do this. I don’t think I’ll ever feel completely free until I do.”