The Vampire and the Virgin las-8
Page 3
He took another step toward her, and the moon glinted off his hair. Red? She hadn’t met any redheaded men at the party. Who was this man?
“Olivia,” Eleni called through the open door. “Your tea is steeping.”
She strode into the kitchen and waited impatiently for her mug of tea. “There’s a man on the beach.”
“Are you sure? It’s almost two in the morning.”
“Come and see. Maybe you know him.” Olivia wandered back to the courtyard and peered over the wall.
He was gone.
“He—He was there.” Olivia pointed south toward Petra. There was no sign of him anywhere.
Eleni gave her a sympathetic look. “You’re exhausted and seeing shadows. Drink your tea, child, and go to bed.”
“He was real,” she whispered. And the most beautiful man she’d ever seen. Dear God, please let him be real.
Bloody hell, she’d better be real. Robby sprinted up the stone steps to Roman’s villa. He’d hate to think that three months of forced boredom was causing him to see things. Lovely things like an angel dressed in white, gazing down at him from an ivory tower.
He strode around the pool and Jacuzzi to enter the whitewashed house. It was an old house, but thoroughly renovated with all the modern amenities. Carlos was in the family room, lounging on a sofa, watching a DVD and munching popcorn.
Robby waved at him as he passed into the kitchen. He retrieved a bottle of synthetic blood from the fridge and silently cursed his great-great-grandfather.
Angus must have guessed he intended to escape this forced vacation, ’cause by strange coincidence, this house had suddenly become everyone’s favorite vacation spot.
Roman Draganesti and his family had visited the last week of August and the first half of September, accompanied by their bodyguards, Connor and Howard. Since Connor and Howard both worked for MacKay Security & Investigation, they reported straight to Angus. And Robby had been unable to slip away.
Then Jean-Luc Echarpe and his family had stayed for the last half of September, accompanied by their bodyguards, who also worked for Angus. Then Jack and Lara dropped by for a few weeks. Then Ian and Toni, and now Carlos. And of course, they all worked for MacKay S&I.
Jailors. That damned Angus was using his employees as jailors to keep him on his island prison. He stuffed the bottle into the microwave and punched a button.
“What’s up?” Carlos wandered into the kitchen with an empty popcorn bowl.
“Nothing.” Robby leaned against the counter and folded his arms across his chest.
“Something’s up. I’ve been here two weeks, and every single night, you go out for a run. Then you come back, give me a dirty look, and growl that I should call Angus and tell him you’re in great shape and not crazy.”
“Did ye call Angus?”
“No. They don’t have a clue where Casimir’s hiding. You might as well stay here and enjoy yourself.”
Robby sighed. Angus could make better progress locating Casimir if he wasn’t sending some of his best employees here to babysit.
“Something’s different,” Carlos continued. “Tonight you came in with no scowling or growling. Why the change?”
Robby shrugged one shoulder. “I’m trying to convince you I’m no’ crazy. If I kept doing the same thing when it wasna working, would that no’ be crazy?”
“Good point.” Carlos rinsed the bowl and placed it in the dishwasher. “So you’re trying a new strategy tonight.”
Robby removed the bottled blood from the microwave and filled a glass. “Tonight I saw an angel.”
Carlos’s eyes widened. “And you’re still trying to convince me you’re not crazy?”
Robby snorted. “No’ a real angel. No’ unless they’ve taken to watching the mortal plane with telescopes.”
“Ah.” Carlos grinned. “You caught a babe, scoping you out. Was she hot?”
She was a goddess, a beautiful Greek goddess, but Robby didn’t feel like sharing that news with the Brazilian shape-shifter who could meet people during the day, while he was dead to the world. “She was all right.”
“Just all right? I thought she was an angel.”
Robby ignored the comment and took a long drink from his glass of synthetic blood.
“Did you talk to her?” Carlos asked. “Get her number?”
Robby frowned at his half-empty glass. “No.” He’d heard her whisper in Greek, so he wasn’t sure she understood English. “There’s no point in pursuing her. My prison term will be over in three weeks.”
Carlos rolled his eyes. “You’re not in prison, muchacho. Besides, a lot can happen in three weeks.”
Robby finished his glass. He wasn’t the sort of man who could indulge in a casual fling. When he was attracted to a woman, there was nothing casual about it. And he was definitely attracted to this woman.
The minute he’d laid eyes upon her, the world had screeched to a halt around him. He’d forgotten he was on vacation and due to leave soon. He’d forgotten it was the wee hours of the morning and not a proper time to approach a lone woman. He’d forgotten he was a stranger dressed in sweaty gym clothes and likely to frighten her. Hell, he’d even forgotten he was a vampire and had no business getting involved with a mortal. He’d simply been drawn to her.
And then, suddenly, she’d disappeared. He’d sprinted all the way home, wondering if he’d just imagined her. After all, he’d jogged down that beach every night for the past three months. If she lived in that house, why hadn’t he seen her before?
“If you see her again, you should talk to her,” Carlos said as he strode from the kitchen. “A beautiful woman might be just the therapy you need.”
“I doona need therapy,” Robby grumbled. He just needed revenge. Three months of exercise had whipped him back into shape, and he was ready to go. Ready to leave this wretched island and hunt Casimir down.
The angel’s lovely face floated back into his mind, erasing the image of his enemy. She had to be real. A mere dream couldn’t have affected him this strongly. He had to see her again. Even when there were a dozen reasons why he should avoid her, he’d still try to see her again.
Maybe he did need therapy after all.
It was past three in the morning when Olivia finally fell asleep. Unfortunately, it was Sunday morning, and her grandmother woke her at dawn so they could go to church. Apparently if she didn’t go, everyone in Grikos would say bad things about her.
Afterward, Olivia was put to work in the kitchen, helping her grandmother cook an enormous amount of food, and then, surprise! Two of Yia Yia’s best friends showed up for dinner with their eligible sons. Olivia was cordial, but disappointed that neither of them had red hair. Luckily, their English was as limited as her Greek, so she didn’t have to talk much. Her mind kept wandering back to the man on the beach. Who was he? Would he be back tonight?
By nine o’clock in the evening, jet lag and sleep deprivation caught up with her, and she stumbled off to bed. As she pulled the blanket up to her chin, she told herself she’d only take a short nap. She’d be in the courtyard at 1:00 A.M., waiting for the mysterious jogger to pass by.
She blinked awake when sunlight poured into her window. “Oh no!”
She sat up and looked at her bedside clock. Eight-thirty in the morning? Damn. She slipped the red booties onto her feet and shuffled into the kitchen.
“There you are, sleepyhead.” Her grandmother was stirring something on the stove. “I’ve already been to the bakery. There’s fresh bread on the table next to the honey jar. I’ll bring you a cup of tea.”
“Thank you.” Olivia sat down and cut off a thick slice of bread. As she reached for the honey jar, she noticed the narrow vase in the center of the table with a single red rosebud. “I didn’t know you grew roses.”
“I don’t. You can’t eat them.” Eleni set a cup of tea on the table and regarded her with a gleam in her eye. “I think you have a secret admirer.”
Olivia blinked. “Me?”
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“Who do you think he is? Giorgios or Dimitrios?” Eleni referred to the men who’d come over the day before.
“I don’t know.” Olivia’s mind had immediately snapped to the mysterious jogger with red hair and intense eyes. Could it be him? She reached out to touch the soft red petals. “You didn’t see who delivered it?”
“No.” Eleni planted her hands on her hips and frowned at the flower. “There was no note with it. I swept the courtyard early this morning, and while I was sweeping off the steps I found it halfway down to the beach. It was lying there, pinned down by a rock.”
Olivia’s heart raced. “Then whoever left it came from the beach.” It had to be from him.
Eleni gasped. “Of course! It’s from Spiro! He lives just down the beach.” She clasped her hands together, grinning. “My beautiful Spiro and Olivia together, right here on Patmos. Oh, the beautiful babies you’ll have.”
“Wait a minute. I’m not so sure it came from Spiro. And I don’t want you getting your hopes up about me living here. I specialize in criminals, and I seriously doubt if Patmos has enough of those to keep me in business.”
Eleni sat at the table with a huff. “We do have criminals. Last year there was a boy from Hora whose bicycle was stolen. Right in front of the monastery, too. It was shocking.”
Olivia shook her head as she drizzled honey on her bread. “Not bad enough.”
“Humph. Why do you need criminals? Can’t you help normal crazy people? Patmos has plenty of those. There’s a goat herder in Kambos who talks to his goats.”
Olivia sipped her tea. “It’s not unusual for people to talk to their animals.”
“Ah, but in this case, his goats talk back. And the solid black goat speaks Turkish.”
Olivia stifled a grin. “He’s the worst case you’ve got to offer?”
Eleni tilted her head, considering. “Well, there’s the old widower in Skala who was caught peeping in Maria Stephanopoulos’s window. His son started taking him to the nude beach at Plaki once a week, so he’s much better now.”
Olivia nodded. “I’m afraid that Peeping Tom syndrome is contagious. I heard there’s a widow woman in Grikos who uses a telescope to spy on a nearby goat herder.”
Eleni scoffed. “I’m not a Peeping Tom! I’m just admiring Spiro. He’s a work of art. It’s like I’m going to the museum. And I’ve never seen him naked. That wouldn’t be right, not when I want him to marry my granddaughter.”
Olivia winced, then took a bite of bread. Maybe her grandmother had a point. Not about Spiro, but about her work with criminals. Her life could be so different if she played it safe and lived here.
Who was she kidding? She wouldn’t last two months before boredom drove her absolutely bonkers. She thrived on the excitement that came with her work at the FBI. At least she had until her job had brought her into contact with one criminal in particular. The monster, Otis Crump. She didn’t have to worry about him sending roses. That sick pervert preferred apples. Big red apples.
“Hmm.” Eleni drummed her fingers on the table as she glared at the rose. “I don’t like secrets. I want to know who this admirer is.”
Olivia sighed. If dreams could come true, her secret admirer wouldn’t be Spiro, Giorgios, or Dimitrios. He’d be the mysterious man who jogged along the beach in the middle of the night. Could he have left the rose?
Her heartbeat raced at the thought. One way or another, she’d find out tonight.
CHAPTER 3
That’s not what you usually wear to go jogging,” Carlos commented as Robby strode across the family room.
Robby grunted and headed into the kitchen. He’d already had one bottle of blood when he’d first wakened, so he wasn’t really hungry. This was just a precaution in case he actually met the Greek goddess. Sometimes good old-fashioned lust managed to trigger his lust for blood, and he didn’t want his fangs popping out and scaring her.
He poured half a glass and warmed it up in the microwave.
Carlos entered the kitchen. “Your hair’s damp. You took a shower before jogging?”
He wasn’t going to jog tonight. He didn’t want to arrive at her house all sweaty, especially since a Vamp’s sweat tended to be a wee bit pinkish in color, just like their tears. It came from a steady diet of blood, he supposed. “I’m taking a walk.”
“Ah. A midnight stroll. Sounds wonderful.” Carlos regarded him with a smirk. “I think I’ll join you.”
“Nay.”
“I like to walk on the beach.”
“Piss off.”
Carlos laughed. “I know you’re hoping to see her.”
“I know ye know.” Robby removed his half glass of blood from the microwave and downed it.
“I also know that a red rose is missing from the garden.”
Robby arched a brow. “Ye’re keeping inventory on all the flowers?”
Carlos chuckled. “I had my eye on that rose. I was planning to give it to someone, and you beat me to it.”
Robby wondered briefly what Carlos was up to, but refrained from asking. Toni claimed he was gay, but Ian disagreed. When they were here on the island, Robby had heard them argue over the matter for ten minutes, then rush off to their bedroom to make up. He’d gone jogging for two hours, and when he returned, they were still making up.
He groaned inwardly. His Vamp friends, Ian, Jean-Luc, and Jack, were deliriously happy with their mortal women, but he doubted he could ever experience such happiness. First, there was the problem of finding a woman who could actually love a creature of the night.
Then there was the matter of trust. How would he know what she was doing during the day? He couldn’t bear another betrayal from a woman he loved. What if she tired of him and decided to stake him while he was in his death-sleep?
And then there was the last problem, the one that bothered him the most. Loving a Vamp was a death sentence. He didn’t know how his friends could even stomach the thought that one day they would have to literally kill their wives in order to transform them. What kind of love was that?
So what the hell was he doing? He set his empty glass in the sink. “This was a bad idea.”
“Dude, don’t chicken out now.”
He shot Carlos an annoyed look. “’Tis no’ fear that’s giving me pause. She’s an innocent mortal. She deserves better than me.”
“Right, because you’re a disgusting, slobbering beast who’ll rip her throat out and toss her dead body out to sea.”
Robby stiffened. “Are ye asking for a bloody nose? I wouldna harm her.”
“Exactly. Go see her, muchacho.”
Robby glanced down at his clothes. It had taken him fifteen minutes to decide what to wear. He’d finally chosen some worn jeans, a dark green T-shirt, and a navy hoodie lined with the green and blue MacKay tartan. His hair was tied back with a leather strip. “I doona look too casual?”
“You look fine. Go get her, tiger.”
Robby snorted. Strange words from a were-panther. He strode from the house before he could change his mind. Rather than descend the stone steps, he simply jumped off the edge of the rocky bluff and landed neatly on the pebbly beach below. Even in the dim light of the three-quarter moon, he could spot the rock called Petra about half a mile to the north. He teleported there, then walked around it to the beach at Grikos.
What was he going to say? He doubted she’d want to hear about his favorite topic—which swords were best suited for different situations. Bugger. He was woefully out of practice when it came to talking to women.
Olivia debated what to wear for fifteen minutes even though her choices were severely limited to the few items she’d packed. She finally opted for a pair of jeans and a soft pullover sweater. Then she trapped her unruly hair in a claw clip on the back of her head.
Her grandmother was sound asleep when she made herself comfortable in the courtyard. She lit a trio of candles on the table beneath the grape arbor. On a chair, she set an old cricket bat Yia Yia used to beat rugs.
She shoved him out of her thoughts. This was her time to recover and heal. He had been an assignment, nothing more, and she was done with it. Done with him.
She could only pray that he was done with her.
She strode back into the house to make a cup of hot tea. As she exited the kitchen, she grabbed the rose and took it with her. Back in the courtyard, she waited. And waited. She finished her tea and left the cup on the table.
Back at the wall, she smoothed her fingers over the velvet rose petals. The thorns had been pinched off the stem, so her secret admirer appeared to be considerate. She hoped he was the mysterious jogger. But where was he?
Maybe she was too early. Or maybe he had left the island and this rose was his way of saying good-bye. After all, the last week of November was way past the tourist season. Or maybe she’d imagined him. After dealing with the ultimate dregs of humanity in the person of Otis Crump, her subconscious could be trying to compensate by manufacturing a handsome, honorable hero.
She sighed. Too many years of psychology classes had left her with a tendency to overanalyze everything. She just needed to relax and smell the roses. Or one rose in particular. She lifted it to her nose and smiled.
Her attention snapped to a figure coming from the south. She looked through the telescope, and her heart lurched in her chest. It was him! He was real.
He wasn’t jogging tonight. Instead, he walked toward her with a quick determined stride. He lifted a hand in greeting, and her heart did another flip. Through the telescope, she could tell he was focused entirely on her. He certainly had good eyesight.
She stepped toward the wall and waved a hand to acknowledge his greeting. He immediately broke into a jog, and her heart pounded with each step that brought him closer. His eyes never seemed to leave her. He was checking her out, and that brought heat to her cheeks. Was he excited and attracted? Or was he already regretting his actions? She opened her senses to detect his feelings.