Seduced by the Night (11 page)

Dirk paced a short distance away and dragged a hand down his face before turning to Mac, his anger and hostility fading. "She has."

Mac studied him for several minutes and then slowly nodded. "You've got it bad, don't you?" He came over and clapped a hand against Dirk's back in a gesture of sympathy. "Yeah. Happened the same way to me."

"With one glaring difference.
Lanie
wasn't
married.Beth
is… She's not mine—never will be. She belongs to someone else."

Dirk would have loved to have Mac tell him he was wrong, that Beth could be his, but his friend remained quiet. They both knew the way things had to be.

"Watch her for me, will you? I need to get away from here for a while."

Bethany
looked up from her work and was surprised to see Mac walk into the lab. "Where's Dirk?"

"He… had something he needed to do."

She tried to ignore his all too knowing look. "When will he be back?"

"I don't know."

She nodded, feeling the hurt and anger squeeze her chest. Maybe it was just as well that he was gone, she argued to herself. She found his presence all too unsettling and that was not a good thing for a woman to feel when she was engaged to another man.

Inside the lair, Patterson stared at the withered, dying form of the latest experiment. "I can't sell this crap on the black market," he shouted. "No one's going to buy it if it doesn't work." He turned away from the sight and pinned Stuart with a glare. "I should have killed you the day you arrived."

"What you're asking for is virtually impossible," the cocky young biochemist shot back.

"Is that right?" Patterson snarled, turning back to the body chained to the wall. The subject's life had finally expired. "Then tell me, Stuart," he said, affecting a calm he didn't feel, "why should I keep
you
alive?"

Stuart's eyes widened slightly. "Because you still need me."

"Really? I don't know. I feel like you're wasting my time. Are you wasting my time, Stuart?" He moved closer to the young man, but stopped when he felt the familiar tingling along the psychic link of Harris's presence. It was followed seconds later by the vampire's appearance.

"What's going on?"

"Where have you been?" Patterson snarled.

"Out." Harris didn't offer any further explanation but Patterson knew already. He knew about the adult
chupacabra
. It was a testament to his higher intellect, he thought, that he allowed Harris to operate in ignorance. Let Harris find the creature and when he had, Patterson would move in and use it, much as
Burton
had.

Still, even with the adult
chupacabra
, there was a need to have a supply of synthetic venom.
Burton
's experience taught him that much. The adult was unreliable.

"I need the
Stavinoski
woman," he muttered to no one in particular. "My source tells me that she's been working nights at the lab. Maybe we should try to take her again."

Harris shook his head. "Building security will be tighter than ever. We'd have a hell of a time getting in undetected."

"Not if you had an ID badge."

Patterson and Harris turned together to stare at Stuart, who smiled back at them. In his hand he held his Van Home Technologies security card.

Bethany
woke up the next morning feeling tired and out of sorts. Dirk hadn't come back to the lab last night and Miles hadn't bothered to call her after the reception.

She'd done her best to shove both men from her thoughts as she worked and Mac had finally brought her back to the mansion around two in the morning.

The kitchen was empty by the time she'd dressed and gone downstairs, but a fresh pot of much needed coffee sat on the counter. Pouring herself a cup, she searched for sweetener and creamer and met with limited success. She didn't care, though, and after mixing in a packet of sweetener, she took a drink. Closing her eyes, she let the sweet hot essence slide down her throat and tried to imagine the liquid energy coursing through her veins, spreading throughout her body, reviving her. It was enough to make her sigh.

"I don't suppose you have any more of whatever it is you're drinking?"

Startled,
Bethany
opened her eyes to see an unfamiliar forty-something woman standing at the kitchen entry way, holding a large gargoyle statue in one hand and a small collection of notebooks in the other. She had dark chestnut hair that fell to about chin length. It was perfectly coiffed and the silk navy-blue suit she wore probably cost as much as
Bethany
's monthly apartment rental.

The woman smiled and moved confidently toward the table. "I'm Julia Penrose," she said, setting the notebooks down before carefully placing the gargoyle in the middle of the table, where it was less likely to fall. "I'm Admiral Winslow's new personal assistant."

She held out her hand and
Bethany
finally remembered her manners. "I'm sorry. Bethany
Stavinoski
. I'm… staying here." She cringed at the vagueness of her words, but Julia smiled.

"The admiral explained that in addition to his philanthropic pursuits he also runs a security agency and that a client was currently in residence. I assume that would be you."

Bethany
opened her mouth to offer some explanation, but Julia stopped her. "He also explained that much of the security work was on a need-to-know basis. If he wants me to know, he'll tell me."

Relieved,
Bethany
took another drink of her coffee and then abruptly set down the cup. "I'm sorry. You wanted coffee." She took another cup from the cabinet. "How do you take it?"

"Sweetener and cream, please."

"Well, I found the sweetener, but I haven't had much luck finding creamer."

"I think I can help there." Julia walked over to the pantry beside the oven and opened the door. "I seem to remember seeing it in here yesterday. Oh, yes, here it is." She handed
Bethany
the
nondairy
creamer and
Bethany
caught a whiff of the woman's perfume. It was a warm, rich scent of cloves and cinnamon that seemed to somehow fit her. Spooning creamer into the cup, she glanced at Julia.

"One will be fine, t
hank
you," the woman answered her unspoken question.

Bethany
poured the coffee and then handed the woman her cup. Fixing herself another, she resumed her spot leaning against the counter.

At that moment, Mac's voice drifted in from the other room. "Are you telling me you didn't feel it?" He sounded tired and incredulous.

"What? The 'disturbance in the force'?" Dirk asked in a mock movie-announcer voice. Then, sounding like  himself again, he went on. "Okay, seriously. Yes, I did, but that doesn't prove anything. It certainly doesn't mean she's still alive."

"But it might."

The two men appeared in the kitchen doorway and when
Bethany
looked up, her gaze locked with Dirk's. Her cheeks heated at the memory of his body pressed close to hers and she found herself incapable of speech.

When she finally tore her gaze away, she found Mac staring at Julia.

"Who are you?" he asked.

In her cultured tone, she introduced herself. "My name is Julia Penrose. I'm Admiral Winslow's new assistant. And you are?"

Surprisingly, a small smile touched Mac's lips. "Mac Knight. It's very nice to meet you." He shook hands with her and then turned to gesture toward Dirk. "This is Dirk Adams. We run the security end of the business, which means we usually work nights."

Julia held her hand out to Dirk, who hesitated a moment before taking it. "Nice to meet you, ma'am," he said gruffly.

"Are you just coming in?" Julia asked the two men.

"As a matter of fact, we are," Mac replied.

"There's plenty of coffee," Julia offered. "Would you care for any?"

"No, t
hank
you. I think we'll just get some shut-eye."

"I thought I heard your voice,"
Lanie
said, walking in and going straight to her husband, who pulled her close for a thorough good-morning kiss. When she broke away seconds later, she looked flushed and happy. "I see you've had a chance to meet Julia."

"Yes," Mac said. "We were just introducing ourselves."

"Good morning, everyone." Admiral Winslow's deep booming voice filled the room as he joined them. "I trust everyone had a good night?" The way he asked the question, his gaze lingering on Mac and Dirk,
Bethany
knew he was asking if they'd encountered any more vampires.

The two men nodded solemnly. "Nothing we couldn't handle," Dirk said.

"Good, good. Glad to hear it," the admiral continued. He turned his attention to the women. "
Lanie
, Bethany. Good morning to you. I trust all is well."

They each nodded.

Then he turned his full attention on Julia. "Good morning, Julia."

Bethany
noticed the subtle change in his tone and gaze when he addressed his new assistant. It seemed warmer, more personal.

"Good morning, Admiral," Julia replied and for the first time all morning sounded a little flustered.

"Call me Charles, please. I'm retired now and Admiral Winslow sounds too… formal." He smiled and
Bethany
found herself thinking that the admiral's interest in his new assistant might be more than professional. Judging from the pleased expression on Julia's face, she didn't think the interest was one-sided.

"What's this doing here?"

Lanie's
question distracted her and
Bethany
noticed she was looking at the statue.

"Oh, I brought that in here," Julia said. "It was sitting in the middle of the desk, making it terribly difficult to work. I wondered if we might find a new home for it?"

"Of course,"
Lanie
said. "In fact, I'll put it away right  now." She picked up the statue and walked out of the kitchen.

"Julia, it was nice meeting you," Mac said. "If you'll excuse me?" She nodded and he turned to Dirk. "We'll finish this later."

Dirk also pushed away from the counter. "Julia, it was nice meeting you. Beth." He dipped his head in farewell, gave the admiral a curious look, and then followed Mac out of the kitchen.

"Shall we get started?" the admiral asked Julia.

"Yes." She turned to
Bethany
. "T
hank
you for the coffee. I do hope we'll have a chance to talk again soon."

"I'd like that,"
Bethany
agreed. She watched the two leave and was alone once more. Fighting an inexplicable sense of disappointment, she refilled her cup and went back to her room, where her thoughts turned to Dirk Adams, as they tended to do all too often.

Thinking of that man was not doing her relationship with Miles much good. What she needed was a chance to spend more time with her
fiance
. Struck with an idea, she picked up her cell phone, as there wasn't a phone in the room, and punched in a number.

"I can't believe it," Miles teased when he answered and heard her voice. "Your warden is actually allowing you to make a social call?"

Remembering the violent way Mr.
Yarbro
had died and the look in the eyes of the vampire that almost killed her,
Bethany
had a hard time laughing off his joke. "I know Dirk seems rather strict, but he
has
kept me safe."

"Has he really?" He sounded doubtful. "Or have the attacks stopped and that's why you've been safe?"

Not wanting to continue this line of
conversation,which
could only lead to a fight, she counted to ten, slowly. "The reason I called is because I thought maybe we could get together for lunch."

She heard the sound of typing as he accessed his online schedule. "I'm sorry,
Bethany
. I've got back-to-back meetings all afternoon. My last one starts at six-thirty tonight."

Bethany
forced herself to swallow her disappointment. "Okay. Some other time, then."

She was seconds from disconnecting the call when she heard him sigh. "No, wait. I do want to see you. How about dinner—say seven-thirty? I'll make reservations at
Nicolette's
—a
cozy
little table for two."

Seven-thirty meant it would be after dark. "Maybe we could go someplace else?"

"Why? I thought you liked
Nicolette's
."

Frustrated,
Bethany
shook the phone in her hand like she wanted to shake Miles. Then she calmly placed it back to her ear. "I do, but it's going to be hard to have a
cozy
dinner for two when there will be three of us. Dirk's not going to let me go anywhere without a bodyguard."