The Vampire and the Virgin (4 page)

“Opa,”
she muttered as she continued to spy on him through the telescope. She’d seen plenty of fit men

during her training days for the Bureau, but this guy put them to shame. While their muscles had seemed

forced and clumpy, this guy looked completely natural, moving with an easy, graceful control.

She was still focused on his rump when she noticed the attached legs were no longer moving. Did he run out

of steam? He hadn’t seemed tired. His jogging shorts slowly turned, affording her a long look at his groin. She

gulped.

She raised the scope to his chest. Oh dear. That huge expanse of chest was now facing her direction. Surely,

he wasn’t…She lifted the scope to his face and gasped.

He was looking straight at her!

She jumped back, pulling her blanket tight around her. How could he see her? The courtyard was dark and

the walls reached to her waist. But then the walls were whitewashed and she was cocooned in a white blanket,

and the moon and stars were bright. Maybe he
could
see this far. Surely he hadn’t been able to hear her? She’d

barely spoken over a whisper.

He stepped toward her, gazing at her with intense eyes. Oh God, he’d caught her ogling him with a telescope!

She pressed a hand against her mouth to keep from groaning out loud. Apparently, the smallest of sounds was

carrying across the beach.

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.

“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.”

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?”

“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.

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.

Her heartbeat raced at the thought. One way or another, she’d find out tonight.

T
hat’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