Vacation with a Vampire & Other Immortals by Maureen Child, MAGGIE SHAYNE Read Free Book Online Page B

leave.
     
     
    Diego had slept with his bedroom door locked, something he hadn’t felt the need to do since he’d hosted the only other houseguest ever to visit Serenity Island. He didn’t need another woman poking around, uncovering his secrets. Perhaps exposing them this time, and his haven with them. There was too much at stake. And he knew, from cruel experience, that once she had what she wanted her apparent enchantment with his home and his island—not to mention with him—would evaporate. Because it wasn’t real. He gathered up fresh clothing and took it with him into the bathroom, where he indulged in his nightly ritual of a piping hot shower. It felt delicious against his supersensitive skin. Vampires felt everything more powerfully than humans did. Pleasure. Pain, too.
    If anything, he thought as he stood beneath the steaming spray, Anna was even more beautiful than Cassandra had been. Her essence, her aura, was like a soft golden glow. The impression she gave was of a pure spirit, good to her core. But tender, too. Vulnerable. Easily frightened. Of course, that could just be what she wanted him to believe. She might be very good at disguising her true motives. Blocking her thoughts. It wasn’t impossible. Some mortals could do it. Cassandra could.
    Maybe Anna was…
    She wasn’t in the house.
    He realized it as he basked in the shower’s pulsing flow. There was no sense of his wounded houseguest whatsoever.
    He cranked off the shower knobs, stopping the flow of the solar-heated water, and stood there dripping, cocking his head to one side, feeling for her. Then he frowned. Her essence was there, but distant. Near the beach, he thought.
    Stepping out of the shower stall, he toweled off, dressed in khaki trousers and a short-sleeved yellow shirt, then headed down the stairs and outside. His hair was still wet, and he was barefoot. But then, he was nearly always barefoot. He walked, gathering his hair in a band behind his head. The shirt still hung unbuttoned, but it was a warm night, and he loved the air on his skin. Often he didn’t wear any clothes at all. Why bother? He was entirely alone here, aside from the animals he so loved.
    As he emerged onto the beach, he saw her curled on one side, sleeping in the sand. Close beside her Charlie, a familiar iguana, stood in the stand, poised and motionlessly staring at her face. As if waiting for her to wake up.
    Certain she’d been there for a while, Diego knelt beside her, and put a hand on her shoulder. “Anna. Wake up, now.”
    She smiled in her sleep, twisting a little, rubbing her cheek over her shoulder. “Hmm?”
    “Wake up now,” he repeated, trying not to notice how irresistibly attracted he was to her in this state. Or any state, he corrected. “Come on.”
    Her beautiful eyes opened, like jewels shining on him with a power that surprised him. And then, as she noticed the animal so near her face, her smile become full blown. “Well, hello there, little guy.” She met the reptile’s steady gaze, and her own was nonthreatening. Almost beaming with love. Lifting a hand, she tentatively stroked one crooked finger over Charlie’s neck.
    The iguana leaned into her touch the way an affectionate cat might do. So much for loyalty, Diego thought.
    “I think he likes you,” he said, and then he sighed. “Anna, meet Charlie. He’s an Acklins iguana, and he’s quite upset that he’s not looking his best right now. Those browns and greens, though quite lovely, brighten up to oranges and yellows during the hottest parts of the day, or so I’ve read.”
    The lizard gave a slow, contented blink, then turning, skittered away into the undergrowth, his very gait a comedy of its own.
    Anna laughed. “Do you name all the animals who live here?”
    “Only the ones I get to know well,” he said.
    She was still smiling. It was hard to believe she might be up to no good, conniving or plotting to use him. Hard to believe there was anything other than