Seduced by the Night Read Online Free PDF Page A

the driver's seat.
     
    "Oh, no," Lanie breathed out, expressing how they all felt.
    They fell silent and Dirk let his mind wander back to the lab; back to the image of a woman with shoulder-length ash-blond hair and features so delicate and fine, it was little wonder Miles Van Home wanted her for a wife. He did his best to push that thought to the back of his mind, where it refused to stay.
    Almost a foot taller than Bethany , he'd lost himself staring down into her emerald-green gaze. He relived the memory of their hands touching when they first met and the spark of electricity that sizzled between them. His mental image shifted to include Miles Van Home and he frowned. The man was clearly wrong for her.
    Glancing back at Lanie and Mac, it was hard to miss the look of affection Mac gave his wife. Not for the first time, Dirk felt there should be something more to his life.
    He silently scoffed at himself. The kind of peace and fulfillment he longed for came to others—it didn't come to people like him. He slammed the door on emotions leaking past the mental barrier he'd erected long ago.
    When they reached the mansion, Dirk and Mac climbed from the vehicle with obvious effort.
    "You boys should go on to bed," Lanie said as they went inside. "I can see you're both dragging."
    "What about you?" Mac asked.
    "I'll be there shortly." She smiled as she gave her husband a kiss. "I want to be here when the new assistant arrives—help her get settled."
    "You're kidding?" Dirk said, surprised. "He refuses to hire a maid or housekeeper for security reasons, but now he's hired an assistant?" Confusion and concern overrode Dirk's fatigue as the group automatically headed for the kitchen. "Why?"
    "Oops, what are you doing here?" Lanie walked over to the large gargoyle-shaped statue sitting on the kitchen counter and picked it up. Then she turned to Dirk. "Our security work is starting to take up more of my time so Uncle Charles thought it would be a good idea to hire someone to help out."
    "Where'd he get this person?" Mac asked. "It's not like he can just hire anyone off the street."
    "Don't worry," she assured them. "He went through a special agency. This woman has cleared all the background checks."
    "If he's already checked her out, then I guess there's nothing for us to worry about," Dirk mumbled around a yawn. "I'm going to bed."
    "Yeah, me, too," Mac added.
    The two walked in silence up the stairs to their respective rooms. Being half vampire came with a cost—one of which was they had a hard time functioning during the day. Although Dirk missed the sunshine, he didn't mind sleeping during the day and being up all night. After all, he was a vampire slayer and night was when he hunted.
    Bethany left for the lab the next evening dressed in the outfit Miles purchased for her. She'd almost refused to wear it, afraid of what an errant drop of acid might do to the fine linen. He'd dismissed her concerns and sent her to work, accompanied by her new bodyguard, Mr. Yarbro , a huge, beastly-looking, bald man who was nearly as broad in the shoulders as she was tall. It didn't take much time in his company, however, to realize that while he might be  effective at protecting her from outside dangers, she was at risk of dying from boredom. Not used to having someone with her constantly, she'd tried engaging the man in conversation only to discover that he had the wit and personality of a rock.
    On a lighter note, however, Miles had ordered the lab to be cleaned and the broken equipment replaced, so everything was ready for her to begin work when she arrived. She went to the refrigerated safe and keyed in the combination to open it Inside was the original vial of plant extract that Miles had given her. She used a dropper to siphon off a small amount that she then placed in another tube before setting to work.
    After studying her notes, she realized that there were only a few tests she needed to run to be caught up to where she was before the