Born Into Love (6 page)

“You were not the problem. I doubt you ever could be.” Diego touched her cheek. “Let me change.”

“Good. I don’t like to swim alone.” Had her response sounded casual? Probably not.

He called down from the top of the stairs. “Luz, escort our guest to the pool and bring refreshments.”

The girl appeared before Mercedes
could blink. Her bronzed skin glistened as if newly moisturized. Her dark hair had been ambushed by some kind of coloring fiend. She wore a toga-like outfit, gold sandals and several metal rings in her eyebrow.

“Follow me.”

Mercedes ached with curiosity. She wanted to know the girl’s age. “Have you worked for Diego long?”

Luz tugged the sliding doors open. “Many years.” The girl laughed. “I look younger than I am.”

Mercedes sensed Luz served as the perfect assistant and not likely to supply information, but she pried anyway. “What’s your secret?”

“Magic.”

Mercedes laughed. “Good one. Don’t tell the cosmetics companies. They’ll go berserk.”

“I hadn’t thought of that. Please follow me. I’ll show you to a cabana.”

Mercedes hadn’t brought much gear. She glanced inside the eight-by-eight cabin that had nothing in common with back yard equipment sheds not with designer cushions and a skylight.

“I’ll return with iced tea. Is that all right?”

“Yes. Thanks.” Mercedes sucked in her tummy and stepped outside. Diego waited in the shaded corner of the pool.

“How is your sister?”

The question seemed out of context until Mercedes realized they were not alone. Luz delivered her beverage and Annie provided a conversational link. “They’re releasing her, but she’s got to stay off her feet.”

“And the blood tests?”

“Dr. Mendez’s coming to the house tomorrow morning with the results. I need to be there.”

“Good. You put family first.”

Mercedes removed her towel, but kept her gaze on the terrazzo surrounding the pool. Out of the corner of her eye she glimpsed Luz as she nodded to Diego and returned to the house.

“What time will the doctor arrive?”

“Eight. He has rounds, so he’s fitting us in.”

“
It is unusual that he would come to the house. Is he a friend of the family?”

“Yes. My Aunt Louise’s buddy.”

“Have you notified the museum?”

“The curator knows. She’s okay with my late arrival.”

“You are flying into Manhattan with me, remember? We will not be too late.”

“You were serious?”

“Of course.”

“I’m not used to luxuries.”

“May I remind you that even wealthy people, who seem to have it all, can have bad days.”

“Easier to think your lives are perfect.” She studied his face but her thoughts wandered. If her bones turned to rubber twenty feet away, what chance did restraint have close to the source? “Why are you going to the museum?”

“They say they want my input, but they are being polite. It’s a mere courtesy. My offer of a ride still holds.”

Mercedes ditched the hip wrap and walked to the steps leading into the shimmering blue water. “I don’t think you should trust Remy.”

“I agree. He is not an amigo.”

Bubbles skimmed her legs from the jets on the side of the pool. She dove into the water even though inching her way with shrieking had worked well in the past. She surfaced three feet from her host.

When she stood, her eyes came level with his chin. She wiped her face with her hands and anchored her dripping hair behind her ears. Diego’s broad chest, nicely shaded by dark hair on taut muscles, made her want to throw her arms around him. A B-52 could land on his shoulders. Muscles that for sure had spent time lifting weights. “If I come to your pool on other days, I hope I won’t find Procteur here.”

“Trust me. You will be spared his company.” Diego s
miled and Mercedes wanted to rush to him.

Why allow this absurd, sudden attraction? Because it’d been a long time since she found someone with real appeal? Someone with character?

Diego pointed to the end of the pool. “Race you.”

“You’re on.” She lunged forward and pulled into a tight crawl. Diego splashed by her side until he left her in a bubbling wake.

Seconds too late she pulled alongside him. “Hey! That’s not neighborly.”

“I hope you will forgive me.”

She tried to stand in water that was too deep... She latched onto the side, her breath coming in rapid gasps. “I guess you’ve had a lot of practice.”

“I have always been a strong swimmer.
I had to be. I spent a lot of time on the ocean.”

Her breath normalized. “I figured you’d say something like that. I’ve got a practical nature too.
That’s something we share.”

He indicated the aluminum ladder. “Had enough?”

“Yes. I really just wanted to cool off.” Who was she kidding? Her insides shifted like magma. She glanced at her watch. “Annie’s being released at seven.”

“Tonight?”

“The doctor insisted she stay until she had three meals and no complications. I’m picking her up.”

He swung closer to the ladder sending a wave onto her chest.
Diego gripped the metal rails demonstrating great muscles in action. “I’ll climb out first, that way I won’t stare at you as you climb.”

She laughed. “How do you know I won’t stare at you?”

“Maybe I know you will and that’s what I want.”

She waved her hand at him. “Go, before my lips turn blue.”

He waited for her to join him on the tiled surround. “Forgive me for racing with you. But you were too dazzling in the water. Had we stayed, I might have been even less gentlemanly.” He held her towel for her and would have used it on her back, but she wasn’t ready for that so she did the honors.

“I think you’re dry now.”

Mercedes nodded. “I’ve got to leave.”

He
stepped closer and whispered into her hair, “Hearing you say that even once is too often. I will drive you to the hospital. Annie will be more comfortable in my car.”

* * *

Bearing in mind her special needs,
Diego buckled Annie into the passenger seat. Mercedes settled in the back, too quiet. While the sisters conversed, his thoughts flew to a memory of another girl days from giving birth. Her evil father had sacrificed him to their vampire god. In return she witnessed the death of her village at his hands and the demise of both her father and their vampire ruler.

But Tala’s pleading eyes had cut into
his rage. And for a moment, his humanity overcame his hatred. He allowed her to flee with her growing womb into the waiting jungle. Days later he found her gift next to his jungle pallet.

The remaining years of the sixteenth century were savagely dark and endlessly mean. All brought on by
his desires. In the seventeenth, he still lived off human blood, but carried guilt.

Mercedes tapped
his shoulder. “Diego, you can turn here for a shortcut, if you want.”

“Thank you. You make a good co-pilot.”

“Are you worried about the exhibit?”

“No.”

Annie sighed. “I’ve been in bed twenty-four hours, but I’m exhausted.”

Diego pulled into Mercedes’ driveway. Shells crunched under the weight of the car. “Let me carry you.”

Annie laughed. “And get a herniated disk?”

Mercedes opened the door. “You’ve done enough. You made everything easier. How can I thank you?”

“Ride with me in the helicopter tomorrow.” In the gentling of her posture he saw that she would relent.

“You win. I surrender.”

He wanted to stay with them, but would be intruding and without looking at his watch, his thirsting body told him how the rest of his evening would evolve. How long, he wondered, would it be before Mercedes realized he was not what he seemed?

* * *

Luz greeted
him as he pulled into the garage. “Master, you must be hungry. Should I prepare a bowl from our supply?”

“No, tonight I have other plans.”

“Master, may I speak?”

He
leaned against the door. “Be quick. It is time.”

“This woman. She’s bad for you.”

“Why?”

“She’s a reminder of what you cannot have—an ordinary love life.” Her forehead wrinkled and the eyebrow rings wobbled. “Or even an ordinary life.”

He waved his hand over Luz’s face. “Do not mention this aspect of Mercedes again.” He settled Luz in front of the wall television in the media room—a purchase she insisted they needed. Although still under a light spell, she pressed a couple of buttons and movie credits rolled.

Hunger roared.
His last thought concerned the wind against his face as he flew. Following that sensation came the metallic taste of blood, warm and liquid, sliding down his throat and filling his body with immeasurable, pleasurable strength.

After the feast
he tumbled onto the rich earth to become a wolf. Sometimes he could not remember his human self. He sang a wolf’s song into the blackness above his head.

Upon returning home
he spied a male figure sitting on the damp sand, smoking. Had the man witnessed his unorthodox arrival? Diego could not be sure. He waited a long time in the dunes before the stranger became aware of his presence. Finally, the visitor looked behind him.

“What are you doing?”
Diego asked. The man had been drinking beer. Not a scent Diego enjoyed not even when steins overflowed at ancient Bavarian festivals.

“What’s it to you?”

The high crime rate simplified his response. “I am a member of the community safety squad. And you are here because. . . .”

“I’m related to someone in that house.”

He pointed to Mercedes and Annie’s large cottage. “Like how?” Diego wasn’t sure an adult would speak those words, but the stranger accepted Luz’s turn of phrase.

“Annie’s carryin’ my baby.”

“They have invited you?”

“Whaddayou care?”

“Neighborhood patrol. You have to leave.” The inebriated man rose to his full height, a struggle since he already swayed on the sand. His attempt at intimidation might have worked on a twelve-year-old, but the shove Diego provided sent him rolling. “If you do not remove yourself, I will continue.”

The
visitor stumbled over empty bottles, and scurried off heading toward the boardwalk on the town beach. For certain he was a predator and Diego had known many.

* * *

As if in prayer, Doctor Mendez folded his hands. “We’ve looked at the blood work. As I thought, the tests show you’re suffering from an extremely rare disease. It’s complicating cell production.”

“How do we treat it?” Annie asked.

He touched her arm. “With transfusions. It’s serious especially in your condition but there are cases where it goes into remission. We can hope for that.” He paused. “If not, we might have to consider another approach.”

Annie shook her head. “Not unless you can guarantee my baby will be unaffected.”

Dr. Mendez lowered his gaze. “I can’t do that.”

Mercedes got down to business. “Can she get transfused at County Hospital?”

“Of course, I’ll make the arrangements.”

Mercedes held her sister’s hand. “And my blood? Is it a match? Is it safe?”

“Yes. The accelerator finished the analysis. You’ll be an excellent donor. And I can have a nurse ready to start visits in a few days.”

Annie pointed to her stomach. “Thanks for taking care of us, doctor.”

Dr. Mendez patted her arm. “We’ll do our best.”

Mercedes maintained a brave front, but when she closed the front door behind her aunt’s good friend, she whispered a prayer. She stopped in the kitchen then hurried to her sister who’d maneuvered herself onto the sofa.

“Drink. Keep up your strength.” She handed Annie a glass of milk. “It’ll be all right. We already know our blood matches, and the transfusions
will help.”

“One pint per month’s all you can give.”

“And what can you get from the hospital?”

“I don’t know. But Dr. Mendez said I was an easy match. Should I ask David?”

Mercedes didn’t want to involve him. If he could, the creep’d suck the life out of her sister faster than the disease. “You decide. I can’t tell you what you should do.”

Annie fiddled with the glass. “I have a confession to make. I phoned him from the hospital.”

Mercedes suppressed a scream. “Why?”

“He has a right to know.”

“Legally, I suppose, but emotionally, he’s a user.” Mercedes plopped into an overstuffed armchair. “Did you tell him about this house?”