Forever Valentine Read Free

oddities lived on the fringes of both worlds, often totally unaware of their connections to the supernatural unless they came into contact with a true vampire who was willing to clue them in.
    Perhaps Jena, or one of her ancestors more likely, was the product of such a union? Then her abilities and proclivities would make a lot more sense. Ian wondered if she could be one of these—the rarest of the rare.

Chapter Two
    Ian sat through the rest of the interminable dinner date, calmly sipping his wine, presenting a tranquil façade to the world while he inwardly seethed. Dick was really getting on his nerves. The unctuous doctor had more moves than an acrobat, and he tried every last one on Jena. But she was just a little too savvy. She verbally skirted around his glaring innuendo, and avoided his roving footsie with aplomb. Ian silently cheered her on from his ringside seat.
    When it came time to leave, he was right behind them. Oh, most people wouldn’t be aware he followed, but another supernatural being might just ferret him out—if they were really good.
    Ian watched from the bushes at the foot of Jena’s driveway as Doctor Octopus tried to charm his way inside her home. The little bastard would step through that door over Ian’s dead body, and no other way. But he’d give Jena a chance to get rid of him in a more reasonable way first.
    Ian didn’t quite understand his own violent responses, but he knew he was far from rational where Jena was concerned. Still, he would try to play by the rules, as long as Doctor Dick didn’t do anything to push Ian over the edge. He wanted so badly to pound the other man’s face into the ground, he knew he had to steer clear if at all possible. Contact between himself and the smaller mortal male could very well be deadly for Doctor Dickhead.
    Ian amused himself thinking up insulting variations of Dick’s name while he waited impatiently for Jena to finally send the jerk on his way. Hey, it was better than ripping the man’s face off. And far less troublesome.
    But what had the world come to when a fearsome, centuries-old vampire had to play schoolyard games in his mind to keep from brutally biting a man he didn’t like at all? Ian shook his head. It was because of Jena. Had to be. The woman was driving him crazy. It was as plain and simple as that. Before Jena had come into his life, he had been a mentally balanced, somewhat austere man. Since babysitting for the beautiful doctor, he’d become a salivating, slandering, just downright silly parody of himself.
    Ian grinned in triumph when the sniveling facsimile of a man finally turned away from Jena’s door in defeat. A silent pounding of his fist in the air was Ian’s victory dance. He watched Dick Schmidt back his pompous luxury car out of the driveway, and followed his progress down the dark street until he was out of sight.
    Only then did Ian make his way up to Jena’s door. It was partially open as he knocked, and Jena stood on the other side as if expecting him. Perhaps she was, he thought with an inward quake. Perhaps she was one of the precious few mortals who could detect his kind, even when he wished to remain hidden. Or perhaps—and this was even more frightening—she was the one woman in all the world, and all the centuries, who was destined just for him.
    “Will you invite me in?” Ian’s voice was pitched low, his tone somber.
     
    Jena knew the vampire had to be formally invited inside her dwelling. It was tradition, and these creatures thrived on tradition, if nothing else. But the question remained in her mind—should she? Should she invite the vampire into her home, breaching the sanctity of her only retreat?
    Could she trust Ian not to take advantage? Could she trust him not to kill her, if for some reason he took it into his mind that she was a threat to his people? That was the crux of the matter right there.
    Jena considered for a long moment before stepping back to make room for him to