The Vampire Who Loved Me Read Free Page B

if her brother-in-law made a regular habit of questioning her sanity. He’d only done it twice before. Once when she had cornered a hissing six-hundred-year-old vampire during the bassoon interlude at Lady Quattlebaum’s midsummer musicale, holding him at bay with a violin bow until Adrian could arrive with his crossbow. And only last month when she’d turned down not one, but two, handsome, wealthy young noblemen eager to make her their bride.
    Had he been bellowing at her out of spite instead of concern, Portia might have been more alarmed. But she knew that Adrian could have adored her no more had she been born his sister instead of his wife’s.
    It was that steadfast certainty that allowed her to serenely blink up at him from the wing-chair in front of the hearth as he paced the drawing room of his Mayfair mansion, scowling like an ogre and dragging his fingers through his honey-colored hair until it bristled like a lion’s mane.
    He spun around on the heel of one polished boot and stabbed a finger in her direction. “You may be in danger of losing your mind, but I’m still in full possession of all of my faculties. And if you believe for one minute that I’m going to allow you to put yourself in such grave peril, then you’re sorely mistaken.”
    “I don’t plan on putting myself in any peril at all,” she replied. “Now that I’ve found him, I simply want to have a civilized conversation with your brother.”
    Her eldest sister Caroline rose from the brocaded sofa to slip her arm through her husband’s. With her belly just beginning to swell with their second child and her pale blond hair sleeked back into a crisp chignon, she should have resembled a placid Madonna. But the sparkle of humor and intelligence in her gray eyes made her look less than serene. “Adrian’s right, pet. It’s far too risky. Don’t you remember what happened the last time you tried to help him? You nearly died.”
    “ He nearly died,” Portia reminded her. “I saved him.”
    Adrian and Caroline exchanged a glance, but Portia simply set her lips in a firm line. She had never told anyone exactly what had happened in that crypt nearly six years ago. And she had no intention of doing so now.
    “I know you’ve spent many a sleepless night worrying about Julian,” Caroline said. “We all have. But you still have to think about the danger to yourself.”
    “A little danger didn’t keep you away from Adrian when everybody believed he was a vampire.”
    “In case you’ve forgotten, there was onesignificant difference. And Julian may not even be the vampire you remember. He’s been gone for almost six years and we’ve heard absolutely nothing from him for over three of those years. Not a letter, not a word, not a whisper. He didn’t even contact us after we sent word that Eloisa had been born.” Caroline stole an indulgent look at the rosy-cheeked, honey-haired toddler who was cheerfully gnawing at the gold tassels on one of the sofa cushions. “Nor did he respond after Adrian wrote to inform him that their mother had finally succumbed to consumption in Italy. He and Adrian were once as close as two brothers could be. Why would he sever all ties to us if he hadn’t decided to turn his back on the search for his soul?”
    “I don’t know,” Portia admitted. “But the only way to find out is to ask him.”
    “And just why would he confide in you?” Adrian asked, cocking one tawny eyebrow. “Because he’s always had an eye for a pretty girl? Because there’s still some streak of sentimentality left in him after all of these years of living as a monster? Some spark of humanity?”
    Portia held her tongue. There were no words to explain the bond she’d felt tugging at herheart since their time in the crypt. Even if there had been, she knew they would just accuse her of clinging to a young girl’s romantic fancy.
    Adrian dropped to one knee in front of the chair, bringing himself eye to eye with her. Portia’s