Holiday with a Vampire: Christmas Cravings. Caridad Pineiro

beside him and opened the first-aid kit. “I’m not the one who was lying unconscious in the snow.”

      “I appreciate what you did, but you should just go back to your house. I’ll be gone by nightfall.”

      “To where? I didn’t see a car out front.” And as she said it, Tessa wondered just how in the heck he’d come to be in her yard, anyway. Had he walked from town? In the snow?

      “That’s not your concern.” He moved farther from her, tucking himself deeper into the shadowy corner.

      Just then, the sun slipped behind a bank of clouds and the barn darkened, the slanting bars of sunlight winking out as if they’d never been. And the man huddled against the barn wall sighed, as if in relief.

      “More snow’s coming,” Tessa pointed out with a glance behind her at the open barn door. She could smell it on the wind and in a heartbeat, she made a decision. “You can’t leave. This storm is supposed to be a big one. You probably wouldn’t make it into town before it hit—even if you had a car.”

      Scowling, he gritted his teeth and gave her a short nod. “You’re right. I’ll wait out the storm.”

      “Not out here, you won’t.” She picked up the first-aid kit again and stood up, to look down at him. “You’ll freeze to death.”

      “You’re not going to leave me alone, are you?”

      “So I can find your frozen dead body in the morning?” She shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

      “Fine.” Grayson pushed himself to his feet and swayed a little, reaching out one hand to the wall to steady himself.

      He was hungry. Every cell in his body cried out for blood and the temptation of having her so near to him was one he was hard put to ignore. Her eyes stared up at him with concern, though, and that was enough to at least momentarily bank the bloodlust clamoring inside.

      She had helped him. He wouldn’t repay her by sinking his teeth into her lovely throat.

      No matter how much he longed to.

      He shot a quick look at the world beyond the barn and noted that the light was gray, clouds having obliterated the sun. He could make it to the house. And once inside, away from the light, he could gather his strength. Then he’d leave her before his hunger outstripped his sense of chivalry.

      “Lean on me.” She wrapped one arm around his waist, tucking her shoulder under his arm.

      “This is getting to be a habit,” he muttered and was rewarded by the smile she flashed him.

      “Let’s get you into the house.”

      They made it across the yard and up the steps, with Tessa supporting his every stride. It had been a long time since Grayson had needed anyone’s help. And accepting that help didn’t come easily to him. Still, he didn’t have much choice. If he didn’t get into the house and away from the danger of sunlight, he would die. And just at this moment, with Tessa’s scent filling him, he realized that he wasn’t ready to march into hell.

      “Come on,” she said, opening the door. “Come inside and sit down near the fire.”

      Her invitation was enough to let him pass the threshold and he stumbled through the kitchen with her help, into the wide living room where a fire blazed and crackled in the hearth. She eased him onto an overstuffed sofa crowded with colorful pillows and Grayson laid his head on the back of the couch. The fatigue seeping into every square inch of his body dragged at him.

      He hadn’t been awake during daylight hours in decades. Now he remembered why. He battled unconsciousness, his thoughts becoming fuzzy, his breathing slowing. The scent of cinnamon hung in the air and mingled with the pine garland strung across the mantel. Christmas.

      Not a particularly festive time in a vampire’s year.

      Especially for him.

      Being in this house again brought back memories so vivid, so alive, the empty room seemed to throb with them. He’d built this house himself. Moved his wife and children into it. Planned to live, grow old and die within its walls.

      Well, he’d gotten one out of three right.

      “Are you hungry?”

      He turned his head to look at her. His gaze locked on the graceful column of her throat and he would have sworn he could actually see her pulse pounding there. Her blood would be warm and rich and sweet. He could almost taste it, flowing down his throat, slaking his thirst, easing his pain.

      Deliberately, he closed his eyes. “No.”

      “At least let me get you some coffee.”

      “Fine. And—” he spoke quickly as she turned to go to the kitchen “—I’m expecting a delivery this afternoon. If I’m…asleep, will you sign for it?”

      “Sure, but—”

      “Thanks.” That one word was a dismissal and she obviously felt it. He wasn’t about to explain about the delivery of blood for which he’d arranged before he knew his house would be occupied. And, he told himself, his business manager was going to pay for it as soon as Grayson returned to New York.

      “Okay, be right back.”

      He listened to the fire, letting its soothing sounds settle over him. Memories crowded his mind as sleep dragged him down—images of a different place, a different time, danced through his mind, one after the other. He allowed them to fill him and welcomed the pain as he remembered the faces of his children. His wife’s voice.

      Then the images shifted, changing, becoming the living nightmare that was never entirely gone.

      His family’s screams echoed over and over again in his mind and Grayson jerked awake suddenly with a shriek erupting from his own chest.

      The sun.

      “Damn it!” He jolted from the couch and the wide beam of sunlight lying across it.

      The windows were uncovered to welcome whatever winter sunlight made it through the clouds. And the once shadow-filled living room was now bathed in a golden light that had already burned patches of skin from his hands and face.

      Skin smoking, eyes streaming, Grayson took one long leap and stood against the far wall, air wheezing from his lungs. His fangs exploded in his mouth and the adrenaline coursing through him turned him into a dangerous creature. Age-old instincts rippled through him and whatever there was left of the man he’d been drained away. He was now a wild thing—looking for survival above all else.

      “Fool.” The day had made him slow and stupid. He should have secured the damn drapes. Made certain that no sun could reach him. But he hadn’t been thinking. He’d been so wrapped up in the past he’d forgotten about the present.

      He squinted into the sunlight streaming through the window and screaming pain lanced through his mind and body. His chest felt tight, his lungs strained for air. His skin was ablaze with burning agony. He turned his gaze from the window, lifted one scorched hand to protect his eyes and spotted Tessa, who had stopped dead in the doorway.

      As if in slow motion, she dropped the coffee cup she held. It shattered on the floor, brown liquid splashing up on her jeans. Her eyes wide, her mouth open, she looked at him and he knew exactly what she was seeing.

      A monster.

       Chapter 3

      “Oh, my God!” She clapped one hand to her mouth and stared at him through horror-stricken eyes. “You…who…what are you?”

      His lips peeled back from his fangs and she shrank back another step or two. Caught against the wall, splayed there as surely as if he’d been chained, Grayson watched her and focused only on her. He couldn’t allow her to panic.

      He needed her.

      A part of him