Vampire for Christmas by Felicity Heaton Read Free Book Online

hurt her and obliterate them. He wanted
them to suffer horror and pain one hundred times worse than they
had put her through. He wanted them to die for daring to harm his
beautiful Shannon.
    She
didn’t answer him.
    Tears
filled her eyes and she trembled.
    She
opened her mouth, as though she might find her voice, and then
bolted. She was out of the front door before he could even react.
It swung on its hinges, letting cold air in that carried the scent
of snow. He stood and reached the porch before he stopped himself
and looked around. Her coat was gone and her trainers
too.
    Rafe took
another step forwards, intent on following her, and then reined in
that desire and stood on the porch instead, staring after her. She
was long gone and going after her would only make things worse. She
wouldn’t welcome his protection tonight, or his concern. As much as
it pained him, went against every desire he had, he needed to give
her space. He pictured the scars. Ragged. Deep. They hadn’t been
done gently. Someone had attacked her. His fingers curled into
tight fists.
    His foot
shifted forwards but he stopped himself again. It was no use. There
was a stake in her jacket pocket with his name on it if he dared to
track her down before she reached home. His gaze rose to take in
the paling sky. Even if he waited for her to make it to her house,
he still couldn’t go through with it. The sun would rise soon and
he didn’t think she would give him shelter. He couldn’t risk
it.
    He had to
let her go.
    Tomorrow
night, he would go to her house. He had the perfect excuse to be
there. They still needed to find the demon and defeat it. The
washing machine in the basement stopped running, leaving the house
in silence. He had to return her clothes too.
    Rafe went
down into the basement and unloaded the machine. He stared at the
pile of wet clothes in the white plastic basket and then reached
down and plucked the red scrap of knickers from it. He held them
up, his eyebrows rising at the sight, and groaned.
    It was
going to be difficult to sleep now.
    Even he
could have sleepless days when he had enough on his mind. It wasn’t
just images of Shannon dancing around in only her underwear that
was going to keep him awake though. It was the scars too. He had to
know what had happened to her, because something told him that it
was the reason she had joined the agency, and the reason she wanted
all vampires, including himself, dead.
    If he was
going to have a shot at winning her heart, he had to get her to
talk.
    Right
now, that felt more impossible than ever, but he wouldn’t give
up.
    He would
find a way.
    He had
to.
    He
couldn’t live without her.

    ****

    Chapter 4
    Rafe took
a deep breath, adjusted his appearance, checked the parcel of
clothes he had neatly tied with string having dried and ironed
them, and then knocked on Shannon’s door. His jaw ticked nervously.
Minutes passed. No one answered.
    The
lights were on and he could hear her, feel her, in the house.
Pretending not to be in wasn’t going to work when it was a vampire
at your door.
    He rapped
his knuckles against the dark wood again and tried to see through
the frosted glass panels.
    She still
didn’t answer.
    He
glanced up and raised an eyebrow. The mistletoe was gone. Probably
his fault.
    Rafe
sighed and knocked harder. “Shannon, answer the door.”
    “ Go away.”
    His
senses placed her in the living room. He leaned back to see the
windows. She had drawn the curtains. He drew another steadying
breath and knocked again. He wasn’t going anywhere until he had
spoken to her. He would keep knocking on her door until she got so
annoyed that she answered just to shout at him. After his hundredth
knock, a fuzzy shape appeared through the matt glass.
    “ I said, go away.”
    “ Open the door.”
    “ No. It’s Christmas Eve. I just want some peace on Earth for a
change. So, go away. You’re disturbing the peace.”
    Rafe
moved closer to the door. Her dull shape moved backwards.