A Vampire for Christmas(53)

And then a gang of vampires had taken it all away.

And the result? He’d been given the opportunity to step aside from that former self and take a different path. A path that had initially freaked him. He was only now getting accustomed to vampirism and the idea of using an innocent mortal to sustain his life. It still felt wrong. Monstrous.

Could he ever get over his new bad self and just accept?

You tired, lover?” she whispered, nudging him with a hip.

Daniel glanced to the clock. Hell, it was after ten. Screw having it all. If he let down the Jones women again he wouldn’t be worthy of having all this sweetness he’d suddenly gained.

Not tired. Just thinking about all that I once had and lost.”

Your job. Your life as a mortal. You want it back?”

I don’t think so. I think the attack happened for a reason. Maybe to make me look at my life and all I still have. It’s not so bad, I guess.”

Did the monster just say he wasn’t so bad?”

He smiled and kissed her stomach, then glided up along her body to fit himself against her lush curves. “What do you want from me, Olivia? From this?”

Truth? I want to take it slow.”

We haven’t exactly been taking things slowly.”

I know, but what’s happened so far was a reaction and there’s nothing wrong with answering a mutual pining for connection. We were drawn to one another and neither of us overthought that attraction. I’m accustomed to tabloid relationships that aren’t even real. The paparazzi snap a shot of me walking with a male celebrity—usually someone I’m not dating or even considering dating—then slap it on the front of some rag stating we’re hot and heavy. A week later the headlines have us arguing, and a week after that we’ve broken up. I’m surprised I haven’t had a secret baby yet. I want to have a relationship that hasn’t been orchestrated by a tabloid. Something real.”

I can understand that.”

I know it’s tough to date a person whose life involves cameras and complete loss of privacy.”

You do have a great little hideaway here.”

Which I am thankful for. But it won’t last forever. Sooner or later the paparazzi will find me. Where do you live?”

Here in Manhattan. Still got the thirtieth-floor bachelor pad. You’d get recognized in a heartbeat there.”

I suppose. I have my official place on the other side of the park. But this place is my only real home.”

Daniel sat and arched his back as Olivia drew her fingers down it. It felt like home here, and he liked that fine. But he wouldn’t jump into things, and he appreciated Olivia’s honest confession that she wanted to take things slowly.

Had he the courage to begin something with her?

You’ve already begun.

The question was: Could he continue or would he wimp out and leave her high and dry? He’d never mastered the relationship thing. And slow? Had to be even harder to accomplish.

Do you have to leave?” she asked.

He nodded, and assumed her silence meant she thought he was heading out to scam for blood. He wouldn’t argue the point.



OLIVIA WANDERED INTO the bathroom and turned on the shower to warm the water. Daniel had left quickly after she’d mentioned her designs on a real relationship. Did he think their tryst was just a few nights between the sheets? Had mentioning taking it slow repelled him?

She should have asked him if he had left to go drink blood. The question had felt too weird even thinking it, though.

I want more,” she said to her reflection. “I need more of him. Can I have that?”

There were so many factors working against a positive answer to that question. And even if they managed to keep a tight lid on a relationship, there was always the fact Daniel couldn’t do press with her, which naturally, her manager would insist upon. Couldn’t keep the sexy man all to herself. Would he show in a photograph? And if he did, would the paparazzi catch him sneering at them one day, fangs bright and out there? What if they caught Daniel drinking someone’s blood? They followed her everywhere; they’d follow him.

No, Daniel would never get that close to the fanfare that surrounded her. For as much as she loved her job, it was a curse to her private life.

I wonder how often he has to drink blood?” She stroked her breast where the day-old bite mark had, interestingly, already begun to fade. He hadn’t bitten her again. Because he hadn’t needed blood or because he hadn’t been interested in her blood? Did he not like the taste of her?