Free Vampire for Christmas by Felicity Heaton Page A

had told the agency she
wanted to work alone. What if she couldn’t make them change their
mind about sending Rafe away? What if they ended up thousands of
miles from each other? Was it too late for them?
    Had she
ruined everything?
    She
looked at the dull night sky and sought the one thing she had so
often looked for at this time of year. The town streetlights
drowned out the narrow strip of stars above her in the alley, but
she eventually found what she was looking for. Her heart hitched.
The Christmas star. She had given up wishing on it a long time ago,
but she wished with all of her heart now. She didn’t want to leave
Rafe. She didn’t want to leave the vampire she loved.
    Shannon
started when Rafe’s cool fingers brushed her cheek. Her gaze slowly
lowered to his. She knew what he wanted and what he was going to
do, and she wasn’t afraid. She wanted it too. She was finally brave
enough to face her feelings for him, a vampire, and had faith in
him. He wouldn’t hurt her. His earlier words hadn’t been an empty
promise. If she gave her heart to him, he would cherish and protect
it. He would keep her safe and love her, would give her everything
she needed to heal and become whole again, and would always take
care of her.
    She
closed her eyes when he dipped his head and kissed her, his lips
soft and tender against hers. She leaned into the kiss, smiling
against his mouth when warmth suffused her body, emanating from her
heart. His lips barely brushed hers, teasing her more than
anything, stirring desire to have him kiss her harder and with
force. She pressed one hand against his chest and found his free
hand with her other. Their fingers tangled, cool against warm, and
he sighed into her mouth. Did it feel as wonderful to him as it did
to her? She had wanted this for so long, had denied him all that
time, and now it was finally hers. She didn’t want it to
end.
    She
flinched when a wet slapping noise broke the hazy silence. Rafe
tensed, slowly drew away from her, and glared down at the slime on
the sleeve of his long black coat. The muscle in his jaw
ticked.
    “ For the love of the Devil... would you give it a rest?” Rafe
snarled at the demon and released her.
    “ How about we do this together?” Shannon stood tall when Rafe
looked at her. His pale eyes studied hers. She didn’t waver under
his scrutiny. She meant it. She had never truly worked with him on
any of their missions. It was time she changed that.
    It was
time they fought together.
    As
partners.
    Or more
than that.
    Lovers.
    Rafe
nodded, twirled his stake, gave her a cocky grin, and shot towards
the demon at the other end of the alley.
    Shannon
frowned.
    He had a
funny idea of together.
    The large
green demon hurled a glob of clear slime at her. Shannon
sidestepped and it flew past her, hitting a black dumpster instead.
She ran towards the demon, tightening her grip on her stake when
she reached it and Rafe, and tried to keep up with their movements.
Every punch that Rafe landed on the demon slid straight off again,
and the demon blocked every attempt he made to stake it in the eye.
She kept time with them, shifting left and right, waiting for her
opening. The moment it appeared, Shannon leapt into the
fray.
    She
ducked under the demon’s arm, avoided colliding with Rafe as he
came back around, and leapt. Her stake was within a few inches of
the demon’s left eye when it caught her in the stomach with its arm
and sent her flying across the alley. She hit the wall hard, her
breath leaving her on impact, and dropped to her knees on the
tarmac. Her shoulder ached. She rubbed it and dragged herself back
onto her feet. A few more hits like that and she would probably be
out cold.
    Rafe
appeared next to her.
    “ Are you alright?” The concern in his dulcet tones warmed her
and she nodded. He lingered a second longer and then shot off
again. This time he ran straight past the demon, up the wall of the
alley, and flipped high into the