I rose, turning back to my own personal saber-toothed tiger. We were too close to the fire, close enough that my companion would go up in flames if we stayed there. If I could pull him back against the rock face, we might be safe, and it would be easier to defend only one side of the clearing. I reached under his arms and tugged at his shoulders.
Come on, Dracula, I muttered. Youre too big for me to move on my own. I gotta have some help here.
He didnt stir. I looked down at him, frustrated. He wasnt huge, more long-limbed and elegant than bulky; and while I didnt waste my limited time and money chasing after
the perfect body in one of the many fitness clubs in Manhattan, I was strong enough. I should have been able to drag him a short distance away from the fire. Nothing was making any sense, and all the possible explanations put him in a fairly nasty light. Even so, I couldnt just let him die.
I couldnt get a good enough grip on his body, so I caught hold of his jacket and yanked. He was unexpectedly heavy, though it shouldnt have surprised methe man had towered over my meager five foot three, and Id felt the crushing strength in his hand as hed propelled me toward the . . .
I couldnt remember. Five minutes later, and I couldnt remember a damned thing. I didnt know how hed managed to get burned, or what hed been trying to do. It was a blank. Everything was a blank. The last thing I remembered was stepping off the curb outside the office building on my way to meet with my editors.
They were going to be pissed as hell that Id stood them up again.
How much time had passed since then? Days, weeks, months? The short, sassy hairstyle Id spent a fortune on was now an unruly mane hanging down to my shoulders, and I could see that it was its original mousy brown instead of the tawny, streaked blond Id gone for. That certainly couldnt have happened in a matter of hours. How long had I been gone?
His heavy body finally began to budge, and I dragged him as far as I could until he let out a piercing cry of pain. I let him be, squatting beside him, staring at his burned flesh. It was the weirdest thingit seemed like he had flames beneath his skin, as if his bones were made of burning coals.
His entire body was radiating heat, but apart from his arm he wasnt painful to touch. The night had grown sharply colder, and the shapeless thing I was wearing wasnt made for late autumn nights. My patient shivered as I put more wood on the fire. Thank God Id grabbed an armload. The nighttime marauders seemed to have gone, but there was no guarantee they wouldnt return if I were fool enough to let the fire go out. Wolves didnt actually attack people, did they? But who said they were wolves?
It was going to be a long night.
I sat back on my heels, studying him. Who was he, and what the hell had he done to me? There had to be a reasonable explanation for what had appeared to be fangs. There were crazies out there who filed their teeth to points so they could resemble vampiresId seen it on one of the rotting corpse television shows like CSI or Bones.
I could certainly see why some people would want to dress up like vampires. After all, bloodsuckers were hot and elegant; they dressed well and clearly had a lot of sex, if all the fiction was to be believed. They also didnt exist.
But this particular man didnt need to dress up or pretend to be anything he wasnt. He was hot, in every sense of the word. I snickered at the notion. No one was around to appreciate my feeble wit, but Id always managed to amuse myself.
So whats up with you? I demanded of his unconscious figure. What are we doing here? Did you abduct me? Wishful thinking on my part. This was a man who clearly had no need to kidnap women. All he had to do was snap his fingers, and theyd be lining up around the block.
I had no illusions about my own charms. I was no troll, and I cleaned up pretty well, but next to this man I was clearly only ordinary. All the gym memberships in the world couldnt seem to get rid of the unwanted ten pounds that hugged my hips. With the right clothes, hair, and makeup I was someone to reckon with, but even so Id never be in this mans league. Right now, dressed in sackcloth and ashes, I probably looked like a bag lady.
Not that I cared. My only company was passed out, presumably for the night. I leaned back, stretching my legs out in front of me, then realized I was leaning against the stone wall. I scrambled away from it, thoroughly creeped out. Hadnt it split open, revealing some kind of horror . . . ? No, that was impossible.
And yet, where had the fire come from? It seemed to me I could remember flames, like the flames of hell, before he pulled me back againno, the night must be sending my imagination into overdrive.
Smoke billowed up into the inky-blue sky, and I shivered again, wrapping my arms around my body in a useless attempt to warm myself. I could feel the thin, loose clothing beneath my fingersit was little wonder I was freezing. And there was a delicious source of heat lying at my feet.