The Bite Before Christmas

THE GIFT Chapter Three

Teddy gave up on the lock with an irritated curse. He wasn't getting into the vehicle any time soon unless he wanted to break one of the windows, and he wasn't ready to do that. He might have, if the situation had been a desperate one, but it wasn't. They had heat, food, and shelter. They even had coffee. They could stick it out for a bit.
Sighing, he stepped back from the truck and glanced up toward the road, debating walking up to see if there was any sign of the snow removal men, or if a work crew had arrived to tend to the fallen trees. In the end, he decided against it. It really wasn't very likely. While Marguerite had said the county cleared the road, Teddy suspected this just wasn't likely to be a high-priority street. In fact, it was probably one of the last ones tended to. Which meant it would probably be late today or maybe even tomorrow morning before the road crew would make it out here to clear the road and see the downed power lines. And that meant it would probably be tomorrow or even the day after before someone came to take care of the power problem. But since the day after tomorrow was Christmas Day, it wasn't likely to get taken care of then, either. They could be stuck here until Boxing Day without power. That meant chicken soup, or even tomato soup for Christmas dinner, he thought with a grimace.
"Merry Christmas," he muttered to himself, turning to walk back toward the deck. He was mounting the stairs before it occurred to him that the water might be boiling by now. He could make an attempt at coffee, Teddy realized. The possibility cheered him and made him move more swiftly.
The cottage was noticeably warmer when he finished removing his boots in the mudroom and stepped inside. It was even warm enough that Teddy thought he could remove his coat this time along with his hat and scarf. He started to do so but paused when he saw that Katricia had already removed her own . . . as well as the bottoms to her ski suit, he noted as his gaze landed on her where she stood bent over in front of the fireplace, stirring the soup. She was now wearing a baby-blue sweater and a pair of what almost looked like leotards the pants were so thin and molded to her skin. She may as well have been nude, but as tightly as the cloth hugged her, there wasn't a panty line to be seen. She couldn't be wearing anything under them, he realized, his eyes moving over the curves with fascination. Honest to God, he wouldn't have been surprised to hear that she wasn't wearing anything at all and that her skin was just airbrushed the dark blue of the leotards. Damn, she had the shapeliest little ass and legs he'd seen in a long time.
"The water's boiling, but I wasn't sure if I should pour it in that thing you set up or wait for you to come back in first. Should I do it now?"
Teddy blinked at the question and forced his gaze away from Katricia's tight bottom as she glanced over her shoulder toward him.
"Er . . . no, that's okay, I'll do it," he muttered, forcing himself to finish removing his jacket. He stuffed his hat and scarf in the pockets and then hung it on the back of one of the chairs at the dining-room table, noting she'd done the same with her ski jacket and pants. It was better than hanging them back up in the mudroom where they'd be unpleasantly cold to don. Speaking of which, he decided he should find a towel, set it on the kitchen floor by the door, and bring their boots in to thaw. It would be nice not to put his feet in stiff, snow-encrusted boots the next time he went out.
Deciding he'd better do it while he was thinking of it, Teddy nipped quickly into his room to dig out the large bath towel he'd packed. He folded it twice as he carried it back out, then set it on the floor and retrieved both his boots and Katricia's from the mudroom to set them on it.
Aware that the soup was probably boiling, too, Teddy then grabbed both oven mitts off the top of the microwave and moved over to the fire. Katricia straightened and moved aside as he approached, giving him space, and he felt relief slide through him. It seemed he'd been right and now that she saw how old he was, she was going to cut out that silly flirtatious nonsense.
"How long has the soup been boiling?" he asked as he slid the gloves on.
"Several minutes now," Katricia answered and then, sounding a little awed, murmured, "It smells lovely."
Teddy glanced at her with surprise. It was just tinned soup, nothing to write home about, he thought, but then smiled wryly, knowing that-like himself-she probably hadn't eaten since yesterday. Truth to tell, tinned soup or not, he was hungry enough that it was smelling good to him, too, he acknowledged as he lifted both pots away from the fire.
Katricia followed when he carried them carefully over to the kitchen area, but stayed to hover over the soup pan when he set it on the stove to cool. Leaving her there, he moved over to slowly pour the water into the filter cone he'd removed from the coffee machine and set on top of the coffee pot.
A little sigh of anticipation slid from his lips as steam rose to mist his face with the aroma of brewing coffee. Teddy had to restrain himself from simply dumping the liquid impatiently into the cone, but anything worth doing was worth doing right. Besides, he wanted good coffee, not muck. He glanced at Katricia. She was leaning over the soup, eyes closed and inhaling the steam rising from it, and it made him smile slightly.
"Why don't you fetch a couple bowls and a ladle and serve it up," he suggested.
Katricia didn't have to be prompted twice; she was immediately slipping around him to get to the items he'd suggested. By the time he poured the last of the water into the cone, she'd divided the soup between two bowls, found soup spoons for both of them, and then picked them up, but paused to ask, "Do you want to eat at the table or by the fire?"
"By the fire," Teddy decided as he fetched coffee cups for both of them. While it was warmer in the cottage than it had been, and it had seemed pleasant when he'd first come in from the cold, now that he'd been inside a few minutes, he was aware that it was chillier the farther you got away from the fire.
Leaving Katricia to carry the soup into the living room, Teddy quickly poured them each a coffee, then grabbed spoons, the sugar bowl, and some powdered creamer from the cupboard and followed her. When she pushed the coffee table a little closer to the fire and sat on the carpet on one side of it, he moved around to the other side and set down their coffees and fixings.
"Mmmm."
Teddy glanced up from fixing his coffee to see that Katricia had neglected the chore to dive right into her soup. He smiled with amusement as she sighed with pleasure at the simple fare. "I'm guessing your mother isn't much of a cook."
She looked surprised at the suggestion. "Why would you say that?"
"Because if you think a heated-up tin of salty soup with limp noodles in it is moan-worthy, you haven't had good cooking, little girl," he assured her.
"Hmm." She tilted her head and then said, "Well, first of all, I'm not a little girl, and second, no one cooks for me. I don't live with my mother and haven't done so for a very, very long time."
"Hell, two weeks is a very very long time to kids your age," he said with a laugh and then asked, "So where do you live?"
"New York."
Teddy blinked at the answer. He'd expected her to say at university or some such thing. New York was an entirely different kettle of fish: the big city, crime central. He wouldn't have let his daughter live there, had he had one. Sitting back, he eyed her more closely. She was athletic in build, with shoulders a little wider than her hips, and a smaller bosom. Teddy generally preferred curvy women. At least, Elvi, the woman he'd loved most of his life, was curvy. Elvi was also a redhead whereas this girl was a fresh-faced blonde, and yet he found her strangely appealing.
Reining in his thoughts, Teddy frowned and turned his gaze down to his soup as he asked, "What do you do there?"
"I'm presently in law enforcement, but I'm considering alternate career choices at the moment."
Teddy glanced up sharply at this announcement, but she was now peering into her own soup and scooping out a spoonful.
"Law enforcement?" he asked with a surprise that was close to horror. "In New York?"
The thought of this little gal chasing after criminals in the Big Apple was a staggering one. Hell, he wouldn't want to do it himself, and he'd been in law enforcement most of his life and the army before that. Still, with a choice between a war zone or New York, he'd take the war zone. "I'm not surprised you're considering a career change so soon."
She glanced up, smiling faintly at his expression, and said, "It's not soon . . . I've been in law enforcement for almost a century."
Teddy froze, a spoonful of soup halfway to his mouth. He lifted narrowed eyes to her face, focusing on it firmly for the first time since meeting her. Before this, he hadn't wanted to make her uncomfortable by staring too hard, but now he did, focusing specifically on her eyes and noting the silver glimmering among the blue. Setting his spoon back in his bowl, he said quietly, "Immortal."
Tricia nodded solemnly. "My name is Katricia Argeneau. Marguerite is my aunt by marriage."
Teddy just stared at her, having to readjust every thought in his woolly mind. He'd been thinking of her as a poor, defenseless, young gal snowed in out here in the wilds. Instead, she was an immortal, nowhere near defenseless . . . or young, for that matter, he realized. At least, not if she'd been in law enforcement for almost a century. Which changed everything, of course. His gaze slid down over her upper body in her baby-blue sweater. She looked young, but she wasn't, so he hadn't been lusting after a sweet young thing. Not that he'd been lusting after her, Teddy assured himself quickly, but found himself suddenly fighting the urge to ask if she wanted to see his "gun" now.
Giving his head a shake, he cleared his throat and asked, "By law enforcement, I suppose you mean you're one of those council enforcers? A rogue hunter who works under Lucian?"
She nodded, watching him closely.
Teddy's eyes slid to the soup she'd been gobbling up, and he frowned. Most immortals didn't eat after the first century or two, so she couldn't be over two hundred. Eyes narrowing, he tilted his head to consider her solemnly. "The provisions you were expecting? Not just gas and food?"
"Blood, too," she admitted quietly.
"Do you have any at all with you?"
Katricia shook her head. "I had a couple bags in the SUV with me, but drank them before retiring after I arrived."
Teddy pursed his lips at this news and then gestured to her soup. "But you still eat."
She hesitated, but then simply nodded.
He sat back with a sigh and considered this new wrinkle in the situation. He was snowed in, had scanty provisions and no power, and his companion was a vampire with no blood supplies . . . except him. "So you're telling me this now because . . . what? You need a blood donor?"
"No," she said with a laugh. "I'm good for now and the blood delivery will show before I need a 'blood donor,' as you put it."
"Not with the road the way it is," he pointed out dryly.
Katricia shrugged, not seeming concerned, and he understood why when she said, "They'll bring it by snowmobile if they can't get through on the road. They won't leave me without."
Teddy felt himself relax a little at that news, relieved to be off the menu, but then asked, "So why are you telling me now? How did you know I knew about your kind?"
"Aunt Marguerite," she answered simply. "You mentioned her name and then I recalled that the immortal-friendly town my uncle Victor lives in is called Port Henry." She shrugged. "Since you knew Aunt Marguerite, I figured you knew."
Teddy didn't respond at first. He could usually spot a lie a mile off, and Ms. Argeneau was lying . . . about something. The problem was he wasn't sure what she was lying about exactly. What she said seemed reasonable enough, but he had to wonder why she hadn't admitted all of this when he'd first mentioned Marguerite.
"Of course, if you hadn't known, your reaction to my claiming to be in enforcement for a century would have told me and I would have acted like I was joking or something," she added in a rush as she reached for her coffee.
Teddy narrowed his eyes further as he watched her sip from her mug. The way she was avoiding his eyes and the sudden rush of words just confirmed it in his mind that she was lying. He was about to call her on it, when she wrinkled her nose over the taste of the coffee and set it back with a grimace.
"Ugh. You can't start your day without this stuff?"
"It tastes better with cream and sugar," he said absently, pushing them both toward her. He was about to ask what exactly she was lying about and why, when he suddenly knew the answer. After his mentioning her aunt, Katricia had probably read his thoughts and learned he knew about their kind. She was lying to keep him from being uncomfortable with her reading his mind.
"Oh, yes, this is much better."
Teddy glanced to her to find that she'd doctored her coffee with the sugar and creamer and tried it again . . . and apparently enjoyed it this way. She was actually gulping it down eagerly now.
"I'd go slow if I were you," he cautioned with amusement. "Some immortals can't handle caffeine."
"They can't?" she asked with surprise.
Teddy shook his head. "Victor does all right on it, and DJ can handle a cup or two, but Alessandro is wired when he drinks it. Starts going ninety like he's on some kind of vampire speed or crack, and then passes out."
"I know DJ is Uncle Victor's friend, but who is Alessandro?" Katricia asked curiously before downing the rest of her drink.
"Alessandro Cipriano," Teddy explained. "He's another immortal who lives in Port Henry."
"Ah." She nodded, but had twisted to peer toward the coffee pot on the counter. In the next instant, she was on her feet and snatching up both their cups.
Teddy just shook his head and continued eating his soup, but his gaze was on her as she crossed the room to pour them both a fresh cup, specifically on her behind. The woman might be over a century old, but she had the body of a sweet young thing and the tightest little behind he'd ever seen. She definitely didn't have any panties on under those leotards of hers, he thought as he watched her butt cheeks shift with each step. If he peeled the leotards off, he was sure he'd find nothing but her pale, perfect flesh.
"Unless you're ready to show me your gun, you should really stop looking at me like that."
Teddy forced his eyes from Katricia's behind and up to find her peering at him over her shoulder. He flushed first at being caught staring so rudely at her butt, then reddened further as her words sank in. Damn, that definitely sounded like a proposition. The problem was he didn't have a damned clue how to respond to it, and suspected he'd stutter like a schoolboy if he tried. The women he knew just weren't so . . . er . . . forward . . . or comely, for that matter. Not that there weren't attractive women in Port Henry. He'd been attracted to plenty of women there, many of them his own age. But it had been a while . . . and there was just something about Katricia that- Well, basically, his gun was loaded and half-cocked just from looking at her . . . and wasn't that the saddest thing in the world? If he took her up on what he suspected was an offer, he'd probably empty his barrel before he even took aim . . . so to speak.
"My gun's in the drawer there if you want to see it," he said finally, turning his gaze to his soup as she started back across the room. "So is my badge."
She let him get away with pretending to misunderstand and simply set his coffee cup in front of him and settled on the floor across from him to fix her own. But the thought was in his head now, and he couldn't look at her without his mind running along rather X-rated lines, starting with peeling off those damned leotards and running his hands over the firm flesh beneath. His hands, his lips, his tongue . . . Hell, he'd never been a biter, but Teddy had a sudden urge to nip one of the round cheeks and see if it was as firm as it looked, and then-
A sudden ache between his legs brought Teddy's attention to the fact that he was no longer just half-cocked. He now sported a full-fledged erection that was pressing against his jeans, begging to be released. Christ. He was reacting like a twelve-year-old boy who just found his dad's stash of porn magazines . . . and the woman was fully clothed, for God's sake. How pathetic was that? Obviously, he needed to keep a tight rein on his eyes and his thoughts, Teddy decided grimly. In fact, since she was immortal and could read his thoughts if she wanted, he should have been doing it already. The realization made him glance warily to her expression. Katricia was smiling slightly, not looking offended. She hadn't read his mind, he decided with relief. Still, he determined not to even look at her again while he finished his soup and second cup of coffee.
The fire was dying down by the time they finished and carried their dishes to the kitchen sink. Teddy then returned to add several logs to the blaze and rearrange them in the flames for maximum benefit. He then considered the logs left in the dwindling stack beside the fireplace and moved to begin donning his coat and boots.
"Where are you going?" Katricia asked with surprise.
"To fetch more wood for the fire," he answered, doing up his boots.
"I'll help." She was immediately donning her own coat and boots.
"There's no need in both of us getting cold," he said quietly.
"Why not? The fire warms both of us," she said with a laugh and simply pulled on her gloves.
Teddy frowned, but let it go. He'd learned from dealing with Elvi and Mabel over the years that there was really just no use arguing with a strong woman. Most women would have been happy to leave him to it while they played little housemate inside, but Elvi and Mabel wouldn't have, and he suspected Katricia was made of the same velvet-covered steel that his two friends were. A woman didn't work in law enforcement, whether it was mortal or immortal, without a solid backbone.
"The air may be cold, but I don't think I've ever breathed anything so clean," Katricia said as they started off the porch.
Teddy smiled faintly. "I suppose there isn't a whole lot of clean air in New York."
"Too many cars for that," she said wryly.
"Do you like the city?" he asked curiously as they crossed the yard to the small shed with the tarp-covered wood stacked beside it.
"Not really," she said easily and laughed at his surprise. "I suppose you're now wondering why I stay there then?"
"You'd suppose right," he said mildly.
Katricia shrugged as they paused and pulled the tarp back to begin gathering wood. "It was exciting when I first settled there. The place to be. Life can get boring after a couple of centuries, but New York seemed alive, vibrant, with loads to do and see." She smiled wryly. "It's why most older immortals gravitate there, and a lot have settled there over the decades."
"Really?" he asked curiously, waiting as she shifted her load and tugged the tarp back into place.
Katricia nodded. "New York and Los Angeles are the most popular places for our kind in the States, and Toronto and Montreal hold the most immortals in Canada."
"The most populated cities," Teddy murmured as they started back toward the cottage.
Katricia nodded. "The more people there are, the later things stay open and the more things there are to do to entertain yourself . . . and, of course, back when we had to feed off the hoof, the more possible donors there were around to choose from."
Teddy grimaced at the reminder that immortals had at one time fed off his people. Now that there were blood banks, they were restricted only to bagged blood and had laws against biting mortals except in cases of emergency. Katricia had been alive long enough to have had to feed off the hoof at one time, he realized and glanced at her curiously, imagining her roaming the streets of New York in search of victims.
"Stop that," she said on a laugh.
"What?" he asked, forcing his gaze away as they mounted the stairs to the cottage.
"Stop looking at me like you expect my fangs to sprout and me to fall on your throat at any moment," she said dryly. "We don't do that anymore."
Teddy remained silent as they entered the cottage and shed their boots to carry the wood to the stack beside the fireplace, but once they'd laid down their burden, he asked, "So you moved to New York for the excitement, but don't enjoy it anymore?"
She shrugged and turned to walk back to their boots. "New York has its charms. I like the theater, and it has some great clubs, but there are just some things it doesn't have." She started to undo her coat, and then paused and asked, "Do you want to walk up to the road and see if the snow removers have arrived yet?"
"Sure," he agreed easily. It was better than sitting around inside, he supposed as he joined her to redon his boots. Once they were headed out of the cottage again, he asked, "So what are the things New York doesn't have?"
"Stars at night," she said at once. "I couldn't believe it when I got up here and saw all the stars in the sky. I'd forgotten there were so many."
Teddy nodded in understanding. The closer you were to a city the fewer stars there appeared to be in the sky. You saw a lot of stars in the sky down in Port Henry, but even there you didn't see as many as up here. They were too close to London, he supposed.
"And the fresh air," Katricia added solemnly. "Sometimes it feels like you're sucking on a muffler in New York."
Teddy chuckled at the image that put in his head.
"And the peace and quiet. I mean just listen." She suddenly paused, closed her eyes, and raised her head in a listening attitude, and Teddy did the same. Silence immediately surrounded him and then he became aware of his breathing, hers, the soft sounds of small creatures moving through the snowy woods, the soft thud of snow sliding off a branch or something else nearby and hitting the snow-covered ground. It was as close to absolute silence as a body could get, he acknowledged.
Katricia sighed almost blissfully. "No traffic, no hum of engines or factories, no chatter of people. Nothing. You can never find silence in New York."
Teddy opened his eyes and nodded solemnly. Even in Port Henry it was rare, though not impossible to find. They began to walk again, as if by agreement, and he asked, "So why don't you move?"
"I just might," she said lightly. "Are there any openings for law enforcement in Port Henry?"
Teddy chuckled at the question. "Actually, there will be soon."
"Really?" she asked with interest.
Teddy nodded. "I'll talk to Lucian and if he gives you a good recommendation, we'll see what we can do."
When she didn't respond, he glanced over to see that she was grinning. It seemed she didn't mind the idea of giving up New York for small-town life, but he cautioned, "Port Henry isn't nearly as exciting as New York. You have to travel half an hour to get to the nearest movie theater or play, and there isn't a single night club there."
"Sounds good to me," she said lightly.
Teddy smiled faintly and shook his head.
"So, have you always lived in Port Henry?" she asked.
"Born and bred," he said quietly, and then admitted, "Though I left for a bit to join the army."
"And how did you like that?" Katricia asked curiously.
"It had its good points and bad points I suppose," he said slowly. "They taught me discipline and how to handle myself. Made me a man, I guess. And I got to see a bit of the world, but I missed Port Henry."
"You sound surprised," she teased lightly.
"I sort of was," he admitted with a laugh. "All the time I was growing up in Port Henry my feet were itching to get me out of there, see the world, do things, go places." He chuckled at his younger self and shook his head. "I guess it took leaving to appreciate what I had in Port Henry."
"Isn't there an old saying, you don't know what you've got till it's gone?" she asked with amusement. "Or maybe it's song lyrics."
"Or both," he said quietly. "Whatever the case, it's true. Or it was for me."
She was silent for a minute and then asked, "Have you ever been married, Teddy?"
He shook his head. "Never had the pleasure. You?"
She chuckled wryly. "No. But then that's not unusual for my kind. We can go centuries or even millennia before finding our life mate."
"Ah yes, the immortal's life mate," Teddy said quietly. "That one person that an immortal can't read or control. The one they can relax and be themselves around."
"It's more than that," Katricia said solemnly. "Everything is better with a life mate. Food tastes better, colors are brighter, everything is just . . . more . . . and, of course, we can experience shared dreams and shared pleasure, which is supposed to be better than anything ever." She released a gusty little sigh. "I can't wait."
Teddy took in her happy smile and chuckled. "You need to talk to Marguerite, then. I hear she's like some kind of mystic matchmaker for your people, the queen of immortal hook-ups. She'll have you experiencing that shared pleasure in no time if you put yourself in her hands."
"Wouldn't you like to experience it too?"
Teddy glanced at her with surprise, and then reminded her, "I'm mortal. We don't have life mates."
"Mortals can be life mates to immortals," she pointed out with a shrug.
"Yeah." Teddy was silent, considering that. He'd seen it happen several times now, and in truth he was envious as hell over it. But he wasn't foolish enough to hold out much hope of something like that happening to him.
"Hmmm."
Teddy glanced around curiously at that mutter from Katricia to see that they'd not only reached the end of the driveway but had traversed the ten feet to the bend in the road . . . and it looked exactly as it had the first time he'd seen it. The trees still lay on the road, and the road itself was still snow-covered for as far as he could see. "Looks like we aren't likely to be getting out of here any time soon."
"Good thing we have food and firewood, then," Katricia said cheerfully, turning away to start back.
Teddy nodded, but didn't follow at once. Instead, he stood staring up the road, wondering how long it would take them to trudge up to the road if it wasn't cleared in the next day or so. They weren't likely to run out of firewood: there were several cords lined up along the shed, enough to last a hell of a long time. But the two boxes of food might not last all that long. Still, maybe they'd get lucky and the road crews would be along sometime today. And then maybe they'd get really lucky and the downed trees would be moved and the power lines fixed today or tomorrow. If so, they could head into town and buy groceries. He'd get a big turkey and all the fixings and they could cook up a fine Christmas dinner to share.
The idea made him smile, a nice, cozy Christmas dinner with Katricia. Maybe he'd buy her a gift, too. Something small, so she wouldn't feel bad for not having a gift for him, and he could get stockings and fill them with chocolate and some thermal socks for her, and-
Teddy's thoughts died as something smacked him in the back of the head and nearly startled him into falling on his butt. Managing to keep his feet under him, he turned in surprise and gaped at Katricia as she bent to scoop up more snow into her hands.
"You looked like you'd fallen asleep on your feet," she said with a grin. "I thought I'd wake you up."
"Wake me up, huh?" he asked, eyes narrowing on the snowball she was even now forming in her hands. Teddy stood completely still until she took aim and loosed the ball, then ducked and snatched up snow of his own as hers flew overhead. "You made a big mistake there, little lady. I am a champion at snowball fights."
"Yeah?" she asked with a laugh, scooping up more snow herself. "Bring it on."