He grunted beside me and sat up from the snowy ground, holding his head in his hands. “I’m ok, just roughed up from the…crash?” His eyes, glazed with shock, focused on the mangled wreckage of the vehicle as his mind frantically pieced together the prior events.
“Let’s find shelter—it’s a total whiteout, and it’s getting colder by the minute.” I squinted through the blustery night to try to see if there was a building nearby, but only white tendrils of wind and snow blew around us. Jude put his hands on the ground, trying to lift himself to his feet. “Be careful!”
He shakily rose to his feet, his body swaying with each gust of wind. “I’m fine. Let’s start walking because we’ll freeze if we don’t move.”
He was right—he’dlikely freeze. As a vampire, I knew I’d last longer than him.
I nodded, my hand finding its way to his waist, offering support as he wobbled slightly on his feet. Together, we lumbered through the waist-high snow. The biting cold stole the feeling from my feet in mere minutes, leaving them numb and prickly. A fierce wind lashed our faces, each gust pushing us deeper into the inky darkness. The ground sloped upward beneath my feet, but my attention was on Jude, desperate to find a safe haven.
“What’s that?” Jude asked, pointing straight ahead.
Outlined against the snowy darkness was a shadow of a small building. My body was shaking, so I knew he must have been absolutely frigid. With haste, we trudged on, in hope that the destination was somewhere we could stay for the night.
The building looked like a small barn, a simple wooden shack with a sagging roof and broken windows. Rotted wood and rusted nails barely held it together, but it was our salvation. The door opened inward, which was a relief; we didn’t have to fight it against the snow.
A frigid draft howled through the dilapidated building, carrying a nauseatingly stale odor. I wasn’t sure it was a trick of my mind from not being pelted by snow anymore, but I swear warmth began to spread through my body. Old hay lay strewn against the floor, some golden and others gray. Four small stables faced each other while various farm equipment leaned against the side of the barn to our left and right.
“It’ll be a good place to protect us for the night.” Jude was gazing upward at the cobwebbed eaves that held the shack together.
“As long as it doesn’t collapse on us from the wind.” I walked to the stables, rubbing my arms to generate warmth, and realized what the strong smell might have been. Carcasses of animals lay long forgotten in three of them, their bones brittle and crumbling. The fourth looked to be the cleanest—no bonesor animal droppings were underneath the straw, although mice scurried from their home as we walked near.
“Let’s sleep here,” Jude suggested as he gazed at the stable. “Our bodies will generate heat, and we can create a nest with the hay as insulation while we sleep.”
Where I’d be sleeping never crossed my mind when agreeing to come on this adventure. I didn’t expect to be sleeping in a stable like an animal. Although judging by how the humans lived, I should’ve anticipated less, as this barn was nicer than what they’re used to. My gaze drifted around the room until it landed on an empty burlap sack, its rough texture visible even from a distance, hanging limply from the wall. My numb fingers fumbled with the cloth before I ripped it apart, spreading the ragged pieces across the hay. Jude looked at me inquisitively, and I shrugged. “I guess we could use this as a blanket?”
He smiled. That damn smile. “Works for me.”
I sat on the makeshift straw bed; it wasn’t particularly comfortable, but I could feel the heat collect in the nest around me. My body ached and yearned for the comfort of my perfect bed. I lay my head against the cradle, and a wave of fatigue overcame me. I stifled a yawn, the chill seeping into my bones, and quickly pulled the scratchy wool bag over my body.
Jude’s warm body settled next to mine, his back pressed against me. I appreciated the respect he was giving me. I rubbed my legs together, thinking about Gabe and how I wished he were here to act upon my vampiric desires.
I kept my eyes shut, trying to fall asleep, but rest stayed just out of reach as my mind fixated on every subtle movement around me. The wind howled, and every gust caused the old shack to groan and shudder, threatening to tear it apart. From the other side of the ramshackle shack came the unsettling sound of metal chains, each link clanging against the next. In the back of my mind, I knew one of us should be keeping watch, butwe were too tired to care. We put our faith in the shed to protect us from everything outside, yet every time I heard the rattle, I expected it to be a Dog that found its way inside. One of the most annoying things keeping me from sleep was Jude’s incessant shivering.
My body was surprisingly warm, so I shimmied closer to Jude, lifting the sack to cover him. It only draped a sliver of his body, but the small amount of coverage seemed to quell his shaking.
He rolled over, and we came face to face. “Thanks for sharing with me.”
His warm breath felt nice against my cold nose, and his light blue eyes were glowing in the darkness. Before I could stop myself, a sudden urge washed over me, and I leaned in to kiss him.
What was I doing?
His lips felt like plush pillows against mine, and I closed my eyes, picturing Gabe. Was this okay? Should I not be doing this with a human? I wondered if my hatred for Jude this whole time was lust, or if I was just desperate and delusional.
Desperate and delusional seemed better.
Jude’s warm palm cradled my jaw, his thumb brushing my cheek as our breaths mingled. His lips were warm against mine, and his thick eyelashes tickled my cheek. He drew himself closer, and my neck was lightly swathed between his lips. From deep within my throat, my vocal cords purred, and my back began to arch, yearning for a pair of fangs to sink into me. My writhing in ecstasy must have excited him as his erect member was grinding against my leg.
He pulled away from my neck, his touch lingering, before gently cradling my head in his hand. His fingers lightly massaged my scalp, each hair on my head tingling down my body. “Is this okay?”
Staying faithful to Gabe held me back, but I’ll probably never see him again, right?
Fuck it.
I pulled him on top of me, lust blazing in both of our eyes. He deepened the kiss with his hand against the back of my neck, his other hand moving skillfully over my body. Our bodies were generating so much heat, the cold I felt earlier was a distant memory. All I could do was be here. In this moment. With Jude. I couldn’t remember the last time I wanted to rip someone’s clothes off them.
I grabbed his stiff cock through his pants, feeling its throbbing heat as I began to stroke him. My eyes widened as his girth swelled. I knew he was enjoying this as soon as he exhaled a large breath of air from his nose. He pulled back, muttering a low “fuck” before lifting his shirt over his shoulders.
We lay completely intertwined with each other, our lips never losing their wetness. His powerful physique was pressed against me, and I couldn’t resist the urge to trace my fingers along his muscular chest. He moved his mouth to my neck, and his member throbbed against me as I moaned. His warm tongue glided down my neck, and each lick sent shivers down my spine and a gasp escaping my lips as his tongue reached my chest.
