She knew now how he had followed her home and how he had gotten into her house when the doors and windows were locked. Oh, Lord, she had invited a vampire into her house! He could come in any time he wanted.

Stricken, she looked over at Tom. "I'll have to move."

"What?"

"I invited him in. He can come in whenever he wants."

"If you tell him to go, he'll have to go."

"Really? Just like that?"

"Just like that."

Bobbie Sue stirred in Tom's arms. Her eyelids fluttered open and she frowned. "What happened?" She glanced around, a blush rising in her cheeks when she saw Vicki.

"You fainted," Tom said, sitting her up in his lap. "Are you all right now?"

She looked confused a moment. "Fainted? Oh, I remember now… " She glanced at Tom and then at Vicki. "It was just a bad joke, right?"

"I wish it were," Vicki said.

Bobbie Sue slid off Tom's lap. "I think I want to go home."

Blowing out a sigh, Duncan stood. "All right."

Bobbie Sue started toward the front door, then paused. "Vicki, don't forget to call Gus."

"I won't."

"Are you going to be all right, here by yourself, hon? Maybe I should stay."

"Thanks, but I'd really like to be alone."

"But— "

"Don't worry about me, Bobbie. I'm going to turn on all the lights and the TV, and I'm not going to open the door for anyone, believe me!"

"Well, all right," Bobbie Sue said dubiously.

"I'll come by and look in on you later," Duncan said.

With a nod, Vicki followed them to the door. She closed and locked it behind them, then looked at the clock. It was still early. In spite of what she'd told Bobbie Sue, she should probably just go to work, but the thought of going out into the dark, alone, was just too daunting.

Going to the phone, she called Gus and told him she was sorry she hadn't called sooner, but she didn't feel up to working that night, which was certainly true enough.

After hanging up the receiver, she went from room to room, checking the doors and windows to make sure they were locked, though it seemed a waste of time now. Falco might not be able to cross the threshold, but there was nothing to keep Battista out.

And even as the thought crossed her mind, she heard him calling her name.

Slipping her hand inside the collar of her uniform, she touched her grandmother's crucifix, taking comfort in the feel of the silver in her hand.

She took a deep breath, then went to open the front door. Antonio stood on the porch in a pool of yellow lamplight.

"You can't come in," she said quickly. "I forbid it."

He lifted one brow in wry amusement but he made no move to cross the threshold. "You have nothing to fear from me, Victoria. I will not hurt you."

"Yeah, right."

"If I meant you harm, you would be dead by now."

The truth of the words chilled her to the marrow of her bones.

"Why did you come to Pear Blossom Creek? What are you doing here?"

"I was on my way to my house in Oregon when I stopped here to rest during the day. I sensed Falco's presence when I rose the next night. I decided to stay and see if he was also passing through to somewhere else."

"But he wasn't."

"No."

She made a soft sound in her throat. Maybe he was telling the truth. He had told her he had walked Sharlene and the other woman home to protect them, to warn them not to open their doors to strangers. If only they had listened! Or maybe they had. She recalled her own powerful urge to leave the safety of her house when Dimitri Falco had called to her.

"Why did you come back here tonight?" she asked.

"To tell you not to be afraid to go out after dark, that even though you do not see me, I will be watching you."

"That was some trick you pulled tonight, disappearing like that. How did you do it?"

"I did not disappear. I merely moved faster than your eyes could see."

"Where do you live?"

"I do not live anywhere," he replied, and she heard the hint of self-mockery in his voice.

"Where do you stay when you aren't here?"

"I have a house in Oregon, on the coast, and another in Maine, and one in Florida."

"Really?"

"I also have a villa inItaly and a castle inSpain."

"How long have you been a… a vampire?"

He thought a moment, then said, "Six hundred and twelve years."

"Six hundred and twelve years," she repeated, her voice tinged with awe. "That means… " She did some quick mental arithmetic. "You were alive in 1394."

He nodded.

It was mind-boggling, the things he must have seen. So many changes in six hundred years. What had it been like, to watch the world change so drastically? She looked up at him, noting that there was no sign of the injuries he had incurred earlier. His skin was smooth and clear again. He had changed clothes. Black again, she noticed, and wondered if his entire wardrobe consisted of black shirts and trousers and long black dusters.

"It must be hard to live so long and see everyone you know and love pass on."

"I have loved no one."

"No one in over six hundred years? Which are you, monk or eunuch?"

He laughed softly, bitterly. "Neither. I have had many women, but I have loved none of them."

She crossed her arms over her breasts as the wind picked up, driving the rain before it.

"Why not?"

"Because I did not wish to see them look at me the way you looked at me earlier. You should go and sit by the fire," he said. "You are cold."

Since she was shivering, there was no point in denying it. "Are you all right?"

He nodded. "Good night, Victoria."

He turned to leave. She watched him walk down the stairs and she realized she didn't want him to go. Okay, he was a vampire, but he had also saved her life, comforted her when she was afraid, thrilled her with his kisses. Did she really want him to leave? What if she never saw him again?

It was that thought that made her call, "Wait!"

Pausing at the bottom of the stairs, he glanced over his shoulder, a question in the depths of his eyes.

"Please don't go."

"I am not going anywhere," he said quietly. "I will be nearby if you need me."

"Do you… Would you like to come in?"

"Is that what you want?"

"Yes, very much."

He regarded her a moment before climbing the stairs. He moved as quietly as a panther, and looked like one, too, she thought, with his black hair and dark attire.

She stepped back and he crossed the threshold into the living room. She didn't know what was different about him tonight but she felt it, a faint tremor in the air around her as he entered her home.

Taking a deep breath, she closed the door behind him, turned to find him watching her.

"Are you sure you want me here?"

"Why do you ask?"

"I can smell the fear on your skin, hear the rapid beat of your heart."

She stared up at him. "You're making that up."

With a shake of his head, he moved toward the door.

"Antonio, please don't go. I can't help being afraid." She sat down on the sofa, her hands clenched in her lap. "This is all so new to me."

Nodding, he sat in the chair across from the sofa.

Silence stretched between them. She tried not to stare at him, but she couldn't help it.

She had seen him wounded and bleeding only a short time ago.

"Do all vampires heal so rapidly?"

"Yes."

"Must be nice. I mean, just think of all the money you save on doctor bills. And you'll never need a face lift. And since you don't eat, you must save a fortune on groceries, and— "

" Victoria."

"I'm sorry, I'm just… I don't know what to say."

"We never had trouble talking before."

"I know, but— "

"You did not know what I was before."

She nodded.

His gaze caressed her face, lingering on her lips. "I am sorry you had to find out like this, my sweet one. I had hoped… "

"Hoped what?"

"It does not matter now."

"Tell me."

"In six hundred years, I have not wanted a woman the way I want you. I had never thought to find a woman I could trust. A woman I could love, until now. I knew it was wrong of me to hold you, to kiss you, when you did not know the truth, and yet I could not help myself."

His voice wrapped around her, as warm as a blazing fire on a cold winter night, but it was nothing compared to the heat smoldering in his eyes. Eyes that weren't the yellow of a killer stalking her small town, or red like those portrayed in horror movies, but a deep dark blue. Eyes filled with aching desire, and eons of loneliness that she could not begin to imagine.

Vicki licked her lips, remembering the power of his kisses, the way her whole body had responded to his touch. Earlier that night, the memory of kissing a vampire had seemed repulsive but now, suddenly, she wanted to be in his arms again, to feel his body against hers.

"Antonio… "

"I should go."

"Please stay. I'm not afraid when you're here."

"It is best if we do not see each other again."

"What? Why?"

"Perhaps I should have said it will be easier for me if we do not see each other again."

"I don't understand."

"I am a vampire." He held up his hand, silencing her. "It is the curse of my kind to feel things more strongly than mortals. Love. Hate. Pain. Passion. All are intensified. I cannot go on being near you and not touch you." He paused, his gaze resting a moment on the pulse beating in the hollow of her throat. "Not taste you." His eyes burned into hers, leaving no doubt as to his meaning.