Excerpt of A Fire in the Blood by Amanda Ashley

Vampire! The word rang like thunder in her mind. I’m dead.

She was trying to accept the fact that her life was over when, suddenly, the vampire was no longer holding her, but sprawled face down at her feet, a thick wooden stake protruding from its back.

Tessa slumped against the wall, one hand at her throat, unable to take her gaze from the dead vampire.

“Are you all right?”

Her rescuer’s voice, low and oddly compelling, reminded her that she wasn’t alone.

Tessa looked up slowly, a shiver skating down her spine. Like the vampire, this man was dressed all in black. Was he here to help, she wondered morbidly, or was he another vampire, come to finish what the dead one had started?

“Are you all right?” he asked again.

When she didn’t answer, he took a step toward her, stopped when she cringed against the wall.

“I mean you no harm.” His voice moved over her like dark velvet, warm and comforting. “You’re safe now.”

Safe? She felt a hysterical bubble of laughter rise in her throat. Safe, with a dead vampire at her feet and a stranger blocking the stairway?

He lifted one brow. “Can you speak?”

She blinked at him, and then she did laugh. Laughed until tears ran down her cheeks.

The stranger muttered something in a language Tessa didn’t understand and then, between one breath and the next, he drew her into his arms. She struggled at first but then, realizing he truly didn’t intend to hurt her, she sagged against him, her whole body trembling in the aftermath of the attack.

Gradually, she grew aware of him, of the strength of his arms around her, of the odd scent that clung to him. She spent a moment trying to determine what it was, but other sensations flooded her senses. The cloth of his jacket was soft beneath her cheek, probably expensive. He was tall, his chest solid as granite, yet his hand was gentle -- almost a caress -- as he stroked her back.

He held her until her trembling ceased. When her tears subsided, he offered her his handkerchief – fine linen embroidered with the initials A.D. It seemed a shame to use it, she thought as she dried her eyes and blew her nose.

“Who are you?” she asked.