Nick has no direction in his life, as his mother often reminds him. He works paycheck to paycheck, which becomes a problem when the paychecks stop coming in. When he's offered an opportunity to work off his rent, Nick decides there are worse things in life than being a super, especially when the job includes free rent. There is, however, a catch. His landlord is a vampire, and he needs more from Nick than maintenance and renter-wrangling. He needs Nick's blood.

Vladimir has drifted for centuries before finally making Chicago his home. With the help of his trusted servant, Ivan, he has surrounded himself with a camouflage of human tenants and dropped off the supernatural radar. He might be a blood-drinking monster, but he has no taste for the dangerous, and often murderous, politics that surround the local vampire Council. He is a monster alone, and that's exactly how he likes it, but with his human servant retiring, Vladimir needs a replacement. Luckily, Ivan finds a candidate who already lives in the building and is eager to interview for the job.

Nick is a man who needs to find purpose for his life, and Vladimir is a vampire in dire need of a reason to keep existing. They start to find what they seek within each other, and the future looks bright indeed, even for a creature of the night. Then catastrophe strikes, and Vladimir finds that after centuries of hiding, he finally has something worth fighting for.

Frost Bite is a light-hearted MM fantasy romance which contains a worn-down young man, a world-weary vampire, blood-sucking Nazi fiends, an unscrupulous blood Sommelier, unsupportive relatives, an extremely large bathtub inside a bat cave, a Russian human servant not to be trifled with, a snuggly bat, and plenty of heart. Stake not included.

Note: this was originally a free short available for free in 2021. It has since been revised, rewritten, and significantly lengthened.