Eternal Service

by Regina Morris

  “Let me collect your empties for you, Alex.” He took the glass from her hands before she could say no, or even before she could thank him, and returned to the kitchen. Probably making a hasty retreat from the prying new director.

  Standing alone, she mentally chastised herself for her lack of common decency. Vampire etiquette. She’d have to write some notes so the next director wouldn’t be so confused when she retired. Maybe Dixon had such a book. She then shook her head. Mr. Denim Jeans at a cocktail party probably wouldn’t have such a thing.

  Looking around the room she didn’t see Dixon, but did notice all the lovely antiques once again. The style of the room was eclectic with pieces ranging from what Alex assumed was turn of the century to modern day. The window dressings, wall coverings and kick–knacks all looked old, but it wasn’t like she was an Antique Road Show expert, so she had no clue about their origin. The furniture looked more modern, as were the air purifiers she noticed each room had. Bigger and sturdier furnishings filled the room. Of course with the frame size of all the vampires, you would need bulkier furniture.

  The lighting was darker than Alex preferred, but she assumed that was because of their exceptional eyesight and ability to see well in the dark. She liked the decor, everything from the lace curtains to the black leather sofa. The exterior wall of the room had a large, stunning fireplace. It was built with stone bricks, not masonry bricks. It appeared more rustic and homey in her mind, plus the hearth was large enough to offer two seats close up to the fire.

  “Here Alex,” Dixon said, walking up to her and offering her a plate of food.

  Now that she didn’t hold her wineglass, the plate gave her hands something to do. “Thanks, Dixon.” A small grimace crossed her face as she sniffed the food on the plate. The smell wasn’t too bad, but she had to guess the brown stuff was hummus. She watched as Dixon ate some off his plate, and even made a satisfying noise like he liked the food. Alex ventured a try. It had a hummus texture, but tasted more like what she suspected gourmet dog food would be like.

  “By the way, I was thinking that any notes you may have taken …” Alex began, but was quickly cut short when Dixon told her she had to try a dish called Matador Mania and he left to find her some. Standing alone, she took the opportunity to set her plate down and to take pity on the man for being a bachelor and liking Sulie’s cooking.

  As Dixon walked into the kitchen, he passed Sterling coming out of it. Sterling’s shoulder length, feathered blond hair brushed across his face as he walked towards her. “Here, Alex,” he said, handing her a glass of wine. “I believe this tasseled one is yours.”

  She thought back to the information she read in his file. Playboy. She noticed his seductive smile and the glint in his eyes. Did women really fall for the retro look? Overall he was a good–looking man, … er, vampire, but the look was not a turn–on for her.

  His smile widened and showed his fangs. He lifted the wineglass he offered slightly into the air. “Is there something other than this wine you want, Alex?”

  She stifled a snicker. Perhaps if she hadn’t read of his sexual escapades from his file, his charm may have worked — maybe. Right now he looked transparent. She took the offered glass. She sniffed the offering to confirm it wasn’t blood, then took a big gulp of wine to get the dog food taste out of her mouth. “Thanks for the wine.”

  His eyes studied her, and she felt uneasy.

  “I think I offended Daniel,” she confessed in a low whisper to give them something to talk about. She then shook her head and corrected herself. “I know I offended him.” She took another sip of her wine.

  He took a step back and Alex wondered if his new physical stance meant a surrender in terms of playing her.

  “How so?” Sterling asked.

  She sighed. “I asked about his turning.” Alex watched as Sterling’s look turned stone cold. She narrowed her brow as she studied the vampire. She may be in his lair, but she wasn’t a damsel in distress, and there were answers she wanted. “I’m so new to this entire vampire thing. It’s so fascinating to me.”

  Sterling glanced away, as if surveying the room. “Well, we have purebreds, half–breeds and full vampires in this house. I’m sure Daniel didn’t take offense.” He then mumbled under his breath, “Hell, you could kill the man and he wouldn’t be offended.”

  She seized the opportunity. “You were the one who turned him. How did it happen?”

  He turned his head, looked her straight in the eyes, and said, “That’s not my story to share.” He took the last sip of his beer. “I’m empty. You need a refill?”

  Looking down at the nearly full goblet she said, “I’m good for now.”

  *******

  Alex walked over to the fireplace hearth to warm herself. That’s when she noticed that Dixon had gathered more food on two plates. She suspected one of the plates was going to be hers. She patted her growling stomach. She was hungry, but there wasn’t much of anything here to eat. She found a bowl of tortilla chips and some salsa and nibbled on what she thought was the last of the edible food in the house. At this point in time, the guacamole even began to taste good.

  She looked over at Dixon once again. How could he have worked so closely with these people for so long? Secrets definitely lurked about that were not documented. Alex wondered if the man knew the answers, if he didn’t care to know them, or if he remained oblivious to them.

  Just then, she noticed that Raymond pulled Dixon aside and started talking to him. She wondered if their conversation was information about a case, or perhaps another secret. She didn’t want to interrupt. Well, that wasn’t true. She didn’t want to appear pushy on her first day on the job, so she remained where she was, wishing she had the super hearing vampires had. She watched as Dixon’s hopeful expression turned to a saddened one. After a few minutes, Dixon nodded and walked away from Raymond, leaving the plates of food on the table. Alex noticed a look of disappointment from Dixon – like he had just been told that Santa didn’t exist. She suspected the conversation was probably on the topic of his retirement. Of course, the men would be sad to say good–bye to each other. After all, they had worked together for decades.

  Raymond approached Alex as she continued pretending to admire the fireplace. In truth, she was using her hand on the mantle to steady herself. Hopefully he had not noticed her trying to eavesdrop on his conversation. She took a sip of her wine and told herself to be more professional. After all, this was an official team meeting.

  His expression changed from a saddened one to smiling at her as he approached. “We enjoy having a fire here during the winter months.” He continued smiling at her as she sipped her wine. “We have no body heat.” He offered her his hand and she held it. He slid his thumb back and forth across her hand, his skin temperature picking up her warmth. “The heat of the fireplace can warm us, just like your hand is warming my hand right now.”

  She cleared her throat and closed the gap between the two of them. “You like feeling warm. Don’t you?”

  “Oh, yes.” He continued stroking her hand.

  She took a sip of her wine. She pointed across the room. “What were you and Dixon discussing?”

  Raymond glanced over at Dixon and cleared his throat. “His retirement plans. He was hoping for a specific opportunity and, unfortunately, it isn’t available.”

  Alex picked up on his saddened tone. “That’s too bad. I hope it doesn’t interfere with him enjoying his retirement.”

  Raymond looked away from her. “I’m sure he’ll enjoy the twenty or thirty years he has left.”

  She felt like another secret was in place, but still placed her arm on his shoulder to comfort him. Obviously the two were close. “I am sorry he’s leaving.” She sighed, “I am grateful for the promotion, but I know I have some pretty big shoes to fill.” She stroked his back and leaned slightly in toward him. “Do you want to talk about it?” she asked.

  Without hesitation, he said, “No.”

  She didn’
t like secrets, but, after having offended one vampire tonight, she decided not to offend a second – especially not Raymond. She dropped her hand from his back. “OK,” she said.

  He grabbed her hand and leaned into her. His breath caressed her cheek, “Thanks for understanding.” His hand touched her face, “I will miss him, but I am looking forward to working with the new director.”

  She glanced down at his moist lips, and then licked her own. The light from the fireplace cast a warm glow across his strong muscular jaw. She took a breath, and waited for his kiss, but he pulled away abruptly, removing his hands from her face. He turned from her and faced the kitchen the exact moment his sister walked through to the living room.

  “Yes, Sulie,” Raymond said.

  “Oh, there you are. I’ve been looking for you.”

  He straightened his stance, crossed his arms, and became stoic. “Yes. I heard you calling, but I was busy talking with Alex.”

  Alex turned slightly away and ran her hand through her hair. What was she doing? Kissing a team member was bad enough, but to kiss him in front of other team members? Exactly how unprofessional did she want to be tonight? Looking over at Raymond she decided she didn’t care. He was all sex wrapped together in a handsome vampire, tight body. She felt embarrassed, as though his sister just caught them in bed together, and they hadn’t done anything yet. Yet. Now wasn’t that the operative word here?

  Sulie looked between the two of them. “I thought Alex would like a tour of Fang Manor.”

  Both vampires looked over to Alex, as if waiting her answer. The moment with Raymond had already been spoiled, so she said, “That would be nice.”

  Sulie stared at Raymond. “The house is big, so you and Raymond take your time.”

  *******

  The tour was just finishing when Raymond saw Sterling leaving by the front door. He excused himself and followed his son outside. “Sterling, where are you going?”

  Sterling rolled his eyes. “Out”.

  “I thought you’d stay and get to know Alex a little more. After all, she is our new director.”

  “I did meet her. Remember, right over there in the living room we had an awkward moment together when we first met when your arms were around her; we bonded over my lie of a fake murder story. I think we’re good.”

  “It’s early. Stay.”

  Sterling took in a deep breath, as if anger were building inside. “I don’t like it when we talk about my sex life. You can only imagine how weird it is to talk about yours, so I’m only going to say this once.” Sterling looked his father squarely in the eyes. “I don’t fish off the company pier, but if you want to dabble with our new boss, so be it. But I’ll tell you what, this acorn sure didn’t fall far from the tree.”

  Raymond could taste the fury in his throat. He fought back the bitter taste. “I wasn’t going to tell you this,” Sterling said, getting his father’s full attention. “You claim you just met her this past week, but she’s known you a whole hell of a lot longer.”

  “Impossible,” Raymond challenged. “We met the other day in Dixon’s office.”

  “Regardless. She has known you for months. It explains why a career professional woman, suddenly, is flirting like a little slut in front of her new team.”

  Raymond furrowed his brow, and did his best to ignore the last remark. “How does she know me? We just met.”

  Sterling smiled. “You really don’t know, do you?”

  Raymond’s anger bubbled inside once again. His hands balled into fists. “Spit it out, Sterling!”

  “Usually a human’s mind doesn’t notice us. We’re predators; we slip into the background and fade away. But that didn’t happen with her. Her subconscious mind remembers seeing you for months, possibly years.”

  “That’s not possible. I never spoke with her before this past week.”

  “Maybe you’re a little too hard to forget. Nonetheless, the psychic echo is there. But it’s even worse than that. When I met her and shook her hand, I read her skin.”

  Raymond raised his voice, “You are not allowed to touch the director like that.”

  “She isn’t the director until Dixon officially retires, so until then I can fuck with her mind all I want.”

  Raymond’s slammed his son back into the wall. “Never again. Do you understand me?”

  The wall gave way to Sterling’s smaller frame, and cracks appeared in the brick. Sterling tried to brush his father’s hands off him. “Be glad I read her this time, old man. Her subconscious mind even has a name for you. Seeing how you’ve been staring in all of her wet dreams for months, it's only fitting that she’s has given you a porn star name.”

  Raymond’s eyes widened as he let go of his son.

  “Oh, yes. Go ask her who ‘Butch Manly’ is, father. I’m sure all the blood will not only rush to her face in embarrassment, but she’ll be flushed elsewhere as well.”

  Raymond took a step back. “I never touched her mind like that. I swear.”

  “Obviously you didn’t need to. Since you’re so out of practice touching a woman in any way, I think she may as well just dream about ‘Butch’ in your stead. She probably would be more satisfied doing so.” Sterling took a good look at his father. “Honestly, here you are hoping for a first date, and emotionally she is on date fifty. Since women tend to sleep with men on the first date, at least in my experience, I’m guessing that she not only has names picked out for your children, I’m betting she has names for your grandkids as well.”

  Raymond blinked, and then continued to stare at his son.

  “Toss on the amount of wine she’s put away tonight, and I can’t even begin to tell you how entertaining it has been watching the floor show. She doesn’t even know how inappropriate she’s been behaving. I got to say, everyone thought it was odd until I explained it to them.”

  Raymond’s eyes narrowed in anger. Gritting his teeth, he asked, “Everyone has been making fun of her all–night?”

  He watched as Sterling looked through the window in the living room. “Oh, please. Sulie had found every possible angle to get the two of you alone; the woman’s nearly giddy with joy. Ben has been adjusting Alex’s aura so she wouldn’t undress you in the living room. Jackie and William find it charming, which, to me, is nauseating. Daniel kept taking her wine goblet away every time she set it down. Moot point though, seeing how I kept refilling it and handing it back to her. Only Dixon was appalled. He kept trying to get her to eat Sulie’s nasty food all night.”

  Raymond looked through the window at the team members. “Sounds to me like you were the only one not helping the situation.”

  “Trust me. Getting women liquored up is always a big help.” He took a step away from the window and looked at his father. “What I don’t understand, is why a man who is as celibate as the Pope would be so willing to hit the sheets so quickly.” He held up his hand, “I mean, I can understand the physical need to tear into some female flesh before Mount Vesuvius explodes in your pants, but it isn’t like you’re the wham, bam, thank–you ma’am type of guy. So why are you in such a hurry with this one, when no other woman in your dry spell ever made you hot and sweaty?”

  Raymond sighed and looked at his son, the oddest person in the world he would consider an ally in any discussions of romance. “When you meet someone special, you just know it. In less than two months, I had met your mother, gotten her pregnant, and we were man and wife.”

  Sterling tilted his head, his mind obviously twisting around past known facts. “Wait, you and mom were married a year before she got pregnant. What’s the real truth?”

  Raymond cleared his throat and said sheepishly, “It was the 1800s; you were too big to pass off as a premature baby. Your mother was dead. The least I could do was to give her the dignity of a proper timeline.”

  Sterling shook his head and huffed. “I can see how you would find that totally acceptable. In loving memory and all.”

  Raymond closed his eyes; his shoulders sagged. �
�Alex is special to me. But it’s not even me she’s interested in.” He let out a huge sigh. “The first woman I’ve liked since your mother, and it’s all fake.”

  “Here’s a tip. If she yells out ‘Butch’ while you’re fucking her, you’ll know which one of you she really wants.”

  Raymond cringed at his son’s crass remark, but he never considered a woman yelling out another man’s name during an intimate moment. He was the only man Wilma had ever been with. “I can’t even imagine the horror I’d feel if something like that were to happen.”

  Sterling shirked his shoulders. “You get used to it. It’s not that big of a deal.”

  Raymond’s jaw dropped to the floor. “It would matter to me!” He raked his hands through his hair. “This was a bad idea. I can’t pursue her … I just can’t.”

  Sterling rolled his eyes. “Christ,” he swore. He put a hand on his father’s shoulder. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been so blunt to such a choirboy.”

  Raymond closed his eyes and shook his head. “It is what it is.”

  Sterling’s expression softened. “Look, she may have this internal idea of who, and what, she’s looking for, but she’s still pursuing you. I’m guessing that whatever she has imagined for her fantasy lover … let’s just say, you are fulfilling her dreams. You must be, or she wouldn’t still be here and quite literally all over you. Her idea of Butch Manly may have opened the door for you, but she’s inviting you in.”

  Raymond allowed that thought to sink in. “Perhaps.”

  In a calmer tone, Sterling added, “Dad, have you noticed her body language? That living, breathing, here–and–available woman couldn’t keep her eyes off you. Her bedroom eyes undressed you all–night. Her heart beats faster when she’s near you and I can even smell her arousal. You’d be an idiot to miss the signs.”

  “I did notice them.” Raymond smiled slightly as he glanced up at his son. Especially now, with the news that he had left some sort of psychic echo, how could he know her true feelings?