Eternal Service

by Regina Morris

  Enduring Service (Book #3)

  Available in 2014

  Sulie has been in love with the same human man for nearly thirty years. The object of her unrequited love is her boss, Dixon — the only human Sulie has come to truly know in her nearly 200 years of existence. As Dixon's retirement looms near, and his memory of Sulie and the last thirty years of his life is about to be erased, will she confront her fear of intimacy and take a leap of faith before it's too late?

  Dixon has decided that it's time to retire and enjoy what time he has left. When Sulie is kidnapped during a medical emergency, Dixon realizes that retirement means giving up everything, and everyone, he's known for the last three decades. Will he risk his life, and his heart, to save her?

  Reliant Service (Book #4)

  Available in 2014

  After retiring his first, and only, alias with the Colony, Daniel Brighton discovers the mandatory sabbatical to be less than exciting. He chooses to do a favor and act as a security guard for a fading pop-singer, Lorilei Austyn, whose career is winding down. He travels across Europe with her and discovers her past to be one of deception and intrigue with a past leading directly back to the Colony itself.

  Lorilei Austyn is struggling to keep her career alive, and is willing to do what is necessary to save it. Even though she believes she is deathly ill, she travels across Europe on a relief tour to revitalize her career. On the journey she finds the truth behind her past and realizes that the one man who can save her is the handsome security guard she fought so hard not to hire.

  Acknowledgements

  Special thanks to my husband and our children for their love and support; to my sister for believing in me and encouraging me to follow my dreams; and to my critique partners for being with me every step of the way: Tracy, Kelly, Sue, Alma, & Salli.

  I would also like to thank my content editor Erin, my line editor Sue, and my Street Team of supporters – For the Love of Fiction team.

  The cover art photo of the couple, entitled “Love Struck”, is by Jess Ellis Art (http://fallinginsane.deviantart.com).

  UNITED SERVICE

  Colony Series Book #2

  Chapter One

  Available Fall 2013

  Gentle rain drizzled onto his nude body like healing kisses renewing his sense of self–peace. Even his headache had subsided a little, but in truth, it always persisted. It just seemed to be more manageable right now. Sterling lay on the patio chair, his body dwarfing the small size of the furniture as he stretched to wake up in his solitude. Feeling slightly sunburned, his skin chafed against the chair. He opened his eyes to a cloudless sky and cursed as the sun blinded him … no more relief would come today.

  As a half–breed vampire he didn’t have the protective inner eyelid the purebreds had, so he closed his eyes against the sun. Thinking of the day’s schedule, he knew he would spend most of his time down at the penitentiary. He groaned because every time he visited the place his body ached. It wasn’t being around humans that did him in, but rather the physical touching of evidence. His ability to glean information from inanimate objects was always helpful in solving cases, and he was happy to help, but his body always paid the price, and he detested the side effects.

  Sterling’s touch would tell him everything he needed to know about the item’s owner, what it was used for, and the feelings and emotions surrounding the item. Each touch made his skin crawl and itch, and the more he touched, the more his skin would scream in agony. After a few hours his head would pound with a migraine.

  But the pain meant nothing; it was just one more damn thing about his human half he had to deal with. Most vampire abilities had good side effects, but it was just his lot in life to be cursed. Fortunately though, it did allow him to bring some of the sickest and most depraved criminals to trial, and that was the justification he needed to keep living his lonely life.

  He squinted at the sun again as he reached for his sunglasses on the ground beside him and sat up. The private sleeping porch of the mansion was his little oasis, and his alone. No one would disturb him while he healed and sat in his solitude.

  Solitude and loneliness were only separated by a thin line. A very thin line – and he knew it all too well.

  Sterling inhaled deeply, taking in the crisp morning air. He could hear the chirping of the songbirds nearby and the wind chime down below swaying in the breeze. Cursing softly to himself he realized he could also hear his father and new wife stirring in their bedroom, next to his sundeck.

  It was time to get up. Fang Manor’s walls weren’t soundproof, and he now tried to block out a conversation which had changed into more intimate noises. “Newlyweds,” he thought as he rolled his eyes. No way was he listening to an encore of last night. It wasn’t anything Oedipal in his distaste of the noise, just that it reminded him how powerless he was to find a wife of his own. He had failed to secure an arranged marriage, and his own attempts to find a purebred vampire mate had proven unsuccessful, many times.

  He stood, scooped up rain pooled on the chair beside him and splashed it on his face. Shaking water from his shoulder length hair, he moaned contently at the soothing touch. He knew it would be the last time he would feel good all day.

  Checking his rain catchers, he poured the collected rain into bottles to be used later. He then walked through the few puddles of rainwater which sat on the stone floor of the deck; he opened the glass door and entered his private bedroom. The room was beautifully furnished, with the decor specifically chosen by Sterling himself. The cherry wood king–sized bed with matching nightstand and dresser filled the room. A hunter green duvet, with burgundy and gold pillows, in various sizes and shapes, were placed at the head and the foot of the bed. An old gold cross, which he had inherited from his human grandmother, hung on the wall above it. As nice as the room was, Sterling spent very little time here, even though this house had been his home for too many decades to count.

  He lived here with his father, step–mother, aunt, and several team members, making up “The Colony”, a special operative team of vampires employed by the federal government to protect the President and the American way of life. Sterling was one of the founding members of the Colony when it was established in 1866, after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. It was the only life Sterling knew. The job had benefits and perks, but also pitfalls. But what job didn’t?

  Sterling looked around the room. It was a gilded cage with free room and board paid for by Uncle Sam. Sure, he loved his family, and Fang Manor was a far cry from ‘slumming it’, but due to security measures he could never entertain guests at the place. A wife could live here with him, not that he had one. A girlfriend? Hell, he never dated a woman longer than, well, an hour tops. And even then, the women were humans.

  Speaking of human females, he was hungry, and there wasn’t one in his bed at the moment. This is exactly why he maintained an apartment in the city.

  Damn. His fangs were already extended, expecting to eat. It was time for plan B. He shook his head as he walked across the room. Next to the air purifier on the floor sat a small personal refrigerator. He opened it and pulled out a bag of AB negative blood. Bagged blood. Not his favorite, but at least it was free. He poured some into a mug and warned it in the microwave which sat atop the refrigerator. It took only a minute for him to down it all after the microwave beeped. There was no reason to savor bagged blood. Honestly, no reason at all. The packaging, for starters, was all wrong.

  The dried rain still clung to his skin. Not wanting to wash it off, he skipped a shower. In his private bathroom he stared at his blurred reflection in the mirror. One corner of his mouth turned up in a half grin as his reflection reminded him of the vampire lore that Hollywood just messed up in their movies. Hollywood did get the mirror reflection right though. Thanks to the silver in the mirror, and even the silver in the old fashioned photography, vampire images were always obscured.

  As he brushed his shoulder length dirty–blond hair, he took a good look
at himself in the mirror. He spent time last night at the mansion’s private gym lifting weights with his father. Sterling’s muscular physique was well formed, and even the poor reflection could show his ripped muscles. He took great pride in this lure since it worked so well where human women were concerned.

  He paused and leaned into the mirror. Was that a gray hair? Yep, but just one or two. Next, he studied his eyes. Wrinkles had formed over night as well. Looking down at the medallion of the Patron Saint of Rain, Genevieve, he noticed a gray chest hair. Guessing his age was now in the late thirties he continued to brush his hair as he waited for the effects of his breakfast on his body.

  The wait wasn’t long. He felt the warmed blood course through his veins and his cells began to regenerate. His hair gained more color, his wrinkles ironed themselves out, and he had a healthier glow about him. He took a deep breath and looked back in the mirror. His fuzzy reflection showed him at the age of twenty–seven again. It was his age during his Jahrling Year, when he transitioned into a full vampire and his fangs lengthened to their full–size to allow him to eat from a blood–only diet. His fangs came in late because he was a half–breed. If he had been a purebred vampire, he could look as young as the age when most humans got their wisdom teeth, their early twenties. It was just one more thing to thank his long, dead mother for, not that he ever had a chance to meet the woman.

  The blood lust from his morning’s breakfast finally hit him. It would come quicker if he had injected the blood directly into his veins. By orally consuming it, his spleen had to process the blood from his digestive system to his circulatory system, which took time. The first drops of blood acted as a fountain of youth, then eventually affecting other areas of his body like liquid Viagra. With no woman to satisfy him, he ignored his aroused state and decided to get dressed. He was used to feeling miserable, so it really didn’t bother him to remain uncomfortable.

  He opened the top drawer of his dresser and pulled out a pair of socks and underwear. In the middle drawer he pulled out a set of skin coverings. They resembled long–johns but were made from a light cotton fabric. They covered him from neck to ankles and prevented most of everything from touching him. They weren’t a great fashion statement, but they worked well. He walked to his closet for a pair of jeans and a shirt.

  He had just finished dressing when his cell phone buzzed. It was another Colony member, Daniel, who was working downtown, and the one vampire in the world that Sterling avoided as much as possible.

  The phone rang again, and Sterling stared at it with a grimace on his face. When it rang a third time he answered it. “Yes, what?” Sterling huffed.

  “Good morning to you too, mate,” Daniel said in a slightly faded British accent. “I’m with the police investigating a bloody murder, quite literally. I think you ought to see this.”

  Sterling cursed under his breath. Miss Manners never covered the social protocol of how to behave when dealing with a man you murdered in cold blood, and then had turned into a vampire against his will.

  He could understand the need to exact revenge, but Daniel forgave him for what he did. On top of that, Daniel was nice to him, which made no sense to Sterling. He gritted his teeth, “Text me the address.”

  ENDURING SERVICE

  Colony Series Book #3

  Available 2014

  Chapter One

  Watching the apartment window from where she was seated in her parked car, Sulie let out a huge yawn. She couldn’t help it. Her insane schedule was taxing her body. Between her shifts at the hospital and her responsibilities as a member of the Colony, the secret vampire task force for the White House, she needed a break. She wondered how human women could keep up. It wasn’t like she had a career and a family, but two careers were enough — at least for now.

  She had awakened before dawn to give the President his yearly physical before leaving for Camp David. As the President’s private physician she would be accompanying him once again. She cringed at the thought. The man was a letch when it came to women, especially blonds. Sulie looked all of twenty–two and had long blond hair, curled in locks. She inwardly cursed herself for not cutting and dyeing her hair before the trip.

  It was all routine. Her packed bags had already passed through security checks and had been loaded onto Marine One, the President’s private helicopter. The trip was not business related, and should—in theory—be relaxing, but she always hated going to Camp David. Again she would have to dodge the President’s advances, or ignore the man’s parade of women. The Secret Service would be discrete, as always, and Sulie would be asked to compel any humans to forget anything less than proper. She hated doing that. She was a trained professional doctor and soldier, not the man’s personal clean–up crew.

  Sulie sighed heavily as she again glanced up to the apartment window. These presidential trips used to have a silver lining – a silver–haired lining named Jonathan Dixon. He was the retiring Director of the Colony and had always accompanied her when she traveled with the President. The Director was the human liaison between the President and the vampire team that had protected all the presidents since Lincoln’s assassination. Dixon had served in that role for thirty years. Sulie liked the new replacement Director, but he was no Dixon.

  Nobody was better than Dixon. He had been the best Director the team ever had, and the one person in the world that Sulie trusted, depended on, and loved with all of her heart. She felt the pain as her stomach twisted at the thought of his retirement.

  With his retirement, Dixon’s memories of their last thirty years together would be wiped away. She, and everything they did together, would be forgotten by Dixon. He had known the outcome when he had accepted the assignment and was willing to fulfill his last duty with the team. She couldn’t let that happen. At least, not before she told the man how much she loved him. Even if he didn’t love her back, at least he would know how she felt.

  This was the time. This was the place. She looked down at the now empty bottle of scotch lying in her lap and felt the slight buzz of its effects. It had taken the whole bottle for her to muster the courage to do what she needed to do, to say what she needed to say. There was no turning back.

  Grabbing her purse, she opened the car door. The glass bottle tumbled to the concrete street and shattered. She clung onto the car door and took several deep breaths. Other than wine, she had never been much of a drinker. And even then, she never allowed herself to get tipsy.

  The two flights of stairs challenged her, but she got her second wind when her foot hit the last step. Apartment 26E. It was an apartment she was very familiar with. As she approached the door, she again felt the butterflies in her stomach.

  She rotated her neck and rolled her shoulders before knocking on the door. When she heard Dixon approaching, she took in a deep breath and remembered to smile, her fangs slightly showing.

  The door flew open and she gazed into Dixon’s panicked eyes.

  “I’m glad you’re here,” he said. “I need you.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  Sulie quickly walked into the small, sparsely furnished apartment. Immediately her nose wrinkled at the scent of stale food. “What’s wrong?” she asked, glancing at a stack of empty pizza boxes and take–out containers on the dining room table.

  Dixon closed the door and walked past her to the kitchen. The mortal man was in his mid–sixties and more than a century younger than Sulie. Over the years, his salt–and–pepper hair had grayed. His waistline had widened slightly, but his 6’1” frame carried the extra weight just fine in her opinion. He wore bifocals, but still had the most beautiful green eyes she had ever seen. She inhaled deeply and took in the subtle scent of his aftershave as he walked past. The man had aged well, just like a fine bottle of wine.

  Fumbling through his medications in a cabinet, Dixon pulled out a small, empty bottle with a dropper top. “I’m out of Devolixion,” he said reading the label, his voice nearly breathless. “I called the pharmacy, but even when I spelled out th
e medication they said they couldn’t fill it.”

  I slight smile crossed Sulie’s lips. “It’s fine,” she said reaching into her purse. “I brought you a three–month supply.” She handed one of the bottles to Dixon and stored the other two in his cabinet.

  She watched as Dixon smiled and let out a sigh of relief. The man had no idea how adorable he was. He could lead the team of vampires when it came to missions with the President, but ask him to keep track of anything personal and he was a mess. Sulie thought the man needed a woman in his life. She knew Dixon had been married several times, and had suspected that he had given up when it came to matters of the heart.

  Now was the time. All she had to do was confess her love, but why were her knees suddenly shaking? The butterflies had also returned to her stomach. Feeling queasy from the scotch, she decided to have a seat in the living room.

  There was a couch, a chair that did not match, and a huge television in the room. In the middle was a table, stained from years of abuse, which desperately needed coasters. The dry cleaning she had picked up for him days ago was still in its plastic bag and draped over the overstuffed leather chair. As she shifted the laundered clothes aside so she could sit, she caught her reflection in the small mirror that was hanging on the wall. Her reflection was fuzzy because of her vampire nature, but clear enough for her to recognize the image as her own. In preparation for this day she had spent all of yesterday at the spa. The hair extensions were an easy choice to have done, especially since she knew Dixon liked long, flowing hair. The manicure and pedicure would probably go unnoticed, but were pleasant, and the facial had been nice.