His Very Own Vampire – MM

About His Very Own Vampire

Author: Sean Michael

Word Count: 14400

Page Count (pdf): 51

ISBN:  978-1-988377-41-4

Date Published: March 6, 2017

Publisher: Sean Michael

Price: 2.99

Genre: Paranormal

Pairing: MM

Series name and number: n/a

Heat Rating: 

Summary:

Vampire Truelock’s job for the last several hundred years has been protecting the President of Archer Industries, a family run company that has done very well for itself. The current patriarch, Desmond Archer, is getting ready to officially retire from the company that more or less runs itself now, and he sends True on a mission to protect his estranged grandson Lane.

Lane’s mother stopped speaking to her father Desmond when Lane was only a few years old and has told her son that his grandparents are all dead. He has no idea that he’s an heir to a fortune. When a handsome stranger steps in and saves him from bodily harm just when he needs it, he’s both grateful and a little suspicious. That suspicion only grows when bad things continue to happen to him, all seeming to stem from True’s arrival and claim that he’s been sent by Lane’s grandfather to protect him.

The fact that there’s insane chemistry between Lane and True doesn’t help either of them untangle where the danger’s coming from. Can they figure it out before Lane’s unknown enemies manage to do him permanent damage?

Originally released with Amber Quill Press

Excerpt:

Prologue

Truelock had been with the Archer family for over two hundred and fifty years. Andrew Archer had first hired him to protect the factory owner all that time ago. Back then, the threats had been different, but he’d adapted along with everyone else to every new advance made, protecting the head of the family year after year after year.

Now, the company was more than just a factory, and Desmond Archer, the current patriarch, was one of the richest men in the world. He was also retiring and permanently moving into his well-protected compound.

“You’ve been my fiercest protector and my most long-standing companion for all my life and I thank you for that, True. It’s time for me to pass the baton.”

True lifted an eyebrow. “Your company is now run by CEOs and CFOs, and the family only has to collect the money that pours in. What baton are you planning to pass on?”

Desmond cackled. “You never did mince words or bullshit me, and that’s one of the things I’ve liked best about you. It’s true, my oldest son hardly needs your protection—he has security of his own, and if he were to die, there’s plenty of other relatives to inherit my company and his portion of my wealth. I have another task in mind.”

“Oh?” True let his other eyebrow go up this time.

Desmond poured them each a finger of bourbon, then passed a glass over to him. “You know my grandson Lane Jeffries?”

True had only met the lad a few times when he’d been a small boy, before Desmond and his daughter Anita had stopped speaking to each other nearly twenty years ago. He hadn’t given Anita and her son a second thought until now.

“I know you have a grandson named Lane, yes.”

Desmond grinned again, clearly amused by his need to be precise.

“He’s reckless,” Desmond told him. “And there have been threats against his life that he hasn’t taken very seriously. Hell, there are threats he doesn’t even know about. I’m not sure how much Anita has told him about us. He might not even know we exist or that he stands to inherit a large amount of money, but he’s family and I won’t have him harmed. I intend to die before any of my children or grandchildren die. And I can tell you that I’ve got at least another thirty years left in me.”

True had no doubt about that—Desmond had a zest for life and the money to make sure it was as long as possible.

“So you’re sending me to protect your grandson, then?”

True had to admit, he was stagnating with Desmond. There was so much security around the place to start with, and no one ever got close enough to Desmond for True to worry about. He would be happy with a challenge, though he’d miss the old man. Still, he was used to the humans in his life coming and going. Supposedly, there was a true mate out there for him somewhere, but he wasn’t sure he believed that. Besides, so far, any such man had eluded him, and he’d made do with the fleeting relationships humans could provide.

“I am.” Desmond passed over an envelope. “That’s got your passport, driver’s license, and several credit cards in it, along with Lane’s details, and a ticket for a flight later tonight. I haven’t hired a daytime bodyguard for him, but from what I’ve been told, he’s something of a night owl, so you should be enough. Don’t let him tell you he doesn’t need you—I’m still the boss.”

“Yes, sir.” True didn’t need to be told, but he appreciated knowing that he could ignore any of Lane’s potential protests that he didn’t need a bodyguard. True also kept to himself the knowledge that he wasn’t as vulnerable during the daytime as Desmond believed. “It’s been a pleasure serving you all these years.”

Desmond waved his bourbon glass around. “Yeah, yeah. I’ve been a real treasure.”

They both laughed, and True sipped at his bourbon as he watched the fire crackle and he spent his last few hours with Desmond.

It was the end of an era.