For Love And Country

By W.M. Kirkland and Mary Winter

Love? Or duty?  His choice will damn his country or his heart.

Vampire Basile Gagnon wants nothing more than to put the United States, its war, and the heartbreak he found on its shores far behind him. He has suffered the loss of one too many mortal lovers, and refuses to risk his heart again. Not even for Emil, the mortal he turned away five years ago.

When Union soldier Emil Franks steps aboard Basile's ship his mission is to try to convince Basile to lend his vessel to the Union cause. But with one look at his former lover, he reveals far more his lingering love for Basile. Neither time nor the fires of war have dimmed their passion for each other, but not even the fact that Emil is now a vampire can sway Basile from his course. In two days time, he leaves for his native France.

On this war-torn Valentine s Day, Emil must choose: Love? Or country?

Warning, this title contains the following: graphic language and hot naked vampire-love.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Adera Orfanelli
• Release date: Oct 28, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386392927

Book preview

For Love and Country

W.M. Kirkland

Table of Contents

Title Page

copyright page

Also By

For Love And Country

About The Author

A Man's Sword

A Gladiator's Sword

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, places, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

For Love And Country

Copyright © W.M. Kirkland, 2018

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Cover Art © 2018

Cover art by Unscramblet Author Solutions

Book formatting by Unscramblet Author Solutions (http://www.unscramblet.com)

Electronic Publication Date: October 2018

Original Publication Date: January 2008

This book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the authors.

Also by W.M. Kirkland

Superhero Surprise

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Country Fried Love

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2 Hearts Rescue Series

Rescued Love

Striding Home

Rescue & Redemption

Rescuing the Millionaire

Hot & Rescued (Boxed Set of Books 1-4)

Catching Pumpkin

Lover’s Point Rescue

Just Add Spice

His Holiday Cat Daddy

Gladiators Through Time

A Man’s Sword

A Gladiator’s Sword

A Reunited Sword

A Broken Sword

A Lover’s Sword

A Gladiator Christmas

A Gladiator Wedding

Romans Through Time

Ridden Through Time

Ridden Through Fate

Ridden Through Trouble (forthcoming)

Ridden Through Fire (forthcoming)

Chapter One

Baltimore, MD, February 1862

Gray clouds scuttled across the not-quite full moon, casting the inky waters of the Atlantic into total darkness. The splash of water against ships anchored in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor reminded Emil Franks of the ebb and flow of the ocean, a tide he’d lived with all his life. Behind him, the sounds of drunken revelers and ship hands working late into the night faded as he neared the boats on which men slept or gambled. Either way, it was a lot quieter than the boisterous noise that came from the street a few blocks behind him. The tang of salt water filled the air, and he breathed deeply the seductive aroma even though he no longer needed to take air into his lungs. God, he loved the smell of the ocean.

The large French ship, Commerce de Souverain, sat moored near the center of the dock where the harbor was at its deepest. Emil’s steps faltered. He stared at the large ship, the sails slack in the absence of any breeze, and his heart pounded in a purely human reaction. Basile Gagnon captained this vessel. His tender, yet firm hand on the wheel guided the ship from port to port, just as at one time he had coaxed Emil’s body to heights of ecstasy he hadn’t known since. Emil hoped Basile would soon sail somewhere along the southern Atlantic coast as part of the Union blockade of the Confederate states.

Emil swallowed and ran his tongue along the fangs in his mouth. The last time he’d seen Basile Emil had been human. His humanity had driven them apart. Now, he came with new knowledge and with a plea for his country. Squaring his shoulders, he strode across the dock, his boots echoing on the wooden planks as he made his way to the rope and rung ladder thrown over the side of the ship.

Darkness shrouded the man standing at the top of the ladder. Emil’s keen vision saw his short, white-blond hair and baggy clothing. A young lad, maybe nineteen, without even a hint of stubble covering his face. Basile always did have the habit of picking up lost young men, and Emil fought the stab of jealousy that perhaps this boy, barely into manhood, shared the vampire’s bed. No, not when the rich aroma of coppery life poured off the young man like ambrosia. Basile turned away from mortals, or at least that was the excuse he’d given when he’d left five years ago. Emil’s mouth watered, reminding him it’d been too long since he’d fed. He tugged at the rope.

You there, what do you want? the youngster called down, his voice hardly dipping into the lower registers.

I have an appointment with your captain. A lie, of course, but if he announced himself as waiting to see Basile, no doubt the ship’s captain would turn him away. He had before.

No one told me, the boy yelled back. Go away.

Now is that any way to treat a guest? Basile’s rich voice, smooth with his French accent, drifted to Emil’s hungry ears. He strained toward it, like a dog toward a tidbit in his master’s hand. It’d been too many years since the honeyed tones played across him, and in his trousers, his cock hardened. Basile peered over the edge of the ship. Emil, I didn’t expect to see you here.

I didn’t expect to be here, Basile. I hope you’ve been well. I come as an emissary from the Secretary of War. May I come aboard? Emil asked, not worrying about who might hear about his Union leanings here. Sure, Baltimore harbored Confederate sympathizers, this close to Washington D.C., how could it not? But he had no doubt he could take on any who threatened him. A stint in the Union Army and training after his near death at Bull Run had given him an edge over most street thugs.

Basile hesitated.

Emil waited, knowing better than to interrupt Basile’s inspection. He stood there, the moon coming from behind a cloud to illuminate his muscled form. He knew what the vampire would see, had seen, and knew what he would sense. Forcing his body to the stillness of a predator watching prey, he waited for Basile’s response. Some unspoken signal passed between Basile and the young man on deck, for the French vampire turned and walked away.

Come on up. The young man gestured to the ship.

Emil wasted no time in climbing the ladder. No sooner had his feet touched the wooden deck of the ship when the young man grunted.

Follow me, he said, his thick Boston accent even more evident. Turning on his heel, he led Emil across the gently rocking deck.

Emil ignored the stares of the sailors on board. He recognized several of the men from five years ago. Basile had, and still, inspired fierce loyalty. No angry glares, only curious looks, came in his direction, a fact which relieved Emil. Though Basile had been the one to leave, Emil worried about the reactions of those who worked with and protected his former lover.

The boy led Emil down the stairs to the captain’s cabin. Emil drank in the sight of the polished wood, the love and care that had obviously gone into the ship. It was Basile’s pride and joy, and Emil knew all too well that the vampire prized the vessel above all else. He closed his eyes as memories threatened to swamp him. Right here at the foot of the stairs, one dark, August evening, Basile had pressed him against the wall and taken him, quickly, furiously, his cock plowing into Emil’s body, making the man come with such fierceness he blacked out for a moment. And there, the Captain’s