Chapter One

"Hello, Kiley," said Shane.

Shane was the vampire sheriff of Arkansas. He was her boss. And she hated him with a passion. He was handsome and in biological age looked to be in his mid-thirties. He was much, much older. He had medium brown hair and green eyes and a muscular build, although it was not overly so. He loved to dress in casual cowboy glory. And he was wearing a plaid shirt with those snap buttons and wrangler jeans that hugged his very fine looking ass. He wore a cowboy belt buckle with some steer roping design and cowboy boots. The fact that the bastard was good looking only served to make Kiley dislike him more.

"Sheriff Collins," said Kiley, bowing respectfully.

"Oh, stop the bowing and scraping, Kiley," said Shane. "I'm well aware of your true feelings."

Kiley raised her eyes to him and stared at him. Her term of service was over. She had come today for him to release her. She had never willingly worked for him. He always had his eye on the affairs of human law enforcement. She had been apprehended on some trumped up charge in a little hick town because she refused the advances of a patrol man when he had stopped her for a traffic violation. He had said that she would just get a warning if she met him for drinks at the local bar. Now, it wasn't that she would not have done that with a guy who really just wanted a date. But, she could tell that he expected a little more than just her pleasant company. She lost her cool and paid the price for it. He locked her up for assault and resisting arrest. Just that had caught Shane's interest on the police blotter, but when he found out that she had somehow escaped from a locked jail cell, he came after her. Vampires were harder to ditch than she expected. He was always in the market for new talent, he had said. He said that if she did not serve him, he was cozy with those police officers and would give them lots of things on her. For instance, the fact that she gave them a false name and identification. And that she was a little criminal despite those innocent looks. If that wasn't good enough, he said that he could just make stuff up. This was the backwoods of Arkansas, he had said, railroading people was the order of the day. With just a little phone call, he could have her locked up and the key thrown away. So, she had agreed and had been under his thumb. His favorite little agent of stealth, he loved to call her. For a year, she had answered to him. But, now he had to release her. She waited patiently for those words.

And when he spoke, it was not the words she wanted to hear.

"I'm afraid that I have bad news, Darlin'," he said to her.

Kiley immediately felt like the floor had just dropped out from under her.

"I'm afraid I have a little assignment for your talents, no one else will do," said Shane.

"You can't do that," said Kiley. "My time is up."

"You are a hard little gal to hold onto, Kiley," said Shane. "An orphan with no boyfriends, or girlfriends for that matter. But, I knew that if I just kept digging, I would find something."

Kiley felt sick at her stomach now.

"Dear Grandma, hidden away in the Ozark backwoods. I always wondered what you were doing in this neck of the woods anyway," said Shane. "And here, I remember you telling me that you did not have any living relatives left. Such a little fibber you are. True, she is old, but I'm sure that she has a few good years left in her. It would be a cryin' shame to cut them short."

"No, please," said Kiley, "I'm begging you to honor our agreement."

"I am tempted, pet," said Shane. "But, I have the King breathing down my throat for results. And you are my best girl."

"I won't do it," said Kiley.

"Yes, you will," said Shane. "Or, I will kill your grandmother and bind you. I just might turn you myself. Think of it, Kiley, forever as my loyal companion. You are a little sweet thang, and I'm very tempted."

Kiley began to cry. Shane looked on her, but not with triumph. True, he did hate to let her go and he had been planning to offer her a lucrative deal to stay. For, she was incredibly useful in all sorts of ways and she was easy to look at. He never made a move on her, even though he was tempted. But, the King was all up in his business and had insisted that he send a girl to Louisiana on this assignment.

"I will pay you well, Kiley," said Shane. "You salary just increased dramatically. When this is all over, we can sit down and renegotiate a deal. I want you to stay with me and I'm willing to compensate you well for your service. I know that you don't believe me, but, it really isn't my choice."

Kiley looked at him and said nothing. For, what use was it to complain, he had made up his mind and she could not sway him.

Shane snapped his fingers and a girl appeared. The girl was a bleached blonde and was dressed in sexy clothes that showed off her artificially enhanced breasts.

"This is Sondra," said Shane. "She is going to show you every style of gentlemen's dancing."

Kiley looked confused and said, "But, why? My assignment is to be a stripper? That's crazy."

Shane smiled and said, "It's all necessary. You are going to watch the Sheriff of Louisiana. And the only way for you to do that is for you to work as one of his dancers."

"Wouldn't the Queen be a better target?" asked Kiley.

"I already have someone for her," said Shane.

He now looked at her intensely and said, "And I'm pretty sure that you don't play on the girls team."

"He's a vampire," said Kiley. "He doesn't get close to anyone, least of all some human dancer."

"You are wrong," said Shane. "He does get close to these dancers, if you know what I mean. He will let someone like you get close to him. At least close enough to observe what goes on around him."

"I'm not a whore, surely there is a better girl for this assignment," said Kiley.

"It would take me too long to find another girl with your abilities," said Shane.

"What about Sondra?" said Kiley.

Shane looked at Sondra and a small smile formed on his lips.

He looked back at Kiley and said, "Sondra has the looks, although she is a little cheap looking, however, she is sorely lacking in the brains department. You have brains, Darlin', and the looks to make even a jaded vampire like Sheriff Northman come under your spell."

This he said with certainty since he was a jaded vampire himself and he was effected by those impressive looks of hers. He gazed at Kiley for a moment and was angry at the King for demanding that he send someone right now. He did not want to give her to another vampire, especially this one.

"Now, go with her," said Shane, "because it grieves me to give you to this sheriff when I have never touched you myself and I might not be able to control my desires much longer."

A week later, Kiley drove south to Shreveport. Sondra had outfitted her with a wardrobe of appropriate clothes that a dancer would wear and some performing outfits. Appropriate slutty clothes, thought Kiley. This entire assignment was demeaning. She lucked out when she arrived, since she saw that the bar was looking for waitresses and dancers and taking applications. She was so angry that she had a hard time concentrating. But, she had to loose the anger since vampires would be able to sense that. She sighed and looked through her wardrobe for the right outfit to make a good impression.

At sunset the next day, she arrived at the bar. She decided to wear a denim miniskirt and a black tank top with spaghetti straps. She wore tall black cowboy boots and left her golden blonde hair loose and applied heavier than normal makeup. She thought that looked sexy without looking overly slutty. She brought something to pole dance in if they required that.

There was an attractive female vampire who was giving out the applications. She had a bored look on her face. When Kiley approached her for an application, she paused and looked her over.

"Are you here to audition for a dancer position?" she asked.

Kiley so wanted to say no but she doubted being waitress would let her get close enough to Sheriff Northman. But then, she thought, unless she was sleeping with him, how close would she really be? And even if she did charm her way into his bed, he would not part with any secrets. The dancers stayed backstage for the most part and came out to perform and occasionally mingle. A waitress would see more of what was really going on in the bar.

"No, I'm here for the waitress position," said Kiley.

The vampire frowned and looked her over again.

"Are you sure, honey,?" she said. "You look like a dancer."

"I guess I just dress like a slut," said Kiley with a smile.

"Now, that would not be a word that I would use to describe you," said the vampire.

She was flirting with her, thought Kiley. Perhaps, flirting with her might be better than being free game for the Sheriff.

"Thanks," asked Kiley with a little smile. "I'm really not one, a slut, I mean. You are not what I thought you would be either."

"And how is that?" asked Pam.

"Pretty and nice," said Kiley.

The female vampire seemed a little surprised that she got a reaction. I bet the Sheriff takes all the good ones for himself, thought Kiley.

"I'm not nice, honey," said Pam.

"I didn't say I was either," said Kiley.

The vampire looked her over with a look that made Kiley nervous. Like she's a cat, eyeing a bowl of milk, she thought.

"Have you worked as a waitress before?" she asked.

"Yes," said Kiley.

"You're hired," said the vampire. "Fill out this application, but the job is yours."

She gave her an application and moved on to the next girl. Kiley filled it out and wondered if she made the right decision. But, she was not a prostitute and really didn't want to sleep with this sheriff in order to spy on him. She had other tricks up her sleeve for that.

When the time came to audition the dancers, the Sheriff came out. Kiley watched him out of the corner of her eye. Another good-looking one. What was up with that, she wondered. Did becoming a vampire make you more attractive? Still no matter how cute he was, she didn't want him between her legs. She decided to hand in her application and leave before he got there and took notice of her. She rose and gave it to the bored vampire and made a hasty retreat. She wasn't aware that her retreating figure drew the interest of both Pam and Eric.

He took a seat beside Pam and said, "I think you just let the prettiest one get away."

"She said that she was here for the waitress job," said Pam. "She hired for that, I don't care if she's totally worthless or not. At least, I'll have something pretty to look at during the evening."

"Did you try to get her to audition for the dancer position?" asked Eric.

"She said 'waitress' and that's what I gave her," said Pam.

"Are you trying to keep her all to yourself?" said Eric.

"Now, would I do that?" said Pam.

Eric flashed a rare genuine smile for Pam and then turned to watch the dancer auditions with her.