Love On Call Read online

  Table of Contents

  Synopsis

  Applause for L.L. Raand’s Midnight Hunters Series

  Acclaim for Radclyffe’s Fiction

  By Radclyffe

  Acknowledgments

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Chapter Thirty

  About the Author

  Books Available From Bold Strokes Books

  Synopsis

  Some people work to pay the bills or send the kids to school or afford playtime. Ex-Army medic physician-assistant Glenn Archer works, as much as she possibly can, to atone for all the lost lives on her conscience. No matter how many patients she helps save at the Rivers Community Hospital, it will never be enough, but it helps her look at herself in the mirror in the morning. Mariana Mateo needs to make a new life, one without the daily reminders of all she’s lost and far away from the suffocating sympathies of her well-meaning family, and moving to a place as different as possible from the bustling LA she grew up in seems like a good idea. A cousin she hasn’t seen in twenty years is the only person who knows her in the tiny upstate New York farming community, and that’s just the way she wants it. When working side by side with Glenn Archer in the ER makes Mari remember what desire feels like, Mari determines to ignore the feelings, which isn’t all that difficult since Glenn is as unapproachable as the beautiful but remote mountains.

  A Rivers Community Novel

  Applause for L.L. Raand’s Midnight Hunters Series

  The Midnight Hunt

  RWA 2012 VCRW Laurel Wreath winner Blood Hunt

  Night Hunt

  The Lone Hunt

  “Raand has built a complex world inhabited by werewolves, vampires, and other paranormal beings…Raand has given her readers a complex plot filled with wonderful characters as well as insight into the hierarchy of Sylvan’s pack and vampire clans. There are many plot twists and turns, as well as erotic sex scenes in this riveting novel that keep the pages flying until its satisfying conclusion.”—Just About Write

  “Once again, I am amazed at the storytelling ability of L.L. Raand aka Radclyffe. In Blood Hunt, she mixes high levels of sheer eroticism that will leave you squirming in your seat with an impeccable multi-character storyline all streaming together to form one great read.”—Queer Magazine Online

  “The Midnight Hunt has a gripping story to tell, and while there are also some truly erotic sex scenes, the story always takes precedence. This is a great read which is not easily put down nor easily forgotten.”—Just About Write

  “Are you sick of the same old hetero vampire/werewolf story plastered in every bookstore and at every movie theater? Well, I’ve got the cure to your werewolf fever. The Midnight Hunt is first in, what I hope is, a long-running series of fantasy erotica for L.L. Raand (aka Radclyffe).”—Queer Magazine Online

  “Any reader familiar with Radclyffe’s writing will recognize the author’s style within The Midnight Hunt, yet at the same time it is most definitely a new direction. The author delivers an excellent story here, one that is engrossing from the very beginning. Raand has pieced together an intricate world, and provided just enough details for the reader to become enmeshed in the new world. The action moves quickly throughout the book and it’s hard to put down.”—Three Dollar Bill Reviews

  Acclaim for Radclyffe’s Fiction

  In Prescription for Love “Radclyffe populates her small town with colorful characters, among the most memorable being Flann’s little sister, Margie, and Abby’s 15-year-old trans son, Blake…This romantic drama has plenty of heart and soul.”—Publishers Weekly

  2013 RWA/New England Bean Pot award winner for contemporary romance Crossroads “will draw the reader in and make her heart ache, willing the two main characters to find love and a life together. It’s a story that lingers long after coming to ‘the end.’”—Lambda Literary

  In 2012 RWA/FTHRW Lories and RWA HODRW Aspen Gold award winner Firestorm “Radclyffe brings another hot lesbian romance for her readers.”—The Lesbrary

  Foreword Review Book of the Year finalist and IPPY silver medalist Trauma Alert “is hard to put down and it will sizzle in the reader’s hands. The characters are hot, the sex scenes explicit and explosive, and the book is moved along by an interesting plot with well drawn secondary characters. The real star of this show is the attraction between the two characters, both of whom resist and then fall head over heels.”—Lambda Literary Reviews

  Lambda Literary Award Finalist Best Lesbian Romance 2010 features “stories [that] are diverse in tone, style, and subject, making for more variety than in many, similar anthologies…well written, each containing a satisfying, surprising twist. Best Lesbian Romance series editor Radclyffe has assembled a respectable crop of 17 authors for this year’s offering.”—Curve Magazine

  2010 Prism award winner and ForeWord Review Book of the Year Award finalist Secrets in the Stone is “so powerfully [written] that the worlds of these three women shimmer between reality and dreams…A strong, must read novel that will linger in the minds of readers long after the last page is turned.”—Just About Write

  In Benjamin Franklin Award finalist Desire by Starlight “Radclyffe writes romance with such heart and her down-to-earth characters not only come to life but leap off the page until you feel like you know them. What Jenna and Gard feel for each other is not only a spark but an inferno and, as a reader, you will be washed away in this tumultuous romance until you can do nothing but succumb to it.”—Queer Magazine Online

  Lambda Literary Award winner Stolen Moments “is a collection of steamy stories about women who just couldn’t wait. It’s sex when desire overrides reason, and it’s incredibly hot!”—On Our Backs

  Lambda Literary Award winner Distant Shores, Silent Thunder “weaves an intricate tapestry about passion and commitment between lovers. The story explores the fragile nature of trust and the sanctuary provided by loving relationships.”—Sapphic Reader

  Lambda Literary Award Finalist Justice Served delivers a “crisply written, fast-paced story with twists and turns and keeps us guessing until the final explosive ending.”—Independent Gay Writer

  Lambda Literary Award finalist Turn Back Time “is filled with wonderful love scenes, which are both tender and hot.”—MegaScene

  Love on Call

  Brought to you by

  eBooks from Bold Strokes Books, Inc.

  http://www.boldstrokesbooks.com

  eBooks are not transferable. They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement on the copyright of this work.

  Please respect the rights of the author and do not file share.

  Love on Call

  © 2016 By Radclyffe. All Rights Reserved.

  ISBN 13: 978-1-62639-844-3

  This Electronic Book is published by

  Bold Strokes Books, Inc.

  P.O. Box 249

  Valley Falls, New York 12185
/>   First Edition: November 2016

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

  This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.

  Credits

  Editors: Ruth Sternglantz and Stacia Seaman

  Production Design: Stacia Seaman

  Cover Design By Sheri ([email protected])

  By Radclyffe

  Romances

  Innocent Hearts

  Promising Hearts

  Love’s Melody Lost

  Love’s Tender Warriors

  Tomorrow’s Promise

  Love’s Masquerade

  shadowland

  Passion’s Bright Fury

  Fated Love

  Turn Back Time

  When Dreams Tremble

  The Lonely Hearts Club

  Night Call

  Secrets in the Stone

  Desire by Starlight

  Crossroads

  Homestead

  Against Doctor’s Orders

  Prescription for Love

  The Color of Love

  Love on Call

  Honor Series

  Above All, Honor

  Honor Bound

  Love & Honor

  Honor Guards

  Honor Reclaimed

  Honor Under Siege

  Word of Honor

  Code of Honor

  Price of Honor

  Justice Series

  A Matter of Trust (prequel)

  Shield of Justice

  In Pursuit of Justice

  Justice in the Shadows

  Justice Served

  Justice For All

  The Provincetown Tales

  Safe Harbor

  Beyond the Breakwater

  Distant Shores, Silent Thunder

  Storms of Change

  Winds of Fortune

  Returning Tides

  Sheltering Dunes

  First Responders Novels

  Trauma Alert

  Firestorm

  Oath of Honor

  Taking Fire

  Wild Shores

  Short Fiction

  Collected Stories by Radclyffe

  Erotic Interludes: Change of Pace

  Radical Encounters

  Edited by Radclyffe:

  Best Lesbian Romance 2009-2014

  Stacia Seaman and Radclyffe, eds.

  Erotic Interludes 2: Stolen Moments

  Erotic Interludes 3: Lessons in Love

  Erotic Interludes 4: Extreme Passions

  Erotic Interludes 5: Road Games

  Romantic Interludes 1: Discovery

  Romantic Interludes 2: Secrets

  Breathless: Tales of Celebration

  Women of the Dark Streets

  Amore and More: Love Everafter

  Myth & Magic: Queer Fairy Tales

  By L.L. Raand

  Midnight Hunters

  The Midnight Hunt

  Blood Hunt

  Night Hunt

  The Lone Hunt

  The Magic Hunt

  Shadow Hunt

  Acknowledgments

  A return to the Rivers series is like coming home to friends, family, and warm fires (or sunny afternoons, as the season dictates). The challenge of the familiar, in life as in fiction, is to embrace change as we preserve what keeps us strong. In the romance documentary Love Between the Covers, Jayne Krantz makes the point that readers find in romances the core values they aspire to emulate or experience in life, not “just” love and passion, but valor, loyalty, bravery, and heroism. What I love about writing and reading romances, whether stand-alones or a series romance, is the story of two people overcoming obstacles in their journey toward commitment within the context of a larger duty—to family, community, and the world we live in. Our romances tell powerful stories of individuals who risk all to live honest and meaningful lives. The Rivers community is one born of history, heritage, and inclusiveness. I hope you enjoy your time there.

  Many thanks go to: senior editor Sandy Lowe for a partnership that keeps BSB running smoothly while I write, editor Ruth Sternglantz for never missing a beat, editor Stacia Seaman for her irreplaceable expertise, Sheri Halal for a perfect cover, and my first readers Paula, Eva, and Connie for encouragement and aid.

  And as always, thanks to Lee for her indomitable spirit of adventure. Amo te.

  Radclyffe, 2016

  To Lee, for always answering

  Chapter One

  Glenn opened her eyes in the dark, not awakening so much as emerging from a void. She didn’t have to look at the clock to know it was two thirty. No matter what time she fell asleep, she always opened her eyes at two thirty. She didn’t dream, had taught herself not to. Sleep was a blank, an enforced respite from thought and memory. An absence of awareness wasn’t exactly restful, but her body required the recovery time in order for her to perform at peak efficiency, so she maintained a regular sleep schedule, even if the actual hours she slept were erratic. She turned on her side. Two thirty-seven.

  Outside the open window, the night was silent. If she listened very hard she might hear some distant sound—a freight train chugging along the river, a coyote or two calling for the pack, a branch falling from the big pines that bordered the parking lot behind the empty store beneath her apartment. Not tonight, though. The night was as empty as her dreamless sleep had been.

  Her cell phone emitted a series of staccato beeps, the closest approximation she’d been able to get to her field radio, the familiarity an odd comfort. She reached for it with a quick easing of the heaviness in her chest.

  “Archer.”

  “Hey, Glenn.” Cindy Ames’s soft voice was instantly recognizable. Cindy was the head night nurse in the ER, and she and Glenn had spent many hours working together over the last three years. “I’m really sorry to wake you up.”

  “No problem. I was awake.”

  Cindy laughed briefly. “If you were, I hope you’re doing something fun. But I’m in a jam and I know you’re not on call for surgery anymore, but—”

  “That doesn’t matter.” Phone to her ear, Glenn slid naked from beneath the sheet and pulled scrub pants from the neat pile she’d left on the straight-backed wooden chair next to her bed. She’d planned to wear them her first day on the job as director of the physician assistant program in the morning. “What’s going on?”

  “Flann’s in the OR with Pete doing a blocked A-V shunt, and I can’t reach Dr. Williams. He’s backup for surgery tonight. I’ve got a lady here whose foot looks really bad. I’d wait for Flann, but—”

  “I’ll come over and take a look. Be there in ten minutes. Did you get X-rays?”

  “Yeah, I did, and something is weird.”

  “Okay, you know what to do until I get there.”

  “You’re a savior,” Cindy said.

  “Yeah,” Glenn said flatly as Cindy rang off.

  A savior.

  Nothing could be further from the truth. For an instant, the tally of the dead rolled through her mind along with the memory of acid smoke and the copper taste of blood and fear in her throat. Too many to count, too many without names. But the faces never faded even though she’d taught herself not to let them haunt her, just as she’d taught herself not to dream. But some things could never be erased, not when they were tattooed into your bone and chiseled onto your soul. The dead were as much a part of her as her beating heart.

  But not tonight. Tonight she tended the living.

  She scooped up her keys, wallet, and phone and let the screen door click shut behind her on her way out. She didn’t bother to lock up—there wasn’t anything inside worth stealing. Her footsteps on the wooden staircase spiraling down the back of the building to the parking lot followed her like so many ghosts. Her ragtop Wrangler was the only v
ehicle in the tiny lot behind the consignment shop and its neighbors on either side, the pizza place and an antique store. Ordinarily she’d walk the mile up the hill to the Rivers where it looked down over the town and the valley like a conscience reminding everyone that life was fleeting and fickle. But Cindy was an experienced nurse, and if something about this patient bothered her enough to call for help rather than wait the hour or two for Flann or the PA to be available, then she might not have the luxury of the fifteen-minute walk. Instead, she was pulling around to the staff lot in less than five.

  The ER would be empty at this time of night, unless somewhere on a nearby highway a thrill-riding teenager had misjudged a curve or a farmer had another case of indigestion that wouldn’t let him breathe or a baby decided to exit the comfort and safety of the womb. But the only vehicles in the lot adjacent to the emergency entrance were those of the staff and an idling sheriff’s patrol car whose occupant was probably inside scoring a cup of almost-fresh coffee. When she pushed through the big double doors into the wide, tiled corridor leading past reception, the bright lights shocked every sense sharply online. Her head cleared of memories and misgivings, and her vision snapped into crystal focus. Somewhere around the corner an elevator door clanked open, a power floor polisher whirred, and someone laughed. In the empty waiting area, a weather map scrolled across the TV screen, tracking tornados in a part of the country she’d never visited and doubted she’d ever see.