Aris Rising: The Court of Vampires: AN INFINITY DIARIES NOVEL by Devin Morgan Page A

office building across the street to twinkle in the early twilight.
    “Well, to be honest, he seemed pretty stuffy at first.”
    “C, has it ever entered your mind that you might be just a little bit overwhelming to a normal person?” Sarah teased her friend.
    “Me? Never. Anyway, Bob says he’s okay too. I think he’s just glad to see you doing something besides work. And he wants you to have someone special in your life.” Their conversation halted as a fire engine drove by Colleen’s car, the siren blasting. When it had passed, she continued. “We were hoping for Carlos, but since you seem to be in complete denial about him, the Italian Stallion will have to do.”
    “I’m glad you approve.” Sarah laughed. “I like him a lot.” Her voice was light, happy.
    “My question to you, my perky little friend, is could this possiblybe a man who just might have the key to open the chastity belt you’ve been wearing for way too long?”
    “We’ll just have to see, won’t we? We’ll just have to wait and see.”

CHAPTER 11
    A ll of Sarah’s friends teased her for getting ready for Christmas the weekend before Thanksgiving arrived, but she couldn’t help it. She looked forward to the holiday season all year and when it finally was upon her, she welcomed it joyfully.
    She dragged the four large green plastic storage bins that held her Christmas decorations out of her guest closet. After stacking them neatly in the living room, she methodically removed lid after lid, eyeing her collection of ornaments. She reminisced about her childhood years with her parents and her married years with her ex-husband, Jeff. She thought long and hard about her present, the unreal ordinariness of it all.
    In some insane corner of her mind, all of the past few months made sense. She no longer questioned the reality of Aris. She knew Carlos was gone but, somehow, she was unable to grieve for him any longer; she felt him so strongly in the presence of Aris. She adored her time with him. The stories he told of the past, the vampire lore about his kind that he shared. Finally, she felt comfort being with him. Delight. He touched her infrequently, almost shyly. He kissed her rarely, sweetly and without passion, holding true to his promise to simply be her friend.
    As she sifted through her ornaments, she found a colorful Murano glass sphere. As she held it up to the light she thought of DeMarco. She was glad he decided to return to America for a few months to work. He had become a welcome companion and new friend. Their time together was so stimulating intellectually, not to mention how wonderful it was to look at his handsome face. He, too, had kissed her yet with more hunger, more passion. Surprisingly she found herself returning DeMarco’s kisses with a deep yearning even though she wasn’t ready for a more intimate romantic relationship with him, with anyone, regardless of what Colleen and Bob thought. She was simply enjoying being in the company of two glorious men.
    The sound of knocking on the door brought her attention back to the present. She hurried across the room to answer,
    “Hello. The air is quite brisk this afternoon.” Aris entered the room, brushing melting snowflakes from his dark hair, his leather jacket zipped to his throat and a black, soft muffler wrapped carelessly around his neck. She stepped back to usher him into the living room.
    The large green containers caught his attention. He smiled. “Ah, Christmas. I told you long ago I wanted to share your Christmas and, at last, here we are.” He began to examine the sparkling ornaments in the cases before him, lifting one after another, examining each one as he turned it in the light.
    “So shiny and beautiful.” He bounced each one on the palm of his hand. “Yet no substance. I have noticed that in your time, most humans seem very much like these decorations.” He turned toward her, “Yet you, Sarah. You are not. There is depth and intellectual weight to