Captain Oliver Beaumont thinks that the woman before him is nothing more than a pretty distraction. A moment of warmth in the cold north of province four. He soon learns that Nisha Eldon is not what he expected her to be. Faced with a headstrong woman that has a large wall around herself, Oliver struggles to break through.

Nisha is not interested in fraternizing with the womanizing, smart mouthed man. She's seen his type before and she knows that he is just a one way path to either a one night stand or a broken heart. She doesn't want either of them, she was raised to serve her country, not bed every man in sight.

When everything falls down around him, Oliver does the only thing that seems logical, he tries to make things right again. In doing so, he learns of a hidden threat against Nisha and her family. She might be well guarded but that means nothing when the threat is determined to bring them down.

She didn't want to depend on any man but Nisha may not get a choice. Can Oliver live up to what is expected of him after years of training or will he fail because of his past?

Chapter 1~

Thumping to the ground, I looked around at what everyone called hell. It was a frostbitten nightmare that was yet to be drowned in snow but that was only a matter of time if the temperature was anything to go by.

The base bustled with activity, trucks moving, people scuttled in and around the buildings. Someone gave the back of my shoulder a friendly slap, I turned to the man beside me. We'd talked briefly on the back of the truck. It was all rather general, as it usually was. No one wanted to get close because life in the army was always short. I hoped to break out of that ominous future and be the first vampire to live beyond his first tour in the north.

"Good luck,"

"You too, I have a feeling that we're going to need it."

He chuckled and nodded, walking away. Hitching my bag over my shoulder, I walked through the base.

"General Livingstone?"

The guy stopped and pointed to the building at the far end of the path.

"Through that door there."

"Thanks."

He nodded and kept going. Inhaling sharply, I pushed on. The cold wind curled around me, ensuring that I knew that being underdressed in this environment was unwise. I'd come from the south where it was warm, we didn't need a heavy jacket or thermals. I was freezing cold.

Feeling the frost bite hard at my back, I was relieved to delve into the warmth of the CO's office even if it was temporary.

Dumping my bag at my feet, I raised my arm to salute.

"Sir, Captain Oliver Beaumont,"

His eyebrow raised, taking the papers from me. A heavy frown pressed into his brow as he read the document. Flicking to the next one, the General huffed.

"Why did they send you to hell, Beaumont?"

"I was advised that my skills would be used better at the front, sir."

"At ease, soldier. I'm not your CO."

I frowned as I looked around his office and to the door, wondering if I'd stumbled into the wrong office.

"Aren't you the commanding officer for this posting?"

"I am but you're not a part of my team here."

General Livingstone stood from his desk, walked around it and flicked his head.

"This way, son. You're about to learn what cold really is."

Picking up my bag, I looked at the cold world outside and grimaced.

"Perhaps a detour through supplies first?" Livingstone asked with a smart ass smirk on his face.

"I've never known a cold like this." I murmured.

Livingstone nodded.

"Yeah, I found my first winter rough. It hasn't started to snow yet, we're expecting it in the next couple of days. Once it gets here, you'll wish for this to come back."

I followed the robust figure out the door and along the breezeway in front of his office. A short walk from the heavenly warmth of his office and I was faced with the supply office.

"Two lots of lookout gear," Livingstone said gruffly to the young man that was seated behind the high desk. "You need to add him to your books, Captain Oliver Beaumont, lookout division."

The young man nodded, typing something into the computer before sliding off the chair. He rummaged through the shelves, stuffing things into a basket. Livingstone turned back to me, flicking his head at the door to the side.

"Into the change room, get the gear on before your toes fall off."

The general leaned on the wall, his arms folded over the broad chest while he waited for the supply officer to find warm clothes for me. I was used to the hierarchy that wore their medals openly, looking at this guy, I'd be hard pressed to know he was the CO of this place. It was obvious that he'd rather be warm than show off his credentials.

Taking the basket, I entered the change room and stripped off, quickly dressing into the new clothes. When my old clothes were packed into my bag, I stood up and looked in the mirror. Life in the south had given me a dull outlook on life. The zest was gone but still, I lived to serve. I lived to escape. I lived, end of subject.

As for surviving the war, there was no choice. As vampires we needed humans but they wouldn't even listen to us. We didn't want them dead, we wanted them alive. After all, they are our primary food source. I could understand that they were frightened but we could feed without killing our victim. They over sensationalized the negative side of vampires to feed the hatred.

Instead of trying to find a compromise, they decided that we needed to be exterminated completely. So, it was now a case of fight or die. I chose to fight and thankfully, we were winning the war. The humans will regret not choosing an amicable path.

Feeling much warmer, I stepped out of the change room in a complete change of outfit. What was standard here was leagues away from what I wore in the south. I wasn't foolish enough to think that I could wear the clothes designed for a hot environment here but this was off the scale.

The officer handed another bag to me, a second set of clothes. He offered a grim smile and then turned back to his work. Life here was not easy, not that I expected it to be. I was used to army life but this had a different feel to it.

Following Livingstone out of the supply office, we continued down the breezeway.

"You're in the lookout division, which is not a part of the army's effort in the war but don't let that be an excuse to give a half assed effort here. You're still a part of the army and the lookout division is still a part of this base. You just don't go out if there is a mission. The goal of those in the lookout division is to keep it standing and to monitor the activity beyond the ridge."

Ahead of us was a gate, lookout written above it. This place was concrete and metal, not a tent to be seen.

"What's this place like in summer?"

"Hell. In fact, I reckon hell itself would be colder."

It sounded wonderful, I cannot wait.

"We are at the extremes here, in winter you keep warm and in summer you keep cool. You'll learn how to cope so long as you are wise. Keep your feet dry and clean. Don't let the weather get to you because if you end up in the infirmary because you were stupid and didn't pay attention, we dock your pay."

Livingstone opened the gate and leaned on it, his gaze on me was almost like he was sizing me up.

"Those that go up these stairs are made of stern stuff. You think it's cold here, wait till you get a little higher up. Good luck."

I walked through the gate and turned back to him when it clunked shut.

"You're going to need it."

"Thanks."

I think. He made it sound so ominous.

"Sir?"

Livingstone turned back to me.

"My CO, what's his name?"

The general smiled at me, laughing softly.

"Eldon."

Then he turned and walked away, not saying another thing. I had no idea what was so funny. Trying not to overthink it, I returned to the stairs and walked up to the next level. There was a small landing between the first set of stairs and the next, a balcony showed a broad view of the base. Life still carried on and the people here barely noticed that trouble had walked into their world.

I was trouble because I lacked the ability to take orders without questioning them. Sometimes I did it just to piss people off, other times I did it because I had a valid reason. It didn't matter why. What mattered here was that I'd upset the wrong person and now I was being punished for it. To me, it was just the war in a different climate. They saw this place as a frosty nightmare, I saw it as yet another army base.

Returning to the stairs, I continued up. The next level contained a door that said no admittance and the next turn of the stairs. Access to the lookout division was on the fourth floor. At the landing, there was another balustrade. The view of the base was much smaller but the world beyond the base was picturesque.

"Amazing, isn't it?"

I turned to the woman who spoke, under the layers of protective clothing was a creature that could definitely keep me warm of a day. Beneath the wool beanie was blonde hair that was neatly plaited, laying over one shoulder. Bright brown eyes watched me curiously, a faint smile offered.

"It is."

"You're new here."

"I am. Looking for the CO of the lookout division's office."

Her eyes widened in recognition, the smile grew just a little.

"Is that so? Well, you'd want to keep going up to the main deck, the walls are marked. Take a right and follow the corridor down to the CO's office."

She turned to leave and I had to stop her, I wanted more than just a few words. I didn't even know her name. Besides, I was a little awestruck. Her smile was bewitching, there was something about the woman that I found incapacitating.

"I'm Oliver."

Her gaze lowered to the offered hand, without a flinch of emotion, the woman shook it.

"Nisha."

The gloved hand was returned to her pocket, Nisha turned to the stairs. It was like she didn't care at all. I'd never encountered a woman that was impervious to my charm and good looks.

"So, I guess I'll see you on the lookout?"

Nisha had reached the next level, looking up at me.

"Yeah, you will."

Then she walked away, leaving me a little confused. Shrugging it off, I continued up the stairs. If I couldn't win that particular battle, I'd move on. Of course, I'd give the situation a more of a push, perhaps a little nudge the next time I saw her. Working together and getting down and dirty wasn't wise but I needed warmth when I slept and Nisha looked like she was up for the task.

Following Nisha's directions, I made my way to the CO's office. At the end of the corridor was a man behind a desk, rugged up from the cold. The walls were thin but that didn't really matter when one side of the corridor was just planks of wood. The view down to the base was a little stomach churning.

"Captain Oliver Beaumont," I said, yet again holding the papers out.

The man looked up at me, taking the papers.

"I was told to report to the CO, Eldon. Is that you?"

"No, boss has gone on break. We're not army up here so there is no commanding officer. Well," He huffed, getting up from the desk. "We're not army but we are. We have the ranks but we don't go out with the troops."

I stepped back as the man walked around his desk, walking through the doorway to the next room. It was just as bad as the corridor, open to the elements and bitterly cold.

"I'm James Fenwick, operations manager. If you want something, you need to see me."

Taking a clipboard from the tray, James clipped the papers to it and then grabbed a small bag from the top drawer.

"I'll give you a tour." He said as we walked out of the office.

His hand flicked to the wall that was more complete than the other side but not by much.

"Management, meeting room, dining hall down the end. This is the punch clock. If you're rostered on, you punch in no less than ten minutes before your scheduled start time. When I've set the schedules, you will have a card. If you forget, you don't get paid. We don't accept excuses, you are a responsible adult and we expect you to act like one."

The cards were neatly arranged in the rack. I looked at the open wall and felt the cold wind.

"Ever had them fly away?"

James looked at me and pulled one of the cards out. The panel it was sitting in snapped against the metal backing.

"Spring loaded to hold the cards down."

He pulled the panel back and returned the card. A wry smile crossed his face as we continued on.

"Entertainment comes in a limited form. When we are not working, we can go down to the base or we stay up here. There is the open mess hall that we use as a games room."

As he opened the door, a wave of warm air hit me. I wanted to groan with ecstasy, it was beautiful.

"This is the largest space but what is in here is on a small scale. Arcade games, a library, sitting room with a television. If you don't want to watch whatever is playing, the base has an alternative."

The door was closed and we moved further along to the next door.

"This bar is open to all, the next one down is the o club. Captain or above, lucky you, right?"

"Sure."

James kept going, moving past the bar and the officer's lounge.

"I guess you could call this the barracks. We can assign you a place now, you can leave your things and we can go up to the lookout."

Opening the door, James walked into the long room and waited for me to pass. I was used to communal sleeping but it didn't mean that I liked it. Coffins lined each wall, a tall cabinet at the head of the coffin.

Stopping at one halfway along, James pulled out a padlock and a set of keys from the bag. He handed the padlock to me, removed the key and added it to a lanyard, the other key was put into an envelope that was attached to the clipboard he was carrying.

"Put your stuff in the locker." He murmured, writing something on the paperwork.

Opening the door, I hung my suit and dumped the bags at the base of the cabinet. It was better than I had at the last place. One long panel allowed for the suit to hang without getting crushed, a space for personal effects and drawers for my clothes.

Once the padlock was on the door, James slipped my name card into the slot and handed the lanyard to me.

"You are not to lose this. It will get you beyond the door, it will act as a cash card for you to use in this place. When we're done with the tour, we'll set a pin number for it and then do your id pass."

Stepping back, James moved to the door. A casual flick of his hand went out to the other door.

"Wet room and facilities. This area is heated so you need to keep the door shut."

When James closed the barracks door, he smiled darkly at me.

"Are you ready to go beyond the door, captain?"

And that my lovelies, is the first chapter of Command My Heart. Are you ready to go beyond the door? This chapter and the next one will be available next Monday, the rest continuing weekly after that. So, make sure you check it out!