All Souls’ Night: A Midnight Doms Boxset

by Renee Rose

  “Oh, yeah, sure. I’m going to run right out and tell the press vampires are real. What, do I look stupid? I know you think I’m some sort of rube, but come on.”

  Anger floods through me and I stand, sidestepping him so I can retrieve my backpack and get out of here.

  Except he grabs my hand. “Please don’t leave.”

  How can a guy—a fricking vampire—sound so desperate?

  I need time to process this. “You said I could leave.”

  “I can’t lose you.”

  The truth is, the thought of walking away from this hottie fills me with an even deeper dread. “I need to think.”

  “If I take you home, will you please talk to me tomorrow?”

  “I have to be at work at three Monday morning.”

  “I’ll come over tomorrow evening, spend it with you, and then take you to work. Please? All I ask is that you give me a chance. Let me show you who I am and that I mean what I say about this, about us.”

  My body’s calling me an idiot.

  My brain’s saying take the win and run.

  “You’re saying you want to spend the night on an air mattress in my crummy apartment?”

  He smirks, and it nearly undoes me. “I’ve slept in far worse places over the years. Anywhere with you is preferable than alone in my bed.”

  “Fine.”

  He whips out his cell phone. “Let me have your number. Please?”

  The fastest way to get home is to agree, so I give it to him and he immediately texts me. “Thank you.”

  I turn and walk over to my backpack, shouldering it. “May we please go?”

  Another sad sigh from him, but he nods and follows me. He also insists on walking me up to my apartment, but once I’m there, I slip inside without inviting him in and turn, my hand on the door and my gaze on his feet.

  “Good night, Ty. Thank you for driving me home.”

  He doesn’t want to leave. “May I come in?”

  It’s on the tip of my tongue to say yes, but I resist. “I’ll see you tomorrow evening.”

  From the defeat in his tone, he knows he mishandled this and, again, I struggle not to give in. “I love you.”

  I nod. “Okay.”

  “Can I cook you dinner tomorrow?”

  I’m close to tears and suspect if I let him see me crying, he’ll order me to let him in, or order me to come out. “Sure. Good night, Ty.”

  Then I ease the door shut and lock it, falling against it and letting my tears flow.

  He’s still outside, though. I don’t even have to look. I feel him there.

  And he stays there.

  He stays there all night, even after I lie down on my pitiful mattress and shut off all the lights. I can see the shadow of him standing there through the tiny gap at the bottom of the door.

  I sleep fitfully, and it’s only a little before dawn, when I sense him leave, that I can finally drift off to sleep, full of regrets and misgivings about letting him walk away.

  The next morning, I awaken around eight and feel like my world has shifted on its axis.

  Because of course it has.

  Ty sent me a text after I fell asleep.

  I love you and I’m looking forward to seeing you tonight. This will be okay, I promise. We can work this out. I’m willing to take as long as you need and do whatever you need me to do to make this right.

  I don’t see how he can promise me anything.

  It’s tempting to delete the message and block his number, but I realize as long as I’m safely inside my apartment when he arrives tonight, I don’t have to let him in.

  I could call in sick to work, I guess. I have some personal time accumulated I haven’t even used yet.

  I could move. I could find a cheap hotel nearby and leave during the day.

  Can he track me?

  But my heart—heck, my soul aches at the thought.

  Did I even tell him what bakery I work at? I can’t remember.

  I mean, it can’t hurt to talk to him. Right?

  Not knowing what else to do, I change into work clothes and head to the bakery, where the Sunday morning crowd is nearly out the door.

  Demi, one of the assistant managers, laughs. “You are a glutton for punishment, aren’t you? But I won’t refuse the help.” She indicates the crowd.

  “It’s okay. I wasn’t doing anything.”

  And lying around all day will literally drive me crazy.

  I’ve been there an hour when we catch a brief pause in the rush. “Oh, some guy came by looking for you yesterday.”

  I frown. “What?”

  “Yeah. Asked for you by name.”

  “Did he say who he was, or what he wanted?”

  “No. Something about you’d helped him with a special order. He said he’d be back tomorrow.”

  “Oh.” That could be any one of dozens of people, but it is unusual they’d want me specifically, and not talk to anyone else.

  Before I can think too hard about that, another rush arrives and takes up all my concentration, thankfully.

  Because it also means I don’t have time to think about Ty and how much I’m already aching inside and missing him.

  I’m exhausted when I head home a little after six that night. Demi told me I can come in late in the morning, if I want to, since I helped them today.

  Part of me wants to do just that, because it means more time I can spend with Ty.

  I pull up short as I realize what I just thought.

  He could have forced me to stay at his house. Hell, he could’ve killed me.

  He could have made me rescind my disinvitation. Uninvitation?

  Whatever.

  The genuine pain in his voice still rips at me, even as I recall it.

  He truly didn’t want me to leave.

  Shouldn’t I at least give him a chance?

  Long shadows follow me as the sun sinks toward the mountains to the west and casts the valley in deep shades of blues and purples and dark greens. I pull my phone from my pocket. As I walk, I stare at the text Ty sent me earlier.

  Those aren’t the words of a soulless monster.

  I think about our scene, what I can remember of it through the blur of passion.

  I think about how he made love to me later.

  He didn’t overwhelm me. He asked for my consent.

  Except, I started my life lied to and controlled. I dang sure don’t want that from my boyfriend.

  I don’t have any answer except I need to talk to him again.

  Isn’t that also an answer? That I can’t bring myself to walk away from him?

  Because I love him.

  I stop in my tracks at the quiet revelation.

  I do love him.

  And I do want to be with him.

  Peace fills me. Life is short, and I’m willing to give this a chance.

  As I approach my building, I tuck my phone away to get my key and let myself in. It should be safe for Ty to leave his house in less than an hour.

  I really should respond to his text before then, one way or another.

  I’m about to walk through the door when someone grabs my arm. “Well, if it isn’t little John Cameron. Time for us to have a talk, boy.”

  Startled, I look up into the face that usually stars in my nightmares.

  Chapter 16

  As I lie in bed and await sleep, I realize this helps me better understand why Lucius turned Selene despite her being a shifter and knowing the potentially deadly creature he would create if he succeeded. If faced with losing Baker to death, I know I would be desperate enough to try anything possible to save him.

  Losing my boy is not an option.

  I wish I could have convinced Baker to stay here with me and talk, but maybe this is better. To show him I mean it when I say that I’ll give him time and space.

  Whether Baker likes it or not, I’m about to purchase myself a bakery. I have no interest in the daily operation, or have any need for the income, but I want to make sure
my boy is taken care of and never at risk of losing his job.

  Until I can finally convince him to spend the rest of his life with me and he’s ready to let me support him.

  What good is all the power and wealth my immortality provides me with if I cannot finally put it to worthy use?

  I sleep deeply and awaken too early to leave my home. I still have at least thirty minutes before safe dark, so I text Baker that I’m awake. He still hasn’t replied to my earlier text, but that’s all right.

  Plus, I want to confirm our plans for tonight. Meaning I prowl my home and take care of meaningless chores while I await a response from my boy.

  Hopefully, by the time I take him to work later, I can convince him to quit and be with me.

  No, I don’t want to thrall him to make him quit. I want it to be his decision.

  Doesn’t mean I’ll like it, or agree with him, if he delays making that decision, or if he tries to keep working. He’s mine. That means I take care of him.

  Then a thought hits me—Dexter’s hotel. Maybe Baker could go to work there in the restaurant, or in the resort’s kitchen. I’d feel better about that. The restaurant is also run by a vampire friend of Dexter’s.

  Baker would be safe there.

  This is something else I used to inwardly sneer about—my brothers’ worries about their loved ones’ safety, to an obsessive level.

  Yeah, I get it.

  If Lucius were here, I’m certain he’d be laughing at me and offering some annoyingly accurate maxim about how I’m feeling.

  And I’d deserve it.

  By the time I’m dressed and ready to leave, Baker still hasn’t responded to my texts, and a veil of worry clouds my mind.

  Instead of stopping by the store first, like I’d originally planned, I head straight to his building. When I pull up, a woman’s just walking out. I blur over to her and order her to let me in, then to forget about the encounter and continue on her way.

  I just won’t tell Baker I did that.

  Instead of waiting for the elevator, I find the stairs and blur my way up them to his floor, pausing at the stairwell door to make sure the hall’s clear before I blur to his apartment.

  I’m about to knock when I smell something different.

  Something wrong.

  My boy’s blood.

  Before I can stop myself, my fist clenches and I pound on the door. It’d be too easy to rip it from the frame, but I don’t want to draw even more attention to this situation. “Baker. Open this door. Now.”

  I hear him cry out, but it’s suddenly muffled, like someone covered his mouth. I’m about to go ahead and rip the door out of its frame when it opens and a large man stands there. “John Cameron isn’t available right now. You can leave.” I can’t see past him but I scent at least three men in the apartment besides my boy, including this one.

  I put the full force of my thrall into it. “Let. Me. In. Right now.”

  The man’s eyes go wide. “Come in.”

  But I still can’t step through the doorway.

  Fucking duh. Baker has to be the one to invite me, because it’s his apartment.

  I just failed Vampiring 101.

  “Move,” I order.

  He steps aside and I see two other men with their hands on my boy, who looks like he’s been beaten up. One of the guys is holding a hand over Baker’s mouth. Our gazes lock, and the pain and terror in my boy’s green eyes nearly drives me insane.

  Then he bites the hand covering his mouth. As that guy yelps in pain and punches him, Baker screams, “Ty! Come in!”

  I blur through the doorway, snagging the throat of the large man who opened the door and launching him across the room, where he crumples against the far wall and collapses. The other two men’s eyes widen and they both release Baker and start backing away from me.

  I grab them by the throats and slam them together, knocking them out and letting them crumple to the floor.

  Before Baker can even hit the floor, I’ve scooped him up in my arms. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost him. I went from being alone a few days ago, to now this little human being the most important thing in my entire life.

  The most important thing ever in my very long existence.

  “Baby, are you all right?” I set him on the counter so I can examine him, fussing over him while he futilely tries to bat my hands away.

  “I’m fine, Ty,” he grumbles.

  “No, you’re not. You’re bleeding.” And while normally the scent of his blood would completely inflame me in sexy ways, right now, it makes me sick at heart.

  Especially since I can also tell he’s in pain. And his beautiful face is bruised.

  I wrap my fingers around his wrists and gently hold him still as I look into his eyes. “Stop,” I order. “I need to check you for injuries.” I don’t use my thrall, either.

  He blushes but finally complies and lets me examine him. He’s not used to me fussing over him but he will soon grow used to it.

  He won’t have a choice, because I plan on spoiling my little human as much as possible.

  No one has ever drawn this kind of reaction from me in the past, and I have lived an extremely long life and literally cannot count how many partners I’ve had.

  This leads me to another revelation—I’ve also lived a very lonely life. I despise having to admit that. Yet before Baker’s arrival, I was truly isolated and didn’t realize how much so.

  No amount of disingenuous mental contortions will change that fact, either, or erase these revelations from my soul.

  I need this man in my life in a way I’ve never needed anything before.

  Ever.

  I cup his face in my hands and kiss him. It’s the kind of kiss where I wish to breathe my very soul into his body so he can see and feel the depths of my love for him. I need this sweet, precious, fragile creature to understand how much he means to me.

  Not only am I vulnerable now because of him and my love for him, I know it would rend my sanity from my body if I were to lose him.

  I have never truly loved in my very long life, that much is obvious. Nothing has ever felt like this before.

  That I came so perilously close to losing him before I could tell him what he means to me terrifies me.

  “I love you, baby,” I tell him. “I know this all happened so fast, but I know what I feel for you. I won’t force or compel you to be with me. I want it to be your own free choice, and—”

  “Yes,” he says as he stares into my eyes.

  His certainty takes me aback. “Did you hear what I said? I need this to be—”

  “My own choice, yeah. I’m beat up, not deaf, Ty.” He smirks. “I love you, too.”

  The tsunami-like rush of relief flooding into me makes tears prick my eyes. “I need you, baby. I need to know you’re by my side, and safe. I’ll even build you your own bakery, if you want. Whatever you ask, it’s done.”

  He rakes his fingers through my hair. “You don’t have to do that, big guy.”

  “But I want to.”

  He arches an eyebrow at me. “I don’t know how to be a kept man.”

  I pull his body tightly against mine. “You’ll learn,” I growl. “Because I’m taking care of you from now on. Because you’re mine.”

  “You sound determined.”

  “That’s because I am.”

  He rests his head against my chest. “Can we go home, please?” he quietly asks. “Your home, I mean.”

  “Our home,” I tell him. “You’re now living with me.”

  He nods without lifting his head. “Yes, Sir.”

  I bury my face in his hair and deeply inhale so his scent fills my lungs again. “Good boy.” One of the men groans. “Hold that thought, baby.” I set him on the counter again and have just turned to finish them off when Baker grabs my arm, freezing me.

  “No, Ty.”

  “No?” I look at him in disbelief. “Uh…” I indicate his wounds.

  “It’s my father and uncles
.”

  “How’d they find you?”

  He sounds disgusted with himself. “They saw my postings on one of the bakery sites I frequent. I was stupid and went by Cameron on there. They had someone track me by my IP number on the posts. I mentioned in one of my posts where I work, so they followed me home.”

  That fuels my anger even more. “So I can throw them out the window, right?”

  He shakes his head. “Do you really love me?”

  “Of course I do, baby.”

  “Then use that power you have to make them forget about finding me, and to make them never look for me again. And to stop telling lies to our family, stop forcing people to marry—all that bullshit. Everything. Their cult ends here and now. Use your powers to end it.”

  I study him. “Seriously?”

  He nods. “That’s what I want.”

  “You’re kidding, right?”

  “Tyyy—”

  “Okay! Fine.” I drag the men into the center of the room and shake them awake.

  This is definitely the weirdest use of my powers ever. It would be much more satisfying to drain them and leave them in an alley somewhere.

  I grab them all in my thrall and, with my boy narrating, I do exactly as Baker says.

  Once the freshly reformed polygamists have stumbled out the door twenty minutes later, I turn to Baker. “Happy?”

  He smirks. “I’m not unhappy, big guy.”

  I scoop him into my arms. “You didn’t text me back earlier.”

  “I went into work. I was thinking.”

  “About what?”

  He pokes me in the chest. “You. And giving you a chance.”

  “Did I pass?”

  He kisses me. “Is that a good enough answer?”

  I smile. “It is for me.”

  Chapter 17

  My first Halloween.

  At Club Toxic.

  Wow.

  I stand at Ty’s side and watch the festivities with his arm securely draped around my shoulders. Taylor’s here, with a different date, and already pissing off one of the other vampires. It’s a masquerade party, and Ty’s introduced me to most of the vampires who are here tonight.

  Yes, I’ve processed the whole ‘vampires are real’ news pretty well this past week.