Halloween Dragon

by Liv Rider

  Cameron had risen slowly, staring at Everett with a creepy grin, and not done anything else.

  Everett had given the Wilsons a look, nodded at the exit, and let out a huff as he left.

  He’d growled at the Wilsons, and Dorothy had given him a pat on the arm and told him what a good job they’d all been doing.

  Michael, who’d been at the exit last night as well, nodded. “I think you got him good, though. He seemed pretty annoyed when he came out, and that was before we revved our chainsaws.”

  “I bet he hated every single second he was in the maze.” Cameron wished he could go around and ask everyone else who’d acted in the Maze what they’d done, but he was in a hurry.

  “He definitely looked like he did.”

  Cameron looked around at the visitors who were still here, laughing and chatting around the bonfire as they ate and drank. He wondered if Everett had seen how happy everyone else was at the Fest, and how much people enjoyed it. Did he care that it’d all be over soon? Or did he really think they could easily find another location for next year’s Fest?

  “Hey, Michael?” He moved to walk alongside the taller man. “Has Andrew had time to look at other places at all?” Michael and Andrew had been together for years. If anyone knew, it’d be him.

  Michael shook his head. “No, organizing this takes up all his free time, and he’s only known for a week. He knew the Wilsons had been wanting to sell, but it happening so soon was a surprise for him.”

  “He must’ve been upset to hear it.”

  “He was. He really does want it to continue, you know.”

  “I know. It can’t be easy for him either. But I was wondering…you work for the city, right?”

  “Uh, yeah, in Accounting. Why?”

  “Do you have any idea why Everett wanted to buy this farm? He was pretty vague about it when we asked.”

  Michael laughed. “Why would I know?”

  “There’s gotta be a reason. You’ve seen him. He’s not going to be a farmer, and he doesn’t seem the type who wants to retire to some quiet place outside the city,” Cameron insisted. “Maybe it’s got something to do with the land? Or this area?”

  “I agree it’s weird that he was so quick to buy it,” Michael told him, “but maybe he thinks it’s just a good investment or wants to develop real estate here for people who do want to retire to some quiet place outside of the city. Why do you want to know?”

  “Curiosity.” He hated not knowing, and he hated Everett for being so mysterious. “And maybe a little bit because I want to try and stop him.”

  “The farm’s gonna be sold no matter what we do,” Michael reminded him. “You won’t convince the Wilsons otherwise.”

  Michael sounded like he was talking from experience. Cameron should’ve known he and Andrew tried that angle already. “Still, this place going to some guy like Everett? He doesn’t deserve it.”

  “Oh, on that we can agree. I’ll see if I can find anything, but don’t expect too much.”

  Cameron texted Parker while he was trying to remove as much makeup from his face as possible. Fake blood was fun and all, but very difficult to remove, and the less said about all the gunk still in his hair, the better. He was pleasantly surprised Parker was still awake, then even more pleasantly surprised Parker seemed as interested in driving over to Cameron’s place in the middle of the night as he’d been earlier.

  Stacy nudged him when he was reading Parker’s text that yes, he’d love to come over. “You sure you shouldn’t have kept the zombie makeup on for him?”

  Cameron snorted. “He hasn’t got a zombie fetish.”

  “I’m just saying, some people have a fetish for clowns. It wouldn’t be that weird.”

  “Is that why you’re in the clown room tomorrow?”

  She just laughed. “You’ve caught me. But seriously, good luck. He seems nice and has good taste in movies.”

  “You’re just saying that because he said Psycho was his favorite.” He still couldn’t believe Parker was following his recommendations already.

  “It’s a classic for a reason. Trust me, this whole relocating thing is just the excuse I need to convince Andrew we need to put a shower in our next Maze of Terror. People’ll love it!”

  “Yeah, they would.” His stomach twisted at the thought of all that enthusiasm possibly going to waste. They had to figure something out for next year.

  He left Stacy and the others to continue cleaning up, and texted Parker his address, telling him to be there in an hour. Excitement and desire at the prospect of seeing Parker again bubbled up inside of him. Cameron wished the drive from the farmhouse to his place was shorter, and that he didn’t need to have a quick shower back home to remove the last remains of his makeup. Despite what Stacy said, Cameron was pretty sure Parker did not, in fact, have a fetish for fake blood.

  Cameron realized that inviting Parker over was a terrible mistake about ten seconds after opening the door to his apartment. He hadn’t had time to clean properly in a couple of days, and there was still a pile of clean laundry in one of the chairs in his living room. He grabbed it and headed over to his bedroom. As he walked around his coffee table, he tried to see his apartment through Parker’s eyes. The fake cobwebs in the windows. The plastic jack-o-lanterns on the windowsill. The orange-and-black HAPPY HALLOWEEN banner above his television. And even if he ignored his own measly Halloween decorations, he still had framed horror movie posters on the wall and two bookcases that were filled with more DVDs than books, with Funko Pops and action figures of horror movie monsters and characters decorating the shelves.

  What would someone as organized and put-together as Parker think?

  Well, if his choice of interior decorating sent Parker home, Cameron had dodged a bullet. But he could put his clean laundry away at least, and put those empty coffee mugs in the sink, and see what he had in his fridge to offer to Parker.

  Laundry and taking a shower first, though.

  As he put his laundry away, he also considered his clothing options. Should he put on something nice? Would that look weird after Parker having seen him in the zombie rags? Should he even dress up nice when they were just staying in, and those clothes hopefully wouldn’t even stay on long?

  In the end, he grabbed a black t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. Those were haute couture compared to what he wore as a zombie.

  He gave his bedroom one last look, and checked the drawer of his nightstand. He didn’t want to be too presumptuous, but after that heated kiss, checking if he still had lube and condoms just seemed like common sense.

  When Parker turned up still wearing the same suit he’d worn earlier that evening, although the tie was gone now, Cameron wasn’t even surprised. Parker looking like that should have him feeling under-dressed, but instead his chest filled with a warm fondness. Of course Parker still wore suits in the middle of the night.

  “Hey.” He turned to smile at Parker after locking the door behind him.

  “Hey.” Parker moved in for a kiss immediately, and Cameron let himself be pushed against the door, wrapping his arms around Parker’s shoulders.

  He’d been thinking about kissing Parker again all night, and oh God, was the wait worth it.

  Parker’s hands were on his waist and Cameron could feel the heat of them on his skin like his t-shirt wasn’t even there at all.

  Cameron deepened the kiss, moaning when Parker’s hands moved lower and found the bare skin where his t-shirt had rucked up. Parker’s touch lit a fire inside of him, making him shiver as Parker ran his fingers lightly across his sides.

  Parker pulled back, still stroking his skin. “Good evening, by the way.”

  He laughed. “I hope you had a good one?”

  “I think so, yes. It was very productive. How was yours?”

  Cameron shrugged. “Scared a bunch of people, including Everett. You know, just another Saturday evening. Anyway, do you want to stay here or do you want to see the rest of my apartment?”

&nb
sp; “Hmm, this hallway is pretty nice.” But Parker stepped back, gesturing for Cameron to lead the way.

  “If you like this hallway, you’re gonna love the rest of the place.” He felt a little nervous as he opened the door to his living room, watching Parker as he entered.

  Parker looked around, then smiled as he walked over to the framed Evil Dead 2 poster hanging next to the bookcases. “This one’s on the list you gave me.”

  “Yeah, it’s a classic.”

  “Is it a lot like Psycho?”

  Cameron couldn’t help but laugh. “Not really.” He closed the door to his hallway and walked over to his kitchen counter to open his fridge. “Unless you count that the building the movie takes place in is as important to the story as anything else?” Maybe he could think of more similarities once he really considered it, but they were two very different types of horror movies and he didn’t want Parker to get the wrong idea. “When I made that list, I was thinking of showing you different kinds of horror movies. I mean, I also recommended The Exorcist to you, and that’s different from Psycho and Evil Dead 2 as well. I didn’t know what kind you liked, so I figured you’d like at least one of them and then we could go from there. I mean, if you want to.” He was glad Parker liked Psycho, but he hoped that wasn’t the only one of the three.

  He would still like Parker even if the other man didn’t appreciate Evil Dead 2. Probably.

  Parker glanced at the bookcases filled with DVDs. “I guess there are plenty of options.”

  “Speaking of options, would you like a beer or a beer?” Cameron offered him two bottles of the same brand he’d already opened.

  Parker took one, then went back to looking at the DVDs. “I’ll stick to your list for now.” He tilted his head to read the titles, frowning as he did.

  Cameron wondered what he was making of them so far. “The E is the third row. In case you’re looking for The Exorcist or Evil Dead 2.” He sat down while Parker was still inspecting his DVD collection and picking some of them out to read the back.

  “Do you want to watch either of them?” Parker put the DVDs back in their place.

  “Sure. In case it matters, Evil Dead 2 is shorter.” Although after that kiss, Cameron wondered if they’d manage to finish the entire movie anyway. Oh well, he’d just have to invite Parker over again.

  “And it has a room in the Maze of Terror, right? Maybe it’ll make more sense to me if I watch the movie.”

  He smiled as Parker grabbed the DVD. For someone who said he didn’t care about horror movies or haunted houses, Parker sure was making an effort to understand them. He wished he knew more about what Parker was into so he could return the favor.

  Cameron took the DVD from him to start the movie, gesturing for him to make himself comfortable on the couch. It suddenly hit him how easy this felt, like they’d done this plenty of times before.

  Normally, if he invited a guy over for the first time, he felt a lot more on edge and all too aware of his every move.

  But with Parker, everything felt comfortable. It felt right. He still didn’t understand where that sense of familiarity and trust came from, but he’d take it over bringing a guy home who’d then shake his head at his posters and ask Cameron when he was planning to grow up.

  He should’ve known Parker wouldn’t care about the horror memorabilia around his apartment. So far, all of Cameron’s initial, worst assumptions about the kind of guy Parker was had been proven wrong. It turned out they had plenty of things in common, or at least, they were working on having things in common. Considering that Parker was happy to have a date in the middle of the night, being a night-owl was a trait they already shared.

  If he’d met Parker while out in a bar, he’d never have tried to hit on him. He’d have dismissed Parker as a hot guy who wasn’t his type, and he’d have assumed he wasn’t Parker’s type.

  He was glad Parker had decided to talk him yesterday evening and insist on lunch. The thought of that not happening made his chest ache.

  As the movie started, he settled down next to Parker, humming contently when he put one arm around him. When Cameron moved a little to get more comfortable, he was once again hit by a deep sense of ‘this is how it should be’ and smiled, hoping Parker was feeling the same way.

  “Oh, by the way, before I forget, did you learn anything more about Everett?”

  Cameron sat up at the sudden question. “I learned he hates haunted houses.” He quickly told Parker more about Everett’s reactions in the Maze, making him laugh.

  “That’s good to know. But nothing about why he’s buying the place?”

  “Nope.” He settled back against Parker, wrapping one arm around his waist. “I don’t think anyone involved with the Fest knows.” If Andrew knew, he’d have told Michael, and Michael would’ve mentioned it when Cameron had asked about it. “I think most people are more worried about next year anyway. I mean, even if Everett doesn’t buy the farm, someone else will. And who knows, that person could be even worse.” At least Everett had said he wouldn’t demand they clear out as soon as possible. Not that they had that in writing, but it was something.

  “They won’t be.” Parker’s hand was idly stroking up and down Cameron’s arm. “Hey, are you sure I’ll be able to follow along with the movie? Since it’s a sequel?”

  Cameron couldn’t blame him for changing the subject. “Oh, don’t worry about it. The first movie is pretty low-budget and it shows. They had a bigger budget and more experience for the second one, and the story is basically the same anyway. There’s some debate whether it’s a remake of the first one or a sequel, and you can watch the first one if you want to be a completionist, but you don’t need to.”

  “If you say so.” Parker still sounded skeptical.

  Cameron just smiled as he watched the familiar movie scenes. If there was anything to make this situation better, he couldn’t think of it.

  8

  Parker

  He hadn’t been sure what to expect when Cameron invited him over. He had his hopes, of course, but if Cameron asked him to leave because he was too tired after spending all evening in the Maze, he’d be fine with that. He’d let Cameron set the pace.

  He certainly hadn’t expected Cameron opening the door and somehow looking gorgeous in a comfy-looking pair of sweatpants and a tight black t-shirt. His dark hair was still damp and sticking out in all directions, and Parker could only think of other ways to give his mate that delicious, rumpled look.

  He could no more resist the need to kiss his mate than resist the need to breathe, and Cameron had felt so good against him.

  Cameron’s apartment was very much Cameron’s apartment. He’d made his apartment his own in a way Parker had never managed. His own apartment was no different from dozens, if not hundreds of others in the city’s. Cameron’s apartment, meanwhile, felt like it was lived in and Parker felt at home immediately.

  It was easy to imagine more cozy evenings like this, just the two of them watching a movie together, or maybe a lazy morning where Cameron decided to sleep in while Parker had already gotten up to make breakfast.

  The sudden yearning for that kind of simple domesticity took him by surprise. He wanted to make breakfast for Cameron, and lunch, and dinner. He wanted to argue over whose turn it was to do the dishes or the groceries. He wanted to wake up with Cameron in his arms and go to sleep with him, and cuddle up with him on the couch.

  In the two brief relationships he’d had before becoming Keeper of the Peace, Parker hadn’t done well at living together with either of his exes. He hadn’t liked suddenly having to share his space, he hadn’t liked always having to think about someone else before making appointments, and he hadn’t liked how someone else’s plans suddenly became his plans.

  He figured it was part of being a dragon shifter. He was territorial and liked his own routine. Becoming Keeper of the Peace had, in a way, been a relief. No one expected him to have a relationship or even date. He’d been able to focus on his duty and
on doing what he wanted, when he wanted.

  All that would change now that he’d met his fated mate and things were going so well between them. Parker looked forward to it. He was certain he wouldn’t have to worry about Cameron freaking out if he told him about being a dragon shifter. Cameron clearly trusted him. Once he’d explained, he could introduce Cameron to his council and save the Wilson farm from Everett. Mitchell and Thomas were sure to see reason and agree with him.

  He pressed a kiss against Cameron’s damp hair, smiling as Cameron let out a happy sigh. After how much he’d enjoyed Psycho, going with another movie on Cameron’s list was a no-brainer, but it was definitely harder to pay attention to the screen when his mate was pressed against him. He remembered how Cameron’s eyes shone with enthusiasm when he’d written that list, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out it was one of Cameron’s favorite movies, if not his favorite. Parker was determined to like it just as much.

  The couple in the movie arrived at a cabin and began to settle in. Parker had read the back of the DVD, and knew the peace and quiet wouldn’t last long.

  “See, there’s the tape recorder!”

  It took Parker a moment to realize what Cameron meant. He remembered the first room in the Maze of Terror where they’d all been caught unawares by the zombie hiding under the desk. “Ah, and there’s the infamous rocking chair.”

  “Exactly!”

  Cameron’s joy was infectious. Parker spotted other details from the movie that had made it into the Maze of Terror, like the desk lamp and the deer’s head on the wall. “Where do you even find all the things you need for the Maze?”

  “Oh, all over the place. We know every secondhand store in Lewiston, but when we create a new room, we also already consider the practicalities. For instance, we’d never have come up with that dentist’s office unless we already knew we could get the dentist’s chair. Otherwise, what’s the point?”

  “It wasn’t just the chair that made that room.” The blood splatters, the tools, the uniform…it had all added to the creepiness. “It even smelled like a dentist’s office.” There’d been a lot of different smells in the Maze of Terror from all the humans who had gone through it, but the sharp scent in that room had immediately taken him back to his last appointment.