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  Midsummer Song

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  Midsummer Song

  MEGAN DERR

  All Daniel's ever wanted is to sing. Being a siren has always made that a dangerous undertaking, but he's never needed magic to make people like his songs. His bandmates, however, are more than willing to use his siren talents to get what they want—even if they do it against Daniel's will.

  Betrayed and distraught, Daniel flees in the dead of night, bound for anywhere that will keep him out of sight until his contract with the band expires. Exhausted after hours of driving, he decides to stop for the night, and winds up stopping in a strange town known as Midsummer's Night.

  He's soon pointed to a bed & breakfast run by the world's most adorable brownie—who also happens to be a huge fan, reminding Daniel viscerally that whatever Daniel wants comes second to what he is and all the people trying to hunt him down.

  Midsummer Song

  Midsummer's Night 5

  By Megan Derr

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission of the publisher, except for the purpose of reviews.

  Edited by Samantha M. Derr

  Cover designed by Megan Derr

  This book is a work of fiction and all names, characters, places, and incidents are fictional or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people, places, or events is coincidental.

  First Edition February 2019

  Copyright © 2019 by Megan Derr

  Printed in the United States of America

  Midsummer Song

  Daniel pulled up into the gas station and cracked a yawn so hard his eyes watered. Bed. All he wanted was a bed. Groaning, he turned the car off and climbed out. He snorted in amusement when he saw the sign that said the gas pump didn't take plastic and dragged himself into the little shop. An old man sat at the counter reading a newspaper, and Daniel wanted to laugh that the big headline was LOCAL BAKER WINS COUNTY PIE CONTEST.

  "Hey, pops. How's it going?" He laid a twenty on the counter. "This little town got a place a guy can crash for the night?"

  The old man gave him a critical once over, clearly not approving of anything he saw. Daniel couldn't blame him. He remembered what it was like when flashy city kids rolled into a small town and acted like they should all be grateful that someone civilized had arrived. Though he was nowhere near the glam he would have sported for the stage, he still screamed outsider and city folk.

  But in the end the old man only grunted. "Down Main Street, little ways past the police station. Big green house, sign says Midsummer B&B. Joel should have a room for you. See you don't cause no trouble."

  "Never been a fan of trouble, pops. Thanks." Going back outside, he filled his car with twenty bucks of gas and then drove off.

  Jeez, it was like being home and yet not. Whatever town he was in, it was way prettier than the tired and battered town he'd grown up in. The whole place looked like someone had enough magic to bring postcards to life.

  It didn't take him long to find Main Street, and then the promised B&B. By that point, it had become pretty obvious the town was called Midsummer's Night, though he bet everyone just called it Midsummer.

  He parked in the lot of the B&B, grabbed his duffle bag out of the back seat, and yawned as he walked up the path and into the quaint little house. A bell dinged softly as he opened the door, and the smell of warm chocolate made his stomach growl. He should have grabbed a snack at the gas station. Ah, well. There might still be some crackers in the car. He didn't think he'd eaten them all. Had he?

  All thoughts of food fled his mind as the cutest damn thing to exist ever appeared from the back. If the guy was over five feet, he'd be impressed. He was what Daniel's band mate Bick would describe as 'pudgy' and Daniel described as 'yes, please.' He had messy brown hair and sleepy brown eyes behind a pair of chunky glasses and a smudge on his nose that Daniel wanted to kiss.

  The looks alone were enough to peg it, but the whiff of magic that came with him, coupled with the tidiness of the place and the overall happy vibe, screamed brownie. Man, when was the last time he'd encountered a brownie? Daniel wanted to eat him up, and was sorely tempted to make a play.

  Before he could speak, the brownie's gaze landed on him and he froze, jaw dropping in shock. His eyes widened with shock. "You're—"

  Aww, damn. A fan. Daniel did not approve of sleeping with fans; it felt like he was taking advantage of something. Ah, well. Probably for the best. "Daniel," he said. "Daniel Whitmore. I was hoping to rent a room for the night?" Maybe a little longer than that, hell. Midsummer sounded more appealing than anything else he'd half-heartedly planned.

  "Oh, sure. Yeah." He bustled around the counter for a moment, shooting Daniel shy, curious, barely-contained-eagerness looks, and finally came up with a ledger that looked like it had been made back in the 1800s or something. "Name, plate number, dates you're staying. Umm … any preference on your room?"

  "As long as it's got a bed, I'm pretty happy," Daniel said, taking the pen the guy handed him and quickly filling in all the info. "So what's your name?"

  The man flushed. "Joel Brass."

  "This place yours?"

  Joel shrugged, then said shyly. "I run it for old lady Minnow. She's too hard-up with arthritis and being ancient to do it anymore. Plus it gives her more time with her grandkids."

  "That's too bad. The arthritis, I mean. My grandmamma suffered the same."

  "Here's your key," Joel said, and handed over a key that at least looked like it belonged to the current century. Daniel was actually disappointed. He'd half hoped for some spooky key that looked like it might open a wardrobe of dubious provenance or something. "Umm. If you're hungry or anything, I was just finishing up making dinner."

  Daniel grinned. "I would love food."

  Joel smiled back, looking a little stunned but pleased. "Did you want to put your things away? I'll be in the kitchen whenever you're ready. It's right through that door and then the door at the end of the hall."

  "You got it," Daniel replied. "Thanks." He hefted his duffle and headed up the stairs in the hallway, glancing at the tag on his key to see he had room number … 'blue' apparently. The Blue Room turned out to be at the very end of the hall, with a window that overlooked Main Street and a bed that was the sexiest thing he'd seen in forever, save for the brownie downstairs.

  Daniel dumped his bag on the bed, then used the bathroom—amused by the frog theme—and changed into a clean t-shirt. Stuffing the room key in his pocket, not bothering to lock the door, he went back downstairs and quickly found the kitchen.

  His stomach growled loudly as he smelled chicken and roasted potatoes and steamed veggies and scoped out a positively evil looking chocolate cake on the counter. Joel saw him, cheeks going pink as he smiled shyly. "Just in time." He carried two plates to a large, old table that looked like it was made about the same time as the ledger. The kitchen itself was a weird combination of Ye Olde Days and Modern Living, a vibe that seemed to carry through the whole house. "Cute place. Reminds me of home, except not rundown and the back porch wasn't set on fire by some drunk."

  Joel laughed, which made Daniel inwardly preen. He dug into the food, moaning at how good it tasted—but he'd yet to meet a brownie who couldn't put any five star chef to shame. "This is delicious. Thanks for sharing. Do you always eat so late?"

  "It's not that late in Midsummer, really," Joel said. "We keep funny hours here, to accommodate all the night-leaning paranormals."

  That gave Daniel pause. "Are there a lot?"

  "The whole town is known for it. We've got a werewolf pack, a top vampire, and pretty much anythin
g else you can name. Um. No sirens though, not that I've ever heard of, anyway." He smiled shyly, even a bit teasingly, before looking down again.

  Daniel grinned. "Sirens are nothing but trouble. Probably better off without any of those."

  Joel laughed and looked up again. "Why are you here in Midsummer? I thought—well, everything said you were doing a new album."

  Sour memories rose up to try and ruin Daniels mood: shattering glass, the smell of wine as it stained the carpet, a fist coming at him, the bite of that fucking ring Bick always wore. Shouting, cursing. He reached up to touch his cheek, where the cut left by Bick's ring was still healing and would probably scar. "Needed a break. Thought going for a long, aimless drive would do me some good. Figured if I went far enough away no one would recognize me."

  "Oh—sorry—"

  "Don't be," Daniel said. "I didn't mean it as a bad thing that you did. It does not hurt my ego, trust me."

  Joel offered another shy smile. "I've been a fan for years, from the first show you did at Bottleneck."

  Daniel snorted, a little amused and a lot impressed. "You have been around awhile." He tilted his head and smirked, then said, "But you don't look nearly old enough, brownie, to have been in Bottleneck back then."

  "I'm older than I look," Joel said, making a face. "Only a couple years younger than you."

  "Liar," Daniel retorted, 'cause he was twenty-eight and there was no way Joel was twenty-six. He was entirely too adorable to be anything but like eighteen forever or something.

  "I'm not lying!" Joel said, scowling at him, and god he needed to stop before Daniel seduced a local and got his ass pitchforked or something. He just bet they were that kind of small town. "I really am twenty-six."

  Daniel winked. "I believe you. Brownies always look young, don't they? I've never met one as young as you; I was starting to think all brownies were stern ladies who liked to swat my knuckles with their cooking spoons."

  Joel laughed. "You're a kitchen thief."

  "I plead the fifth, but if that chocolate cake is missing in the morning, I didn't do it," Daniel said with a grin and finished off the last few bites of his meal. "Thanks again for dinner; that's the best food I've had in forever."

  "Sure," Joel said, and then bit his lip. He looked at his plate, then up again, and said hesitantly. "You didn't put when you're leaving in the ledger."

  Daniel shrugged and toyed with his fork. "I was thinking of hanging around a couple of days. Didn't really have any solid plans about where I was ending up. This place seems nice—and quiet."

  "Tends to be really quiet, at least until the Withers boys get up to something, though they've been keeping out of trouble, actually, since they hooked up with the baker. Oh, if you want breakfast, I can get some cinnamon rolls or donuts or something from the bakery in the morning. And coffee."

  Joel looked so earnest and eager to please that Daniel didn't have the heart to say he had a very firm policy about never waking up before noon if he wasn't on tour. "Sounds awesome. What time should I be up?"

  "Whenever," Joel said. "I'll grab it pretty early, 'cause Marcell's cinnamon rolls go fast, but they'll be waiting here." He took their plates away and came back with bowls of cake and ice cream.

  Daniel wolfed it down in record time, licking every last crumb and trace of frosting. "If you keep feeding me like this, you're going to have a hard time getting rid of me."

  Joel went bright red at that and looked down at his chocolate cake. Daniel grinned and took his bowl to the sink, then loaded everything into the dishwasher before Joel could stop him. "Thanks yet again, Joel. I'll see you in the morning." He couldn't resist reaching out and ruffling Joel's hair, laughing at the offended look that earned him as he left the kitchen.

  Back in his room, he showered and pulled on a pair of boxers, then dug his phone out of his bag. There were two voicemails and ten texts. Daniel ignored all of it and set his alarm for seven. God, when was the last time he had gotten up at seven? Was the sun up by then? He had no idea.

  He set the phone on the nightstand, then closed the curtains and climbed into bed. Lying on his back, he stared up at the dark ceiling and tried to let his mind relax. Unfortunately, his mind was having none of that. It went back and forth between the fight with his band and manager that had driven him away, and the utterly delicious brownie downstairs.

  Sighing, he shoved away the unhappy thoughts and focused on the brownie, kicking aside the blankets and pulling his cock from his boxers. He stroked himself idly at first, in no particular hurry, wondering if Joel would be all sweet and pliant in bed, or if some switch flipped and he turned into a hellion. Man, either would be bliss. He was so cute and small; Daniel must have nearly a foot on him in height, and he'd always been a skinny fuck. There was no shape to him, not like Joel. Man, Daniel wanted to go downstairs and explore every last inch—

  He bit his lip as the climax hit him, and damn it'd been a while since he'd come like that. Stripping off his boxers and cleaning himself off with them, Daniel threw them in the general direction of his duffle and flopped back down in bed. Pulling the covers up, he burrowed into his pillow and was asleep within minutes.

  *~*~*

  When his alarm went off at seven a.m., Daniel started to snarl at Paine for being a goddamn asshole. But as he opened his eyes and sat up to do so, he saw the room he was in and remembered where he was—and why he was up at an ungodly hour of the morning.

  Groaning, he dragged himself out of bed to get cleaned up and dressed, pulling on jeans and a faded purple t-shirt, grimacing at his hair in the bathroom mirror. Definitely time to cut it off, he was sick of looking at the mess. The guys would be ticked he'd ruined their agreed upon look and style for the band, but he was officially done caring about what they thought. Contracts came up in two months, and good luck finding him in the meantime.

  The smell of coffee drew him back to the kitchen, and he dropped into the same seat he'd used the previous night, all but drooling at the plate of the most evil looking cinnamon rolls he'd ever seen. Laughter stole his attention away, and Daniel looked up—and damn if that grin and rumpled hair and the prettiest brown eyes he'd ever seen didn't make seeing what seven o'clock looked like worth it. "Good morning," Joel greeted, and pushed a large cup of coffee toward him.

  Daniel grunted, which elicited another laugh, and drank as much of the piping hot coffee in one go as he could manage. It had the perfect blend of cream and sugar, which was weird, 'cause he normally drank it black. Whatever, delicious was delicious.

  Speaking of delicious, those cinnamon rolls had been awaiting destruction long enough.

  By his second round of coffee and roll, Daniel was feeling more or less human. "Morning. These are awesome."

  "Marcell is the best baker around for miles—I daresay in the state, though he'd deny it even as they handed him the trophy."

  Daniel believed it. "The chocolate cake was better, though."

  Joel snorted but looked pleased anyway. "So do you have any plans for the day?"

  "Haircut is about it," Daniel said. "Otherwise, no. I didn't even know I was going to be stopping here until I did. What's there to do around Midsummer?"

  "Not much," Joel said with a shrug. Daniel heard the unspoken 'for someone like you.'

  He drained his coffee cup and took it to the sink, washing it out quickly and putting it in the drying rack.

  "Stop doing the dishes," Joel said. "You're the guest."

  Daniel shrugged. "My mom raised me to clean up my own messes. Doing dishes never killed anyone. Where do I get a haircut around here?"

  "Oak Street. It's just off Main, if you go down three blocks. It's right across the street from the clothing shop, which you can't miss." Joel grinned. "It's the one with all the lace and leather in the window."

  "Oh?" Daniel's brows rose, then he smirked. "Thought you said there wasn't much to do around here. Didn't know you had that in you, brownie."

  Joel went red-faced and rolled his eyes. "It's a cl
othing store."

  "Uh-huh, sure it is. So are you leather or lace, brownie?" He snickered when Joel just tried to glare, a look he was just entirely too adorable to carry off. Daniel had never wanted so badly to break his own rule. He really should lay off, take a step back … but heck, as long as he didn't do anything stupid, what was the harm in teasing and having fun and flirting a teensy bit? "Always went more for lace myself." He winked as Joel tried to both glare and roll his eyes. "You busy around this place?"

  "You're the first guest we've had in months, other than folks checking in for a few hours to get away from kids or celebrate something." The way Joel's cheeks weren't easing up on the burning made it clear how folks celebrated, not that Daniel couldn't have guessed. "It was already all over town that there's an out-of-towner here, and I barely got in and out of the bakery before Ms. Mary could pester me for info to share with her gossip club." He shuddered.

  Daniel laughed. "I see. Sounds like I might need someone to keep me company and protect me from the gossips. What do you say, want to show me around town?"

  "Me? Really? Um—"

  "Aw, come on," Daniel cajoled. "I promise I don't bite." Not until everyone was naked, anyway, and he didn't bite hard.

  Joel still didn't stand up or show any signs that he would. "Shouldn't you have a bodyguard or something?"

  Daniel snorted and leaned against the counter as it seemed he wasn't leaving any time soon. "I'm not that famous, and I sort of left in a hurry." And without permission. In the dead of the night. "Come on, keep me company. I promise I'm well-behaved, no matter what the tabloids are always saying."

  That got him a smile, and Joel finally stood up. "I guess it's not everyone that gets to play tour guide for the Danny Siren."

  Smiling when he didn't want to was so second nature, so ingrained, Daniel was half-afraid that someday he'd smile at a funeral. Stupidly, he had thought … well, he didn't know what he'd thought. But it came as something of a blow to be reminded that Joel was just one more person who saw the star and not the man.