Breathing

By Laura Baumbach

Colin Dobson has everything he ever imagined -- excitement, travel, and night after night of possessive passion with his new lover, Rowland Campbell. Safe in the arms of his vampire lover, for the first time in his life the sheltered young hemophiliac has nothing to fear.

There's only one thing marring their perfect relationship. Colin is finding it increasingly difficult to sleep with a corpse -- until an unexpected trip to a mystical tattoo parlor and a run-in with an old nemesis puts things into perspective.

• Language: English
• Publisher: MLR Press
• Release date: Jan 1, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370704743

Book preview

Table of Contents

BREATHING

blurb

copyright

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

About the Author

MLR Press Authors

GLBT RESOURCES

BREATHING

#2 in the Enthralled Series

LAURA BAUMBACH

mlrpress

www.mlrpress.com

Colin Dobson has everything he ever imagined -- excitement, travel, and night after night of possessive passion with his new lover, Rowland Campbell. Safe in the arms of his vampire lover, for the first time in his life the sheltered young hemophiliac has nothing to fear.

There’s only one thing marring their perfect relationship. Colin is finding it increasingly difficult to sleep with a corpse -- until an unexpected trip to a mystical tattoo parlor and a run-in with an old nemesis puts things into perspective.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright 2012 by Laura Baumbach

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

Published by

MLR Press, LLC

3052 Gaines Waterport Rd.

Albion, NY 14411

Visit ManLoveRomance Press, LLC on the Internet:

www.mlrpress.com

Cover Art by Deana C. Jamroz

Editing by Kris Jacen

ebook format ISBN#978-1-60820-450-2

Re-Issued 2012

This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of International Copyright Law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines and/or imprisonment. This eBook cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this eBook can be shared or reproduced without the express permission of the publisher.

CHAPTER ONE

This is where you wanted to take me? A New Orleans tattoo parlor? A shiver of ingrained fear ran down Colin’s slender back, a lifetime of avoiding sharp objects inducing an automatic, horrified response from him. He no longer had to fear bleeding to death from a simple laceration, not since becoming lover to a vampire who healed him, temporarily, of his genetic bleeding disorder, but twenty-five years of conditioning was hard to overcome. One with needles? Dirty, sharp needles?

Right now there are other things that need be feared more than this. Rowland Campbell put a fraction more pressure on the small of Colin’s back, urging him off the crowded square filled with rambunctious partygoers sampling the sights and sounds of the picturesque French Quarter.

Colin watched with mounting trepidation as the tall, burly vampire glanced up and down the street warily before he shut the door behind them, then turned the heavy lock, sealing the shop off from any new customers. This needs to be done now.

Despite the massive degree of lingering devastation from Hurricane Katrina, this part of the city was untouched, still attracting the annual hordes of people for the string of weekly festivals and parties New Orleans was famous for. The sector was teeming with life and chaos. Colin found it exciting, but Rowland appeared distracted and on guard. If one as powerful and cautious as his lover was worried, Colin had reason to be terrified. Almost as terrified as being told he was going to spend the entire night being tattooed.

Outside the window, the homeless mingled with the drunken revelers, the smell of human sweat and grime mixed with the scent of spicy foods and flowing liquor. The uneven streets, dark corners, above-ground graveyards,