He stepped back in frustration and got all the way on the bed for the right distance. He squinted once more, and he could finally work out the biggest numbers.
2017.
April, 2017.
At first his mind went blank, but then it finally dawned on him with all its terrifying implications. This wasn’t Hell. This was the future.
Chapter 6 - Beast
The sound of the ambulance rattled in Beast’s head long after the vehicle left. With the party disbanded, the club members gathered for an emergency meeting in the small circular studio with no windows where they had their round table, and under it—hidden compartments for the cargo of jewelry and other valuables they transported for their business associate from New York City, known as Mr. Magpie. The studio was located in the oldest part of the building, which had originally been a wealthy man’s countryside villa, and so he imagined the room used to have some kind of elaborate decoration until the hospital staff stripped it of all finery, replacing gold paint and ornaments with bare white walls.
Beast wasn’t able to focus much on the proceedings. His mind kept drifting off, replaying the image of pink-tinged foam and water trailing down Laurent’s pristine back. The boy’s chocolate brown eyes kept glancing back at him over the graceful curve of his shoulder, from behind the curtain of thick, long hair, his cheeks rosy from the flush of heat.
It’d been a while since anyone this attractive visited Beast’s apartment.
To be honest, it’d been a while since there had been a man staying overnight in Beast’s apartment, period. A very long while. So long in fact that Laurent’s presence was interfering with Beast’s thoughts and making his mind descend into the gutter more than usual. In situations when he should focus on the problem at hand, not on a boy who likely acted strangely due to an injury and shouldn’t demand so much of Beast’s brainpower.
Maybe Beast shouldn’t have left him alone after all? What if Laurent suffered some kind of brain hemorrhage while he was away, and he’d find the pale body cooling on the floor once he got back?
He dismissed those thoughts, trying to listen to King’s tirade about their clubhouse being in excellent shape and in need of just little tweaks, but even as he repeated his father’s words in his head for better comprehension, his mind offered him the round buttocks glistening with running water, and lips so kissable it was making Beast uncomfortable. Laurent had two small beauty spots on one side of his lips and their only purpose seemed to be drawing more attention to the mouth that was already occupying too much of Beast’s thoughts. He really shouldn’t think this way about someone who was effectively their prisoner.
He was around attractive men all the time, so why couldn’t he focus? At thirty two... well, almost thirty three he shouldn’t be ruled by his cock like this. Then again, he didn’t think he’d ever met anyone remotely as attractive as Laurent in real life. There were plenty of good-looking people, but Laurent had the kind of face you’d expect to look at you from a billboard. With a slightly rounded nose, big, striking eyes framed by long eyelashes and cheeks like juicy apples Beast could bite into expecting nothing but sweetness. He seemed like a surreal presence that didn’t belong in their crumbling clubhouse, and even less so in Beast’s apartment.
He snorted when he thought that Laurent was a runaway from a high fashion mogul’s dungeon.
King went silent and zeroed in on Beast. “You got something to add?” The deep frown suggested King wasn’t talking about anything that deserved Beast’s smiles.
Beast stalled, glancing at his brothers, who seemed to have focused all their attention on him.
“I’m sure he’s damn sorry Davy’s stepping down as VP,” Knight said and patted Beast’s back. Heat flushed Beast’s face when he realized that he’d missed this part, but then again, it was no wonder. With Davy’s legs crushed by the fallen ceiling, rehabilitation would take long, even in the most positive of scenarios where he wouldn’t have to actually lose the limbs. Davy had been a part of the club from the beginning. He’d started it with King and their sergeant-at-arms, Rev. He was also the oldest of them all, and the years of indulgence and fighting had been catching up with the poor guy. Maybe they should have seen his retirement coming, even if no one wished for it to happen this way. He was now at the hands of doctors, with his family, and all that was left to the rest of them was waiting for news.
“It’s a damn shame. Davy was a fine VP,” Beast said in the end.
Knight nodded at Beast, his thick eyebrows gathered into a frown. He wasn’t happy that he hadn’t gotten to meet Laurent in the end, but he still had Beast’s back at the meeting. It was ridiculous, but there was something about Laurent that made Beast want to keep to himself, even if that desire made him into a dragon guarding his pile of gold. He had no intention of pursuing the guy, but he didn’t want to be reminded of the reasons why any advances on his part would be rejected.