Laurent and the Beast (Kings of Hell MC 1)

Joker started laughing like a maniac, but the dead look on the realtor’s face had Beast sweating bullets.

Beast laughed, trying to look as casual as possible before turning to Mrs. Taube. “I’m sorry. He’s my cousin from France. Must have misunderstood something. There will be no dungeons, Laurent,” he said with a bit more pressure.

The fucker acted dumb, as if he hadn’t gotten the hint. Laurent might have grown up in some weird Mennonite cult, but Beast noticed how quickly he picked up on everything, and how he shut up and listened when things were unclear to him, so seeing him act in a way so obstructive was making angry ants crawl all over Beast’s arms.

“No, no. King specifically said he wanted a dungeon with shackles, and a cage for a girl to pretend she was his dog. Don’t blame the messenger.” Laurent crossed his arms on his chest.

“Err… I would have to talk to my manager about that,” Mrs. Taube uttered.

Joker kept cackling and patted Laurent’s back. “We could add a sex swing while we’re at it.”

Beast’s arms became so stiff his nape started aching, and he looked at the other men, whose reactions ranged from irritation to amusement. His fists itched for something to smash when his gaze stopped on the unpleasantly smug expression on Laurent’s face. Beast remembered where he’d seen it last time. On fucking Jordan.

Has he overlooked Laurent’s ugly side because of how handsome he was? Just like Knight did with each of his consecutive girlfriends? Laurent looked away as soon as their eyes met, leaving Beast to wonder whether this blatant sabotage had been caused by Laurent and King being unlikely besties, like a baby mink and a lion.

The rest of the viewing went downhill from there, with Mrs. Taube disengaged and clearly trying to abort the whole thing in the politest ways possible.

Beast’s mind was growing frantic and boiled over at such speed he could hardly think straight from the sense of betrayal. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Taube. I’ll just quickly show something to my cousin. I know where it is,” he assured her stiffly and headed for Laurent, not even trying to disguise his mood from the boy.

The hurt look on Laurent’s face before Beast even grabbed his arm was like a stab in the guts, but he wouldn’t wait for the little snake to twist the blade and led him into the nearest building.

“What is it?” Laurent whined.

“Oh, I wonder. What could be possibly going wrong when I spend two fucking weeks researching places to find the perfect one, only to have you bad-mouth us in front of the realtor?” hissed Beast, squeezing his hand hard on Laurent’s shoulder as they walked down the corridor. Only when Beast felt they were far enough that Mrs. Taube wouldn’t hear them, did he push Laurent into one of the empty rooms and stalked behind him.

Laurent stumbled, but quickly turned around, backing into a corner. “I only repeated what King said. Shouldn’t we be looking for a place that can satisfy everyone’s needs?”

“There is no we,” hissed Beast, pushing at Laurent’s chest hard enough to make him hit the wall. The boy had nothing on Beast’s strength and size, and Beast decided it was time to show it to him explicitly. Electric currents of anger prickled under his skin as he approached Laurent, forcing him against the cold wall before he could duck and run. “You are our guest. You are not a member. I took you with us because I wanted to be nice and show you something on the way. What the fuck is wrong with you?” Beast took a deep breath, steadying himself when he felt his voice was on the edge of breaking slightly from the helplessness of his attraction to Laurent. “How dare you undermine my authority?”

Laurent looked over Beast’s arm to the door, as if assessing his chances. “Well, maybe you shouldn’t have taken me then, because I don’t feel comfortable being disloyal to King. Why is he not here? I won’t tell him about this trip if that’s your wish, but I don’t think it’s fair.” But despite his defiant gaze, he clung to the wall as if he wanted to melt into it, and his breath sped up like a cornered rat’s.

A low growl tore out of Beast’s throat as he put one hand over Laurent’s mouth and tightened the other around his neck. “Do you have a deathwish? Do you think I’ll be your lapdog, just because you have a pretty face? I thought we had an understanding. You live at my apartment, use my water, and eat my food. You barely speak to King, so what is the deal there, huh? You disgust me,” hissed Beast and tightened his hand over Laurent’s throat.

Laurent whimpered and grabbed Beast’s wrist with those slim fingers Beast could crush in his fist if he wanted to. The wide eyes were getting frantic, so Beast hoped he was finally getting his message across. Enough was enough. There would be no more privileges for Laurent in Beast’s home, and Beast would watch his back for any signs of manipulative behavior that he might have missed simply because he didn’t want to believe so much malice could exist in someone so politely spoken and with a face so innocent.