Laurent and the Beast (Kings of Hell MC 1)

Knight glanced to the small radio they had playing on the windowsill when it started buzzing strangely. “Fucking hell! Does this always have to happen in this place?” He groaned and walked up to it. “I heard you’re going to a job tomorrow with Joker and Gray. You sure you guys don’t need more backup?”

“No, you know big groups draw too much attention. I don’t want any shit happening during this run. The cargo is too valuable,” Beast said, watching his friend scoot down by the socket. He didn’t tell Laurent about the long trip yet, unwilling to worry his boy about something that had to be done anyway.

Knight examined the socket as if he were a nose and eye doctor checking on someone’s sinuses, but got back to the pool table, walking around it to find a good position. “Well, at least if our dear partner coughs up a decent sum of money, we could have a look at repairing some of the plumbing downstairs. The wall in the basement is so damp I’m sure we have a leak somewhere. Don’t give me that look! I know you wanna move, but it’s not gonna happen overnight, so let’s work with what we’ve got here.”

Beast exhaled. His knowledge of electricity ended on flipping switches in the fuse box and trying not to touch electricals with damp hands. “You know, with fewer people in the house, maybe you could look into the cables? Switch the power off in parts of the building, or something?”

Knight leaned on the cue stick. “Sure. I could have Laurent move somewhere else for as long as you’re away and have a good look at the wiring in your apartment. It drives me nuts that even in the most recently renovated parts of the building the electricity is still unstable.”

Beast scowled. “Nah, I’m fine. Any problems in my apartment are just temporary. No need to stress him out. He’s been through a lot already,” he said, watching the colorful dots on the green background of the table. “By the way, if we could have anything and everything in that new clubhouse, what would you think is most important?” he asked.

The last property viewing had only gone downhill after Laurent lied to the realtor, but the longer Beast was with the boy, the more he understood that maybe his approach hadn’t been all that great. The moment he actually asked Laurent what was up, things between them smoothed out. There was no reason for this to be any different. If he showed interest in what his brothers wanted, they would treat the matter more personally.

Knight rubbed his permanently scruffy chin, for a long time saying nothing. “If—don’t laugh—if we had classy bathrooms, with like mirrors and stuff, we’d get more chicks through the doors.”

Beast stared at him, momentarily startled. “Oh, okay. Yeah, we might think of that. Have a place where hangarounds could put on additional layers of face paint,” he said, chuckling when Knight pretended to toss the cue stick at him.

“It works. Jordan would totally love that kind of shit. She’d bring her friends over then, because as of right now all of them think the place is foul.”

Beast groaned. Lately, even Jordan’s name gave him a shudder. That woman wasn’t worthy of Knight’s attention, so it was particularly uncomfortable to see Knight stressing over her opinions. “Yeah, if that’s gonna keep you happy.”

Knight smirked and pointed to his crotch. “When she’s happy, I’m happy.”

Beast wasn’t happy to hear that. Now that he had Laurent in his life, it was somehow easier to judge Jordan too. Not all pretty people needed to be complete and utter wastes of space. Despite his model-worthy appearance, Laurent remained a modest, sweet guy, who always had smiles for Beast. Being with him changed so much. It was as if Beast was slowly re-learning how to live. No matter how much he respected and loved his brothers, they couldn’t give him the sense of completion he experienced when Laurent approved of him. It was a completely different kind of relationship, and not just because it involved sex—as glorious as it was—but because for the first time in so many years Beast could express a part of himself that remained locked away for too long.

Knight pointed a finger at Beast with a grin. “I know that smile. Someone’s dick’s getting a lot of attention.” He wiggled his eyebrows, but a dash of footsteps and voices from the main room made Beast attentive as well. It was time to ask more people what they wanted from a future clubhouse.

“Yeah, well, I won’t deny it. The other Mr. Mercier is giving me a lot of attention,” he said, leaving the cue stick in the stand.

They both went for the door, and Knight slapped Beast’s arm, not knowing it was a particularly sore spot when it came to the burned nerve endings. Beast had to take a deep breath to ignore it.