“Yeah. Would be great. He’s a good lay,” Knight muttered, staring at the door. He wondered if Elliot would go as far as to make out with Ronnie to make Knight jealous.
What if he actually liked Ronnie though?
Would that be so bad?
Maybe it wasn’t the sex that bothered Knight so much, but the fact that he missed all the time Elliot used to have for him? All the text messages and late-night discussions. And then the way Elliot looked at him when they fucked. As if Knight was the center of his universe.
A scream alarmed both Beast and Knight, but it wasn’t coming from the party. Their heads turned the other way, where the restrooms were.
Beast was the first to rush forward.
Chapter 21
Elliot couldn’t flirt. Not with William constantly whispering into his ear and making comments about Ronnie’s freckled skin, which he found completely unappealing. In the end, Ronnie left Elliot to his thoughts about whether Knight was already fucking Jake in his bed, back to his slutty ways.
“Could we get back there?? I need to take another look at that young man,” William said, pulling on Elliot’s arm.
“No,” Elliot whispered, all too aware that he was looking like a crazy person talking to himself.
With Beast gone, Laurent busied himself with some kind of catalog, but he was the last person Elliot wanted to talk to about anything. There’s been animosity between them from the start, and it wasn’t about to end just because a new year meant a new beginning.
“But his hair is so pretty. I’d like to pet it,” William said, leaning against Elliot.
Elliot growled and turned to a window, so that people wouldn’t see his lips moving. “Anyone would like to pet his hair, but he hates me, so I doubt he’d let me anywhere near him. Besides, his boyfriend would cut my hand off.” Not to mention that he wasn’t happy about William being so into someone else. Sharing a body hadn’t been as straightforward or pleasant as Elliot had imagined it would be. William could be pushy about the things he wanted to do, to the point of taking over and shoving Elliot or making his limbs move, and losing control always left Elliot feeling overwhelmed.
The air moved behind Elliot, and he followed William’s gaze which clearly settled on Laurent’s backside hugged tightly by a pair of skinny jeans. He didn’t even know when William pulled him by the waist and made him walk alongside the wall.
“Stop staring at his ass,” Elliot hissed. His own attention got scattered when he saw Jake slip back into the room. A quick blowjob then. The anger boiling inside of Elliot only made it easier for William to guide him. “I could grow long hair. It’s not a big deal.”
William gave a soft laugh. “Forgive me, but when’s the last time you looked into the mirror? You’re handsome in your own way but, well, if that boy’s face is as pretty as his arse, he is tough competition.”
Elliot’s mood soured even more, but how was he to fight William’s wishes? Maybe if Elliot indulged him, things would settle down eventually. It was only understandable that after all the years trapped in that cellar, William wanted to explore. Things hadn’t been the way Elliot had expected. He and William only had each other, and William could never leave, so there was that, but sometimes he’d use painful digs to get his way, and that wasn’t the kind of relationship Elliot wanted.
They followed Laurent in silence, and William’s smile grew when Laurent left the room.
“I used to do that,” William finally said. “They didn’t realize I was following them in the marketplace, or through the docks. I watched them eat and speak to people. I watched them doze off under a tree sometimes. None of them knew that they would soon become my property.”
It wasn’t the first time Elliot heard this story, and it was becoming less exciting each time. It was a thorn in Elliot’s side that William wanted to chase after Laurent even though Elliot was right there, longing for William’s attention like no man ever had.
“The guy we’re following shares his name with your killer,” Elliot whispered as they entered the dark corridor through which Laurent was surely heading to the restrooms. His wobbly gait suggested he might have overdone it with liquor.
William exhaled, leading the way. The public restrooms were never in perfect condition, but the party contributed to all kinds of litter scattered over the floor. Elliot avoided stepping on a glass bottle and closed the door behind him. Laurent was leaning against the wall by the farthest urinal and struggled to open his jeans. He groaned, and the long black locks that William found so attractive fell forward to obscure his face.
“Looks very much like him, too. Another one of your cousins?” William said, putting his arms around Elliot and resting his chin on his shoulder. William had no body odor, and his hands were cool like sticks of butter straight out of the fridge. Once the novelty of their presence had passed, Elliot struggled to keep from shivering whenever he felt their touch on his own skin.