Warmth cut through the chaos as Knight’s fingertips touched his chin, and his palm pressed against the underside of Elliot’s jaw, gently pulling it back so they faced each other. Knight was so close it was making Elliot’s body shudder slightly, and his eyes found Elliot’s, beckoning him to shift back his focus.
“Just ignore him. I’m here.”
Elliot bit his lip, feeling like the biggest failure on the face of the earth. “It’s hard. He’s mean and demanding. I know it’s my fault that some violence turns me on, but not this way. Not toward me.”
Fane spread his arms. “That’s just pathetic. Stops sharing our private matters.”
Elliot couldn’t focus on Knight and looked away. “You only want Laurent so that you can leave me and kill people, not to be with me!”
The warm presence on the inside of his thigh made Elliot still as heat suddenly pooled between his legs and rapidly spread throughout his body. He looked down at Knight’s hand, which was casually resting on Elliot’s leg.
He swallowed, glancing back at Knight with his heart in his throat. Was Knight really suggesting they did… something? Could Elliot possibly enter into a dead end of a fuckbuddies arrangement?
Fane’s cold touch pulled on his other leg so abruptly he yelped and had to hold on to Knight’s arm to regain balance.
“Go on!” Fane yelled. “Open your legs for him like you want to! I wish I could put my collar on you. I’d keep you in it just so I could make you watch me fuck other men while never touching you again. Or even better, I’d have my gargoyle use you night after night until you were ruined for any man.”
“Shut up!” Elliot pulled his leg back in panic, but he didn’t expect the slap to his face. It radiated both through his cheek and palm, and he choked out a sob, gutted by Fane’s betrayal yet again. He’d been so stupid to put his trust in a man like him. So naive and desperate. And now he would have to live on like this—possibly forever—until the constant division between his mind and body made him mad.
“Shh,” Knight whispered against Elliot’s cheek, grabbing both of Elliot’s wrists and slowly rolling him to lie on the sofa
Knight’s weight was such a pleasant shock Elliot wouldn’t even blink as he held his breath and looked into Knight’s perfectly handsome face. Knight’s stubble was so long tonight it was soft against Elliot’s skin, and only the sweetest feelings blossomed in Elliot’s chest when he looked into the stormy gray eyes of his savior and protector.
“He told me the demon gave him a gargoyle. Like the statue but real. And he’s threatening me with it. I’m scared, Knight.” Elliot took another deep breath to hold back a sob.
Knight swallowed audibly and spread his hands over Elliot’s, almost entwining their fingers as his hips effortlessly delved between Elliot’s thighs. His hair was soft, and somewhat frizzy, and it smelled of smoke after tonight’s party. Elliot loved Knight’s hair. But he loved his voice even more.
“He would have to get past me. I stopped the real beast of Brecon tonight, didn’t I? I’m sure the gargoyle has nothing on our prez.”
Elliot curled his fingers over Knight’s hands, unwilling to let go. Knight was the most amazing man Elliot had ever met, and that included the dead serial killer, who watched them like a hawk. In the past, Elliot had told Knight that if Knight didn’t want all of him, then he couldn’t get any of him, but his resolve was melting as fast as the snow outside would on the first day of spring.
He’d take only a piece of Knight if that was what he could have. He’d take the non-exclusive arrangement and Knight being with him only until he could find someone better. Self-respect was overrated anyway.
“That gargoyle is long dead,” Elliot whispered, meaning the words for Fane, yet never taking his eyes off Knight.
“It’s not,” Fane growled. “It is a powerful creature, and it must be alive somewhere. I will find it, and I will get its claws on your precious Knight. He will regret the day he was born!”
Fane tried to force Elliot’s body to push Knight away, but Knight only pressed down on Elliot’s hands and grinned. “You want this?” he asked after several moments of silence.
He didn’t need to explain what ‘this’ was, because Elliot’s body was already responding. “Yes,” he whispered. “His threats are nothing when you’re here with me.”
Knight let out a soft exhale and lowered his face, gently rubbing the tip of his nose along Elliot’s, from its end all the way to his brow. The repeated touch, even if so mundane made Elliot’s skin prickle, and every time Knight’s warm breath teased Elliot’s mouth he tried to lean in into a kiss, but with no success.