Total pages in book: 171
Estimated words: 159050 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 795(@200wpm)___ 636(@250wpm)___ 530(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 159050 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 795(@200wpm)___ 636(@250wpm)___ 530(@300wpm)
Elliot looked away to make sure Fane didn’t get the slightest peek at the new code. “He won’t. He’s tied to me. Even if I forced him outside, he’d come in through the wall. It’s… he’s in me. I only see a vision of him. But he can’t feel what my body feels, or he wouldn’t be attacking me so much. He can’t read my thoughts either.”
Fane appeared in front of him and raised his eyebrows. “Or can I?”
“You can’t. I tried it many times before. You would have reacted to the thoughts I was having.”
“Find something to read and get lost,” Knight said, but while his words were clearly directed at Fane, he stared at empty air.
Fane rolled his eyes. “So much beauty, yet such a foul mouth. I’d have kept him, but with his tongue cut out.”
Elliot let go of Knight’s hand as they walked in, to not make things awkward between them in any way. “Stop. Fucking. Talking,” he groaned at Fane, wishing for at least a minute’speace in the cozy space of Knight’s bedroom.
Knight closed the door behind them and approached the fridge. “Just ignore him. Maybe we should turn on some of the loud music he likes so much?”
Fane hissed like an agitated cat, but at least he shut up. The sound was so sudden it made Elliot laugh out loud.
“It’s okay for now, I want to hear more about my bloodline.”
Knight handed him a bottle of lemonade and knocked his beer against it as they walked over to the sofa. “Sure. Who do you want to hear more about?”
Elliot breathed in deeply, somehow calmed down by being here almost alone with Knight. He noticed his reflection and grabbed a tissue to get crusty blood off his face. “Could you tell me more about… my dad?”
Fane sighed theatrically and sat on the sofa next to Knight. “Oh, please. Can you not choose a more entertaining topic?”
Oblivious to the mean words, Knight leaned back against the backrest and hung one of his arms behind it. “I guess you want to hear the truth. Fair enough. He was born in Brecon. Dropped out of school and was a petty thief. He drank far too much and got aggressive whenever something didn’t go his way. Beat up me and Mom. He’s in prison now. You could meet him. If you want,” he said after this brief summary.
With his face cleaned up, Elliot got to the sofa and pushed his boots off.
“How charming,” Fane said. “I’m not surprised a bloodline like Laurent Mercier’s spawned such human garbage.”
Elliot sighed and rubbed his forehead for a moment in a fruitless attempt to block off the offensive words. “I don’t think I do. I doubt he cares he had more kids. Doesn’t sound much better than the man I thought was my dad.”
Knight smirked. “I guess not. If he did care, he’d have visited you. But you’re not missing out. He’s a scumbag. I’m sorry that the guy who raised you was too.”
Elliot pulled his feet up onto the sofa and inched a bit closer to Knight, tempted by the scent of Knight’s cologne and the warmth of his body. He wouldn’t do anything about it, but looking wasn’t forbidden.
“How did you get out of that house?”
Fane glared at Elliot and cocked his head to the side, but Elliot followed Knight’s advice and ignored the apparition. The silent murmur of Knight’s hands stroking the backrest behind Elliot rained down his back and caused the butterflies in Elliot’s stomach to grow more excited by the second.
“I met Beast at school. My parents didn’t mind me disappearing for a while, so I started hanging out here a lot. King, as much of a sick bastard as he turned out to be, was a transplant father to me. When my parents couldn’t get me a coat, or shoes, he would. So at fifteen, I just moved into the clubhouse.”
Elliot smiled, struck by the trust that Knight was showering him with by those confessions. “Was Beast less scary back then?”
Fane frowned. “What do you think you’re doing?”
Knight arched his shoulders, and Elliot could have sworn he moved a tiny bit closer. “Never mention it, but yeah. He was one handsome motherfucker. All the boys were after him.”
Their eyes met, and Elliot couldn’t look away, torn between letting himself fall into the Knight-sized hole in his heart and pulling away for his sanity’s sake. “Was he? Were you after him?”
Fane got up and pushed at Elliot’s shoulder. “I see what you’re doing, you slut. You declare your love for me one day, and now you want him to roger you again? Didn’t he break your heart not long ago?”
Elliot shoved him back in frustration. “I’m not doing anything!”
“Did I ask for so much as proof of your love? A drop of Laurent’s blood. We could be together in person, and you’d be the lucky one, because you’d be getting fucked by a very handsome man. Isn’t that what you want?” William grabbed Elliot’s jaw, yet somehow Elliot knew it was his own hand doing it. The dichotomy was making Elliot’s brain split.