Knight sighed. “Yeah. It fucking went downhill after that. The breakup destroyed Beast. He had no energy for sex at first, but then he just didn’t seek it out. Not that he didn’t have people propositioning him, but he got burned so bad that he kept away. Until you came,” he said, frowning at Laurent, as if he were trying to somehow read Laurent’s thoughts.
Laurent smiled to himself, feeling warm all over. “In all fairness, he does look quite intimidating at first glance.”
“But he’s a good guy, isn’t he?”
“He’s… rough around the edges,” Laurent said, but his smile was widening on its own at the memory of all the things Beast knew how to do in bed.
“I know we’re family, but I’ve known him longer. I will be watching,” Knight said with a smile, but there was an undertone to his voice that told Laurent he wasn’t entirely joking.
“As long as you’re not watching in the bedroom.” Laurent felt bold, but he could feel a flush crawling up his neck the moment he said it. Fortunately for him, some kind of commotion and the roaring sound of motorcycles barged in through the window.
Laurent rushed over there to see what was happening outside. Was it Beast? Finally back from whatever he was doing?
“There they are,” Knight said, stuffing one more cookie into his mouth and padding to the nearest exit.
The riders would all be at the garage, and Laurent followed Knight’s lead with his heart beating faster. Despite the lack of contact, he still wanted to see Beast. And he would scold him about not giving a single sign of life throughout the week, but that would only happen in due time. Once he was sure Beast had missed him too.
He knew something was off before they even reached the garages. Gray was shouting something about getting a doctor, and even Joker kept serious as he relayed how they got chased close to state border. Laurent was too busy searching for Beast to listen.
He barged into the garages and froze the moment he saw Beast, without his helmet, sitting on his bike and breathing far too laboriously. A trickle of blood dripped from under the sleeve of his leather jacket, slowly pooling on the hard, cement floor.
Laurent ran the last few steps.
Joker grabbed him hard by the arm and pulled him away while Gray shouted something over the phone. It was the first time Laurent saw the stoic, fair-haired biker so agitated. There weren’t many of them here, but everyone seemed frantic, except for Beast, who was getting paler by the minute.
Beast glared at Joker. “It’s fine.”
“It’s not, you’re bleeding. What’s wrong?” Laurent grabbed Beast’s clean hand as soon as Joker let go of him. His breathing was getting frantic. “Should I help you take off the jacket?”
“Leave ‘im be, kid!” Joker hissed, only agitating Laurent further.
“I’m not a child!” he yelled back.
“It’s just a flesh wound,” Beast said despite the sweat beading on his forehead as if he’d been sprayed by a sprinkler. He pulled Laurent closer from his uninjured side as soon as he got off the bike.
“Oh shit, is Beast okay?” Jake asked, rushing closer as soon as he entered the garage.
“He’ll be fine. Take the cargo,” Knight told him, pointing to several saddlebags, some of which were already on the floor. With everyone else losing their minds—understandably—it was Knight who took charge of the situation, and despite it seeming unfeeling of him on the surface, Laurent was glad that it allowed everyone else think of Beast’s well-being.
Jake gave Beast a worried look, but quickly did as he was told.
“Doc’s gonna be here in five to ten minutes. Get Beast inside. On a tall table. Or on the stage even,” Gray said.
Despite waving his hand dismissively, Beast still settled a lot of his weight on Laurent when he got off the bike.
He groaned, scowling as he made careful, short steps toward the door while the other club members rushed around, gathering the bags and communicating in clipped sentences. Laurent heard King’s name mentioned but didn’t think much of it, completely focused on Beast’s touch and weight.
He was so big and warm, somehow warmer than usual, and the tremble in his arm was so noticeable Laurent had to fight his own panicked shivering.
“How have you been?” asked Beast after several seconds of silence, as if everything about this situation was perfectly normal.
The sudden thought of losing Beast struck Laurent speechless, and hardly because it would have also meant Laurent failed his mission and would go back to the horror that awaited him in the past.
“I… it doesn’t matter.”
Gray followed them while still on the phone. “Talk to him, keep him occupied,” and with those words he turned in some other direction, leaving Laurent to help Beast up the stairs under Knight’s watchful eye.