Laurent stepped closer. “I’m saying this, Elliot, because he will try to charm you. He is so very good at doing that yet will hold back no cruelty when he gets what he wants, and I’m sure you know that already.” He ran his fingertips over the dressing on Elliot’s eye and lowered his voice. “Once I was trapped in his basement, he promised me unspeakable torture. He threatened to remove my teeth, and said that he would keep me collared like a dog, so that he could use my body as if it didn’t belong to me anymore. You cannot trust him, no matter what he offers.
“That fateful night, I set out to his mansion full of hope and excitement. I didn’t intend to kill anyone, but was left with no choice. Even though I still sometimes dream about the horrors of his blood all over me, I justify what I did with the knowledge that he wouldn’t be able to hurt anyone again. Until you.”
Elliot choked up, completely paralyzed when Fane’s hands trailed down his body, seductively resting on his hips. “Don’t listen to him. It’s in his best interest to turn us against each other. He will use you, just like Knight will use and discard you as soon as he gets bored of your body. Only I can give you the things you need.”
But Fane’s words were hollow, and deep down Elliot had known it for a while now. Fane would leave or kill him as soon as they didn’t have to share a body. What Elliot could relate to on the other hand, was Laurent’s desperate need to find love. He could imagine how the young man in front of him went to visit Fane only to have his dreams shattered.
“I just didn’t want to be so alone anymore,” Elliot whispered, annoyed at how choked up he was getting.
“You’re not!” Fane grabbed his shoulders and shook him. “Stop making this so difficult.”
Laurent touched Elliot’s tightly-bound arm and stepped that bit closer, his face sincere in its concern. “You don’t have to be. You are not a monster. You’d just been dealt a bad hand in life, that’s all. I could help you out, and Beast surely would too once he stops worrying so much.” He put a hand on Elliot’s chest. “I know you didn’t have family, but you do now. You don’t need that ghost for company.”
Fane turned to Laurent and uselessly tried to grab his head. “He’s one to speak about murder! An orphan, needed by no one and missed by not a soul. My death impacted hundreds of lives! I was a man of importance.”
Whenever Fane lost his cool, he showed his true colors. Just like Laurent, Elliot was a man of no importance, and Fane would get rid of him on a whim.
“No one but Knight likes me here,” Elliot mumbled, embarrassed to admit that yet finding surprising amounts of compassion in the eyes of a man he’d slandered and resented for years.
Laurent grabbed Elliot’s arms. “Oh, but they will. I have been helped a great deal to get accustomed to these new times, and I promise you I am more than happy to pass on the favor. Even if—and I’m not saying he will—but even if Knight fails to meet your expectations, there will be a place for you here, I will make sure of that. You needn’t worry about his eyes wandering, because you will not have to depend on him only.”
Elliot looked down into the brown eyes that held so much sincere promise, as if Laurent didn’t understand his gentle way of saying Elliot and Knight wouldn’t work out was twisting a knife in Elliot’s guts. And yet his offer was so unexpected in its kindness Elliot could only nod.
“Thank you. And thank you for telling me what happened with Fane.” Elliot shuddered when cold breath danced over his nape but tried to compose himself when Laurent leaned forward, encasing Elliot in a warm hug.
Elliot closed his eye, accepting the hug, but then cold hands were on him, forcefully opening his jaw and sending his head against Laurent’s. Elliot wanted to scream in warning, but it was no use against the strength of Fane’s grip.
Elliot’s teeth closed over air so hard they ached, but Laurent managed to leap back in time.
“You didn’t deserve my prick, you pretty snake!” Fane yelled through Elliot’s lips before letting go.
Elliot’s body went limp as a puppet with no strings, and the only reason he didn’t collapse to the floor was the hook that held him up by the fastening at the back of the straitjacket. “I’m sorry, Laurent. I’m so sorry,” he whined helplessly.
“Don’t tell Beast about the bite,” Laurent whispered. “We will find a way to help you. I promise.”
The bathroom door opened as soon as he finished speaking, and the two towering men spilled out, tense and ready to fight.