He didn’t mind one bit that Knight had said Elliot should change his last name either. Becoming a Mercier for real would get him that one step closer to Knight, even if a common last name was all he could ever get.
Upon their approach to the hall that contained the hideous statue and the staircase leading to Knight’s apartment, Elliot started hearing strange noises before they even entered. He didn’t mind, because Knight was by his side and would surely know how to deal with any situation, but Elliot was not prepared to see what he saw.
The biker ghost, whom Elliot had seen since Fane first entered his body was still bleeding all over the statue, but instead of calling for Elliot to bring him Hound’s blood, he had his lips locked with a woman. Baffled by the sight, Elliot at first thought she was one of the party guests who had somehow entered the restricted part of the building, but then he noticed her clothes—a grayish white dress shaped like a sack, and a thick unfashionable sweater, both of which hardly constituted partywear at a biker clubhouse.
Knight didn’t even flinch, continuing on with the story of yet another of Elliot’s newly discovered ancestors, but while he did not seem to notice the woman, she definitely noticed them.
Her face turned into a scowl, and she let out a hiss, backing away into the shadow. “Goddamn you, Fane! You’re not a part of this house anymore!”
The biker ghost blinked and reached his hand toward Elliot.
Fane laughed and put his arm over Elliot’s shoulders. There was no point fighting it and making him angry. “That coming from a woman who doesn’t know how to keep her legs closed? If I wasn’t too disgusted to touch those soft bits you have down there, I’d sew you up.”
Elliot groaned, but the woman ran down the corridor and disappeared without an answer.
Fane shook his head. “Pathetic creature.”
Elliot ignored him. “Knight? There’s something else I haven’t told you.”
Knight exhaled. “Christ. What is it this time?”
“I see more ghosts. I’ve seen four now altogether.” Since there was that man Elliot had spotted walking the grounds the other day, but he’d left no prints in the snow, and the silent Native American who shook his head at Fane whenever they met.
Knight stopped in his tracks. “Ghosts. Did you summon anyone else?”
Elliot shook his head rapidly, glad that Fane got into an argument with the impaled biker, so at least he wasn’t bothering them. “No! I just… started seeing them. There is one stuck on the gargoyle’s horns and bleeding all the time. He’s fucking creepy and begs me to help him get some of Hound’s blood.”
Color drained from Knight’s face, and he jerked his head to the side to look at the gargoyle statue. “What does he look like?”
Elliot walked up closer and the biker laughed, staring at him with a roguish grin.
“Go on, boy! Describe me to the ungrateful motherfucker.”
Elliot glanced at Knight. “He’s… blond, and not young, not old. It’s weird. But he’s got a leather cut like all of you. To be honest, he sounds like he knows you.”
Knight rubbed his forehead with the heels of his hand before grabbing Elliot’s hand and pulling him up the stairs. “That’s King. Beast’s father. Do not help him.”
“And fuck you too, Knight!” King screamed, moving on the horn so furiously, Elliot scowled at the squelching sounds his body made.
They rushed up the stairs and Elliot tried not to think about Knight holding his hand. It was normal, right? Knight had got used to it before, so he must have grabbed Elliot automatically.
“Noted,” Elliot muttered grimly. “Did he die falling off the stairs?”
“He tried to kill Beast. They fought, and Hound pushed him at a wonky railing. My apartment used to belong to him,” Knight said, sighing loudly as he used the touchscreen. “Will you tell me if there’s a ghost around? It freaks me out.”
Elliot nodded. “Fane follows me everywhere.”
Fane pushed Elliot at the door so abruptly there was no way to fight it. He was slowly understanding that it was a battle of wills when it came to resisting Fane’s force, but the surprise touches were the worst and impossible to protect himself from. “Oh? So I’m ‘Fane’ now? Not ‘William’ anymore? If that’s how you want to play, it’s Mr. Fane to you.”
“Tell him to stay outside,” Knight said and hid the touchpad with his body, tapping his finger against it.
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 paren
ts 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.
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.
Knight grinned. “I missed you. Life’s boring when no one wants to talk to you about stuff that matters.”
The explosion of emotions in Elliot’s chest was more colorful than tonight’s fireworks.
He’d been missed.
“I missed you too. Not just for the sex. You’re funny, and smart, and always there for me. I don’t know how I lived without you.”
Fane made a gagging noise somewhere. “I will be sick with all this. He will leave you, and you will come crying back to me on your knees, because you know he’s not passionate like I. Nor willing to take that one step further to possessing another person whole.”
And yet, when Knight held Elliot, it was much easier to ignore cruel words.
Knight licked his lips, looking at Elliot from so close it was getting Elliot’s eyes achy, but then he leaned in, and their mouths met, and if there was ever a feeling that resembled being struck by a golden arrow of love, that was it. Elliot’s entire body throbbed with heat, and peace, and need—all at the same time. When the kiss deepened and Knight rubbed their tongues together, something inside Elliot’s brain glitched, and for a brief moment he was convinced he’d come. But no. It must have only happened in his head. A freaking love orgasm that left his dick just as hard as before.
He arched, hungry to nip on Knight’s lips, to show him just how much he craved every single touch. He stirred his hips to rub his cock against Knight’s stomach, and his brain flooded with pleasure that was like relief and growing tension all at once. Knight’s hands were so big over his and held him down with so much delicious force all Elliot could do was curl his legs to wrap them tightly around his lover.
Knight nudged Elliot’s head to the side and dove in, rubbing his short beard against Elliot’s exposed neck, following it with his lips and tongue. “I’ll have you learn all the names I’ve got tattooed on my arm,” he whispered, rubbing Elliot’s thigh as he rocked his hips forward, bringing their dicks close. They both wore jeans, and the thick fabric was in the way, but despite the growing need to push them off, the dry-humping w
as such a treat Elliot couldn’t bring himself to ask for more.
“I’ll even learn their birthdates.” Elliot smiled, tightening the hold of his legs around Knight. Unlike the few chilly touches Fane had given him, Knight was like a furnace. And he was willing to share his warmth with Elliot’s permanently cold body.
It was no wonder Knight got the nickname he did, because when he chose to protect someone, he truly was chivalrous. He’d even opened the car door for Elliot before, as if it were the most natural gesture in the world.
He was the best guy Elliot had ever put his hands on.
His sweater rolled up, briefly covering Elliot’s face as Knight pushed it off him, but then that delicious mouth, and the scruffy chin were all over his bare chest, nibbling and caressing every inch. It was like flying on a magic carpet, even though he really was just spread out on the sofa. Everything around them was bright in the light of Knight’s good graces.
“You smell so fucking delicious,” whispered Knight, pushing his face along Elliot’s pec and then rubbing it against Elliot’s exposed armpit.
Elliot groaned in pleasure. He was only human, yet he was being worshipped by a god. “I’m all yours. Anything you want is yours. You can fucking skin me and wear me as your new cut. I don’t care.” He let out a raspy laugh and slid his free hand into Knight’s glorious hair.
Knight smirked and raised his head, nipping on Elliot’s chin. “Nah. You don’t really want that. What you want is here,” Knight said and moved Elliot’s other hand to the front of his pants. The bulge was so prominent and hot that Elliot couldn’t keep in a moan of satisfaction.
He let out a long exhale, his brain sizzling in the lust that Knight just drizzled all over him. “I do. Fuck, your dick is just so great. I missed it.” Elliot grinned and leaned in for a quick kiss. He also missed everything Knight did to make Elliot come so hard he was always left in a pile of panting Jell-O.
My Dark Knight (gay biker romance) (Kings of Hell MC Book 2) Page 29