He got up, sliding his feet out of bed and into his slippers. They were fuzzy and looked like little white rabbits, and he hadn’t had a chance to wear them until now because he dreaded what his roommates would do to him if they ever saw. It just felt a little weird to go walking around someone else’s home barefoot, but he didn’t want to take the time to find where he’d put his socks, either.
Despite himself, as he climbed up the steps and approached the hidden vault, he had to admit he was excited. Not happy, but more anticipatory. His curiosity had gotten the better of him while he lay awake all night, and so he hurriedly jabbed in the correct code while muttering the numbers to himself, and then threw the door open.
He stood there, taking the sight in.
It looked like there was an explosion at some time during the night. Eric’s suit hung around him in tatters. Some of it, anyway, just scraps. The rest of it was strewn in pieces all over the vault floor. His chest was bare, and the definition of his abs was like lines chiseled in stone. There was nothing to hide his groin, his shaft lying against his inner thigh.
Shawn automatically grabbed for his own crotch, startled by the flood of warmth straight to his member at the sight of the naked man’s placidness. Even soft like that, it was enormous.
Slowly, Eric looked up. His eyes were hooded, stubble on his proud jaw line, and he looked just as exhausted as Shawn felt.
“What happened?” he said, startling himself with how worried he sounded. Gripping the key, he hurried to crouch near his naked employer and picked up his hand to get at the lock. Warm, callused fingers stirred against his.
“I can’t tell you. Thank you, though. For doing this and for coming.”
Shawn picked up his other hand then and undid the lock there, and then sat back to watch as Eric shook out his hands and rubbed his wrists. Sudden concern filled him, and he waved his hand in front of the other man’s face to catch his attention. “Hey,” he said worriedly. “I work for you now, right? I need to know what happened. You look awful.”
No one should ever have to look so haggard.
A small laugh fell from those lips which pouted so prettily, but which were now lifeless and grey. “I know many others who would disagree with you,” Eric said. A mischievous glint filled his eyes and then just as quickly faded.
“I didn’t mean it like that!” He blushed hard, and then reached out for the shackled ankle nearest to him. “I just wanted to help.”
An enormous hand settled over his, and then suddenly Eric’s face was so close in front of his that their noses nearly touched. “Oh, you are,” Eric sighed, and his breath was sweet despite having been in the vault all night. It tasted like freshly-mowed grass, like a bouquet of wonders. “All I have to do is focus on you, and it goes away.”
His heart pounded in his chest. He stammered, “What…what goes away?”
In answer, Eric’s lips sank hard against his. He growled, grabbing the smaller man’s shoulders in hands large enough to crush him, but the embrace was gentle in its firmness. Their lips slid together, and then Eric’s tongue flicked out to trace his bottom lip.
Something overtook him as the warm, wet heat tickled over his mouth. He couldn’t help it. Already, he felt like he was on fire just being near Eric and now the fire had spread to encompass parts of him he hadn’t paid attention to in quite a while. Sex just fell to the wayside in the face of everything else, and he honestly hadn’t felt like taking care of himself at all recently, but this was the end of that. He felt terribly, impossibly alive. His whole body was burning up.
He parted his lips and let Eric in, greeting the other man’s tongue with his own. Their tongues slid together, rubbing sweetly; then, he felt Eric’s long tongue wrap around his and sucked.
Gasping, Shawn grabbed for the other man’s shoulders in return and dug his nails in. He was hardening as they spoke. Both of them were, and he felt Eric shift to a kneeling position so the oozing head of his member stood up straight in the air.
Their kiss parted. Eric growled again and then took Shawn’s ear in his mouth, flicking the whole of it hard with that burning tongue of his. Whimpers rose up in his throat and he pulled at the larger man’s shoulders, shuffling even closer. Something long and hard pressed against the fabric on his plump thighs.
And then he was on his back, startled and slightly breathless as Eric crawled towards him on all fours with his emerald eyes blazing. He lowered his head, kissing the tip of Shawn’s throbbing cock through his pants. His thighs trembled as he watched, his breath quick and shaking.
“I’m coming to get you,” he growled, his breath hot all the way down, and then he resumed crawling up the length of his body.
Where their skin touched, fires ignited. He lifted his head to watch the muscular frame of this man shift and bugle with every motion. His arms rippled with power, and his chest went on for ages.
Yes, yes, I’m ready. I didn’t know I was, but I’m ready.
Suddenly, there was a rattling sound and Eric jerked to a halt. He looked back with his eyes narrowing. Struggling to breathe, it took Shawn a moment to realize that he was still chained up at the ankles.
And just like that, his member wilted inside his pants. Grabbing at the smooth floor, he dug his fingers against the bolts and pulled his lower body away from Eric as they both sat up again.
“I…” He didn’t know what to say.
Eric raked his hands through his hair, and then sighed. “It was my fault. Here, give me the key. Thank you for all of this.”
“Please don’t fire me,” he whispered brokenly. “I don’t have anywhere to go.”
He could only watch as Eric slid the key towards the cuffs on his ankles, and then the larger man looked up softly. “You didn’t do anything wrong. I just needed to kiss you to get under control.”
Shawn had no idea what that meant, and he was starting to recognize the sound of such things as being something he would get no answer to, so he just shook his head and left on wobbling legs.
And so the routine began. The act of chaining Eric happened later after that first night, for a reason that he wouldn’t explain, of course. At 10 p.m., he was chained. At 6 a.m., he was freed.
Very little else in their lives together had as much interaction as that. In fact, as the days wore on and turned into weeks, those were the only moments they spoke to each other. Even when Eric handed him his paycheck for the week, it was in utter silence.
With nowhere to go and nothing to do, Shawn made himself at home as best as he could. He read, watched TV, and made himself snacks to his heart’s content. No matter what he did, Eric seemed to orbit around him to leave plenty of space between them. And it took a bit of adjusting to get used to being able to do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted to, and it was upsetting during those times to suddenly realize Eric was staring at him from across the room or the floor above. His natural shyness always sent him scurrying back to his room when that happened, shutting and barricading the door behind him since there was no lock.
Of course, there was only so long that could keep happening before he ignored it. Two weeks, give or take, and then he would just go about his business like normal whenever he felt that way.
It was a sort of limbo for over three weeks, for nearly a month. Each night, Shawn stared at the paychecks on his dresser. It was more money than he’d ever seen in his life. And they were just sitting there.
I must be a prisoner, he thought bitterly, several days after that third check was handed off to him. The apartment which seemed so large and grand at first was slowly closing in on him. Every day, it seemed to take one less step to get where he was going. The walls so far apart and the vaulted ceiling because illusory, existing only by sight; they really pressed down on his shoulders, his head, creating an infinitely shrinking box. He had never really been claustrophobic, but this sense of immobility?
It had to stop.
That evening, he could stand it no longer. He was by the bookshelf, studying
the titles for something to catch his interest now that nothing ever did, and then he stopped. There was no breaking, nothing dramatic happening inside him. Actually, he felt incredibly calm.
Eric was lounging on the couch, arms draped over the back and legs splayed. He looked up with surprise as Shawn walked over and stood almost right on top of him.
“Can I help you?” he rumbled, polite as ever.
His emerald gaze was flat and lifeless. Shawn had to look away, his heart twinging. No! He snapped angrily at himself. Don’t feel sorry for him. Exactly what happened to him is happening to me. I can’t do this anymore.
“I need to go to the bank,” he said simply.
Eric blinked. “You can’t go anywhere. What if I need you?”
Suddenly, his frustration boiled up. The sea of calm vanished, evaporated instantly beneath the heat of his anger. “What do you think you need me for? I’m not taking care of you at all! All I do is chain you up at night. It would take me literally half an hour to get to the bank.”
The other man sat up, dangling his hands between his knees. “I don’t understand,” he said blankly. “You agreed to be my live-in caretaker. You signed on for this job.”
Shawn slammed the side of his fist against his thigh. It hurt, and only made him angrier. “No!” he shouted, “I agreed to living-in, yes. But never, ever leaving? Why are you even paying me if I can’t leave?”
“Don’t yell at me in my own house,” the other man growled, some emotionally finally coming through.
“Isn’t this my house now, too?”
Eric laughed in his face, reminding him that even though one of them was standing and the other was sitting, they were very nearly the same height. A bit of fear blossomed in his chest but for once in his life, he fought against it and continued to stare down the other man.
“I’m the one paying the bill, Shawn.”
Shawn felt his lips twist. “I could pay bills too, if only I could go to the bank.”
“You’re unbelievable. You said you didn’t have anywhere else to go, and now you’re complaining about it?”
Eric stood.
Immediately, Shawn stepped back and cringed, but the larger man only turned away with a moody expression. “Well,” he huffed, “now you’ll get what you wanted. I have something for you to do.
“What?” he said crankily.
“Chain me,” Eric said simply, even though his face was flushed with anger. He was shaking too, and his fists were clenched.
He argued, “It’s not time yet. You’re breaking your routine.”
“I don’t care!” It was Eric’s turn to shout, something he hadn’t done their whole time together. The niggling bit of fear in Shawn’s chest became an entire garden of terror, and he realized abruptly that the best way to alleviate it would be to go along with what Eric wanted. And while the other man was chained up, why couldn’t he just go to the bank, then?
It was perfect.
Eric was still speaking as they climbed up the stairs together and headed for the vault. “It’s never been so strong before,” he whispered. “And never so early. It always comes out at night, but now…”
Whatever he was talking about, there was nothing to be done for it. When they stepped inside the vault, he let himself be chained up, and then sat there with his head lowered. Shawn looked back at him, shook his head, and then left.
The world exploded, or at least it sounded like that.
Shawn leapt up from his bed, missed his footing and collapsed on the floor with his heart hammering in his chest. The sound continued on and on, a concussive squeal of strained metal which ended abruptly in a thump which shook the whole apartment. Silence fell then, but not for long. An unearthly rip of thunder, almost like a roar, burst out from outside. Only, it wasn’t outside and this was no storm.
Whatever it was, it was inside.
Eric!
Grabbing at the bed, he heaved himself up to his feet and almost fell again because his legs were shaking so badly. Eric was up there by the vault, completely vulnerable to whatever this was that was loose in the penthouse. That thing crashing around up there sounded big enough to rip the whole place to pieces –a tiny wooden door wouldn’t stop it, and Eric couldn’t escape when he was chained to the floor.
He started for the bedroom door, his arms flung out in front of him, but then he stopped and drew up short with his fingers on the knob. Maybe it would be best if he just ran for help instead of risking his life to go up there. After all, the exit was right there. And Terrance was nearby. He would be able to help.
Quickly switching tactics, Shawn grabbed for the door, but only ended up pulling back again.
By the time anyone came to help, it would be too late. Eric was too close to the attacks to last for long on his own. He would never make it.
But he was so scared…
Clutching at the sides of his head, Shawn backed up and sat down on the bed. His heart felt like it was about to beat right out of his chest, and he was shaking so badly he could hardly see. Whatever that thing was, it sounded furious. If he even left this room, it would get him.
But it’ll find me anyway, he thought hopelessly, moaning to himself and rocking a little as he struggled to think of some other way, but there was nothing. He couldn’t save anyone. He couldn’t even save himself.
Another roar, the sound so deep it shook his bones.
He cried out in alarm, and then clamped his hand over his mouth as his shout carried on even after the roar ended. There came several thumps, and a low resounding growl. After that, nothing.
But he knew just from those thumps that it had come closer. Descended. It could smell him. He knew it.
This is it, he thought bitterly, digging his nails into his cheek. This is why everyone hates me. I can’t do anything.
He had never been able to do anything. School, auditions, life; he failed every single thing thrown his way, and then let himself sink deeper into a misery which continued to prevent him from doing anything else. That was why he would die here, ripped to shreds by a mysterious…thing.
Eric was probably already dead. He wouldn’t have had a chance. And he could just imagine Peter and Carmen laughing as they identified his corpse, making the same disgusting jokes as they did about him when he was alive. His parents wouldn’t even know he died. And that was how it would end, buried alone and forgotten in an unmarked city plot reserved for the homeless and other people no one cared about.
His fists were clenching. Terror and anger bubbled inside him, a boiling lake of fury in his stomach.
To go out like this and never even had a single acting job…to have never once done something important…
He couldn’t bear it!
Shooting to his feet, Shawn lurched for the door. In answer, the primal scream echoed down from above, so close now it was deafening. And still he grabbed for the door and threw it open so hard it rebounded off the wall and slammed into his shoulder hard enough to leave a bruise, and then he ran.
Down the hall and around the corner, slipping in his bare feet as he skidded over a loose, rug which hadn’t ever been in that spot on the floor anymore. Waving his arms wildly to catch himself, he struggled for balance.
It was no use. He fell.
And sleek motion ripped up over the second-floor railing and crashed on the stairs, skidding down on long, bulging legs.
Death had come for him.
All his fear went away. The anger remained, but it was so intense it might as well have been calm. Turning as he fell, Shawn looked up to see what this monster was.
Striped orange as sunsets and black as midnight, it was the largest tiger he had ever seen and nothing at all like the placid zoo animals of his childhood. Time seemed to slow down as he took in every single detail, from the snarling maw which bared teeth longer than his hand, to the lashing tail so powerful its whip like motion splintered the staircase railing. It was agitated, bushed out from nape to tail-tip, and its paws were huge enough
to crush the steps beneath as it descended. But, what he noticed most was the sound.
It was snarling and screeching with anger, crushing and splintering as it went, but its feet made no sound at all beneath the breaking. The tiger was as silent and stealthy a predator as could be and this one was obviously out of its element.
It looks scared, he thought wonderingly, as the magnificent beast bunched up its legs and lunched down the last half of the staircases. It landed lightly, though its weight buckled the floor, and then it approached with its head low and nostrils flaring.
He could smell it as it stalked closer, large enough to block out his entire world. There was nothing but Shawn and the tiger in this entire universe, their reality shrunk down to man and the musk of heated animal fur. Even when it was close enough for him to feel its breath on his face, the scent didn’t change.
His body prone and still, the tiger crouched over him. Its jaws stretched wide, directly over his throat, and it lunged down.
He caught a look at its eyes in the second before the bite landed.
They were wide, hazy, and utterly emerald.
“Eric?” he mouthed, but no sound came out. There was no breath in his lungs. And the world went dark around him.
He woke up in his bed, struggling to remember why he ached so badly. And what time was it? Had his alarm already gone off?
“Eric?” he murmured confusedly, and then shot bolt-upright with horror as he remembered what happened before.
There in the corner of the room came a flash of dull orange-red and shifting shadow. Before he could sit up, thin hands landed flat on his chest and gently nudged him back down. “You shouldn’t move too much,” a hoarse voice whispered. Someone leaned down into his vision and after a blurry moment, Shawn recognized it as Terrance. “Don’t push your luck.”
From somewhere in the corner of the bedroom came an agonized mewling.
Omega Wanted: Bad Boy Mpreg Romance Page 30