Total pages in book: 161
Estimated words: 147673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 738(@200wpm)___ 591(@250wpm)___ 492(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 738(@200wpm)___ 591(@250wpm)___ 492(@300wpm)
The sun was already low, and the men stopped bothering him for a while after that, both clearly intent on getting to an inn before it got dark. Laurent watched the light turn a dark orange where it fell on his bound hands, and he simply waited, locked in his own miserable head more securely than he could ever be in the cage.
Something rustled in the bushes between the thick trees growing on both sides of the road, and the horse rider backed away to direct his mount to the other side of the wagon and look into the woods.
“That a deer?” asked the driver.
“Devil knows.”
“Stop right there!” the driver yelled, pulling Laurent out of his thoughts.
Laurent turned to look, but the sacks of corn obscured his vision. The stranger cast the shadow of a giant, not only long but almost unnaturally broad in the chest and shoulders. Laurent squinted as the sun hurt his eyes, but even then he could see the man wore no coat, and the shirt clung to his body creating a distinctly unfashionable silhouette. Unfashionable for 1805.
Laurent’s throat clenched when his mind told him he knew that figure, yet he refused to grasp at empty hopes.
“Step away, I said!” the driver repeated, and the sound of clinking metal had Laurent on pins and needles.
“We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. Give up your prisoner.” Beast’s voice had Laurent getting to his feet so fast he hit his head on the low ceiling of his cage.
“What in the devil’s name are you?” the rider asked, pointing his pistol at Beast. Laurent gasped and was about to warn Beast of the danger when the more advanced 2017 pistol shot first. The man who tormented Laurent so cruelly not that long ago gave a choked cry and fell off his mount with a creak so horrid he was surely dead from a broken neck, even if Beast’s bullet hadn’t yet ended his life.
The driver hesitated, fumbling with his own gun, but something was off, and as Beast’s titanic body approached, he frantically jumped off the wagon, intent on saving himself.
But Beast was stronger, bigger, faster, a more developed kind of human being brought up on meat and superfoods served on plastic, and he descended on the man like a harpy hungry for blood.
Laurent yelped when Beast turned the man’s head sideways with a nasty crackle that made every joint in Laurent’s body ache. When Beast released the limp body, it lifelessly slumped to the ground.
Laurent’s eyes met Beast’s, and the determined, furious expression of a man ready to do anything that needed to be done softened, as if there was a light switch to Beast that only Laurent knew how to operate.
“My Beast…” Laurent choked out, unable to find his full voice.
Beast slowly picked himself up, and at this angle the sun didn’t spare Laurent any detail of his lover’s handsome form. The Latin quotes on Beast’s face were so clear over the scars, his powerful chest swelled with each deep breath, but the clear blue eyes became Laurent’s sole focus when Beast left the body behind and stuck his hands into the cage, pulling Laurent close through the wooden bars.
If only Laurent’s hands were free, he’d hug back so strongly he’d leave behind bruises. Instead, he had to settle on feeling Beast’s touch and stroking his chest with the sides of his hands. Face buried in the front of Beast’s shirt, he took a deep breath, and after days of pain, hunger, and degradation, the familiar scent of Beast’s cologne brought tears to his eyes. But despite the painful longing to just let himself go end enjoy what he was given, he could not condemn Beast to his own fate.
“What are you doing here? You’re not supposed to be here, Beast. This is not your time, you will not thrive here. And I will be a fugitive. This is all not how it’s supposed to be.” Still, Laurent rested his cheek against Beast’s head.
Beast exhaled and twisted his neck, capturing Laurent’s lips in a sweet, gentle kiss that made Laurent wish to forget his reason and just let himself be happy for those few more seconds.
“No. No, Laurent. I’m taking you back. You’re coming home.”
Laurent watched him, dumbstruck, but still gave him another kiss. “What do you mean? You surely cannot… I don’t understand.”
Beast licked his lips and drew back, letting go of Laurent before turning away from him. The brand on the back of Beast’s neck made his skin look like finely worked leather, the imprint almost too perfect to be real.
The cogs of Laurent’s brain felt rusty, but they did start moving. “You made… a deal? For me? What about King?”
Beast clenched his teeth, approaching the dead body of the driver. He stuck his hands into the man’s coat and produced the large key used that morning to lock Laurent in the cage.