Bargain With the Beast

by April Andrews

  Tobias shivered. The other male was attractive, there was no denying that, but he had absolutely no wish for a quick tumble with him. Tobias simply wasn’t built that way. At least that was what he had always assumed… “No.”

  “That’s what I thought,” the Beast said. “Your desire is not for him.”

  “My desire is to go home.”

  The Beast laughed. “That is not the only thing you desire, Tobias.”

  The way he said the words…the inflection…Tobias knew then that the Beast was as aware as he. Each knew that the other was attracted to him, and both were dancing around the subject.

  And dance we will, Tobias thought, because he could see nothing else being possible, if anything the whole thing was completely impossible. Curiosity aside, he wanted to go home. He wanted to forget about being abducted, forget about the odd yellow-eyed people that lived around the valley, forget about the whole fucking experience. He did not want to have to consider or deal with the weird feelings the Beast seemed to spark in him, or find out what was going to happen next.

  He looked around the cavern, suddenly wondering why he was faithfully trotting beside the Beast. Surely he should be trying to make an escape? Surely he should be looking for a way out?

  The Beast came to a halt. “Are you okay, Tobias?”

  “I’m…” Tobias paused, unsure what to say. “I’m a little weirded out.”

  The Beast sighed. “That makes sense. From your perspective I can appreciate how odd this must be for you.”

  “Odd?” Tobias wanted to laugh. “What is this place really?” he asked. “Why is it here? Who are you people?”

  The Beast tilted his head, considering. “It’s my world,” he finally said. “It always has been. And as to who we are?” He shook his head. “I don’t think you’re quite ready for that yet.”

  Never had Tobias so longed for his apartment on the cliff. Never had he so wanted to turn his key in the door and step into the place he had lovingly crafted into his home. But…he swallowed the sudden lump in his throat…they were below him. Even if he was tucked up in his building, he would be able to look down and know they were there. How was he supposed to deal with that knowledge? What was he supposed to do with it?

  “I’ve lived here my whole life,” he said after a moment. “I’ve never known about you. No one does, do they? How can that be? How can no one know you’re hidden away? That you surround us?”

  “So we’re here already,” the Beast said, and then to Tobias’ surprise he reached out and placed a hand on each of Tobias’s shoulders. The pressure was both worrying and comforting. Tobias was torn between trying to shrug him off and letting him be. Once again he could smell that oddly appealing scent. Worse, he could feel the heat coming off the Beast’s big body.

  He shifted and frowned, trying to work out what to do. In the end, it didn’t matter, because the next words the Beast spoke made Tobias’ freeze with a combination of puzzlement and worry.

  “Once a person comes here,” he said softly, “they do not leave until full turning. Only then can we be assured they will remain silent, and that they will return.”

  “Turning?” Tobias asked. “What are you talking about?”

  “You will see.” The Beast frowned and squeezed his shoulders. “There is no choice about that anymore. It was decided the moment Karl brought you here.”

  Tobias’ stomach clenched again. His heart started to pound. Suddenly it all began to make sense. The fact that the Beast had allowed him to see everything? The fact that he was telling him things that were surely meant to be secret?

  Turning…

  They were going to do something to him. That much was obvious now, and Tobias was sure it wasn’t anything that he wanted to happen.

  “I want out,” he said, stepping back. “And I want out now.”

  “Tobias,” the Beast dropped his hands before letting out a small sigh of disappointment. “You are clearly not understanding me. You have seen it all. You have had nearly all your questions answered. And that means only one thing.”

  “I…”

  “You will not be leaving,” he said. “Not for quite some time.”

  Chapter Six

  With those words ringing in his ears, Tobias reacted in the exact way he had wanted to the moment he’d woken up manacled to the bed. It was a reaction based on part-horror, part-fear, and part-pure instinct.

  Regardless, he responded to it.

  He turned.

  And he ran.

  He didn’t consider whether he was doing the right thing. Whether he was going to make his situation worse. He forgot all about the Beast’s words of warning to stay close. About the ‘complication’ of his presence. He simply tucked his head down, pumped his arms, and raced across the cavern.

  A year ago Tobias wouldn’t have got even a few feet, but now? Well, now he was fit. He ran every day. Could do ten miles without stopping for a deep breath, so before the Beast really knew what was happening, Tobias was already halfway across the cavern.

  His feet pounded on the granite and sandstone floor. His heart raced, adrenaline fuelling his flight. Thoughts pounded in time with his movement.

  He should have done this the moment the Beast let him out of the room!

  He should not have allowed his weird feelings to color his perception of what was happening!

  He needed to get out, and Tobias knew, he knew, this was the only way to ensure that happened!

  “Tobias!”

  The Beast’s roar hit his ears, but Tobias ignored it. He took a sharp left, straight into another tunnel. It was thinner than the last one and not as lengthy. Every few feet more tunnels branched off. Tobias took them one after the other. He had no idea where he was going, or where they would lead, but he knew one thing. There were ways out of this place. On the bay he’d seen a multitude of cave openings. He had never explored them because warning signs were dotted around. The cliffs were unstable in places, and Tobias had always been put off by the idea of being in one of those caves only for a rock fall to happen, trapping him in place.

  The irony of that was not lost on him now.

  Now he was more than willing to make his way into one of those openings if it meant he could be free of this place. Because if he didn’t get free now he was never going to! That much was clear.

  You will not be leaving for quite some time…

  He shuddered at those words, at the idea that the Beast was going to try and keep him here, underground, captive despite his insistence that the manacles had not been for that purpose. How would he ever get out? Who would think to look here?

  No one, he realized, because no one knew about this place!

  It was a secret hidden in plain sight. A world within a world, and though, as he ran, Tobias couldn’t think about the bigger picture of it all, he knew there was one. There was a reason these people were here, that they shut themselves away from the world, a reason they all looked similar. And he feared, deep inside, that he did not want to know that reason, but that if he stayed here for whatever ‘the turning’ was that he would.

  He took a sharp left, desperate to put as much distance between himself and the Beast as he could. It opened into a cavern similar to the one he had first seen. Like with that one, walkways were either side, and people milled about below. Tobias skidded to a halt and looked down into the cavern. There were so many fucking people! They wandered around, talking, laughing. It was tawny head after tawny head, and Tobias suspected that if they were all to suddenly look up, it would be yellow-eyes after yellow-eyes.

  He froze, suddenly worried that someone would look up and spot him. Who knew what they would do? With that thought in mind, he moved across to the wall and jogged alongside it, trying to keep himself as invisible as possible.

  After a few minutes, with his heart pounding, Tobias took one of the tunnels that branched off from the cavern. He followed it along until it reached a point where several smaller tunnels led off.

&nb
sp; Voices reached him then and Tobias sucked in a panicked breath. He shot into one of the tunnels, moved into a crevice in the wall, and waited.

  “Did you here about the outsider?”

  “I heard he was here. Heard what he looks like. Nothing more than that.”

  They were talking about him, Tobias realized, and he held himself as still as possible.

  “I wonder who he’ll be for?”

  “Not for Karl. He has Layla.”

  “Exactly.”

  A soft laugh and then, “Are you thinking you might have a shot?”

  A laugh back. “No. But blue eyes and blond hair? I wish.”

  More laughter before the male voices faded. Tobias sucked in a deep breath, unsure what to make of that conversation. They seemed to suggest that he was going to be ‘for’ someone, and hadn’t Petrov suggested something similar? Perhaps, he thought frantically, that was what the turning was? Maybe he was going to married off to one of the people here. After all, that would surely aid in keeping him silent, especially if he ended up liking the person he was paired off with.

  Especially if it was the Beast.

  He almost groaned at that thought because it in no way helped. His attraction to the Beast, because there was an attraction, had already caused mistakes. He hadn’t run when he should have. He hadn’t behaved in the way a kidnapped person should have. Hell, he’d even started to let the curiosity override his fear!

  How dumb could one person get?

  Tobias scowled at that thought, turned around and followed the tunnel along. At the end of it he took a sharp right, straight into a tunnel that was thick with a musky smell he couldn’t quite identify. At the end of it was an arched door. A way out maybe? Tobias skidded to a halt, trying to decide whether to go through it or try for another route. Footsteps sounded behind him. Not close enough that they would see him, but perhaps in one of the nearby tunnels. Muted voices followed.

  Panic made him shudder then. The idea of being caught a strong incentive to continue on. Before he could second-guess himself Tobias barreled straight through the door…and into the arms of a man.

  “Well, well, well…”

  He froze, looked around, and felt his stomach clench. Of all the places to end up in…he’d ended up in a bedroom, and it was the sort of bedroom Tobias was very familiar with. A huge bed dominated the space, and it was decorated with the same chains that had bound him just a few hours ago. That weird saddled cabinet thing was also in the room, and the man…Tobias took a step back…he reminded him forcefully of the Beast. The same yellow eyes, the same tawny hair, the same build.

  “So you’re the outsider?” the male asked, a grin on his face. “I hoped I might see you. Though I didn’t expect my brother to allow you free.”

  Brother? “He…” Tobias swallowed and took a step back. “I’m looking for the way out.”

  The male arched a brow. “Are you trying to escape?”

  Tobias shook his head quickly. “No.”

  “Of course you are,” he said. “There’s no way that you’ve been left to wander around on your own. We don’t do that here. Not for newcomers.” He paused. “You might run into someone like me.”

  Fuck.

  Tobias reached behind him and wrapped his hand around the door handle. He needed to get out of here and now. Of all the people to bump into! The Beast’s brother? Lady luck certainly was not with him today.

  The male smiled, almost as if he knew what Tobias was thinking. “Come here,” he said.

  “I’m just going to leave,” Tobias said. “I’ve got to—”

  The man reached out and pulled Tobias against him. Tobias let out a shocked cry and pushed back, but he couldn’t stop from slamming into him. The male was rock hard, his body a mass of muscle compacted on muscle. Tobias couldn’t quite get his head around it. He worked out for hours every day and yet this man? He was ripped to fuck.

  “Don’t struggle,” he said. “It only excites me.”

  But Tobias did struggle, unbelieving this was happening to him, that he’d put himself in this situation. “Get the fuck off me,” he demanded.

  The man laughed. Next thing Tobias knew he was being turned around, so that he was completely wrapped in the male’s arms and that was when Tobias felt it. This male was stiff. His dick as hard as the rest of his muscles. It was pushing against Tobias’ ass, the intent in it very clear.

  “Why are the outsiders he brings here always so fucking beautiful?” he breathed.

  “He didn’t bring me here,” Tobias spluttered, but his mind was racing with the knowledge that he was not the first to be brought here this way. “Now let me go!”

  “Semantics,” the male said, his hands running up and down Tobias’ chest. “Gods, you’re gorgeous. You will be even more gorgeous when you’re riding up and down on my cock.”

  Tobias shook his head, struggling hard, his mind racing. Was this man really going to try to have sex with him? How the hell was he going to get away? “I—”

  The door shot open, making them both jump back…and then the Beast strode in…and he looked absolutely furious.

  “Tobias,” he snapped. “Gregovitch.”

  “Brother?” The male’s grip tightened on him. “Look who I ran into.”

  The Beast glowered. “I can see. Is there a reason he is wrapped in your arms?”

  “Do I need a reason?”

  “He is not for you,” the Beast said. “Let him go.”

  Gregovitch let out a sigh. It feathered along Tobias’ neck. “Who is he for?” he asked.

  “You know who,” the Beast said.

  “I do,” Gregovitch said before laughing softly. “So take better care of him. Now is not the time for him to be wandering about. Not before turning.”

  He loosened his grip. Tobias moved swiftly across to the Beast, though he couldn’t help but think that he was jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. “I—”

  “Quiet,” the Beast hissed. “Do not say a single fucking word.”

  He turned and moved out of the room, not even sending his brother a backward glance. Tobias did though, and he shivered at the look on Gregovitch’s face. He was part-amused, part-pitying. That look did not make Tobias feel better.

  “I’ll see you soon,” he mouthed.

  Tobias shut the door behind him and followed the Beast out of the tunnel, because what choice did he have? At the end of it he opened his mouth to speak but one look at the Beast’s face and he closed it quickly.

  “You will stay behind me,” the Beast grated. “If you run off again I will leave you with whoever finds you next. And believe me, they will not be as patient as I am being.”

  Tobias lowered his head, all desire to escape now muted. What was this place that the men grabbed any other guy that run into them and tried to fuck them? It was like one of the clubs he’d been talked into attending in his teens. It had been in the city, about fifty miles away, and had basically been a free for all. Tobias had looked around, wide-eyed, unable to take it all in. Even he, chubby back then, had been given attention.

  “This way,” the Beast snapped.

  They passed back through the tunnels, the silence heavy between them. Eventually they began to pass by other yellow-eyed people. Perhaps his flight had attracted attention because muted whispers followed him and the Beast as they walked by. Tobias was so uncomfortable. He looked from person to person, trying to work out who they were, what they were doing down here, and why they all seemed to defer to the Beast.

  Worse, he was a riot of feelings. He didn’t know what was going to happen now. He suspected running had been a monumental mistake. That the Beast was angry…and Tobias was nervous.

  “In here,” the Beast snapped.

  Tobias followed him into the room he’d started out in. The manacles were still on the bed. The weird saddle cabinet also there. Tobias crossed his arms, his heart pounding. He wanted to say something, to apologize, only he knew that was crazy. Why should he apologize
for trying to get away from the people who had kidnapped him?

  “What did I tell you?” the Beast demanded the moment the door closed. “Don’t leave my fucking side.”

  “I had to,” Tobias said. “You gave me no choice.”

  “Because I told you the truth?”

  “Because you told me I can’t leave,” Tobias breathed.

  “I said you couldn’t leave straight away,” he corrected. “Not until we can be sure that you will return.”

  “So you want to keep me here one way or the other!” Tobias snapped. “Do you realize how wrong all this is? You’ve kidnapped me and brought me here against my will, and now you’re telling me I can’t leave?”

  “These are the rules.”

  “You also said that you make the rules here,” Tobias said. “So you can change them.”

  “I could,” the Beast replied. “But I won’t.”

  “But why not?” Tobias groaned. “Why not?”

  The Beast shrugged. “Honestly? Because I don’t want to.”

  Chapter Seven

  Tobias looked into the eyes of the Beast and practically shook from the riot of feelings running through him. On one hand was anger, because what the Beast was telling him was wrong on so many levels. But on the other hand were the nerves. Tobias didn’t think he had ever been so nervous in his entire life, because the man that stood, looming over him now, was a completely different man to the one who had walked through the door when he had been manacled to the bed.

  That man had been calm, considerate, almost tender.

  This one was furious.

  Tobias took a step away from him, trying desperately to work through his thoughts, to plan what he was going to do next, but he was coming up with blanks, because like it or not he knew there was only one way out of this place.

  Through the Beast.

  Still, he tried, because what else could he do? “This is crazy,” he said. “You can’t simply keep me here. I have a job, an apartment, friends, a life.”