Knight smirked and put his arm around Elliot.
The Engagement
Beast was happy to relax. Being the club president came with a great number of responsibilities, but he still made sure to spend time with Laurent. Around Christmas there was far less going on, and some of the brothers even visited their families out of Brecon, which meant he had plenty of time to just chill out with his pretty boyfriend. Laurent was worthy of any pact Beast might have made with the devil.
He approached their door and opened it, rolling his shoulders to loosen up as he walked into the living room, which looked completely different drowned in the light of candles. It seemed Laurent had special plans for their evening together.
The furniture had been rearranged. Laurent had brought in a small table and two chairs, set it with tablecloth, and the scent of Chinese food was hard to miss. As soon as he saw Beast, he rose from his chair with a wide smile. Maybe it was a Christmas Eve thing that he was so dressed up and polished. Not that he usually wasn’t, since Laurent didn’t like to have a hair out of place.
Laurent stepped closer in the made-to-measure dark blue suit Beast got for him some time ago. Even the pocket square was manicured perfection, as if Laurent had folded it along a tape measure. Maybe he had. He hated getting things wrong.
“Hi. Did I forget something important?” Beast asked cautiously, only now noticing that the table was set with the ridiculously expensive porcelain Laurent had wanted for his birthday. Beast had offered to buy him pretty much anything at the mall, and Laurent decided on dinnerware. That ended up with Beast having to purchase a display cabinet for it as well. The set of modern china, white with a drip-design done with golden paint, never left its pristine spot—which Laurent illuminated whenever they had guests at the apartment—until tonight.
“No, I just thought this is a nice time for a special evening. It’s so quiet around the clubhouse that it will feel like just the two of us are here.” Laurent walked up to Beast and squeezed his hand before pulling him to the table. “I had Nao order your favorites. You know, from the restaurant we got food at when we first met?”
Beast swallowed. This couldn’t possibly be an anniversary, because Laurent had only crashed into his life back in April. What was it then? Why the ceremony? It couldn’t be anything bad, because Laurent was all smiles, but it was still unnerving.
Beast sat down and looked at the cheap yet delicious takeout lying in the middle of the elegant plate. On the day they’d bought the set, Laurent kept asking the saleswoman what patterns were considered fashionable and seemed very confused when she claimed that there was variety to suit everyone’s taste. In the end, he’d put across that he wanted something representative and modern, only to then grill her about the provenance of the maker and which important people owned sets from the same brand. Throughout the process, Beast kept his face still, not wanting to discourage Laurent’s idea, but later that day he did ask Knight why a man would be so adamant about getting pretty plates. Apparently, it used to be a status thing. So now he had plates they never used, because they were there to show off they had taste and cash.
Until tonight.
He was getting stomach cramps.
“That’s nice... General Tso’s chicken?”
Laurent smiled and sat opposite Beast who was feeling very underdressed for whatever this occasion was. Or was it just… Laurent wanting to try some new sex thing and being coy about it?
“Yes, and I ordered the sweet and sour shrimp and five spice beef as well. I’ve forgone the squid, as neither of us had seemed to enjoy that. I have additional fortune cookies too and some whipped cream to top it off. I love those.”
Laurent poured them both wine into crystal glasses, and Beast once again felt completely out of place. He never drank wine. But he obviously would now.
“Sounds like a plan. Are we... giving each other Christmas presents a day early?” he asked in the end and sniffed his wine.
“We could. I guess. If you’d like to. But isn’t that against tradition?”
And Laurent was very much into traditions.
Beast shrugged and smiled, thinking of the antique mirror he’d bought for Laurent. It had a lovely carving on the frame and would surely be a great fit for his room. “I believe we should make our own traditions.”
Laurent pulled back from the bowl of egg-fried noodles. “So maybe… gifts before dinner after all?” He seemed strangely nervous in the way he folded his hands in his lap.
Beast smiled at him with encouragement. He might have found the root of the problem. With Laurent not having much in terms of his own money, he was possibly embarrassed of not being able to buy gifts that equaled Beast’s in monetary value. Beast didn’t care about such things, and he’d make sure to let Laurent know he didn’t need to keep to his odd nineteenth century hangups.
“Sounds like a plan. But mine’s in the office.”
Laurent got up abruptly. “I’ll go first then.” He took a deep breath, circled the table, and then got down to one knee.
For a moment Beast thought that Laurent was about to reach under the table where he could have hidden his present, but Laurent looked up instead, pulling out something small out of the pocket of his suit.
Beast looked at the little box clad in navy fabric, but his brain didn’t add up the situation until Laurent opened it, revealing a thick ring made of platinum, with a small ruby set amidst artistically distributed ‘cracks’ in the metal.
He had no idea what to do. Out of all the situations he could have imagined, this one wouldn’t have even made the list of possibilities, and yet there Laurent was, presenting Beast with a ring, while kneeling by a table set with porcelain meant for special occasions.
It was making Beast’s mind sizzle as if it was about to combust.
“Kai, will you do me the honor of becoming my husband?” Laurent asked, but his tense posture and hitched breath told Beast just how nervous Laurent was.
He, Beast of the Kings of Hell MC, a man who many feared, and who was sometimes so unwanted, was being asked for his hand in marriage.
It was ridiculous.
If he was with anyone else, he might have wondered whether he wasn’t being pranked, but Laurent would never joke about family matters. And of course, he was proposing in a suit and offered Beast a ring with the most expensive of precious stones. How in the world could he have afforded that? Beast would ask him. But not now. Absolutely not now.
“Laurent... I didn’t expect this so soon.” To be fair, he didn’t expect a marriage proposal at all. Ever. But if he had, he wouldn’t have imagined Laurent taking the first step, all things considered.
The sheer terror in Laurent’s big brown eyes made Beast want to take his words back and form the sentence differently. “Oh. I… I didn’t know there was a time imposed on the matter. I’ve done my best to research these things.” He closed the box with the ring and slowly got up looking like a man crushed to pieces.
Beast rose so fast his chair fell to the floor, but he didn’t care to pick it up and pulled Laurent closer. “No. No, there isn’t... not really. I’m sorry. You just... surprised me.”
Laurent gently punched Beast’s chest with the box still in his fist. “Why would you say that then if there is no specified time in which one is to propose?”
Beast wanted to scream. “Because... usually it takes longer, but that’s not a rule. I just think... all my life I thought I would never be married.”
At least Laurent wasn’t trying to pull away. “I don’t want to wait. What is there to wait for? I’ve found the man I want to share my life with, and I would like to make it official.” He hugged the ring to his chest. “There’s only so much I have to offer, but with this ring I promise that I will love you, that I will always be loyal, and stay at your side. And if you weren’t sure about my intentions, I wanted to prove that I don’t just take, and that I can save up for the things that matter.”
Beast exhaled, still completely baffled b
ut also amused. And happy.
“Yes.”
Laurent gasped and looked up. “Yes?”
Beast grinned. It seemed that only now his mind was catching up with reality. He would be getting married to Laurent, the loveliest person in the entire world. It didn’t matter that so many things that Laurent did were unexpected or unconventional, because Beast loved them all.
“Yes. I will marry you. Of course.”
The wide smile he got in return was the prettiest thing he’d seen... possibly ever. “Beast! How can you frighten me this way? Please put the ring on.” He laughed out loud. “I’ve measured it in your sleep, so it should fit.”
Beast barked with laughter and scooped Laurent with one arm, to keep him close. “I think you should put it on yourself, Future Husband.”
Beast’s chest was a flurry of joy, but he couldn’t believe just how happy Laurent looked with his big eyes sparkling with glee, as if Beast was a gift from heaven and Laurent could have gotten no one better.
Laurent opened the box and quickly pulled out the suspiciously expensive-looking ring. He hadn’t… stolen it, had he? No, Laurent was too much of an upstanding citizen for that.
He pulled on Beast’s hand and slipped the signet on with breaths so deep Beast could hear them.
It fitted perfectly.
The end
To find out more about the next book in the series, read on!
Coming soon!
On Your Knees, Prospect
Kings of Hell MC #3
Jake's been itching to become a patched member of the Kings of Hell MC for years.
For two years he's toiled as the only prospect.
So when a new guy swans in and thinks he'll get a patch in no time just because he's got friends in high places, Jake is there to show him hell.
Only that the guy is older, more experienced, drives a Harley, and has the kind of boots Jake is ready to lick.
But he won't.
Because he only fucks patches.
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About the author
K.A. Merikan are a team of writers who try not to suck at adulting, with some success. Always eager to explore the murky waters of the weird and wonderful, K.A. Merikan don’t follow fixed formulas and want each of their books to be a surprise for those who choose to hop on for the ride.
K.A. Merikan have a few sweeter M/M romances as well, but they specialize in the dark, dirty, and dangerous side of M/M, full of bikers, bad boys, mafiosi, and scorching hot romance.
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Other books by K.A. Merikan
Guns n’ Boys (single-couple series)
Road of No Return
The Devil’s Ride
No Matter What
Red Hot
One Step Too Close
His Favorite Color is Blood
Heart Ripper
Diary of a Teenage Taxidermist
Bare-Knuckle Love
Mr. Jaguar
The Cattery
Werewolves of Chernobyl (written with L.A. Witt)
Break My Shell
Special Needs
The Copper Horse (single-couple trilogy)
Stung
Scavengers (single-couple series)
Crazy Kinky Dirty Love (single-couple series)
The Art of Mutual Pleasure
The Black Sheep and the Rotten Apple
Hipster Brothel
—- You don’t fuck with the club president's son. —-
Tooth. Vice President of the Coffin Nails Motorcycle Club. On a neverending quest for vengeance. The last thing he needs is becoming a permanent babysitter for a male hooker.
Lucifer. Fallen. Lost. Alone.
After a childhood filled with neglect and abuse, followed by his mother’s suicide, Lucifer set out into the world alone. There was nothing for him out there other than taking it one day at a time. As the bastard son of the Coffin Nails club president, Lucifer never got much fatherly love. So when the Nails show up at the strip joint Lucifer works in, the last thing he expects is to be put in the custody of Tooth, the Nails Vice President famous for his gruesome interrogation techniques. The man proves to be the sexiest beast Lucifer has ever met. He’s also older, straight, and an itch Luci can’t ever scratch.
Tooth’s life came to a halt twelve years ago. His lover got brutally murdered, police never found the perpetrators, and all leads were dead ends. To find peace and his own justice, Tooth joined the Coffin Nails, but years on, he’s gotten nowhere with the case, yet still lives on with the burning fire for revenge.
Babysitting a deeply scarred teenager with a talent for disappearing is the last thing on his bucket list. He promised himself to never get attached to someone like him again. To make sure the openly gay boy is safe in the clubhouse, Tooth is stuck keeping an eye on him. The big, blue, attention seeking gaze is drawing Tooth in, but fucking the president’s son is a complete no-go, even when both their feelings go beyond lust.
What Tooth doesn’t know is that Lucifer might hold the key to the closure Tooth so desperately needs.
WARNING Contains adult content: a gritty storyline, sex, explicit language, violence and abuse. Inappropriate use of dental tools and milk.
Themes: Prostitution, Outlaw Motorcycle Club, organized crime, homophobia, family issues, coming out, discipline/punishment, organ snatching, hurt-comfort, age gap
Genre: contemporary gay erotic dark romance
Length: ~ 125,000 words (Standalone novel, no cliffhanger.)
—- Love is sour like a Sicilian lemon. —-
The Family is always right.
The Family doesn’t forget.
The Family pays for blood in blood.
Domenico Acerbi grew up in the shade of Sicilian lemon trees ready to give his life for the Family. Ready to follow orders and exceed expectations. A proud man of honor.
When Seth, the younger son of the Don is kidnapped, it’s Domenico who is sent to get him back. The man he finds though, is not the boy he knew all those years ago. Lazy, annoying, spoiled, and as hot as a Sicilian summer.
Seth Villani wants nothing to do with the mafia. Unfortunately, he doesn’t get a say when the Family pulls him right back into its fold after his mother’s death. Thrown into a den of serpents otherwise known as the Villani Family, Seth has to find a way to navigate in the maze of lies. But when Domenico Acerbi, the most vicious snake of them all, sinks his fangs into Seth, the venom changes into an aphrodisiac that courses through Seth’s veins.
Domenico knows his life is about to change when he gets the order to train Seth up to the role of future Don. Seth isn’t made for it. He isn’t even made. But a man Domenico knows he would never have to fear might just be someone he’s always needed.
If Seth is doomed to follow in h
is father's footsteps, he might as well enjoy himself—with the most intoxicating man he’s ever met. Maybe he can even fool himself into believing that Domenico isn’t a handsome sociopath who kills for a living.
POSSIBLE SPOILERS:
Themes: Enemies to lovers, mafia, homophobia, assassin, organized crime
Genre: Dark, twisted erotic romance / crime thriller
Erotic content: Explicit gay sex, coercion
Length: ~110,000 words (book 1)
WARNING: Adult content. If you are easily offended, this book is not for you.
‘Guns n’ Boys’ is a gritty story of extreme violence, offensive language, abuse, and morally ambiguous protagonists. Behind the morbid facade, there is a splash of inappropriate dark humor, and a love story that will crawl under your skin.
My Dark Knight (gay biker romance) (Kings of Hell MC Book 2) Page 45
