Bargain With the Beast (6 page)

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.

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.”