Page 14 of Inhuman Natures #1

Shaun

“I have to go,” Shaun said. He’d already stayed too long, letting Rake’s words lull him into a doze where he sat boneless in DJ’s lap. Shaun didn’t want to abandon either of them, but Lawrence leaving was enough of a message. He had to get a move on, or there would be repercussions.

“I’m not done with aftercare,” Rake said, concern in his eyes as Shaun pulled his clothing on.

“I’ll be fine, Sir, and I promise I had a really good time. Thank you. Both of you.”

“We need to get your number,” DJ said, blinking dazedly.

Rake nodded. “I can at least check in on you that way.”

“I’m sorry. Next time,” Shaun said, and even though every fibre of his being told him to stay with Rake and DJ, he left the club.

Shaun ran to the house as fast as possible. He floated so high on the endorphins from the scene that he overshot it by an entire street and had to double back.

Once inside, he followed the sound of the crooning vintage record player to the sitting room. The song was old and unfamiliar. He slunk into the room, keeping his head low .

Lawrence lounged on the sofa, aloof. Not acknowledging Shaun’s presence wasn’t unusual, but it set Shaun on edge. Lawrence was like a coiled snake waiting in the grass, ready to strike.

The song ended and the record player bubbled away. Shaun didn’t dare speak, scared of what might happen if he broke the weighty silence.

Lawrence flicked his gaze over to Shaun. He shuffled backwards at the penetrating look.

“You like them, don’t you?”

Shaun should have expected Lawrence’s question. “They’re nice,” he said. Placidity had served him well before.

“You had far too much fun.” Lawrence stood up and stomped over to the record player, Shaun watching him like a kicked puppy.

“Master, you agreed to let them play with me,” Shaun pointed out as gently as possible.

Lawrence whirled on him, jaw set in a hard line. “You know what I also found out tonight?”

Shaun stood stock still.

“You’ve been going to the club alone. And lying to me about it.”

The blood in Shaun’s veins chilled at the accusation.

“Lynette mentioned she’d seen you there by yourself a few weeks ago,” Lawrence said. “I don’t recall ever permitting such a thing.”

“I’m—”

“Sorry won’t cut it this time. And to think, I was so harsh on you that night.” Lawrence laughed, throaty and low. “If only I’d known. ”

Shaun stood close to the hall. He was fast. He might just—

Shaun turned tail and sprinted towards the front door. A split-second fumble with the handle betrayed him. Lawrence pressed his heft against Shaun’s back.

“You haven’t tried to run from me in years,” Lawrence purred. “It’s going to be so much fun reminding you of why it’s a terrible idea.”

“No, please,” Shaun begged. “I didn’t mean to lie to you. I ended up there by accident when out hunting.”

Lawrence began to drag him back through the hallway. Shaun’s body and brain were at odds with one another, his fighting instinct warring with his need to submit to Lawrence.

“We haven’t had to use the basement for a while, have we, pet?” Lawrence spoke softly, as Shaun imagined a real lover might.

“Please don’t. I’ll do anything else.”

Lawrence stopped just before they got to the door that led to the basement. “ Anything ?”

The prospect of being shut alone in the dark for nights on end, hurt and hungry, had Shaun nodding.

Lawrence gave him a lopsided grin of the type Shaun had once found charming. Now, it just sent shivers down his spine. “What if I asked you to bring that couple here to feast on them?”

Shaun couldn’t deny that his mouth watered at the prospect of tasting Rake and DJ. It’d been hard enough during their scene to rein himself in. The thought of Lawrence getting his hands on them, however, felt wrong right down to his bones.

“You can’t hurt them. Lynette— ”

Lawrence pulled Shaun’s face close to his own, his fingers looping around the ring in Shaun’s collar.

“Lynette can’t do anything to stop me. She and her blindly devoted creations do not know how to run a successful territory, let alone monitor everything that goes on around them. I intend to prove as much.”

Shaun panicked as he twisted in Lawrence’s hold. It was a futile task; with little effort, Lawrence shoved him up against the wall.

“You will not stand in my way,” Lawrence said, giving in to his propensity for melodrama.

“You’re a weak, pathetic little creature.

You don’t even appreciate the gift I gave you.

” He punctuated each point by slamming Shaun into the wall, his head taking the brunt of it.

His vision blacked out as Lawrence rocked him, leaving him unable to hold himself up.

Before he could recover, Lawrence pulled him down the basement stairs.

Shaun flailed as he hit each step with a brutal bang. He tried one more time. “Please don’t,” he sobbed, not needing to fake the waterworks.

“It’s too late for that,” Lawrence cooed as he unlocked the basement door. Shaun scrabbled at the bottom of the stairs, trying in vain to run back up them. Once Lawrence got him into the basement, there was no guarantee he’d ever make it out.

He only got as far as the second stair from the bottom before Lawrence had hold of him again, scruffing the back of his neck like a misbehaving kitten. “Submit to me now, and I’ll go easy on you.”

Shaun pressed his eyes shut as he let himself be steered into the basement.

“You are far too trusting, pet. I doubt you’ll make that mistake again after I teach you this lesson, however.”

The first hit wasn’t so bad, but the second one had him slipping into unconsciousness. He let the darkness claim him rather than fight for the light. It was, after all, where he belonged.

Shaun forced his eyes open. The stone wall was rough against his bare back as he shifted on the ground, his wrists weighed down by shackles. It took a few seconds to focus his vision. Lawrence was dragging something—some one —behind him as he entered the basement.

Shaun didn’t know what day it was, but given it must be nighttime again, it was likely a couple of days since Lawrence had begun his onslaught. Images flashed through Shaun’s mind like a nightmarish clip show. Flashes of barbed whips and savage bites and sharp knives and—

“Oh, good, you’re awake,” Lawrence said. “I’ve brought you some breakfast.”

Shaun’s stomach dipped as he took in every detail of the unconscious woman Lawrence dumped in front of him like a broken doll. White, in her mid-twenties, and with a familiar enough face that Shaun’s mind searched for where he knew her from.

The scent of fresh blood had his fangs itching. “Why her?” he rasped, voice rusty from having screamed himself hoarse. He covered his modesty with his hands, the links of the chains clinking and seeming to echo in the room.

“She’s caught Lynette’s interest,” Lawrence said. “Bitch deserves what’s coming to her.” It was nigh-on unheard of for Lawrence to select a woman to eat. Shaun supposed it made sense that Lawrence would only be interested in one as a form of revenge.

“Master, Lynette will sanction you for this.”

“There will be no evidence for Lynette to find,” Lawrence replied, grinning. They’d be banished for such an infraction, if they weren’t executed for it. The idea of never seeing Rake and DJ again—for either reason—made Shaun desperate.

It had been all that’d got him through the past few nights, thinking about when he came out the other end and could scene with the couple again.

He hadn’t quite been able to pretend that Lawrence’s whip was the same as Rake’s crop, but it had helped to quiet his mind to the point that the pain dulled into something manageable.

Shaun looked again at the young woman. She had several cuts and bruises over her exposed arms and a pink, matted bloodstain on her head. “Lynette will notice that we’ve fed from her,” he said.

“Not if her body is at the bottom of the sea.”

“You can’t kill her.”

“I’m not going to. You are.”

Shaun blinked. He’d never killed anyone before.

“That’s the deal, pet. You drain her to death, I let you out of the basement.”

“You can’t be serious.”

Lawrence flashed his fangs. “Deadly.”

If Shaun hadn’t been trying to barter for a woman’s life, he would have rolled his eyes. “Why?” he asked tiredly.

“Because you think you can just waltz around the city doing whatever you please.” Lawrence stalked forward, grabbing Shaun’s throat as he leaned in close. “Your life belongs to me.”

“You can punish me some more, but don’t bring some innocent person into this,” Shaun gasped, finding it hard to speak with Lawrence crushing his windpipe.

Lawrence looked right into Shaun’s eyes. “You will kill her,” he said, layering the words with compulsion.

Shaun fought it. He fought it so hard that his entire body shook with the effort.

But his fangs still extended, eager for blood.

“Kill her, and I will let you out.”

Shaun’s gaze fell on the woman. “Yes, Master,” he whispered.

“Enjoy your meal, pet.” Lawrence unlocked the manacles around Shaun’s wrists before shutting and locking the basement door, leaving Shaun alone with the woman.

Shaun closed his eyes. Normally, the compulsion would force him to obey Lawrence regardless of how reprehensible he found the action. But he knew now he was strong enough to resist the pull that told him to obey his creator, no matter what the cost.

He concentrated on throwing off the compulsion, the barbs of the command falling loose as he regained control.

Shaun took stock of himself, cataloguing which parts of his body had suffered the most damage. Amid all the pain, he found a modicum of relief that Lawrence hadn’t deigned to fuck him whilst enraged .

He steeled himself, walking gingerly towards the woman. She was out cold, but her chest moved up and down in even breaths. A good sign. Well, as good a sign as any, all considered.