The Demon’s Touch (Bathhouse Beasts #8)

Chapter 1 The Demon’s Touch

The Demon’s Touch: Brad

“Got a weird one for ya, Brad,” my boss said the moment I stepped into his office.

“Is this another hoarder house?” I sighed. “Or an old lady with forty-seven cats that needs a new kitchen sink?”

I’d been working as a plumber for almost six months now and I was tired of getting all the shit jobs the other guys didn’t want.

Being the newbie meant I was the one going into muddy crawlspaces, the one fixing broken sewer pipes, and definitely the one that got sent to the most heinous and disgusting homes I’d ever seen.

And I was starting to get just a little fucking tired of it.

“Neither,” the boss said, shaking his head. “It’s actually a pretty clean business downtown in the warehouse district. They’re one of our biggest customers.”

I grabbed a chair, flopping down in it and crossing my arms. “So what’s the catch then?”

“Well, none of the other guys want to go to this place on account of…”

“Of what?” I was getting tired of this. “Come on, Kevin. Stop jerkin’ me around.”

“It’s a bathhouse,” he said at last.

“And? Who gives a shit?”

“It’s one of those bathhouses that people have sex in.” He said it like the company didn’t fix hot tubs and pools all the time that people definitely fucked in. “And it’s men only.”

Oh.

“So tell the guys to duct tape their buttholes shut or something,” I shot back. I didn’t give a shit if men fucked each other. I didn’t make a habit of dating guys, but I’d experimented plenty in college. “What are they afraid of? Liking what they see?”

“All of them are refusing to go.”

“You’re the fucking boss. Tell them to go anyway.”

“And it’s a bit of an emergency at the bathhouse,” Kevin continued, completely ignoring me.

“Their sauna is malfunctioning and there’s a hot tub that won’t drain.”

“Let me get this straight,” I said, leaning forward in my chair. “You’re going to send me, a single person, to do a four man job at a bathhouse because you can’t get your employees to work?”

“Not appreciating the tone, Brad.”

“Am I wrong?” I retorted. When he didn’t answer, I continued. “Am I getting paid overtime for this?” I pointed at the clock. “It’s four right now. Just fixing the sauna alone could keep me there until ten!”

Kevin leaned back in his chair, rubbing his temples like I was the one giving him a headache. "Yes, Brad. You'll get overtime. Time and a half after six."

"Double time," I countered.

"Don't push it."

"You're pushing it by sending me alone to do what should take a crew." I wasn't backing down on this one. Kevin knew damn well this was bullshit, and if he was going to screw me over, I was at least going to get paid for it.

He stared at me for a long moment, then sighed. "Fine. Double time after eight. That's the best you're getting."

I stood up, grabbing my tool belt from where I'd dropped it by the door. "Give me the address."

Kevin slid a work order across his desk and I snatched it up, scanning the details. The place was simply called “The Bathhouse” and the contact name just said “Front Desk Guy”. Unhelpful. But whatever, money was money.

"One more thing," Kevin said as I turned to leave. "The owner specifically requested that whoever we sent be... open-minded."

I paused at the door. "What the fuck does that mean?"

"Just... don't cause any trouble, alright? This account is worth a lot to us."

"Yeah, yeah." I waved him off and headed out to my truck.

The drive downtown took about forty-five minutes through rush hour traffic, and by the time I pulled up to the warehouse district, the sun was already starting to dip lower in the sky.

The bathhouse turned out to be in a renovated warehouse that looked like it used to be some kind of factory.

If I didn’t have the address, I never would’ve known it was there.

I grabbed my toolbox and headed for the entrance. The front door was simple and unmarked except for a “Member’s Only” sign.

Well, I wasn't a member, but I was the fucking plumber, so I pushed it open anyway.

Inside I found a totally normal lobby with a front desk, vinyl floors, and sterile fluorescent lighting.

And there was a completely normal looking guy behind the desk, probably in his mid forties.

The only thing that even hinted at the fact that this was a men only establishment was the fact that the front desk attendant was reading a romance novel with two half-naked men on the cover.

He looked up when I walked in, setting the book down with a small smile. His gaze flitted across my body before landing on my tool bag. "You must be the plumber."

"That's me," I said, setting my tool bag down. "Brad. I'm here about the sauna and the hot tub?"

"Oh thank god," he said, standing up. "We’ve had to close that part of the facility and the members are not happy." He placed his book on the desk and picked up the phone. “Let me call someone to take you through. I can’t leave the desk.”

"So what's going on exactly?" I asked as he began to dial.

"The sauna is stuck on high heat and won't turn off. It was damn near two hundred degrees in there before we unplugged it. And one of the private hot tubs in the back won't drain no matter what we do. We've had to rope it off."

“Sounds like something I can take care of.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” A moment later his eyebrows raised and I heard a voice come through the other end of the phone. “Yes,” the man nodded. “Can you send Michael up to take him through? Thanks.”

He hung up and gave me an apologetic smile. "Michael will be here in just a moment. He's one of our... attendants."

I nodded, glancing around the lobby. It really was surprisingly normal. I'd half expected something out of a porno, but it just looked like any other business.

A door I hadn't noticed before opened, and I turned to see who I assumed was Michael stepping through.

My brain stuttered for a second because the guy was not just a werewolf, but fucking gorgeous.

Tall, lean, with white fur that covered him from head to toe, and eyes that were an unsettling shade of amber.

Almost gold, really. He was wearing black jeans and a simple black t-shirt that hugged his frame in a way that made it clear he took care of himself.

"You're the plumber?" His voice was smooth, almost melodic, and I felt something weird twist in my gut.

"Yeah. Brad." I picked up my tool bag, suddenly very aware of how sweaty and dirty I probably looked after a full day of work.

"Michael." He didn't offer his hand, just gestured toward the door he'd come through. "Follow me. I'll show you to the sauna first."

I took a step toward him before he turned back, blocking my way.

“You… uh… been told about the kind of place this is?” he asked.

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“Well, just fair warning, we have members here right now and we have to pass through the locker room. So there will be guys in various states of—”

“Naked men don’t scare me,” I said before he could finish.

Something flashed in his eyes then. I couldn’t tell if he was surprised, impressed, or both. Either way, I liked the way it made my stomach clench. He gave me a good once over before flashing me a smile, his sharp white canines gleaming in the fluorescent light.

“Then let me show you to the sauna.”

I followed Michael through the door and immediately hit a wall of warm, humid air that smelled like chlorine, sweat, and distinctly sex. The locker room was bigger than I expected, with rows of metal lockers and wooden benches. And yeah, there were naked dudes and monsters everywhere.

A couple of guys were changing by their lockers, completely unbothered by our presence.

Another, a minotaur, was walking toward what I assumed were the showers, his ass on full display and his hooves clicking on the tile.

I kept my eyes forward, focused on Michael's back as he led me deeper into the facility.

"The sauna is in the back," Michael said over his shoulder. "Past the roman bath and the private rooms."

We walked through an archway and the temperature jumped another ten degrees.

The roman bath was exactly what it sounded like.

It was a massive room with faux Italian architecture all surrounding a giant bath.

At least two dozen guys were in there, soaking and chatting.

And some of them, in full view, were getting bent over the edge of the bath and fucked.

One of them, a burly guy with a thick beard, looked up as we passed. His eyes lingered on me for a second too long before he said something to his buddies that I couldn't hear. They all laughed.

"Ignore them," Michael said without turning around. "They're harmless."

"I'm not worried," I said, and I meant it. I'd dealt with worse teasing on job sites. The sex though… that was new.

We passed through the roman bath and through a door on the far side. Then it was down a long hallway before we finally arrived at another door with a "SAUNA - CLOSED FOR MAINTENANCE" sign taped to it.

Michael stopped and turned to face me. "This is it. Like I said, it was running at almost two hundred degrees before we unplugged it. Be careful when you go in there."

I set my tool bag down and pulled the door open. Even unplugged, the heat that rolled out was intense. I could feel it on my face like I'd opened an oven.

"Jesus," I muttered, stepping inside.

The sauna was a decent size, maybe twenty feet square, with wooden benches lining two walls and the heater unit in the corner. I knelt down next to the heater, pulling out my flashlight to get a better look.

"You need anything?" Michael asked from the doorway.

"Not yet. I'll let you know."