Page 17

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

SEVERAL DAYS LATER

Gabriel awoke in bed, lying on his belly and naked between the sheets. He blinked a few times as he glanced around the sunlit bedroom, seeing that he was alone.

Over the span of several days, he’d gotten used to Viktor coming in and fucking him whenever he felt like it. Gabriel would wake up naked and wouldn’t even bother to get dressed unless he needed to leave the bedroom for dinner or to watch TV in the living room.

The Russian mob boss had effectively turned him into his toy, and Gabriel had no choice but to accept his role and let Viktor use his body as he pleased.

But Viktor’s appetite for sex wasn’t the only reason why Gabriel chose to spend the majority of the day in the master bedroom. He was still shaken up from the incident with the guard and Viktor killing him, and Gabriel couldn’t find it in himself to go outside again so soon, even when Viktor had assured him it was safe to do so.

Gabriel sat up and leaned his back against the headrest of the bed, his upper body bare and exposed to the cool air, while his lower body remained warm under the covers. He couldn’t help but reminisce about his life before his kidnapping. He missed his best friend Enzo, he missed painting even if it were in the cramped space of his apartment, and he even missed going to work at the coffee shop.

But all of that was out of reach and behind him. Now he was nothing but a toy to be played with, then tossed into a bedroom and ignored when Viktor tired of him or had better things to do with his time. So far, Viktor seemed busy with work, but Gabriel knew better than to pry. It had nothing to do with him, after all.

As he sat there his mind started wandering. Sure, Viktor had protected him from the guard gone rogue, but had he done it out of a place of ownership or something else? Gabriel was Viktor’s toy, but what if their relationship could be more than captor and captive? What if Viktor were to actually love him? Warmth filled his face as he let himself indulge in the fantasy, but it was short lived as reality struck him. What was going to happen when Viktor decided he didn’t want him anymore? What would he do to him then?

Those other guys you hooked up with in the past never loved you, so why would Viktor?

Gabriel frowned. He was getting too far ahead of himself, but he was desperate to be something more than a toy. Deep down, he still wanted to be in love and to be loved in return. He knew it was wrong to want something like that from his captor, that it was nothing but a pure delusion, but if he was going to spend years of his life here, he at least wanted to be important to Viktor in some way. He wanted to matter, to be seen as a person, and not just an object for him to play with.

Despite feeling the deep, aching emptiness in his heart, Gabriel wasn’t stupid enough to believe that Viktor would actually love him, even when he wanted it with every fiber of his being. Gabriel was a toy, and toys were unlovable, especially to men like Viktor. He couldn’t let himself fall in love with Viktor because he knew he’d never get the same in return.

The bedroom door opened, and Viktor walked into the room before shutting it behind him. Gabriel waited as Viktor came closer and stood before the bed, and they watched each other for a brief moment.

“Good morning,” Viktor said.

“Morning,” Gabriel mumbled, and looked down at the bedding where he started playing with a piece of loose thread. Despite having been here for a few weeks, and regularly seeing Viktor, Gabriel still felt a little pang of nervousness around him. He knew he was only working himself up and guessed it would pass once he got used to this new life as a toy.

“What’s wrong?” Viktor asked.

“Nothing,” Gabriel said.

“You can’t hide how you feel from me,” Viktor said.

Gabriel stopped playing with the thread and slowly lifted his head to look at Viktor again. They made eye contact. Gabriel wasn’t surprised that Viktor was observing him since he’d been doing that a lot lately.

Gabriel shrugged and looked away again. “Nothing, I guess. I just... I wish I had something to spend my time on.”

Viktor was quiet for a moment. “What did you do before?”

“I used to work in a café,” Gabriel said. He knew without a doubt that he’d lost his job by now, considering he just stopped showing up. He’d liked the little café he used to work in, though, and even got along well with his coworkers. He felt bad about suddenly disappearing on them, but then again, he hadn’t had a choice in the matter. “And I liked to paint on my days off,” he added.

“You’re an artist?” Viktor asked.

Gabriel nodded. Viktor’s curiosity struck him, and he couldn’t help but wonder what was going through his mind. In the grand scheme of things, none of this information really mattered, at least that’s what he assumed, since he was just a toy to Viktor. Who cared about what Gabriel wanted or what he liked to do before he was kidnapped, right?

“My sister was an artist,” Viktor said.

Gabriel froze for a second, then snapped his attention back to Viktor. “I’m sorry, I?—”

“It’s fine,” Viktor said. “What do you paint?”

Gabriel stared at him. He hadn’t thought Viktor would care in the first place, but to hear him ask questions about it made Gabriel realize that Viktor wouldn’t have bothered to ask if he actually didn’t care. Gabriel felt his stomach flutter. He liked that Viktor wanted to know more about his interest in painting. None of his past hookups had cared, even when his paintings were displayed in his apartment when they’d come over.

“I—different stuff. Mostly abstract.”

Viktor ran his fingers through Gabriel’s hair, almost like he was patting him. He then slipped his hand down Gabriel’s face, where he cupped his chin and pressed his thumb into his lower lip.

Gabriel continued to stare up at Viktor, expecting him to peel away the fabric covering his naked body, pin him to the bed, and take him raw as he had done so many days before. By now Gabriel’s body had completely betrayed him, and his lower regions squirmed with arousal at the thought alone. Something in the way Viktor touched him turned him on, and Gabriel worried that Viktor had already messed him up because of all the things he’d done to him.

Did he like being Viktor’s toy? Heat filled Gabriel’s cheeks, and his body shivered from the constant rubbing of Viktor’s thumb on his bottom lip. Sure, Gabriel wanted to be more than just a toy to Viktor, but at that moment his ministrations were undeniably hot, and Gabriel craved to have him inside him again.

Gabriel glanced at Viktor’s bulge before looking up at his face again. Viktor’s eyes seemed to haze over with lust, and Gabriel kicked off the covers before lying on his stomach in front of his crotch, his ass bare and easy for Viktor to admire. He then reached for Viktor’s belt, undoing it before pulling down the zipper and taking out his semi-hard cock. Stroking it from base to tip, Gabriel felt as it quickly hardened in his grasp, before he sunk his mouth onto the head then down the shaft.

As Gabriel bobbed his head, Viktor groaned above him and fisted his hair. Having Viktor’s dick in his mouth seemed to turn him on even more, and he couldn’t help but grind into the covers, the sweet friction stiffening his cock and making him leak into the fabric. Moaning, Gabriel took in more of Viktor’s length, listening as he cursed under his breath. For a short while, Viktor simply fucked his mouth with shallow thrusts.

“Turn around,” Viktor said, his voice a rough order that made Gabriel pull his mouth away and obediently turn around so that his ass was in front of Viktor.

A drawer opened behind him and there was a pop of a lid, then a squirting sound before wetness slicked his hole. Clenching the sheets in his fists, Gabriel glanced over his shoulder and watched as Viktor fingered him with one hand, using the other to stroke his thick, long cock with the remainder of lube from base to tip. Gabriel shivered at the sight before facing forward again and resting his cheek on the mattress. He closed his eyes as Viktor held his waist with one hand and guided his cock into Gabriel’s hole with the other.

As Viktor sank into him inch after inch, Gabriel felt himself becoming full and undone, and braced himself as Viktor pushed all the way inside him until he reached the hilt. Now, with both of Viktor’s hands on his waist, Gabriel whimpered as Viktor drew back, then plunged in with a swift motion before transitioning into a steady rhythm of thrusts.

Keeping his back arched and his ass up, Gabriel gasped as Viktor repeatedly hit the bundle of nerves deeply embedded inside him. His body had become so used to having Viktor inside him that there was no resistance or pain. He was slick and stretched, and only sensations of electrifying pleasure consumed his body.

Closing his eyes, Gabriel focused on every pound into him from behind, feeling the pleasure rapidly building inside him. Leaking with precum, Gabriel grasped his dick and stroked in time with Viktor’s thrusts.

Viktor growled and Gabriel shivered beneath him. There was something hot and primal in the way Viktor dominated him, and hearing him growl drove Gabriel further to the edge.

With a gasp, semen spurted out of Gabriel over and over as the head of Viktor’s cock prodded against his prostate with furious velocity. Viktor squeezed his hips, making Gabriel whimper as the familiar sensation of warm semen filled him.

Still planted deep inside him, Viktor’s chest pressed against his back and Gabriel looked over his shoulder in time for Viktor to take hold of his chin and kiss him.

Feeling his heart hammering hard in his chest, Gabriel fluttered his eyes shut and opened his mouth to give him more access. When Viktor pulled away, Gabriel opened his eyes to gaze at him. Viktor slowly withdrew, and Gabriel lay flat on his stomach, spent but satisfied.

Viktor gazed at Gabriel, and for a moment he couldn’t look away. He was gorgeous, and more so when he had that blissed out look on his face. His dark brown eyes were lidded, his full lips parted as he breathed, and a dusting of pink spread across his cheeks and nose.

He should have walked away. Should have just turned his back on the boy and left, treating him like the toy he was. Instead, he was compelled to connect their mouths again. At that moment, he felt like Gabriel was more than just a toy. He felt like a lover, and Viktor had become addicted to him and how he made him feel, both physically and emotionally. After spending years without a significant other, Gabriel filled that empty, missing part of him. The urge took over, and Viktor found himself leaning over Gabriel, his lips on his as they kissed with tongue, and it devolved into a lengthy make-out session that threatened to get him hard all over again.

Viktor didn’t know what was happening to him. He didn’t know what Gabriel was doing to him or why he couldn’t stop wanting him, but he knew that he had to get out of there before he got lost in Gabriel again. Moving away from the bed, Viktor walked into the bathroom and stepped into the shower. Cranking on the water and adjusting the temperature, he stood under the spray and sighed. There was a part of him that wanted Gabriel in here with him, but Viktor had a feeling it’d be difficult to hold back if Gabriel were to join him. Once finished, he got out and dried off with a towel.

When he returned to the bedroom, Gabriel was still lying on his stomach, lithe body bare, and his eyes closed. Viktor stopped and stared. Just when he thought Gabriel couldn’t get any more adorable, now he’d given him a mental image to carry with him for the rest of the day. After getting dressed in blue denim jeans and a black T-shirt that sat snug against his chest, Viktor decided to leave him be and left the room, shutting the door on his way out. Walking down the hall, he went to the foyer and opened the front door, spotting two of his men nearby.

“You two, come here,” Viktor said.

They walked inside and Viktor led them down the hall on the other side of the house, then opened the door to the basement, revealing what was inside. “Empty this room now, and get rid of the old furniture before I come back.”

The men walked inside and went to the bed first, as Viktor walked through the hall and to the kitchen where he found Sasha taking out ingredients from the fridge. “I’ll be back in a few hours. Make sure Gabriel stays away from the basement,” he said.

Sasha looked at him and nodded once, prompting Viktor to walk out of the house and make his way over to the silver sedan parked at the front of his closed double garage. Getting into the driver’s seat, he started the engine and drove away from his property.

It was a clear day, and as he travelled down the road, avoiding main streets so he could stay out of too much traffic, his mind settled on Gabriel again. It seemed whatever he did, he couldn’t go long without thinking about him.

Gabriel had been so willing, not once resisting him or fighting back. He was an intelligent young man and he knew better than to do that, but there was a part of Viktor that believed Gabriel actually enjoyed having sex with him. He’d been receptive the entire time, almost treating Viktor like a lover rather than his kidnapper. It seemed he had unintentionally found himself the perfect toy, but the more he learned about Gabriel, the more he was saw him as being more than that. He was beginning to see the possibility for something deeper between them. He no longer viewed Gabriel as his enemy. Now, he was starting to realize just how much he had imprisoned the boy, just how unhappy he had made him with fear and by keeping him cooped up in the house all the time.

Gabriel had been innocent the entire time, and Viktor was beginning to regret how he’d treated him up until now. He deserved more. He deserved better. But despite that, Viktor couldn’t find it in himself to let him go because he liked how Gabriel made him feel, how he showed him that maybe he could open up to the possibility that there really was more to this cold, unloving world.

Hearing that Gabriel liked painting had reminded Viktor of Katya. His sister had been an artist too, and although it brought a deep sadness to him, Viktor didn’t want the memories of his sister to remain that way. He wanted to remember her in a better way, and at the same time, he wanted Gabriel to have something to do while at home, something that made him happy. Viktor intended his plans for the basement to push that all into motion.

Arriving at his destination half an hour later, Viktor stopped the car in a parking lot with a few other vehicles and got out before heading into a large building.

As he walked through the aisles full of markers, paints, sketchbooks, and canvases, Viktor imagined Gabriel’s smiling face. He was sure Gabriel would have loved to come here with him, but perhaps that would have to be for another day. The surprise Viktor had in mind for Gabriel was sure to outdo any visit to an art shop with him.

“Excuse me,” Viktor said as he stopped by a counter. A middle-aged woman with short, graying blonde hair and wearing a store apron was standing behind it. “I want to buy a few things for a painter, and I need help with choosing the best supplies.”

“Of course. I can be of assistance,” she said smiling.

“Do you do home delivery?” Viktor asked. Otherwise he was sure he’d have a hard time loading everything he intended to buy into his car.

“Yes, after you’ve gotten everything you need, we can take your address and deliver it today.”

Perfect . Viktor smiled. “Let’s do that.”