Page 15 of Drag You Down (Bloody Desires #2)

LEVI

I should fight this. I should run.

Instead, I let Gabriel half carry me into his luxury condo building, where every person we pass looks like they’re making “more money than God.”

What a saying.

The condo itself is richly furnished, every decor item carefully fitted to match the next. The open kitchen has beautiful, bright granite countertops. The appliances are all stainless steel, not the old grungy beige ones that Eve and I have.

There’s a large TV suspended on the living room wall, and three doors I can see that lead to other rooms. This is so much wealth for one person. So much opulence.

I reach up to clutch the beautiful crucifix necklace.

“Home sweet home,” Gabriel says as he shuts the door behind us. “I’ll give you a tour later, but I think a hot bath would do you good, first.”

A hot bath sounds sinfully good. My apartment doesn’t have a proper bathtub. I have distant memories of being bathed in one, but those were so long ago that I barely remember anything beyond splashing and playing with bubbles.

Stupid.

“I don’t have clothes to change into,” I tell him. I’m still feeling hazy, distant, like this is happening to someone else. I go to continue, but before I can, a tabby cat makes a beeline to us, bumping its head hard against my calf.

“I have clothes for you,” Gabriel says. He smiles down at the cat. “That’s Ichabod. He loves people, and he loves baths.”

I freeze. Gabriel has clothes for me? Why? How does he even know my size?

And the cat… loves baths?

All of it is so much, and I’m dizzy enough to where I have to reach out and touch the wall to rest some of my weight against it.

The cat is purring loudly, still rubbing up against my ankles.

“This is wrong, Gabriel,” I whisper.

Eve.

I have to think of Eve.

While I’m being tempted by the Devil, she’s with Father Zachariah.

She’s to be one of his wives. She’ll be safe.

I think she’ll be safe.

I have to hope she will.

It’s only for one day.

Gabriel puts his arm around my back and leads me toward one of the doors.

On the other side is a large bedroom, with floor to ceiling windows on one wall that give a spectacular view of New Bristol.

The curtains are a deep red, as are the sheets.

They both contrast sharply with the black of the walls.

My eye is drawn to a painting hanging over the headboard. It’s a modern art piece, disgusting and garish and with no real meaning, but the red and gold stand out against the black background.

The way the red splashes on the canvas, in long diagonal lines, makes me think of the whip slashing across my back.

“The bathroom is here,” Gabriel says as he leads me past the bed.

I almost trip when we enter. The bathroom is larger than my bedroom. There’s a shower stall with clear glass walls and door, a nook for the toilet, two sinks, even an ottoman.

And in the center is a large tub that could easily fit three adult men, with jacuzzi nozzles on the side.

Gabriel directs me to sit on the ottoman.

“Wait here, my little lamb. I’ll start filling the tub. I’ll get drinks for us too.” He kisses my forehead and starts the water before he simply… leaves.

He’s trusting me to stay here.

The cat mrows and rubs against my legs. I watch, and when the cat realizes I’m not going to pet it, it jumps onto the side of the tub near the faucet and begins batting at the water.

“I thought cats didn’t like water,” I tell him.

I’ve never had a cat of my own before, so I don’t know much about them, but I’d thought that much was true.

The cat doesn’t seem to mind it, though, and I stare at it as it gets wetter and wetter under the water that gushes from the spigot. I want to reach out and pet it, but I’m scared to touch it, too.

What if it hates me?

I glance in the direction of the bathroom door, not sure if I want Gabriel to come back sooner rather than later or if I want him to forget about me completely.

Before I can decide, Gabriel returns, carrying a tray with two large glasses of water.

“You’re still dressed,” Gabriel says as he sets the tray down on the small table next to the bathtub. “That’s all right. Stand up, I’ll help you out of your clothes.”

I blink at him, my cheeks burning. “What?” I ask dumbly. “No, you can’t stay in here while I undress.”

I’m an adult.

And he’s a man, a man I’m desperately attracted to despite my best attempts not to be. Being naked in front of him would be a temptation I’m not sure I could resist.

He’s made it clear he has no reason to try to resist touching me, either.

I stand up anyway.

Gabriel smiles gently at me, an expression that is so at odds with the predator I know he is. He reaches for the collar of my shirt and undoes the first button.

My cheeks flame up instantly.

Nobody has ever undressed me before. Even when Eve had to patch me up, it was always after I’d already taken my own shirt off for penance.

It feels worse, somehow, to be undressed in this manner, more intimate as Gabriel slowly unbuttons the shirt to reveal my undershirt. He kisses my chest, over the undershirt, before moving on to the next button.

My entire upper body is red from embarrassment when Gabriel gets down on his knees to undo the last button.

His hand lands on my belt. “I’ve been dreaming about you, my lamb.”

I’ve been dreaming of you, too.

“Stop,” I whisper, shaken by the veracity of my own thought.

On his knees, looking up at me, I can’t help but wonder about things that have only figured into my fantasies. Terrible things, wrong things, things that I should confess to and seek penance from.

I’m too ashamed.

It’s too late, though. Even if he stops now, he’ll know just by looking at me that I’m aroused, that my body is interested even if my mind is screaming that this needs to stop before it goes too far.

Gabriel kisses my crotch, and even through the fabric of my beige slacks I can feel it. My cock twitches, and I’m terrified of becoming fully aroused from something so simple as a kiss through my clothes.

Gabriel sits back and undoes my belt, but to my dismay—it should be relief, why isn’t it relief? —he stands to gently pull my shirt off my shoulders. He sets it aside on the ottoman, then directs me to lift my arms so he can remove the undershirt.

Why am I complying so easily?

What’s wrong with me?

Gabriel kisses my forehead again. “You’re so beautiful. Exactly as I imagined,” he says, running one large hand down my torso.

I’m shaking, and I’m not sure if it’s because I never stopped to begin with after being in the basement or because of his touches.

Both, probably, though the reasons are so vastly different.

Then, it was God’s terrible judgement that terrified me into panic.

Now, it’s the Devil’s sweet temptation.

“Why are you doing this?” I find myself asking.

I desperately need this answer, a reason a murderer is interested in me .

“Are you going to kill me, too?” I blurt out before he can even answer the first question.

Gabriel scowls. “Why would I kill you, my little lamb? The only people I would ever—” He cuts himself off. “There are people who deserve it. Whose blood is better spilled, lest the rot in their veins infect the rest of the world. You understand, right?”

He meets my gaze, searching for something.

It feels like a waste of blood, I find myself thinking despite myself.

I wet my lips with my tongue. “Who are you to judge them?” I ask, my voice wobbly.

How is this different from Father Zachariah meting out punishment based on what he judges to be sinful , wrong? But he knows better than we do. It’s his responsibility to herd us in the right direction.

“I’m not the Devil, Levi,” Gabriel says, brushing back a lock of my hair and sending a shiver down my spine. “I’m an avenging angel. I punish those who dare to hurt the innocent.”

He’s said as much before, and I don’t know what to believe.

“I don’t think you’re the Devil,” I tell him, and I realize that much is true. “But the Devil works in… in mysterious ways.”

Isn’t that supposed to be God? Is God working in a mysterious way to grant me a temporary reprieve from the penance I know I’ll receive so soon?

Gabriel smiles at me. “I’ll detangle the mysteries for you, my lamb.”

I watch as he gets on his knees again and taps my foot. I lift it automatically, and he takes the shoe and sock off.

The Devil would never debase himself for anyone.

“Stop,” I mutter, pushing at his shoulders. “I can do it myself.”

Gabriel looks up and winks. “But I want to do it for you, boy. I want to make you feel good.”

I jolt at the word boy . I’m not sure whether I love it or hate it when he calls me that. It conjures up images, thoughts, of safety.

I already feel strangely good, strangely excited, by his touches.

That word only makes it feel even more intense, even more immediate.

“That’s the problem,” I say, swallowing thickly.

Well, not the only problem, but it’s one of the many, many things wrong with this scenario.

I’ve been stripped of all but my pants and my underwear, and it’s only a matter of moments before that little bit of armor is gone, too. What will I do then?

What will he do when he realizes that I’m so affected by this that I’m half-erect? Shame suffuses me, making my cheeks flush with even more heat.

Gabriel reaches for the waistband of my slacks and slowly pulls it down, like I’m a present to be unwrapped. I stay completely still.

When I’m in nothing but my boxers, Gabriel leans in and presses his nose against my crotch, inhaling deeply.

“You smell good, little lamb,” Gabriel says.

This is sinful. This is beyond filthy. He shouldn’t be doing this.

I shouldn’t be letting him do this.

But at the same time, there’s something tender about it.

He’s not stripping me down for the sake of hurting me.

I don’t entirely know what he is stripping me down for, but it’s not for penance.

It’s not so I can sit naked in the dark and recite prayers that only make me more and more terrified and?—

I shudder.