Page 16 of Make Me Scream
“This.” He enunciates by tracing his finger along my muscles, causing my skin to prickle with awareness. I snatch his finger before he can trail it down my abdomen, his goal clear in mind.
“We’renot doing anything. I’m just lying here.”
“With a gay boy in your arms,” he retorts, then gasps dramatically. “Who’s your foster brother!”
“Not for long,” I mutter. That seems to piss him off.
“Yeah, Peris. I fucking know.” He tries to pull away, a frown marring his crooked face, but I tighten my grip, amused.
“No need to be so dramatic, pup.” Abel starts to struggle in my hold, so I cinch my arms tighter, relishing in each sharp jab of his lanky limbs. He runs out of breath quickly, and we lie there in the rising light of the sun, panting quietly and sweating slightly on a stretch of the couch.
Abel’s body against mine burns so hot, it makes me sick. The graze of bare flesh, soft and thick with scar tissue, has my fingers gravitating toward the inner part of his arms, near the junction of his biceps. The skin is soft, but the closer I get to his wrists, the texture changes, becoming rough and uneven, much like him.
By the time I reach his hand, Abel’s breathing is uneven and haggard, causing my own heart to ricochet into my throat as I twine our fingers together. The voices in my head are deafening, screeching their obscenities and profanities.
I’m sick. Wrongwrongwrong.
I can’t do this, be like him.
He did this to me.
I hate this. I hate him.
Get off me. GET THE FUCK OFF ME!
Fingers graze my cheekbone, and I gasp. My eyelids flutter open, and I meet two orbs of molten steel, soft and… still.
“Hey,” is all he says, but it’s…
It’s enough.
“Hey,” I rasp, hating how closed up my throat is. It’s clogged with unshed tears and burning with years of suppressed bullshit.
Like a switch is flipped, Abel shoves away from me and is on his feet in the next moment. I blink up at him, brows furrowed. He won’t even meet my eyes.
“Runt—” With a flash of silver hair, Abel’s gone, and I’m left alone on the couch, the missing heat of his weight against me leaving me cold and oddly heavy.
Clenching my jaw, I roll onto my back and stare up at the ceiling, wallowing in the slow inferno making its way through my chest and down my spine. It’s a slow-licking flame, set to burn me alive if I let it—and I just might.
It’s gotta feel better than … whatever the hell this is.
“Fuck!” I rasp, yanking on my hair until my scalp screams in agony and strands rip from their place. I don’t understand anyof this shit. Why it’s easy one minute and disgustingly brutal the next.
“Morning, buddy.” Ma reaches down and wraps her fingers through my hair, overlapping mine. I freeze at her touch, heart galloping. Our eyes meet, and for a sharp second, she sees more than she should, and then, I blink.
“Morning, Ma,” I rasp as I squeeze her hand back before removing it and sitting up. She drops it easily and leans back over the couch, tucking her robe tighter around her body. It’s quiet in the house, only the faintest sounds of birds chirping and water running—Abel must be taking a shower…
My eyes close unwittingly at the images that brings forth in my mind. Flashes of his pale, naked flesh. Raised scars, curved and smiling back at me. Crooked teeth and mismatched piercings, begging to be licked and tugged and bit.
His ugly?—
“What’s for breakfast?” I blurt, shooting to my feet. Mom startles, and I nearly sway as blood rushes to my head—but it’s better than my dick, which is well on its way to half-hard at this point.
When Abel stepsinto the kitchen with a slight limp, my eyes narrow. I track his eyes step, noting the way he ensures his thighs don’t touch when he walks—which can only mean one thing.
That little fuck was burning himself.
Breakfast is an awkward affair, reminiscent of our very first one, and it feels so suffocating, I nearly choke on the food Iforce down my throat so Ma doesn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. She probably thinks it’s what’s going on with Abel’s custody arrangement—and that’s partly to blame—but she has no idea the boy she thinks isso fucking goodis really just a manipulative little shit.
