Page 9 of His Favorite Color is Blood
Misha swallowed, but Grim’s nakedness was making him wonder how a man so captivated by him could turn into a beast in a matter of seconds. That was why he wanted to leave. He didn’t want to stick around and wait for the violence that was sure to come. It always did.
“I just wanted to go …” Misha curled his legs up in the hope they could distract Grim, but the man only showed his teeth.
“Go? Go where? You told me you have no documents ... or was that a lie too?”
A new flame of anger burned up in Misha’s gut. “I don’t know where! Away from you and fucked-up sickos like you! I didn’t ask for a life like this!”
“People like you should understand others, shouldn’t they? You’ve been through so much, and now you attack me, afterIsaved you from those perverts?” spat Grim, walking up to the opposite wall and back.
Misha scowled, looking around for a way out. “You didn’tsaveme. You didn’t take me to the police or put me in a blanket with a fucking cup of coffee. You wanted to fuck me the moment you saw me, and that’s the only reason you took me with you.”
Grim growled and punched the wall repeatedly until a piece of plaster crumbled and fell to the floor. “You kissed me!”
“I was scared! I didn’t know what you would do if I said ‘no.’ I didn’t want you to strand me at that parking lot.” Misha took a deep breath and grabbed the blanket because the trembling in his fingers was freaking him out. “And now … I still don’t know what you will do to me.” He swallowed, thinking of the power in Grim’s fists. He could smash Misha’s face into pieces, dump him in the woods, and no one would ever know. “But I’m so tired of living like this. I can’t do it anymore. You killed Gary, but all you want is to keep me the way he did.”
“I am nothing like that piece of shit,” hissed Grim and approached Misha with his whole body tense like a bull ready to charge. “I wouldneverhurt you or anyone else like you.”
Misha knocked the back of his head against the wall. “Oh, really? You would help me out of the goodness of your heart? Without a fuck to look forward to? You wouldn’t lock me up in a basement claiming that it was all for my safety?”
Grim charged at him so quickly Misha froze and let him climb on top. Grim’s eyes were like burning coals, spitting sparks of fire left and right as he dug his fingers into the flesh of Misha’s cheeks and shook him. “Who do you think you are that you think you can play with my feelings like this?”
Misha pushed on Grim’s shoulders in panic. “You don’tlikeme. You don’t really know me. So you know what movies I like or that I wanted an Xbox? That means shit if you don’t even know my real name! You don’t know how I was forced to live my life.” He took a deep breath, but his eyes weren’t even glossing over. He’d lost his tears long ago. He couldn’t remember ever speaking like that to Gary. Actually saying what he thought and not being punished for it.
Grim hissed into Misha’s face. “Your name? What’s your name?”
Misha squinted at him despite finding it hard to breathe. “I’m not telling you.”
Grim’s eyes opened wider, then his eyelids wrinkled, and his hand squeezed tighter on Misha’s jaw as he watched Misha like a hawk, ready to strike. But he didn’t. Grim let go of Misha and rolled off the bed, tense and heaving. “I rescued you. You owe me your name.”
Misha swallowed, shocked he didn’t get a slap for his impertinence. Drunk on the tiny win, he slowly sat up. “We had sex. You’re not getting my name as well.”
Grim kicked the chair by the dresser, showing his teeth like an agitated toddler. “I’ve earned it!”
“I’m not a toy you’ve pulled out of a claw machine.” Misha pulled up the blanket, hyper-aware of Grim’s every move and ready to dodge a punch if it came his way.
“Do you think I’m stupid? You’re a person!”
“It’s not like I knowyourreal name.”
Muscles danced at the sides of Grim’s jaw. Clearly, he too wasn’t ready to introduce himself. “Fine,” he said in the end. “But don’t say I don’t know you. I drink every word from your lips, little bird.”
Misha never felt like a hottie. He doubted any of the subscribers to his webcam movies chose him because of his face or nice arms. They all wanted to see his stumps. He being young and okay-looking was only a bonus.
“There’s more to me than you see in the videos. I’m not just my stumps. I’m not just what I do with my boyfriend—”
Grim exploded and pushed a vase off the small table by the window, his face dark. “He’s not your boyfriend!”
Misha curled up under the blanket. “Because you killed him!”
Grim punched himself in the chest. “I rescued you from that monster’s dirty, sleazy hands. He was locking you up like an animal, and he never cared for you like I do! I’m happy his dick is already becoming insect fodder and that he won’t ever touch you again!”
Misha took a deep breath, still finding it hard to believe Gary wouldn’t be there to shield him from others anymore. He still longed for it, even if the price for that protection had been steep. “How are you any different? Because you’re younger and more handsome?”
A ghost of a smile passed through Grim’s face at the comment. “I’m gonna treat you right. I will give you everything you ever wanted. I have the means for it, and I have the respect of my people,” said Grim with pride, stretching his neck. “You might be a broken bird now, but I can be the one to fix your wings.”
Misha’s wings weren’t broken. They were clipped and would never grow back. “Nothing can fix me.”
Grim slowly approached Misha, his breathing steady again as he drilled his gaze into Misha’s face. “That’s bullshit. You need someone who cares for you. I promise you will want for nothing if you stay with me. I will carry you in my arms, and you will be happy again.”
