Different Punishment
1091 Words
Gabriel's POV
The door groaned open, and for a second, I thought I was actually going to vomit. Derek shifted away from me so fast it was like he had never been there, leaving my skin screaming at the sudden loss of heat.
My mom stood in the doorway, her eyes scanning the dim library. She looked… suspicious, but then she saw Derek’s easy, arrogant smirk, and she softened. She always softened for the Millers.
"Are you guys okay?" she asked, her voice tilting upward. "I have been calling you both for five minutes."
"We are good, Mom," Derek said. The word Mom sounded like a slur coming out of his mouth, but she beamed like he had just handed her a trophy. He stepped toward her, his hand briefly resting on my shoulder, a heavy, burning weight that felt like a brand.
"Gabriel was just filling me in on how much he adores me as his new big brother. Right, Gabe?"
I couldn't speak. I just nodded, my chin wobbling. I felt like a puppet with its strings tangled.
"Oh, that’s wonderful!" she chirped, clapping her hands. "Now, off to bed. You both have a big week ahead."
The hallway was silent, but it wasn't the peaceful kind of silence. It was the kind that precedes a landslide.
I finally reached the room they had shoved me into. It was beautiful, all cream silks and dark wood, but it felt like a funeral parlor. I slumped onto the bed, staring at the ceiling, trying to breathe.
My phone buzzed in my pocket a sharp, sudden vibration that made me jump.
It was Mike.
Hey dude, sorry about earlier. We are not usually like that… maybe.
He added a laughing emoji to the end of the text. A tiny, choked laugh escaped my throat. I stared at the screen, tears pricking my eyes. They were so normal. So messy and loud and far away from this nightmare.
Before I could even type a reply, the screen lit up with a video call. From Mike.
I picked up, propping the phone against a pillow.
"Gabe! Look at you in that fancy room!" Erica’s voice was a loud, beautiful rasp. She was wearing a messy bun and a t shirt three sizes too big. Mike was next to her, looking slightly more sober than he had at the bar.
"You look like a little prince."
"I... I feel like a ghost," I whispered. "I won't be in school next week. My mum's wedding is next weekend."
"What? No way!" Erica leaned into the camera, her eyes wide. "We are totes coming. What should we wear? I have always wanted to wear a tiny hat and white, looking all pure and sexyyy."
I laughed, a real, genuine sound that felt foreign in this house. "I will text you the date and address. Just... please, dress decent, okay?"
"Will there be hot men there?" Erica asked, her eyebrows wiggling. "Just asking for a friend. The friend is me."
"I think so," I said, my heart feeling a tiny bit lighter. "I have to go. Goodnight guys."
I cut the call, the silence of the room rushing back in like a flood. I barely had time to pull the covers up when the door swung open. No knock. Just the sudden, violent intrusion of Derek Miller.
"What... what are you doing here?" I scrambled to sit up, my heart back to its frantic hammering.
Derek didn't answer. He just shut the door and turned the lock. The click sounded final.
"You have grown a spine lately, haven't you, Gabe? Using that little mouth of yours to invite your gutter friends to my father’s house?"
"They aren't......"
"This is my house," he cut me off, stepping toward the bed. "I go where I want. Besides, your mother was very clear. She wants us to bond. She thinks sharing a room will make us closer. So, congratulations. You are my roommate."
I felt the air leave my lungs. "N...no. Derek, please. I am exhausted. I don't have time for your games."
I didn't wait for him to respond. I just turned away, pulling the thick, expensive blanket up to my chin and squeezing my eyes shut. I tried to pretend I was back in my tiny, safe dorm. I tried to pretend I was alone.
Then, the mattress dipped.
Derek didn't stay on his side. He slid under the covers, his body a searing heat that radiated through the fabric of my silk shirt. He settled behind me, his chest pressing against my back, his breath hot and steady against the nape of my neck.
I shifted, trying to create even an inch of space, but he was faster. His arm wrapped around my waist, his hand splaying across my stomach and pulling me flush against him.
"Derek, stop," I wheezed, my voice cracking. "This... this is wrong. We shouldn't be doing this. Do you realize I am your stepbrother? This is a sin. It’s a taboo against God."
I felt his chest vibrate against my spine as he let out a dark, low chuckle.
"I don't believe in a God, Gabriel. So sorryyyy," he whispered, his lips grazing my ear.
I tried to kick out, to force myself out of his grip, but he was like iron. He hooked his legs over mine, pinning me to the mattress, locking me into his heat. I was trapped. I was a bird in a cage made of muscle and silk.
I gave up. I lay there, breathing softly, my skin feeling like it was melting wherever he touched me. The guilt was a heavy, suffocating blanket. I felt dirty not just because of what he was doing, but because of the way my own body was responding.
The heat radiating off him was intoxicating, a searing pull that I couldn't fight.
My mind raced back to my dorm. To the shower. To the way he had made me touch him.
I had seen him punish people before. I had seen him get people expelled or beaten until they couldn't stand. He destroyed people with violence.
So why... why was my punishment s****l? Why did he want to be this close? Why did he want to hear my heart breaking against his own?
"You're thinking about it," Derek whispered, his hand tightening on my waist, his thumb tracing a slow, agonizing circle over my navel. "I can feel your heart, Gabe. It's telling me exactly what you want from me."
- Writer
