Author's Note: First of all: Hey there! I'm back and finally found the time to write.
I'd like to thank all my readers for their continued support and express special thanks to those who bother to leave a few nice words under each chapter. You guys are amazing.
This time I've prepared something different for you. This chapter is the first of a couple (about 5 but that's just a wild guess) of coherent chapters. I'd like to think of it as a small arc.
So, here we are with the first chapter of "Stolen Things". Warning, it's going to be dark and not as fluffy as the previous chapters.
"Come on, please... I'll be good, I promise. I haven't seen you in days…. Please. I want to come with you."
Mokuba had added a sickly sweet edge to his voice as he begged Rafael to take him along.
The afternoon hearing he would have been forced to attend alongside Seto had been cancelled and his brother had been generous enough not to replace it with any other operational necessity.
Rafael said nothing and drew a deep breath as he stared straight ahead, watching the street glumly and with great disinterest.
Since strictly speaking Rafael hadn't said 'no' Mokuba figured there'd still be room for discussion:
"Please, take me along. You know how much I love the rides on your bike. And," and here Mokuba really tried to sound concerned, "I couldn't let you go on your own like that. Not in that mood."
Oh, Rafael had been in a bad mood when he'd picked up Mokuba to drive him home. Just a look at his face had been enough. Mokuba had never seen him so unnerved, had never experienced their precious time together poisoned by Rafael's bad-tempered unsociability and stony-faced calmness. Why Rafael hadn't just called to tell him that he should hitch a ride home or use his feet and walk like everybody else remained a mystery to Mokuba.
Because deep down Mokuba knew that this was what Rafael wanted right now.
To tell him to piss off and leave him alone.
But, and that was what kept Mokuba curious and would probably be the cause of his own death if he kept bugging Rafael like that, Rafael had showed up to give him a ride anyway.
So, Mokuba concluded, it was expected of him to alleviate his trouble.
Well, a quick blow-job wouldn't do the trick this time, Mokuba had learned the hard way after Rafael had given him a rap on the head that had almost knocked him unconscious.
But he'd grown accustomed to Rafael's unintentional brutality and knew that showing concern for him instead of cussing him out would really make him regret his actions. Like right now.
"I'd worry all the time until I have you back and you're save in my arms," Mokuba threw in that heart-warming phrase as well.
A dismissive snort was all Rafael retorted in return.
Mokuba would have given anything to know what was going on inside the thick walls of his lover's skull. Apparently sweet-talk wasn't enough. And a sledgehammer wasn't at hand.
"Look," Mokuba dropped the lovey-dovey worried act and stuck to his guts, "I don't know what's wrong with you. I don't know what's happened and whether you want to tell me. But unless you have a better suggestion I'd say I stay by your side and you take me on that 'long-ride' you were talking about taking."
Rafael sighed, his eyes scanning the road ahead indifferently.
Mokuba mused that the giant cogwheels in his head slowly whirred to life as massaged some life into his own hurting neck while concentrating on the street as if he'd only now realized that he was still driving.
"I've had a rough day at work," Rafael announced, obviously not pleased by the sound of his own words but decided to continue anyway, "one of the worst days can remember. And I need to take some time out to clear my head."
Rafael's voice was cold and filled with an adamant bitterness that sent shivers down Mokuba's spine. Though it was too long in the past that Mokuba even dared to call what had happened back then 'real' he was still familiar with the voice of a bike-riding lone wolf mad man…
"Take me with you," Mokuba insisted, fear bubbling up inside of him. Rafael was scaring him and yet he wanted to stay as close to him as possible. He didn't know what prehistoric instincts triggered this reaction but he felt them pounding in his blood and they told him to stay put.
An alien fear that, it seemed, he knew by heart.
A fear that shook him to the core.
"I don't want you to drop me off at home, I want to be with you," Mokuba repeated and despite his inner turmoil tried to sound calm and determined.
"I can't promise anything."
Silence gripped them after Rafael's cryptic reply.
Mokuba had stopped staring at his lover as it seemed to provoke no reaction whatsoever and wondered how Rafael could even focus on driving while being so disassociate from the rest of the world.
Either way he repeated his decision:
"I want to come with you."
It was the silence that was getting to Mokuba. The dead and terrible silence when he knew something was fundamentally wrong.
He felt almost relieved as they reached the rented garage where Rafael kept his stuff – it weren't memorabilia or specific things as such, as Rafael had once explained to him.
Just stuff. Stuff he couldn't part company with for reasons kept in the dark. Or at least away from Mokuba.
The shutter creaked as it got pulled upwards and Mokuba was glad for the sound since it reminded him that he hadn't gone deaf.
What exactly lingered inside these damp walls Mokuba didn't know. He knew that Rafael kept his bike here, his most precious belonging from way back when. Although, strictly speaking, it belonged in the past. Like everything else compiled in the garage.
Things that didn't belong to Rafael. Not anymore.
They gave Mokuba the creeps. Why Rafael held on to them was beyond his comprehension.
Mokuba's eyes sought for the terrible violet coat to discover it still hanging ominously alongside leatherjackets and other coats.
God, he hated his coat. Rafael kept it with the rest of his biker clothes, clothes he'd recently bought for the both of them. For their little trips.
But the coat... for fuck's sake why did he have to keep this coat? Everything he had left behind and wasn't part of him anymore condensed in that coat.
Why would Rafael have it as keep sake? Just why?
You didn't have to go as far as his brother and blow up everything harbouring bad memories or failure i.e. their adoptive father's armoury and the whole island it had been built upon. But there were things you better left in the past and, if possible, made sure that they stayed where they belonged.
It was something he had picked up quite fast. If you didn't like something, you left it behind. Parted with it.
Kept it where it belonged, away from you. Never to be seen again.
Oh, he would have loved to tear that coat to shreds.
Mokuba didn't watch as Rafael got changed, scared to look at his face as he might see something he wouldn't like.
Rafael's coldness hung around him like an impenetrable mist, sending chills down Mokuba's spine.
A helmet was thrust into Mokuba's hands. He looked up and cracked a brief smile at Rafael, relieved to find him not wearing his dreadful coat but unobtrusive clothes and a helmet.
No more riding his bike without wearing a helmet; Mokuba had made it quite clear that he preferred his boyfriend in one piece and without a broken neck.
Though today the shaded visor felt slightly disturbing as he could only imagine Rafael's bright eyes boring into him.
And the dark visor had been his own idea, Mokuba thought grimly while putting on his helmet. He had favoured the anonymity and had preferred not to draw more public attention than necessary to their relationship.
But right now, as he took his seat behind leather-clad Rafael, it felt as if he was in the presence of a complete stranger.
The ride was long and cold. Mokuba's eyes watered despite his visor as he failed to scan the scenery. They were going fast, too fast for Mokuba's taste. And it felt weird hugging Rafael so tightly to his chest while pondering what on earth was going on inside of him.
It had been a long time since Mokuba had feared for his well-being, well, for his life, due to Rafael's skilled yet reckless driving style. Yet today he was trembling like mad.
By the time Rafael finally decided to pull in Mokuba was aching all over.
Out of the corner of his eyes he watched Rafael securing his bike.
God, if he'd only take off that damn helmet...
Mokuba, setting a good example by pulling it off, shook his head, his mane of entangled hair cascading down his back.
He growled under his breath while stretching – he'd rather walk than taking another long distance ride away from here. Wherever the hell they were.
A grunt cumulating in a faint sigh caused Mokuba to half turn. Rafael had taken off his helmet, thank God for that, but his eyes... Mokuba couldn't help but stare worriedly at the viciously glowing orbs half hidden by his sunken eyelids.
Right now Mokuba would have given anything for a chance to catch a glimpse of Rafael's thoughts. To see what was going on behind the thick walls of his skull.
Rafael focussed on him, the blue orbs growing larger.
Mokuba felt obliged to guiltily look away. He cleared his throat. The quietness was killing him.
"Do you like it here?" Mokuba asked for lack of anything else. For fuck's sake, he'd bring up the weather next if he had to but he couldn't stand the silence any longer.
As expected Rafael didn't reply, his gaze barely grazing him as he observed their surroundings.
We're out, in the wild, Mokuba thought. Nothing but trees and fallow land here. He ought to be happy here, right? He ought to feel at home. It should help him calm down.
Either way, he wasn't going to stop bugging him now.
"Still don't want to talk?" Mokuba asked. He fell into a trot behind Rafael who was strutting ahead through the withering weeds, heading for a copse.
"About what?" Rafael asked without turning around.
About whatever the hell's wrong with you, Mokuba was about to reply but thought better of it. Despite being cheeky and pretty forward Mokuba preferred to shy away from arguments. He couldn't stand the pressure.
"I just want to know what you're thinking about right now," Mokuba managed to retort after a few deep breaths. His chest was tightening around his lungs.
"Nothing much," Rafael replied. Out of the blue he half turned, grabbed Mokuba's arm and dragged him along as he delved into the bushes.
Mokuba reached for the hand clutching his arm only to feel Rafael's fingers detaching from his wrist as he was hurled into a tree.
Mokuba held his breath. He shut his eyes out of shock and the stabbing pain at the back of his head.
Driven by agony he blindly stumbled forward only to bump against Rafael's beefy body.
Mokuba felt Rafael's strong hands lashing out as they struggled to prop him up.
The next moment his back got rammed into a trunk as he was pinned against the tree.
Mokuba blinked at Rafael, his world only now starting to unravel in real-time again.
Rafael was breathing down his neck as he rid Mokuba of his clothes. His head sinking onto Mokuba's shoulder his lips kissed and sucked their way across his tender neck, bruising his skin almost instantly.
Mokuba panted. Mostly out of pain.
But Rafael's warmth felt reassuring, his touch was familiar and intimate.
Mokuba clung to his body, hugging his big lover to his chest as he was freed from his garments, softly sighing into his ear.
Already he felt Rafael's cock pressing against his entrance through the thick fabric of his trousers. Mokuba, lifting one leg and placing it playfully on Rafael's haunch, reached down and stroked the firm arousal begging for admission. Rafael's hips were pumping rhythmically as he pressed into Mokuba's hand, yearning for his touch.
His nether regions freed from their constricting cover Mokuba felt Rafael's cock brushing against his hole impatiently.
Rafael's hands positioned themselves on each side of Mokuba's hips as he tilted his little lover's pelvis and tried pressing his already dripping cock into his soft tightness.
Mokuba took deep breaths as he sank deeper into his lover's embrace. He could feel Rafael's tip squeezing its way into his cramped hole, twitching delightfully at the rewarding sensation of his warm interior.
But Mokuba was shivering at the cold and grew more and more worried as the lack of lubrication slowed down Rafael's penetration.
Rafael really was trying to give him raw anal this time.
And despite concentrating on not freaking out Mokuba felt that his body was resisting, that he was pulling away from Rafael, desperately trying to extend the distance between their trembling bodies.
And suddenly it was all wrong as Rafael didn't bother to maintain eye contact, as he wordlessly struggled to overcome Mokuba's resistance and had stopped moaning but was grunting disdainfully.
Rafael, who had given up on trying to fuck Mokuba with one leg still on the ground, had grabbed his little lover's thigh and pulled it upwards until his knee pressed against his chest.
Mokuba searched Rafael's eyes and locked onto his gaze while resisting Rafael's attempts to pull up his leg higher to let it rest on his shoulders as well. But he knew that it was only a matter of time if he didn't ask Rafael to let him go as he stood no chance against Rafael's enduringness and strength.
A sudden thrust and tilting of Rafael's pelvis as he picked up the pace caused Mokuba to jolt and finally sink into Rafael's arms as his legs were no longer supporting him or helping him to maintain a safe distance between him and Rafael.
He now was at Rafael's mercy as his lover was now in control over the penetration Mokuba would receive and Rafael stretched and flexed Mokuba's limbs to facilitate a more stimulating intrusion.
Mokuba winced as Rafael drove his cock in all the way and subjected Mokuba to a mercilessly deep and intense penetration.
"Stop it... It's no good... I'm not getting wet enough, we need lube..."
It dawned on Mokuba that they had left Rafael's olive oil vial in the pouch at his bike as he was now scanning his surrounding helplessly for anything that would moisturize his stretched hole.
"Ouch..." Mokuba hung in Rafael's strange embrace, shifting oddly as he tried to make it more difficult for Rafael to bore deeper into his body.
But Rafael was as unresponsive as before and picked up the pace again, his swollen cock chafing against Mokuba's raw skin.
Infuriated that Rafael didn't even bother to reply or assist in the matter depicted Mokuba fought off his attempts to plough him vigorously, nails scratching bare skin and teeth sinking into flesh until they drew blood.
Mokuba's counter-attack on Rafael was violent and intense and ended as abruptly as it had begun, mainly because Rafael twisted his arms above his head and held him immobile.
"If you don't let go off me in a second I'm going to scream for help," Mokuba threatened and growled under his breath, fighting the welling tears with anger.
Rafael released his grip a bit but not enough for Mokuba to escape his forceful embrace.
"You can't ignore me and have sex with me at the same time," Mokuba tried keeping his voice down while failing at kicking Rafael, "You're hurting me. And for fuck's sake I told you to use a condom so why can't you just do what I say?"
"I don't have a rubber," Rafael replied. He grabbed Mokuba's legs and, spreading them, pulled them over his shoulders until they'd dangle down his back, thereby forcing a deeper intrusion, "if you recall I wasn't planning on taking you with me. You wanted to stay close to me and be by my side."
A wave of painfully strong thrusts sent Mokuba howling as he clung to Rafael's chest. Mokuba had never seen Rafael so stubborn and deliberately brutal while they had sex. It usually helped him to calm down. But right now it only whipped up his anger.
Mokuba's temples throbbed and he bit back another howl as Rafael rammed his back into the tree as if to crush him with his full weight. He ploughed him hard and fast, his big, muscular and vibrating body squeezing the air out of Mokuba's lungs every time he rammed his cock home, coming close and closer, with more thrust, more pain and more swearing.
"For fuck's sake, stop opposing me!" Rafael growled under his breath. His hands holding onto the tree he smashed his pelvis against Mokuba's while fighting for every further inch Mokuba might allow him, every inch of his violent intrusion. "You can't keep me out. You can't... And stop staring at me like this you stupid brat!"
Mokuba felt the prickling burning of his left cheek and shut his eyes. The tears welled up before he even realized that he'd been slapped.
"You're nothing but a pain in the arse today! I try to keep you away because I don't want your company and can't stand the sight of you and you keep clinging to me, keep following me like the stupidly devoted lap dog that you are. And when I finally decide to touch you you're warding me off, reject me as if you'd never seen me before or wouldn't know what I want from you. Listen to me for God's sake!"
Rafael had grabbed Mokuba's shoulders and was shaking him violently as Mokuba had evaded his gaze, obviously trying hard to space out.
Rafael, high on adrenaline and his beckoning orgasm and God knew what else covered Mokuba's throat with violent needy kisses.
Mokuba, too shocked, irritated and confused by the previous actions and unsettling fears to understand even half of what was going on around him or inside his mind, burst into tears and kept whispering into Rafael's ear:
"You're hurting me... please stop... I'm scared..."
Rafael licked Mokuba's cheeks while nuzzling his neck, his face brushing against his lover's time and time again as he fondled every inch of his body, cuddled and hugged him closer to his chest.
Mokuba felt Rafael's wet tongue rasping over his skin as it tried to erase the signs of his own unsettlement; the hot tears now bedabbling Mokuba's skin as they streamed down Rafael's face.
Only now Mokuba realized that Rafael had gone limp quite a while ago.
They had fled the site of crime straight away, without their clothes on, just to put as much distance between the terrible moments, that still seemed too absurd to be real, and the 'now' as possible.
It felt like a dream, a terrifying dream that stiffens your limbs and leaves a scary hollowness inside your head as your mind browses through all the unnecessary little things of life that can fill up the space right now.
Rafael had said nothing until they had gotten dressed and had reached his bike again but felt now inclined to clarify at least one thing:
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Me neither," Mokuba had babbled before giving it a second thought, shocked at the emptiness still inside of him.
Hell, I don't want to talk to him ever again, he found his mind adding immediately, I'll ditch him right now and make a run for it. I can still make it into the small forest over there before he's gaining on me, his legs are definitely more shaky than mine, and I've still got my phone so I can call my brother or Isono, Christ, I'll call the police if necessary to finally escape from this mad man that has abducted me.
For fuck's sake, I can't even look him in the eye!
Therefore it's a good thing that I'm sitting behind him on his bike, Mokuba's mind added as he sat down and grabbed Rafael's sides almost automatically.
His mind, still buzzing with the strangest comments, ideas and memories, Mokuba barely noticed as they made their way towards the last of today's target locations.
Mokuba mused that he'd probably never felt so scared and relieved at the same time as after their prematurely terminated lovemaking but knew this not to be true even while thinking.
He's had worse. Of course he'd had worse. He'd watched people dying, he'd thought he'd lost his brother for good, had his dreams and life shattered...
But...
He'd never had Rafael screaming at him. He'd never had a lover's quarrel, not a true one, he hadn't truly hated him for things he'd done or said.
And right now he wasn't sure, he was unsure about everything he'd experienced so far.
Everything they had experienced so far, he corrected almost instantly because that was what was causing the trouble.
Rafael was like a different part of himself. He belonged to him, he was what made him whole, completed him and made him feel so disgustingly ridiculously great sometimes.
He couldn't argue with that, he couldn't argue with Rafael because it would break. Something inside him would shatter and break into a million pieces piercing his soul.
And even though he had proven to himself that even now he managed to analyze something as irritating as their prior conflict he couldn't understand why his body hurt like mad and his head was about to explode.
And, worst of all, he couldn't prevent it from happening.
