Page 5 of His Pet

“I’ll kill him if you truly don’t want him,” Mikhail says, “but wouldn’t it be a shame? Such a pretty thing going to waste?”

“You’re a dick.” I glare at him. He’s known me since we were kids, and he knows all the right things to say to make me change my mind. It really would be a shame to kill such a pretty thing. “Fine. I’ll take him.”

The decision weighs heavily, but I also feel a spark of hope. Maybe this time, it will be different.

“I knew I’d make you see the reason,” Mikhail replies with a wide grin. “Do you want me to carry him downstairs?”

“Nah. I’ve got him.”

Justin is lightweight, short and scrawny, just the way I like my pets. It makes it easier to handle them, and there’s just something soothing about having a smaller body curl up into me as I sleep or writhe under me as I fuck. Unlike Mikhail, I’ve never been into girls, but sweet little twinks are just my thing, and I can already tell Justin will be the sweetest once he’s properly broken in.

Training him will be fun. I’ll just have to be extra careful not to push him too far. I can do that, can’t I?

Mikhail holds the basement door open for me and flips on the light. Shortly after I bought the house, I had the basement rebuilt into a spacious dungeon with its own facilities, quite similar to Mikhail’s setup in the Morozov compound. Well, his former setup, seeing as he burned the mansion down with everyone inside.

There’s a spacious bathroom, king-sized bed, and some basic kink equipment. A sturdy cage occupies one corner of the room, set up so that I have free access to it from all sides. It’s only about waist-high, so pets can sit up but not stand, and not quite long enough for them to stretch out unless they put their feet through the bars, which they rarely do. It’s funny how they come to consider the cage as their safe space, even if it’s not.

“It’s kinda dusty,” Mikhail notes, wrinkling his nose.

“Haven’t been in the mood to come down here lately.” I go for a casual tone, but there’s no fooling my best friend. He knows something’s not right with me, and I feel like a dick for spoiling his happiness with his new girl. He even brought me a gift. I should smile and be grateful, not mope because I’ve been feeling empty lately.

Mikhail sighs. “Cam…”

I cut him off abruptly. “I’m fine. Thank you for the gift. How long will he stay asleep?”

“Two or three hours. He’ll probably be dizzy when he wakes up, maybe a little nauseous. You know the drill.”

I do indeed. Justin isn’t the first pet Mikhail has brought me. He’s easily the prettiest, though. In the soft light from the overhead lamps, he looks small and vulnerable laid out on my bondage table. What I took for a T-shirt is in fact a pajama top with a mouse running around a Pi symbol. I snort as I read the writing. “π-jama Runner. A math nerd. How cute.” I’ve never had a math nerd before.

“I didn’t have time for the usual background check,” Mikhail says. “He looks healthy and there weren’t any meds aside from the usual stuff in his room, but you might want to ask him about allergies and potential issues.”

Because I can’t really take my pet human to a hospital if something goes wrong. “I will. Thanks again. Do you want to hang out for a bit?” I offer because it’s polite, but I’m hoping he refuses. Now that he’s given me a new toy, I can’t wait to play with it.

Mikhail, bless him, knows what’s going through my head. “Nah, I have my own toy to get back to. You have fun with yours. And Cam? Just…” He trails off and runs a hand through his hair. “Call me, okay?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll let you know if I hear rumors that you aren’t as dead as you claim to be.” I meet a lot of people and most of them want to chat during long tattoo sessions. I know all the underworld gossip.

“I’m counting on it, but that’s not what I meant. I just… If you feel like, I don’t know, like you want to chat or something, call, okay? Don’t…” He shifts in place uncomfortably. “Don’t do something stupid.”

That manages to get my attention. “Like what?” Does he think I’d hurt Justin? Mikhail averts his eyes and that’s when I realize what he means. My jaw drops. “You think I’d hurt myself? I’m not depressed, Mikhail, nor am I suicidal, for fuck’s sake. I’ve just been in a funk lately.”

“Okay, okay. Whatever. Just…”

“Yeah, I’ll call.”

It’s sweet that he cares. Mikhail has always been more on the sociopathic side, so for him to start talking about feelings, he must be truly worried. I haven’t been acting that strange, have I? I mean, sure, I haven’t talked to people much and barely left my house aside from work, but that’s just because sometimes getting out of bed feels too much like a chore. That’s not depression, that’s just laziness. And yes, maybe my designs lately haven’t been as great as they used to be, but I just haven’t been feeling inspired. Artist’s block is a thing.

“I’m fine. Really.” I can already feel my energy returning as I look at my new pet. “Thank you for caring, Mike.” I inject a ridiculous amount of affection into my voice, hoping that levity will make Mikhail stop analyzing my mental state. I really am fine.

“Ugh, I told you not to call me that,” Mikhail grumbles, as expected. “Fucking Americans. I’m outta here. Have fun.”

“You too!” I call after him. Then the door clicks shut, locking me in with my new pet. For the first time in a long while, my smile is genuine. This will be fun.

Chapter 4

Cameron

I take some time to observe my new pet, my mind already busy coming up with all the things I’m going to do to him. My cock, so uninterested before, hardens as I watch Justin’s soft features, and I palm it through my pants.