Barbarian (Jericho’s Boys #3)

2

“Spread your legs.” When he only inched them apart, Mal laid a vicious slap across his inner thigh, making Nico hiss at the burn. “Open your legs properly.”

The handprint throbbed, the skin probably already turning an angry red. It felt so much more painful than usual.

Like he could read Nico’s mind, he asked casually, “Do you know why I made you shower first, Fidget?” Nico felt a leather cuff wrap around his ankle. Mal was binding him to the table. Fuck. When Nico didn’t answer, Mal said, “You may speak.”

“No, Bunny,” Nico answered right away.

Mal finished binding his other ankle before he answered, draping himself over Nico’s back to whisper, “Because it’s going to make what comes next so much worse for you.”

“Bunny, I?—”

“Quiet,” Mal said sharply, laying a smack on Nico’s already abused ass.

Nico snapped his mouth shut. Mal palmed his hands over Nico’s ass, nails digging into the angry red welts he’d left just that morning until Nico cried out. Then he was gone, once more doing something behind him. Nico sucked in a sharp breath as cold lube touched his hole. That same breath left quickly when Mal speared two fingers into him painfully without warning.

Mal didn’t want for him to adjust to the invasion, immediately thrusting his fingers in, spreading them apart before he dragged them back out. Nico didn’t know what was coming, but the way Mal was stretching him made his insides shake as much from fear as anticipation. There was nothing soft or sweet about it. It was almost perfunctory. A means to an end. He just laid there and took it. What choice did he have?

When Mal’s fingers slipped free of him, Nico whined. When something appeared before him, he had to blink a few times to truly register the object. His thoughts were already growing hazy, but even he could see it was a butt plug of some kind. A weird looking one, but a butt plug nonetheless.

“Do you know what this is?” Mal asked.

Nico studied it, willing his brain to come up with the right answer. He whined when he figured out it wasn’t a toy at all. Not really. Oh, God. This was about to get so much worse. His cock throbbed as he whispered, “Ginger.”

“Smart boy.” Nico basked in Mal’s praise despite his predicament. “Since you decided to take your time playing your game and disobeying me, I had just enough time to peel this and make it into the perfect shape.”

He’d whittled him a butt plug made of ginger? What was he, Davy Crockett? They’d never done this before, but it was on Nico’s list of things he’d wanted to try. Theoretically, anyway. Was that why he’d had Nico shower? Heat activated the oils in the ginger, creating a tingling sensation that only got worse the longer it was inside. That was why he’d loosened him up, too.

There was a light smack on his ass. “Color, Fidget.”

“So green,” he gasped.

Mal soothed one hand down Nico’s back, then said, “Hold yourself open for me.”

Nico whined but reached back, his own touch painful on his raw skin. When he felt the plug touch his rim, he jumped.

“Relax, baby,” Mal said softly. And just like that, Nico did. He made a noise of complaint as the largest part of the plug slipped inside, but other than that, it fit snug without stretching him too much. It wasn’t bad at all. “Good boy.”

The tingling sensation started immediately, almost like an itch he couldn’t scratch. It made him want to squirm.

“How many do you owe me from this morning?” he asked.

“Fifty, Bunny.”

“That’s right. Now, I was going to give them to you with the belt. I know you like the way the stripes look on your skin. But since you decided to be a disrespectful little brat, I think it’s time we play with something else.”

Nico began to sweat, as much from Mal’s words as from the uncomfortable sensation growing inside him, that itch already becoming maddening. He wished he could say he hated it, but his neglected cock still throbbed, bobbing between his legs. Maybe if he was really good, Mal would still let him come.

“I’ve been saving this for a special occasion,” Mal said, like he was discussing a bottle of wine and not whatever torture device he was about to use on Nico. “You really seemed to like it in the store.”

That didn’t narrow it down at all, but Nico couldn’t think anyway. His rim was burning like fire and they hadn’t even started. Once more, Mal draped over his back. Another desperate whine escaped as a wooden paddle appeared before him, but not just any wooden paddle. It was the same thick, smooth wood of the bath brush they had hanging in the shower. Minus the bristles, of course.

Mal had swatted him with it once as a joke. Not only had it left his skin scalding and throbbing, it had also left the most delicious oval-shaped red mark in its wake.

“The rules are simple. No squirming, no begging. If you can get through these fifty without a fuss, I’ll consider letting you choke on my cock. If you can’t, then I’ll add another ten for each time you break the rules. Understand?”

“Yes, Bunny,” Nico said, breathless, tears already pricking at his eyes.

Soft lips pressed against his temple, and then Mal was gone. The first smack didn’t come right away, but when it did, the pain stole the air from his lungs. The second left fire trailing in its wake, bringing Nico up on his tiptoes. He clamped his teeth down on his lip to make sure he didn’t sabotage himself as his punishment went on. How was he supposed to get through fifty of these? Just forty-eight now.

Oh, God. Forty-eight.

By the tenth strike, Nico no longer cared about the ginger burning his most sensitive skin. He was sweating so much he was slipping along the table’s surface, face buried in his folded arms as he sobbed.

By twenty, the pain had morphed, his brain taking it and twisting it into pleasure, making his brain feel like cotton candy. His ass and thighs were stinging, like he’d sat in a nettle bush, but he was floating, the sensation near euphoric, adrenaline surging through him like heroine with every strike of the paddle.

“You’re doing so good for me, baby,” Mal soothed. “So pretty. Wait ‘til you see them.”

By the time Mal set the paddle down beside him, Nico was drooling onto the wood below, his face a crime scene of tears and snot. He only vaguely registered Mal untying his legs.

“Did I do good, Bunny?” he slurred, slipping to his knees before him and gazing up at him expectantly.

Mal’s hands pushed his sweaty hair out of his face, his expression much softer than it was when they started. “Yeah, Fidget. You were perfect. Ready to thank me now, or do you want to wait until after your bath?”

Nico didn’t even hesitate; he tugged at Mal’s loose-fitting pants, freeing his hardened cock and swallowing him down, pride swelling in him as Mal hissed, “Jesus Christ.”

Nico loved this, loved Mal. Loved the heavy weight of him on his tongue, the way his lips stretched around him. Mal’s hand settled on his head, not guiding him but just resting there, a reassuring touch.

Warmth pooled in Nico’s belly as he heard Mal moaning above him, his hips moving in tiny aborted thrusts, like he was having to hold himself back from pinning Nico down and making him take it. Nico hollowed his cheeks, flicking his gaze upward, a low moan escaping when he saw the dark way Mal studied him.

He had his bottom lip trapped between his teeth, and he looked at Nico like he was picturing all the different ways he planned on violating him. It spurred Nico on, made him want to do a good job. He craved that praise, that validation, and Mal knew just when to give it and when to hold it back.

Fingers tightened in his damp curls, holding him still as Mal took over. Nico instantly relaxed his jaw, sliding his tongue out.

“That’s it, Fidget. Just sit there and let me use you,” he murmured. “My perfect little toy.” Nico couldn’t stop the high whimper that escaped. “You love it, don’t you? You love being my own living, breathing fleshlight. My pretty little cum slut.”

Nico lifted his hands, grabbing Mal’s ass, trying to force him deeper. He cried out when Mal pulled him off, then yanked on his hair, forcing his gaze upwards. “Did I give you permission to touch me?”

“No, Bunny,” Nico managed, throat raw.

Mal laughed meanly. “Are you so eager to choke on my dick that you’re willing to risk another punishment?”

“Yes, Bunny,” Nico said shamelessly.

Mal snorted. “You look so angelic all the time,” he taunted, rubbing Nico’s face over his cock. “Nobody would ever believe the insatiable little cock slut you are, huh? Nobody will ever know how you beg for my dick every night, will they? How you don’t even care what hole I’m filling as long as you're full.”

Nico whimpered. “No, Bunny.”

Mal smeared pre-cum across Nico’s lips. “That’s right,” he said through gritted teeth. “‘Cause I’m the only one who gets to see you like this. I’m the only one who gets to wreck you like this.”

“Yes, Bunny,” Nico said, a sob escaping.

“Because you’re all mine.” Nico tried to nod as best he could with Mal’s hands still fisted in his hair. “Don’t just nod, use your words. Who do you fucking belong to?”

“You. Just you, Bunny. Always just you. I’m all yours. Only yours. Use me. Wreck me. Mark me up. Show everyone who I belong to,” Nico begged, absolutely shameless when it came to Mal.

Mal pulled Nico’s jaw open, leaning down to spit on his tongue. “Swallow.” Nico did, letting his eyes fall shut like it was a sacrament. “What do you want, Fidget? What do you want me to do to you?”

Nico met his gaze. “I want you to fuck my throat, make it hurt.”

The sound that escaped Mal was more a growl than a groan, shooting sparks through Nico just the same. Mal pushed his cock back between Nico’s lips, dragging his head down as he thrust forward.

Nico gagged, then wretched, recovering quickly.

Mal pulled him off again, slapping his face hard. “Don’t you dare throw up,” Mal threatened darkly.

He wouldn’t. He never had. His throat training just hadn’t quite taken yet. He forced himself to relax and breathe through his nose just like Mal had taught him.

Mal didn’t hold back. He used him hard, bullying his cock into Nico’s throat until he couldn’t breathe, forcing his nose against his skin, then holding him there until his eyes and lungs burned, pulling back only when Nico would start to whimper like a hurt dog.

Mal pulled free, and the oxygen returning to Nico’s brain made his head swim deliciously. He used Nico’s hair to tip his face up, jerking himself roughly with his other hand, his breathing ragged. “Fuck, so good, Fidget. So fucking pretty like this, on your knees for me, letting me use you. Such a good little whore for me.”

Nico loved him like this. Loved that he was the one who could unravel Mal like this. He was close. He only started babbling like this when he was about to come. Nico closed his eyes and stuck out his tongue, listening to Mal’s breaths come faster and faster, the wet sound of his fist stroking himself making Nico’s own neglected cock ooze. He was sure there was a puddle of it on the floor by now.

Mal gave a low, almost pained groan, then the first of his release hit Nico’s face, landing on his lips, his cheeks, his left eyelid. It seemed to go on and on until Nico could feel it dripping from his chin and lashes.

Mal hauled him to his feet, shoving him until his back hit the table. Nico reached up to wipe his face so he could open his eyes, but Mal batted his hand away. “Leave it. Disobedient little sluts don’t get to clean up. You can stay just like that ‘til it dries.”

Nico moaned like the whore he was as Mal left one of his legs dangling off the table and lifted the other to hook over his shoulder. Nico cried out as Mal grabbed the base of the plug inside him. He’d almost forgotten about it. The skin on his ass had long since gone numb and the pain of the ginger had become so familiar it didn’t even register until Mal jostled it. Now, the burning came back with a vengeance.

Mal pulled the plug until the widest part stretched him almost painfully, then paused, “You want to come, Fidget?” he asked meanly, letting it slide back inside once more. It burned.

“Please, Bunny. Please.”

Nico whined as Mal, once more, pulled the plug until it was stretching him painfully. “I don’t believe you, Fidget,” he said in a sing-song voice. “I think you can do better than that.”

Nico hated that he couldn’t open his eyes. Mal had a hard time resisting Nico’s puppy eyes. That was probably why he’d taken the option from him.

Nico didn’t even have to fake the sob that escaped. “Please, Bunny. Please. I’m sorry. I was bad. I was disrespectful. I’ll do better next time. I promise. I want to come. Please, can I come? Please? I know I don’t deserve it, but please? It hurts. I’m so hard it hurts.”

“If only you’d thought of that earlier,” Mal said, voice dripping with mock sympathy. When Nico started to cry for real, Mal hummed. “Okay, Fidget. You can come…” Nico’s heart sank at the pause. There was always a caveat. “If you can do it before I decide to take this out of you.”

His hand floated lower to hover over his aching cock. “Can I touch myself, Bunny? Please? Please, can I use my hand?” he asked, frantic even to his own ears.

Mal sighed. “If you have to. Go ahead, I guess.”

Nico gave another sob of relief the moment his hand closed around himself, wasting no time. He stroked himself hard and fast, his grip painful and tacky, but not painful enough to stop the sparks of pleasure dancing up his spine with every tug. He was so close already.

Mal taunted him, pulling the plug almost free before thrusting it back in painfully. It happened again and again, Nico’s orgasm building the more frantic he grew until he reached that tipping point.

“Gonna come, Bunny. Gonna come,” he chanted, back arching just as Mal pulled the plug free, Nico’s release spilling across his fist and stomach.

He kept stroking himself until the aftershocks faded, and he was twitching, then let his hand fall to the table, waiting for his brain to come back online.

He just laid there. He didn’t have any choice. He was trapped until Mal cleaned him up. Getting cum in his eye hurt like a motherfucker. When he’d learned why, he hadn’t let Mal give him a facial for a whole month.

“You made a mess, Fidget. Clean your hand.”

Nico lifted his hand to his mouth, making a show of licking his skin clean while Mal watched. Even without his sight, he could feel Mal’s eyes on him. When he finished, he held up his hand for inspection. He sighed when Mal pressed a soft kiss on his palm.

Mal gently set his other leg down until they were both dangling over the edge. Nico felt him walk away, but was still floating, his whole body weightless, his head deliciously free of any worries. He sighed when a warm, wet cloth touched his face. He laid there peacefully as Mal wiped him down.

Once he was done, he swept Nico up bridal-style and carried him to the bathroom. He sat Nico on the sink as he filled the tub with water just warm enough to not give him a chill. The cold countertop felt nice on Nico’s abused flesh.

“Can I see, Bunny?” Nico asked.

Mal smiled, lifting him until he could see himself in the bathroom mirror. Nico gasped. His ass and thighs were bright red, and there were raised welts here and there, some starting to bruise. He knew it would look less angry by morning, but, for now, Nico felt pretty.

Mal set him in the bath, helping Nico recline. He let his eyelids fall shut with a sigh. When he opened them again, he was on his belly on their bed, Mal sitting on his thighs, applying ointment to his skin.

“Did I fall asleep?” he asked, wincing at how sore his throat was.

“You didn’t fall asleep so much as pass the fuck out,” he said. “You scared me. Again.”

Nico came up on his forearms, trying to look at Mal over his shoulder to gauge whether he was really upset with him or not. Mal glanced up at him, then nodded his head towards the pillow. “Head down, baby. Rest up.”

Nico collapsed back onto the mattress. “Everything hurts, Bunny.”

He felt Mal shift, then he was looming over Nico on all fours. “I know.”

Mal’s lips brushed his neck right at the top of his spine, then slightly lower where faint indentations formed. He hovered there, his stillness a question.

“Do it,” Nico said.

Mal sank his teeth into the skin just to the left of Nico’s shoulder blade, biting down until Nico couldn’t bear it anymore and cried out.

Mal released his skin, licking over it. “Pretty,” he murmured.

Even after months of Mal biting the same spot, there were only faint indentations, but at least now they weren’t disappearing entirely. The idea made Nico giddy.

“You did so well tonight, Fidget,” Mal said, kissing his way down his spine.

Nico hated how much he needed his reassurance, but he did. “Promise?”

Mal’s lips landed on his ass cheek. “You were perfect. So good for me. Did you like it?”

Before Nico could answer, Mal spread him open. “Swollen here,” he said, tracing his rim with a barely-there touch.

Nico hid his face in the pillow. “Don’t just stare at it,” he cried, voice muffled.

“There’s no part of your body I couldn’t draw from memory,” Mal said. “Including here. And you’re getting shy on me?” he added around a laugh.

Nico peeked at him. “I’m not shy.”

“Tell that to your red cheeks.”

Nico gave him a baleful look. “Which ones?” he snarked.

Mal’s expression turned smug as he shrugged his shoulders. “That’s on you, Fidget. You knew there would be consequences.”

“I just wanted you to stop holding back,” he retorted.

Mal laid down beside him, then pulled Nico until he rested half on top of him. “I’m not holding back. I’m building up. I don’t want to push your body too hard too fast. It’s not fun if I actually hurt you in a way neither of us like.”

Nico sighed. “I know…but still…”

“Still what?”

“It makes me feel like a bad sub.”

Mal was silent for so long, Nico finally looked up to make sure he hadn’t fallen asleep.

“Seriously?” Mal asked.

Nico looked away but nodded against his chest. “Yeah,” he admitted, heart squeezing behind his ribs.

“Am I not praising you enough, baby?” Mal asked seriously. “Am I not giving you enough rewards?”

“It’s not that.”

Mal paused before asking, “Then what is it?”

“It’s stupid.”

“Tell me, anyway.”

Nico made a noise that sounded like a squeak, then said, “I don’t want you to…feel like you’re missing out.”

Mal’s finger caught Nico beneath his chin, forcing his gaze upwards. “You can’t be serious?”

“I am. I just don’t want you to look back in thirty years and think you missed out on something,” Nico confessed, choking on his last word.

Mal shook his head. “You still don’t get it, Fidget. I would rather have thirty years of vanilla sex with you than a hundred years of freaky sex with anyone else. This is only fun with you. If you’re only doing this because you’re trying to please me?—”

“No,” Nico promised. “I swear I’m not. I like it. I love it, even. I just want you to be happy, too.”

Mal scoffed. “You make me happy. Just you. Only you. Always just you.”

Tears pricked at Nico’s eyes. “You make me happy, too. Just you. Only you. Always you.”

Mal pressed a kiss to his forehead. “I ordered pizza and wings from Vinnie’s. I’ll give you a massage after dinner while we start season two of Arcane .”

Sounded like the perfect night.

Nico turned his power-pout to a hundred, looking at Mal with big eyes as he asked, “Did you get me tiramisu?”

Mal snorted, rolling his eyes. “Put that face away. Of course, I did. I can’t believe you’d even ask me that.”

“And I don’t have to put clothes on?”

Mal’s expression turned deadly serious. “Fidget, listen to me. And I really mean this. As long as there’s nobody else here to see your pretty little body, you never have to wear clothes again.”

“Promise?” Nico asked.

Mal grinned. “Baby, I’ll put it in our wedding vows.”

Nico scoffed. “Weird way of proposing, but I accept.”

Nico’s heart did cartwheels in his chest as Mal’s face lit up. “Yeah?”

“Yeah, of course,” Nico said faintly, unsure how he’d tripped and stumbled into a marriage proposal.

His confusion over Mal’s excitement was quickly rectified when Mal wiggled out from under Nico to reach for his nightstand. “Cool. Then I can give you this.”

Nico’s pulse rocketed to the moon when Mal showed him a small red ring box. “If this is a prank, I’ll kill you and everyone involved,” he vowed, taking the box with shaking hands.

He cracked open the box, breath hitching. He blinked back tears as he tried as he pulled the ring free, trying to take in every detail. It was silver, with branches all around and an anatomical heart right in the center. Nico traced the raised heart with his finger, then turned it this way and that, not wanting to miss a thing. There, on the inside of the band, sat two words in raised letters. Eight letters that would press into his skin every day for the rest of his life until they were a permanent mark.

TIL DEATH

Nico handed it back to Mal, watching as his face fell and he blinked at him rapidly. “You said yes?”

Nico smiled, cupping his face. “Yeah, and now, I’m saying don’t be lazy. Propose properly. I’m not the only one getting on my knees tonight.”

He pointed to the ground, then tilted his head.

Mal grinned, sliding off the bed. “Fidget?”

“Yes, Bunny?” he asked primly.

“Will you marry me?”

Nico tapped his finger against his chin for a second or two before saying, “Yes, Bunny.”

He held his left hand out, wiggling his ring finger until Mal slipped the cool band onto his skin. Nico couldn’t even begin to describe the feeling burning through him. Happy seemed like such a weak word for it. So did love. What he felt for Mal was…transcendent. Divine. Sacred.

“Take a picture?” Nico asked.

Mal smiled and nodded, taking Nico’s camera and opening the app. Nico had to hold his wrist with his other hand to keep them from shaking.

He added the photo to the group chat without explanation just as the doorbell rang. Mal rose from his knees and smacked a kiss onto Nico’s lips, tugging his black pants back on.

“Hey,” Nico called when he hit the doorway.

“Yeah?”

“How long have you had this?” he asked, wiggling his ring finger.

Mal’s face became a mask of concentration. “How long have we known each other now?”

“A year and a half?” Nico said.

Mal grinned. “Then a year and a half.”

He was gone before Nico could even process this answer. Had Mal really had that ring tucked away since the day they’d met? Nico smiled. Yeah, probably. They were soulmates, after all. Two halves of one divine being, split in two. He grinned as his notifications pinged again and again. Mal was just walking back inside with a stack of boxes and two bottles of Nico’s favorite hibiscus drink when he finally decided to peek at his messages.

Felix

Is that an engagement ring?

Seven

I did not see your night ending like this, but congrats.

Shiloh

Oh, my God. Are you fucking naked?

Levi

What he meant was congratulations.

Shiloh

Yeah, congrats or whatever. *vomit emoji*

Mal set the food down. “What are they saying?”

“That they’re all super happy for us.”

Mal grinned. “Good.” He handed Nico the first slice of pizza. “Are you happy?”

It was on the tip of his tongue to give a smartass answer, but seeing the anxious look on Mal’s face, Nico nodded. “The happiest.”

Mal’s shoulders sagged. “Good. Me too.”

And they were.

They were so happy.

the end