Strip Search #2
He feels through my pockets before sliding his hands under my clothes as if maybe I’ve sewn spells into the seams. Not a bad idea, really, but not one I’ve had before now.
Yet as methodical as the search is, the feel of his fingers on my skin makes blood rush to my face, my half-hard cock throbbing.
I squirm under him. “How the hell should I know? They’re wherever you hid them!”
A hand fists in my hair and pulls my head up from the surface of the bed. “Then how did you do that?”
I blink my sleep-fogged eyes into focus.
The sun is just graying the sky outside, giving me enough light to see the metal shackle hanging from the headboard.
The other is still wrapped around my left wrist, but the chain that had connected them is rusted and brittle, impossibly corroded over the course of the night.
Wish I had a better answer for him. “I don’t know.”
“Bullshit you don’t,” Nik snaps before he yanks me upright.
He’s stronger than me, taller than me; he has a Royal Guard’s training, and it shows in how he’s able to control me so easily before he abruptly lets me go.
There’s the sound of a sword being drawn, and I turn to come face to face with the business end of his. “Strip.”
I scowl, eyes flicking to that sharp point, though the order makes my cock twitch.
I’ve woken up randy most days on this trip, but after the shock of the dream, the thrum of arousal is as persistent as it is unwelcome.
Yet trying to force it away is a losing fight.
The need runs hot through every part of me, ears ringing as I pull my shirt over my head.
I drop my trousers and underthings, and the fact that Nik’s getting a full view of my hard cock does nothing to soften it.
Nik’s eyes focus on my nipple piercings for just a moment too long before he flicks his sword at me.
I roll my eyes before I do a slow turn, letting him see every inch.
“Want me to bend over and spread ‘em for you to be sure? Or maybe you just want to put a finger up there and rummage around a bit?”
Hell, I’d even welcome that part, but Nik scoffs as he sheathes his sword. He picks up my clothes, searching them more thoroughly and, unsurprisingly, still finds nothing. When his eyes turn to me again, he looks as perplexed and frustrated as I feel.
“How’d you do it?” he demands.
“You wanna listen, or you gonna keep ordering me around?”
Nik answers by tossing my clothes back at me. I’m quick to dress as I say, “Something’s fucked about my magic, alright? That’s why I’m trying to find my mother.”
“Fucked how?”
I pull my trousers up before jangling the busted shackle still around my wrist at him.
“Like I’m losing control of it. It happens when it shouldn’t.
Does things it shouldn’t.” Once I pull my shirt back on, I sit on the edge of the bed, groaning as I press the heels of my hands against my eyes until I see stars.
“I’m... having fucked up dreams. Might even be visions. ”
Nik barely waits for me to finish talking before he scoffs.
I didn’t think he could disappoint me further, but I realize I was wrong as he goes to check our packs without so much as a word.
He pulls my spells out and drapes them around his neck, hiding them under his shirt before he tugs the bag closed again.
“So, what, you’re just gonna ignore me?” I snap, my patience wearing thin.
Nik snorts as he dons his gambeson before buckling on his leather chest plate so my spells are secured under three whole layers. “So long as you keep spouting bullshit, I plan to.”
Anger flares hot. “It’s not bullshit! I’m telling you the truth! Something wants me out here, Nik. I have to keep going!”
The guard doesn’t answer except to shove both of our packs into my arms before he unlocks the remnants of the shackle from my wrist, letting the broken piece drop to the floor.
His strong hand grabs my shoulder before he steers me out of the room and down the stairs.
I grit my teeth, taut as a bowstring under his commanding grip.
Janessa and Osgar are both up already, and the main room is pretty busy for barely past dawn.
Can’t blame ‘em, really. No doubt I’m the best gossip they’ve had in ages.
Odd little Dominai came back from the city only to leave again in the shackles of a Royal Guard.
The whispers stop abruptly as Nik and I step off the stairs.
Osgar breaks the quiet first. “Yours and Dom’s horses are both ready for you, just as you asked, sir.”
Nik nods before he fishes out the small purse on his belt. He steers me over to the bar and drops it in front of them. “Thank you for your hospitality.”
Osgar snatches it up as Janessa says, “‘m sorry, Dom.”
I’m not sure what to say to that, and Nik doesn’t give me much of a chance to decide before he steers me out the door.
The weather’s cleared up, leaving a cold, foggy morning behind.
Mo nickers from where he’s tied next to Nik’s leggy sorrel that paws impatiently at the ground.
They’re both tacked up, ready to head back down the mountain.
There’s no changing his mind, I realize. No matter what I say, it’s not going to be enough for him.
I dig my heels in and let our packs drop to the wet ground at my feet. “I’m not going back.”
Nik lets out a long-suffering sigh. “And I was hoping you’d do this the easy way.”
I round on him, anger bubbling up again. “You’re not listening to me!”
Nik’s thumb flicks the guard open on his sheath before he half draws his sword. “I have my orders, Dom. I will drag you back if I have to.”
I’m already shaking my head, my fear and anger and desperation all pouring out. “Fuck your orders! Just give me a few more days! Keep my fucking spells! Come with me.”
I can’t read his silence, so I fill it.
“I’m so close, Nik. It’s like I can feel it. Please, just give me a few more days. A week or two, tops. Thora won’t even know if you don’t tell her!”
Nik’s frown gets more pronounced at the mention of his captain. His decision feels like an ax through my last shred of hope. “No.”
Fine. Fuck my spells, then. I’ll do this without them.
I snatch my pack up so suddenly I startle the horses. Nik’s sorrel screams as I dart past it, breaking for the side of the inn as fast as my legs will carry me. He’s got me on strength, but I’m fast and know this area like the back of my hand. If I can get to the old mine, I can lose him.
Nik’s heavy footsteps follow, hot in pursuit before abruptly stopping. I don’t dare slow down, don’t dare look back.
Something tangles around one foot, then the next.
In one disorienting moment, my legs snap together before I topple, hitting the ground with a grunt.
My pack helps break my fall, but the corner of my cook pan against my stomach knocks the wind out of me.
I barely get a chance to glimpse the weighted bolas wrapped around my ankles before Nik’s on me.
With his shackles ruined, he resorts to rope now. “Swear to the gods, it’s like trying to hold a feral cat.”
I grunt as he pins me down before binding my wrists in front of me, keeping a long train like a leash.
Then he hefts me to my feet and over his shoulder.
My ankles are still wrapped up, so I can only squirm like an unruly sack as he carries me back over to the horses.
He’s only a little taller than me, but fuck is he strong.
I fight him every step before he unceremoniously drops me onto the muddy ground.
He undoes the bolas from around my ankles before he leaves me in the dirt and wordlessly mounts up, wrapping the other end of the rope binding my wrists around his saddle horn.
He grabs Mo’s lead rope to pony him along as he says, “I’m giving you a minute until you find out how serious I am about dragging you. ”
“Fucking prick,” I snarl as I scrabble against the wet earth. He barely lets me get my feet under me before he nudges his horse to a walk.
He half-drags me anyway as he pulls me onto the road. I swear as I’m yanked forward by the persistent tug of the rope. Unlike the soft hemp the Crux has, Nik’s rough jute is bound to scrape the hell out of my wrists.
Yet it’s not until he’s dragged me well out of town and I’ve already stubbed my toe ten too many times on rough patches in the road that I finally speak up.
“I can ride a godsdamned horse, you know. And you sure as hell ain’t using mine,” I snap.
“You would have started on the horse if you hadn’t tried to run.”
“Wouldn’t be trying to run if you’d just fuckin’ listen to me!”
“I have listened to you,” Nik says, voice as flat as ever. “And I’ve decided I’m taking you back to the Crux.”
“Can’t spare a couple godsdamned days, huh? In such a big fucking hurry to get back to menacing wizards around the Crux? Even this little power trip can’t keep your dick hard for long, can it?” I spit, flapping the rope that leashes me to his saddle as all my anger pours out.
Nik lets out a long sigh but otherwise ignores me. And the fact that he won’t even acknowledge me makes me see red.
I’m not going back. Not yet.
I pull back with all my strength, tugging the leash connecting me to Nik’s saddle taut. The rough rope cuts deeper into my wrists, but I barely feel it. My hands wrap around the leash, and for a second, everything seems to slow.
It’s like the rockslide I diverted in the Hobokins all over again. Like that strange half-awake moment when I broke Nik’s shackles last night.
My thoughts stop, and something else takes over.
The heat of anger condenses in my chest before it explodes outwards. It travels down my arms like a second pulse, the fire coursing just under my skin. My ears ring as I force the heat into my hands, through my fingers.
There’s a crack so loud that it makes my ears rattle. The rope binding me to Nik’s saddle snaps apart with the smell of burning fiber, and I stagger to a stunned halt in the middle of the road.