Chapter 12 A Country Drive #2
“I thought officers got hard off of that sort of thing.” Ned tried to jump in, but Charlie wouldn’t be cut off.
“Before you say it, bugger to the regulations limiting us Tommies to rum rations. Officers are allowed to drink as much as they want. You know as well as I do that half of the officers’ corps have gin with their morning tea.
So explain to me why Smythe, why those new recruits, deserved that brandy any less? ”
“Don’t you see, that’s the problem? Despite what my duty tells me, I think you are right!” The map that Ned held was becoming increasingly crumpled. “I hadn’t expected it to be like this, being with someone outside my class.”
“Never been on your knees with riff-raff before?” Charlie couldn’t hold back his smirk.
“The fellows I was with before, they were always of my class, my age, my schooling, and my interests. Our lives were hard to distinguish from one another’s.
That’s what allowed us to discover we shared a very particular preference in the first place.
I appreciated that sense of being part of a secret association of like-minded men.
We all agreed on the important things, like the beauty of a heroic death, and the need for a struggle in victory. ”
Charlie snorted his disgust. Ideas like that got men killed, and not only those who thought about whether death was poetic.
Ned continued, “And you keep blowing up all of these ideals, one after another. You don’t debate me, you just stand back and show me the hypocrisy of it all.
You think I didn’t know what you were doing, helping those lads?
Making sure they might get some training that would actually help them survive?
But fuck, Charlie, I can’t have half a section so drunk they can’t stand. ”
This all felt too big and too complicated for Charlie. If he had ideals, he didn’t know what they were. What mattered was survival, staying alive and whole. “I didn’t think that fucking an officer was going to be like this either.”
“What do you mean?” Ned’s head snapped over to look at Charlie.
“No surprise that a lieutenant on his knees sucking my cock would make me as horny as hell.” Charlie glanced over to see Ned blushing properly now.
“Then you made me actually respect you. You wrote to command about the biscuit tins and stood shoulder to shoulder with us when we dug those trenches. You trust me, you trust your men, to have a mind of our own. So I trust you to see what I can’t. ”
Telling an officer that he understood the need for military discipline? Charlie hardly recognised himself, but Ned wasn’t Pemberton.
This time it was Ned who leaned over to squeeze Charlie’s knee. “I’m honoured. And I promise you, Charles Villiers, that I will never violate that trust.”
???
They arrived at HQ early in the afternoon. Of course, nothing more than their destination had been shared with lowly Corporal Villiers. Ned was quickly whisked off to do whatever it was that had brought them there, and Charlie found a few familiar faces to play cards with.
They ended up leaving later than Charlie would have liked, but overall it had been a very good day. He got to drive, at no point had it rained, and he had won some cigarettes and chocolate in cards.
Charlie half expected Ned to tell him about the meeting when they were back in the motor, but he didn’t want to seem desperate enough to ask.
He was about to crack when Ned said, “After the conversation this morning, this feels even more egregious to say, but I really can’t tell you anything about what I was doing today.
You really shouldn’t tell anyone where we went, either. ”
“That's bollocks.”
“In ways you can’t even imagine.”
The sun was slowly setting over the fields of France, and the flashes of shellfire at the front were becoming more distinct, for all that they were miles away. Like fireworks, if Charlie didn’t know better.
“Do you ever want to discipline me?” Ned’s voice was so low Charlie almost couldn’t hear him.
Different answers flashed across Charlie’s mind: of course, never, I have no idea. What he said was, “Do you deserve it?”
“Yes.” The certainty in Ned’s voice made Charlie harder than it should have. A glance over to Ned’s lap showed that Charlie wasn’t the only one feeling the intensity of the moment. Maybe he shouldn’t have told Ned that the idea of an officer on his knees made him horny.
Without asking or even looking over to Ned, Charlie pulled off the road near what might have been a stone barn at one point over the past hundred years. Still gripping the gear shift, Charlie said, “Get in the back seat.”
Ned swallowed loudly but obediently opened the door. Only once he sat down did Charlie come around to join him in the back bench. Ned was still looking straight ahead, hands clenched on his thighs.
Charlie hadn’t kissed Ned since he had returned from field punishment.
He tried to tell himself that there simply hadn’t been any opportunities, but Charlie also knew he hadn’t looked for any either.
He had told himself that it was for the best, that he didn’t want Pemberton to suspect Ned any more than he already did.
Didn’t want Pemberton to start suspecting Charlie.
It was the best way to protect them both.
Here Charlie was, jumping back in again, because he couldn’t not. If rebelling against authority kept Charlie’s mind connected to his body, kissing Ned kept his soul connected to his mind.
So Charlie leaned over and kissed Ned. Tenderly, softly. Not giving Ned what he wanted, but showing without words that Ned could trust Charlie to look after him. Charlie wouldn’t abuse his power either. He was going to make this good for Ned.
Charlie ran his thumb down Ned’s jaw, slowly catching on his stubble, then reached for Ned’s hands and placed them on the back of his neck. There was no force; the simplicity of movement was enough to hold Ned in place.
“Stay still,” Charlie said.
The air in the car felt heavy, like right before a thunderstorm. Even with the little that Charlie had done, Ned’s hands were already trembling slightly. Fuck, knowing Ned would give him control like this? Charlie gripped his own cock through his trousers to calm down.
Charlie grabbed Ned’s waist and shifted him around so that he faced him.
Efficiently, roughly even, he undid Ned’s belt buckle and slid down his trousers.
He took a moment to smirk at Ned’s hard cock.
Giving it a slow stroke, he leaned in to whisper against Ned’s skin.
“Going to show you who knows best, aren’t I? ”
Ned failed to suppress a whimper. Charlie kept his voice low, as if they were at the risk of being caught instead of in the middle of nowhere. “Put you in your place, follow someone else’s orders for a change.” Ned's hips bucked up and Charlie chuckled.
Charlie took his time. Slowly stroking, teasing, never quite firm enough, never quite fast enough, and each time Ned tried to entice Charlie further into action, he pulled away.
“Please, Charlie,” Ned begged after Charlie stopped stroking him. Again.
“Please, what?”
Ned groaned but didn’t try to take control. “Faster, harder, anything.”
Charlie widened his legs as much as he could in the limited space and began undoing his own flies, tugging out his own very hard cock.
“Here’s an order for you, Lieutenant. Suck my cock.”
The words had barely escaped his mouth before Ned was doing exactly as asked.
Charlie thrust his hips up hard, harder than he meant to, and felt Ned choke around him, instantly causing Charlie to ease off. He and Ned might be playing around now, but Charlie didn’t have any desire to hurt him.
Charlie brought his hand to Ned’s head, gently running his hand through his hair, but his tone stayed rough. “Keep going. A good officer takes care of his men, and you like taking care of me, don’t you, Lieutenant?”
Ned nodded as much as his position would allow.
“You like making sure that I get my pleasure.” More vigorous nodding, which had other side benefits for the activity at hand. “And you are so good at putting your men above yourself, a proper English gentleman.”
Charlie felt wild at the sight of Ned with his hands still clasped behind his head. Charlie managed to gasp out the words, “You want to touch yourself?”
Charlie pushed Ned up and placed Ned’s own left hand on his cock. Of course Ned could have touched himself at any time, but they both clearly found it extra delicious that Charlie took charge of Ned’s pleasure. “Show me what you can do.”
Ned’s eyes were wide. His hand moved frantically on himself, and Charlie couldn’t stop from doing the same. The two moved in unison as the sun began to set outside the car, casting ribbons of colour across the sky.
As Charlie’s body exploded from pleasure it dawned on him that maybe this drive with Ned hadn’t been a punishment at all.