Lover, Destroyer

by Sionnach Wintergreen

  Elarhe fought a cringe. He hated when Kite yelled. Even if many times he seemed not to be yelling at Elarhe directly, Elarhe still hated it.

  Kite turned from him and heaved several deep breaths. Elarhe waited, his stomach knotting. All smiles, Kite rejoined the conversation. “It’s a ball gag. Here.” He closed the short distance between them and slipped the contraption into Elarhe’s mouth. He fastened the buckle in back before Elarhe could get away. “See? Try talking.” The glint in his eyes looked dangerous. “Or screaming.”

  Elarhe tried to talk around the gag. It was fairly effective; he could only make noise. He undid the buckle at the back of his head. Kite watched him with a pleasant expression. “I don’t want to try everything on,” Elarhe told him in a firm voice.

  Kite nodded. He grabbed a couple of things that looked like pliers from an ornate, shiny silver tray. “These are fun.” He opened and closed the things near Elarhe’s face.

  Elarhe flinched. “What are those?”

  “Nipple clamps!” He demonstrated the snapping things in the air with a wild glee. He snapped one near Elarhe’s chest.

  Elarhe pulled away. “Fuck!”

  Kite smiled. “Your nipples are so sensitive. Mine are, too. Which is great, you know. Some men have little feeling in their nipples at all. Such a pity. I have to take a hot poker to their genitals to make up for it.”

  “Kite—”

  “No hot pokers for us, of course. We’re sensitive.” He opened and shut the clamps again. “Although these can be heated if one so desires.” He tossed the nipple clamps back on the tray. They landed with a clatter. “And look at this!” He pointed to a large meat hook hanging from the ceiling. He grabbed something that resembled a black velvet doublet with strange buckles from the wall. Elarhe had assumed it was for decoration. Nothing, apparently, in Kite’s secret room was decorative. Every horrible looking thing was an instrument of torture.

  “See this.” Kite held the velvet thing against his body. “I had this specially made. I call it a cocoon. You can hang upside down from the meat hook.”

  “Why???”

  Kite scowled at him as if he were being coy. “For a punching bag. What else?”

  “I see….”

  “You can also open the flap at the cock and suck someone while standing up, but that usually comes after a good round of punching.”

  Elarhe felt dizzy. “I don’t know about all of this.”

  “We don’t have to do all of it.”

  “Have you ever been hung upside down and used as a punching bag?”

  Kite blinked at him. “No, but I can imagine what it’s like.”

  “And you think you would like that?”

  “I would like to try it,” he said in a small voice, “if you were the one punching me.”

  That turned some key in Elarhe’s heart. “I see. This seems more extreme than cuffs, but if you liked it….” He felt hard suddenly.

  Chapter 16

  “Do you want to do the punching bag now?” Elarhe felt exhilarated.

  “I don’t think hanging upside down would be good for my head. There are many other things here that don’t require me to be upside down.”

  “What would you want to do?”

  Kite gave a small shrug. “Surprise me.”

  Elarhe grinned and pulled Kite’s bandage over his eyes. “I shall.” He slipped Kite’s clothes off of him and led him to the stand shaped like a person with arms and legs spread. He turned Kite to face the wooden stand. He cuffed Kite’s wrists and ankles to the imaginary person’s outstretched limbs. Kite was perfectly obedient. He turned his head to the side, pressed his face against the wood, and didn’t utter a sound.

  Elarhe left him cuffed and trotted around the room lighting candles. He lit every candle in the place, filling it with light. Once he was done, he picked out a stout looking wooden paddle and tried it on his hand. Heavy and solid, it slapped across his palm with a hard thud. He wondered what Kite would think of it.

  He walked up to Kite and smoothed a hand down one of his pert ass cheeks. It was white as moonlight on marble and firm to the touch. Elarhe stood back with the paddle and gave Kite’s ass an experimental thwack. Kite caught his breath. Elarhe gave him a harder blow. This time, Kite grunted and his skin turned red where the paddle had struck it.

  Elarhe liked the way Kite’s skin reacted, and he loved the noises Kite made. He felt a tingle of excitement all over. He beat Kite harder with the paddle, swinging back his arm. This time, Kite bounced against the wooden stand with a short, “Uff.” His cuffs rattled. The paddle left a strawberry red stain over Kite’s ass.

  Elarhe decided that that was the way to paddle someone. He assaulted Kite’s ass with the paddle. His cock thickened. Excitement ran through his veins.

  The red outlines of the paddle blurred into a rosy haze with bits of purple here and there. Kite bit his lip at some point and dripped blood onto his shoulder. He groaned at each blow.

  After a while, Elarhe realized Kite wasn’t simply groaning, he was calling Elarhe’s name. Elarhe gave him another good thwack, then stepped close to Kite. “What is it?”

  Kite swallowed. “We forgot to discuss something. Something important.”

  “What’s that?”

  “A safe word. We need a special word to say when one of us is ready to quit.”

  “Oh. What should the word be?”

  “Something neither of us would say normally.”

  “What about ‘cat.’” He knew Kite didn’t particularly like cats, and they didn’t have a cat, so they weren’t likely to say it while playing.

  “Cat,” Kite gasped.

  “Right.” Elarhe left him and swung the paddle back.

  “Cat! Cat! Cat!”

  “Oh?”

  Kite fought against his cuffs. “Yes, maybe fifteen blows ago. Cat fucking cat!”

  “I’m sorry.” Elarhe put the paddle down and freed Kite from his cuffs. “You seemed so stoic.”

  “I couldn’t breathe!”

  Elarhe scoffed. “Maybe you’re not cut out for this.”

  Kite lifted up the bandage covering his eyes. He looked wounded. “I liked it. Very much. Be patient with me. Go slow at first.”

  Elarhe grabbed him, pulled his neck down and kissed him. He couldn’t resist, easing a hand down Kite’s backside. It was hot to the touch, covered in raised welts, and painful, apparently, for Kite flinched. Embarrassed, Elarhe pulled away. Mysteriously, Kite pulled him back. He held Elarhe’s hand and guided it down his ass, wincing as he did so.

  There was something seductive about his wince, something coy that made Elarhe want to fuck him. Elarhe felt something heavy and silken against his thigh and realized he wasn’t the only one who was hard. “You tore me up,” Kite whispered against his ear. “Why don’t you fuck me from behind so you can survey your work?”

  “Oh. I wanted to try the nipple clamps out. And maybe some candle wax.”

  Kite swooned a little. “What good thing did I do to deserve you?”

  Elarhe kissed his chest. “You saved me, remember?”

  Kite grinned all over. “That’s right. I did, didn’t I?” He twirled away with a red-bottomed flourish. “I feel like dancing.”

  “I feel like putting clamps on your nipples.”

  With magely elegance, Kite spread himself before the wooden stand, this time facing front. Elarhe pulled the bandage back down over his eyes and cuffed him to the stand. Kite winced when his ass hit the wood, so Elarhe pulled him out as far as the manacles would allow. It wasn’t far, but it took some of the pressure off Kite’s bruised backside.

  Elarhe picked one of the clamps off of the tray. He brought it over to Kite and snapped it on one of his nipples. Kite roared. “Oww! You stupid fucking bastard! No! Fuck!”

  “Cat?”

  “Yes, cat! Get it off! Get it off now!”

  Elarhe complied. Kite’s nipple was red. Elarhe bit the inside of his mouth. He wanted to put the clamp on the other
one so they would match. He lifted Kite’s bandage from one angry eye.

  Kite, however, was blathering. “There are proper ways to do these things. You don’t just snap the nipple clamp on.”

  “They’re called nipple clamps. That’s what they do.”

  Kite rolled his exposed eye. “You’re supposed to arouse me first.”

  “You were aroused.”

  “My nipples, you idiot! Play with my fucking nipples.”

  “Don’t yell at me.”

  Kite heaved a deep breath. “I shouldn’t yell at you. I—I…feel very close to you, Squirrel.”

  Squirrel! Elarhe truly wanted to clamp that other nipple.

  “I’m sorry I was angry with you. I shouldn’t be. I should teach you how to do these things.” Kite looked genuinely sorry. “I’m not used to giving instructions. I’m not a teacher. I don’t associate widely with people. I don’t even have many friends.”

  Elarhe stroked one of Kite’s manacled palms. “I’m sorry, too.”

  “I care about you a great deal, Elarhe.”

  Elarhe looked up at the mention of his true name. It sent a burst of butterflies through his stomach. Kite seemed to be unable to use the word ‘love,’ but at least he had brought himself to say Elarhe’s name.

  “I care about you, and I want us to have fun together. I want to explore new things with you.” Kite sighed. “And truly, do what you will. My techniques don’t have to be yours. I should be open to new things—especially where you’re concerned.”

  Elarhe pulled the bandage blindfold back down, kissed Kite’s lips, then massaged his chest. He loved Kite’s chest. His own was lightly muscled; Kite had heavy pectoral muscles. Kite enjoyed splitting wood for the fires. Elarhe guessed it was one of many pastimes the mage liked that forged his musculature.

  He swirled his tongue around Kite’s offended nipple. It had now faded to a bright pink. Elarhe bathed it with his breath, flirting with it with his lips. Kite stirred against the wood.

  Elarhe licked the nipple tentatively, courting it with shy, subtle movements of his tongue. He brought his lips together over it in a delicate kiss. Then he sucked it into his mouth with a sudden ferocity. Kite’s breath caught in his throat. Elarhe sucked and kneaded the tender flesh with his tongue.

  He pulled away. The nipple stood at attention, waiting and ready. He tried it with his teeth, very gently. Kite writhed against him, obviously hungry for his touch. With careful fingers, Elarhe set the teeth of the clamp around Kite’s nipple. As Elarhe released the ends, Kite’s breath left him in a whoosh of air.

  Elarhe gave the second nipple the same attention. As he licked and sucked his new conquest, he twirled the clamped nipple. Kite made a sort of cooing noise. Elarhe grinned and tried not to laugh. When he had both nipples clamped, he, at the same time, gave them both a slow tug.

  Kite moaned. His hips raised toward Elarhe and his cock bobbed in the air. Elarhe remembered the thin silver chain in the tray. He attached it to the clamp so he could pull both at the same time. With one hand, he rubbed Kite’s cock, with the other, he gave the chain short, quick tugs.

  Hit by a burst of inspiration, he swatted Kite’s cock, hard. Kite, still blindfolded, seemed to try to look at Elarhe, his head moving. He didn’t say anything. Elarhe hit it again. The hot flesh was so solid, so firm against his hand. He gave the clamps a hard tug, grabbed a fistful of Kite’s balls, and squeezed.

  Kite gasped. He leaned forward, held in place only by the manacles at his wrists. Elarhe gave one of Kite’s balls a hard slap. Kite’s knees buckled, but the wrist cuffs held him up. Elarhe stood back, letting himself drink in the image. He liked angry, brooding Kite bound and helpless. Indeed, he liked it all much more than he thought he would.

  He walked back to the stand and knelt. Kite’s foolish cock knocked against him, returning for more punishment like a beaten dog. Elarhe smacked Kite’s cock out of the way, and tongued Kite’s balls. He rubbed a hand in circles on Kite’s lower abdomen, knowing an ache blossomed there.

  He mouthed Kite’s purple cock. It bounced up and down, wanting more. Elarhe unlocked the cuffs at Kite’s ankles, then the cuffs at Kite’s wrist. Kite staggered against him. “You’re brutal,” he rasped. “I like it.”

  Elarhe grinned, his face warming. He swatted Kite’s bruised ass, causing Kite to muffle a yelp. “On your hands and knees,” he ordered, giving Kite a little shove.

  Kite obeyed. “Are you going to fuck me now?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “What are we doing?”

  “It’s a surprise.”

  “I don’t like surprises.”

  Elarhe snorted. “You should have thought of that before you walked into this dungeon and made me its master.”

  “I don’t recall doing that, exactly….” He paused as Elarhe fumbled with the buckle of the strap holding the ball weights. “Don’t you think you’ve tortured my balls enough for one day?”

  “No.”

  “Maybe we should talk about this….”

  “No.”

  Kite groaned as the weights hung free on his balls. He ground his teeth, his jaw rippling. But he didn’t say ‘cat,’ so Elarhe added another weight for good measure.

  Elarhe scrambled up. “Wait there! I’ll go get the candles.” He smiled as he viewed Kite from afar, on all fours, his bandage over his eyes, and weights dangling from his balls. He picked up a candelabra and brought it over to where Kite crouched.

  He held a candle above Kite’s ass and giggled. As the hot wax dripped and ran into Kite’s crack, Kite shrieked. The weights swung back and forth. He groaned and burst up. He pushed up the blindfold. His nipple chain shook against his chest. The weights clanged into each other. Kite’s eyes squeezed shut for a moment. When he opened them, he said, “I think we’ve done quite enough for today.”

  “Didn’t say the safe word.” Elarhe dribbled wax on Kite’s cock.

  Kite danced backwards, huffing. The weights danced and gonged. “Cat!”

  A surge of anger that he hadn’t realized he felt until that moment went through Elarhe. “How many times did you do this to your whores?”

  Kite collapsed to his knees. “Too many. But it was always consensual.”

  “If you’re paying someone who’s desperate, I don’t think that’s exactly consensual.”

  Kite stared at him, but didn’t say anything. In a small voice, he said, “I paid them very well. Some of them, on a regular basis. I knew they didn’t love me, but they didn’t seem to mind doing what I asked of them.”

  Elarhe couldn’t look at him. “Do you think you’ll do it again?”

  “No. This is what I want. I complain, but I want this.”

  With a sigh, Elarhe dropped to the floor beside him and removed the nipple clamps. “This,” he said softly, dejected. “This is what you want.” He still wanted to fuck, but he felt small and sad.

  Kite amended. “You.” He grabbed Elarhe’s arm. “I want you. I want us.”

  Elarhe threw his arms around Kite’s neck. He couldn’t say anything. He didn’t understand all of the emotions he felt. He only knew one thing for certain. He sniffled. “I want to cover your sad ass in candle wax and fuck you like a dog.”

  Kite heaved a breath and got on all fours. “As you command, master.”

  Elarhe grinned ear to ear and splashed candle wax all over Kite’s upturned, purple and red ass getting it in his crack and letting it drip down on his balls. Kite endured it with his lips bitten together. He relaxed, however, when Elarhe began scratching and licking off the wax. Elarhe unbuckled the ball weights and tossed them aside. They fell on the stone floor with a heavy clang. The nipple clamps, however, he left in place.

  With lines of hardened wax still cracking on Kite’s body, Elarhe started fucking him. He was rough, preparing Kite’s hole only a little before forcing his way inside. He had to stand and bow his legs to fuck Kite properly. He fucked him as if engaged in some kind of strange dance, imagining music from h
is homeland as he swiveled his hips and thrust sharply into Kite.

  Kite moaned almost continually. Once, he mouthed, “Squirrel,” and made Elarhe roll his eyes and punish him with a cruelly deep thrust. It wasn’t clear that Kite understood it as a punishment, however, for he pushed his ass into Elarhe’s honey-colored pubic ruff.

  Elarhe didn’t bother reaching down to stroke Kite’s cock. He made Kite come from his hole alone, putting extra pressure on his prostate. Kite cried out and shot cum all over the floor. Elarhe pulled out to watch his cum land in creamy wads on Kite’s strawberry ass.

  When they were done, Elarhe removed the clamps from Kite’s nipples and sprawled on the floor, panting. Kite thudded next to him. He lifted his bandage, revealing his eyes. Elarhe stared at the high ceiling. Kite stared at him. After a moment, Kite asked, “Will you hold me?”

  Elarhe couldn’t help himself and laughed at him. He stopped laughing when he saw the sincerity on Kite’s face. “I guess. I’m all sweaty.”

  “So am I.” He looked rather childlike. “It’s just—it’s like I’ve been on a long journey. I need help coming home.”

  Elarhe pulled Kite into his arms. Kite snuggled against his chest in a quiet, fragile way that took Elarhe by surprise.

  Elarhe kissed the top of Kite’s head. “I didn’t realize there was this part. I would have done it sooner if I had known.”

  “This part is just as important as the rest,” Kite said quietly, tracing one of the lean muscles in Elarhe’s arm. “You didn’t know because I failed to tell you. It’s not your fault. You performed splendidly.”

  As they embraced, Elarhe realized that he needed the cuddle, too. It closed the door on their game and returned them to their normal lives. It reassured him that Kite bore him no ill will, carried no grudges. The dungeon was its own world.

  Chapter 17

  Elarhe sighed when he woke and discovered Kite gone. After taking breakfast with Mole, he rode Rose all over the grounds. He had taken out some of the other horses—he enjoyed Snow’s spirit quite a bit—but he preferred Rose. They suited each other. She had enough speed and fire to be fun, but she had a sweet disposition and took to him almost immediately. She nickered whenever she saw him and seemed pleased when he fetched her for a ride.