by M J Marstens
Pepper rights himself, smoothing out his clothes. His mouth glistens in the rays of light that pierce through the forest canopy. I realize it’s from me. I blush at the sight when Pepper catches my eye and licks his mouth suggestively. It takes all my control not to groan and demand he puts his lips back to mine.
“What in the ever-loving fuck are you two assholes doing to my sister?!” Graham roars. “You claim to know all about Mari and her sadistic nature, and you pull this shit?”
Plumpy pulls away from me and looks away guiltily, but Pepper looks completely unrepentant.
“We didn’t do anything she didn’t enjoy,” he tells my stepbrother.
“Yeah, well, there were times she enjoyed Mari-”
“That’s enough, Graham,” I bite out, bringing all the men up short with the curt tone of my voice. “You and I both know they didn’t coerce me into anything. In fact, this is the first time I’ve ever been given a choice, and it felt fucking phenomenal.”
Shock flits over Graham’s features, whether at my vehemence or use of ‘fuck’, I’m not sure.
“And if your brother’s stiff dick is any indication, I’d say he enjoyed it, too,” Pepper continues, making an awkward situation even worse.
I feel my blush deepen and try to look everywhere but at Graham’s tenting pants, proof that he didn’t come. I haven’t been this embarrassed since the time King Umami found his nephew and me holed up in the royal pantry, drinking all his spirits. I was only fourteen, Graham was sixteen, and we had never drunk before. When King Umami finally discovered us, we had drunk all the ceremonial wine and were completely foxed.
I puked all over the king’s feet when he tried to help me out of the closet.
If that weren’t bad enough, the king made Graham and me confess in front of all the Savories the next morning in the town square. I had the worst headache of my life, but Graham was so sweet. He told everyone he had drunk all the wine, sparing me the kingdom’s censure. King Umami didn’t correct him, but I’ll never forget the strange look on his face when he listened to his nephew confess.
Even now, I wonder about that look.
It was as if the king had an epiphany.
Pepper’s next words bring me back to my present humiliation.
“And you, sugartits, must have enjoyed Graham watching, or you wouldn’t have called his name out when you came all over my face.”
I look around rapidly for a rock to crawl under and die.
All three men are watching me intently, probably waiting for an explanation about why I screamed my stepbrother’s name while orgasming, but they’re not going to get one from me. Instead, I turn on my heel, and this time, I’m the one to run away. I dash off in the general direction that Graham had run off to, but then I veer back northwest, not wanting to head to the ocean.
I must just make a wide arc because I eventually come back to the candy cane path. I step onto it and look back, but I don’t see the guys anywhere. They’re not coming up the trail, nor do I see or hear anything chasing me.
Maybe they are simply giving me some space.
I appreciate their consideration.
I sit down to catch my breath and look around.
I realize the mountains are much closer. Before they were merely a backdrop in the west, barely visible over the towering pines, but now I can see their colossal forms in the distance. I get back up and walk until I reach the edge of the woods.
Now, I’m at the foot of the range and there’s a sign announcing ‘The Gumdrop Mountains’. They’re so pretty with their pastel peaks capped in white. I stand there, merely observing, waiting for the others to catch up, when a flash of purple, green, and pink catches my eye.
The bright colors make me curious and I walk back into the thick of the trees to investigate. I weave between the pines and growing candy canes, but I don’t see anything. I’m afraid that I’m going to get lost and decide I must have been seeing things, when I spot him.
A few paces away, leaning against a tree, is a divinely handsome man. His brown hair is spiked up and is so shiny, I can see it glistening from here, but it doesn’t compare to the shine of his green eyes. They shimmer like jewels, their bright hue enhanced by the stranger’s silky-looking clothing.
His posture is relaxed and he appears to be lost in thought, but as I get closer, I can see his eyes are trained on me with an intensity that unnerves me. My steps falter and a cruel smile tips his lips up. It’s then I notice the emptiness in his gaze. The beautiful verdant green holds nothing in its depth. There’s nothing, except maybe for a hint of something dark.
My stomach clenches and instinctively, I swivel around to run, but the man is faster. In an instant, he’s behind me and yanks one of my braids. I cry out in pain as my head snaps back against the attack. Tears sting my eyes as I open my mouth to scream, but the man is anticipating this move and already is muffling me with something foul.
A ball gag.
Instantly, I’m transported back to Mari’s basement. I’ll never forget the first time she used the gag on me. How demeaning it felt to have everyone in the dungeon watch me drool and slobber over myself. The ache in my jaw that lasted for days because Mari left it on for far too long. I start trembling as my old memories come rushing in.
I don’t know what’s come over me.
I’m frozen; stuck in my own horrible thoughts. I practically give no struggle to the man shoving the ball in my mouth and locking the gag in place. Belatedly, I lash out with my arms and legs, kicking and flailing. Anything to get away, but it’s no use. The man is bigger, stronger, faster. Even though Plumpy healed me, I’m no match for this man.
He simply reaches out and grabs my neck, squeezing it without mercy. I claw and scratch at his hands, trying not to panic as my airways are cut off.
“Are you finished?” he asks in a deep voice.
I try to convey my acquiescence with my eyes.
Thankfully, he seems to understand and loosen his hold.
I’m trying not to sob as I breathe deeply through my nose. It takes all my concentration to breathe evenly, since I want nothing more than to take huge inhales through my mouth, but can’t because of the gag.
“That’s a good girl, my little gumdrop,” he croons to me encouragingly. “There’s no need to fight. I promise to take good care of you, Anise.”
The blood congeals in my veins when he speaks my name.
How does he know it?!
“Oh, how rude of me, knowing who you are and not making introductions. I’m Jolly Rancher, the happy sadist. I’m taking you to an old friend, who’s paid handsomely for you, but first, I think we should have some fun. Have you tried gumdrop tincture? It’s a delightful concoction I’ve created from ingredients that can only be harvested in the Gumdrop Mountains.”
Jolly the Happy Sadist holds up a vial of opaque liquid that is a kaleidoscope of colors.
I stare in horror at the glass bottle. Anything this man created can’t be good. He calls himself ‘the happy sadist’, for pity’s sake; does that mean he gets off happily to other’s pain? He and Mari would make good friends. . .
And then it hits me.
Jolly’s taking me to an ‘old friend’ and he knows my name:
He’s taking me to Mari.
LORD LICORICE
The Kookaburra is a rare bird that nests in the trees of the Gumdrop Mountains, eating all the gumdrops it can see. What makes it so rare is its ability to both speak and understand human language. Creatures of excess, they are very easily bribed, like the one perched before me in my great hall.
He fluffs his feathers contentedly as he gorges himself upon my cook’s gumdrop tarts. I turn my head away in disgust. The filthy beast is making a mess, so I signal a trembling servant, who trying to hide herself in the shadows, to come forward and clean up after the animal.
I sit in my throne chair fit for a king, wishing I were one.
Soon enough I will be, though.
Another servant ent
ers the hall with the same fearful look as the one cleaning up after the Kookaburra. These pathetic fools act like I beat them hourly; which is ridiculous, I barely lay a finger on them.
I prefer to use a whip, and I rarely lash them more than once daily.
I need them functioning, after all, if anything is ever to get done at Licorice Lair.
“Speak,” I command the shaking servant.
“Yo-yo-your liege, Jolly is here with the girl,” he manages to stammer.
“How many times have I told you to address me as ‘your highness’?!” I demand, slamming my fist down on the arm of my throne.
“Fo-fo-forgive me, your highness!”
“Ugh,” I grunt in revulsion, kicking the stupid slave, before yelling at whoever is listening to let Jolly in.
I’m impatient and irritated.
I want to be king now.
I kick the servant, again and again, until he yelps and scampers from my sight.
I chuckle, watching him run away; fuck if the sight of him cowering doesn’t turn me on, but not nearly as much as the sight of what Jolly is dragging into my hall.
Her mouth is gagged with an oversized ball, her hands are bound behind her back, and she’s fighting Jolly every step.
I feel my eyebrows raise.
My queen led me to believe Anise was most submissive, but when our eyes meet, Anise’s are filled with a murderous fire.
I grin.
My afternoon just got a whole lot more interesting.
“Kookaburra,” I call to the slovenly bird in an ancient Sugarland dialect, “send a message to Maraschino that her favorite whore has been captured.”
“But I’m not finished eating,” the thing whines.
“I SAID BE GONE!” I roar at the beast, a fireball forming in my hand.
The bird takes one look at my cinnamon-scented magic and flaps into the air and out of sight.
Good fucking riddance.
Now to get Jolly and everyone else out so I can finally have a taste of what Maraschino so covets.
“Thank you, Rancher; that will be all,” I dismiss the mercenary.
His oily chuckle raises my hackles.
“Not so fast, my dearest Lord Licorice,” he mocks. “I want my payment.”
“Your payment is coming. Once I am king, I shall pay you in full.”
“No,” Jolly says simply.
I feel my face turn red and fireballs form once more in my hands, but Jolly isn’t without powerful magic himself. His eyes harden and the air crackles as he calls on the strength of the mountains to fortify himself against me. Behind him, Anise shrinks down and attempts to creep away.
“The girl!” I bark, and Jolly and I drop our magic.
She gets up to run, but Jolly is faster and pins her squirming, sexy form to his body.
“I’ll make you a deal. Let me have a taste, and we’ll call it even,” Jolly barters.
Again, my eyebrows shoot up.
The bastard really didn’t sample her irresistibly sweet goods before coming here?
Hell, he must get off even at torturing himself.
“And I want to feed her gumdrop tincture,” he adds.
Now I scowl. Gumdrop tincture is a powerful aphrodisiac. It can make anyone experience pleasure, and I don’t want Anise to be pleasured. I want her to punished. Jolly seems to sense my reluctance and hurries to explain:
“I know how much you enjoy hurting your victims; but not nearly as much as I enjoy denying mine their satisfaction. The gumdrop tincture will make her insane with need. I want to stoke that fire higher and higher, but never let her reach fulfillment.”
I snort.
“Maraschino did that to her all the time. I’m sure she’s quite immune to it.”
“Maybe, but I doubt Maraschino ever fed her gumdrop tincture. I’ll even give you the rest of the vial,” Jolly offers.
Now that’s a deal. Maraschino will be beside herself if I present it to her as a gift when she is queen once more and I am her king.
“Agreed,” I tell the man, realizing he’s right.
Maraschino withheld Anise’s pleasure many times, and while the girl might have longed for release, she was still cognizant enough to fight her situation. Gumdrop tincture will erase all the fight in her. It will make her our wanton slave. She doesn’t know what begging is yet.
I smile at the sheer cruelty of it all.
I motion Jolly to bring the girl forward. She’s still struggling in Jolly’s arms, but I can tell she is getting tired. I reach up and release the ball gag. Anise coughs and sucks in air greedily. I grasp her chin and tip it upward to gaze into her eyes.
So purple.
So majestic.
So beautiful.
Too bad she’ll never be a queen.
“Do you know what they call me, girl?” I ask.
She snaps her mouth shut and glares at me.
I chuckle. Soon, she’ll realize such insubordination will not be tolerated.
“I’m the Sweet Sadist.”
She fucking snorts.
“You have the stupidest names,” she declares.
I stand there, gaping.
No one has ever spoken back to me; I’m not quite sure what to do.
But Jolly knows how to handle her insolence.
He spins Anise around, yanking her head back using her braids. Anise lets out of yelp, and before she can react, Jolly has the stopper off the gumdrop tincture and pours the entire fucking contents down her throat.
He smiles savagely when Anise starts choking and sputtering. He tosses the glass jar across the room, where it shatters against a wall. Instantly, a servant comes forward to clean the mess.
Anise slams to her knees, gasping for breath, as she recovers.
“Now the fun can begin,” Jolly smirks.
ANISE
I can feel the walls closing in on me; my world is collapsing.
Like before, everything will soon be stripped from me.
My clothes.
My dignity.
My choice.
Something fragile inside me breaks and all my resentment spews forth.
“You bastards!” I seethe, too blinded by my rage to consider my words. “You can’t make me submit! It’s a gift that only I can give someone, and I will never fucking give it to you!”
The Sweet Sadist looks like he’s going to have a heart attack over my words and raises a bejeweled hand to slap me, but Jolly easily catches his arm.
“Patience,” he tempers.
The look Jolly shoots me is so vilely smug that I want to puke.
I raise up to get off my knees when a wave of nausea washes over me.
I might actually puke.
I dry heave for a moment until the feeling passes.
I’m so glad I didn’t sully my lord’s floor.
Where the hell did that thought come from?
I look up, bewildered, but Jolly only chuckles.
“The gumdrop tincture has taken hold. She’s going to be a mess for the next twenty-four hours with the amount I gave her,” he speculates gleefully.
I feel like I should be pissed at him, but I can’t find the energy to conjure up the emotion. Instead, my body feels like it’s on fire, and all the heat is pooling low in my belly, turning my insides into liquid need. I’ll burn if someone doesn’t help me; I’ll spontaneously combust.
“Please,” I croak, “please help me, my lords.”
Somewhere deep within, I wince at the blatant invitation heard in my voice. That same part of me realizes the tincture makes me fully submissive to these men. Anything to put out the fire. Bastard is too kind of a word for them is my last thought, and then I lose myself totally to the power of gumdrop tincture.
O
JOLLY
I know the minute Anise succumbs to the gumdrop tincture. All the fight makes her go limp and she gets a goofy look of adoration on her face when she looks at Lord Licorice. He sends an evil smirk right back at her.
&n
bsp; Licorice snaps his fingers and a servant races forward to do his bidding. He whispers something and off the servant dashes.
“I love your dress, snickerdoodle,” he croons to Anise, “but it’s in the way.”
In two strides, he steps up to her and tears the dress from her body. Every lush inch of her form is on display and I ache with my need to mark myself upon it.
Such gorgeous skin.
So pale.
So flawless.
It practically begs to be whipped and marred.
Spanked and bruised.
And I’m the perfect man to do it.
“You still have your Twizzler Torturer?” I ask Licorice conversationally.
“Of course,” he responds smoothly, walking over to a door on the far side of the room. He opens it up to reveal a closet full of toys. I grin. What an interesting thing to have in your receiving hall. Licorice disappears for a second, grabbing items, before reemerging.
“The servant is bringing a surprise. Until then, let’s get her ready.”
He holds up a rainbow candied butt plug.
Perfect.
“Come here, gumdrop,” I order my new favorite pet.
She complies instantly, fearlessly, swaying her hips until she stands proudly before me, ready to submit. Grasping her long braids, I yank her forward and savagely kiss her. Her knees buckle, but I hold her up. When I finish, her lips are swollen and bruised.
“I have a treat for you, sweets,” I tease, pinching her nipples with brutal force.
She squeals, crying out, and my dick roars to life.
“Lic, throw me the plug.”
He tosses it over and I catch it effortlessly.
“Suck,” I command and Anise slips the candied piece into her mouth. She hums in delight at the sweet flavor, and I watch the erotic play of it all hungrily.
“That’s enough, turn around and bend over.”
This Anise is so perfectly submissive.
I fucking love gumdrop tincture.
She touches her toes and without ceremony, I shove the plug deep into her ass as far as it will go. Again, she cries out, but makes no complaint. A small sliver a blood leaks from her ass where I tore it in my swift brutality. My cock hardens even more. One touch and I’ll fucking explode.
