Dark Journey [Ariel's Desire 2]

by Candace Smith

  The three Indians brought their cool chamomile tea out to the porch and waited for Raining Thunder to arrive with the dog.

  “You better behave. If you screw up, they’re just going to send you back to one of us for another week of training. You’ll cost me my feather then I’ll really be pissed off at you.” Raining Thunder was leading Mike who was walking the obligatory two steps behind. As much as it humiliated him, Mike would perform as expected. The thought of another week with the youth was not an option.

  Raining Thunder approached the cabin. His future father-in-law, Yellow Hawk was talking to Black Horse. Ah, so Black Horse will train him next. Black Horse was known for his easy going nature. Raining Thunder hoped he wouldn’t be too easy on the dog.

  Wind Seeker sat forward. “The dog is trained to continue its journey?”

  Raining Thunder stood straight. “Yes, Wind Seeker. He has been quite a challenge.”

  Mike glanced at him quickly in disbelief. I’ve been a challenge? You little prick.

  “Show me what he’s learned.” Wind Seeker sat back. He’d already noticed the dog’s eyes were down ... glaring ... but down. This first step of his journey was to teach him he was less significant than the youngest warrior.

  Raining Thunder walked the dog in a circle. When they faced Wind Seeker, he snapped his fingers. Mike slowly dropped to his knees. He was pulled back up again, then walked ten steps. Raining Thunder tapped his penis with the leash.

  He’s got to be kidding. Mike shuffled his feet earning his cock a harder slap. Mike reluctantly reached out, wrapped a captured hand around his dick and pissed as he was instructed.

  “Why is he still muzzled?” Wind Seeker asked.

  “He doesn’t speak, Wind Seeker, but when I correct him he shrieks like a woman. It’s annoying,” the youth replied.

  “I see. That will be taken care of further in his journey. Hand the leash to Yellow Hawk.”

  Raining Thunder faltered the step he was taking toward Black Horse. He grinned at Misting Waters’ father as he handed him the leash. He’d be pleased at how well the dog was trained.

  Wind Seeker handed Raining Thunder his first feather for his accomplishment. He’d seen the young man’s friends peeking around the cabin across the street and knew they wanted to see if he’d passed the test. “Thank you, Raining Thunder, for helping this soul on its journey.”

  Raining Thunder dashed across the street where the feather was passed around and admired jealously. Next, he took off to show his beloved Misting Waters what a great warrior he was becoming.

  Mike wanted to scream at the absurdity. I went through a week of torture by the arrogant little ass-wipe and his friends so the kid could get a fucking feather? The insanity of the tribe hit a new high and Mike was visibly relieved to be handed off to the other white man. He figured the guy might have known they were being watched before. Maybe now they could plan their escape together.

  CHAPTER 2

  DOG DAYS

  The blonde Indian said his goodbyes and led Mike away. Yellow Hawk caught the slight relief in the dog’s eyes when the leash went to him and understood he still thought he had an ally. He decided to take him home for lunch. He was fairly certain Raining Thunder would still be bragging to his daughter about the feather. It would be a most effective way for the dog to learn his assumptions were wrong.

  Whispering Wheat was braiding Turning Leaves’ hair and Raining Thunder was indeed showing off his feather. Misting Waters gazed at the young warrior with adoration. It was a very good match.

  First lesson, Yellow Hawk snapped his fingers. Mike started his slow climb down to kneel and the Indian swept his leg behind his knees. If Mike hadn’t grabbed his dick and thrown his head back, he was sure the testicle ring would have ripped out.

  Raining Thunder looked surprised then laughed. “I was only told he should kneel, Yellow Hawk. I didn’t work on speed.

  “He’ll learn to follow orders immediately and without question on his journey.”

  Whispering Wheat looked up from her task. “Raining Thunder told us you received the dog. This is quite a coup for our family.”

  Yellow Hawk was a little embarrassed. “I only have him through the second part of his journey.”

  “Yes, but you have him through stallion. That’s the most difficult time.” She glanced at Raining Thunder and added, “Other than his first training as dog.”

  “Wind Seeker has promised Lucien he’ll be well trained by celebration.”

  Whispering Wheat paled a little. The tribe’s mysterious Protectors were almost like gods to them. “You have a great responsibility. We’ll help in any way we can.” She looked at her daughters and they both nodded. Raining Thunder nodded as well.

  “I can see you’ve returned the dog bathed. Has it shat today?”

  Redness crept up Mike’s face at being discussed like this in front of three pretty Indian women. He hadn’t seen any women in the village who weren’t beautiful.

  “Yes, this morning.”

  Yellow Hawk pulled on the leash and Mike started to rise. Instead of the tug Raining Thunder gave, the strong man next to him kept pulling until Mike was being raised by his choking neck. “He’s lazy and slow. We’ll have to work on that.”

  Everything the Indians trained was for a reason. The dog phase was to strip a man of pride and teach obedience. The up and down movements were strengthening his legs, though Mike didn’t realize it as anything but a sadistic game.

  Yellow Hawk spent the afternoon visiting. Mike had his knees swept out from under him so often he was practically holding his penis all day as a precaution.

  He ate from the ground that evening then the gag was replaced. Yellow Hawk took him for his walk. After he’d pissed, Yellow Hawk walked him even further away from the village. He snapped his fingers and Mike dropped a little faster.

  Yellow Hawk squatted in front of him. “I saw your eyes today, dog. You still are of the mind you will escape to the flatlands. You were under the misconception I would go with you.”

  Mike glanced up with alarm. He didn’t think the man was even looking at him this afternoon. As the day wore on, he realized the man wouldn’t help him escape. With a wife and two teenage daughters, he’d been here for years. It was obvious he had no intention of leaving.

  “Make no mistake. I’ve worked hard to be a man. My journey to be a respected warrior of the tribe was difficult. I’ll work hard to help you on your journey to make you a man. Like you, I struggled against my journey when I got here. If I had known I would have Whispering Wheat and the proud family of the tribe when I finished, I wouldn’t have struggled as hard.

  “Your training will be challenging. You’re going to want to fight it for all you’re worth as you rid yourself of the flatlanders’ ways. While you’re fighting your journey, a journey of obedience and pride, look at the people around you. Not while they’re training you on your journey, but as they walk through the village, laugh by the stream and love by the fires. That’s what’s waiting for you. I’m not your friend. You are a dog. We won’t speak like this again until you’re a man.”

  Mike barely remembered the walk back to Yellow Hawk’s lodging. Instead of being tied outside by the fire, like he’d been with Raining Thunder, Mike was brought inside the teepee. He looked curiously around the large space. Packs were placed neatly near the edges with sleeping furs around a low fire. His daughters were already asleep.

  After he knelt, Mike’s leash was tied off to a beam overhead. He would not be lying down. He tried turning and leaning against the rough hide of the structure.

  Yellow Hawk stripped off his breeches and climbed under the fur with his wife. Just before Mike’s tired eyes closed, he heard the sounds of their love. Mike couldn’t help a small peek. Whispering Wheat was lying on top of the man, straddling his stomach with her strong, tanned thighs. Her breasts brushed his chest while she kissed him, and her dark nipples tightened with arousal. His fingers found the tight peaks and pinched, d
istending them further.

  Soft little gasps of anticipation escaped Yellow Hawk’s lips as her kisses slowly trailed down his chest and across his flat stomach. Mike glanced up from his voyeurism, assuring himself Yellow Hawk’s eyes were closed. Whispering Wheat’s long hair curtained her face as she reached his sex. One small hand reached up and threw the glossy black sheet over her shoulder.

  Mike watched her tongue, glistening wet by the firelight, lave Yellow Hawk’s thick shaft. She coated every inch of his tubular surface and caressed lightly across his heavy balls. Mike’s hands moved to his own neglected manhood and he tried to imagine her touch while he stroked himself with his fingertips. He watched her mouth cover her husband’s aroused length and she began moving up and down. The sight of the man’s cock swelling her cheeks was unbearable.

  Mike began pumping his hardening cock in time to her lunges. She reached the top of his flesh, and her tongue flicked across his crown. Mike groaned almost feeling the warm wetness of her mouth. Yellow Hawk’s eyes opened and he chuckled. Whispering Wheat looked over at Mike and smiled as she climbed off her husband and sat naked, eyes shimmering with passion, watching him.

  Yellow Hawk reached over his head for something and approached Mike. He looked at his stiff cock and chuckled, “Bad dog.” Mike was terrified and tried to move away.

  Yellow Hawk knelt down and easily wrestled Mike’s wrists to the back traces and secured him. Mike frantically shook his head, frustrated that he couldn’t kick out at the man. His pleading eyes traveled to Whispering Wheat. She sat on the furs cross legged with her hair half hiding her breasts, but not her glistening wet pussy. Mike’s eyes transfixed on her sex.

  He tried to jerk back when Yellow Hawk reached under his erection and removed the testicle pouch. His thick fingers flicked the tight sack. “Pretty worked up, aren’t you mutt?”

  Mike was already crying frightened tears. What the fuck did you think would happen when you brought me in here and started that shit? His eyes widened and he began muffled sobs when he saw what the big man held.

  Yellow Hawk brought over a thin strip of leather and wrapped it around the top of Mike’s balls, pulling it until Mike shrieked behind the gag. Yellow Hawk slipped a finger between the leather and his skin, making sure it wasn’t too tight to really injure the dog. Satisfied, he knotted it. He took the rest of the strap and tied it tightly around the base of his engorged penis, leaving minimal slack.

  Mike whimpered. It was agonizing. He began shaking his head, eyes tearing from the pain. Yellow Hawk gripped his chin until he looked in his eyes. “You are a dog. You will learn to control your rutting instincts and concentrate on your journey.”

  Mike whined behind the gag, tears flowing down his face. Oh my god, you can’t leave me like this. His tightened sack and stiff cock were already aching. When Whispering Wheat went back to her attentions to her husband’s shaft, Mike didn’t hear the roar of his orgasm. He was frantically thrusting his hips, trying to roll the leather off his cock with the friction against his thighs.

  By morning, Mike was exhausted from the pain. It was now a constant aching throb that was almost a part of him. Yellow Hawk woke up, stretched and smiled over at him. The women heard him and started waking up as well.

  When the daughters turned and saw his predicament, they laughed gleefully. They knelt before him and ignored his pleading eyes as they slapped his tortured erect penis. “Bad dog. Baaad, baaad doggie.” They laughed every time Mike screamed behind the gag.

  Mike was reduced to shuddering sobs by the time Yellow Hawk knelt before him. He untied the leather noose from his cock, which stung. When he untied the leather strip from his tight sack, Mike truly learned what pain was as the blood made its way into his balls and up his traumatized manhood. Yellow Hawk placed two fingers around his cock, squeezed and started pumping the flesh. Mike felt the delayed orgasm rise through his erection. His eruption was the second most painful thing he’d endured that morning.

  “Yes, dog. You’ll learn to control this instinct,” Yellow Hawk laughed. He stood and reached for his breeches.

  Mike had officially lost his testicle pouch. For some reason, he actually felt more naked without it. The only adornments he wore besides the rings and Lucien’s ‘L’ branded on his back, were the Indian cuffs and collar. He didn’t realize he was already spending less time thinking about his real life and plans of escape and more time how to fit in and survive. Mike was scrambling for the scraps the family threw to him for his breakfast. At some point, this had stopped becoming embarrassing. It was merely something he had to do to ease his hunger.

  He was so engrossed in his task, he didn’t see the tall black woman standing on Wind Seeker’s porch staring at him with her mouth open. Justin wrapped his arms around her. “Shawna, baby, he’s fine. See the man he’s with?”

  “Yes, Justin,” she whispered.

  “Look at his hair.”

  Shawna realized the man was blonde. “What? Justin, I don’t understand.”

  “He came up with us last time. He was our offering to the Indians. Now look at him. Jimmy never would have fit in with the settlement. Here, he has a beautiful wife and two daughters. He’s respected and happy. If you ask him, he’ll tell you he doesn’t regret any of it. Mike will be the same way, I promise you. Now, let’s check Shining Star’s baby and get back to the settlement.”

  Shawna turned and looked up at her handsome Vampire. “Justin, please don’t tell Ariel.”

  Mike knelt by Yellow Hawk’s side, eyes down, while the Indian had his morning discussion with his family. Turning Leaves was broaching her same argument. She said she had fallen in love with Robby, one of the flatlanders from Patrick’s settlement, when they talked at the Spring Celebration. The man was ten years older than her.

  Patrick told Yellow Hawk that Robby had no one to bond with on the way up to the settlement. The Vampires don’t like to leave anyone without a partner if they could avoid it. Turning Leave’s flatlander had spent the last ten years as a loyal, hardworking member of the settlement, but alone. As a flatlander, the man had worked on a ranch and had a way with animals. Patrick agreed to forfeit the man to the Indians, in exchange for a pass on their next abduction where they were to make payment to the Indians by giving them one male captive.

  Yellow Hawk was hoping it was an infatuation and that Turning Leaves would find a suitable mate among the Indians. She was obsessed with the flatlander. Yellow Hawk had not broached the subject with Wind Seeker so he could present it to his father, chief of the tribe. He had talked to Black Horse. They both agreed it could be a problem as they would be trading for a man ten years older than a new captive.

  Mike still had his gag out and was listening to the story. He mumbled, “Sounds like Romeo and Juliette.” He looked up in horror realizing what he’d done. “I know, dogs don’t speak.” He held his mouth open for the gag to be shoved in. While Yellow Hawk was behind him tying the straps, he forced himself to keep from laughing. Yes, they would be good friends, when he was a man.

  Turning Leaves talked to Shining Star, Wind Seeker’s mate and dominant female of the tribe. She told her if the Indians wouldn’t take in the flatlander, then she would threaten to move to Patrick’s Vampire settlement. Shining Star smiled and said she’d see what she could do.

  Shining Star knew the girl was manipulative and tried to figure out her current game. Perhaps she thought the threat would make Yellow Hawk pair her with Raining Thunder. That wouldn’t work. Everyone agreed he was perfect with her gentle younger sister, Misting Waters. She discussed it with Whispering Wheat, letting her know her daughter’s plans.

  After they finished talking about Turning Leaves’ tragic love affair, Whispering Wheat asked if there was anything they could do to help Yellow Hawk train the dog. They were all concerned they couldn’t get him on his journey to ‘horse’ by the celebration. They knew Yellow Hawk desperately wanted that.

  Misting Waters said, “He’s nasty. He has no control over rut
ting.”

  Turning Leaves hastily agreed. “Really, the very first night, Daddy? Maybe we should have him castrated.”

  Mike paled and tried to back up. You little bitch. And here I was rooting for you and Romeo.

  “No, I think the dog will become a man one day. I think he’ll finish the journey in his own way.” Then he added, “I may ring him if we can’t get it under control. He knows the penalty. You girls help him learn when you’re around him.”

  What the hell did that mean? Mike saw the girls exchange mischievous glances.

  “Should we have our friends help too?” Turning Leaves had an insincere innocent look on her face.

  Yellow Hawk thought it over. The punishments would be severe, but the distractions might do the dog good. It would certainly keep his mind off escape. “Yes, I think that could be a great help.”

  The daughters ran off to tell their friends they could help train a dog on his journey to becoming a man. It was one of the few training tasks the women of the tribe were involved in.

  Yellow Hawk rose. “Come, dog. Today you learn something new.”

  Mike wasn’t sure he liked the sound of that. Yellow Hawk led him to the corrals. There were a dozen horses in one side, and a closed gate leading to the other. Half a dozen Indians sat on a fence to watch. Apparently, word had already spread.

  Yellow Hawk stood outside the gate with the dog. “I will stand in front of the gate. My friends will get the horses excited. Your job is to get all the horses into the second corral without your master being touched.”

  Mike deduced Yellow Hawk was the master in this scenario. He’d never in his life been closer to a horse than a racetrack stand. Close up, they were formidable animals. He started shaking. Yellow Hawk leaned down and whispered, “If you fail me on my first test in front of my friends, you will not be happy.”

  Oh, that helps. Mike looked over the fence at the horses that were all calmly walking around then glanced up at the Indians on the fence. Everyone held a piece of metal they could bang. They smiled at him. Oh, shit.