Balls and Chains

by James Cox

  I hated Outlaw’s gut feelings. They were usually right and it was always worse than he thought. “As soon as I have confirmation I’ll radio in.”

  “Thanks.” The radio went quiet but not off. “Hey, how’s it going with the ginger man?”

  I sat back, smiling to myself. “Good.”

  “Fucker, please. That’s the sound of a satisfied man.” He snorted.

  I rolled my eyes but kept the grin firmly in place. “Goodbye, Chaos.” I placed the radio back on the table and looked at Harley. He was still on his side, but his body was moving now. The blanket got caught up in his legs and he kicked it upward. He yawned, turned onto his back, and winced. “Hey, handsome.”

  He stretched his arms over his head. “Me arse feels like I sat on a laser shot.”

  I laughed, walking over to him and sitting on the edge of the cot. The blanket was dipping low on his torso showing off his pale chest and abs. “Morning, baby.” I kissed him on the lips briefly, but I lingered, not moving back. “Want me to kiss your ass cheeks better?”

  Harley grinned. “’ell yeah!” He shuffled to his side then his front.

  I got a view of his smooth back. There were a few red splotches from my flogger. Then I tucked my fingers under the blanket and drew it down. His ass really was two red, fleshy cheeks. I stroked one and he gasped. That sore, huh? “You have any pain rub?”

  “Aye, upstairs. But I like t’e burn.”

  His words made my smile fade and my dick start to plump up. I rubbed his right cheek, caressing it gently and then placed a kiss at the top of his crack.

  “’ave fun last nig’t?” He turned his head so he glanced at me over his shoulder.

  I realized he was nervous. Did he think I’d drop him that fast? “A lot. You?”

  He nodded. “Bit o’ pain worth t’e pleasure.”

  I licked his cheek. His eyes shut and lips parted. I gave him a kiss this time and then sat up. “I have a present for you.”

  Harley raised a red eyebrow. “Aye?”

  I chuckled then stood and grabbed the box. “Stand up.” He did. I admired the half-erect shaft between his legs. “This is for my good sub.” I winked at him. “If you’re good all day, tonight I’ll give you a treat.”

  Harley licked his lips. “Like last nig’t?”

  I nodded and opened the box. “This is a cock cage.” I lifted both pieces out, rubbing it with my thumb then placed the box on the bed. “It goes over my naughty man’s penis so that only I can please you.”

  “Is t’at so?” He didn’t seem nervous. Instead, he watched me with those green eyes and that slight smirk. “I like w’en you do t’e controlling.”

  That made two of us. I took the ring part first then shifted to my knees. I placed the large ring over his shaft and when I got to the base of Harley’s dick, I slipped his balls through. It was loose enough to fall right off. I placed it on his body and then activated it with a slight touch of a miniature button on the side. It tightened in increments until it was secured over him. When I let go, the gray ring wouldn’t go anywhere. The next piece was longer. It looked very much like a long gray tube with a hole at the end. It was also too big. I gave Harley’s tip a kiss, which made him thicken then I slid the tube over his shaft.

  He flinched. “Fooking cold.”

  I blew on the outside, warming it up with my breath. “Better?”

  “Aye.”

  I pressed the button on the piece and the cock cage began to tighten. It was squeezing around his dick, leaving only an inch of space on every side. It shortened to accommodate his length so that he could use the hole to piss without making a mess. Then I used a small hook to connect the pieces at the top base of his dick. I made sure there were no curly red hairs caught then I took the third piece from the box. The lock. I clicked it in place, small enough to hide under his jeans. “You’ll be able to get a slight erection, but you won’t be able to touch yourself. No orgasm without my permission.”

  Harley nodded eagerly.

  “The key...” I lifted my right arm and dangled the bracelets. “Is with me always.” There was a backup in the box, but he didn’t have to know that. And once the device was locked, no one would be able to adjust the tightness. I stepped back, taking a look at my work. Beautiful. His pale flesh was sprinkled with freckles and the silver cock cage stood out. I loved this toy most. It gave me total control, total dominance. I stroked my hand down his hips and saw the cage jerk. “You okay with this?”

  “Aye. I t’ink it’s sexy.” Harley grinned, almost goofy looking.

  Damn, that was when most men called it quits. Harley was still rearing to go. Maybe I’d be able to get really dark with him. I shuddered thinking of the possibilities. I had a gloomy thought about having to leave him and return to the fight. Eh, thoughts for later.

  He found his jeans and pulled them on, carefully easing them over his new accessory. “W’y do you like t’at so much? Pain. Control.”

  That was a long story and one I didn’t share with too many people. I honestly wasn’t sure what to tell him. I guess the truth. Luckily, I could pull on that stitch later because the holo screen started blinking. I left Harley as he started putting his shirt on. I plopped on the chair. “And we officially have ears on the government and peacekeepers.” I grinned. I set the program up so certain words would be flagged for my attention immediately. A second column would show conversations by peacekeeper leaders and the third would show general discussions that I’d still have to look through that had secondary words. Underneath that was an image of the city and lit up blue were peacekeeper vehicles. I grabbed the radio. “Hey, slackers.”

  This time Deviant that answered. “Yes?”

  Mr. Strawberry Blond with the muscles of a god. “I have the system up and running.”

  He grunted.

  Yup, sounded like him. Then again, Mayhem did a lot of that too. My gaze glanced at the screen. I scanned over the contents of the first column. “Okay, I have a lot of red flags going up. Outlaw was right, they are planning something.”

  Harley moved to stand behind me.

  I inspected the conversations and grabbed the radio as fast as I could. I almost dropped the damn thing. “Get out of there!”

  It was Torrin, former peacekeeper that answered. “What is it?”

  “I have two enforced hover vehicles heading your way. Ten minutes out. They’re going to ram the buildings and blow the trucks up. Get out of there!” I stood, my voice hitched.

  “Fuck,” Torrin sputtered then the radio went dead.

  I switched to Outlaw’s personal radio. “Pres? Big trouble coming your way. Get out now.”

  “Evac in twenty.” His voice was breathy. “We have shooters who are going to take out the drivers.”

  “They’ll be there in ten.” I watched the screen. Damn it, I should be there helping them but I couldn’t shoot and monitor the screens. I moved the view to show our front lines. We destroyed the link to the cameras, but I could still hack in to see what was happening. The hunk of metal and glass used to be buildings we knocked over to create a wall. Using four different camera angles, I could see our guys scattering. Most of them were running into the cave that had a tunnel system. They could get away. Others were gearing up for a big battle. We knew the government would try something, but even I didn’t think they’d use explosives. There were buildings there, people, although most of them were cleared out. I was still standing, Harley next to me as we watched the screen. The two big trucks were barreling down the empty road. The peacekeepers jumped into hover cars and started to race out of the area. “Outlaw?”

  The trucks came closer. Closer. Closer.

  Shots rang out. One truck veered off course, hitting a building. The other barreled right toward our front lines. I saw a few men rush to get out of the way. They were too high. They’d never get down in time. I gasped when I saw Outlaw’s face. He was one of the men climbing down. “They’re not going to make it.” The moment I said it, the dr
iver slumped in the seat. However, the truck still slammed into our barrier. The explosion was huge. It was so big the floor under us rattled and we were on the other side of the city! I couldn’t breathe as the huge flames raced upward and thick black smoke fogged up one camera. “I need to help them.” Where did Outlaw go? Had he jumped? Who was hurt?

  “Black hover bike near the back door. Fully charged. Mask under the seat.”

  I nodded, horrified by the flames that raced up the sides of the building. I could see some people lying on the ground. Our people. The war just took its first casualties. I ran toward the stairs.

  “Be careful!” Harley yelled.

  I hadn’t even kissed him goodbye. It was the first thought I had as I raced toward the bike. I shoved the mask over my head. It would jam all the cameras in the area so no one could see where I came from. I hopped on. The explosion played in my head over and over again like some sick show on repeat. My president was there. My club was there. They were my family. I started the bike up, clicked the hover tech, and dashed out of the garage.

  I didn’t look back. I focused on the road, driving as fast as I could possibly go. When hover cars blocked the way, I rode up onto sidewalks to get through. I could see the ominous smoke from here. It would take too long to get there for me to be helpful, but I was sure as hell going to try. I heard peacekeeper sirens going off. Damn, they were behind me. Well, this made things more interesting. I pushed the hover bike harder, forcing it to race dangerously around everyone.

  I was determined to get to my club and no one would stand in my way.

  A laser gun sounded and slammed into the building as I passed. I should fire back, but I had both hands on the handles. Driving the bike this fast and shooting was a guaranteed death sentence. I took the shortest route possible, which shaved minutes off my time. The main road was only two blocks away. An acrid smell filled the streets. Two peacekeeper cars blocked the road. I hunched down, giving them a smaller target. Then I drove right toward them. If I could hit the car true, I might be able to flip over the handles onto the hood and roll off the car. If I kept them busy, there’d be less of them for my fleeing club to deal with. Of course, that would most definitely get me caught. I should have kissed Harley. I lifted my legs as best I could in jeans and eased my grip on the handles. Then I aimed straight for the front of the peacekeeper car. Hell, if I hit it in the perfect spot it might very well blow the bike. My breathing sped up, my heart beat so loud it drowned out the world around me. Then I was feet from them. The peacekeepers leaped away. I closed my eyes and took the impact.

  Chapter Five

  Pain laced through my arms to my shoulders and then spread through my back like a virus. I felt myself tilt and then flip. I unclenched my hands as I was airborne. The hard impact took my breath away. It sent a string of agony throughout my body like cracks in a glass. Then I was rolling on the uneven hood. I grunted as I landed on the opposite side of the hover bike. Add to that how bad of an idea this was. Hey, at least I was alive. I shuffled to my knees but fell to my hands. My bracelets jangled as someone screamed. Then the bike blew up. I felt the intense heat over the top of the car and it actually jerked from the explosion. It hit me hard enough to fly a few feet in the air. I rolled from the blast of fire, covering my junk as I went. Hey, even this banged up, a man had his priorities. I stopped only because I collided with a building. It was not a graceful stop either. I lay there kind of dazed. I blinked a few times. My vision was blurry. I shuffled to my knees and saw the bike had caught fire along with the hover car. There was more thick smoke joining the earlier puffs, but it also blocked off a good section of road. At least the peacekeepers wouldn’t be able to converge on my club all at once. Maybe most of them would get away.

  I tried to stand but fell back and slumped to the floor. My body hurt too much. I must have banged my head because my vision still hadn’t cleared. I managed to straighten my legs in front of me, which made the pain in my spine ease. Then I turned my head to look at our wall and smiled. The section the explosion hit was on fire, but the flames were dying down. The wall still stood. “Take that right up your butt,” I muttered, my voice slurred.

  There was some yelling. I couldn’t make the words out though. Men were appearing on the wall, throwing something over the fire that quenched some of the remaining flames. The wall was beaten up but standing. We were still in this fight. I smiled, but it hurt this time. And my head was aching something fierce. Two figures were running toward me. Damn. I wonder if they were going to take me in for torture or kill me. I kind of hoped the latter. My eyelids fluttered shut as more yelling was muffled around me. I felt something touch my arm and flinched. That sent anguish throughout my back, but I did open my eyes and stared at the president of the Outlaw MC. He was alive. His lips were moving, but everything was black around the edges. Probably a concussion. Someone pulled me from my nice, comfortable spot on the floor. I cried out. The pain was too intense. And for me that meant I was a lot more hurt than I realized. My back felt like it was cut up in a million areas. My head hung down, my feet dragging on the ground as someone pulled me along. They held me tight around the waist, which did help the pain factor. Were those shots being fired? I heard faint popping sounds. Lifting my head took all the damn energy I had. Outlaw was dragging me beside him. This time I heard his voice. It was faint though he looked like he was yelling it.

  “Don’t you fucking die on me.”

  Nah, I couldn’t do that. My head fell forward and I thought of Harley’s lips.

  Chapter Six

  I had visions. Okay, I think they were visions. I went from memories of my childhood to extreme pain and then thoughts of Harley. It was like a pattern. Confusing and uncertain. I couldn’t open my eyes or focus on too much at once. Then the darkness would come and eat me up. It was only at this moment that I felt more myself. I could feel my body, there was something soft beneath it. I was hoping it wasn’t a cloud and I was dead ’cause that’d suck some hairy butt. I swallowed a few times, my mouth dry and my head aching. There was this noise around me I couldn’t identify. At first I thought it was a buzzing sound but it turned into harmonious ticks. So I was on a cloud¸ dead with a bunch of horny grasshoppers? Yeah, that didn’t sound right. I took a deep breath and tried to open my eyelids again. This time they fluttered. I saw a burst of white and blurs of color.

  The ticks started again, longer this time, stronger like it was right next to my ear. “Wa tick tick.”

  Yup, that made total sense. I frowned, which actually hurt and then tried again. Another blast of light that made my eyes tear up.

  “Whi tick tick me.”

  Hey¸ that sounded better. I focused on the sound, swallowing a few more times.

  “Whip tick tick hear me.”

  Outlaw. I recognized his voice over the strange sounds. I tried to nod, but my body wouldn’t obey. Damn it, I had to get my eyes open. I inhaled sharply and managed to squeeze my hands into fists.

  “Whip can tick hear me.”

  Almost. Come on. Concentrate. I jerked my eyes open. Too bright. They closed and more tears leaked out the side, sliding down my cheeks.

  “Fuck. Whip?”

  There. There!

  “Don’t open your eyes, man.”

  Why? Damn, my lips didn’t even flinch. Why shouldn’t I open my eyes? But already Outlaw’s voice was starting to fade away. The darkness that had swallowed me up before was back. It took all the fight out of me and I was left exhausted. Well, it was progress. I think. I hoped. Then I was nothing.

  ***

  I became aware of a warm hand on my arm. The thumb rubbed back and forth slowly. The motion helped push away the sleep. My throat was still dry as dust, but my head ached less. I tried moving my arms. The muscles protested, but they worked.

  “I think he’s waking up!”

  I didn’t recognize the voice. No, wait. I listened closer, holding my breath.

  “He’s moving.” It was the prospect.

&n
bsp; Then the hand was gone and a chill spread through my body.

  “Whip? You coming back to us?” Outlaw.

  I took a few deep breaths. Nothing too bad.

  “Fucking shithead, open your damn eyes!” Mayhem’s voice and he sounded angry as usual. That was actually a good sign.

  I opened my lips, licked them. Everything was dry. I really concentrated on my eyelids this time and they slowly parted. The light was dimmer. I felt the tears that had dried on my skin, making my cheeks itchy. There was a ceiling over me, red and rock. My head lolled to the side and Outlaw was staring down at me smiling.

  I couldn’t smile back, but I lifted my hand and laid it on his forearm.

  “You crazy fucker.” He shook his head. “Take this thing off him.”

  This thing? Someone approached from the other side. This stiffness in my body started to ease and I saw something white come away from my face. Then a blast of pain spiraled through my nerves and I couldn’t hold my eyes open any longer. Well, damn.

  ***

  “Gun shipment coming in?” Outlaw’s voice.

  The deep rumble was like a beacon around me. I inhaled, the pain was almost gone. I flexed my fingers and then my toes. All good. I swallowed, still dry. I opened my eyes. This time I could see the world I thought I lost. The room was crowded. I was on a cot. Chaos and Beau were on a rock ledge talking quietly. Mayhem was asleep on the floor with his head hanging forward. Grim was sitting at the end of my bed with a book in his hands. The old-fashioned kind with real paper and ink. Outlaw was on the radio, pacing the room. I smiled. “Slackers.” My voice was weak and raspy but loud enough. Grim and Outlaw turned toward me.

  “Fucking bastard,” Outlaw muttered. He forgot the radio in his hand and walked toward me. “You okay?”

  “I’m pretty sure I could use a shower.” My skin was itchy and felt stiff.

  Grim snorted.

  “What happened?” I was keeping my eyes open. My head only hurt a bit. I even tried to sit up but needed Grim’s help to do that.