Together Bound Read online

  Todd skimmed the feather along Nick’s right side and pressed openmouthed kisses along his left.

  “I’ll have to be careful then.”

  Moving lower, Todd slowly pulled the sheet off Nick, being sure it rubbed and tugged along his swollen cock and the tender skin of his inner thigh, exposing him completely. Todd circled Nick’s cock and tickled his balls with the feather, chuckling as Nick tried to arch up, groaning when he found no relief. He dragged his tongue up Nick’s long body, relishing the taste of Nick’s skin and pulling the feather along in his wake, up and down, over and over until Nick was shivering, sweating, breathing nothing more than short, desperate pants. His body continuously rolled and tensed against his bonds.

  Slithering down, Todd touched the tip of his tongue to Nick’s weeping slit, then ran it around the underside of the crown, loving how it jumped and twitched from his touch. The feather tripped over Nick’s abs, over his hip, and then made small circles on his thighs. Todd lapped at the beads of precum sliding down Nick’s cock, making his mate moan with the effort not to come until permitted.

  Nick stretched as much as possible within his confines, whining and breathless. “Todd, please…touch me…please…”

  The feather skimmed and slipped around his navel, under his ribs, then over each one as slowly as Todd could bear. His eyes fixed on Nick’s skin, how it shivered and prickled with goose bumps, and he thoroughly enjoyed the way tense muscle rippled under smooth skin.

  Gulping in deep breaths, Todd had to fight to keep from ripping Nick’s bindings from his legs and plunging deep into his welcoming heat. Instead he circled Nick’s entrance with one finger while he moved the feather along Nick’s cock, over Nick’s belly. Again and again Nick tried rolling his hips up, arching his back, the muscles of his neck and sides corded from the strain of no release. He curled and extended his toes and fingers. He jerked harsh, short breaths in and out, each ending in a deep, needy moan.

  Todd leaned down and ran his tongue along the length of Nick’s cock, then pressed against the perineum, lingering there and closing his lips over the sensitive area, sucking gently until long, breathy moans rolled, one after another, from Nick’s lips. As slowly as he could stand moving, Todd slipped his finger into Nick, moving it in small circles.

  Todd was surrounded by the smell of musk and the scent of what was uniquely Nick. He inhaled deeply, drawing it in like a man held underwater and only allowed up for air when his lungs were near bursting. Blowing hot breaths over the top of Nick’s cock, Todd watched as Nick tried pushing down, impaling himself on Todd’s finger and at the same time pressing up, wanting, into Todd’s mouth.

  Todd crooked his finger and rubbed the pad over Nick’s sweet spot. Seeing how his body rippled and hearing how he begged for release had Todd breathless in minutes.

  Removing his finger dragged a long, slow moan of his name from Nick. Leaning over Nick, Todd pressed his mouth to his mate’s, tongue dipping into Nick’s mouth and skimming around, over his teeth, caressing and sucking on Nick’s tongue. After sitting up and back, Todd trailed the feather over Nick’s skin and circled each nipple, then pulled it away from Nick’s heaving chest.

  “You like this, don’t you? Completely controlled? The only pleasure from me, and never knowing when or where I’ll allow it.”

  Jerky, tight little nods and deep, drawn-out moans. Nick’s body arched and writhed. “Please let me…I need to…Touch me just a little…please…” He sucked in fast, staccato breaths when Todd’s feather zigzagged back and forth across his belly, up his chest, down one side and along one leg.

  Todd’s heart hammered in his chest, threatening to beat straight through. He crawled up and brushed his lips over Nick’s, inched down Nick’s neck, barely touching, blowing hot breath where Nick’s skin was moistened by his mouth. Nick’s entire body quivered, and he moaned, barely able to catch his breath. Todd was wise to Nick’s efforts to capture Todd’s mouth or brush Todd’s skin and moved so silently Nick would never know exactly where he was or where he’d touch or nearly touch next.

  Nick’s entire body twitched and jerked, head pressed back against the mattress, neck muscles corded. He was begging with obscene, needy noises and half words.

  One final trip of the feather down the length of Nick’s body, and Todd slid silently off the bed and made his way as quietly as he could to the bath.

  Todd ran water into the bath, adding some of the scented oils, and lit the candles, moving them well away from the edges of the square tub. Pacing back to the main room and the bed, Todd snickered softly when Nick’s head turned, following the almost nonexistent sound of his movements. Crouching at the foot of the bed, between Nick’s tied feet, Todd rubbed a hand over the top of Nick’s left foot, massaging lightly.

  “Here’s how it’s going to be. I’ll untie your legs, then your arms. You’re going to lie perfectly still until I move you or tell you to move. The blindfold stays on, and I’m going to retie your arms. Then you’re going to walk with me.”

  Nick nodded, then smirked. “My master is so going to kick your ass.”

  Making short work of untying Nick’s feet, Todd flipped one of Nick’s legs over the other and cracked his ass hard. When Nick yelped and complained, Todd did it again. “Now shut it, boy.”

  Nick huffed but said no more. Todd untied his wrist bindings and sat him up, retying him so his wrists were loosely bound together over the small of his back. Todd moved his fingers over the back of Nick’s head, took a fistful of hair, and pulled Nick to him. He pressed his lips to Nick’s and worked Nick’s mouth open and his tongue inside to slip and slide over Nick’s, swallowing the moans his young mate offered. He curled his other hand over Nick’s hip, dug in, and tugged Nick off the bed.

  “C’mon.” Todd took Nick’s arm and led the way across their room and to the edge of the tub.

  “Step here.” Todd guided Nick’s legs and helped ease him into the hot water, smiling when Nick hissed with pleasure as the scented water oozed over him. Todd slipped into the tub behind Nick and pulled his mate against his chest. One arm firmly around Nick’s waist, Todd moved Nick until his cock was pressed against Nick’s entrance, gliding in smoothly, slowly, making Nick feel every bit of him.

  Nick moaned and his head fell back onto Todd’s shoulder. His back arched, and he ground himself down, writhing and quivering on Todd’s cock. The feeling of Nick’s hammering heart against his chest drove Todd to thrust his hips faster, harder, until he couldn’t hold back any longer. He slid a hand down and wrapped his fingers around Nick’s cock, pumping and twisting the silk-smooth flesh.

  Hips jerking of their own accord, Todd gripped Nick’s hair, turned his head, and breathed against his jaw, “Come right now. Come for me, Nicky.” Todd scraped his teeth over Nick’s neck, then clamped his mouth down on Nick’s shoulder.

  Panting broken gasps and howls, Nick arched over Todd’s shoulder, then pushed down against his cock, clenching around him, Nick’s entire body vibrating.

  “Oh…Christ…Nick…” Todd’s orgasm ripped through him, making him gasp for breath to fill his lungs.

  The heady odor from the scented oils and candles combined with steam from the bath to surround them. Todd held Nick in place against his chest until both were calmer, their breathing even. After turning Nick and sitting him up so he straddled Todd’s hips, Todd untied the cloth binding Nick’s wrists.

  Nick reached to the blindfold. “Can I?”

  “Sure.” Todd pulled him in for a kiss, then leaned back while Nick eased the blindfold off his head and blinked owlishly in the low lighting. “How’s your headache?”

  Nick leaned down against Todd’s body and slipped his arms around Todd, head tucked under Todd’s chin. “Hmmm…much, much better, all gone.”

  “Your master still going to kick my ass?”

  “Probably. He’s possessive. He loves me very much.”

  “He’s a lucky man, your master.”

  Nick snuggled closer and sig
hed a happy, dreamy noise. “Yeah, he is.” He licked over Todd’s collarbone, kissed along the dip near his neck, and peered up at him from under dark lashes and wet bangs.

  “Oh geez.” Todd tightened his arms around Nick, rolled his eyes, relaxed, and scooted farther down in the tub, dunking Nick.

  Nick pushed up, and his head popped through the water, bangs sticking in long strands to his forehead.

  “Hey!” he sputtered, then slapped a hand on the water’s surface, spraying Todd.

  Todd laughed softly and poked at Nick’s side. “Out. The water is getting cold.” He gave Nick a boost over the side.

  Nick scrambled out, turned, and held a hand out to Todd, helping him out of the tub. Todd grabbed a towel off a nearby rack and patted them both down.

  The bed was wide and soft. While Nick piled the pillows Todd had thrown on the floor back onto the bed, Todd arranged the sheets.

  He crossed the room and opened the window, happy there was a nice breeze. Nick was in the bed when Todd turned around, and had the sheet thrown back, ready for Todd to slide under and lie against him. Wound around one another, they drifted to sleep.

  * * * *

  A loud crack accompanied by a flash of bright light that came from nowhere and seemed everywhere nudged Todd out of sleep. Nick’s arms and legs tightened around him. The curtains blew away from the window. The breeze had turned to a proper wind. For a split second, the room lit up again, and the fact that Nick was trembling against him registered in Todd’s brain. Groaning softly, Todd pushed Nick flat against the mattress and rolled to his side, hoping to block the view of the window. He didn’t want to leave Nick alone even long enough to close the window. At once Nick squirmed, wriggled closer, and pressed his nose to the soft flesh just under Todd’s shoulder. He had a hand slung over Todd’s hip and the fingers of that hand dug painfully into the muscle there.

  “Shh…Nicky.” Rubbing one hand up and down Nick’s side, Todd tightened his hold on Nick with his other arm. “Hey, buddy, what’s wrong? These haven’t bothered you so much for a long time now.”

  More light flooded their room. This time there was another crack of thunder almost immediately after it, a sound that rolled through the room and vibrated along Todd’s bones. The storm was right over their part of the city.

  Todd liked the fresh breeze and how the air smelled clean. The sound of thunder and quick flashes of lightning made his pulse jump, but not from fear as it did Nick. He’d resigned himself to the fact Nick might never enjoy the storms the way he did, but maybe the man would not be afraid. After a year and a half living with Todd, Nick’s reaction to storms had scaled back to almost nonexistent. Now it seemed he was back to square one.

  Another boom rolled through the atmosphere, making the air around them crack and smell sharp. Todd lifted his arm from around Nick’s waist and caressed his hair, pressing him close and talking low and soft into his ear.

  Finally, the storm passed, and they both relaxed. Todd lay awake for a while, simply watching Nick sleep. Todd knew where Nick’s fear came from. He’d told Todd stories of how the slave children in the village also worked the farms, how they’d been left out in the fields even in the worst weather, not permitted inside until the work was done. Sometimes the children were left outside in bad weather as a punishment.

  The fact that someone could do that to a child appalled Todd. Nick was kind and so good-hearted, the thought of him being locked outside in a storm for not finishing work, or some other minor infraction, trying to get inside, sickened Todd. His stomach turned when he remembered Nick telling him once how another child was struck by lightning and killed. Nick vividly described the smell of charred flesh from the other boy’s ankle shackles and the metal farming tool in his hands. According to Nick, that boy wasn’t the only child killed during bad weather.

  Todd being hit by a rockslide in a storm hadn’t helped Todd’s efforts to rid Nick of his storm phobia. His own father might not have won any parenting awards, but Todd had to admit, John Ruger had been a good teacher and taught his son what was worth his fear and what was not. Todd had learned very early that storms were to be respected, not feared. Nick had been given a different lesson, one of terror that lasted to the present day.

  Nick’s headache and now the return of his intense fear of storms was all from this job they were heading into. Closing his eyes and inhaling the scent of Nick surrounding him, Todd vowed to himself that, once they were in the estate, he’d do whatever he needed to ensure Nick was protected, even if Nick and he were separated. He didn’t know how; he simply knew he would.

  Chapter 3

  Normally, Nick loved traveling on the trains that crisscrossed the protectorate. He enjoyed seeing the scenery and watching the people on board. This time, however, Nick found nothing to enjoy. Instead of sharing a larger compartment in an upper-class car with Todd as he usually would have, Nick was assigned a small compartment at the opposite end of the train, reserved for those riding for free or slaves traveling alone. When the other three slaves boarded for their final day’s travel, they would be in the same section. Todd, or rather Tyler McCabe, had already been told, along with Nick, there’d be another male and two female slaves he’d be escorting. Once they boarded, Nick would be confined to his compartment with a strange man.

  He shifted around as much as possible in the small space. His berth was probably a good four inches shorter than he was. There was nowhere else to sit, and he was trying to read over the information given to him by Clarke about his fake past life and identity. He huffed and gave up trying to get comfortable, hoping he didn’t actually have to sleep in this thing. He twisted around and managed to arrange himself so he could prop his feet against the opposite wall of the compartment.

  On other trips, when he was himself and Todd was himself, Nick was given free rein just like any other passenger, not locked up in a tiny space. He didn’t like being forced away from his master, and the situation was only going to get worse.

  One glance at his watch and Nick dropped the papers onto the bunk. All the things he’d brought were with Todd, other than the files and wristbands he’d wear at the sanctuary. Todd had promised, once the passengers were settled and the train was underway, he’d come collect Nick. No one was going to pay much attention to a man who was transporting a slave to a government facility, taking that same slave anywhere. Most people on the trains kept to themselves and paid little attention to what others were doing.

  He wished Todd would hurry up. His jeans were not the most comfortable clothes to wear while he was folded up in a small compartment. At least he got to keep his own name. “Nick” was common enough no one would ever think to put it with Ruger. Todd, however, was a much rarer name, so Todd’s fake identity was completely different from his actual one.

  Nick slouched down farther and bumped his back against the wall behind him. He was hungry, his legs and back were cramping, and he needed to take a piss. None of which he could fix, because he was locked up. What did these fools think? He was going to jump off a moving train?

  Most slaves would never be a bother to the passengers, but Nick supposed those running the train thought this was a way to be sure slaves transported alone would be safe and arrive well and healthy at their destination, especially since most were alone because they’d been orphaned. He’d seen plenty of other slaves on previous trips and spotted a few on this one, too. Those people were with their owners, as Nick wanted so desperately to be with Todd.

  Finally, after what seemed an eternity, the lock to his compartment clicked open and Todd’s head poked through the space between the wall and sliding door. Grinning, he worked his hand through and held it out to Nick. “Miss me?”

  “God, yes!” Nick was up so fast he forgot about the short overhead and whacked his head on the ceiling. “Ow!…Damn!”

  Todd turned away and snickered, ducking his head and holding a hand up in mock defense when Nick slapped his shoulder.

  “I’m hungry and I need
to pee and—” Nick’s words were halted when Todd slid an arm around his waist and pulled him in close, licked his bottom lip, then skimmed his tongue around Nick’s top lip before pressing it inside to tease at Nick’s tongue.

  “I missed you.” Todd leaned his head back long enough to breathe the words across Nick’s cheek.

  Wilting against Todd, Nick rested his head on Todd’s shoulder, his own arms wound tightly around his master’s solid body. He soaked up the warmth and strength of the muscle surrounding him. “I don’t know if I can do this. We’re going to be…” He didn’t want to say the words out loud.

  “Hey, shush, none of that.” Todd pressed small, wet kisses to Nick’s neck and shoulder. “We’re talking a night or two. I’ll be able to take you to my quarters. I’ve known people who have worked there before, and they’ve all said the same thing. We’re getting in, figuring this out, smoking whatever we have to smoke, and going home with a nice fat bonus. You’re a good sentry. More importantly, you’re my mate, and you’re plenty tough and able to get through this with me.”

  Nick nodded, not trusting his voice yet.

  “So, let’s get you back to my compartment so you can pee. Then I’ll snag us something for lunch.” Todd leaned into the compartment, snatched up the files Nick had been trying to read, and relocked the door.

  Obediently, Nick followed Todd through the train. No one seemed to take notice of either of them. Nick wished he’d never have to see the bulk transport section of a train again, but he knew in two days when the others boarded he’d be consigned to that tiny compartment. Halfway through the train, they came to Todd’s compartment. It was bigger, but not by much. However, it was designed for traveling couples, so there was a bed large enough they could squeeze onto it, a small sink, and a toilet. There was a small closet and a counter along the wall to one side of the bed opposite the door.

  The train arrived at a station every eight to twelve hours with at least a four-hour layover each time. There they’d get a room where they could shower, stretch their legs, and relax.