broccolifloret

  "Of course. I'm going to ask Your Excellency to please refrain from wandering away once we arrive at High Tomenedra. The situation in that city is more votile than in your province."

  Pretending I didn't know anything would've been too suspicious—he'd spent enough time with me to realize I was nosy.

  "I've heard things. But surely I have nothing to worry about with a Sabrewing by my side."

  "Exactly. That's why Your Excellency shouldn't wander too far from my side."

  I raised a bottle of beer to him. "Sergeant Vargas is right, as usual. Believe me, I won't make it any harder than it should be."

  After I took a swig, he grabbed the bottle from me. "I understand, too. Your Excellency wasn't raised like your cousins—the Lemarezin ones, I mean. They're used to having an escort. I must make Your Excellency feel like a criminal."

  "The way I look, people must think you've captured a cattle rustler." I looked into my sleeve. The snake bracelet blinked at me. "And they better not find out about you."

  Long before the train arrived I'd made sure to buy a box of the station alfajores, which I liked a lot despite being overpriced for the tourists: exactly the size of a mouthful, crumbly, slightly greasy cookies sandwiched around a thick yer of fruit jam, dusted over with plenty of confectioners' sugar—perhaps a bit too sweet. Unsupervised children will easily eat the entire box and have nightmares from an upset stomach. Though bad digestion could only make my dreams less disturbing than they already were.

  After what'd happened in Omedura, I didn't really mind having Valentino hovering over me, but I'd have a hard time finding any traces of the Snakes like that. It's a good thing, then, that none of this would upset my pns, because I hadn't pnned for anything in particur. Isn't that a much better way of doing things? Reality never goes according to pn anyway, so it's better to improvise and roll with the complications.

  I stretched out on my bunk, looking at yet another compartment roof I could simply reach out and touch, no different from the others. Grandma Cielo had said things would be simpler if Valentino didn't survive. That wasn't wrong. Even if Valentino and me reached our destination safely, he was still oathed to protect the same person I was going to kill.

  But then, if Valentino died another Sabrewing would take his pce. And just like him, all Sabrewings had beloved ones who'd mourn their death, all of them had done good things at some point. If I ever forgot this, I would lose.

  I woke up sprawled on the floor. Rubbing my eyes, I went up on my knees and took a good look around. I was right in the center of a spotlight; everything else was darkness. Also, I wore nothing but a colr and chain, the tter leading to a peg in the ground.

  Oh, wait. This was just one of those dreams. And not by accident. I'd been the one who'd told Vanth his locket neckce was just like a pet cat's colr. Clearly, he'd simply taken me at my word. Heh. And though I couldn't see anybody, I knew he was there.

  If I couldn't see him, I'd bet he couldn't see me either. He was an asshole but he had a sense of fair py.

  "Fine, show yourself," I said.

  The lights went on. We were on a dining room, it seemed, and I was the night's entertainment; there was only one table, a long one with a fine embroidered cloth and only one occupant. The décor reminded me of the quiet elegance from the hotel room st time. Quite the achievement, considering that the predominant colors were red and purple, so easy to become overwhelming—those were the colors of the King of the Dying Sun, weren't they?

  Vanth raised his wine gss to me, ce-up boots propped up on the table, pitch-bck makeup impeccable once more. His chest was bare of anything but a leather harness and our shared locket; his pants were so tight I wondered how he'd managed to get into them. Oh, wait. This was a dream.

  "Aren't you overdressed?" I asked.

  "I see we've moved up from monosylbles."

  "And I see you've moved up into kidnapping."

  He waved at the door I hadn't noticed in the opposite wall. "You can leave whenever you want to. It's your dream too."

  "Just this once I won't point out that's still a kidnapping."

  "Since you're being the soul of kindness, I'll allow you to choose between an audience and a ck of it."

  "Wait, a real audience?"

  "Not this time, I'm afraid. But it'll be a very believable illusion. They'll let you know how cute you look in that colr and how hungry you are for my cock."

  Something twisted in my stomach. It wasn't an unpleasant idea at all. Just a bit too sudden.

  "I don't think so."

  The corner of his lips shifted up. "Of course. You'd want a real audience, wouldn't you?"

  "You're the one who said that, not me."

  Instead of replying, Vanth put the gss on the table and stood up. He could tell I was staring at his delicate hip bones and narrow waist. Not that he had a right to compin, the way his eyes caressed my chest and stomach and thighs.

  Well, if I had anything like an advantage, I might as well use it. I tugged at the chain, stretching it tight across my chest, letting it fall over my half-hard cock.

  Ah, that got his attention good and well.

  "Missed me?" he asked. The way bck leather clung to his cock, you could have had him arrested if he went out in public.

  "Clearly not as much as you've missed me."

  "I wondered if you were doing well."

  "If you wanna see me doing well, you can always suck my cock."

  "Ah, but you see. I don't take suggestions." He seemed to enjoy towering over me even more than usual. No surprises there.

  I rose up on my knees, arcing my back, then fell forward, stretching myself out all catlike and lifting up my ass.

  Vanth took a step back; if you'd seen his face, you'd think I had spped him. It sted barely an instant, but I saw it, and held it close to my heart.

  "Oh, did you order more than you can handle?" I cradled my head on my arms.

  He tossed his hair behind his shoulders, perfectly composed. He wasn't bothering with the indifferent act anymore, though. The way he looked at me, I wasn't sure if I was the entertainment or the main course.

  "You're gonna have to try harder at putting me in my pce," I said.

  He caught a coil of the chain, wrapped it around his hand, and pulled hard, forcing me on my knees and dragging me forward, so that I fell into his embrace. Just as quickly, he wrapped an arm around my waist so that I couldn't escape. I threw my arms around his neck for bance. Though seeing how this was a dream, perhaps that wasn't necessary.

  Vanth kissed my cheek. "Did you think that was me trying to put you in your pce? No, beautiful. This is it."

  He took my wrists, holding them up so that the chain attached to me could wrap tightly 'round them. Oblingingly, the chain hoisted me up in the air, arms up. If this wasn't a dream, I would've been uncomfortable as all hells. As it were, I had no purchase and no way to free myself. My options were either kick inefficiently or hang there like a chunk of meat. I went with the second, finding it marginally more dignified.

  The armchair skittered around the table. Vanth dropped himself on it, one leg stretched before him and the other crossed on top. If the idea was to draw the eye to his cock—it worked.

  "Aren't you running out of ideas?" Didn't I tell you my inability to keep my mouth shut would continue to purchase trouble for myself? Bet you didn't expect it to happen so soon.

  Vanth smiled pleasantly. That was as ominous a warning as I could expect. He blew a kiss at me. As he did, some dusty thing unfurled in the air, stretching in my direction.

  It nded at my feet, immediately sprouting a handful of tentacles that enrged themselves until they became bigger than my arms. I'd seen enough obscene prints to know where this was going, even before the first tentacle wrapped itself around my waist, soft and warm and impossibly strong. I couldn't help kicking when it entered me, though it made no difference at all. One tentacle slid inside my ass, so big I wanted to moan out loud, except another one had filled my mouth. I loved being fucked in both ends, and this was so different from doing it with humans—they twisted in ways cocks didn't do, they didn't thrust in and out, their shapes felt unfamiliar. And yet, their flesh tasted of Vanth himself and his metallic flowery scent.

  Another tentacle caressed my chest, stroking my nipples with the tip; a nearly electric feeling. The other one crawled up my leg to tease my cock and balls, almost coyly. Warm flesh explored the insides of my throat; I screamed around it. The tentacle up my ass took that as encouragement to curl up inside me, hitting up the right spot over and over.

  Vanth took a good admiring look at the show, carelessly trailing his fingers over his leather-cd cock. "I'd rather have you split in two right here. That won't teach you a thing, though. You can release yourself if you really want to. Try it."

  He had to be dicking me around. I could barely think of anything other being fucked on every hole. I couldn't move any more than a puppet on strings. The tentacle toying with my cock provided just enough stimution to make me lose my cursed mind, not to bring me any sort of relief. All I could do was sob without words.

  "Didn't I tell you? That mouth was made for sucking cock. And when you can't find a real one, any suitable repcement will do, it seems. Ah, look. I point out the obvious and your cock hardens. You're such a needy little slut."

  Could I be shamed into coming? If I could, Vanth would do that to me. I wanted to rub myself on the tentacle fondling my cock, but the ones filling my ass and mouth wouldn't let me. I could feel the length and weight of them invading me. My insides were heavy with them. Almost as if they were a part of me.

  Oh, wait.

  I'm not sure what did it, but I got it. What Vanth meant. I grasped the shape of the tentacles on my mind, and then smmed them out of existence, as if I was bursting a balloon.

  Just like that, they disappeared. I could do this! I poofed the chains away too. They dropped me, but I nded cleanly on my feet.

  Vanth cpped heartily. "Can't say I wasn't enjoying the view, but that was rather well done. Especially considering the circumstances."

  "Oh, I see." I put some clothes on; the same outfit I'd worn earlier that day. "You made things harder on me than necessary."

  "And?"

  Instead of arguing with his nonsense, I tried opening the door I'd ignored earlier. It did swing wide open.

  And just as soon, it smmed closed.

  I whipped around to gre at Vanth. He practically radiated smugness. With another snap of his fingers, he repced my clothes with the colr and chain I'd just gotten rid of. The floor leaped up to greet me, and I barely managed to fall on hands and knees instead of kissing the tiles.

  "Hey!"

  "Now, when did I say I'd let you go?" Vanth stood up and walked up to me, slowly. "You're still being trained. This next lesson is about knowing your pce."

  He kneeled by my side, cradling my head on his hands, one fist possessively closed around my hair. My cock liked that, too. Very much. I was too mad at Vanth to py along nicely, though. I tried to get rid of the chain again, but this time, nothing I thought of had any effect.

  "How come I can't get rid of this shit?"

  "You've learned a spell for ten seconds and you've already forgotten I'm still King of the Dying Sun."

  He said that in a low voice dripping with menace. As if he'd already decided what he was going to do with me, and it was way worse than anything previous.

  Well, if one tack wouldn't work, it was simply a matter of trying another one. I stopped struggling and looked at him from under my eyeshes, all sweetly helpless. "Do you want to fuck me, sir?"

  Vanth hesitated, just an instant. I could feel him swaying—the st thing he wanted was to py right into my btant manipution. But also, the thing he wanted most was to fuck me.

  Just as he deserved!

  He ran a finger up my hard cock. "Believe me, you're more than delicious enough."

  I shivered. He was hard too. His cock strained against his pants even more, and I didn't even think that was possible. "Please?"

  The more he wanted to fuck me, the colder that look in his eyes. He sure enjoyed seeing me like this; far too much to stop.

  Fuck his stupid self-control.

  "I'll let you service my cock in person," Vanth said.

  "I still need to get off, so when I'm awake I'm gonna let Sergeant Vargas fuck me."

  "Oh, you won't. Not unless you want to find out how harshly I can punish you."

  I pried myself loose. Vanth tugged at the chain even harder; he would've pulled me back into his arms, but I threw my weight against him. He looked perfectly composed unless you looked at his eyes. Then you'd see a hunger big enough to devour me whole. It chilled me. I wanted him so bad.

  He smiled like a cat about to bare his cws. "Shall I trust you to keep yourself safe? I don't think you're afraid enough."

  I ughed. "Afraid of you? Or of someone who hides behind needleteeth? I can't tell which one is more ridiculous."

  He tugged at the chain. "Ridiculous or not, you're afraid of me."

  "But you've sworn an oath to protect me." I licked my lips. "You're not all that wrong, though. I'm not afraid of that necromancer. They should be honored to be a whetstone for my bde."

  Vanth inhaled deep. I swear I could see his resolution waver, as if he was about to throw me down and fuck me until I forgot my name. It sted only an instant, though.

  "I see," he said, "but I can't tolerate the idea of having my property damaged before I've even gotten a chance to sample the goods. Be more careful."

  Before I could reply, he opened his hand, and I fell back, far back, into the darkness.

  Next thing I knew, I was back in my body. Without even opening my eyes, I buried my face on the pillow. I trembled, not because of the night air, but with the aftershocks of my desire. I wouldn't give myself up unconditionally. I wouldn't, but that didn't make me want it any less.

  broccolifloret