Olbric moans before he starts to rut against me. With only one leg freed, he struggles to get the leverage he needs. I take pity on him as I press my thigh against his crotch, and he moans as he frots against me.
I rain the blows down, reaching around him to strike one cheek, then the other before moving on to his thighs. He’s going to be a mess of welts by the time we’re through, but it’s a comfort to know he welcomes the pain.
A desperate whimper breaks past his lips as he rocks against my thigh. His face is flushed with the effort, his body taut in the ropes as he fights for his pleasure. He buries his face against my neck, pressing closer as the paddle connects with another echoing crack.
“Fuck,” he gasps, his breath puffing against my skin in hot, desperate bursts.
“Let me see it, beautiful.”
It takes a few more strikes before his body goes tense against mine. A long, whimpering moan escapes him, his hips slowing their desperate grind. He sinks into the rope’s embrace, and when I look down, his red underthings are stained dark.
I press a kiss to his sweaty forehead before I circle behind him. His welted ass and thighs match the color of his small clothes almost perfectly, and seeing just how satisfied he is in the wake of the pain I inflicted helps settle my frayed nerves.
Gratitude wells up in me, and I make quick work of freeing him from the remaining ropes before I carry him over to the far bed. I gently lay him down, my lips swallowing his moan as I fumble for a bottle of lotion. I roll him onto his front before I settle between his legs, tugging his soiled underthings aside. My cock springs free from my trousers, and I slick myself with a fevered sort of eagerness before I sink into him.
Olbric gives a weak cry, his hands fisting in the sheets underneath him as I sink deep. Yet he only spreads his legs wider,giving me more room as I start to move. His body is flushed underneath me, ass and thighs welted, yet when I grab one reddened cheek, he arches and moans, pushing back against me for more.
I take him slow, one arm twining around his chest to hold him close as I chase my end. Olbric reaches back, his hand gripping my waist hard as he urges me on. I’m so pent up that it doesn’t take long, and when my pleasure peaks, Olbric lets out a quiet moan as I empty into him.
For a moment, neither of us move. I stay buried inside of him even as I shift us both, rolling him onto his side as I settle in behind him. I curl up against his back, my arms wrapped tight around his chest.
“Please don’t run away again,” Olbric says, breaking the quiet at last. The soft plea makes the knotted emotions in my chest twist painfully.
I swallow even as I tighten my grip on him, pressing my lips to the back of his shoulder. “I won’t.”
Olbric’s hand closes over mine, his fingers stroking my wrist gently. It reminds me of the burns still healing around his, and as I look, I can see the scabbed prints from my pointer finger and thumb, still etched onto his skin.
“These things you’re seeing and hearing...” Olbric says at last. “What are they saying to you?”
I let out a long breath. “They’re telling me to go home.”
Olbric shifts, half rolling so he can look up at me. “Do you think you should listen?”
I swallow, trying to sort through my thoughts. Maybe I am losing my mind, maybe I’m not. Maybe something in the silver made my magic go rogue, or maybe it’s always been like this. There are so many questions, and yet there’s only one place I can think to go to seek answers.
“Ever since the Tower, I’ve been thinking about where my magic comes from. Been wondering if my mother’s still alive,” I say at last, remembering the green eyes I had seen in the faces of strangers, the red hair in the shadow in the baths. “I-I can’t shake the feeling that maybe that’s what these dreams are trying to tell me. That I should go home. Seek her out.”
Olbric rolls to face me, shivering as my soft cock slips out of him. He reaches up to cup my cheek, and my eyes automatically flick to his healing wrists.
“Then let’s go.”
It takes a second for the words to sink in. He says it like it’s such a simple thing. Like the thought hasn’t been haunting me ever since the Tower.
“You’d come with me?” I ask, a painful kind of hope tightening the knot of emotion in my chest.
He leans over, his lips soft as silk as they brush mine. “Of course I will.”
All at once, the knot in my chest seems to come loose. Tears well to my eyes before I catch his lips again, pouring all my love and gratitude into the kiss. I’ve felt so alone, so scared, but Olbric’s fearless.
And knowing he’s with me in this makes the idea of it feel less impossible. After months of avoiding it, it feels like I’ve finally stumbled on a trail. After months, it feels like hope.
“Thank you.”
Reservations
Choosing spells for an extended assignment is no small task. It’s important to plan for even the most unlikely contingency. Nothing is worse than having left the spell you need at home.
Magical Tactics by Eroland Lockhart
