Page 15 of Steel & Thunder
“You not big on veggies?” I nod at the next forkful as it’s brought toward me. It’s not like I mind; they taste just as good as the rest of it. The green things are just a little spicy, and the orange potatoes taste just like potatoes, only sweeter. Just curious.
“I enjoy them, but an orc’s diet does not require as much as a human’s.” He grabs a bite for himself next. “I made most of them for you.”
“Oh. Uh, thank you?” Back to feeling like a pet. I should probably be happy he’s at least feeding me well, but I’m curious about why he knows the specifics of a human’s dietary needs.
I don’t ask any more questions, happy to fill my belly. I haven’t eaten like this in a long time. I know I’ve got sauce and grease all over my face, and if I wasn’t so hungry, I’d probably care more. Sadly, it doesn’t take long for me to get full. I say sad only because I would really like to keep eating this. A side effect of having cut down on the size of my meals for so long is that my stomach shrank along with them.
“ ‘m full.” I shake my head when the fork approaches again.
Ironstorm takes the food for himself, swallowing it down quickly. “You ate more than I anticipated. I apologize for not feeding you sooner.”
I shrug as he continues to eat. It’s not that big a deal; I’ve gone longer without eating, especially in the last two months. This might actually be the highlight of the day for me.
It has been a really fucked up day.
He eats the rest of the food fairly quickly. I guess I really did eat more than he expected seeing as he finishes off what’s left. He helps me stand then wipes my face again with the washcloth. I watch as our cutlery, dish, and skillet are washed, only just realizing that like his bathroom, he has running water in his kitchen. The sink, like the countertops, is made up of very smooth, solid stone, even the faucet. Is this guy loaded or something?
As he dries the dishes, there’s a split second where I think about running. Only for a second though. I am very naked, very tired, and very tied up. I can worry about how I’m getting out of here tomorrow. Besides, it’s not like he’s gonna make me sleep like this, right?
The lanterns are put out, and I’m led away from the kitchen to the bathroom where I’m stood in front of another sink and cleaned up. He washes and dries my face, and there’s even a toothbrush. I don’t think I’ve seen someone else use one of these besides my friends since we left the academy. Still, the fact that he’s not letting me do any of this myself is more than a little humiliating. But it beats washing in a river.
My hopes of possibly sleeping by myself in the spare room are dashed when I am steered into the main bedroom. I hear the familiar jingle of keys though and am relieved when I feel my wrists being freed. I eagerly bring them around to the front, only to have the cuffs relocked around my wrist immediately.
“I have to sleep like this too?” I grumble.
“Actually, thank you for reminding me.” He steps around me to one of his chests that is already open and pulls out...another chain. Motherfucker.
He wraps the chain through the headboard and uses a lock to cinch it before pulling me close and attaching the other end to my cuffs. How many fucking padlocks does this dude have?
Content with his handiwork, he finishes getting himself ready for bed, which mostly just involves taking off his boots, pants, and underwear. He pulls back the sheets on the bed—ugh, of course it looks comfortable—and climbs in, staring at me. Waiting.
“Maybe I should sleep on the floor.” I stare at the ground. It doesn’t look that uncomfortable.
“If that is what you would prefer.” He crosses his arms, looking amused. “I can assure you though, you will be safe in bed with me.”
“...You’ll stay on your side?” I would really like to sleep in a bed tonight.
He puts his hands up in a show of surrender, even inching away from me slightly. After a little more hesitation, I carefully climb into the bed. Once I’m in, Ironstorm pulls the sheets over us and turns out the final lantern. For a moment I’m tense, listening as the body next to me shuffles in the dark.
But once I hear him settle, I relax. I fumble a little myself as I try to find a comfortable position to sleep in with the chain attached to my hands, ending up on my side, facing Ironstorm. I don’t want to keep my back to him for obvious reasons. For a moment, it’s just me, the night air, and my thoughts. Plans for escaping, my friends in their cell, even my family back home all drift in and out of my mind, until sleep takes me, and I’m not thinking about anything at all.
Chapter Five
I wake up slowly, barely hanging on to the threads of a dream. Something about birds? I snuggle into my pillow. This bed is so warm. Haven’t been this comfortable in months. Maybe I can convince Adam that we should stay in town another night...
Then I feel the arm around my waist tighten, and my eyes fly open when I remember that I’m not sleeping at an inn with my teammates. A glance down at the green, muscular limb confirms that, yep, I’m still in Captain Ironstorm’s bed in the middle of...wherever here is. I should probably ask about that when he wakes up.
It would seem at some point in the night we both migrated to the center of the bed. Or, seeing as I’m still tied up, he probably grabbed me after I fell asleep and pulled me here himself. Whatever. The sun is up and so am I, and thanks to these cuffs, I can’t exactly go anywhere. Some quiet time to think is nice.
I run through yesterday’s events in my head. Everything started so normally. After a shitty breakfast of beans and jerky by the campfire, we packed up and started looking for that cave. Then everything went to hell. Getting knocked out, waking up in the jail cell, the fight in the arena... What happened right after the fight in the arena.
What was that? Not what we did—I know what sex is. I mean my reaction to it. Not only did I barely try to fight him off, I was hard before he even finished stripping me. Hell, once I was naked, there was no attempt to fight at all. Pretty much the exact opposite.
Look, maybe there’s been a time or two in the past where I’ve looked at a guy a little differently than I’m supposed to, but never like that. I’ve never imagined getting tied up, or stripped, or...fucked out in the open. Certainly not by a stranger—an orc. But even thinking about it now is making me want to grind my morning wood into the mattress.
Some movement at my back reminds me why I won’t be doing that. Ironstorm shifts in his sleep, his arm tightening around my waist again as he pushes his knee forward between my legs. His own hard cock grinds against me, and I bite my tongue to hold in a hiss at the contact with my sore ass. Fuck.
The spanking... That is something I wouldn’t mind forgetting. I haven’t been spanked since I was like nine years old. Maybe longer. And never that hard! He’s like some ass-slapping expert. Fuck, if I had been spanked like that as a kid, I’m not sure I’d even be alive right now. Sitting down today is going to be a pain in the ass. Heh.
