Anywhere But Here

Anywhere But Here

By Teagan Braedan

       It was cold and dank like a good dungeon should be. The only light came from cheap pillar candles, many of which had melted to the point that they were no longer able to sustain a flame. Others flickered as the flame fought to keep alive as the wax it had burnt pooled from its grave to seek its revenge. Soft grunts could be heard in one of the cells. Thick stone walls muffled what surely would have been much louder cries of pain.

       Fists and feet were being used as weapons against some helpless person who was no doubt strapped into a chair or restrained in some uncomfortable fashion. Another muffled cry of pain escaped the room, this one louder than any of the previous ones. After a few more frustrated kicks and punches, the door opened. Two large men who seemed almost overly muscled dragged a much thinner man in worn clothes behind them. A plump man of average height followed behind them with thin lips pursed. His face looked as though it had been all squished together and the way he held his mouth only helped to intensify it.

       “We have offered you money. We have offered you women. We have offered you land. We have offered all of these things together and still you refuse to talk. Even beatings upon beatings will not loosen those lips of yours. Do you care to talk before we take you to Him?” the fat man asked, his clenching and unclenching, his pudgy fingers in frustration.

       Ripping his arm from titans who had previously been holding him and nearly falling in the process the captive turned around to look the man straight in the eye, “I will never tell you anything that would cause harm to the country I pledged to protect with my life!” With that, he spit blood at the man.

       Shaking with utter rage, he took one of his clenched fists and hit the man as hard as he could. Despite being what many described as a fat slob, though it was only behind his back, he did have some muscle left from his younger years. The punch caught the slender man’s stomach hard enough for more blood to be coughed up.

       “Take this fool to Him!”

       The grunts both grabbed an arm tightly and dragged him backwards to the end of the hall. Glaring eyes met a satisfied smirk. Far worse was about to be fall the poor man.

       “Chain him up to the wall,” a man with his back said, waving casually to a wall where chains and shackles hung down.

       They nodded and quickly did as they were told and left. He worked in private with no one watching except sometimes women. No one quite understood it except for the women who were sworn to secrecy and would only giggle a bit when he was mentioned.

       “I can barely rest my feet on the ground!” the chained man grunted.

       “Good. I don’t wish for you to be hanging by your arms. That may come later,” he said not turning around to look at the man. Sitting down with his back still to him, he be began to quietly read a scroll.

       “What? You just sit there and bore me to death? That’s how you get answers.”

       “Sometimes. Now quiet before I have to gag you. Trust me, you would not wish that.”

       The man opened his mouth but shut it. He might as well get a little bit of rest while he still could. Leaning his head back against the wall, he closed his eyes and let his mind wander away from everything back to when he was just a page at the castle, playing with the other boys in the river with just their drawers on. Things had been so simple then.

       After what seemed like only a few minutes in his mind, having been lost in happy memories, he was interrupted.

       “Looks like only an hour has passed. Quite a short scroll but I decided to catch up on a bit of my reading. A very interesting theory this man has.”

       Pain flooded into his fatigued arms and legs as he was brought back to reality. It seemed like no time had passed at all. He looked over at the man who was now standing, his back still turned. Pulling off his black robes, he uncovered his pale muscular back. He was nowhere near being as built up as the grunts, but had the body of a quick sword fighter with the strength to match his speed. Dark auburn colored hair was cut closely cropped to his head. Turning around an equally impressive and unmarked chest was shown. Raising his gaze, the captive finally got a look at his captors face.

       It was all hard angles and edges, but somehow he wore it in a strangely handsome way. Underneath thick eyebrows golden hazel eyes stared at the other with such intensity he had to look away. Average sized lips curved into a smirk.

       “Do you like men, Mr. Tonus?”

       “What?” the other man squeaked, his own dark brown eyes widening.

       “You were looking at me much as the few select women I bedded do. They are the only ones who see my face. And the prisoners I torture of course.”

       “Wouldn’t that include other women?” he spat, glaring.

       “I refuse to torture women. There are too many witch hunts where torture is used to make them confess to their own deaths. Besides, most witches you would think to be normal women,” he said with a smile, showing his teeth in an almost sinister fashion.

       “I see. And to answer your question, the answer is no. I do not like men in such a fashion as you speak.”

       He nodded, “I see. Let me get a better look at you.”

       “Like I have a choice,” he grunted, looking away.

       “My name is Arathis. It is only fair since I know your name, Lee.”

       Lee grunted, “Whatever.”

       The master torturer moved his intense gaze down the man’s body. His beige tunic which had blood stains on it, some possibly his own, had more holes than could be counted on two hands. Many of which were stitched with different colored threads, possibly whatever was cheapest or what someone could spare. They were also surprisingly well done, each stitch small and well spaced. His hunter green pants were in the same disrepair only patches of different dark colored cloths were used for larger holes. The only thing that seemed not to be in disrepair was his sturdy looking brown leather boots. They’d obviously been resoled once or twice and the soles were once again getting thin. Despite the cracks in the leather and the dirt and wear, they seemed fairly presentable and no doubt, comfortable. He admired a man who chose comfort over fashion.

       One thing bothered him though. The clothes looked almost big on him. They fit fine lengthwise but they seemed baggy. It was obvious the man was quite slender. Taking an arm in his hand, he examined him for malnutrition by pinching a large chunk of skin.

       “Hey! That hurts.”

       “You don’t seem to be malnourished,” he said simply, “Though you are a bit on the skinny side.”

       “It’s hard for me to find a steady job,” he replied with a grunt, still not looking at him.

       Grabbing the Lee’s chin, the other man forced his face to stare directly at him. Dark brown eyes were set in a determined expression thanks to his eyebrows which seemed a bit thin for a man, but not too terribly unusual. His nose was average, not too long and not too short. However, his lips seemed a bit fuller than most men’s. Of course, Arathis had tortured one or two men with lips much bigger than this man’s. Still, the combination made him wander a bit. Pushing the thought away, he set back to his business in getting a better look.

       “Gunter and Mac do go a bit overboard with beating people,” he said, noticing how Lee’s brown shoulder length hair was all but falling out of its leather tie.

       “You think?” the chained man growled back, struggling against his bonds in pure annoyance.

       Moving to the wall, he spun the bar that held the chains so his captive would be facing the wall. It swept Lee of his toes and he hung painfully by just his arms for a moment. The cry of pain didn’t seem to faze the other man.

       “Now, I’m going to give you a chance to tell me the information we want. What is the weakest point in the castle walls? What is the best way to attack? How many men are usually stationed in the castle at any given point? Tell me anything that can help us to take over quickly and without too much bloodshed.”

       “Never! Never you fuckin’ pig! Fuck you and all your murderous friends.”

       “Now that kind of language is unnecessary,” he said with a sigh and grabbed a simple whip and snapped it with a crack before sending a light blow to the man’s back. Just enough to leave a red mark, but not enough to rip open the cloth of his already worn out tunic.

       “Now Lee, I know a lot about you. You were discharged honorably after only serving four years as a full-fledged knight. Rumor is that the king’s daughter was deflowered by you and you were punished by being discharged and exiled from the country for the next five years, yes?”

       “I never touched her. She did come on to me but I told her that the prince she was set to marry was a good and honorable man unlike many of the other suitors. I fought by his side before. And hell, he was only six years older.”

       “So you are thirty-two then.”

       “Why are you asking me all of these questions if you already know the answer?”

       “Records can be wrong. So why did he discharge and exile you? You protected innocent lives from being killed by demons and other horrible creatures and men in the Second Demon War.”

       “That is none of your fuckin’ business.”

       “Now, now; I told you that I don’t like that kind of language,” he said before delivering another quick lash, this one hard enough to rip the cloth but not enough to draw blood.

       Lee bit his lip but a cry still escaped through his teeth.

       “Are you going to co-operate or must I continue this? You know, if this doesn’t work I have other ways of making you talk,” he said simply, without emotion.

       “You’re a real sick bastard, torturing people for a fuckin’ livin’!”

       Another lash broke the air and tore a new line in the already abused shirt followed by a cry of pain that the thick stone walls muffled the sound outside the room.

       “Not many rulers actually keep such elaborate dungeons you know! Most don’t torture people all that often. Half the time there is some fairly comfortable holding cells and that’s it. Hell, there may even be a room to execute prisoners.”

       Two more lashes came in quick succession for his foul language towards Arathis.        “My liege has won many battles thanks to my work and amassed large amounts of land and money because of it. Besides, I’m cheaper and much safer than hiring a spies and/or double agents.”

       “Pigs! All of you! You’re all filthy war pigs!”

       “Don’t speak of what you do not know!” the master of torture growled and brought his whip down hard enough to make him bleed. Four more angry lines appeared on his back, blood soaking into the strips of cloth that remained.

       At first, there were only screams of pure agony, and then softer cries mixed with laughter between the cries, and then full blown laughter between the sobs of utter pain.

       “Why are you laughing?! What is so damn funny?!” Arathis yelled, angered by the other man’s echoing laughs. Never before had he been laughed at. Cursing and begging where normal, but laughing? “Do you think this is fuckin’ funny?!”

       “The perfectly calm and collected pathetic excuse for a human being is losing his temper. All of this over some scrawny beaten little man.”

       A smirk slowly formed as he dropped the whip and spun the man around lower the chain just enough so the prisoner’s feet could touch the ground without having to stretch his toes to hold himself up.

       “You mean woman?” he said, ripping open the tunic with little resistance.

       Underneath the man’s chest was tightly bound with an equally worn length of cloth that was coming loose thanks to the whip’s tearing force. He ripped it loose with a laugh, “Of course. A little girl pretending to be a man. I should have guessed, all the signs where there. The lips, the baggy clothes, the eyebrows, and you having no peach fuzz or stubble: they all pointed to you being a woman. The last one I just now noticed, though I should have seen it before.”

       “So I’m a woman. And you don’t torture women so you can let me go.”

       “That may be true, but you decided that you were a man, didn’t you? To become a knight? How long did you train?” he said, staring her in the eyes with an air of satisfaction and slight fascination.

       “Since I was seven,” she replied, glaring at him with utter disgust.

       “It was easy to pass then I suspect. You could go play with the other boys and no one would suspect a thing. You just had to keep your drawers on when you bathed or swam. No one would notice or suspect a thing. You could have ended up having an obnoxiously high voice. Instead you were quite lucky to have developed a relatively low voice for a woman. And you didn’t grow huge breasts either,” he said, moving towards her and roughly grabbing them and giving them a bit of a squeeze, “But you weren’t quite flat were you? So you had to bind your chest. But one problem, you have hips.”

       He smirked and let his hands run down her side and undid the belt, still staring her in the eyes. Her pants fell to the floor leaving her exposed down to the waist where her drawers were.

       “Curves. Very nice curves,” he whispered, still smirking a bit, a hand ran down her stomach causing her to gasp, “And a toned muscular stomach. Very nice, I must say.”

       “Stop this minute! Stop it!”

       “I don’t think so.”

       She gulped a bit, blushing slightly. His calloused fingers slowly ran down her stomach causing her to shiver. Her blush became brighter though she looked angrier than before; biting her lip to keep from saying anything or letting out any more sounds.

       “So you used baggy clothes. Keep your hair tied back tight enough and you passed for a skinny shy man. Enough men are shy around women that you being shy wouldn’t be a big deal. They figured you’re just a shy virgin. Probably with your face dirty most of the time and/or covered in sweat they never suspected a thing. A woman posing as a knight seems unlikely to them because of the huge penalty if they’re caught. And a woman traveling by herself doing men’s work is just out of the question.”

       He let his other hands run down her other side slowly and then back up her sides so they were cupping her breasts. Once again he gave them a bit of a squeeze. She couldn’t help but gasp, “And you couldn’t travel as a woman because that is unheard of as well and dangerous. If you carried your sword as a woman they would fear you or run you from town. Probably both in all actuality. I suppose you could have settled down as a seamstress, if you were the ones who patched your clothes.”

       “Enough! Stop this instant!” she growled.

       He simply ignored her, still smirking his little smirk.

       “I bet there are more women like you. Some probably keep the men who find out hushed by having sex with them. And others are killed. And some, like you, find a way to keep it a secret for the most part. The king found out, didn’t he? You did something to keep him from killing you. The daughter rumor worked in your favor.”

       “I saved his life. And I fought hard for him in the demon war.”

       “I guess I should thank him. I wouldn’t have gotten the chance to meet such an interesting specimen.”

       She grimaced at the word and it only caused her captor to smile more. Arathis gave her breasts another soft squeeze making her bite her lip to keep quiet.

       “You’ve never been touched by a man I suspect. Never kissed by a man even, yes?”

       “None of your fuckin’ business!”

       He pinched a nipple causing her to whimper a bit.

       “I hate that language out of a man, but it’s even more disgusting out of the mouth of the fairer sex.”

       “Bite me!”
       “I will then,” he said with a smirk and nipped at her collar bone.

       She gasped softly but struggled against the chains. This wasn’t happening. Her body was betraying her mind, “You sick pervert.”

       He pulled away with a smirk, taking her chin in his hand and stared at her, “I know. I humiliate men. I strip them naked and have women come in and giggle and point at the size of their members. It doesn’t matter how large they are, my lovely ladies giggle at him anyway. They whisper how small it is and other such things. I let them dominate him, treat him like a dog. They’re quite inventive. I won’t go into details but they usually break after that spilling their guts as long as I promise not to tell anyone what they’ve done and for some that they enjoyed it.”

       “You’re disgusting. Absolutely disgusting!”

       “Women in power can be incredibly sexy. I’m sure you can understand that, can’t you? You have more free will than most women. Traveled more places than most queens have. It doesn’t hurt you are quite lovely.”
       She continued to glare at him, though she was obviously confused.

       “Are you going to tell me what I want to know, or will I have to force it out of you?”

       “I doubt you ever could.”

       “You have asked for it then,” he said with a slightly cynical expression and began to kiss at her neck softly, barely touching his lips to her.

       She began to struggle against her bonds, but it was obvious by her shivering and movements that her body was enjoying it despite her brain’s disapproval. Slowly, he added his fingers into the mix, kissing one side of her neck and shoulders and his fingers following the same trail on the opposite side. Soon he began to kiss a bit harder, moving to the other shoulder, nibbling and licking up to her earlobe where he gently sucked on it before biting it gently and giving it a bit of tug.

       Lee finally couldn’t hold it in anymore and let out a soft moan, whimpering a bit at the fact that she couldn’t keep her body under control. Pain she could handle. Torture she could take. But pleasure had never been something to consider. Where on a battlefield would she find pleasure? A dungeon was even less likely.

       “What is your real name, Lee?”

       “What?” she asked, sounding surprised, “Why do you want to know?”

       “Just appease me.”

       “Sakura Leigh Tonus. Sakura Leigh is my full first name. My grandfather was Lee Tonus. He was a knight too. When he died, I decided the world still needed Lee Tonus so I took his name and his sword and set off.”

       “Sakura Leigh,” he said, seeming to breathe the word in, “I like that. A very pretty name for such a lovely woman.”

       “I prefer Lee.”

       “All right, Lee it is,” he whispered in her ear, breathing hot air onto it causing her to shiver.

       His hands ran up her arms and back down again as he kissed neck. Finally, he pulled away with a slight smirk.

       “Why are you stopping?”

       “Didn’t you want me to stop earlier?”

       “Yes! And I’m glad you stopped!” At least, her mind was. Her body was screaming for more of his sweet torture, “I’m just worried you’re going to do something worse.”

       “You could say that,” he replied with a smirk and pulled her drawers down off of her hips leaving her totally nude.

       Walking over to one of his tables that was lined with different knives and tools of torture, he picked up a simple but incredibly sharp looking knife. She closed her eyes and waited. There was the sound of the knife cutting through fabric and she felt the sleeves of her tunic fall off. Then her pants and drawers were cut away. Opening her eyes, she looked at him. He looked surprised.

       “You have a wooden leg,” he said, his demeanor instantly changing.

       “Yes. Your reports didn’t show that?”

       “No… They didn’t,” he whispered walking over and kneeling by her legs.

       This was obviously no ordinary woman. To go through the hard physical training and all the mental preparations of becoming a knight was hard enough for most boys and young men. Many ended up going home to take over the family trade if they were lucky enough. A mere woman had done that. She had been standing up to his tortures, even his sexual ones which would have had most women moaning for him to take them. And now this. Going on through life with a fake uncomfortable looking leg. He’d thought her walk had seemed a bit strange when they had led her into the castle.

       He gently removed the boot from her one good leg. His fingers slowly ran over the burned skin. Her cheeks turned bright red since his face was so close to her modesty. But he seemed to be ignoring that area at the moment. Part of her was relieved, while another part of her wished he was paying that area some attention.

       “What happened, may I ask?” his facial expression became soft as he spoke.

       “The Demon Wars. A demon who could command fire took out my leg. Luckily, I didn’t bleed to death because the fire cauterized the wound before I could bleed out. We had to retreat from the battle. I ended up being left behind, though I suppose it was better than being dead,” she said simply, “I was captured and tortured and beaten for about two weeks before I was rescued.”

       She kept her eyes open and stared straight ahead to keep from reliving it behind her eyes. The dark circles under her eyes weren’t just from the beating she’d received. Most nights she’d relive her own personal hell in her dreams. It was as if the demons who had been killed in the battle to rescue her had come back to avenge their death in her dreams.

       The thoughts quickly drifted away by kisses along her stub. She shivered a bit, surprised by how nice it felt. Demons never thought of other ways to torture aside from brute force and that was easy to get use too. It still hurt but you learned to see pain as just another feeling and it lessened some of the pain and made it more tolerable. This new kind of torture was much harder to push aside. Her body was beginning to relax under his touches and her mind was slowly giving in to the pleasures.

       “Does it hurt?” he asked.

       “Sometimes.”’

       “Is the wooden leg uncomfortable?”

       “A little. I have padding around my stub so that I don’t get splinters. I have to be careful though. It’ll rot if it gets wet too often and doesn’t dry out right. I tend to take it off when I take baths.”

       He nodded, just staring at her leg in amazement. His fingers continued to trace the scars around her leg and the burns. Once again, he kissed them softly. Then he began to lick them lightly before blowing on it to cause a cooling sensation.

       She let out a soft gasp. Closing her eyes tight, she tried to block the pleasure from her mind. It was finally working. The pleasure was gone. She’d done it. Opening her eyes, she found Arathis staring at her.

       “Am I that horrible?” he asked with a smirk.

       “Yes,” she replied, unwavering.

       “Oh really?”

       Arathis took her face in his hands softly and pressed his lips to hers. His prisoner struggled a bit against his kiss, but he held her firmly enough to keep her from moving but not enough to hurt her. Slowly, she gave in to his kiss. Smirking, he pulled away.

       “Are you going to tell me yet?” he asked with a smirk.

       “No. Never.”

       “I should have guessed. Maybe this will change your mind,” he said kissing her again, this time a bit harder.

       Lee gasped softly into the kiss. He took this opportunity to slip his tongue into her mouth. She bit down softly but he only hissed a little and kissed her harder. Her captor’s more skillful tongue slowly began to explore her mouth, tasting every crevice it could find. Becoming a bit braver, she let her own tongue tentatively search his mouth. Pulling his own tongue away he nipped her tongue hard enough to cause a small cut.

       Lee let out a soft whimper in reaction to his rough bite. It slowly became a moan when he began to suck on her tongue, letting his own tongue run over the cut. He groaned softly at the coppery taste of her blood. Pulling away he smiled.

       “How about now?”

       She laughed, “I told you no.”

       “Hmm… Looks like I’ll have to try to be more persuasive.”

       He walked away and grabbed a key and walked back.

       This was it. She could try to escape. Claim he was raping her. That Lee had escaped. It wouldn’t be too hard. Of course, it was a long shot but it she cleaned herself up and removed her remaining boot and found a sheet… It might work. Then there was the click and her arms fell down to her sides, pain suddenly rushing down into her arms with the blood.

       “Thinking of escape?” he asked, watching her.

       “Yes.”

       He smirked, “Try it. I dare you.”

       “What?” she asked, blinking, “You want me to escape?”

       “If you can get out that door you’re free to go.”

       She made a rush for the door as soon as he said free. He quickly grabbed her arm, “If you don’t make it however, you’re coming to bed with me.”

       “What?” she said, eyes widening.

       “I’m not done with my torture.”

       She shivered visibly though she could easily blame it on the drafty room. A determined look crossed the woman’s face and she ripped her arm away with surprising force and made a run to the door. He quickly grabbed her around the waist from behind causing her to blush bright red at the feel of something poking her backside.

       Brushing her hair away from her shoulder, he kissed along it softly before whispering in her ear, “Now you see why I won’t let you win this little wager.”

       “All right,” she said with a smile, “You can take me to bed. Just let me go and I’ll walk over there.”

       He had a feeling she was lying, but let her go anyway. Once again she made a run for it and he made a grab for her again. She found a way to wriggle out of his grasp and touched the handle.

       Arathis smiled sadly, “Looks like you won.”

       “I’m not out the door? Wasn’t that the deal?” she asked with a little smile.

       He started to say something but thought better of it, “Yes… It was actually.”

       “Better hurry,” she said, starting to work the lock which wasn’t much of a challenge, but just enough to give her trouble.

       Running to her, he essentially grabbed her and threw her onto the bed in the corner of the room across from his table. She let out a little laugh when she hit the bed. It was surprisingly soft.

       “Why do you have a bed in here?”

       “Don’t you remember what I told you? I let some of my women dominate men. I bet you’d be good at it.”

       She laughed, “Oh really?”

       “Yes. But not tonight,” Arathis said finding the silky ropes one of his women liked him to use and tied her arms above her head again, but this time not in an uncomfortable manner.

       “No fair…” she said, “I’m tired of being tied up.”

       “I think you’ll learn to like it,” he whispered, enjoying the fact that he was coming around to him and trusting him. He no longer gave a damn about the stupid information his employer wanted. All he wanted to do was explore the intoxicating woman who was lying naked before him. Any woman who could keep going without part of a leg when men gave up hope after losing the use of part of their arm was something else. She was strong and sexy and he wanted her for himself, and only her.

       Carefully, he removed her wooden leg and kissed it.

       Lee laughed a bit, “Be careful. You may get splinters. Besides, it’s not even my real leg.”

       “But it is your leg and that is good enough for me.”

       She looked at him confused, “What has gotten into you? Are you going to woo me until I tell you the information you want? It won’t work.”

       “I figured that much. I never thought I’d become bewitched by a woman, a cross-dresser at that!” he said with a laugh, running his fingers up her leg slowly until he reached below the knee. He let his other hand fall on the identical spot on her burned leg and continued to move up slowly, drawling circles and lines as he did so, “Though I must say I never did like the conventional woman.”

       “Oh really?” she murmured softly, closing her eyes and enjoying his touch.

       “Yes,” he whispered, letting his hands run over her hips and up her waist as he moved to straddle her, “My first crush was a girl who was a bit older than me. She was a bit bossy and always took charge.”

       She laughed, “I dunno if I’m bossy, Arathis.”

       “Mmm… I love how you say my name.”

       “What?” she said with another laugh.

       “You accent is beautiful. I have always loved Hondorian accents.”

       She blushed, “Thank you.”

       “You are very welcome,” he said, his fingertips moving slowly over her abdomen, drawling patterns and then writing in his native tongue on her stomach.

       “What are you writing?”

       “‘This belongs to Arathis,’” he said with a grin.

       Before she could protest he kissed her hungrily, his hands cupping her breasts. Most of his women had large beautiful breasts but he liked hers best. They were smaller but seemed to fit in his hands just right. Slowly, he began to massage them, ravaging her mouth and claiming every inch as his. He had been the first to kiss her and he would be the last; that he would make sure of.

       The woman beneath him kissed him back just as hungrily, struggling against her bonds. She had yet to be allowed to touch him. It made him all the more desirable. He was giving her pleasure and deriving his own all from the feel of her skin yet she was not allowed the same pleasure! He would learn in the near future what that sweet torture was like. She was sure of it.

       He pulled away and began to kiss down her neck hungrily: licking, biting, sucking the soft skin there. Making his way across her upper chest he made an identical trail up her neck before pulling away and whispering hotly in her ear, “You’ll enjoy this, my dear knight.”

       Arathis used one hand to roll her left nipple between his fingers while he suckled softly on her right. He was rewarded with soft moans. Slowly, he began to suck hard, scraping his teeth across the rosy bud. With his fingers he pinched the other, causing her to whimper and moan at the same time. He bit down softly on one and twisted the other causing her to gasp. Soothing them with his mouth and fingers he switched and did the same to the opposite nipples.

       All the while, Lee moaned and bucked softly under him. Her eyes were shut tight as the mix of pain and pleasure started a fire in her that she couldn’t seem to put out. It only seemed to get hotter. And she didn’t mind. Leaving her breasts alone, he moved and slowly kissed down her abdomen stopping right above the small patch of curly brown hair.

       Spreading her legs he moved them so they were spread wide and tied the one unharmed leg to her wrists while he figured a way to do the same with her other leg only so that her knee was tied to her wrists  She let out a soft gasp, followed by a whimper.

       “Perfect,” he whispered.

       She blushed, looking nervous. He grinned and slowly began to run his fingers over her thighs slowly, drawing soft circles. Struggling, she tried to move her hands, but was unable to due to his expert rope tying skills. With a smirk, he began to kiss the insides of her thighs, noticing how wet she already was. Slowly, he ran a finger over her lips, just barely touching them. Arathis was rewarded with a soft moan followed by a whimper of need. Ignoring her obvious need, he continued to kiss around her pussy lips, so close to touching them but too far away.

       After a few minutes of her withering, he finally dove in, licking and sucking along her lips. Carefully, he spread her lips and licked her clit softly while he slowly penetrated her with his index finger. Lee gasped and whimpered under him, her muscles hugging his finger tightly. Arathis just smiled at her, smirking slightly. He rubbed her from the inside a bit, still giving short slow lick across her clit as he did so. She struggled hard against her bonds, whimpering and moaning as she worked to move him closer to the heated area.

       Without a second thought, he pulled his finger and his lips away. She wiggled more furiously, rope burn starting to become apparent on her wrists. Nothing she did helped to free her. There she was stuck at his mercy and he knew it. The sadistic bastard was obviously enjoying it as well. It was the way his eyes stared, drinking in the very image of her.

       “You are such a beautiful woman,” he whispered in utter awe of her. His fingers ran over scars and burns so lightly and the sensations so intense it surprised her at how different they were. “Every mark is just another story, yes? A beautiful and sad story, a story of hope and loss, of triumph and defeat: the story of you.”

       She looked up at his eyes, a bit surprised by his words. Where did the sadistic bastard go? Did he really find her beautiful? Suddenly his mouth was over hers; enveloping her lips hungrily with such need and possessiveness she could barely breathe. A finger entered her again, this time exploring her from the inside, looking for the barrier he knew should be there.

       He pulled away slowly, “Are you truly a virgin?” he asked, slowly.

       Her eyes were closed as she took in the strange but pleasurable sensations of his exploration, “I am.”

       “You have no maidenhead.”

       “I assure you I am a virgin,” she whispered softly, trying to move him deeper.

       He smiled, “I see. You must have broken it during training or battle. I’ve heard of female warriors in the east who have such things happen.”

       Lee paid him no attention as she continued to wiggle her lower half, her eyes still closed. Laughing softly, he just kissed her again before adding a second finger. She whimpered and moaned in reaction. The pain mixed with pleasure was intoxicating. His thumb found the small nub and began to rub it slowly at first, moving his fingers in and out of her, juices coating his digits.

       Arathis drank down her moans as he continued to kiss her. He could feel her react beneath him. Her muscles were beginning to squeeze his fingers tightly. Pulling them from her nether regions, he began to lick the juices off his fingers, making sure she watched him as he savored her flavor. A bright red blush came to her face.

       “Delicious,” he murmured, continuing to lick, “I think I’d like some more.”

       “Arathis…” she whispered, blushing even more.

       Once again, he moved down between her legs. This time, he plunged two fingers into her quickly. Lee let out a loud whimper, but it soon turned into moans when his skilled tongue began to lick along her lips and taste her.

       The heat began to pool in between her legs again, making her buck against his fingers. She continued to buck and moan as he licked and sucked. Arathis smirked when he felt her begin to squeeze around his fingers again. Removing them, he plunged his tongue into her hot core. His ears were filled by the sound of her screaming his name, as she came hard.

       After he drank it all down, he returned to her sucking off his fingers once again. She was panting and mewing softly from her orgasm. Never before had she ever felt such pleasure. A few times before she had tried to pleasure herself, but she never seemed to be able to get the release she needed.

       “It seems you enjoyed that my dear. You even squirted a little.”

       She blushed bright red, knowing what he meant. Living with men for most of her life, sex was a constant topic and not unknown to her though it did embarrass her.

       Suddenly, she felt something hard rubbing between her legs. A soft gasp left her mouth as Arathis groaned a bit. Nibbling at her ear, he whispered, “I want to be inside you.”

       Lee shivered visibly at his suggestion.

       “Do you want me inside you?” he whispered, letting a finger slide into her.

       “One condition,” she whispered.

       “What is it?”

       “You untie me. I don’t want to be tied up my first time.”

       “You have it my dear,” he said, pulling off his drawers.

       She blushed, seeing his member stand at proud attention. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t seen men naked before. He wasn’t the largest of all the men she’d seen, but he wasn’t small by any means.

       “Do you like it?”

       She blushed, not saying anything.

       “I see he has left you speechless. No matter. He will be making you moan soon enough,” he whispered huskily, and began to untie her at agonizingly slow pace.

       Once she was free, he pinned her arms above her head with one hand.

       “No fair!”  She whimpered softly.

       “You said nothing about me pinning you.”

       “Arathis, that’s not what I…”

       He suddenly plunged into, hoping it would make the pain less. It was all he could do to stay still. She was tighter than he thought. Looking to her face, he saw she was biting her lip and holding her eyes closed.

       “We can stop,” he said quickly, not wanting to hurt her.

       “No… Just give me a minute.”

       It was more than a minute before she adjusted to him. A soft moan left her mouth as she moved a bit. He smiled and kissed her softly, beginning to move in and out of her slowly, pinning her with one hand and supporting himself with the other.

       “Please… Let me have my hands,” she moaned softly as he continuing to pump into her.

       Obliging, he let her hands go and began to fondle one of her pert breasts. She moaned and let wrapped her arms around him, her finger nails beginning to dig into his back as he quickened his pace.

       She moaned his name softly, kissing at his shoulder and he worked at her neck. Her whole body was on fire and it seemed the fire was only continuing to build. Wrapping her legs around him as best she could, she gasped softly as he moved deeper into her.
       “Lee…” Arathis grunted softly, his whole body shuddering softly at the feel of her wrapped so intimately around his member.
       After a few minutes, he rolled her over so she was on top. Lee couldn’t help but blush a bit at how exposed she felt. However, when Arathis reached up and began to massage her breasts, she totally forgot about it. She was too lost in pleasure to care once he began to thrust into her again. Slowly, she began to rock back and forth against him, meeting him thrust for thrust. Holding her hips, he couldn’t help but stare at her pert breasts as they bounced with each thrust.
       “You’re so beautiful Lee,” he whispered, sitting up so he was able to kiss her hungrily

       “Arathis…” she moaned into the kiss, her arms wrapping around him. She felt as though she was about to break.
       “Come for me,” he whispered, “I want you to reach your peak again.”
       “I… I… Oh! Arathis!” she nearly screamed, her muscles tightening around him as she came hard against him.

       He groaned her name softly, her orgasm triggering his own.

       Falling back onto the bed, he wrapped his arms around her protectively, kissing at her neck. “I’ll find a way to sneak you out. I promise.”

       “I trust you,” she whispered softly, “Thank you.”

       He kissed her forehead and rolled so they were on their sides, still so intimately connected. Grabbing a blanket, he pulled it over them. He was careful as he caressed the tender flesh of her back. He’d totally forgotten about what he’d done to her and he instantly regretted it. The throws of passion had distracted him from his work.

       She closed her eyes, burying her face in his chest. Her whole body ached but mostly in a good way. It was her first time having sex and she had to say, she enjoyed it thoroughly. Once they escaped they’d have to do it more often.

       “Sleep,” Arathis whispered, holding her close as he moved onto his back so she could rest against him easier.

       “All right,” she whispered, softly, “Thank you again…”

       “We aren’t out of this yet,” he whispered softly.

       As soon as she was asleep, he dressed and went about getting the things they’d need. Bringing back a pack filled with supplies and a dress for her to wear. Watching her sleep on her stomach, he couldn’t help but be happy to see her have such a peaceful look on her scarred face. No doubt that would make things a bit harder to get out of the castle, but he’d figure out something.

       Cleaning her wounds, he was relieved when she didn’t wake. Continuing his job, he let his fingers trail down her back slowly in a loving manner. Could it be he was falling for his prisoner? What was there doubt to doubt?  He’d fallen for the strange woman. Bandaging her back, he walked over to his files and looked them through. There was nothing he really wanted to bring. It would only be a reminder of his life here.

       Waking her up after a little bit, he smiled softly as she yawned and began to sit up, the cover falling from her body to show her bare breasts. “Mmm… Arathis… Is it morning already?”

       “Actually, but now it’s late evening. I brought you a present.”

       She raised an eyebrow but smiled a bit, “You’re bringing me presents now?”

       “I am,” he said, handing her the deep blue dress, “Put it on. We’re leaving.”

       Getting up, she let her feet hit the cold stone floor before standing. Pulling on the dress, she was surprised by how well it fit her. It was a little short, but otherwise it fit fine.
       “You look lovely, Lee,” the pale man said with a smile, hugging her to himself before giving her a soft kiss, “Get your boots on.”

       Nodding, she pulled her boots on. “Where’s my sword?”

       “You don’t need it now,” he said, “You have me.”

       “It’s important to me.”

       “I’ll get it. Then we leave, all right?”

       Once they were at least a mile from the castle, they stopped. Arathis wore Lee’s sword around his belt to keep suspicion from arising. A bit flustered, the former knight agreed after much persuasion.

       “So where do we go from here?” she asked, looking down the road as the stars began to slowly reveal themselves.

       “We have our whole lives ahead of us,” Arathis said with a smile, wrapping and arm around her waist and looking at the sky, “As far as I’m concerned, anywhere but here.”