Sometimes It’s When Things Are Going Well That You Worry the Most
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Discontent, Sam walked through the halls as if hunting for something, but of course he didn’t find anything. Because he didn’t know what he was hunting for.
“How’s Todd’s punishment going?” Sam asked Derek when he ran across them. He didn’t really care, but it was something he could ask that might make him feel less weird. Hearing about Todd’s suffering might cheer him up or something.
“Fine, your Majesty,” Derek said, voice not as meek as it had been, but not confident to the degree that would have Sam slamming him into something to remind him of his place. He knew his place, Derek did. Sam kind of liked that about him. “I think he’s finally started to realize what he did wrong.”
“And what exactly is that?” Sam asked, curious. Todd had done any number of things wrong.
“Todd?” Derek asked, voice sweet in a way that vaguely disturbed Sam. “Tell the king what you did wrong.”
“I…” Todd’s voice came from somewhere lower than Derek or Sam, kneeling, probably. He hesitated for just a second. “I started something I couldn’t finish.”
Sam snorted. “You don’t say.”
“That’s close enough for now,” Derek said, a small noise in the back of his throat preceding it. “You started something you didn’t have the guts to finish is what you wanted to say. You’ll get there.” This last was said in a cloying tone that put Sam in mind of flowers.
Sam didn’t care if Todd was learning his lesson. He wanted to know what parts of him Derek was cutting off. “How exactly are you punishing him?” he asked. “You’d better not be letting him off easy.”
“I’m not,” Derek assured him. “Todd, be honest. Would you rather stay with me or let the king punish you? I’ll give you back to him if you want me to.”
Todd gulped audibly. “I…P-please…your Majesty…please take me away from him…please?”
Derek made a happy sounding noise. “I’m proud of you for telling the truth, even though you must have known I was lying to you. Good boy, Todd.”
Todd just whimpered.
“You haven’t answered my question,” Sam said, slightly testy. He would take Todd away from Derek if Derek was going to be stupid.
“Oh, how am I punishing him?” Derek let out a little giggle. “I’ve always wanted a puppy, your Majesty.”
Sam frowned, then considered the implications of that, and the fact that Todd was clearly on the floor right now. Then, unable to help it, he snorted a laugh that tumbled into a few more, mirth overtaking him for a second. “Fine,” he said. “As long as you’re disciplining him properly then.”
“Oh, I am. Can’t have him getting spoiled. Just last night he slept in the kennel because he was misbehaving too much to stay in my room.”
“Good,” Sam said, grinning. “If you need anything to help with that, a collar and leash or a bowl for him, tell Henry. He’ll get it for you.”
“Thank you, your Majesty,” Derek said. “We can get you a collar and bowl with your name on them. You’d like that, wouldn’t you, boy?”
Todd didn’t answer immediately. “Wouldn’t you, boy?” Derek repeated, just a touch more slowly.
“Y-yes, sir,” Todd muttered. “I’d like that.”
“What was that?”
Todd was silent a second longer, and then, probably at Derek’s urging, he let out a stupid sounding bark.
“Good boy.”
Sam snorted again. “Finally, somewhere he belongs. Keep it up, Derek.”
“Yes, your Majesty.” Derek said, tugging Todd out of the way so Sam could pass. Pleased but also somewhat disturbed, Sam resumed his wandering, heading vaguely in the direction of the bedroom. He had been cheered up a little, but his sense of discontent had returned by the time he reached his door, and Sam sighed, going inside.
“There you are,” Henry said as he came in. “I was starting to wonder if you’d decided to run off.”
Sam ignored that, shutting the door behind him. “Remind me to make sure Derek stays on our side.”
“Oh, you met his new pet, then,” Henry said. “Yeah, it’s creepy.”
“Tell me about it,” Sam muttered. “Seems to be effective, though. I think Todd hates it more than being tortured.”
“Todd always hates what’s happening to him more than what could be happening to him,” Henry said. “He’s just like that. Makes him easy to protect.”
“Protect?” Sam made a face. “Sure.”
“You don’t think that’s what Derek’s doing?”
“He’s no different from the rest of us. A touch of power and he’s got Todd barking like a dog because he can.”
“But he’s not hurting him,” Henry said, standing up. “Just humiliating him. I don’t think he is like the rest of us, not really. He’s a much nicer person than any of us are.”
“Hm.” Sam came over and let Henry take his hand, kissing it. “I think you’re wrong. He was gleeful about it. If he were nice he wouldn’t take pleasure in humiliating someone like that.”
“You don’t think he was acting because you were standing there?”
Sam frowned. “Maybe. I’m trying to be in a good mood.”
“Well, he’s still kind of creepy.”
“Tell me about it. Can’t imagine enjoying making someone act like a dog.”
Henry snorted. “You’d like it. You like having power over people. And if it’s really that foreign a concept to you…” He brushed Sam’s neck. “You looked good in a collar.”
Sam felt heat rise in his face and he pulled away. “Maybe now I know where Derek got his ideas from.”
“Mm. I got you something.”
“Why?” Sam asked, suspicious now.
“I can’t get my husband a gift? Take your clothes off.”
Now Sam was really suspicious. “Which one of us ends up bleeding at the end of this gift?”
“Does it matter?”
Sam thought about it, and decided that it didn’t. “Fine,” he said, taking his shirt off, aware that Henry was just standing there waiting for him to get undressed. “I’m waiting,” he said, once he was naked.
Henry took his hand without a word, pulling Sam to the bed. He stood him in front of it, running a hand down Sam’s front. “You should wear nothing more often.”
“I wear it often enough,” Sam grumbled. Henry was making him be patient, and he didn’t like that.
Henry snorted, then put his hand flat on Sam’s chest and pushed him back. Even expecting it, Sam staggered, and fell backwards onto the bed, onto… “The hell?” the bed was soft in a way it never had been, a fabric that felt like cool water touching Sam’s skin everywhere.
“Artworm silk,” Henry told him, sitting on the bed beside him. “You bought a fuckton of it in Jdinrma-Hash, remember? You said you wanted it made into sheets.”
Sam nodded, crawling a little farther up the bed so that more of his skin was touching it. “I’d forgotten about that.” It felt really nice on his skin. It was too early for bed, but Sam was pretty happy to lay here, honestly.
Henry was still sitting, moving beside Sam, hand on his belly. “Thought you’d like that. You bought some other stuff in the market, which I’m guessing you also forgot about.”
“Probably,” Sam said idly, waving a hand and trying to just focus on the way he felt. “It was just a bunch of crap and…” he trailed off, suddenly remembering what else he’d picked up in the market. What he’d forgotten to tell Henry about.
Something rustled as Henry set a bag down beside Sam. “I can’t believe you forgot you bought all of this.”
“I was distracted,” Sam muttered, suddenly embarrassed.
“You’ve been distracted the last few days, too,” Henry said, rifling through the bag. “Everything okay?”
“Yes, everything’s fine,” Sam told him. He hadn’t realized that Henry had noticed. “I’m just…are you going to use something from that bag or not?”
“Yes,” Henry said. “A lot of stuff in here. What do you want?”
“I don’t know.” Sam shifted a little, getting hard. “I’ve never used any of it before. Just…pick something you think I’ll like. Or something you’ll like.”
“Okay.” Henry was quiet a second, his hand leaving Sam. “In that case, maybe we’ll start with the obvious stuff.” His hand came down to Sam’s cock, and Sam felt a metal band. The ring, right. It clicked shut, tight on him. “I noticed you bought two of these,” Henry teased. “One smaller than the other. Almost like you wanted it put on you.”
“Sh-shut up…”
“In fact, I noticed you bought multiples of a lot of things in different sizes.”
“It’s not…like I knew how big they needed to be,” Sam growled, as Henry pushed his legs apart, sliding easily on the silk sheets.
“Sure you didn’t,” Henry said, pressing something against Sam’s hole. Polished stone, not very wide, but it would get wider, Sam knew because he remembered buying it. “Here we go,” he warned, then pushed it inside. It was wet with something, and it hurt less than Henry’s cock as it went in, getting wider and wider. Sam made fists in the sheets and tried to hold still as it went inside, until Henry got it all the way in, punctuating it with a slap on Sam’s ass. “There we go. Might be fun to spank you like that, actually.”
“If you…think I’m going to let you spank me,” Sam managed. “You’re crazy…”
“Oh, I wasn’t planning on you letting me,” Henry said, giving Sam another slap. Sam shuddered. Henry kept his hand there a second, then suddenly pulled the toy right out of Sam all at once.
Sam cried out just at the sheer surprise of it. “What the fuck?”
“There are more things in here that are meant to go inside you,” Henry said. “I’d like to try a few more of them out, find out which one you like the best.”
“Well…” Before Sam could say anything, something thicker was pushed against him, and then inside. This one was longer, but the same thickness all the way down until the base, which was round. “Fuck…” Sam said, as Henry pushed it in. It was bigger than Henry himself, he thought. “Fuck.”
“Don’t like it?” Henry asked. “If you don’t I’ll take it out.”
Sam let out a tense breath. “It’s fine. It’s…big.”
“Yeah. I kind of like this one, the grip on the bottom makes it easy to do this,” Henry said, pulling it out, pushing it in, doing that several times, fucking Sam with the toy. Sam cried out, his cock twitching as the toy assaulted the spot inside him, made him want to cum.
Henry pinched the tip of Sam’s cock. “Leaking a little,” he said. “You want to cum?”
“Of course I do,” Sam growled.
“Let’s take your mind off that, then,” Henry said, still fucking Sam with the toy as he did. His hand left Sam’s cock and the toy, and a second later, there was a sharp but not severe pain on Sam’s nipples as two metal clamps were put on them. They weren’t so tight as to draw blood, but it was enough to hurt. “How’s that?”
“Take them off,” Sam said. He didn’t like that. “Now.”
Henry did, setting them aside, massaging Sam’s chest for a second. “Didn’t like those?”
“No.”
“Guess we’ll keep those in the pile of things you bought to use on me, then,” Henry said. “Or someone else. Roll over.”
He didn’t actually let Sam roll over, doing it for him until Sam’s tingling nipples and his sensitive cock were pressed against the softness of the silk, which felt good for both of them. Sam let out a sound without meaning to.
Running a hand down Sam’s back, Henry reached the toy and pulled it out. “Next one,” he said, replacing it with another at his entrance.
“Fine,” Sam panted. He should have hated this, being teased and controlled and denied. But it was Henry doing it, and he liked that. It helped that he’d been holding back his power much more easily the last few days, since Delilah had been born.
“I wasn’t asking permission,” Henry told him, pushing the toy inside. It was shaped like a bulb, or a series of bulbs, each one stretching Sam as it went in, earning a gasp from him. There were six in all, and once it was inside, Henry just wiggled it a little, fingering the base. “You know, I might put one of these in you one morning and make you wear it all day while sitting court. That would be fun.”
“For…you,” Sam breathed. “It might be fun for you.” His cock was rubbing against the silk and it felt so good, and he wanted to cum so badly.
“That’s what I was getting at,” Henry said, slowly pulling the toy out again, getting several more gasps from Sam. “Last one.”
Sam knew what one this was, remembered feeling it in his hands. It was one he’d definitely planned to use on Henry, not the other way around, and as it slid inside him, widening and then cutting off in ridges, he grabbed the sheets again, hoping he didn’t rip them. “Henry…”
“I really like hearing you say my name like that, Sam,” Henry said, pushing another ridge in, then another. “We’re going to have to do this again.”
“Sh-sh-shut…” Sam’s voice collapsed as the base of the toy touched him. Then, with a hand running down his spine, Henry pulled the toy out, clawing a wordless shout out of him that had him bucking his hips into the sheets, trying desperately to cum.
“Sh…” Henry said, still stroking Sam’s back as he moved on top of him. His cock slid inside Sam now, familiar. He fucked gently, pushing Sam into the sheets. “That sounded fun.”
“It…it was,” Sam admitted, beaded with sweat now. Henry wanted him to beg. He wanted Sam to ask to cum, to ask to have the ring taken off. There was no fucking way Sam was going to beg.
Henry gave a hard thrust, and Sam felt metal at his entrance. “Y-you’ve got one on too?”
“Don’t want to stain the new sheets, right?” Henry grunted, hands on Sam’s shoulders now. “Might be fun to see which of us breaks first.”
“That’s…that’s my favourite game,” Sam admitted, feeling his resolve strengthen. “I’m putting them all inside you soon.” Maybe at once. Henry had earned it.
“Good. Which one…ng…which one was your favourite?”
Sam tried to think, tried to keep his head clear between his need to cum and the sheets on his front and Henry inside him and everything, just everything that was bothering him. “The…the third one, the bulbed one.”
“Okay,” Henry said, breathing on Sam’s ear. He pushed deep inside, then stopped moving, just holding still for a minute. “Still distracted?”
“Only by you.”
“You want to tell me what was bothering you?”
“No.”
“I’m not taking that ring off until you do.”
Henry was evil, Sam had forgotten that. Which, considering he’d taught Henry everything he knew, he ought not to have. Sam could take the fucking ring off himself. But he wouldn’t. “It’s stupid.”
“I doubt it.”
Sam was just quiet, and Henry went back to fucking him for a while, getting more and more desperate as his own need to cum built. Sam started to whimper with need, toes curling. And Henry just kept going, just going, how was he so collected? “I just…”
Henry stopped, grip on Sam’s shoulder hard. “Just what?”
“I just…” Sam sighed. Fuck. He hadn’t meant to say anything. “I just feel like something bad’s about to happen. Too many good things have happened. Something bad must be coming.”
Henry sighed quietly, about to tell Sam he was dumb. Or not. “Yeah. But don’t worry about it, okay? If something happens, I’ll be here with you.”
Sam huffed. He didn’t need Henry to comfort him. Henry being there when some nebulous thing happened in the future didn’t make him feel better, he’d just be in the way. But…
Henry saying that did make Sam feel better. He lowered his head, laying his cheek against the sheet, feeling its caress on his face. “Get moving,” he said. “I’m giving you five more minutes before we switch places.”
“Yes, your Majesty,” Henry said, kissing the back of Sam’s neck and picking up his movements again. “Don’t suppose you want to try barking like a dog?”
“Don’t make me give you to Derek.”
Sam ended up giving him a lot more than five minutes, but only because he didn’t want to move from where he was right now. He felt safe there.
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How Best to Use a Sword 