Pendant of Fortune (37 page)

“
Why, look,” the rat said, clapping his paws together, “it’s my pet fox, right on time. I like punctuality. He’s obviously eager to get started.”

“
Eager to be finished,” Volle said as Dereath unlocked his door.

The rat turned and gave him a nasty smile. “You shouldn't count on finishing,” he said, leering, and then motioned Volle inside.

Volle looked at the rabbit. “He stays outside.”

“
Oh, don’t be that way. He won’t come in and watch, but I can’t very well ask him to go entertain himself outside for an hour.”

“
Why not?” Volle folded his arms and glared at the rabbit, who seemed unruffled by the attention.

“
It would be rude. This is his home, too. Besides, what if you try to overpower me?”

“
I still need you to get me past the guards. I wouldn’t do that.”

“
I just feel safer with him here. He’ll stay out of the bedroom, I promise. I want it to be just you and me.” Dereath’s triumphant mood showed in his tone. The bitter edge he usually had was replaced by an eagerness that Volle found slightly nauseating, and not only because it concerned him directly.

He debated whether to press the point, and decided that the longer he argued, the longer this would take, so he followed Dereath into the parlor without another word. The rabbit followed quietly behind him and closed the door, locking it.

“
Just a minute,” Dereath said. “Let me straighten up first.” He slipped into the study, leaving the door ajar so Volle could see him go through the next door into the bedroom.

Volle didn’t want to look at the rabbit, so he looked around the room, and his eye fell on the parlor door where the mouse had been killed. He hadn’t smelled blood before, but now he fancied he did, and his fur prickled. He could still leave, could unlock the door and run out before Dereath got back.

You’re not afraid, are you?

“
No,” he murmured to himself. “Fox will protect me. I’m doing this for my pack.” The scent of blood faded as he turned away from the door, replaced by the ratty, dusty smell of the parlor. The rabbit, he noticed, had a very subtle scent that was hard to pick up, and he suspected that was one reason he disliked the creature so much. Someone without an obvious scent was someone hiding something. Of course, it was perfectly possible that he was just a weak-scented person, but in Dereath’s employ, Volle assumed the worst.

The rat pushed the door of his bedroom open, breaking Volle’s train of thought. “I’m ready for you now, Lord Vinton.” He was smiling that same nasty smile.

Volle took a breath, and tried to sound confident as he passed through the study. “I’m ready for you, too.”

“
We’ll see about that,” Dereath said.

Volle walked into the bedroom and folded his arms as Dereath shut the door, then watched the rat walk around to the other side of the bed and sit on it. The bedroom was actually rather large, about fifteen feet, he estimated. Against the far wall stood a large wardrobe, flanked by a chest of drawers on one side and a footlocker on the other. Beside the dresser was a door that undoubtedly led to a bathroom. Faintly, he could smell a palace scent: sandalwood, he thought.

The bed had been placed lengthwise across the room about halfway down, headboard against the left hand wall, leaving only a few feet between the foot of the bed and the right hand wall. A large linen sheet covered the whole bed, trailing down to the floor; only a lump at the head showed where the pillow was.

“
All right,” Dereath said. “Now take off your clothes and get on the bed. Your hour doesn’t start until then.” He was fiddling with an hourglass that stood on a small table next to the bed, but his eyes were on Volle.

Volle noticed a basket next to the hourglass and wondered what was in it, then thought grimly that he would know soon enough. He pulled his shirt off quickly and dropped it to the floor, then hesitated only a moment before slipping out of his pants as well. When he reached for his pendant to take it off, Dereath said, “No, you can leave the jewelry.”

Volle let the pendant drop into his chest-fur. He made no attempt to hide or show off his nakedness, though he tried to avoid looking at the gleam of lust in Dereath’s eyes as he walked toward the bed. He sat on the near side, facing away from Dereath. At least the rat smelled clean. The sandalwood scent was stronger on the bed and seemed to be on his fur. “Start the hour,” he said, looking over his shoulder at the hourglass.

“
In a minute.” Dereath leered at him and leaned back so he could see Volle’s lap, keeping one paw on the hourglass and reaching the other toward Volle’s sheath.

Volle grabbed the rat’s thin wrist. “You don’t get to touch me until you turn that over.”

Dereath’s dark eyes turned sour. Without a word, he turned the hourglass over and placed it on the table. Volle watched the grains of sand sift through the small opening, and reluctantly released Dereath’s paw.

It closed none too gently around Volle’s sheath, rubbing it firmly before sliding down to cup his sac. “I’ve waited for this for a long time,” the rat whispered. Volle didn’t answer. He tried to keep his mind on Streak as his sheath was fondled, but he felt the stirrings of arousal and shifted his thoughts to the stark beauty of the mountains, the earthy smell of his farm, and the sandy earth of the resort. Streak kept creeping back into his mind, though, and much to his annoyance, he found he could not stop his sheath from swelling.

“
That’s right,” Dereath murmured. “Enjoy it while you can. Let me see…let me see…” He kept stroking hard and tight, almost to the point of being painful. Volle wondered if he would have to endure a whole hour of this. That wouldn’t be so bad, he thought.

There was more, of course. He estimated it was maybe five minutes before his erection pushed its way tiredly out of his sheath, and when Dereath saw it, he grabbed the tip between two fingers. Volle squirmed involuntarily, which made the rat twist his fingertips. Volle gasped, and Dereath grinned. “Good. Now lie on your stomach.”

Here it comes, Volle thought. He gets to pound away at my rear for an hour. Well, fifty-five minutes, anyway.
He got up onto the bed and lay on his stomach, head resting on his arms.

“
Oh, no. Paws under your tail.”

Volle smelled the worn scent of leather and knew what Dereath had gotten from the basket. “No, please…” he said, and then bit his lip. Of course Dereath wanted to hear him beg.

“
Paws. Under. Your. Tail.” The rat was growling, but couldn’t disguise the glee in his voice, and Volle hated him in that moment more than he ever had before. Slowly, he reached his paws back and clasped them under his tail.

Dereath wound the leather strap around Volle’s wrists and then looped it around his tail’s base before cinching it tight. Volle instinctively tugged at the strap, feeling his heart race faster when his paws wouldn’t come free. Settle down, he told himself, but his body was crying at him to struggle as hard as he could, to get free of the restraint. He chewed on his lip again, trying to distract himself, trying not to let the stone walls of his prison rise up in his head. He flexed his paws, making and releasing fists, not caring what the rat thought.

He didn’t seem to notice. Rummaging in the basket again, he removed a small wooden ring, polished smooth. It almost looked like a napkin holder, but it was larger and not as long. “I’ll bet you can guess what this is for.” He held it in front of Volle and turned it back and forth before saying, “Open your muzzle.”

Volle paused a moment before obeying. The position strained his neck, as his head had to lie flat on the bed, but he figured that wouldn’t be the worst thing he was in for. He tried to adjust his back so the strain was spread out more. While he did that, Dereath put the wooden ring into his mouth and pressed down. “Now just hold still,” the rat said as his paws took a strip of cloth and wound it around Volle’s muzzle, tying it off at the top after pulling it tight.

Instinctively, Volle struggled against it. He couldn’t close his mouth around the ring, and he couldn’t open it further to let the ring out. If he let it slide back further into his mouth, he was worried he would choke on it. He slipped his tongue through the hole experimentally, then retracted it when Dereath said, “Ah, you
do
know what that’s for. Good boy, I knew you would.”

Volle closed his eyes as Dereath fumbled with the catch on his pants. He couldn’t see the rat’s expression, but he could see the trembling of his paws and assumed it was excitement. The thought made him sick, and he didn’t want to look any more. After a few moments, when the smell of rat was getting stronger and the movements on the bed more noticeable, he thought he’d better take a look so he knew what he’d be in for.

Dereath was in the process of removing his pants. He tossed them to one side and knelt low in front of Volle, presenting his groin as if for inspection. Volle tried not to study the rat’s erection, but he got enough of a glance to see that it was already full, stiff and dripping. It was small, but well proportioned for Dereath’s size, and Volle actually wished it were uglier; it would seem more fitting.

“
Now,” the rat said softly, and Volle noticed he was already panting, “let’s see that tongue again.”

Volle hesitated. It was almost not a conscious decision, that pause. He knew he was delaying the start of things, and the longer he dragged it out, the less he would have to do, but he also knew that he’d made an agreement and he didn’t want to give Dereath any reason to reneg on his part of the bargain.

“
I said…” the rat began, but Volle slid his tongue obediently through the wooden ring before he could finish. “Better,” Dereath grumbled. He pushed the pillow under Volle’s muzzle, lifting his head and putting even more strain on his neck, then positioned himself and held the wooden ring with one paw. Slowly, he guided his shaft through it with the other.

Volle felt the slick length against his tongue and tasted the rat’s rather foul musk for the first time. He almost gagged. Dereath didn’t make it any better, releasing his shaft once it was through the ring and using that paw to grip the back of Volle’s head by the fur. He thrust hard into Volle’s muzzle, pressing his fur right into Volle’s nose as he did.

Thick musk filled Volle’s head, and he closed his eyes again, determined to bear it until it was over. Knowing Dereath, he suspected there would be more, but he could get through this. He could.

It didn’t even last as long as he thought it would. Dereath’s legs were shaking so much that the whole bed trembled. His paw gripped Volle’s fur even tighter, and he dislodged the wooden ring as he slammed his erection against the fox’s tongue, over and over. His harsh panting and prolonged grunt were the first clue Volle had that he’d come; then he felt the spurt and tasted something near the back of his throat. It was hot and rancid, and he imagined it was the essence of Dereath himself. It seemed to burn.

Dereath was panting, “Oh Rodent…oh, that was good.” He leaned back, not completely out of Volle’s muzzle, but the fox couldn’t wait any longer. The dislodged ring no longer held his muzzle open. He jerked his tongue back and used it to push the ring out of his muzzle as he wrenched his neck to one side, coughing and spitting onto the sheet.

“
Ow!” Dereath sprang back and pulled the ring off his dripping shaft, throwing it to one side. “You bastard!” He cuffed Volle hard across the head, bringing stars to the fox’s eyes, then shook his head roughly with the paw that still held fur. “That hurt!”

Volle coughed again. He couldn’t open his muzzle all the way because of the loose loop around it, but he mumbled, “Couldn’t…help it.”

“
Couldn’t what??” Dereath jerked his head up painfully.

“
Couldn’t help it!” Volle panted.
If I could have, I’d have bitten harder.

Dereath held his head up for a few moments longer. Volle could see his snarling visage clearly. Breathing was getting harder through his bent windpipe, and eventually Dereath either realized this or got tired of holding his head up. The rat let him drop to the bed, then slid off it. He walked around behind Volle and pushed up on his hips. “Up on your knees. I’m not done with you yet.”

Volle looked desperately at the hourglass, but it wasn’t even half gone. Sighing, he worked his knees up toward his midsection, lifting his hips off the bed. Dereath fingered his quiescent sheath. “Aw, that little adventure didn’t excite you? I’ll have to try harder.” He pawed it back and forth. “It will be a little while before I’m ready again, so maybe I’ll let you have a little fun. Wouldn’t you like that, Lord Vinton? Let me give you a little pleasure.”

His voice had softened to a croon as he stroked. Volle closed his eyes and tried to keep his thoughts as far from anything sexual as he could. He thought about the murder in the next room, about the scent of blood and mouse and rat and wolf in the room, and that reminded him that he was totally under the control of someone who was involved in a murder, which just made him nervous. He tried to clear his mind, but the persistent stroking, even with Dereath’s spindly fingers, was having an effect.