The Copper Horse #1 Fear (16 page)

After a moment of hesitation, Reuben cuddled into the soft towel. He had never actually touched such new and delicate fabric. "So you're saying it didn't work?"

The other man shook his head, not looking him in the eye as he covered him with the towel and started gently patting on it to dry the skin. "I'm saying
he lied
."

"
I
don't! I never lie! I'm a very honest horse!" Reuben tried being funny again and nuzzled Erik's cheek. His master's expression softened at the caress, and Reuben felt Erik's hands circling his waist.

"I will consider it, but only with Hans in the room."

Reuben's smile changed into a sour grimace. "I don't want him to watch!" he whined.

"I won't let your hands free as we engage in bodily pleasures." Erik waved his hand dismissively. "And I prefer him not to watch either."

Reuben sighed, pulling away a bit. He had such mixed feelings about this. On one hand, it felt degrading and his arms ached, but on the other, he could indulge in being taken advantage of without being blamed for not fighting back. That was a tough one. "Yeah, right."

"'Yeah'," mocked Erik, "You well know why I called him in, you silly horse!"

Reuben rolled his eyes. "Shouldn't have treated me so badly," he muttered, finding it hard to hold back his anger.

Erik raised his eyebrows. "You don't know how bad masters can be. You would be licking my feet clean if you knew." His eyes covered with unpleasant emotional frost again.

Reuben felt a chill on his back at Erik's words, deciding to stay quiet. The ache in his buttocks and thighs made him turn his head to try and examine the damage. He felt a chill on his back at Erik's words, deciding to stay quiet. He wasn't
that
curious.

"I'm sure Copper will understand," Jack stepped in and patted Reuben's shoulder blade.

"I do hope he will." Erik moved back, combing his hair back with his fingers. "Make him ready for dinner."

Jack nodded, casting his eyes down.

Reuben swallowed, desperate to get across the most important matter. "I do like potatoes and gravy..." he tried to remind them. The one thing he didn't want was Erik's anger.

Jack looked back at him, surprised, but flinched at the sound of the door closing behind their master. "Ah, me, too," he blurted out absent-mindedly.

Reuben managed a slow smile but avoided his eyes, ashamed that the boy had seen him submitting to Erik's perverted games. It occurred to him that this would not be the last time it happened, but at the moment it was still a fresh wound. "Do you get meat, while working here, Jack? Does he treat you good or is he a bastard to you, too?"

Jack coughed, moving toward one of the cabinets to get a copper vial. "Our master is a good man."

"You would say that." Reuben scowled. "But I am really aching. And what will I wear for dinner? I can't wait to get dressed again."

"Oh, I wasn't told to dress you, Copper. I'm sorry." Keeping his face straight, Jack let several droplets of a sweet-smelling oil fall to Reuben's torso.

"Noo!" he cried, enraged. "Will this be yet another way to humiliate me?" He took a step back.

"No, Copper." Jack closed his eyes, as if trying to calm down his nerves. "You're a horse, remember? Horses don't walk around in clothes."

Reuben groaned. "And this is how I'm supposed to look at it?"

"Yes. You do that, and no harm will come to you." Jack put down the vial and gently ran his hands over Reuben's chest, spreading the oil evenly. It almost felt like a caress.

"Let me get this straight." Reuben furrowed his eyebrows. "I pretend I'm his fuck-horse-slave-thing, and he treats me right and gives me lots of food for doing almost nothing?"

Jack stopped, looking up at him, his palms warm right over his nipples. "Um, yes..." he trailed off, a bit out of breath.

Reuben had never been touched in ways he had been today, and his mind was racing to try and comprehend it all. Even having Jack rub that oil onto him felt good while being absolutely guilt-free. After all, he was a captive here. There was nothing he could do to save his dignity, and anyone would understand that he wasn't the one to blame. People would feel sorry for him. And while being pitied wasn't exactly a good thing, it was sure better than being poor, hungry, and lusting after things he couldn't get.

"You feeling me up?" He lifted his eyebrows.

Jack's mouth fell open and he snatches his hands away in panic. "I wouldn't do anything you wouldn't be comfortable with!" he said out of breath.

"You already pulled that thing out of my ass before." He shook his head. "Doesn't get much more uncomfortable."

"But I am your friend... oh, stop teasing me, Copper!" Jack's lips thinned, but his face became as pink as a newborn piglet.

"You're a friend who wishes he could fuck me." Reuben studied the boyish face for answers.

Jack looked down and immediately closed his eyes as his gaze lined up with Reuben's crotch. Hardly containing a growl, Reuben shook his head, but then all of a sudden, the door opened and Reuben jerked away from his groom just in time as at least half a dozen men came barging in. Too scared of the intrusion to say anything, he hid behind the bathtub, looking at Jack for help. All those people seemed to strip his skin off with their eyes.

"There, there, so that's the new pony!" said a well-built, tanned man, whose thick, dark hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail. When his smile broadened, Reuben noticed that one of his top front teeth was broken and there were several scars on his face, but he seemed quite handsome nevertheless, especially with muscular arms sticking out from underneath a dirty apron.

A chubby, young man with blond hair and a round, potato-shaped nose rushed to Reuben, stopping in front of him with just the bathtub between them. The sheer awe twinkling in his eyes was just as flattering as it was disconcerting.

"Wow, now that's a stallion!"

"Go away!" Reuben shouted, shocked to see Jack standing there like a statue. Now that he was naked, helpless, with his arms tied back, anything could happen. Nothing, though, was as bad as the shame creeping up his back. These people had to know what he was here for.

"He's one of those shy ones!" echoed a very effeminate voice from the back of the group.

"
Are
ya shy?" The dark haired man stopped dangerously close to Reuben, crooking his head as he looked at him.

"Ollie, stop it!" Jack voiced a weak protest. "You're frightening him!"

"He's not a real 'horse', you know," pointed out the blond chubby.

"I'm not shy. I'm bound and naked, you bell-end!" Reuben growled at 'Ollie', taking a step closer to him. He made an effort to straighten his back to show them he wasn't some kind of weakling. His heart was thumping in fear, but he did his best to hide it. Attack seemed the best tactic.

From the corner of his eye, he could see that there were a total of five unknown men in the room. They cut him off his only escape route into the stable room, which made him increasingly insecure, considering Jack's obvious discomfort. He just stood there frozen in place, eyes darting between the newcomers.

"He is not, but he hasn't yet had the time to adjust to all this..." tried the groom.

"Wha', didn't Erik fuck 'im yet?" Ollie barked out a vicious laugh. He moved closer, his gaze sliding over Reuben like some sticky goo. "We might fix that mistake, lil' pony."

Judging from the choir of cackles, the group seemed to find the situation hilarious. Reuben felt his face go pale at the suggestive tone in Ollie's voice. The scars on the man's face made him look like one of those men he never even dared to provoke into fucking.

"Don't you dare touch me," he muttered, taking a few quick steps back. This instinctive attempt to make some distance, however, drove him into the corner. But Ollie didn't seem to care about his discomfort. He dashed forward to press Reuben against the wall with his powerful body, and the smell of sweat and onion overpowered any other scent.

"Don't kick up, lil' pony!"

Reuben's body went cold at the rough hands feeling him up.

"You have no shame, you bastard!" He pushed against Ollie, now happy to be so pumped out, as there was no chance he would get excited. Through the combined sound of his own rapid pulse and Ollie's breathing, he hardly heard the other voices.

"Oh, come on, I wanna see him, too!"

"Good job on the hair, Jack. That's a proper mane!" said a man with a lock of hair curled on the top of his head. His movements and voice seemed effeminate.

"Let go of him!" Jack woke from the stupor and moved toward Reuben, but Potato-nose grabbed him from behind with a delighted laugh. From the look of it, he honestly considered this situation enjoyable.

"Let the man have his fun, will you, Jack?"

Panic reaching its peak, with no help from his groom, Reuben bit Ollie's arm, trying to push through him.

"Oi! Ya fuckin' bitch!" The man hissed, pulling back to look at him with burning eyes. He was breathing hard, body tense like that of a predator seconds before the attack. This person was malicious, Reuben had no doubt about that.

"Don't," one of the other newcomers warned him. "He's new merchandise."

"I'm no 'merchandise'!" Reuben took a few steps toward the door, though he had no idea what he would do or where he could hide. This place was still alien territory. "Are you all fucked up like that master of yours? He's a pervert, and you are, too!" He spat at Ollie, shaking with anger. His life had gone to shit and he didn't need any more crap from anyone!

"Go, or I'll tell Master Erik what you did!" Jack struggled in Potato-nose's arms.

"He's out."

Ollie was breathing hard in a struggle between instinct and reason.

"What?" Jack paled a bit.

"It's just like Kip said," growled Ollie, crooking his neck with a loud snap. It looked like he had managed to get back his calm. "'ad some urgent business to attend to."

Reuben's eyes roamed over all the unfamiliar faces. His heart was racing so hard he felt nauseated. "Are you all bloody immoral? Does Erik only employ freaks?"

The man with the curl on his head furrowed his eyebrows. "'Freaks'? Says who? The new fuck slave, bending over for Master Erik?" He'd had a nicer attitude before, but it seemed the comment had made him change his mind.

"He isn't willing!" Jack finally managed to break free, but he couldn't keep his balance and fell to the floor.

"He isn't willin'!" Ollie mocked him. "Oh, m'god, what a poor pony! Forced to suck cock against 'is will!"

The whole group voiced a loud sound of pity.

Reuben was at a loss of words. "It's not funny." He felt so exposed with his hands restrained. Erik had just left him like that, and the ache was getting worse every second.

"You need to take him out to get some." Potato-nose, or Kip, as Ollie called him, gave him a wide grin. "You better try sweet Lady Victoria here."

The feminine looking man rolled his eyes. "Darlin', are you sayin' I'm easy?"

"Oh, yes!" Jack picked that up. "Lady Victoria's always up for it." He turned to the man in question. "No disrespect."

Only now did it occur to Reuben that it was actually the effeminate man they were referring to. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

Lady Victoria chuckled, playing with an elaborate buttonhole flower he had pinned to his elegant blue uniform. "I am up even after I'm down."

Kip embraced him from behind with a sharp laugh. "What do we need that horse for anyway? He'll be eventually tired with it."

"I'm not an 'it'..." Reuben trailed off, slowly understanding that they were all... they all liked men. "My name is Reuben. I got sold off by someone I thought of as a friend. I don't want to be here." He looked up at Ollie, who once again seemed to be standing far too close.

"Get away from him!" Jack stood between them, all flushed and tense.

Ollie furrowed his eyebrows, giving Jack a knowing glance. "Ah yes, ya didn't groom 'is nuts yet."

"D-did what?" Reuben gave them yet another confused look.

"Pretty and dumb as a rock, just like Erik likes them," said a man who didn't yet talk, just standing in the back, taller than anyone else. He had grey eyes and an expressionless, yet handsome face.

"Whateva'." Ollie gestured for the others toward the door. "Let's leave the lovebirds alone."

Reuben huffed, leaning against the wall with relief. Being called a 'lovebird' of another man was unsettling enough.

It took the group of servants another couple of minutes to finally leave, and as soon as they did, Reuben slid down the wall, flopping exhaustedly on the cold floor.

Jack was by his side in seconds. "Are you all right? I am so sorry, Copper!" he whined.

Reuben shook his head, his breath coming in sharp pants. "I'm fine. I mean... no... It's all horrible! I don't want to be here like this! He could have hurt me if he wanted to! Erik beat me... and you cut my hair so I look like I ran away from Bedlam. So no, I'm not fine, but I'll endure it. That's life, innit?"

Jack closed his mouth and looked down again. "I will help you any way I can," he uttered in a soft voice as he finally reached out to touch Reuben's forearm.

"Why is that man called 'Lady Victoria'?" Reuben wanted to change the topic.

Jack licked his lips, lifting his gaze at him with obvious discomfort. "Well, he likes to be... like a lady, if you know what I mean."

"Is everyone in this house some kind of rake?" Reuben finally met his eyes.

The boy took a long breath, his body stiff with obvious discomfort. "Well, the master prefers his male staff similarly inclined as he is."

Reuben shook his head. Just as he thought, even Jack was touching him for the same reason. He had never met men who would be so open about liking to lay with their own sex. "Makes sense..."

Jack let out a long breath. "Copper, I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you! You don't even know how that makes me feel!"

Reuben cocked his head to the side, looking at him in a new way. Jack was so young and seemed to really care about his well-being. "You'll grow, I suppose." He gave Jack a small smile.