VII.
Jay was somewhat lucid the next day, but he still couldn’t walk. My back cried out in pain after a few hours of having his not too light body strapped to it. I couldn’t complain, though, because then he would try and walk himself, and that was something I was not ready to watch. Didn’t want to see if he was limping, didn’t want to see him push on despite the pain.Bobby swore that there was a manor up ahead where one of his many cousins lived. I doubted it, but who was I to say? There was no way I could verify it, and it would be nice if we could rest for a day or so. Unless, of course, Amir had made it there already.
Jay rubbed his face against the back of my neck and nibbled at it gently. I nearly dropped him. Felt his smile pressing into my skin. “How much...” stopped as Jay began licking at me. “...longer?” I squeaked in a high pitched whine.
Bobby turned and stood still for a moment, staring at me. Then he giggled. “Do you know how silly you two look?!” he squealed. At that moment Jay chose to move his bound hands lower, until he could touch my skin. I hissed and tried to shift him upwards.
“Jay, just wait!” I whispered. Bobby sat down and started laughing his ass off.
“Paige...” Jay muttered, trailing light kisses up and down my flesh. This was going to get ugly soon. I decided that the easiest way to avoid succumbing to temptation was to take a break. Untied his arms and helped him to sit on a rock. Bobby was still giggling like a little girl.
Jay’s skin had taken on a yellow tinge and his cheeks were flushed. His eyelids were half-closed and he continually licked his lips. “P...Paige...” he whispered seductively, leaning towards me. “Hurts so much.” a low whine, “I just need something cold...” His lips hovered in front of mine and he inclined forward. I closed my eyes and stood up.
“You’re going to have to wait until we reach the manor.” I said. He nodded foggily and put his head in his hands. I turned to Bobby, “So how far away is it?”
He shrugged. “Last time I went there, we went on horseback. I was only three.” he said.
“And you still remember the way?”
There was a tense pause. “Uh...yeah. I’m pretty sure I remember the way. This is the road we took.” he said, smiling timidly.
“Fine, let’s just go then.” I grumbled, letting Jay settle back onto my back. He nuzzled his head against my neck and hugged me gently with his legs.
Stone walls surrounded the manor, people and animals bustled about the enclosure. Smoke churned out from one of the stone chimneys and the ting of a blacksmith making some metal implements reached us. Bobby squinted from the hill top and shrugged. “I can’t see the what the flag looks like that’s flying. I don’t know if this is the right one.”“Then go and see if you can find your cousin.” I suggested. He nodded and ran down the steep hill. Jay sat at my feet and held onto my leg for support. We had been able to find a small stream earlier, but the water wasn’t very good, and Jay had a hard time getting it for himself. And most of what he did get went onto his burnt flesh. Sweat coated his face with a sheen of transparent liquid, and he trembled almost constantly. But he never complained about anything but the pain.
“Why are you doing this for me?” he whispered. I sat down next to him and sighed.
“It just seems wrong that you got blamed for everything that went wrong in the village and...” I stopped. He looked at me expectantly.
“No love in that at all?”
“There’s love. It’s just...we really don’t know each other all that well.” A shy smile crossed his face and he kissed me gently. His tongue probed my mouth softly and I moaned.
“How much more could you possibly want to know?” he sighed, drawing back slightly.
“Well.....are you really a child of the devil?” It came out as a rush of desire and lust. His eyes gleamed in the half-light of the twilight sun. So hard to believe it wasn’t true.
“I don’t know. Perhaps.” he sighed, drawing his tongue over his lips slowly. “Sometimes it’s just easier to pretend that I am.”
Bobby came running back up the hill and panted while shaking his head up and down. “Yes...this is...the manor...” Pause while he caught his breath. “But you guys...will have to...stay in the stables...”The Lord of the manor had few horses, but a stable able to house at least twenty of them. The horses were mostly nags anyway, this was a small manor and one that didn’t pull in much of a profit. The whole building smelled of straw and long decomposed feces.
Bobby’s cousin turned out to have a pretty friend who had taken a fancy to Bobby, which explained why he didn’t have to sleep with us. She showed us to the stall that would be ‘ours’ for this one night, and then gave us a jug of ale and a small loaf of bread.
“You must be gone by the time that the sun rises. My lord would not be pleased to know that we harbored fugitives without his knowledge.” she said softly before she led Bobby to his heaven on earth.
Jay ignored the bread and went straight for the ale. I watched as he frantically tried to fend off the demons of thirst that had chosen his back to nest on. Then I nibbled a bit on the bread, which had been left out for a few days. Couldn’t have expected better or I’d be presumptuous. She was risking her life letting us stay here. “Could you leave some of that for me?” I asked.
He sighed and nodded, handing me the jug. I drank swiftly, watching as he laid back in the straw and closed his eyes. Something about him emanated weakness, but that vulnerability turned to seduction when he looked at me. No...not when he was like this. Laid down facing away from him.
Fingers traced my tunic and lips caressed my cheek. I tried to push him away, but it was a half-hearted effort. Knew that anything he wanted, he would pursue until he got. Let him pull down my breeches and lick around my cock. He seemed so happy there, his face free of the anguish of earlier. He tasted me smoothly, running his tongue up and down my length until I was hard. His smile was hell on earth and only made me long for him the more. “Jay...”I whimpered.
Mouth around me, tongue sliding across my skin, buried in his throat, insides demanding to be freed, thrusting out of control, all in a delirious search for pleasure. Which came as he sucked one last time. I bit down on my wrist to drown out the outburst.
His face was total sin as he rose from between my legs. Lips glistened with something that belonged to neither of us. Crawled to meet those cushions of lust and ecstasy. He moaned softly as we tasted each other. My tongue went unbidden to his marked skin and his grip tightened. So metallic, so beautiful like the rest of him. His eyes slid closed and his mouth went slack. His pallor change from yellow to flushed red, his lips slightly parted and ready for any incursion. Continued to explore his head and neck, then laid down beside him, intending to sleep. He curled up next to me, one hand timidly resting on my side.
Hoof beats. Familiar hoof beats. Jay peered out through a hole in one of the slats. Pure fear was all that greeted me once he turned back.“It’s Amir.” he whispered.