Free The Copper Horse #2 Pride by K.A. Merikan

would now know his face and what was
being done to him. His chest was so heavy, as if someone had
squashed it with a boulder.
    Back at the house,
Erik and Hans just left him in the cart room, still in gear and
with the cart fastened to his tack. He let himself cry again, and
even Jack couldn’t comfort him. He couldn’t even confide in his
groom how horrible this day had been, because of the bit. Standing
became so uncomfortable at one point that he kneeled on the ground,
waiting for his sentence. Would this be it? Would Erik discard him
now? What would happen to him then? Would he be sold to Frey as a
castrated pet for the four wives? Would Erik cut off his organs
himself, just to make a point of it?
    It was Hans who came
for him in the end. Under his watchful eye, Jack stripped Reuben
bare except for the bridle, and they both led him to the stable.
Reuben’s heart skipped a beat when he faced Erik. His master lay on
a fresh pile of hay, his eyes cold and hard like Reuben had never
seen them before. There was no anger there anymore. What Reuben saw
in those beautiful mismatched eyes was even worse:
indifference.
    As much as he got used
to being naked in the house, after the incident in the street, he
felt insecure about it, more vulnerable. He had nothing to give him
even the illusion of protection.
    “Prepare him,” Erik
said, slowly getting to his feet, and the sight of what he held in
his hand made Reuben’s blood run cold. Erik lightly smacked a slim
wooden cane against his hand without breaking eye contact.
    Reuben swallowed. All
he could cling to was hope that it wouldn’t hurt as much as he
imagined it would. Reuben wasn’t going to let Erik win. After all
the tenderness and devotion Reuben had showered him with, the
bastard wouldn’t even let him explain himself. He was just a
plaything after all.
    Hans yanked Reuben to
the wall and used his wrist cuffs to pin his hands high above his
head. He had to stand on his toes to reach the rings on the wall,
stretched in a way that prevented him from protecting himself at
all.
    “Get out and wait
outside. Both of you.” For once Erik’s voice did nothing to soothe
Reuben’s nerves. Soon, they were alone, and the sound of slow
footsteps behind Reuben made him break out in goose bumps. The
creaking of the wooden panels and the gentle rustle of hay. It was
as if Erik prolonged the wait on purpose just to torture
Reuben.
    He turned his head to
see Erik and fidgeted in his shackles. Reuben couldn’t help his
fear, but he still frowned at his master in anger.
    “What?” Erik asked
him. He was barefoot, and his steps sounded wonderfully soft, a
sound Reuben usually enjoyed, though now it felt like just another
element of a punishment he didn’t deserve.
    He tried to utter a
‘fuck you’. The humiliation of today would sting much more than
whatever caning Erik could do, so he shouldn’t be afraid.
    “Did I hear ‘I’m
sorry’?” Erik mocked him, slowly leaning against Reuben’s bare
back. His breath felt hot on Reuben’s skin in a way that he hated
now.
    “No!” That he managed
even through the bit, trying to shrug Erik off. Erik roughly pushed
on the back of Reuben’s head, forcing his forehead against the wall
hard enough for it to sting.
    “Do you have any idea
how you humiliated me? Do you wish to endanger us all?”
    Him? Humiliate him ? Erik had no idea what Reuben had been through
today. And he didn’t care. Reuben writhed against the hand just for
the sake of it, as he knew he couldn’t escape. His whole body was a
bundle of nerves that would never untangle.
    “Do you understand
your fucking life’s at stake too? How could you do this to me?”
Erik drew back with a hissing sound, but didn’t walk away, as
Reuben could still hear his breathing all too close.
    He didn’t understand
how his puny misbehavior could hurt Erik’s godly position in
Bylondon. Reuben leaned his forehead against the cold wall, trying
to stop the intense pulsing of