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

anger underneath his skull. Without
the ability to talk, he just growled and tensed his muscles.
    “I wouldn’t do that if
I were you.” Erik sighed and slowly ran the cool tip of the cane up
Reuben’s back. “It’ll only be more painful.”
    All that touch did was
make Reuben sweat. “Just do it!” he mumbled through the bit, unsure
if he was understood. He had taken the belt, he could take this as
well. Reuben didn’t underestimate the pain a cane could cause. He’d
had his taste on the day they’d met, but knew it was unavoidable.
The sooner it started, the sooner it would end.
    “So you think it’s
that easy, Copper? Do you even have any idea how disappointed I am
with you?” The first blow came unexpectedly, and it stung so badly
Reuben lost his breath.
    His eyes went wide,
and he bit down on the leather and wood in his mouth, trying to
comprehend the blinding pain. It was so much worse than on the
first day. His legs were trembling, and he put effort into
controlling his breath, but his heart throbbed. He had no control
over this. Every day with Erik in this mansion had been like
walking a tight rope. Reuben could fall out of favor with one bad
step. The sharp pain changed into a hot throbbing, and he gripped
the shackles.
    “I hope this will be a
valuable lesson, and you won’t lose my affections again.” Erik said
without even an ounce of pleasure as he walked behind Reuben. The
next hit was just as unexpected like the first, preceded only by a
swift, painful sound.
    Reuben screamed into
his gag, reflexively tensing his buttocks. A tear ran down his
cheek while he was buried in pain, and he only noticed it moments
later, once he returned to reality. It was horrendous. At some
point, he lost count of the blows, but the worst thing was the
wait. He could never guess when Erik would decide to deliver
another strike, and soon Reuben was reduced to a sobbing mess.
    He didn’t know how
much more he would have to survive either. He was sweating like a
pig, but the moisture on his skin could have been blood for all he
knew. His whole body writhed uncontrollably, and breathing was
an almost impossible task.
    Hit. Thrash. Breathe.
Wait.
    He wished crying
wasn’t a part of it, but he wasn’t that strong. His face was coated
in a mix of tears, sweat, snot and drool. Pride dripped out of him
like water from a leaking cup.
    He was broken in.
    “Copper?”
    “I’m sorry,” he tried
to mumble between sobs. He still wasn’t sorry, but at this
point he would say anything to stop Erik from continuing with
this.
    “Did you say you’re
sorry?” Erik asked, and when he touched Reuben’s burning buttocks,
Reuben instinctively flinched away from the pain but nodded curtly.
Reuben’s hair was drenched with sweat and plastered to his face
like an ugly curtain over a whore’s door.
    “Good. I’ll see you
later, but you will take dinner alone, so that you can think about
what you have done,” Erik told him, walking towards the cupboard
where he kept some of the supplies.
    Reuben just sobbed
again, and his sniffing echoed in the room as if it were a proper
torture chamber. He slowly collapsed onto the wall, still holding
the shackles as hard as he could. He couldn’t bring himself to look
at his master, with his ass throbbing with numbness. How could Erik
be like that? Build up all that trust between them, just to take it
away after one time Reuben misbehaved? And he hadn’t even asked
what went wrong. Reuben would have told Erik the truth. How Jacob
had tricked him, humiliated him, hurt him... But the thought that
all his pain didn’t mean anything to Erik tore another sob out of
Reuben’s chest. Too caught up in his grief, he didn’t notice when
the door opened, but soon Hans was there, unshackling him.
    “Jack, bring some
ice,” Erik muttered from somewhere in the room. He sounded like
someone much older.
    Reuben tried to voice
his protest. He didn’t want anything from Erik now, even if it
would