The Copper Horse #1 Fear (15 page)

There was a long, frightful silence before he felt Erik embracing him again. "Silly horse... why would I put down a beauty like you?" His voice was soothing, gentle.

Reuben dared to look up at him, his body screaming in panic. "I..." he exhaled. "The razor... and this other…'horse' you put down...?"

Erik's mouth fell shut and he didn't speak for several seconds, before letting out a long, tired breath. "Who told you?" The calm tone sounded almost surreal in this situation.

Before he managed an answer, Jack spoke up, nervous. "It was me, sir. I'm sorry. I got so carried away!"

Erik sighed, mouth twisting into a scowl. "I didn't think you were one to gossip."

"I'm sorry, sir, I try not to be! To keep your pets' privacy. I was telling Copper that it's good to obey you and it just slipped out!"

Erik shook his head. "You don't keep
my
privacy." He looked down at Reuben, stroking his wet hair in a surprisingly tender gesture. "And you frighten my new stallion."

"It will not happen again, sir!" Jack bowed his head and fished out a large razor from his pocket.

Even looking at the thing made Reuben shiver.

"Don't fret, Copper!" Erik sat at the edge of the bath, just behind him. "We will just trim your hair a little."

"Ah... oh. Yes. I suppose it has become a bit long." Reuben tried not to look at Jack. He didn't want to be considered a pervert himself.

Erik used a comb to part Reuben's hair at the side of his head. Jack was silent, standing in front of them in a subservient position, with his arms slouched and a carefully lowered gaze.

"You're quite good at this." Reuben couldn't stop himself from grinning. It was so bizarre to have his hair combed by a man who'd already fucked him twice today. "Maybe you should be my servant?" he teased. Erik laughed, pinning the mass of hair on top of his head.

"I only serve when it pleases me."

"I hope it will please you often, then." Reuben chuckled.

"Most certainly." Erik kissed the top of his head and urged Jack to come over with a gesture. "Cut it short first." It was hard not to notice that his voice was much cooler than when he had spoken to Reuben.

"He needn't have washed it so thoroughly if he is to cut it now." Reuben shrugged, smiling a bit when he thought about his handsome master's come again. He couldn't wait for the next round already.

"Of course he did. I told him to." Erik gently stroked his pet's back.

Jack nodded with a shy smile and sat on his stool again, scissors in one hand. Trying not to look into Reuben's eyes, he separated a strand of hair and cut it off close to Reuben's scalp. The sound of it, the cold radiating from the tool so close to the Reuben's ear made him shiver.

"Watch the ears!" Reuben tried to move as little as possible. He watched Erik stroll around the bathtub, watching them like a vulture waiting for its prey to die. His elegant clothes were soaked, but he didn't seem to care. On the contrary, his eyes shone with a satisfaction Reuben could not pinpoint. Only now, when his master could not see it, Jack looked into Reuben's eyes with a reassuring smile.

"I will."

Reuben sighed, wondering how the new haircut would make him look. He could never afford a proper barber before.

"What do you want for pudding?" Erik's clear voice cut right into Reuben's attention.

"I have a choice?" Reuben blinked, looking up at his master, who apparently only waited for this question to come up.

"Of course! You made me very happy today. The cook will prepare anything you like." He gave Reuben a look that was almost loving.

"Even cookies?" Reuben asked, full of suspicion.

"Even ice cream and cake!" Erik walked closer to the tub and gently stroked Reuben's cheek with the back of his hand.

Reuben's lips parted in shock. Maybe he could suffer a bit of beating and being talked to like an animal if he could have cake, a bath and a nice fuck in exchange. "I've never had ice cream..." he trailed off, hypnotized by Erik's gaze. Maybe it was being born with two different eyes that made him mad? The wide grin of sheer happiness that appeared on his master's face at this declaration made him swallow.

"I will feed you then! You will love it!"

So that was the catch,
Reuben thought. He couldn't simply eat it. He had to be
fed
, like an animal. Obviously. But then... if ice cream was as good as he imagined it would be, he was more than willing to put up with it.

Jack gathered each of the cut strands into a copper bowl and finally put it away together with the scissors.

"Use the magnolia-scented soap," Erik instructed him. He strolled over to Reuben and gave him a chaste kiss on the lips. "You will be the prettiest stallion in Bylondon. Hell! Maybe in all of London."

"Are there... many like me?" Reuben furrowed his brows, trying to figure it all out. From the corner of his eye, he could see Jack mixing something in a bowl with a shaving brush.

"I know of at least a half a dozen beautiful horses and ponies in the area. But you, Copper, will be the champion this year!"

"I will?" Reuben crinkled his nose. He wasn't sure if he liked that idea. He could do this as long as very little people knew.

"Yes. You deserve it." Erik drew back when he noticed that the groom had the cream ready for shaving.

Jack sat on his stool again and brushed the white, pleasantly smelling foam on the side of Reuben's head that he had just worked on. The soft touch of the brush made Reuben break out in goose bumps.

"Is that the fashion for horses? Bald heads?" Reuben let out a tired sigh but didn't complain and he allowed Jack to get on with his work.

"Well it needs to look more like a mane," said Erik as if it weren't nuts.

"It's not gonna, if he shaves my hair off." Reuben shot him a sceptical look. Not that he would want his hair to look like a mane anyway. Erik would most probably be locked up in Bedlam if it wasn't that he lived in Bylondon and had heaps of money.

"Horses only grow long hair at the top of their heads," Erik pointed out, watching Jack make the first stroke with the razor.

Reuben opened his eyes wider. Did Erik really just suggest what he thought he did!? "You want me to look like a madman!?" he exclaimed, but didn't dare to move. The razor was too close for his liking. If he was going to have long hair only at the top of his head, they would most probably lock
him
up in Bedlam.

"Nonsense." Erik waved his hand with a satisfied smile. "You will be gorgeous!"

"I thought I already was?" Reuben rolled his eyes. He couldn't believe that Erik was going to ridicule him so badly. Anger was boiling up in him again.

"My dear Copper, you are a raw diamond, one that just needs a bit of a firm hand to shine." Erik sat on the edge of the tub behind Jack, who immediately became tense.

"How do you know?" Reuben frowned.

Erik exhaled, looking around with a dreamy expression. "I don't know. I guess I was born this way," he concluded, dead serious.

Reuben looked at him, bewildered. "Are you saying you were born wanting to fuck men and dress them up as horses?" Reuben was unable to hold back this comment. Erik's words were shocking. He always considered his own urges unnatural, ungodly and a curse. He sometimes imagined that was the price for being the only one to survive out of his numerous brothers and sisters.

"Well, no, not while in the cradle."

Jack's face tensed as he bit back a grin as he finished the shave.

"Oh, yes!" Reuben mocked his master. "Very funny! Ever thought you'll go to hell for this?"

Erik threw his head back, laughing. "Oh, you honestly believe there is such thing as hell? And if there is, fuck it, I'm going to enjoy my life 'til I go there," he told him as if it were something reasonable.

Reuben stared at him, dumbfounded. "You have no morals whatsoever."

"Not really. No." Erik's expression turned into a thoughtful frown as he watched Jack apply some aftershave on the now bald space on Reuben's head.

"My father always thought me immoral. He should have met you..." Reuben trailed off, confronted with Erik's silly grin. "Never mind," he muttered in the end.

"Why immoral? You seem very self-righteous, Copper." It was as if the rape had been already forgotten.

Jack moved to Reuben's other side and started to pin his hair again, just like he had before. He was acting as if he was alone with a horse that could neither talk nor understand him.

Reuben exhaled through his nose and spoke, "I just don't tolerate some things. Not that it matters, apparently."

"So what was it?" Erik insisted, ignoring his complaint.

"It doesn't matter," Reuben said, all tense.

"Well, I want to know!"

"I brought a whore to our house once," muttered Reuben. He rolled his eyes and so did Erik, slouching slightly with a look of disappointment on his pretty face.

"I thought it would be something interesting." And now he was pouting. What a bastard.

"Well I'm sorry to disappoint! I was a poor baker. I couldn't afford a harem of whores dressed up as... cats!" He spat whatever came to his mind.

"Felines are irritating," was all he got from Erik. "Who in the world would like some slob that just lies around on a bed all day?" He watched Jack, who almost finished cutting hair on the other side of Reuben's head.

Reuben raised his eyebrows. "What will I be doing then?"

Erik's eyes instantly turned back at him. "You will be training, of course!" He moved in closer to feel his bicep. "We need more muscle."

"Huh?" Reuben gave him a blank look.

Erik sighed and lifted his brows. "You need to be strong enough to carry me."

Reuben burst out with laughter, but as soon as he moved, the razor cut into his skin. "Fuck!"

"Oh, God! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Jack twitched, his gaze alternating between Reuben and Erik, who gritted his teeth loud enough for them to hear.

"It'll be visible for weeks, you idiot!"

"Visible?" cried Reuben, feeling something dribble down onto his ear. "I'm bleeding!"

"You will live." Erik rolled his eyes, gathering the blood with his finger. "Just a cut."

Reuben sighed. Yet another annoying sting on his body. "Yeah, sure, just another addition to the pain of this day!"

"You made me do it." Erik shook his head as Jack returned to the previous task. The slight tremble of his hands unnerved Reuben even more now that had actually been cut once.

"I told you I could work in the kitchen!" He felt as if his chest was close to bursting with all the anger but kept his head perfectly still.

"You're too good for the kitchen. You are the second man in this house."

"Oh, am I?" Reuben mocked him. "I'm not a horse anymore?"

"You are. But you still get the best food and services, second only to mine."

Reuben pouted. "So when do I get this ice cream? After yet another torture?"

"After dinner. And stop complaining, my dear Copper."

Jack finished and applied aftershave again. "Done."

Reuben swallowed. "I... Could I get my stew with potatoes instead of bread? And lots of gravy. Can I have lots of gravy for the potatoes?" he asked, anxiously.

Erik laughed, clasping his hands together. "You are so adorable, Copper! Of course you may!"

"I will tell the cook." Jack stood up and looked to their master. "Shall I tend to his hooves upon my return, sir?"

"You shall."

"My 'hooves'? Am I getting a foot massage?" Reuben tried to keep in good spirits, even though his arms and back were aching by now from the bracer's awkward position. Giving in to despair was not in his nature. Normally, he always tried and to the best of a situation or fight, if possible.

"Your nails," Erik explained, watching the groom leave. They were alone again, or so it seemed. Reuben looked around for Hans, hoping not to see him.

"What about my nails?"

"They need to be perfect, like the rest of you." Erik stretched, walking over to him.

"Would have been a shame if you had died in that arena." Reuben was positive he only said it to remind his pet to whom he owed his life.

"It would." He let out a nervous laugh, his eyes meeting Erik's. "Good thing I'm so handsome, right?" He swallowed. Sometimes, his new master really creeped him out.

"Exactly! You need to keep my interest so that I don't consider you a bad investment." Erik softly stroked Reuben behind the ear.

"I will try..." His voice choked, but he wasn't sure if he could. Sometimes, he reacted before thinking and there wasn't much he could do to help it.

"And there you are, melting my heart again." Erik kissed Reuben's cheek, hugging him gently. It was as if there were two men inside of him, one for each eye.

"And smelling of magnolias..."

"You are succeeding so far." The corner of Erik's mouth twitched, the movement stressing the pale scar.

"Am I? I would say you are the one 'succeeding'," Reuben had to admit and looked into the water. Just like that, Erik's hand was there, caressing the underside of his jaw and pulling his face up.

"You said you wanted to make me fall in love with you, Copper."

A smile slowly bloomed on Reuben's lips. "Men don't love other men. But maybe you could love a horse." He sniggered.

"Cocky, I like that!" Erik gestured for him to exit the tub. He took a large, fluffy towel off a shelf and spread it out in invitation.

Reuben slowly got to his feet, careful not to slip. "Any chance I could lose the binds on my arms?" He looked up at Erik, hesitant to approach him. Who knew what else the man had up his sleeve?

"Why don't you convince me?" Erik winked at him. There was something very off about his behavior. On the surface, he seemed like a playful and gentle person, but Reuben already knew that there was a depth of malice beneath the smiling facade.

Reuben walked up to him and bowed his head to kiss his cheek. "I won't hurt you, I promise." He considered that quite a good reason to have his hands freed. He shivered, looking into Erik's eyes. They were carved in ice.

"I have heard that before."