Seilschaft

Chapter 4: Berg Und Tal
Author: Foofy
Rating: NC17
Summary: The surrender. WARNING! BDSM

*

Time passed. And the filming continued.

The filming always continued. It seemed to take up the whole of his day to the point where Viggo couldn’t think of anything else. Even in his dreams he was still fighting the orcs, although this time they weren’t people in suits but real and vicious, with blades dark with real blood and breath so bad it could stop a herd of charging rhino. His current painting sat in on its easel untouched. Even his book of poetry Viggo was currently working his way through had been given the smallest of glances and put to one side.

All in all, it was turning into a rather shit few months.

Sean had gone back to England soon after they had got down from the mountains, without a backwards glance either. Viggo hadn’t really been expecting anything else. Hell, even if they had suddenly found long and prosperous love up in the mountains with flowers and dancing - okay, not dancing, but some pleasurable physical activity anyway – Sean would have gone back to England. He had his kids. He had his work. He had his *life* for god’s sake, and his life was no longer focused in New Zealand.

Saying that, there were the re-shoots, the extra footage to think of. He had heard through Ian who had heard through Karl Urban who had heard through David Wenham that the Osiligath shooting was definitely taking place. In fact, it had already started. Boromir’s suit of armour had been crafted, and Viggo had already privately smiled at the expression Sean would have to that. He had had enough trouble with the chainmail on the arms of his travelling outfit, and they weren’t even that heavy.

But he wasn't going to think of Sean.

Sean had vanished without so much as a word. This didn’t mean that the little sod hadn’t left behind a suitable message; with him went Viggo’s little camera, the one that was battered and bruised but had still stayed with him for so many years, taking pictures where no other camera dared. Viggo was going to miss it. The film, no doubt, was going to be burning in a fire as soon as the plane reached British soil. There were probably a number of things Sean was planning to forget, and a great deal of them resided on that film.

Fine. Fuck him. See if he cared.

After all, the mountains were past history. Sean’s accusations still floated around in his mind now and again – normally more now than again – but for fuck’s sake, the bastard had sought out his revenge. With interest, too. In fact, Viggo hadn’t even considered the lengths that Sean would go to in order to protect whatever it was that was so precious in him that he couldn’t see an honest act of love between two friends. Sean’s pride was obviously more advanced than he had realised.

Why the hell was he still thinking about him anyway? Sean was gone. Vanished. Returned to whence he came. Keep the bastard out of his mind and back on the job. *Any* job.

And, of course, this thought had been repeated for months. It was almost turning into a motto.

So now Viggo was sat on the end of the sofa, curled up, trying to find some sort of motivation to move more than a few inches. His arms hurt. His leg hurt from where an orc had been over enthusiastic with an axe shaft and walloped him a little too hard. Even his head hurt, but he really couldn’t be bothered to find the painkillers. It could die down by itself.

The door almost had the same opinion aimed at it when the doorbell rang. And rang. And still rang.

Fucking Orlando, probably. The young man had worked out that Viggo tended to ignore the first few rings and could stand there with his finger pressed on the buzzer, patiently waiting for either boredom or an enraged Viggo to turn up. Viggo ground his teeth but this did little to stop the noise.

Growling to himself, he swung his legs off the sofa and stalked towards the front door.

“ Yes?” he sighed as it opened, then had to stop. Apparently it had been raining outside since he had come back from the set. Sean stood on his doorstep, his blonde hair dark and wet, almost slicked back. He was only wearing a t-shirt on his top and was therefore slightly shivering. But Viggo wasn’t really looking at that part. Just the green eyes that were staring at him with the cautious expression of one who wasn’t really sure what his reception was going to be, a cat waiting for the boot to be thrown.

There was a long, long pause.

Followed by another long, long pause.

Sean shifted his position slightly, his eyes still fixed on Viggo as though expecting to have to dodge a blow any second. His shirt clung to his chest as though seeking comfort, the faint outline of his muscles just being able to be shown. But he was a bastard, regardless of how sexy he was currently looking. And a bastard apparently waiting for Viggo to speak.

Viggo himself had found himself frozen in place, his hand still on the door. Not a flicker had crossed his face, not one muscle decided to move.

They watched each other for a while, neither speaking. Finally it was Sean who broached the subject.

“ So,” he said, and despite the casualness of his voice Viggo could hear the underlying tension within it. “ You going to let me in?”

“ That depends. You going to give me a good reason why I should do so?” Viggo found that a frown had managed to move to his face. “ In fact, a good reason why this door isn’t slammed in your face?”

Sean’s eyes flickered to the heavy door as though noticing its presence for the first time then back again. An eyebrow raised.

“ I’m surprised it isn’t already. I want to talk, Viggo. Nothing more. Just to talk,” Sean’s eyes searched Viggo’s for a sign of gentleness that Viggo really knew wasn’t going to be there. Not a chance. Sean had his time for talking, and he decided to use physical action instead. There was no rewind button in reality.

So it was an honest mystery that Viggo found the door stayed open, apparently under his own doing. Sure, he wasn’t saying much. There wasn’t too much to say, thinking about it. But the door stayed open.

“ What would you do if I said I didn’t want to talk?” asked Viggo slowly. Sean started to grin but stopped this immediately when he realised that Viggo’s frown was deepening. This wasn’t a time for cheerful mate banter. And it definitely wasn’t a time for that fucking smirk either.

“ Thought you liked talking,” Sean shrugged, but this looked like a nervous reaction rather than insolence. “ Get things sorted,”

“ Things *are* sorted, Sean. You fucked me then fucked off. End of story. Sure, there’s some complications in the tale, a few violent encounters, but hell, what’s a few rapes between friends, eh?” Viggo didn’t even recognise his own voice. Surely his voice was softer, less harsh, less like the mountainside where their friendship hit the rocks?

Sean shifted uncomfortably. For the first time his eyes wandered from Viggo’s face, like a dog being told off for chewing the furniture, unable to meet eye contact. Viggo kept up the steady gaze, feeling some satisfaction in the blonde’s reactions. But not enough to let the bastard enter.

And yet, amazingly, the door still remained open.

“ I-“ Sean began, then broke off again. Water trickled down the side of his face and dripped onto the floor. Suddenly Viggo realised how large the puddle of water was that had dripped its way off Sean, how utterly soaked the man was. It must be extremely uncomfortable.

Good.

“ You?” replied Viggo politely. Sean gritted his teeth, and started to study the floor a little more. Viggo waited patiently.

” Viggo, I’m sorry. I reacted badly before,” it came out as a rush. It was almost a child-like confession in fact. Viggo cocked his head to one side and studied him thoughtfully, feeling nothing but faint irritation. However, cracks began to form as Sean glanced towards him, trying to gage his reactions, and Viggo was faced with that scared, guilty expression that shone from those green eyes.

Viggo wet his lips before speaking. “ I know you reacted badly, Sean. I was there, remember? I was the poor bastard you reacted badly upon,”

Sean’s temper began to flare again. “ Your own reactions were hardly mild,” he retorted, then remembered himself. His mouth slammed shut as though someone had knocked over a support, his eyes flashed once then control managed to step in once again. The flustered, embarrassed yet still slightly angry Sean was back in business. “ Sorry,” he repeated, as though this was the mantra for all happiness and forgiveness.

And yet the door still stayed open.

The blonde waited for Viggo’s response. Drip. Drip. Drip. Viggo looked at him again, hard. Noticed the way the man stood as though expecting the very hounds from hell to burst out of the living room. Noticed the way his eyes were no longer proud and defiant but unable to hold a gaze longer than a few seconds, darting around as though seeking something as yet unknown. Noticed the way that Sean’s right hand was clenched in a fist. And finally noticing the shivering.

No partner of his was going to die of cold. Even ex-partners.

“ Get in,” sighed Viggo, stepping back from the door. For a moment Sean didn’t do anything, simply blinking at him as though expecting the punch line for a joke. When the punch line didn’t make an appearance, he looked at the hallway in disbelief then back at Viggo.

“ Thanks,” Genuine gratitude aimed itself at him, Sean finally stepping into the hallway and looking around as though never having entered Viggo’s home before. Already a dark patch was beginning to form in the carpet. Sean watched him as he shut the door, waiting for instructions on where to move to.

“ Why didn’t you take a coat?” asked Viggo idly.

” Wasn’t paying attention to the weather. Had my mind on other things,” Sean continued to watch him. Viggo shook his head.

“ Sean, I don’t know what you came here to do, but allow me to inform you that whatever friendship we had is *over*. Finished. Done.” Viggo folded his arms. Sean paused, his eyes moving to the floor as though analysing what Viggo had said. There didn't seem to be any dismay in Sean's posture. Just consideration.

“ If that is the case,” eyes rose to him in question. “ then why did you let me in?”

“ Because –“ Viggo paused midway, and growled his exasperation. “ Because, that’s why! You want to tell me how I explain the fact that the studio’s Boromir gained pneumonia on my doorstep?”

“ I’ve finished my part of the reshoots. You can kill me happily without the studio caring. Probably increase media attention,” Sean shrugged idly.

“ So that’s it is it? You came here to die?” Viggo snorted. The snort died away as he took in the expression in Sean’s eyes as though a certain element of truth had been reached. Suddenly Viggo felt very, very weak.

” Why did you come back here?” Viggo asked with a voice that sounded as though it came from frogs.

“ To apologise,” Sean’s eyes were steady. Viggo didn’t like the expression in them. It was the type of expression you found in those who had seen the route they were taking and there would be no questions asked, the conclusion almost foregone. Ave Caesar. Morituri te salutamus.

“ That’s it?” Viggo was cautious.

“ That’s it,” confirmed Sean. The only sign of movement on his body was the water obeying gravity. It was as though the man had been turned into stone before Viggo’s eyes.

Ripping his mind from such thoughts, Viggo turned to stalk into the kitchen. He looked back at the blonde, who still hadn’t moved, although his eyes had faintly narrowed in consideration.

” Well, are you coming?” Viggo needed a hot drink. Actually, he needed a *stiff* drink, but he doubted whether the word stiff was going to be suitable for the occasion and, hell, the situation wasn’t going to get any better if either of them got pissed. Sean obediently tagged along.

“ I’m actually quite impressed,” Viggo switched on the kettle. “ I wouldn’t have expected you to believe I could keep my hands to myself. Wasn’t that the accusation?” He opened a cupboard and glanced inside idly. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Sean hesitate.

“ I might have been a little hasty..,”

“ You think?” Viggo glanced back at him in outright fascination and not a little anger. “ Hasty isn’t the word I’d use, Sean. There’s quite a range of words I would use about you, however. So you’re sorry, hoorah. Stop shivering for a few minutes, then, if it’s not too much trouble, fuck off,”

The younger man stared at the floor for a few moments. “ Why did you do it?” he asked finally. Viggo could have screamed.

“ Why did I do what I did to you? Because you needed to be shaken until your teeth rattled-“

“ Not that bit,” Sean interrupted him, his eyes returning to Viggo slowly. “ The rock,”

Viggo frowned and shook his head. “ Rock? What rock?” But he knew as he said it which rock it was that Sean was speaking about. The boulder. The last photo on the film.

Sure enough, a battered looking photograph landed on the counter next to him, looking dog-eared and very sorry for itself. It looked as though it had been handled far too much. As though someone’s attention had been very focused on it for some time. Viggo hoped Sean had the common sense not to have developed the rest of the film commercially.

“ So it’s a rock,” Viggo said finally. The impatient noise from Sean was even more startling than the fact that the man had worked out a conclusion from the photograph itself.

“ Oh, don’t fuck me about. It’s the rock I used on the way down, isn’t it?” Sean seemed to be loosing some of his patience. Viggo shrugged idly, watching the frustrated expression on Sean’s face.

” It’s a nice rock,” he said casually.

“ It’s clearly loose. The damn thing is almost to the edge, Vig,” Sean’s voice had quite an edge itself. Viggo shrugged again, not bothering to comment. When an answer didn’t arrive from Viggo Sean looked almost lost, before the blonde stared back at the picture again.

“ I take it you took the weight on yourself,” he said finally. “ Hell, I even felt the rope shift, but I didn’t think anything of it at the time.. thought it had got caught up somewhere…but I didn’t think.. I didn’t expect .. for fuck’s sake Viggo, could you talk to me please?!”

There wasn’t any sign of the patience now. The voice was all anger and confusion.

“ You think I’d just leave you to die?” Viggo asked bitterly, turning back to him. Yes, that would be right. Sean believed him when he stated he would leave him up there without a flicker of doubt. The difference between that slow death and one which would be violent but short was minimal indeed when it was your murder in question.

However, Sean was slowly shaking his head.

“ I’d think that your ankle would have given up on you. I’d think that you’d tire and lose your grip. I’d think that you could have just taken the chance that it wouldn’t have fallen.” The blonde looked at him carefully, his voice now more controlled. “ Orlando told me about the problems your ankle gave you afterwards, the fact that you acted like an old man for weeks afterwards. But you kept going. And you didn’t give up on me.”

“ Don’t make too much out of it, Sean.” Viggo’s fingers drummed on the worktop as he considered this new line. His eyes flickered back to Sean who was watching him with a look that was normally on a ten year old determined to get their parents to take them to Disneyworld in the summer. “ So, what? I help you save your life and this eventually compensates for the other things that apparently I did on that mountain?”

“ No,” Sean shook his head. “ What you did up there was … well, I didn’t imagine you could do it, Vig. You were damn near evil. You deliberately wound me up, you deliberately took advantage of me when you had the upper hand, and you enjoyed abusing me as well. Actually enjoyed it, and don’t give me that,” he added when Viggo opened his mouth to protest. “ I saw the look in your eyes when you were doing it. You’ve probably got a hard on just thinking about it, haven’t you?”

Well, he hadn’t. However, Viggo didn’t want to think of the fact that his cock certainly had stirred in his pants. Viggo growled and looked for the sugar. Not that he wanted sugar. It was just a suitable thing to be doing with his hands as he spoke. Gave him a reason not to look at the younger man who was leaning in his kitchen doorway.

“ And what about the payback you did to me, Sean? You still all innocent and light?”

Sean laughed slightly and in faint embarrassment. “ Vig, I’ve never been all innocent and light.”

“ I noticed,” Viggo remarked dryly, picking up a spoon and looking at it. “ And then we come back to why the hell you’re still here, Sean. Aren’t you scared I’d pounce on you again?” Viggo’s voice was dry, sarcastic.

There was a pause. Viggo picked up one of the mugs and turned, and the look he received startled him so much the carefully chosen cup almost plummeted to its doom. That wasn’t the expression he was expecting. Anger, possibly. Disgust, almost certainly. Not that .. hunger.

“ No,” There was the faintest flicker of that grin. “ I’m not worried,”

“ I see,” Viggo passed over the mug and simply watched him, unnerved by this new Sean who had emerged. Perhaps he had had a blow to the head whilst he wasn’t looking. “ So why the change of heart?”

“ That the only question you want to ask?” Sean took the mug without really seeing it, his attention turned entirely on Viggo. “ Aren’t you going to ask me whether I’m still saying I’m straight after we did what we did on those mountains?”

“ And are you?” Viggo was getting to the blunt stage. Sean shifted the mug in his hand idly, staring at it.

“ Oh, I’m straight. For the record, I’m so straight that you could probably use me as a ruler,” Again that lazy carefree smile that came so naturally to Sean slowly emerging, as though Sean had discovered an incredibly good joke. Viggo frowned at him, beginning to get irritated again. It was as though there was a script someone wasn’t telling him about.

“ And off the record?” he asked slowly, meaning to sound menacing but merely coming out with a cautious tone. Sean laughed slightly and put the mug down untouched on the counter.

“ How’s filming going?” he asked casually, completely changing the subject. However, this was not a subject that Viggo wanted changing. Not in his kitchen, thank you. Sean raised green eyes to survey him as Viggo took a step closer, but the look was now beginning to be amused rather than wary. It was the same expression that he had developed once Sean had worked through his fears on the mountainside, an increase in confidence.

“ Sean,” warned Viggo, and was pleased to see that little flicker in Sean’s expression that told him that the younger man hadn’t entirely drifted to the pleasant side. Viggo knew his own expression told tales on him, told Sean the dangerous line he was treading. As far as Viggo knew, Sean didn’t do this to anyone else, not this show of arrogance and insolence. Everyone else loved him, thought he was a darling, a gentleman.

Only Viggo saw the side of Sean that begged to be strangled.

Sean finally sighed, a short, pitiful sigh. A flicker of embarrassment and something else flashed in his eyes, then was hidden as Sean turned away from him.

“ I got scared,” he admitted finally. In what could only be defeat.

“ You got scared?” repeated Viggo softly. “ *You* got scared? Of what, exactly?” He stared at him. “ You didn’t trust me, Sean? I wouldn’t have spoken about it if you hadn’t wanted me to. I’d have taken it to the grave, and that’s what really hurts, Sean. Why didn’t you know that?”

“ I suspected. But I thought that before. I didn’t want to – I couldn’t go through that again, Vig,” Some of the cosiness had definitely left Sean’s eyes. Viggo relaxed slightly, watching him. However, the man was an actor. He was paid to show different feelings. Caution, that was the thing.

“ Go through what again?” God, he was fed up of tales and legends.

Sean looked away uncomfortably. Viggo got the impression he would even be shuffling his feet if he allowed himself to. When the mutter came Viggo had to strain to hear it properly.

” Met a bloke on Sharpe. You know how it is. Miles away from your family, your wife. For bloody months at a time. I couldn’t go with the women, couldn’t betray her like that. But he .. I dunno, he just seemed okay. Like he was giving me something else that I couldn’t get,” Sean shrugged. “ He told, eventually. Broke up my marriage, that little announcement did. Had to do anything and everything to keep it away from the papers. And then he held it over my head for the next two years,”

Viggo moved slightly. The flame of anger in Sean’s eyes hadn’t been created by imagination. That was a flame that had still been burning since however long ago.

“ I’m not going to announce anything. I’m not going to do anything, Sean,” Perhaps this was why he came. To check. Viggo felt both relieved and for some bizarre reason, disappointed. The blonde glanced up at him, and smiled slightly.

“ I know, Vig. You’d do a lot for me, wouldn’t you. Took me a while to really come to terms with it,”

“ And now that you have?” Viggo wasn’t entirely sure what he was hearing. For that matter, he wasn’t entirely sure what he was seeing either. Flustered couldn’t entirely describe exactly how Sean was looking, the younger man appearing to be almost a little shy, although Viggo had to focus on this a lot more to be able to confirm it. Shy? Fucking hell…

“ Well, I thought you might be able to keep giving me what I’m missing,” Soft, gentle. But the shyness – if that indeed had been what it was – had given way to what sounded like determination.

Viggo stared at him for what seemed like hours. Finally he found his voice again, which seemed to have become a lot quieter these days.

” And what exactly are you missing?” Viggo shook his head. “ A *friend*?”

Sean simply watched him for a moment. The silence grew to the point where answers seemed to be forthcoming. Oh no. There had to be some type of mistake here. Not after all they had been through, not after they had both been torn to pieces, the suggestion of a .. *partnership* couldn’t be banging on his door. Fate couldn’t be that cruel.

Or, indeed, yes it could.

“ So what was it, Sean?” Viggo found his voice again from a place far, far away. It was husky, it was uncertain, but it was undeniably *his*. “ Friendship? Or affection, romance? Or a quick fuck?”

” Affection? *Romance*, good god Viggo, what do you have me down for? Nah, mate, if I wanted roses and candlelit dinners and coo-ing, I’d get a woman. But I don’t. And I don’t want a quick fuck, either. I want someone who’s a little more .. dangerous in a relationship. A little bit longer term,” In the light of the kitchen, Sean’s eyes suddenly seemed extremely dark. Viggo stared at him, not quite understanding.

“ Dangerous?” he echoed. Sean paused, obviously trying to seek his words.

“ I don’t want someone lying underneath me making pretty eyes at me and doing everything I say. I like a bit of challenge, Vig. And I like, occasionally,” he looked at him carefully, obviously uncertain of Viggo’s reaction. “ to lose,”

To lose? What, like at chess? Viggo looked at him a little harder, trying to place the self confident man in front of him with a submissive lover, someone who would bend when Viggo told him to. Or not, looking at those eyes. Nothing came for free, and by Sean’s reactions it looked like winning over Sean in the bedroom was going to cost someone…

“ Let’s make this clear, shall we? You want me to become your… what, lover?”

“ Well, it wasn’t my housemaid,” Sean grinned with a lazy air. The grin slipped a bit as Viggo gave him a hard glare, and it was a well deserved hard glare.

“ I’m not your toy to be picked up and discarded whenever you feel like it, Sean,” he growled. Sean looked faintly sheepish, the grin slipping away entirely.

“ So you won’t?” Sean’s voice had progressed to the size of a beetle. A forlorn look crossed his features that Viggo desperately attempted to ignore. This wasn’t happening to him. This couldn’t be. Sean deserved to be bleeding from a well aimed punch to the nose at this point. He deserved to be miles away.

“ I didn’t say that,” Viggo growled faintly to himself, trying to put the erotic dreams about Sean he had dreamed so very often to the back of his mind. There was no question that he still wanted the cocky blonde Brit in front of him, no question at all that he would gladly break the man in. No question, in fact, that his cock was twitching just at the thought of that golden skin under his hands again, and this time it would be in the warm, controlled environment of his choosing.

It would be wanted. Without question, without consideration, it would be wanted.

And then it came back to his torments. Despite Sean’s ‘revenge’, Viggo had spent a damn good month or so of thinking he had forced Sean into some incredibly compromising positions. A month of guilt. A month unable to do anything but work. A whole fucking month before Mr High and Mighty decides to come swanning in and admitting-

“ Before you get your knickers in a twist, Vig,” Sean began, and it was clear he was beginning to get slightly edgy about the expression on Viggo’s face as he straightened his back again. “ I haven’t done this before. You know. The losing. I don’t normally lose,” he said quietly.

“ Then why-?” Viggo was exasperated as well as angry.

“ You and your bloody hut, that’s why. Before that, I was happy,” Sean spat. “ I wasn’t proud of what I occasionally needed, but hell, I could live with it. And then you come along with your camera and your hut and your belt and you order me about like I’m some child who should be disciplined for stepping a toe out of line. Why should I like that? I shouldn’t like that! It’s not bloody right!”

Viggo paused in the face of obvious annoyance and frustration. Now this was the real Sean. Confused, obviously. Angry, definitely. And almost, just almost, scared…

Viggo smiled grimly and with satisfaction. He could work with this. The sense of the decision could be pushed to one side for another day, another night.

“ Bed,”

And that was the first order of many.

*

Viggo couldn’t really remember how they got to the bedroom, but they must have walked it. He had kissed Sean as soon as his feet had reached the correct floor, and there was absolutely no romance in it, no question that this was anything other than actual fact. After a brief bristle of outrage, Sean had kissed him back just as hard, pulling Viggo tighter to him, already fighting for dominance. Sean tasted faintly of beer and cigarettes and Viggo recognised this as soon as he pulled away for a breather.

“ Cigarettes? I thought you gave up,” there was more than a little accusation in Viggo’s voice. Sean shrugged, his eyes avoiding Viggo’s gaze.

“ Yeah, well, one fag’s not going to kill me is it?”

“ Oh, I’m not sure about that,” Viggo raised an eyebrow and cursed the vague language barrier as Sean looked slightly baffled by the sentence. To him a fag was pretty much a cigarette and nothing more. Fucking English and their annoying slang. However, Sean had obviously shoved understanding Viggo to one side and began to kiss him again. Viggo resisted the urge to pull him into another embrace for a moment or two, then his willpower failed again.

However, this was happening on his terms. It was, after all, his bedroom. It was his bed. He was master here, whether certain people liked this or not.

‘Certain people’ were unceremoniously shoved towards the bed with a push so hard that Sean tripped on one of the abandoned books of poetry which had been left near the end of the bed for no real reason that Viggo could remember. Sean fell backwards and thankfully most of him hit the bed rather than the floor. That would be ironic. Get all the way down the bottom of the East Ridge and Sean breaks his neck in Viggo’s bedroom.

The first one might be a little easier to explain.

Viggo approached the bed like a tiger on the prowl, amused by Sean’s startled green eyes staring at him. Obviously Sean really wasn’t used to being the bottom guy. Viggo could already see the automatic reflexes kicking in, the desire to start shouting and demanding things. Sean shifted higher onto the bed as Viggo knelt on the bottom of it, his legs straddling Sean’s calves, the bed dipping in response to the additional weight.

There had been some desire to show Sean exactly who was boss. There had been a plan. There had been some authority. What actually happened was Sean grabbing hold of Viggo’s top and pulling him down on top of him, his hands busy trying to unbutton Viggo’s flies. Viggo seized hold of Sean’s left wrist. The right stopped of its own accord, presumably to work out whether the left needed assistance.

“ Stop it,” it was faintly patient. Sean stared at him incredulously.

“ Stop it?” he echoed. “ For fuck’s sake, Vig-“

Left wrist was squeezed a little tighter. Sean cut off immediately as though someone had put a gag on him, although the expression was miles away from meek and obedient. Finally there was a slight grin, the sun appearing from behind the storm clouds. Okay, so it still wasn’t meek or obedient. But at least it wasn’t that hard glare which spoke of uncontrolled rage bubbling in the background.

Viggo released Sean’s wrist and turned his attention to the t-shirt which was still wet and clinging to Sean’s muscles as though limpets to a rock. He smiled at Sean’s shocked yell as his hands all but tore off the material, and that was only because it was actually good quality fabric. The neckline would be forever punished by tonight.

And that was the way Viggo wanted to remember him, panting, shocked enough to anger, his arm tucked behind him to raise his upper body slightly off the bed which allowed a better glare. There was a brief moment of regret that the camera still sat in the living room, but that was allowed to die as Viggo’s eyes followed the lean muscles of Sean’s stomach to his still clothed groin.

He could feel Sean tense at this. Yep, he really wasn’t good at not being in control.

“ Sean,” he said idly, not bothering to look at his face. “ When was the last time you were with a man?”

There wasn’t an answer. Viggo glanced up slowly, surprised. A mutinous expression stared back at him, always a good indication that Sean really didn’t want to talk.

“ Well?” Viggo deliberately made his voice short.

” Apart from you, I assume?” There was the usual bitterness that seemed to be a trademark of an angry Sean. Another pause. Viggo placed his hand on Sean’s thigh and began to massage the muscle of Sean’s left inner thigh with strong fingers. Sean gasped slightly, and growled to himself. “ Ten years. Okay?”

“ And was it just the one other?” There was a musing quality to Viggo’s voice that seemed to grate on Sean’s nerves a little. However, the thumb kept working, dangerously close to Sean’s obvious arousal. Sean let out another growl that turned into a half-curse mid way.

“ Yes,” Sean’s gaze avoided Viggo again. Viggo smiled to himself and rubbed a little harder. Sean groaned again and shifted his hips.

“ I don’t suppose-“

“ No,” Viggo’s eyes fixed on the denim idly. “ How far do you want to take this, Sean?”

Sean looked back at him, his eyes narrowed, his body tense. “ I don’t understand,” he said, but ah, he did, it was so clear in his body and his very being. Viggo played a little longer.

“ Don’t you? My apologises. I wanted to know how far you wanted me to take this, and that’s mostly for tonight rather than long term plans I might add. You want to lose? Fine, you’ll lose, and you can trust me on that. The question, I suppose, is how badly you want to lose by.” Viggo’s eyes flickered to Sean’s. “ We can do whatever you’re in the mood of doing, Sean. Just don’t say I forced you again, eh?”

“ For fuck’s sake Vig, I’m here because I want you to force me,” growled Sean, trying to push himself up on his elbows again. “ Do whatever!”

“ I guess I can’t get that in writing?” Viggo mused. Sean snorted.

” What’s with you?”

“ What’s with me? Last time we met, in case it slipped your memory, you were somewhat upset with me and life in general, which of course stemmed from quite an innocent little fumble in a sleeping bag. And then you take your ‘revenge’ in a violent manner, fuck off for a good while, no note, no telephone call, then turn up unannounced on my doorstep expecting to be welcomed with open arms and an open bed. I know what I want to do to you, Sean, have no fear about that. In fact, I’ve had it burning in the back of my mind every time you were arrogant or ignored people because you were watching soccer or was just plain rude to me. And me, I note, not anyone else. However, it’s not going to be pretty and therefore I want to make sure you’re not going to freak on me again, clear? *That’s* what’s wrong with me,” Viggo finished his little speech with another rub of the hands over Sean’s legs. Sean shivered under his touch.

“ What are you planning to do?” his voice was low.

“ Now you can’t deal with surprises?” Viggo shook his head. “ I’m planning something rough, Sean. Not broken bones rough before you open your mouth. But rough enough to deal with my frustrations.”

“ Don’t pretend you were waiting for me or gave a toss I went off. You knew I was going anyway!” protested Sean, who seemed to be automatically avoiding the topic. Viggo sighed heavily.

“ I wasn’t waiting for you, you arrogant little shit, but it would have been nice to know you were okay. Hell, I could have even put up with your usual rants. But no, you couldn’t do that, just turn up with a vague grateful statement, a battered photograph – none of the others on my film, I note – and a desire to get what you want again! If you were scared of getting found out the first time, what the hell d’you think’ll happen now?”

“ I know you’d be discreet,” Sean had a hunted look in his eyes. Viggo couldn’t help the laughter. Discreet. Like he was some sort of high-class whore.

“ Fuck you, Sean. Find someone else to play your little games,” Viggo began to move off the bed when Sean’s hand caught his wrist. Viggo looked back into urgent eyes.

“ You saying you didn’t miss me at all?” there was almost desperation in his voice.

“ I missed you, Sean. But that doesn’t give you the right to just-“

“ I know, I know, I’m sorry.” Sean’s mouth was quicker than Viggo had ever seen it. “ It took me a while to work out what to do. I thought it would be better to do this face to face rather than over the phone or the internet,”

” What, to fuck me? It does tend to help,”

“ Stop being flippant, I’m serious. What could I have said? Sorry Vig, didn’t realise you stopped me ending up as a pancake on that mountain, would you like to meet up? You would have laughed in my face,” Sean’s voice was back to the bitterness again. “ I had to see you. I … ,”

Viggo raised an eyebrow in interest as Sean trailed off in obvious embarrassment.

“ Yes?” he asked coldly.

” Well, I .. needed to see you. You might not have missed me, but I missed you, and I know I got a little angry at the mountains Vig, but hell, you didn’t exactly help that did you? That whole hut business got out of control, and you know it,”

“ You accused me of being a bastard. I was therefore a bastard. Was it so much of a shock to you?”

“ Just because I accused you of being something doesn’t mean you have to therefore follow through!”

Viggo growled to himself but said nothing for a moment. How dare the man sit on his bed and be right at him. His guilt strings were plucked enough already. “ I was angry. I wasn’t thinking. Sorry,” he sighed finally and with honest regret. Sean nodded slowly.

” You know I’m sorry for my part,” he admitted.

There was a ghost of a smile on Viggo’s face at this. “ So we’re both bastards, eh?”

Sean shrugged, but there was amusement flickering in his soft green eyes. Viggo sighed and considered it. There was no question that he wanted to, or that his body was all but begging for the touch of Sean’s underneath it. But he could already see the difficulties. He had been so preoccupied after the mountain, his mind somewhere else entirely that he couldn’t focus on anything. Now add the possibility of playing around with Sean for a week or so to that, and calculate how long Viggo was likely to still be focusing on it rather than his life. For Sean would go, as they both damn well knew.

No amount of friendship would stop this. No amount of caring. No amount of love, should that ever enter the burning desire.

Sean Bean. Special offer. One week only.

Buy now. Pay later.

“ So how far are you planning to take this then?” asked Viggo softly. Sean shook his head, a faint smile on his face.

” You asked me that already you forgetful sod-“

“ Not tonight. Longer term,” Viggo looked at him thoughtfully. Sean looked suddenly scared and young, as though Viggo had somehow stolen years from him. His eyes stared around the room for a moment, then focused back on Viggo.

“ I don’t know,” he said softly.

Viggo snorted his amusement. “ You barely deserve a night of my time, let alone anything else.”

Sean was silent, just waiting for him. The feeling of Sean Bean waiting for him was a fine feeling indeed, but that really shouldn’t be admitted, not when he was doing such a good job of putting that look on Sean’s face, the look that suggested that not a small amount of tension was busy tap-dancing in his mind. And how far was he prepared to go anyway? Viggo sighed a heavy sigh. He had asked the question simply to stop this being a one night stand, to assure himself that he wasn’t that high class whore of Sean’s that he could call on whenever he felt the need to be punished or whatever the hell he wanted.

The trouble with that was you then had to think of an answer.

“ I guess,” Viggo said slowly. “ I could consider talking about it longer term,”

“ But not now?” guessed Sean.

“ You’re lying on my bed. I have better things to do with my time than talk,” And it was already beginning to feel good already, already brushing against that feeling that this was right. Of course this was probably his lust talking, but hell, it felt real enough to him at this point.

Sean might run, after all this. Sean might freak again, or just vanish to England for the next year or so and never get a chance to meet up. He might do anything.

But at least they could try.

“ I know about Orli,” Sean said softly. Viggo frowned at him, honestly baffled. The young man seemed to turn up in the most unlikely places as it was without also turning up as a topic of conversation in sex sessions. Then the confusion cleared. Sean was watching him with an expression that didn’t know whether to be bitter with jealousy or fixed with caution. Viggo was amused enough to laugh aloud, which did nothing for the blonde’s composure either.

“ Orlando Bloom is nothing more than a friend to me. And if you don’t believe that you can fuck off now,” Viggo was still amused. Sean scowled.

“ What, even after he-“

“ Even after. Why are we still talking about this?” Viggo raised an eyebrow. God, did everyone have this problem from Orlando's habit of snogging everyone as a greeting? “ Orli’s affectionate as a basket of puppies to everyone. And even he hasn’t got the energy to fuck everyone, you know that. I don’t cheat on people, Sean. If I was with him, you’d know about it.”

Sean’s scowl didn’t seem to be disappearing. There was something else. Viggo could almost sense it.

" What?" Viggo sighed. " For someone who doesn't talk much, you're bloody noisy,"

" Why did you have that lighter on you?" Sean finally blurted out. This time it took a lot longer for the look of bafflement to disappear from Viggo's face. Lighter. Lighter. The memory cells were ransacked twice over, and still no joy. Viggo shook his head slowly.

" I have honestly no idea what the fuck you're going on about, Sean. What lighter? You mean the one that I had on the mountain? Just a bog standard ...," Viggo trailed off, thinking about it. It wasn't his usual one. The usual one had run out of fuel and the only spare he could find at such short notice was one that Orlando offered to lend him, a flashy gold number that at least had the wind-proof aspect to it. " Why, what was wrong with the lighter? It was one of Orli's. I don' t think I used it." Now that was a thought. Viggo frowned harder. " In fact, I know I didn't. We were using yours. When did you see the lighter?"

Sean shifted on the bed uncomfortably. A defiant look crossed his face that suggested that he was attempting to put something to the back of his mind. Viggo was no less baffled, but now he was seriously wanting progress. There was only so long you could wait with Sean laid out in front of you. And how fucking important was a lighter in world events, anyway?

" Well?" he demanded.

" The morning after that first night in the cave," Sean had an expression of sullen annoyance, as though Viggo had beaten it out of him. A sarcastic look crossed the blonde's face. " I read the inscription,"

" There was an inscription? It was a fucking lighter! Who inscribes a lighter?" Viggo shook his head, then took on board the exact expression that was crossing Sean's face. " Why, what did it say?"

" Apparently Orli says it was from one of his fans," Sean seemed to be ignoring the question. Incredibly his voice had gained in strength.

" Sean," there was a warning deep in the name. Sean's eyes flickered to him, then back again. He sighed.

" Just a love message, addressed to Orli. You know, the boring bog standard ones," There was a look of embarrassment that was on Sean's face. Viggo frowned at him, then had a thought. The frown deepened even further.

" You didn't think.. you couldn't have thought... *I* wrote that?" Viggo stared at him. Sean avoided his gaze. " But that's crazy - why would I keep hold of it? What, you have to take gifts up in the mountains before you send them or something?"

" I'd just been fucking my best mate and found that damn thing," snapped back Sean. " Forgive me if my logic wasn't running too great that morning!"

" Sean, just for future reference, I don't send love notes attached to lighters!" Viggo had a sudden desire to laugh. However, the look on Sean's face spoke of tensions that were deadly serious. " I can't believe that you thought that was serious,"

" Well, I did." grumbled Sean.

" You did all that because of a lighter," Viggo couldn't get the thought out of his head.

" You threatened to beat me because of a lighter." added the blonde immediately, with a distinct defensive tone of one who knew they looked like a prat but didn't want to go down without company.

" You *did* beat me because of a lighter," reminded Viggo.

" I apologised for that," protested Sean.

" And I'm not apologising for the fucking thing either!"

" Twat," muttered Sean, but there was the sound of relief in his voice. Viggo gave him a friendly cuff across the head.

" Idiot,"

There was a brief companionable silence, followed by a soft cough from the bed.

“ Well?” Sean looked at him, but there was trace of insecurity in there, mostly likely through the fact that Viggo wasn’t speaking. “ Are you fucking me or what?”

“ You going to be this demanding all night?” Viggo commented idly. Sean sighed and his head fell back onto the bed.

” Vig, this isn’t going to work if you think about it too long. Trust me on this. Let’s take one fuck at a time, eh? Where the raw animalistic nature of the Viggo I saw on the mountains?”

Viggo gave him a solid glare. “ Probably got scared off,” he commented dryly.

“ Come on, Vig. Let’s have a little less conversation and a little more action,” Sean shifted himself slightly, his hands unbuckling his belt, undoing his jeans, green eyes fixed on Viggo in sudden determination. Viggo wasn’t surprised to find that Sean wasn’t wearing anything underneath it. Jeans were shoved down slim hips and pulled off with a little bit of a shuffle.

And yeah, that helped. It was one thing to think about relationships in a careful manner beforehand. It was quite another to think about anything in a careful manner with someone like Sean lying naked on the bed awaiting a decision. One leg was now bent and raised at the knee in almost a modelling pose. There seemed to be endless firm, golden skin. The light was incredibly flattering.

Viggo’s lust, already bubbling beneath the surface, suddenly hit overdrive. Thoughts could wait. Logic could wait. Common sense need not apply.

Lighters indeed. What a fucking waste of time.

Sean’s grin as Viggo pulled off his own t-shirt and pounced on him was all the information that the older man required. Viggo’s chest pressed against Sean’s, his mouth fierce and almost angry on Sean’s, plundering the blonde with his tongue, demanding attention. Sean kissed back with almost the same fierce abandon, his hands pulling Viggo closer to him, his leg hooked over one of Viggo’s. Viggo broke off the kiss, panting. This was good, this was very good.

But it needed to be faster.

Viggo pulled off him, still breathing heavily, his hands already working on his pants. More skin on skin, that was the answer. More speed, more friction, more *everything*. Sean seemed content just to lie back and watch him, although he could sense the tension in the blonde’s body, the willpower that was needed for him to relax and not immediately take action himself. No amount of guilt, no amount of caution would made Sean an obedient little lover. It went against the grain.

But then, that would be the fun of it.

Finally all scraps of material had departed Viggo’s body. Viggo moved back onto the bed, his hands on Sean’s hips, his mouth biting Sean roughly on the collar bone, hard enough for one bite to break the skin. A metallic coppery tang entered his mouth. Sean groaned but didn’t complain as Viggo licked up the few drops of blood that emerged.

And then, when it was obvious that Sean was about to say something further did Viggo move himself slightly and flip the blonde with as much power as he could. Sean’s words, whatever they were supposed to be, suddenly changed into a yelp of surprise. Viggo immediately pounced again, his naked chest pressed down hard on Sean’s back, his aching erection nestled in pretty much the cleft of the younger man’s buttocks, so very close to his desired destination. But that was *too* quick. Sean might want rough, but Viggo only wanted blood appearing where he decided.

Sean squirmed underneath him, trying to wriggle at least one hand free. Viggo kept his weight firmly pressed against him, keeping his advantages. Sean was quicker and more flexible than he was, but Viggo had the weight and the strength behind him. Finally Sean gave up, a little moan of protest escaping at this, whatever previous words he had been planning completely forgotten.

” So, what, you’re going to squash me? Deeply erotic, Vig,” the voice was muffled. Viggo waited for a few moments for the squirming to start again, before calmly and carefully moving his hips away from Sean’s, his index finger moving between Sean’s buttocks and firmly pushing into him. Sean gasped loudly, although Viggo had this down mostly as surprise.

“ You want action, Sean? Right. I’ll give you action.” Viggo murmured into Sean’s ear, before pulling off entirely and slipping off the bed. Sean rolled over, panting, a slightly wild expression in his eyes. He froze at the sight of Viggo calmly pulling the belt off the trouser loop, and looked up. Viggo could see the debate behind the green eyes, and simply shrugged.

“ You wanted it. You’ll get it. Oh, you might not like it when it’s actually happening, as you pretty much hated it when we were at the hut. But it gets addictive, so I hear,” Viggo met Sean’s eyes calmly. “ Makes a nice sound, too. Listen,”

There was a movement of the wrist. The belt cracked in the air, promising power. Sean had stopped squirming entirely, as though someone had flicked the off button. However, his arousal hadn’t changed in the slightest, still proud, hard and obviously seeking release. Viggo smiled to himself. He would have been disappointed should Sean have simply rolled over and meekly submitted to him. It just wasn’t what he saw in the man.

True to form, Sean was looking a lot more stubborn than he had a few minutes ago.

“ What did I do? We’ve just got started and you’re out to beat me up already!” However, he didn’t look particularly nervous. Just mildly embarrassed, as though expecting someone to knock at the door any moment and offer them girl guide cookies whilst they were still nude.

“ If I leave it any later, you’ll have a naughty list the size of the New York directory. And then what would I do?” Viggo deliberately kept his voice low and pleasant, knowing this normally ruined the blonde’s concentration. “ But, for you, I’ll give you a task to do beforehand. Do it well and I might just allow you off,”

“ And what’s the task? Licking your boots?” Sean had a slightly gun-ho expression on his face, which Viggo vowed to shift one way or another. Viggo smiled to himself.

” Well, licking is likely to be involved, certainly,” he said softly. “ although you can have another guess on the target,”

Sean’s eyes flickered to Viggo’s erection and then back again. Viggo could see the indecision in them. Last chance here; Sean did this, he was in it good. Sean had been correct with his previous comments. Too much thinking about this really was a bad idea.

“ Sean,” he raised his voice, demanding. Green eyes slid up to assess him briefly, before Sean finally moved from the bed and walked towards him, standing directly in front of Viggo with a half smug smile on his face and in his eyes. Viggo wasn’t entirely sure whether Sean was just going to swear to his face or attempt to punch him. Finally, Sean slowly dropped to his knees.

“ Haven’t done this in a while,” he warned. “ Not with any skill,”

“ Just get on with it, Sean,” Viggo’s voice was sharp. Sean shrugged slightly to himself, and Viggo could suddenly feel the warm goodness of Sean’s mouth around him, sucking him, taking him as far into his mouth as he could. Yes, this was good. Much better than the half assed attempt on the mountain, when Sean had been sulky and unwilling, although at the time it had been fine enough.

Viggo hadn’t quite realised how turned on he had been until his pleasure started to stab at him, building steadily. Fucking hell, Sean obviously pressed all the right buttons, but then he always had. Viggo had known from the first moment he had laid eyes on the cocky blonde Brit who, at the time, had been leaning against the bar in the local pub and talking about football to Orlando, that the main thing he wanted to do with Sean was to throw him over the nearest table and fuck him to the point he couldn’t speak. As it was, he had been informed that Sean Bean was entirely straight and therefore he had made do with fishing and riding and mountain tours and pray that this was enough to satisfy the cravings.

It hadn’t been.

And now, with said blonde Brit’s mouth around his cock steadily sucking him to a conclusion, Viggo had to do something before the whole experience was over in two minutes.

“ Sean, stop,” Sean. It was a little too personal, a little too ‘all mates here’. Definitely needed to be changed. Sean halted obediently, glancing up at him and letting Viggo’s erection slid from his lips. Viggo tried to take control of his raging lust and cool it down. What he needed was the mental equivalent of five cold showers.

“ I want you on the bed, boy,” Boy. Much better. Okay, boy was pushing it considering Sean’s age and how close it was to his own, but at least it was back on the slave/master routine. Sean’s eyes narrowed at the name, as Viggo knew they would do, but he moved back up to stand. Sean glanced at the bed as though checking it was still there.

“ Now, boy,” ordered Viggo, in case it hadn’t sunk through. Sean glanced back at him with an arrogant look, and Viggo’s blood began to boil again. Slowly. Almost a simmer. But it was there, and, what’s more, Sean was deliberately doing it as well. Viggo’s hand tightened on the end of the belt he still held.

“ Boy?” Sean echoed, a smile playing on his lips. “ I’m, what, half a year younger than you are?”

Viggo pushed him hard on the shoulder, making the blonde stumble backwards. Sean looked up at him as Viggo followed, keeping the anger showing. There was the briefest hesitation as Sean weighed up his options, eyes narrowed already, and the thought suddenly struck Viggo. Sean was doing this deliberately. Viggo had a suspicion even if he asked him to get a glass of water, this would be refused.

Okay, if that was the way he wanted to play it, so be it.

“ Boy,” Viggo said, just to make sure. “ On your knees,”

“ Thought you wanted me on the bed,” Sean immediately argued, not moving at all, his eyes glittering in the light. “ Make up your mind, Viggo,”

“ And you can call me master, not Viggo,” added Viggo as an after thought. Sean snorted.

” Fuck off!” he retorted. “ Sorry, fuck off *master*,”

There was a flicker in Sean’s eyes as Viggo stepped purposefully towards him, as though the blonde would have liked to have just taken a step backwards at this point. However, something managed to keep him in place. Viggo stopped less than a pace away from the other man. Should he have wanted to, he could have leaned forward slightly and been able to kiss him with no other movement.

Green eyes scanned him thoughtfully.

“ What are you playing at, boy?” Viggo had almost been about to say Sean, but managed to control it in time. His voice was very level, very precise. Sean shrugged, and that was it. The simmer had reached boiling point already. Sean suddenly seemed aware that the belt was held in Viggo’s hand, the slightest amount of alarm registering in his eyes. Viggo watched him curiously, interested in what he was going to do. The younger man seemed to be torn in two about whether he wished to go through with it, the practical side of things seeming so much more alarming when it was actually present.

Viggo himself wasn’t sure whether he could go through with it either. The belt was more a threat rather than actually imagining he would have to use it. He knew damn well his control was going to be variable to say the least. It was one thing to chastise. It was quite another to inflict hospital care.

Sean looked back at him again, a smirk returning to his face with slow confidence. The blonde ran his tongue over his bottom lip and casually adjusted his position. Viggo raised an eyebrow, feeling more than a little irritated. Sean’s respect was obviously absent without leave at this point, and this had to be deliberate. There was no way Sean could possibly have missed the threat, no way he could possibly have misinterpreted what was going to happen should he decide that the one true path was to misbehave.

“ You don’t appear to be on your knees, boy,” Viggo murmured. Sean gave him an innocent look, as though this little factor had completely passed him by, followed by that smirk again. It was a cunning thing, that smirk. It spoke of insolence and disobedience, and almost made you completely ignore the fact that Sean’s posture screamed of tension, of waiting. Sean wasn’t as cool as he was trying to be. The thought brought a smile to Viggo’s own expression.

The smirk faltered, just for a minute.

“ I see,” Viggo cocked his head to one side, studying the man. The cosy feeling had definitely left Sean’s eyes, leaving only suspicion and agitation. The smirk, however, remained, as though it was completely separate to the remainder of Sean’s expression. It was clear that Sean stayed put through sheer force of willpower alone.

Viggo’s hand found Sean’s shoulder. He smiled at Sean again, enjoying the suspicion, and swiftly shoved him down hard. If Sean had wanted to resist, he could have. There was no way this shove was going to do anything more than simply stumble him, or possibly cause pain to his shoulder. However, Sean was obviously willing to accept this little command and allowed himself to be pushed to the floor, the amusement returning to his eyes. Apparently this script he knew.

“ For a slave, you really need improvement,” commented Viggo. Sean shrugged idly.

“ Do I?” a light drawl, full of impertinence.

“ And some discipline,” added Viggo lazily.

“ Gosh,” Sean’s eyes flickered to him through surprisingly long eyelashes.

“ And some manners,” Viggo traced his hand across Sean’s shoulders, enjoying the feel of the skin under his hand. Sean trembled under his touch, his breathing suddenly coming faster. It took a few moments for him to get his vocal chords working.

“ Really,” Sean managed finally, with a lot less casualness than before.

“ So what do you think I should do with you?” Viggo queried lightly. Sean looked at him.

“ For a master,” the smirk returned back in full force. “ you really lack imagination,”

Viggo didn’t realise he was moving until Sean had been thrown against the nearest wall, Viggo’s hand having scooped him up under his arm and simply tossed him towards it with a lot more force than he had bothered with before. Sean had stumbled slightly, startled by the speed of the action, and had only just managed to put his hands out to stop him smashing into the wall. Viggo rode the momentum. Don’t think about it, Sean had said. So he wasn’t.

The sound of the belt was possibly the most horrific thing about it, and even then it wasn’t too bad. It sounded like a shotgun in the room, something that seemed to echo long after the actual sound had died. At the feel of the blow landing, Sean had made a gasp which had suddenly completely cut off, as though someone had stolen his breath away. His body pressed harder against the wall for a moment, following it through, then sagged. Already a bright red stripe crossed his back, accusingly.

Viggo wanted to drop the belt there and then. Rough, Sean had said. And rough had occurred, across the middle of Sean’s back, something that looked a little too .. well, *bright* for Viggo’s liking.

My god, he thought to himself. What if it’s permanent?

However, Sean didn’t try and run. He didn’t scream or shout or turn around and accuse Viggo of being a sadistic bastard. The only noises from him were little panting breaths, his hands clenching into fists against the wall briefly, before returning to their flat palmed ways. Sean stayed put, and this was even more disturbing than Viggo had imagined. It was though someone had glued him in place.

Viggo must have stayed like that for some time, simply watching him, the belt drooping in one hand, as Sean finally glanced over his shoulder at him. Viggo snapped back into action again, raising his hand once more. Sean shrugged to himself and looked back at the wall, his body obviously bracing itself.

Viggo searched for the anger again. It was there somewhere, he knew it. It had been too solid to simply vanish on him. However, it was incredibly elusive, as though ashamed of what had just happened.

“ Is it rude to call your ‘master’ weak?” came Sean’s soft voice. Viggo growled as he knew Sean had wanted him to, and felt new strength flood into his arm. Sean gasped again as the belt struck again, this time lower and accidentally harder than before. The leather had hit the fleshy muscle of Sean’s buttocks, which was probably a good thing. Serious back problems and spinal injuries were really not on Viggo’s To Do List.

“ Better?” remarked Viggo after Sean’s panting had died a little.

” I guess,” Sean’s smirk still lived on. The next blow managed to wipe this from his voice entirely.

Viggo waited a few more moments before speaking again.

“ You want to apologise now?”

“ For what?” Sean snorted, and then gasped again as the belt met sensitive flesh, criss-crossing over one of the previous strikes. Viggo eyed him thoughtfully. This was definitely becoming easier. The swing. The hit. The gasp. The pause. It was rhythmic in a strange way. It was almost too easy to forget that these blows would still be there when the passion died away, a throbbing reminder to Sean for what would probably be at least a week if not more.

“ For being rude. For being a bad slave,” Viggo shrugged, mostly for his own benefit. “ There’s a bit of a list,”

“ Why don’t I just apologise for living?” The level of sarcasm in Sean’s voice earned him an extra stripe. Viggo paused to let the younger man find his breath. He could see the trembling in Sean’s shoulders as the blonde used more of the wall to hold himself up. But still he stayed there, facing the wall, his back bare and vulnerable, allowing Viggo to take whatever he wanted.

Viggo allowed his eyes to wander to Sean’s backside, the skin of which was already turning a darker red. The desire to take him was becoming a hard persistent throb in the back of his mind, take him hard and against anything that might assist. Viggo had a longing to hear those whimpering pants in time with his thrusts, to feel the man squirm and tremble against his own hot flesh rather than simply imagine it. A longing to roughly jerk the man off, to feel the blonde’s surrender as Sean’s body capitulated to Viggo’s demands.

Fucking hell, this was turning into torture for the pair of them.

Viggo turned and walked to the bedside table, reaching for the half used tube he knew was still there, a lucky charm in a world where lucky charms were so often needed. Sean had managed to gather his thoughts enough to be peering over his shoulder as Viggo walked back, a determined purposeful stride in his step. Sean looked as though he was about to say something, but obviously decided against it as Viggo moved back, the tube already uncapped and squeezed over waiting fingers.

The gasp that came from Sean’s lips as Viggo’s fingers entered him roughly were music to his ears. He hadn’t bothered with just one at the start, pushing the two digits into the blonde as though willing to fight rather than persuade the resistance. Viggo’s body was pressed up against Sean’s as much as he could, the younger man pressing back up against him one minute and freezing the next, constantly moving in some fashion as Viggo explored him. Sean cursed softly to himself as Viggo continued, obviously forcing himself to stay put.

The fingers had increased to three. Viggo knew he wasn’t being gentle, just as he knew that Sean wouldn’t have wanted him to be. Sean was simultaneously giving murmurs of encouragement whilst also cursing at him, forcing himself back on the fingers so hard that it was almost as though he was eager for Viggo’s whole hand to go exploring. And that was it. Coupled with the burning, agonising feeling in his groin, there was no chance that Viggo could possibly last for a moment longer.

Sean protested at the removal of the fingers, then silenced as he felt Viggo push against him gently, positioning himself. Viggo could see Sean’s palms lie flat on the wall, the man bend over slightly move to aid the angle, his breathing suddenly slow and controlled in preparation. And Viggo sank into him. Well, sank wasn’t quite the word. Shoved was probably more realistic, and shoved hard. Blessed friction and tight, tight heat surrounded him. Sean gave a sob-groan and thrust his backside out further, Viggo’s chest pressed to his back. Viggo’s hand found between Sean’s thighs and encouraged them to spread even wider to the point where muscles would no doubt be screaming at him.

There had been a question within Viggo’s mind whether to stop and ask Sean if he was alright. It was the gentlemanly thing to do. However, now was really not the time or the place for gentlemanly behaviour, not unless you were referring to the base instincts. Another couple of thrusts within the blonde and even the thought had escaped Viggo’s mind, his focus almost purely on the pleasure that was currently making itself known through nearly every single nerve Viggo possessed.

Sean moaned again and pressed back hard, writhing against him. Viggo smiled to himself and moved his hand up to cup Sean in his hand, to gently stroke and tease for the briefest of moments before roughly taking the man’s erection in his hand and beginning to stroke in time with his own thrusts. Sean’s moans increased in volume, his cries becoming more desperate.

His desperation at this stage was nothing compared to his desperation when Viggo adjusted his angle and thrust deep within him, brushing what could have only been Sean’s prostate by the sheer reaction that the blonde had. Sean stiffened, his yell muffled slightly by his lip where he was presumably biting it, his body suddenly bucking against him even more frantically.

Viggo shoved the man harder to the wall and fucked him, unable to keep back even the most basic of restraints. His hand carefully shoved Sean’s legs wider apart before returning to touch his arousal roughly, demandingly, stroking as desperately as Sean was himself. Viggo could feel himself build, and tried to fight it, stroking harder and harder until it was almost as though it was a physical punishment in itself.

If it was, Sean really wasn’t noticing. His back was arched, his mouth was vocal in his pleasure, his hips thrust back at Viggo harder and harder. Suddenly Viggo felt him stiffen against him suddenly, every single muscle in Sean’s body still and tense for a mere moment before the younger man came with a loud cry and a tremble that shot through his body. And that was it. The point of no return. Viggo could have sobbed with joy as he was overcome by the sensations.

A few moments later and the pair of them had almost slid to the floor. Sean was panting as though every breath was his last, stealing the oxygen from the air in greedy gulps. Viggo wasn’t much better. He had felt certain that the room had been spinning in front of his eyes at one point, his legs threatening to give way. Poor Sean must have been almost crushed, although there hadn’t been a squeak of protest about this part.

“ You know,” panted Sean. “ I’m beginning to doubt we’re ever going to fuck in a bed like normal people,”

“ You turn into a normal person and then we can think about the bed,” replied Viggo after a pause to collect his breath. There was a snort laugh from Sean, who used the wall to help push himself to a standing position. He swayed upright, his eyes looking as dazed as one who had escaped some great horror. Viggo was almost about to grab him to ensure the younger man didn’t collapse on him, when Sean seemed to snap out of it and look back at him in interest.

“ Well?” he said finally.

Viggo looked back at him. Sean was stood with a solid appearance that suggested dives to the floor would not happen in the next half hour. His eyes were tired but amused, and even, dare he admit it, satisfied. There was a sheen over him where the sweat he had built up glittered in the light, making his golden muscles even more appealing. A cocky and relaxed grin graced his features, so calming that it could only be natural. Throughout the punishment, throughout the make-up survival sex, the grin had still made an appearance.

“ Well what?” he answered finally. Sean shrugged.

“ What are we doing now?”

Viggo merely raised an eyebrow at him. A long pause developed. Finally Sean laughed to himself, and nodded idly.

“ What are we doing now, *master*?” he amended, the amusement shining in his eyes.

Viggo smiled back. Things might work out after all.

END