The Saddle

Piper's head bobbed as something bounced between her legs. The smells of earth, leather, and horse filled her nostrils. With a moan, she opened her eyes to find her hands bound tightly with white rope in her lap. Her eyes widened and she jerked her head up with a gasp.

Hands gripped her upper arms.

"Relax, princess," a man growled at her ear.

Piper blinked hard, clearing the tears from her eyes in order to better see her surroundings. Like a blur, the sun cascaded through green canopies, branches shadowed a white mane, and the brown dirt of the road drifted beneath her. Birds chirped, metal jangled, and leather squeaked.

"What..." Piper mumbled. The ears of a horse flicked in front of her and the memory of her toppled carriage came back in a rush. She struggled with her bindings.

"I said, relax," the man said, pushing Piper's hands back down in front of her, "we have a long road ahead of us."

"You!" Piper said, her heart pounded as the rolling images of her memory continued to emerge from the fog of her mind: a flashing dagger tore through the canvas of the coach's roof with a horrible ripping sound that seemed to radiate through every nerve of Piper's body. Light blasted through the ragged gash like a platinum flame striking through the dark. Piper winced as two more slashes tore through the coach. She slowly unclenched her eyes to find a single eye peering through the triangular opening of the fissure. Piper swallowed, "you were the one that attacked my carriage! What... I must have... you must have knocked me unconscious."

"You fainted," the man said.

"Where are you taking me?" Piper wet her lips, "let me go this instant, I am the Daughter of the Green Lion, the Princess of Loch Veridian! I can understand if you didn't know this because I'm wearing my riding gear, but if you free me now, I'll be sure that my knights spare you when they find me." She pushed herself up on the horn of the saddle and turned her head to glare at him.

A chuckle clicked deeply in his throat once. His blue eyes watched her, unimpressed with Piper's ultimatum. The horse stepped unevenly at the bottom of a hill and the saddle shifted. Piper yelped as she felt herself losing her balance. The man gripped her shoulder and pushed her back down into the saddle. Piper could feel the sturdiness of his silver chest armor against the edges of her shoulder blades.

"Enough," her kidnapper said, "relax and enjoy the ride."

She blushed and slowly lifted her bound hands. A thread of gold twisted between the bleached hemp, catching small circles of shifting light and glinting beneath the shade of the dappled canopy above. Piper ogled the rope. It was expertly woven around her wrists and between her arms. She struggled with them. They were just tight enough that she couldn't undo them, but loose enough that the cord didn't dig into her flesh. With a small huff, Piper tried to slip her wrists free.

"You're wasting your time," the man said, "I'm sure you'll never take those off now."

"What are you after?" Piper asked, dropping her hands, "money? Power? My father can make you rich and powerful. I'm sure even a heathen like you has heard of him, the striped beard of house Veridian. He'd do anything to have me back: untouched."

The man chuckled in his throat again.

"You're not after power or money?" Piper froze. She became hyper aware of his body pressing against hers in the strange saddle. The bottom of her thighs rested against the tops of his. A chill ran up her spine when she thought she felt something hard digging into the flesh just above her tail bone.

"Hmm?" the man mused, leaning slightly forwards so the hard rod pressed deeper into Piper's back, "you think of something else I might want instead?"

She gulped, wrapped her hands around the horn of the saddle and shifted herself further forward. As she slid up the curve of the seat, ribbed undulations in the leather rubbed between the groove of her crotch. She ventured a glance down at the pearly saddle to discover extra pillows of padding sown into the leather where she sat. The tiny, raised bumps in the seat resembled the pattern of a flattened pine cone and radiated out directly from where she sat in the front portion of the seat.

Her kidnapper caught her by her left hip with his hand again and yanked her back down the wavy ridges. She felt every rounded furrow tumble pleasantly between her legs like a cascade of low dunes running through a valley. At her back, Piper sensed the shaft dig deeper between the cleft of her buttocks and probe further into the soft muscle just above her tailbone.

"Knock it off," the man said, "are you nuts? You'll fall from the horse."

Try as she might, Piper couldn't stop herself from imagining the shape and terrifying girth of the hard shaft and bulbous head embedded in the small of her back. Soon the meat of the thing throbbed and pulsed in the depths of her mind like a giant hungry eye consuming her thoughts. Plunging through the halls of her head like a battering ram, the vision of the polished purple and bruised head crashed against her pearly gates. Her breath quickened. Piper groaned, shifting uncomfortably in the saddle, also bothered by the bottom of her legs touching his. Letting out an anguished breath, she inspected the horizon of trees, trying to shift her focus onto her surroundings.

"I don't recognize this path," Piper mumbled to herself.

"I'm not surprised," the man said, "only a single horse can navigate such a narrow path through the forest." He leaned down next to Piper's ear and she felt the stubble of his cheek scratch along its rim, "much too narrow for your carriage, princess. Much too narrow even for your knights and lances should they come looking for you."

His hot breath tinged with notes of clove sent a shiver down Piper's neck and her nostrils flared. She tilted her hips forward, trying to edge away from the hardness poking into her. The leather humps of the seat dug into the slippery silk of her riding trousers and vibrated beneath her as the horse trotted up a winding hill.

It was a rich green hill draped in a carpet of dewy moss. Orange mushrooms with purple caps dwelt in dark crevices and curved out into freckles of sunlight where they glistened and dripped. The smell of the disturbed moss churned by the horse's hooves was strong like sopping, pungent earth. Piper whipped her head around, trying to figure out which direction the sun was shining through the trees, hoping to at least gain her bearings. A drop of water from a branch above splashed in the center of her brow. Piper flinched and rubbed at the wet grooves between her eyebrows with two fingers.

The horse squeezed along the path between two birch trees. The stature of the horse impressed Piper. She guessed the size must have been around twenty hands. It bore them both with ease and was well bred and lusty. Possibly more well bred than any horse she had ever ridden atop before. Piper studied the head of the horse bobbing as it trudged up the hill. Normally, a horse this size would have been too intimidating for her to attempt to mount. Memories of a chalky stallion rearing above her against the sun and a thin line of blood on cotton flashed through her head. She shook her head furiously.

"Where are you taking me?" Piper demanded.

"Does it matter?" The man asked. He draped his arms in front of Piper in order to better grip the reigns. His hands pressed against Piper's navel and scooped her further into his lap. He gripped the reigns firmly, gave them some slack, and squeezed his legs into the horse's ribs. With a powerful snort, the horse picked up speed and the rocking of Piper's rear against the hardness behind her intensified. She frowned and blushed with shame, her thighs bouncing atop his. The blood rushed into her ears and burned where his stubble had tickled. She shook her head, swallowed, and swiped the flyaways out of her face with both her hands.

The horse bound through the woods and the kidnapper's hardness knocked against her back. The horrible thing grew again in her mind like a nasty, pulsing, throbbing lump of molten slag until it became too much and Piper struggled. She used her legs to try and throw her weight to the left, hoping to toss herself from the back of the horse.

The man grunted as he caught her by the collar of her blouse. He pulled on the reigns and the horse's head twisted towards itself. It skidded to stop with a neigh and a snort. Piper screamed as she fought against his attempts to subdue her. The horse turned in a tight circle.

"Enough!" Her kidnapper growled, reaching a hand down behind Piper's back and tugging on the hard shaft.

Piper froze as she felt the dull side of a curved dagger press against her throat. It dug into her wind pipe, crushing her scream into a muted hack.

"I will kill you," the man said, "if you become too much of a nuisance, I will not hesitate to jam this dagger straight into your breast. Now, be a good girl and stop hassling me. Do you understand?" He yanked on the blade.

It pressed deeply into Piper's neck and forced her head into his chest. She nodded with wide eyes up into his. His blue eyes were cold and sharp as they peered down at her.

The man dropped the knife and slipped it back into its sheath. Piper felt the hardness of the hilt pressing into her lower back again. She dropped her head and brought her hands up to her throat, massaging where the back of the blade had dug into her flesh. Piper tested a swallow and winced.

As the horse trotted through the sleepy woods, Piper bit her tongue in silence. The pain in her neck eventually dulled and the rocking of the saddle throbbed between her legs. A button of cushioned leather drove back and forth up the heated trench of her silk trousers. Piper found the haze of the summer woods and the pleasant motions of the horse melting away her terror. Despite the man's arms placed firmly against her hips in order to stop her from moving, his hands in her lap expertly manipulated the reigns, guiding the horse here and there around certain trees. With jerks of his wrist, tugs with his fists, and squeezes of his legs, all of which Piper felt in her lap, he kept the horse on the small path that swerved through the woods.

She found herself dozing once or twice with her back against her kidnapper before awaking with a start and shifting herself in the saddle against his hands. Piper studied the construction of the saddle; the smooth softness of the leather as it bounced between her thighs intrigued her. She ran a finger along the stitching and found the unique construction to be of the top most quality. She lifted the finger to her nose and inhaled the earthy tones of the leather. The peculiar treatment of the leather, which made it supple, slick, and extra cushioned, reminded her of her own saddle. Piper's cheeks flushed as she felt the vibrations at the base of her spine and the sensation of her rear pushing into the hardness of the man's dagger behind her. She swallowed and let the tension out of her body, setting herself loose to the whims of the movement of the man and horse as they rocked her across the earth atop the strange, ribbed saddle.

Piper let her head drop forward and used her bound hands, pretending to swipe the hair out of her face but desperately trying to hide her flushed cheeks. A throbbing pleasure radiated from her inner thighs, vibrated down into the curling toes in her riding boots, and pulsed back up her thighs again. Piper's silk cleft which rubbed against the devious curve of the saddle, thrummed with every nuanced movement of the horse and Piper felt her desire grow gooey against the leather.

Piper lifted her head suddenly as a terrible heat that made every step of the horse thump through her body like a sensual pulse overran her senses.

"You drugged me!" Piper yelped.

"Nonsense," the man said, "I didn't do anything to you."

"You did! I feel ex--" Piper jerked her head back as the kidnapper forcibly shoved one of Piper's own dainty riding gloves into her mouth.

"Now shut up or I'll waste you out here. I'll strip your body bare and leave you to rot," he growled angrily into her ear, gripping her chin and squeezing her glove-filled cheeks until the silk fringe tickled her uvula, forcing her to scrunch her eyes and gag.

He released her chin. She breathed heavily through her nose trying to compensate for the blocked airway where her glove clogged her mouth. She felt her saliva dripping into her dirty glove and gave one muffled whine.

Piper was quiet again for another half mile. She knit her brow and squirmed her hips just enough to make a jolt of bliss run from her lap into the back of her eyes. She swallowed and cringed from the salty flavors of her glove mingled with the sweat from her kidnapper's fingers. She felt herself squish ever so slightly against the ribbed seat as the horse picked up enough speed to clear a chain of small yet steep hills. Each gallop of which sent a small leather hill of her own sliding along her groove. Piper shuddered and let out an exhale through her nose. The horse mirrored her gesture with a snort.

The kidnapper tugged on the reigns and the horse shook its head as it stopped and neighed. The horse's left ear batted a buzzing bumble bee.

"Okay, you stay here," the man said, "I'll only be a moment." He slipped off the saddle and, without his support, Piper slid down from the front, gliding pleasurably over the tiny hillock stitched into the curve of the saddle until she landed in the center. She felt the warmth of the stranger soak into her. She glanced down and saw a faint shine of wetness from where she had been sitting. Piper hurriedly wiped away the fine line of gloss from the leather with the ropes of her bindings. She glanced around hoping the kidnapper didn't notice.

He was busy tying the horse to a nearby maple tree, after which he returned to Piper's side and glared up at her briefly. Her kidnapper reached up and forced his thumb and index finger between her lips. He roughly pinched along the flesh of her tongue until he gripped the glove and tugged it out of her mouth. He shoved it in a pocket and pulled a canteen from the saddle bag. He screwed the chained lid off, took a gulp, wiped his lips with the back of his hand, and handed it to Piper. The metal lid dangled on the chain and rattled dully against the water skin.

She glared at him, shook out her hair, and hesitated before she took a long gulp. The water was somehow cool and it refreshed her more than she cared to admit. The dry staleness that the fabric of the glove had left in her mouth washed away and she closed her eyes as her thirst consumed her.

"Okay, that's enough," the man ripped the canteen from her hands causing it to splash across her face and neck.

"What did you do that for?!" Piper snapped.

"I said, that was enough," the man screwed the lid back on and dropped it in the saddle bag.

Piper moved to say something but decided against it when she spotted a soggy finger of the glove poking out of his pocket. The thought of having it jammed back in her mouth after having washed it out with the water halted her tongue. Instead, she moved the sore muscle around the interior of her mouth, stretching it out and tending to the insides of her cheeks.

"I'll be right back," the man said, turning.

The horse swiveled as the man left and Piper had to crane her neck around in order to follow where he had gone. The horse slapped its tail hard against itself and Piper felt the air across her face and caught a whiff of the horse's sweat which reminded Piper of an sweet, earthy, slightly sour, musk.

"Easy now..." Piper whispered to the horse, leaning forward and patting it on the shoulder with her bound hands, "just because you have a horrible master, doesn't mean we can't be friends, right? What's your name? Mine's Piper." The horse shook its mane.

She kept her eyes on the kidnapper as she patted the horse. The man walked two or three yards back down the trail and leaned with a hand against a tree. He moved the curved dagger out of the way and fished something out of his trousers. Piper's eyes widened as she saw his device twitch in the shade before sending forth a stream that soaked the ashen bark of the tree. The man leaned his head forward and aimed carefully as he emptied his bladder into the earth. Piper could hear the sound of him splashing into the soil at the roots of the tree. She swallowed, shook her head twice, and patted the horse.

"Okay..." Piper whispered, pressing her lips against the horse's shoulder, "be good for me..." Piper slowly lifted her leg and tilted her body until her other foot slipped into the stirrup. Using the horn of the saddle as an anchor, she quickly retracted her other leg over the seat and held on tight to the saddle. There was a small jangle of metal as the stirrup clattered against the front cinch. She balanced on the one stirrup as she let go of the saddle and hopped down to the ground.

The horse watched her with a large brown eye that reflected the dappled canopies beneath the skirt of its own long lashes. Piper gave the horse one, loving pat on its mane and turned.

She ran as quickly as she could down the hill. With her bound arms held out in front of her for balance, she skipped, hopped, and slid down the virgin grass that was still wet with dew from rains the night before. As she made it to the bottom of the hill, she thanked the heavens she was wearing her riding gear and not one of her encumbering gowns.

Piper smiled as she saw an easy route through the disheveled trees. She caught her breath and, just as she was about to make a break for it, something heavy slammed into her and forced her into the grass. She slid, the stretched collar of her blouse catching on the grass and pushing down under her left breast. She felt the cool, wet grass graze across her upper breast and nipple. The force crushed her lungs and forced the air from her body. Her nipple hardened, pain wracked her chest, and she struggled to take in new air. Tears welled up in her vision and she silently gasped with desperation.

A strong hand gripped her jaw, forcing her mouth further open and Piper felt the kidnapper jam the glove far back into her mouth again. Piper kicked her legs.

He lifted her with ease and tossed her over his shoulder causing her cheek and bare breast to slap against the steel plate of his back. Piper saw the pained look on her face reflected in the curve of his armor. She thought she was going to die, she couldn't breathe as his shoulder dug into her stomach and her lungs were still on fire, refusing to reset and suck in any air through her flaring nostrils. Tears dripped from her eyes as her head bobbed. The kidnapper carried her up the hill back to the trail.

As they reached the top, she finally managed to find her breath again and snorted heavily through her nose. She grunted and whined as the man manhandled her. His strength surprised her. Never had anyone tossed her about as if she were just a dirty common girl.

He tossed her onto the horse over the saddle and Piper fought to keep the air in her lungs this time. She grunted and winced as the saddle dug into the bottom rung of her ribs.

The man smacked her hard across her ass and Piper kicked her legs, trying to shake out the sting that radiated across her bottom. She lifted her head and glared at the kidnapper with wide eyes.

"I guess I'll just walk you the rest of the way," the man panted, "we're close anyway."

Piper realized her perky breast was still hanging aloof over the ruined collar of her blouse and quickly righted it back into her top. Though the opening ran far down into her cleavage now since three or four of her ivory buttons had torn away in her slide across the grass. Streaks of bright green ran across her shirt, collarbone, and curve of her left breast.