Watchdog

Someone had slipped the ruby into his pocket... That was the only logical explanation on how it got there. The only explanation.

"I-I swear to you, I didn't steal it! I didn't even touch it!" he stammered, digging his heels into the floor but failing to keep himself from being dragged. The man latched onto his arm merely jerked him along, a grim look on his face.

"Tell it to Kassius."

Kassius. Merle's heart sank. Kassius was the current king, the acting Lord of Silas. Rumor had it that he wasn't the nicest man alive...especially if he found out Merle had 'stolen' from him. He was completely screwed...

"I didn't take it!"

"It was in your pocket. Don't lie, mongrel!"

"But I don't know how it got there!"

"Who put it there then?" The man looked angry, but also a little bit suspicious, like he expected Merle to know.

"I..." Who had put it there, anyway? He tried to think, to remember a time when he might've been in close contact with someone, the real culprit, but... "I don't know," he finished lamely.

"Well if you don't know, I can't help you. Sorry. Now move your lousy ass."

Merle followed the man doggedly, like a beaten horse following its master. Stonepike was Silas City's jail of sorts. It was the current home of thieves, offenders, rapists and murderers, at the worst. Merle's heart lurched. He didn't belong in a place like this... He was the son of Lord Amarus; a king highly regarded but lower, of course, than Kassius.

And Merle had heard stories about this place and they were never good stories. Tales about how the strongest ruled the cells, the weaker men being their slaves...in more ways than one. Merle shivered and gazed around nervously. Stonepike was a large building with several cells all surrounding one big room, the stone and iron walls cast in shadows. Just looking at it was enough to bring terrible thoughts to the boy's head.

"You'll be stuck in here for a few days, til Kassius can spare time to hear your plea. Dinner's served at four, and lights go out at ten. You get a bathroom break every three hours, so you'd better hope you can hold it."

The big man slid a barred gate open, the keys dangling from his fingers. Merle looked up at him, trying to find the words that would save him from his sentence, but none came. He walked into his fate and the door shut and locked behind him. "Play nice," he called out, and then, giving Merle a somewhat sympathetic look, walked away.

"Who says anyone'll wanna play nice..." From the shadows a deep voice, like a tiger's growl, rumbled out. Merle blanched and backed up. Three men prowled from the back of the room, leaving behind their hiding place that the sun couldn't touch. Merle desperately wished there was a window now.

"Lookit the young one, boys..."

Another man sniffed the air, his dark hair pulled back in a braid. "Smells like fear."

"They're always afraid for their first night here."

"Don't worry, pretty boy," the first man, the tiger voiced man, murmured. He had shaggy blond hair and bronzed skin and teeth like fangs. "It only hurts the first few times..."

"N-No!" Merle barked out, backing away from them and right into the iron-ribbed wall. "I'm only in here until Kassius sees that I'm innocent. I-I don't belong here, with you people!"

"So?"

"So... Don't touch me." His voice was brave, but his heart and his soul were quivering in fear.

They all laughed. Sabertooth growled again. "You're ours until you get outta here. That's how the rules work. Got it, kid?"

He bit his lip until the taste of metal bit his tongue, not answering. Sabertooth strolled forwards, making Merle recoil. His clothes were raggedy and stained and he smelled of sweat. Bangs fell into his eyes as he pushed the boy back against the bars of the wall, smirking as Merle squirmed and squeaked, kicking out with his feet and trying, suddenly desperate, to get free.

"L-Leave me alone!" he cried out, right before his lips were crushed with the searing heat of the Sabertooth's mouth, his tongue invading Merle's mouth and his teeth nipping at the boy's lips, pulling and tugging. Merle's hands scrabbled against the older man's chest, trying to shove him away.

Sabertooth pulled away, wrapping his arms around the boy. "It's been so long since we've had new blood in here. You're crazy if you think we'd let you slide. Now this can happen in one of two ways: you can struggle and fight me and it'll hurt like a bitch... Or you can calm down and handle us, take us like a man, and it'll only hurt a little bit." One arm slid down, his hand cupping Merle's ass and pulling him closer. "So what'll it be?"

Merle stiffened and glared at him. He couldn't think, he couldn't speak. He wanted to go home, he wanted safety, he wanted to be away from this bear of a man and his demanding grip and the thoughts of what would happen to him. A whimper escaped him.

The second man, a boy not much older than Merle himself, with curly dark hair and steely eyes, came forwards, his hand rising to cup Merle's cheek. "You're such a beautiful victim," he purred, smiling such an odd smile that quickly turned into a sneer. Two-face... "It will be nice to hear your cries..." And then he ran a slender hand down the boy's neck and kissed him deeply, ignoring the fact that Merle was trying to bite him.

The third man, the one with the braided hair, sat on the backburner, watching with a mild curiosity. When Sabertooth motioned, he pulled his belt from their straps. It was looped around Merle's arms, tying them together tightly. "Good job." Merle wasn't sure if he was talking to him or his men.

"Let's unwrap our little present," Two-face murmured, sidling in close to the struggling boy. With adept fingers, he unzipped and unbuttoned Merle's jeans and slid them down until they rested neatly at his ankles. Fingers traced across the front of his boxers, fingers beckoning a twitch from the boy's cock. Merle backed away from him, only to be enveloped by Sabertooth's long arms, wrapping around his chest.

"Please don't..." he whined out, but it was unheard. Two-face jerked down his boxers, hands immediately touching the boy, fondling, stroking, running his nails down the length. His fingers worked around the organ, massaging it as it grew harder. Merle hissed at himself for reacting like this. He was going to get raped and he was getting turned on!

Sabertooth's hands spread the boy's cheeks, a single finger probing his hole. "Don't!" His voice was harder as he spun around and spat right in the man's face.

The room fell silent and even Two-face jerked back, as if burnt. Sabertooth's face grew dark, his eyes like twin storms, and his hand clapped down roughly on Merle's shoulder, forcing him to his knees. "You little slut... I was going to go easy on you. I even felt a little bit of pity..."

Merle snarled at him, trying to scramble away but only managing to rip open his knee.

Sabertooth unzipped his own jeans, letting his uncut penis pop out, into Merle's face. The boy reacted in disgust, turning away, but there was a fist in his hair and it hurt! Tears sprang to Merle's eyes as the dirty head of Sabertooth's cock forced itself between his lips, then down his throat. He gagged, resisting, and the man thrust it in again.

"You bite me, I'll break your jaw and then face-fuck you anyway!"

Merle arched back, pushing his head into the man's fist so that his hair wasn't pulled so badly. He breathed in deep, forcing his muscles to relax as he gazed up wildly at the man holding him hostage.

"Do you understand that?"

"Y-Yes..."

"Good." And he thrust his length down Merle's throat once more, gagging him over and over as the head brushed the back of his throat. It felt like fire being ignited in his mouth, his eyes burning with unshed angry tears. Merle closed his eyes, letting the man do with him what he wanted.

He gave a squeak of pain at the finger playing at his ass. He tried to turn around, to see what was going on, but this resulted in a slap across the face from Sabertooth. "Don't be gentle with this little mutt. Use force."

So Two-face added another finger, stuffing them both in and spreading them apart. Merle squirmed and squeaked and whined. With each movement, it felt like his fingers were covered in sandpaper, ripping his insides raw.

With the last thrust of the cock in his mouth, Sabretooth held him still, held him with his nose pressed up against his pubic bone until the boy panicked. Snot and cum and spit came up as he choked and coughed, finally released, and Sabertooth let him fall to the floor, heaving.

"Add another finger," he snapped. Two-face did what he was told. Merle moaned, still gasping for air and trying to squirm away. There was a sharp slap as Sabertooth brought his hand down quick on Merle's ass. "Good enough. Move over. Basha, you take him. See if he can handle this."

Feeling the pressure ease from his ass, he swung himself to the side, knocking over Basha, the belt guy, and scrambling sideways. "Please, no. Don't." His voice was sharp, shrill. "Anything else...please...!"

Sabertooth caught him and slammed him forwards, Merle landing on his stomach. "Put your pretty little butt up in the air," he growled, hauling him into position. "You don't understand your situation. You're -mine- you little bitch. Mine."

Basha wrapped an arm around Merle's waist, the other hand holding his own cock. Two-face spread the boy's cheeks for easy access. Merle threw himself from side to side, begging. His whimpers filled the room and tears burned his cheeks as they fell to the stone ground. Sabertooth grabbed him by the hair once more, jerking his head up and laughing down at him.

"No... No, no, no no no no. Please, don't do this. Please—Owwww." His pleas were turned into a scream of pain as Basha buried himself with one smooth stroke. The boy began to shake uncontrollably, his will leaving him as blood tricked down his thighs.

"Tight," muttered Basha when he pulled out and shoved back in again quickly. "Very tight."

Merle's screams were silenced to moans and whimpers, sobs wracking his body. Basha came quickly, coating the boy's organs with his hot seed and Merle fell to the floor in a crumpled pile. Arms tugged faintly at the straps, which Sabertooth surprisingly released, and then they were wrapped around himself.

"You took it rather well, kid. Kayton here," he clapped Two-face on the shoulder. "Screamed for three days straight, ever single fuck. You only yelped once."

Two-face sneered down at him. "Sit up, darling prince. It's my turn and I'm hardly as gentle as Basha. I'll turn you inside out."

Merle shuddered and looked away. "Le-Leave me...alone."

The man gave a snarl and kicked at him, his foot slamming into the boy's ribcage, sending Merle scrambling out of his way with a yelp, like a beaten dog. "I said, get up and I mean get up." He raised his foot again.

"Leave him alone, Kayton." A fourth voice, a new voice, broke the silence. It was smooth, like satin, and deep, like the ocean. Merle raised his head to see a young man stepping out of the shadows, his hair...silver? Yes, definitely silver, and worn loose around his face. He wore no shoes and no shirt, only a pair of knee-torn jeans and his eyes were the golden color of a sunset.

Two-face backed up three steps and bowed a little. Sabertooth and Basha regarded him warily, also bowing slightly. "The Thief wants... this little mutt of a boy?" Two-face sounded unconvinced.

"Perhaps. You have no right to kick him. Remember what happened when you kicked me?"

A flash of pain danced across Two-face's face, his eyes clouding over as if it were a horrible memory. "Yes, Thief, but..."

"Shut up, weasel," snarled the golden-gazed man. "You didn't treat your toy with care and now you've lost it. Go pound off back in your cell." His voice was sharp and demanding. "All of you, back off and butt out. He's mine now. My territory. Don't piss me off again."

The three men backed away, then and Merle looked up into the face of the young man who'd saved him, almost in awe. So the jail did work in a hierarchy-based theme. Merle was down low, on the bottom rung, with Sabertooth and his gang in the middle, and this man, this "Thief" on top.

But who was on top of Thief?

"You okay, darling?" His eyes were light, happy, like the sunshine in a liquid form. Merle curled into himself, still shivering. He watched the thief with an uncertainty that the man merely smiled at. "I'm Torrent. You can call me Tor, though. What's your name?"

"Merle... What do you want from me?"

"Nothing that you can't give," Tor replied easily, then shook his head. "But you don't have to fear me. I won't hurt you. I've been in your position before, Merle. It sucks. Luckily I'm...well equipped for dealing with scumbags like them. Now please... If you'd join me in my cell, they won't be able to get to you."

Merle bit his lip once again. So the man felt okay to him, a little odd, but that was to be expected, right? But why was he the top of the food chain here? How did he make the others just back off like that? Surely there was something...evil about him, to make grown men fear him.

But it was Tor or the possibility of getting raped again...

Slowly he stood up, still naked, his face flushed and his arms wrapped around him tightly. He gazed around until he found his boxers and quickly pulled them on, then braved getting his jeans. The men from the shadows never resurfaced. Not with Tor watching so closely, and like a hawk. With the snap of his button, he turned around and looked the man up and down.

In all honesty, he would be safer with him. Who knows what would happen at night. He'd rather have a watchdog that could possibly hurt him than the unknown which would probably hurt him. He'd take the watchdog...

"Fine...but... Please, don't touch me..."

"Okay Darling. I promise not to touch you tonight. And I don't go back on my word."

Not tonight. The words made him shudder, but he followed the man into the cell anyway. If this was his life now, the least he could do was learn to make the best of it.