Page 45 of Midnight Sun
“Ow, watch it,” Jamie complains, feeling the harsh yank of the rope up to his shoulders.
Finn turns in the saddle and watches him with an unreadable expression. He says something in Icelandic that Jamie doesn’t understand. Finn doesn’t seriously want to play it like that, does he?
Finn tugs on the rope again and growls a word in Icelandic. Jamie doesn’t know the word, of course, but the meaning is clear.Move.
“No,” Jamie grits his teeth. When he wanted to force Finn to react, maybe even to punish him, he had imagined the situation to play out differently. He was thinking more along the lines of the fun and sexually gratifying kind of punishment, not being dragged along on the most uncomfortable hiking trip.
Finn repeats his command. He sounds impatient now.
Jamie shakes his head. Finn turns his horse and closes the distance between them. It takes all of Jamie’s willpower not to back away. He thought Finn would look ridiculous on the back of an Icelandic pony, but his chestnut is as big as Icelandic horses get and looks mean with his chunky head and a tattered ear. Finn told him his horse got caught in barbed wire when he was a foal, but Jamie suspects the beast must’ve been fighting a rabid dog or something. Pony or not, Jamie feels small with Finn looming over him.
Finn takes hold of Jamie’s chin and tilts his head upward. Jamie has to bite his lips to stifle a moan. He didn’t realize before that Finn was wearing riding gloves and he didn’t expect the leather to feel so good on his skin, either.
“Are you tired?” Finn amplifies his accent a thousandfold, and it goes straight to Jamie’s groin.
“I–,” he doesn’t want to admit to a weakness, but he doesn’t feel like he can walk another hour. “Yes.”
“I can see that.” Finn gently caresses from Jamie’s temple down to his neck, where his sweat is drying in the sunlight. “You brought this upon yourself, you know?”
Jamie doesn’t answer, but now that they’re resting, he begins to feel how exhausted he is. It’s been a long day on set, and then there has been more arguing and riding and jogging after Finn over rough terrain. Also, the snacks they were served for lunch seem like ages ago. Jamie’s stomach grumbles.
“You want me to allow you to ride the rest of the way?”
Jamie squeezes his eyes shut, but nods. He feels sore as it is. He doesn’t need to make things worse. Finn pulls on the short hair at the back of Jamie’s skull. It doesn’t really hurt, but the sharp tug has Jamie gasping in surprise.
“You’ll have to look me in the eye and ask for what you want.”
Jamie opens his eyes, more out of surprise than acquiescence. He feels himself blushing. Why does Finn affect him so much? Jamie swallows. Everything in him resists asking Finn to let him ride the rest of the way, but he doesn’t want to walk any further either.
“Can I ride?” Jamie manages to choke out after some long seconds. “Please?”
“Will you accept your punishment later?”
“More punishment?” Jamie isn't sure if he should be embarrassed or relieved about the pitiful quality his voice adopts. At least, Finn won’t think he’s defying him again.
Finn grins down at him somewhat evilly. “You deserve it.”
“Fine.” Jamie struggles to keep his features under control, but he can’t help pouting.
Finn chuckles. “You’re so desperate to be put in your place, but you have no idea how to be docile.”
Before Jamie can argue his statement, Finn leans down and grabs him by the neck and belt and hauls him up. Jamie squeals as he’s unceremoniously thrown over the saddle, so he’s lying in front of Finn.
“Your horse can’t carry us both,” Jamie says to Finn’s boots. No way he’ll let Finn drag him around like a sack of grain. Finn pats Jamie’s ass, the bastard, and steers his horse in step.
“Don’t worry. Faxi can carry your little bottom just fine.”
Jamie wants to throttle him. It’s humiliating. But if he weren’t a little seasick from the way he’s thrown face-down over the horse’s back, he would’ve probably combusted from the way Finn’s hand brushes over his ass and thighs as if by accident. It’s a little bit of bliss and a huge portion of torture.
It doesn’t take as long as Jamie feared to reach Finn’s cabin. It’s a small house, made of wood and painted a vivid blue, nestled against the mountainside. From the little barn, they can look over rolling hills covered with lupines blooming in all shades of purple down to the sea. Jamie is still dizzy from the ride, but he’s immediately in love with the place.
“Tend to the horses,” Finn says after he probably thinks Jamie has stared at the landscape for long enough.
“What?”
Finn steps behind him and gently bites his ear. “You little knight, take care of the horses. You can come inside when you’re done. Of course, you can try to run again, but I wouldn’t recommend that. You know that I’ll hunt you down, and it’ll only add to your punishment.”
Jamie shudders. This isn’t even a proper scene and they’re half-assing the roleplay, both of them slipping in and out of character. Jamie wants to complain to Finn that all of this is bad BDSM etiquette, that he isn’t getting a kick out of it. Only problem is that the opposite is the case. It feels like they’ve been playing together long enough to pull a sloppy scene off effortlessly and still make it amazing. Unfortunately, Jamie loves everything Finn does. It feels like home.