1976
His wrists and ankles were bound with silk ties. The same material blocked his vision, wrapped firmly around his head. The bed in which he lay was soft and westernized, but Harm was far too frightened to appreciate the comfort of his cell. And it was a prison just as certainly as if he’d been locked up behind bars and chained to a wall. This was actually far worse, since he knew that he could take care of himself under normal circumstances.
He was completely helpless and Harm knew it. He’d been auctioned off to the highest bidder just an hour ago and now he waited for whomever it was, to come and Claim him. If only he hadn’t trusted those bastards who’d said they could get him to his father. If only he’d listened to his friends and mother and not gone off like some crazy person, spending all his money on an insane quest to find a man he hadn’t seen in over a decade.
None of that mattered anymore,
though. He’d been brought to
The whole thing had been humiliating and frightening, keeping his stomach clenched and his muscles taut with fear, his mind racing. And then he’d gone and humiliated himself further once the auction had begun, pissing himself when the fear had grown uncontrollable on seeing at least thirty men and women bidding on him. They’d all had glittering eyes and hungry expressions as they’d stared at him. For some twisted reason, losing control had started a bidding war between two men in particular.
Shifting on the bed, Harm tried not to think about who had won him. A man whose identity had been hidden behind a screen, though why he couldn’t understand. It wasn’t as though slaves were illegal and the man had to worry about being known as a slave owner. Even if he was military, it wasn’t unheard of for men of rank to own a body slave. And unfortunately, Harm had no illusions about exactly why he’d been bought, not with the way he was restrained and blindfolded.
He hadn’t heard the door opened, but a hand rested on his stomach, pulling a gasp of surprise from him. The bed dipped as someone sat on the bed beside him.
“Easy,” a man murmured. “Don’t be scared.”
“Yeah right. What’s to be scared of?” Harm retorted, yanking at his restraints.
A deep chuckle answered his sarcasm, thankfully, and the man said, “Good point. But know that I won’t hurt you any more than is necessary for the Claiming.”
Harm’s gut clenched in fear at the confirmation and the hand gently began rubbing his stomach. Trying to keep his voice calm, Harm told him, “I shouldn’t be here. I was tricked. Please, you have to let me go.”
There was a sigh, but the man only said, “Too late for that, I’m sorry.”
The hell of it was that he did sound regretful.
“If I don’t Claim you, they’ll refund my money and sell you to the next highest bidder and trust me, you don’t want that.”
Harm instinctively trusted in the soft voice, feeling that the man was doing his best in a bad situation and trying to keep Harm from getting into worse straits. He bit his lip, then asked, “Can I see you? Could you let me use my hands? I wouldn’t be so s-scared if I could move.”
“Not a good idea, son, sorry,” the man replied, his hand continuing in slow circles. “Better you don’t know who I am, in case we meet up again later.”
Frowning, Harm said, more than asked, “You’re military, aren’t you?”
“Smart kid.”
“Not really.”
As if sensing what Harm was thinking, the man asked, “How did you get here?”
Harm grimaced, bitterness rising. “I thought they were going to bring me to my father. He’s a POW here. I gave them money to bring me here, everything I had, and...you can see what happened.”
“I’m sorry.”
Shrugging, not wanting the man’s pity, Harm asked, “What do I call you?”
“Commander will do.”
Harm tried not to notice the hand that slid ever closer to his groin with every pass, but it was impossible to ignore completely. “So, what brought you here?”
“I’m investigating the man who was bidding on you,” the Commander told him.
So he’s JAG, Harm thought in surprise. He didn’t sound JAG. Sounded more like, well, Harm wasn’t sure, but not a lawyer.
That chuckle returned and the Commander observed, “I didn’t say it was an official investigation and no, I’m not a lawyer.”
There was a long silence where Harm tried not to think about what was coming next even as his senses focused on that one point of contact, the hand on his body. He finally asked, “If, if I promise not to remove the blindfold or try to get away, would you free me?”
The silence was shorter before the Commander countered, “Can I take your word for it?”
“Yes,” Harm stated firmly.
There was some movement and then his feet were freed. That done, the Commander undid the ties around Harm’s wrists and spent a few minutes rubbing them, even though the feeling hadn’t been cut off. Relief that he wasn’t completely helpless anymore ran through him. He was startled when a kiss was placed on the inside of his wrist before it was released and the bed dipped again with the Commander’s weight. The kiss on his mouth was even more unexpected and Harm just lay there, unsure what to do.
When the Commander pulled back, he asked, “Ever been with someone, Harmon?”
Harm shook his head, swallowing nervously. “Not yet.”
“That’s too bad,” the Commander murmured. “How old are you?”
“Almost seventeen,” Harm replied, a little defensive. “In another month.”
The Commander soothed, “I just meant that you wouldn’t be so nervous, no need to get offended. It’s probably useless to say this, but try to relax and just let your body react. It’s only going to hurt in the beginning, but trust me when I say you’ll enjoy yourself by the end of it. And before it, come to think of it.”
Before Harm could ask what the amused words meant, wet heat surrounded his limp dick, shocking him enough to steal his voice so that only a squeak escaped. Suction followed and he gasped at the unfamiliar sensations, the Commander’s mouth moving up and down on his cock. An agile tongue slid around his flesh and his cock got hard in spite of the circumstances. Harm groaned in pleasure, his hands gripping the bedspread as he instinctively thrust into the Commander’s mouth. An arm over his hips kept him from thrusting too deep and one of his hands let go of the blanket to curve over the Commander’s head. He was startled to find a bald scalp with a short fringe of hair around the sides, but then he was taken all the way down and cried out in pure pleasure, losing that particular detail when he came.
Panting harshly as his cock was licked and sucked on like some kind of treat, Harm stroked over the mostly bare head and gasped, “Wow.”
That warm chuckle he was fast becoming addicted to echoed in the air and the Commander said, “Glad you liked it. We’ve got more in store, kiddo.”
Harm was going to ask what, when the Commander’s mouth began licking up his body. The mouth stopped at his right nipple, biting gently. Goosebumps erupted all over and his sucked in a shocked breath at the wet caress of mouth and tongue of his nipple while fingers tweaked and twisted the other one. Running his hands over the Commander’s body now that he could reach it, Harm found a strong, defined, chest and back, not a big surprise considering he was in the military. It felt good to touch and be touched, something that he’d never had real access to before. His hands gripped and tugged at the broad shoulders, relishing the feel of them.
He gasped in surprise when the man settled between his legs, cock to cock, the other’s a heavy weight against his own. His mouth was taken in an aggressive, devouring kiss and Harm moaned into it, giving in to the need to get as close to this man as possible. Wrapping his arms around the Commander’s neck and a leg over his hip, Harm responded to the kiss with his own share of aggression, taking just a little control of it.
The Commander chuckled breathlessly when he pulled free and observed, “You’re going to be hell on wheels some day soon, kiddo.”
Taking that as a compliment, Harm grinned and pulled the other man in for more kissing. They made out for a long time, until Harm was hard and breathless again, his body aching for another release, sweat sliding between their skin as they moved.
“God, you taste so good, too good,” the Commander gasped, half rolling them onto their sides. “Shit.”
Harm laughed and asked, “I thought that was a good thing?”
The Commander growled and bit lightly at his throat before pinning Harm to the bed again and whispering, “Impudent,” hotly in his ear and biting it.
Harm jerked at the bite, a slice of sensation overwhelming the brief pain in his lobe. His hips rocked slowly, moving their cocks together, and he whispered back, “Put me in my place, Commander.”
“Fuck!” the Commander hissed, showing the first signs of a loss of control when his hands clamped too-tight on Harm’s waist. He took a few, steadying breaths before asking, “You okay with it now?”
Knowing there was nothing to be done about it regardless, Harm answered honestly, “As long as it’s you.”
“Turn over then, kiddo,” the Commander ordered against his lips.
Harm did so, wishing that he could see the man about to Claim him, but keeping to his promise not to touch the blindfold.
The Commander rubbed slowly down his spine and murmured, “Easy now, relax.”
Taking a breath, Harm slowly let it out and did his best to relax against the pillows that he pulled close. Soft, warm lips pressed kisses down his back, between his shoulder blades and then lower until they reached the cleft of his ass. He squirmed in embarrassment when the Commander licked lightly along the crease and would have struggled free when the tongue pushed slowly inside, if not for his promise.
It seemed much too short a time later that he felt the head of the Commander’s cock at his hole and gasped in pain when he was penetrated. His hands fisted in the blankets and he bit his lip to keep from making any noise.
“It’s okay, Harmon, you’re doing great,” the Commander murmured, having stopped to let him adjust to the invasion. “Make as much noise as you want, kiddo, I know it hurts.”
But Harm shook his head. He buried his face in the pillows when more of what seemed like an impossibly huge cock forced its way in deeper, inch by inch. There were pauses every so often for him to catch his breath. A gentle hand stroked up and down his back, reminding him that it wasn’t a monster Claiming him, it was a good man trying to save him from a bad fate, and that it was his own damn fault that he was in this position in the first place.
Finally, he felt the Commander’s balls tucked up right against his ass and pulled in a deep, shaky breath against the pain, and slowly released it. His entire ass throbbed, stabs of fire all along the length of his...Master’s...cock where it had penetrated him.
“That’s it, kiddo, just relax.”
Harm snorted as he lifted his head and retorted, “Easy for you to say. You don’t have a pole stuck up your ass.”
That caused the Commander to laugh out loud and playfully nip at Harm’s shoulder before saying, “It just feels like that because it’s your first time, honest.”
“I doubt that,” Harm muttered.
There was a softer chuckle and then the Commander kissed the side of his throat and warned, “I’m going to start moving now, just stay relaxed and it’ll get better, I promise.”
It was impossible to obey and Harm stayed tense, the friction extremely uncomfortable as the shaft inside him moved in and out in a steady, slow rhythm. It didn’t vary, though, which did give him an opportunity to get used to the Claiming, if not enjoy it. He gritted his teeth to get through it when one of the Commander’s hands reached under and started stroking Harm’s cock. It was a minor distraction, but enough to pull his full attention from the dick in his ass.
“Relax for me, Harmon, just relax and let it happen,” the Commander whispered between kisses to his throat and ear.
When the man’s hand slid further down to cup and roll Harm’s balls, the pleasurable sensation pushed aside the discomfort at long last and he groaned, spreading his legs for more.
“That’s it, kiddo, feels good, just wait, God you feel amazing, so incredible to me, been so long...”
The breathless quality of the Commander’s voice sent a shiver through Harm, along with an unexpectedly powerful feeling, knowing that he was breaking through the soldier’s control. He gave an experimental push back on the other man’s cock, drawing a hiss of surprise and a groan from the Commander. The pace increased and the angle shifted and Harm jerked in shocked pleasure as lightening went through him from the inside out.
Triumphant, the Commander gritted through his teeth, “That’s it, Harmon, feel it? Feel me in you, just me, take it from me, just me, shit, oh shit that’s it boy, that’s it!”
Harm’s nails dug into the Commander’s thigh as he cried out his release and the big man humped into him as he came, filling him until they both collapsed onto the bed, panting. His entire body was as limp and sated as his cock and Harm relished the heavy weight of the Commander on him as the other man regained his own senses. It was grounding, keeping him from floating away.
“You with me?”
Harm sighed deeply and shook his head, pulling the Commander’s arm around his waist and snuggling into the pillow as he answered, “Nope.”
The Commander chuckled and brought Harm’s hand up so that he could kiss the inside of his wrist, holding it gently to his mouth before wrapping it around Harm again.
“Why do you do that?” Harm asked, sleepy but curious.
There was a pause before the Commander answered, “So I can feel your pulse, be close to your heart, for however short a time we have together.”
Alarm beat back the exhaustion and Harm twisted towards him, though he wouldn’t be able to see with the blindfold still in place. “Why? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, kiddo, nothing,” the Commander promised. “You’re safe with me, I promise.”
Relieved, Harm settled back down, wincing when the cock slid from his ass, but it didn’t hurt badly enough to mention.
“Get some sleep, Harmon. It’s going to be a busy day tomorrow,” the Commander ordered softly.
Harm sighed deeply and nodded, holding fast to the arm around him and relaxing for the first time in what seemed like months. Sleep found him quickly and he heard the regretful sigh at his ear, but didn’t have the energy to question it.
1996
Krennick had always made Harm nervous. In a world where women didn’t have much power and weren’t encouraged to get any except, perhaps, through marriage, she actively sought it out and achieved it on her own terms. On top of that, she was aggressive in her pursuit of Harm, even though she wanted no role as wife in his life. She was blunt to the point of embarrassment about what she wanted from him, cornering him at every opportunity possible. It was only through fast talking that he’d so far managed to elude her. It was depressing, really, that the only one who wanted him was a power-hungry woman with no apparent redeeming qualities, but Harm thought about that as little as possible.
Meeting Rear Admiral AJ Chegwidden for the first time had pretty much scared the piss out of Harm, though he hadn’t shown it. The man was larger than life, his reputation solid gold from his service as a SEAL in Vietnam, to command of a destroyer, and then going to law school and joining JAG. There was something about him that struck right into Harm’s gut, but it wasn’t a simple, physical attraction. There was something...visceral...about his reaction to the other man, but Harm couldn’t quite figure out what. Not that the man didn’t scare the bejesus out of anyone unlucky enough to piss him off, which Harm managed with alarming frequency, but it was more than that.
It was good to have Meg in the office, if only to have someone that didn’t intimidate him in any fashion. Bud was good for that too, but with Meg, he didn’t have to worry about living up to anyone’s expectations. They could just be comrades and friends, a light, easy thing that had no tension of any sort to mar the relationship.
There was plenty of action in his life, no doubt about that. More than enough to keep his thoughts from Krennick’s continued sexual harassment and Chegwidden’s distracting and confusing presence. As an added bonus, his career was nonstop on its upward climb. With each case, Harm built up his reputation as a lawyer, gaining the respect that he’d always craved but never gotten outside the small circle of a pilot’s world. Even on cases that he lost, there was always some kind of plus, because he was always learning and did the best he could. Fortunately, the losses came few and far between.
After he’d been taken prisoner
by the Chinese and his mind messed with so that he thought he was talking to
his father, Harm couldn’t stop the thoughts about the first time he’d been in
For the first time in twenty years, though, Harm couldn’t stop thinking about that soldier. His work suffered for his distraction and it was only a couple of weeks after his return to JAG that he discovered what it was like to be on the Admiral’s radar for real.
* * * *
Standing at attention in front of the Admiral’s desk, Harm waited for the dressing-down to begin with a feigned patience that he didn’t come anywhere close to feeling.
Chegwidden sat behind the desk, nominally reading a report as he ignored Harm a few minutes longer. He finally looked up, over the rim of his glasses, and questioned, “I suppose you have an excuse for your poor performance over the last two weeks?”
Harm shook his head, continuing to stare straight ahead. “No, Sir!”
“Hmm. Well, at least you’re not a coward, even if you are a liar.”
Anger jolted through him and Harm hotly denied, “I am not! Sir.”
Chegwidden’s hazel eyes met Harm’s blue ones with a strange kind of gentleness as he observed, “You were mind-fucked, Commander, and in a pretty serious way. You have every excuse in the book for the last two weeks and I’m inclined to show you a little leeway, even if you refuse to ask for it.”
“Sir, there’s no need to...”
“Did I give you permission to speak?”
The tone was mild, but Harm immediately shut up.
Taking off his glasses, Chegwidden sighed and said, “Needing some space isn’t anything to be ashamed of, Rabb. Not after what you went through. I want you to take a week off and get some distance before coming back to work.”
“Sir, may I speak freely?”
Chegwidden gestured for him to do so.
Relaxing a little from attention, Harm told him, “What I went through...it brought up some memories that I haven’t thought about for a long time. I’m sorry that it interfered with my work here at JAG, but if you send me home for a week with nothing to do...I need to work, Sir.”
Gazing at him shrewdly, Chegwidden questioned, “If I send you to a shrink, you’ll just lead her on a wild goose chase, won’t you?”
Harm couldn’t help a faint smirk as he replied, “I did date a psychologist for quite a while, Sir.”
“All right, Commander. Get your ass back into shape, or I’ll get it into shape for you.”
Straightening at the order, Harm saluted and agreed, “Yes, Sir!”
“Dismissed.”
Harm turned sharply and left the office, breathing a sigh of relief when he was outside the wooden doors. Unfortunately, he hadn’t gone two steps before he was joined by Krennick.
“Did he give you a new one?” Krennick asked, amused.
Grimacing, Harm replied, “No.”
She smirked. “Too bad. I’m sure he’d have had a lot of fun doing it.”
Harm gritted his teeth and asked, “Did you need something?”
“Just you, naked.”
Taking a step back just as she stepped closer, instinct kicking in, Harm was trying to find something he could say to her without coming out a complete loser when he was preempted.
“Commander Krennick!”
They both jumped to attention at the Admiral’s bark of her name.
“My office, now!”
Krennick shot Harm a dirty look, as if it was his fault that she was a letch, but almost immediately strode towards the Admiral’s office.
Harm met Chegwidden’s gaze, not sure what to expect, and found a strangely protective expression in place. Startled, he opened his mouth to say something, though what he didn’t know, but the other man turned and left before anything could escape.
“Everything okay?” Meg asked, coming up from behind.
Turning to her with a bewildered expression, Harm answered, “I have no idea.”
She grinned and patted him on the arm. “I don’t think you have to worry about Commander Krennick anymore.”
Harm gazed at the closed doors and muttered, “For the time being, anyhow.”
“Come on. You own me lunch,” Meg teased.
Letting himself be pulled out of the confusion, Harm followed her away from the Admiral’s office.