Walking a Line

Shortly after, Nicky bounded down the stairs with a full plate in one hand and a lap tray in the other. "Hey, you're awake," he said, and set the tray over Dave's midsection. It barely touched his stomach, and the chaise lounge was just wide enough to accommodate its sides. Nicky put the plate of scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, and two slices of toast on the tray. "I'll be right back," he said, and hurried back up the stairs.

Dave eyed the breakfast suspiciously. It smelled good, but it was made by the ghost of a fucking serial killer. One good thing, though - Nicky would have to uncuff him so he could eat it. Maybe he could book it up the stairs and -

Nicky came back with another plate and a TV tray. He unfolded the tray's stand with a flick of the wrist, set it up, and put the plate on the tray. The food on it was identical to Dave's plate except that Nicky's toast and eggs had grape jelly on them. "One last thing and we can eat."

Back up the stairs and then down and he had two glasses of orange juice in his hands. "I assume you'll like it since it came from your fridge." Nicky set the glasses down and pulled himself up a chair as close to the chaise as he could get. "Now... how's it look? I had to make assumptions based on what all you had..."

He realized Dave was staring at him, a little wide-eyed, body shaking lightly. His breathing was also a little quick. "You okay?"

Swallowing hard, Dave tried to find his voice. "You're Nicholas Kelly. You murdered people. I think it was twelve."

Nicky looked down at the floor for a few quiet moments. "Eleven," he said. "It was eleven." He looked back up. "But that can't happen to you. I wasn't in love with any of them. They were attractive, and I wanted to keep them, but all they wanted was to leave. Even if you could get free, you would never run, because you know you'd have to leave Taylor behind with me. And who knows where I'd be when you got back."

The look on Dave's face showed how upset he would be if this scenario ever did happen. Of course Nicky wouldn't stick around. Taylor would be recognized by some people, but not most, and that would give Nicky all the chances in the world to use Taylor's money to run and hide.

Cocking his head, Nicky said, "You look like you're going to cry." He reached out to touch Dave's face, but Dave jerked away from it, almost tipping over the tray. Surprised, Nicky pulled his hand back. "Hey... hey, you don't have to be afraid. Look, your food is getting cold." Nicky brought a forkful of eggs to Dave's mouth.

"Did you poison it?" Dave asked, voice shaking.

Blinking in disbelief, Nicky put the eggs in his own mouth and chewed them, spreading out his arms as if to say, "Are you serious?" He swallowed them down and said, "See? No poison." Then he jokingly grabbed his throat and hollered, "Gaaaak!" Nicky laughed at his own joke.

Dave did not laugh.

"Dave, come on. If I wanted to kill you, I would have done it already. I don't want to kill you." Nicky offered him another forkful of eggs.

After a short pause, Dave accepted the food and chewed it carefully. He wrinkled up his nose. "Can I have some salt on it?"

"Sure." Nicky salted the eggs, chopped them up a little finer with the fork, and mixed in the salt. Dave took another forkful. "Better?"

"Uh huh." Dave watched him feed himself some of his own eggs, which were mixed with grape jelly. His daughter's grape jelly. Dave wanted to get angry about this psycho eating his kid's food, but he couldn't afford that now. He needed to try to gain Nicky's trust. "Can I be uncuffed so I can feed myself?"

Nicky simply replied, "No," and offered him a piece of bacon.

With an angry sigh, Dave ripped off a mouthful of bacon with his teeth.

Nicky, holding up the glass of orange juice, said, "Let me know when you're thirsty."

"Did you drug it?" His tone came out bitter and sarcastic.

Nicky just grinned and shook his head. "No, I want you awake."

Why, thank you for allowing me to stay awake! That's so thoughtful of you! Dave scowled a little before accepting a bite of sausage.

Nicky furrowed his brow while staring at Dave's face. He sighed. "Did I hear you screaming and crying after I left you last night?"

After a reluctant pause, Dave admitted, "Yeah."

"Is that because you figured out who I was?"

Again, Dave said, "Yeah."

Nicky produced a wet rag from beside his plate and began to clean Dave's face with it, especially under his nose. It wasn't like Dave had been able to do it himself, what with his hands being cuffed up. At first, Dave recoiled from the touch, shuddering visibly, but soon he was able to calm himself enough to deal with Nicky acting upon him without permission. It wasn't like he had a choice, and his moustache did feel pretty gross. Still, he said, "You don't have to do that."

"I'm used to it," Nicky said with a fond grin. "Remember, I was a nurse."

How horrifying, to think of you taking care of helpless people.

"I thought about coming down here to comfort you, but I knew you wouldn't want me to do that once you realized who I am." Nicky sadly looked down at the floor. "You needed time away from me."

Dave's stomach growled. "You were right to give me some time. I'll be alright, okay?" He nodded to the food. "Let's get back to it before it gets cold. You went to all that trouble to make it."

Nicky smiled softly. It felt nice when Dave acknowledged something he did.

They continued eating like that, Nicky switching between feeding Dave and feeding himself, until they were almost done.

Oogly came up to both men then, jumping up on the chaise lounge and sniffing at a small piece of bacon on Dave's plate. "Mreow."

"Awww. Can he have some or are you against table scraps?" Nicky asked.

"She. She can have that piece."

Nicky offered the bacon to Oogly, who licked it before taking it in her mouth and laying down with it between her paws, licking and biting off smaller pieces of it to chew.

Nicky seemed delighted with the cat, giggling at the way she ate. "You should've seen her eat her canned food up in the kitchen. She puts her paw in and scoops up some food and eats it off her paw. That is so cute."

Dave nodded. "My daughters love to watch her do that." His face serious and eyes pleading, he begged, "Please don't hurt my cat."

"What?" Nicky scratched Oogly behind the ears. She purred, eyes closed. "I don't want to hurt the kitty. I had a cat. My sister took him in when I was arrested. He's dead by now. But I loved my kitty. He was a tuxedo cat, and you're a calico, yeah." Nicky rubbed Oogly's back.

Oogly leaned over and cheeked Nicky's knee with enthusiasm. Purr, purr.

"Huh, I always thought cats were good judges of people." Dave made a show of looking Nicky up and down. "I guess not."

Nicky actually frowned, like his feelings were hurt. He retorted, "Well maybe she thinks I'm Taylor."

Uh oh. Dave could not afford to piss this guy off. "I'm sorry, Nicky. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. But you have to admit, I have reason to be wary of you. You killed people."

In response, Nicky actually shrugged. "I had my reasons."

Sure. They had tried to escape. Nicky didn't enjoy the power he had over his victims at all, of course not. It wasn't bothersome at all that he helped himself to Dave's bed, food, other belongings, and his body as well. Nicky just had boundary issues.

Dave wanted to say all of these things, but he knew it was a bad idea. Instead, he said, "I've really got to go to the bathroom. You're not going to make me use a fucking bedpan, are you?"

"No." Nicky started to clean up the dishes, making a couple trips up and down the stairs. Dave heard the dishwasher start up. When Nicky came back, he reached into the waistband of Taylor's jeans, behind his back, and pulled the gun. "Now this is how this is going to go."

*****

Dave thought about all the instructions he'd been given while sitting on the toilet. Occasionally, he stretched his shoulders again. It felt so good to be able to move his arms. Looking down at his red, sore wrists, he recalled every word Nicky had said.

"I'm going to uncuff you. At all times that you are free, you're going to stay far enough away that I feel you can't try to overpower me. If you come at me, I will shoot Taylor in the face. Don't think you can get to me before I do it; I'll be watching your every move. Don't even risk it. If you run out the door or try to signal someone for help, I will either leave and hide myself away from you or just shoot Taylor in the head. It's your choice.

"If I ask you for your wrist, you will present it for recuffing, no arguments. I'm going to let you take a shower too. Would you like that?"

Dave had nodded, grateful for the chance to get off the damn chaise. Now here he sat, his warden deigning to allow him to take a crap and a shower... a lovely, hot shower. It would probably feel good, so good on his sore shoulders. He could hardly wait.

Nicky sat on the floor by the bathroom door, spinning the gun on his finger by the trigger guard. When Dave flushed the toilet and stood up, he was back on alert, holding it to Taylor's chin.

What he didn't know is that Dave had decided to take a cue from Kurt and distract this asshole wherever he could, in hopes that it would cause Nicky to let his guard down. What better way to do it than by seducing him. Instead of pulling up his boxer shorts, Dave simply stepped out of them, standing before the other man naked.

Nicky practically drooled. Swallowing hard, he said, "Turn around. Show me it all."

Dave did, looking back over his shoulder and grinning.

"Now, turn back around and close the toilet so you can sit on it. I want you to play with yourself a bit."

Instead of arguing, Dave just did it, sitting down and parting his legs, his hand going to his crotch and promptly beginning to massage his balls. Dave closed his eyes to slits and opened his mouth just a little, enough to look alluring. He put an arm behind his head, other hand moving to his cock and stroking it slowly. "Uhhh..." he moaned.

Although he lowered the gun, Nicky kept his distance, watching eagerly. He did wonder why Dave was being so obedient. After about thirty seconds of watching him get harder and harder and listening to him pant and moan, Nicky commanded him to stop. "Stop, stop, stop. Shew, you are getting me going."

Coquettish, Dave batted his eyes and said, "You're not going to leave me hanging, are you?"

"No, I will not leave you hanging. We are going to finish this game. But first, you are going to take your shower. Damn, I wish I could get in there with you. You can't be trusted with that yet, though. Maybe next time, I can find a way to truss you up so I can wash you. God, that would be hot as hell." Nicky gestured to the shower with the gun. "Get in there before I throw you to the floor and fuck you right here."

Dave, smirking, stood up and opened the shower door.

Nicky watched him step in and added, "And don't you finish yourself off in there either. I want you hard and ready when you come out."

Dave smiled to himself. Kurt, it's working.

He could see Nicky sitting in the doorway through the frosted shower door. Dave washed his hair, soaped up his body, everything he would normally do during a shower, except he also kept himself hard by occasionally stroking his cock. He knew this would lead to some form of sex, but it would only help him gain Nicky's trust. Dave didn't like the idea of spending another day with the ghost. This couldn't be helped. Maybe all of this would lead to an escape sooner than later.

When he stepped out of the shower, towelling off his hair, Nicky looked at his hard cock and breathed out a shaky breath. "Oh, Dave... I want to fuck you. I really need to chain you to your bed and fuck you real good."

In that moment, Dave realized he couldn't do it. The first time he and Taylor did that, Dave wanted it, needed it, to be just him and Taylor, alone. "I don't want to," he said, and added, "not yet. I'm not ready."

Nicky stood up. "Have you ever been fucked before?"

With a long sigh, Dave decided that he had to tell the truth. It would help gain Nicky's trust, and serve to seduce him, give him things to fantasize about and look forward to. The more Nicky focused on such distracting things, the more chances Dave had to overpower him. "Yes. It was Kurt."

Dave didn't think that Nicky's eyes could get any wider in reaction. He couldn't speak for a few seconds, mouth gaping like a dying fish. "You and Kurt, you... oh, that's the hottest thing ever. He... he fucked you... how many times?"

"Several." Looking down, pretending that this was hard to talk about, Dave sighed and said, "We did other things too." He was, honestly, a little surprised at his own candidness, how easy this was to admit, but once he got started, Dave found it a cathartic thing to confess. So few people knew. He had once told Jordyn, but Taylor... Taylor did not know.

Would he know now? Was he hearing this?

Swallowing down a lump in his throat, Nicky asked, "Did you ever fuck Kurt?"

"No," Dave replied, shaking his head. "I was submissive to him. It turned him on."

A sexually excited shudder visibly passed up Nicky's back, so hard that he moaned involuntarily. "I can't believe this is true. The whole time I was listening to Nirvana, you guys were... holy shit, Dave, please let me fuck you."

Again, he shook his head. "Please try to understand, it's too emotional for me right now. You brought up all these feelings I had buried and... I need time. Please give me time."

Holding out the handcuffs, Nicky said, "You have to let me do other things."

"Of course," Dave assured, blinking coyly, like there had never been a question.

Smiling suddenly, excited that Dave wasn't fighting him on some things, Nicky tossed him the handcuffs. "Put one wrist into the cuffs."

Dave did as he was told.

"Get those towels and bring them with you."

Dave's hunch was right, Nicky had been sleeping in the bed he shared with Jordyn, a king size with an ornate brass headboard. Nicky took him to that bed now. "Dry yourself off as much as you can."

Dave did.

"Now spread that towel on the bed, and put the other one over the pillows. You're hair is still wet. Once you've done all that, lay down on the towels and put your arms up."

Once Dave was lying down, he watched Nicky put the handcuff key on the bedside table and then lean over him to grab the cuff that had not yet been locked down on his free wrist. He made a split second decision. Dave didn't want to hurt Taylor, but he had no choice. He had to get them both out of this.

Dave's hand shot up and grabbed hold of Taylor's hair, yanking him down and slamming his head into the headboard. His skull made a loud CLANG sound, and he grunted in pain and surprise. Dave scrambled over him, going for the handcuff key. His plan was to get the cuff off so he could use the handcuffs to subdue Nicky, chaining him to the bed instead, and then he could go for help.

But Nicky wasn't even half as dazed as Dave thought he was. Nicky had dealt with how to hold a grown man captive many times, and this wasn't the first time one had tried to escape. As Dave rolled over him, he quickly turned over and grabbed Dave's hair as he had done to him, pulling him back as Dave still tried to get a hold of the handcuff key. His concern for saving Taylor would be his undoing. Nicky reached around and took hold of Dave's balls, squeezing them as hard as he could. At first, Dave still tried to fight, but after a few seconds of the pain, he crumpled, screaming angrily. Nicky didn't wait for Dave to recover or start using his hands at all; he used Dave's hair to pivot him around, swinging him down on his stomach, and pinned him down with a knee in his back.

"Fucking bastard... you motherfucker..." Dave was growling. He still panted and groaned in pain, much more dazed than Nicky had been after the strike to the head.

"Always go for the balls," Nicky taunted. He grabbed the other end of the handcuffs, wound the chain around the brass bars in the headboard, and slapped the other cuff over Dave's free wrist. Then he got up, panting, and put a hand to his head. "Fuck, that hurt!"

When Dave realized what had happened, he whimpered. He was a prisoner again, and all the trust he had been trying to build was gone. "No, no, I'm sorry, it was a spur of the moment decision, it was wrong. Please, please don't hurt Taylor."

"Taylor?" Nicky picked up the gun. He got on top of Dave's back and leaned down into his face, putting the barrel against his nose. "You should be worried about yourself."

Dave breathed hard, saying nothing at first, wondering if he had just screwed himself into a bullet in the head. "You said you loved me, you wouldn't be able to kill me."

"Hm. I guess you've got me there." Nicky put the gun on the bedside table, where Dave could see it. "But I do have to punish you for what you just did, so you will majorly think twice before you do it again." He opened the top drawer in the bedside table, like he knew exactly what was in there. Dave realized he probably did, as he'd gone through these drawers before to find the gun. Nicky pulled out a tube colored blue, with the word 'His' printed on it. "You and the missus have His and Hers lube, huh? You have a lot of fun with it? You get real kinky with it?" He licked his finger, then reached between Dave's round cheeks, massaging his puckered entrance with the wet fingertip.

Dave whimpered again. "Don't, please, don't."

Nicky hissed into Dave's ear. "Your punishment is I'm going to be Kurt."