Cutwork by Rachel Sabotini

[capra-maritimus.livejournal.com]

Title: Cutwork: A Tapestry Of Pleasure And Pain
Author: Rachael Sabotini
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: Q/O
Warnings: Yes. 1) It has heavy S/M, needles, and bloodletting; 2) It's an indulgence for those who like it intense; 3) It's really weird. Let's just work with that....

Author's e-mail, web site and/or LJ id: Rachael@mediafans.org (Does anyone know if this is still working?)
Link to story: http://www.masterapprentice.com/archive/c/cutwork.html (Her site seems to be gone so I've linked to the M_A archive.)

Reasons for recommending:

Oh my fucking god. I say this because normally I'm not at all into heavy kink. [On the sexuality flavour spectrum, I'm maybe strawberry.] However, there's just something about this story that makes me reread it over and over again. After a couple (hundred!) of rereads it hit me: there is more going on in the story here than just kinky sex. [Incredibly hot kinky sex, yeah.] There's intrigue and undercover work and angst -- and it's all set up so subtly that it's easy to miss the first time in the intensity of the character's emotions.

Quote from story:

It doesn't take much to get him into bed; it takes a lot more to keep him. I manacle each wrist with the chains provided, cutting and tearing away his robes as required. The men around me laugh, watching the Jedi Master humbled. It is what they live for.

But Qui-Gon and I have played this game before, though never as deeply as we plan to do now. As Jedi, we held ourselves back from that edge, a luxury we could not afford. There are no such protections here; we must rely on trust. I can read it in his eyes as he watches me, though I cannot feel it in the Force. The room itself is shielded.

"Can't you be quicker about it?" Loquim, the regent's brother, calls out. "We'll be at this all night."

"If you're bored," I say, turning to glare at him, "I suggest you go elsewhere. This is going to take a while."

He gapes at me. "What?"

I speak calmly to him, as if to a child. "Loquim, he's a Jedi. He's been trained to ignore pain. You don't think a few hours of simple torture is going to give you what you want, do you?" I nod at Qui-Gon. "Look at him. He's already been beaten. If the answer was easy, don't you think you'd have it by now?"

He visibly pales under his neatly-trimmed beard as he gazes at the battered body, and I remember that he is only recently come into this little conspiracy. I finish securing my former Master to the bed and turn my attention completely to Loquim, playing my role as Inquisitor to the hilt.

Laying a black-gloved hand on his arm, I speak softly. "Your sister said she needed the information by tomorrow night, and I will have it for her. If you have no stomach for this, you'd better leave now." I gesture at the cameras that are monitoring the room. "You have other spies in here. You need not be present yourself."

The information that Qui-Gon will give me is fake, anyway. What matters is that the extraction of it appear real.

More discussion:

The previous excerpt is from the very beginning of the story. Within a few short paragraphs Rachel has already established:

1. That Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan are lovers.
2. That Obi-Wan is a Jedi in his own right.
3. That they are on an undercover mission.
4. That their mission is to pass on false information.
5. That there is a rebellion going on, lead by the regent's sister.
6. That Obi-Wan has to torture Qui-Gon to give authenticity to the information.
7. That both Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon will get pleasure out of said 'torture'.

Whew! And the details and plot twists keep on coming.

Aside from the intrigue the emotional intensity is almost overwhelming. The story is from Obi-Wan's POV and we see him run through the gamut of lust, fear (of discovery, of losing control, of failing Qui-Gon), rage (at the council for sending them on this mission in the first place), and intoxicating happiness (at being able to leave behind the Code for the duration of this scene). It is a heady mixture, one which lets the reader not only feel but understand some of what Obi-Wan experiences.

I especially like the role reversal. Obi-Wan is the master so to speak: this part of the mission is his responsibility. Then, when they return to their ship, Qui-Gon takes on the master role briefly in helping Obi-Wan start to deal with the after effects of the strain, but he is too weak to do so for more than a few minutes. Obi-Wan takes over again as leader of the mission, yet acknowledges that Qui-Gon will always be his master.

I realise that many people will be squicked by the subject matter. For those who are not, I say read this.

My favourite quote:

I let my eyes dwell on his chest and his cock. There are how things seem, and how things are. The conspirators will see what they expect, a man tortured to give up his information -- while Qui-Gon and I make love.

Your perception determines your reality, or so the saying goes.

Guh.

Comments

[ausmac.livejournal.com]

All true. This story allowed me some understanding of sadomasichism, of how pain and pleasure, two so obvious opposites, can come together. The fact that its bloody hot says it all, I guess (Mac the Kink).

[temve.livejournal.com]

Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. That was my first reaction to it, and like you, after about a dozen re-reads I'm still rediscovering the layers in this story. And still going rrrrrrrrrr on a regular basis. I have such a kink for Qui-Gon being brought down and... guh.

[capra-maritimus.livejournal.com]

And you know, I can read it and find it hot, but in RL if I get (for example) bitten a little too hard my desire fades in the face of the pain. *shrug*

I've always said I'll read (almost) anything if it's well written. :D

[capra-maritimus.livejournal.com]

Heh. My kink is more for the 'underdog/younger/whatever' to turn the tables on the 'older/more experienced/whatever' partner. :D

[capra-maritimus.livejournal.com]

and like you, after about a dozen re-reads I'm still rediscovering the layers in this story.

This fic is like onions. And Ogres. LOL