Reluctant Gladiator

RELUCTANT GLADIATOR - Part Sixteen A story by Pete Brown (petebrownuk @ yahoo.com)

Read all of Pete's stories at groups.yahoo.com/group/petebrownseroticstories

Look, you can get over humiliations, although it can be very hurtful at the time and their memory can leave unpleasant scars. So I recovered from being caned again as did the other guys, I suppose. And after a few days Straughan announced that we were to be allowed to start to regrow our body hair and resume wearing uniforms - I suppose he thought that a sufficient "signal" had been sent to the other gladiators in the school about absolute obedience. Or, more likely, he had his eye on the commercial aspects of these things - when the public pay to see gladiators fight, they want to see men, not hairless "boys" (well except for the very youngest as I've explained, where body shaving was considered to add to their attraction by making it look as if even younger kids were on display).

My fighting "career" was going well and I was steadily working my way up the ladder, and at least in our school I was considered to be number two to Mike. I had no desire to knock Mike off the top of the ladder, obviously - it meant everything to him, and I knew that my period of indenture would soon be up and I would return to the free world. He continued to win, too, though, and as it was Straughan's policy not to have fighters from the school fight each other, the actual question of which of us would be Champion were we to fight each other never arose.

When I went into the arena now though - and I'd "graduated" to fighting in the biggest arenas in front of crowds of two and three thousand - I couldn't help noticing that there were some empty seats, and that the "standing room" high at the top was no longer used for the overflow. It looked as if the popularity of gladiator combat was waning, and Straughan had thought of several "innovations" - like giving us clubs to hit each other with - to improve the attractiveness of the bouts. This hadn't been successful though, as although they were indeed popular with the crowd, the risk of injury and even death was substantially increased, and once a sizeable proportion of the gladiators was unable to fight because of casts on their arms and legs, and we lost one guy to a fractured skull, the "experiment" was dropped and we reverted to using only bare fists and our bodies.

Their were rumours flying around that Straughan planned further innovations, although Mike had no idea what they were. He'd been consulted by Straughan about the clubs and had initially been in favour as he told me he thought that it enhanced the desirability of us big tough "brawlers". "After all, Steve, if you get the kick boxers trying to beat the shit out of each other with clubs, you lose the point of having those athletic guys, don't you? So you may as well have big tough guys like us do it, and that means more bouts for you and me."

"...and more risk of injury. An insane risk, actually."

"No pain, no gain, Steve! You know that. Think of all the extra bouts, all the extra winnings....", and he gave a wolfish grin "..and all the extra bitches!" (Mike had given up his idea of saving his winnings and handing them over to me after about a month. He told me he considered his need for a bitch to fuck right there and then outweighed some possible need I might have in the distant future. I wasn't surprised, actually - he was full of good intentions, but the needs of his body ultimately always overrode them.)

Anyway, we were flowing out of the mess hall one night when Mike pointed out to me that there seemed to be a new guard standing looking at all of us. I did a double take, as I thought I recognised him - and, indeed, it was m old marine buddy Jason.

I went over to him - he was much smarter than the average guard, his boots polished to an unbelievably high gloss, his shirt and pants crisp and freshly pressed, and his leather belt with its taser and short strap hanging down shone with the attention they were pressumably paid.

"Jason! What the fuck are you doing here...?" I stuck my hand out as you would when you meet an old buddy.

"Steve, good to see you. And you do look good - life as a gladiator slave obviously suits you!" His eyes had raked down my body as he said this, and I felt a little strange standing there in front of my old buddy dressed only in the skimpy uniform - I guess I'd got used to being dressed in almost nothing by now, and around the school with all the other gladiators and guards I never even thought about it. But with my old buddy it was somehow sort of different, especially as he was so crisply and immaculately dressed.

I noticed he didn't grasp my hand, and I felt a bit foolish standing there with my hand out, and gradually lowered it. "To cut a long story short, there was a buy-out offered for men with several years service still to run as they needed fewer marines and still wanted to be able to recruit 'new blood'. I was getting bored without guys like you around as a lot of us were taking the buy-out. I liked the idea of having a bit of a nest egg, I saw Philips' Fighters was looking for trainers, so I took the government's money, and here I am."

"But you're a guard, Jason. We hated it when we had to act as guards for prisoners after a big battle...."

"No, Steve, actually I'm a trainer. The head trainer. I just feel more comfortable in uniform. When I came for interview Straughan was impressed with my background and some ideas I have for improving the fights, and he said we needed more proper marines discipline generally, so here I am."

I went to slap him on the back as he'd ignored my handshake. "Fucking good for you, Jase! Let's get together and catch up....."

"Steve, I think it would be better if you called me 'sir', and...."

"Jase? Is that you? My old buddy, the one who used to go with me fucking together when we had free time....?"

"Times change, Steve. I'm now head trainer. And discipline demands that you call me 'sir', properly and respectfully, as it's not good for the other gladiators to see friendships between those in command and those commanded. You know how it was with officers, and us grunts."

I stood there almost speechless. "Oh come on, Jase...."

"Do that again, Steve, and I'll have to punish you. Look, one of the other gladiators is already noticing something strange - that big brute that came out with you...."

"He's the Champion, J..... Sir. That's Mike, he and I are real buddies, and I know you guys will hit it off...."

"Steve, get this clear. I can't fraternise with the gladiators, not even with you. Straughan told me you'd be out of here soon, and maybe then we can pick up where we left off. But until then.... And there's no way I'm going to 'hit it off' with that Mike: he's the Champion, and he'll need to learn to obey me to help keep discipline, and that's as far as it will go."

I nodded, and went to move on with Mike. "Steve!", Jason snapped at me. "When you've been talking to a free man, you wait to be dismissed! Don't just walk away. Now, come back here and stand respectfully."

He saw me looking in astonishment, as none of the other guards or trainers had ever said anything like that before, and went on "Things have been far too lax here, as I explained to Straughan. This place needs to have proper discipline - I reckon that with all you tough men it needs to be run more like a military prison., more like a military prison. The guards need respect, and I'll be implementing new rules that will make life tougher for you all, as that's what gladiators need: toughness."

I continued to stare at him, open-mouthed with astonishment as although we lived under discipline before, it was about important things like turning up at practices and working hard, not all this other crap. "I think you'd better start to set the other gladiators a good example, Steve. As you're listening to me, adopt a proper respectful stance: feel apart, hands behind your back, and bow your head."

"Bow my head? To you, my old buddy? Jason, you must be fucking mad...."

He actually touched me with his taser! It was only on the lowest setting, so it only made me jump from the unexpectedness of the shock and it wasn't all that painful, but I did cry out. Some of the passing gladiators heard, and all turned to stare

"Steve, I meant it. This place needs discipline. Now, if you don't want a higher does, assume the respectful position, and wait for me to dismiss you."

I shook my head in disbelief that my old buddy could have changed so much - we were both pretty much hell raisers, and no great respecters of authority in the marines. But I could see the bare tips of the taser there pointing at my belly, so I shuffled my feet part, put my hands behind my back in the "stand easy" position, and then slowly, still not really believing it, bowed my head.

"Dismissed, boy", Jason snapped, and I turned and went over to Mike, who had been watching all this and we carried on towards our room.

"What the fuck was all that about? Did that new guard use his taser on you? I'll have a word with Straughan...."

"I don't think it will do any good, Mike, There's some sort of new regime...", and I told him about what Jason had said, and a bit about our history.

We were about to be locked in for the night when Jason appeared at the door of our room. Mike lay there, stroking his dick and I was about to take my uniform off and lie down. Jason looked down at Mike, who smiled and lifted his hand off his dick to wave a greeting.

Jason rapped out, just as our sergeant used to, "On your feet, boy! When a free man enters the room, a fucking slave gets to his feet..."

"Hey, cool it!" I could hear the edge in Mike's voice. "We're in our room here, ready for bed. We're allowed a bit of privacy. Work's over for the day...."

"Listen, boy - you're a slave, a fucking slave, remember that, even if you are the Champion here, I'm told. And a slave has no privacy, and his work is never over. And when a free man comes anywhere near, a slave stands up and assumes the 'respect' position, as your buddy Steve will now demonstrate..." He half turned to me, I saw the taser, and not wanting to cause trouble for either me or Mike, I reluctantly moved my legs apart, clasped my hands at my back, and bowed my head."

"See? Steve's learned already. Now, boy, you've got two seconds..."

I thought at first that Mike might spring up and attack Jason, but instead, to my relief, he rose slowly with that incredible power and grace that even as a big man he has. Looking over at me, and seeing me trying to signal to him that he should do as he was told, He slowly moved and stood there in the same position as me - except of course that he'd been stroking his dick and it was now ramrod straight out in front of him!

Jason looked at him. "So you're the Champion?"

"Yes."

"Yes, SIR!", Jason snapped.

Looking really surprised, as most of the guards were pretty relaxed about that sort of thing, especially with Mike even if not with some of the younger guys, Mike muttered "Yes, sir."

"A Champion with a champion dick, I see. Does Mr Straughan stud you?"

"Stud me, sir?"

"Yes. Stud you. Does he get you to fuck women."

Mike smiled. "Oh no, sir, there's no 'get me to fuck' - Steve here will tell you that I convert my winnings into bitches... We have a great time, don't we, Steve?"

Jason frowned slightly. "I see. " He moved towards Mike, and to my utter surprise, grabbed hold of dick and began to stroke it, then to push it down and let it go, watching as it rebounded upwards. I was amazed that Mike stood there and let Jason do something as intimate as that, and was expecting serious trouble any moment. Fortunately, though, Jason stopped after four "bounces" looked at Mike and said "You're supposed to be in the 'respect' position, and not staring insolently at me like that!"

I guess Mike was as startled by what was happening that he lost the power to argue temporarily, and lowered his head. "Good! A powerful dick there, we'll test it properly later.

Jason turned and went out, and Mike and I looked at each other. "What the fuck was that all about?", Mike asked.

"I dunno, Mike. But he told me that he'd got the job as head trainer as he'd sold Straughan on some ideas for improving the place. And I guess Straughan was interested as we all know attendance has been falling...."

"Well as long as there are no more of those half-assed ideas about using clubs and things like that... And what do you think all that stuff about 'stud' was?"

"Look, search me! Jason and I used to be really close, real buddies. But he seems to have changed. It's been some time, after all."

Mike looked at me with a shrewd calculating look "Well I reckon folk don't change all that much, not deep down. And if you were really were close buddies...." He stopped, then seeing no response from me shrugged, and went on "I reckon I'll need to have a serious talk to Straughan, though. Make sure that any new ideas get 'filtered' through real experience. Being a gladiator isn't like being some pussy of a marine, as you now know. We're real fighters here, whereas you marines...."

I could tell from the way that Mike was smiling now that he was deliberately provoking me, as he knows I really valued being a marine. So going along with it, I threw myself at his body and we both fell onto the mattresses, and had a good "wrestle" before lying there exhausted and jerking each other off. Somehow a mutual jerk-off like that is a lot better after you've wrestled a bit and both of you are all sweaty and pumped up, I find.

The next morning after breakfast as we were all about to leave the mess hall, Straughan came in, accompanied by Jason and a whole lot of guards. It was almost as if they were expecting trouble. Straughan sat behind one of the tables, one of the guards opened up a laptop, and Jason stood on one of the benches so that he was above all of us. We all looked expectantly at him, and he began "I am the new head of training, and with Mr Straughan's approval and full agreement, we are going to implement new rules of conduct here. Mike and Steve have already learned what is expected when any of you are interacting with free men, and I give you fair warning that any failure to follow the rules will be punished - so I suggest you talk to them and find out what is the correct procedure."

I didn't like the sound of that much - it looked as if there was a danger of the messenger becoming confused with the message, and some of the guys might think it was partly our doing. But Jason went on "We will also be implementing new forms of fighting...."

Some of the guys began to murmur "Fuck, no. Not clubs again...."

"Silence!", screamed Jason. "You do not speak when a free man is addressing you. And furthermore you do not express any dissent - ever. Some of you appear to have forgotten that you are slaves, and slaves obey. You forfeited the right to any freedom of action when you were enslaved, and your only role now is to serve and obey."

He waited until a little more muttering had subsided before continuing. "We will be implementing new forms of fighting, and in order to decide which of you will participate, I need to inspect all of you. Form a line, and I will then examine each one of you."

We all looked at each other, not really knowing what to do. But Mike was there, pushing at the other guys to line up against the wall, then he stepped to the front of the line himself. I slipped in behind him, as it seemed right that the two toughest fighters should go first.

Jason beckoned to Mike then, and Mike went and stood in front of the table. I think we were all astonished when Mike dropped his uniform, and then even more amazed when Jason called one of the very new young gladiators over to crouch in front of Mike. We couldn't quite see what was happening, but it didn't take all that long, and then Mike was evidently told it was over and Jason pointed to a corner of the mess hall. Mike went to pick up his uniform, but Jason snapped something at him and Mike walked off and we all watched his superb butt as he strode naked down the mess hall.

"Next!", Jason called - I mean, he could see it was me, couldn't he? So why didn't he at least call me by name? Still, I walked over, and Jason said casually "Drop 'em."

As you know, I'm no prude, and I was used to being naked in front of my fellow gladiators in the showers, and with a body like mine I've got absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. But having to strip and stand there naked in front of Jason felt somehow very odd and I really didn't like it - this was my old buddy, and although we'd both seen each other naked hundreds of times it was different now with him in his immaculate uniform and me absolutely bare.

Jason gestured, and the young gladiator came and knelt in front of me. He guy looked up at me and gave a little shake of his head as if to say "It's not my fault, please don't make trouble!". He reached out and I realised he had a small ruler in his hand, which he now proceeded to measure the length of my dick with! I could hardly believe it as he pulled my dick away from my body, pressed one end into my pubes, then read out my length to the guard, who entered it into the laptop. Look, I know some of you guys will think it strange that I could stand there and allow another guy to handle my dick like that, but you need to remember that we were used to washing each other in the communal showers - and, yes, it was fucking humiliating to have Straughan and Jason watch as my dick was pulled to one side so the measurement was done, but it wasn't as if it was hurting, or anything. And I'd seen it done to Mike, so I could hardly make a big fuss now in case

the others thought that Mike had been a wimp to let them do it, whereas I was complaining.

Jason nodded, said "Category 1", and told me to go and join Mike at the other end of the room.

I walked over and stood next to Mike. "What the fuck...?" He whispered out of the side of his mouth. I just shrugged, having nothing useful to say, and we stood there and watched as the next gladiator from the line went forward, dropped his uniform, was measured, and then bent to pick up his uniform and pull it on, before walking away to the corner of the room opposite to us.

This was even more puzzling, but gradually all the men were measured - it took some time as there's a lot of us - and ten of us, including Jamie and Darren, were standing together naked, with the other fifty or so gladiators clothed in the other corner. They were then dismissed to go out to their regular exercises, and Jason shouted out for the ten us to go and stand in front of him and Straughan.

"You gladiators have been selected to be part of the new image for Philips' Fighters", Jason told us. "From the good looking, toned men here, I consider you to be the pick of the crop. As you will see, it's not about absolute body size as we have some of you from each of the three 'groups' which combat seems to fall in to, no, it's more about proper proportions..." he paused as if for dramatic effect. "Proper proportions, and big dicks. Each of you is well hung, and this will become important as in future you will be taking part in two new streams of our business here: you will in future normally fight naked, and..."

"Excuse me.... Sir", Jason interrupted. Looking at Straughan he went on "You know, MR Straughan, that a gladiator doesn't fight as well if he's naked. That's why we have these uniforms, so that the audience can see out bodies but we have proper support.... When a guy is fighting he doesn't want to have to worry about getting his balls smashed into the mat...."

"Silence!", Jason screamed. "How dare you interrupt!"

"Hey, I was only pointing out to Mr Straughan...."

We watched in horror as Jason touched him with the taser, and Mike fell to the ground writhing and screaming. I suppose we were shocked that a taser would actually be used on a gladiator in such circumstances - usually they were only needed when two guys had lost it and were brawling and the guards did not like to try to pull them apart for fear of getting hurt themselves. And as for using a taser on the Champion - well, as I've told you, Mike was almost part of the discipline structure at Philips. So it was pretty shocking.

Mike is a tough guy, though, and I knew he'd be desperate to get back on to his feet as soon as possible to demonstrate this to us all. All his usual litheness and power seemed to have deserted him though, and it must have been even more humiliating for him to have to struggle to get to his hands and knees (we could see his dick and low-hanging balls swaying between his thighs), and then almost agonisingly slowly to force himself to stand up. He stood there in front of Jason, his eyes blazing and with his fists clenching at his sides as if preparing to fight. I could see him about to say something, and feared for him. So I stepped forward, put a hand on his shoulder and pulled him a couple of steps back. "Easy, Mike....", I whispered at him.

"Your friend is clearly more sensible than you! Now, if you want to avoid further problems, keep your trap shut! If I want an opinion from a slave, I'll ask for it - not that I think you have anything useful to say. If you had been clever you wouldn't have been enslaved, after all."

I could feel Mike tensing under my hand as Jason spat this out, and I tightened my hand on his shoulder. To try to calm him. "Anyway", Jason continued, now talking to all of us. "You will in future all fight selected bouts entirely nude. We know that most men - and some women - find the sight of your bodies to be very... shall we say 'stimulating'...., and indeed attend bouts primarily for the purpose of seeing well set-up, fit men displaying themselves as they fight. Some of you may have detected that our audience is falling away, though, and so to encourage greater audience interest we will be having 'premium bouts', where, as I said, you will be fight entirely in the nude. We will build a connoisseur's group, men (and some women) who appreciate the sight of the entire male. You men have been selected to form part of this inner, elite group, not because of your prowess as gladiators - it will be almost immaterial who wins the bouts - but because

you look good - particularly as regards to the nature of your tackle. You will observe that you are all on the high-side of average in terms of dick length - although not so obscenely long as one of the niggas who appeared almost unreal. And you all have testicles that hang low - it's perfectly acceptable to have tight testicles of course, but our special audience will appreciate being able to 'see' a man's balls properly, when they're hanging down between his thighs."

Jason paused to give us time to look a each other, and I could see hat what he said was true - we were all "well hung", I suppose you'd say. He hadn't finished, though. "That is the first of the new methods here. In addition, we will be raising additional income from another source, and you will all participate in this, too. We know that some of our lady supporters fantasise about sex with a gladiator, and this is expected to increase when they have seen you performing nude. In future, they will not need to fantasise - they will be able to rent you: for a fee, naturally - for the real thing."

"Hey, free bitches...", I heard one of the guys mutter.

"Silence!", Jason screamed. "You men have suffered from a lack of discipline for too long. Let me make it absolutely clear - the ladies who hire a gladiator are just that - ladies. And rich ladies, at that - rich enough to afford the fees we will charge, which will be considerable. And such ladies deserve - and will get - respect from you. You will be there to provide them with pleasure - no, delight - not for your own gratification. And after every session we will ask them to complete a full evaluation of your performance, not only in terms of your ability to fuck, but in terms of your overall attitude and the ways in which you obeyed their orders in order that they achieved maximum satisfaction. And let me warn you now that any of you consistently getting a low evaluation will be severely punished."

Jason stopped again as he saw us stirring, and looking puzzled and enraged. "Enough! All will become clear. Now, get out there and begin training. We will hold individual assessments, starting after lunch, of your sexual abilities so that we can schedule remedial training if necessary.

Jason, Straughan and the guards turned and walked away, and us gladiators clustered around Mike. I really felt sorry for him - he saw himself as part of 'the establishment', and now he was about to be forced to defend the indefensible, especially as he was one of those most affected.

Mike handled it in his normal way, though - he simply barked at us to shut the fuck up, to go and pick up our uniforms, and to get out to training. One of the very young guys who hadn't been along and didn't know the ways of Mike stated to say something about not wanting to fuck unless it was a high school girl, and Mike hit him (hard enough for the kid to stagger a bit), growling "I told you to get out to training..." and that was that.

I'm not sure, though, that I got my own uniform back - they'd simply been piled in a heap on the floor - and it's one of those things I'm a bit sensitive about. Even when Mike and I had been jerking off together I didn't like it in the morning as he didn't care if the uniform he wore the next morning was his or mine, and when I'd protested about this he'd just muttered "What the fuck does it matter? There's sweat and cum and a bit of piss over you anyway....". Still. There was nothing we could do about it so I pulled my uniform up, settled my dick and balls nicely in place, and we all went out to the exercise yard.

There was a buzz of excitement during the afternoon when guards came out and interrupted our training to take Mike away - he asked what for, and all they would say is that "the new boss" had demanded his presence. He didn't reappear for dinner, and I was alone in our room when the door was unlocked, and they pushed Mike in. He was in a bad way - worse even than when he'd had a really vicious bout in the arena: his face was bruised and one of his eyes half closed, he was covered in sweat and blood, and as he fell on to the mattresses I saw that his back, butt and thighs were a mass of bruises and the tell-tale red stripes of the cane!

"What the fuck....?"

"Shut up, Steve. Don't ask. And have we got any of that soothing cream?"

I knelt beside him massaging the cream into his battered body, and remaining silent. I knew Mike would tell me about it when he was ready. Under my hands I could feel his muscles start to relax, then he cradled his head in his folded arms, and gave a great sigh. "Those fucking bastards....", he muttered.

"Come on, Mike, tell me about it. You'll feel better if you do. A trouble shared is a trouble halved, as they say...."

"That so-called buddy of yours, Jason, he was in charge. He said he needed to see me pleasuring a woman, and I thought that was going to be OK: you know I like fucking, and I'm not embarrassed at doing it in front of another guy. There were some of the guards around, too, but so what? They'd just be envious, I thought, when they saw my body in action and they'd be wishing they were me when I stuck it into her! Jason told me to strip and I stood there in front of them, then Jason told me to kneel in front of them all and jerk off! Well, I mean - you know I don't mind jerking off in front of you (and with you!), but having a whole bunch of guys watching you is something different. So I told him to fuck off, and to bring the bitch on."

Mike sighed, and moved a bit under my hands. "That's when he hit me for the first time - he had one of those canes, and he brought it down across my butt. I turned to attack - well, you know how it is, it's just reflex for me - so they tasered me. When I'd recovered, your fucking buddy simply said again 'Kneel down, and show us how you jerk off.' Well, if I didn't do it the first time, I wasn't going to do it the second, was I? So he hit me a few times with the cane, and then when I went to grab it, the tasers again...."

"When I recovered, he just looked at me and said that he was losing patience, and that as he didn't like to give orders repetitively, he wouldn't waste his time. So they gave me a good kicking, he beat me again - all over this time - and when I'd given up even trying to stop the blows and was just lying there, they threw cold water over me to revive me. The fucker said that either I jerked off for them immediately, or they'd kick me again - but he's a fucking sadist, if you ask me, as he said he'd ordered the men to spare my balls before, but that now the kicking would focus on them and did I want to live the rest of my life as a eunuch?"

Mike's voice dropped a bit now, as if he was really struggling with it. "So I did, Steve, I did. I knelt there and jerked off for those bastards to see. I had to give in, and you know how I hate that."

I rubbed my hands down over his butt to massage more of the soothing cream in, feeling his muscles tense and relax as I did so. I waited, as I thought he needed to tell me in his own time what had happened.

"Just as I was about to shoot, he ordered me to catch my cum in my hand, and then I was made to slurp it down." He half turned to look at me. "I mean, there's nothing wrong really in eating your cum, is there? I sometimes do it to avoid making a mess on the blankets, and I guess you do too having lived in barracks and places like that?" I nodded. "It's doing it with other guys watching, and being made to do it, Steve, that's what hurts."

"Anyway, they kept me kneeling there and then they brought the bitch in." Mike's voice was really low now, and he was having problems telling me about it, his words coming falteringly. "She was really old, Steve. Old enough to be my mother, I reckon. I was supposed to 'pleasure her' they said, and I had to start by kissing her! It was awful - she tasted of cigarette smoke and cheap gin, but all of them kept giving me instructions, about how they wanted to see my tongue down her throat and stuff like that, and if I faltered they slashed at my butt with a cane - I was still naked, remember. It went on and on, until your buddy said he'd had enough and he wanted to see my tongue really at work...."

I thought I felt Mike almost sob, then, even quieter, he went on "I had to undress her, Steve, and it was disgusting - sagging tits, almost down to her waist, and they made me play with them. Then of course...." He stopped, and I could feel his shoulders heaving. I knew I had to help him.

"You were supposed to excite and arouse her with your tongue?"

"Yes. For twenty minutes. I thought I was going to vomit." Mike stopped again. "If that wasn't bad enough, though, what came next was worse! I was ordered to fuck her - and the said they wanted to see a lot of action.... Me on top of her, kissing her and fondling her tits as I fucked her, just as if she was one of the bitches we usually have and not some old hag."

Mike just lay there then, silent. "So? Go on.... What happened?"

"They made me play with my dick whilst they all watched - including her. I mean, you know me, even when I've just shot I don't find it all that difficult to get hard again, and although it took a long time, I did. But as soon as my dick went inside her....." Mike's shoulders were heaving now. I stretched myself down to lie alongside him, put one of my legs over his and my arm across his shoulders, to comfort him.

"Go on, Mike, you can tell me... We're real buddies.... We don't have secrets from each other, do we?"

"There are some things a guy can't tell even his best buddy, Steve."

"Come on, Mike... If you don't tell me, it will only fester inside you...."

"No, Steve."

"Let me say it, then. You lost your erection, right?"

Mike lay there silent. I felt his body trembling as we lay together, then he muttered "Yes."

"Is that all?"

"All? All, for fuck's sake? What do you mean 'all'?"

"Oh come on, Mike, guys get failed erections all the time."

"Not me! I don't. I'm a real male...."

I slid my body along his - the analgesic oil made it easy, and rather sensuous. I ran my hand underneath him. "Well you don't have a problem now...."

Mike turned his face towards mine, then with a lightening-fast gesture put his hand behind my head, pulled my face towards his, and began to kiss me deeply.

We broke for air after a few minutes. Mike was grinning. "You know, Steve, kissing you and feeling your body after that old hag is a real treat. If I didn't know myself better I reckon I'd think I was gay."

End Of Part Sixteen