This work is copyright. I have given permission for a copy of this story to be placed on the Nifty Archives under the terms of their submission agreement. But This work may not be copied or archived onto any other website or newsgroup without the prior written permission of the author.
This story is fiction, it didn't happen, to the best of the author's knowledge no one in the story exists in real life.
If you have a problem with reading stories of a homosexual nature, then bugger off. Also you shouldn't read on if you are below the age of consent, or you have the misfortune to reside in an area where reading and downloading this kind of material is against the law.
Tom W and Lars have weaved their usual magic, smoothing the rough places plain and the crooked, well maybe not straight.
Author's Note -
In this chapter we meet a group of people whose earlier lives were described in my story 'The Missing Manhole Cover' (Gay Male 'Beginnings', Aug 15 2003) you may find it advantageous to read that short story before proceeding.
Chapter 20
"Oh, I bet you look really cute in tights," Robbie giggled as Martin drove his car along the London streets.
It was Sunday morning, and Martin had suggested that they pay a visit to his friends Ernest and Liam. Martin had told an amazed Robbie that he was a member of a group of amateur thespians; Ernest was the artistic director, and he often held an open house on Sunday mornings for any of the artistes to drop in.
"The local paper said that I gave a bravura performance of Algernon when we did 'The Importance', last year."
"Oh, slap my thighs."
"You ignoramus, Oscar Wilde didn't right pantomime."
"I know, I was only joking. You kept your secret of treading the boards rather quiet."
"Well, yeah, you know what some of them are like at work. I just didn't want to tell anyone."
"Oh, you are a dark horse."
"Yeah, it's a lot of fun really, but Laurence the director can be a real pain in the arse. With any luck he won't be at Ernest's today."
"Ernest, tell me did he play John Worthing?" Robbie giggled.
"No, Lawrence managed to persuade Liam to do it."
"Liam is Ernest's partner?"
"Yeah, and he's bloody hot. I just melt every time I hear his wonderfully soft Irish accent wash over me."
"Martin, you're such a queen," Robbie laughed. "Or should that be drama queen?" This caused more hilarity.
"I'm positively butch in comparison to Laurence. Look, here we are. Now behave yourself. These are good friends of mine." Martin parked the car and the pair walked down the street of Victorian terraced houses.
"Oh, charming, now I live 'up north', do you want me to put on an ee by gum accent and talk about flat caps, bags of nutty slack and ferret racing?"
"Do they race ferrets?"
"I've no idea."
Martin laughed. "Just be you're usual warm and wonderful self."
"Thanks, love." Robbie looked round; as there was no one in the street, he gave Martin a quick peck on the cheek.
Martin banged on the front door with the heavy brass doorknocker.
"Martin, oh, glad you could come round, we don't see enough of you. And you've brought a friend. I'm Ernest, pleased to meet you." Ernest held out his hand for Robbie to shake.
"Robbie, Robbie Foster. Great to meet you, too."
Ernest lead his guests into the front room, which was already occupied by a few other people, who were sitting on the over-stuffed chairs eating the nibbles which had been placed on the coffee table.
Picking up one of the plates, Ernest offered it to Martin. "Cucumber sandwich, Algernon?"
"Bastard. You'll never let me live that down, will you?"
Everyone in the room laughed.
Martin turned to a rather confused Robbie. "On the last performance, Ernest here, along with other members of the cast, who will remain nameless if not blameless, made sure that in the scene when Algy had to eat up the plate of cucumber sandwiches before his aunt..."
"Lady Bracknell," Robbie interjected.
"Yeah, before lady Bracknell turned up, because in the play he's meant to claim that there weren't any cucumber sandwiches. But this disgusting rabble made sure that the plate was piled to overflowing with the darn things. So muggings here had to eat them, stick them in his pockets, hide them behind the sofa cushions, and God knows where else. So I'd have an empty plate when Lady B, played by Audrey over there, turned up."
"You were simply wonderful, darling," Audrey said giggling.
"And if there's one thing I can't stand its sodding cucumber," Martin added.
"Well, couldn't you have had something else put in them?"
"Oh no, that would never do." Timothy, a man in his mid-fifties who was sat in the middle of the couch, said. "Lawrence is a real stickler for artistic realism."
"Yeah, well, thanks to his 'artistic realism,' I belched and farted my way through the whole of the second act." More laughter came from the gathering. "So you know where you can stick those sandwiches," Martin said turning away from the proffered plate.
Martin and Robbie found somewhere to sit and joined in with the general chitchat.
"So, you two known one another long?" Timothy asked Martin.
"Yeah, we used to work together, until this one decided he couldn't keep up with life in town. He now lives the life of the country squire, lording it over the peasants on his estate up in Lancashire."
"Martin!" Robbie said through gritted teeth.
"Sorry, sweetheart. He gets worked up whenever anyone teases him about his family."
"Who was your father? He was evidently a man of some wealth. Was he born in what the Radical papers call the purple of commerce, or did he rise from the ranks of the aristocracy?" Audrey said repeating a line from her performance as Lady Bracknell.
"Well," Robbie laughed, "I guess my father was in the purple of commerce. Though actually we were from trade. Cotton manufacturing originally, but for the past fifty years, glass wear. My estate, which Martin was inaccurately describing, is just a fairly large, but incredibly drafty old house."
"Yes, and if his photo is half as good as the real thing, he shares it with a totally hot-looking hunk, too."
"Oh, I thought you..." Audrey said pointing to the pair.
"No, I was stupid enough to let him slip through my fingers a few years back."
"Speaking of hot looking hunks," Timothy spoke up. "Where's Liam?"
"I don't know," Ernest said, consulting his watch. "He should have been home half an hour ago. I hate it when he's late, I start to imagine all kinds of horrible things."
Martin explained to Robbie that Liam was a policeman.
Just then they heard the front door slam. "Only me," Liam called out.
Ernest rose to his feet and went into the hallway. "Oh Liam, I worry whenever you're late."
"I know, but I had a load of paperwork to do, every time you nick someone, it's not just a case of telling them that they have the right to remain silent, you've got a mountain of forms to fill in, and if you get the slightest thing wrong, you can bet that the solicitor for the defence will pounce on it as a way of getting their client off the hook."
"I know, I'm sorry, it's just I worry. I wish you could get a desk job, there was one that came up last month, but you wouldn't put in for it."
"Sweetheart," Liam kissed Ernest's cheek, "you know I'd hate being tied to a desk. God knows I hate the amount of time I have to sit behind one as it is."
"Yes, but you'd be safe, I wouldn't start panicking every time you were late."
"Ernest!" Liam said rather sharply; it had been a particularly trying shift, and all he wanted to do was sleep. "We've been through this hundreds of times."
The small gathering in the front room couldn't fail to overhear the whole exchange, and they began to fidget.
"Um, I think I'll get off," Timothy said rising to his feet.
"Yes, me too," Audrey announced getting up.
Robbie looked at Martin, "I'd like to stay for a bit, if that's okay," Martin said.
"Sure, if that's what you want."
Ernest, looking a little flushed came back into the room. "Sorry about that, you guys. Liam's a bit overtired. He's..."
Liam walked into the room and put his arms around Ernest. "I'm sorry for snapping, babe."
Timothy, Audrey and a third man, Horace, who had contributed little to the earlier discussion, left the house leaving Martin, Robbie, Ernest and Liam in the room.
Martin cleared his throat. "Listen, you two, over the past couple of years you've been, well, you are for me the embodiment of what a truly wonderful gay partnership should be. I know that any relationship has its ups and it's downs, but I have to say as an outside observer, in the past couple of months, you two have had a few more downs than ups."
"Yes, that's true," Liam said. "It's all tied in with my job."
"And I nag too often," Ernest put in.
"Look, I'm a total stranger here, and I know I shouldn't be sticking my two penneth into what is none of my business, but can I relate something which happened to me and my partner recently?" Robbie asked.
The others agreed. So Robbie began to tell them about himself and Carl, how they had differing incomes, and how they tried to work things out. He concentrated on Carl's initial refusal not to accept money for a new van and how, due to Carl's stubbornness, Carl almost lost his life. "I can't tell you two what to do. That is no one else's business but yours. As I understand it, Ernest, you're worried about Liam getting hurt whilst he's on duty?"
"Yes, even before he moved in I thought he'd gotten shot." Turning to Liam he said, "You remember at that building society, and I didn't even know then that you loved me." He turned back to Robbie and Martin. "That was one of the most horrible days of my life. I can't put the news on when he's working, just in case I hear something that could have the remotest connection to him."
"I know you get worried, my love, but we're trained to deal with things like that, and I wear a stab vest."
"It doesn't cover everything, and I still worry, especially when, like today, you're late. I try not to get worked up, I know the chances of you being hurt are slim, but violent crime is rising, and so is the use of guns."
"I know." Liam took Ernest's hand.
"Would it be wrong of me to conclude that you, Liam, are the protective, 'I will do anything to keep my partner safe', type of a guy?" Robbie enquired. He felt rather uncomfortable offering marriage guidance to complete strangers, but Robbie could never resist playing the role of peacemaker. If at all possible, he liked to see everyone around him happy.
"Yeah, Ernest says I'm your typical Taurian."
"So's my Carl. I can identify with how you feel, Ernest, when I saw Carl lying unconscious on the ground, well, it isn't something I ever want to repeat."
"But there's risks with everything in life," Liam said.
"Quite right, you could get knocked down out there in the street," Martin put in.
"See,love?" Liam said. "I'm just as likely to get hurt walking home as I am when I'm out on the beat."
"Not quite."
"Look, this is something you two have to resolve yourselves," Robbie said getting up. "Liam, just think of this. You're the protective sort as you've said. How would you react if Ernest was doing something which frequently put him in danger?"
"I'd make him stop," Liam immediately said without thinking. "Ah," he said, suddenly realising what he'd said. He would be totally decimated if Ernest got hurt. He squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head to try and clear his mind of the vision of an injured Ernest lying in a pool of blood.
After a pause, Liam continued in a quieter voice. "For a while now, I've been giving some thought to a career change. I've been in a bit of a rut for a couple of years. I think I even told you that, love, when we first met."
"Yes," Ernest said, he could recall every single detail of his first encounter with Liam.
"Well, maybe, and I'm not making any promises here, I'll have a look round for something else."
Ernest shot out of his seat and landed on a surprised Liam. "I said no promises."
"Liam, I've got enough money in the bank to see us both safe for the rest of our lives."
"Oh no, no. I'm not going to be a kept man."
"Sounds just like my Carl," Robbie said. "And both he and you have got a point, Liam. Because you are the protective sort, you feel that you need to go out and bring home the bacon, you'd hate to sit around the place all day."
"Yeah, I'd go out of my tree if I didn't work."
"You two must come up to us sometime, you know. You and Carl would get on like a house on fire."
"Does that invitation extend to me, too?" Martin asked.
"You just want to get your paws on Carl!"
"Oh, I'll do my best to behave."
"Yeah, right," Robbie laughed. "Well, me and him better be making a move, I think, now we've set the world to rights."
"I'll show you out," Ernest said getting off of Liam's lap.
In the hallway Ernest gave Robbie a tight hug. "Thanks so much for coming round. You've been more of a help than you'll ever know."
"I haven't said I'll change jobs yet," Liam called out from the front room.
"Oh, he will." More quietly Ernest said, "I can wrap him round my little finger, when I put my mind to it."
Liam came into the hallway, picked Ernest up with practiced ease and slung him over his shoulder. Liam delivered a sharp slap to Ernest's exposed bottom. "I'll give you wrapping me round your little finger."
"Put me down, you overgrown leprechaun!" Ernest protested.
"Now say goodbye to our guests," Liam said.
"Thanks for coming, and Robbie we'd love to take you up on your offer of spending some time with you," Ernest said from his inverted position. "Now let me go, you big bully, all the blood's rushing to my head."
Liam righted his partner and hugged him to prevent him from falling over. "Yeah, thanks, especially to you Robbie for your words of wisdom."
"A pleasure." Robbie got out one of his cards and handed it over to Liam. Just give us a ring anytime you want to come up, or if you just want to chat."
"Thanks, mate, we will," Liam said before closing the front door.
"I knew you'd like them," Martin said as he and Robbie walked back to his car.
"Yeah, they're so much like me and Carl."
"That's what I figured." Martin pressed the button on his key fob to disable the alarm and unlock the doors. "And thanks for setting them on the right track. Those two were just born to be with one another. It always hurt me to see them bickering."
Monday's board meeting was dryer than a nun's tit. 'That bloody school has given me a lifetimes worth of unpleasant religious fantasies,' Robbie mused as Peter Dalton, the executive vice president, droned on and on about financial forecasts and exponential growth of overseas markets. The room was overly warm; Robbie's eyes began to droop.
A sharp poke in the ribs brought Robbie back to full consciousness. It was Martin; he had a piece of paper concealed in his hand. Taking the folded sheet, Robbie read, "No wonder Peter's wife ran off with the milkman." He couldn't help grinning. It was true; Monica Dalton, every inch the suburban middle class housewife, had eloped one day with the milkman. The news had been highly amusing at the time to the other partners in the software firm. However, Peter, who was a devoted if rather boring husband, had been totally devastated by his wife's betrayal. Since her departure, Peter had thrown himself into his work, hoping to escape the pain of loss. It was his devotion to detail that had resulted in the meeting dragging on for longer than it needed to.
Peter's presentation finally wound up; the chairman, in dire need of a pee, not to mention a cigarette, dealt with the remainder of the agenda with lightning speed, much to the relief of all concerned.
"A most thorough presentation. I don't think you missed a single thing," Robbie said to Peter with barely concealed irony, as the two shook hands after the meeting.
"Oh, I'm glad you thought so," Peter replied, not picking up on Robbie's sarcasm.
Martin and Robbie fell into step in the corridor outside the meeting room.
Martin said, "I suppose you'll want to get straight off home, then?" He'd really enjoyed Robbie's company over the past couple of days, and was reluctant to see his friend leave.
"Yeah, mate. Best get off before the afternoon traffic builds up, I think. But thanks for having me. It's been great to see you again."
"Yeah, you too." Martin looked a bit glum.
"He's out there you know. Your special guy."
"Yeah." Martin attempted to brighten his mood. "Maybe I will meet him Sunday, maybe Monday, maybe not," he said, quoting a few lines from Kander and Ebb's 'The Man I Love' from 'New York New York.'
"That's the spirit." Robbie squeezed Martin's shoulder and got into the waiting lift, which took him down to the ground floor. As he made his way through the crowd of shoppers, tourists and business people, he was thankful once again that he'd given up the rat race for a far more peaceful existence. Many of his fellow partners had commented to him that he looked really well. Robbie had ascribed it to his new less hectic work schedule. Those in the know, knew that his new love life had quite a lot to do with his more vibrant appearance, too.
Robbie had quite a walk to the multi-storey car park. 'Another problem with working in London,' he groused. Something caught his eye as he dodged his way through a particularly packed knot of shoppers. He couldn't help the broad smile which appeared on his face. Nor could he prevent the slight plumping up in his underwear as he made his way towards the establishment, which had caught his interest.
The house that Maureen and Bill had bought had a large garden at the rear, at the bottom of which stood a couple of apple trees. The previous evening, Bill had suggested that if the boys had nothing better to do with their time, they could pick the ripened apples before they fell. "But don't eat any of the fruit from the one on the right, because they're cooking apples, Bramley's I think."
"Why shouldn't we eat them?" Josh asked.
"Well, you can if you like," Bill said. "But they're very bitter, and will give you a stomachache. They're great if you cook them with some sugar. If you talk nicely enough to Maureen, I'm sure she'll bake an apple pie for you."
"Okay, Bill. We'll pick 'em for you," Ben said, thinking this was something he'd be able to do.
Ben's hopes of success were increased when Bill told the pair that there were a couple of ladders in one of the outhouses. They, Ben thought, might make the climb easier for him.
The next morning, the boys got up early. The alarm clock said 9 am, early being a relative term when rising times during school holidays are concerned.
After eating breakfast, the pair decided to get on with the harvesting of the apples.
"Are you sure you'll be able to climb okay, with your back?" Josh worried that Ben might hurt himself.
"Oh Josh, stop fussing, you're worse than Dad Rob." Ben was getting tired of being wrapped in cotton wool all the time. He, like any normal boy, was longing for adventure.
Josh plodded along behind Ben as they crossed the yard. He was slightly hurt that Ben had brushed him off so casually.
"Okay, I think we can use these two large baskets to put the apples in," Ben said examining the contents of one of the outhouses.
"Yeah, okay. I'll carry the ladders." Josh still didn't want Ben to over-exert himself.
"Yeah, whatever."
The ladders were soon leant against the trunks of the sturdy trees. Ben took the right hand tree, with its burgeoning load of cooking apples. He noticed a few had already fallen to the ground, and the grubs had got to them. It hadn't been easy for him to make the climb, but he gritted his teeth and continued picking. The constant reaching up soon began to hurt him though. Ben was angry that he couldn't even do the simplest of tasks without his disability getting in the way. After about twenty minutes of picking the ripened apples, he had to stop as his shoulders and spine were just too painful.
"I think mum will have enough to be getting on with," Ben said once he'd returned to the ground.
Josh looked down from his tree. "If you pick more, then maybe they can be stored or something. Seems a shame for them to go to waste."
"It hurts too much," Ben said rubbing his shoulders.
Josh scrambled down from his tree. "Ben, I knew you shouldn't have done it."
"Oh, I'm fed up with it!" Ben said hotly. "It's not fair that I can't do loads of stuff, even climbing a fucking tree hurts."
Josh had never heard Ben swear before. Without thinking, and acting purely on instinct, Josh gave Ben a hug. "Yeah mate, I'm sorry. I don't know what it'd be like if I couldn't climb and stuff. You must get really mad sometimes."
The anger had drained from Ben. "Yeah, but I can still do other things, guess I'll just have to be careful."
Josh removed his arms from round his friend. "Just leave all the he-man stuff to me, ay?" He said flexing his muscles and grinning broadly.
"Mr Macho." Ben lightly punched Josh's arm.
"Ouch." Josh pretended to be hurt. "You just wait till I tell my mum on you, you big bully."
For a second, Ben thought he'd really hurt Josh, but the huge grin Josh was sporting told him that he was only kidding.
The two boys decided to pool their strengths; Ben held the ladder still, while Josh did the picking. It also gave Ben ample opportunity to gaze adoringly up at his bigger friend. He'd loved the hug that Josh had given him earlier. Though amazingly, he didn't know how, he'd managed to keep his dick under control.
"Thanks, boys," Maureen said when Ben and Josh presented her with two full baskets of apples. If you put them on the kitchen table, I'll start wrapping the ones I want to store in tissue paper. That'll help them keep."
"Okay, mum."
"You managed okay, Ben?"
"Well, um, no not really, Josh did most of it, cause it got too painful."
"No, we did it all together as a team," Josh said, putting a hand on Ben's shoulder. "I felt a lot safer with you holding the ladder for me, Ben, specially on those taller branches." Giving Ben's shoulder a squeeze, Josh continued, "We made a good team, didn't we?"
Ben looked at his friend with as much love as he dared project.
"That's okay, then. Do you need one of your tablets?" Maureen asked. Ben had to confess that he'd forgotten to pack them. "Oh Ben." Maureen went into mother worry mode. "Let me know if it really starts to hurt, and I'll see if I can get you seen by our doctor."
"Okay mum, thanks."
"Mind you, Bill got some Arnica gel last month, to try and bring out some bruising he had on his knee. It's supposed to help with arthritis, too. I'll come up and find it for you in a bit. Do you want me to rub it on for you?"
"No, it's okay, Mrs Gordon, I'll do it for Ben," Josh chipped in.
As she sorted the apples, Maureen explained to the boys that many of them would be taken round to the neighbours. She told them that the people who lived round about shared what they grew. "That cauliflower we had yesterday was given to us by Mrs Naylor, she lives in the village down in the valley, so I'll repay her for it with some apples."
Ben asked his mother if she'd bake an apple pie for their tea.
"Can't see why not, William and Tamsyn like my apple pie. Especially if there's iced-cream, too."
Maureen's children had gone off to play with some of their mates. They'd asked Josh and Ben to go, too, but as they thought themselves to be almost grown-up at twelve, Ben and Josh didn't want to play children's games with a bunch of six year olds.
Robbie arrived home at about 4.30. After giving a brief explanation to Sarah of his weekend, including his trip to see Patrick's grave, he took his bags upstairs. Sarah didn't fail to notice that Robbie had a couple more bulging carrier bags with him, too.
Robbie estimated that it would be another hour before Carl got home. This would leave him plenty of time to unpack.
The two men enjoyed a happy and passionate reunion in the hallway. "God, Car, I don't ever want to be alone from you for two nights ever again," Robbie said once he'd come up for air from a particularly toe-curling set of kisses.
"Me neither, lover. The bed was just so empty without you. And yes, you were right, I should have booked into a guesthouse on Saturday."
"See, told you," Robbie said licking Carl's lips. "And when we've had our tea, I've got something to show you."
"I can feel it," Carl said, massaging Robbie's crotch.
"Well, it's not that, but, it kind of is, but you'll just have to wait. Can you get washed in the downstairs bathroom? Because the surprise is spread out on the bed in our room."
"It's spread on the bed? What've you bought us?"
"You'll just have to wait and see," Robbie said scampering off to the kitchen.
The two men ate rather quickly. Sarah admonished them by uttering threats of dire indigestion. She realised that something was afoot, so didn't dig any deeper.
"Okay," Robbie said standing outside their bedroom. "It's something you mentioned over the weekend, and when I passed a shop specialising in it earlier today, I couldn't resist." Robbie flung the door open and they stepped inside.
Carl took one look at what was laid out on the bed and burst out laughing. "Bloody hell, Rob, I was only joking, you know."
"I know, but won't it be fun to do it for real?"
Robbie had bought, at quite considerable expense, two pairs of chaps, fairly simple chest harnesses, gloves, and sets of gauntlets, all in black leather. There was also a peaked cap with a shiny visor, along with a pair of mirrored sunglasses on Carl's side of the bed, and a half hood on Robbie's.
Carl walked slowly towards the bed. "Wow. You sure about this, Rob? It's a bit, well, a bit kinky, don't you think?"
"Sure it is. Some gay men seem to almost live in the stuff. I don't want that for us, but maybe, when Ben's not about, we could play a bit?"
Carl reached down and picked up the chaps on his side of the bed. He couldn't help bringing them to his nose and sniffing them. The heady new smell of hide was most intoxicating. "How did you know my size?"
"Remember those trousers I bought you last month? Well, I kind of got a size or two smaller than them."
"Right." Carl looked over the other items. "How come I've got a cap and you've got, well, what is it you've got?"
"It's a half hood. It's got holes in it so I can see out, but my mouth and the lower part of my face is left free."
"Why? I mean, why haven't we both got the same?"
"Well, the things I bought you are what a dom or a master would wear, and I've got the stuff a submissive boy would use."
"But Rob." Carl turned to face his lover. "I, well, I'm not sure. I don't like to think of us like that. We agreed when we started that we were equals in this."
Robbie put a finger over Carl's lips. "It's just a game, sweetheart. As I told you, some couples take this shit far too seriously, but we're just doing it as role-play. If you want we can swap round now and again. I could have got loads more stuff, nipple clamps, chains, handcuffs, cock rings, and even whips."
"Don't you dare ever think about buying any whips!" Carl said sternly. "I'm definitely not into that."
"Calm down, love. I'm not into that, either. No, I never want to cause my lover pain, and he wouldn't be my lover if he wanted to cause me pain, either. But I got us this." Robbie reached into a bag and pulled out a leather paddle. Bringing it down on the side of his leg, it gave out a loud slap. Carl winced. "It's okay, Car, look."
Robbie showed his lover that it was actually two pieces of leather, when one piece hit the other; it was that which caused the noise, not the pain of impact against the skin.
"Thank god for that," Carl said. "You had me going for a bit there, Rob. I thought you wanted me to get into that S and M stuff, which I know I wouldn't like."
"No, lover." Robbie kissed Carl. "I'm not into that scene, either."
The two undressed and helped each other into their new leather gear.
Once fully dressed, the two admired themselves and each other in the mirror. Robbie hadn't bothered buying codpieces, thinking it would be more fun to leave their gonads on view. The chaps were just the right size, tight, but not uncomfortably so. The harnesses were simple in design, consisting of two bands of leather coming from a large metal ring, which sat in the centre of the chest. Broad bands of leather swept upwards to cover the shoulders. Robbie had made sure that Carl's harness was larger, and had broader shoulders to it. The leather gauntlets he'd bought for Carl were studded, Robbie's were plain. He'd also bought a couple of bands to go around Carl's upper arms. As Robbie admired his man, he couldn't help realising that Carl looked every inch the leather master.
"Fuck!" Carl said.
"Yeah. Good, isn't it?"
Carl turned to Robbie and cupped his lover's face in his gloved hands. Looking directly into Robbie's green eyes, Carl said. "You never stop surprising me."
"Good, otherwise we'd grow stale, and I want to keep finding out new things about my lover. Today I've discovered what an awesome stud he is when he's clad in leather."
Carl smiled. "I love it." Carl rubbed Robbie's neck. "I thought you subs were supposed to wear a dog collar?"
"Well, I thought about buying one, but I didn't know if you'd want to go that far."
Carl nodded. "No, babe, I don't. It would kind of make you into something I owned. Even though I'd know we were only pretending, I don't wanna go that far. Because, Rob, although I think of you as mine, I know that you feel that I'm yours, too."
"I do, Car, so much." Robbie looked up into his man's face; he wasn't able to see Carl's eyes as they were hidden behind the glasses. Though they made Carl look even more gorgeous than he was, Robbie wasn't sure if he would prefer Carl without the glasses.
"Okay, boy!" Carl ordered in a dominant tone, one that Robbie hadn't heard him use before. He was slightly fearful, but immensely turned on by it. "On that bed, now!"
Robbie grinned. "Yes, master. Right away, master."
Robbie took a flying leap at the bed and rolled onto his back. Carl walked slowly and sensuously towards the bed with an exaggerated but incredibly sexy swagger. His dick, which was at full mast, stuck out like a lance leading the way.
Robbie couldn't help letting out a low moan at the awesome sight of his lover's sexy approach. "Jesus, Car, you're a fucking stud."
"I did not give you permission to speak, boy!" Carl said in the same dominating voice.
Robbie's smile wavered slightly. He didn't think Carl would get into it as seriously as this, but he couldn't deny that it was a tremendous turn on.
Carl knelt on the bed, his manhood pointing straight at Robbie. "Suck!" was his single-word command.
Robbie gulped but did as he was ordered.
As Robbie got into his rhythm, Carl grasped Robbie's head in his gloved hands and began to move it on and off his raging erection. Despite the fact that Carl was playing the master, he was careful not to grip too tight, Robbie could quite easily break free if he felt the need.
"Yeah, boy, suck on your master's meat. You love it when your master is good enough to feed you his prong don't you, boy?" Carl withdrew his right hand from Robbie's head and picked up the paddle that was lying next to him. He brought it down on Robbie's back. "Yeah, cock-sucker, take your man's meat right down your throat."
Carl treated Robbie to a couple more whacks before dropping the paddle and resuming his loose hold on his boy's head. The smell of the new hide, plus the creaking noises it gave out as they moved, combined with Robbie's excellent mouth action, all served to bring Carl to the brink rather quickly. He didn't want to end the scene so soon, though. He pulled Robbie's mouth from his dick.
"Huh?" Robbie said in surprise.
"Spread 'em!"
'Fuck, I've created a monster,' Robbie thought. 'But a bloody sexy one.' He did as he was ordered.
Carl went to the bedside drawer and retrieved condoms and lube. He had to remove his gloves to prepare himself and Robbie, though.
"You want your master to feed this up your chute?" Carl said standing over Robbie's supine form. Carl held his penis by the root between his index finger and thumb of his right hand, and slapped his dick into his left palm. To Robbie, Carl's looming presence, dressed as he was in the chaps, harness, as well as the cap and glasses, caused him to gulp involuntarily. "Gimme all you got, you gorgeous big stud, you."
After working three fingers inside Robbie, Carl donned the prophylactic, wiped his hands, put his gloves back on and positioned himself for entry. "Prepare to be ravaged, boy." Carl was having more fun with this role play than he thought he would. He'd been initially appalled at the thought of dominating his lover in such a fashion, but the rush he was now experiencing was rather intoxicating.
Positioning himself at the foot of the bed, Carl pulled Robbie by his legs towards him, and slowly sank his meat into his boy's warm and still wonderfully tight bowels. Holding still for a few moments, Carl allowed his lover to adjust to the invasion, staring down at his boy through the sunglasses at Robbie's open, vulnerable and submissive posture. He had to admit that Robbie looked stunning in his leather gear, even the hood, which he'd initially had misgivings about, somehow seemed to emphasise their respective roles.
Building up a steady in-out thrusting rhythm, Carl grasped Robbie's hips allowing him greater control of his sex partner.
"Like this, boy? You like how your master is controlling how he's fucking you?"
"Yeah, master, gimme more of your power."
This was a signal to Carl that he could thrust harder, something he'd been a bit reluctant to do. Carl sped up, he could hear as well as feel his groin as it slapped against Robbie's buns on each of his in strokes.
"Yeah, boy, your tight warm chute is making love to your master's thick log."
"Fuck me, master!" Robbie cried out as Carl repeatedly bumped his prostate, sending bolts of pleasure throughout his body. "Can't hold back, Master, I'm gonna cream."
Carl was having too much fun to end it this soon, so he stopped his thrusting. He reached down and grasped Robbie's harness by the shoulder straps and yanked him up. He licked across Robbie's moist lips and the two spent a few moments kissing as their passions cooled a little.
"Master?"
"Yes, boy?"
"I need you to hump me some more."
Carl thought he'd have some fun with Robbie, he was enjoying the role-play. "I don't think my boy has been good enough to deserve any more, has he?"
'What's he going on about?' Robbie thought. Then he had an idea. "Oh please, master, I'm begging you, please make love to your humble and undeserving boy. He knows that he is unworthy but promises to try and improve." Robbie ran his fingers along Carl's chest hair.
"Very well then, boy. So long as you promise to serve your master well in the future."
"Oh I will, master, your every wish will be my command." 'God I hope all this isn't going to his head.'
Carl let go of Robbie's harness and he sank back onto the bed.
Carl resumed his pistoning into Robbie's innards. He couldn't help the smile of satisfaction on his face as he gazed down at his compliant and very willing lover, as Robbie squirmed with the pleasure of receiving his powerful thrusting.
After a few minutes of intense rutting, Carl cried out. "Come for your master, boy. Squirt your load for your leather god."
Robbie, who was on the brink of orgasm, let go what little control he had, firing his semen into the air, the first volley landing on the lower part of his face.
The sight of his lover shooting his bolt, plus the tightening of his anal muscles, caused Carl to erupt violently into the condom. Carl closed his eyes momentarily as he revelled in the ecstasies of his climax. "Fucking hell." Carl sank on top of Robbie before rolling to the side. He pulled Robbie towards him and kissed him firmly on the lips. "That was just so amazing, Rob, so bloody amazing."
"Glad you liked it, I did, too."
Carl removed his glasses and put them on the bedside table, he then took Robbie into his arms and hugged him to his chest. "I wasn't too rough with you, was I?"
"No, love. I had a slight pang of fear at the beginning, but that kind of heightened my pleasure, you know?"
"Yeah. It was only a game, Rob, just playing a role."
Robbie licked Carl's lips. "I know that, sweetheart. I could tell you didn't grip my head all that tightly when I was sucking you."
"No, and I never will. It's fun to play, but that's all it'll ever be. I love you totally and I wouldn't get any pleasure from hurting you, quite the opposite."
"I know, believe me, I know." Robbie began to rub circles in Carl's chest hair. He moved down and started to suckle on one of Carl's nipples.
"I didn't see you touching your dick before you came."
"No, didn't need to, you fucked the stuff out of me."
"God, was I that good?"
"You were the best, Car, as always."
Carl then rolled onto his back bringing Robbie on top of him. He then pulled Robbie up so their faces were level, and began kissing Robbie's eyes through the hood. "I don't have the words, my love, to tell you how absolutely awesomely special you are to me. I just didn't know that anyone could ever be this happy."
"I know, sweetheart, it's amazing and a little frightening, too," Robbie replied.
"Frightening? I didn't scare you with all that master slave crap, did I?"
"God no, I knew all that was just part of the game. No, I'm just worried in case all this ends."
"Why should it end?"
"Dunno. Oh, forget about it, I'm just being daft. I still have to pinch myself every now and again to realise that the studly Carl Powers lives with me, loves me and wants to share his heart with me."
Carl gave Robbie a squeeze. "It's just the same for me, you know. The brain box of Greenville, the bloke who's got it all sorted, wants to be with a guy who came from just your ordinary working class background." Carl could sense Robbie was going to start on about how class wasn't important. He silenced him with a long kiss. "I know it's stupid, just as stupid as what you said. We're together because we were lucky enough to find one another again. End of story."
"Yup. You're right," Robbie said smiling.
"Course I'm right."
"Well this is the stuff. The woman in the herbalists said you could apply quite a lot of it. But try not to get it on the sheets." Maureen handed over a bottle of Arnica gel to Josh who, despite Ben's unreasonable objections, was going to massage it into his friend's back.
Josh couldn't understand why Ben was so opposed to the use of the gel. "It's safe, you know, there's not much of a chance of you getting a rash or anything."
"Yeah." Ben was resigned to the fact that he'd have to have a massage. His back and shoulders were hurting quite badly now, but Ben had a terrible fear that he'd spring a boner when Josh touched him.
"Okay." Josh returned from the bathroom with a large towel and spread it out on the bed. "You can take everything off above your waist. You should be alright leaving your trousers on."
'It might not be too bad then,' Ben thought as he stripped.
"Ooh."
"Sorry, is it cold?" Josh asked after squirting out some of the yellowish fluid.
"Yeah, very."
"Sorry. But it should soon warm up." Josh began his massage. He quite enjoyed doing it, really. It allowed him to care for Ben, something he loved doing, though he'd always been careful not to go too far, he understood that Ben didn't like to be mollycoddled.
"Do you think that'll do?" Josh asked after working on Ben's back for a couple of minutes.
"Yeah, um, guess so. Thanks man, I thought you'd be a bit rougher than that."
"Nah, loads of people think that cause I'm big, I'm clumsy, but I can be real gentle when I need to."
Ben lifted up his head and smiled at his friend. "I never thought that you were clumsy."
"Thanks. You can get up now I reckon."
"Erm, no, soright, I'll stop here for a bit. Go and wash your hands before the stuff dries on 'em."
"Okay."
Josh left the room; Ben sighed. It had been really erotic for him to have Josh rub his hands all over his back; he'd come out in goose pimples as soon as Josh had begun.
"Okay, I know your back's still wet, but you can get up you know."
"You weren't long," Ben observed.
"Only had to wash my hands. Come on, your mum was about to serve up some of that apple pie. Smells really nice."
"You go down, I'll come in a minute." Ben was still hard.
"Come on, Ben."
Ben very reluctantly got up, trying to shield his crotch.
"Soright if you got a boner, it's always happening to me," Josh said dismissively.
Ben had been worried over nothing; he smiled. "Yeah, damn nuisance."
"Ah, don't worry about it, man." Josh left the room with Ben following along behind wondering how much more wonderful Josh could get. He wasn't sure if he could stand him being any more perfect than he already was. Josh was kind, gentle, strong, supportive, 'and it just isn't fair,' Ben thought as he followed the bulky figure of his friend down the stairs.
"I know it sounds daft, he's only been away for a couple of days, but I'm missing my son," Robbie said as he and Carl lounged in a pair of inflatable chairs in the pool. As there was no one else about, Robbie had persuaded a reluctant Carl to get into the water minus his trunks.
"Know what you mean," Carl said reaching over and taking Robbie's hand. "We'll give him a ring in a bit."
"Yeah, I'd like that, but I didn't want to come across as the pushy parent. I know I fuss too much round him. But I'll have to tell him off for forgetting his tablets."
"It's only natural, you being new at the game and everything. But he'll be fine at Maureen's."
"Oh yeah, I know that. I'm more worried about me. Without Ben, who's gonna protect me from that big bad leather master?"
Carl grinned. "Yeah, I was good, wasn't I?"
"Oh, the modesty of the man."
"Hey!" Carl slipped out of his chair, approached Robbie and flipped him out of his chair, catching him before he fell. "I was bloody brilliant," Carl said closing in for a kiss.
Robbie wrapped his legs around Carl's hips, and fed his arms around his underarms." Yeah, stud, you were."
"I surprised myself, really. I didn't think I'd go in for that master and his boy shit. I thought it'd be a total turn off for me."
"Well, I'm glad I've managed to discover your dark hidden need to be dominant then."
"Its just play, Rob. Please, you must understand that." Carl looked seriously into Robbie's eyes.
Robbie leaned forward and kissed Carl tenderly on the lips. "I know it's just a game, babe. Underneath this magnificently macho exterior of yours, lurks a sweet pussycat."
"Yeah, right," Carl said giving Robbie a squeeze. "Wonder how serious Chris Blake and his brothers' are about that sort of thing?"
"Well, Chris is definitely in charge of those two, that's for sure, but I don't think Scott and Danny would want it any other way."
"Yeah, guess not."
"I know Chris worries a lot about coming across as too dominant, he loves his two brothers totally."
"Oh yeah, I know. Wonder how Scott's getting on at University?"
"Fine, I think. He'll have been there for a couple of weeks now. We missed them last weekend of course, but with Ben coming home on Friday, we should be able to catch up with the gang on Saturday."
"You sure it's alright, you doing some of the driving on Friday?" Carl asked.
"Course, it'd be daft you trying to do it all yourself."
"Thanks, love."
The two did a few laps of the pool, Carl had to confess that the feel of the water against his private parts was thrilling, so much so that he pinned Robbie against the wall at the shallow end and ground his manhood into his lover's groin. "Ready for round two, boy?"
Robbie gently bit on Carl's lower lip. "Whatever my master wants, my master gets."
To be continued