O’Melissokomos
The Bee Keeper

The Hellfire Club

by jobberinnyc

I was finishing up my second set of bench presses and feeling pretty good. I wasn't the biggest guy in the gym, but I'd put on almost five pounds of muscle in the past three months. I was now weighing an official 165 pounds. I sat up to rest between sets when he caught my eye. Well, actually, we didn't link eyes so much as I saw his back doing pull ups. One handed pull-ups. I didn't even know that was actually possible. I mean I'd read about people being strong enough to do it, but to actually see it? My jaw dropped for a few seconds before I remembered I was in public so I closed it again. He pumped out 15 and could probably have kept going but he dropped to the floor and stretched out his enormous back.

When I say this guy was big, I meant it. He was wearing a red string tank that cut across his huge tanned lats making them look like the outward sweep of a beach ball. He rolled his shoulders back and I saw muscle rippling under flesh. His black shorts barely contained thighs the size of a normal man's waist. I couldn't tell if he was flexing or not, but his muscles seemed to be solid enough to bounce a quarter off of. Most people, normal people, anyway when they move or shake the excess skin and flab over their muscles moves. No matter how much we work out there's always some evidence left over from that candy bar we ate or those chips we consumed. Not on this guy. The only things that moved on him were his muscles. And the muscles on top of muscles that he had. I stared at him, and forgot all about my bench presses. He went back to his pull-ups (one handed again) and pumped out a set of twenty in the time it would have taken me to muster enough strength to complete five with both hands. He dropped back down to the gym floor and stretched and flexed. He caught my eye in the mirror, (yet another reason to hate those mirrors) and I quickly looked down. Thank goodness I remembered my last set of bench presses. The blood in my body wasn't exactly flowing to my pecs though and by the time I reached the tenth rep I was struggling considerably more than I should have. I was really pushing by the twelfth rep when a big tanned hand grabbed the bar and helped me get it back in place. I sat up and looked into a pair of deep chocolate brown eyes. The big guy had decided to help.

"You looked like you needed a little spot." He smiled then and my face flushed bright red. His smile was the sweetest thing I'd ever seen. His hair matched his eyes perfectly and it was cut short on the sides and back, but the front was long and flopped into his face. He was tanned but not orangey the way some people are.

"Thanks. Sorry." I smiled back and jumped out of the bench, my erection long since done away by the embarrassment of his having caught me staring. I started to unload the weight (about 150 lbs.) from the bar but he asked me to leave it. "It'll be a warm up for me." He smiled again and again my face turned red. As I backed away I saw him start to use the bar for bicep curls. I backed away, even more embarrassed that this man was so much more powerful than I was. Jesus, what was it with me? I wasn't a stupid guy. I'd long ago gotten away from thinking that masculinity and being a "man" were about how big my pecs were or how pumped my delts were, but still, I couldn't help feel like the before picture in some old Charles Atlas ad watching this man move that kind of weight. I practically stumbled over the incline bench trying to get away from him and it took me a second to catch my breath once I was finally in the locker room. I struggled to get my sweatshirt on when I heard the locker room door open. I looked up and saw him filling the doorway.

"Hey, hold up. I wanna ask you a question."

"Um, o-ok." I finished putting my sweatshirt on again and when he stepped closer I backed away. Damn. Show me a big man and I'm back in high school again waiting for someone to flush my head down the toilet.

He smiled again and gave out a slight laugh. "Relax man. I just want to talk." He gestured for me to sit and I had to lean down onto the bench before I fell down. He walked closer and put one foot on the bench, trapping me between his huge leg and the wall. This close I could smell his sweat. It was sweet and salty and intoxicating and it radiated from his crotch and his pecs and pits when he leaned in towards me. "Listen, I saw you looking at me out there. So, let's cut the denials and shit. And don't bother apologizing. It's cool. You like my muscles? Or were you just staring because I'm so freaky big?"

"I," I swallowed hard. "I don't know what to say. I-"

"Look, just yes or no? You into muscles?"

I nodded. "Yes." I didn't realize I was crying until he reached over and brushed the tears away.

"Nothing to be ashamed of guy. And you don't need to be afraid of me." He laughed again. "Not right now anyway." His voice had a slight southern accent to it. You know how southerners sound. They have that voice that caresses you and wraps you up in it's honeyed tones. His voice was soft and gentle the way that really powerful men can be. Only the truly powerful are gentle. They know they don't have to prove their own strength. "Meet me back here Friday night at 9 PM. Don't be late and don't stand me up, or else you will have a reason to be afraid of me."

I don't honestly know what it was that made me go Friday night. It was partially fear, yes. I knew that the man from the gym could hurt me with little effort. I knew that even if I left the gym he'd smile sweetly at the girl at the front counter and charm my phone number or address from her. It was also curiosity. Why are we always led by our curiosity and our crotches? In any case I showed up at the gym Friday at 9 as told to. I wore a suit as instructed. I didn't even wear a suit to work, preferring instead a matching blazer and pants, but I was told by Daniel (that was his name, told to me in that same lilting southern voice. Not Dan or Danny but Daniel.) to wear a suit, and here I was. He met me out front and jumped into my car. He wore a long, dark duster-style coat buttoned up to his chin and I could see leather boots, shined to a sparkle on his feet.

He was quiet, other than asking a few polite questions about how my day had been, etc. He gave directions firmly and quietly and we ended up on an old road I had never even seen before on the outskirts of town. I was halfway up the road before I realized it was actually a driveway. The house at the end was still hidden from view, and I knew it was one of those homes where the owner paid a great deal of money for their security. You'd never even know the driveway was there if you hadn't been told about it. As we pulled up towards the house I gasped. It was huge. And old. God knows how many years ago it had been built, but it was a mansion. I imagined in the light of day it would have taken my breath away. Even here, in the cold, quiet dark it was impressive. I pulled where directed and a thin gentleman opened the door for me and another got Daniel's door.

"C'mon. It's fine," he said to me when I hesitated. "Marcus, Lionel," he nodded at the two gentleman. I didn't know which was which, but they both asked questions of him as if they knew him well. He answered politely and paid close attention when they answered his questions. He behaved as though he'd been around money his whole life. There was nothing nouveau riche about him. While they drove my car around to the back of the house I stared up at the turrets on top of the building and shivered. It was the kind of shiver that swept to your whole body. The kind that my mother described as someone 'walking on your grave' and Daniel smiled comfortingly at me.

He placed his big hand softly on the back of my neck and steered me towards the front door. Before he could knock it opened and the strains of classical violins came at me softly. We stepped into the foyer and I saw the man who'd opened the door for us. He was dressed in a tuxedo the same was as Lionel and Marcus, but I could see he wasn't thin like they were. Though he was nowhere near as huge as Daniel his body strained at the shoulders of the cloth and the buttons of the shirt stretched across his chest. He smoothly took my jacket and while Daniel unbuttoned his coat I heard them speak while I looked at the carved wood in the foyer by the light of the candles.

"Geoffrey, looks like you've gotten bigger." Daniel stopped taking of his coat and put a hand across Geoffrey's pecs. "Nice and solid." He chucked his fingers under the young man's chin while he blushed slightly.

"Thank you Sir. It's very kind of you to notice. I'm to wait until the end of the month to get fitted again for a new uniform, but this one may not last till then Sir." His voice had a heavy British accent and was higher and more musical than Daniel's was. Daniel removed his coat and handed it to Geoffrey and again I gasped. Though the front foyer was lit entirely by candles, I saw that Daniel wore nothing but a pair of leather pants and those shiny boots. He was shirtless and I immediately began to get hard at the sight of his huge body. My eyes dropped to the floor and ran up his body the way it would happen in a movie. The leather pants looked like they had been made personally for him, hugging his calves and thighs. If the light had been brighter I probably would have seen the deep cuts through the black leather that covered him. His waist was tight. Tighter than the leather pants and though even a fashion model would have had a small roll of fat hanging over the side there was nothing like that on Daniel. His stomach was a perfect eight pack and the intercostal and oblique muscles stood out in sharp contrast and for a moment I wondered if he was a living model for an anatomy class. The crevice of his smooth chest must have been two inches deep and I knew if I'd been on my knees I wouldn't have seen his face because of the huge shelf his chest formed. There were veins wriggling on his shoulders and if he'd told me to I could have traced them over the peak of his biceps. down to his forearms. He had some hair on his forearms, though not much, but even they couldn't obscure the muscular development. I swallowed hard, not even believing that he and I were both made of the same parts, the same blood and bone and flesh and muscles.

My mouth was still gaped open when he reached up quickly and I heard rather than felt him place a leash and collar around my neck. "What the--" I had almost sworn, but there was something about the atmosphere, the music and the candle light that made me hold back.

He placed a thick, sturdy finger over my mouth to silence me. "Shhh, Jayson. From here on for the rest of the night, you'll stay on the leash. I guarantee when I take it off you'll miss it." Geoffrey chuckled and I felt Daniel tug on it slightly and I followed him into the main part of the house.

"Welcome to the Hellfire Club Jayson. I don't know if you know this, but back in the 1800's in England the original club was a group of anarchists. We're way different now. We stay away from all the political stuff and focus on sheer libertine values. You'll probably see things that'll shock that cute little midwestern mind of yours."

I turned to him sharply. "C'mon Jayson. You didn't think I'd bring you here without doing a little research. The guys at the club do a stricter background check than the FBI does. I know all about you." I frowned and started to reach up to take the collar off when he shot me a look. This was a man who was used to being obeyed and when he glared I could feel my hands move down swiftly. Another couple passed us and Daniel nodded to them. They were the opposite of us. The man holding the leash was portly and balding and had a gray beard trimmed close. The man on the end of the leash was a bodybuilder. Not as big as Daniel but close. He wasn't as cut as Daniel, but instead had the look of a football or rugby player. Solid, but not a bodybuilder. He looked immensely strong as if he could snap the leather leash in a second but he kept his eyes downcast, being led around as if he were a docile child.

The balding man nodded at Daniel and they shook hands chatting briefly and politely about the weather and whatever else while the rugby player and I stood at their sides and slightly behind them silent. Daniel snagged a glass of champagne from a waiter who had the most beautiful face I'd ever seen on a man. His skin looked like porcelain and his eyes were the same shade of blue as the Caribbean ocean. He wore a collar but no leash and leather short shorts. Otherwise he had no socks or shoes and his body was as smooth as anything I'd ever seen. He practically shined. Daniel didn't even acknowledge the man, the way the balding man didn't acknowledge me. I saw another bodybuilder standing at the base of an enormous staircase, one foot on the bottom step the other on the ground. Like Daniel he was stripped to the waist. He wore motorcycle cop boots and a pair of leather jodhpurs, black gloves around his hands. Unlike Daniel, he was hairy chested and while the thick, dense fur covering his chest and stomach stopped anyone from seeing much definition (at least at this distance in candle light and dim overhead lighting) it did nothing to hide the fact that he was huge. Probably about 240 pounds of muscle and attitude. He smoked a thick cigar and while one servant knelt before him, holding an ashtray in the flat of his palm another was almost flat on the ground licking his boots. The big man was having a perfectly normal conversation with a short young man in a suit. I must have startled a little because I could feel Daniel yank on my collar. He was saying goodbye to the balding man and Daniel began to walk me around the house. He pointed out little details of the architecture and I was amazed at how beautiful the house was. If I hadn't been so frightened I might have enjoyed myself a little.

"Anyway, we here at Hellfire have a nice little private set-up. I've never even actually met the owner, but he started out with a nice little circle of friends. Every one's been pre-screened and brought in slowly. Just think about it Jayson. Every dirty little fantasy you've had has come true here. And a lot of one's you haven't even thought of yet." He smiled and patted me on the head as if I were a cute little puppy. He wrapped a hand around my throat and pushed me up against the wall. I felt cold wood through my suit and also a trickle of sweat run down my sides. "Of course, there's only so much we can do outside of the rooms. Discretion after all." But he leaned forward and kissed me, long and deep, his tongue as thick and muscular as his body. I groaned into his mouth and we were so into the kiss that when someone touched me I bit down slightly on his tongue.

We both looked up and saw a man in a suit with his hand firmly on my ass cheek. The man was plain looking and had a slight bump in his nose as if it had been broken.

Daniel pulled his hand off my throat and turned to the man. "Nobody interferes unless they're specifically asked to. He's mine tonight." And with that he grabbed the man around the front of his belt and lifted him off the ground. The man looked as shocked by the display of strength as I was and again my jaw dropped.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. He's just so cute and adorable. I didn't think you'd mind."

Daniel shook the man as if he were a rag doll. "Well, I do mind. Like I said he's all mine." The Man grabbed his belt as if he were afraid Daniel's huge hand would rip though the leather. Out of nowhere Lionel appeared as if he melted through the wall.

"Is there a problem Sir?" He looked and sounded unflappable and I knew he'd be the kind of person I'd want in charge in case of any emergency.

"Not at all Lionel." Daniel didn't even look at him, just held the man at arms length above his head for another minute. Then he put him down and growled at the man who almost ran away.

"So sorry about that Sir. He's new and, most likely, hasn't had anyone show him around properly. I'll see that he learns Sir. Unless, you'd prefer I eject him?"

"You ok little one?" Daniel turned to me with a look of concern in his dark, beautiful eyes.

I nodded. "Fine, thank you. He just startled me."

"Naw, don't bother Lionel." Daniel said. "We're fine."

"Very good Sir." And off he melted again into the dark. I didn't even hear footsteps.

"I'm sorry," I said to Daniel. "I hope I didn't hurt you. With the biting."

Daniel gave me a look, as if to remind me I couldn't hurt him on his worst day and my best day. "So, what would you like to see first little one?" I wasn't sure how I felt about that nickname but it seemed appropriate, given the situation. "I could take you to my private room first, but then we might miss some of the shows. I know, I'll take you around first, get you all hot and hard and ready for me. You know when I take you, it'll be hard, don't you Jayson?" He paused and looked at me as words refused to come out of my mouth. "I know that's what you want. You know that check we ran on you? Well we hacked into your computer. I know all about those bodybuilder sites you go to on the web. I know the pictures of the leather men you download, the wrestling tapes you've ordered. All those big guys against small guys matches. The thing is, I bet you haven't done too much about it. Probably why you've been hitting the gym so hard, isn't it? To attract guys like me? Here's the thing though, little one, you don't really want to get to big because you like the differences, the opposites, don't you? You worry if you get too big you'll be able to defeat all those big men in wrestling matches? Don't you worry Jayson. You'll never be able to beat me." I was crying again and he wiped the tears away. "I know what'll cheer you up, little one. C'mon, this'll be fun." And he led me deep into the heart of the house on that leash.

 

I realized the house was much bigger than it seemed from the outside. And it seemed like a castle from the outside. Whoever owned this house and had started this club must have been phenomenally wealthy. I figured that out when Daniel tugged at my leash and pulled me into an elevator. The lighting in the elevator was almost as dim as the house. Rather than make anything seem gloomy or even scary it created a softer effect, covering the walls and even the people in shadows. In Daniel's case it made his muscles appear even more cut and defined, if that were possible. He rested his arm across my shoulders, leash in hand and I felt the heavy weight of his body. It made me bend my knees a bit and I wondered just how strong this man could be.

The elevator dinged softly and we stepped out into a long corridor. He walked quickly and confidently and I ran a bit to keep up with him so the leash wouldn't pull tight around my throat. He turned the corner and grabbed my hand to check my watch. "We should be just in time," he said, his voice echoing in the corridor. He opened the door and we stepped into a huge room. It was set up like an operating room observatory with seats overlooking a huge room. There were maybe ten or fifteen men in the seats already and he pulled me along. He chose a seat in the third row and sat down, throwing one massive leg over the seat rest. He gestured for me to sit and I took the chair next to him. Once I was settled I realized the seat itself rested about three inches lower than his own. When I looked around I noticed everyone who had a man on a leash (there were maybe six others who did) sat on a veritable throne. Their seats were high backed and wide, made of ornately carved wood. The seats those of us on leashes sat in were comfortable, but they were made to remind of us of our places in submission. We were less than the men who led us around. There was a waiter in a tuxedo who offered Daniel a drink, but he waved it away, without even asking me if I wanted anything. Everything that we had encountered so far was like a great divide between the haves and the have nots; everything reminded me that I was less than he was. I looked down at the area below us and saw metal dividers placed at strange and curious angles. It reminded me of something I had seen, but I couldn't quite place it.

Daniel moved the end of the leash into his left hand and wrapped his right arm around me again, puling me close to him. I rested my head against the side of his chest and the skin was warm and solid under my cheek. He bounced his pecs for me a few times and on the third bounce my face literally was pushed off his body. He smiled and pulled me in again and the side of my lips brushed his chest. I knew that I couldn't do more without his permission so I shifted slightly in my seat. He chuckled and petted the top of my head as if I were a good puppy.

The lights dimmed in the audience and two men came into the room below us from a door I hadn't seen before. They were slightly built, thinner than myself and wore only loincloths of what looked like soft brown leather around their waists. The lights hit them and they looked like helpless children. They looked around them with a look of both fear and excitement and for some reason I felt a paint of sympathetic fear in my stomach. A voice came over the loudspeaker. "Gentlemen," it boomed in perfect rounded tones. "Tonight's maze will be run by William and Thomas." Polite applause as they raised their hands in turn. William's hair was longer and darker, and Thomas had a milky white complexion and freckles along his back. "And, introducing our hounds for tonight. Please welcome Frederick and Julio." The door clanged open again and two huge men entered. They were almost down on their hands and knees moving like Tarzan did in those old movies. They wore loin cloths as well but theirs were made of fur and they wore capes and hoods made of fur like the old Greek drawings of Hercules. They had leashes around their necks and were led by the biggest man I had ever seen. He had nowhere near the muscles of Daniel, but instead looked a little like a trucker or biker. He wore tight blue jeans and a cut off flannel shirt wide open to reveal a solid hairy gut and arms as big as my thighs. Frederick and Julio began to growl and bark but a yank on their leashes and a command from the trucker brought them to heel at his sides. "Tonight's handler is the best. Butch!" The arena resounded with applause and most people leaned forward in their seats. "House rules, as always, gentlemen. Enjoy the maze." And the voice disappeared.

Daniel leaned into me. "If they make it through the maze they win. If not...well, let's just say the puppies have a good meal." He smiled at me and leaned back. A gunshot sounded to start the race...

When the gunshot sounded I jumped in my seat. Well, I tried to jump anyway, but though I wanted to and tried to, Daniel's arm was still around my shoulder, and the immense weight of his one arm kept me still. He looked down at me and smiled.

"Didn't mean to startle you, little one." His voice was mesmerising and caressed me all over. "The prey, William and Thomas, they get minute's head start. Then Butch will let Frederick and Julio go. If the prey gets to the other door before they get caught then they get promoted. We all come in like you do, on a leash. The strong or very, very influential get promoted. They win one of the games." I must have looked a little startled, because he answered my unspoken question: "There's lots of other games here sunshine. The night is just starting. Anyway, the thing with this game is to use your head. The dead ends aren't really dead ends, but most of the prey just panic when they're cornered and start to cry or beg. That's the fun part. The hounds are trained by Butch to track the prey I don't know how he does it but, I swear by the time he's through with them, they actually seem to be able to smell the fear."

"Is this the game you won? To get off your leash?" My own voice seemed small and quiet among the cheers and applause.

He smiled again and I was lost in his eyes. "Yep. But honestly, I just punched my way through in a straight line. The maze was closed for four months while they did repairs."

Butch had taken Frederick and Julio off their leashes and just held onto their collars. Their fur capes had been removed and sweat and oil dripped down their backs. They played around at Butch's feet as if they were dogs, batting at each other and growling like fierce creatures. Julio's skin was darker than Frederick's and their backs were so broad someone could have probably used them as movie screens. The second gunshot sounded and another cheer went up from the audience as Butch released their collars. They took off like rockets, moving faster than I would have thought possible considering they were moving like apes.

William and Thomas had split up and I wanted to yell to Thomas that he was headed into a dead end. I could see it from where I was sitting and when he turned the corner I could see the freckles across his back pale when he realized he was trapped. Julio and Frederick split up as well when they had come to the first corner and I thought I saw Frederick put his head to the ground and sniff. In any case before Thomas could turn around and run Frederick blocked his way out. True to Daniel's prediction Thomas began to panic and look around wild-eyed. Thomas tried half-heartedly to get around Frederick but before he could Frederick leapt and tackled him to the ground. I could hear Thomas' breath knocked from him, when Frederick grabbed him by the hair and lifted him up. When Frederick stood up fully on his two legs I could see just how small Thomas was in his grip. He was grasping Thomas under his armpits and with a casual shrug he launched Thomas back towards the corridor. Thomas flew about twenty feet through the air and landed hard. If he hadn't been so small and so hurt he could have tried to outrun Frederick again, but there was no chance of his getting back up. Frederick stayed standing fully erect and walked slowly towards Thomas. Thomas tried, bless him, to crawl away, but he was trying to hard to catch his breath. Frederick picked Thomas up again and lifted him over his head. Thomas' eyes opened wildly as he stared at the ceiling. Frederick shifted his hands until one hand rested in the small of Thomas' back and then he took one hand away. Thomas was being held by one powerful arm about eight feet off the ground.

Frederick lowered Thomas until he was shoulder level and then shot his arm up quickly in the air sending Thomas flying. He yelled but the scream was cut short as he dropped to the ground again. Frederick crossed his arms across that massive chest while he waited for Thomas to catch his breath. When Thomas was finally able to get back to his knees, Frederick reached down and ripped the man's loin cloth off revealing a half hard dick and smooth sack. Before he could even attempt to cover himself he found himself being lifted off the ground in a full nelson. His face was a mask of agony as his chin was forced into his chest. Frederick shook him like a rag doll and Thomas' legs moved of their own accord snapping back and forth as his body tried to adjust to the sharp movements Frederick subjected him to. It took me a minute but I realized that more like a cat than a dog Frederick was playing with his prey. Frederick set Thomas down gently and turned him around so they were face to face, or more accurately face to pecs. Frederick was breathing heavily now, and his huge pecs slammed into Thomas' face almost sending him to the ground. Thomas' cries for mercy were silenced by a huge hand wrapping around the front of his face. With barely any effort Frederick lifted him off the ground and slammed him, back first into the metal wall. Frederick's arms tried vainly to pry all that muscle and power off of him, but I knew, even in his own head, he'd given up. Frederick slammed him again and let go. Thomas sank to the floor, close to unconsciousness. Frederick walked to the end of the corridor and gripped the metal edge. I hadn't seen it, but there was a decorative metal edge bolted to the corridor. Closing his eyes in concentration he grunted and pulled. The metal creaked as it began to separate and my jaw dropped again (how many times had it dropped that night?) as I saw the bolts drop to the floor with a clink. In another minute Frederick had pulled the entire seven-foot piece of metal off the divider.

Balancing it he moved to the corridor so he could hold it horizontally. He twisted the metal around and around as easily as I would a tie on a loaf of bread until we all heard it snap and break in two. He dropped one piece to the ground and carefully gripped the jagged edge so he wouldn't cut himself. He began to squeeze and though I couldn't see it I could almost heard the metal fight against the power in his fist. Sweat dropped from Frederick's brow as the muscles in his arms bulged with power. I could see the triceps move as if they had a will of their own. They were like thick cords of rope under his skin until finally he pulled his hand away and the metal had fused into a thick, unsharp lump. He propped Thomas in a sitting position against the wall with the metal edge against his back. With his feet firmly planted on the ground and the striations between his pecs bulged out with massive power. The metal bent in a U- shape around Thomas' body and he began to return to consciousness. When he realized what was happening he snapped awake and tried to squirm free, but it was too late. Frederick had bent the metal into a trap. Thomas' dick sprang to full attention in the presence of such sheer power.

When the iron bar was wrapped fully around Thomas encircling his body Frederick leaned down and found a handhold in the bar and stood up as if Thomas were no more than a light briefcase. He walked back to Butch and dropped Thomas at his feet, presenting his master with a present. William was already there his hands and feet tied with both his own loin cloth and with Julio's. Frederick dropped back to his knees and ran to Butch's side getting some sort of treat while the big man petted him and scratched behind his ears.

The announcer's flat voice clicked back over the loudspeakers: "Well, not that we expected different but the winners are the hounds, Frederick and Julio." The men in attendance cheered. "The next show will begin in exactly forty-five minutes gentleman." The voice clicked off and Daniel stood up tugging at my leash.

"C'mon boy. There's another few shows I want you to see. Then you'll get a nice private show. Just you and me." We went back into the corridor along with a few other couples and Daniel took me in the opposite direction most people were walking. He knocked on a door and turned the knob. Inside Thomas and William sat, still tied on the floor against the far wall. The room held none of the opulence of the other rooms and instead seemed to serve as holding area for the hounds. There were men lying on the floor, some curled on large dog beds, some curled on a sofa. Butch sat in one of two chairs in the room, the other unoccupied. His big face lit up when he saw Daniel and a few of, what I assumed were other hounds moved out of his way as he crossed to us.

"Come in, come in." His voice was unlike Daniel's. It was deep and rough and held no elegance or caress to it. I could see wisps of hair from his armpits as he hugged Daniel, ignoring me. "Danny, it's good to see you. What have you been up to?"

Daniel tilted his head in my direction. "Just testing some new waters."

Butch looked at me, as if noticing me for the first time. He put his huge hand under my chin and it was sweaty and damp. He shifted my head back and forth as if inspecting me (actually I knew he was inspecting me) and grunted. "He wouldn't last two minutes with any of my pups." As if called Julio came up to Butch's side and glared at me. Butch raised an eyebrow and Daniel nodded and Julio began to sniff me, behaving as an actual dog would. I looked down and saw arms bigger than my thighs and I could feel a cold sweat run down my back.

"It's his first visit Butch. Maybe next time I'll take you up on that."

Butch laughed and pet my head, ruffling my hair. "Have a few minutes?"

"For you? Always." And Daniel kept his grip on my leash. They each sat in a chair and as Julio curled up at Butch's feet, Daniel turned to me. "Down boy." And I knelt at his side, feeling strangely vulnerable and naked, even though I was wearing more clothes than anyone in the room.

"What show are you catching next?" Butch asked.

"I don't know yet." Daniel turned to me. "What show do you want to see next Pup?" And he threw his head back and laughed and I knew it didn't matter what I said. Daniel would see whatever he chose to, and later on he would do whatever he chose to do with me, and I'd happily accept.

 

Daniel led me again down the hallway. The iron and brick walls of what I assumed was the basement were strangely cold and mechanical compared to the carved wood and candlelight in the upstairs part of the house. In spite of myself I shivered. Daniel noticed and turned to me.

"You all right little one?" His voice was reassuring and gentle in sharp contrast to the huge muscles of his body, which could have snapped flesh and bone with no trouble.

"It's just, I was just remembering Thomas and William. And Butch. What he ordered those guys to do to them. And then to make me watch. He looked at me like he wanted me to run that maze."

"Butch is harmless Jayson. Honestly. And as for Thomas and William, they didn't have anything done to them they didn't want done. No matter what it may have looked like."

"But those screams, and they way they fought so hard when the others, well, you know."

"Jayson," he said, backing me up against the wall, putting a hand on either side of my head, still holding that leash. "This place is about fantasies. And part of what all of us have in common is dominating or being dominated. That's part of sex. Especially when a guy is built like me. Someone always has to be dominant and in charge, which means that someone always needs to be submissive." He slid his down my shoulder and across my neck squeezing slightly.

Leaning down his voice was hoarse in my ear. "See here? This is dangerous, but you like it. You know I could strangle you or snap your neck. I could knock you out and you'd wake up screaming on the end of my dick, or anyone else's that I felt deserved you. You could wake up in any one of dozens of rooms in this place as part of a show. And that scares you shitless." He reached down and grabbed my cock through the pants of my suit. "But I notice that it doesn't make your hard-on go away. I bet, if anything it's making you harder. Danger's all around you little one. Enjoy it. It's a rush." He paused for a moment and slipped his tongue into my ear, making me groan and squirm in his grip which only caused me to choke more. "And besides, we are called the Hellfire Club, not the Hugs and Puppies club. Maybe the next room won't be so bad for you, " he said, leading me down the hallway again.

Outside the room we were headed to were two men. Neither was on a leash. They looked up at Daniel and I could see a flicker of recognition flash across the face of the shorter of the two. His expression of pure lust (when he looked at Daniel) changed to shock, then hatred when he looked at me. If Daniel noticed either the look or the man he gave no sign but he moved his body so that he blocked me from walking in front of them and placed his hand on my back allowing me to enter the room first. Something inside of me, some bell rang and told me that this was neither the time nor place to ask and so I kept my mouth shut.

This room was much brighter than any other I had seen. One whole side of the square room was lined with mirrors and there were no short seats this time. Instead the men who were on leashes sat either on the floor or on ottomans at the base of each throne. One man dressed in head to toe leather sat chatting to the man next to him, with his leg thrown over the shoulder of the man at his feet. The man on the floor sat at rigid attention supporting the entire weight of the nicely shaped leg. Daniel sat in a throne just right of center and placed one foot on the ottoman, leaving me just enough room to perch on the edge. Perpendicular to us was a line of men of varying ages, races, and heights. The tallest must have been six foot six. He was lanky and thin, his ribs showing slightly. Next to him was a chubby man probably about six foot four. They were all naked. The chubby man's dick was already hard, but it was short and stubby and barely stuck out beyond his beer gut. The shortest man couldn't have been much more than five six but he was stocky and muscular. Each of the men had straps around their chests made of what looked like a sturdy thick leather. Each strap had a leather loop in the middle. They stood at military 'at ease' and on either end stood attendants in their tuxedos with more straps in beautiful wicker baskets at their sides. In contrast to the soft classical music that wafted through the upper floors and the cheers of the maze room this one had club music being piped in making conversation with Daniel impossible. Without moving his upper body Daniel took his right foot off the ottoman and replaced it with his left, lifting his right leg over my head and placing it on the other side of me trapping me between those massive thighs. The effect was both claustrophobic and comforting and I noticed he did it when the short man from outside the room walked in. He made a great show of indifference towards Daniel, the kind of show which always draws more attention than if you had just stared in the first place.

A door hidden in the corner of the room opened and two men walked in wearing gym clothes. The first man was big the second bigger. Big wore baggy khaki shorts, white sneakers with no socks and a baggy white tank top. The fact that it was baggy did nothing to stop anyone from seeing the powerful traps and big chest underneath the clothing and his calf muscles had that diamond shape that most men dream of but could never achieve. Bigger wore no shirt, but had on long army fatigue pants and black scuffed workboots. His arms were, perhaps, slightly smaller than Daniel's, but not by much. They were covered in tattoo's, which hid some definition but seemed to only enhance the sheer size. I studied them but the shapes and colors seemed to blend together as if part of a mural or larger art work. You couldn't separate the pieces you had to take them together. Big had dark hair and eyes. His hair was just barely long enough in the back for him to pull it into a ponytail and though I bet he hadn't shaved this morning he had barely a hint of any five o'clock shadow. Bigger was blond, but his head was shaved close as if he'd left marine boot camp and came right here. I realized he was a little like a Tom of Finland character come to life, though his waist wasn't tiny, but rather he had small love handles.

There was no announcement this time but instead the two men went to long, flat benches in the middle of the floor. They sat in unison and nodded at the attendants who brought two men to them. Big had an average sized man and Bigger took one of the heavier men. Not the chubby one but a taller man who had some bulk to him. The attendants lifted the first man off the floor until he was parallel to it and handed him to Big who proceeded to use the man as a weight for his bench press. The first twelve reps were pumped out in rapid succession, the man being lifted staying stiff as a board but his erection growing with each rep. By the time Big got to the fifteenth rep he was struggling slightly and his breathing was heavier. With a loud grunt he pumped out two more before the attendants relieved him of the man. The human weight stayed next to the bench, his hard on glowing a bright rosy color because of all the blood rushing to it.

The attendants struggled a little with the second man as they positioned him for Bigger. It was no struggle, however for Bigger as he pumped out twenty perfect reps with the man. At one point I was afraid he would launch the man into the air at the audience. Bigger didn't have the attendants take the man from him, instead grabbing the loop in the front of the leather strap and tilting, setting the weight down gently on his left. He stood up and looked over the audience's heads in the mirror while he moved his arms back and forth across his chest enjoying the pump. Big did a second set with the same man, while Bigger moved on to the next heavier. This time he seemed to struggle a little, letting out that bodybuilder grunt with each succesive rep. This time he did allow the attendants to help lower the man to the ground. Big finished his bench press with the stocky man Bigger had started with. He pumped out eight reps with Bigger acting as a spotter. The weightifters acted as if no one else were aroound and Bigger kept yelling out encouragement, "It's all you! This is nothing. Pump it, pump it!" Big screamed one the last rep and Bigger lowered the man while Big stood up and ripped his shirt in two dropping it on the floor. His torso was etched out in perfect detail as if he were a statue carved of marble and there was a slight bit of hair around his navel tapering off into the top of his briefs. Big and Bigger high fived each other while the attendants removed the shirt pieces from the floor.

They called out four men this time. Big took the shortest two while Bigger took two men about my height. Bigger appraised one of the men and sent him back calling out a man who was a little taller but seemed closer in weight to the one he kept. The four men the back wall, keeping their bodies stiff and Big and Bigger bent down grabbing the front loops on the straps and stood up hefting the human weights into shoulder presses. One of the weights had a long, curved dick, which brushed against Bigger's side each time he lowered the man. At one point, I think both to show off to us and to Big, Bigger locked the men in the highest position, his arms locked and he turned in a complete circle with the two men in the air. Not to be outdone Big did the same and began to walk around the room. They lowered the weights, less gently this time and giggled like two kids as they pointed at each other. Bigger shoved his weights towards Big and took his positon as spotter again bracing Big's elbows as he struggled. They moved onto bicep curls next. As attendants attached similar straps to the chosen men's lower thighs. Big had taken the short, muscular man while Bigger took the tallest man. They stood far enough apart so as to not bash the men's heads together as began. the first set they did facing us, but the second they did facing opposite walls so we could watch their biceps work. Their biceps bunched like baseballs, no, cannon balls, filling with blood. I could see the pump engorging their already huge muscles and I leaned into Daniel as he absent mindedly stroked the top of my head with his fingers. Biggest dropped the man to the floor when he couldn't complete another rep and the man lay there while the attendants undid his legs so he could stand up again. They led him and then the stocky man back to the wall as Big and bigger called out the chubby man. They brought him front and center, close to us and undid his chest strap, tossing it to the attendants.

I wondered what they would do to pump up even further and Daniel leaned won to whisper in my ear: "Watch this, Jayson. This is the most fun part."

The chubby man stood between Big and Bigger and Daniel tightened his legs, trapping me between them. I could tell he was excited for whatever was going to happen.

Big and Bigger circled Chubby, as if they were appraising him for purchase. Bigger moved directly behind Chubby and gripped his triceps, pulling his arms directly out in a 't' shape. Moving his hands to Chubby's wrists he turned them up causing the man's meager biceps to flex. There was almost no rounding to his arms, his biceps barely even registered to my eyes. Big stood just to the side and poked Chubby's arms with a tanned finger. It sunk into the muscle and Big and Bigger looked at each other. For a moment there was silence. Then they started to laugh.

"Look at that, man," Big said through his chuckles. "Think maybe our jobs are in danger?"

"With muscles like that he's gonna throw us around like we're rag dolls!" Bigger retorted back. Chubby flushed bright red all over his body and I could see his dick get harder, even though it was still partially hidden underneath his paunch.

"Go ahead," Bigger said to Chubby. "Move me." And he roughly turned the man around holding his arms out to the side. "Lift me."

I could see Chubby was still blushing with embarrassment but he wrapped his arms around Bigger and tried to lift him. He was grunting and gasping for breath as he tried to move Bigger even an inch off the floor. I don't think Bigger was blocking him or doing anything other than standing there. It was no use.

"Oh no," Bigger said with phony fear dripping from his voice. "Oh no. He's doing it. He's moving me." And with that he began to walk around the room with Chubby clutching his waist. The man's toes scraped the padded floor as Bigger made a huge circle walking as if there weren't a two hundred plus pound man holding onto him for dear life. Bigger returned to his original spot and Chubby's hands slipped, dropping him to the floor at Bigger's feet. "Jesus, dude," he said to Big. "Have you ever seen such power?"

"Naw," Big said, yanking Chubby to his feet. "And look at those abs. It's like someone carved them." He started poking Chubby watching his fingers sink deep into the untoned flesh. Again the two bodybuilders started laughing and I could hear laughter coming from all around me. The naked men standing against the wall looked both relieved and jealous that the punishment belonged to someone else for the night. The attendants remained as impassive as always, but the men in the audience, especially those who were in the seats were laughing along at the man's humiliation. Daniel included. "Hey, I bet he wouldn't even feel it if we punched him," Bigger continued after the laughter died down. And he pulled his fist back, a look of fear crossed Chubby's face as he waited. Big shot his fist forward stopping it at the last minute to give Chubby barely a tap. Chubby let loose a relieved exhale and stood there. For exactly the second it took for Bigger to let loose a quick punch. Anyone could tell there was barely any of his true power behind it, but it sent Chubby back to his knees.

"Man, you were right. He barely felt that." Bigger picked Chubby back up. "Do you think maybe if we double teamed him?"

Big nodded and Bigger turned the man around and locked him into a full nelson. He stood completely upright bringing Chubby off the ground, his toes not even brushing the floor. His torso totally exposed and vulnerable, his eyes shut tight with embarrassment Chubby waited for the onslaught to begin. He didn't have long to wait, as Big began to unload punches. They were light at first, barely making contact.

First he concentrated on Chubby's chest. (I hesitate to call them pecs.) It didn't take much longer than thirty seconds for them to turn bright red and show fist indentations across them. Big pulled back and turned to Bigger. Cupping the right side of the man's pecs in his hand he began to jiggle the soft and sore flesh up and down. "Guy, you should see how hard these muscles are. It's like they make my pecs look like a chick's boobs." The two men laughed again at Chubby's expense.

"Yeah?" Bigger answered. "Let me see." He passed Chubby over to Big who pulled the man's arms up behind his back and held both hands there with just one of his own. Bigger yanked on the man's saggy tits showing just how out of shape he was. Chubby gasped and cried out in pain, tears streaming down his face. "And look how stoic he is. It's like no matter what we do, he can't feel it." The two men giggled like schoolgirls, no like schoolyard bullies with no teacher in sight on the playground.

Daniel leaned down to me again. "Maybe that'll be you someday, little one." I looked at him in fear and he smiled that comforting smile. "Of course, you'll be able to take a lot more pain and punishment by then. I'll have trained you myself, after all." And he sat back in the chair before I could respond.

"Hey, let's see how much I can take from those powerhouse thighs," Bigger said as he grabbed Chubby's legs and wrapped them around his waist. Like a lot of men Chubby's legs were thin compared to his upper body giving him that sort of potato shape I'd have to fight against. I swore to myself I would up my squats and leg presses at the gym adding an extra set to them the next time I was there.

"Now, let's hope he takes it easy on me." Bigger said as Chubby gripped his legs tightly around his waist, locking his ankles. Big dropped the man's arms and he remained trapped in mid air, the only thing holding him up his own leg strength. Bigger remained standing in the middle of the room, totally unaffected by the leg scissors being applied to him. He grinned, big and evil, and then dropped to his knees faking pain and agony. "Arrrrrgh, oh man, take it easy. You're breaking my ribs and my back." He could barely say it with a straight face and I could see Chubby redouble his efforts, partially out of fear of falling to the ground and partially in an attempt to show he had some strength. After a minute, Bigger stood up with the man still attached to him and started staggering around the room the same way he had when the man tried to lift him. "He's crushing me, dude! Crushing me. Help me out. Rescue me!!" Bigger yelled to Big. "Jeez man, I can't. Do you see this guy's power? He'd kill me." Big replied. Both men could barely keep from laughing through their bad mock dialogue of fright.

"You gotta do it man. When he's done with me he's gonna come after you. The only chance we have is if we work together," Big was partially holding Chubby up now, as sweat began to run down his thighs from the helplessness of his struggle. Big crossed to him and grabbed Chubby's wrists, while Bigger easily pulled Chubby's ankles apart. "Whew, thanks man. We better take advantage now, before he powers out and just mops the floor with the two of us." They held him parallel to the floor and stretched him out just a little. Bigger's face shot up. "You!" he barked to the tallest man. "Here. Now." The lanky man crossed to them , his semi-flaccid dick slapping against his thighs. "Did you do cardio today?" Lanky shook his head no and Bigger smiled over Chubby at Big. They nodded at each other. "Well, you're going to now." Lanky nodded, swallowing a lump in his throat. "You know what the best cardio is? It's not the treadmill or the stairmaster. A lot of guys don't even consider it because they think it's girly, but it's jump rope." And with that Big and Bigger swung the chubby man around as if he were a jump rope. Before Lanky had the chance to do anything Chubby smashed into him powered by the bodybuilders. Lanky flew across the room and landed, sprawled out across the floor and the whole room erupted in laughter.

"Pathetic," Big spat out. "Get back here." Lanky stood up, uneasily and came back to them. "If you can't do it ten times in a row, you're going to clean up tonight." Lanky's upper torso and chest blushed deeper red than I thought any human being could and he positioned himself, ready to jump. "You," Big said roughly, pointing to the small man. "Come over here and count." He pointed to a spot just out of the way and the bodybuilder's got ready to swing Chubby.

"One," the short man said as Lanky barely cleared the round expanse of Chubby's stomach. I knew why they chose Lanky for the job. His long legs, combined with their height and Chubby's stomach made it difficult, if not impossible for Lanky to make it over each time. He got to six before he stumbled over Chubby landing hard on his stomach.

Big and Bigger snorted in unison and with barely a shrug tossed Chubby across one of the weight benches. I heaved a silent sigh of relief that he managed to twist his body so he landed stomach first instead of back first across the bench. He pulled himself off, a harsh red mark across his torso and went back to his place in line, his stubby little cock harder than I'd seen anyone's. Big sighed, "Time for the clean up." The lanky man started to cry as the two attendants came over with leather straps a little longer than usual. They undid the strap around his chest and retied it, trapping his arms inside. They added extra straps around his torso and two or three to his legs, immobilizing him totally. One of the attendants reached into the breast pocket of his tuxedo and pulled out what looked like a rag. Standing on his toes Bigger pulled a mask down across Lanky's face. The mask had space for his nose and mouth but covered his eyes and there were small pieces of what looked like a swiffer all over the rest of it. Big held his hands out to Bigger and went to lean against the wall. "I love this part man," he said to Bigger.

Bigger laughed. "Me too man. I promise you can get the next one." And with that he wrapped one arm under Lanky's lower torso and grabbed the handle on the strap around his lower thighs. Upending him he walked over to the weight benches and began to use Lanky's face and mask to wipe the benches clean of sweat. After a few swipes he pulled Lanky back and peered at the bench. "Naw, it's not clean. Use your tongue this time too." We could see Lanky hesitate. "Open up man or you won't be able to walk out of here." We all knew it was no idle threat and Lanky's tongue shot out of the mask quickly. He gave the bench a good licking and then Bigger shifted his grip so that the back of Lanky's head, that part covered by the mop wiped the saliva off the bench. Bigger looked at the bench again. "Not bad. Now for the other one." And he began to wipe the other bench with the front of Lanky's face. With a huge laugh he began to walk around the room with Lanky as if he weighed no more than an actual mop. Which, of course, to this man was probably the case. With a sadistic grin he brought Lanky over to the audience. Walking towards Daniel he brought Lanky to Daniel's crotch and rubbed him up and down a few times before moving him to Daniel's boots. Next to me I could hear Lanky crying in his mask and Daniel moved his other leg, placing his boot on the back of Lanky's head and applying some pressure, pushing Lanky's tongue onto the slick surface of his boot. Daniel nodded to Bigger and he pulled Lanky away, the back of the human mops head against the bottom of Daniel's shoe.

Whistling to himself as if he were a janitor Bigger began to use Lanky to mop the entire floor. He gave most of the floor a cursory cleaning, until he came to the spot just in front of Big. Big cleared his throat and let out a giant wad of foamy spit, which landed on the floor with a splat. "Tongue out," BIgger said, shaking Lanky, who was sobbing loudly now, but he obeyed instantly and Big cruelly let out four more spit wads, the last landing on his own dirty sneaker. Lanky cleaned that, as well, taking what appeared to be some mud off the shoe as well, leaving a clean patch amidst all the dirt.

Setting Lanky feet first on the floor, next to the attendants, Big and Bigger walked to the center of the floor and bowed to cheers and applause. The audience left their seats, some going up to Big and Bigger, placing hands, hot with lust and desire on their arms or pecs or backsides. The two men drank in the admiration, but I watched the attendants as they removed Lanky's mask and was hypnotized by the tears streaming down his face. Chubby also hadn't looked up since his humiltiation just focusing on a spot on the floor.

Daniel turned my face towards his. "Did that upset you," he asked me tenderly.

"It was a little difficult. I mean I liked the first part, but the humiliation--"

"Listen to me, little one. We're hard here at Hellfire. We're about domination and submission and sometimes even cruelty. But we face those dark and dirty corners of our minds and our souls and we embrace them. We don't run from them. No one here, no matter how submissive, no matter how weak doesn't do anything they don't want. All those men who are standing naked before us. They asked to be there. Some of them begged for it. Some of them are empty inside; hurting that weren't picked to be the mop for the show. Even me, Jayson, I would love to take you upstairs to my room here and toss you across the room onto the bed and wrap my hands in your hair and yank while I push you down on my cock, but I would never do that to you if you didn't want it. The domination is nothing to me if you don't trust me. It doesn't excite me if your struggles are because you really think I'd hurt you Jayson." He was silent for a minute and despite the other people in the room, the noise, I felt as if it were just he and I. "Here, I'll show you how much I want you to trust me." He reached up and began to undo the leash at my throat. Before he could do anything, though I reached up and stopped him. Even without being able to see I could tell from my grip how much bigger his hands were than mine.

"Please," I said simply, "don't." He smiled at me and took his hand away and placed our hands, palm to palm, demonstrating to me exactly what I thought of the size of our hands. He was bigger than me. Much, much bigger.

"Jayson, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship." He wrapped me again in the comfort of that beautiful laugh and for a second all was right with the world.

I could feel someone next to us before I heard the voice. "Hello Daniel, long time, no see."

I looked up to see the short man from outside the room staring down at us. Daniel stepped over me, drawing himself up to his full height, towering over me and the short man. "Not long enough for me Louie."

Louie looked down at me and smiled. He jerked his head in my direction. "This your new play-thing?"

I opened my mouth to speak but Daniel, still holding the leash, gripped me by the arm and yanked me, rougher than he intended, I think, to my feet. "Stay away from us Louie. Both of us. Or else." Daniel kept his grip on my arm and led me out of the door and quickly down the hall towards the elevator. We were in the elevator alone when he turned to me. "I know you have lots of questions, but I don't want to talk about it now. I'll tell you when I feel like telling you, got it?" I nodded. "Thanks," he said curtly. I leaned into him and he put his arm around me tenderly and protectively and I knew, no matter who this Louie person was he'd never be able to hurt me while Daniel was around. Daniel leaned down, resting his considerable bulk on me and kissed me on the head. "You're a good boy." I had never felt so proud and I beamed from ear to ear as the elevator doors slid open with a quiet ding

 

Daniel led me back out onto the main floor and we walked deeper into the house, into the library.

The room was actually fairly well lit, and an elderly gentleman looked up at Daniel and myself, looking up from the letter he was writing. His smile was big and friendly and we returned the smile. He went back to writing his letter on the back of a huge bodybuilder dressed in nothing but a leather thong and wrist bands. There was a small glass jar of ink balanced on the bodybuilders thick neck, and, though I had no way of knowing how long he'd been there, I could tell he was straining to keep still. The old man gave him a sharp slap on the bare ass and it echoed in the small space. The bodybuilder mumbled an apology and Daniel tugged on my leash a bit pulling me after him. The door on the opposite end of the library opened up into what must have, at one time, been a ball room. Now, though, there were tables on the floor and huge drapes hung from the ceiling. The drapes looked thick and heavy, the design somehow halfway between an Indian fabric and old English fabrics. It must have had something to do with the trim. There were attendants all along the wall and the first one in line, as if they were taxis approached us.

"Hello Sir," he said to Daniel, ignoring me. "Would you like private or public Sir?"

Daniel thought for a moment. "Semi-private, I think." "Very good Sir." And he led Daniel and myself, off through the center of the room. Daniel nodded occasionally to one of the seated men until we reached a table partially hidden under the cone of a drape. The back of the drape was propped up behind a semi-circular couch. Daniel eased into the couch and half reclined, passing my leash over to our waiter.

Daniel looked at me as the leather encasing his massive thighs creaked, "Do you need to go to the washroom little one?" I nodded and Daniel nodded at the waiter who led me further into the dining hall. When Daniel led me around on the leash, there had been some sort of pride in it, but having the attendant do it was somehow different. Perhaps because he was indifferent to me, but whatever caused it I suddenly blushed deep crimson. I must have held back because the attendant turned to me slightly. "It's all right Sir. It's actually quite a compliment. Most of the Dominants here aren't comfortable enough to let a submissive out of their sight. It means that Mr. Daniel Sir, is quite pleased with you Sir, and thinks you're socially acceptable to be seen without him Sir. It's highly irregular on a first visit to be seen with one of us." He smiled and I followed after him, somewhat more at ease. The restroom was more opulent than anything I'd ever seen before. The counter top was a peach colored marble and the surface was almost reflective it was so highly polished. Everywhere I looked there was just a beautiful appreciation of finery. There was nothing arrogant or obnoxious about it. Just everything about the house was simple. The message being 'I am the best.'

Once we were back at the table, I was seated in a small chair off to the side of the bench. I was on the side closest to Daniel's head as he lounged on the bench, one shiny boot propped up on the deep red bench.

"The usual Sir?" The attendant turned his attention back to Daniel as he clipped the end of my leash onto a clip on the back of my chair. Daniel nodded, smiling at the waiter. "And your...guest?" the waiter asked.

"He'll have a seltzer water and red wine with dinner, thank you Lucas."

"Very good Sir." Lucas turned, obviously pleased at being remembered and went off to fetch our drinks.

"Like it?" Daniel asked me.

"This whole place is unreal. This house is exquisite. It's so beautiful. I'd love to just walk around it in the daylight and see all the carvings. The woodwork alone is--"

"Jayson, I didn't really mean the house." He looked at me the way a patient parent would a small child. "I meant about what you've seen."

"Oh," I answered dumbly. "It's a bit overwhelming." I put my hands flat on the table for something solid to hold onto. As usual my seat was placed lower than Daniel's and it was strange and awkward. "It's nice to be able to figure you out a little. I mean, you obviously know more about me than I do about you." Lucas came back and placed Daniel's water in front of him. He hesitated while holding mine in the air.

"On the table, Lucas, not the floor. Maybe next time, though." Daniel smiled again and I wondered what would happen if they used his smile as a way to calm people in panicky situations. I'll bet if he asked people would always file out of a burning building in a swift and orderly fashion. Lucas placed the water in front of me. "Very good Sir." and he walked away.

Daniel jerked his chin past me. "That's why he paused." I turned my head and saw a man on a leash like mine on his knees lapping his drink from a metal dog bowl on the floor. "That'll be you some day little one," Daniel said to me as the man's owner (did I really just use the word 'owner'?) leaned down and scratched the man behind the ears. No one else seemed to even notice the odd sight of a man on his hands and knees. "It won't happen for a while, and, probably, not in public, but you'll do that for me one day Jayson." The sound of his voice brought my eyes back to his, but his stare was both so intense and overpowering I dropped my eyes almost immediately to the firm rounded peak of his bicep. His arm was bent at the elbow on the top of the couch he was on and his head rested in the palm. I kept my eyes focused on that bicep, though. He wasn't even really flexing, but the muscle seemed enormous to me. Bigger than my head. If it was smaller it wasn't by much.

"You like that Jayson?"

I didn't answer but instead nodded.

He reached down and grabbed the salad fork from its place in front of me. Holding the tips on his middle finger and his thumb he kept staring at me. He squeezed slightly and it bent in half immediately. Putting the back of his hand flat on the table, the fork rested in the middle of his huge hand he slowly closed his hand. With no more effort than it would take me to crumple a piece of paper, he crushed the fork. Holding it in his one hand he began to move his fingers and thumbs. His biceps and triceps moved and shifted under the sleek, tanned skin, but because demolishing a solid piece of metal wasn't much a challenge for the muscles they barely got a workout. He opened his palm and inside was a small ball of metal made smooth and shiny by the power of this man's one hand. He tucked it into the pocket of my suit jacket.

"That's nothing little one. Remember how I told you I punched my way through the metal maze? Remind me to tell you about the time I was in the weight room and I used two different men as mops at the same time. One in each hand. During the summer we have an outside playroom. Butch and I ripped apart a car once. I yanked the trunk hood off and Butch and I played tug of war with it. Ever seen how a piece of taffy stretches between the hands of a normal guy? Well that's what happened with this hood. They never tell you you're driving in a piece of taffy." He smiled again and I saw a bit a darkness cloud over his eyes. "We ripped that car apart like it was a piece of nothing."

I nodded and shifted my eyes downward.

"Little one, look at me." I forced myself to look up. "What I did to that fork was nothing compared to what I have the power to do. And I'm not the strongest one here. Close but not the best. Not yet." He moved back from me as Lucas placed plates down in front of us.

Daniel was silent while we ate. The food was wonderful. I had to use my dinner fork for the salad. but I didn't care. Daniel's manners were perfect and I wondered where he grew up, who raised him to be such a gentleman one minute and a scary musclebound man the next. I didn't know, but I sudden realized I'd been hard in my pants since I sat down. He finished dinner and took a sip of wine. Reaching over, he put his hand on my crotch. "You like this, don't you Jayson? You like being here and you like knowing the hand that's touching you is so strong it could rip your dick off without a second thought. I could make you a eunuch without a thought. Make it so the only person you'd ever show yourself to was me. Make it so you'd have to beg me for it. Maybe I'd give it you. Maybe I'd flex for you. Let you touch my rock hard muscles. Maybe I'd make you sit across the room and just watch." He laughed softly, and rather cruelly. "The thought of it is making your dick jump in my hand Jayson. The thought that, in spite of the fact that you'd never come again, you could always be around me. I had you pegged the first time I saw you, Jayson, you're a natural submissive. You're a slave little one. Not like the way most gay guys think of. You'd never submit to just anyone. You're a slave for muscle. For power. That's what turns you on even more than the size of my muscles. the strength. I could make you cum with a word. A move. Anything." I held still. I don't even think I dared to breathe.

He took his hand away from me. "We still have another course or two in the dinner, Jayson. I want you to ask me anything you want. Any question, no matter how personal. You're right, I do have the advantage. I have several, in fact. And I want you to submit to me because you want to, not because you're afraid of me." He stroked my face tenderly. "Ask away." He leaned back into the couch and again his bicep moved.

My head was filled with so many questions; I didn't know where to begin.

 

My mind raced back and forth filled with a thousand questions I wanted to ask. He looked at me with his warm, brown eyes and before I could stop myself I simply said: "What's it like? To, I mean... you know, to be you? To be so strong, and everything?" My cheeks blushed a slight pink. "I'm sorry. I'm usually a little more articulate."

He looked at me for a second as if he had trouble understanding what I said, then he exhaled though his nose and let out a short laugh. "Only you. Most guys want to hear what I can do, or what I've done, but you..."

"I'm sorry," I said, looking down and blushing again.

"No, little one," he replied to me, lifting my chin. "I wasn't saying anything bad. It just surprised me, that's all." He leaned back into the couch, stretching his leg out straight on the fabric. "What's it like? I like it." He smiled and looked at me. "It's great, to be honest. To walk into a room. Almost any room and know that people turn and look. It feeds the ego like you wouldn't believe. To have men and women stare. To see them whisper something in their friends ears." He giggled a little. "If they actually do come up to me and say hello they put their hands on my arm or chest, just to feel the muscle. I love it." He reached over and pulled my chair closer to him. "A lot of times people are afraid of me. They're intimidated or just plain scared. What did you think? They first time you saw me?"

"I don't know." I looked up and smiled. "I guess you reminded me of the kids in school who used to pick on me. I was afraid." His voice became lower and huskier. "Are you still afraid of me?"

"In a good way." He considered that for a minute and shrugged.

"I love it. Being me. It's hard too, though." Shifting his hand he absently ran his hand on my face. "It's hard to see someone stare at you like they want you and that they're too scared to even say hello. You know I can practically see it in someone's eyes. When they think 'What does he see in me?' I know you've thought it more than once tonight. Wondered why I picked you." He looked at me, but what could I say? He knew that I'd thought it and there was no point in denying it. "I was scared before. When I grabbed your dick and told you I could rip it off. I wondered if I'd gone too far and scared you. Some men expect me to read their minds. They tell me they want me to rough them up, without really knowing what rough is to me. You could take a baseball bat to my quad and it probably wouldn't bruise. If I wanted I could toss you from here and put you through a wall without breaking a sweat. Jesus, Jayson, I've had the cops called on me so many times I can't even begin to tell you. 'He hit me, he hurt me.' I've been real lucky I haven't gone to jail yet. Some men don't really want to know that I could snap their backs in a heartbeat, but they want me to point out that I can. Sometimes," he sighed. "Sometimes I wish it were easier." Whatever cockiness he had a few minutes ago had faded and been replaced by something slightly melancholy. "Once I was with this guy who liked his breathing controlled when he was having sex. With most men he'd have to wear a mask, but for me it was easy to just squeeze his neck a little, or put my hand over his face. Sometimes I forget how strong I am. I thought he was just having the orgasm of his life. I didn't realize he was hitting my arm because he wanted to breathe. They felt like mosquito bites to me. I barely even felt them. Thank God I know CPR. I'm much more careful now. I can read body language pretty well. Sometimes men try and cover stuff up, or act macho. Not you though." I must have looked horrified at that sentence because he laughed. "I didn't mean it like that. I just meant that you don't hide or hold back. It's easy for me to see how much you do or don't enjoy stuff. And it doesn't hurt that I can see how hard your dick is." He laughed again. "I think a lot of men want me to read their minds. To know exactly how far I can go, and how much power I can use. I've never really been able to fully test how strong I am. I mean, I can feel the strain on a muscle. I can see them grow after a hard workout, but as far as really seeing how strong I am? I've met a few guys here at Hellfire who can pin me in a wrestling match but..." he shrugged. "That's what it's like being me, Jayson. It's good, and bad and everything in between. I'm just like you. Only bigger and stronger." He laughed. "That was supposed to be a joke." It took me a minute but I laughed. "Sorry." Our laughter faded away and for a minute I saw something indescribably sad behind his eyes. He held my stare for a minute and as if he knew I saw the sadness in him he blinked and suddenly it was gone.

"Are you still hungry? I'm done. And there's somewhere we should be."

"I'm fine, thank you." He gestured for Lucas and thanked him saying we wouldn't be having more at the moment, but save the table as we may be back. Lucas nodded and bowed slightly, unhooking my leash. Daniel led me deeper into main floor of the house, until we walked into the back yard of the house. It looked exquisite in the dark and I could only imagine how manicured the lawn must be. We walked in the slightly damp grass until we entered what looked like a green house made of wood and brick. The lights were bright after the dark of evening and Daniel handed my leash to an attendant just inside the door. He leaned over and thrust his tongue quickly into my ear. "I'll see you in a bit, little one."

He walked off and I saw, as usual, the seats and ottoman's around a ring. There was a boxing heavy bag suspended well above the ring by a chain and the whole place, rather than the elegance of the house or the sterility of the basement rooms had the smell and feel of something illicit, like a juke joint out in the woods serving booze back in the 1920's. The air smelled like stale sweat and sex. And the crowd seemed slightly rowdier than usual.

The attendant walked me carefully through the crowd until we were at the corner of the ring. He attached my leash to the ringpost and set a pillow down on a stair leading to the ring to try and make me comfortable. I must have looked mystified and the attendant pulled up a chair near me. He opened his mouth to speak when a voice rang out over the loudspeaker.

"Gentlemen! Tonight's match is one of the most anticipated of the year. Wearing black trunks, at six foot four, weighing three hundred and seventeen pounds is Daniel!" At the sound of his name the crowd cheered loudly and he appeared at the end of a ramp, tall and pumped and slightly sweaty wearing nothing but a small pair of trunks and a pair of wrestling boots. He smiled in my direction and for a minute I was lost in a fog. "And his opponent tonight at six foot three, three hundred and twenty five pounds is the man known only as Killer!" From a ramp opposite Daniel's walked a huge man wearing a red singlet. It hugged the curves of his body tightly. He wasn't anywhere near as muscular as Daniel but he was still huge. Hair spread out from the chest of his singlet over his shoulder and to his back. Killer had someone of his own on the leash and he clipped his own boy on the ring post opposite me. He was wearing a pair of short latex shorts and work boots and he leaned down on his haunches in a way that reminded me of the hounds earlier this evening.

"Tonight's match, gentlemen, is a wager match. Each man has put his own submissive on the line." My eyebrows shot up and my head jerked around at Daniel as he entered the ring. He didn't even look my way but instead just loosened up his muscles, stretching them on the ropes. "If Daniel should win, his boy will wrestle Killer, and be used and abused however Killer sees fit. The opposite is true, of course, should Daniel win. May I remind you gentlemen, that Killer has been undefeated for six months and that this match marks a return to the ring for Daniel who hasn't been here in almost a year. This is a house rules match gentlemen, winner by submission or knock out only and blows to the eyes or groin are prohibited." There was a telltale click as the loudspeaker shut off and a bell announced the start of the match. The two began to circle each other and I looked across the way at the other man on a leash. He growled at me and licked his lips as if I were a juicy steak he'd be chowing down on. My mouth was suddenly dry as Daniel and his opponent locked up in the center of the ring. I was more scared now than I'd ever been and furious with Daniel for putting me in this situation. I looked up, expecting to see Daniel lock this man in a bearhug or full nelson and force a submission. Instead I looked up just in time to see Killer smash a huge forearm into Daniel's back, sending him to his knees. Ok, so now I was more scared.

Daniel was bent over, on his hands and knees, the small black trunks riding up his muscled backside. Killer brought his huge, hairy forearm back down across Daniel's smooth back and he fell flat onto the ground. I could feel my nails digging into my palms in nervousness. It was less than five minutes into the match (the match that, apparently, was going to decide where and who I'd spend the night with) and Daniel hadn't even gotten a single punch in. Killer's beer belly of a stomach jiggled a little as he bent down and yanked Daniel to his feet by the hair.

Strange, the things we think about at the moments in our lives that are "big." I was still angry with Daniel for not discussing the fact that he was basically bartering me with this match, and yet I wasn't focused on that. The way that when we lose our keys we don't focus on the fact that we're locked out but instead focus on the red streak that splashed across the key chain. My point, is that, at this moment, I focused on Daniel and Killer. More accurately, their bodies. Daniel's was a piece of perfection. Each muscle stood out in sharp relief against the other. He was almost like a comic book character come to life. The way that Batman is drawn, each muscle is sharply defined and looks rock hard and rigid. That was what Daniel looked like. At any moment he wished he could step onstage at a bodybuilding competition and win. His muscles began to shine under a thin layer of sweat that formed from the hot lights.

Killer and he were a study in contrasts. Killer would never win any bodybuilding contrast, but instead his body looked almost crudely powerful, like the kind of man you'd see at the gym and think his arms were flabby. Then he'd pick up a hundred pound dumbbell and pump out fifteen curls without breaking a sweat and you realize he's carrying heavy muscle under a heavy layer of fat. Thick veins the size of my fingers wriggled across Killer's shoulders as he shot Daniel into the thick ring ropes. Daniel bounced off the ropes and came flying back at Killer, who threw a quick jab into Daniel's perfectly molded abs. Had it been me my fist would have bounced off and Daniel would have laughed at the blow, but Killer was three times my size and much, much stronger. I had seen men bend steel tonight and easily believed Killer more than capable of power like that. Daniel actually flipped around Killer's fist, turning over in the air and landing hard on his back. He clutched at his stomach, sucking in air. Killer stepped lightly over him and crossed to the sorner where I sat perched on the far end of the steps.

Killer leered down at me and smiled. I saw he was missing two of his side teeth when he smiled at me. "You're pretty yummy boy. I'm gonna eat you up alive." He took a moment to show off for the crowd. It seemed pretty evenly divided between those who were cheering for Killer and those for Daniel. Men were yelling their encouragement to Daniel who rubbed at a red patch on his etched in stone body. I sat on the edge of the stair, more dumbfounded than anything, unable to do much except pray that Daniel would win the match. Killer walked behind Daniel, who made it to his hands and knees, and raised his hands up high for the crowd. With amazing speed for a man his size he brought both hands down and clamped them on the sides of Daniel's neck squeezing his huge traps. At the same time he yanked Daniel back until he was sitting on his ass, in the middle of the ring, his legs spread wide in front of me. Daniel's voice came out in high, ragged gasps of pain.

Have you ever played tug of war with a dog? You know how they shake their end of the rope back and forth trying to yank it out of your mouth? That's how Killer treated Daniel. I could see his thick, meaty fingers digging into Daniel's flesh and I winced in sympathetic pain, my face scrunching up like Daniel's. He pushed and pulled Daniel back and forth until I thought he would tear the muscle from the bone and I knew that if it had been anyone but Daniel, he would have succeeded. The scarier part is that I don't think Killer would have cared. His eyes were dark, and cold, and glinted like a shiny stone with every scream of pain that Daniel uttered. He let go with a toss and Daniel fell back down to the mat, trying to massage the pain out of his shoulders. Killer pulled Daniel into a standing position and twisted his arm in an armbar until Daniel was bent over again, his magnificent ass on display to the audience. Holding Daniel's wrist in one of his thick, callused hands he slapped Daniel's ass. "That's sweet too. Maybe tonight I'll take you while my boy takes yours. And maybe we'll do it right here in the middle of the ring." He slapped again and twisted Daniel's arm one more time. I was waiting to hear a bone or a muscle snap in Daniel's thick arm. "Face it Danny, you might have been a big man around here once, but not any more. Now, you're just a has been."

Those in the audience who were on Daniel's side gasped at such an insult. Walking Daniel to the ropes opposite me, he brought him to his knees and tied his arms in the top two ropes, hanging him in a crucifixion pose. Daniel's beautiful face was in pain and for a moment, when he looked at me I could hear him apologize for losing in my head. I looked at him and smiled, as if we were still back at our curtained table in the dining room. Killer grabbed each of Daniel's ears in his hands and brought Daniel's face into his crotch. I heard and felt, rather than saw Daniel gasp at the smell coming from Killer's red singlet. I knew Daniel's face was red from the embarrassment of having such a thing done to him. Especially in front of me. It was one thing for him to tell me he wasn't the strongest, but to have me see it would hurt him. Killer yanked his face away and I heard him spit down on Daniel's face. Killer left him tangled and hanging in the ropes. Coming over to me, he leaned down and grabbed hold of my arm though my suit jacket. Before the attendant who was with me could move Killer lifted me up, over the top ring rope and into the ring. I choked a bit from the leash but was more helpless, even with my hands free than Daniel was trapped in those thick ring ropes, against the sheer power of this man. Killer put me down on my feet and pushed forward against me with his big beer gut. I was trapped in the corner and Killer was so much taller his heavy belly pushed against my chest. Killer grabbed at the sleeves of my suit and yanked, separating both my suit jacket and my shirt from my arms. With another yank my tie went, snapped the way a normal person would rip apart a piece of thread. I stood in front of all these man stripped naked to the waist and desperately looking for a way to escape and hide. From the way the attendant was trying to pull Killer away from me I knew that whatever the man was doing was obviously against the house rules, whatever they were. With barely a move of his shoulder and arm Killer swept the man out of the ring. Killer leaned in close to me and squeezed my cheeks, causing me to open my mouth. I thought he would grind my jawbone into powder, but instead he placed his mouth on mine and sucked my tongue into his own mouth. So far from the soft sensual feel of Daniel's mouth, the growth of beard and stubble scratched me and there was nothing of the gentle power of Daniel in his kiss. I felt invaded and heard a roar from behind Killer's back. Hearing the same sound Killer yanked away from me and we both saw Daniel, his chest stretched in the ropes as if he were doing flys, strain and struggle, sweat pouring down his face and body.

Killer turned back to me and grabbed one of my nipples, twisting and yanking. "Inside of the elastic and rubber compound on the outside are chains pup. Strong enough to hold us big men in. We can stay here for a bit and play while we watch him tire himself out. And don't think any of them," he pointed to the audience and the attendants, "can help."

I turned my face to look up at him. "Please, just let him go and I'll do whatever you want."

He smiled down at me with his lips curled in a more cruel fashion than anyone I had seen in my entire life. "You'll do whatever I want anyway. This way, I just get to fuck him up too. You know ever since I got here all I heard about was 'Daniel' this and 'Daniel' that. I got so sick of--" His voice broke off and I turned my head to watch what he was watching. Daniel's entire body was struggling and moving. His muscles danced underneath his skin and looked as if they were going to push themselves to the surface. With his teeth bared and grinding against one another and his beautiful, serene face contorted in concentration both Killer and I heard the creak of metal on metal. I realized an instant before Killer did that it was the metal within the ring ropes and as Killer took his hand off my chest to cross the ring the entire audience held their breath until that moment when metal snapped and Daniel ripped the ring ropes out of their homes in the turnbuckle. The audience kept silent as Daniel struggled to his feet. Killer, Killer's pup, the attendant and myself didn't move as Daniel shrugged off the chains and they fell to the floor with a clang. The turnbuckles, themselves solid steel, were bent in, one almost parallel to the floor.

Daniel raised his index finger and pointed at Killer. "No one touches my toys without my permission." The audience cheered and the sound roared in my ear.

As Killer walked away from me I could feel someone tugging on my arm and I turned to see the attendant. "This is probably not the best place to be." I nodded stupidly and the attendant helped me out of the ring. He unclipped my leash from the side and I could see other attendants all around clearing Killer's pup from the side, as well as moving the men on the side of the ring where there was no protection. I felt a big towel being thrown over my shoulders, covering my bare flesh as Killer leapt at Daniel. Daniel shifted slightly in what looked like a judo move and brought Killer down to the ground. Moving swiftly he trapped Killer in a school boy pin and started punching him. There was no strategy or thought in this. It was pure rage and power. Killer's nose spurted blood and one of Daniel's punches missed Killer's face pounding a hole in the mat. From the look on Killer's face I assumed this hadn't ever been done before and he struggled desperately to free himself. Apparently he was moving too much and Daniel yanked him to his feet Twisting the man's arm behind him in a hammer lock Daniel bent and then lifted Killer in the air. Killer screamed as he was being held aloft only by his twisted and bent bicep and rotator cuff. Daniel's temper seemed to be getting under control as he dropped Killer what seemed like seconds before he would have given up.

Killer flopped on the ground for a second like a fish on a boat and Daniel stepped on his gut with both feet, leaning all his weight into the man's soft belly. He jumped once, twice, three times and I could hear all of Killer's air escape him. Killer coughed and Daniel yanked him to his feet. Wrapping a hand around his shoulder and another in between his legs he lifted Killer up and slammed him so hard The ring cracked again. Killer would have yelled if he'd had any air left. He would never have made it back to his feet without Daniel helping him. Daniel bent down again and wrapped his huge arms around Killer's waist. He stood up straight and slammed Killer against the wall of muscle that was his torso and Killer knew if he didn't get out of this bearhug quickly he was finished. He slammed his forearms against Daniel's back but in his state of fury Daniel didn't even feel the blows that would have shattered thick planks of wood. Daniel crushed him close as if he were trying to turn his bones to dust. Killer's forearms smashes came further apart and were weaker and weaker until finally his arms and legs were limp and lifeless in Daniel's arms. He bent down again and loosened his grip. Killer almost fell to the floor, but Daniel shifted until he had pressed an unconscious Killer high into the air. Calling out to someone he had Killer's pup brought to the ring. He ordered the young man down to his knees. The young man looked frightened and Daniel dropped Killer in front of the pup.

"I won and that means that I can do whatever I want with you tonight." The pup nodded and I could see his eyes mist over. "The thing is though, I don't want anything from you. Not tonight or any other. I have my own little one right now." He turned on a heel and left the ring to cheers. He disappeared into the back room and came back with his leather pants and shiny boots in one hand. He swept me up in the other hand, without stopping and I cradled my body against the warm solid flesh of his chest. "You all right, little one?" He asked me as we walked out of the old stable. "I'm so sorry. I must have been feeling rusty and weak. I wouldn't believe it when he wrapped me in those ropes. I would never have let him take you. We're gonna get you all cleaned up Jayson."

I was silent and I closed my eyes because I didn't want to watch anyone watching us. I simply wanted to feel safe and secure wrapped up against Daniel listening to the sure, steady rhythm of his breathing.

 

Daniel held me cradled in one arm as we walked back to the house. He took me up, what I think must at one point have been the servant's stairs, and, though a normal person would have been winded from carrying a full-grown adult up stairs he seemed to take no more energy to carry me than I would carrying a piece of fruit. The hallways seemed to be longer and the doorways further apart on these upper floors. I closed my eyes as he carried me along, using one hand to wrap the towel tighter around me and I lost track of the twists and turns we took. Finally coming to stop in front of a door, I saw Daniel punch in a code and though the electronic locks marred the beauty of the antique architecture I imagined it provided great relief for the men who wanted what went on in these rooms to remain private.

He carried me across the threshold (an irony not lost on me) into a huge room. When I say huge I do not exaggerate. It was bigger than my first apartment, and I suddenly imagined that a man of Daniel's size might need such space so as to not feel claustrophobic. He placed me gently on the bed and tugged a silk rope next to the headboard. In a few moments an attendant appeared. Handing him my leash, Daniel instructed him to clean me up and take care of me while he used the guest room shower, and cupping my chin in his hand he gave me the softest kiss I ever had. The door closed behind him and the attendant hooked my leash onto the bedpost and went into the bathroom. I heard water begin to run and I closed my eyes, dozing in and out of sleep. A short time later, I felt the soft hand of the attendant on me shaking me gently awake. He led me into the bathroom. The water had steamed the mirrors and he began to undress me. My hands moved of their own accord to cover my crotch and he smiled sweetly at me.

"It's all right Sir. I can tell that Mr. Daniel is quite fond of you, Sir, and he's the last person I'd ever want mad at me for taking liberties Sir." His voice was musical and had a rough British accent to it. What my mother would have called 'lowbrow' but to me it was sweet. His sleeves had been rolled up and he lowered me gently into the water. The water was scented with something exotic and Andrew, the attendant, ran a sponge over me, taking extra care with my bruises. There was a knock at the front door, and Andrew stood up. "Pardon me Sir. I'll be right back Sir."

I closed my eyes and sank deeper into the water. All was quiet for a moment and I heard a thump, as if something had fallen to the floor. I kept my eyes closed as I heard a footstep on the threshold and a low whistle. I opened my eyes thinking it was Daniel but all I saw was Killer leering down at me. That was the last thing I saw when Killer's fist invited me to go to sleep.

---

Daniel shook Andrew awake. "Andrew. Andrew!" His voice was urgent and insistent. "Are you all right? Where's Jayson?"

Andrew came awake almost at once when he realized his charge was missing. "Sir, Mr. Daniel, he was in the bath when there was a knock on the door. I went to answer it and Mr. Louie was there with some friends Sir." Daniel helped Andrew to the chair and went to check on the bathroom.

"He's not there." He looked around frantically and spied a note on the bed.

"Sir. I'm very sorry Sir. I didn't mean--"

"It's ok Andrew. It's not your fault." He held up a hand to quiet the youth and read the note. Crumbling it in his fist he turned to Andrew and gripped him by the shoulders. "Andrew. Andrew, listen to me. If Jayson and I aren't back by tomorrow morning, you go to Lionel and Butch. You give them this note and you tell them what happened, ok? You tell Butch I need his best hounds. They'll know what to do, ok?"

"Yes Sir." Andrew wiped a tear away from his face. "Will Mr. Jayson be all right Sir?"

"If he isn't, there's gonna be hell to pay."

---

I came to, naked and cold, on a dirty floor. My leash was still on, and my hands and feet were tied. My head throbbed and I knew I'd have a swollen jaw. Killer's pup was looking down at me and growled. It seemed like mroe than an act to me and I wondered how long it had been since he'd actually used words.

"Well, welcome back Sleeping Beauty." It was a voice I'd only heard once before but I knew from the oily quality behind it, it was Louie. There was something about his voice. Something hidden. Like an accent he'd tried to get rid of to appear more suave but it hadn't worked and the smooth quality he'd hoped for came across as smarmy.

"Where am I?" I asked. It was a stupid question, but the first one that came to mind.

"You're still on Hellfire property. We're not really so interested in you. Well, Killer and Rex," this was the pup's name, "are interested but the rest of us? We're more interested in Daniel."

I craned my neck as best I could and saw Killer standing next to Louie, still dressed in that red singlet. Next to him was a huge trucker type. His gut wasn't as big as Killer's but it would be in the next few years. And there was a third man. He looked so young and sweet. His eyes were angelic, until he smiled at me and I realized, that he was probably the most sadistic of them all. Struggling to a sitting position I looked around and saw that we were in an old stable that had been turned into a weight room. The lightest dumbbell on the rack was 120 pounds. I tried moving away from Rex, but when I moved he started barking at me and snapped his jaws towards my face.

"Rex!" Killer shouted out and the pup looked at him, upset and embarrassed. "We can't mess up that pretty face just yet."

I heard, we all heard, a banging at the door at the far end. Louie moved to once side and Angelface came to me, scooping me up in his arms. "Oh yeah!" he said with a southern accent, but where Daniel's accent was lyrical and beautiful, this one was all twang and harsh sounds. "This is gonna be good."

There was a loud bang, then another and another, and then the door busted off it's hinges and fell to the floor with a crash. A cloud of dust came off the floor and I saw Daniel take three steps in. He was dressed in army fatigue pants and boots. A gray tank top hugged every muscle on his torso and I'd never seem him look so angry. Killer moved, more quickly than I could follow, and saw something leave his hand. Flying through the air like a frisbee was a seventy pound weight plate. I screamed and without missing a beat on blinking an eye, only Daniel's hand moved. He caught the plate out of the air with one hand and held it in front of him like a car steering wheel. With a mighty roar he pulled his hands back towards his chest and the plate snapped in half. He could have bent it slowly and deliberately to show off, but instead he simply wanted to show pure, brutal power. Daniel dropped the halves of the plate with a twang and pointed at Louie. "I believe you have something of mine."

"What this?" Angelface said, holding me a little higher. "Well, now sugarplum. Ah do believe that possession is nine tenths of the law."

"Prepare to have the law, and other things broken." Killer laughed. "Dude, you may have one, but in this match there's no rules. You sure you remember how to street fight?" Daniel smiled, a cold, hard smile on a par with Angelface for sheer sadism. "It's just like riding a biker." And with another roar he charged towards them.

 

Killer may have had the girth on Daniel, but Daniel had an edge in both strength and speed. He rammed hard into Killer and they both flew into the air, coming down hard on one of the weight benches. The bench snapped under their weight and they both fell to the floor, Daniel on top.

Angelface whooped loudly, like a cowboy at a rodeo. With every movement I jerked back and forth in his arms, in pain because of the ropes around me. With incredible speed Daniel's right fist came down hard, barely missing Killer's face and snapping the bench in another place. "Watch closely now, sugarpie. This is where it's gonna git rough," Angelface whispered into my ear. I opened my mouth to scream, but Angel clamped a sweaty palm over my mouth and nose making it impossible to scream and difficult to breathe. I watched, helplessly, as Trucker blindsided Daniel with another weight bench. It cracked in jagged pieces over Daniel's broad back and he fell forward, the breath knocked out of him. He crushed Killer underneath his weight before Trucker slipped his arms underneath Daniel's and locked his hands behind his neck, trapping him in a full nelson. He stood up, bringing Daniel with him, clouds of old dust from this unused place rising around their feet. Stunned as he was Daniel brought his hands straight up in the air to smash them down and break the hold. But, before he could Killer was off his feet, and brought his fist into Daniel's handsome face. Daniel grunted in pain and Angelface laughed. Reaching down he ripped the ropes off from my feet and let me stand on my own, keeping one big arm wrapped around my throat. "Warn him about what's coming and I'll let Rex here, bite you. All over."

"Fuck off." In retrospect not the brightest thing I'd ever said, but I didn't realize it, until I'd been backhanded to the ground. I could feel the bruise forming, even as he yanked me to my feet again. Facing me he wrapped his thick, sweaty hand in my hair and yanked my head back so I'd could see his face. Any angelic quality was gone and all I saw was pure, nasty cruelty.

"You ever speak to me that way again, little man, and I will break your bones one by one and laugh the whole fucking time." The threat delivered, that smarmy smile was back and he turned me around to see Daniel still in that full nelson, having his face and body pounded with fist after fist from Killer.

Trucker jerked his head and Killer backed off, keeping his fists up. Trucker moved his body, bringing Daniel with him. I could see Daniel struggling to stand his ground, but after the double team he wasn't at his best. Trucker moved him, slowly but surely to the wall. Bringing Daniel's head back he thrust it straight into the wood. I screamed as I saw the wall crack under his forehead. Trucker let go of the hold and half threw Daniel down to the floor. I could see that Daniel's nose had been bloodied and knew he was in pain. He brought his hand up to his ribs and I opened my mouth to yell, but didn't even get to finish one word, as Angelface tightened his grip around my throat. I could no longer speak and it was a struggle to even get enough air to stay awake. Trucker brought his foot down to stomp Daniel's side but somehow Daniel's hand shot up to stop the boot. I could tell he didn't have the right leverage to thrown Trucker off, but I could see the surprise on Trucker's face at being stopped. Then his surprise doubled, as did everyone else's as Daniel's sheer strength moved Trucker back. Wincing in pain Daniel sat up and Trucker went tumbling backwards, falling into the wall.

"Stronger than you thought, shithead?" He shouted to Trucker. Tears came to my eyes as I tried desperately to shout out to Daniel that Killer was behind him. Growls and grunts came out of my throat and I stomped my feet and kicked at Angelface, anything to get Daniel's attention, or make Aneglface's hold loosen. It was useless and I closed my eyes and watched Killer smash a weight plate over Daniel's back. Daniel let out a yell and fell to the ground. He shook his head to try and make some of the pain go away and struggle to his feet. I watched Killer help Trucker up and saw as they each took aim with a kick. I heard Daniel's breath escape as Killer targeted his ribs and Trucker his face. Daniel flew into the air and landed hard on his back. Bless him, he tried getting to his feet, but they'd been pounding on him double team for the past fifteen minutes I wasn't sure he'd make it. He did, but only because they helped him. Killer held on arm tight and Trucker held the other. Louie came out of the shadows and Angelface walked me over to him.

"Wanna see a trick?" Louie's voice was grating to my ears and I struggled as hard as I could against Angelface but he only laughed at my attempts. I watched Louie approach Daniel and pull him by the hair the way Angelface had held me earlier. "You'll get a bang out of this." He brought up his hand and my eyes widened when I saw him shove a cattle prod into Daniel's chest. Daniel screamed and screamed and Angelface tightened his grip around my throat. I choked and saw the world around me begin to go dark. My eyes closed and the last thing I heard was Daniel's voice screaming into the night.

 

I woke up coughing. I was untied and, thank God, no longer naked. I was wearing an old pair of sweat pants and I sat up weakly, massaging feeling back into my wrists. I looked around and saw I was still in the stable. Daniel was about five feet away, bruised and wrapped in what I assumed were elephant chains or something. They were thick and powerful looking and I saw a large black and blue across the smooth planes and curves of his left pec. His breathing looked troubled and I pushed myself and my pained body towards him. He was lying on his back, his hands tied in front of him, wrapped in a double length of chain. His nose looked broken and I put my hand gently on his face.

"Daniel? Daniel? Can you hear me?" He didn't move and I started to panic a little, until my brain took over. I remembered my CPR class I'd taken with my friend Billy a few years back and checked Daniel's pulse. Ok, steady and strong. Good. His breathing was slow, and uneven, maybe a cracked rib or two. Ok, chains, now. No way I was going to break them. I looked around for the key, but didn't see anything, so, barring that I was going to have to pick the lock. And my mom said that hanging out with the "bad crowd" in high school wouldn't get me anywhere. My skills were a little rusty, but I was still...I was floating. I wasn't floating. Someone was lifting me. I swallowed hard when I heard Angelface's voice.

"Well, look who's all up and at 'em," his voice shouted out into the stable, grating in my ears. He dropped me on the ground and I twisted so I wouldn't land on Daniel. "Awww, little lamb, don't you worry 'bout him none. He's probably not gonna make it through the night." I'd hurt my side when I landed and I gasped in pain when I tried to sit up. "If you had a brain inside that little head you'd worry about yourself." Daniel groaned and stirred a little. Leaving me where I was Angelface sat down and slapped Daniel's face lightly. "Wakey, wakey Danny boy."

This close I could see Angelface more clearly than I ever had before. I was right about him being beautiful. More beautiful than Daniel, but in a different way. Where Daniel could look rugged and manly, Angelface would look only beautiful and child-like. There wasn't a wrinkle on his skin and though I couldn't guess his age I'd estimate about twenty-one. He'd get carded well into his thirties. Maybe beyond. He wore a tight white t-shirt and a pair of jeans. Though his muscles didn't have the massive size of Daniel's he'd work more as a model, because he had one of those bodies. You know, the kind normal people, like me, think they can get if they work hard enough and eat well enough. I wouldn't ever look like that. My genes were nothing compared to him. He must have noticed my staring because his gaze shifted from Daniel to me.

"Well, look at that Danny boy." He stood up and brushed the dirt off his jeans. He was barefoot and he pushed his foot into my chest pinning me down to the ground. He probably outweighed me by fifty pounds so there was no need to struggle and I didn't even try. Still looking at me, he shifted his head just enough so that his words were spoken to Daniel. "Your guy was lookin' at me, Danny. Don't tell anyone but I think he likes me. Be better for him if he ended up with me than with Killer and Rex, don't you think?" Daniel was waking up with every passing second. "Tell you what," and he shifted his foot so that only his big toe was pressed into me, "you get up with just my toe holding you down and I'll unlock him and let you both go." He was playing a game with me and I knew it." He smiled and made little moves to lift his toe, up and down, quickly enough so that every time I tried to move it was futile. Finally he took his foot off me and dangled it above my chest. I moved to roll out of the way and before I could move and inch he slammed his whole foot down onto me. I felt the power from my sternum to my spine and I gasped in pain. "Oh, sorry, you lost, but the consolation prize is getting beaten down and serving me."

"Leave him alone!" Daniel tried shouting but I think he was in too much pain to really yell.

"Aww, what's the matter, Danny? Hate seeing your guy get a hard-on over someone else?" And with that he moved his foot down to my crotch and started pressing down. "Tell him, how much you like it, little Jayson." He moved his foot and we all waited for the pain to subside. He looked down at me and the mask of angelic qualities fell away like water. "Tell him."

"The only chance you had with me was when I was unconscious." I heard Daniel get out a quick laugh before the slap sent me flying through the air.

Daniel screamed and Angelface grabbed me by the ankle and dragged me back to him. Daniel struggled against the chains, but they held, and Angelface roughly grabbed my face in his hand and brought it in Daniel's eyesight. My eyes were squinted in pain and fear. "Leave him alone. It's me. It's me you hate." Daniel repeated it in short, harsh gasps.

"That's right, so you just lissen up, when I'm talking Danny. He's gonna beg me for it. I'm gonna make you watch when I fuck him up. I'm gonna break his bones. I'm gonna starve him. And lock him in a room and make him piss himself Danny." Pushing my face closer to Daniel's he was ranting now, his voice cracking. "I'll break both his legs and, maybe I'll set 'em so they'll heal. Either way I'll make him so helpless, that when I'm set to break his back he'll beg me to do anything so long as I let him walk again. Hear that little Jayson man? You'll kiss the tip of my dick or wipe my ass if I want you to. And Danny here is gonna watch me break you down." I don't know when I'd started crying but tears were making it more difficult for me to see Daniel. "Be better for you if you end up with Killer and Rex. You should beg Louie to give you to them."

"Hey." The voice was calm and controlled and never raised in tone or volume, but Angelface dropped me to the ground and gave me a quick kick in the ribs. He crossed to Louie who'd called him over. "Sorry about the kid here. He gets a little too into his job sometimes. You remember how that is, don't you Daniel?" Louie stopped speaking and I looked at him. He looked shocked and angry and I knew whatever Louie said from now on would be deliberate to get under his skin. "Oh, sorry. Jayson doesn't know about that does he? Jayson, would you like to hear a story? It's a pip. All about Danny."

"The only thing I want to hear is you choking while my hands are around your throat."

He threw his head back and laughed. "Oh Danny. This one's a real firecracker. Yeah, I can see why you'd like him. How's it feel to know we're gonna break his spirit."

"Danny didn't tell you about where he came from, did he?" Louie paced around Daniel and myself. Not paced, so much as stalked. He was like a cat waiting to pounce. He bounced the cattle prod in the palm of his hand, waiting, I guess, for the right time to shock one of us. Killer, Rex and Angelface stood off to one side.

"Shut up, Louie," Daniel spit out between bruised lips. "I'll tell him when I'm ready."

"Awwww, Danny, it's such a fun story." Louie snapped his fingers and Killer brought over a bench for him to sit on. Rex curled up at Louie's feet like a real dog and Angelface perched on the edge. Louie pointed at me with the prod pushing it towards me and laughing when I flinched away, but I remained between him and Daniel, as if I could protect him. "I don't know the whole story, but I'll tell you when I came in on it. It was about seven years ago, down in New Orleans. You ever been to New Orleans Jayson? You should go. But during the winter. Too hot the rest of the time." Daniel let out a sigh and I could feel his head sort of collapse onto my lower back, as if trying to hide from Louie. "Anyway, I'm a business person, and sometimes when you're a business person you need someone to help persuade someone to your point of view. In this case I needed a hot-shot young lawyer to sell me his family home. I wanted to put up a nice little strip mall, just outside the city. That little fucker was the last holdout." I felt, rather than heard a small sob escape from Daniel. "Do you want all the details Jayson? Do you want to know how I asked around for someone who didn't mind breaking bones and breaking hearts? How I met Daniel late one night at one of the cemeteries? How I knew he was the guy for me when these three kids tried to mug us in the cemetery? He grabbed one of the kids around the neck and lifted him off the ground. Left the kid choking there and kicking and scratching while he held off the other two with one hand. One of them broke his hand punching away at Danny's abs. Crying like a baby and Danny here smashed the kid in his hand down on top of the other one. Gave the other one a hard kick and watched him fly thirty feet through the air. That was fun." Louie's eyes lit up when he talked about the violence and his hands punctuated parts of the story with a fist of a snap. I think he forgot about the cattle prod held in his hands because several time he almost whacked one of the others.

"Guess maybe I'll start with the hot-shot lawyer picking up Daniel in the bar. He looked a little like you Jayson. Small, weak. It's funny, when someone who looks like Danny pickes someone who looks like you up, why do they never wonder about that? C'mon, Jayson, you didn't think it was because he thought you were cute? I know Danny. It's because he could snap you in half without a thought. That's why Danny goes for guys like you. Oh, man, I'm getting lost in the story. So anyway, lawyer guy brings Danny to his very lovely home. I don't know how far into it they got. Wanna tell us, Danny?"

I heard a sob this time. And I turned to look at Daniel's face. He had turned away from me, letting his face rest in the dust on the ground. I should have gone to him, held his face in my hands, but I didn't.

"I guess it was after the first few minutes. Imagine how it must have felt Jayson. You're kissing someone, feeling their muscles and all of a sudden he picks you up under your armpits. You think he's gonna bring you up to his height and all of a sudden he launches you across the room. You slam into the wall hard and lose your breath. You stare at him and try to grab your cell phone to call the cops, but in two steps he's on top of you, holding you down with one hand and grabbing your cell phone with the other. Imagine watching him close his fist and turning your cell phone into a pile of junk with one squeeze. I bet you'd piss yourself when you realize just how strong this guy is. The lawyer did. What would it be like for you to have Danny grab your belt and rip it in two pieces? An inch of strong leather coming apart like wet tissue paper and you get your helpless skinny little ass tied to one of your Grandma's eigthteenth century chairs. You're even more helpless than usual when you watch this maniac you invited home tip over your china cabinet with one hand. You're helpless when he jumps into the air and lands on the back of the cabinet with all three hundred plus pounds and stomps away. You're trying not to cry when he walks over to you and lifts you up in that chair like you're nothing and walks you to the bottom of your staircase. Helpless when he puts you down and disappears for a second. You look around and wonder what's happening. You hear a noise and crane your neck and watch him carrying a sofa on his back. He carries it up the stairs, easy as pie. He turns it around and launches it through the air as you scream. But this guy is so strong it flies over your head and smashes into your wall. Want to imagine this guy carrying you from room to room and putting his fists through your walls? Snapping chairs in half over his knee? Bending wrought iron railings like they were cardboard? Putting huge, steel- toed boots through your very expensive TV's? Bet the fear is nothing like the humiliation you'd feel when he rips your clothes into tiny pieces and pisses all over them. Imagine the fear when he crosses to you and puts a huge paw over your face. Imagine how tiny you'd feel when you realize his hand is bigger than your whole face. Your nose pressed into his palm. Imagine him squeezing a little tighter, his fingers digging into your temples. Imagine the pain as he squeezes tighter and tighter, and imagine knowing that he's not using anywhere near his total strength. He's using one hand and it wouldn't take much to kill you. What do you think you'd do if he untied you? Snapped that leather in half again. Do you think you'd fight back? Do you think you'd leap out of that chair and pummel him with your fists? Do you think you'd try and use some strategy or do you think you'd just pound him, while he laughs at you? What do you think it's like to pound on a chest like that?" He stabbed out again with the cattle prod. "A chest that's so broad? Look at the way it comes out like a shelf Jayson. Do you think your pitiful little fist has a chance against a chest like that?

"I'll tell you a secret Jayson. The lawyer sold us his property. Real cheap too. He was very nice about it. Course that was just the beginning of it for Danny and me, Jayson. He roughed up lots of guys for me. He loved it. He loves slapping them around and punishing them for being weak. Not me though. No, I had things I could give him. The dumb ape. Do you know how hard it is to teach a dumb hick about classical music? Do you know how hard it is to get that damn hillbilly twang out of his voice? The ape can lift nine hundred pounds without straining but he doesn't know the difference between a salad fork and a dessert fork. Not until you spend time and money and effort teaching him. He lets you fuck him, but he never stops reminding you that he's bigger and stronger. You try and make him a better person, you teach him about the finer things and what does he do for you? He stands in front of you and flexes those huge biceps and ripples that chest and those quads until you shoot without touching yourself. You give him everything but he holds back." He stepped forward and shoved me out of the way. "Holds back!" And he pushed the cattle prod into Daniel who screamed in agony. I saw the prod shoved deep into Daniel's beautiful abs and I think I saw the muscles jump and sway under the electricity. I jumped onto Louie's back and pulled him from Daniel, once again throwing myself between the two. Daniel's breath was ragged and pained and I ran my hand down the side of his face. My sweaty palms mixed with the dirt and tears on his face.

Louie grabbed my arm and yanked me away from him. I was off balance and tumbled into Angelface. I bounced off his hard muscles and he reached out and caught me before I fell.

Louie slapped me hard across the face and Daniel yelled out my name. Louie turned to face him, but spoke to Killer and Angelface. "Don't kill him, but hurt him bad."

I swallowed hard, because I knew this time Louie wasn't talking about Daniel. He was talking about me.

 

Daniel screamed, his voice cracking because he'd already spent so much time yelling earlier in the night. "No! Jayson!" He shifted, as best he could in his chains and tried to sit up. His face looked awful. The handsome features obscured underneath bruises, dirt, sweat and tears. "Please, Louie, don't. I swear to you, I'll do whatever you want. I'll put my leash back on, I'll never look at anyone else but you. Just let him go Louie. Don't let them hurt him. Please Louie. I'm begging you."

Louie went down on one knee right in front of Daniel, while Killer and Angelface each held one of my hands. If they were normal people I might have been able to slip away, but they were both so powerful, I couldn't even move my upper body without pain. "See, Daniel, I've already heard your promises before, and I'm having a little trouble believing this time you'll keep your word."

"I always kept my promises Louie, always! You know that. I never lied to you Louie. I never said I wouldn't leave!"

"Danny, Danny, Danny. You never said it out loud, but what about in here?" He leaned forward and patted Daniel's left pec. Even as beat and bruised as he was I could see the muscle didn't bend or dent as Louie leaned against it. "What about in here Danny? Didn't you promise in here?"

"Louie, c'mon. Beat on me, but not Jayson. He's not part of this."

"He will be now." Louie stood up and zapped Daniel once again with the cattle prod sending him back down to the ground. "Well, parts of him will be part of this. It depends on if we rip him in parts or not. Get it Jay?" He turned to me and laughed. It was cold and cruel and though the air in here was hot, I had that 'walking on your grave' feeling.

Ok, please, please, please God. Let this work. "This is really big of you Lou." I said, somehow managing a sneer on my face out of the fear. I could tell my not using his full name pissed him off. "Three of you, plus that doggy over there," I jerked my head towards Rex. "Plus you have a weapon. That's pathetic Lou. You either have no faith in your boys here, or you're just a coward."

He moved so fast I didn't see the slap coming until after I felt the sting on my face. "Don't ever call me that again, you piece of shit!" His face was red now, and I felt some spittle hit me in the face.

"Yeah? Too bad Lou. You want me to take it back, you even the odds a little."

He stopped for a minute to consider, stepping back and considering me. "What do you propose?" Weird. Like Daniel he seemed to have two different personalities. One minute he was suave businessman and the next he was a raving, angry, sadist. Ok, I could do this. I hung around with a bad crowd in high school. I could be as much of a bad ass as anyone else. Of course, now I worked in publishing, so I sat around and read books all day, but still...

"One of two things Louie. Either I take on only one of them. No interference from you, Rex or the other one. Or, I take both of them on, but you give me that" I jerked my head to the cattle prod in his hand.

He threw back his head and laughed. "Are you kidding? You'll just go zap crazy."

"Awwww," I tried letting some of his smooth quality into my voice. "C'mon Louie. Our boy over there snapped a weight plate in half without trying, and your guys took him down. You don't think you have much to worry about with little ol' me, do you?" I paused. "Unless, maybe you think I might win?"

I dangled the question in front of him and watched his little wheels turning inside his head. Please, God, pretty please. "Ok, let him go boys." Angelface dropped my arm; Killer dropped my other one, but not without giving it a little twist to cause me pain. "I ain't giving you this," he gestured with the prod. "But I think one of the boys would be more than happy with taking you apart. Killer, you and Rex c'mon over here and rest with me." Killer, reluctantly, walked away from me, picking up a bench and moving it over towards Daniel. Setting it down, he and Louie got comfortable, while Rex curled up at their feet, growling at me. Louie turned to me. "Give it your best shot Jay."

And then I felt myself being lifted off the ground and launched across the room. Angelface had grabbed my arm and the back of the sweatpants I was wearing and tossed me casually from the middle of the floor to the wall. I fell about a foot short of hitting the wall, but I skidded into it.

"Ye-haw!" Angelface roared his happiness to the sky and came after me, his tight jeans showing the muscles underneath rippling as they came towards me. I scrambled up and moved towards the back of the weightroom. He looked at me, with something strange in his eyes and for a minute I almost wish Louie had given me Killer to deal with. I was afraid Angelface didn't have a full-deck. He pointed at me and lifted up both arms in a double bicep pose. The muscles bunched together like softballs and I knew that, they could and would snap me in half if given the chance. Killer, looked mean and nasty, but his body spoke of too many beer-and-pizza nights. Hard muscle under flab. Angelface's body was closer to Daniel's in that hard, rippled muscle way that talked about sacrifice and sweat. Killer's power may have come about naturally, but Angelface's was hard won. He came at me and I managed to dodge, barely getting out of his way in time.

"Oh, yeah, this is gonna be fun sugarplum. You gonna run outta places to move to, and yer gonna git tired, real quick. Been a rough night for you already, huh?"

He was right. I was tired. I stole a quick glance at Daniel, but he wasn't looking at me. He was lying on his back, looking at the ceiling, with a glare of total concentration. That stolen glance cost me. Angelface was a lot quicker than I thought and he grabbed me, pulling my arm into a chickenwing hold, wrenching it up behind my back. I yelped, loudly, and he pulled me back into his hard muscled body. His skin was hot to the touch and I flushed bright red because his body was so much harder than my own. "Wanna go fer a ride sugar?" And he lifted me up with one hand by my arm. I screamed, louder than I ever had before. He started spinning around and launched me in the air again. I hit harder than I had the first time, but fortunately managed to twist my body so that I didn't land on my arm. I lay there for a minute, trying to catch my breath, and felt his hand snap tightly around my ankle. With, what seemed like no effort, he lifted me up again. I tried to use my hands to steady myself on the floor while being held up by one ankle, but I realized he was holding me so high, my hands didn't even touch the floor.

I realized that my struggle was totally useless and so I forced myself to relax into the abuse. I tried to slow my breathing and concentrate, but it was hard because I was being shaken around like a dishrag. Angelface got bored and dropped me to the ground. He took a minute to exchange a few words with Louie, who wanted to see me punished more. A huge, perfectly manicured hand wrapped around my throat and picked me up, straight-armed into the air. Again he shook me, laughing at my pathetic attempts to pry his hand off my throat. I was choking now and losing precious air. He pulled me close to his mouth and started whispering into my ear. Small men yell. They need to to be noticed. Big men don't yell. It's unnecessary. They have the power already. It shows in their height, their weight. The power bulges from their muscles and pours from their skin.

"How's it feel Jayson?" His breath was hot and sweet on my face and I blinked and grunted in pain. "Oh, that good, huh? See, when I see guys like you I always wonder what it feels like to be so weak? Does it make you feel like gum on the bottom of a shoe little Jay- Jay? Make you feel scared? If I were you sugar, I'd be scared that here I was bein' held up by a guy strong enough to snap me in half without breathin' hard."

I was having trouble breathing hard and I knew if I didn't do something soon I'd wake up in some worse position than I was now.

---

TEN MINUTES AGO:

Daniel stared at the ceiling. This is my fault, he thought over and over. The words echoed back and forth in his skull as he saw Jayson stand up to Louie and the others. Jayson, who was barely even half his size, was standing up to them and here he was helpless to defend him in any way. He cried then. He hadn't cried in years. Not since the night he'd had the courage to walk out of Louie's house. It took him almost half the night to get to Hellfire. Lionel had been there with homemade soup in the middle of the night. Daniel had cried as he told Lionel he had nowhere to go. The butler had put him in one of the servant's rooms and woken him the next day, and offered him a job. Daniel had only been here on the end of a leash held by Louie. Lionel had seen, most of the club members had seen him on all fours carrying Louie. They'd seen Daniel in all types of humiliating situations and they seemed to start a bit at seeing him dressed as an attendant. Then trained as a hound. Butch had taken special care with Daniel. Discipline was Butch's motto and he provided that. He also provided affection and caring. butch's hounds were the best because they longed to please him. It was the reason so many stayed as hounds and never wanted more. But Daniel did want more. He'd taken tip money and saved it, eventually getting an apartment of his own.

His life began, slowly to become his own. Then one day he saw someone on the street who took his breath away. Little Jayson. Shopping for something that day. Walking down the street, talking to himself, eating lunch at that diner, immersed in a book, oblivious to the world. What was it that pulled Daniel towards him, like a paperclip to a magnet? Daniel hadn't wasted much time thinking about that. He freely admitted he was not a great thinker. It wasn't his strong suit and so he didn't do it much.

Images ran, scattershot through his mind of Jayson. Watching him, seeing him at the gym and finding out about him. Smiling at the girl at the counter and getting his name. Asking around to find out what time of day he worked out.

Jayson. Braver than he was. Jayson, smiling. Jayson, looking afraid and turned on, all at once.

Daniel's eyes shot open and he stared at the ceiling. He took a deep breath and felt a sharp pain. Broken rib, he thought. He ignored it. These are only chains he said to himself. I've punched my way through wood and stone and steel. I've ripped through prison bars. I've snapped tree trunks over my knee and I will not be held by chains. I will not be stopped by anything or anybody from helping Jayson. Daniel tensed his muscles and immediately the chains tightened around his aching muscles. The links bit into his pecs and shoulders and arms. They bit into his thighs and calves and still he didn't stop. He tensed and pushed and pulled and relaxed. There were only two possible outcomes. Either he would give in, or the chains would. And Daniel, who had given in only once in his life, would not even consider giving in tonight. Not with so very, very much at stake.

---

I was going to black out in about two minutes and Angelface knew it. He let me down just enough so that my feet barely grazed the floor. He loosened his grip enough so that I could suck in more air. He sneered down in my face and I knew, next time I wouldn't be able to breathe. My eyes flickered over his body. I reached my hand out quickly and sank it into his armpit, grabbing a handful of pit hair. I yanked with all my remaining strength and he yelped, dropping me. I sucked in air and shot my foot out as hard as I could, smashing it into his knee. He yelled again and dropped to one knee. My hand felt a weight plate scattered on the floor and I grabbed it. It was only ten pounds, but it did its job as I sent it across Angelface's jaw.

---

Daniel could feel it weakening. The link across his left bicep was going to give. He could feel it. He closed his eyes and pictured it stretching. He put more power into his muscle and he used his mind's eye to watch the link stretching. He could feel it give underneath his strength. The link struggled against his skin, but he had more than skin. He had bone and blood and muscle. He had sheer muscle and will power and, even as the link fought against him, he knew it would break. It was like the guy Louie had first unleashed him against. That little man broke and so would this chain. And when it did, Louie would break and so would Killer and so would Rex and so would everyone else who got in between him and Jayson. He let loose a roar to the heavens as the link gave across the bicep. And another gave across the teardrop of his calf, and another across the huge curve of his pecs. Things were not looking good for Louie.

---

I heard Daniel's scream overpower Angelface's as I brought the weight plate down into his crotch. Daniel stood up behind the bench and I stayed on my hands and knees, too wasted to move much. Daniel moved and the chains, wuch as they were, flew all around. He grabbed Killer by the back of the head and lifted him high into the air. Daniel's arms were extended as high as they could go, and then he brought them down quickly, sending Killer's face through the bench and about an inch into the ground. A hard slap sent Rex flying across the room with a canine yelp. Then came Louie. Louie tried shoving the cattle prod into Daniel's chest, but he batted it away and grabbed Louie by the collar. I could tell Daniel wanted to say something but instead he brought his fist forward into Louie's face.

The punch was either pulled or Daniel was completely exhausted because Louie wasn't knocked unconscious.

I heard noise from outside and saw Butch and two of his hounds, Frederick and someone I didn't recognize, along with Lionel and a few others.

Lionel went to Daniel's side while Butch came to mine, but Daniel waved off Lionel and came to me. "Are you, ok? You ok? You ok? I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry, Jayson, you've gotta believe me." Lionel went to Louie and the others and gave them some sort of good-bye- don't come back speech, while a doctor looked me over. I had no broken bones, but I'd be a walking bruise for a while. Daniel came up to me and went to lift me to carry me back to the house, but I stopped him. "Please. I'd rather have Butch take me back."

Daniel looked at me, puzzled for a minute. "Are you sure?" I felt strange, having such a personal conversation here, in front of everyone, but something compelled me. "Yes. I'm not so sure I trust you much at this moment."

The realization began in the middle of his face and went outwards, sending the hurt to his whole body. He nodded and sort of slumped. Lionel looked away, but Butch looked at me, sad. He picked me up and cradled me with one hand, reaching out to pat Daniel, reassuringly on the head. He carried me back to the house but I didn't allow myself to rest on his shoulder the way I had with Daniel. Much later as I lay curled up in one of the exquisite beds, Lionel came in to the room to make sure I was all right.

"I just wanted you to know Sir, that Mr. Louie and the others are no longer here, nor will they be back here. The Club itself will take precautions with your home security Sir, at our expense of course, so as to make certain there will be no....repercussions Sir."

"Thank you Lionel. And thank you for the bed."

"Of course Sir." He looked at me for a moment, his head cocked to one side. "If I may Sir?"

"Yes?" I answered, wondering if I had dome something wrong.

He came to me and perched on the edge of the bed. I realized that, in his youth, he must have been breath-takingy handsome. He was still a beautiful man and would turn heads wherever he went. He rested his hand on mine, paternally. "Don't be too hard on our Daniel Sir. For all his physical blessings he's still very young. I can assure you, anything that he himself did tonight, was strictly to impress you. He's been telling me about you for weeks. And I can assure you Sir, that's not something he's done often." He stood up. "In any case, Daniel asked me to find out Sir, if you'd be comfortable with him coming in after the doctor is done with him and watching over you Sir." I must have hesitated, because he quickly added. "Causing you any more pain is the furthest thing from Daniel's mind Sir."

I nodded slowly. "Ok."

"Very good Sir. Do sleep well Sir. I will personally make certain that nothing disturbs you Sir." And, again, he pulled that weird exit where he seemed to melt away.

Even preoccupied with all that had happened when I closed my eyes and rested against the pillow, I fell fast asleep within minutes. I woke up sometime before sunrise. The light from the sky was that deep shade of indigo and I could see it peep through a break in the curtains. There was a soft light on in the bathroom and it fell across Daniel's sleeping form. He had pulled a chair close to the bed, and he slept soundly. He'd thrown on a pair of pajama bottoms and they were a deep green. I imagined they'd contrast beautifully with his olive skin, but the light was too dim to really tell. He also had bandages around his ribs. He must have broken, or at least bruised them in the fights tonight. There was also a bandage of some sort across his nose. He probably had prayed it would heal perfectly, but I wondered if he might not be happier if it did leave his nose slightly crooked. It wouldn't really mar his beautiful face so much as give it a little rougher look. No matter how big you are, if you're really pretty people will still bother you thinking you don't know to throw a punch. If you look a little beat up, though, in addition to being big, they tend not to mess with you as much. I wondered if he was dreaming because his face looked so soft and peaceful. It was a nice look and I felt as though if I were to look inside of him he would be calm and orderly, without any hint of the temper and violence I'd witnessed earlier. I shuddered at the thought and turned my back to him and closed my eyes again. The next time I woke up sunlight streamed through the window and the bathroom light was out. Daniel sat in the chair looking at me, leaning forward slightly. He smiled at me. "Good morning." His voice was softer and gentler than I'd ever heard it. "How are you feeling?" I nodded, sitting up as best I could. I didn't look, but I was sure my body was one huge black and blue. "Fine, thank you. How are you?"

"Ok. Nothing serious. Some cracked ribs and a broken nose. I'm ok." He didn't move towards me, just stayed in the chair. "Would you like some breakfast? I can have Lionel bring something up."

"Thank you. That would be nice." He crossed to the phone on the bedside table and spoke into it for a few minutes. Hanging up, he stood at the bed side, but again, made no move to reach out to me. "Would you like some sunlight?"

"Yes, thank you." He went to the windows and threw open the curtains. Sunlight poured into the room. Seeing the house in the daylight was a different experience. The rooms still looked exquisite and ornate, but they lost some of the foreboding nature they had in the dim candlelight. He stood at the window for a minute. There was an awkward, formal silence between the two of us. He wanted to do something to break it, but he didn't know how or what to do.

"Are you comfortable? I mean, do you need another pillow or anything? Water maybe?"

I shook my head no and pulled the covers up to my chin. Did you ever know that you were being difficult? I mean, you knew someone was trying hard to apologize or fix something, but you couldn't help yourself. You just had to be kind of bitchy about it. That was me at that moment. He excused himself and went to the bathroom, closing the door. I propped myself up against the headboard and sighed. I wasn't sure how I felt at the moment. I was a walking bruise. Actually I hadn't tried walking yet but was pretty sure it would be painful. I had to admit, though, until Killer had taken me I'd been having a good time. A great time actually. But now...

The bathroom door opened and Daniel stood there leaning against the doorframe. He'd wet his hair and slicked it back out of his face a little. "I'm sorry." His shoulders slumped a little and he looked off to the side refusing to look me in the eyes. "If I'd know what was going to happen I would never have brought you here. I would have died myself, or killed them all rather than let you get hurt Jayson." He paused, his words trailing off, as if he were waiting for me to respond.

"Thank you. That's kind of you."

"You believe me, right?"

I avoided the question by asking one of my own. "Was it true? What Louie said?"

He looked back down at the floor. "Yeah," he shrugged. "Sort of. The facts are right, even if the intention wasn't. I got...caught up in a lot of things." He came to me and sat tentatively on the edge. I could feel the mattress sink towards him and stifled an impulse to move. Even if I did move, if he wanted to hurt me he would. He was faster than I and much, much stronger. I stayed where I was. "Jayson," he put his hand on top of mine, covering it. "I was a different person then. I'm not like that anymore." I wanted to say something, but thought better of it before I even opened my mouth. He must have seen something in my eyes though, because he looked me in the face. "What?" I hesitated, afraid of something. "You can say anything you want. Don't be afraid."

"Ok. You say you've changed, but earlier tonight you threatened to rip my dick off."

"I also offered to take your collar off and bring you home."

That stopped me in my tracks. The wind out of the sails of my anger, I settled back into the bed and we were both silent. A gentle knock on the door brought us back to reality and Lionel entered with a huge rolling cart. He was as silent as usual when he unfolded a napkin on my lap. He took my 'thank you' in stride, and then unfolded a napkin on Daniel's laugh.

"Is there anything else Sirs?" he asked, in his crisp, articulate voice, and when we said no, he left, closing the door with barely a click.

Both Daniel and myself were hungry, so we ate silently. Eggs, bacon, pancakes, oatmeal, the food was as wonderful as the dinner last night and by the time we finished, some of the edge had been taken off my anger. Daniel took the tray from my bed and wheeled the cart outside the door. He came back to the bed and sat on the edge again, taking my hand in his. I looked down at our two hands intertwined. He brought my fingers to his lips and kissed them. I could feel the sharp feel of his whiskers and they sent a chill through my spine. "Tell me, Jayson, from your heart, which guy do you think I am? The guy who'd rip you apart, or the guy who'd take you home at the end of the night?"

I took my hand from his, and leaned forward, unsure of what I was going to do. At the last instant, and without thought, I kissed him. He wrapped one hand around my lower back and pulled me close, the covers of the bed bunching up between us. I could feel him pushing me back slowly, and I must have groaned in pain from his weight, because without missing a beat he shifted his grip to my waist and turned so that he was on the bottom. He kept me at arms length above him, and I teetered a little as he found the balance. He pumped out a few presses with me, before lowering me to his chest. I moved so that I wouldn't be putting any weight on his bruised ribs, but he clamped down, tight on me and held me to him.

"No, don't. You're a feather. You're my little feather." He whispered into me ear and I could feel his other hand move to free my hard dick from the pajama's. He ripped the cloth down the front and I felt my dick come free and slap hard against the bandages. His own pajama's ripped next and the two pieces of cloth were thrown to the floor. Our lips met again and because of the difference in our heights where my dick rubbed into his wounded ribs his won rubbed hard, and solid against my thigh.

I ran my hands over his massive shoulders and over his huge, rounded biceps. The muscles bunched and corded under my hands. Continuing down I ran my hands over the bruises on his chest. I kissed them lightly over and over again and he moaned, in what I hoped was pleasure. I came to his crotch and inhaled the clean smell of him. His hair was trimmed and neat. I breathed a little sigh of relief that his cock was not as big as the rest of him. It was a little bigger than mine, but not so huge that I was afraid of it. I took him in my mouth and he seemed to melt back into the pillows. I could feel his hands grip my shoulders and squeeze. It was nothing to him, but I felt as if he'd pulled much harder he would have ripped my muscle clean off the bone. He pulled me off his dick and lifted me clear up to his pecs where me began to rub my cock against his huge chest.

My breathing came faster and faster and he sped up the friction of my dick against him. I reached down and grasped his arms, feeling his biceps and triceps under my palms. Something sent me over the edge. Perhaps it was the muscle under my dick, or the muscle under my hands. Perhaps it was the sheer strength he showed, but I came in a torrent, covering his pecs and neck, even splashing some onto his cheeks. I moaned and yelled and gasped and he brought me down to him holding me firmly against his chest.

I leaned up and whispered into his ear. "I think you're both guys."

He smiled at me and brought his hand to the top of my head, while I rested my chin on his shoulder. "You're right. I am both." He put his head back on the pillowcase. "And when we're both healed, I'm gonna show you the wrestling room downstairs."

He chuckled and I looked up at him. "Don't think I'm not still mad." His head shot up and he looked at me, a line of worry creasing his forehead. I kept my face still for a full minute before I smiled. He chuckled again. "You little shit," and pulled my head down to his boulder like delts, resting me there while my semen dried, sticking us together.

END

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