Trial Of Strength (Book 2)

"A long, restful weekend, that's our plan," Mark had said to Randy before he left. "Zack and me, we're just gonna kick back with Darius and Jamie. Darius's birthday tomorrow will be pretty low-key ..... we'll party when you guys get back."

Randy and Bob had taken Pablo and the twins up to the lake in the Angeles Forest for the weekend, leaving Mark and Zack in the house with their boys. And Mark got his wish for a restful weekend .... for a while, at least. The calm lasted until Saturday afternoon. As they all lazed on the grass in swim shorts, Darius suddenly raised the question of his birthday present.

"You know the deal," said Mark. "Tomorrow is party time when the guys get back from the lake and then you get to open your loot. You'll have to cool it 'til then."

"In the meantime, of course," Zack said, "we could all just fuck that sweet ass of yours as your birthday present. Come on, kid, don't tell me that hasn't always been one of your fantasies."

"Well ........" Darius said. "One of them maybe."

"OK, here's the deal," Zack said. "As it's your birthday you get to open that grab-bag of fantasies you always carry round with you. Dig deep and tell us your darkest, most secret desire. Tell us something you've always dreamed about and never told to a soul, and you can have it. OK?"

"Awesome, dude," said Jamie. "Go for it, Darius. You may never get the chance again."

Darius's eyes gleamed and he smiled slyly. "You promise ....... anything I want?"

"Anything," Zack said. Darius hesitated. "Come on, kid ..... out with it."

"Well," Darius said slowly. Well ....... you know sometimes when it's a guy's birthday his buddies send him a stripper-gram and some dude shows up in a cop uniform and handcuffs the birthday boy and strips for him?"

Mark roared with laughter. "Is that all you want, a fake cop to come and handcuff you and strip off his uniform?"

"Well ...... not exactly, sir."

"So what then?" asked Zack. "Come on, spill it, kid."

Darius's eyes opened wide. "Well ...... if you really want to know my secret fantasy ....." He looked from one to the other and his gaze lingered on Mark. "If you really want to know ..... here it is. My fantasy is not about a fake cop, but a real-life one ....... and he's the one who gets handcuffed. ............

"And then .... in my fantasy ..... I get to fuck him."

There was a stunned silence as the other three guys came to grips with the wild notion Darius had just proposed. It was hard to get their minds round the idea, but when it finally sank in Jamie was the first to react. He jumped up and glared at his friend.

"No way, dude. That's the stupidest idea I ever heard. The thought of you using that almighty club of yours to ....... no ........ no, never gonna happen."

Darius shrugged. "Hey, Zack did say I could have anything ...... and that's my secret fantasy. Well it was secret ..... until you all just dragged it out of me."

Jamie was speechless for a few seconds while he imagined the unimaginable ...... Darius fucking his beautiful master, Mark! He recoiled at the thought and groped for some way to prevent it. He was brimming over with anger and frustration.

"OK, OK," Jamie said hopping up and down. "I've got a fantasy of my own. You wanna know what it is? ...... My fantasy is of me fucking a big black leatherman. There, how d'you like that?"

"Get outa here," Darius grinned. "That's bullshit. You just made that up."

"Did not!" Jamie protested. "That's the deal then. If you get to fuck my master I get to fuck yours."

Their argument ran out of steam and they looked over at Zack and Mark for some kind of adjudication. The men shook their heads in disbelief, then grinned at each other. "So, buddy," Mark said, "How d'you like our boys here? Have they totally lost their minds or what?"

"Completely nuts, I'd say," Zack agreed.

But Darius jumped up and stood beside Jamie. "But you promised, sir. Whatever I wanted. It's my birthday," he wailed.

"Don't whine, kid. You sound like a girl. You'll be stamping your little foot next."

Darius pouted and Mark sensed that things were escalating. He needed to calm everyone down. "Hey, cool it, guys. After all, Darius has a point ..... a deal's a deal. It is his birthday and a promise was made. Hell, a fuck is just a fuck no matter who does it. His fantasy is a cop ...... I'm a cop ...... so let's do it."

"What!?" Jamie gaped ...... his plan has misfired. What had he let himself in for?

Mark grinned. "What d'you say, Zack. You in? Or are you scared of what my boy will do to you?"

"Hell, I'm not gonna let you upstage me, man. OK, I'm game."

They stood up and Mark pulled Jamie aside. "Listen, Jamie. It's not big a big deal. Let Darius have his fun. And if you don't want to take your turn with Zack, that's OK too."

Jamie bristled, always protective of his master. "Hell, no. If Darius gets to do that to you, then he has to watch me do it to his man." But his confident tone trailed off at the end and Mark sensed his confusion.

He ruffled Jamie's hair. "Don't worry, kid ...... I'll take care of you. Don't I always?" He turned and walked into the house with Zack, the two of them plotting ways they could jazz this thing up to make the birthday one to remember.

**************

The boys were left alone, staring at each other uneasily. Jamie glared at his friend and it could have tipped over into full-out warfare, but suddenly Darius gave his irrepressible grin. "Hey, dude, don't sweat it. It'll be a blast. Here have another beer."

Jamie was won over grudgingly and they had settled down more-or-less amicably until, sometime later, they looked up and gasped. The two men walked out of the house ..... cop and leatherman. Mark was in his black police uniform, high black motorcycle boots, heavy black belt at his slim waist, with handcuffs hanging from it. Zack was in black leather pants tucked into heavy black boots, and a black tank top stretched over his muscular torso.

For a moment the boys forgot about the birthday deal and simply stared in awe at the stunning sight, the blonde Greek God and the ebony-black bodybuilder. They had seen their masters dressed like this before, of course. In fact Jamie waited every day for Mark to come in from work in his uniform, and Darius had only recently been treated to a wild sexual fantasy by Zack in full leather. But the sight of these gorgeous muscle-studs together, a pair of sexual icons, caused two instant erections.

But then the fantasy morphed into reality. Mark lay on his back on the grass looking up at the boys. Zack swiftly unhooked the handcuffs from Mark's belt, pulled his arms up above him on the ground and cuffed his wrists with a loud click. It was Darius's next move and he was frozen with uncertainty. It was one thing to fantasize about fucking a cop but, now that the reality presented itself gloriously before him, he was unable to move. In truth, he had at first expressed his birthday wish kind of flippantly, never imagining what he would do if the moment actually came.

"Come on, punk," said Zack cheerfully. "Here it is, your birthday fantasy. Hell, you need me to show you how to do it?"

"N ..... no, sir," Darius croaked hoarsely. "No, I can handle it."

He gazed down at the unbelievable sight of this gorgeous cop, lying helpless on the ground, hands cuffed above his head. Darius fell to his knees on front of him, but then froze again in horror. He had lost his hard-on. The sense of awe and the pressures of the moment had, perversely, driven sex from his mind. Performance anxiety! Here was this beautiful cop, the ultimate authority figure, offering himself to him ..... and he was so nervous he couldn't get it up!

Mark sensed his discomfort and said in his deep voice. "Look at me, Darius. You like that?"

Like it?! It was totally fucking spectacular ..... the chiseled features with their high cheek bones and square jaw, tousled blonde hair falling over his forehead. The tanned face was set off by the triangle of white T-shirt at the open neck of his shirt. Darius felt his heart beat faster as he gazed at the sight, and at first he wasn't even aware that his cock was stirring.

Mark grinned encouragingly. "Yeah, and it's all yours, Darius. So you dreamed about fucking a cop. OK, I'm helpless, handcuffed. So let me feel that huge black cock of yours in my ass."

It was the fantasy of all time for Darius, sexual nirvana, and by now his cock was straining to get out of his shorts. Still gazing at the stunning face Darius unbuttoned his shorts and pulled out his ten-inch pole. As if in a trance, hypnotized by the steady gray-blue eyes, he reached forward, unbuckled Mark's belt, loosened the pants and pulled them down below his ass.

Now he was moving to a rhythm he had used countless times with Pablo. He grabbed Mark's boots, pushed his legs up and moved forward so the legs hooked over his shoulders. He could feel the rough serge of the black pants chafing against his legs ...... and then he felt the head of his cock press against the hole of the cop's ass.

"Hold it right there, Darius," Mark said. "Now, tell me what you're gonna do to me."

Darius gulped. "I'm gonna," he stammered ...... "I'm gonna fuck the ass of the most gorgeous cop who ever lived. It looks totally awesome, so much finer than anything I ever could have fantasized. Yeah," ..... he was gaining in confidence ..... "yeah I'm gonna shove my long black cock inside the cop's beautiful ass. And there's nothing he can do about it. The cop is cuffed with his own handcuffs. God, that is so fucking beautiful, man. I've gotta have that ass."

And slowly he began to penetrate the cop's ass, inch by painful inch, endlessly. Mark's eyes opened wide and he moaned as he felt the huge shaft filling his ass, moving deeper and deeper, passing over the inner sphincter and coming to rest in the innermost depth of his gut. Man, it was huge ...... like a fist had been shoved inside him. There was stillness as both men adjusted to the incredible sensation.

Standing watching, Jamie was about to burst in a frenzy of anger and frustration, but Zack saw it and took charge. He knelt beside Mark's body and pointed to the ground on the opposite side. "Kneel," he said commandingly to Jamie, who obeyed instantly, so the two were facing each other, Mark between them. "Now look at me, Jamie."

In one ear Jamie could hear Darius moaning in ecstasy, and in the other he heard Mark's heavy breathing. But he was not distracted from Zack's riveting face and piercing gray eyes. It was as if Zack was hypnotizing him, numbing him against the sounds and images of his master getting fucked by the black boy's huge cock. As Darius began to move, began fucking in earnest, Zack cupped his hand behind Jamie's head and pulled him toward him, pressing their lips together, probing the inside of the boy's mouth with his tongue.

Suddenly Jamie lost his fear and frustration. He was transported into a world of sensory excess, glorying in the taste and smell of this powerful black man kissing him, while he heard the euphoric sounds of his master getting his ass fucked by a huge ten-inch cock. Jamie had been feeling jealousy, but no more. It was all mixed up now, as if he were having sex with his master ...... no, with Darius's master ....... no, with all of them. All four men were swimming in a tide of pure sensuality ...... no thoughts, no boundaries, just all of them lost in the glory of the moment.

"Yeah, man," Mark was yelling. "Oh yeah, fuck my ass with that huge black rod. Oh man, your cock feels good. Yeah, harder, faster. Fuck that cop, boy."

Darius saw the cop's wrists pulling against the handcuffs, saw the biceps bulge with the effort, saw the glorious face twisting and sweating, blonde hair flying. And above the cop was the face of his own master, Zack, grinding his lips against his young fair-haired friend. It was beyond fantasy, beyond thought or word ....... it was pure, spectacular animal sex.

And then it got better. Zack pulled away from Jamie's face and stared into his eyes. He said two words ..... "Fuck me."

In an instant Zack was on his back beside Mark. Jamie was way beyond inhibition and instinctively went round and knelt before Zack. Just as Darius had done with Mark, Jamie unzipped Zack's pants and pulled them down over his ass. He threw the leather-clad legs over his shoulders, brought his own raging cock up to the stud's ass and, with no hesitation, plunged it in hard, pushing it deep inside. Then, alongside his friend, Jamie began pounding the ass of the muscular black master.

The images would be engraved on the minds of all four men for a long time to come. Mark and Zack gazed up at their boys, the black boy sweating as he hammered the cop, and the young blonde smiling wildly as he pierced the ass of the macho leatherman. And as the men looked at the boys they felt the full exuberance of youthful testosterone pulsing deep inside them.

The image was no less electrifying for the boys as they saw their masters' faces and realized they were actually inside their bodies, pounding them. Then they looked over at the other man and gasped. Darius saw his powerful leather-god master being fucked by a young blonde surfer. And Jamie loved the sight of his glorious cop taking the monster cock of the black muscle-boy.

The boys saw the men reach over and take hold of each other's cock, stroking them to the rhythm of their fucking. The two masters were jerking each other off. Zack and Mark turned to face each other, and in seconds they were grinding their lips together in a wild embrace. The sight was too much for the boys who copied their masters and kissed each other passionately.

Everyone knew this was the climax. The men pounded each other's cocks while their asses were being ploughed. And the boys felt simultaneously the warmth of each other's mouths and the heat of their masters' asses as they pistoned inside them. The tempo increased, their frenzy grew wilder, they felt the heat rising through their bodies to their groin. Suddenly their faces pulled away from each other and they let out a scream that rang round the hills. And they all shot their load in four spectacular orgasms.

The men felt hot young juice pouring inside them and the boys watched as their masters blasted plumes of white, creamy cum over themselves, over the cop's uniform shirt and over the leather stud's black tank. The boys fell forward into their master's arms and they rolled over the ground in a wild, joyful embrace. Finally, exhausted, they lay back on the ground and released all their emotion in laughter ..... loud, joyous laughter that shook the afternoon air and startled the birds, who rose like a cloud out of the trees.

It was a long time before they all recovered. Zack finally regained his breath and said, "Happy birthday, kiddo."

Darius lay on his back gazing up at the sky. "That was the greatest birthday party ever!"

"Happy birthday, Darius," Mark said, then gazed at Jamie. "As for you, kid, you made me proud. I love you, Jamie."

Then he too rolled over onto his back and grinned. "Well ..... so much for a restful weekend!"

**************

It must have been something in the air, or in the water, or maybe it was just a happy coincidence, but up at the lake things were moving in roughly the same direction as events at the house. And it was all due to Pablo's "spectacular" idea (his word) to help the twins along the path to greater self-confidence.

At first it seemed the scheme would never see the light of day. As Pablo hesitantly outlined his plan Randy instantly recoiled. "No fucking way, kid. That's never gonna happen. Hell will fucking-well freeze over before I let them do that."

"Should I take that as a no, sir?" asked Pablo slyly with his crooked grin.

"Now wait a minute, wait a minute," Bob said calmly. "When you think about it, it's not a bad idea. Might do everyone a lot of good. I'm in, for one. And Randy, I believe you owe me one ..... that's if you're man enough."

Randy grinned at him. "Fuck you, man. There you go again, taking charge. Didn't you learn anything in the woods?" A short while ago Bob had certainly learned the painful but erotic lesson that Randy was still the undisputed master. But now as gazed at his lover with his smiling, soft brown eyes, Randy melted.

"Fuck you man," he grinned. "Fuck you both. OK ..... you're pushing your luck here ...... but do what you have to. God, the things I do for you guys."

"Great," said Pablo leaping to his feet. "Later, then ..... when the sun starts to set. I can't wait!"

****************

And now the sun was low in the sky. All four men were lazing on the small beach after a swim and the twins were talking about what they would cook for dinner. But suddenly Pablo stood up and said to them, "Hey, guys, come over here. Something I want to run by you."

They went into a huddle near the bushes. "How old are you guys now?"

"Nearly twenty, sir."

"OK, then it's about time to butch up your act a bit, I'd say. Now here's my plan ......."

Bob grinned at Randy as they strained to hear the twins' reaction. It seemed to consist mostly of variations on, "Oh no, sir ...... that wouldn't be right ....... we could never do that!"

But Pablo knew the twins well by now; they trusted him, and he could be very convincing. He prided himself on being something of a con artist, and Bob always said he could charm the birds out of the trees. Pablo put his arms round the twins' shoulders. "You mean those guys are not hot enough for you? Wow, most of the dudes I know would go ape-shit for a chance like this."

"But they would never allow us to......." faltered Kyle.

"Listen," Pablo said conspiratorially. "What if I told you they wanted it? What if I told you we had discussed it and they said OK?"

"Bob too, sir?" asked Kevin.

"Bob especially."

There was a long silence as the twins thought it over and looked at each other, reading each other's thoughts and trepidation. Finally they appeared to come to a silent agreement and Kevin said, "Well, sir. If you're sure they want it. Actually the idea is kinda ......"

" ..... kinda hot, eh?" grinned Pablo. "Ok, guys, we're on."

Coming out of their huddle they turned to look at the two men at the other side of the beach. They held their breath as Bob and Randy stood up, barefoot, wearing just their shorts, streaked with sand. Moving in unison they slowly unbuttoned the shorts and let them drop. The boys watched silently as the two muscle-gods, now butt naked, threw a blanket down on the sand. They threw themselves down and lay on their backs, side by side, propped up on their elbows smiling up at the boys.

Pablo nudged the twins who took a couple of hesitant steps forward. They were clearly nervous and Bob knew it was up to him to reassure them. "Man, you two look so beautiful standing there. Why don't you drop the shorts? We wanna see you naked."

The twins obeyed and stepped out of the shorts, shyly holding their hands in front of their cocks to hide their stiff erections.

Bob sighed. "You know, you have beautiful young cocks. I always wondered what you would feel like in my ass. I've fucked you both a whole lot but sometimes .... not often ..... some masters let their boys fuck them. That's what Randy and I want now. Will you help us out here?"

Hearing Bob's gentle voice, requesting their help in a new sexual experience, the twins' apprehension disappeared. They loved him devotedly and would do anything he asked. And besides, his words had made their cocks strain even harder. Gradually the concept of fucking these gorgeous, powerful bodybuilders did not seem quite so strange to them.

The looked at each other, silently coming to a decision. Kyle, the more adventurous of the two walked forward and dropped to his knees in front of Randy. Kevin did the same before Bob. Randy and Bob bent their legs, pulling their heels along the ground toward themselves and raising their knees. Instinctively the twins knew what to do, but hesitated at the last moment.

"Go on," Bob said softly, smiling up at them. "You're my boys ...... make me proud."

The twins put their hands behind the men's knees and pushed their legs up just far enough to expose their asses. They gasped as they felt the tip of their cocks touch the warm holes. But at the blast moment they hesitated again.

Bob locked their eyes with his smile and spoke encouragingly. "Oh, God that feels good. That's it, boys. Push harder now ...... let us feel your dicks sliding inside us."

Bolder now, the twins did as instructed and took sharp intakes of breath as they felt their cocks enter the warm holes, gliding past the soft membrane, going deeper and deeper until they came to rest against the inner sphincter. They could hardly believe that they were actually inside their masters' bodies.

The effect on all four men was stunning. The twins stopped breathing, mesmerized by the incredible sensation in their cocks, more intense than they had ever felt before. And the men, who had up to now treated this whole thing as something of an experiment, were blown away by the feelings radiating from their asses through their bodies.

Fucking for Bob and Randy was always a vigorous affair, especially for Randy who enjoyed exercising his power and dominance. Bob had many times felt, and loved, the strength, savagery even, of the big constructions worker's cock pounding inside him. But this was different ...... the tenderness of two young, hesitant boys nervously entering their asses. Far from pounding, their cocks were trembling inside them. It made both men feel incredibly protective of the boys, teaching them, leading them into a whole new range of feelings.

All of Randy's hard-edged macho dominance melted into a warm, gentle sympathy for these beautiful boys ..... his lover's boys. "Wow," he said to Kyle. "That feels awesome, kid. Your cock feels great inside me. You're gonna be a great fuck. You like ploughing a big stud like me? Go for it, kid. Come on, boy. Fuck me."

There was something in this man's deep, gravelly voice that excited Kyle, and he did start fucking in earnest. He pulled out and plunged in again, watching the face toss with pleasure, the macho, swarthy face, with its stubbled jaw, dark black hair and piercing blue eyes. Beside him Kevin picked up on his excitement and gazed into Bob's smiling brown eyes as he plunged his cock inside him, feeling an intimacy different from anything they had shared before.

Soon they were all lost in the wild exhilaration of the moment. The boys were feeling supremely confident now, powerful even, as they dominated the asses of these macho muscle-gods. And the men enjoyed the unexpected pleasure of submitting their bodies to the youthful exuberance of these young boys. Man and boy were united as never before in an erotic reversal of roles.

*****************

As the fucking continued it was, of course, watched avidly by Pablo, drooling at the sight of the incredible event. Pablo had always felt he was kind of halfway between the masters and the twins ...... a boy to the men and a master to the boys. But he was not Randy's tough young boy for nothing and now he decided to take charge. "Shit," he thought. "It was my idea in the first place."

He quickly got naked and knelt behind the boys. "Kyle first," he thought. His cock had been raging ever since this all began and now he pressed it against Kyle's ass. The boy was not really aware of Pablo's cock gliding gently inside him. All of Kyle's heightened sensation was in his own cock and he simply felt an added jolt of electricity in his body as he concentrated on the glorious man he was fucking.

Pablo felt the hot young ass contracting around his cock to the rhythm of Kyle's bucking body. He pushed him forward a bit so Pablo could look down, over his shoulder, at his master's face. Randy grinned up at him, feeling as if he were being fucked by Kyle and Pablo at the same time. Although Randy said nothing, Pablo knew exactly what he was thinking ....... "That's my boy!"

And so Pablo continued to orchestrate the show with its endless permutations. He pulled out of Kyle and entered Kevin's ass, feeling it clench round his cock as Kevin pounded the ass of his beloved master, Bob. Pablo looked down at the ecstatic faces of the two men and knew that this idea of his was worthy of the word he had originally used ....... "spectacular".

"OK," Pablo ordered. "Change over you guys." Obeying instinctively the twins pulled their dicks out, changed sides and entered the other man's ass ...... Kyle pushing his cock gently inside his beautiful master, and Kevin feeling the thrill of fucking the rugged boss of the house he had found so intimidating. And once again Pablo took turns fucking first one twin then the other.

Pablo pushed the twins further forward so their faces came close to the men they were fucking. Randy and Bob leaned their faces upward and locked their mouths onto the twins' lips in a warm, passionate embrace. They all reveled in the taste and smell ..... the soft sweetness of the boys' lips and the macho pungency of the men's breaths.

Then, acting in unison, the twins straightened up. Without losing the rhythm of their fucking they turned their heads, looked at each other, and began to kiss each other ..... tenderly at first, then hungrily. "Holy shit," Randy said to Bob. "Will you look at that! Oh, man, I gotta shoot my load. Help me out here, man."

Each man reached over and began to stroke his lover's cock. It was sensory overload. They felt the frenzied cocks plunging into them, watched the beautiful young brothers kissing each other, and pounded each other's cock faster. It didn't take long. Suddenly they screamed, their bodies convulsed, and they shot jets of creamy white semen high into the air, splashing back onto their gleaming chests.

Startled by the deafening noise the twins pulled their mouths from each other and gazed down at the extraordinary sight of the two muscle-gods erupting with hot juice all over their bodies. And it was they who were causing it ...... they who were fucking these macho men, pushing the cum out of them. The twins threw all their inhibitions to the wind, raised their heads in a full-throated scream .... "Yeah....." as they felt their cocks explode deep inside the furnace of the men's asses.

It was all too much for Pablo. He blasted a load of juice inside Kevin, then quickly pulled out, plunged his cock into Kyle and spurted another jet of cum into him. The bodies of all five men shuddered as their howls echoed across the lake. Then they collapsed into each other, groping, kissing, hugging in a tangle of young flesh and hard muscle.

As Randy had predicted, it was truly 'no holds barred' ...... an orgy of spent passion and the sheer joy of their shared masculinity ...... men and boys together.

***************

Half an hour later, after a cleansing swim in the lake, Bob and Randy sat on the ground, propped against trees, watching Pablo and the twins cook dinner on the barbecue. "Jesus, will you look at that," said Randy. "That's a hell of a change in your boys, buddy."

He was right. During the extraordinary experience of fucking the two superb masters the twins had gone from nervous reticence to masculine confidence as their sexuality surged and overcame their boyish inexperience. They still, of course, respected the men as masters, but they were fired up with a newfound self-assurance. Right now they were in charge of the food preparation and were giving Pablo orders.

"No, hold off on the sauce, sir. Let the meat cook until it's golden, then baste."

"Okey-dokey," grinned Pablo. "Oh and by the way, guys, after that performance you turned in I think you can drop the 'sir'."

They paused in some confusion. "Oh but sir," Kevin said. "We'd rather carry on doing that. After all, we think of you as our mentor, like one of the masters." Kyle smiled and added, "Not that we won't be telling you what to do when it comes to food ..... sir."

Pablo felt hugely flattered, grinned over at Randy and raised his eyebrows. Randy smiled back and shouted, "Don't think that applies to me too, kid. You're still my boy and you do whatever the fuck I tell you to. Clear?"

Pablo saluted. "Aye, aye, sir."

And so the weekend at the lake turned out to be a huge success, with roles reversed, reaffirmed and redefined. As they drove back the next day Randy had his arm over Bob's shoulder, both of them closer than they had ever been, exhilarated by Randy's forceful reassertion of his role as the ultimate master. And the twins, who had been deferential to Pablo on the drive up, now spoke with a building self-confidence, a definite masculine ring to their voice.

When they arrived at the house Pablo and the twins ran to Darius and Jamie and the noise was deafening as they all talked over each other, eager to share their extraordinary sexual adventures.

Randy grinned at Bob, Mark and Zack. "Holy shit," he groaned, "what the hell have we done? There'll be no living with them now."

*****************

The party that evening was a multiple celebration ........ Darius's birthday, of course; the guys' homecoming; and a sense that every one of the men had moved toward a more confident awareness of himself. It was, in every sense, a celebration of manhood.

The festive mood was nowhere more apparent than in Randy and Bob. After their stunning sexual experience together in the forest their relationship was redefined in a more profound way than ever before. They couldn't keep their eyes (or their hands) off each other and in fact disappeared upstairs for a while in the middle of the party, reappearing half an hour later with a glow around them that Zack said could have set the hillside on fire.

"You know what," Randy said quietly to Bob. "Next Saturday let's go off together, just you and me ...... up to Big Pines, maybe. We'll take the Harleys for a spin. It's about time you got to ride the bikes more often. It's what every self-respecting macho stud should do ...... feel the power between his legs."

Bob grinned. "I'm no stranger to power between my legs, buddy" looking down at Randy's crotch. "But it sounds great. I remember Big Pines ...... gorgeous, real high up, not much more than an hour away."

Yeah, and what a drive ...... empty, narrow mountain road, hair-pin bends, sheer drops on either side that'll make your hair curl."

The following week Bob and Randy spent all their free time together, a lot of it in bed, until finally Saturday came. "The Harleys in good shape, kid?" Randy asked Pablo, the mechanic in the house.

"Running like a dream," his boy said. "I tuned them up a couple of days ago. You'll have a terrific ride."

Pablo and the twins saw them off. Randy hugged his boy and Bob put his arms round the twins. If you need anything while I'm gone, check with Pablo. You'll take care of them, eh, Pablo?"

"Sure thing, sir. Have fun ...... be good." He frowned, then grinned. "Oh, that's not right.... you can't do both at the same time, can you?"

And they left, roaring with laughter.

****************

Half an hour later they were cruising steadily along Highway 2, a narrow two-lane mountain road with stunning views and the hairpin bends Randy had promised. On the right was a steep drop way down a ravine to a stream far below. They were driving carefully, one behind the other, keeping well away from the verge.

Bob had got about a hundred yards ahead of Randy and Randy was about to catch up to him when he heard the sound of a vehicle coming up behind him. He pulled closer to the edge to let it pass and looked back to see an old beat-up red truck with what looked like three guys in it.

"Shit damn!" he yelled. "Assholes!" As it passed the truck had deliberately sideswiped him, almost knocking him off balance at the edge of the road. "Fucking morons," he muttered to himself as the truck swerved drunkenly ahead. "They'll fucking kill someone that way."

His next thought was for Bob up ahead and his eyes opened wide in horror. The truck was approaching him from behind, still swerving crazily. It happened in a split second. The truck came level with Bob, swerved to the right and brushed hard against him, then sped away. Less accustomed to a motorcycle than Randy, Bob did lose his balance. He swerved to the right, over the grass verge ....... and plunged over the edge.

"NO!" screamed Randy and gunned his bike forward, screeching to a halt where the skid-marks led off the side of the road. He jumped off his bike, gazed over the edge of the ravine and saw Bob and the bike tumbling down the side, through the brush, bouncing on the hard gravel and coming to rest against a tree several hundred feet down.

Randy leapt over the side and, propelled by pure adrenaline, charged down the almost sheer slope, falling, crawling, grabbing at shrubs and rocks as the gravel tore at his clothes. Breathlessly he finally reached the spot and gazed down in horror at the motionless body lying in a lifeless, crumpled heap against a tree. Randy raised his head to the sky and screamed with the howl of a wounded animal. NO! ........."