Zack woke slowly. For once, nobody was hitting him. That was the first thing he noticed. The second was warmth.
He opened one sea-green eye and found himself tucked against Bear's enormous body, his cheek resting on the older man's hairy chest. One of Bear's thick arms was wrapped around Zack's waist, holding him loosely against the soft curve of his belly. Zack's brown curls were flattened on one side and sticking straight up on the other.
For several seconds, Zack didn't move. He couldn't remember getting into bed. There were scattered images from the night before—Velveeta Goldmine humiliating him at drag bingo, strange men fucking him in the sling, Tucker eating the cum out of his ass while getting fucked by Steven, the frat boys laughing, the fire, drinks...
Lots of drinks. Then nothing.
Zack cautiously lifted his head. Bear was asleep. At sixty-two, he somehow looked less intimidating that way. The lines around his eyes had relaxed, his neatly trimmed white beard was slightly flattened on one side, and without his usual stern expression he simply looked like a big, tired man. Zack studied the contrast between Bear's deeply tanned skin and the thick white hair covering his chest and belly. Something about waking up wrapped around him felt dangerously nice. Zack lowered his head again.
Bear's arm tightened. “Quit squirming boy.”
Zack smiled. “You're awake?”
“No.”
Zack laughed softly.
Bear opened one eye. “Head hurt?”
Zack considered it. “A little.”
“You were shitfaced.”
“I remember being at the party.”
“That's encouraging.”
Zack frowned, trying to retrieve anything after that. “How did I get here?”
“I carried you.”
“Oh.”
Bear closed his eye again. “You also got a shower.”
Zack's eyes widened. “I did?”
“Technically I gave you a shower. You contributed very little.”
Zack groaned and buried his face against Bear's chest. Bear chuckled, the sound rumbling beneath Zack's cheek. “You're a lightweight, boy.”
“I drank all day.”
“Excellent defense.”
Zack expected Bear to order him out of bed. Instead, Bear's large hand moved lazily over his back. So Zack stayed. Just for another minute. Which became ten.
Coffee helped some. Zack sat naked at Bear's kitchen table holding his mug in both hands like a life-support device. His curls were still an unholy mess, and faint shadows beneath his green eyes testified to Saturday night's decisions.
Bear had showered and looked considerably more alive. “Come here, boy,” he said.
Bear was naked too, his huge tanned body occupying most of one end of the couch. Thick white hair covered his muscular chest, arms, belly and legs, and his bald head and white beard gave him an almost ridiculously patriarchal appearance as he pointed toward the floor in front of him. Zack obediently approached. “Sit.” Zack sat cross-legged on the floor. Bear extended one large bare foot toward him. “Massage.”
Zack looked at it. Then Bear. “Your foot?”
“No, the refrigerator.”
Zack rolled his eyes before remembering whom he was dealing with.
Bear caught it. “Careful.”
“Yes, Master.”
Zack took Bear's foot into his lap and started working his thumbs into the sole. Bear's expression changed almost immediately. “Huh.”
Zack stopped. “What?”
“Don't stop.” Zack resumed, pressing his thumbs more firmly into the arch before working his fingers along the heel. Bear sank farther into the couch. “Where the hell did you learn to do that?”
“My mom used to make me rub her feet when I was a kid.”
“Your mother trained you well.”
Zack laughed. He switched feet without being asked and worked the second one just as thoroughly, instinctively adjusting the pressure whenever he felt Bear tense or relax.
Bear watched him for a while. “You know, boy, if college really isn't working out, you ever thought about massage school?”
Zack glanced up. “No.”
“You're good at this.”
Zack waited for the joke. None came. “Really?”
“Wouldn't have said it otherwise.”
Zack looked back down at Bear's foot. Nobody had suggested an alternative before. People told him to try harder at school. Apply himself. Stop screwing around. Figure out what he wanted to do with his life. Bear had simply noticed something he was good at. “I might look into it.”
“You should.” Zack smiled and returned to Bear's heel. “Good boy,” Bear said softly.
There it was. That stupid little rush again.
Eventually Bear withdrew his foot. “Enough. Go shower and get your ass ready. We're going to Dave's for brunch.”
Zack looked up. “Sexy Jesus?”
Bear frowned. “What?”
“Nothing.”
Bear narrowed his eyes.
Zack stood quickly. “Shower. Got it.”
“And don't drink much today. You're driving home later.”
The reminder landed harder than Zack expected. Home. He'd somehow managed to forget that part. “Yes, Master.”
Dave's cabin sat beneath a cluster of towering pines, its wide wooden deck shaded by branches that offered at least some protection from the brutal Texas sun. By the time Bear and Zack arrived, the smell of bacon, coffee, sausage and something sweet and buttery drifted through the open door.
There were already voices inside—lots of them.
“Look who survived!” Dave appeared carrying a pitcher of mimosas. In his mid-thirties, he still looked enough like a particularly inappropriate depiction of Jesus to justify Zack's private nickname for him: tall and naturally athletic, with long, wavy brown hair brushing his shoulders, a full beard, warm brown eyes and a tanned, moderately hairy body. Like everyone else at brunch, Dave was completely naked.
“Barely,” Zack said.
Dave grinned. “Come in. Food's ready.”
The cabin was packed. Zack counted twelve men besides himself and Bear, including Richard and Mark, with ages ranging from somewhere around his own to men considerably older than Bear. There were different races, different builds, different amounts of hair and dramatically different relationships with gravity..
Friday Zack would have catalogued every body and cock in the room while desperately wondering what everyone thought of his own.
Sunday Zack just smelled bacon and smiled.
“Morning, kid,” Richard called from somewhere in the crowd.
“Morning.”
Mark lifted his coffee in greeting.
Zack followed Bear inside. He'd learn everybody else's names eventually. Probably.
Dave came back with two mimosas, handing one to Zack and one to Bear, “Here you go.” Zack’s eyes dropped to Dave’s gorgeous 8.5 inch cock, and he felt his own smaller cock twitch with excitement.
Bear smirked. “The boy here calls you Jesus.”
Zack choked on his mimosa.
“Have you been calling me Jesus?” Dave smiled coyly, stroking his beard.
“No.” Zack blushed.
Dave narrowed his eyes.
“Sexy Jesus,” Zack admitted.
Dave stared at him. Then smiled. “I'll allow it.”
By the time brunch wound down, Dave’s cabin had shifted from meal to party. Plates had been abandoned in the kitchen, music was playing, and coffee had mostly given way to cold beers and cocktails. Fourteen naked men lounged across the sectional, crowded around the kitchen island, or stood talking in loose groups, or kissing and fondling each other’s growing cocks, their bodies ranging from Andre’s lean, smooth twenty-five-year-old frame to Richard’s massive, silver-haired muscle-bear build and George’s soft, heavyset body and magnificent gray beard. The room had grown louder, warmer, and decidedly flirtier.
Bear sat back with his drink and watched Zack flourish in the middle of it.
The change was remarkable. His boy was still unmistakably Zack—the slim, smooth twenty-one-year-old with pale freckled skin, perfect ass, unruly brown curls and expressive sea-green eyes—but the nervous tension had gone out of his body. He moved easily among the other men now, laughing and touching without constantly second-guessing himself.
And they were touching back. Andre hooked an arm around Zack’s narrow waist, fondling the boy’s cock while telling him a story. Richard pulled him against his enormous hairy chest when Zack teased him, cupping Zack’s ass. A hand occasionally lingered on Zack’s shoulder or lower back as someone squeezed past. Zack accepted playful kisses and returned them with a bashful grin instead of looking toward Bear in panic. Every so often someone would whisper something into his ear that turned those freckled cheeks bright pink.
Bear smiled into his drink.
Friday’s Zack had practically folded himself in half when a stranger looked at him. Sunday’s Zack was surrounded by a dozen naked gay men, mildly buzzed, increasingly affectionate, and apparently having the time of his life.
The atmosphere had developed a pleasant charge too. Conversations were closer. Touches lingered longer. Eyes wandered openly. Laughter had acquired that suggestive edge Bear knew well from countless lazy afternoons at The Pines. And his boy was right in the middle of it.
Bear felt a swell of pride. Zack had spent the weekend learning that attention didn't necessarily mean judgment. Now he was discovering it could mean attraction. There was time for one last lesson before the kid had to put his clothes back on and return to reality. And Bear wouldn't deny that he wanted to show off his boy one final time.
He settled into the middle of Dave’s sectional, his large, tanned body taking up a generous portion of it, thick white hair covering his muscular chest, round belly, arms and powerful legs.
“Boy.” Across the room, Zack immediately turned. Bear liked that. “Come here.”
Zack excused himself from Andre and crossed the crowded room without hesitation, his curls bouncing around his flushed face as he knelt on the ground before his sexy Master.
“Suck my cock and get me hard boy. You’re gonna ride my cock in front of everyone here.”
“Yes Master,” Zack said quietly before quickly swallowing Bear’s meaty, 8 inch cock, down to the man’s silver pubes.
Bear sighed with pleasure, then looked around the room. Several men were already watching. Bear smiled. Perfect. “Dave?”
Dave appeared, already stroking himself hard.
“We’re gonna need lots of lube.”
“Of course.” Dave grinned and disappeared into the crowd of onlookers, only to reappear moments latter with a tube of creamy lube.
“Stand up boy.” Zack stood quickly, his own cock hard and jutting out from his thin body.
Zack shifted on Bear’s lap until he was facing him, knees tucked on either side of the older man’s massive thighs, then slowly lowered himself down, impaling his tight hole on his Master’s thick cock. Zack’s slim, smooth body looked almost delicate against Bear’s broad, deeply tanned frame. Zack rested both hands on Bear’s shoulders and began slowly rocking his hips, burying his face in Master Bear’s thick chest muscles beneath the white body hair covering them.
Bear grunted approvingly. “Right there.”
Zack whispered into the 61-year-old man’s chest. “Your cock feels so good Master.”
Around them, Dave’s cabin had settled into the warm, mildly drunken intimacy of a party with nowhere else to be. Music hummed beneath overlapping conversations. Richard reclined at the far end of the sectional while Mark sucked his husband’s thick cock, occasionally leaning forward to twist his nipples. On the rug, Andre knelt, bowing face down between Luis’s legs while the stocky younger man ate his ass and slowly rubbed Andre’s slender hips.
Bear watched Zack’s face, the boy’s head now thrown back in open ecstasy as he rode him.
The change from Friday was remarkable. Zack’s unruly brown curls hung over his forehead, his freckled cheeks were warm from the drinks and attention, and those expressive sea-green eyes no longer darted nervously around the room worried about who was looking at him.
Bear decided to test that confidence one last time. “Dave.”
Zack slowed his rocking hips.
Their host looked over from the kitchen.
Dave was completely naked, showing off his impressive cock and his tall, naturally athletic body lightly covered in dark hair and tanned from endless Texas summers. Long wavy brown hair brushed his shoulders, framing warm brown eyes and the full beard that had earned him Zack’s private nickname of Sexy Jesus.
Bear nodded toward him. “Come fuck my boy with me. He needs both our cocks in his ass so he can really open up.”
Zack immediately froze and looked stared at Bear. There it was. Not panic exactly. But nerves. “Master…”
Bear wrapped his big hands around Zack’s neck, applying just the slightest amount of pressure.
“Master I… I don’t think I can,” Zack whispered, tears of disappointment welling up in his eyes.
“Yes you can, boy.” Bear began slowly increasing the pressure from his large, strong hands. “I’m going to apply just enough pressure to your carotid arteries to make you pass out for a few seconds while he stuffs his big, sexy Jesus cock in your ass next to mine. When you wake up, you’ll feel better than you’ve ever felt in you little subby, slutty life.”
Zack exhaled, a tear rolling down his cheek..
“Do you trust me son?”
Zack nodded.
“Say it.”
“Yes, Master. I trust you.”
“Then relax.”
Bear kept medium pressure Zack’s neck as Dave approached, giving Zack something familiar and steady to focus on.
Dave lubed up his cock and crawled behind the young boy, pressing his hairy chest against Zack’s smooth back, and his cock against the twink’s already full hole. “You sure, kid?”
Zack glanced once at Bear. The older man’s fingers tightened reassuringly against his neck. Zack smiled. “Yes. I want both your cocks in me, please.”
Dave sucked on Zack’s ear as he began to work his cock into the boy’s hole.
“Ow! Fuck, I-” Zack began to cry out but his words were cut off by the pressure his Master applied to his neck and then his world went black.
Bear watched his boy’s head slump forward toward his shoulder, then felt Dave’s throbbing cock slide in against his.
“Fuck yes,” Dave moaned and started pumping his cock in and out of the twink’s double-stuffed hole.
Bear released his grip from Zack’s neck and lifted the boy’s face by the chin, slapping his cheek.
Zack looked up slowly and then quickly let out a loud moan of pleasure that reverberated across the room.
“Oh fuck! Oh fuck Master I’m so full!” Zack panted as Dave’s cock pumped in him, sliding against Bear’s cock
Bear groaned, grabbed Zack by his curly hair and pulled his head back then and locked eyes with Dave “Keep going.”
“Fuck it’s so tight,” Dave moaned, “I’m so close!”
“Breed him!” Bear commanded.
“Please cum in me sexy Jesus fuck!”
Dave’s breathing sped up, pumping harder and harder until his final thrust when he unleashed his load into the twink’s hole, coating Bear’s cock. Dave sank back against the cushions, long brown hair, matted with sweat falling around his face, his body glistening. “Oh, damn.”
That made Zack grin. “Good?”
“Don't get cocky,” Bear teased.
Across the room, Caleb was eagerly rimming George’s ass. The wiry, freckled redhead knelt behind the heavyset older man, spreading the older man’s cheeks to bury his face in his ass while George’s magnificent gray beard practically shook as he moaned with pleasure. Nearby, Richard slowly fucked Mark’s ass, while tugging his husband’s cock to jack him off at the same time.
Bear looked across the room and saw Darnell stroking his cock and staring as Dave lounged on the couch while Zack continued to ride his Master’s cock. Bear nodded for Darnell to come over and take Dave’s place.
The broad Black man wandered over with a drink in one enormous hand. In his mid-forties, Darnell had a shaved head, handsome features framed by a salt-and-pepper goatee, massive arms and an impressive muscular chest that softened into a generous belly. His hard 9 inch cock in hand.
“That boy really as good as Dave’s making him look?” Darnell asked with a grin.
Dave opened one eye. “No. Terrible. Go away.”
Darnell laughed.
Bear rubbed Zack’s back. “Want another customer, boy?”
Zack looked at Darnell. Then Bear. This time the hesitation lasted barely a second. “Yes, Master.”
“Good boy.”
When Dave reluctantly surrendered his spot, Darnell crawled up behind Zack, dwarfing the boy’s pale, slight body with his own larger, black frame and pressed the tip of his massive cock against the boy’s hole.
“Don't be shy with the pressure,” Bear said to Darnell, “I want the boy to really feel this one.”
Zack squeeked with fear and Bear grabbed the boy’s face with both hands, locking eyes with his new property, ready to relish every wave of pain and pleasure that would wash over the young boy’s face.
Darnell began to work his cock in inch-by-inch “Damn, still fucking tight.”
Zack whimpered, staring into Bear’s eyes, and sucked in a breath and he felt Darnell finally slip his cock in, spreading his hole wider than it had ever gone before. “Oh fuck, Master,” he whined.
“You’ve got this boy,” Bear encouraged as he felt Darnell pick up speed, sliding his cock against his own.
Behind them, Andre had settled face-to-face in Luis’s lap ridding his cock. Andre’s long, lean legs resting to either side of the stockier man. At twenty-five, Andre was slender and graceful, with smooth, deep-brown skin, close-cropped black hair, high cheekbones, and expressive dark eyes that shone with lus as he bounced up and down on Luis’s cock. His narrow, lightly defined torso contrasted with thirty-two-year-old Luis’s compact, powerful build—warm olive-brown skin, thick black hair, a short dark beard, broad shoulders, and a sturdy chest covered in dark hair. Luis’s strong hands moved slowly over Andre’s slender shoulders and upper back while Andre returned the attention, his long fingers kneading the thick muscles along Luis’s neck. They leaned toward each other between the rhythmic fucking, trading slow, lingering kisses, occasionally breaking apart just far enough to smile before kissing again, seemingly oblivious to most of the party around them.
Zack moaned loudly as Darnell’s steady fucking turned to extream pleasure and the boy shot his load all over Bear’s tan, silver-haired chest. Samir stood nearby watching the show..
At around fifty, Samir was a handsome Indian man with warm brown skin, thick black hair threaded heavily with silver and a neatly trimmed beard. His compact naked body was moderately hairy and softened slightly around the waist.
Darnell clamped tightly on Zack’s shoulders and seized up as he flooded the boy’s ass with his thick load.
“Did that break him in?” Samir asked Bear
“Find out for yourself,” Bear laughed, wrapping one thick arm more securely around Zack’s waist.
As quickly as Darnell pulled out of Zack, his load leaking out of the twink’s hole, Samir moved into position and quickly shoved his 7 inch cock in and started fucking the boy hard and fast, clamping his hand over Zack’s mouth to muffle the boy’s cries.
Elsewhere, the rest of the room seemed to have taken inspiration from them. Warren was stretched facedown across the rug, his tall, almost startlingly lanky sixty-three-year-old body seeming to go on forever, long arms folded beneath his head and equally long legs extending behind him. His leathery, deeply tanned skin was nearly hairless except for the silver hair on his head and thick white mustache. Tom had carefully settled his much softer, heavier body over Warren’s back, his round belly resting against the older man as he pumped his cock in and out of the older man’s ass. The cheerful fifty-eight-year-old’s thinning gray hair had fallen messily across his forehead as he concentrated, his bright blue eyes crinkling whenever Warren groaned appreciatively beneath him.
Nearby, Dave was on all fours, his tall, athletic thirty-five-year-old body framed by long waves of brown hair that fell around his bearded face. The position emphasized his broad shoulders, lean back, and long legs while Mike knelt behind him, pumping away. In his mid-fifties, Mike was considerably thicker and more rugged, with a barrel chest, powerful arms, a comfortable belly, and salt-and-pepper hair and beard. His large hands rested firmly on Dave’s hips, slowly fucking the party host while Dave dropped his head with a contented grunt, his hair nearly brushing the floor.
When Samir finally relinquished his load into Zack’s ass, Zack dropped his sweaty forehead against Bear’s shoulder as Hank wandered over.
“You've got one more in you.” Bear said, a statement not a question.
Zack lifted his head and gave a weak smile, “Do I?” Bear raised an eyebrow. Zack laughed. “Yes, Master.”
Zack looked up at the man. At seventy, Hank was short and broad, with a substantial belly, powerful shoulders softened by age, and bright blue eyes set in a deeply lined, weathered face. A surprisingly full head of white hair swept back from his forehead, while thick white body hair covered his chest, stomach, arms, and legs. He looked like an older version of Bear, complete with a matching 8 inch cock that Zack’s gaze lingered on before he could stop himself.
Hank noticed. His blue eyes narrowed slightly as a slow smile appeared. “See something you like, boy?”
Heat immediately crept into Zack’s freckled cheeks. “Maybe, Sir.”
“Good boy.” Hank said as he climbed onto the sectional and moved behind Zack. He settled onto his knees, close enough that Zack suddenly found himself pressed between the two big, hairy older men—Bear’s massive, tanned body solid against his back and Hank’s broad, white-haired chest close behind him.
Zack went very still in Bear’s lap; he could feel the older man’s broad, hairy chest against his back and one heavy arm resting securely around his narrow waist, as he felt Hank slowly press his hard cock into his aching hole.
“That’s a good boy,” Hank whispered and slowly began working his cock in and out of the twink’s hole, sliding against Bear’s still hard cock..
The contrast was almost comical to look at but considerably less funny to experience. Zack’s smooth, pale, lightly freckled body seemed positively slight, sandwiched between Bear and Hank, white body hair brushing him from both directions.
Zack exhaled, “oh fuck that feels so good.
“Yeah boy?” Hank whispered, “You like taking grandpa’s and daddy’s cocks at the same time?”
Zack moaned and tried to bounce a bit to get more of the two men inside him. Bear chuckled softly beside his ear. “Relax, boy.”
Zack let himself sink between them.
Hank worked his thumbs firmly along Zack’s shoulders and the base of his neck, gradually loosening muscles Zack hadn’t realized were tense. Bear’s arm remained securely around his middle, holding him comfortably in place.
Hank leaned closer, his white beard brushing Zack’s curls. “Can you cum for me son? Can you shot a second load for your gramps?”
Zack turned his head enough to meet those striking blue eyes. “One more, Sir.”
“Good boy.” Hank gave Zack’s shoulders a firm squeeze and began fucking the boy harder, aiming right for the spot that made him moan the loudest.
Bear’s hand moved to the back of Zack’s neck, giving it an approving rub. “Show him what you can do, boy.”
Zack moaned, flushed from being caught between the two older bears. “Yes, Master.”
Zack clamped down as best he could and Hank bit down on the boy’s shoulder hard. Zack cried out at the sudden combination of pleasure and pain and shot a second load onto Bear’s stomach.
Hank released Zack’s shoulder and whispered, “Good boy, that’s what I wanted, that’s what I fucking wanted.”
Bear felt his own balls tighten and he grabbed Zack’s curls and yanked hard as he grunted and cried out, shooting rope after rope of cum into his boy. Hank grabbed Zack’s shoulder and shoved him down on the two cocks as he fired off his own load into the slender, sweaty twink.
A minute later Hank's lined face had relaxed completely. “Well, I'll be damned. Good boy,” he said, pulling out and walking away.
Zack shuddered and slumped his sweaty body against Bear’s own. Before anyone else could get ideas, Bear wrapped both arms firmly around Zack. “Shop's closed.”
Complaints immediately came from around the room. Zack laughed and kissed Bear’s hairy chest. “Thank God.”
Bear kissed the top of his unruly curls. “You did good, boy.”
Zack looked up, facing Bear. This time there wasn't a trace of uncertainty in those sea-green eyes. “Thank you, Master.”
Bear rubbed the back of his neck once more. Zack smiled and rested his forehead against Bear’s. Friday, that hand on his neck had meant obey. Sunday, Zack understood it could also mean I've got you.
When Zack woke up later in Bear’s bed, the bedroom was painted with orange light. For a confused moment he didn't understand why. Then he saw the setting sun glowing through the blinds. “Oh, shit.”
Bear stirred beside him. “What?”
“What time is it?”
Bear reached for his phone. “Almost eight.”
Zack sat up. “We slept five hours?”
“Apparently.”
“I have to go home.”
The words changed something. Neither spoke for a moment. Zack looked toward the window. All weekend he'd known Sunday was coming. He'd even spent that morning being reminded that he needed to stay sober enough to drive home. But somehow he'd never really thought about leaving.
Bear sat up beside him. “You should get moving before it gets too late.”
“Yeah.” Zack didn't move. Bear looked at him. Zack finally smiled. “I'm going.”
“Good boy.”
That somehow made leaving worse.
They walked together through the campground in the fading light. The Pines was settling down after the weekend. Golf carts rolled lazily beneath the towering trees. The pool was nearly empty again. Somewhere a radio played softly from the deck of an RV.
Zack reached his car and opened the trunk. His clothes were exactly where he'd left them Friday afternoon. He stared at them.
Bear leaned against the car. “Problem?”
Zack picked up his underwear. “This feels weird.”
“Clothes?”
“Yeah.”
Bear chuckled. “You've been here three days, not three years.”
“Still.” Zack dressed reluctantly.
When he finished, he looked strangely ordinary again: jeans, T-shirt, sneakers, unruly brown curls. The same twenty-one-year-old who'd driven through the gate Friday. Except he didn't feel like the same person.
Bear folded his thick arms across his chest. “You did good this weekend, Zack.” Zack looked up. Bear wasn't smiling. Not because he was angry. Because he meant it. “I put you through a lot.”
Zack laughed softly. “Yeah. You did.”
“More than I normally would've.”
Zack's smile faded slightly.
Bear continued. “You told me you wanted to give up control. You told me what you thought you wanted. But anybody can say that sitting behind a computer.”
Zack nodded.
“So I pushed you. Hard sometimes. I wanted to find the edge.”
“My safeword.”
Bear nodded. “I wanted to know whether you'd use it.”
Zack thought back over the weekend. The punishments. The pool bathroom. Being sent naked into Mike's office. Drag bingo. The party. The gangbang. Being put on display in front of strangers. The double-penetration. Over and over, Bear had found something that embarrassed or frightened Zack and nudged him directly toward it.
“You never said red,” Bear said.
“I thought about it.”
“I would've been worried if you didn't.”
Zack looked at him.
Bear's voice softened. “But I also watched you, boy. If I'd thought you were really in trouble, we'd have stopped whether you said it or not.”
That hit Zack harder than he expected. He looked down.
Bear reached over and lifted Zack's chin. “Submission doesn't mean you stop having a brain. And it doesn't mean I stop having a responsibility to you.”
Zack nodded. “Yes, Master.”
Bear smiled slightly. “Good boy.”
Zack laughed under his breath.
“What?”
“You know what that does to me.”
“I'm starting to.”
For a few seconds they simply stood together beside the car. Then Zack asked the question that had been sitting heavily in his stomach since he'd awakened. “Can I come back?”
Bear's expression changed.
Zack hurried on. “I mean, not necessarily next weekend. I know you have a life and everything. And I don't want to assume this was more than what we agreed to, because you said it was a trial and—”
“Zack.”
He stopped.
Bear smiled. “Yes.”
Zack's face lit up. “Really?”
“You're still green as hell. You don't know half of what you think you know, you question me too much, and apparently three shots of whiskey turns you into a drunk toddler.”
Zack laughed.
“But,” Bear continued, “you're teachable.”
“Wow. Glowing review.”
Bear ignored him. “And I like having you around.”
That shut Zack up.
Bear's expression softened. “So if you're serious about this, we do it properly. Not random weekends whenever you feel like running away from your life.”
Zack listened.
“We pick a schedule that works around your job. You come out regularly. We talk during the week. I train you properly instead of throwing everything at you in forty-eight hours just to see what you'll do.”
The word train sent a little thrill through Zack.
“As your boy?”
Bear considered him. “As my submissive.”
Zack smiled. “I'd like that.”
“I'm not finished.”
Zack immediately straightened. “Sorry, Master.”
“We set rules. Real ones. We talk about your limits instead of me trying to discover them by trial and error. And this doesn't become another excuse for you to screw up everything outside this campground. You still have work. You still have to figure out what you're doing about school.”
Zack thought about the foot massage that morning.
“Maybe massage school.”
“Maybe.”
“And I could come here...?”
“Regularly.”
“Every weekend?”
Bear laughed. “Calm down.”
“Every other weekend?”
“We'll discuss it.”
Zack grinned. “That's not a no.”
“Get in the car before I change my mind.”
Zack opened the driver's door. Then stopped. He turned around and hugged Bear. There was nothing submissive or performative about it. Zack simply wrapped his arms around the big man's middle and held on. After a moment, Bear's arms closed around him.
“Thank you,” Zack said quietly.
“For what?”
Zack thought about it. For embarrassing him. For pushing him. For noticing when he was scared. For praising him. For carrying him to bed when he couldn't walk there himself. For somehow making the twenty-one-year-old failure from a tiny apartment feel like somebody worth teaching. “All of it.”
Bear squeezed him. “You're welcome, son.”
Zack finally pulled away. “I'll message you when I get home.”
“You'd better.”
“And we'll figure out when I'm coming back?”
“Yes.”
“Soon?”
Bear sighed. “Yes, Zack. Soon.”
Zack smiled that perfect smile. “Good.”
Bear shook his head. “Brat.”
“Good night, Master.”
“Drive safe, boy.”
Zack climbed into his car.
Bear stayed beside the road as Zack started the engine and backed out. Zack lowered the window and waved before pulling away.
At the end of the campground road, he looked into the rearview mirror. Bear was still there. Zack smiled. Friday afternoon, he'd driven through those gates believing he was a loser with nowhere else to be. Sunday evening, he left knowing exactly where he wanted to come back to. And, for the first time in a long time, someone would be waiting for him when he did.
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