Date: Wed, 31 Aug 2011 02:03:21 -0400 (EDT)
From: rw6789@aol.com
Subject: A TRIAL OF STRENGTH - Part 42  by Rob Williams

A TRIAL OF STRENGTH - PART 42
By Rob Williams

IN THIS CHAPTER The cop and the young stud question their relationship.
Mark gets cold feet and Jamie gets desperate.  Mark is weary of being
worshipped. His incredible beauty can be a burden and a blessing.  But it
can also be a gift ... for Jamie.  "Look at me, Jamie.  You know it's the
most beautiful thing you've ever seen. It's so fucking beautiful it's
making you cum.  Shoot, Jamie.  Now!"

As I always say, guys, I welcome your comments and suggestions.  They can
be very helpful.  E-mail me at rw6789@aol.com.  Now read on ... and enjoy.

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

A TRIAL OF STRENGTH - Part 42

The six guys had paired off for a weekend retreat and were all headed in
separate directions to the water.  The masters would introduce each of
their boys to new fantasies and make some of their secret dreams come true.

Randy had taken his newly adopted son Pablo on a fishing trip to the quiet
lake high in the Angeles National Forest, though fishing was not the main
thing on their minds.

The handsome business executive, Bob, was even now strolling along the pier
at Santa Monica with Darius, breathing in the fresh sea air of the Pacific
as they prepared for their next flight into Fantasyland.

Earlier that morning, and much farther up the coast, another young man had
been fulfilling a fantasy.  Jamie was being driven up to the wild and
remote Guadalupe dunes by the stunningly beautiful police officer, Mark.
The cop was the man of Jamie's dreams (literally), and his dreams were
about to come to life.

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

As they sped up Coast Highway Jamie had leaned back against his door and
stroked his cock as he gazed at the stunning cop.  In profile the face was
indeed like a Greek god, unruly blond hair falling over his brow, square
jaw slightly clenched in concentration.  The black tank Jamie had given him
stretched tightly over his hard chest, the bulge of his shoulders gleamed
in the sunlight and his arms flexed as he gripped the steering wheel.

Unable to control himself Jamie had jerked off and blasted his cum all over
the man he idolized.  Mark knew he was an icon and was used to being
admired to the point of orgasm, but he also needed relief himself.  So,
while the cop kept his attention on the road, his boy had leaned over and
given him one of the best blow jobs he had ever had.

After that they drove in silence for a while but Jamie still leaned back
against his door, his eyes riveted on Mark.  All the time he gazed in awe
at the man he worshipped.  He couldn't get enough of the stunning cop.

Mark looked straight ahead, concentrating on the road, but he was acutely
aware of Jamie's rapt attention and it began to make him uncomfortable.  A
frown passed over his face.  The lust in the boy's eyes, the hunger, the
need, the abject idolatry troubled Mark somehow.  It was all so intense.
He needed time to think.

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

It wasn't easy to find the shack that Mark's fellow cop had loaned him for
the weekend.  Fortunately his truck was a heavy-duty 4-wheel drive and
bounced over the sandy track with ease.  Finally they saw it, a
weather-beaten cabin in the middle of the dunes a few hundred feet from the
surf.  It had once been a ranger station and now stood alone in the sand,
nothing and nobody else around for miles.

"Wow," breathed Jamie as they went in. The building was rudimentary to say
the least.  No electricity, no phone or cell reception, though there was a
small kitchen and the water and gas was still turned on.  There was a
fireplace, and oil lamps and candles for light.

Mark grinned.  "Well, just you and me now, Jamie.  You feel like roughing
it with me for a few days?"

"How about forever, sir?"

Again Mark felt the same uneasiness he had experienced on the drive up.  He
looked at the eager, youthful face, glowing with admiration and need, and
again there was that same stab of doubt.  He tried to shake it off.  But he
knew what it was ... he was having second thoughts ... cold feet.

They had stopped for breakfast on the way up so they were not hungry, just
a bit cramped from the long drive.  Mark stretched his long, muscular
limbs.  "I need some exercise.  Ready for a swim?"

Quickly they stripped down to their shorts, left the shack, jogged over the
sand and threw themselves into the waves.  With long powerful strokes Mark
quickly swam out alone to deeper water.  Jamie still had nervous memories
of the last ocean swim he had taken with Mark when the cop had to rescue
him from near drowning, so he stayed closer to shore.  Besides, he had
detected a strange note in Mark's voice and he sensed that something was
bothering him.

He was right.  Ten minutes later Mark was swimming back to shore and they
both ran back up the beach.  They regained their breath leaning on a plank
a short distance from the shack.  There had evidently been a shed there at
one time, but the weather had reduced it to a few poles and a door frame.

Mark stood still, water still streaming over the gleaming wet muscles of
his glorious body.  "I'm going for a run," he said, an edge of coolness in
his voice.

"Yes, sir?" said Jamie tentatively.

"Not you though."

"No, sir?"

There was an uneasy silence. Jamie gazed at the big cop but Mark looked
away.  His voice was colder now.  "I just need some time to myself, some
space.  So I'm leaving you here.  I don't want you following me and I don't
want you beating your meat again either, so I'll make sure you behave
yourself."

Mark strode quickly to the shack and came back with a short length of rope.
He grabbed Jamie by the neck and pushed him backward so his back was
pressed against one of the old poles.  Mark expertly tied his hands behind
it.

"Try to get loose," the cop ordered.  He stood back and admired the sinewy
young body as the muscles flexed and strained to get free.  Mark was
satisfied.  It was clear that the young stud was bound tight.  His
translucent blue eyes held Jamie's with a penetrating look.

"Now, boy, you're on your own.  I want you to think carefully about who you
are ... what you want to become.  Are you really sure what you want from me
... or anyone else?"

Puzzled, Jamie waited for more, but Mark turned abruptly away and began a
few exercises before taking off on his run.  He stretched again, then
jumped up to grab the crossbar of the old door frame.  He hung there for a
while, stretching his upper body.  Then he began to pull himself up in a
series of chin lifts, raising his face above the bar, then dropping back
down.

Jamie had half expected some kind of punishment involving physical pain,
another whipping maybe, but this was worse.  He was helpless, being ignored
by this incredible muscle god whose physique was on glorious display.
Jamie was trapped in an extreme session of muscle worship but unable to
touch himself.  Before him was the man he idolized, stripped down to his
wet shorts that clung to his body, his long, thick penis visible through
the thin cotton.

The youngster gasped as he watched the golden muscles flex and strain as
the body heaved up and down.  The lats flared, the shoulders and biceps
bulged and the abs tightened in an incredible exhibition of rugged, male
beauty and power.  Jamie's cock instantly became rigid and he strained to
get free so he could touch it.  He ached for release, but he was trapped.
The tension was unbearable.

Mark finally let go of the bar and ran on the spot for a while,
conditioning his powerful legs for his run.  Jamie was mesmerized by the
cock bouncing up and down under the shorts.  Suddenly, without a word or a
glance, Mark turned toward the ocean and took off.  Bewildered, scared,
Jamie watched as the tall cop jogged away from him on the beach.  He ran
down to the surf and his feet splashed in the shallow water as the powerful
legs pounded in the wet sand.

The deserted beach was endless and the image of the cop rapidly grew
smaller as he ran further into the distance.  Jamie panicked.

"No!" he screamed.  "Don't leave me!  I'll do anything for you, sir.  Just
don't leave me alone.  I need you with me, sir.  Please!"

But he knew the running man was too far away to hear.  Jamie watched as the
image became smaller and smaller, became blurred in the mist and spray of
the ocean.  His eyes strained to keep the figure in sight until it was a
small dot on the horizon.  Tears came to his eyes as he realized that Mark
had completely disappeared.  Jamie was alone.

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

Eventually the sharp panic he felt began to subside, replaced by an acute
sadness, bordering on despair.  What was happening?  Why was Mark treating
him this way?  The man he loved, worshipped, his whole reason for being,
had disappeared.  He felt totally bereft.  He knew that his life would be
an empty void without this incredible man.

He tried to fill the void by re-imagining the gorgeous cop and the things
he had done to him.  His mind went back to the extraordinary night when his
master had broken him, turned him into an obedient slave.

He remembered how he had been handcuffed to the bed, and he now struggled
to free himself from his bondage just as he had struggled that night.  He
pictured again the uniformed cop stripped to the waist, standing over him,
legs astride, whipping his chest.  He felt the pain again and groaned at
the memory.  "Whip me sir.  My body's yours.  Do anything, hurt me.  I need
you, sir."

Then suddenly he choked.  It was the memory of the big, hard rod filling
his mouth, pounding his face.  His mind heard the man scream and he tasted
again the warm, creamy liquid that poured down his throat.  He swallowed
now, trying again to gulp down his master's juice.

And finally, his body bucked as he felt again the pain in his ass, the pain
that became unbearable.  "No, sir.  I can't do it.  Please, sir.  It hurts
too bad."  And then suddenly his master was inside him.  Tears flowed from
his eyes as he recalled the sensation of his ass being filled by the man he
idolized.  He clenched his ass muscles again as he had clenched them around
his master's cock.

Jamie's cock was rigid, but this time he couldn't shoot his load as he had
done that night, again and again, with his master inside him.  He slowly
calmed down and felt again the loving arms folding him as he fell asleep
pressed against the muscular, god-like, naked cop.  Then the images became
blurred until they faded from his mind completely and he was alone again.

The only sound was the sighing of the breeze as it blew along the beach and
through the dunes.  Jamie had never felt so alone in his life.  It wasn't
just the physical solitude of this strange and beautiful place.  Jamie had
been alone for much of his young life and could take that easily.  But now
... now that he had met this man, come to love him, worship him, given
himself to him, become his slave, the sense of abandonment was agonizing.

As he remembered the coolness in Mark's voice as he took off, Jamie moaned
in despair.  "He's leaving me.  I know I came on too strong ... must've
scared him off.  God, I need him.  He's my life."  He tried to imagine what
his life would be without Mark, and he failed.  He had no life without him.
He was intoxicated by his stunning beauty, the incredible physique, by the
power of his raw, rugged masculinity.  But it was far more than that, more
than animal lust.  It was ... he couldn't find the words ... he simply
loved him.  He realized he had never really loved anyone before.  Never,
ever like this.

He slumped against the post and his tears blurred his vision.  The wind
kicked up and sand blew around him.  There was a wildness about this
desolate place, a strangeness in the air.  Jamie was more miserable than he
had ever been in his life.

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

Far up the beach Mark's physical exertion was giving him time to think, to
reflect on his life and his values.  He knew that he needed to be alone and
this remote, deserted beach was about as solitary as it got.  As he ran
with long, powerful strides he was a perfect physical specimen, a glorious,
magnificent male ... and there was no one to see.  That was fine with him.

Mark knew, as most beautiful people come to know, that great beauty can be
a blessing and a curse.  He was weary of the adulation of women and the
envy of men and never let anyone come close.

More and more he sought his own company, loved being on his own.  In fact,
when he joined the police force he had elected to become a motor cycle cop
because he did not want a partner in a squad car.  Now he rode around the
city alone, and he loved that.  He did not want to share his day or, for
that matter, his life, with anyone else.

And now, in this wild and beautiful place, his only companions were the
sand, the sea and the sky.  He stopped running and listened to the
comforting sound of the wind and the waves.  He gloried in being the only
man in the world.  Elated, he stood in the surf, looked out to the far
horizon, opened his arms and screamed at the top of his voice ...  and
there was no one to hear him. His voice was lost on the wind.  He was
utterly, completely and wonderfully alone.

Except ... he wasn't alone.  A warm sensation of well-being infused Mark's
body, a strange unfamiliar warmth ... and he knew he was not alone.  He
gazed at the sand, the sea and the sky and wherever he looked ... there was
Jamie.  He couldn't get the beautiful image out of his head.

The memories came crowding in.  He saw again the young man tied to the bed,
his body writhing under the whip.  He saw the beautiful face with his cock
in his mouth.  He got hard thinking of Jamie lying under him, and felt the
heat of his cock buried in the young stud's perfect ass.  And he felt again
the joy of kissing him, making love to him, sleeping with him folded in his
arms.

Mark thought again of the hunger he had seen in Jamie's eyes.  But this
time the memory was intoxicating and he realized that he, Mark, had the
same hunger, the intense need to be with the beautiful young man.  It had
to be love.

"What is love, after all," he thought, "but hunger, a craving of one soul
for another that has to be satisfied again and again."

He walked a bit further out and stood knee deep in the surf.  In a sudden
move he ripped off his shorts and watched the waves carry them away.  Naked
now, he took his cock in his hand and stroked it.  Soon it was rock hard
and he was ready.  He looked up at the sky and screamed out loud, "I love
you, Jamie!", and a long stream of semen shot from his cock and landed in
the waves beneath.  Mark smiled.  Then he threw his head back and started
to laugh joyously.

And there was no one to hear him but the wind.

Suddenly he needed Jamie to hear him.  And that thought brought to his mind
the image of Jamie, alone, tied to the post, bereft, scared, miserable.
The truth hit him like a fist to the jaw and he murmured to himself.

"My God ... what have I done?  I am such a damn fool.  I have to go to
him."  He raised his head and yelled "Jamie!" and he took off running back
along the endless beach.  He ran in a near panic, half afraid that the
young man he loved wouldn't be there anymore.

As he gathered speed his guilt increased.  He needed to make amends, to
make it up to Jamie, to give him a gift.  But what could he give?  Here he
was, totally naked.  All he had was his body.  And then he knew ... that
was the answer.  He knew what he would give to Jamie.  He knew that Jamie
worshipped his beauty, and that's what he would give him.  For once his
beauty would be a blessing.

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

For Jamie the wait was an eternity.  He was drained, tears flowed from his
eyes and he began to think he would never see Mark again.  In desperation
he looked up one last time and gazed along the beach into the far distance.
And suddenly his heart leapt.  Through his tears he saw a small dot appear
on the horizon.  Was it really ... ?  He was afraid to hope, afraid that
the mirage would disappear.  But it did not fade ... it grew larger,
clearer, until he could see that it was a man, a glorious, powerful man
pounding through the surf.

It was Mark!  The relief was so overwhelming that Jamie's body was again
racked with sobs.  Now he saw the image clearly, saw the magnificent
physique, pumped from the exertion and streaming with sweat.  The beautiful
man was naked.  As he came closer Jamie was about to call out to him but
something prevented him.  He knew he shouldn't.

Mark stopped, exhausted, at the water's edge and bent forward, his body
heaving as he struggled to regain his breath. Finally he stood up and
stretched, his muscles streaming with sweat and sea water.  The physique
was magnificent, an icon of raw, rugged masculinity.  But he did not speak
or look at Jamie.

Instead, Mark turned suddenly and launched his body back into the waves,
swimming out with long lazy strokes, then turning and swimming back until
his feet again touched bottom.  With the sun gleaming behind him he strode
back through the surf.  He truly was a god ... tall, powerful, perfectly
sculpted muscles gleaming gold as they streamed with water.  His jaw was
clenched in the intensity of his effort, wet blond hair falling over his
brow, blue eyes shining with the joy of physical exertion.

Jamie wanted to shout with joy, but he remained silent.  He would not
speak, would not try to get free, make no effort to touch himself.  It was
enough to be back in the presence of this man.  It was enough just to be
there ... it was a privilege to be near him.  He froze, scared of doing
something, anything, that would cause Mark to leave again.

It was only then that Jamie realized just how desperately he needed this
glorious man.  It was then that he really understood what it meant to be
enslaved by another human being.

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

Mark was near the end of his workout routine.  Still ignoring his prisoner
completely he did a few more pull-ups on the bar, then fell on his stomach
in front of Jamie and did push-ups in the sand.  Jamie watched the muscles
ripple in the broad back and shoulders, flexing and straining with the
effort.  Jamie's cock had been rock hard throughout his ordeal and it now
began to throb.  He longed to touch it.

Suddenly Mark flipped himself over and, right at Jamie's feet, he lay on
his back, put his hands behind his head and started to work on his stomach
in a series of crunches.  His eight pack abs stood out in sharp definition.
The man was totally ripped and Jamie watched as the lats flared, the
shoulders and chest flexed hard, and the face poured with sweat as the
effort intensified.

Jamie was beside himself.  Right beneath him was this muscle god, his body
now honed to perfection, gleaming, rippling in an exhibition of stunning
male beauty.  He could hardly breathe.  Then something happened that made
him cry out.  Mark pulled his hands away from his head and reached downward
instead, down toward his crotch.  He put his hand round his cock that was
hard as a hammer.  As he began to stroke it his other hand came up to his
chest and he twisted his own hard nipple.  He groaned with pleasure.

Jamie was in a trance.  He had never in his life seen anything as beautiful
as this glorious man pounding his hard cock, his body pumped and honed from
physical exertion, the most magnificent body he had ever seen.  The
sculpted god-like features moaned in ecstasy, eyes closed, square jaw
clenched.

Jamie felt his body start to shudder.  A heat rose up through his legs and
into his groin, spreading throughout his body.  His entire focus was on the
magnificent man beneath him.  Suddenly the man's pale blue eyes opened and
pierced Jamie like an arrow.  Finally, after all this time, Mark was
looking at him and ... Jamie couldn't believe it ... the face was smiling.

Jamie felt his cock pulse, he felt the cum rising from his balls.  Then, in
his delirium, he heard the deep, gentle voice.

"Watch me, Jamie.  Watch."

Jamie saw the superb body spasm and then go rigid.  He heard a scream and
he watched mesmerized as a jet of white cum erupted from Mark's cock and
rained down on his sweating, heaving muscles.

The voice yelled at him.  "Look at me, Jamie.  You know it's beautiful.
It's the most beautiful thing you've ever seen. It's so fucking beautiful
it's making you cum.  You have to shoot, Jamie.  Now ...!"

Jamie screamed and his orgasm erupted.  He struggled against the ropes,
desperate to touch his cock, but there was no need.  His body was now
beyond his control, working on its own.  His cock exploded in a huge stream
of white liquid that shot high in the air, then splashed down on the
flexing muscles beneath him.  He still strained to get free, but pulling on
the rope served only to intensify his spasms.  His cock shot again and
again, pouring rivers of hot liquid onto the gleaming body and face of his
master.

Jamie lost consciousness for a few seconds.  When he opened his eyes he saw
the body beneath him, still now, with pools and rivers of semen running
over it.  He hardly dared to look at the cum-splashed face.  When he did
... it was smiling ... and it was smiling at him.  He saw the lips move and
heard Mark's voice.

"You are so beautiful, Jamie.  So fine.  You're such a fucking stud, man."

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

Both men closed their eyes and were still, making an effort to control
their ragged breathing, their heaving bodies.  Jamie became aware of
movement beneath him and opened his eyes.  Mark was up on his knees,
inching forward toward him.  Now he was kneeling directly before him, his
face only inches away from Jamie's now soft penis.

Mark breathed, "God, that's beautiful."

Jamie tugged again at his wrists but was still bound tight.  He could
hardly believe what came next.  The handsome cop put out his tongue and
licked the head of Jamie's cock.  The young man gasped and tried to pull
back.  Having just shot his enormous load the head of his dick was now
extremely sensitive and the merest touch of Mark's tongue almost hurt.  But
he kept licking, more and more fervently as Jamie's head twisted with the
exquisite pain burning through the tender membrane of his cock.

The tongue kept stroking the cock, harder and harder until ... Jamie
stopped breathing ... the cop took the soft dick fully into his mouth.
Jamie looked down at the spectacular face pressed against him, his square
jaw locked open as he took the cock down into his throat.  Incredibly, even
though he had cum just minutes before, Jamie felt his cock getting hard
again, until it was like a rod in his master's mouth.

As Mark took the cock deep into his mouth he closed his throat muscles
around it and Jamie gasped.  His master ... this macho, powerful, dominant
cop ...  was sucking his cock.  It was too much for Jamie to watch, to
feel, to believe.  It was not just the intense sensation in the membrane of
his penis, it was the sight of this glorious man, this symbol of authority,
on his knees before him, humbling himself in this act of subjection.

Jamie couldn't hold back.  Again he felt the warmth rising from his groin,
the cum gather in his balls, rise up along his cock and then erupt into the
cop's hungry mouth.  Mark was sucking him off!  Jamie was shooting his load
into the mouth of the god-like face he idolized, dreamed of.

Mark took load after load of hot, sweet cum in his mouth, but he didn't
swallow.  Instead, he stood up, brought his face close to the bound young
man's and pressed their lips hard together.  He opened his mouth and let
the big pool of semen in it flow into Jamie's mouth and down his throat.

Jamie was drinking his own cum from the mouth of his master.  It was an
incredible fantasy, sending his mind into a delirium of whirling
sensations.  Their mouths ground together, lubricated by the thick, warm
juice as it oozed from under their lips and ran down their chins onto their
chests.

With his mouth still pressed against Jamie's Mark reached round behind him
and quickly untied the ropes.  Jamie's arms instinctively wrapped around
the cop's magnificent body.  His face fell against Mark's chest and he
sobbed in his master's arms.

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

Half an hour later the wind had become still and the sun was sinking lower
in the sky.  The two men were sitting in the sand outside the shack,
leaning against the warm wooden wall.  They were drinking beer and their
bodies and minds had finally relaxed.

They sat in silence for a while, then Jamie said softly, "You came back
sir.  You came back for me."

 "Yes, Jamie.  I came back."  Mark smiled at him.  "Listen, kid.  I want to
tell you something.  I owe it to you.  See, I loved being with you driving
up here, and everything you did in the truck.  But then I saw you looking
at me.  You couldn't take your eyes off me.  And I saw that same look I had
first seen in your eyes ... the lust, the need, the worship, the
overwhelming hunger."

"It was your intensity! ... I've never seen anything like it, and frankly I
didn't know if I was up to that.  I wasn't sure I could handle a slave with
that much force of passion, devotion.  That's why I became cold, distant.
As I told you, I wanted to be alone, to have space to think.  And I took
off running far, far away along the beach."

Mark described everything he had felt, thought and done while he was away.
And he told Jamie why he came back.

Jamie was still puzzled.  "But you didn't say anything, sir.  You still
ignored me."

Mark smiled.  "I wanted to make it up to you, give you a gift ... but what?
I was naked.  The only thing I had was myself.  Then I remembered how much
that excited you."

Mark jumped up, paced back and forth, then stared down at Jamie and spread
his arms wide, his glorious physique gleaming gold in the sunlight.  "Look
at that, Jamie.  I know how beautiful I am.  I've always known that, and
I've always been great at showing it off.  I wanted to do that for you.  I
wanted to give you a gift you would remember."

Jamie gazed up at the spectacular man, speechless with wonder.

"That's why I swam back into the sea and strode back out of the waves.  I
knew how that looked, the sun behind me, my ripped muscles gleaming wet.  I
know how it looked when I did pull-ups, then push-ups on the ground, my
muscles flexed and straining.  I saw the look on your face as I began doing
crunches and made my ripped abs stand out.  And I heard you gasp as I
started to stroke my cock.  That's why I shouted out what I did."

"I knew I would turn you on as never before ... and I did.  I knew I could
make you shoot your load without touching yourself ... and I did.  I knew I
could even make you cum a second time right afterwards ... and I did.  I
did it all for you, Jamie.  I wanted to give you something only I could
give you.  In the most complete sense, Jamie, I gave you myself.  And you
know why?"

"I think so, sir."

"I did it all because I love you, Jamie.  I love you and I want to be with
you.  I want to share my life with you.  Do you want that?"

Jamie could hardly speak.  He whispered, "More than I've ever wanted
anything in my life, sir."

Mark sank to his knees and looked Jamie full in the face.  "It's a deal
then, kiddo."

Jamie said softly, "A deal, sir."

Mark's face became more serious.  "But I have to have it all, Jamie.  I'm
the kind of man who always gets what he wants ... always have.  There's
only one way it can be ... and here are my rules.  I am the boss, your
master, always.  I will own you.  You will not give yourself to anyone else
unless I give you permission.  No one will touch you unless I allow it.  Is
that quite clear?"

"Yes, sir."

"You will do everything I tell you to and I will do to you whatever I want,
whenever, I want.  I will tie you down because I love to see you in
bondage.  I will whip your body because I love to see your face wince in
pain and your muscles strain to get free.  I will fuck your face and, most
of all, I will fuck your ass again and again because it's absolutely the
best feeling in the world."

Jamie was trembling, in a haze of euphoria.  All he could manage was,
"Thank you, sir."

"In return I will protect you.  I'll never let anyone hurt you.  If they
try they'll answer to me ... and believe me they won't try again."

"Thank you, sir."

"One more thing, Jamie.  I left you alone today, and then came back for
you.  There will be other times when I have to leave you alone.  But here's
the promise, kid.  And never forget it.  I will always come back for you.
Always."

Jamie was crying now.  "Thank you, sir."

Mark stood up.  "Now, dry your tears because I'm gonna take you inside now.
I'm gonna make love to you and fuck your ass again and again for the rest
of the day and all night.  That's an order ... and a promise."

In a trance, Jamie stood up and allowed himself to be pushed through the
door into the shack.  Later, when darkness fell, they lit the oil lamps and
candles, lit the fire, and made love some more.  In fact they didn't leave
the shack until the sun rose the next day.

Of course, Mark could not know at the time how soon his promise of
protection would be put to the test ... with shattering results.

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

Meanwhile, beside a still, deserted lake in the forest two other men were
defining the depths of their new relationship.  Randy's adoption of Pablo
was now final and to celebrate Randy had taken his new son on a fishing
trip to the lake high in the Angeles National Forest.  His present had been
a rowboat that they were now launching into the lake.

The big construction worker smiled at Pablo.  "You ever hear the phrase
`pushing the boat out', kid?"

"I think so, sir.  Kind of means the same as `Let the games begin,' no?"

"You're no dummy, are you kiddo?  So what are we waiting for?  Give the
boat a shove and `Let the games begin'."  He grinned at Pablo.  "And we'll
forget about that adoption thing for a while.  What I have in mind for you,
kid, is definitely not paternal."

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

And beside another stretch of water Bob and Darius were taking a breather.
The handsome business executive had just taken the young black man on an
intense fantasy in a squalid motel room in Hollywood.  Bob had shown him
the secrets of how he and Randy had first met and spent their first
incredible night together, when Randy had broken him in body, mind and
spirit.

When it was all over Bob had said, "Let's get out of this rat-hole.  I need
to breathe some clean air."  So here they were strolling along the famous
Santa Monica Pier, taking in the fresh sea air of the Pacific.

"It's great to be out of that flea pit." Bob said.  "Now we deserve a
little extravagance.  You ever stay in a luxury hotel, Darius?"

"There's always a first time, sir."

"Don't get cocky, kid.  You're gonna earn your stay there.  You're really
gonna earn your keep.  You ready for another trip into Fantasyland?"

Darius's eyes shone.  "You bet, sir."

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

TO BE CONTINUED IN "A Trial Of Strength -- Part 43"