********

Eleven.

The rest of the time spent at the Southerly Estate passed in a blurry daze. Justin spent the rest of that day hovering anxiously over his silent Surrogate. The medic came and went, treating Brian’s small cuts and abrasions, and assuring Justin that the injuries were relatively minor with no damage to the Surrogate’s functionality. Somehow, though, this news did not allay Justin’s worries. Brian remained withdrawn and silent, not even getting up from the bed the rest of that day. Meanwhile, Justin hovered and fretted and silently berated himself for having let everything get so out of hand.

When Brian still hadn’t improved by the next morning, Justin almost canceled his business meeting a second time. But then Tch’fl Frederick showed up to personally take charge of matters, and the visiting Mis’l was reluctantly forced to abandon his useless nursemaiding and attend to his duties. It did help a little to see the Tch’fl apologizing so profusely for his deplorable Estateman’s actions. Frederick vowed to personally hunt Alexander down, castrate the man with a dull knife and then throw him in jail for the rest of his natural life. Justin wasn’t sure if the Tch’fl was kidding or not - you just never knew with these hot-headed Southerly types - but he couldn’t be bothered to care much what happened to the disgraced Dom’l. And for the rest of their stay, Frederick was ridiculously accommodating and attentive towards both Justin and his injured Surrogate.

Tch’fl Frederick insisted on escorting Justin to the factory that morning, though, and the Mis’l couldn’t refuse. So, after ordering Sanchez to remain on guard outside the rooms and not to let anyone in unsupervised, Justin gave a still-silent Brian one last kiss and headed off to work. The two Domain lords spent the rest of the day touring the factory, meeting with the Production Manager, and discussing the specification changes and refitting that would be needed to accommodate the Calcascadia contracts. There didn’t appear to be any real difficulties with Justin’s requests. Frederick seemed as eager as Craig was to establish a trading connection with the westerners so, after a delicious but seemingly endless luncheon over which they hammered out a couple more details, the group headed back to the estate.

Upon his return, Justin was heartened to find that Brian was finally up out of the bed. He found his Surrogate standing in the corner of the room, staring at himself in the large floor-length mirror, both hands resting on his belly and a profoundly sad expression marring the handsome face. Justin walked up behind him, wrapped his arms around so his hands were lying atop Brian’s, and propped his chin up on the taller man’s shoulder so he too could look in the mirror. The fleeting thought that they made an attractive couple flittered through Justin’s brain but he refused to acknowledge it. And after standing there patiently like that, together, for several minutes, Brian finally turned around and walked away without a word.

And that set the tone for the rest of their stay. While Brian was no longer borderline-catatonic, the Surrogate remained subdued and depressed. He barely ate, didn’t talk except to answer yes or no questions, and refused to leave Justin's rooms even with an escort. The worried Mis’l had no idea how to help him. Fussing and hovering over him only seemed to make Brian withdraw further. He couldn’t even offer any real comfort since Brian flinched away from every touch. The only thing Brian seemed to find any interest in was proofreading and editing the multiple drafts of the contracts Justin was working on, so the Mis’l let the man join in on the efforts of the two scribes.

After two more days of lengthy negotiations, Justin and Frederick finally reached a mutually beneficial arrangement. Justin suspected that the Tch’fl probably gave in a little easier than he normally would have out of consideration for the trouble Justin and his Surrogate had suffered. The final contract was signed before dinner, which was henceforth declared a celebratory affair of state. Tch’fl Frederick had summoned all THREE of his wives to attend and ordered Justin to bring his Surrogate along as well.

“I really am sorry about this, Brian, but the Tch’fl insisted,” Justin apologized again, as he straightened Brian’s tie for him. “To be honest, I think Frederick just wants to get a glimpse of the Surrogate that caused all this fuss in the first place. He’s a nosy old bastard. Kept telling me inappropriate stories about all his wives the whole time I was trying to concentrate on the contract negotiations. Like I really wanted to know about how big his third wife’s nipples are?”

That comment finally got a small huff of amusement out of the silent Surrogate, which was progress as far as Justin was concerned.

“Anyway, I’ll try to keep them all away from you as much as possible, but just do your best to be polite,” Justin warned, eliciting a nod from Brian. “We just need to get through tonight, then tomorrow we get to go home.”

“I’ll be fine, Mis’l,” Brian promised as they moved together towards the door.

The dinner ended up being quite a success. Frederick offered Brian his apologies directly and actually thanked him for bringing to light the former Dom’l’s bad actions; it turned out that several of the staff and servants had stepped up to complain about the man after he’d been run off, none of which Frederick had known about previously. Brian politely thanked the Tch’fl but didn’t comment further. After they sat down, Brian turned his attention to the wives, whom he easily charmed with some meaningless banter that had them giggling through the entire five courses. If nothing else, Justin was reassured to see Brian acting more like his old self again. It seemed like the male Surrogate was on his way to healing.

When they returned to their rooms, Justin noted that the Estate’s staff had already repacked most of their belongings for the trip home the following morning. That brought to mind the fact that they would soon be returning to the Taylor Domain where Daphne and the other two Surrogates were waiting for him. It also reminded Justin that his plan to concentrate his efforts on servicing Brian, exclusively, during this week away, had been mostly sidelined; Justin hadn’t even attempted to touch the male since the attack by Alexander. But their week of exclusivity was almost over. In a few more days they would be back and Justin would again be drawn away from his favorite by work and other duties. He’d really hoped that Brian would be breeding by the time they’d returned. And, if that was the goal, Justin needed to get back to work.

After they’d both undressed and got in bed together, Justin decided it was time. He scooted closer to the male and leaned in to kiss him. Brian’s body became as stiff as a board and his lips were unresponsive. Justin was disappointed but undeterred. He grabbed the lube bottle and moved around till he was kneeling between the Surrogate’s knees.

“I’m sorry, Brian,” Justin whispered as he began to open the male up as gently as he could. “I know you might not feel ready for this, but I have to do it. We’re running out of time.”

Brian was stubbornly silent and unhelpful. He merely laid there, staring up at the ceiling and not even making eye contact. Justin sighed but didn’t relent. It wasn’t even close to the joyous, fun experience that he’d been coming to expect. Servicing the male this time felt cold and impersonal. Brian didn’t even get hard. And after he’d released his seed inside the Surrogate, Justin felt empty and alone despite the warm body he was slumped over.

The Surrogate might be physically lying there next to him, but Brian was a thousand miles away, and Justin missed him.

********

Daphne had met them at the door when they finally returned to the Taylor Estate late in the evening three days later. The return trip had gone much smoother, as far as the driving was concerned, but had been a lot less fun for Justin. Brian was still acting withdrawn and distant. He submitted to Justin’s attentions without comment but that was all he did. The easy camaradship and playful exploration of the outward journey was only a distant memory. So Justin was already in a foul mood before the worried Mis’la accosted him.

“Heads up. Tch’fl Craig is on the warpath and gunning for you,” Daph warned in a hushed voice after a brief kiss hello.

“What now?” Justin grumbled. “I just managed to negotiate a major deal for our house - with very favorable terms, I might add - which I haven’t even had a chance to show him. How could he possibly be angry at me already?”

“Word about what happened with Dom’l Alexander got here yesterday,” the Mis’la explained. “You know how the Dominion rumor mill is; any kind of scandal travels faster than light. And Hobbs was going on and on about it at dinner last night, making it all seem a lot more of a big deal than I’m sure it probably really was, and intimating that you and Brian have been way more palsie than is proper. Which, of course, put a monster-sized bug in Craig’s britches. He’s convinced the whole thing is a major blight on the Taylor family name, etc, etc. So be prepared when you see him.”

“Fuck,” Justin mumbled as he mentally girded himself for the worst. “Take Brian back to our quarters, please. I might as well deal with Craig now and take the bull by the horns, so to speak. I’ll meet you in my chamber when I’m done . . . If there’s anything left of me afterwards.”

Justin hadn’t even made it all the way through the doorway into his father’s sitting room before the old Tch’fl lit into him. “What the fuck were you thinking, boy? Did we not just have a long talk about how I didn’t want to see you traipsing around with your male Surrogates in tow making a fool out of yourself and this house?” Craig screamed at him.

“Hello to you too, Father. Yes, I had a pleasant journey, thanks for asking. And good news, I managed to talk Tch’fl Frederick into virtually everything we wanted so we can secure that trade deal with Calcascadia you’ve been salivating over. No need to thank me.”

“Don’t be smart with me, boy!” Craig snarled. “All the production contracts and trade partnerships in the world won’t be worth a lick of spittal if our name is besmirched because of your stubborn antics.”

“MY antics?” Justin was starting to get just as angry as his bellicose father seemed to be. “It’s hardly MY fault that a lunatic like Dom’l Alexander thought it acceptable behavior to attack and violate my Surrogate when I was staying under his roof as a guest. How the hell is that MY fault?”

“Because you were flaunting that damn MALE Surrogate, dragging him all over the place - taking him on a BUSINESS trip, for fuck’s sake - and parading him around like a trophy. You basically ASKED for this, Justin. I told you something like this would happen if you insisted on taking on male Surrogates, but you didn’t listen, did you? And now everyone in the Dominion is laughing at us and talking about this . . . this travesty!”

By that point Craig was so worked up that little flecks of spittal were flying everywhere as he ranted and raved. He was pacing around the apartment, gesturing wildly and pointing at Justin like he was an exhibit at some criminal trial. He seemed convinced that what had happened to Justin’s Surrogate was going to be directly attributed to Craig’s own inability to rule his Dominion. And the more worked up he got, the more irrational his arguments became.

“I won’t have it, Justin. I won’t! I won’t have people thinking my son is another Humphrey. I want those damned fairy boy male Surrogates gone by morning!” Craig concluded with fervor.

Justin had simply sat there through most of his father’s angry diatribe trying to figure out how he could possibly be related to such an unreasonable boor. The way Craig was talking, it made it sound like the Surrogate been asking to be raped. And the way Craig continued to denigrate anyone and everyone who would even THINK of taking on a male Surrogate - including his own son - questioning their manhood, judgment, motives and intelligence, really hit home. Justin remembered Brian telling him, several weeks earlier, how it was okay that he didn’t find women as attractive as men and that, on the outside, there were a lot of people like that. How something as silly as discriminating against someone based on who he loved was only important to Dominion types. And it made Justin angry. Furious, actually.

Frankly, Justin was fed up with this nonsense. He stood up, got right in Craig’s face, and yelled back at him. “NO!” Which was probably the only way he could have gained the irate Tch’fl’s attention. Nobody ever told Craig Taylor ‘No’. This was such an unheard of event that it actually shut the man up for once. Justin, wisely, took advantage of that momentary lull in the ranting to make his point.

“I will not get rid of the male Surrogates I’ve already taken on. You never specified that I was only to take on females when we originally discussed this hairbrained idea and, when you did find out we had taken on two males, you said we could carry on as we had been. You gave us three months to see if they were breeding, and I’m holding you to that promise, Father. Now, unless you’re going back on your word - something that I’m sure will make a lot more difference to the honor of the Taylor name than the fact that someone attacked my Surrogate without provocation - this discussion is over. Good night!”

Without waiting for Craig’s response, Justin turned on his heel and marched out of the room, slamming the door closed behind him.

When he got back to his own rooms, Justin was glad to find only Daphne and Brian waiting for him. He was still floating on the high of his unaccustomed defiance but he could tell that, as soon as that ebbed, the underlying exhaustion would take over. He didn’t want to have to deal with the other two Surrogates that evening.

“How bad was it?” a very nervous-looking Daphne asked the moment Justin sat down on the couch next to her.

“Bad enough,” Justin answered vaguely. “But I told him we expected him to stick to the deal we had. I refuse to let that moronic blow hard go back on his word.”

“Wow! Good for you, Jus,” Daphne seemed impressed that Justin had stood up to the old man, which only made Justin angrier to realize just how cowed everyone thought he was.

“I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow, Daph,” Justin promised with a feeble smile. “But it’s been a long day and I’m totally beat. Right now, all I want to do is crawl into my own bed and forget about Craig and everything else. Okay?”

“Of course.” Daphne leaned over to give Justin a kiss on his cheek and then got up. “I'm sorry about all this shit going down, but I’m glad you’re back, Jus.” Then she turned to the waiting Surrogate and gave him a kiss on his forehead too. “And I’m really glad you’re okay, Brian. Goodnight, you two.”

Justin got up and followed Daphne as she was leaving, making a point of locking the chamber door behind her. Then he spent the next five minutes or so pacing around the room, mentally working through everything that had gone down that evening as well as the last couple weeks. He was still feeling defiant and angry but, by the time he’d wrapped his head around the situation and come to a conclusion, he felt at least a little bit calmer.

Coming to a halt in front of the patiently waiting Surrogate, Justin reached out, grabbed the male’s hands, and towed Brian to his feet before leading the man over to the bed. He waited until Brian was seated again. Then Justin made a solemn declaration - to Brian as well as to himself - feeling more self-confident than ever before in his life.

“I don’t care what Craig or anybody else says. I’m not a ‘fairy boy’, or Humphrey, and I don’t care if everyone we know is laughing about me behind my back. It’s not my fault that I’ve always found other men far more attractive than women. And even though I love my wife - she’s my best friend, for Dominion’s sake - I’m not in the least bit attracted to her sexually. I don’t feel about Daphne the way I feel about you, Brian. I love fucking you - every time - and,” Justin swallowed back his hesitation, squared his shoulders, and carried on as boldly as he could, “I loved it the time you fucked me.” Justin smiled down at the surprised man seated before him. “That was the most amazing thing I’ve ever experienced. Nothing that feels that wonderful could possibly be wrong.” Now Brian was finally smiling too, a welcome sight after the past few, despondent days. “So, what do you say we try that again and prove my father wrong about just what his son should or shouldn’t like, hmm?”

Brian kicked one long leg out, hooked his ankle around the back of Justin’s calf, and used that leverage to tow the Mis’l closer.

“You sure?” the Surrogate asked, looking up at the man who held so much sway over his life.

“Yeah, I’m sure. Just . . . Maybe take it a little easier than last time. I could barely sit down all the following day.”

Justin leaned in and kissed Brian with a teasing smile. Brian countered by pulling the Mis’l down on top of him and then rolling them both over. Brian paused a moment, peering down into Justin’s eyes as if searching for reassurance. He apparently found whatever he’d been looking for, though, because a second later he was diving down to devour Justin’s lips.

Somehow, while he was too busy kissing Brian to notice, Justin’s clothes all magically disappeared. He found himself lying on his back with Brian balanced above him, the man’s gentle hands and soft lips touching him all over, exploring every nook and cranny of his body. Justin gave himself up to it all, surrendering to the glorious passion and letting this beautiful man take care of him for once. And Brian did an excellent job at it too. Each tender touch, each playful nibble, and each firm stroke, made Justin tingle with anticipation. Long before Brian turned his attentions to Justin’s hungry ass, the neophyte was begging his lover to hurry. To come inside. To please, please fuck him.

But this time Brian took his time and made sure Justin was enjoying every step of the process. Justin loved the splat of the cooling lube at his hole and the subsequent stretching of muscles as deft fingers opened him up. He loved the slight burn. He loved the warm, wet mouth that enveloped his cock. He loved the way Brian so unerringly stroked that sweet spot from inside. And he loved when the twitching fingers were replaced by Brian’s hefty dick, sliding deeper and deeper, inching slowly and inevitably closer till they were completely joined.

“Ready?” Brian whispered.

“So ready, you wouldn’t believe,” Justin answered confidently.

Whereupon Brian began to move in earnest. Moving, thrusting, rocking them together, as each tiny or not so tiny motion increased the delicious friction. Finally, when they were sliding along at a fairly decent pace, Brian hiked Justin’s legs up over his shoulders, lifting his body slightly, and driving in so deep Justin could feel Brian’s balls slapping against his ass. And it was perfect. It was everything Justin had always wanted sex to be but never known he needed.

Several hours, days, or minutes later - Justin wasn’t sure which, since he kinda lost track of all time and space continuums for a bit there - all the separate tingles of pleasure coalesced into one big, blindingly white-hot flash of bliss that literally took his breath away. When he finally came to his senses again, he was a little surprised to find himself still lying in his own bed. Brian was sprawled over the top of him, panting heavily, all their limbs still entwined. Justin could feel Brian’s warm seed dripping out of his ass and trickling down one ass cheek while his own spunk was dribbling down his side from where it squished out between their bellies. Despite the mess, the stench and the sweat covering his body, Justin had never felt more beautiful or more fulfilled than he did right at that moment. He wished he could find some way to ensure that this happiness never had to end.

It took a few minutes longer for the two men to catch their breath, disconnect their bodies, and then resituate themselves so they were lying the right way up on the bed, Justin snuggling up against Brian’s side with the larger man’s arms around him. They were quiet; words seemed unnecessary as long as they were still touching. Neither of them felt tired anymore, though, so they simply remained there, lolling in a comfortable companionship.

Justin was the one that eventually broke the silence. “Thank you, Brian. That was perfect.”

The arm around his shoulders momentarily squeezed tighter and Brian voiced a short, scoffing chuckle under his breath.

“What?” Justin asked.

“You’re thanking me for fucking you? And here I thought, after what happened back there . . .” Brian faltered, only starting to speak again when Justin returned a squeeze of his own. “After Dom’l Alexander . . . when I took you . . . I thought I hurt you, the way you cried out.” Justin scrunched his face up, shrugged, and shook his head. “I figured I was going to be punished as soon as we got back here; that you were just putting it off till you got home. I mean, it’s bad enough for a Surrogate to turn the tables like that - like this - but to physically hurt his master, that’s pretty much unforgivable. I can’t believe you liked it enough to . . . Well, to thank me for doing it all over again.”

“Oh, Brian,” Justin reached up to stroke the larger man’s slightly stubbled cheek with one hand. “You’ve taught me so much about myself, I probably should thank you even more. But, please, be reassured that I’m not going to punish you for doing what I’ve always wanted to have the courage to ask for.”

And, with that being said, they both fell asleep, wrapped in each other’s arms.

********