BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Chapter 7

What Happened After Dinner

   Justin started up and stared in stupefaction. "What d'ya mean? I thought they were invisible and spirits? How can we see them?"

   "Well, they are. For the most part. And especially if you are not looking or don't know what to look for. But remember? I told you I saw them once...once mind you and by accident. If we recreate the conditions we might be able to see one of them."

   "What are the conditions?"

   "Well, the time that I did, I was at a very low spot. I was between boyfriends and all alone. So I was sitting alone in a dark room. I wasn't moving. I wasn't speaking. I was barely breathing. I thought of the old gang and wondered if any of them missed me at all. I was so depressed and lonely. I wished for death. That I knew I could not have so I wished for the next best thing. I remembered a store I used to go to.  There was...a strange...something...and then there was a fire burning in the grate and a tall mug of the creamiest hot chocolate with a mound of whipped cream on the side table beside me."

   "What kind of thing?" asked Justin in spite of himself. "And why would they bring you chocolate?"

   "I think they tried to satisfy me the best way they knew how. You see, the store was called "Death by Chocolate"."

   Justin laughed.

   Brian laughed too and then sobered. "As for what it was, I can't really explain it. It's easier if you just see it for yourself."

   "Well, how are we going to manage that?"

   Well, first we have to pretend we're gone. Then we wait in the dark. Then...we hope."

   He got up and moved to the door. He pulled on his gloves. He motioned Justin to follow. Justin did so, cautiously.

   "Come on, Justin! Let's go for a walk to work off those carbs and come back in about ten minutes!" Brian said theatrically. "Maybe when we come back somebody will have gotten over his hissy fit enough to serve us dessert...and do a decent job of it too!"

   He gathered Justin close and turned off the lights. Then he opened the door and with a fierce joy, slammed it again, from inside the room. He made loud clomping sounds with his boots and motioned that Justin should do it as well. Then he made them quieter and quieter. Justin followed suit.

   Finally, they both slid to the floor. The room was almost totally dark. Justin could see a fat, full moon outside the window though and a sky full of stars like studded jewels.

   "Now....keep your eye on the window," Brian said next to him in the dark. He whispered right next to Justin's ear, sending puffs of warm air into it and his lips and tongue tickling the hairs there.

   Justin jerked away. "What the hell are you doing?" he hissed.

   "If you have to ask, I must be losing my touch," Brian smirked into the dark.

   "The only thing you are losing to touch is me!" Justin retorted, "I haven't forgotten or forgiven your huge queen out earlier. You don't get to scream into my face one minute, and then breathe into my ear the next, mister!"

   "Awww, Justin, I'm sorry! I - I - well you're right. I lost my temper. Please forgive me."

   "Hmmmph!"

   "Pleeeeeeaaase!!" Brian wheedled into his ear.

   "Stop that! You know, I think you might be faking the whole thing! You just wanted to get me in the dark!"

   "No! I swear! Keep watching the window! I swear! That's where it happened the last time! No faking, I promise!" Brian said seriously.

   "Well....OK."

   "However...." Brian leered into his ear, having you in the dark...in my clutches...is a definite excellent side effect!" He grabbed Justin around the waist in the dark, blew into his ear and nipped and sucked on his neck.

   Justin gasped and tried to struggle. But Brian seemed to get off on it and Justin couldn't escape the embrace. He never felt squeezed but he was always effectively restrained. Brian sucked and kissed and nipped his neck until he collapsed in submission. He still hadn't forgiven him but this...this felt so good! And not just the kissing, it was the restraint, the struggling to get away...and yet being unable to...was a total turn on. Justin groaned in pleasure.

   "Keep watching," Brian said. "Keep as quiet as you can."

   Justin kept quiet but kept struggling too. A bit of light and not so light petting ensued. Brian breathed out, "I'm sorry," and covered Justin's mouth with a kiss in the dark. And dammit, he shouldn't have but Justin loved it. He moaned softly and kissed back. Again, he was assailed with doubt. Could he live with a Beast? He wished it could be dark all the time. Here in the dark, he couldn't see anything, any of his ugliness and as long as the snakes were kept at bay, maybe there wouldn't be any need for masks or anything. Then he felt those fangs again and he didn't care about anything for a while.

   About 5 minutes later of hot and heavy kissing and generally making out like a couple of teenagers in the back of a dark movie theatre, Brian gave Justin one last sipping kiss and pulled back. "Wait! They're near!"

   Justin shook his head to clear his head from the fog of passion. Then he smiled into the dark.

   "How can you tell?" he asked. At the same time, he reached out and found Brian's gloved hand. It felt sinfully sexy and he "accidentally" guided it over and across his huge erection. "Oops, sorry."

   "You are not, you little twat! Any more of that and you are going to get more that you bargained for!"

   "We'll see...So you were saying?"

   "I've learned to sense them, feel them just before they come. But it took me a long time. Shhhhh! Now! Over by the table!"

   The two men sat in perfect silence. Justin strained his eyes. But there was...there was nothing. There was a kind of heaviness to the air that built up like a charge before a thunderclap.

   Then...there was a kind of SKKKREEEEEKK!! Like a kind of bat call only it ripped through Justin's mind, his very soul, not his ears. At the same time, something passed in front of the window. It was black and empty and as fast as a shutter click on a camera. But for one instant the fat moon and the jewelled stars vanished. They were blotted out and then reappeared. And then the thing...whatever it was...was gone.

   "SHIT! What was that?" Justin whispered.

   "Did you see it!? Did you see it!? Right in front of the window! Wahoo!" Brian yelled. Wahoo! ARRRRROOOOOOOOO!!!!!"

   There was a pause. Then the lights came on and Brian stood a little embarrassed. "Ahem! Sorry about that! Ahem..." He straightened his clothes unnecessarily and turned away toward the table. "Well, let's see what they brought us, hmm!" He hustled over and did just that.

   Justin stood up, his face pink, his hair mussed, and with a painfully large boner still pressing against his jeans. He followed Brian over and then pressed it into Brian's backside. Brian gasped.

   "Brian...there's no reason to be embarrassed. I think it's cute."

   "Well, it's not! It's part of...of this!" Brian growled, "Let's just not talk about it, OK?"

   "OK. But if you ever do..."

   "I won't."

   "If you ever do...you can. OK?"

   "Oh look! Devil's food cake for me! And apple pie for you! Wow! I've never seen anything so big! Well, there was Rick! But that's another story!"

   Justin sighed and shook his head. Ahhh well. Maybe one day. In the meantime...

   "Ahhhh! It's a re-creation of the pie I had in the diner the other day. How lovely!" Justin at last changed the subject and they started in on their dessert and they didn't even feel the need to talk about their make out session.

   But they both thought about it. And both men could read each other's thoughts by the way they mutually eye-fucked each other from across the table.

B&B&B&B&B&B&B

   After dessert, they moved to the couch and started up again. They giggled and pawed each other and Brian found that Justin's chest was a lovely sensitive spot. Brian's kisses were mind melting.

   However, there came a time where things grew more serious and one of Brian's hands grew more wayward than ever before and moved down the front of Justin's pants.

   Justin slapped it away. "Brian, NO!"

   Brian's chocolate eyes with golden flecks filled with confusion and hurt. "How come? Why are you pulling away again? I thought we'd resolved that issue. Aren't we having a good time?"

   "Actually, that hasn't been resolved at all. Only time will tell if you change and you haven't even promised to try. And besides...this is about....something else!"

   "What something else?"

   "Brian, I'm only 17! I don't want to have full on sex yet."

   "Ahhh yes! So I remember your mother saying....three weeks wasn't it?"

   "Well, it's 17 days now" said Justin shyly.

   "Ohhhh my! Seventeen days! One day for every year! You know what this means, don't you Justin?"

   "What?" Justin asked suspiciously.

   Brian kissed him. "I have to kiss you seventeen times." He kissed him again. And again. And again. Deeper.

   "Mmmmmppphhh! Brian! No! That isn't.....mmmmmmm.....isn't....mmmmmmm....isn't necessary!"

   "Sure it is! It's the most wretched of luck if I don't." Deep kiss. "It's practically the law..." More kisses.

   And darn it if he didn't get in all seventeen kisses!

   "Well! We wouldn't want to break the law," Justin heard a wanton voice say around the 9th one or so. With a shock, he realized that it was his own.

   When Brian finally finished his campaign to drive him crazy, he pulled back and said, "Are you sure? Look Justin, if you are old enough to kiss like that and let it affect you...you're old enough to have your cherry popped. And damn! I want that ass so damn bad!"

   "I see. Thank you for that overwhelmingly disgusting proposal for what should be the most defining and romantic experience of my life but I'm afraid I'll have to decline."

   "Oh Justin, really! Sex is sex! Sure it's defining but it's rarely romantic, especially for us guys! Romance is something the card companies came up with to satisfy the women and straights. Love and romance...that sort of this is for straights and munchers! Besides...I'm on the clock here..." He motioned to his arm. "Let's get down to it!"

   Justin looked at him incredulously.  "And yet...aren't you in this situation...because of those delusions...and to prove them wrong? To find love!? Perhaps the reason you have been here for nine months is because you have hung onto these wrong points of views. And they ARE wrong, Brian! Men want and need love just as much as any woman. And they need...I need for love to be as much a part of the fucking if we are going to do it, especially if we are going to do it right! And...wait a minute!" Justin's face drained of color. "Did you think that just because we would have sex, that I would be in love with you??

   "Well, of course. Wouldn't it!?"

   "NO! Good God, Brian!!! Is that what happened to all the guys here? Is that why there are so many statues in the garden? Did you have sex with them and then show them your face convinced they were in love with you?"

   "Some of them," Brian said sulkily. This is not what he'd had in mind at all. He was hoping to have been buried inside Justin's sweet little bubble butt and pounding him into the mattress by this time, but alas that was not to be, it seemed.

   "And you didn't clue in when it never worked!?" Justin asked scathingly.

   Brian just looked down, guilty and ashamed. He shrugged in such a manner.

   "Oh Brian!" he said disappointedly, and then: "Oh, Brian!" in horror, "Don't you get it!? You nearly killed me!" Justin shuddered as he thought how close he had come to a premature demise, frozen into white stone.....forever.

   "NO!" Brian yelled, "I didn't! I wouldn't! I would never..."

   "I know you wouldn't," Justin relented a little, "Not on purpose. But you said it yourself. I'm your last chance, Brian! You have to be careful! So careful! For both our sakes!"

   "I know! I know! I will! I'll do better!"  He gathered his bossy beta male into his arms and pulled him close. "I'll do better. I promise. I'm sorry. So...if I can't sex you up...what DO you want to do next?"

   Justin hugged him close to hide his amused smile and rolled his eyes. Brian was incorrigible!

   "Um....well, I dunno," Justin licked his lips nervously, unaware of how it made Brian's dick throb inside his plastered on pants. "Do you know any games?"

   Brian's breathing got a little erratic. "Do..do I know...any..."

   "Yeah, sure. You know, Scrabble, Monopoly, Sorry..."

   Brian threw back his head and roared with laughter. "Oh Justin, I'm alone here most of the time! I have no use for...those types of games."

   "Oh right." Justin looked crestfallen.

   "Besides...I gave up all those kinds of games when I hit 14. I'm afraid the only games I know are...big boy games!" his voice grew hungry.

   "Oh..." Justin looked even more crestfallen and disappointed.

   Brian lifted his chin and kissed the unhappiness away from the blond's pouty lips. "However... I do know games...games that don't necessarily have to involve sex...at least for you."

   "Really?" The innocent eagerness in his voice was nearly Brian's undoing. "What games?"

   "Oh let's see...We could call the first one....Release and Catch!" Brian said in a raspy voice.

   "Don't you mean, Catch and Release?" Justin asked hopefully. Hopes that were dashed when Brian shook his head slowly and smiled ferally, his fangs suddenly seemed extra sharp. He opened his arms slowly and released Justin. Then he gave him a quick...RUFF!! and a mock bite to get him going. Justin got it and got going.

   Brian chased him twice around the apartment before they ended up on opposite sides of the sofa. "And now for the next game..." Brian rasped panting from exertion and excitement. "Tickle the Twink!"

   "Brian, no! NO! You can't! I'm really, extra ticklish! You CAN'T!!"

   "Well then! This should be really, extra fun then!" Brian growled. He lunged. Justin dodged and made a break for it. He ran across and made for the door.

   Brian was unconcerned and straightened up. He stalked after Justin with his long, leathered legs. A gauntleted hand went to his hip.

   Justin looked behind him and his eyes widened as he saw Brian was in earnest. He threw open the door and ran down the hall. "NO! NO! I'll hide somewhere from you and you'll never find me until you calm down!" he threatened.

   Brian was unconcerned. The hand at his hip unhooked the lasso that had been by his side the whole time. He unfurled it a bit and began to twirl the loop expertly above his head. He stalked slowly but steadily toward his prey.

   Justin glanced back and his eyes widened in shock. Partly in shock but partly because the picture that Brian portrayed, a black leathered masked and sinister cowboy swinging a rope above his head...was extremely erotic. The image went straight to his dick and it hardened instantly, painfully. But he knew instinctively that if he let on, Brian would lose interest; that part of the game for him was the chase.

   "Brian, NO! You wouldn't! You wouldn't DARE!" Justin cried, knowing full well he would.

   Brian just smiled evilly and spun the loop wider, faster. He came relentlessly closer.

   "OHHHHH SHIT!!!" Justin spun on his heel and made a break for it.

   Brian planted in his heels, let Justin run a bit, timed it just right and.....tossed the rope perfectly. The loop flew through the air and landed perfectly over the head and then the shoulders of his blond as if it were planned. And in a way, it was.

   Justin ran as fast as he could and at the last second thought he had eluded the erotic cowboy. But then he felt the rope settle over his shoulders and tighten perfectly, jerking him to a halt and pulling his arms tight against his body. The rope felt smooth as silk, sex and sin.

   He was tugged backward. He managed to turn and glare furiously at the Dom. "DAMN YOU! Let me go this instant!" He struggled backward in the bondage, which of course only pulled the loop around him tighter. Brian smirked as he pulled Justin closer, hand over hand, closer and closer. "Feeling, pretty cocky, are we?" asked Justin cheekily.

   Brian gave a hitch in his breathing. "My sweet, blond Beauty..." he rasped, "If you want your cherry to remain intact, I suggest you watch what you say and avoid words pertaining to...cock-y!"

   Justin gulped.

   Hand over hand, he was reeled in like a fish. Halfway. Three quarters.

   "Wha...what are you going to do with me?" Justin quavered.

   Hand over hand over hand. Brian didn't answer.

   And then he was there. Right in front of the leather Dom. And Brian bent down and kissed him witless. His tongue demanded entrance and Justin was helpless to resist. The Beast tongue fucked him with precision and perfectly. Justin groaned as Brian began to tweak his nipples at the same time. He felt himself turn to mush. Brian felt it as well and holding the rope tight with one hand, dipped him deeply with the other, still making sure he was filling the twink's mouth with his large tongue, made soft by years of drinking Beam. Justin moaned some more as he was overtaken with a wave of pure pleasure, the likes of which he had never known.

   Finally, when he was sure that Justin was completely discombobulated, he pulled away suddenly. Justin was left dazed and confused. He wanted more. He felt like he was spinning.

   Then he realized he was spinning. Brian was easily rotating him around and around, coiling the rest of the rope around his torso, completely immobilizing his upper body with about 8 coils of rope. When he reached the end of the lasso, he fastened it off with a clever hitch and that was that. He was captured and a prisoner of the Dom Beast.

   Brian hooked a finger through a coil of the rope and pulled Justin till they were nose to nose. "You know very well what I'm going to do with you, my Beauty! I told you...the next game is called...Tickle the Twink!"

   And with that, he picked Justin and slung him over his shoulder and carried him back inside the bedroom. He laughed in triumph and ignored Justin's struggles as he kicked the door shut with a slam.

B&B&B&B&B&B&B&B

   Brian ignored Justin's kicking legs completely and carried the blond boy over to the bed where he then dumped him unceremoniously onto the mattress.

   Justin looked up at him with wide eyes that were clear and as blue as a lake on a sunny day. They were a little frightened but Brian could see he was curious too, wondering what was going to happen next and eager to find out.

   Brian straddled Justin at the waist and bent down and kissed them both witless again for several minutes. Then he rose back up and just gazed at his bound Beauty. He was so beautiful, trussed up in the ropes it hurt his eyes.

   "The first thing we need..." he said, lightly teasing Justin's nipples through his shirt in contemplation. Justin whimpered. It felt so damn good. It was not enough. "...is a safe word. In case things get really out of hand for you or you really can't handle it. Like a 911. And only to be used in an emergency. Understand?"

   "Yes," said Justin.

   "What is your word?"

   "Eclipse," Justin said.

   Brian nodded in approval. "A good word...so be it. From here on in I will stop only if I hear that word." He began to slowly undress Justin from the bottom up, starting at the shoes, then socks, then pulling down his pants, leaving his underwear. However, through the thin material, Brian could see a straining, throbbing, hard cock, leaking in anticipation for that which would never cum. (Well, for 17 days at least!)

   "Ohhhh....I cannot...wait to caress every....square...inch of that white skin," Brian purred in anticipation.

   Damn him! Justin struggled mightily in his ropes as the Beast kissed and stripped him but it was no use. And then it was done. And to be truthful, Justin didn't want to escape. Not really. He enjoyed the darkness, the restriction, the mock peril situation he was in. Again, he was filled with confusion. He had always been such a good boy. So normal and ordinary. Well, except for the whole "loving to suck cock" thing. But down to earth and white bread, so to speak. This was completely out of character for him.

   Next moment, his mouth twisted up in satisfaction. Brian was just discovering that he could only lift his shirt up so far without encountering the ropes. "Ha! Ha! Looks like you didn`t think things all the way through!"

   Brian shrugged. "Ahh well, we'll just have to make do," he said as if it didn't really matter, "Besides...I know of a way to...up the ante!"

   He got up and went to the kitchen area. "Struggle all you like," he called pleasantly without turning around, "but if you put one foot on the floor, when I get back, I'll tie your feet to the bedposts."

   Dammit! How did he know!? Justin had sat up and was just about to do just that and make a run for it. He lay back down.

   Brian returned shortly with a paring knife.

   Justin's breath sped up a little and he was a little afraid. "Brian...what are you going to do?? Brian?? You're not going to cut me are you? Please don't do that...." His struggles sped up a little.

   "Don't worry, my sweet, I'm not going to cut you. I'm not into gross things like scat and blood. However....as I said before..." He kissed him till his whimpers were sobs of desire, "You'd be surprised at what I AM into. And you're about to find out."

   He cut two small holes in the chest of his sweater above each nipple. Within seconds, he had full access to Justin's nips.

   "Awww, geez, Bri, I really liked that sweater!" Justin groused.

   "Not to worry love, just leave it on the footboard before you go to sleep. The Wards will fix it. And you can even thank them for it in the morning," he said mockingly.

   "You shouldn't make..." he started and then his eyes rolled back in his head and he lost train of coherent thought as Brian began chestplaying him with those leathered fingers without mercy. He writhed and struggled but just when he thought he couldn't stand any more, Brian would stop and give him a rest. Then he'd start up again. It was exquisite torture.

   Eventually, Brian moved down to lightly stroke Justin's sides.

   "OH!!" he yelled. "Oh Brian, no!" he was breathing heavily, trying to recover from the tit torture. "Brian wait! You don't - you don't understand! You don't underst..."

   "I can't wait to find out, "Brian growled sadistically. He paused...and then dug in hard through the sweater with all fingertips, tickling him without mercy.

   Justin screamed and laughed and screamed with laughter. He writhed and struggled and spasmed. At that point Brian eased off and stopped and gave him a rest.

   "And that is how you play, Tickle the Twink!" he declared.

   Justin was heaving and sweating and struggling in his bonds. His hair was a tangled mess and soaked with sweat.

   "No....No more!!!" he gasped.

   "I'm not hearing a safe word..."sing-songed Brian, "So...does this mean you're ready to let me bring you off?"

   "No...sex..." Justin gasped out.

   Brian shrugged and started in on his sides again.

   "Noooooo! Noooooooo! I'll tawk! I'll tawk! Anything you want to know!!!" Justin screamed.

   Brian eased off and stopped. "Anything huh? Anything?? Hmmmmm.....well, we should make this good then..." He pretended to think a moment. Then he tweaked his nips and leaned into his personal space, so close that Justin could smell the leather of his mask and their lips were a half inch apart. He breathed in the blond boy's scent and encouraged the other to do the same..."That's right my Beauty. Sniff me. Breathe my scent that is beyond the leather beyond my sweat, beyond what you can really sense. That is me. Breathe it in and make me part of you...forever. I'll be in your dreams, your mind, under your very skin and you'll never get me out. Never. Now...what I want to know is....what would you give for me to kiss you right now?"

   "Anything! Oh God, anything!" sobbed Justin.

   "Well....too bad!" Brian said heartlessly as he sat back up.

   "WHAT!!!?" screamed Justin.

   "Life's a bitch, when you're all tied up, isn't it blond boy??" Brian cackled, "And baby...SO AM I!!" He threw back his head and laughed heartily and then held out his gauntleted hands in curved claws.

   "NO! No! Nonononono!!!!" Justin murmured, thrashing wildly.

   "Oh yes! Yesyesyesyesyes!!" Brian said deeply, evilly. And he did. He tickled Justin's sides, his stomach, his legs, everywhere.

   Justin screamed and writhed and struggled and finally gave up in submission. "Eclipse! Eclipse!"

   Brian stopped immediately.  Then he bent down and kissed him softly, then deeper, then tiny sipping kisses. "My good boy! My very good boy!" he crooned.

   Then he moved down to the end of the bed and removed his gauntlets. "And now...."he drawled, a very special reward for my very good boy who has endured so much and used the safe word when he reached his limit. Very good, Justin. I am pleased Boy!"

   "Wha - wha - what are you going to do to me now!?" gasped out Justin, still exhausted by his ordeal.

   "Not to worry! You'll like it," Brian assured him.

   Oh Brian, I don't think I can take any more! I can't...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh....." and he was instantly reduced to a malleable mush of pleasure.

   You see, Brian had taken his right foot in both his hands and was massaging it pressing certain pressure points, moving up, down around and then up and down again. He turned on the bed so he could watch Justin's reactions to his ministrations and Justin was transported to another universe.

   After a long time of careful attention to the one foot, Brian switched to the other, showing the same care and attention.

   "Don't stop," Justin slurred, "Don't ever stop,"

   "Feel good?"

   "Feels un-fucking-believable," said Justin.

   "Good." Brian slid a hand up his leg to his thigh to his inner thigh. "Then maybe you'll feel good enough to let me bring you..." His hand moved closer and closer to his goal.

   Justin's forearm slammed down onto Brian's from where it was pinioned to his side like a mousetrap. "No...sex...until my birthday!" Justin snapped out just as sharply.

   "Rats," said Brian, caught like a guilty schoolboy trying to check out an upperclassman in the shower.

   "Nice try though," said Justin more conversationally.

   "Thanks. However, I never try. I only do."

   "Seventeen days, my love. In seventeen days. So...is this the end of the game?"

   "Yes I suppose it is." Brian made a pick and a flick with the rope and it came undone. Justin struggled and pushed his way free of the bondage.

   "I must admit that was...different. I feel so strange..."

   "What's the matter? Are you numb? Did I hurt you?" Brian leaned in to check for injuries.

   "No, I'm fine. Nothing like that. The thing is...well growing up...well, I was such a good boy. But what we just did...what we did was so erotic and exciting! That felt sooooo goood!!!" He jumped into Brian's arms and kissed him madly. "Sooo hot!! But...I'm usually such a good boy!"

   "Oh Justin! "It was just a bit of kink! And just the tip of the iceberg in the grand scheme of things! I will show you things that you've never dreamed of yet, press you to limits you never knew you had. And just because you're kinky doesn't mean you're bad! In fact, I think...it makes you even better!" And he kissed Justin back madly.

   Finally, he gave him one last kiss and pulled back.

   "Well, if there's to be no sex then I guess I will say good night and end the evening for my balls are as blue as your eyes."

   Justin giggled. "Truth be told...so are mine!"

   Brian gave a ragged, loooooooong-suffering  sigh and got up from the bed and grabbed his lasso and gloves and made his way to the door slowly.

   Justin shrugged out of his pants and followed him to the door in his underwear. After what they had just gone through, he really didn't see the point in dressing again.

   "Oh Brian, one more thing!"

   "What is it, Justin?" Brian said happily and then turned at the door. His face grew serious as he saw Justin was frowning again.

   "First, I had a really great time here and I hope we can move on from here. Now that I have food up here, I will probably take my breakfast up here and paint a lot. But you can come again and see me at seven again tomorrow. Okay?"

   "Okay. I will come. Is everything all right Jus...?"

   Justin looked straight into those gorgeous eyes of brown with gold flecks. "But Brian.  If you EVER....EV...VER....Yell at me like that again....I will consider it domestic abuse and consider my agreement with you here null and void. I will leave you Brian. Then and there and if you won't give me transport to the village, I will strike out on my own. I will just go. Do you understand me?"

   "You know, you're kinda cute when you're all bossy like..."

   "Brian!" His voice was quiet but filled with purpose and promise. "I mean it! It's just the two of us here. We're secluded. If you ever hurt me...if things turn ugly...or physical...if I was hurt...there is no one around to help and there's no one around to stop you! I need to look after myself! And I will NOT let that happen! I won't be you're victim! Not that kind! I will leave you Brian. Do you understand me?"

   "Justin, I would never hit or harm you! I promise! Never! And I really AM sorry. I didn't mean you yell like that. I'm really sorry!"

   Justin's face was like stone. "I said...Do...you...under...stand...me?"

   "Yeah, I understand."

   "Good."

   The door slammed.

TBC