Chapter 26 - Wages of Sin. (Saturday, June 11th)

Brian woke up with a thick shock of blond hair tickling his nose. He smoothed it away with his hand, but didn't otherwise change his position. He was feeling far too comfortable to move. The owner of the blond locks stirred a bit, but only to shift even closer. Brian cracked open one eye. He was lying on his left side, curled up like a shrimp around the smaller pale body that was now burrowing into his chest. All Brian could see of his companion was that wealth of blond poking out from beneath the sheet that covered them. The same that had tickled him awake.

Brian buried his hand in the fresh-smelling, yellow-gold hair. It was so thick and lush - not baby fine like his own hair - and there was so much of it, even though the kid did wear it in a short prep-school cut. He wondered if Justin would consider letting it grow out a bit after the Summer was over. Brian could see his hands sinking into that thick mane while they were fucking. If it was a little bit longer it would make an excellent handhold, he smiled to himself at the idea.

As he laid there and casually carded his fingers through the soft, blond prickle of hair, Brian noticed how young the kid looked when he was sleeping. Right then he looked far younger than eighteen. Maybe longer hair would also help make the kid look a bit less like an innocent teen. It just wouldn’t do to have the folks on Liberty Avenue looking at them together and thinking that Brian Kinney was into chicken.

It wasn’t until several minutes later that Brian realized he’d been lying there daydreaming about spending time with Justin AFTER the Summer of Sin competition was over. What the fuck was that all about? His hand froze in place for half a minute. He could still feel the silky texture of the boy’s hair between his fingers and the heat of the boy’s skin where he was curled against him. Justin sighed in his sleep and made a tiny motion with his head so that the tip of his turned-up nose lightly brushed against Brian’s collar bone. It was all so . . . comfortable.

Was this something he wanted? Brian had never considered ‘comfortable’ as something he’d want for the long term. It wasn’t one of the terms he applied to himself or his life. Comfortable seemed so tame. So settled. So boring. But, then again, it was . . . comfortable. It was nice. He didn’t HATE the idea of comfortable. ‘Maybe’, he thought, as he again ran his fingers through the enticing blond locks. Maybe he could do comfortable, as long as it involved a particularly hot little blond boy with a voracious appetite for sex and the most exquisite ass Brian had ever seen.

Maybe.

Of course, there was no reason he had to decide right now either way, was there? He was still stuck in this game for at least the next couple of months. And, while he WAS here, there was no reason he couldn’t enjoy ‘comfortable’. Was there?

He relaxed back into his pillow, content that he could keep on doing what he was doing for the conceivable future. He wouldn’t bother worrying about what was to come after the Summer. He’d deal with that later. And in the meantime, no one would have to know if he did indulge in a little bit of daydreaming about a nebulous future with a certain tempting blond tyro. It really wasn’t anybody’s business but his own.

Unfortunately, just as Brian had reconciled himself to this idea, the flashing red eye of the camera installed in the corner of the bedroom caught his eye. He wondered if anyone he knew was watching right then. And, if so, could they tell what he’d been thinking? He quickly snatched his hand out of the soft blond hair and rolled backwards so he was no longer curled around the boy’s slumbering body. He also quickly readjusted his expression so nobody would be able to tell what he’d been thinking a minute earlier.

It might not be anybody else’s business, but that didn’t mean certain people wouldn’t try and MAKE it their business.

Woody’s was already packed even though it wasn’t even nine am. Ted’s avaricious little heart was beating double time as he scanned the crowd and noted how most of the customers had their eyes glued to the television screens above the bar which were already broadcasting the Summer of Sin webcast. Ted waved cheerily to Matt, who grinned back at him and pointed to a large pile of flyers that were sitting out on the front of the bar. Ted rushed over to pick one up and admire his work.

The flyers were part of a cross-marketing scheme he’d worked out with Woody’s owners that would hopefully increase both their profits. The quarter sheet flyers were in part a ballot that the patrons at Woody’s could use to vote on the Blog Bitch Challenge. But, even better, after they voted for their favorite blog, the bottom half of the flyer could be detached from the ballot, and the patrons could use the coupons there for a reduced price half hour session on Ted’s website and also for one free drink at Woody’s on an upcoming night. It should serve to both increase the traffic to the website - and of course the profits for Ted, since once somebody logged on there was no way they’d be able to log off again for hours - as well as bringing customers back to the bar on their slower nights. It was a brilliant marketing plan. Ted could already smell the money flowing into his bank accounts as they grew fatter and fatter. Shit! He loved his job.

“Emmett! How’s my favorite porn star employee doing?” Ted trumpeted as he strutted over to where he saw his friend perched on a bar stool nursing something frothy and pink in a martini glass. “Here . . . let me buy you another of those. You look like you could use it.”

“Hey, Teddy,” Emmett looked up belatedly as his friend waved the bartender over.

“Why so morose, Em? You look like you just lost your best friend,” Ted commented, concerned by the utter lack of effervescence from his usually ebullient friend.

“Weeeeellllll, since you did ask, Teddy . . . I’m a little, tiny, itsy-bitsy bit pissed off at you, you know,” Emmett replied, fixing his friend and employer with a deep frown.

“At me? Why? I haven’t done anything,” Ted was surprised - Emmett wasn’t usually so evasive and he rarely said anything derogatory to anyone, especially not his friends, so Ted knew whatever he was about to say was serious.

“Exactly! You haven’t done ANYTHING, and that’s exactly the problem,” Emmett seemed very upset. So upset that he could barely hold back on his anger with his friend. “How could you, Teddy? How could you sit there and not do anything when that bully Daniel was practically torturing poor Adrien. It was horrible. I can’t believe you didn’t do something to punish him. If Brian and the others hadn’t stepped in he might have actually hurt that poor boy. He should really be kicked out. Or fined. Or tied to a chair and forced to watch all the others having sex and then doused with a bucket of ice water whenever he gets hard . . .” Emmett’s imagination seemed to be running a bit wild.

“Whoa, Em! Slow down a bit,” Ted tried to rein his friend back in. “Why are you so ruffled about this? Nothing really happened. I mean, I know Daniel was being a bit of an ass, but . . .”

“No, Teddy. He was not being ‘a bit of an ass’! He practically raped that poor boy! You can’t just sit by and let shit like that happen on your show. I don’t CARE how much money you’re making or whether or not the viewers like Daniel. It’s just not right, Teddy. It’s not and you should have done something about it!”

Ted was about to reply, thinking that his overly-sensitive friend was just over-reacting, as usual, when their conversation was interrupted by another bar patron horning in on their conversation.

“You the guy in charge of this show?” the burly bear of a man boomed at Ted pointing towards the TV screen. Ted gulped and nodded. "My buddies and I wanna know what you're gonna do about that asswipe Daniel? That guy's a fucking menace. He should be kicked out of the game for what he did to Adrien. And while you're at it, Adrien should get a second chance. You gotta make this right."

"Yeah! You should have done something, man," a second, even burlier bear stepped in to add his two cents. "That Adrien kid was practically being tortured by Daniel and you didn't do anything. If this were a network game show, that dickhead would have been kicked out already. You need to get rid of him now!"

There was a very vocal chorus of 'Yeah!'s and 'Now!'s from pretty much everywhere around Ted.

Ted was scrambling to come up with a way to respond when he was tapped on the shoulder. He turned and saw an older guy, dressed head to toe in leather. At the guy's waist there was a leather leash, chained to his belt on one end and hooked on the other end to the full face mask of his mostly-naked sub, who was standing respectfully a half step behind him.

"I understand you're the proprietor of the website running this program," the Dom stated, indicating the television screen behind the bar. "And I just wanted to point out that I take exception not only to the way you're handling this competition but also to the way the recent incident with the contestant named Daniel is creating such negative impressions about people in the Lifestyle. You DO know that bondage does not in any way equate to rape or any other type of assault? We abhor any sort of non-consensual action just as much as anyone else. 'No' means 'No' regardless of the context. And you, as the person in charge, need to be there to ensure that.  These competitors need to be assured of at least basic safety while they’re in your care. If you can't, or won't, do that then you're going to have a problem with me and a lot of my friends."

Ted had visions of being pursued by a mob of leather clad men wielding pitchforks and carrying torches. He'd had no idea that anybody cared THIS much about what had happened on his silly little show. Granted, he didn't care much for Daniel himself, but the level of hatred he was sensing from the people around him was off the charts. And he honestly hadn't seen what happened to Adrien as being all that serious, but once he saw it from these guys' perspective he guessed he HAD probably let things get a bit out of hand.

"I'm sorry, gentlemen," Ted apologized at once. "You're right that I probably should have taken action earlier. I can promise you it won't be allowed to happen again. I'll personally make sure that Daniel is reprimanded and instruct the contestants about unacceptable behavior going forward."

"Fine, but what about poor Adrien?" Emmett popped back into the fray. "Are you going to give him another chance?"

"Sorry, Em, but I can't do that," Ted tried to explain. "If I make an exception now it wouldn't be fair to the others." Ted saw his friend’s face start to fall and quickly jumped in to fix things as best he could. "But, I WILL get in touch with him this afternoon and see if there isn't some other way I can help him out. Maybe offer him a job on the website?"

"Ooooooo! That's a great idea, Teddy. He'd be great as one of your web whackers. He could do a Hawaiian thing, you know, with a beach scene behind him and a palm tree, maybe even ukulele music in the background . . ." Ted knew he was finally off the hook when Em got lost in planning out the decorations for Adrien's upcoming venue.

"Matt," Ted called out, thinking it best to thoroughly quell all the dissident voices as soon as possible. "A round of beers for everyone, please, courtesy of Jerk@work.net as a thank you for bringing these concerns to my attention. Thanks, guys!" And while Matt was pouring the beer, Ted got on his phone, hoping there was still time to get a few things arranged before the morning's events started.

“Look! They’re all getting ready to hear the day’s instructions . . . There’s Brian!” Michael’s voice overrode the general hurrays caused by Ted’s announcement of free beer. “Finally! I can’t wait to see who Brian gets to fuck today! As long as it’s not that annoying little blond kid. I hate him. He’s started following Brian around like a puppy dog. What a loser! I’m sure he’s driving Brian crazy by this point ” Michael was already so involved in the events on the screen that he apparently had no idea what was going on with the rest of the people in the bar. “He’s not even really that good looking. I don’t know why Ted picked him for this thing. That kid is way too skinny and has no body. He should have gotten another big hunk like that Dane instead of some little kid.”

“Now, now, Michael,” Emmett was recalled from the heights of his Hawaiian decorating fantasies by his friend’s lamentations over the failings of the youngest game contestant. “I think sweet little Justin is gorgeous! Look at that creamy pale skin and that beautiful hair. He’s a little doll . . . Well, not SOOOOOO little - if you get my meaning,” Em was now focused on the very close in full-frontal shot of Justin that was beaming across the internet. “Not little at ALL, I’d venture to say.*hehehe* And, besides, Brian seems to find the boy plenty attractive so who are we to judge, huh?”

“Why do you say that? Brian wouldn’t find that kid attractive. He’s not at all Brian’s type. Brian likes his men tall, dark and muscled - not like that skinny little blond kid - and definitely older than ten,” Michael insisted, refusing to see what was right in front of his eyes as Brian and Justin kissed and mugged it up for the cameras.

“Were you watching the same program I was last night, Honey?” Em looked incredulously at his deluded friend. “Did you NOT see that show Brian and Justin put on during last night’s Challenge? That was the hottest thing I’ve seen in ages . . . well, except for the edging session they had yesterday morning, of course - that was so HOT it melted the keyboard on my computer.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about, Emmett!” Michael seemed affronted by Emmett’s mere assertion that there was anything at all going on between his Brian and the little blond. “Brian would never bother with a kid like that. He hates annoying twinks. I know. I’m his best friend after all.”

“WHATever, Michael,” Emmett flipped his wrist disdainfully. “You believe what you want to, Honey. I’ll believe what my eyes see!”

“Good Morning, my children!”

The entire bar hushed as the volume on the televisions was turned up and The Master started his directions for the House Boys for the day. The discussion of whether or not Brian had a THING for the little blond boy was put on hold. Ted hung up his cell phone and joined the throng to watch and see if the directions he’d given would help calm the angry crowd.

“Good Morning, my children!” The House Boys waited through The Master’s usual morning greeting. “And welcome back to another Sexcapades Saturday! The same rules as last week will apply today, my dears. You will be randomly assigned into pairs and each pair will have one hour to entertain us from the Passion Pit. The only difference this week, will be that your compatriot, Kerek, will be the judge of today’s competition. Kerek, I’m sorry, but since you will be our judge for the day, you will not be competing yourself. You’ll have to amuse yourself some other way until this evening, my son.”

Kerek looked pleased as punch knowing that he would be in a position of authority again today. That boy liked being in control far too much for your typical bottom boy, Brian thought. Although Kerek did seem to know how to handle himself when he WAS put in charge. Brian didn’t doubt that Kerek would do just fine after leaving here, no matter what he decided to do with his future. In fact, Brian thought he'd make a damn fine club manager if that's what he chose. Maybe after they got out of here Brian might be able to find him something Kerek would excel at other than hustling - he had heard that two of the three partners who owned Babylon were looking to buy out The Sapp and replace him as the active manager. Kerek would be perfect for that job.

“But, before we get distracted by all that fun,” The Master continued with his announcements, “we have some rewards and some more punishments to deliver. First of all, Brian and Justin, you two were the clear winners of our Orgasm Denial Challenge yesterday. I can’t tell you how pleased I was with your performance. Spectacular! Truly Spectacular, my children! Thank you for that. And, as your reward, you two will be our team leaders for tomorrow’s Sunday in the Sun competitions.” Brian and Justin looked to each other, not really all that impressed with the reward they’d received, especially considering the ‘spectacular’ nature of their performance, but what could they say.

"And for yesterday's Fast and Furious Challenge, our winner was, of course, Dane," The Master's award ceremony continued. "I just knew a big boy like you would bring us all big pleasure, my child. As your reward, Dane, you will be allowed to select the downtime entertainment for the Residence tomorrow evening." Dane was already smiling, apparently he had something in mind already.

“Now, my children,” The Master’s electronically altered voice got serious sounding. “We must unfortunately deal with some less pleasant matters. Daniel, please come forward.” The cocky Bully Boy took one large stride forward so that he was now standing in front of the line of other men - he didn’t look all that worried about what was about to come down, but Brian was hopeful that Ted and The Master were finally going to take care of the asshole.  

“Daniel, we were NOT pleased at all with your behavior yesterday,” The Master stated pointedly. “Our Summer of Sin games are meant for pleasure only and ALL of you are here by your consent because you also wish to experience this pleasure. We will NOT allow anyone to be forced into doing anything they do not consent to do. Your actions - restraining Adrien and refusing to release him at his request - were a violation of this basic principle. It will NOT be tolerated again,” The Master sounded emphatic. “If you, or any of my House Boys, ever do anything to another without his consent, you will be dismissed immediately. Do you understand?”

Daniel’s arrogant attitude had deflated considerably at this very public reprimand. His mouth was now screwed up in a sulky grimace. Brian could almost feel the anger radiating off him even from the distance of several feel.

“As punishment for your actions, Daniel, you will be required to wear this cock ring for the next 24 hours. That way, you will be denied the pleasure of your brothers' attentions and will learn exactly what you would be missing if you were to be so foolish as to risk our umbrage again.”

As the words of The Master echoed, the ever-present masked servant approached with his usual silver tray, upon which rested a rather wicked looking adjustable cock and ball ring. Daniel stood glaring down at the thing for several long seconds. The bully was panting with fury, his shoulders visibly heaving and his skin suffused an angry purple-red.

“You’ll wear it . . . or you can leave,” the servant stated plainly, shoving the tray a little harder into Daniel’s chest.

“FUCK!” Daniel growled, but picked up the cock ring nevertheless and without delaying further reached down to fasten it around his cock and balls. It looked like a tight fit to Brian, who smiled at the very appropriate - in his mind at least - punishment.

“Very good, Daniel. Let this remind you that your job for the duration of your stay here is to please me and ONLY to please me. And that you will be punished if you fail at that goal,” The Master sounded slightly placated now that his official punishment had been doled out. “But, do not fret, my son. You are not going to receive only punishment today. You are also going to be rewarded for a significant accomplishment. You see - where you fail, you will be punished, but when you succeed, you are rewarded. And you, my son, have completed another of my Secret Challenges - you are the first of my House Boys to suck off all the other contestants. Therefore, for the rest of today, you are to be master of one of my favorite toys - The Purple-Pointed People Poker!”

At this point, the masked servant on the other side of the television screen pulled a black linen cloth off the silver tray he’d been holding and, with a flourish, he revealed The Master’s toy. It turned out to be a rather long, semi-rigid, see-through purple dildo, complete with assorted ridging along the shaft and a functional suction cup bottom. It looked fun enough, Brian thought, but then he remembered who was going to get the privilege of wielding it for the day. With Daniel in charge of the toy, it probably wouldn’t end up being much fun at all.

“You may direct any of your housemates who are not involved at the time with our Saturday Sexcapades to make use of P4 - as I like to call him. Keep in mind the strictures I impressed on you earlier though. I will not tolerate any abuse of this special reward,” The Master admonished once again, and once again Daniel’s expression soured - he really wasn’t good with public reprimands. “Now, my children, I am finally done with all my announcements. Go on and amuse yourselves and enjoy your Saturday!”

There was a smattering of comments from the House Boys as soon as The Master had signed off. It was looking like it was going to be a very busy weekend. Meanwhile, the bingo ball machine rattled as the servant turned the crank over and over until two balls fell out of the chute. "Our first two contestants this morning will be, Justin and Dane!" The servant announced enthusiastically.

"Oh yeah! I get to have me some Cupcake for breakfast, boys!" Dane crowed as he leered across the semicircle at a crimson blushing Justin.

"Sheesh! Enough already with the 'Cupcake' thing, Big D," the red faced boy complained, shaking his head but smiling sheepishly at the same time.

"Sorry, but I can't help it, Cupcake. You're just so yummy looking." Dane kept on with the razzing, to the enjoyment of the other House Boys. "Can't wait to eat you up!"

"If you don't shut up, I'm gonna show you just how bad Cupcakes can be for your ass," Justin shot right back, smacking the ass in question as he stomped past, his face still flushed with red, heading for the basement stairs.

As the youth walked by, he deliberately bumped his shoulder into Brian and smiled up at the taller man with a wry little grin. Brian even detected a rapid fire wink before the little blond was past. Brian shook his head as Dane galloped along eagerly after the retreating Cupcake.

Brian didn’t know what he was supposed to be feeling right at that moment. This was the deal he’d signed up for and he didn’t mean to quit just because he felt a little twinge of resentment at how ridiculously hot to trot everyone else seemed to be at the mere idea of spending time with the endearing blond boy. He couldn’t blame them - Justin was hot, sweet and fun. Who wouldn’t want to spend time with the guy. He couldn’t let himself get upset every time the kid went off with someone else. Not even if Brian had desperately wanted to be the second name called out that morning. If he got upset whenever his blond fucked one of the others, this was likely to be a VERY long summer. And no matter what he’d resolved that morning in bed, he knew that if he did give in to those nebulous daydreams, he would hate himself.

So, for now at least, Brian resolved not to let the fact that the entire house full of horny gay men was gathered around the computer screen broadcasting the scene from the Passion Pit and making lewd comments about the zealously rutting blond boy, who was busily pummelling the big giant’s happy ass, get to him.

Instead, he headed over to the bank of computers set up for the contestants to use for the Blogs. He quickly logged into his account and started typing. He hoped that if he concentrated hard enough on his writing he could ignore the ruckus going on behind him as the rest of the boys enthused over whatever the zealous blond boy was doing to the big giant.

‘When it’s my turn, this is what I’m going to do,’ Brian wrote being intentionally vague as to exactly whom he was waiting for a turn with. ‘I’m going to grab ahold of his hair and pull it back, hard enough so that he gasps. Then I’m going to bite his neck right at that spot where his long neck meets his shoulder. I’m going to bite hard enough to leave a mark. And then I’m going to push him down onto his knees and shove his head down into the pillows, with his ass still poking up . . .’

So, yeah, comfortable might be all right. But, then again, so was hot, hard and demanding. And right at that moment, Brian was day dreaming about demanding.