Chapter 60 - More Loose Ends. (Wednesday, August 31st - Continued).

As soon as Ted had pulled Michael away - for what purpose, Brian hadn’t a clue - the rest of the group began chatting amicably again. Brian introduced his Liberty Avenue family to the House Boys. Debbie was thrilled to meet all of them and immediately started to mother them, demanding that they all come over for a big BBQ to celebrate the end of the summer and the end of the show. They were all summarily bullied into agreeing to attend and the date was set for that Sunday. Vic seemed almost as thrilled as Debbie to meet the boys, although Brian knew that was probably because Vic was such a dirty old man and enjoyed the eye candy. He was happily chatting with Campbell and Paal, though, so Brian didn’t think he could get up to too much trouble. Everyone, of course, already knew Emmett, alias “Fetch Dixon’, and even if they hadn’t, Em was acting his usual ebullient self and chatting up everyone in sight like they were long lost bosom buddies.

While Justin and Emmett were talking, Brian turned to greet the man who’d been waiting quietly behind Em until Brian had had time to speak to his family. “Adrien. How’s it going?” Brian offered his hand.

The young blond man was still messy and scruffy but looked slightly better groomed and even a bit better toned than when he’d left the Residence. He was definitely in better spirits and happily shook Brian’s hand.

“It’s been going great, actually, man,” Adrien answered with a carefree, Cali-boy smile. “Fetch . . . I mean, Emmett, sort of took me under his wing at the website and has taught me a ton. It’s been totally rad! The guys there are fantastic. We have a blast and Ted’s not too bad to work for even if you do get a bit tired of whacking off all day every day.”

“Good to hear. We were all concerned about the way you left the Residence. Glad you landed on your feet!” Brian replied sincerely.

“I’d say! But it’s all cool. I’m still hanging in there.” Adrien sounded like he was still a happy slacker, and content to stay that way, and Brian, with a newfound acceptance of things that life with Justin had engendered in him, was glad for Adrien.

“Hey, Bri! I’ve got someone here who’s really excited to see you,” Lindsey’s voice interrupted his conversation with Adrien, causing Brian to turn around towards the latecomers.

“Hey, Sonny Boy!” Brian was thrilled and surprised to see his son in Lindsey’s arms. “Come here and say hello to your old man, Gus.” Brian held his arms out and Lindsey eagerly placed the boy in them. “Wow. You’ve grown a ton this summer. Haven’t you?”

“Yeah, well, kids’ll do that when you disappear for three months,” Mel replied with more than a touch of bitterness in her voice.

“Mel. You promised to be nice  . . .” Lindsey muttered under her breath before turning back to Brian again. “Sorry we were late, Brian. We didn’t mean to miss your big entrance, but your son threw up on my blouse right as we were about to head out the door.”

“That’s okay. Sonny Boy probably just wanted to make his own entrance,” Brian was in too good a mood to care about Mel’s bitchiness or Lindsey’s obsequious fawning - he was just happy to hold his son finally after being separated for so long. “Hey there, little guy, I’ve got somebody important I want you to meet. Sunshine!” Brian called Justin over from where the boy was currently having his cheeks pinched by Debbie as she declared him, ‘Fucking Adorable!’ “Sunshine, I’d like you to meet my son, Gus. Sonny Boy, this is my Sunshine. But you can call him Justin.”

“It’s very nice to finally meet you, Gus,” Justin smiled and reached out to take hold of and shake the boy’s tiny hand, causing Gus to giggle and hide his face in the crook of Brian’s neck. “Shit, Brian. He looks just like you. Are you sure you didn’t just clone him?”

“Well, I’m sure. I was there when Lindsey popped him out,” Mel injected and held out her hand to shake Justin’s own. “Melanie Marcus. And you’re Justin Taylor. I’ve heard Lindsey going on and on about your painting all summer now. Congratulations on your upcoming show. Lindz is really excited about that.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Melanie,” Justin said, his voice just a tiny bit icier than it would normally be when he was meeting someone new, although Brian didn’t think anyone other than him would realize that. “I’m very excited about the show at the Bloom Gallery myself. I actually already started on two new pieces for the show this past week. I guess I was feeling inspired . . .” Justin winked over at Brian who chuckled but didn’t say anything in response. “Thank you for bringing Gus tonight. Brian’s been dying to see him.”

“Could have fooled us. You two have been out of here for two weeks now and I didn’t see Brian rushing over to see our son,” Melanie replied testily.

“He would have, if I hadn’t forced him to agree to take a little time for himself before jumping right back into the real world,” Justin’s tone got even frostier in response to Mel’s derogatory comment.

*Pfffttt* “What? You needed a vacation after taking the summer off so you could fuck?” Mel scoffed at Brian. “Poor Brian all fucked out and too worn out to see his son?”

“Actually, yes,” Justin responded for Brian, moving so that his body was facing Mel’s, chest to chest in an openly aggressive manner. “You know, it might have looked like all we did was fuck all summer long, but you have no idea how stressful it was to have to constantly perform and to be on display all day and night. We BOTH needed some time to ourselves, away from everyone, to decompress, before we had to deal with annoying, bitchy family and friends like you, Melanie.”

“What’s your fucking problem, kid? Can’t you take a little ribbing? That skin too soft and delicate? I’d say you’re going to have to toughen up a bit, Blondie,” Melanie attacked, her body language matching Justin’s for aggression.

“Well, I might look sweet, innocent, soft, and blond, but Brian knows just how hard I can get, and that’s all that really matters, right? How about you, though, Mel? You don’t look all that thick-skinned or hard-nosed to me either. Of course, I could be wrong. You might be just as hard as me. Perhaps you should pull out your dick and let’s have a look, Mel. Do you really have balls or are you just pretending to?” Justin smiled at Mel with such an innocent little grin, totally at odds with his words, that it was completely disconcerting

Ted stood off to the side damn near choking on his laughter. Mel had been his friend for years, but that didn’t mean her attitude towards Brian - among other things - didn’t sometimes grate on him. However, he figured he’d better put an end to this showdown between the little pitbull and the irate bull dyke since it was about to get downright nasty.

“Ahhhh . . . Mel. Justin. I see you two have met,” Ted said coming around to place a steadying hand on Justin’s shoulder.

“Yeah, we’ve met,” Melanie sneered. “Can’t say it’s been a pleasure, though. Apparently winning half a million dollars didn’t buy this little asshole a lick of class.”

“Yeah well he’s still deciding how to spend his winnings. Although, Mel, I can honestly tell you that Justin is class personified.” He leaned in closer so that only their little group could hear while the rest of the occupants of the room were left to wonder at the conversation taking place. “You see, Mel, Justin here is so classy that he prefers to do anything nasty or revealing anonymously.”

“What? Too afraid to be confronted? Sounds like he’s a pussy to me.”

“Quite the contrary, Mel,” Ted said. “It just so happens that when Justin recently came across a valuable bit of information, rather than expose it to the world, he simply sent an email to the parties involved and then left it alone.”

That brought Mel up short . . . although not for long. “What the fuck are you talking about, Ted?”

“Melanie, Lindsey, I would like you to meet The Shadow.” Ted took great pleasure in the announcement, as did Brian and Justin, who both stood there sporting identical sardonic smirks.

Mel and Lindz gasped simultaneously. They looked at each other and, in unison, whispered a repeat of the name they’d feared for the past couple of months - ‘The Shadow’ - with their eyes directed at the little blond placed firmly at Brian’s side.

“But . . . but . . . HOW? How the hell did you find out about something like that? Something over and done with a million years before you were even old enough to get your hands on a porn magazine?” Lindsey asked, her voice soft but full of curiosity and not a small touch of fear.

“It was simple really,” Justin affected his best WASP voice, his direct gaze encompassing both women. “Remember that threat you issued to Brian about taking Gus away from him - how you made the point that there’s no way to cover up something once it’s out there on the internet? Well I took advantage of that. And just Imagine my surprise when I came across that piece of hetero porn featuring one of my boyfriend’s son’s mothers. Well, I couldn’t sit back and just do nothing. That wouldn’t be the right thing to do at all. So I merely issued a warning - not to scare you, but to teach you the error of your sanctimonious, hypocritical, judgemental, asinine ways. I really DO hope it was educational.” Justin finished his insulting diatribe with the same bright smile Brian had used as the basis for his nickname.

“Damned little fucker . . . You do realized that blackmail is a crime, don’t you,” Mel wasn’t completely ready to back down even yet.

“Well, yes, it is . . . but since I didn’t ask for money or any other type of compensation, what I did wouldn’t be considered blackmail. Now would it, counsellor?” Justin shot back without blinking an eyelash. “In fact, I think what I did is analogous to say . . . threatening Brian that if he didn’t drop out of the contest he wouldn’t be allowed to see his son anymore? Would you say that was blackmail? Because if what I did was a crime, so was what you did. And we don’t really want or need to go there, now do we?”

Mel growled deep in her throat but bit back the rejoinder that she wanted to throw out there. There was more to this little blond boy than at first met the eye. Mel looked around her and noted that there just happened to be a camera right above the spot where they were standing, it’s blinking red eye indicating that it was activated and recording this entire conversation. And, while Ted had told her earlier that this evening’s party wasn’t being broadcast live like the rest of the Summer of Sin had been, it was still undoubtedly going to be taped for later use on the website. If she really did get into an argument with this little brat, it would all be recorded and she didn’t want it to be used against her anytime in the future. So, despite her anger and newfound dislike of this insolent little pipsqueak, her lawyerly side cautioned her to bide her time and not say anything more now.

“Well, I’m sure that . . . We’ve already resolved that issue, Justin, so there’s not really any need to rehash our unpleasant misunderstanding. Right?” Lindsey had noticed her wife’s glance up at the camera and was equally uncomfortable pursuing that topic while on record like this.

Justin glanced back and saw the camera as well, “Makes you a bit nervous being recorded for posterity?”

“So, Brian, I bet you’re glad to be out of here for good,” Lindsey launched into an abrupt change of subject in an attempt to redirect the conversation to more pleasant areas. “We actually peeked in on Ted’s website and saw a bit of your last night here. It sounded like you two have some big plans. What have you been doing since then? I tried to call you a couple times but you weren’t answering your phone. Michael said there was no answer when he went by the loft and his key didn’t work either, so he figured you weren’t there.”

“Well, Justin and I were busy. As Sunshine mentioned, we were ‘decompressing’.” Brian replied with his usual carefree air. “And we had the locks changed. Now that Sunshine has moved in, I didn’t think we needed to have a bunch of random keys out there.”

“So, Justin’s moved in? Really? I didn’t think you’d go through with that, Brian,” Lindsey was quick to jump on the point that she’d wanted to pursue ever since Justin had used the word ‘Boyfriend’. “I mean, now that Justin has his own money, surely he can afford to get his own place. You’ve always liked your privacy. I wouldn’t think you’d want to actually LIVE with someone, Brian. I mean what with the way you trick and all . . .” Then Lindsey turned to Justin with a condescendingly smug look on her face. “I know that you might THINK you know our Brian, Justin, but I'm not sure you really understand. Brian’s always lived his life a certain way. He’s a free spirit. He’s really not the kind of person who should be tied down, you know. And he’s never been one to curb his, let’s say . . . tendencies to wander.”

“Tendencies to wander? HAH! Good one, Lindz,” Mel broke back into the conversation, laughing uproariously at that polite euphemism. “What my partner is trying to say, Justin, is that Brian is a fucking slut who will never settle down with one person and is categorically incapable of curbing his libido. He doesn’t even understand the word ‘Boyfriend’. In fact, I can’t believe his balls didn’t drop off at your mere mention of the word! And If you’re thinking that he’s changed or even willing to change, then think again!”

Right then, their little group discussion was interrupted by the return of Michael, who was being trailed by a stocky blond man that none of the group recognized. “Brian doesn’t do boyfriends. Or dates. Or even repeat fucks,” Michael stated matter-of-factly and then dropped to his knees with a low-pitched ‘unnnnnnooooowwwww’ noise.

“Don’t mind Dumpling. He’s still in training,” the unknown leather-clad man said apologetically before he pulled Michael up to his feet again. “Now, Dumpling. You know it’s not polite to intrude in other people’s conversations, right?”

Michael looked at the man who had just zapped him and glared. But only for about two seconds before he experienced another painful zap to his genitals. He really wanted to protest. He knew that what he was saying was true and that Brian would never agree to this stupid blond brat calling him his ‘boyfriend’. But he also knew that if he said anything he’d get punished again and he couldn’t take much more of that. After a huge internal struggle, Michael forced himself to lower his chin and look at the ground compliantly.

“Yes, Master,” Michael said, his voice so low that very few heard him.

“That’s a good boy, Dumpling. You see, it’s not so hard to act appropriately in public. I’ll have you trained in no time, boy. Now, since you’ve been such a good boy, you get a reward. I think I’ll let you suck me off. Won’t that be fun? Come along now, Dumpling.” And the big leather daddy towed Michael away while the rest of the group just stood there watching in utter confusion about what had just gone down.

“Well, okay, Michael’s lost his fucking mind, but he’s not wrong,” Mel said, shaking off the weirdness of Michael’s behavior and immediately diving back into the prior conversation. “Brian DOESN’T do boyfriends. Or commitment. Basically, he’s just your garden variety whore . . .”

“Wow, and you call yourselves his friends? With friends like the lot of you, who needs enemies?” Justin jumped to his man’s defence. “I am more than aware of Brian’s penchant for variety. I personally enjoy a varied diet as well. That doesn’t in any way negate the fact that we’re now a couple and committed in our own way. I’m sure there’s more of a chance of you two cheating, even with all your talk of monogamy, than there is of Brian and I breaking up because of our mutual extracurricular activities. We’re not the type to deny ourselves and why should we? For your peace of mind, perhaps? Well fuck that! We’ll fuck who we want and when we want and we won’t sneak around about it. Can you two hypocritical cunts say the same?

Brian laughed. The more he was around Justin, the more fascinated he was by what he saw. Turning to the stunned faces of Mel and Lindsey, he instigated further. “Finally, silence! I can’t believe someone actually managed to shut the two of you up! But the ‘boy’ sure has you two there, huh? Glass houses, ladies . . .” Brian laughed mirthlessly but then figured that this was the perfect time to make one other revelation that he’d been planning.

Raising his voice so that the group of former House Boys who were still huddled on the other side of the room could hear, Brian hollered. “Hey, Mal! You up for a standing Thursday night date with me and Sunshine? We thought it would be a shame to let Threesome Thursdays die out, seeing how much you loved that particular day of the week.”

“Brilliant idea, Big Guy! Count me in!” Malik yelled back with an ear-splitting grin.

“So, now that that’s settled, would you like to go back to talking about me like I wasn’t here again?” Brian asked, turning his attention back to the toddler in his arms and ignoring both the glares of his detractors and the beaming smile of his favorite blond.

Justin, who was totally riled up by this point and ready to lecture everyone present on the fact that exclusivity or lack thereof did not necessarily define a relationship, had just barely opened his mouth to respond when he felt a rather tentative tap on his shoulder and turned around to find . . . his best friend, Daphne, and his mother, Jennifer, standing there with confused and tense smiles.

“Daph? Mom? Wow! I didn’t . . . I didn’t know Ted had invited you . . . Wow!” Justin, the erudite and loquacious defender of all things queer and unconventional was momentarily stymied by the appearance of his childhood friend and his mother.  

“Well, if it isn’t Mother Taylor . . . Although from what I’ve heard you aren’t really much of a mother now, are you?” Brian sneered, pulling a stunned Justin tighter against his side.

Jennifer was taken aback by the venom dripping from Brian’s tone. “I’m sorry. Do I . . . Do I know you? Justin, could I have a word?”

Justin snapped out of his stupor at the mention of his name. “Mom, Daphne, this is Brian . . . My BOYFRIEND. And, as for whether or not you can have a word, you should feel free to talk in front of him. Anything you have to say to me, I’m just going to tell Brian anyway so he may as well get it firsthand.”

“Brian? THIS is Brian?" Jennifer looked at the man with his arms around her son - the much older man - and then off towards the group of other House Boys. Brian saw her do a double take at Malik's back and then, with an uncomfortable frown, she turned back to her son. "Justin, we really need to talk, Honey. Could we please just have a moment . . . alone somewhere . . . I don’t think this . . . this setting . . . is quite appropriate . . .” She looked around a little bit, clearly uncomfortable with not only Brian but also the other occupants of the large house, most notably the group of leather clad BDSM types on the far side of the room. When Justin followed her line of sight, he saw some men making out while others were simply talking within their own circles.

“Forgive me if I seem a little confused but, exactly what about this setting makes you uncomfortable?” Brian asked already knowing the answer.

“It’s just that my son and I need to talk and I want him to . . . I want . . .”

“Well, see . . . that’s part of the problem right there, Mrs. Taylor. It’s not about what YOU want anymore. It should be about what JUSTIN wants. You gave up the right to have your wants matter when you allowed your prick of a husband to kick your son out of his childhood home. As far as I can tell, Justin has been making decisions just fine without your input for several months now. In fact, he made one very solid choice for himself which has left him financially independent. So, now, what YOU want no longer matters.”

“But . . . I just . . . I . . .  Justin . . .” Jennifer looked at her son, the boy who she still thought of as a small child and all of a sudden saw him as he really was - as an adult, a man, a part of a couple with this other man - and the realization almost crushed her.

This was not the child she’d raised and coddled. This was not the dependent little tow-headed toddler who had run to her for comfort and praise. This was not the youth who had come to her with scraped knees that needed kissing. This wasn’t even the angsty teen who had avoided her but at the same time needed the safe haven of her home in which to soothe his injured feelings. This, completely out of the blue, was a MAN. A creature she didn’t have the first clue how to deal with. She knew she’d been striving to produce just such a creature for the past eighteen years, but had never really thought about what she would do with him once he was fully formed. And now here he was and she was so confused about how to deal with him. She could no longer be his doting mother. But she wasn’t his peer or his friend either . . .  All of a sudden, Jennifer realized she no longer had a defined role in this person’s life and she was set adrift in the sea of parenthood.

“Mom . . .” Justin wasn’t sure what, exactly, he had meant to say to her. Thankfully, he was spared the need to say anything when Ted came up and started to pull him and Brian away, heading towards a roped off area set up around the spot where The Master’s portrait was hung.

“Sorry, folks. I’m afraid I need Brian and Justin for the big announcements. You can have them back in a few minutes. I promise,” Ted apologized but nonetheless pulled Brian, and therefore Justin who was still wrapped in Brian’s arms, away from their current audience.

Ted unhooked one of the velvet ropes that had kept the space around The Master’s portrait separated from the rest of the room. He dragged Brian and Justin into the space after him and then rehooked the dividing rope. It took a few minutes for the rest of the room to get quiet, but Ted and his entourage waited patiently for their attention.

“Welcome, everyone. I’m so glad to have all of you back with us to celebrate the end of Jerk@work.net’s first Summer of Sin!” Ted waited through the polite applause.

“This summer has exceeded our every expectation. The House Boys that participated in this competition were beyond compare and met all our Challenges with such amazing fortitude that the producers and I were literally amazed. I have never, in my whole life, seen better porn produced on any website . . .” Ted had to wipe away a bit of wetness out of the corner of his eye at that statement and everyone else paused to let the man recompose himself. “Sorry . . . But then again, no one could compare with our winners this year. Brian. Justin. You two embody everything that gay porn strives to encompass. You are both hot and sensual but you also took command of the summer and made it your own. You met the Challenges head on . . .  or dick on, as the case may be . . . and showed us just what it means to be a modern gay man. The two of you will serve as an inspiration for young gay men for decades to come.”

Ted almost lost it there, having to turn away to wipe at his eyes several times before he could continue. Justin felt compelled to pat the man’s shoulder compassionately. Brian just rolled his eyes and looked away.

“I’m so sorry. I don’t know what’s got into me . . .” Ted took a deep breath and then seemingly pulled himself together. “But, before I get to the part of tonight’s proceedings where I present the winners with their awards . . . I’d like to first introduce my partner in this endeavor. The inspiration behind the Summer of Sin. The man who was responsible for the majority of this year’s Challenges as well as a guiding light to me as I worked through the day-to-day struggles of making this competition work . . . And whom I now present to you. The Master of the Summer of Sin . . .”

Ted paused along with everyone in the room and probably the thousands of website viewers who would be watching the video produced from this evening’s footage. There was a palpable air of anticipation in the room. NOBODY was even breathing, the atmosphere was so tense, as a spotlight suddenly ignited and the spot in front of the main doors was illuminated while the rest of the room’s lights dimmed . . .

“The unmatchable, unadulterated, previously unrevealed and unknowable . . . Seymour Bhutz!”

There was a smattering of applause, but also a lot of confusion as the name didn’t mean a whole lot to anyone other than the seven House Boys who had been locked in the Residence for the summer. Everyone was looking around at each other, as if expecting the person next to them to know who Seymour Bhutz was. Nobody had a clue though. And so, eventually, all eyes drifted back towards the doorway where the spotlight was still shining.

And, about ten seconds later, the door began to creak open and the anticipation in the air caused goosebumps to rise on every body there. Until, finally, the door opened all the way and there, standing in the doorway, was The Master . . .

“Todd? NO FUCKING WAY!” Brian was the first to come to his senses and spout his disbelief. “No way is 'Backroom Fucking Todd' The Master! That’s . . . That’s just such a rip off!”

“Hey, Brian!” Todd greeted his long-time friend and occasional fuck buddy with a little off-hand wave as he moved into the roped off area. “Justin. Nice to officially meet you! You guys did a remarkable job this summer. I really have to hand it to you. You totally exceeded my expectations. Especially you, Brian. I really thought the bottoming thing would sink you. Way to go!”

“But . . . But . . . But . . . The Master CAN’T be Todd . . .” Michael’s voice was heard from the far corner of the room, immediately followed by a loud *Arrrrgggghhhh* and the impact of knees hitting the floor, closely followed again by a withering whimper, wilting down to utter silence.

While the official awards ceremony part of the evening was going on across the room, Michael Novotny was having his own personal Come to Judgment moment. He had been playing Mr. Leather's little games for some time now, and while the occasional electrical zapping wasn't precisely fun, he had to admit, if only to himself, that the whole experience had in fact been a huge turn-on in many aspects. But he wasn't sure he was supposed to be enjoying this quite as much as he was.

Michael had always been attracted to older men, especially those with a forceful personality - which was exactly what this Dale person was. The big leather daddy struck some chord deep inside of him. And the way the man had been so completely attentive to Michael all night was also appealing in a strange way. Which was why he hadn't really objected to any of the things Mr. Leather had done so far.

Ever since the studly, leather-clad blond man had accosted him and asked - well, more like commanded - that Michael play with him, Michael had been struggling with this attraction. He would admit that the way Dale made his demands made Michael feel weak in the knees. And the way the man petted him and seemed to dote on him - even using that stupid pet name, Dumpling - gave Michael a little thrill. It made him feel wanted in a way he'd seldom experienced. It made him feel like he was the center of this man's attention. In fact, Michael had never felt more cared for or had anyone pay that much attention to him - not even any of his prior boyfriends. And since Brian had been absent from the gayborhood all summer, and Michael had consequently been feeling neglected and lonely, this much constant, unwavering attention was more than welcome now.

Of course, the one thing that did kind of chap his ass a bit, was the fact that Dale - or, should he say, his Master - was using the wicked little electrical cockring to control what Michael was or was not saying. Michael didn't take kindly to anybody trying to censor him in that way. But it seemed that every time Michael started on a whining tirade about Brian and his fucking gold-digging twinkie, Dale would tap that remote control that he seemingly had no qualms about using as frequently as he possibly could, and Michael’s entire body would be zapped with a jolt of electricity. And if Michael tried to argue or repeat himself after the jolt had passed, Mr. Leather would press the damn thing again. And again. And again. Zapping him repeatedly until, a couple of times, Michael was just about to cum down his leg before his Master had finally, and abruptly, turned the stimulation off, denying him that final point of no return. But, in the end, Michael had been forced to comply, and had eventually quit commenting on what he thought was Brian's odd behavior or the bratty bubble butt blond who wouldn't leave Brian alone.

This had gone on all evening, with Ted looking on sporadically in utter amusement at Michael’s willingly helpless state. Unbeknownst to the short brunet, this had been Ted's plan all along. Frankly, Ted was fed up with his old friend and tired of dealing with Michael's hysterics, especially in light of all the trouble he’d caused over the summer. If, as it seemed apparent, Michael was unable to censor his own verbal diarrhea, then Ted thought a little behavior modification by way of negative reinforcement techniques was precisely in order. It was either that or having to listen to Michael complain all night - or worse, having him make some huge fucking scene - and Ted had been too busy dealing with the details of making the evening a success to want to deal with Michael too. So Dale had been instructed to not only keep Michael busy for the duration of the evening, but also given free rein to punish him until the annoying little whiner got the hint and shut up about Brian and Justin.

And to everyone's relief, except perhaps Michael's, the plan seemed to be working perfectly.

But, when Michael had acted out, yelling and almost disrupting the big awards announcements, Dale decided that his new trainee needed things kicked up a notch. He instructed his Dumpling to follow him and the two quietly made their way to the bathroom. Dale had already stashed a bag in there earlier in the evening, thinking that this might become necessary and wanting to be prepared. As soon as they reached the bathroom, Dale pulled the small leather satchel out from under the cupboard and handed it to Michael. Inside was a special outfit that Michael was directed to put on. Michael pulled out the pair of tight leather boy shorts and the leather harness that were identical to the outfits some of the other Slave boys were wearing.

“No fucking way,” Michael muttered to no one in particular. “You can’t fucking be serious. I can’t walk around like this.”

“You can and you will, Dumpling. Otherwise I will be very displeased. And you know what that means . . . Now, you have two choices, Dumpling, you can do what you've been told, which will please me and you'll be rewarded for being a good boy when the evening comes to an end. Or, you can try to fight me on this - not that you'll win, but it will annoy me quite a bit - and I'll punish you by keeping you so hard all night that you'll be ready to scream but without letting you come. At all. For the whole night. And I can keep this up for hours and hours, you know. So what'll it be, Dumpling,” Dale said with a low, almost purring voice.

“But . . . But . . . My mother and uncle are out there . . . and my friends,” Michael whined and immediately whimpered when a new wave of electricity wracked his body.

Dale continued to press the button on the remote, watching in sadistic glee as his submissive for the night writhed, barely able to stay on his feet. “What was that, Slave? Now, do you promise to get dressed? Or shall we keep discussing the matter further?” The deep baritone of his Master's voice made Michael shiver.

“Uhhnnn,” Michael whimpered but dropped the bag and started to pull off his shirt in obedience.

“No more arguments?” Dale breathed, smiling widely at the near-cowering man.

“No, Master," Michael replied, starting to unbutton his jeans.

“Good. I’ll be waiting for you outside. I'll expect you to join me, fully dressed, in five minutes. And don’t even THINK about removing the cock ring. I’ll be right outside the door.”

Michael felt the relief almost immediately as Dale exited the room but then jumped again just as quickly when he felt yet another zap to his genitals. "Just Checking," Michael heard through the closed bathroom door. Michael groaned. He couldn’t believe the predicament he'd somehow gotten himself into. But he didn't know what else to do, so he dropped his pants and donned the leather shorts first. They were a size too small and hugged his nuts uncomfortably, especially with that cock ring still adorning his prick. Next he put on the leather harness. The coolness of the metal clasps, which were positioned midway up the straps, made it impossible to keep his nipples from peaking. There were no shoes in the bag, so he assumed he'd be going barefoot. The only other item in there was a leather half-mask similar to those the servants at the Residence had been wearing all summer. He was tempted to display a little defiance at putting on the mask, but just when he was about to toss the thing back in the bag, he felt the electricity shoot straight to his balls again.

“Fuck!” He yelled.

“Put the mask on, Dumpling. And remember, you are not to think. That will always get you into trouble. I will do all your thinking for you. You only have to remember to obey me. Remember that and you'll be fine.”

Two minutes later, Michael emerged from the bathroom in his new outfit. He folded his arms petulantly across his chest and looked down at his bare feet, refusing to make eye contact with Mr. Leather but not saying anything. Then the tall blond Dom approached him and placed a bejeweled collar around Michael's neck indicating his ownership of the short brunet. Michael didn't bother to look up. Finally, Dale reached out for Michael’s hands next. Although a bit wary, the one thing his Master had told him early on in the evening was that Michael was to trust him. He had assured Michael that, as his Dom - even if it was only for the evening - he wouldn’t let anything bad happen to him. So, after another slight hesitation, Michael willingly offered Dale his hands.

"Good boy, Dumpling. See? You're learning to trust and obey and that makes me very pleased.” Dale petted Michael on the head before applying the handcuffs and then attaching them to a long chain. “These are just so you remain out of trouble, little slave boy. Now, let's go back to the party, shall we?"