Christopher, Craig & Co.
Part 61: Craig’s New Gig.
I hadn’t been to the Club on a Saturday night since Chris and I broke up. I guess in a way I figured that was his place and I didn’t need to go there anymore without him. I don’t know why I changed my mind tonight, but I just really felt like I had to be there.
Alan surprised me when he wanted to go too. I thought for sure I was going to have to try to talk him into it, but he was on board practically before I suggested it.
Alan drove to the Club, but instead of parking in front, he drove around back, just like Chris used to do. It struck me as a little weird, but whatever. We walked to the private entrance and Alan knocked. He turned and smiled at me.
The door opened, but it wasn’t Leatherman standing in the doorway. The guy who was standing there was dressed all in black, and he looked familiar, but I couldn’t place him right away.
“Alan, Craig, come in boys. I’m glad you could make it.”
He clasped each of us on the shoulder as we walked in. I felt a little lightheaded, but I took off my coat and stepped out of my shoes, taking off my pants. When I looked at Alan I realized he was also now standing in just a pair of skintight cutoff jeans.
What was going on? Why were we both wearing cutoffs under our clothes? I didn’t remember even putting them on.
The man in black faced Alan. “I think you two will make an excellent addition to the Club. Leatherman had an occasional hot stripper, but my new go-go boys should be the talk of the town very soon.”
“Thank you, sir,” Alan said.
“Why are you calling him ‘sir’?” I asked. “What’s going on? What are you talking about? We’re not go-go boys. We came here tonight because—”
The man turned to me and clasped his hand on my shoulder. His eyes bore into mine. “Craig, have you forgotten why you are here?”
“N-no, sir,” I stammered.
“Do I need to teach you a lesson?”
“No, sir. Thank you, sir.”
“I think I do. Take down your shorts, boy. Bend over and grab your ankles.”
I don’t know why but it was like I had to do what he told me, even though I knew I shouldn’t. I unbuttoned and unzipped my shorts. I wasn’t wearing any underwear! But I just pushed the shorts down my thighs, then stooped over and grasped my ankles.
“Alan, fetch me the paddle.”
I peered between my own legs to see Alan cross the room and select a wooden paddle from the wall. He brought it back to the man in black and handed it to him.
No! What was he doing? Why would Alan stand there and let this guy hit me with a paddle? Why would I? Why couldn’t I seem to stand up, put on my clothes, and get the hell out of here?
The sound of the paddle hitting my bare flesh was almost as bad as the wave of pain that shot through me. The man in black struck me repeatedly.
My eyes watered and I gritted my teeth. I didn’t want to cry out. I didn’t want him to know how badly he was hurting me.
“Craig, when I tell you to do something you don’t question me,” the man said. “There’s a new Master in town. You’ll do as you’re told or you’ll find that this lesson can be as easy or difficult to learn as you make it.”
He hit me a few more times, then stopped. “Stand up and dress, boy.”
I did as I was told.
“Alan, over behind the couch there are new boots for each of you. Fetch them.”
Alan again crossed the room. He returned with two shoeboxes. The man in black took one box from him and handed them to me. “You each will wear these boots whenever you come here to dance. Don’t make me have to repeat myself.”
“Yes, sir!” Alan said.
I nodded slowly. “Yes, sir.”
I opened the box and sat on the couch to put on the shoes. As soon as my ass touched the leather couch I sprang back up. I wasn’t going to be able to sit tonight. I pulled the black boots out of the box and stepped into them, lacing them up. I slouched my white socks down over them. This was a weird getup to be go-go dancing in.
The man in black placed his hand on my shoulder. “I want to see an erection bulging out of those shorts of yours, boy.”
I felt the material growing tighter at my crotch as my dick complied with what he said.
“You’ll stay hard all night,” he said, turning to face Alan, too. “Both of you will. And if you boys put on a good show for the guys out there tonight I’ll reward you and let you cum. But you’re going to have to work for that.”
Then he grabbed Alan and began kissing him. Alan writhed against him, panting.
Alan was cheating on me? How long had this been going on? I felt like crying. But the bulge in my pants was finding it strangely a turn on, seeing the two of them making out.
Then the man turned to me and pulled me toward him. I felt his tongue part my teeth and slip into my mouth. As he kissed me I felt lightheaded again. My dick throbbed.
He pushed me toward Alan. “You two get yourselves heated up. But remember, you are not allowed to cum.”
He sat on the couch and watched as Alan bent and began licking my nipple. He worked my chest over good, stealing glances at the man on the couch.
What Alan was doing to me felt incredible, but I knew it was wrong to be here like this. I knew I should walk out the door to the car and drive home. But I stood there, letting Alan tease my nipples with his mouth.
“Bootboys, here!” the man commanded.
Two men scampered down the staircase, on all fours. They were dressed alike in leather thongs, leather boots, and leather mitts. A leash hung from a collar around each of their necks. It took me a second to recognize Leatherman and bootboy. What had the man called them? Bootboys? What was going on? What had happened to Leatherman?
The two dogs scurried over to the couch and sat on their haunches, panting and smiling.
The man opened his pants and pulled out his cock.
As soon as the dogs saw it they pounced on him, devouring his cock. I watched as the maneuvered themselves, heads bumping into one another, tongues darting out, both trying to please their Master.
Their Master?
My Master.
I tried to push Alan away, but he pulled me tighter toward him.
I knew why I was doing what the man in black told me to do. I was a slave again. But this time, I knew it. Why couldn’t I do anything to stop it?
Alan’s mouth was on the back of my neck.
I gasped.
“You boys had better go get on your platforms and dance your hearts out.”
Alan stopped kissing and touching me and headed for the door to the Club.
And I followed.
To be continued in Part 62…
Christopher, Craig & Co.
Part 62: Revelations.
Scott was quiet on the ride to the Club. Something told me that our fun night of dancing and debauchery was going to be dampened by the events of the afternoon.
I knew he was trying to process everything. It wasn’t so much that I had consciously decided to hide details about my life from him. I had actually been more honest about my past with Scott than with any man I’d ever known. I was more than a little afraid that my worst fears were about to come true: knowing the truth about me was going to cost me Scott’s affection.
If only things had played out a little differently this morning. It started out innocently enough. I woke early and tried to get some work done while Scott and Wade caught up on sleep. Then Andrew showed up, which was fine—I knew Wade really wanted to see him. Then Mike called. Something about his tone still bothered me, but I’d find out what was going on with him soon enough. And quite honestly too much else had happened since his call for me to focus much on him. Lee brought Marty back from filming that reality show episode. And then Nick showed up, excited at the prospect of Mike’s visit. I hadn’t thought about their relationship since Mike left. Back before I knew everything Nick’s professor had done to him I had “suggested” that Mike forget about Nick and move on with his life. Rather stupidly I had suggested a new interest in pornography for Nick, not imagining he would encounter any of Mike’s work. Which brought Nick to my house this morning.
Who the hell would have imagined that my old friend Lee Phillips was Nick Phillips’ uncle? I mean, there had to be more than one Phillips family in the state, right?
The look on Lee’s face when he recognized his nephew had gone from surprise to anger to suspicion in a few seconds.
“Christopher,” he had said, his voice barely controlled, “what is your connection to my nephew?”
I had wanted to be indignant—my services were good enough when he needed a hypnotized college kid for a television show, but he didn’t want me to know his nephew?—but I knew there was no way that argument would stand up under scrutiny. Quite frankly, if I had a college age nephew, I wouldn’t want him to be hypnotized into slavery either. Unless of course he freely chose the lifestyle, in which case, all bets were off.
I was digressing in my mind and both Lee and Nick were staring at me.
“Marty,” I said, “would you mind terribly excusing us? I know you wanted to return to your apartment.”
“Sure thing.” Marty grabbed his coat and shrugged into it. “Call me later, Nick.”
Once Marty had closed the door I steered Lee and Nick into the den.
“Dammit, Christopher, I demand to know why my nephew is showing you flyers for an appearance tour featuring a porn star. And I want to know right now.”
I glanced upward, as though I could see Scott lying in bed above us. “Lower your voice, please. There are people sleeping upstairs.”
Lee turned to Nick. “Nick, what’s going on? How do you know Christopher?”
Nick shrugged. “He was a friend of Mike’s,” he said as if that explained everything. Nick turned to me. “Did you know Mike was coming back?”
“He called earlier. I gather he’ll be in town for a few days.”
“Who is Mike Tool?” Lee barked.
“He and your nephew were dating for awhile.”
“Nick, your mother told me about your behavior over the holidays. I assured her it was a phase. All college boys experiment a little. Are you telling me you have a boyfriend?”
Nick shook his head. “I don’t have a boyfriend.”
“But he is gay,” I added. Normally I would never out someone else, especially to their family. But Lee was dangerously close to becoming the biggest hypocrite I knew, and I was not about to let him bully Nick. “And how dare you corner him on a question of sexuality?”
“Stay out of this, Christopher. This is family.”
“No pun intended,” I stated.
Lee rounded on me. “How much of his bizarre recent behavior is due to meeting you, Christopher? Nick was an innocent, if a tad sheltered, boy when he got to college. Now suddenly he’s gay and my brother thinks he’s on drugs? And was there something about a wrestling uniform?”
I squeezed my eyes shut. When I opened them the problem hadn’t disappeared. Damn. Jeannie always made it look easy.
Nick looked nervous.
“Nick, why don’t you go into the kitchen and have a cup of coffee?” I suggested.
He hesitated.
“Go ahead,” I urged.
He excused himself and walked down the hall.
I stepped right up in front of Lee. If it was hostilities he wanted, it was hostilities he’d get. “Drop your self-righteous attitude right this minute. You’re openly bisexual. What difference does it make if your nephew comes out?”
“It makes a big difference if you turned him gay with your hypnosis!”
“You son of a bitch!” I snapped. “Aren’t you the one who wanted me to hypnotize a college kid for Faking It? If it hadn’t been for a last minute switch your nephew would have been the boy on TV.”
Lee’s eyes widened. “You mean? But? No! What? Nick?”
“Quit your sputtering and keep your voice down. I had nothing to do with Nick’s sexuality or his original behavior modifications. When I found him he had been completely enslaved to a spandex fetish. I’ve spent weeks working on getting him back to some semblance of normal.”
“What are you talking about?”
“His professor was experimenting on him. Didn’t you hear anything about it? Edwards? The one that died?”
“I recall something in the paper about a heart attack or something.”
“Right. Well, the part not in the paper was how Edwards had warped your nephew’s mind to be a spandex-clad sex toy and then had kidnapped Marty and tried to repeat the process.”
“You’re making this up,” Lee said.
I felt someone behind me. “Nick, is that you?” I asked, turning.
It wasn’t Nick.
It was Scott. And he looked like he couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing. Or, I thought with a sinking feeling, what he had just heard.
“Chris, I think we need to talk,” he said quietly.
“When?”
“Now.”
“Oh.” Fuck me! I’m not a bad person. Why did bad things keep happening to me? I turned back to Lee. “Wait here. I’ll be back.” I gestured ahead of myself to Scott.
Scott crossed the foyer into the living room. It was very apparent he was struggling to stay calm. “Chris, I couldn’t have just heard what I think I heard.”
“What do you think you heard?” I asked cheerily.
“Chris.”
“Scott, I would have told you, I swear. But I didn’t think it was important.”
“A kidnapping and a suspicious death and you didn’t think it was important?” Scott looked at me, incredulous.
“Nobody knew about the kidnapping. Even Marty doesn’t remember it now. And I didn’t think ruining these boys’ lives by letting the world know what Edwards had done to them would help anyone.” I didn’t mention that I had been being blackmailed at the time. I wanted to be honest with Scott. I just didn’t know if he could handle all of it at once.
“How did you end up finding them?”
I wished he hadn’t asked that. I thought back. I could probably tell the truth here. Mostly. “Nick had been dating Mike Taylor, who is a friend of mine. Nick began acting strangely and Mike was concerned. Then Marty, Nick’s friend, disappeared without a trace. Craig and I tracked it all to Nick’s position as a research assistant to his professor. Unfortunately when we showed up at Edwards’ house, we found Marty tied to a chair, Nick semi-conscious, and Edwards dead on the floor. So we got the boys out of there, erased any trace that we’d been there, and got the hell out of Dodge.”
Scott took a few steps away from me. “I can’t believe this. You knew I’m working on the case of the disappearing boys. If you knew Edwards was behind it and he’s dead, why didn’t you tell me?”
I laughed, but there was no humor in it. “Edwards was behind these two. It’s possible he had done this before, but I doubt it. Some of the others that you’re looking for haven’t disappeared at all. In fact, I could probably find a couple of them for you. Some of these boys are living in SM relationships and don’t want to be found.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because I know some of them.”
“You seem to know a lot more about all of this than you’ve ever let on, Chris.”
“Scott, I never tried to deceive you. I didn’t know you were FBI until recently.”
Scott ran a hand through his hair. He looked mildly pissed, but I got a sense he was trying to rein it in. “So you’re telling me there’s been no foul play?”
I shook my head. “No, I’m not telling you that.”
“How much do you know?” he asked.
I swear to God time slowed down after he asked that. I could hear my own heartbeat echoing in my ears. I had a choice to make and no matter what I decided I knew there was going to be fallout.
I had to tell Scott the truth.
“I know more than I’ve told you,” I said.
I could hear Wade and Andrew’s voices. They were coming down the stairs.
“Excuse me one second,” I said. I rushed into the foyer, nearly colliding with Andrew.
Wade laughed. “What’s your hurry, Chris?”
I leaned toward him and whispered in his ear, “Scott’s in the living room and he just found out about the hypnosis.”
“Oh!” Wade said.
I hurried into the den. “Lee, I’m sorry. There’s a lot going on here. Talk to Nick. He’s happy. He’s heading toward well-adjusted again. You’ve got to work with me here. I’m trying to restore your nephew’s personality to what it was before he was taken advantage of by an unethical professor.”
Lee stood up from the couch. “I’ve been thinking about what you said. I’ve known you for many years. I believe you.”
“You do?” I asked, my surprise evident.
“Yes. But I do want to discuss this further with you in the very near future.”
“Of course.” I called over my shoulder, “Nick!”
He appeared a moment later, looking a bit tentative.
“Nick, why don’t you and your uncle go to brunch somewhere and have a long talk?”
Nick raised his eyebrows. “Is that okay, Uncle Lee?”
Lee nodded. “I think that’s a fine idea.”
I walked them to the door. Nick put on his sneakers and coat. “Nick, I’ll let you know if I hear from Mike. Okay?”
“Thanks, Christopher.”
Once Nick and Lee were safely out the door I returned to the living room. Scott and Wade were seated in facing chairs.
“Where’s Andrew?” I asked.
“In the kitchen,” Wade replied. “I’ll be there, too.” He got up and hurried past me, pausing to whisper, “I think it’s going to be all right.”
I wished I had his youthful optimism. I sat in the chair he had just vacated. Scott leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and his chin on his hands.
“You’re pissed,” I stated.
He shook his head.
“More than pissed?” I asked, my voice sounding a bit higher than usual.
He shook his head again. “Wade says you use hypnotism to help guys with their problems.”
I nodded. “I do.” It wasn’t the only thing I used it for, but one issue at a time was all I was willing to face.
“Obstruction of justice is serious, Chris.” He ran a hand over his face. “I know that’s not why you did it, but it’s still important.”
“Scott, I’m sorry. That’s all I can say. There are things in my past that I’ve done and decisions that I’ve made that you probably don’t want to know.”
He straightened up. “But that’s just it! I do want to know. I want to know everything about you! Don’t you get it? I’m so much in love with you that it scares the shit out of me.” He took a couple breaths.
I’m sure I had a big, dopey grin on my face. I couldn’t help it. “I love you, too, Scott.”
“But you’re lying to me, Chris. I can deal with what you’ve done if I know what it is. But if anybody else at the Bureau finds out before I do, I’m going to lose you.”
“I haven’t lied to you. I haven’t told you everything. There’s a difference. I wish you could understand that if I tell you everything I’ll probably lose you anyway.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“I hope you’ll still feel that way.”
And I told him. Everything. From escaping Richard’s house, to studying hypnosis, to attending college, to hypnotizing random guys for sex, to meeting Craig, to Mitch Driver, to Mike Taylor, to Leatherman, to Andrew Brooks, to Donald Sullivan and Wade, to Donald’s transformation into Jose Sanchez and his subsequent death, to Lee Phillips, to Craig’s involvement with Alan Jacoby, to Nick Phillips and the blackmail notes which led to Professor Damian Edwards and Marty Jones, to David Rivera and Daniel, and back to Richard.
And then there was a long stretch of silence in the living room.
I held out my wrists to him. “I understand if you have to arrest me and if you never want to see me again.”
He pushed my hands down. “But you’ve never tried to hypnotize me. Even when I offered myself to you. Why?”
I looked him directly in the eye and took a deep breath. “It was different with you, Scott. I love you. It wasn’t about control or what I could get out of a relationship with you or just tricking with you. I wanted to be with you. You. The Scott Wilson who showed up with ice cream when I was devastated by a break-up. The guy who walked me to my car after I’d been beaten in a parking lot and promised he wouldn’t leave until he made sure I was safe. The guy who talked me down when I was scared out of my mind in the trunk of the car.” Tears were streaming down my face. I swiped at them with the back of my hand. “I love you. And, God, I hope that by telling you everything I haven’t lost you for good.”
Scott stood and pulled me into a hug. “We’ll get through this,” he said, then walked out of the living room.
I was surprised he had still wanted to go out tonight, but I supposed it was a good idea. Sitting home would mean we’d have to talk, and I wasn’t sure he was ready for that. And depending on what he had to say, I wasn’t sure I’d be ready either.
I parked the car and we waited to get in through the front door. One of the bouncers recognized me and waved us over. The place was packed tonight and the music was pulsing. We made our way toward the bar, but suddenly I froze.
Scott turned around. He leaned into my ear. “What’s the matter? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Not a ghost. Craig Matthews, in a tiny pair of cutoffs, an erection clearly outlined, dancing shirtless on a platform.
Scott followed my gaze. “What?” he asked.
“That’s Craig,” I shouted into his ear.