His words hit me like someone slammed a fist in my gut. I couldn’t imagine the depth of his pain. I wanted to say something profoundly comforting, but all I could think of was, “I’m sorry.”
Sir wrapped a hand around the back of my neck and kissed me. I settled my face into his shoulder. I think we snuggled together like that in silence for at least an hour.
I whispered, “Sir?”
"Yes, Joel?" I looked up and saw the rich affection in his dark brown eyes.
"Please kiss me again."
Our lips met, and the power of our attachment swept through both my mind and my body. I knew that Sir was fair, and I’d earned the collar back. I was his once again. He would not cast me aside.
He said, “After taking the collar away, I knew that you needed a test to earn it back. I wanted you to show both of us that you deserve to wear it with pride. You passed the test in fine fashion, Joel. You are mine. I’m proud of you.”
12
The Future
Sir rolled over and picked up his cell phone. The time read 4:03 a.m. He asked, "Where are you going?"
"I can't sleep. I'm going to get a drink of water."
He kissed my chest and mumbled "Okay,” before rolling over to go back to sleep.
I pulled on my swim trunks and wandered out to the boat dock. It was still warm outside almost 80 degrees with little breeze from the water. I sat down on the dock and dangled my feet into the water. I couldn’t get the end of the summer out of my mind. Every other day I received an email from a friend saying that they missed me back north. Stephen sent me a message about how he would need to pump me for all of the career advice I’d learned from working with one of the top authors in the business. He also suggested a massive party upon my return that sounded more fitting for a conquering hero than the modest return of a good friend.
A medium-sized fish bumped my foot. It was too dark out to see well into the water, but I discerned a shadowy shape swimming away in a zig-zag pattern. I suppose the fish determined I wasn't a suitable food source after all.
I wasn't sure that I wanted to return home after the summer. I didn't know if I could leave Sir. I could go home for a few weeks, but I knew that I would soon long to come back. Sam's observation about feeling more personal freedom after submitting to his Master was beginning to make sense to me. Sir was slowly setting boundaries. At times my submission to his rules was nearly subconscious, but as I understood the boundaries, I felt like I could easily blossom in unimaginable ways of serving Sir, and, by extension, both of us.
I heard the sound of bare feet slapping along the wood of the boat dock. I didn't know how long I’d been slowly rippling the water with my toes and staring out toward the small pinpricks of light on Marathon. As the feet approached, Sir began to speak in a rough, sleepy voice. I knew him well enough that I could hear when he was still fighting his way out of sleep.
"You didn't come back from getting a drink of water. What's up?" He groaned as he lowered himself to the dock and sat beside me.
"I couldn't sleep." I knew that it was no later than 5:00 a.m., but he still thought enough of my welfare to come looking for me and check to see that I was okay.
"Are you worried about something?"
I reached up and touched the collar on my neck and turned my head to look into his eyes. I watched him rub them with his fists. I wondered if it was too early in the morning to bother him with my worries about the end of the summer.
He interrupted my thoughts. "Something is on your mind. Do I need to tie you down for interrogation to get it out of you? If you tell me soon, maybe we can go back to bed and catch a few more winks of sleep.“
I kicked at the water creating a splash. "No, Sir. I don’t want you to do that.“
"Careful, you'll wake up the fish."
“It might sound silly, but I don't know if I want to go back at the end of the summer." The light was dim, but I watched him intently to follow his body language and expressions trying to figure out what he might be thinking.
Sir leaned forward with his hands on his knees lost in thought for the moment. I waited patiently. It was more than an hour before sunrise. More pinpricks of light began to appear in the distance as the residents of Marathon woke up to face the new day.
“To be honest, I’m not sure I want you to go back either." The comment made me happy, and I expected him to say more. Instead, he stared directly ahead. I decided to interrupt the silence and speak, but he added a thought as I opened my mouth. "But for you to stay here would require some huge changes in your life and your plans.”
I dropped my head to stare down at the water. "Yes, Sir, I understand, but, if I made the changes, could I stay?"
He paused again. "Well, it would be exceedingly difficult to kick you out, but a decision like this requires a lot of consideration. These aren't decisions to take lightly. If you stay, you may never complete your degree. It might cause a radical change in your career path. There is also the matter of relocation. Rusty Door Key is a long way away from the upper Midwest.”
I leaned forward and dipped fingertips into the water before I leaned back and pulled my feet out of the water and my knees up to my chest. “Here are my thoughts. These are the ideas that wouldn't let me go back to sleep. A few days after I arrived, I wondered if I would get to the end of the summer and not want to leave, but I pushed it to the back of my mind. I told myself it was still a long time in the future, and I had other important matters to think about like working for you.”
"You do realize it's almost six weeks before our agreement ends, don’t you? That’s more than a month.”
My feet felt cool out of the water. "Yes, Sir, but I don't think I should decide at the last minute, do you?"
"Of course not."
"Can I ask you a question?”
He squeezed the shoulder firmly. “Yes, you can. I thought you would have learned that by now.”
"It's force of habit to ask first.” I folded my fingers together around my legs. "Do you think I could be successful as a novelist?"
I watched Sir's eyes open wider as he turned toward me. “Do you want to be a writer instead of teaching about literature?”
I nodded. "That's one of the reasons I pursued English literature. Everyone around me since elementary school has told me I couldn't count on being a writer unless I was a journalist. If I wanted to focus on novels, I had to teach about them to make a living. My teachers said that. My parents said that. Friends of my parents said that. I want to write stories, Sir, so I thought at least I could stay close to the stories of others if I taught classes about them."
He slipped his fingers under my chin gripping it firmly and turning my head to the side to face him. I shivered, and he kissed me with a gentle peck on the lips. I’d been with Sir for nearly six weeks, and physical contact with him never failed to excite me.
He said, “Those are beautiful thoughts about the art of fiction writing. Who knows, perhaps you could become a successful author. I would never actively try to deter someone who I thought had skills and talent. You do have the commitment, but I've never read any stories written by you."
My eyes opened wide. “You didn’t read the story I sent in my application?”
“You caught me. No, I didn’t. In my defense, I had fifty applications to evaluate carefully. I think I know my assignment for today.”
“Sir, I've only written a few stories, but maybe I could try to write something before my time here is up and have you take a look at it?"
I didn't expect the raucous laughter from Sir that followed. He said, “Joel, you’re so tentative about all of this, and you make it sound like you’ll never hear from me again once you go north. Do you seriously think I would pack you up and send you home and forget about you forever? Do you think I would treat you like you were the hired wall painter or something and as soon as you finish the job, you are forever forgotten?"
"I'm..."
He interrupted me. “You’ve changed my lif
e forever. I won’t let you forget me, and I'm sure I’ll never forget you regardless of what happens six weeks from now."
For once I felt ashamed of myself around Sir. I underestimated him. He did make a significant commitment to me. We slept together every night and made love more than half of those. My breath caught in my throat as I thought about how I was treating him.
“Don't think for an instant I haven’t thought about how painful it could be to wave goodbye to you in the Miami airport." Silence hung between us like a thin, glistening thread. Sir broke it. "Let's go for a swim."
He knew exactly what I needed. Physical activity always pulled me out of my head and forced me to concentrate on something else. The exertion helped clear my mind. He stood up and offered his hand to me. I took it and let him pull me to my feet.
Sir glanced at me and laughed. "You have to catch me, or I'm working that ass over when we get back!" He ran through the sand and prickly, dry seaweed. I ran after him, but I didn't catch him before he plunged forward into the water.
I’d never seen Sir swim so fast before. He was serious about making me try to catch up. He reached the boundary he’d set up for the furthest away from the island to swim and then pivoted to navigate a large loping circle. I was shocked at how fast he swam, and I was winded trying to keep up. Finally, he stopped, and I swam up next to him gasping for breath.
He laughed out loud ducking his head under before rising back up letting the water cascade off his head. I asked, “What are you laughing about?”
"Ahh Joel, my boy. There is one secret left I didn't share with you. I was a competitive swimmer, too. Actually, I primarily competed in triathlons. Distance swimming in open water is my thing." He plunged back down under the water once more.
"So you let me catch up to you before?"
He put his hand on my chest. "Oh don't feel too bad. I wanted to give you some confidence when you got here. You were rattled by the entire situation. I knew that I needed to build my boy up. I hope you'll forgive me.”
I blinked realizing that no one, including my parents, ever put so much effort into my wellbeing both physically and mentally. I said, “You’ve done so much for me. I think I’m in shock.” I slowly paddled my hands and feet to keep afloat.
“It always comes back in one way or another. If you cast good out into the world, it eventually comes back. If you trade in evil instead, it will eventually catch up to you. I don’t believe in hell, but I do believe in karma.“
I paddled closer to press my body up against Sir's. "Like is finally happening to Rita's parents?”
He nodded. "Yes, my boy, you understand.”
We had a slow, lazy swim back to shore. By the time we reached the little sandy beach, the first rays of sunlight were spreading over the horizon. Long, fiery rays swept across the morning sky. The Florida Keys are so flat that the sky seems to go on forever. The colors at sunrise and sunset are stunning. When we reached the little beach, Sir collapsed on the sand, and he reached a hand up toward me. I thought he was asking for help to rise, but instead, he pulled me down on top of his body.
He whispered the words, "I'm horny, Joel."
My face rested on his chest, and I pushed my tongue between my lips to lap at a nipple. I tasted the salt of the seawater. Closing my lips over the nipple, I sucked, inhaling the briny smell along with the distinctive mellow, clean scent of my Sir.
"Take off my trunks, please…with your teeth."
I grinned at the order and slowly slid down over his body to his hips. Closing my teeth over the waistband of the trunks, I tugged firmly. The task wasn’t as simple as I thought it might be. I had to move from side to side around the waistband tugging bit by bit while Sir raised his hips and wriggled his legs to help me out. By the time the trunks slipped down to his knees, we were both laughing.
His cock was already at full arousal. In his rough voice, he said, "You know what to do next."
I kissed the head of the cock and gently wrapped my fingers around the shaft. Gripping tight, I parted my lips and took Sir deep into my mouth. He moaned and squirmed under me while I licked in a slow circle around his cock head. It quickly grew thicker and hard slowly sliding toward my throat. I began bobbing my head forward and back while stroking firmly and quickly at the base with my fingers.
At the moment I thought he was close to cumming, he gave me a mighty shove and rolled me over onto my back. Sir's strong hands yanked my trunks from my body in one mighty tug. He hadn’t fucked me outdoors before, but there is always a first time for everything.
Moving with the sure motions of an athlete, Sir pushed my legs back and lined his cock up perfectly with my hole. I wrapped my legs tight around his body as he plunged forward. The first mighty thrust was enough to push past my ring, and he ground deeper with each thrust. "Tight, Joel! Milk me, my boy!"
I stared up into his dark eyes fiery with lust and squeezed as tight around Sir’s cock as I could. When he pushed deeper despite my tight grip, my breath caught in my throat. I asked, “Sir, may I stroke?" as my cock throbbed helplessly.
He growled, "Pump it, my boy! It's not going to be long. I'm seeding you soon!"
I gripped my cock in my fist and rolled my head backward on the sand. There was nothing else in the world at the moment but Sir, me, and a peak of sexual ecstasy to climb. It didn't take me long to catch up. I stroked fiercely until I felt my balls tense while Sir continued to pound me harder and deeper.
With a mighty grunt, he asked in a low, guttural tone, "Are you almost there my boy?"
I panted for breath. “On the edge, Sir…I’m right there!"
"Oh fuck Joel! Blow that load with me, now!"
The word "now" floated out into the humid, tropical air, and I exploded. The orgasm wracked my body, and within seconds Sir came, too. He flooded me with his seed. Our bodies shook against each other. After one more loud grunt, he collapsed on top of me. His weight pinned me hard to the sand, and I felt the last drops of my load ooze out against his belly.
"Sir!" I shouted it to no one and nothing in particular, but the three letter word meant so much to me. I wrapped my arms tight around him while I let my legs slowly relax. "I can't go home. You are home to me."
He kissed the side of my neck before pulling back and looking deep into my eyes. "Aww, you feel like home, too. Thank you for that, and we don't need to make any decisions right now. I'm here, and you are here, and that is all that matters for now. Truly, that is all that matters."
I don't know how long we lay together naked on the sand with our arms and legs wrapped around each other before I spied a small crab maybe three inches wide scuttling across the sand toward me. I let my right hand fall back down to the surface of the beach, and the little crab crawled right up into my palm. I was concerned that he would pinch, but he merely rested there for a few minutes and then climbed off to continue on his path.
I asked, “Did you see that?"
"See what?"
"Even the wildlife likes me. A crab sat on my hand. It didn't do anything. It sat there and then scurried off on its way." I curled my fingers and uncurled them.
"Congratulations! You’re officially part of the scenery." He rolled off to the side of me and traced a finger down the center of my chest. "Since we're almost halfway through the summer, is there anything you’d like to do down here in the Keys that you haven't gotten to do yet?”
I thought hard. I couldn’t come up with anything other than being at Sir’s side for the rest of the summer. I wanted to serve him in any way possible, and I wanted to enjoy his presence. I touched my collar. "No. I just want to spend the time with you. That’s what makes me happy here."
He leaned over my body and kissed me passionately before we both climbed to our feet and made our way back to the house for breakfast.
13
The Fuse Is Lit
Two days later, a sudden event jolted me out of any sense of complacency about the rest of the summer. It was mid-morning, and I’d finished sorting
through Sir's email for the day. The messages were mostly fan letters. A few claimed that he’d changed their lives in some fashion, but most were simply thank yous for being so creative and making them think about the world and current events differently. After finishing up the work, I decided to check my own email before joining Sir elsewhere on the little island.
"Damn!"
From the kitchen, he asked, “What’s going on? What's up?"
I groaned and re-read the message from my graduate advisor Dr. Owens. "Shit!"
Sir appeared in the doorway. "What's up? Your language is going downhill fast. Do I need to break out the paddle? You know the new rules about language. Is there something wrong?"
I turned to look up at him. He passed one of the kitchen towels back and forth between his hands. "At any other time on any other planet, it would be good news."
"Are you sure it isn't now?
I explained the message. My graduate advisor Dr. Owens said he had an opportunity to fill a temporary teaching position at the university two years in the future. One of his colleagues was retiring at the end of the upcoming school year, and the university was likely to leave the position vacant for a year while searching for a permanent professor. He could hire someone on a one-year non-renewable contract while that process unfolded. He said that I was an outstanding candidate. He’d even gone as far as floating my name among his colleagues in the department. He said the response was very positive. I covered my face with my hands.
Sir digested the news and said, "That's excellent. Couldn’t you do the teaching while working on your dissertation? It sounds like an outstanding item to add to your vita.“
"Yes, but..."
He cut me off. "And then you would be in an excellent position to search for your first permanent teaching post. Congratulations! We should celebrate.“ Sir wiped his right hand once more and tossed the towel over his shoulder. "I'm not the only one that recognizes your talent."
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