A Trial of Strength

A TRIAL OF STRENGTH - PART 83 By Rob Williams

IN THIS CHAPTER

Zack and Darius take Lloyd into a stunning fantasy. "Lloyd moaned as he saw the two black cocks swell before his eyes." Bob takes Randy on a trip into luxury. "I'm in charge now. Welcome to my world, buddy." But then Randy gives Bob what he yearns for. "You need this, you know you do. You're in my world now, man." At home the boys overpower two young intruders ... and their world is about to change.

As always, guys, I welcome your comments and suggestions. They can be very helpful in planning future chapters. E-mail me at rw6789@aol.com.

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A TRIAL OF STRENGTH - PART 83

Darius was stunned. He had blundered into a scene in Zack's bedroom that was beyond belief. He backed out through the door, closed it and leaned against it in stupefaction. It took him a while to get his mind round what he had seen in that brief interruption.

"Oh, my," he murmured. "Oh my-o-my!" He must have imagined it ... Lloyd, the handsome architect, tied naked to a chair, his body covered in cum. And Zack standing over him, working his biceps, his glorious, sweating body clad only in a filthy, ragged jock strap. Not even in his wildest fantasies could Darius ever have conjured up a picture like that.

He didn't know that Zack himself had earlier surprised the architect in Zack's bedroom. Lloyd's obsession with him was so intense that he had fantasized about the black muscle-stud and shot a load of cum over Zack's dirty underwear on the bed. "You're a fucking sex addict, Lloyd," Zack had yelled ... but he had a solution. "OK, an addict has to reach rock bottom. An overdose usually does it. So that's what you need, Lloyd, an overdose of sex. Get it!?"

And that's exactly what he got. Tied to a chair he had been forced to watch the near-naked black bodybuilder go through a bone-crunching workout. Lloyd's lustful frustration had reached a climax as Zack stood over him, his filthy, bulging jock inches from his face. Lloyd had been so close to the prize, his tongue was on the jock ... when suddenly it had pulled away.

Zack shouted, "Hey, boy. Get your ass back in here!" The door opened again and Darius walked in timidly, his eyes riveted on the naked man roped to the chair.

"Glad you came, bro," Zack said. "Your timing's perfect. I need your help here."

"I guess you do, sir," Darius said, his eyes still fixed on Lloyd."

"No," Zack laughed. "Not with that. With this," and he pointed down to the bulge in his jock. "You know how horny I get after a tough workout. I need to get my rocks off in the worst way. On your knees, boy.

As Darius fell to his knees in front of his master, a desperate howl rang round the room. Lloyd was thrashing in the ropes, foaming at the mouth, frantically trying to get free. "No!" he screamed. "Please, no! I want it. I need it ..." and the handsome man started to sob.

From his earliest days working for Randy Lloyd had harbored a resentment of Darius for the boy's intimacy with the boss, and now that resentment was transferred to Zack's obvious affection for Darius as all three worked together at the house. He cringed when Zack touched his boy sexually, and when they occasionally disappeared into the house Lloyd visualized Darius getting fucked by his master, and he beat off in a welter of frustrated desire.

And now he was forced to watch the boy service his master the way Lloyd so desperately longed to. He had been so close ... he felt cheated. His misery was complete but he could not tear his eyes away from the boy kneeling before the sweating black athlete. The huge cock was straining against the thin, frayed fabric of the sweaty jock ... and Darius's mouth moved closer.

Lloyd groaned as he watched Darius lick the jock, then open his mouth wide and close his lips over the cock and balls. Zack's muscle-pounding workout routine had made him horny as hell and he moaned in ecstasy as his boy worked his pulsing dick through the jock, licking, sucking, bringing his master to the brink of orgasm.

The mesmerized boy longed to taste his dick and he slowly pulled the jock down. The huge club sprang forward, hard as steel, and Darius choked as he took the whole length into his mouth. Zack was seconds away from shooting his load ... when he abruptly pulled the boy's head off his cock.

"Not yet, bro," he growled. "I have other plans. Stand up and get naked."

Lloyd's head was swimming. In a daze he looked up at the two naked black men towering over him. Zack leaned forward and said, "OK, Lloyd. I'm gonna release your arms but you are not to touch your cock, is that understood?"

"Yes, sir," Lloyd groaned. The desperate man would agree to anything at this point. When his arms came free he rubbed his wrists, chafed raw from pulling frantically at the ropes. Then he looked up and let out a long moan. "Oh my God..." It was two gods actually, looking down at him, one with his arm over the younger one's shoulder.

"Look good to you, kid?" Zack asked of Darius.

"Awesome, sir. He looks real hot in bondage. Makes my cock hard."

"Let's see what we can do about that, bro," and Zack reached across and stroked his boy's ten-inch rod.

Instinctively Darius did the same for his master and Lloyd moaned again as he saw the two black cocks swell before his eyes. He couldn't help himself. His arms were now free and he raised them and touched the sculpted chests, one with each hand.

Throughout his ordeal Lloyd had longed to touch Zack, and now it was like a jolt of electricity. In a trance he ran his hands over the shiny black flesh, cupped the bulging pecs, touched the hard nipples, making the two men moan. Lloyd lowered his hands over the ridged abs, down to the damp pubic hair ... and he hesitated, not daring to touch the two huge cocks standing rigid, pointing straight at his face.

"It's OK, Lloyd" Zack said. "You can touch them."

Lloyd wrapped one hand round Zack's thick club and the other over the younger man's long pole. As he stroked them slowly he heard the men's sighs of pleasure. Lloyd's body was on fire. It was a sensation he could never have dreamed of, massaging these two magnificent black cocks. He pushed them together and wrapped his hands round both of them, squeezing them together. The moans above him became louder.

Zack and Darius looked down at the architect's awestruck face. The man was hypnotized by the sight and feel of the two cocks swelling harder between his hands.

"Feel good to you, boy?" Zack asked.

"Oh, man, the feel of your cock against mine, sir. I don't think I can take much more."

"Me neither, bro. I've been building a head of steam all through that workout. This is it, kid, but wait `til you feel the guy's mouth on it. Go for it, Lloyd."

Lloyd strained against the ropes round his chest as he leaned his face forward, opened his mouth wide, took a deep breath and closed his lips round the swollen heads of the cocks. His body shuddered, his head swam, but he was conscious only of the taste of the two hard globes in his mouth. He felt them swell, pulse, then heard the triumphant shouts above him as two steams of hot, creamy juice blasted against the back of his throat. He swallowed frantically, gulping down the gushing liquid, but it was too much.

Choking helplessly he jerked his head backward and his mouth came free. But the twin eruptions did not stop. Semen still blasted from the cocks, slamming into the architect's face with such force that it hurt his eyes and forehead. Rives of cum were pouring down his face, over his lips and chin, down onto his naked chest. He was drowning in the juices of these muscular black men, choking on the taste, the smell, dimly aware of their shouts of ecstasy as they emptied their cocks over the struggling, naked stud.

Lloyd was also aware that his own cock was shuddering, dripping cum. He had been so overwhelmed by the incredible fantasy of servicing two black men that he had not even been conscious of his own explosive orgasm, adding even more cum to the juices flowing down his body.

When their breathing subsided Zack and Darius took a step back and looked at the man roped to the chair, his face and shattered body streaming with sweat and semen. Zack grinned at Darius. "Look at him, kiddo. That's one for the fantasy file, no? The arrogant fucking architect, the guy who lusted for me, jacked off over my stinking shorts. Well, he wanted to feel me, and now he has."

"You and me both, sir," said Darius, transfixed by the sight of the humiliated stud.

"Well, Lloyd," Zack taunted him. "I said I'd teach you a lesson. And there you are hanging in your ropes, beaten, degraded, your body soaked in our cum. What d'ya say to that?"

Lloyd raised his exhausted face and gazed at the triumphant black bodybuilder with a look of abject submission. "Thank you, sir," he groaned. "Thank you."

"Time for a beer break, kiddo," said Zack, and they relaxed on the couch, ignoring the exhausted architect hanging forward in his ropes, as Darius talked excitedly. After a while Zack got to his feet and said, "OK, time to bring this movie to a close. Just one more act to play out. Let's get those ropes off you, Lloyd."

The word `"movie" jolted Darius's attention. "Won't be a minute, sir," he said and ran from the room out to his truck. When he came back he was holding the digital camera Randy had given him some time back. Zack looked at it in surprise, then grinned at his boy.

"Jesus, kid. You don't quit do you?"

"Not if I can help it, sir."

"Well, I guess you've earned it," Zack laughed. "OK, guys, let's make a movie."

Darius raised the camcorder to his eye and shouted, "Aaand ... Action!"

The action was fast and furious and Darius managed to film the whole thing, even though he often had trouble keeping his hand steady. When it was finally over Darius took his camera to Zack's computer in another room.

Lloyd showered, dressed, and faced Zack uncertainly. After everything that had happened he expected the worst. There was a pause, then Zack's face broke into a dazzling smile and he held out his hand. As they shook hands Zack said, "You're a great guy, Lloyd. Hot too. Now that we've got all that shit out of the way I hope we understand each other."

"You mean I'm not fired?"

"Hell no. You're too good of an architect ... and besides, I like you, man. But a few ground rules. No more "sir", OK? We're business partners, working together. And one other thing. I know you've had a problem with Darius, but he's my boy and a great guy. You'll respect him as you respect me." He grinned. "And one day maybe I'll let him fuck you. That's something you won't forget ... all ten inches of it."

Zack reached down to the bed and picked up the old jock strap he had worn and the sweat-soaked tank top he always wore at the gym. He grinned as he held them out to Lloyd. "Here, keep them, Lloyd. They might come in handy."

Lloyd smiled. "You are an incredible guy, Zack. It will be an honor working with you."

Just then Darius came running back in. He too held out something for Lloyd, the disk he had been making on the computer. "Here, Lloyd ... a copy of the movie. Enjoy."

Darius ran back to the house across the street and for the rest of the day he, Pablo and Jamie burned with frustration. There was a lot going on in the house, but their one focus was the movie that Darius had brought back with him from Zack's house. Even allowing for Darius's tendency to exaggerate, it was evidently going to be a scorcher, the porn movie of all time, but they agreed that they should all three be together in private when they watched it for the first time.

As it turned out, they didn't get their chance to do that for some time. There were so many other things happening in the meantime that they would just have to wait ...

One of the happenings was the arrival of Bob's new car, the company car that came with his promotion as Senior Vice President of his financial services firm. "Can you give me a ride to the Mercedes dealership in the truck, buddy?" he asked Randy that evening. "I'm supposed to pick up the new car."

It turned out to be a top-of-the-line Mercedes sedan, sleek, gleaming black. "Hell," said Randy. "We'll leave the truck here ... come back for it later. I want to know how it feels to sit in a car this expensive."

There is a saying in Southern California that you are what you drive. Whether or not that is generally true, it certainly seemed to be the case with Bob as Randy looked over at him behind the wheel. He and his car were both stunningly handsome, great body, powerfully built, classy. Once again Randy wondered how he could ever have treated this man so badly, beating him into subservience.

And once again he was aware of the difference between them, a difference reflected in the cars they drove. Here was Bob in his elegant Mercedes, while Randy drove a truck, a mud-spattered work-horse, rugged, tough, but down-and-dirty rather than top-of-the-line. He admitted his insecurities to Bob as they lay in bed that night and Bob heaved a big sigh.

"Jesus, man, I wish you'd get over that. I love the tough, mud-covered truck and the construction worker who drives it. Don't you get it? I don't want sophistication... the rugged muscle-stud lying next to me suits me just fine." He laughed. "The Executive Vice President and the King of the Gypsies ... a match made in heaven."

Randy couldn't help smiling. "Yeah, but we both know I'll never fit into your world, Bob."

Bob raised himself on his elbow and looked into Randy's eyes. "OK, asshole. That does it. I'm gonna show you my world, and I guarantee, you're gonna fit in just fine. We're not working tomorrow, so I'm gonna take you for a ride in my brand new car. But first we go shopping."

Randy smiled to himself. He liked the new assertive Bob. He would never let anyone else dictate to him like that, but Bob could get away with anything.

Right after breakfast the next morning Bob took Randy clothes shopping. When they came back and walked through the gate all the other men were sitting in the garden, and all the men did a double-take. "Wow," Mark said. "Who's the guy with you, Bob? Real elegant!"

They were both dressed up ... Bob in new blue jeans, dark blue blazer and white polo shirt. The "other guy" Mark had mentioned was Randy, looking like a stranger in beige slacks, open-neck blue dress shirt and a well-tailored brown sport coat.. The boots were gone, replaced by smart loafers. The face was still rugged, of course, square jaw covered in dark stubble, black hair tousled, but the new outfit gave him a whole new, unfamiliar look.

"OK, guys," Randy growled, "the first one of you who makes a crack gets my fist in his gut."

"No really, boss," Darius said. "You look terrific." Then he giggled. "Just don't let the construction crew get a look at you in that get-up," and he dodged away as Randy made a threatening move.

"Settle down, guys," Bob said. "Randy and I are going for a spin in my new car and we won't be back until tomorrow." He grinned. "Mark, if any of these boys misbehaves they'll answer to me."

"Is that a promise, sir?" Darius laughed, and one again dodged away from the raised hand.

Whenever Bob and Randy were in a car or truck it was always Randy who drove. It just seemed like the natural thing ... it was never questioned. But not this time. Leaning back in the soft leather passenger seat of the Mercedes Randy looked at his lover's handsome face concentrating on the road as he drove. Randy smiled with a mix of amusement, respect, and deep love for the glorious man who had suddenly taken charge. For the hundredth time Randy asked himself how he had come to mistreat Bob so badly.

As they sped south on the Santa Ana Freeway Randy asked, "So, buddy ... what is this? You kidnapping me or something?"

"Something like that," Bob said with a mysterious smile.

"Taking me to some seedy motel where you can work me over like I did to you when we first met?"

"Well ... not exactly. Let's just say I'm gonna show you my world. I've lived in yours for so long ... construction workers, grime and sweat, where every problem is settled with fists ..."

"Hey, don't remind me of that, man."

"...so I thought a touch of refinement was in order. Trust me, dude, I'm in charge now."

Randy gazed at the chiseled profile and settled deeper into his seat. He was loving this, even though he felt weird in these fancy clothes. Maybe he did feel like a fish out of water, but he knew Bob would keep him afloat.

Bob took the Laguna Canyon Road exit and drove through the hills toward the beach. Then he turned left on Pacific Coast highway, heading further south. Finally he slowed down at Laguna Niguel. "This is it," Bob said. "Refinement at its best."

They drove along a perfectly manicured driveway and swept up to the grand entrance of the Ritz Carlton Hotel. Randy laughed. "Hell, man, you sure know how to treat a guy. You bring everyone here when you're trying to impress them?"

"Business clients, sure," Bob said. "But I've never brought a date before. This is a first."

"Me too," Randy said as the valets approached the car. "But of course, you know that."

As they got out of the Mercedes they were quite a sight ... two stunningly beautiful men, well-dressed, confident to the point of arrogance. The staff of the luxury hotel were used to seeing the rich and beautiful but these two were a knockout. The valets swarmed them and a purring voice said, "Welcome to the Ritz Carlton, gentlemen. Allow me to take your bag."

They followed the immaculate porter through the doors and as they strode over the marble floor of the lobby they were aware of heads turning in their direction. Bob looked sideways and smiled at Randy. "Welcome to my world, buddy. A step up from the seedy motel where we started out, eh?"

They received an effusive welcome at reception and were taken up to their ocean-front room on the concierge floor. The bellman flashed a smile at them and was gone. As the door closed behind him the two men turned and gazed at each other.

"So what now, boss?" Randy asked.

"Well I was thinking ..."

"Oh, shit," Randy grinned.

"... I was thinking. This may be the Ritz, not the Roach Motel, but when you get right down to it there's not that much of a difference. It's still you and me, just two guys. Only difference this time is that I'm in charge. In the motel, as I recall, I called you `sir' and you fucked my ass raw. But now ... well ...I'm in charge."

He pushed Randy lightly on the chest and he fell backward onto the bed. Bob looked down at him. "I often imagined what I would do if ever I rented a trick and brought him to a fancy place like this. And I got it all figured out. First I'd take off his shoes." Bob pulled off Randy's loafers and flung them aside. "Then the slacks." As Randy propped himself on his elbows and looked up with amusement Bob unbuckled Randy's belt, then pulled at the slacks and slid them off.

"And last, the shorts." He pulled them down easily and Randy was left wearing his dress shirt, sport jacket ... and his socks.

"Then what," he grinned.

"Hey, I figure since I'm spending so much money on my trick I should get something in return ... starting with his ass."

Bob left all his clothes on, but ripped his fly buttons open and pulled out his rigid cock. He reached down, grabbed Randy's ankles and pushed them high in the air. He dropped to his knees on the bed and gazed into Randy's pale blue eyes. "As I recall, in the motel you whipped me and made me beg you to fuck me. But this is the Ritz after all. Here we're more subtle. So tell me, stud, do you want it?"

Randy was consumed with lust for this gorgeous man. "Yes, sir. Oh, yeah! Please, sir."

"Please, sir, what, sir?"

"Please, Bob, fuck my ass. I don't deserve you, man. But God I love you."

"That's all I wanted to hear, buddy."

Bob moved forward, pressed his cock against Randy's hole and slowly, gently, slid it into his ass, gliding past the warm velvet lining and coming to rest deep inside his body. Their eyes met and now, more intensely than ever in the past, that transcendent look passed between them. Each one saw himself reflected in the other's eyes and they became one, joined physically, spiritually, everlastingly. They smiled as once again each man recognized his soul mate.

Bob began the slow, rhythmic movement of his hips, and while he fucked his lover's ass their eyes made love to each other. Here they were, wrapped in luxury, still wearing their elegant clothes, but they might just as well have been wearing sweaty T-shirts back in the shabby motel. Their love was the same wherever they were. It had survived time, place, pain and conflict, and it was as if they were making love for the first time.

Eventually they felt their climax approaching but they knew it would not be the end. There would be no end. There was no sound but for their heavy breathing as they felt their cum pulse upward and out through their cocks. Randy felt his lover's semen flowing deep in his ass and saw his own hot juice blast all over the front of his expensive shirt.

They both looked down at the cum-soaked shirt and began to laugh. Luxury and fine clothes were all very well, but a great fuck beat everything. Bob fell on top of his lover and held him as their laughter mounted. When he caught his breath he said, "I don't know what we're gonna do for dinner, man. The dining room downstairs is pretty damn fancy. I think there's a sign ... `We regret we are unable to serve semen-covered guests'."

And they laughed like kids at a party.

In the late afternoon they went down to the pool for a swim. Stripped down to their swim-trunks they caused quite a stir, and one of the heads that turned and stared at them was the pool-boy's. As Randy and Bob lay on their chaises Bob said, "Hmm, do you see what I see?"

"Now that's what I call eye-candy," Randy said, gazing at the tall, dark stud, dressed in the hotel's regulation white pants and T-shirt. His look was Italian, dark features, blue eyes and what was evidently a tightly muscular body under his close-fitting T-shirt. Randy grunted, "You know they hired him for his looks."

The young man walked over to them and asked if he could bring them something to drink, but they declined. As he walked away Randy said, "Hmm, I suspect that a drink wasn't the only thing he was offering."

Dinner time came and fortunately the guys had brought a change of shirt with them so cum stains were not an issue in the dining room. Afterwards they sat on the terrace with drinks. The hotel was situated on a cliff top so they had a magnificent view as the sun set below the horizon.

The ocean was so enticing that Randy said, "You wanna go for a swim in the sea?" They went to their room, changed into swim-trunks and T-shirts and went back down, past the pool to the gate that led out onto the cliffs. The pool boy was at the gate stowing the beach furniture in a shed for the night. "Enjoy your swim, gentlemen" he said, and followed them with his eyes as they walked down the winding path to the beach.

As they walked along the deserted beach in the twilight the guys didn't touch each other. There was something in the air, a muted sense that there was still something to come, something they needed to make their trip complete. Bob especially was acutely aware of the rugged man walking beside him, and his thoughts went back to when they first met, to their intense experience in the motel.

Randy sensed that something was up with his lover ... and he knew just what it was. Suddenly he pointed over to the rocks at the foot of the cliff. "Over there," he said abruptly.

Bob was startled by the harsh change of tone in his voice and, unaccountably, felt his dick getting hard. They walked to the rocks, to a post that held a sign warning against climbing on the cliffs. There was no one else in sight, the twilight had become night, and the moon was rising higher.

"On your back," Randy growled. Bob obeyed instantly and fell on his back on the sand, his head against the post. Things moved too quickly for Bob to really understand what was happening. Randy knelt over Bob's chest and stripped off his own T-shirt. He twisted it, pulled Bob's arms up and around the pole, and expertly tied his wrists tight. Instinctively Bob pulled on his restraints but realized that he was bound tight, at Randy's mercy.

Randy said nothing, turned round, jogged down to the water and dived in. Bob watched him swim out to sea and disappear. All alone now, he sighed deeply. His cock was now rock hard, and he realized that this was what he had longed for. His mind again flew back to the bondage and pain he had endured long ago in the old motel. It was why, even when he had been free to leave, he had gone back ... he couldn't stay away from the man.

And now here he was, tied up, waiting for his man to come back and do whatever he wanted to do to him. There was no man in the world like Randy. Bob loved his strength, his power, his ability to dominate. Sure, he, Bob, was a proud, successful man, subservient to no one ... except to Randy ... willingly subservient. He looked over the moonlit beach, straining for a sight of his lover.

And then he saw him, striding out of the waves and up the beach toward him. His glorious body streamed with water, muscles flexed hard after the exertion of his swim, and his eyes fixed Bob in a hypnotic stare. He stood towering over him, chest heaving with deep breaths.

"You need this, man, you know that?"

"Yes, sir," Bob said. "You know I do."

"I've always known it. You're in my world now, man. Welcome to my world." He gazed down at the helpless man. "OK, asshole. Tell me what you want."

"I want you to fuck me, sir. I want to feel my master's dick in my ass."

"You got it, man."

Randy reached forward and pulled Bob's shorts down. He grabbed the T-shirt and ripped it clean off his body. Then he fell to his knees, pushed Bob's legs over his shoulders and moved forward. This was not the gentle love-making of the bedroom. This was not the easing of a cock into a waiting ass. This was a savage fuck. This was one beautiful man overpowering another in the ultimate expression of dominance ... fucking his ass raw.

There was no foreplay. Randy simply rammed his dick into the bound man's ass and watched with satisfaction as the handsome face flew from side to side, the body shuddering as it was brutally pounded. Randy was like a wild animal and Bob gazed with awe into his blazing eyes. Instinctively he pulled at his restraints to get free but knew that he was at the muscle-stud's mercy. He knew from the past that once he had submitted to the man's force there was no turning back, no plea for mercy. He took whatever Randy dished out.

Despite the pain in his ass Bob felt ecstatic, alive, complete. This is where he wanted to be, always ... always with this glorious, savage man. As the pounding continued he felt the cock become a piston inside him and heard the deep voice.

"You mother-fucker. This is what you needed, man, this is what you always need. You know I'm the best, man. Tell me, who's your master?"

"You are, sir. Always ... always."

"You wanna feel your master's juice in you?'

"Yes, sir."

"OK. When I order you to cum, you shoot your load."

"Yes, sir." Bob felt the surge in Randy's cock, saw the eyes flash and watched the rugged face jerk backward.

"Now!" Randy yelled to the sky, and Bob's cock exploded as he felt his master empty his load deep inside his ass. Their bodies shook, chests heaving with rasping breaths. As their cocks drained they gazed at each other in a trance. Then suddenly it was over. Randy pulled out of Bob's ass, leaned forward and untied his wrists. He sprang to his feet, reached down to grab his wrist and pulled him to his feet. They fell into each other's arms, wrapped in a tight bear hug.

"God, I can't get enough of you," Randy breathed in Bob's ear. "Anytime you want that, man, you don't have to say a word. I'll know."

"Anytime?"

"As often as you like, buddy."

They were shirtless now as they climbed up the cliff path, and when they reached the top the pool-boy was still standing at the gate to the hotel. He grinned at them and said in a thick Italian accent, "You gentlemen look as if you had a good time.

"The best," Bob smiled. "You're working late."

"Actually, sir, I got off duty half an hour ago. I just waited here to make sure you got back safely."

"Off you go, then. You've probably got a hot date waiting for you."

"Actually no, sir. I'm free tonight."

Randy seized the bait. "Care to stop by our room for a drink?"

The dark face broke into a dazzling smile. "I'd love to, sir. I know your room number. I checked."

And so it was that half an hour later there was a knock at their door and the young Italian came in pushing a drinks cart. The smile dazzled again as he said, "My name is Mario, sir. I brought this from room service. It's on the house."

"Yeah?" Randy smiled. "What else is on the house?"

Mario stood in front of them and, still smiling, pulled off his T-shirt.

"Jesus," Randy said. "This day just won't quit."

Bob laughed. "Not if I can help it."

It was the afternoon of the next day and Jamie and Pablo were on tenterhooks. Randy and Bob were still away, Mark was still at work so they had the house to themselves. Darius was working with Zack across the street and they were waiting impatiently for him to come back so they could finally watch the movie Darius had made of Zack and Lloyd.

At last Darius came running in. "OK, upstairs, guys. This is it ... the time has come." They all ran upstairs and Darius rummaged around in a drawer. He pulled out a disk and inserted it into the DVD player. The movie had just flickered into life when they heard the sound of a car starting up outside.

"Shit," said Darius, snapping off the TV. "Someone's coming."

"No, said Pablo. "Someone's going. Someone started one of the cars. Come on dudes!"

They jostled each other as they rushed down the stairs, across the lawn and out through the gate, just in time to see Bob's SUV pulling away. "They're stealing the car!" Jamie yelled and they all took off after it. The driver obviously panicked and only got a hundred yards up the hill when he swerved and the car spun across the road and stalled in a ditch.

The three boys caught up with the car quickly, opened the doors and pulled the stunned driver and passenger out. In the blur of angry reflexes they didn't get a good look at the guys, just enough to know they were young males. Pablo grabbed one, Darius the other and half dragged them down the hill and pushed them through the gate of the house.

"Let's teach them a lesson, dude," Pablo shouted to Darius. "Bring them to the tree ... hey Jamie, get that rope over there."

The two victims put up little resistance and after a short burst of frenzied action they were tied to the tree, one facing Darius, the other Pablo. Pablo's notorious anger impulses ruled the scene as he yelled, "OK, dude, let's show them who's boss around here." He punched his guy in the stomach and Darius slapped the other boy's face."

Jamie stood on the sidelines in confusion. "Hey, dudes, don't you think we should let Mark deal with this? He'll be home any minute. He'll know what to do."

"Bullshit," Pablo yelled. "We can take care of assholes like this." He pulled the belt from his jeans and swiped it across the young guy's chest. By now the victims were sobbing with fear and the pain of the onslaught. But Pablo and Darius didn't let up, fueled by their rush of anger.

"Hey, go easy, you guys," Jamie persisted. "Let's just wait and turn them over to Mark."

But Pablo and Darius were not listening. The howls from the victims increased as the guys laid into them. The action was so intense, so loud, that nobody heard the Mercedes pulling up outside, nobody heard the gate opening ... but they all heard the deep voice bellow, "STOP." Randy and Bob were back, and they stood in amazement, trying to take in the scene.

"What the fuck's going on?" Randy yelled. "Who the hell are these guys?"

The three boys all talked at once. "These jerk-offs were stealing Bob's SUV ... we caught up with them ... we're teaching them a lesson ..." Jamie cut in, "I thought we should wait for Mark ..." "Nah, we can handle pricks like these two ..."

"OK, that's enough!" Randy's commanding voice brought silence, except for the muffled sobbing of the guys tied to the tree. In an attempt to calm things down Bob said in a softer tone, "Pablo, Darius, come away from there. Jamie, go untie those two.

In less than a minute the small group stood looking as the two young guys tried to recover, rubbing their chafed wrists, wiping their eyes. They turned to face their captors and stood together, heads bowed. Now that the action was over everyone got a good look at them for the first time. They were young, both around twenty, both scruffily dressed, same height, same slim build, same light brown hair.

Then slowly, they raised their heads and looked up with fear in their eyes. The group gazed at them in amazement.

They were identical twins.

TO BE CONTINUED in "A Trial Of Strength ... Part 84"