Hound-08

The following story is for adults and contains descriptions of sexual contact between males. If you are a minor, then it is illegal for you to read this story. If you find the subject objectionable, then read no further. All the characters, events and settings are the product of my over-active imagination. I hope you like it. Mail me or if literary analysis interests you visit Eliot's Space.

Hound

by Eliot Moore

Chapter Eight

Table of Contents

Thirteen point two (Twenty point twelve)
Thirteen point Three (Twenty-one point One)

Thirteen point two (Twenty point twelve)

"He's changing on me Dale. I don't understand his attitude one bit. You can't imagine it at all. Sean was pestering me for months about our trip to the mountains. He had to practice on the local slopes. He had to take me shopping for a new snow boarding outfit. He wanted his own board. We get there and by the first evening, poof! I've got this sullen puppy pouting in our room. Then get this, he wanders off by himself. Walter and Pratt's hound Cory found him just sitting all by himself in the middle of one of the beginner slopes. After that he wouldn't go out."

"Well face it Vance, he's a moody teenager now."

"No he isn't. From what Gus said Sean should be just twelve now. That's what the adoption papers say."

"Twelve? I don't think so Vance. Gus likes to shave a few years off the boy's ages. He swore Lee was pushing nine, but you can see how big he is. It wouldn't surprise me if Lee was closer to eleven. Those papers are total fiction Vance." Even so, Dale was pleased with his new puppy. "Sean's growing up Vance, you just have to accept that and enjoy who he is becoming. You get to watch him change into a man; maybe the best part of being a father. To everything there is a season, tra la la." Dale put his feet up on Vance's coffee table. He ignored Vance's frown of disapproval.

Vance stood up and refilled his drink from the bottle on the island. After a sip he paused to listen to the giggling drifting down the hallway from Sean's room. It was exactly four years since he had carried his little Sean into the apartment. So sweet and pure, innocent and trusting; those first years had been good. The contrast between Lee's high fluting voice and the lower alto of Sean's confident replies was obvious. So too was the contrast between Sean's stripling body with its rampant cock against Lee's softer contours. Dale had quickly called for Vance's puppy to mount Eric. The sight of the two puppies together should have turned Vance on. Instead, Vance was distracted by the sense that his idle was fading. Sean was clumsy, but eager. Dale had demanded to see Sean's cum. The urgency of youth, within moments Sean obediently withdrew, his penis stretched to its limits. The effect of the curved spike below the defined muscles beneath the pale skin of his torso was stunning. This unexpectedly mature youth shuddered out two graceful arches onto the prone puppy's back. Sean shook his long hair and flashed a wide grin at some comment Dale made and then turned to his father for approval. All Vance could do was smile back weakly. He looked so Goddamned beautiful at that moment. Vance felt a lingering jealousy for the boy's perfect body and a gnawing resentment about the implications of the thin trail Sean's limp cock left on Lee's dark cheek. Sean came readily when he called and Vance took some of his resentment out on his puppy. As always, Sean submitted to his will. Vance's jealous fingers dug into the healthy cords across Sean's shoulders as he asserted his manhood over the prone boy. A burst of bright laughter from the bedroom brought Vance back. He turned his back on the puppies and eyed the powerful policeman. Much to his annoyance, Dale was rifling through the stack of mail Vance had dropped on the coffee table when they had walked in.

"Do you mind?"

"Sorry," but the policeman did not sound sorry at all. Dale scanned a postcard and tossed the rest of the mail on the table. "Who is E. T. Han?"

"Christ! Is that another one of those stupid postcards?"

Dale looked at the picture briefly and turned back to to read the short text in a flat voice. "Wish you were here. See you soon." Dale shrugged, "Cute picture of a puppy tugging at a dog's ear." Vance took the card from Dale and stared at the picture.

"They are always dogs," Vance checked the postal stamp before folding the card in half and stuffing it into his pocket. "Somebody else's mail I think. They have been showing up for years. Persistent idiot whoever it is. I've asked them to stop putting them in my box. They stop for a while and then another one slips through."

"Always from Bismarck"

"No, they come from everywhere." Vance took a pull at his drink. "There's a Henley two floors down, thought it might be them. It's always mindless stuff in that childish printing." Vance did not look forward to another argument with the post office. The mail strewn across his coffee table mocked him. He liked his sedate, well ordered life. Junk mail, irrational correspondents and an incompetent post office grated on his nerves. Vance scooped up his mail, sorted it according to size, and returned it to the table.

The conversation between the two men lapsed. Dale flopped his hands, signaling his boredom. He noticed Sean's discarded briefs on the couch beside him and picked them up. Vance watched as the beefy man held the briefs to his nose. His eyes twinkled at Vance's expression. Dale bit into the white fabric at the crotch and growled. Vance eyed him coldly. Dale attempted to match his expression, but the white cotton stuffed into his mouth spoiled the affect. He poked his middle finger through the slit and wiggled it seductively hoping to get a rise out of Vance. He finally removed the briefs and flipped them to the end of the couch.

"Lighten up Vance. That kid is still smokin'. So now that Sean's a real hound the randy little bastard is going to keep you pretty busy with that demanding prick of his." Vance mulled the comment over as he sat down across from the man. Dale suddenly laughed. "You look like a truck is coming right at you. I can't wait to see you when Sean brings a girl home." The teasing annoyed Vance and he was reminded of how little else he had in common with the other fathers.

"Sean is pretty shy."

"Sure he is."

"No really, I think he's gay. Sean is like me: quiet and introspective. We suit each other I think." There was a crash from Sean's room and the men paused to listen to the guilty silence that followed. Sean murmured something barely audible and then both boys were laughing.

"Kids" Dale remarked, "Gotta love them."

Sean sat on the bed with his back against the wall. The small puppy sat cross-legged at the other end of the bed playing one of Sean's games. Ethan vaguely remembered his first meeting with Ross. The young hound had taken charge and shown him what to do. So different with Peter. Peter had been gentle with him. Ross had been mean. "Use the other gun." Sean advised. Eric paused to switch weapons and tried a sniper shot. He was not sure how to use the scope and fumbled with the unfamiliar controls. "Come here." Eric rolled across the bed until he bumped into Sean's leg and let Sean show him the correct buttons. Beads of water still clung to Lee's hair from their shared shower. Satisfied, the little boy began rolling back to his position at the foot of the bed. Sean reached out and snagged him by the waist.

"Come here Eric," he wrapped a hand around the small boy's waist and pulled him onto his lap. Eric was very dark and his hair was a soft halo around his head. Sean gave him a tight squeeze. Eric went back to playing his game while Sean let his hands wander a bit over the puppy's body. Eric had jacked him off in the shower, even so his over stimulated cock begin to grow against Eric's hot flesh.

Eric squirmed against him and Sean's cock shifted to a comfortable position against the small of the puppy's back. Eric giggled as he played. "You're like Mark; always hard."

Sean bit his lip and teased himself against Eric. "Yeah? I remember Mark. Do you know Peter?" Dale had told Sean that Eric had been at Gus' kennel too.

"Sure, I think I remember Peter. Peter was a nice man. He has been gone a long time. Everyone was sorry when he didn't come back with Gus in the winter." Eric concentrated on the game as he spoke. Sean stopped rubbing against the puppy.

"What do you mean?" He was not sure he understood. "What happened to Peter?" A lump formed in his throat. He had always pictured Peter back at the kennel when he talked to him in his loneliness.

"Well nobody knows for sure. Gus said he had been adopted." This did not make sense to Sean. Peter was a man. He did not need a mom or dad anymore. Eric paused his play and twisted in his lap. "You know what?" Sean shook his head. "We think he ran away." Eric said it in a hushed tone that spoke of the awe the puppies at the kennel must have felt. Sean remembered his own aborted attempt to leave the island.

"Why?" the idea filled him with hope and he wished it was true.

"Well Wesley was sleeping with Gus one night and Mel interrupted him. Wesley heard Gus get into a fight with Mel about some stuff. Mel got real angry at Gus and said something about Peter taking his car. Gus hit Mel for a long time Wesley said." Well, that was some satisfaction, Sean told himself.

"Does Gus talk about Peter?"

"Nope, never" the little puppy went back to playing his game. Sean tried to understand what it all meant. His eyes switched between the game and the small muscles played along the puppy's shoulder blades. Sean liked the idea. He liked to think of Peter somewhere out there running free in Gus's car. Ethan and Peter on the road together. He reached out and touched Eric's groin. "Did you want to do it again?" Lee twisted the controller with more confidence.

Sean hugged the little boy close against his chest. "Its okay, you're probably sore."

"I don't mind. This game is awesome!" Lee giggled a little, "Besides, you're really small."

"Hey!" Sean exclaimed mildly, "Fuck you!" Lee giggled again before falling forward out of Sean's lap and onto the bed. He squirmed forward a little and resumed playing. Sean covered him quickly. He thought he was beginning to get the hang of fucking. Where was Peter?

The February air in Nelson was bitter when Garrett left the house for the office. It helped to cool Garret down. Jessica was a problem. Judy had told him not to sweat it so much but he still fumed about her lack of interest in college. It was not like she couldn't go. They had even registered for her for first year classes. Then six months ago she had announced she was not going. She claimed she was not ready. Garret swerved abruptly into turning lane and ignored an angry horn behind him. Three daughters God help me and Jessie was the worst. Garret cringed when he met the boys she brought home. She was rarely around in the evenings and slept until the music store she worked at called her in. Judy said Jessie just needed some time. Garret thought she had too much time. He needed some reassurance that she had a plan. He sighed and reached for the phone. He let the phone ring for two blocks as he weaved through the traffic. He was pulling into his parking space when she finally answered. "Daddy?" she still called him that. It helped to soften his anger.

"Look I'm sorry about this morning." She waited him out. Apparently she is not. Garret let it go. "How about we call a truce?"

"Fine by me"

"Do you want to have lunch together?"

"I work at 12:00" Garret rolled his eyes. She was not helping him out much. He thought about his day.

"Meet me at the 4th Avenue site at 10:30 and I'll buy you brunch." To his relief she agreed to the plan. Maybe Judy was right; it was not a race. Still it was hard to watch her party her life away.

He felt better when he sat down at his desk. The feeling vanished almost immediately when he found a strained message on his voice mail from Nick Rozdeba. Peter Carpenter had been arrested after a brawl that started in a store front and ended up on the street outside the 5th Avenue building. "I bailed him out when he phoned me this morning. He claims he was trying to get some crack heads out of the building. He lives there, I guess you know. Anyway he said you told him to keep people out; said it was part of his job. I hope I did the right thing." The message ended abruptly after that. Garret rubbed his forehead. The young man had receded into the background after his last trip out of town. He had almost forgotten the man was living upstairs there.

Garrett called through the open door. "Mallory, track down Nick Rozdeba for me please." It took a while. Garrett knew that when Nick got his message, he would not be in a hurry to get back to Garret. When they finally connected Nick let him know he was keeping him from more important matters. Garret got to the point. "I sort of gave the guy the impression he was the night guard. It didn't occur to me that he would take it seriously."

"Pete takes things literally. Oh, he jacks around with the other guys, but when someone asks him to do something he is on it till it is done."

"So is he working out?" Garret felt guilty he had not checked before.

"Sure, he's a sweet boy." The usually gruff Nick's voice thawed a bit over the telephone. Garret was glad to hear it. He asked a few more questions about the incident and found out that Peter was back at work. Garret checked the clock and went back to work. At 10:00 he grabbed his bag and as an afterthought stopped at his assistant's desk to pick up a company cell phone and asked her to phone the police to clear Peter if she could. He thought about his impending conversation with Jessica. It was time to bury the hatchet. He just hoped he could restrain himself from planting it between her eyes.

The building was up and the trades had moved inside. Sheets were now draped over part of the east facade where the distressed brick was being laid. When it was finished the profile would match the 5th Avenue building across the street. It was coming along nicely. Garrett decided to talk to Peter before he got distracted. He eventually found him at the back of the first floor trying to stay one step ahead of a drywall team. Garret watched him work for a few minutes. Peter had cut his hair and forgotten to shave. Garret realized he must have come directly from the police station. The short hair enhanced his good looks and left a solid respectable impression. He admired the young man's form until he turned in his work and noticed Garrett. When Peter approached him, Garret noticed the bruises and an ugly gash over his eye held together with a few stitches. "Christ Peter, I did not mean for you to get hurt." The young man simply shrugged his shoulders.

"It's nothing sir." He looked so serious. Garret liked the look of him. He carried himself well. He looked the part. Despite the cold of a late February morning Peter was down to a clean white t-shirt. He folded his arms and that showed off a healthy layer of muscle. An old leather tool belt was strapped over a clean cut pair of jeans that did the rest of him justice. "I'm glad you stopped Mr. Wilson. I wanted to thank you again for everything you've done. I got everything, both sets." Garret caught the intensity of his emotion. "You don't know what this means to me."

"So everything is working out?"

It was. The young man told him a little. Peter was starting to tell Garret about apprenticeship when he stopped suddenly and looked over Garret's shoulder. Garret turned to see what he was looking at. Jessica had found him. She had acquired a hard hat and it was pushed securely down over her red hair. Her eyes were on Peter. Garrett turned back to Peter and found him studiously watching the drywall team. There was a stretch of silence Garret felt compelled to fill. "Hem... this is my daughter Jessica. Jessie, this is Peter Carpenter." The young people exchanged glances in silence. Peter mumbled something about work and started to move off. Garret stopped him. "Peter I did not mean for you to get hurt watching the building."

"Its okay sir, I'm glad to do it. I mean..."

Garret stopped him with a gesture. He asked if Peter had a phone. Peter shook his head, still bemused by Jessica and disappointed she was Garrett's daughter. All of his money was going to saving for the car. He did not have time for friends so there was nobody to call anyway. Garret pulled out a cell phone. Peter eyed it hesitantly.

"Take this. It has a prepaid card. The next time someone breaks in just call the police. You don't have to take them on yourself." Peter took the phone and repeated his gratitude. He slipped the phone into his tool belt. He could not resist a last look at Jessica before he went back to work.

Garret turned back to his daughter satisfied with the way things had worked out. Peter had not gotten into too much trouble. "Ready to go?" She smiled at him for the first time in weeks and he decided things could be better between them. Garrett didn't make it out of the building. Constantine jumped on him as soon as he saw him. The general contractor made a veiled reference to his long absence, essentially scolding him for larking around with foolish distractions. Constantine then monopolized Garret's attention with his latest concern with the plumbing sub contractor. Garret mentally rolled his eyes, this was Constantine's problem, that was why one had a general contractor in the first place, but he found himself dragged off for an inspection. It deteriorated into a fruitless discussion about impractical design modifications and Garret had to forcibly extract himself when he realized it was already 11:30 and he had been neglecting Jessica.

It was not very difficult to locate her. All he had to do was ask the nearest person if they had seen a curvaceous red-headed eighteen-year-old. "Skimpy black coat and stone-washed jeans?" a heavy set woman smirked holding up a sheet of drywall; as if there might be a number of young women fitting this description wandering around the construction site. Garret admitted that that would be the one. "She's on the second floor." The woman gave him a wink. He set out to retrieve his daughter, rehearsing his abject apologies for forgetting their brunch date. He was sure his neglect would be another setback to their relationship. He located her sitting on a toilet that had appeared prematurely like a mushroom amid the litter of construction. She seemed to be watching Peter. The young man and a partner were installing steel studs along a wall. Peter worked steadily as she offered comments on his work. She went willingly when Garret appeared and did not seem angry that he had forgotten her.

Garret finished the day in his study. It was a chance to unwind and reflect on the day's work. His wife Judy often joined him and they would share a companionable silence; her reading a book or marking some papers, he sorting through a small part of the day's debris. Thirteen-year-old Kim had been banished to her room and sixteen-year-old Jody was likely entrenched on her computer chatting with her friends. Jessica, well his problem child was out somewhere. Garret did not like to think about that.

He tried to dismiss his anxieties about Jessica by distracting himself with his business partner's latest proposal. It would be too much for them. The company was stretched to the limit with the current project and that depended on the second phase that would also commit all their resources over the next few years. They could get bigger, but then Garrett would be involved in something he was not sure he wanted to handle. The business consumed enough of him as it was. He was rehearsing diplomatic ways to extinguish the flame of his partner's enthusiasm when Jessica dropped into the chair beside him and drew her legs up onto the leather cushion. She propped her chin on a knee and looked at him. "You're home early." Ouch, that was not a helpful observation. He hid behind the report and covered his gaff with a sip of scotch. He scanned the page a second time and when he turned it over she finally spoke.

"He doesn't even have a shower there." Her voice was laced with exasperation at his incredible ineptitude.

Garret lowered the report a fraction and peered at her. "What?"

"He doesn't have anywhere to wash and he cooks everything in an old microwave that shorts out every three minutes." She shook her head in amazement. "There's no fridge, and what about heat?"

"What are you talking about Jessie?" Garret was afraid he already knew.

"Peter; what ever were you thinking of daddy?" He had let her down tremendously.

The report dropped to Garret's lap and he frowned at her look of amazement. This was a problem he had not anticipated. How was he to have guessed? To date her interests had run to emo boys who spoke of incomprehensible bands with obscene names.

"He invited you to his room?" Garrett was not sure how to deal with this unfortunate development.

She responded by dismissing his comment with a slight toss of her head. "I asked Nick where he lived and he pointed it out. I bumped into him again as he was coming home from work." Garret imagined his daughter loitering on the street like some prostitute. He struggled with his feelings and finally found something relatively neutral to say.

"Were you over there tonight? Jessie; that is not a great place to hang out, it's dangerous. You saw what happened to Peter."

She rolled her eyes with the conviction of an invincible teenager. "You should do something."

The comment irritated him further. He had done quite enough for Peter and his mysterious young friend already. He retreated into the report. The silence stretched painfully. Clearly she was waiting for a better response. He intercepted his daughter's attempt to take his drink with a deft movement and carried the glass behind the safety of the report.

"Look; I've given him a start. He seems to be doing fine." Garret stirred. He needed to find a delicate way to discourage her interest. Garret had taken a liking for the young man, but that did not extend to allowing his daughter to visit him. Peter was ... promiscuous. Garret suddenly wondered about sexually transmitted disease. "Jessie, Peter has had a difficult past, that's why I decided to help him a little. I really, really don't think it would be a good idea for you to get too close to him." She would throw herself at him now, but it had to be said. She just did not understand what he had been involved in.

"Why, because he was a hooker" Jessica sounded indignant "that's what you are thinking isn't it?" It was exactly what he was thinking. "Are you afraid he'll seduce me, pimp me out?" This was not something he wanted to talk to her about. If Peter had told her about his past, then the young man obviously saw nothing wrong with what he had been doing. "He had to live. It's not a big deal daddy. Some of the girls I know put out just to keep their boyfriends happy. I don't see the difference." Now she was defending him. Garret understood Peter's situation all too well. He just did not need her involved with him. "He was very shy."

"Peter is a good man. I know he is good looking, and that probably attracts you a bit..."

"Please daddy, I'm not a silly school girl anymore. What is it? Did you sleep with him?"

Garret's anger flared at the remark. "Watch your mouth young lady." He was outraged and she wilted under his glare.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean that." She got up and gave him a hug as a peace offering. He patted her back to show he accepted her apology. Jessica kissed his cheek. "You know dad that was a really wonderful thing you did for him. I'm proud of you." She straightened up to go.

"Jessie" Garret said softly "I really wish you wouldn't see him."

She turned her back to him and looked away. She seemed so young and vulnerable. She was achingly beautiful to him. "Well you don't have to worry" she replied in a sad voice. "He told me he would not see me. He said you wouldn't approve. He told me not to come back." There was a hint of bewilderment in her voice and it left a silence between them. Some of her confidence returned when she spoke again. "So you go back and tell him that it is okay daddy. I want to see him again." She turned her head and gave him the same look of unconquerable defiance she had used when she had braved his wrath and announced she would not be attending university.

Jessica, Garret reflected, was a remarkable young woman.

Thirteen point Three (Twenty-one point One)

Garret put the problem out of his mind hoping Jessica would let it drop. Thankfully, Jessica seemed to have moved on. She had not talked to him about the young man since their evening conversation. She had in fact been quite agreeable lately. Over the next three weeks he was immersed in preliminary work for the second phase. Yates was overworked in Lincoln and Garret would have dearly loved to turn over most of the business end to Earl Saworski his partner and get back to architecture. It was not going to happen, so Earl agreed to add another member to the team. In the week before Thanksgiving he slipped out of town to introduce Yates to the new person. After a long day he was relieved to be heading home to his family.

David Yates was still trapped in his pathetic dream. During a break Yates shared his blog site. A picture of the small Ethan sat on the desk beside the incongruously older image of the lost boy's once younger sister. The bright boy in the school picture and the name teased at Garret's memory for a while until it came to him that Peter had talked about an Ethan. Degrees of separation, it was an errant thought. Peter had claimed this other Ethan was his brother raised somewhere in the north. It would have been a wild coincidence. The streets were filled with little boys answering to the name of Ethan. The sad truth was David's beautiful little boy was just another Cold Case file waiting to be discovered in the basement of some Lincoln pedophile.

The problem of Jessica and Peter resurfaced while he was at the kitchen table helping Kim study for a seventh grade math test. It came from an unexpected direction. "Who is this Peter Carpenter Jessie tells me you forbid her to see and how can he possibly be worse than Barry Fysh?" Fysh was the latest Emo to haunt Garret's dreams. Barry was so infatuated with Jessica that Garrett could see the lechery in his eyes as she walked around with him. Garret had not been missing his abrupt absence. Sometimes it was better when Jessica did not bring her boyfriends over.

"Look it's really complicated and for your information I did not exactly forbid her to see him."

"Well what did you tell her?" Judy began considering supper options.

"All I said was I'd rather she not get involved with him." Garret glanced at Kim. This was not a good time to get into details. "His past is... not so good." He made a desperate attempt to return to the Math only to have Kim thwart him.

"I think he's hot." Her parents looked at her in surprise. The thirteen-year-old traded glances with her parents. "What? Jody showed me a picture."

"How did she get a picture of him?" Judy asked mildly. She had rooted out hotdogs.

"Well she found it on Jessie's phone and emailed it to herself. Jody says Jessie always keeps pictures of all the boys she likes. What Jessie likes Jody likes; this time she's right, he's a babe." Kim returned to the math as if the subject was closed.

"Did you make a copy?" Judy's curiosity made Garret nervous.

"Sure, Jody e-mailed me a copy." She skipped out of the kitchen followed by Judy. Garret followed reluctantly. It occurred to him that Kim might have the wrong person. She did not. Garret took it to be a candid shot of Peter working on their first meeting. It must have been taken from her seat on the toilet and it had caught the young man turned slightly toward the cell phone camera. The resolution was poor. "He is really hot" Kim repeated "I hope he has a younger brother." Garret flinched at the comment.

"My God Garret, he's normal, and he has a job." Judy looked at the picture with a critical eye, "That's him isn't it?" Garret conceded it was and decided it was time to fill his wife in on a few pertinent details. He gave her a look and nodded significantly at Kim. She picked up on his hint. "Go back and finish your Math. Keep an eye on the hotdogs for me too." Garret waited till she had left and started to fill Judy in on the young man's past, or lack of a past. She listened in silence and studied the picture from time to time. When he finished she murmured "I see."

"He seems okay. Frankly, I like him, but his past is big blank and the sex thing." He did not need to elaborate any further.

"Yes, prostitution" she murmured before mining the picture for further clues to the young man's character. "Jessie said he sent her away." It weighed in the young man's favor.

"True"

"He looks older"

"A little maybe, he doesn't even know how old he is. Judy, picture a childhood where nobody pays attention to your age."

"Maybe he is not interested in her. That would be a hard lesson for her to learn."

Jessica had never met a boy who was not interested in her. It would indeed throw her off her stride. Unfortunately Garret did not think this would be the case. "No" he replied heavily "I imagine he found her fascinating."

They pondered the problem together silently. Judy finally reached out and closed the picture. She turned to go and then stopped with her hand on the door. "You don't really trust him, I understand, but if you don't trust him, trust Jessie." She left him alone to think it over.

Peter sat uncomfortably in the seat beside the man as he let him drive him home. I wish this was the last time, he thought to himself. I should have enough soon. He was tired of working the street but the job just did not bring in money fast enough. By pulling a few tricks each day he could buy a car sooner. The salesman beside him had accepted his lie and promised to mail his postcard when he returned home. So many notes in a bottle, Peter wondered if any of them had found their way to Ethan in Denver. He had sent two himself from Nelson before his meeting with Garrett. Now Nelson was his home and he couldn't risk leaving a trail. Occasionally a salesman passed through and Peter chanced passing on a postcard. "You really should phone your mom and dad. They are probably sorry they kicked you out. They have probably come to accept that you are gay and if they have not, well, your an adult now, they can't force you into some reorientation camp anymore. Give them a call." Peter barely listened to the man as he left the car. He'd had a chance to take a shower, sent another reassuring card to Ethan, and he had another hundred dollars in his pocket.

The street was silent when he got out, but it was not empty. He could see other figures waiting in their accustomed places. He understood that people did not like them for what they did. All his life sex had just been something people expected from him. He could not think of a time he had not shared his bed with someone. He had not been on the road very long before he realized that working the streets was seen as something dirty. Garret had said nothing about it to him, but the older man had been anxious to help Peter get off the street. Peter remembered the concerned look in the man's eyes when Peter met his daughter. Clearly, Garret did not like what he did either. That had changed his feelings about being with Hillary, the prostitute he had met. He couldn't see her anymore. He needed to be someone Garrett would approve of. They think I'm bad Ethan. Well, not everyone, Jessica had listened to him explain why he did not think they should be friends. She did not even look surprised. She accepted it and told him she wanted to get to know him anyway. He climbed the stairs thinking of the red-head.

He liked the rooms Garret had given him. In the daylight the wide windows let the sun in and it warmed the main room. Peter was raised in the kennel and the cold did not bother him. He had found an old mattress and it served him. Jessica had been shocked at how simply he lived. She did not understand that he had almost everything he wanted. This was his room. If he let people have sex with him it was still his own choice. He was free and that was all that mattered.

Peter cranked up the heater to take the chill off the room before he kicked his shoes off and padded across the cold floor to his little kitchen. He had some soup in the fridge and he decided to put some in the microwave. The fridge was nice. Despite his wishes Jessica had showed up with a few friends one evening and forced him to take it. She waited for him to change his mind and ask her to stay, when he did not, she left without another word. She had not returned. It was late and he had to work in the morning. He pulled his shirt off and took the money out of his pocket. He had a bank account now, but the car money was hid in the room. He was putting it away when he heard a noise.

The cell phone was in a drawer and he retrieved it and turned it on carefully. He never used it. He took a flashlight and headed silently in the direction of where he heard the noise. It was probably just a couple of the boys or girls settling into the room across the hall. Despite his instructions he found it was hard making them leave the safety and relative warmth of the abandoned building. When he found them the first time he gave them a room, set some rules and left them in peace. Someone had turned the lights on and he pushed the door open carefully. It was Garret. They stood looking at each other. "I came to talk to you but you were out. I thought I would just look around for a bit." Garret surveyed the evidence of habitation briefly and smiled at Peter. "I like to imagine what it will look like." Peter did not know what to say. He turned the cell phone off and leaned against a wall. Garret made no comment about the makeshift shelter, but he looked serious. "Let's go back to your place." Peter led the way.

Garret looked around the bare undecorated rooms. Peter had scrounged a bed and table. There was an old couch against one wall with a stack of books and magazines near it. The missing beer fridge from his garage was in the corner near the sink and counter. He could smell chicken noodle soup. The place was very clean. Garret sat down uninvited and picked up an auto trader. He flipped through it absently noting the circles Peter had made around some of the less expensive cars. "I don't really know what to buy." Peter volunteered. Garret looked at some of the prices.

"I'd ask Nick for his advice. He could set you up with something reliable." Garret dropped the magazine. Peter had dropped to the floor and now sat watching Garret. There were other chairs and there was room on the couch. Garrett wondered why he chose the floor. Garret waited for Peter to ask him why he had stopped by for the visit. Apparently Peter would wait him out. "I don't know exactly why I came here."

"You can have anything you want. You know that."

Garret looked at him a moment. There is was again, that simple invitation. It was as if Peter now felt he was at Garret's disposal. He seemed poised for action at a moment's notice.

"I came about Jessica."

"You don't have to worry; I know I'm not allowed." It was an odd turn of phrase and it made the older man pause.

Peter argued with himself while he waited for Garret to continue. I should not have said that. I'm a free man. Gus did not own him anymore and neither did any man for more than the hour they had paid for their pleasure. But this wasn't quite true. There was a bond between them now. Garrett had won him over. He found himself falling into old habits with the man who had helped him. Garrett would have been a good father. Garret was staring at him so he felt compelled to explain. "I... Gus was... strict." He did not know what else to say. That was as close as Peter came to telling Garrett the truth. He was not sure that if he explained everything that he might not be sent back to Gus where he belonged.

Garret studied Peter the way his wife had studied the picture. "Jessica wants to see you." Peter nodded and looked down. "I guess it would be okay Peter. This isn't a good neighborhood Peter. I need to know my daughter is safe. Can I trust you?" He was not sure what he was really asking of Peter. All he could hope for was that the strange young man would not hurt her. Garrett saw something fine in Peter, but he distrusted his judgment. Trust Jessica, Judy had said. It was very hard.

"She is a lot like you." Peter smiled. The voices of children interrupted the silence that followed. Garrett was dwelling on Peter's comment. Peter brought him back to the moment. "It's still very cold." Peter bit his lip as he waited for Garrett's judgment on the children settling into the room across the hall.

"And there is room" Garrett conceded with a brief smile.

"Yes" Garrett stood up and Peter joined him immediately. "I'm safe," Like you, Peter added to himself. The children needed him.

Garrett nodded. He pondered if the capable young man meant safe for Jessica or safe for the children beyond the wall. Perhaps it amounts to the same thing, he concluded.

Garret left soon after, leaving Peter to eat his solitary meal. He was too tired to read so he just sat and looked around the empty room. He imagined Ethan safely on his couch doing something Peter could not comprehend for school. In his mind Ethan smiled at him. Peter smiled back.

As Sean grew into a young hound the trips to the pool became more frequent and important to Vance. Sean was not aware of Vance's growing dissatisfaction. Puberty concerned the middle aged man. His passion was for boys between eight and ten. Sean was thirteen and his body showed it. Beside other boys his age on the soccer field he seemed slight and under weight. He was only average in height. Vance knew Sean was just beginning to build adolescent muscle and his penis and scrotum were heavier. They had lost the alluring immaturity of innocence Vance found so arousing. His puppy's voice had lost the sweet pitch of a trusting open child. When he rough housed with the boys his age his hoarse voice held a hint of a rasp. Sean stared at girls and boys when they were out together.

"You must be proud of your boy there."

"Thanks, my son was lucky he inherited his athletic physique from his mother's family.'' Vance watched his puppy change in the musty locker room. He did not like to think of him as a hound. Sean was wearing loose trunks that obscured his groin, the brushed steel links of the choker around his neck glittered on his flat chest. It was much tighter than it had been the day Peter carefully welded it around his neck. Vance missed the cute Speedo that had molded to Sean's tight butt. Taking Sean to the pool gave Vance an innocent excuse to look at the younger boys pool-side and in the change rooms. Vance was cultivating the acquaintance of a younger man with two sons: six and nine. Vance told a visibly reluctant Sean to entertain the boys. Vance watched the older one pause with his suit in his hands as he chatted with Sean. Keep control guy, he warned himself. He felt his cock twitch. The boy had too much baby fat. Sean had certainly spoiled him for ordinary boys. Even so, Vance had to refrain from staring at the little nine-year-old. Sean was pouting beside the boy. Vance smiled at his passport to pleasure.

A sweet five-year-old chirped at his dad close by. Sean looking over at the little boy and then back at Vance. Sean tried to respond to his father's smile. He knew his father's mood well and he understood why he was to entertain the little boys. Father liked small puppies like Eric. Sean looked at Terry fussing with the draw string on his swimming suit. The boy was really boring and Sean couldn't imagine sleeping with him. Terry reminded Ethan of Neville and that was not a nice memory. Terry's brother Gordie was more interesting, but he was only six.

Sean caught an older boy watching him as he waited for Terry. Sean's hair usually drew people's attention. He flipped his hair back and as he tied a thong to hold it back he arched his back slightly. Sean offered the boy a hint of a smile. It was mirrored back to him. Usually one of his overtures would be met with a blank stare; sometimes suspicion. This boy was beautiful. Sean abandoned the hapless Terry and gracefully moved over to the bank of urinals with a backward glance at his target. The boy followed him and took position beside him. Sean's cock grew in his hands as the boy pulled his suit down and hiked his cock free. One hand slipped down to cradle his scrotum lightly while the other lightly milked his penis over the urinal. The boy's tongue lingered along his upper lip and he measured Sean with a sideways glance.

Sean's cock continued to grow. He shifted toward the boy until their elbows brushed. They held the contact for a breath and then parted. The other boy glanced nervously over his shoulder to see if they had been noticed. Reassured, he moved his left hand onto his belly and let the finger tips trail through thick halo above his lengthening cock. He turned a fraction and Sean had a better view when the boy skinned back his foreskin and allowed a few amber dribbles to drop. A jet of urine escaped Sean's erection and he hosed it around the porcelain as his cock lost strength. He moved his hand to his hip, but what he really wanted was to reach out and grasp the other boy's member. The boy smiled as Sean's hips played the weakening stream back and forth.

"Sean, are you ready?"

His father broke the moment. Sean finished quickly and turned back to his father. He hoped he could talk to the boy in the pool. Sean was annoyed at father for keeping him from the kids his age. Terry and his brother Gordie were heading out. Sean caught up to the pair and asked Terry if he wanted to dive. He knew Vance was looking at him. Sean knew that look; father would fuck him as soon they got home. Father slipped his hand down Sean's pants as Sean crossed to the pool entrance.

Vance pulled his hand out quickly, letting his fingers travel lightly over the puppy's smooth globes and the inviting crack between. He quickly turned back into the locker room. Nauseating fear washed over him. He could not believe he had just impulsively taken such a stupid risk. The boy at the urinal still had his back turned and the locker room was otherwise empty. Vance moved to a toilet stall and locked himself in. He fumbled with his fly and in six quick jerks splashed semen onto the dirty toilet bowl. He felt better and then suddenly worried about whether he had made a noise. He struggled to recover his control. Patience you fool , when they got home Vance could bury himself deep in his puppy until the cum dripped down his smooth thighs and coated his silken sack. Vance listened to the happy high pitched voices of a group of boys returning to the locker room. There they were, so many sweet scented young males with rosy puckers and innocent organs, just on the other side of the thin partition: soft necks, graceful curving backs leading to full buttocks. Vance shuddered again unaware of his incidental masturbation.

Vance emptied his pockets beside his bed, dropping coins, keys, receipts and the battered postcard onto the clean surface. He flung back the bedspread and sheets and they slid off the end of the bed leaving the queen-sized expanse of juniper linen free and inviting. Vance bent to smooth a wrinkle before stepping into his on suite. After a quick appraisal of face he decided not to shave. He considered the bottle of Viagra. He had slipped 50 mg before taking Sean to the pool, well that certainly helped explain his impulsive behavior. Can't hurt, he concluded and popped another 50 mgs in his mouth. He chased it with some water and returned to the room.

Sean stood waiting in the doorway with a glass of water in his hand. Vance lifted an arm and gestured. The boy took a last sip and discarded the glass on the long dresser at across the room from the bed. He touched the light switch briefly, his eyes quizzing Vance. Vance shook his head. Sean's hand dropped and he came across the room and into the arms of his father. The tip of Sean's hair was still wet from his shower. It left beads of dew across his back and small prisms scattered on the hard swell of his buttocks. Vance swept his hands through the dampness and gathered the long golden fall into his hands before pulling Sean's soft lips up to his. Sean braced himself against Vance's chest and submitted to the rough tongue that swept through his mouth. Vance broke the kiss. He held Sean's head tilted back so he could feast on the young hound's flushed cheeks and engorged lips. "Say it," He growled softly.

"Fuck me" the young boy replied. Vance closed his eyes briefly to savour the words. He ran a thumb over the moist lips before shaking Sean's head slightly with his other hand.

"What?"

"Fuck my ass father." Sean's voice rasped as he said the words. His fingers began working the buttons of Vance's sports shirt. Buttons came free. His hands tugged the fabric free of Vance's slacks.

"Yes" Vance sighed and his thumb rubbed across Sean's lower lip. The hand came down, fingers circling the boy's slender throat. Vance felt the boy's pulse through his fingers. "Why?" He whispered. Sean's hands were on his chest now.

"Because I need to feel you in me."

"Why?"

"Because you are my man, my father." Young fingers pulled at Vance's belt and tugged at his slacks. Vance released Sean's hair and his hand dropped down to caress a hard flank. His fingers found the links forged around Sean's throat and he caught the dangling ring with Sean's tag. Vance pulled it tight with a jerk that made the boy stumble. "Why?" he repeated in a silky voice and then closed his eyes as he waited for the reply.

Sean had Vance's slacks open when he finally offered, "Because your my father and I love you." Sean slipped his hands into Vance's slacks pulling them open and down across the front. He kissed Vance's chest. Vance reveled in the boy's soft lips and roaming tongue. Sean moved down his chest. Vance checked his progress with tug on the choker.

"Why?"

Sean pressed his forehead into Vance's belly. "Because I'm your puppy and I'm empty." The answer was bleak.

"No" Vance replied wistfully. Sean raised his eyes to Vance's face confused by this sudden departure from the familiar. "No" Vance repeated. He drew Sean up with the choker. His eyes shifted away from Sean's -- he never could meet those eyes -- he feared what lay beneath the glistening surface. Vance kissed Sean's damp forehead. "You're a hound aren't you?" Vance's hand came round and reached between Sean's slender thighs to hook the growing eggs. His fingers threatened to claw the loose sack free. Sean flinched, but Vance held him still with slight twist of his wrist that choked the boy and drew him up onto his toes. He squeezed the offending orbs and stretched the moist flesh. Sean gasped. Vance's thumb and fingers circled his scrotum like a ring. Sean arched his back as Vance applied a subtle pressure to his groin. Vance paused as if considering the notion that he could rip the rebellious organs free and thereby stop the treacherous things from releasing the malignant Testosterone that would maim his precious puppy's body.

Sean danced before him a moment longer and then Vance released the pressure on his throat. His other hand opened and the small orbs fell free a moment before retreating to safety hard against the base of Sean's small shaft. Vance circled Sean's narrow waist with his hands. He caressed Sean's flat stomach. "You're my hound." Sean watched him, unsure of what to say or do. "You're not a puppy anymore, are you?" Sean nodded his head. "But you are empty."

Vance shrugged his shirt off his shoulders. That galvanized Sean into action and the thirteen-year-old resumed helping Vance out of his pants. The man was already half aroused. He fondled Sean's tangled hair as the boy alternatively sucked and manipulated his cock into full erection. Sean had years of experience. Vance pushed him away before he went too far. He needed to do it now. He needed to see the boy's flower inviting him in. Vance needed to penetrate Sean's warmth and he needed to see the gaping result of that penetration drooling his semen. He needed to hear Sean.

Sean took his place on the bed, knees wide apart, smooth cheeks parted. Five years had trained his flesh to accept a man and so he waited with head bowed. Vance slopped a little of his drink along Sean's cleft and then amused himself cleaning it off. After applying some lubricant he tossed the tube into the pile by his bed where he could reach it when he needed it. Uncapped, it leaked onto the folded postcard. Vance drove in to Sean's tight flesh. He raked Sean's smooth back with his nails leaving swelling tracks. Vance knew Sean's body as well as Sean knew his. Soon the boy was moaning beneath him. Vance watched his cock slide in and out and the youthful flesh gripping his glistening shaft ebbed and flowed like the tide. Sean came unnoticed, one hand holding himself up and the other strangling the base of his cock. Sean's sharp ejaculations fell onto the sheets while Vance rode him to his own release. Vance drenched the boy with his sweat. He collapsed beside Sean and softly caressed the ravished teen's trembling thigh. He kissed a salty cheek. Sean rested on his arms, knees still spread wide. Sean's elastic flesh gaped for a while then slowly collapsed as Vance slowly oozed out of him.

Vance felt lethargic after fucking Sean. He pushed past the youngster and collapsed in the middle of the bed. "That was good." Sean suggested. Vance mumbled something and smiled back at the boy. Sean crawled forward and straddled Vance's buttocks. "Its like you are still in me." Vance chuckled. Sean began working on Vance's back and shoulders. Things are still good, Vance reflected. Give me a minute and I'll show this puppy what a man can do.

Sean let his fingers dig into the soft flesh along his father's shoulder. Vance knew how to overwhelm him. He slid down to work on his father's thighs. His lips kissed a plump cheek and then drew in a lungful of male musk and sex. The boy in the bathroom had been hot. Sean had wanted him. Later in the pool they had groped each other as they pretended to play with the brothers. Sean was still horny. Vance had stretched him out and filled him for a time. He still felt the path Vance's cock had plowed into his flesh. Sean was empty. His prostate still called for stimulation and as usual, his father's cock would have to do. Sean worked on Vance trying to revive the man. Sean's needs were growing. The boy in the bathroom smiled at him.

"Come on, turn over," Sean urged his father.

Vance obliged him and rolled over with a smile. Sean's mouth began devouring his father. The flavorsof their first lovemaking melted on his tongue. "Your a good boy Sean." Vance murmured. After a time Viagra and Sean brought Vance back. Sean eagerly balanced his butt across Vance's groin and put their cocks together. His small erection stretched a little more than half the length of Vance's. It nestled against his veined organ much the way Sean nestled against the bear of a man. Sean wrapped his hands around both organs and stroked. He liked the feel of his balls rubbing against Vance's. There was never any time for play like this at the parties. Vance put his hands behind his head and appreciated Sean's efforts. They smiled at each other.

Sean paused when he had Vance as hard as he was likely to get. "Loob?" He grinned at Vance and brushed his cock head against the man's tower. Vance peered at him and then nodded toward the tube he had used earlier. Sean reached for the tube and when his hand came back the soiled postcard dropped onto the bed beside Vance. He drenched both their cocks liberally. "Ready?"

Vance smiled, "I'd say so. Ride me you little slut. Pull it out of me you cum whore. You're a hot little bitch. I should have a line of men waiting to scratch your itch. I could drive a truck up your ass now and you wouldn't notice. You're my personal cum rag and you were born to it."

Sean flinched and his smile faded. The words spoiled it for a moment. Sean wasn't fond of the things Vance said. He bit his lip and trembled as he fought to smile again. It isn't true. He tried to put it out of his mind. It was just something Vance needed. Sean bit his lip as he lined up. He was still tamed to Vance's girth so it slid home easily. He started out with a gentle motion. Vance moved inside him, pushing his internal organs around. The lips of his cavity kissed Vance's shaft. He shivered with each abrasive movement. Sean found his spot and applied the massive head to it riding up and down its length. It drove him crazy. The boy lost himself as he centered himself on the exquisite torture of being impaled. Sean always came first. He couldn't help it. He cupped a trembling hand over his sensitive head and began driving the soft tip into his palm. Finally, riding Vance like a bull, Sean jacked his second load into the palm of his hand. The sensation overwhelmed him and he fell to shaking like a leaf. Sean licked the salty sweetness from the pool on his hand as a man might slurp an oyster.

Vance's cock still filled him and he continued to rock. He road his father content for the moment. Vance shifted slightly beneath his body as his own pleasures built to a climax. Sean leaned forward to scratch Vance's hairy chest a moment and noticed the cute puppy tugging at the dog's ear. When he sat back up and Vance's inches pierce him, he brought the card along. Sean rocked on Vance as he smiled at the dogs. Curious, he flipped the card over.

E. T. Han, Wish you were here, see you soon.

As the seven words called him back to himself, Ethan froze. It had bothered him ever since Eric had told him Peter escaped the kennel. Where was Peter? What was he doing? Why had Peter not come as he said he would?

"Hey what's up Sean?"

Ethan resumed rocking gently on Vance's erection. He looked at the card a second time. Two winters he suffered in the kennel waiting for his parents to forgive him. Two years and all he received was one post card telling him that his mom and dad were having fun, that they had given everything away to his fucking little sister! Two years since Peter had slipped the leash and here was another postcard, see you soon. The words filled Ethan with excitement and a need for his friend. Had there been others? Ethan crushed the card into his fist. He started stroking Vance's thick cock in and out across his swollen flesh. His own cock responded to the battering and rose a third time. He slammed himself onto the engorged organ fearlessly.

"Take it easy boy!" Vance put a hand on Ethan's hip. Then with a groan Vance rose up below him with a heave and filled his longing for Peter. Moments later Ethan cried out his third orgasm. Nothing came forth except an overwhelming sense of release. Vance's organ flayed his sensitive muscles. He arched his back and then Ethan fell forward on Vance's expansive chest, mouth stretched open as his young body convulsed in muscle wrenching spasms. "My God Sean!"

Peter! Ethan slipped free of Vance's collapsing organ. He shuddered one last time and fell on his back beside the spent Vance. Ethan felt light and his spirit floated free above the bed for a moment. Ethan was soaked with sweat. Vance flowed freely out of his body. He ignored his father when Vance kissed his lips and tugged playfully at his aching groin. Vance bit his nipple. He noticed the stained and mangled card still held tightly in Ethan's fist.

Vance groaned, "Christ I forgot all about that." He pulled the card free and tossed it toward his nightstand. "Fucking postcards."

"The dogs are cute"

"Fucking dogs!" Vance chuckled. "Well fucking hound," he added and then pushed a hand between Ethan's thighs. He pulled it back with a residue of their love making. He smeared it on Ethan's chest and finger painted on his torso. "Always dogs." Vance fell back on his side of the bed and sighed his contentment.

There had been others. Vance was slipping away. The reek of sex filled his nostrils. He felt a cramp and a little more of Vance slipped free. A soft smile played across Ethan's bruised lips.