Reluctant Gladiator

RELUCTANT GLADIATOR - Part Forty Six A story by Pete Brown (petebrownuk @ yahoo.com)

Read all of Pete's stories at groups.yahoo.com/group/petebrownseroticstories

By the time I'd introduced Darren, Ryan and Mike to Tom, Luke had come down the stairs and keeping an eye on his father as if he was testing to see what the reaction would be, he kissed Darren and Mike (who flinched at it as he doesn't really like public displays of affection), then threw his arms around Ryan and began to kiss him passionately. When they broke, I asked where Jamie was.

"He's not feeling well, Steve. After he showered, he went to bed..."

"Go and tell him to get his ass down here. At once."

"I'll come with you.", Darren added.

"No! Stay there. I want you to see how Jamie is publicly, rather than in private. Get a move on, Luke..."

We all sat there then until Luke came back and said quietly "He doesn't want to come down. He's not feeling well...."

"I've hit him once already. It's your turn, Mike! Go and 'persuade' him to join us, and remind him that young punks don't keep us older guys waiting...."

Mike grinned that wolfish grin he has when he can see there's a prospect of some physical action. "He might be reluctant, Steve - and you know, things might get a little rough, stuff could get broken..."

I looked at Tom who sort of nodded an assent, and told Mike "I think you're right - even though he's not in good shape, you know how Jamie doesn't take well to being told what to do. So if stuff gets broken, so be it - but not any of Jamie's bones, Mike, OK?"

He grinned again, and with that lovely panther-like grace he has even though he's a big guy, he got up from the couch in a sinuous, fluid motion and headed for the door. We all sat there then looking at each other, until we heard muffled shouting, followed by some bumps and crashes from upstairs. Mike came back into the room then with Jamie slung casually over one shoulder - a Jamie who'd clearly had the fight knocked out of him as he lay there hardly moving, with his arms and legs simply dangling down. Mike unceremoniously dumped him onto the floor in front of us all - Tom flinched at the crash, but the rest of us knew that there was no real harm done as we were used to being tossed around like that in fights.

Jamie lay there for a few seconds, then laboriously raised himself to a sitting position, and kind of buried his head in his hands. He looked the picture of misery - we'd never seen him like that before, not even when he'd really been beaten up after losing a fight in the arena. Darren couldn't contain himself and went and knelt alongside him, putting his arms around Jamie's shoulders and whispering stuff into his ear.

Slowly Jamie 'unwound' himself and got to his feet. He didn't acknowledge any of us but said to Tom, as if it was the most normal thing in the world, "I've got to go out. Give me a couple of hundred new bucks, dad."

I could hardly believe it - Tom reached for his wallet! He saw my look of incredulity and muttered, as if he was ashamed of himself "He's in a bad way, Steve, he needs stuff...."

"If you want Jamie back, stay out of this, Tom. Mike and I saw a few young marines with the kind of problem Jamie has. We mostly managed to stop them ruining their lives."

He looked despairingly at me, then shrugged. I turned to Mike "I guess you mostly made a wreck of that room upstairs, so we might as well use that..."

Mike nodded. "Stupid punk. He's never learned that a boxer and wrestler like him can't beat a bruiser like me."

"That's as may be - but bring him along...."

"No....", Jamie shouted as Mike approached him. I saw Darren looking worried and starting to adopt the 'fight' stance, and I moved to him and grasped him around the shoulders. "No, Darren. You'd better stay out of this - Mike and me have been here before, and it's not going to be pleasant. You'll find it too hard to let us get on with it.... And you'll be tempted to give in to him when he's puking and crying and begging and pleading.... You don't want to see him like that, and I reckon that deep down Jamie wouldn't want you to see him in this terrible state: you and he were always so proud of your bodies, how fit you were..."

As I said this I nodded at Mike and he grabbed at Jamie, who put up some sort of resistance until Mike slapped him really had a few times, then picked him up and carried him out of the room.

I looked at Tom. "This is going to be rough. You mustn't interfere...."

He nodded. "Are there servants?"

He nodded again. "Give them time off. Two weeks vacation. And in the meantime we'll all move in here - there seems to be a lot of space: not that we need all that much as we're used to sharing rooms, beds..."

Tom nodded again and I continued "You'd better give Ryan some car keys and some money, and he can go out and get supplies...."

It took a week to 'break' Jamie of his habit. It wasn't at all pleasant for any of his buddies who were restraining him and keeping him safe, and we all knew it must have been agony for Jamie, judging from the way his limbs were constantly contorting and he was screaming and crying. Then, almost miraculously, he fell into a sleep and when he awoke a few hours later he seemed to be almost normal - although very feeble!

Darren, who could hardly bear to be in the same room during Jamie's agony, now tenderly took Jamie and they showered together, then they both got into a clean bed (with the sheets freshly laundered and not covered in sweat and piss and shit) and lay there in each others arms. I saw Ryan looking wistfully at them, and said quietly to him "Remember what we said? They really are together, you know.... It's hard, Ryan, but that's how it is."

"I know, Steve. But it's great, isn't it, to see them like that? I can hardly wait for Jamie to get his strength back - then the four of us...."

"You've been talking about it?"

"Well, Darren and me have. We had a lot of fun when you were making us all swap partners, and Darren reckons that we ought to carry on doing it - not every night, but, say, once a week...."

"You didn't ask me!"

Ryan looked a bit embarrassed. "Well you and Mike - you're close buddies...."

"You know how Mike likes to fuck, even so...."

"So you want in on our playtimes, do you, Steve?"

"I reckon so. Once a week sounds about right - it'll be like a group of guys getting together to bowl, or play tennis... Only a bit more exciting." I got a bit more serious then and went on "Are you happy with all of this, Ryan? You're a free man, after all, and you could go back to the USA, go home...."

Ryan looked amazingly thoughtful and told me quietly "You know I really wanted to be with Darren, but deep down I recognise that's never going to happen - not with Jamie around, anyway. And Luke is a lot of fun, and he's surprisingly mature... And then there's you and Mike: well, I couldn't ask for better buddies and role models, could I? And as for going 'home' - this is 'home', Steve: anywhere with you and the other guys is more 'home' to me than that place I was living with my folks where I had to deny myself all the time, and I was only valued as something to be used as a bargain in business deals, not for myself..."

"But the money, Ryan: your family's wealthy...."

"So what? I've seen how it is with the five of you, Steve: money doesn't matter - it's better to be with guys you really care about, and who care for you...."

Than night as Mike and I lay together and we listened to peaceful muttering coming from Jamie and Darren, and then the unmistakable sounds of really enthusiastic fucking from Ryan and Luke, I whispered "So what the fuck are we going to do now, Mike?"

"What do you mean?"

"Come on, think about it! We're all free guys now, as long as we stay out of the USA. What are we going to do with the rest of our lives?"

"Fuck me, Steve! I don't know. You're the thinker - you tell me."

"I reckon we've got a bit of a problem. You and Jamie.... You're fighters. You liked being gladiators. I reckon that life suited you even better than being in the marines. And Jamie's the same - neither of you are ever going to be able to resist a fight. Then there's Darren and me - we can fight, but we mostly don't"

I felt Mike tense slightly, then he bit my shoulder gently as that's somehow a very sensual thing to do - for a tough guy he can be surprisingly caring sometimes. "Do you remember when we joined the marines, Steve? I don't know how it was for you, but in the first week I had an instructor who said there were three kinds of guys - those who you could never train to fight and kill; those who you could turn into fighters and killers if you trained them properly: spend long enough training and indoctrinating them and they'd turn a gun on anyone if ordered to; and a third group who were' naturals' and all that training did was make them even better. Well I reckon Jamie and me are in that last group.... And you and Darren are right there in the middle - you fought as gladiators because you were trained to. So you're right about us, but so fucking what?"

"What it means is that unless we choose carefully some of us are always going to be unhappy with life. You've seen what being 'confined' to a respectable life here did to Jamie. I don't want that happening to you, Mike..."

"No fucking way! He's a stupid young punk who didn't think about his body. There's no way I'd let myself get into that state..."

"Don't be too hard on Jamie: he was after the excitement, the living on the edge, the danger.... Anyway, we've got six of us who it seems want to stick together, especially after what we've all been through. And we've got to find something that lets us all fulfil ourselves whilst keeping us together..."

"There's no hurry.... Come here...." Mike pulled me close to him and began to tease my dick. "You're ready for it, aren't you, Steve? I'll jerk you off, and lube you... Listening to Luke and Ryan has made me really horny...."

"No, Mike! We need to think. We need to plan... There isn't a lot of time, as now Jamie's starting to recover we've got to start making a move...."

Mike's hand was sliding up and down my dick now though and of course I responded, and for the next few minutes I was so distracted that I stopped worrying about the future. I didn't want to be fucked though, so as Mike played with me so I began to jerk his dick and at the same time suck and bite at his nips, which always arouses him even more. And afterwards, as he always did, Mike fell asleep. I lay there for a few minutes worrying about what was going to happen to us all, until of course I too drifted off, as you do after really good sex.

The following morning I went to see Tom, and carefully closed the door of his study so we would not be disturbed. I spent quite a time recounting what had happened to us, as you have all been reading, then looked at him and tried to summarise it. "So you see, Tom, all your money doesn't really help - if you give it to Jamie and Luke - who I reckon is a lot like his brother - they'll go right 'off the rails'. They need - no, crave - excitement and danger, as does Mike."

"And Darren and Ryan and you don't?"

"No, Tom. We do too - especially after what we've been through. But not to the same extent as the others. We're more controlled...."

"And you've forgotten about grandkids, Steve..."

"You find the women, we'll have Jamie and Luke stud them, I've told you that. That's the easiest part of the whole thing."

Tom nodded. "So what do you suggest?"

"I don't know - that's the problem."

"You could all go back to being gladiators, I suppose...."

"I'd thought of that. But Mike's an escaped slave, Jamie and Luke are in an uncertain status, I'm guilty of helping a slave to escape and could be enslaved if we cross the border.... And the law here specifically forbids gladiator combat, so even that route is not open to us."

"Well two heads are better than none. Let me think about it too, Steve. And for the next couple of weeks you and the other guys could take a holiday, after all, as Jamie recovers fully."

I nodded. "But it won't hold much longer than that, you know. As soon as Jamie's fit he'll be restless. And Mike is already getting bored..."

We stopped talking then and I went outside where the others were clustered around the pool. I quietly explained everything to them, and Luke at once shouted "No way am I going to 'stud' again...", and Mike slapped him and told him that he'd do as he was told until he was old enough - and strong enough - to really challenge him and me. I couldn't help thinking that Luke would have turned out differently - as would Jamie, too - if they'd had a bit of strong discipline like that throughout their lives.

"I don't see why we can't fight" Jamie then cut in. "So gladiator combat here is illegal. So fucking what? I reckon it makes it more exciting for us, and for the spectators, if there's a bit of a risk in getting caught and fined..."

"He's right!", Mike added. "We could let it be known that there's real men on offer to take on all comers...."

"No, Mike. Not for me. No more fighting...."

"A man needs to use his body, Steve. A real man, that is...."

"You won't goad me into doing it, Mike, by suggesting that the only for 'real' men to act is to fight. I agree with you that a man needs to use his body. That's one of the problems today - men no longer have to work hard, do real physical labour, except as a punishment like down in the mines. And I'm as keen as you to keep in proper shape. But no more fighting for me."

"You always were a fucking reluctant gladiator, not like the rest of us...."

I looked at him and said quietly so that the others couldn't hear properly. "Reluctant, yes. But good enough to beat a Champion... once, at least."

I don't know what Mike would have done if Darren hadn't added "Yes, Mike. Steve and me, we were both reluctant gladiators, not like you and Jamie. But that doesn't make us any lesser men that you two. In fact you could argue that we are better, as we have to make ourselves do it, have to work even harder...."

That did at least shut Mike up, and we sat there in the sun and swam, although I have to say that some of the 'play' in the pool went a bit beyond the boisterous and it was as if all of us guys were in some way trying to 'fight' in our own ways.

I'd forgotten that Tom was a real business man and he'd evidently been tapping his contacts and talking to people about our problems. He called us all together after dinner a few nights later, and after we'd all opened fresh beers he said quietly "I'd like to summarise the situation as I see it." We all nodded, although I saw Mike and Jamie kind of shuffling as they have low boredom thresholds and wanted to get on the pool table.

"All six of you want to stay together." We all agreed.

"You all want to use your bodies. None of you wants a desk job". Again, we all agreed.

"Some of you really like fighting. All of you can fight, but only some of you really enjoy it - almost need it." There was a bit longer time before we all nodded our assent.

"Gladiator combat is illegal here, and some of you can't go back to the USA, so if you're going to stay together, that's not an option." We nodded again.

"I think I have a possible solution. I have been talking to the prison service here, and some of the characteristics you guys have are shared with a lot of the prisoners - especially the younger ones. The service is keen to avoid the current situation where there are so many recidivists..."

Seeing Mike looking puzzled he added "That's guys who get out of prison, and almost instantly re-offend and so go back almost immediately."

"So I have agreed a contract with them whereby I set up a company to train and reform young violent offenders. That is to say you will train them...."

Seeing us all looking totally amazed he went on "We'll buy a few thousand acres of virgin forest as far away from anywhere as we can get it. The prisoners will then be totally isolated - away from towns, bars, clubs, women, alcohol, drugs. They'll be there to learn respect for themselves by working their bodies hard - there'll be no machines there, and all the kind of forestry activities like sawing down the trees, hauling them sway, cutting them into planks and logs and so on will be done entirely manually, as they used to be in the nineteenth century. That will tone them, and make them so exhausted they won't be any trouble really, well not after the first few weeks, anyway. And you guys will be the guards - you'll make them work..."

"And what if they don't?", sneered Jamie.

"No work, no food. We'll need to look at it a bit closer but there'll be a quota - so many tons of logs a day, say - and it they don't make it, everyone goes hungry. Well at least they'll have a minimal ration: we'll import slave chow so that no one really starves. But if they want more - eggs, meat, coffee, stuff like that, then the place has to achieve its targets. I reckon anyone who doesn't pull his weight will get short shrift from his fellows - and from you guys, of course, as you'll be allowed to administer 'reasonable' force in making them work."

"Such as....", Mike asked.

"Well not the bull whip. But a leather strap across the shoulders... That sort of thing. Something that hurts, but leaves no permanent damage."

Seeing us all looking sceptical still he went on "This isn't a short-term thing of course. The prisoners will be there for a minimum of five years. The idea is to break them down, break them from their old habits, then rebuild them as proud, strong workers so they can be released back into society."

"It sounds a bit like being a slave to me, sir", Ryan said quietly. "Except for the releasing back into society..."

"Yes, I suppose it is, Ryan. But we all know that slavery works when it comes to building hard bodies that a man can be proud of. It will be tough, of course. Having a hundred or more hardened convicts and only the six of you - there'll be discipline issues...."

"Only at first!", Mike cut in, giving one of his wolfish grins. "I reckon once they find out that they have to deal with me - and Steve - and that punishments can also consist of being beaten up pretty comprehensively...."

There was a lot more discussion then until Tom stopped the conversation and said quietly "I've heard all your concerns and so on, but it seems to me many of these will turn out not to be realistic and that once the place is running it will be OK. Looking at it one way we're going to run a sort of modified slavery, except that the 'slaves' are all criminals, and criminals who are self-selected: they'll be offered a five-year stint at the work camp instead of a longer sentence, so they'll know they have little choice once they're there. And as we all know from the experience in the USA, it's perfectly possible to manage a whole herd of slaves with very little effort once the 'system' is understood: new arrivals will quickly adapt to their place in it, especially as the only men who are offered it in the first place will be relatively young - eighteen to twenty five, say, so they still have time to turn their lives around."

After dinner that night the six of us sat around and talked some more about it, as Tom was eager for a decision to be reached so he could start to get things in motion. Darren sounded really doubtful, but Mike and Jamie seemed to have almost forgotten their normal differences and were whispering away to each other kind of excitedly. "Share it with us, guys", I told them.

"I kind of like the idea of using the strap on the prisoners to make them work", Jamie enthused. "And for the really tough ones, we'll make them go up against Mike or me, bare-knuckled: a good beating-up will sort them out."

"And all those young guys, with nothing else to do, the sex will be great...", Luke cut in.

Ryan seemed amused by all of this, and when some of us went off to piss, I pointed this out. "It's just so fucking funny, Steve, that you guys who have been slaves are all making plans to be owners, in effect, with the right to work these guys hard, and punish them.... And fuck them!"

Darren heard him and added casually "Not surprising really - men always want to dominate and control other men. And who better to do it than those who have known what it's like?" He went on "You know, I think it will be a bit like the gladiator school - there'll be some guys who really go for it big time, relishing the opportunity to work their bodies, wanting to challenge the system, to push the limits, and who will almost enjoy going up against Mike or Jamie.... Or me, and Steve, I suppose: we shouldn't forget that we might be 'reluctant' gladiators, but we're really tough fighters. But what do you think, Ryan?"

"I don't know, honestly. I wasn't a slave, I've never been a gladiator - but when I look at you all, I can't help but be impressed." He smiled quietly and went on "But you know it doesn't sound such a bad idea - Luke's a lot to keep up with in bed, and with a lot of young guys to fuck, maybe he'll be a bit distracted.... And maybe I'll find someone 'special'...." He gave Darren a knowing look as he said this, and I felt really sorry for him.

So there we are. We're expecting our first batch of inmates tomorrow - the big dormitory building is ready for them: very bare of course as there's to be no luxury. As it's summer we've decided to signal a big change for the guys when they're unloaded from the prison transport - and when it's driven away - by having them all strip naked, telling them that's because there's a special uniform. We'll burn their clothes as they stand there and watch, as that will make them realise that there's no going back. And their new uniforms - well bare skin, of course! At least for the first week or so, as it will help them 'bond' together better as there'll be nothing to hide. And as Luke points out, the strap on the bare ass is better than on the shoulders.

I'm not going to have time to write any more of this autobiography now, as I reckon that for the next year or so we're all going to be very busy establishing this place and the 'system' it works under. But one day I suppose that readers will be interested in how we get on, and in hearing the experiences of some of our slaves (yes, it seems simpler to call them that, and to think about them that way): we are at least giving there criminals some hope of turning out really well, and none of them will be condemned to cruel and unusual deaths in the mines or places like that.

THE END

Pete Brown.... This story written in several 'bursts' from 2010 to April 2012. In many different places, but, principally, London and Dublin.