Personal Best

by Sean Michael

  “But you need to go go go right from the start, Mike, not after hitting that first wall.” He frowned. “Have you always had that slow first fifty, or is it only since I started coaching you?” Could he have somehow warped Mike on this, with his insistence on focusing on the wall?

  “I’ve never won a fifty. Never even qualified in one.” Mike shrugged. “Is it my start or my strokes?”

  “I’m not sure. I think you’re not pulling hard enough until you hit that first turn. I don’t know why.”

  “It doesn’t feel like I’m slacking, Coach.”

  “No, I don’t imagine it’s anything you’re deliberately doing.” He walked around Mike, checked the clock again. “Give me another fifty and I want you to really concentrate on going all out for me. Then you can get out and do it again coming back. I want you to really try, Mike. Give it everything.”

  Mike nodded, climbed back on the blocks, and got ready, dove in. Jessy could see it, now that he was looking, see the way Mike was thinking about pushing, his body fighting the….

  Jessy blinked.

  The damned music.

  Mike’s music.

  The first tracks of Mike’s training CD—they built up and sped up. Mike trained a slow start.

  He let Mike keep going, didn’t change the music. He’d put a different tape in at the two o’clock practice, see if it made any difference.

  He was almost bouncing by the time Mike got out of the water, looking despondent. “Come on, Mike, let’s go and get some lunch.” He clapped the lean back.

  “You’re cheery.” He got a look, Mike shaking a little, breathing hard.

  He nodded and smiled. “You’re beautiful in the water. Like a dream. It makes me happy.” He was going to keep his discovery to himself, in case it worked out to be wrong. No reason to get both their hopes up.

  Mike rolled his eyes, but grinned. “Weirdo.”

  He grinned back at Mike. “Your weirdo.”

  “What’s lunch? Burgers and fries?”

  “Sure, and you can have a half-dozen Dr Peppers and some chocolate cake to finish it up.” He gave Mike a look. “Actually, there’s a place called Ben’s. Supposedly the best smoked meat in North America.”

  “Smoked meat? Like brisket from Rudy’s?”

  “Yeah, but ‘Montreal style.’” He shrugged. “Don’t ask me—I’m going by the flyer I found.”

  He led Mike into the changing room, and both of them stripped down and got dressed.

  Mike was grumbling a bit, dark hair flopping into those eyes. “I shouldn’t be so tired. I still have another workout this afternoon.”

  “Doesn’t take very long for your body to go soft. Why do you think I insist on training full-time even when you’ve got months between meets?”

  “Because otherwise you wouldn’t have a job.”

  He laughed. “Brat. I do it so you stay in fighting shape. Swimming shape. Racing shape. Whatever.” He snapped his towel at Mike and finished getting dressed.

  Mike chuckled, slid on jeans and a sweater. “Come on; feed me before I starve to death.”

  “That’s right—you lost six pounds and I need to fatten you up.” Jessy grabbed their jackets and helped Mike into his, and then they headed out, dropping by the office first to pick up a key so they could come in on their own.

  He couldn’t wait to get back there at two and test out his theory.

  HE WAS full as a tick and half-queasy after lunch, and Jessy insisted they go for a long walk, looking at music stores, grabbing the odds and ends for trail mix for the room. By the time they got back to the pool, he was feeling good, energized, ready to go.

  Coach didn’t get on his swimming trunks this time, but he was eager for them to get out to the pool, for Mike to start swimming, doing that odd almost bouncing thing again.

  “Coach? You good?” He stripped and got his spare shorts on, rolling his shoulders. He grabbed his boom box.

  Coach nodded and grinned, grabbing the boom box from him. “I got you some new music. Go on and get ready to do me a few fifty-meter sprints. I’ll turn it on for you.”

  “New music?” He frowned. “But… I’ve been using the same CD for like ever.”

  Coach nodded. “I know. I thought maybe it was time for a change. Oh, don’t look at me like that. If you really hate it, we can put your CD back in. Now get up on the block.”

  “Okay.” Mike got up, stretched. “I’m ready. Turn the music on?”

  Jessy nodded, hitting the play button, and the quick opening sequence of a worldbeat piece filled the air. Mike listened for a second, then dove into the water and pushed, moving with the thrum of the music for a bit before he found the quiet inside him and swam, taking the turn without thought.

  The music stopped, letting him know Coach wanted him.

  He stopped, popping his head up. “Yeah?”

  “You’re supposed to be swimming fifty-meter sprints, coming out of the water in between.” Coach looked pretty fucking happy, though, for a man who was telling him off.

  “Oh. Sorry.” He hated the getting out of the water part.

  He pulled himself up and out, got back on the block, and dove back in. The music came back on as he hit the water, the beat fast and hard.

  He moved across the pool, almost humming to himself, forcing himself not to make the turn. “How many times, Coach?”

  “Five more. I want to make sure it’s not a fluke.”

  “Make sure what’s not a fluke?” He pulled himself up, setting up again.

  “Just do it five more times, Mike.”

  “Yes, Coach.”

  One. Two. Three.

  Fuck, his legs were humming.

  Four. Five.

  On the fifth he took the turn and let his body go, took the next hundred and fifty yards, hard and fast, feeling it deep inside.

  The music stopped as he came up to the wall and Coach was right there, smiling at him. “And the crowd goes wild as Gauliet wins the gold.”

  “Huh?” He grinned back. “You look happy.”

  Coach nodded. “You’re not up to speed yet, but you weren’t fighting the music this time out.”

  “Fighting the music?”

  “Your usual CD? Starts slow and builds. Just like you swim. You’ve been training slow out off the block. The new CD is fast to start with; you got into your fast pace more quickly. We’ll need to work on it, but it won’t take that long to get you trained right up to speed.”

  He blinked, eyes going wide. “Oh. Oh!”

  Coach petted his arm. “Go on, get on the block and start swimming four hundreds.”

  “’Kay.” He nodded, hopped up, and started moving, swimming. For the first time in weeks, he felt… right.

  Natural.

  Home.

  Chapter Twelve

  FRIDAY NIGHT, Jessy was almost giddy. Four days of working on his start with the new music, and already Mike was showing a marked improvement on his first racing lap. Mike was swimming well too, body cutting through the water like he was born to it. Like he used to. With the added improvement of his starting lap being faster.

  “What do you want to do to celebrate?” he asked as Mike got dressed.

  “Ice cream sundaes? Go for a walk and see stuff?” Mike’s voice lowered. “Go back to the apartment and uh… play?”

  Jessy purred softly, cock leaping. “I’ll take door number three. As long as that’s really what you want.” He didn’t want to push his own desires on Mike if the kid wanted to go out and do a little honest partying.

  “I want. Really.” Mike’s eyes were dark, shining, wanting.

  “Excellent. I brought the collar. The nipple clamps. And a plug.” Part of the trip was to find themselves again and the ways they played, as well as work on Mike and the water. And that had worked so well. He had high hopes for their sex life.

  “Oh….” Mike slid his hand in Jessy’s a second, squeezed.

  “Come on. I need you.”

  Mike was bouncy, eag
er, feeling good and healthy beside him. It hadn’t taken long for Mike’s body to respond to the diet, the exercise, the solid sleep. Even the caffeine bitchiness hadn’t lasted long.

  It felt good, to be back into the rhythm of coach/swimmer again. And once they started playing, they’d get the other back too. Not that they weren’t making love, doing it as often as possible, but they hadn’t played hard at all yet and it was there, waiting for them.

  It didn’t take long before they were pushing into their small apartment, getting out of the cold. He couldn’t believe people lived in this cold on purpose.

  “You want something to drink, Jess?” Mike stripped down to jeans and T-shirt.

  “Yeah, some water. You should have some too. And we’ll eat later. After. Order a pizza or something.”

  He took off his outdoor clothes and made sure the door was locked and then went to pull out the lube, the plug, the clamps, and the collar. They wouldn’t necessarily use them all tonight, but it turned them both on, having them visible. There.

  Mike brought the water, staring at the toys, throat working. “Oh. Here. Jess.”

  “Thanks, baby.” He let his gaze rake over Mike, letting the coach go and embracing the lover. “Naked,” he said softly before drinking his water.

  “Uh-huh.” Mike stripped the shirt off, dark hair barely visible on that sweet, flat belly. Mike hadn’t shaved in more than a month, dark curls looking odd above the long cock as Mike’s jeans were removed.

  He reached out, sliding his fingers, catching on Mike’s hair. “Let me shave you first?”

  Mike moaned, pushing toward his hand, prick jerking. “Oh. Okay. Yeah.”

  He purred. “Yeah. More than okay.” He let his hand move down, wrap around Mike’s cock. Mike moaned, hips rocking his cock through the tunnel of Jessy’s hand.

  “Damned sexy,” he murmured, working his thumb over the tip of Mike’s cock as he stroked.

  “Mmm….” Mike was rocking, pushing, fucking his hand. “So good. So good, Jessy.”

  “Yeah. Come on, show me how good, and then we’ll shave you. Play. Fuck like crazy.”

  “Uh-huh. Want to use the collar. Need you to.” Oh. Oh, Mike hadn’t ever asked for it before.

  He nodded, his own cock pressing hard against his jeans. “Anything you want.”

  Mike’s hands landed on Jessy’s shoulders, head falling back, pushing his hips wildly for a moment before spunk spread over Jessy’s fingers. Moaning, he kept stroking Mike’s cock, making his baby shiver with aftershocks.

  “Oh. Oh. Jess. Good.” Mike nodded, motions growing jerky, then pulled away.

  He reluctantly let Mike go and then nudged Mike toward the bathroom. “Need to make you smooth.”

  Mike moaned, blushing dark. “You make it sound so hot.”

  He chuckled wickedly. “Well, I think it is.”

  “It… it feels so… intimate.”

  “Yeah? More intimate than the collar? Than sucking and blowing and fucking?” He pressed close, loving the edge of need in Mike’s voice.

  “I. The collar is…. Wow.”

  “Oh, baby, I love it when you get absolutely incoherent.” He started the water in the tub, making sure he had the temperature right.

  “You make me all shivery inside.”

  He purred. “Good. You make me feel like king of the world.”

  Mike stroked his spine, helping him undress. “You are my world, Jess.”

  He stopped and looked at Mike for a moment and then kissed his baby hard. “I love you too, Mike.” Mike moaned, pushing into him, snuggling.

  He cuddled with Mike for a moment and then pulled away. “In the tub now. Let me work you over with the razor.”

  “You want me to stand? Sit? You want the trimmer first?”

  “No, I’ll do it all with the razor. Go ahead and lie down, stretch out for me.”

  He moaned as Mike followed his orders, body long and lean, muscles light, wiry. Mike’s pretty cock was half-full, lying on Mike’s belly, over the dark curls. He got out the shaving cream and sprayed it over Mike’s chest. One shot to each nipple, one in Mike’s navel, and a smile below that. Mike snorted, scooping the cream in his belly button and tossing it at Jessy.

  Laughing, he rubbed the cream around, spreading it over Mike’s chest and belly. “You ready?”

  “Uh-huh.” Mike was almost purring, so hard, skin hot.

  He started shaving the kid, wielding the razor carefully but confidently. Mike was right; it was fairly intimate, doing this to someone else. It was damned sexy too.

  Mike watched, moaning low, eyes hot as fire.

  He rinsed the excess cream away, bent, and licked at Mike’s skin, testing for missed spots.

  Mike whimpered, muscles going tight. “Oh. Oh. Jess.”

  He purred. “You like that?”

  “Uh-huh. Tingles.”

  He could do better for Mike than tingles. He wrapped his lips around one of Mike’s nipples and started sucking. Mike’s hand landed on the back of his head, pulled him close. Humming, he tugged harder, letting his teeth scrape against Mike’s nipple every now and then.

  “Oh. Oh. Good.” Mike’s voice filled the bathroom.

  He nodded and switched nipples, attention on Mike’s face.

  “Jess. Jess. So big. So much.”

  “And I’ve only just gotten started,” he murmured.

  “Oh. Damn.”

  “Want me to do your legs? Or you wanna get them waxed?” He would do them if Mike wanted. Take his time, lick them afterward to test their smoothness.

  “I….” Mike groaned, shifted. “No one’s ever asked before….”

  “What? Asked to shave your legs or to have them waxed?” Either way he wasn’t really surprised. Mike tended to lose himself in the swimming, and he knew he was Mike’s first real relationship.

  “Yes.” Mike pinked. “I only shave them before a meet because I’m supposed to.”

  “Do you like it, though?” he asked, then took Mike’s leg out of the water and propped his foot on the taps. He sprayed more shaving cream onto Mike’s skin. “Like how it feels as you’re swimming?”

  “I haven’t paid attention, really.” Mike grinned at him, sheepish. “You know me, Coach. Always distracted until that last fifty.”

  He laughed. “Well, if I remember correctly from my own swimming days, being smooth in the water feels special. I’ll shave them for now, and next time you need them done, we’ll find a place that’ll do your whole body.”

  Mike’s eyes went wide. “My…. Somebody else?”

  “Well, there’s kits. I could do it for you, but these things are better off left in the hands of professionals.”

  “God, when did being a swimmer get complicated?”

  He licked at the tip of Mike’s cock. “As soon as you have a governing body? Things are complicated.”

  Mike moaned, spreading his thighs. “Are you my governing body?”

  He chuckled. “I like the sound of that, and I suppose in a way I am. I’m your direct governing body; the ISO is your indirect governing body.”

  He got a smile, a little moan. “I’m all yours, Jessy.”

  “I know you are.”

  He turned his attention to Mike’s leg and took his own sweet time as he slid the razor along Mike’s skin.

  Mike was trembling, cock hard, balls drawn up tight. “You’re making me want, so bad.”

  “Yeah, it’s pretty sexy, isn’t it? I’ve got your other leg to do still too.”

  “It is. What are we going to do after this?” Mike was purring, panting.

  “I’m going to put that collar on you and fuck your brains out.” Possibly all night long. He needed fiercely.

  “Thank God.” Mike nodded. “I need, Jess. I need you to fuck me.”

  He nodded and started to work on Mike’s other leg. “I know.” He could smell Mike’s heat and need under the soap and shaving cream, rich and male.

  His cock throbbed again, and he moaned as h
e pushed Mike’s leg into the water, rinsing it. “Oh, fuck. I need you.”

  Mike nodded, stood to turn the shower on and get the little hairs off. “In the bed. I need. Hard and deep.” Mike’s voice was trembling, low, but sure.

  He nodded, sliding his hands over Mike’s skin, loath to lose contact, even for a moment.

  So smooth, trembling, hot—Mike groaned low, then stumbled out of the tub and tugged him to the bed. Mike ended up on hands and knees, hot little hole offered to him. He pushed his face into Mike’s ass, licking at that sweet entrance, pushing his tongue into Mike’s body.

  “Oh. Oh. Oh. Jess.” Mike’s back arched, rocking his hips, pushing.

  He groaned, and fucked Mike with his tongue. Maybe the toys could wait; he wanted. No, he needed. And in the worst way. Just had to have Mike. Now.

  “Uhn… please. Please, Jessy. Please. Need.” No one begged like his baby, Mike giving it up.

  He teased them both, kept working that sweet ass with his tongue until Mike’s begging hit a fever pitch and his own need drove him up over Mike’s body, and he pushed his cock in that sweet, tight heat.

  “Yes!” Mike arched, rocking into him, muscles rippling around him, holding him tight.

  “Oh, baby. Christ,” he groaned and then started to move, body working urgently.

  Mike braced against the headboard, driving back against him. He kept moving, harder and faster and more, and fuck, it was really good. He reached around Mike, grabbing Mike’s hard cock so they would tumble together. Mike jerked, hips snapping, ass gripping him hard.

  “That’s it. Come for me. Come on my cock.” He gripped Mike tighter, fucking loving it.

  “Jessy!” Mike’s squeeze intensified, body jerking as heat sprayed over Jessy’s fingers.

  He cried out Mike’s name, jerking into his baby’s body and coming hard.

  Panting, he collapsed onto Mike.

  Mike hummed, relaxing beneath him. “So good.”

  He nodded, petting Mike. “Yeah. Yeah.” He nuzzled Mike’s back, catching his breath. “Wait for round two.”

  “Mmm… round two.” Mike cuddled back, ass squeezing him. “Sounds perfect.”

  He purred, reaching to stroke Mike’s neck. “It does.”