Lying Eyes

by Robert Winter

  “How do you do that?” Randy hissed.

  “I see you, about as well as you saw the real me. And Randy? It’s human to know fear. What makes you special is that you dunna let fear control you. You charged into that warehouse alone, no idea what was facing you, to protect Danny. You did the same for your friend Zachary. You bargained recklessly for my life when I might have overdosed.”

  Jack wrapped himself around Randy again. “You’re afraid this wunna work out between us. I understand that. I canna give you a guarantee, but I tell you that I’ve wanted nowt in my life as much as I want you. I believe in us, Randy. Please, take a chance. Believe in us too.”

  What else could he do? This handsome man moved his entire life across the Atlantic Ocean to take a chance on someone he’d known for a week. How could Randy let himself be any less brave? Certainty began to grow and to push aside the doubts and fear that had knocked him for a loop.

  “I do believe,” he said slowly. “I believe in you. And in us.” He surrendered to the arms around him and kissed the smile that spread across Jack’s lips. He grew warmer than the fire at his back, happier than Christmas, brighter than Times Square on New Year’s Eve. Randy threw back his head and whooped for joy.

  • • •

  They finally broke apart long enough for Randy to take Jack’s hand and lead him upstairs to his bedroom, his late-night dinner forgotten. Jack kissed him again when they stood by the bed and then rested his forehead against Randy’s chest as he murmured, “I can smell the leather. Will you show it to me?”

  Randy turned nervous again, though nothing like he’d experienced minutes earlier. Of course he’d seen Jack at Cuir in that sexy-as-fuck harness, but it wasn’t like they’d had time to explore each other’s desires. Jack might be a tourist for all Randy knew, but leather was important in a way he couldn’t explain even to his best friend. Pulling it on made him sexy and invincible and strong.

  Yet paradoxically, at the moment it made him insecure. What would they do if Jack were turned off by the depth of Randy’s need?

  Well, this is what Jack wants. For us to get to know each other.

  Randy stiffened his spine and walked over to his closet where he kept his gear. A light came on automatically when he opened the door, and there it all was. Harnesses, vests, chaps. Three pairs of boots. Arm bands and jock straps. A row of hats. A police uniform made out of dark blue leather. Hung along the wall were an assortment of crops and floggers. Soft white ropes, color-coded to indicate length, were bound in coils and stacked on a shelf.

  Randy took in a steadying breath scented with tanned hide as he gestured at it all with a firm hand. “I don’t know if this means anything to you, or if it’s just a fantasy you were trying out. But this is me, Jack.” He waited for a long moment, trying to gauge the look on Jack’s face. “Is it okay?”

  Jack exhaled shakily as he walked toward the closet. “Oh Randy,” he moaned. “It’s glorious.” He stepped right into the closet, spread his arms wide and leaned to gather the garments to his chest. “Leather must speak deeply for you to have so much.”

  Randy cleared his throat and answered hoarsely. “It does. It feels… I don’t know.”

  Jack smiled at him. “It feels like the real you.”

  Randy looked away, raw and exposed. “How about you, Jack? What does all this say to you?”

  “It says that we correspond.” Randy tilted his head quizzically as Jack pulled a harness down from the rack to hug against his body with one arm. He bent his head to inhale deeply, then reached to stroke a coil of silken rope with his free hand. “Randy, I love the touch, the scent of leather. And I love to be restrained. I’m more intrigued by the B and D than the S and M, if you follow? I want to be tied, held—” Jack paused as desire crossed his face and ran down his body in a ripple that fired Randy’s blood. He added in a deeper register, “Maybe even compelled.”

  Randy was hard already in his black pants. The mental picture of Jack, bound before him, waiting for whatever Randy might want to do with his body… Yes, there was correspondence. He said heatedly, “I can do that for you. What about the rest?” He flicked a meaningful glance at the crops and floggers.

  Jack said with certainty, “I can take anything for you if you get me in the right headspace. I would serve you any way you’d like.” Randy heard some hesitancy, though, as Jack trailed off. He sounded a bit shaky. Nervous.

  “But?” Randy prompted, just as he realized something that should have been obvious. Although he’d been into the leather scene for most of his adult life, Jack had only occasionally permitted himself to explore it. From the little he’d said, it might be no more than a handful of times that he’d ever acted on his desires. Randy could make a gift of his experience, and bring Jack the things he had craved yet denied himself.

  Apparently unaware of Randy’s thoughts, Jack stammered on. “That inna something I need all the time. To serve you, I mean. In my fantasies, we’re able to put it on and off like you do this harness. When it’s you and me, I’ll have no hard limits because you wunna ask me for the impossible. I just trust that. Whatever you want from me, whatever you want me to do—that’s what I want to do.”

  “Outside the private scene, though?”

  “Outside, I want to be equals. I dunna think I could be in a full-time submissive relationship. Maybe it’s cowardly, something I built up after all those years of hiding, but—”

  Randy said, “Stop.” At Jack’s stricken expression, he reached out and pulled him close, leather harness included. “Don’t apologize or explain. That’s what I want too. I can’t imagine myself as a Dom all the time. It’s too damn much work.” Jack chuffed a laugh against his chest. “But you and me, sharing this thing, exploring in private? Oh yeah.” He ground his erection against Jack’s belly. “That will work.”

  Jack looked up at him shyly. “Well, you say private.”

  “Yes?”

  “I have to admit that Cuir was exciting to me. I’ve never been involved in any kind of public scene, but in a space like that, with you taking me in front of a group of men…” Randy didn’t mean to purr as Jack moved sinuously against his body, but the thought of Jack, naked and waiting for Randy’s touch under one of the spotlights at Cuir, set fire to his blood.

  Jack asked, “Do you think you might enjoy that too?”

  “Displaying you in front of those hungry eyes? Showing them how you respond to my touch and my voice? Oh yes, Jack. You could serve me that way.” He made his tone commanding and straightened to his full height. “But here? Now? It’s just you and me.”

  Jack’s eyes flared at the change in tone. He stepped back from Randy’s embrace and rehung the harness where it belonged. Eyes on the carpet, he took three steps away from the closet and came to rest with his hands clasped behind his back and his head down. He waited.

  “Take off your clothes,” Randy ordered.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Jack shivered before he moved quickly to obey. Soon his clothes were folded on a chair, and he came back to attention with his legs slightly spread. Randy focused on the leather band around Jack’s bicep. It was the one he’d put there the night at Cuir, and the sight of it moved him deeply.

  Jack caught his eyes. “I’ve worn it every day since I left Washington.”

  Randy swelled with pride in Jack as he walked around his naked body, trailing a hand along his chest, then shoulders, then back. He stopped behind to run a hand down Jack’s spine and over the swell of that high, firm ass.

  He then repeated the stroke from neck down but raked his fingernails with just enough pressure to bring out faint traces along his back. A third, stronger pass and Jack moaned softly as Randy watched the streaks turn white again before reddening.

  Jack responded like a concert piano to a maestro. His skin pebbled under Randy’s touch, and his sighs and moans were almost musical as Randy played him. A spasm of excitement ran through Jack’s body, and Randy said quietly, “I’m never going to y
ell at you, or demean you, or stress you unless we discuss it in advance. In here, it’s safe.” He slowed the cadence further as he stroked Jack’s skin. “Trust in me. You know I won’t abuse it.” Jack gave a low, deep groan, and his shoulders sagged as he surrendered into the scene.

  “Tonight will be easy, because I want that, but sometimes I will be more demanding,” Randy said into Jack’s ear. “Do you understand?” A short pause, and Jack’s head moved slightly in acknowledgment. “Same safewords?”

  “Yes, sir.” He sounded so trusting that Randy reached over his shoulder to run fingers through his soft beard. Jack smiled and rubbed his cheek against the hand.

  “Do you have any injuries, or problem joints I should know about?” Randy asked. Jack shivered slightly at the implications but shook his head decisively. “Now tell me. What is one thing you’ve always wanted to do but never let yourself experience?”

  Jack licked his lips, then flicked a glance to the closet. “I want… I’ve na been properly tied up. Just handcuffs once but nowt else.”

  Randy bent to kiss his shoulder before saying firmly, “I want you to retrieve the soft rope with the green tips from the closet and bring it back to me.” Jack moved silently across the room, found the coiled rope and held it out across his palms as an offering.

  “Thank you, Jack.” His voice was a caress, and he could see the reaction in blown pupils as his lover began to sink deeply into his own head. Randy set the rope on the bed, then began to remove his own clothes efficiently as he ordered, “Watch me.”

  Jack’s eyes were hot as Randy bared his chest, removed his shoes, then unbuckled his belt. He opened his pants next and bent smoothly from the waist to remove them, showing off his supple body. Jack gave a small sound of appreciation as Randy returned to full display. He spread his arms and his stance, exposing himself fully, and said, “Tell me what you see.”

  Jack licked his lips. In a slurred tone that sounded drugged with hunger, he said, “I see a mountain of a man. Big, thick chest. Brown nipples with a silver bar worked through one. I see shoulders bigger than my hands and I know the muscle will be smooth.” He swallowed and his erection twitched and flexed as he continued.

  “I see a broad, masculine body, covered in soft hair that I want to brush with my lips. I see a tight belly tapering down to a gorgeous dick that’s hard and long and flushed. For me. I see legs like oak trees, straight and solid and massive. I see feet that I want to caress with my tongue.” He slid his gaze back up Randy’s body and found his eyes. “And on top of all that, I see the proud head and face of a nobleman, more beautiful to me than any bust in the finest museum.”

  Randy’s heart swelled at the devotion in his words. He could feel eyes on him as he went to the closet and selected a harness, a pair of gauntlets, and a thin strap. He beckoned Jack over and silently handed him the treasures.

  Jack buckled a gauntlet onto Randy’s left forearm, then his right. He worked the straps of the harness over Randy’s hairy chest and carefully secured it, then drifted his palms over Randy’s torso and down the leather. He looked curiously at the strap until Randy took it and efficiently ran it up around Jack’s balls and over his hard cock before snapping it closed. A soft whimper filled the room as Randy adjusted the strap and then tugged on Jack’s sac.

  Randy leaned down and saw Jack’s nostrils flare as he scented the leather on Randy’s body. Softly, Randy said, “There’s a collar in there I’ve never used on anyone.” Jack quivered, and longing appeared in his eyes. “But I expect you to earn it first.”

  Randy watched Jack’s hunger grow into determination. It wouldn’t happen that night, but his blood hummed at the promise of helping Jack discover his pleasure and test his limits as they moved toward the intimacy and bond implied by the collar.

  He permitted them both another deep kiss before he retrieved a large pair of shears from the closet, set them on the dresser in easy reach, and made sure Jack knew they were there should he safeword. When he was satisfied, he picked up the rope from the bed. Jack’s eyes on him were eager as Randy gave a flick of his wrist and the neat coil unraveled smoothly.

  Locating the mark he’d placed previously on the middle of the rope, he began with that centered against the middle of Jack’s back so the final binding would be even. The symmetry of Western-style bondage was Randy’s favorite, and the flexibility in Jack’s limbs made him a dream to position.

  Randy folded his arms behind his back with bent elbows, so that the fingertips of each hand cupped the opposite elbow, then secured the position with hitches connecting bicep to bicep and around the wrists to keep the arms as placed. The restraint forced Jack to arch and flex his chest as Randy wove a harness around front to form a diamond pattern over Jack’s lean pectorals and down his torso. Efficiently, calmly, he wove and wrapped and restrained, tying intricate knots along Jack’s body. He was slow and careful, and described what he was doing as he went so that Jack grew more and more slack as his measured voice carried Jack down into a deep space within his own head. He checked joints carefully as he worked his art and made sure nothing would interfere with circulation.

  He paused with lengths of rope crisscrossing Jack’s tight belly and meeting at the back of his waist, then made a quick knot in one length. He drew the rope down the crack of Jack’s ass so the knot rested against his hole, then gently pulled the rope through his legs. Holding his gaze, Randy looped it around and over the cockstrap and sharply tugged. Jack gasped at the sensation in his ass from the knot pressing against him. He squirmed a little, clearly chasing the feeling again, and Randy smiled.

  “Test the rope,” he instructed. “You won’t get out of this.”

  Jack moved more intentionally, trying to slip free even as he pleasured himself with the knot against his asshole and the rope looped around his dick and balls. He began to pant in excitement as he realized just how completely he was bound, and his hard cock flushed red as precome dripped silvery threads down to the carpet. His eyes were glassy and his jaw slack even though he trembled and quivered in the ropes.

  Randy was sure he could make Jack come right then without ever touching him, but it would be much more pleasurable for both of them to draw the evening out.

  “Stop,” he ordered, and Jack stilled instantly. Randy dropped the loose ends of the rope and moved around Jack’s body, using his hands to pat against exposed skin. He stopped short of spanking Jack, but he wanted the light impact and noise of his strikes to draw focus away from an orgasm. After a few minutes Jack’s level of arousal was back to where Randy wanted it.

  Before he moved on to the legs, he put his fingers into Jack’s left hand. “Squeeze,” he directed, and nodded in satisfaction when the grip was firm. Then he laid Jack safely down on the bed and continued weaving his web.

  When Randy was done, Jack lay on his side, arms behind his back, thighs bound to his calves to keep his legs bent and drawn toward his chest. The position left his hole vulnerable and exposed to the knot that pressed against his opening. Randy slid a pillow under his head, then asked softly, “Are you comfortable?”

  “Oh yes,” Jack murmured contentedly and his eyes shone. “I feel like a slave boy on display for his prince.”

  Randy asked a few more questions to be sure Jack was in a good space before stepping back to admire the picture he had created. The wiry, strong body, limned in soft white rope, was a work of art all on its own. Randy’s dick was aching. He pondered getting out a paddle or maybe a cane. That ass would look even better with a warm red flush or a few neat stripes.

  Plenty of time to explore later. For that night, he wanted to claim Jack with nothing more than his mouth, his hands, and his cock. He crouched at the side of the bed and ran the pad of his finger all along Jack’s crease before returning to nudge the knot away from his hole and circle around the ring of muscle. Jack made a low noise of approval and visibly relaxed even more.

  Randy leaned forward to stroke the coral-colored opening with the flat of his t
ongue while he scratched his stubble against the delicate skin of the crevice. Jack’s rim tasted fresh and sweet, and Randy lapped around the edges before he narrowed his tongue to breach the opening.

  Jack sighed contentedly as he pressed his hips back and ground against Randy’s mouth. Randy gave him what he wanted for a few minutes longer, alternating between light surface licks and deep thrusts of his tongue into that velvet interior. Jack tightened his muscles and alternately strained and sagged against his bindings, while Randy stroked along the knots and cords around his thighs to share the sensation of the soft rope that secured Jack in place. His cries became guttural as he strained and urged Randy for more.

  Wickedly, Randy reached around and stroked the head of Jack’s cock. He smeared the precome he found all around the shaft using just the tips of his fingers and the lightest of touches. Jack bucked and tried to thrust faster, so Randy stopped what he was doing entirely until Jack whimpered and settled down.

  When he was still again, Randy repeated the whole torturous process, bringing Jack even closer to orgasm before once again cutting off all contact. Jack rolled and flexed in the ropes, panting and pleading for Randy to help him come.

  Randy rested a hand on his hip, leaned over to caress the shell of an ear with his tongue, and murmured, “No.” He grinned at the desperate, heartfelt groan that rose from Jack’s chest.

  Since Jack had never done rope play before, Randy was aware that he shouldn’t keep him restrained for long. He retrieved a condom and lube from his bedside table, then stretched out along Jack’s body and rolled the latex down his shaft. He drew in Jack’s scent as he nudged away the rope knot again and found his hole, wet with spit. He pressed inward with two fingers until Jack grunted deep in his chest but didn’t protest or move away.

  Randy fucked him that way for the sheer joy of coaxing his lover open from the inside out while Jack shook and trembled with pleasure. When he finally moved the head of his cock into position, he hovered there, right at the edge of penetration, until he slipped one arm beneath and tugged the bound body closer to his own.