F had an incredulous look on his face, but he opened his legs and allowed Alex to unzip his fly. He glanced up at F with a smile.
“I’ve been dreaming about this for weeks.” He wasn’t sure where those words came from, but they worked.
F looked puzzled but also rather pleased with himself. He thrust his bobbing cock hopefully in Alex’s direction. “You won’t get any special treatment from me because of this, if that’s what you’re after,” he snapped.
“No special treatment required. This is enough for me.” Alex smiled and lowered his head. Much to his surprise, F’s hand came to rest on his hair and stroked gently, which was very different to how he used to take a handful and use it as leverage when ramming his cock down Alex’s throat. Alex felt a heady sense of power. How easy it had been to manipulate F. But he mustn’t ruin it by getting over-confident; Tyler wouldn’t be so easily fooled. He was also stuck with the unpleasant job facing him, which was no more pleasurable than it’d been last time. He repeated his song in his head to remind himself to focus. Onething he knew how to do was give great head, whether he was into it or not, and F soon came. Alex swallowed him down, then licked him clean and smiled up at him.
“I hope you’ll let me do that again,” he said, with a shy little smile. F’s expression was an almost comical mix of disbelief and lascivious anticipation that warred with each other in equal measure.
“Well, maybe, if you’re good,” he grunted.
Alex felt elated as he walked back to the dorm, but he tried to focus on his song. Concealing himself and his true feelings and agenda was his only goal from now on. In another time and place, he might almost feel bad for misleading F, but he didn’t have that luxury now. If he was going to survive Tyler for long enough to complete his mission, then he had to shut down those kinds of feelings.
Two was waiting for him back at the dorm. Alex didn’t break character. He gave Two a serene smile, his face perfectly blank, and walked past him without saying a word. Two gave a bark of laughter.
“I think my work here is done,” he announced, but even then, Alex didn’t show any reaction. He felt another wave of elation. He could do this. It would take a lot more work to perfect it, but he’d shown that he could do it.
Two wasn’t the only one who felt that his work was complete. A few days later, B announced that the course was nearly over.
“You’ve all worked very hard, and my goodness, you are far better servants now than you were a few months ago when I first met you.” She beamed at them. “I’d like to give a special mention to One – he knew nothing when he arrived, but look at how far he’s come.” She initiated a round of applause, which the others all joined in. Alex couldn’t bring himself to return their smiles;he felt as if the bottom had dropped out of his world. He tried to concentrate on his breathing and hum his song in his head, and that helped to calm him, but inside he could hardly bear it. Soon, he’d lose the friendship of these four men and be returned to Tyler. He was devastated.
“A duck will arrive first thing on Thursday to take you back to your houders,” B continued. “I hope you give good feedback on your time at Belvedere and encourage them to send others here.”
“Thursday?” Just three days away. So soon.
“Not you, One,” B said with a kindly smile. “You’ll be with us for a little while longer, I fear.”
“My houder doesn’t want me back?” Alex asked hopefully.
“Oh no. It’s just that A feels you’ve made such good progress that it’d be a shame to interrupt that. You’ll stay here and continue the learning process.”
Alex felt a wave of relief, but it was closely followed by sadness. His friends would be leaving in just a few short days. In particular,Twowould be leaving.
There were mixed emotions in the rec room that evening.
“I’m looking forward to showing my houder how much I’ve learned,” Four said earnestly. “But I will miss you all very much.” He was such a reserved man that Alex was surprised to see the tears in his eyes. The others all joined in, reminiscing about their favourite moments of the past few months, telling each other they’d never forget their friendship, and yet… Alex could already see their minds turning back to the lives they’d left behind. They’d surely forget him very soon, and that was the way it should be.
Alex hated goodbyes. He didn’t want to face yet another change that was outside his control, but he schooled himself to show no emotion. He managed to keep it together in front of his friends,but Two found him doing his yoga practice on Wednesday evening with his song playing on repeat as he struggled to remain in charge of his feelings.
“We’re leaving at six a.m. tomorrow, when you’ll be working out with E,” he murmured. “So, I thought we should say goodbye this evening.”
“Goodbye,” Alex said, without looking up.
“Alex…” Two’s voice was sad and imploring.
Alex glanced at him, his face impassive. “Maybe you taught me too well,” he said softly.
“No. I think you’ll need every ounce of your self-control and composure when you eventually return to Mr Tyler.”
“I’ll miss you,” Alex muttered, looking down. “Your lessons were far more valuable than B’s, because you taught me how to survive.”
Two crouched down in front of him, grasped his chin and gazed into his eyes. “Your mission is a virtuous one and your cause worth fighting for. I hope you succeed, Alex.”
Alex pulled away and turned his back on Two, because he wasn’t sure he could remain impassive while saying goodbye to this man who he’d become so close to. He closed his eyes, hummed his song, and continued with his yoga practice.
“That’s the best goodbye I could have wished for,” Two said softly. “Good luck, my darling boy.” Then he heard the gym door gently close.
Later that evening, when his friends were all asleep, Alex made a sketch of each of them.
