What's a Prisoner Among Friends? Multiple m/m

[Jason Toddman]

Reprinting one of my apparently more popular stories from the old site:

WHAT’S A PRISONER AMONG FRIENDS?

Part 1

John pedaled down the quiet, lonely road; enjoying the feel of the wind as he rode along as it helped to cool his tired, sweaty young body. He had been riding his bike for several hours down roads that were largely unfamiliar to him; following Will’s carefully-detailed instructions as he searched for a particular house. His blue eyes searched each house number he passed as he rode to make sure he did not miss his destination, but the numbers he saw indicated that he still had a ways to go.

John paused and wiped off the sweat that was getting into his eyes with an equally sweat-soaked arm. This only caused some of his long, wheat-blond hair to get into his eyes, and he brushed it aside with a quick out-take of breath that simultaneously expressed his mild frustration. Will’s house was certainly an awful long way from town – or from anything else! John felt was already practically out in the wilderness, with scarcely a house in sight; and he felt like he was traveling out to the middle of nowhere!

Normally, John enjoyed being out in the countryside; before his family had moved, he’d spent a lot of time hiking in the woods. Although he was slender for his height (5’ 7” and 130 pounds), he was strong, agile and fit, and normally possessed considerable stamina -although this heat and humidity was certainly sapping some of that stamina out of him now! But like many another typical American 14-year-old boy, John enjoyed challenges; although he hadn’t expected to encounter one just reaching his friend’s house! Smiling ruefully, John’s adventurous spirit reasserted itself as he ended his short rest break and resumed pedaling.

Around the next bend in the road, John saw a high stone wall emerge from the woods ahead of him and begin to parallel the road ahead of him to his right. The wall ran adjacent to the road as far as he could see, past the next bend in the road a few hundred yards further off. “Pretty large property here,” John thought quietly to himself. “I wonder who owns it!”

Just past the next bend, John saw a driveway leading to a huge metal gate set in the wall. There was a large house number affixed to it. Wait a minute; that was the house number he was looking for! John stared in surprise, slowed down, turned to enter the driveway, and rode the hundred feet or so of driveway up to the gate to get a better look.

John stopped his bike in front of the locked gate that blocked his way and checked the address against the one Will had written down for him. He looked at the number on the metal gate itself and then at the property beyond. John took a long, careful look through the bars of the gate; especially at the few portions of the large manor house that could (barely) be seen past the trees and the extensive park-like glade beyond. The boy whistled with sheer admiration. With the beautiful terrain that lay beyond, John imagined that he was looking at the Gateway to Heaven itself!

Will lived *here*? John realized his new friend’s family was well-off, but this? The place was huge! Just the part of the grounds he could see covered over a dozen acres! Judging by the high stone wall that had been in sight along the road for the past quarter mile – and which stretched out of sight around the bend in the road ahead of him – it must cover at least a quarter of a square mile in area! Probably even more!

John got off his bike, nudged the kickstand down with one sneaker-covered foot, and left his bike standing as he walked a few paces to the small electronic box that stood like a small ATM along the left side of the gate. He paused to look up at the wall; almost twenty feet high as smooth as glass, with a well-manicured and cleared out space thirty feet wide along the entire side of it that he could see. No one trying to get inside the grounds by bypassing the gate would be able to scale *that* at all easily! It’d take one of those things linemen used to fix power lines to take someone to the top of the wall – and then they’d still have a long way to drop on the other side! And this was even without taking all that razor-wire up there into account. John whistled again; Will’s family sure must like their privacy! Assuming this wall ran entirely around the estate, there was no way anyone could sneak onto their property!

John looked away from the top of the high stone wall and pressed the button at the base of the intercom set into the gate barrier. There was a small electronic buzzing which he assumed was matched by another, louder buzzing like a doorbell somewhere inside that mansion. John looked up at that intimidatingly high wall and let his gaze follow along its top for a moment. “Hello? Is that you, John?” Will’s familiar voice suddenly called out cheerfully from the intercom and almost made John jump; he hadn’t expected a response quite so fast and the high walls made him feel a trifle wary somehow.

“Yeah, it’s me!” replied John.

“Come on in!” replied Will’s voice at the same time a buzzer sounded. “Use the pedestrian gate. Be sure to close it shut behind you.”

John grabbed his bike, nudged the kickstand out of the way, and hastily walked it onto the sidewalk up to the smaller gate that lay beside the larger one meant for vehicles. It swung away at the touch of his bike’s front wheel, and the buzzer ceased its noise. John walked his bike through the gate and swung the gate shut behind him. The gate closed with a clang and a metallic click that was somehow a bit spooky under the circumstances. John reached out again and tugged at the gate experimentally; gently at first and then as hard as he could. The gate wouldn’t even budge!

John looked around. For as far as his eye could see, the landscaped grounds inside the wall were clear of all foliage within thirty feet of the high walls, just as the exterior had been. It suddenly had an aspect as daunting as it was beautiful, as it suddenly occurred to John that leaving the estate over the wall would be just as hard as entering it! He looked again at the gate through which he’d passed so casually a moment before, and suddenly it looked more like the bars of a prison than it did the gateway to Heaven.

John suddenly realized that he was now essentially locked inside the estate, and for a brief second, despite the fact that Will was his friend, this unsettled him vaguely. But then there was a pleasant breeze, the sun came out from behind a cloud and bathed him in his warmth, and a nearby bird perched in a tree started warbling its love song. John’s strange unease vanished like a soap bubble. What was he worried about? He was visiting his friend for a two-month-long sleepover, not going to prison!

Immediately forgetting his previous odd mood, John got onto his bike and leisurely rode along the sidewalk that paralleled the driveway. It had been a long bike ride from his house to this manor, and he was hot and tired. The ride itself wasn’t so bad even though it was a hot and humid June day. However, he was carrying a fairly large backpack -containing a clean change of clothes and several clean sets of underwear and socks inside it – and this load made his back sweat profusely. He hoped the smell of his sweat and what he perceived to be his grubby appearance wouldn’t make Will sorry he’d invited John for a visit – let alone a two-month-long sleepover!

John briefly reflected on how he had met Will. John’s family had moved to Godsey’s Mountain, several towns over from Walton’s Valley where Will lived, from the other side of the country in March. Essentially uprooted and transplanted in totally unfamiliar surroundings in the middle of the school year had been upsetting for the slender youth despite his normally adventurous spirit and cheerful temperament. His father had gotten a huge promotion in his company that raised their standard of living quite dramatically, and as a result John had been sent to a private boarding school for wealthy families rather than resume his schooling in a public school like he had attended before. However, rather than being one of the richest boys in his school, he was just about the poorest, and this would be enough to dampen anyone’s self-esteem and make him feel totally inferior to everyone around him.

One requirement of his new boarding school was that he be active in at least one sport; so John joined the Soccer team. It was the only sport he was really any good at. At first he found it difficult to mix with his new team-mates, until the coach introduced him to Will; the captain of the Soccer team. But he and Will had hit it off right off the bat, and before long John and Will were spending considerable time together on and off the Soccer Field. By the time the school year ended, the two boys were fast friends.

Will was several months older, two inches taller, and about twenty five pounds heavier than John. He was muscular and rather heavier of frame than the slightly-built John. He had blond hair (though it was a much darker shade than John’s wheat-colored hair), eyes as pale blue as robin’s eggs, and a darker complexion than his younger friend. He had a genial nature and always seemed to smile and laugh, and John always felt good around him. They had many common interests, and often went to the movies or to the Arcade together after classes. They got to know each other so well that it was almost as if John had known Will his entire life instead of just a few months.

John was almost sad when school ended for the summer; for their families lived roughly thirty miles apart. John thought that now he and Will would not see each other again until school started back up again in the fall. He feared he faced a summer of loneliness as well, for he knew no one who lived near his own house, his dad was usually away on business trips, and his mother was often too busy with her own circle of friends to spend much time with him.

But as it turned out, Will had ideas of his own. “If you’ve got no other friends, and your own folks don’t have any time for you, why don’t you spend the summer with me?” Will earnestly suggested to him. “I don’t have many friends where I live either, and I’m not looking forward to spending so much time alone! Let’s spend the summer together!”

“But won’t your own folks mind?” John asked hesitantly, although he was not at all averse to the idea of spending the summer at Will’s house.

“Heck no; they won’t even be there much of the time. Mom and dad are almost always away for business trips, or taking vacations somewhere far away – as much vacations away from ME as from anything else, I think” he said with a laugh. “There’ll be lots of things we can do together. We have a huge swimming pool and a tennis court, and I’ve got a huge collection of DVDs I haven’t watched yet for the summer. Come on, please say yes! It’ll be lots of fun, I swear!”

It didn’t take much more persuading to convince John. In turn, it didn’t take very much persuasion on John’s part to convince his parents to let him go. John’s father called Will’s father, who sounded like a very friendly man who seemed quite happy that his son had a friend he wanted to have stay over for the summer. And so arrangements were made as John and Will kept in touch by cell phone. John was told to travel light, as Will had a lot of excess clothing he’d outgrown which would fit Will’s smaller, lighter frame perfectly. Since John was traveling the entire way by bicycle just for the challenge (and the exercise), this was very good news indeed!

And now here he was – and it was like reaching paradise after a long and difficult journey. John pedaled leisurely along, until the manor house that had been previously almost hidden came more clearly into view. It looked like a mansion that belonged somewhere in Beverly Hills; not along a semi-isolated dead-end road at the edge of a small town like Walton’s Valley! In fact, it looked very much like the Clampett mansion from the old TV show The Beverly Hillbillies. It was perhaps a bit smaller, but not much.

Off to one side of the mansion John could see a tennis court, and nearby a trail that led into what seemed to be a small forest isolated from the rest of the countryside by the great wall that surrounded this estate on all sides. There were at least several acres of area that were at least as well maintained as a new city park. “Jeez, it must take an army of maintenance people to take care of *this* place!” John thought to himself as he slowly rode his bicycle up to the front door, hopped off, nudged his kickstand again to park his bike, and approached the door.

Just as he was about to ring the doorbell, the door was opened from the other side and Will stepped out to greet him with a wide grin on his face. He was dressed casually in a blue T-shirt with the famous Superman ‘S’ symbol on it, red gym shorts, red socks, and dark red sneakers (all of which – intentionally or otherwise - increased the resemblance to Superman’s costume). “Great to see you, buddy,” Will said to the smaller boy. “Come on inside. We’ll put that bike away in the garage for you later. Set that backpack down anywhere you like. Right now I want to show you all around!”

“Uhh… can I wash up a bit first?” John asked a bit timidly. He was feeling overwhelmed by his new surroundings. He’d thought his family’s new house in Godsey’s Mountain was really something (and it was, compared to the house he’d lived all his life in previously), but Will’s house made John’s look like a barn in John’s eyes now. Just the front foyer in was now in was roomier than any two rooms in his own house, and it was certainly far more expensive as well. John was started to feel unkempt and unworthy to be in this place, despite Will’s unconditionally welcoming demeanor; like he was a panhandler knocking on someone’s door and begging for some spare change.

“Sure, if you want!” Will said cheerfully as he slung one well-tanned, well-toned arm casually around John’s slender shoulders in pure camaraderie. He bent down and grabbed John’s backpack as if it were weightless in his free hand and happily led his houseguest up the stairs. “Your room’s up here; you can freshen up in there,” Will said cheerfully.

John was led up the stairs and along a winding, well-furnished hallway past several rooms until they came to a room near the back of the mansion that was closed with a set of large, heavy double doors. Will casually opened the door and led John inside.

John gasped; this room was just for him? Good God; it was almost as large as an entire floor at his own house! The room contained a luxurious king sized bed with ornate (and very sturdy-looking) brass posts and railings; it would have dominated John’s own room at home yet seemed almost tiny compared with the room as a whole. There were also several fancy chairs of different types; all fancy and also built quite heavily with massive wooden frames. There was a huge plasma TV on top of a dresser drawer that could have held several times as many clothes as John owned. There was a computer desk with a desktop computer beside a shelf containing numerous books and a large collection of DVDs and video-games as well. A set of French windows looked out over a backyard that was dominated by the largest and fanciest private swimming pool John had ever seen. The French window was framed by a luxurious set of drapes that totally hid the window frame – and also totally hid another feature of these windows that John was not to find out about until later! Even the closet that stood open to one side was large enough to make a small comfortable room all by itself.

Will showed John to the private bathroom that could be accessed only from John’s own room. John gasped again; it was twice as large as and ten times fancier than the bathroom at home. The bathtub in one corner was luxurious and fronted with a solid, opaque shower curtain that slid aside. There were numerous sturdy metal safety rails built into the wall beside the tub that looked strong enough to support an elephant and withstand being pulled out by a gorilla; Will tentatively pulled on one and couldn’t budge it at all. Everything… even the sink and the toilet… was as spotlessly clean as if the entire room had been built yesterday or had never been used before.

“Go ahead and freshen up,” Will invited him. “Take your time if you want. When you’re done, you can meet me downstairs in the rec room. Just turn right at the foot of the stairs and walk into the room at the end of the hallway there. Or, you can take the elevator right by the stairs if you’re feeling lazy after you wash up.” Will finished with a grin.

“Thanks,” John replied almost sotto-voce as Will casually waved good bye and stepped out of the room; gently closing the door behind him. Then, after looking around his new room for a moment or two in something of a daze, John re-entered the bathroom to take a much needed shower. He began to whistle a happy tune.

Outside John’s room, Will heard John whistling happily and smiled. This was really going to be one great summer, he thought to himself as he walked briskly back to the front of the mansion and hurried down the stairs. Of course, John had a few surprises in store for him, but he’d adapt. But first, he had to get things ready for him downstairs.

John took a key out of his pocket as he approached the rec room and fitted it into the lock as he reached the door; there was a ponderous click as he unlocked the heavy door and pushed it open. Inside the huge room were various kinds of game equipment, including a ping pong table, a pool table, a foosball machine, three pinball machines, several electronic Arcade computer games, another large plasma-screen TV, another computer, and a modern stereo system.

Lying on a padded mat in front of this last was a boy slightly older and slightly larger than Will and dressed in nothing except a pair of gray cargo shorts that ran to just above the knee. The other boy didn’t respond to Will’s presence for the very good reason that he was hog-tied, gagged, blindfolded, and wearing a set of earphones that was playing the Steve Miller Band at a high (but not uncomfortable) volume; rendering him oblivious to everything around him.

Will walked up to the other boy and – for the umpteenth time – admired the trim, athletic body that lay helplessly in his power and was currently oblivious to his presence. Then Will squatted down beside his prisoner; knees hovering mere inches over the other boy’s bound upper arms. Will reached casually out and, with a single finger, gently stroked the underside of a bare foot. There was sudden, almost violently spasmodic movement and a muffled squeal from the helpless boy; showing he was oblivious to Will’s presence no longer. Laughing quietly, Will ruffled the other boy’s dark brown hair for a moment and then proceeded to release him from his hogtie.

The other boy sighed with heartfelt relief when he was able to lay flat on his belly instead of being trapped in a hogtie, and made no effort to move a muscle until Will untied the knot of the gag at the back of the boy’s head. Then the second boy raised himself up slightly, spat out a pair of now-disgusting ankle socks, groaned, and flopped limply back onto the floor as Will continued to untie him.

“I thought you were *never* getting back in here!” Paul complained only half-seriously as his wrists were freed. Then he groaned in mingled misery and relief as he slowly moved his arms, shook some life back into them, and removed his blindfold while Will scooted over to Paul’s legs and untied them as well.

“Sorry, but I needed to make John feel right at home,” he replied cheerfully as he finished untying the ropes around Paul’s knees and began undoing his ankles as well. “He was more nervous than I expected him to be.”

“I’ll bet he wasn’t as nervous as he’ll be once he finds out what games we want to play with him!” Paul retorted with a sinister chuckle. “Boy, I can hardly wait to get started.”

“Well, let’s get all the ropes and stuff put away before he comes down here,” Will urged his friend. “We don’t want to spook him before the main event, now do we? Let’s give him a chance to get used to my house, and get to know you first – he doesn’t even know you’re here, yet. Then, when he’s good and relaxed, we’ll ease him into the game.”

The two boys put away all evidence that Paul had spent the last hour or more in a hogtie, and casually began a game of ping pong as they waited for Will’s other house-guest to join them.

[Xtc]

Glad to see you posting again.
Please may I make my usual plea that episodes be not too long? I know however, that such a thing is difficult when the author already has an idea of structure that pleases them.

[bondagefreak]

Really glad to see you posting this here Jason!

Hope you post the chapters out one at a time. That way all the new faces will have time to follow this and catch up

[chadmc90]

I remember that story. I believe it was the story that inspired me to create an account and write my own stories one day, and it was also the first story I read on the site. I'm happy you are republishing it for the new crowd to see.

[Tsuhaya]

I remember that story, it's really amazing.
It is always good to see old stories back.

[Jason Toddman]

Really glad to see you posting this here Jason!

Hope you post the chapters out one at a time. That way all the new faces will have time to follow this and catch up

I'm aiming for an average of about one per day. Which for this story alone will take about two months.

[bondagefreak]

That's a good rate or publishing.
You'll take over Bound and Gagged easily at that rate!

This is probably the most memorable story I started reading in late-2010 early-2011.
I remember enjoying your work, along with Tiedup101's, booklover's and a few other authors from the good old days

[cj2125]

Nice to see this story again. I remember that never got to read it in the old site since it's lenght kinda scared me off. But now that I've read the first part, I must tell you how much I enjoyed it! Can't wait to read the next part!

[bondagefreak]

Nice to see this story again. I remember that never got to read it in the old site since it's lenght kinda scared me off. But now that I've read the first part, I must tell you how much I enjoyed it! Can't wait to read the next part!

Glad that you mention length as off putting to some.
I've heard this quite often on the old board.
The good thing about rebooting this forum is that readers can follow the classic novels from the start without being faced with a huge number of chapters.

[cj2125]

Glad that you mention length as off putting to some.
I've heard this quite often on the old board.
The good thing about rebooting this forum is that readers can follow the classic novels from the start without being faced with a huge number of chapters.

In my personal opinion, the problem I've see with some long works (not refering to anyone in particular) is that they need to work less like a story and more like a novel, so the first chapters need to be strong enough to hook you up (if you don't find them interesting enough, you won't bother reading the other 40) and there has to be a clear progression and a plot, if not, reading through 40 or so chapters in one go becomes tiresome and makes you lose interest.

Maybe that's why being forced to read one chapter at a time might help get these stories more of an audience

[bondagefreak]

@[mention]cj2125[/mention] Very much agree.
But this is the case with short stories as well. The introduction chapter needs to be strong.

[cj2125]

@@cj2125 Very much agree.
But this is the case with short stories as well. The introduction chapter needs to be strong.

Yeah, but you are more willing to give it a try if there are only 3 chapters to read opposite to 40

[Veracity]

As I've told you before, this is one of my favorite stories. Glad to see it here, and I hope to see some of your other stories as well. Maybe even some new stories?

[Jason Toddman]

As I've told you before, this is one of my favorite stories. Glad to see it here, and I hope to see some of your other stories as well. Maybe even some new stories?

Such is my ambition, eventually - as well as completing some stories i posted at the old site but never finished. Maybe even with illustrations.

Nice to see this story again. I remember that never got to read it in the old site since it's lenght kinda scared me off. But now that I've read the first part, I must tell you how much I enjoyed it! Can't wait to read the next part!

Gee, that aspect of writing longer stories never even occurred to me! Hopefully my writing skill is adequate enough to enough other people to make up for that!

[Jason Toddman]

Part 2.


John felt extremely relaxed as he finished his leisurely shower and toweled himself dry. He’d already felt relaxed before he’d started thanks to the efficient air conditioning system. Although it was hot and muggy outside, this entire mansion (or at least the parts he’d been in so far) was as cool as and as dry as was possible for maximum comfort. By the time John had finished his shower, he felt like a million bucks (which, he ruefully estimated, was probably what this one bedroom and its adjacent bathroom and their furnishings cost to construct and furnish).

Toweling his curly blond hair dry and then wrapping the bath towel around his narrow waist, John re-entered the bedroom Will have given him to sleep in for the summer and checked the dresser drawer for clean clothes. Inside the first drawer he checked were dozens of pairs of clean undershorts - both boxers and briefs – along with a large assortment of Speedos (which he’d never worn before) and swimming trunks of various styles. Although these were all supposed to be hand-me-downs that Will (who was somewhat larger than John was) had outgrown, everything looked practically brand-new. However, as Will had promised, everything John saw was in his own size.

Another drawer held a wide selection of T-shirts with various designs and colors. A third held an equally wide variety of shorts in different colors and styles and lengths - from little larger than underwear to shorts that ran down to his knees (though there were no full length pants) - but all were his own size. A fourth drawer was filled with various types of socks but these were all mostly white. The fifth and final drawer at the bottom held a wide selection of sneakers; again all his size and all looking practically brand new. There were so many samples of everything that John speculated that Will simply outgrew them long before he had a chance to wear anything out noticeably. It never once occurred to John that his host might have simply bought these items specifically for him to wear rather than give him used hand-me-downs that he’d outgrown as he had claimed.

John idly picked and chose random items from the wide variety of items available from each dresser drawer and clothed himself. He looked at himself in the full length mirror that stood in one corner of the room. Not bad at all, he thought to himself as posed his slender but pleasingly athletic body in front of the mirror. I could get used to this! Got to do something about that hair though!

John walked into the bathroom, found a comb, and got his unruly blond, curly hair back into looking like something that belonged on the top of his head rather than looking like an untidy bird’s nest. He admired himself in the mirror with a grin, put down the comb, and walked to the door. For some reason he suddenly almost expected to find the door locked and that he’d be trapped inside the room as if this was a prison cell. But the door, though it was thick, sturdy and heavy, opened quite readily. “I’ve been watching too many horror movies,” John thought idly to himself. John’s strange fancy was quickly forgotten as he walked briskly back down the hallway to the stairs in search of his host.

Before he reached the bottom of the stairway, John was guided to Will’s whereabouts by the sounds of Will’s voice and another boy’s voice that sounded vaguely familiar to him in idle conversation, accompanied by the distinctive sounds of a ping pong game in progress. John was a trifle disappointed, as up to now he thought it’d just be him and Will alone together; plus any members of Will’s family that happened to be home. But perhaps Will had another friend who was just visiting briefly and unexpectedly. Pausing for only a moment when he heard the other boy’s voice, Will followed the sounds he was hearing to their source.

Will recognized Paul the moment he saw him, though he was surprised to see him here. He was a member of the same Soccer team he and Will had been in at the Boarding School. He’d been friendly enough to John and had obviously been friends with Will as well, but he and Paul had never had any occasion to spend time together outside of soccer games and practice sessions. If anything, Paul had occasionally made John feel like he was Paul’s competitor for Will’s time, although it was doubtful this was intentional on Paul’s part. But now John was beginning to understand that same feeling Paul must have had in reverse, and felt a twinge of jealousy toward Paul!

Will was facing the doorway John entered through and called out a greeting to him without pausing in his ping pong game. Paul was momentarily distracted by John’s arrival however, and flubbed hitting the ball as it rocketed past him. “Score!” Will said with a victorious laugh as he set down his ping pong paddle and walked toward John. “John, you remember Paul from school, right? He’s staying the summer with me too!”

John felt another, much stronger surge of jealousy toward Paul at this news. But when Paul set down his own paddle and turned to greet him with a disarmingly friendly grin and his hand held out for a handshake, John managed to quell this envious surge without more than a quick flicker of this emotion passing across his face. He and Paul shook hands, and John felt a strange thrill pass all through him with the older boy’s firm but not uncomfortable handshake.

“Pleased to have you along, John,” Paul said without a trace of negative feeling (such as John had just experienced) passing across his own strong, handsome face. “It’ll be nice to have a chance to get to know each other better. We didn’t really get much chance to socialize at school, did we? I hope we can make up for lost time!”

“I didn’t know you’d be here too,” John replied hesitantly; trying not to let lingering disappointment slip into his voice.

“Well, it *was* a sort of last-minute thing,” Paul replied cheerfully. “My folks wanted to send me to some kind of boy’s camp all summer. But Will and I have been pals for years, so when he found out about that he invited me along for the summer too.”

“Sorry I didn’t get a chance to tell you,” Will told John contritely. “But I couldn’t let a chum I’ve known since first grade languish in a boy’s camp with lame-o counselors and a group of geeks and sissies crying for their mommies for company. And it’ll be fun with just the three of us here. We’ll be the Three Musketeers!” With this, Will stepped between the other two and draped his arms around both sets of shoulders in a hug.

“Or the Three Stooges! Take your pick!” Paul added with a grin as he held out a fist. John looked at it blankly for a moment until he realized what was expected of him and gently nudged it with his own free fist.

Will grinned happily and shook the shoulders of both the other boys. “I knew we’d all get along,” he said cheerfully. “So, what do you guys want to do first?”

“Uhhh… could I get something to eat? I’m starved after that long bike ride!” John asked hesitantly.

“You bet!” John replied. “I could use something to eat too. Let’s go to the kitchen.”

The kitchen was, like the rest of the house, large and luxuriously furnished. The table was large enough to seat a dozen people. Each of the dozen wooden chairs surrounding it was heavily built, with a sturdy frame with a half-dozen thick vertical bars in back and thick legs reinforced with heavy horizontal braces below. The chairs seemed brand-new and looked solid enough to seat the Incredible Hulk without strain. The larder was generously stocked with nearly every type of food that could attract the interest of a hungry and healthy teen-aged boy.

“We get food deliveries in once a week,” Will explained to John. “Mom and dad hired a cook who comes in to fix our meals three times a day too. But she already did lunch and left before you arrived and she won’t be back in to fix dinner for hours yet, so we’ll fix you something to eat ourselves. Name whatever you like and we’ll fix you right up.”

John saw a lot of tempting items but settled for a quick sandwich, some potato chips, and some ice-cold soda – with some ice cream or dessert. Will told him he could have lots more than that if he wanted, but John was happy with something simple for now. Will and Paul had already eaten, but made themselves a bowl of ice cream as well to eat while John had his lunch to keep him company.

“Want to take a swim in the pool out back afterward?” suggested Will as John finished his sandwich and started on his bowl of ice cream “It’s a beautiful day for it, and the pool has just been cleaned this morning. Maybe we can take a walk around the grounds first while you digest your lunch so you won’t get cramps while you swim.”

Will was evidently eager to show off his family’s estate, and John was interested in seeing it, so was happy to go along with Will’s idea. So after lunch the boys stepped outside, where Will took John’s bike and walked it over to a large (and empty) two-car garage, set it inside, and closed and locked the garage door. They then took a leisurely walk around the grounds and the well-maintained park-like wooded area out back.

The estate was even larger than John had first estimated; it was over a half square-mile in area. The wooded area contained a small, clean pond out of sight of anywhere outside of the estate. There was a tennis court, a basketball court, and a miniature soccer court as well. This estate seemed to have everything!

The three boys went to the pool after going to their separate rooms and changing into bathing outfits. John chose a set of swim trunks that ran halfway down to his knees, but Will and Paul emerged from the house wearing nothing more than skimpy set of Speedos, sunglasses, and – in Paul’s case – a baseball cap. Paul laughed a bit when he saw what John had chosen to wear but neither boy commented otherwise. John felt a trifle awkward dressing differently from the other two but wearing Speedos would have made him feel even more awkward; almost naked. He resisted the impulse to change his selection and simply followed the others to the pool.

John was impressed; the pool was as large as the pool at the YMCA in his home town, although it was irregularly shaped rather than rectangular like the YMCA pool was. There was a diving board at the deep end, which all three boys used numerous times. They swam and splashed one another like typical kids, and John had a splendid time. By the time the three decided to take a break and sun themselves on three of the lawn chairs set around the pool, he was totally relaxed and feeling right at home. This summer was going to be the best summer of his life, John decided right then and there.

John was almost dozing in his lawn chair when a sudden exclamation woke him back up and made him look around; momentarily dazed and confused. “Quit it!” he heard Will shout with a mixture of amusement and annoyance, while Paul could be heard laughing about something. John finally located them with his sleepy, half closed eyes, and saw Paul sitting in a lawn chair beside Will’s. Paul tickling Will’s nose with a feather while Will was trying to relax and soak up some UV rays as John had just been doing.

“I said quit it!” yelled Will again, waving his arm semi-angrily to ward off the teasing feather as Paul pulled it away with a sardonic laugh. Paul sat there grinning at Will for a moment, looked over at John (who was about ten feet away from them) mischievously, looked back down at Will again, and slowly moved the feather forward again toward the seemingly oblivious Will as he closed his eyes again. He reached further… further… and began brushing Will’s nose with the feather again.

Will exploded into motion. He snatched at the feather but missed as Paul yanked it away from him too quickly. With a cheery war-cry, Will launched himself out of his chair, tackled Paul, knocked him out of his own chair, and wrestled him down onto the lawn face downward in a typical bully pin. Paul laughed and struggled to get up while Will struggled just as hard to prevent him and sat on the small of Paul’s back.

“John, quick! Grab that rope over there!” Will called to John; nodding with his head to a coil of rope lying by the edge of the pool. “Help me tie this brat up! Hurry!”

John looked at the two wrestling boys to the rope – what was a coil of rope doing there? – and back to the other two again. Then, making up his mind in an instant, he jumped out of his lawn chair, grabbed the rope, and gleefully hurried over to assist Will. At first, Paul laughed and struggled even harder. His feet began flailing around.

“Sit on his legs and tie his feet!” Will told John.

“Noooo! Don’t!” protested Paul, but he was laughing rather than acting like he was really upset by the notion. His legs were still flailing however, but John had little problem as he straddled the backs of Paul’s thighs, pinned his legs down, scrabbled on his knees forward, and pinned the backs of Paul’s calves with his body weight. Paul was still resisting but not very strongly, and John hastily went to work.

John was not very experienced in Tie-ups, but he remembered learning the basics once while watching a movie on DVD about Dennis the Menace, when the eponymous kid showed Christopher Lloyd’s character the proper way to tie someone up. John tied a loop around each ankle separately, wrapped a few loops around both ankles together, and then tied a few more loops at a 90 degree angle to the previous loops to make a cinch. He tied this cinch as tight as he dared and then knotted it off. This left him with more than half of the rope still unused. Now what was he supposed to do?

“You done?” called Will.

“Yes, with the feet,” replied John. “Now what?”

“Turn your body around but stay on his legs,” Will instructed him. John carefully complied, but was still only halfway through doing this when Will lithely turned around – letting go of Paul’s wrists for scarcely an instant – and, facing John, forced Paul’s wrists up behind his back as he sat on his friend’s shoulders. “Now pull the rope you’re holding and pull his feet as close to his butt as you can!” Will continued.

Despite his evident struggling, Paul didn’t seem to show much resistance as John forced his feet up and over. John got up off of Paul, squatted to one side of him, and pulled Paul’s lower legs downward over his upper. As soon as he got Paul’s feet almost over his buttocks, John placed one of knees over Paul’s lower legs and pressed down, holding Paul’s legs down with his own.

“Great! That’s the idea!” Will said happily. “Now tie his wrists good and tight while I hold them together!” Will urged him encouragingly.

John complied; showing no hesitation at all now as he made a new loop around one of Paul’s wrists with the rope – leaving as little rope as possible between this tie and where he had knotted off the tie at the feet. He made a second loop around Paul’s other wrist as close to the first one as he could, and then rapidly looped the rope around both wrists together several more times. With growing confidence, John cinched this wrist tie as well with another few loops and tied another knot. This still left several feet of rope dangling at the free end.

“Hand me that,” Will said to John, and John immediately did so. Will then expertly tied the rope back around Paul’s ankles in as tight a loop as he could, knotted it off, threaded it back around Paul’s wrists, knotted it again, and back down to Paul’s ankles where several more cinch loops used up most of what was left. Will made one last knot with this, and he was done.

Will and Paul stood up to one side of the still struggling Paul and watched him as he fought to get free of his hogtie. He rocked his near-naked and sweating body from side to side, wriggled his hands and feet frantically, and made a lot of grunting sounds – and that’s about all he accomplished. Paul definitely seemed to be stuck.

“All right! It’s torture time!” Will exclaimed happily as he knelt down beside Paul, reached out, and gently to gently tickle the soles of his bare feet.

“OH NO! Hahahahahahahahahaha! Stop it! Aahhhh! Hahahahahahahahaha!” Paul yelled as he rocked frantically back and forth. “Heeellp! MURDER! Aahhhh!!! STOP! Hahaha! Please! Mercy! Hahahahahahaha!”

“Want to tickle him too, John?” Will asked his other friend playfully.

John grinned and, hesitantly at first, reached down under Paul’s trapped arms and began to lightly stroke his upper rib cage and up under his armpits. “Aaahhh!” Paul screamed, and his body jerked as if he had been shocked with a Taser. Then he burst into laughter even more hysterical than before. “Hahahahahaha! Noooooooo! Hahahahahaha! DON’T! Hahahahahaha! Please! Hahahahahaha! HELP! Hahahahahahaha! SOMEBODY HELP! Hahahahahaha! AAHHH! Leave my armpits aloooonnee!! Hahahahaha! PLEEEAASE!”
Paul thrashed all around as he screamed, but this brought him only laughter of a quieter but equally happy kind as John and Will continued to tickle him relentlessly for a few more minutes before they finally paused to let Paul catch his breath.

“Having fun yet, John?” Will asked him as he knelt on the grass beside him, hands on knees, while Paul was breathing hard like a beached whale.

“You bet!” John replied happily. “This is a blast!”

“Want to show Paul mercy, or you want to tickle him again?” Will asked him with a grin.

“Uhhh… What do *you* think we should do?” John asked; feeling a bit hesitant now; he didn’t want Paul to look for revenge on him later.

“Aw, he was a pest! No mercy!” declared Will, and he resumed tickling Paul, who in turn resumed thrashing around, laughing, and squealing like a pig. John then felt no further hesitation in adding to Paul’s suffering and laughed along with Will at Paul’s increasing frantic pleas for mercy.

“Wow! This is hot work!” Will declared after another fifteen minutes or so. “Come on, John… let’s go cool off in the pool!” He stood up and began to jog toward the pool.

“What about Paul?” asked John in sudden concern; still kneeling by the older boy. “We can’t just leave him lying out here in this hot sun!”

“He’ll be fine! He put on his sunblock! Let’s go!” Will urged him. “It serves him right for being a pest anyway!”

John looked down at Paul, who simply gazed placidly back up at him. Deciding Will was right John stood up and dashed after Will, who was by then leaping off the diving board.

The two boys swam leisurely around inside the pool, occasionally looking at a feebly struggling but relatively silent Paul. Every so often Will would laugh, verbally tease Paul and crack jokes about his preferring to bake in the hot sun rather than take a cool swim with them.

“Well, I’ve had enough swimming for now,” Will announced. “Let’s dry off for a while.” He got out of the pool, walked right past a still hog-tied Paul, sat down inside a lawn chair, put in a set of sunglasses, and closed his eyes. Shrugging his shoulders, John did the same thing; ignoring Paul as he sat in a lawn chair of his own.

The two boys soaked up the sun for about an hour. Then, as the sun was starting to touch the tops of the trees and the heat of the day was starting to diminish, Will stood up. “Well, it’s getting late.” He told John. “The cook will be here soon to fix supper for us. We’d better change clothes and look more respectable, hadn’t we?”

“Okay, but what about Paul?” asked John as he stood up too.

“I’ll untie him,” Will said as he walked over to the other boy and squatted down beside him. “You go on ahead; we’ll catch up with you in a little bit.”

“Okay,” John replied agreeably as he hurried off into the house.

Will watched John go, and waited until the smaller boy was out of sight and earshot before turning to look down at his other friend. “Okay, he’s gone. I trust you’re not *really* stuck, are you?”

Paul proceeded to struggle again, but his hand movements were far more deft than before as his nimble fingers sought, found, and released one knot and then another. The rope began to peel away from Paul’s limbs at a rate that would have astonished John had he been allowed to see it. Without any help from Will, Paul had himself completely untied in less than two minutes.

“Kid isn’t half bad tying knots,” Paul said with a grin as he unwound the last of the rope from around his ankles, massaged his wrists and feet, stood up, and carefully re-coiled the rope. “But he’s still got an awful lot to learn compared to pros like us!”

“Well, once we get him a bit more used to seeing us tie each other up, then we’ll show HIM the ropes,” Will replied with a mischievous grin. “Then the REAL fun will begin!”

Laughing and joking, the two boys went into the house to change into some dry clothes and join John at the dinner table.

[cj2125]

Nice one! I love all the plotting to get John more accustomed to ropes! Really want to read more!

[Carnath]

Yeeeessss! Thank you so much for puttint it back!!

[Veracity]

As I've told you before, this is one of my favorite stories. Glad to see it here, and I hope to see some of your other stories as well. Maybe even some new stories?

Such is my ambition, eventually - as well as completing some stories i posted at the old site but never finished. Maybe even with illustrations.

Nice to see this story again. I remember that never got to read it in the old site since it's lenght kinda scared me off. But now that I've read the first part, I must tell you how much I enjoyed it! Can't wait to read the next part!

Gee, that aspect of writing longer stories never even occurred to me! Hopefully my writing skill is adequate enough to enough other people to make up for that!

Whereas I must always go on record as saying that I love long stories, and actively seek them out. Everyone is different, I guess.

[Jason Toddman]

Whereas I must always go on record as saying that I love long stories, and actively seek them out. Everyone is different, I guess.

I reckon so. Something i still have trouble fully realizing, I think. I'm the type of guy who tries to please everyone, and wears himself the hell out in the attempt to do something that is basically impossible. So now i'll just go for pleasing the greatest possible number within reason instead.

[bondagefreak]

[mention]Veracity[/mention] Same here. Short stories can be a LOT of fun. But they don't come close to holding the same potential as long stories do when it comes to character development, interaction and growth.
So I hear you loud and clear.

[Jason Toddman]

@Veracity Same here. Short stories can be a LOT of fun. But they don't come close to holding the same potential as long stories do when it comes to character development, interaction and growth.
So I hear you loud and clear.

You should! Some of your stories are even longer than mine!! Trapped in a sleeping bag comes to mind. which reminds me; i've got to finish that one sometime.

[Jason Toddman]

Part 3

John went to his room, and changed into a fresh set of undershorts, a blue set of shorts that ran halfway down to his knee, a T shirt that had an image of Spider-Man featured on it, white ankle socks, and a pair of black (with white trim) converse sneakers. After a quick check of himself and combing his curly hair again (rendered especially unruly by his afternoon’s excursion at the pool), John hurried out of his room just as Will and Paul were arriving at theirs to change their own clothing.

“Uhhh, there’s no hard feelings about that tie-up and tickle session, right?” John asked Paul tentatively as the taller boy was passing by him.

“Shoot, no dude!” Paul replied with an impish grin that showed his even, white teeth as he held up his hand for a high-five, which John quickly gave. “What gave you that idea, John? Like Will said, I had it coming to me! Heck, I thought it was fun! Anyway, catch up with you in a bit. I need a wash after all that time lying on the grass.” And with that Paul continued on to enter a room just past John’s further down the hallway.

“Hey John, I just buzzed the cook in through the main gate,” Will, who was still standing just a few feet away at the doorway to his own room, told him. “Do you like lasagne? That’s what I told her we’d like but I forgot to ask you. If you’d like something different, feel free to change the dinner selection.”

“Naw, I love lasagne,” John replied. This was fortunately true, but John would have felt awkward changing the pre-planned dinner item even if he hated lasagne. “I hope she makes enough of it. I tend to be a bit of a pig!”

“Really?” Will commented wryly as he looked openly eyed John’s slender body up and down and grinned. “Well, it certainly doesn’t show! Anyway, why don’t you go ahead and introduce yourself to the cook? Her name’s Tasha; and she’s really nice. We’ll join you downstairs when we’re dressed and then we can play pool or watch TV or something until dinner’s ready.”

“Okay,” John replied noncommittally and the two waved to each other as Will stepped into his room (right across from John’s) and closed the door. John causally walked down the stairs and over to the kitchen, idly whistling the tune from “Pop Goes the Weasel” for some reason as he entered. But the moment he stepped into the kitchen and saw who was there, “Pop Goes the Weasel” suddenly turned into a high-pitched wolf whistle.

Will had said that Tasha was nice. What an understatement; Tasha was gorgeous; She looked just like Erica Durance from the show Smallville (only with shorter, darker hair)!
She turned around to look at John when she heard the wolf whistle, and John suddenly blushed with embarrassment and tried to stammer out an apology.

“Well, you must be Will’s other house guest John,” Tasha said with a warm smile that made John suddenly wish he’d checked himself over more carefully in the mirror but at the same time put him more at ease. But then she walked over and held out a hand for a handshake, and John felt himself go weak in the knees. His hand returned her firm grip like a wet noodle’s in his own estimation – and he blushed more deeply than ever. “Oh; a shy one, huh? Well, don’t worry, I don’t bite!” Tasha continued as she released her grip and continued to smile at him. “So, Will said to ask you if you like lasagna for tonight before I started making it.”

“Uh – yuh – yeah… lasagna’s is great!” John stammered out. I think I’m in love!

“Okay,” she said casually as she turned around and started preparations. “So why don’t you take a load off and tell me a bit about yourself to help me pass the time?”

John stammered and stuttered his basic life’s story for a minute or two, steadily gaining his confidence as he warmed to the subject and it became evident she was actually listening to him and not just trying to be polite. The meat sauce had been prepared that morning and was now simmering on the stove while she was soaking the lasagna noodles and making the cheese filling. By the time she had readied the casserole dish and was putting the ingredients together in careful layers he was more at ease and sounded more like his usual self. He was just warming to the subject when Will and John came into the kitchen and began to pull him (with some resistance on his part) back out again with them.

“Come on Romeo; let’s let her make the lasagna so we can eat tonight!” Will urged him with a laugh. “She has two other homes in the area she has to make dinner for tonight, so she’s on a fairly tight schedule! Come on; challenge you to a game of pool!”

“How can you think of playing pool when you have Lois Lane fixing lasagna in your own kitchen?” John asked with some bewilderment.

“Well, I’ve known her for several years now, for a start,” Will replied with a grin. “She’s fixed every meal I ever ate at home since I was ten. And I know for a fact that though she’s very friendly, she’s never going to let me take her out on a date.”

“Well… I know… but even so…” John said, flustered. Then he turned to Paul. “Why about you? Aren’t *you* interested in her?”

“Dude, she’s been cooking for *my* family since I was eight and she was just finishing cooking school,” Paul replied. “She likes me but just laughs when I tell her I love her!”

John stopped walking along between Paul and Will and just stared at them both with mouth agape. They’d *both* known her for years?! The lucky bastards!!! John began to feel more like a mere pauper visiting royalty than ever! All his meals at home had been fixed by his own mom; she was a good cook and looked good for a woman of 40, but she was more like a blond Annette O’Toole than she did Erica Durance!

Will and Paul both stopped and looked back at him when they noticed that John wasn’t following. “What’s wrong, John?” Will asked with sudden concern.

“You’re both from such rich families,” John said in a voice so quiet they almost could not hear him. “Why do you want to hang around with a poor kid like me?”

“What are you talking about?” Will asked with some puzzlement. “We aren’t interested in your money. We like *you*! You’re a schoolmate, and a teammate, and a friend, and that’s all *I* care about!”

“Besides, I can’t beat him in pool to save my life, so I’m hoping you’re someone I have a better chance playing against!” Paul added with a puckish smile.

“Yeah? Well you’re out of luck!” John retorted with a grin as he came out of his funk. “I’m a regular pool shark, dude!”

“Really? Care to make a wager on that?” asked Paul with a mischievous grin.

John frowned. “Dude, I told you I don’t have much money!”

“Money shmoney! We just told you we don’t care about money!” Paul said without missing a beat. “We play for *real* stakes. Loser has to take a dare! Just last night I beat Will in Pinball and he had to let me lead him around blindfolded all around the house the rest of the night with his hands tied behind his back.”

“Really?” John asked Will, who nodded affirmatively with a rueful grin. “Gosh, I wish I could have seen that!”

“Stick with us and you’ll see – and do – lots of neat things,” Paul promised him. “So what do you say? Play pool loser takes a dare?”

“What dare?” John asked with some hesitation.

“Whatever the winner decides of course,” Paul replied smoothly. “But of course nothing that endangers the loser in any way or involves anything he can’t easily do. Sometimes Will and I make each other do fifty pushups, or do the laundry or other chores we have to do here ourselves, or fix breakfast those days Tasha doesn’t come in; that sort of thing. And sometimes, just for the heck of it, one of us ties the other up one for an hour or two.”

“You mean that time by the pool wasn’t the first time?” John asked in some surprise.

“Nope,” replied Will easily as they reached the rec room. “In the three days Paul’s been here, I’ve tied him up six times now, and he’s tied me up four! In fact…” Will added with a chuckle, “I had him tied up in here when you arrived and the entire time I was showing you your room!”

John looked at Paul with amazement. Paul looked back and nodded, smiling happily. “He’s good at it too. But it’s just in fun. We don’t hurt each other or anything, and we don’t keep each other tied up for more than an hour or two.”

John didn’t reply to this, but he couldn’t help but wonder to himself what it would be like to tie Will and Paul up all by himself… or even what it’d feel like for them to tie him up instead. It sounded a bit scary; but it also made him feel a sense of… keen anticipation. Suddenly, he knew that if he played pool and beat Paul, he was going to dare him to let him tie him up again – only this time all by himself without Will’s help! The very thought of it made him feel all tingly inside!

“Okay, you’re on! Loser has to done thing the winner says?” John asked to make sure he understood right. Paul nodded agreeably and smiled.

“And I’ll play the winner; same stakes?” Will asked.

“Sure!” John replied with the easy confidence of the young and foolish.

Will set up the pool table and stood back to watch as Paul and John grabbed pool cues and began to play. John soon proved that he had good reason to be confident. As the challenged party, he went first – and sank three balls with his breaking shot. Three more turns sank three more balls, and the next time he flubbed the shot by only the smallest of margins. Paul sank two shots before he missed his turn. From there, John sank shots like Minnesota Fats and sank every ball he announced, with the eight ball going last.

As Will set up for the game between himself and Paul, Tasha entered the rec room. “The lasagna is all made and cooking in the oven,” she told Will. “I set the timer. Dinner should be ready at six o’clock. Be sure to remove the foil half an hour earlier and then let it cool for about fifteen minutes after it’s done. I’ve already set the table for three. Is there anything else you boys need before I go?”

“No, we’re good Tasha. Thanks. See you tomorrow!” Will told her with a smile.

“Okay, Will. It was nice to meet you John. Have a good night, boys!” Tasha said, waving goodbye and then taking her leave.

“Hang on while I open the gate to let her out,” Will told John. He walked over to a computer console and turned it on. An image of the front gate John had passed late that morning came onto the screen; evidently from a viewpoint somewhere between the gate and the house and a good ways up – probably somewhere in a tree overlooking the driveway. Will clicked a command into the computer, which demanded a password. John could not see what Will typed, as the result on the screen was all asterisks. But a moment later, the main gate – not the small pedestrian gate John had come in through himself – slowly slid aside like an iron curtain into a recess along the opposite end of the gate from the pedestrian gate. A wide gap was left in the fixed main frame of the gate large enough for a commercial truck to pass through, though there was still a wide barred overhead and to either side that remained fixed in place.

Will stayed at the monitor for a few moments until a sporty red car with Tasha at the wheel could be seen from one side of the screen approaching the gate. A casual car honk beeping could be heard as the car passed the camera and drove on through the gate to the road beyond. The moment the car drove out through the gate, Will clicked something on the computer keyboard, and the gate on the screen slid slowly shut again. Will waited until the gate finished closing, and a message on the screen flashed “Gate Closed” and then “Gate Locked” before casually hitting another keystroke. Will turned around and stepped away without another glance at the computer as the display went dark. “Okay, let’s play pool!” he said to John as he rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

As the challenged, Paul broke again; sinking two balls with the first shot. He sank two more balls with the next two shots but then flubbed the next; yielding the turn to Will. From then on however, Will dominated the game. He sank shot after shot that he announced without fail, and he soon cleared every ball from the table except the cue ball. John watched with a feeling of mingled anticipation and dread as he realized that now he would have to pay a forfeit to Will just as Paul would pay one to him.

John was willing to wager good money (if he had any) that he knew what that forfeit was going to be. Well, perhaps it would be fun. After all, it was Will he had lost to; not the Marquis de Sade.

If he only knew…

As it would not be all that long before dinner was ready, it was decided to postpone the forfeits until after dinner. Will went to remove the foil from the lasagna halfway through its cooking time as Tasha had instructed him, and then the three watched a show on Cartoon Network on a 60-inch plasma screen in the living room. Will went back into the kitchen at six to take the lasagna out of the oven, and then they watched another show on TV for a while to let the lasagna cool. Then they sat down together to a fine dinner, with Will acting as a butler to the other two since there was no one else in the house to serve them. Will didn’t seem to mind in fact he was quite cheerful about it; making John feel as perfectly at ease as if he’d lived with Will his entire life.

There was nothing left of the lasagna by the time the boys were finished with it, and Will put the dirty casserole dish and plates in the sink to let them soak a while before cleaning them later. John was almost surprised to hear that Will took care of such mundane chores himself rather than have another servant do it, but apparently there were some things Will’s parents thought their son should learn to do for himself. Will himself seemed not to mind, so John did not inquire deeper into the matter.

The three boys adjourned to the living room again, where Paul would be first to pay his forfeit to John.

“So what’s my forfeit to be, John?” Paul asked genially.

John looked around the living room and found a wooden chair similar to the ones they had used inside the kitchen. “Got any rope handy?” he asked Will. Will nodded and went to the rec room to get it.

“Sit down in that chair,” John told Paul. “I’m going to tie you up!”

With a small smile, Paul complied. Will came back with several coils of rope in his arms; enough in John’s opinion to tie all three of them securely. Selecting one, John went to work on his intended victim.

The back of the wooden chair was not a solid piece but had a solid framework with one solid piece about four inches wide and an inch thick running sixteen inches vertically down the center (with sizable gaps on either side of it) running between two horizontal bracers. John had Paul stick his arms though these gaps and place his wrists together behind his back. Paul did so without protest and calmly kept his wrists still while John leisurely tied them together in the same way he’d done earlier in the day. But when John was finished and tied a knot, he then wrapped additional loops around Paul’s wrists and the vertical back of the chair and then still more around the lower horizontal bracer. By the time he finished knotting this off and used up that piece of rope, Paul’s wrists were firmly trapped in place.

John took a second piece of rope, knelt down in front of Paul, and tied separate loops around Paul’s feet inside rope cuffs with no slack between them. John tied Paul’s feet firmly together and cinched them more tightly than he had before. John then scrabbled to a point behind Paul, threaded the remaining length of rope over a brace that ran horizontally underneath the chair between the two rear chair legs, and pulled backward. Paul felt both his feet leave the floor as they were forced upward and backward to a point just below the back end of the chair, as if John were trying to place him into another hog-tie. Will whistled in admiration as he watched; John was displaying rather more tying skill than he’d expected. He was doing a better job of it than he’d done outside.

“Have you ever tied anyone before?” he asked John as the younger boy looped the rope around the back bracer and between Paul’s ankles a few times and knotted it off; preventing Paul from moving his feet at all – let alone put them back down on the floor.

“Just my kid brother Phil when he’s being a pest, or occasionally one of his friends when they visit and pester me,” replied John as he picked up another piece of rope. He began to tie this around a surprised but unprotesting Paul’s legs below his knees; John evidently intended to be more thorough than he’d been the first time! “He’s only ten though, so it doesn’t take much skill to tie *him* up. I’ve never gotten a chance to do this to anyone older than him… until now!” John said with a smile as he finished tying up Paul’s legs.

John still wasn’t done. Taking another piece of rope, he tied a loop around Paul’s arm just above the elbow, pulled it as far toward the other elbow as he could, tied a loop around the other arm, and continued to tug and pull until he’d tied Paul’s arms together as securely as he could. Will grinned, while Paul also smiled but also looked as if he was wondering what the hell he’d gotten himself into.

John took another length of rope and tied Paul’s upper arms to the frame of the chair. “Jeez, John… a bit of overkill don’t you think?” Paul asked ruefully but good-naturedly as he found himself unable to move his arms at all, though his fingers still moved agilely enough.

“Got something I can use for a gag?” John casually asked Will.

Will sat in another chair and took off his sneakers and calf-length socks. He rolled one sock into a ball. “Stuff this one into his mouth; he *loves* the taste of my socks! Then tie the other around his face,” Will suggested. “Or I can get some duct tape if you prefer.”

“The second sock should do fine,” replied John as he stuffed the balled-up sock into a now feebly-but-futilely resisting Paul’s mouth and began making a cleave gag with the other sock. “But get the duct tape anyway,” he added as he forced the gag between Paul’s jaws and tied it tightly in back as Paul’s clenched teeth bit into the sock. “Yeah, let’s hide those pearly whites!” he decided as Will produced a roll of duct tape. John gleefully tore off a piece and plastered it over Paul’s mouth, smoothing it down with his hand. “There! Now I need a blindfold!”

“Why not your shirt?” Will suggested.

“Okay!” John agreed; immediately pulling his shirt off his slender torso and making a blindfold with it. After John finishing knotting it tightly in back, Paul looked like the very essence of helplessness. “Having fun?” he asked Paul as he playfully ruffled Paul’s long, brown hair.

Paul’s answer was muffled into incomprehensibility by his gag but he also slowly nodded his head in the affirmative.

“So, what’s on TV?” he cheerfully asked Will as he completely ignored his captive and sat down in a comfortable easy chair.

Will smiled as he took a quick look back at Paul, who seemed to be quite content with the situation. Will was happy too; things were working out even better than he and Paul had expected. Once John was satisfied with Paul’s forfeit – probably after a mere hour or two - and started paying his own to Will, things were really going to get interesting.

John had a real surprise in store for him when it was time to pay his forfeit!

[cj2125]

Another good chapter! Thanks for posting!

[Dominik]

A great story indeed!

[Jason Toddman]

Part 4

It was about seven thirty in the evening when John finished tying Paul to his chair. He and Will then watched a half-hour program on a local station and then watched an episode of Battlestar Galactica on the sci-fi Channel. They simply watched the shows without teasing or tormenting the tied-up Paul in any way; in fact, Paul was pretty well ignored as if he wasn’t there at all the entire time. At one point during a commercial break Will asked John if he wanted to torture Paul in any way and suggested tickle-torturing his feet; but John, knowing that the tables would be turned on him before long, decided to take it easy on Paul in hopes that Paul would return the favor later. Will simply smiled when John mentioned this and didn’t press the matter.

When the show ended at nine however, Will suggested that John untie Paul so that he could pay his own forfeit. “After all, you don’t want to have to face being tied up when you get sleepy and want to go to bed, do you?” Will asked John with a mischievous grin.

Already feeling a little tuckered out after a long hard morning of bicycle riding and from the subsequent excitement, John agreed that Will had a good point. Will and John worked together to untie Paul, and had him free within five minutes. Paul stood up and stretched his lithe body like a cat (even making a contented sound of relief that sounded something like a purr) to get the kinks out of his muscles.

“Okay, I’m ready,” John announced stoutly as he sat down in the chair.

“Wait; maybe you should go to the bathroom first,” Will suggested. “We don’t want to have to let you go too early because you suddenly have to take a whiz. In fact, let’s all go to your room; you’ll be more comfortable there anyway.”

Now that Will mentioned it, John *did* feel a growing need to use the facilities. So he readily agreed to the idea.

“Fine,” Will replied cheerfully. “Paul and I have to ‘go’ ourselves, so we’ll meet you in your room in a few minutes. Okay? Oh, and when you’re done, change into a clean set of boxers. I’ll explain why when we meet in your room.”

“Okay,” John agreed; so Will shut off the television and the three boys went up to their own rooms. John quickly relieved himself, washed himself, brushed his teeth, changed into a set of boxer shorts as Will had requested, and then waited for Will and Paul to join him; leaving his bedroom wide open so that the others could just come right in.

John had expected Will to bring more rope with him. Instead, Will carried four sets of a peculiar kind of restraint. Each was composed of a padded leather cuff resembling a small dog’s collar (but wider) on one end, what seemed like one half of a set of handcuffs on the other, with a stout steel chain about two feet in length connecting them.

“What the heck are those, and what are you gonna do with them?” John asked in some trepidation, though he was pretty sure he had the basic idea of the answer for the second part of his question.

“You’re going to lie in your bed, and Paul and I will tie you down with these,” Will told him with a perfectly innocent look on his face. “They’ll be lots more comfortable than being roped into a chair, believe me; and a lot quicker too. Just lie in the middle of your bed, spread your arms and legs out wide, and we’ll take it from there.”

More curious than reluctant, John climbed onto his bed, lay on his back, and spread his lean arms and legs out as far apart as he could without stretching. Will and Paul each took two sets of the peculiar restraints Will had brought and went to opposite sides of John’s bed; Will to the head and Paul at the foot.

Will leaned forward, placing one knee on the edge of the bed as he reached forward with one of the peculiar manacles and wrapped the padded leather end of it around John’s left wrist and buckled it on like he would attach a small collar around a cat’s neck. The leather manacle was over two inches wide and a quarter-inch thick, but it was so flexible and well-padded on the inside that it felt comfortable against John’s wrist even when it was tightened to the point that it could not possibly slip off. Then Will gently pulled the free end of the restraint over to the bars of the railing at the head of the bed, selected the furthest bar the free end could reach, and locked the metal manacle at that end around the bar and the horizontal bracer it was welded to. John’s arm was effectively immobilized.

At the same time, Paul strapped a similar leather manacle around John’s left ankle and locked the metal end around the railing at the foot of the bed in a similar manner. He then stood by without moving to do the other foot while Will stood up, walked around the bed with his remaining set of restraints in hand, and bent down to secure John’s other wrist.

This time though, when he moved to lock the metal end to the bed railing, he pulled on John’s right arm to stretch his upper body as tautly as possible, and locked the metal end around the furthest railing he possibly could. Simultaneously, Paul did the same thing with John’s right foot. When they finished, John found his slender body stretched almost as tightly as a bow; there wasn’t even an inch of slack in the chains holding his arms and legs to the bed. He wasn’t able to move his arms and legs at all! He wasn’t stretched to the point where it was uncomfortable; at least, not yet… but quite suddenly he felt more helpless than he had at any point in his entire life.

“How does that feel?” Will asked John as he and Paul looked down at their bound friend. “I’ll slacken it some if it hurts you, but if I have to do that I’ll keep you like that longer.”

“No, it’s all right,” John replied agreeably. “I can’t move, but it’s comfortable enough.”

“Okay, now for the final part,” Will said as he stepped out of the room, went into his own, and came back in carrying what looked like a wide dog’s collar. But as John quickly found out, it was no collar. Will sat on the edge of John’s bed right beside a trapped arm while Paul sat on the opposite side of the bed beside John’s other arm. John looked up them nervously as Paul reached over and gently lifted the back side of John’s head, while Will draped the leather thing he held behind John’s head and looped it over to the front. The ‘collar’ did not go around John’s neck however, but was wrapped around his mouth and lower face!

“What the hell is this?” he managed to ask frantically as he felt straps buckled around the top of his head and below his chin.

“It’s a gag, silly,” Will replied as if speaking to a small child. “You gagged Paul, so now we’re gagging you! Fair is fair!”

“But this gag is lots more effective than the pair of socks you used in me!” Paul added with a grin that seemed to stretch from ear to ear as Will finished buckling the straps and tightening the entire thing over Will’s mouth. “It’s called a muzzle gag!”

“Actually the correct term is panel gag,” Will pointed out mildly.

“Mmmrrrhhhhh!” Will said in response in a voice so muffled he could scarcely be heard by the other boys. Will and Paul laughed as if John had told a funny dirty joke.

“Well, it seems to muzzle *him* well enough,” Paul insisted with a grin.

“Glad you like it, John. It’ll help keep you quiet while we torture you!” Will told him.

“Mmmrrrhhhhh?!” Paul said with his eyes threatening to bulge out of their sockets.

“Sure!” continued Will conversationally, as if they were discussing the weather. “You hoped that if you didn’t torture Paul while he was tied up that we wouldn’t torture you either, right?”

“Well, you were *wrong*, little buddy!” Paul said gleefully as he lifted up his hands and pointedly flexed his limber fingers as John stared fearfully up at him. “Will and I like nothing better than to torture our prisoners!”

And with that, Paul reached over and waggled his fingers over both sides of John’s exposed rib cage; stroking the younger boy’s ribs with almost feather softness. John’s eyes bulged even further as he made what seemed like a surprised choking sound. Then he began to squeal frantically and began to writhe and thrash as he vainly sought to escape from those teasing, tickling fingers. But though John could move his supple torso an inch or so to either side and turn it slightly, he could not avoid even momentarily those cruel fingertips as they stroked and softly rubbed his ribcage. Paul’s fingers then slowly but steadily quested over to John’s smooth and equally defenseless armpits… causing John to make all sorts of muffled noises while he convulsed like an epileptic in a seizure.

Will watched this tableau with a grin for a few moments. Then he climbed up onto the bed and sat down near the foot of the bed between John’s widely-separated feet; facing forward toward John and Paul. With one of John’s bare feet to either side of him, Will casually reached out to either side of him, found the undersides of John’s feet with his fingers, and began tickling them with skill even greater than Paul’s.

“Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!” John screamed as loud as he possibly could. Were he not gagged, his screams could have been heard throughout the house and possibly for a good distance outside the house as well. But gagged as he was, he could scarcely have been heard outside the room while its door was shut. His body rocked like it was being jolted with a Taser, and thrashed from side to side and swiveled rapidly back and forth. His screams turned into hysterical, if well-muffled laughter punctuated by other frantic noises which might have been desperate pleas for mercy. If that is what they were however, John did not get any mercy in response for at least five more minutes.

“My God, you ARE a ticklish boy, aren’t you?” Will said with considerable amusement when he and Paul finally decided to relent and let their frantic prisoner catch his breath… which he was doing rather noisily at the moment. “I can see now that you’re *really* going to be fun to have around all summer.”

John wasn’t as sure of that as Will seemed to be; he HATED being tickled! John had an older (and somewhat larger) cousin who used to like wrestling him down, bully-pinning him, and then tickle torturing him when one’s family visited the other. He certainly hadn’t missed *that* when his family moved to another state! And now he was facing a tickle torture far crueler than anything his cousin had ever even imagined doing to him!

“Well, shall we resume?” Will asked, wiggling and flexing his fingers before placing his hands back to the undersides of John’s feet, while Paul did the same and placed his hands against John’s now-heavily-sweating armpits.

John shook his head from side to side frantically and made a desperate squealing noise. He gave his friend the cutest puppy-dog eyes he could manage.

It was to no avail, and the ten minutes of non-stop tickling that followed seemed to last forever. But then, just as John was certain that he would wet himself in another moment, his captors relented once more and allowed him to catch his breath again. Boy; was he ever glad he’d taken Will’s advice and gone to the bathroom first. Although, come to think of it, it was quite obvious now just WHY Will had made such a suggestion!

John’s breathing slowed, but less quickly than before. He looked at Will and Paul in a panic; dreading (and yet, deep down inside him, perhaps also anticipating) the idea that they were going to tickle him yet again… perhaps for hours! He didn’t mind being tied up for an hour or two… but the thought of being tickle-tortured the entire time filled him with conflicting emotions and made him a bit confused.

But Will and Paul had apparently decided that John had been tickled enough for the time being. Will climbed off John’s bed and stepped out again for a moment, while Paul occupied his time grinning down at John. “Having fun so far?” he asked the bound and gagged boy casually as if they were at an amusement park.

John wasn’t entirely sure whether to nod his head yes or shake his head no. So he just made a small grunt which could have meant anything.

Will came back with a small bag of hinged clothespins, stepped to the side of the bed, climbed on, and casually straddled his smaller friend but without putting much weight on him. Then , without even bothering to explain what he was going to do, he grabbed two pins – one in each hand – opened them, held them over a suddenly frantic John’s nipples, and let them close upon them.

John squealed again and began to writhe around underneath Will’s weight. Those things stung! Will merely laughed, grabbed two more clothes-pins, and clamped them down upon John’s earlobes like they were a set of very large ear-rings. John’s squealing and writhing increased! Will grinned and clamped two more clothes-pins inside John’s armpits. John thrashed about and squealed like a crazed pig in a poke, but was just as helpless as ever to do anything else in his situation.

“I think six is enough for a beginner,” Will said to Paul as he smiled, closed the bag containing at least thirty more clothes-pin, and scrabbled off John and the bed. “Okay, John, listen up. We’re going to leave you alone to enjoy your new toys for an hour or so while we watch something on TV. If you can get all those pins off you, we’ll let you go and you can tie us both up and leave us tied up all night. If you can get any three off we’ll untie you anyway. If you get at least one off, we’ll take the rest of the pins off but you’ll have to spend the night tied to your bed. But if you don’t get *any* of them off, I’ll afraid you’ll have to face an additional penalty!”

“Mmmrrrrggghhh?!” John tried to shout. Tied up all night?! He hadn’t bargained on *that*! He thought he’d be let loose after an hour – maybe two hours at the most! He writhed and thrashed about frantically as Will and Paul prepared to leave; trying to get them to take the clothes-pins off of him. He’d rather stay tied all night anyway rather than endure an hour of more of having these things clamped onto the fleshy parts of his body. They were already starting to hurt a lot worse than they had when they were put on him! And what was that additional penalty Will was talking about? Come to think of it, he didn’t want to know! John thrashed about even harder; mmphing frantically.

Will looked back at him and grinned. “That’s the spirit! Keep it up! If you manage to get even three of those off of you, at least you’ll be set free!” Then, without looking back, he and Paul left the room, with Will gently closing the door shut on him.

John squealed as loudly as possible; frantically trying to plead to Will to come back and take those clothes-pins off of him, but it was no use. Even assuming Will could still hear his feeble noises with that thick door closed shut, Will and Paul were definitely going to ignore him no matter what he did.

When, after a few minutes, it became perfectly obvious that Will and Paul really were going to leave him tied up in here for an hour like they’d said, John willed himself to be calm, took a few deep breaths, and tried to concentrate on the task that had been set before him. He had to get at least ONE of those pins off of him to at least avoid whatever special penalty Will had in mind. Once that was done, he could concentrate on being rid of two more to win his freedom.

John experimentally moved his body to see what he was capable of; it wasn’t very much!
He could move his head freely enough, and he tried brushing his ears back and forth across the pillow his head lay on to see if he could rub off the pins attached to his lobes. Initial attempts proved as discouraging as they were painful. Those clothes-pins were attached to his earlobes almost as securely as real ear-rings, and trying to rub them off only increased the pain there so much his ears felt like they were being torn right off! After a moment he was forced to desist and try thinking of something else.

John experimenting tried wriggling his arms to see if he could loosen the pins clamped to his armpits. These didn’t hurt as much as the others, but they were still clamped onto his flesh like leeches and just would not let go. Unfortunately, the pins were attached to him at a high enough point where he could not try rubbing them up against the mattress he lay on. Wriggling his arms just made them swung about back and forth, which made them hurt more. Again John found himself forced to desist.

The only remaining clothespins were on his nipples, and these were the worst of all. They hurt more than the other pins did, jiggled about every time he moved and therefore hurt him even more, and there was absolutely nothing he could do to rub them off or make them loosen their painful grip. The damned things were beginning to feel like hungry piranhas to him. John could almost imagine their gleaming scales and evil eyes staring at him as they bit into him; trying to tear bloody pieces out of him.

John groaned; he was beginning to lose hope of getting even one pin off of him before Will and Paul came back to check up on him.

Unknown to John, Will and Paul were gleefully watching every move that John made. Unnoticed by John was the fact that his computer was on (but the monitor shut off), and that its webcam was activated and pointed straight at him. Inside Will’s room, his two captors were watching (and dimly hearing) everything John did on the large, flat-screen monitor on Will’s computer desk; laughing and cracking jokes at John’s expense every time he tried – and failed – to get one of the clothespins off of him.

John continued to struggle valiantly but futilely as the increasing pain of the clothes-pins clamped onto him overwhelmed his fatigue.

Will and Paul gave John an hour and fifteen minutes. The end of that time John had not succeeded in removing a single clothes-pin.

“Time to John to face the music,” Will told Paul gleefully as he turned off his monitor display. Both boys walked happily back into John’s room, and acted surprised when they saw him still lying in bed with six clothes-pins attached to him.

“Awww, you poor thing,” Will said in mock commiseration as he playfully flicked the clothes-pins attached to John’s nipples; setting off a new round of squealing protest. “You couldn’t get a single one off huh? Well, that means no relief for you. In addition to staying tied to your bed all night, with those clothes-pins left on you, we get to keep you tied up all day tomorrow too! Won’t that be fun?”

John didn’t seem to think so; judging by the look in his eyes, he’d definitely gotten his fill of being tied up and helpless for now.

“Well, we’re going to call it a night, but before we go we’d better tuck you in for the night,” Will told John. He pulled a thin blanket out of a nearby armoire and covered John from the shoulders down with it. “We’d better make sure you’re nice and safe too.”

Will stepped over to the window and pushed aside one of the drapes to pull at something hidden behind one of them. To John’s amazement, a set of pitch-black iron bars slid into view. Will tugged laterally, and the bars slid out of some hidden recess on one side of the window and on over into another hidden recess on the other side…. covering the French windows like the door of a prison cell as they clanged shut. John heard the distinct sound of a heavy lock engaging, and he suddenly knew that those bars would not freely roll aside again without the use of a key.

“I’m going to keep the light on so I can check in on you occasionally, but this will help you to sleep,” Will told John as he tied a night-mask over John’s eyes – completely blindfolding him.

John writhed and thrashed and made more pleading noises, but they were to no avail.

“Good night; sleep tight!” John heard Will say.

“Tied tight, that is!” Paul added glibly as John heard the boys step out of the room.

John heard the heavy bedroom door being gently shut, and some chuckling from both Will and Paul. And then, with a growing feeling of horror, John dimly heard the rattling of keys; followed by the distinctive sound of a key turning in the door lock!