Date: Sat, 3 Feb 2007 10:29:46 -0800 (PST)
From: Pete Brown <petebrownuk@yahoo.com>
Subject: Young Stud, Part Seventeen

YOUNG  STUD

By Pete Brown   petebrownuk @ yahoo.com

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

Part  Seventeen

Inside the frat house there were indeed some of Brad's
"buddies", and when he suggested poker, they all
groaned and said no.  It seemed that Brad always
ruined it by using his wealth to simply outbid and out
call all of them.  "So why don't you guys all agree on
a limit before you begin?",  I asked.  "All put twenty
new d's as an initial stake, and that's it - if you
lose it, you're out of the game, and as everyone has
the same, there can't be any wild bidding - it would
be a real game of skill.  You like a game of skill,
don't you, Brad?"

Well Brad didn't want to admit that he played "by
brute force", so he agreed, and  seven of us sat
around, the slaves brought cards and took our drinks
orders, and play began.

Jeff was a terrible player, and lost steadily.  And
the more he lost, the more he demanded the slaves
bring him another whiskey or beer, and that certainly
didn't improve his play!    After an hour or so he was
out of money.  He wanted to stop the game then, but
the others wanted to go on - I'd made quite an
impression on them as I had a big stock of jokes and
stuff (mostly fairly coarse, as I'd learned them from
Jeff and he in turn had got them in the marines), and
the frat boys liked that sort of thing.

"It's no fun for me watching", he whined.  "Come on
guys, break it up...."

"We could alter the rule", I said to the rest of the
table.  "Let  him buy in another twenty...."

There was a  chorus of "NO!", so I went on "... Or
perhaps change it to strip poker? "

Seeing that Brad was getting drunker, and was a
terrible player anyway, and that perhaps he was not as
well liked as he thought, his frat brothers broke out
into wolfish grins and said "Yes... Great idea."

"NO...", Brad said hesitantly, and one of the brothers
called out "Come on, Brad!  You're not afraid, are
you?  You're always telling us what good player you
are.  And even if you're not, so what?  You're always
waving that dick of yours around, and even if you lose
and end up naked, so what?"

Reluctantly, Brad agreed, and play began again.  He
won a little at first and had a few dollars in front
of him on the table - or were his brothers leading him
on, I wonder.  But then he evidently had what he
thought of as a "good" hand, as he began to bet
heavily, in short order offering his tie, shirt, T,
shoes, socks, and pants.  He sat there then in his
boxer shorts, and still wanted to carry on betting.
So I carried on betting too, and Brad's boxers had to
be tossed into the pot in the middle, and he sat there
naked, no longer seeming to be proud of his dick, but
looking worried and embarrassed.

He wanted to carry on though, and now I said casually
"Hey, guys, shall we let him bet some more of his
covering?"

The frat brothers looked at me curiously, and I said
"Brad's got a nice dick, but have any of you ever seen
his  'skinned back?  He could bet his last remaining
item of covering - his foreskin.  If he loses, he has
to kneel on the table and 'skin back for us!"

There was a lot of laughter at this, and Brad didn't
seem keen, until again one of his brothers accused him
of bragging about his ability to play poker, and then
he put on an air of bravado and said "You guys need to
see how this game is really played..... Hey, of course
I bet a sight of my head.... It's not as if I'm
ashamed of my dick!"

It wasn't enough, though, and soon we had him agree to
show us his asshole as well!  And, predictably, he
lost.

I decided not to take an active part in the utter
humiliation of Brad that followed - after all, I
needed to keep on good terms with Brad if I was going
to try to negotiate for the sale of Jeff and Juan.  So
I stood in the background as his fellow frat brothers,
shrieking with laughter, cleared all his clothes off
the poker table and then made him kneel there.  He
looked so confused, and for a moment I felt almost
sorry for him as a trickle of fear ran across his
face.  But faced with their insistent jibes, he took
hold of his dick and 'skinned back - until one guy
shouted out "I can't see.... I want to seethe whole
thing.... So get hard so we can take a proper look at
you!"

I could see Brad sweating as he knelt there, and the
red glow of blushing sweeping over his shoulders and
neck as he stroked himself erect, and then held his
dick in the palm of his hand, fingers uncurled, after
he'd pulled back his 'skin to show his darker coloured
head, moist and juicy with his sweat.  His frat
brothers were all cheering and laughing, until one
shouted "He bet the sight of his asshole as well...."

Several others called out "Gross!  I don't want to see
an asshole....", but the general concessus was that
most of them did, and Brad was ordered to press his
shoulders down onto the table, and then to reach back
and pull his butt cheeks apart.  There was even more
laughter now as he knelt there in utter humiliation,
and I decided that Brad deserved even more than this
for what he'd cheerfully done to Jeff.

Working my way slowly around the edge of the crowd I
suggested that the whole frat should go down to a
local bar, as it was still relatively early, and, of
course, that would include Brad.  He'd got down off
the table now and was standing there, still naked, but
his confidence returning - after all, as I've told
you, he seemed to like showing off his big body and
dick when he was in the locker rooms.   And when he
heard that everyone wanted to go to a bar, he at once
said he wanted to as well - presumably he thought this
humiliating episode was then over for him - and even
promised to buy everyone a drink.

The guys started to make for the door and Brad went to
pick up his clothes, but some of the guys in the game
with me, at my secret suggestion, called out "Hey,
Brad, those are ours!  We won them....."

"I'll go and get some fresh stuff from my room...", he
began, but the brothers now all told him "No", and
when Brad then said he didn't want to go to the bar
any more, they began to insist, reminding him he'd
promised to buy them all beers!  The more he tried to
say no, the more they insisted, and soon I watched as
they drove Brad out of the frat house, still totally
bare-assed naked, and went off in a big crowd down the
street, Brad clutching at his crotch to try to hide
his dick and balls, a privilege that was of course
always denied to Jeff and Juan.

I followed in the distance, and saw them go into one
of the major bars popular with the college set - a
huge cheer went up as they went in, and his brothers
made Brad stand on a table in the centre of the bar
and 'skin back again!  I could see that the crowd now
included a lot of women, too, and they were shouting
and cheering just as much as the men were.

The following day I saw Brad driving Jeff down the
main street, and waved for him to stop.  Jeff was
totally naked as usual, his cinched dick half hard,
and sweat pouring off him.  Brad motioned for me to
get in to the carriage, and I began "Hey, sorry,
buddy, for winning last night.... But when you bet
your 'skin, I assumed you'd only do it if you'd got a
good hand...."

Brad began to fluster and brag, and ended up by saying
"Well I guess at home I play with real professionals,
and the amateurs at the frat threw me off a bit, as
they don't really understand all the subtleties of
play, and are so unpredictable...."

As we bowled along, Brad's carriage whip almost
constantly flicking at Jeff's butt, I started to ask
Brad about whether he'd consider selling Jeff to me.
I'd still got most of my inherited money, and was
prepared to pay a good price, but there was no way
that Brad would agree.  "You see, Steve", he
explained, "It's so rare to get a really big whitey
like this one, with good long legs and such superb
thighs and butt....  If you want a pony of your own,
why don't you go down to the dealers and pick out one
of those huge niggas they're selling - I noticed an ad
in the papers the other day - there were a lot of
Africans who hid themselves in a shipping container,
but were caught at the port when it arrived - Nubians,
I think they said they were.  All over six-six, and
absolutely jet black, and with dicks to match their
height!  Buy one of those and send him to pony school
and within six weeks you could have something
approaching the splendour of my pony..."

"I kind of wanted a whitey, Brad....  As you say,
they're rare....  And although those jet black ones
would be interesting, as most of the niggas around
here are brown because of the interbreeding, I haven't
got all that time as my folks want me to go to Europe
with them... I was hoping that you might be persuaded
to sell as I have to leave tomorrow..."

"Hey, Steve - leaving?  Just as you and me get to be
really great buddies...."

"Brad, you know what it's like!  I bet you have to do
what your dad says, if you want the money to keep
flowing!"  I saw him nodding, and added "Well, it's
the same for me.  No Europe trip, no allowance.  But
I'll be back...."

I saw Brad nodding, and added "But you're right... You
are a good buddy... Why don't you and I have a little
farewell party tonight, just the two of us.... And a
couple of bitches?"

I saw Brad look doubtful for a moment, and he said
"Sounds fun - but you know what the bitches are like
in this place.... The other night.... In the bar....."

"Hey, buddy - don't worry!  Let Steve arrange it:
those stuck-up cows don't know what they're going to
be missing... I know a place where you can hire niggas
who really know how to give a guy a good time...."

Brad looked doubtful.  "I don't know, Steve - I mean,
prostitutes..."

"No, Brad.  Well, yes, I suppose.....  But not like in
the old days when they were old and worn out.  No,
we'll pick ourselves a couple of nice young, athletic
niggas and fuck their brains out...."

He still looked doubtful, so I went on "You are used
to fucking, aren't you?  Or would you prefer a fine
young buck..."

"Hey, Steve, buddy.....  No way!"

"OK, then.... Drop me off here, and I'll come around
to your frat house at eight.... Have your carriage
waiting, and we'll have a pretty wild night....."

The rest of the day was spent in preparation.  It was
clear that the only way I'd get Jeff was to steal him,
and that wasn't going to be easy as he was always
manacled to the carriage.  But by offering to take
Brad out that night, at least I could be sure where
Jeff was going to be, as he wouldn't be locked in the
frat stables.  I explained to Miguel what he'd have to
do, and we went and hired a small truck from Hertz,
and then sat nervously for the rest of the afternoon
knowing that we'd both be slaves again if this all
failed.

As luck would have it, a storm came through later in
the afternoon, and I had to carry a huge umbrella to
get to the frat, and even then got damp.  Brad was not
ready, of course - that would be too courteous of him
- but after about fifteen minutes he came down and
said he was all set to go.  The plan almost crashed
then as he was going to call a cab because of the
weather, until I said "A couple of studs like us....
Going out for a night of hell-raising with the
bitches.... In a cab?  Especially when you've got that
superb pony....  I want to see you really controlling
that slave, Brad, just as you're going to control the
nigga bitches later on...."

"You're right, Steve!", he beamed, and called for one
of the frat slaves to go and tell the stables to have
Jeff brought around.

When we went outside a few minutes later I really did
feel dreadful about subjecting Jeff to this - the rain
was coming down in torrents, and it was bad enough in
clothes, sheltering under an umbrella.  Poor Jeff had
to stand there and have it all stinging down onto his
naked flesh, and I'm sure I could see him shivering,
too - rain, even on a hot night, is really cold!

To my horror, though, I couldn't see Juan, as they
hadn't sent him out because of the rain.

"Hey, Brad, do you expect me to get wet?  Where's that
groom of yours?  I'd have thought you'd have had him
kneel on the back, behind us, and hold the
umbrella....."

"You're right, Steve!  Those idiots in the stables
have got it wrong....."  Brad barked more orders at
the slaves, and a few moments later Juan came around
the corner from the stables, his thin naked body
desperately trying to shelter under an enormous
umbrella.

Brad snatched the umbrella off Juan, who at once
wrapped his arms around his body to try to ward off
the worst of the rain, and Brad escorted me to the
carriage, ordered some of the frat slaves to wipe the
seat for us, then sat down.  He barked orders at Juan
who came and knelt at the back of the carriage and
Brad thrust the umbrella at him, ordering him to keep
us covered.

I hated the journey - I knew poor Juan was shivering
with the cold, and could see the water streaming off
his body to run down his dick as he knelt there.  But
it had to be done - I needed Jeff and Juan together.
As for Jeff - well, I could only imagine the trauma he
must be suffering:  as well as not being able to see
or hear, he'd now be feeling all the giant drops of
water stinging all over his naked body.  And running
in bare feet over the water-filled roads would only
compound the  problems he normally had in dragging the
heavy carriage.  It was no surprise that he was slower
than usual, and this of course resulted in Brad
lashing his back and butt almost continuously.

The place I took Brad to was in a large, slightly
run-down mansion on the edge of town and it took some
time to get there - time in which Brad continued his
whipping Jeff to make him go even faster than usual.
In the dark and the wet, though, the blood was not
immediately visible. Then when we arrived he took the
umbrella off Juan so we could walk up the path
together - as I rang the bell and looked back I saw
Juan talking to Jeff, and then, in a way that was so
typical of Jeff as he was always "looking out" for
other guys, Jeff bent over as best he could so that
Juan could crouch under his bent body to get out of
the worst of the storm.

"Will they be all right, Brad....?  The storm....?"

"They're only slaves, Steve!  I can tell you're still
a Northerner at heart...."

We went in, and, if I'd still been enjoying fucking
bitches as I had done when I was first made into a
slave stud, it would have been heaven:  the owner of
the place really had lined up the most amazing
collection of nigga bitches you've ever seen (they
were, of course, all entirely naked).  They were all
young and nubile, and there was every possible
combination of tit shapes and ass shapes you could
ever want.  Brad and I were conducted to a low couch,
two of the girls at once brought us beers over, and
the owner of the place clapped his hands and the
remaining girls lined up and then started to dance
past us, each one stopping for a few seconds to pout
her lips at us, or thrust her tits out, or wiggle her
ass seductively.  I'd seen a lot of this before, of
course,  but Brad seemed bemused - I began to wonder
if he'd ever actually fucked a bitch at all!

He continued to drink heavily as the parade continued,
and we sat there discussing which ones we were going
to have.  Finally, when Brad was pretty far gone and
he couldn't decide whether he wanted a bitch with big,
pouty lips and high, pert breasts, or one with one of
the most seductive asses I've seen for a long time, I
muttered "Brad, buddy, a stud like you.... Have them
both!"

I picked a pretty run-of-the-mill bitch for myself
who looked experienced enough not to make a lot of
fuss, then I suggested we went upstairs.   The two I
had selected for Brad went with him into one room, and
I took mine into the room next door.  She was nice
enough, and I suppose if the boss had been there to
order me to stud her, I could have - but faced with
her naked body gyrating in front of me, I felt the
most amazing lack of interest and, for the first time
ever, I couldn't bone up.

Actually, it made it look all the more convincing:  I
let her play with me and tease me a bit, but when I
still couldn't go hard, I pulled my pants and shirt
back on and went downstairs, telling them to call me a
taxi as my buddy was still "stuck in".  I paid for all
three bitches, and went off in the cab, pleased to see
that Miguel had done as instructed and Jeff and Juan
were no longer outside.

Back at the house I'd rented the truck was backed up
to the garage, and the violence of the storm allowed
us to get the carriage out of the truck and into the
garage and  then close all the doors, without any of
the neighbours being able to see.  Jeff was standing
there in the garage then, shivering with the cold and
rain water still falling from his body, manacled to
the carriage.  Miguel and Juan were clutching each
other, and I had to speak quite sharply to Miguel to
go and fetch towels for Jeff.

It was so good to be able to feel Jeff's body again as
I towelled him off, and I tried to soothe him and let
him know he was safe - although he could not of course
see me or hear me, and, as he had before, he began to
react badly as he realised it was not Juan's hands
exploring him.

It was really hard to get Jeff free - the metal of his
"blinkers" and the manacles holding him to the
carriage were stainless steel, and the industrial cold
cutters I'd bought earlier almost couldn't cut through
them.  But as the "blinkers" came off his eyes and he
saw me, Jeff threw his arms around me and we hugged
and ran our arms up and down each others backs.  We
wanted to kiss passionately, but even as we started
and I probed past his bit that was still stuck in his
mouth, I felt Jeff's body spasm in pain and realised
the cruelly spiked tongue plate on his bit had hurt
his tongue - indeed, the shock caused a stream of piss
to fly out of him, which soaked my pants!  Look, I'm
not blaming him - he was so used to pissing whenever
he needed to, that the trigger of the pain caused it
to start and he wasn't even aware of it.

Juan explained that the bit was locked to Jeff's back
teeth, and as Jeff stood there looking bewildered as
he couldn't hear what we were talking about, Miguel
and Juan agreed that Juan would have to go back to the
stables to get the special key that held it in place.
"No!", I told them  "It's too risky."

"But master, it's the only way to get Jeff free...",
Miguel said.  "Otherwise you'll have to find a
veterinarian, and the moment you do that, with an
'escaped slave' alert out, the game will be up."

"Yes, Steve", Juan added.  "I want to do this, for
Jeff..."

"We have to, master...." Miguel said again, and I saw
Juan look at him sharply.

"Why are you calling Steve 'master'?"  He asked his
brother.

"Master Steve wants me to....  Whilst we were looking
for you, I am playing his slave so that he looks like
a proper owner, and people will not suspect that he
himself is a slave..."

"Yes, Juan, and I think you ought to do the same", I
told him.

"Hey, Jeff, you and me were slaves together, there's
no fucking way I'm going to call you 'master'!"

This wasn't the time to have arguments like this
anyway, and I could see Jeff looking concerned, so I
let it drop for the moment.  "OK, I'll drive Juan in
the car to the frat house ,and he can sneak in.  And
you, Miguel, take the truck back to Hertz at the
airport, and I'll pick you up there...."

Miguel handed Juan some shorts and a T, but I, very
reasonably I thought, said "Keep naked,  Juan!  If
you're going to sneak into the stables at the frat, if
you're naked anyone who sees you will think you've
just come back early."

"Fuck you, Steve!.  I'm as free as you are now, and I
don't see you bare-assed...." Juan began.  He'd never
been this uppity before, and I wondered what he'd
learned form some of the other slaves at the frat.

"Do as you're told, Juan!  And I said you should call
me 'master'.  Best to get used to it, from the
start...."

"And I said 'fuck you', Steve...." he began, and I
lost it!  I lashed out at him, catching him a huge low
with my open palm on the side of his face, and causing
him to fall to the floor.

"Listen, you fucking slave", I shouted at him.  "I've
invested too much in this to have a young idiot like
you put it all at risk.  Now do as I say, or there'll
be more than that...."

Jeff, who could not have heard the words, had gone
into a fighting stance and I thought he was going to
hit me for a moment!  But Juan slowly got to his feet
and went to him, put his hand on his neck and stroked
it gently and made soothing gestures.  Juan glared at
me and almost hissed "All right,  'master', for Jeff's
sake, but only until we are out of this...."

I drove through the lashing rain with Juan sitting as
far on the other side of the car as he could possibly
get from me.  A pity, really, as his cinched dick went
hard almost as soon as we'd set out - well, a lot of
guys do throw a wood on a car journey, don't they, and
with that cinch arrangement on it must have been
difficult to avoid doing so for Juan.  It did look
enticing, though, and if he'd been behaving reasonably
and sat close, I'd have liked to have reached out and
stroked it.  Still, I wasn't going to let him get away
with this defiance totally, so I turned the aircon
down a bit, and was gratified to see him begin to
shiver slightly after a few minutes.

Actually, though, it was a brave thing for him to do
to go back into the stables - they might easily have
grabbed him if Brad had come out and seen his carriage
gone and reported it, and then the SP would have
tortured the whole thing out of him:  everyone knows
the SP have ways of making even the most stubborn
slave not only to  talk, but talk the truth!  (ways
that leave the slave of little value to his owner
afterwards, they say).

With the keys to unlock Jeff's bit from his mouth, and
the very strong cutters to remove his collar and PA,
we were able to have a "proper" reunion, and we kissed
and stroked each other after with a passion that
reflected such a long period of absence.  Jeff wanted
me to go on and use the cutters to take out his nipple
rings and the cinch ring around his cock, too, but I
managed to distract him and stop him thinking about
that - I rather liked the idea of having him cinched,
actually.  And I knew that when it came to our little
tussles" in bed, to decide who was going to fuck who,
having nipple rings to grab hold of would be a huge
advantage for me.  So I told him that I was worried
about hurting him and we should wait until we had
bought even more powerful cutters later.  We also had
to take a lot of time scooping the wax out of Jeff's
ears, so he could hear properly again -  it was very
hard, as the bastards had poured molten wax in, to
completely fill his ear canal.  Still, it was fun to
sit there, Jeff's head cradled in my lap, and use a
little dental instrument to probe and tease away
inside his ears, and then we had all the fun of lying
in a long, hot bath together, with Jeff constantly
putting his head under the water, to melt what
remained.

Our reunion that night was memorable - although
initially I had to chase Juan out of our room as he
wanted to sleep with Jeff!  I ordered him to go and
sleep with Miguel, and he did so with a very bad
grace.  Thinking about it, I reckoned he was jealous
of me - he wanted Jeff all to himself:  well, he'd
have to learn, I thought.

We had a kind of "council of war" the next morning -
all four of us.  There were a number of issues we
faced, like getting Jeff and Juan out of the country,
but Miguel and Juan were also most insistent that we
had to take the opportunity to rescue Pedro, too.  I
didn't want to do this, as I thought that every moment
we stayed in the South increased our chances of being
caught, but both of the brothers simply refused to
leave without the third.    I took Jeff on one side
and had a swift, muttered conversation with him,
saying that it was lunatic to stay, and that we should
make for the border as soon as possible, but he was on
the side of the brothers, it seemed, and told me that
if I was worried, then I should leave.  "You see,
Steve, you don't really understand how dreadful it can
be, to be a slave.  When you and I were studs for the
boss, it was pretty humiliating, if you think about
it.  But that's all:  he was fair, he was considerate,
and he only punished us if we'd done wrong.  And he
only used us for things that men do naturally, like
fucking.  You think about it - he treated us almost as
if we were men, letting us sleep together, letting us
sleep in his room, giving us proper food, all that
sort of stuff.  You don't realise how it can be with a
totally inconsiderate owner, like Brad...."

"Hey, Jeff, I do - I saw the way he's had your body
modified....."

"But that's not all, is it, Steve?  Think of the way
he treated Juan and me, just as if we were dumb beasts
and not even like slaves.  He totally took away most
of the things that made me human - I couldn't speak, I
couldn't hear, I couldn't see - I was just an object
to carry out his will, manacled into his carriage,
whipped all the time even when I'd done no wrong,
leaving me outside in all weathers - broiling sun,
pouring rain - and then not even allowing me to sit
down or lie down:  you told me you saw how I was kept
in the stable!  And it was the same for Juan, too,
although to a lesser extent.  - he had to sleep on the
stable floor, and stuff like that.  That's no kind of
life for a young kid - what chance would he have had
of turning into a proper man, like you and me?  And,
what's more, think about what it would be like to have
no sex, none at all - not just no sex with anyone
else, but to be denied even that most basic of rights
for a guy, to be able to jerk off!  Do you know how
painful it is to have your balls constantly aching for
release, and not to be able to do anything about it?"

He was so passionate about all of this that I had to
let him continue.  "So you see, Steve,  I don't want
to leave Pedro down here - what kind of life is he
having?"

"Jeff, that's stupid!  We can't possibly change things
for every slave - there are millions of them!  We
don't know this Pedro, after all, so we have no
particular responsibility for him.  And, as you say,
the boss treated us pretty well, didn't he?  How do we
know that this Pedro hasn't got a good owner, like the
boss?  We might all be risking our freedom just to
'save' Pedro from something that's not very bad."

"You may be right, Steve - but the chances are that
he's got an owner more like Brad than like the boss.
There are an awful lot of uncaring, callous owners,
you know, and very few like the boss who treat slaves
as if they're almost human.  But that's not the whole
point - I reckon I owe Juan something - it was only
having him around that kept me sane when I was being
treated like a mere beast.  And aren't you in Miguel's
debt?   If hew hadn't come back with you into the
South, you'd have had a far more difficult time
playing the part of a free man.....  Anyway, I'm going
to help those two find their brother, and if you want
to go back North, so be it....."

"Jeff, you can't want to split up, after all this
separation..."

"No, of course not, Steve.  But sometimes a man has
got conflicting responsibilities.  And that's what
separates a man from an animal - he can make choices.
It's part of being a man again, Steve, rather than
being a slave, to choose to stay and help our
friends.... "   He stopped, his face contorting as he
went into a typical "Jeff" mode when he wanted to say
something that he was too shy, to say, or found too
difficult.  "Look, Steve....",  he hesitated again.
"Steve, you and me, we're buddies, right?"

I nodded, and he put his head down so that I couldn't
fully see his face.  "Not just buddies, but closer
than that....."

I nodded again.  "Steve, you and me, we kind of....
Kind of love each other, right?"

I nodded once more.

"So it's terrible, Steve.   I don't want to leave you,
but if I don't, I'll stop thinking of myself as a
proper man.  And if I'm not a proper man, sooner or
later I won't be able to ... to carry on loving you as
a real man should.  So I've got to stay, Steve:  not
just for Juan and Miguel, but for us, if you think
about it."

I knew how difficult all that must have been for Jeff.
 Jeff, the ex-marine, would happily walk into a bar
full of men and take on all comers, who was physically
brave and strong - but when it came to talking about
his feelings, he was terrified.  It must have taken
every ounce of his courage to say those things to me,
and I was at once full of shame for having made him do
it, and full of admiration and, yes, of course, of
love, for him.  I threw my arms around him and kissed
him, and almost had the air crushed out of me as
Jeff's arms pulled me close to him.

We broke off, and he still looked a bit sad, and then
I realised why.  "That's not a goodbye kiss, you know,
you idiot!", I said, and was rewarded by seeing that
typical Jeff smile break right across his face.
"We're in this together, I suppose."

End Of Part Seventeen