Chapter 4

MAX

Max woke the next morning with a smile on his face and a sleeping boy next to him. The pair of them might have fallen asleep on the floor in front of the fire, but even in the chilly morning they were still snug due to the heavy blankets that Max had put over them during the night.

As Max looked across to a soundly sleeping Cam, he couldn’t help but smile. With his turtle stuffie under his arm and his face looking angelic, Cam was a sight for sore eyes, that was for sure.

Damn, he’s almost too cute.

He’s sweet but definitely full of heat too.

The boy can suck a good cock, there’s no denying that…

Max carefully rose from underneath the blankets and made sure to tuck them in close to Cam as he continued to rest, oblivious to the movement around him.

It was still early in the morning and Max wanted the boy to rest as much as he could. Knowing what he knew about circus life, Max figured that Cam would have a pretty damned relentless schedule and rest times were few and far between. And factoring in the somewhat sinister sounding Tobias, Max felt certain that Cam would appreciate each and every second of extra rest and relaxation he could get.

‘Time to get some breakfast going for you, my boy,’ Max whispered as he walked carefully from the living area and into the kitchen.

But before Max set about prepping some tasty morning food, he knew that there was one thing he simply had to do…

‘Coffee. Must. Have. Coffee…’ Max chuckled quietly. ‘Oh, and look who decided to show…’

Max arched his eyebrow and watched as his dog Java poked his head through the dog-flap at the bottom of the kitchen door.

‘I won’t even ask where you got to last night…’ Max said, gratefully welcoming Java as he padded over toward him for some morning cuddles. ‘Just please tell me you weren’t getting into too much trouble?’

Java cocked an ear, wagged his tail, and then promptly walked over toward his food bowl and began devouring the crunchy dog biscuits on offer.

‘Don’t worry, I’ll cook you up something extra too,’ Max said, taking great delight in watching as Java’s tail thumped from side to side as he wolfed down his biscuits. ‘And we’ve got company, so you’d better play nice!’

With that, Max continued to make himself a much needed first coffee of the day.

The morning sun was creeping in through the kitchen’s small, square windows and Max leaned up against the worksurface with a mug of piping hot coffee in his hand and a big, cheesy smile on his face.

Somehow, this morning felt different to the others.

Cam might have been fast asleep and totally silent, but his presence was keenly felt in the house. Max couldn’t recall feeling so complete. He knew that whatever was going on between them might not be forever – or even last any longer than the circus was in town – but Max was determined to live in the moment and enjoy it for what it was.

‘Damn, it’s a good morning to be a Daddy in Eagle Ridge,’ Max chuckled quietly to himself, the caffeine entering his bloodstream and readying him for the day ahead.

And with Daddy things on his mind, Max decided that it was a good moment to reach out to his fellow Eagle Ridge Daddies in order to keep them abreast of developments between him and Cam…

MAX: Good morning, my guys. I know Kipp will have told you all about my Christmas Market date with Cam by now, so I just thought I’d let you in on all the details… NOPE. A good Daddy never tells. I guess you’ll just have to wonder what happened between us. Or maybe I’ll tell you over a few beers soon. Either way, I’ll say this… it’s a good morning to be me.

Max didn’t have to wait too long for the message replies to come flooding in either.

KIPP: Damn it, I thought I was going to get the whole story. Something tells me things got pretty, pretty hot though. Call it Daddy intuition.

AXEL: I agree. And as is tradition I think it should be you, Max, who buys the beers. You know, to celebrate your conquest…

ZANE: Hmmmm. I simply will NOT accept a lack of juicy details. While a good Daddy never tells, I’d argue that a great Daddy always keeps his closest friends informed! Whatever, we’re all happy for you, brother. And we will talk further in person at the gym, you can count on that!

Max let out a belly laugh and then quietened himself down as quicky as he could in case he woke the still sleeping boy. Having such good friends had always been a great part of Max’s life – and it felt awesome to know that behind their joshing, they were all clearly happy that he had found at least a moment of happiness with a boy like Cam.

And speaking of the boy, it might just be time to pop back underneath the blankets and see whether he might like an extra-special early morning wakeup call…

The sound of metal clanking on metal and Daddy grunts for days was enough to get Max searching for yet another PB on his bench press at Metal Work Gym.

And if that wasn’t enough, Max had the support of his Daddy buddies around him too…

‘Keep pushing, you’ve freakin’ got this,’ Kipp said, encouraging Max as he strained to lift the bar.

‘Fucking pushhhhhhhh !’ Axel added, his words proving just the right amount of added motivation as Max completed the rep and re-racked the bar safely.

‘Damn, that was intense,’ Max said, red in the face but with a feeling of pride coursing over him. ‘A new PB just days before Christmas. I’ll take that.’

‘Hell yeah,’ Kipp and Axel replied in unison.

It had been a grueling ninety minutes in the gym. The three Daddies had come to work and work hard they did. All three of the men were in their forties but personal strength and conditioning was important to them. Not only did it keep their health in check, but it kept their bodies looking on point too.

And their physical prowess was fully on display as they stripped down in the gym’s locker room and talk soon turned toward Cam…

‘Okay, time’s up,’ Axel chuckled, his thick cock swaying from side to side as he stepped out of his jockstrap. ‘Talk to us about the boy.’

‘Yup, we do need to know,’ Kipp laughed, his chest looking as pumped as ever and his pecs glistening under the locker room lights.

‘Fine,’ Max laughed. ‘Well, first there was a spanking in the diner. And then we hung out. And then, back at the cottage…’

‘Go on,’ Axel said, keen to hear the full scoop.

‘Well, the boy proved to me that his mouth was more than capable of taking the whole damn thing,’ Max said.

Kipp and Axel exchanged perfect hell yeah looks, but Max wanted it known that his and Cam’s connection was about more than a wooden spoon swat and a late night hook up.

‘The thing is… I like him,’ Max said. ‘Cam’s got something going for him. And there’s a chemistry there that you just can’t fake.’

‘Okay, I’m sensing there’s a but coming,’ Kipp said.

‘But… it’s never going to work out if he’s in a travelling circus. For obvious reasons,’ Max continued. ‘And I’m not down for a long distance thing. I’m too old for any of that nonsense. I need a boy to settle down with. I’ve kind of known that for a long time now. If me and Cam are ever going to be something together, it has to be the real deal.’

‘So make it happen,’ Kipp said. ‘You could always ask Cam to take some time off from the circus. It wouldn’t have to be forever, just a period of time to see if you two are for real.’

‘That’s a good idea… in theory,’ Max replied. ‘But judging from what the boy has told me about the circus master, I’m not sure it’s an option. In fact, the more he’s told me about this Tobias Darklow character, the less impressed I am. I know an asshole when I hear about one. My instincts are rarely off target. And this Tobias guy sounds like a manipulative, controlling sonofabitch.’

‘That’s not good,’ Axel said, folding his arms across his chest. ‘By the sounds of it, Cam might have needed you backing him up for quite some time.’

‘The boy might need a Daddy to step up and be counted for him,’ Kipp said, a knowing look on his face. ‘And if you need any back up, don’t hesitate to call on us either.’

‘Hell yeah,’ Axel said. ‘But before any circus master ass-kicking, I think it’s time we get our naked asses underneath some hot water. I don’t know about you guys, but my training sweat is in danger of turning into ice.’

With that, the three hulking Daddies hauled their aching, naked bodies into the communal shower area. It was a sight for sore eyes, and while they soaped and lathered themselves in post-training shower gel, Max’s mind turned to Cam.

The guys are right.

I need to make sure that Cam can make his own mind up about his future.

The cottage looked as picturesque as ever as Max’s tired body hauled itself toward the front door. Truly, there was little else like feeling the aching satisfaction of a good training session with the Daddies, but Max was now very much in the mood for some downtime with Cam.

Having left Cam playing with some of his old toys, Max was keen to get in on the fun himself and show the boy that when it came to Star Wars, He-Man, and G.I. Joe, he was more than capable of holding his own in the living room battlefield.

‘Boy! I’m home!’ Max called out as he entered the cottage and greeted a happy Java by giving him his usual ear and tummy rub. ‘Cam?’

But aside from Java’s happy barks, there wasn’t a sound in the cottage.

Immediately, Max sensed that it was just him and his trusted canine, and the boy was no longer there. Something didn’t feel right though. There was no way that Cam would have left without at least sending Max a message on his cell phone.

‘Cam? Are you hiding?’ Max asked, more in hope than optimism.

And Max didn’t have to wait any longer to find out precisely what the deal was either. As he walked into the kitchen area, Max saw a handwritten note on the table – and from the moment he cast his eyes on it, Max felt his blood begin to boil…

Daddy… I’m sorry. I have to go. Tobias said that I must go back in for some extra practice. And I can’t leave the circus facilities until the first performance either. Tobias said I have no choice. Have a great Christmas, and thanks for everything – I loved it all. Sorry, your boy Cam.

Max was angry. In fact, he was raging. But any anger that Max was feeling wasn’t aimed in Cam’s direction. No, the boy was clearly being put under pressure to do something he didn’t want to do. Every ounce of Max’s fury was aimed squarely at Tobias Darklow.

‘Tobias needs to learn that there’s only one master in this town,’ Max said, scrunching the note up into a ball. ‘And it ain’t him.’

With that, Max left his cottage almost as quickly as he had arrived.

It was time to put Tobias in his place once and for all – there was no way that Max was leaving the circus without his boy, no matter what the cost…