Note: Every summer, my brother-in-law is the director of an outdoor adventure camp in northern Canada. There are two islands, one for boys and another for girls, separated by several miles of wilderness and he runs the camps for the boys. He invited me up there one summer before the campers arrived when the island was staffed only by the young, college-age men who serve as the trip leaders. As soon as I stepped off the seaplane onto the rustic dock, my mouth fell open at the stunning man flesh on display. My brother-in-law (who is straight) elbowed me in the ribs, commenting slyly, “Welcome to Fantasy Island!” 

This story is inspired by that intense and provocative experience…

Chapter 1

Zayne Greaves was scaling the cliffs at the headwaters of the river, waiting for his best bud, Colton, when he found it: A small cave, barely wider than a man’s arm span tucked under an overhang. Curious, he climbed up on the ledge and peered inside. It was really dark in there! The day was overcast and the morning sun was on the other side of the ridge which meant he had to use his iPhone’s flashlight to see. He pulled it out of the pocket of his shorts and aimed it into the abyss. 

The inside of the cave was lichen-encrusted rock dripping with moisture. Even though there was nothing extraordinary about this, Zayne was nonetheless intrigued. As a kid, he’d fancied himself an intrepid tomb raider, a fantasy that had shaped his adult self in more ways that he cared to admit. He was tall and sinewy without an ounce of fat on his wiry frame. Further, as a trained rock climber and crossfit enthusiast, he possessed the physique and stamina for sneaking into tight spaces and discovering precious artefacts. 

He knew–just knew!–there was something valuable hiding in there and he intended to find it. This dark and dank cave was no match for Zayne Greaves! 

At barely three feet high, the opening was too small to stand up in and he was forced to crawl. The passage narrowed within a few feet of the entrance and he was glad that he was so lithe, otherwise he would never have fit.

Cool air exhaled on his face the deeper he crawled, making him curious. Did the cave descend deep into the granite bedrock or did it eventually exit onto the forested plateau above the river valley? He wanted to find out!

Huffing and puffing, he crawled in perhaps a hundred feet before the cave narrowed down to a small crevice and he was forced to stop. He was thin but not that thin! Only a child could squeeze through an opening this small! Hugging his knees, he sat there contemplating his next move. His disappointment built the longer he sat. There had to be a way through!

He was still trying to figure out how to squeeze through the opening when Colton found him ten minutes later. Zayne had fished his arm through the crack and was concentrating so hard on feeling around inside that he didn’t hear his friend huffing and puffing behind him. But when Colton said, “Don’t get stuck! We’ll never get you outta here,” he jumped and hit his head on the craggy ceiling.

“Ow!” he complained, rubbing his head. “You’re such an asshole! I just about had it, too!”

“Had what, bud?” Colton queried, furrowing his brow.

Zayne was opening his mouth to reply when he was struck by another thought. Well, two thoughts, actually, but he was too polite to voice the first and kept it to himself. (He couldn’t believe his large friend had managed to squeeze through the cave opening.) Instead he asked, “Hey, how’d you know I was in here anyway? Your text said you were running late.”

“I saw ya climb up the cliffs when I pulled into the parking lot,” Colton explained, shrugging his bulky shoulders. “I yelled but you didn’t hear me.”

As Zayne weighed his response, he took a moment to survey his friend. Colton Baybeck was his best friend from college but they’d lost touch after graduation. Now in their late twenties, they had reconnected after Colton and his wife, Stephanie, split up. Zayne had been the best man at their wedding, bawling like a baby when his best bro tied the knot. It was only natural that Colton would reach out to him when things between him and Steph went south. 

Zayne had come up with the idea of the canoe trip, suggesting it to Colton over beers a month ago. Surprisingly, his friend had agreed. He was a high school teacher who got the summers off and Zayne had saved up plenty of vacation time at work. A month in the wilderness in a canoe was the perfect way to reconnect…and get Colton out of the house and physically active again. (He’d packed on a lot of weight over the past five years and now was a far cry from the studly jock he’d been in college.)

Colton might be fifty odd pounds overweight but he was nonetheless a handsome guy. With thick brown hair and a dense beard and flannel shirt, he bore more than a passing resemblance to a lumberjack. His amber-colored eyes danced with merriment in the flashing light of Zayne’s cell phone and his mouth quirked; he had always loved yanking Zayne’s chain.

“So, you gonna tell me what you found in there or do I have to tickle ya until you wet yer pants?” he quipped.

Zayne scowled. “I don’t know what I found but I just about had it in my hand when you showed up. Now, just shut the fuck up and let me work.”

With that, he turned back to fishing his arm into the crevice, pushing himself as far inside as he could go. Colton ‘helped’ by trying to cram Zayne through the hole. He was almost too effective because Zayne cried out in pain, pleading with his buddy to ease up. It turned out, though, that Colton’s aid was the just the thing because at that precise moment Zayne’s fingers closed around the mysterious objects buried deep inside the crevice. Whooping loudly, he pulled them out and held them in the beam of light from his phone.

“What are they?” Colton breathed, leaning in closely to examine the stone objects.

“I dunno,” Zayne said, turning them over in his hand. “They’re really old, though!”

The guys stared at the two stone figures. It was clear from their crude, almost abstract shape that they had been rendered long ago with primitive tools. One of them was clearly female with exaggeratedly wide hips and large buttocks. In addition, it possessed overly-developed breasts and a large, round belly. The other figure was obviously male. Its body was just as caricatured as the female figure, just in the inverse. It was half again as large as the woman and far blockier with hulking arms and an immense chest that narrowed down to a slim waist. The thing that made it immediately identifiable as male, however, was its enormous genitalia; its penis and testicles were nearly half as big as the rest of its body.

“Hey, look!” Colton joked, peering over Zayne’s shoulder. “It’s you and me!”

“Yeah, that so?” Zayne muttered, closing his hand protectively around the two figures. “I wonder which one is which?”

“Obvi,” came the predictable reply. “The one with the big dick is me.”

“You wish!” Zayne replied, batting his friend’s hand away when he tried to pry his fingers open and take possession of the objects. “We both know that my dick is bigger!”

Actually, he didn’t know this. In all the years he’d known Colton, he’d never once seen him naked. His big friend had grown up in a conservative Lutheran family and, while he might no longer be religious, he still maintained a certain prudishness about his body. Zayne wondered privately if this had something to do with Stephanie’s decision to divorce him; Stephanie was a wild child who was known for being sexually adventurous.

In any case, Zayne was too intrigued by the little statues to get into a pissing contest with his friend over dick size. Shoving them in his pocket, he headed for the exit.

“Shouldn’t we leave them in here?” Colton asked when Zayne squeezed past him. “I mean, there’s probably a reason they were left here. They must be an offering to the gods.”

Zayne ignored him and continued out. When Colton persisted, he pronounced, “I’m gonna keep ‘em and get ‘em appraised. They could be worth a lot of money!”

“You sure that’s a good idea, bro?” Colton rejoined. “This is a provincial park. We’re not ‘sposed to take anything. ‘Sides, they probably belong to a First Nation’s tribe anyway.”

“Fuck ‘em. I don’t care,” Zayne grumbled, annoyed his friend wouldn’t let it drop. “Finders, keepers!”

Reaching the ledge outside the cave, he dropped down and carefully climbed the sloping rock face down to the river. Colton followed along more slowly behind him, shaking his head. He remained silent, though, when Zayne unfastened the canoe from the rack on his Subaru. Together, they carried the craft over to the river’s edge and then returned to grab their packs out of their cars.

Despite being overcast, the day was pleasantly warm. The river was barely more than a small torrent at this point, pouring out from a hole in the rocks a hundred feet overhead. It gathered in a pool near the parking area before continuing downstream, growing swiftly in size and volume. It stayed relatively tame, though. By this time in June, the snow had long since melted and canoeing wasn’t difficult. Zayne had chosen this park in Ontario for that reason; unlike him, Colton wasn’t a particularly skilled outdoorsman and Zayne wanted to avoid a harrowing ordeal. Instead, the challenge of their trip would be the numerous portages as they traversed the rocky landscape between rivers and lakes, gradually making their way south. Plenty of opportunity for Colton to lose that gut, Zayne thought to himself, smiling. When they’d planned the trip, his friend had patted his stomach, asking him to make it strenuous and Zayne had obliged.

They were loading their stuff into their waterproof gear barrel when Zayne noticed Colton shoving a couple large glass bottles inside. “Whoa, dude!” he exclaimed. “Is that vodka?” Before Colton could stop him, Zayne had pulled out one of the bottles. He stared at it askance, eyes going wide, turning to his friend in confusion. “I thought you said you wanted to take a break from drinking.”

Colton grabbed the bottle out of his hands and stuffed it back into the barrel, cheeks reddening under his beard. “It’s just for special occasions,” he muttered gruffly.

Zayne pursed his lips. Another one of the reasons that Colton had jumped at the idea of taking this trip was to take a month off from drinking. He’d explained to Zayne that he’d been drinking a lot, both before his marriage broke up and after Stephanie left him. ‘I think I might have a problem, bro,’ he’d admitted one night. ‘I wanna go dry and see what it’s like.’ Zayne had been touched by this admission and pledged to help his friend break the habit.

“Zayne,” Colton warned when he noted the way his friend’s jaw had set. “Don’t look at me like that! I’m not gonna touch it for at least two weeks, I swear!”

“It’s better if you just leave it here in your car.” Zayne turned back to the car, frowning. “It’ll still be here when we get back.”

“Look,” Colton implored, “I know what I said about having a problem but I’ve been working on cutting back. I can do this, bro. Ya gotta trust me.”

Zayne clamped his mouth shut and turned back to loading the canoe. He brooded the whole time, not responding to any of Colton’s attempts at small talk. When everything was finally ready, he turned to his friend and inclined his head toward the front of the canoe.

“Get in and I’ll push off,” he ordered tersely.

Colton stared at him with surprise. “No,” he said, crossing his arms. “I’m going to take up the stern. I’m bigger and stronger than you are.”

Zayne’s eyebrows shot up. “What the fuck are you talking ‘bout?” he demanded. “You haven’t been in a canoe in ten years. You said so yourself! There’s no way I’m letting you steer!”

Eyes narrowing, Colton held up his hand, saying, “Let’s arm wrestle for it. If you can beat me, I’ll let you steer.”

Zayne nodded, scowling. “Alright, motherfucker, let’s do it.” He stalked off toward a nearby picnic table and plopped down, pounding his elbow down on the tabletop and staring at Colton challengingly. His friend sighed and settled onto the bench on the opposite side, placing his elbow on the table and clasping hands with Zayne.

It wasn’t much of a contest; Zayne slammed Colton’s hand down onto the table almost soon as they locked eyes. While his friend sat there in stunned disbelief, he got up and headed to the canoe, saying over his shoulder, “Guess yer ass in front, pussyboy.”

***

Chapter 2

Neither man said a word for a long time after they shoved off from the landing. Zayne was still fuming over the vodka and Colton’s supercilious attitude (‘I’m bigger and stronger than you are.’ Hmpf! What an asshole! You might be bigger but yer nowhere near as strong as I am!) and Colton’s ego was smarting after losing so easily to Zayne in arm wrestling. Both were too proud to make amends, though, and the silence stretched.

The river widened as they drifted downstream and soon they were bobbing along in the current. Steering was easy as long as Zayne kept the canoe in the middle of the river and there were relatively few fallen trees to snag them. The wind was quiet and there were no other canoers, leading to an almost unearthly stillness. The only sound was the gurgle of the river and even that was subdued. Pines grew so thickly along the boulder-strewn banks that they spotted no wildlife, although they did startle a mother moose and her calf once when they came around a bend. Zayne was glad they were on the far side of the river because moose were prone to charge when frightened.

The sun burned off the clouds as the morning wore on and the day grew warm. After a couple hours, Zayne tugged off his shirt and tossed it aside, enjoying the sun on his shoulders. Colton turned and looked back at him, surprising Zayne by offering to put sunblock on his back.

“Yer such a Viking that yer gonna burn in no time if you don’t protect yer skin!”

Despite his sour mood, Zayne smiled. It was true that he was very fair, being blue-eyed, blond-haired and light-skinned. He duly pulled the canoe over and allowed his buddy to dab his back, neck and shoulders with sunblock. He was smoothing the lotion on his lower back when he stopped and startled Zayne by fishing a finger under the waistband of his shorts.

“Hey!” Zayne complained. “I don’t need sunblock on my ass!”

“It’s not that,” Colton murmured. “I was just noticing yer tattoo.”

“Ah, go on!” Zayne chided, pulling away. “I don’t have any tattoos.”

Colton ignored him. His eyebrows were drawn together and he seemed taken aback as he asked,  “Isn’t it called a ‘tramp stamp’ if ya get it over yer butt?”

Zayne scowled, narrowing his eyes. “You are such an asshole! I’m not gonna let you punk me into thinking I have a tattoo on my ass!”

“Not on your ass. Over it,” Colton clarified. “It’s a bold statement, bro.”

Zayne’s scowl deepened. Crossing his arms, he refused to turn and look back at his ass. He knew that Colton was trying to fuck with him and he wasn’t going to fall for it. Like he would forget about getting a tat on his ass! Shit, his ass was the last place he would get a tattoo!

“Are you through?” he demanded. “‘Cuz we need to get movin’ if we’re gonna make it to our campsite before dark.”

He jerked his chin at the canoe and waited for Colton to get in. His friend stood there, glowering for a long time before finally harrumphing and climbing back into the bow of the canoe.

***

They reached the first portage around lunchtime and stopped to eat before removing all of their gear from the canoe and carrying it around the beaver dam that blocked the river. Zayne guided the canoe to the shore of the impromptu lake behind the dam and pulled the gear barrel out, rummaging around for some trail mix. He was unusually hungry even though paddling all morning had hardly been strenuous.

“Whoa, buddy!” Colton chided when he downed half the bag in a matter of minutes. “We gotta make that last! We have a whole week before we reprovision.”

“Shut the fuck up and let me eat,” Zayne growled. He softened, though, when Colton gave him a hurt look and put the bag away. “I dunno why I’m so hungry,” he commented, rubbing his empty belly. “I usually can go for a few hours without refueling.”

“Yeah, well, you have been doing all the work,” Colton remarked, obviously trying to make up for their earlier altercation over the alleged tattoo by being charitable. “I feel like I could go for a while longer without lunch.”

“Fine by me,” Zayne said, reaching down to unbutton his shorts. He let them slide down his thighs before kicking them off onto the nearby rocks. “Let’s go for a swim!”

He waded into the cool, clear water and lay back with a sigh, looking up at the perfect blue sky. He floated there for a while until Colton finally joined him. When he looked over, he was surprised to see his buddy was still fully clothed.

“There’s no one else around, dude,” he cajoled. “We can be naked out here. ‘Sides, you don’t wanna get yer clothes wet when canoeing ‘cuz they take forever to dry.”

“I don’t have sunblock on like you,” Colton pointed out, splashing him playfully. “And I bought special gear fer this trip. It dries out real quick.”

“And I ‘spose it has nothing to do with being a prude, either,” Zayne grumbled, unable to resist poking at his friend. He did manage to bite his tongue, though, before adding, ‘Or self-conscious about being fat.’

Colton refused to be baited and instead hit back at one of Zayne’s weak spots, “Nope, it’s not that, bro. I just don’t wanna make ya feel inadequate for havin’ such a small dick.”

“Oh, fuck you!” Zayne said, a little too forcibly and immediately regretted giving Colton the satisfaction of landing a hit. “If yer so hung, why don’t ya whip it right now and we’ll see who the bigger man is?”

“I don’t need to,” Colton replied glibly. “I can already see who the bigger man is and it’s not you.”

***

Perhaps because his ego was stung from Colton’s swipe at his manhood, Zayne insisted on hauling the gear and the canoe around the beaver dam in one trip. He slung the gear barrel over his back and then hefted the canoe onto his shoulders, ignoring Colton’s request to help. It was an easy portage and he was barely out of breath by the time he lowered the canoe into the river below the dam. Leaning against the gear barrel, he munched on trail mix while he waited for Colton to catch up.

“Dude,” his friend complained after he settled into the bow of the canoe. “You gotta let me help! How am I gonna slim down if you keep doin’ all the work?” When Zayne opened his mouth to reply, Colton cut him off, admonishing, “And lay off the snacks! We only have, er, make that had two bags of trail mix!”

In answer, Zayne provocatively emptied the remaining contents of the trail mix bag into his mouth and chewed them slowly, giving Colton a self-satisfied sneer.

Colton stared at him, clenching his fists. He steadied himself, though, taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly before replying, “Listen, bud, let’s not bicker like this, Ok? Yer my best friend in the whole world and I wanna enjoy a month vacation with you without fighting constantly.”

Shamed, Zayne looked down. “Yeah, yer right,” he admitted. “Let’s not argue. I’m sorry, bro.”

“Me, too,” Colton said, stepping gingerly into the canoe. “Now, would you mind gettin’ dressed? I’m tired of looking at yer lil’ man.”

Zayne’s mouth fell open and he looked down at himself, realizing he was still butt-naked. Sheepishly, he retrieved his shorts. He’d started to turn his back to Colton to step into them when he saw his friend wince and look away, shaking his head. Fuck, he thought, scowling. He’s really working that stupid tramp stamp joke to death! When’s he gonna drop it? It took supreme effort but somehow he managed to bite off the sharp retort on his tongue. He knew from experience that reacting to his buddy’s jokes only prolonged the misery.

He was shoving off when he felt the shorts give in back, the seam stretching perilously. There was a soft ripping sound and he felt a cool breeze. Startled, he reached back and felt his ass, fingers confirming what his skin had told him: He had a two-inch tear in the back! He shook his head in consternation, regretting his decision not to pack a needle and thread. He’d opted to leave them at home because all of his gear was brand new. 

“Fuckin’ cheap-ass shorts!” he cursed under his breath. At least they had a mesh liner!

***

Chapter 3

The afternoon passed more amiably as the two friends settled into a comfortable rhythm. Zayne was an expert canoer and handled the craft skillfully down a series of small rapids. The temperature rose along with the sun but so did the wind. Even better, there were no biting insects because black fly season had passed and it was still too cool at night for mosquitos. They had chosen the perfect time of year to explore the Canadian wilderness! Zayne relished the warmth of the sun on his bare skin almost as much as he enjoyed the beautiful scenery.

Large, rocky hills covered with conifers, birch, and aspen dominated the landscape along with a plethora of deep, clear lakes and a series of rivers. Zayne had mapped out a large, circular route on the water maps that would ultimately bring them back to where they started. Along the way, they would stop to reprovision at primitive outposts. Because he had chosen the route for its isolation, there was a good possibility they wouldn’t encounter any other humans along the way. This was just fine with him! After living for the past three years in the city, Zayne had been itching to get away from civilization.

For the most part, his body adjusted well to the demands of canoeing even though it had been several years since he’d taken a trip this long. He worked out – a lot! – which meant his muscles were in good shape to handle the demands of paddling and portaging. There was only one unexpected source of discomfort: His shorts pinched his crotch. 

Perhaps this was because the shorts were tight or because he wasn’t used to sitting so long in one position? He didn’t know. He tried changing positions and experienced some relief. When this no longer worked, he forced himself to open his legs wider. Again, this only offered a short respite. Finally, he couldn’t stand it any longer and threw caution to the wind. Not caring if it bothered Colton, he fished his cock and balls out and let them hang out the leghole.

As soon as they were free, he sighed with relief. It felt so good! Screw Colton and his prudishness! The dude had his back to him and it was easy to position himself so that the gear barrel blocked the view of his crotch should he turn around unexpectedly.

He leaned back and let the canoe float along in the current while he scratched his nuts. The poor things were so swollen! Being squished together in his tight shorts had really done a number on them. He rolled them around in his hand, secretly savoring their size and heft. If only they would stay this swollen forever! Colton would never tease him for being small again…

It wasn’t long before he was sporting a full-on erection. Maybe it was because it felt so transgressive handling his cock and balls openly, only a few feet away from Colton, or maybe it was simply because he was really fucking horny? He didn’t care. It felt so good to jack off! Even his cock felt bigger than usual. Well, maybe not longer but certainly fatter, especially in the middle. It’s heft felt fucking awesome in his palm and he smiled wolfishly. Even though he knew the swelling was only temporary, he wanted to enjoy it while it lasted. It was fun fantasizing that his cock and balls had grown bigger!

He jacked himself for a long time, grinning as his heavy balls flopped back and forth and loving how fat and thick his erection was. He edged himself to the verge of an orgasm and then backed off. It was both kind of hot and amusing that Colton was completely oblivious to his antics. He’d be super pissed if he knew what was going on behind him! Zayne had so much fun that he almost felt guilty for pleasuring himself behind his buddy’s back. Almost. Mostly, though, he enjoyed getting off in the great outdoors.

***

They camped that evening along a bend in the river. In the morning, they would portage across a low ridge to a lake on the other side. It would be a long trek, one of the longest of the trip, and Zayne wanted to make sure Colton got plenty of rest. His buddy was far from his best shape and Zayne worried about him overdoing it. For this reason, he planned to make a short day of it tomorrow; it was better to take their time. They had a whole month after all!

While Colton set up camp, Zayne pulled out his fishing pole and tried his luck in the river. He was delighted to find the fish were biting and he landed three good-sized bass in no time. He cleaned them and presented them to his friend as a peace offering for devouring half of their supply of trail mix in one day.

“Hmpf!” Colton snorted. “Are you gonna eat all of ‘em or do I get a taste?”

“Well, I am pretty hungry,” Zayne admitted, sticking his belly out and rubbing it. “Maybe I will eat ‘em all and let you have freeze-dried jerky…”

In the end, Zayne did end up eating most of the fish. Colton begged off after a few bites, saying he wasn’t really that hungry, and Zayne happily finished off the rest. Still hungry, he brought out a bag of cookies for his dessert and busied himself heating a pot of coffee over the coals of the fire while Colton looked on in amazement.

“I can’t believe yer gonna drink that right before bedtime!” he said, shaking his head.

Zayne arched an eyebrow, noting the bottle of vodka that had materialized by his friend’s side while he’d been busy brewing the coffee. “And I can’t believe yer drinking that,” he commented, unable to keep the judgment out of his voice.

Colton pretended to ignore him, leaning back against the log they’d positioned next to the fire and taking a long, provocative swig of the alcohol before sighing loudly, “Ahhhhhh, now that hits the spot!”

Zayne looked down at him, crossing his arms in disapproval but relented when his buddy patted the spot on the sand next to him. He hesitated only a moment before settling down beside him. He declined, though, when Colton offered the bottle to him, saying, “Nah, I’m good with my coffee, bro.”

“Suit yerself,” Colton murmured, taking another swig.

When the coffee was ready, Zayne poured himself a cup and enjoyed a stack of cookies dipped in the savory drink. He was so hungry! It was only with great difficulty (along with some pointed comments from Colton) that he didn’t down the whole bag. He forced himself to put the cookies away and sat there, sipping coffee and ignoring his empty stomach and the way his cock and balls throbbed in his shorts. He wanted badly to fish them out and edge himself but there was no way to do so discreetly. Instead, he had to content himself with repositioning his legs to take the pressure off his crotch. It didn’t help much; his package still complained from within its tight confines but it was the best he could do under the circumstances. He was glad when Colton struck up a conversation because it distracted himself from his private misery.

“So, bro, ya gotta tell me,” his buddy began, taking a sip out of his bottle and staring out at the sunset. The perfect day was turning into a perfect night, crisp without being too cold. Geese called in the distance. Further away, they heard the mournful lament of a loon. The darkening sky was clear and already filled with stars. There wasn’t even the contrail of a jet to mar the serenity; it was almost like they had traveled back to a time before humans roamed the wilds of Canada.

“Tell you what?” Zayne inquired, pulling his flannel shirt around his shoulders to stave off the cold.

“‘Bout you an’ Hakeema.”

“What about us?” he said. “We broke up. End of story.”

“Oh, come on, man!” Colton complained. “I poured out my guts to ya about my breakup with Stephanie but you haven’t told me anything about yours.”

Zayne looked off to the side uncomfortably. “There’s not much to say. He, I mean, she changed and left me.”

“‘He’?” Colton pressed, sitting up straighter next to him. “Why did you say ‘he’?”

Zayne sighed. He hated talking about this and desperately wanted to change the topic. A quick glance at Colton, though, confirmed that his friend wasn’t about to let it drop. He hunched down, taking a drink of his coffee and staring at the fire, trying to figure out how much to tell his socially conservative friend. “It’s complicated,” he said finally. “Real complicated.”

“Try me,” Colton urged. “Take yer time. We got a whole month after all.”

Zayne gave him a hangdog grin, saying sarcastically, “Yeah, thank God fer that.” Then he paused and took a deep breath, psyching himself up for the difficult conversation ahead. “I’m surprised you didn’t hear about it. It was a big deal and got a lot of tongues wagging.”

“Because…?” Colton queried, lifting his bushy eyebrows.

“Because two years ago, Hakeema decided to transition to a man.” Zayne ignored his friend’s sharp intake of breath and continued, “She said she’d wanted to for a long time but didn’t think it was possible in her home country. Only after she moved to Canada did she…well, you know.”

His buddy stared at him, brows furrowed, admitting, “Actually, I don’t.”

Zayne forced himself to meet his friend’s gaze. “She realized that it was possible for her to become the man she’d always wanted to be,” he concluded unhappily. Talking about his girlfriend’s transition brought back all of the awful feelings he thought he’d left behind. If he thought, though, that Colton would be satisfied with this brief explanation, he was sadly mistaken.

“That’s just gross!” his friend exclaimed, shivering theatrically. “I mean, yuck! Oh, bro! I’m so sorry! I can’t imagine how awful that must’ve been for ya.”

“It was surprising,” Zayne conceded, “but it wasn’t disgusting. Hakeema was miserable as a woman. Even though it was devastating for me, I supported her decision.”

“You did?” Colton asked, incredulous. “Why?”

“Because I loved her.”

“If you loved her,” Colton reasoned, “you would have talked her out of it. It’s unnatural!”

“It is not unnatural, dude!” Zayne protested, scowling furiously. “Stop being such a fuckin’ prude! The world is changing. Society is changing! Being trans is no more unnatural than being gay…or straight for that matter.”

“Well, I disagree with that,” Colton stated. “Being gay isn’t natural, either.”

“Oh, c’mon!” Zayne challenged. “You can’t be serious!”

“I am serious,” Colton said evenly. He took a deep swig out of his bottle before setting it aside and holding up his hands, “but let’s not get into that. I wanna hear more ‘bout happened. I assume you dumped her as soon as she made that announcement.”

“No, I didn’t. She didn’t have a job or money. We stayed together for a while after she began to transition.” When he looked over at Colton, his friend’s mouth was hanging open. Zayne narrowed his eyes, pleading, “Lay off with the judgment, Ok? She became ‘Hakim’ so gradually I almost didn’t notice.”

Colton suppressed a shudder. “You don’t mean that you still…um, you know?”

“What?” Zayne asked. “Had sex? Fuck, yeah, we had sex, bro! He still had a pussy after all. The only thing that changed was he had top surgery and had his breasts removed.”

“That’s enough!” Colton complained, holding up his hands in surrender. “I don’t wanna hear any more!”

“You were the one who asked,” Zayne pointed out. “I told ya I didn’t wanna talk ‘bout it. I gotta admit, though, that I enjoyed our relationship more in some ways after he transitioned. For instance, I now had a workout partner who could keep up with me. Once the hormones kicked in, he could run, swim, and bike as fast as me. It was awesome having a workout partner…with benefits.”

Colton made no reply to this and when Zayne looked over at him, he was staring off into space, contemplatively. He shook himself and grimaced in distaste, though, when he caught Zayne staring at him.

The silence between them stretched with Zayne sipping his coffee and surreptitiously scratching his balls and Colton taking swigs out of his bottle of vodka. The sun had set while they were talking and the western horizon glowed rose and lavender. Behind them, the moon cast a silvery light. The fire snapped and crackled, radiating a pleasant warmth. Despite the caffeine in his system, Zayne’s eyes started to grow heavy with sleep.

After a long time, Colton stirred next to him. “Well, now that I think ‘bout it,” he began, “I ‘spose it’s not so different from Stephanie and me.”

Zayne snapped awake at this. “Whaddaya mean? Did Stephanie transition to a man, too?”

His friend pulled a face. “Ugh, no, thank God! But she did lose a lot of weight.”

“Huh? I don’t follow,” Zayne admitted, confused. “How is that similar to me and Hakim?”

Colton smiled. “You know how much I love gals with big butts and tits, right?”

Zayne rolled his eyes. “‘Course I do! You talk about ‘em practically nonstop.”

“Damn straight, I do!” Colton pronounced proudly. “Stephanie used to be my ideal woman but then she started workin’ out and losin’ weight. It happened so slowly that I didn’t think much ‘bout it at first. I mean, I loved her for more than her big booty after all.”

“I should hope so,” Zayne murmured dryly.

Colton ignored the barb and continued, “It just felt one day she was my big, voluptuous wife and the next thing I knew, she was scrawny as shit. Even her tits shrank up to nuthin’! And then she lost all interest in havin’ sex…with me anyway.”

Zayne grimaced. “I know, you told me that she was fucking her personal trainer.”

“Do you have to use such coarse language, bro?” Colton complained. He didn’t wait for Zayne to reply, though, before continuing, “But, yeah, that’s the gist of it. I shoulda known when she started losin’ weight that the end was near. When she walked out on me, she told me I was just a big, fat slob!”

“You are not!” Zayne exclaimed. “You’re a big, handsome man!”

For some reason this made Colton wince and he sank back against the log, taking a swig out of his bottle, murmuring, “Er, thanks, bro. That’s, uh, good to hear.”

“You’re welcome!” Zayne said. “And it’s true.”

Colton didn’t reply right away. When he did, he surprised Zayne by asking tentatively, “If you were Ok with Hakeema being a guy,” he asked tentatively, “why did you break up?”

Zayne blinked. “I thought you were grossed out and didn’t wanna hear any more?”

“I was,” his friend admitted, frowning, “but I’m still curious. I wanna know.”

Zayne sighed. “You remember my friends, Tyler and Maya, don’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, Hakim ran off with Maya,” Zayne explained in a low voice. “He decided he liked women more than men.”

“He did what?” Colton shouted, clearly shocked. “Did his hormone treatments turn him straight or something?”

Zayne laughed. “No, silly! Of course not! It doesn’t work that way. He’d always been bisexual. He and Maya just fell in love with each other, that’s all.”

“You sure do keep strange company. So tell me: What’d ya do? Hook up with Tyler to get back at him?” When Zayne was silent to this, he turned and stared at him, saying, “That was a joke, bro. Yer ‘sposed to be laughing right now.”

Zayne looked away, pondering his reply. Finally, he made his decision, knowing that it could jeopardize his friendship with the exceedingly straight-laced Colton. “I’m not laughing,” he explained in a low voice, “‘cuz we did hook up. We dated for almost a year.”

He expected Colton to freak out or at least go on a homophobic rant after this revelation but instead he remained strangely quiet. After a long pause, he surprised Zayne by saying, “Well, that explains your tramp stamp, I guess.”

“Oh, for Chrissake!” Zayne exclaimed, rolling his eyes. “Would you lay off on the tattoo joke? Yer not gonna convince me I have a tat on my ass!”

“No on yer ass, over it. Tell me, bro, did yer boyfriend, Tyler, talk ya into it? And what is a ‘Power Bottom’ anyway? I can guess but I’d prefer if you told me in yer own words.”

Zayne had opened his mouth to make an angry retort to the first question but pulled up short at the second. “‘Power Bottom’?” he repeated. “Where’d you learn that term?”

Colton sighed. “Your ass taught it to me. It’s what yer tramp stamp says in big, bold letters.”

“It does not!” Zayne protested. For some reason, though, he felt a sick dread creep up his back, radiating from the exact spot of his supposed tattoo. “C’mon! Tell me where you heard about power bottoms!”

Colton stared at him in disbelief. “If I had my iPhone with me, I’d take it out and snap a pic of yer ass to prove it. Dude, for the last time, I’m tellin’ ya that you got a big ol’ tattoo on top of yer ass that reads, ‘POWER BOTTOM’ in capital letters. Now would you please tell me what it means?”

Zayne broke out in a clammy sweat as he searched Colton’s face for any sign that he was teasing. Unless his buddy was a supremely good liar, though, there was none. Colton held his gaze evenly and lifted his eyebrows inquiringly, prompting him wordlessly for an answer.

Sighing in defeat, Zayne dropped his gaze and explained in a weary tone, “A power bottom is a gay term for the guy on the receiving end of anal sex. He’s called a ‘power bottom’ if he takes the dominant role.” Looking back at his friend, he spat, “There! Are you happy?”

“Happy to learn my best friend is a fuckin’ faggot who takes it up the ass and advertises it to the world by inscribing it on his body?” Colton growled sarcastically. “Yeah, I’m just fuckin’ delighted.”

***

Chapter 4

Colton wouldn’t talk to Zayne the next morning. 

He slept late and skipped breakfast, unzipping his tent and stalking off downriver to bathe without so much as a grunt. Zayne shook his head as he watched his friend disappear from view…and then promptly whipped off his shorts and started jacking. He couldn’t help it! His shorts were so tight that he could barely stand wearing them and he was so fucking horny. 

He stood there, edging himself with his tongue hanging out of the corner of his mouth. Maybe because he’d resisted cumming the day before, his cock and balls were even more swollen that morning. He smiled as he gripped his fatter schlong, wondering if he’d discovered the secret to a bigger cock: Edge yourself repeatedly to the brink of orgasm. It certainly seemed to work in his case. Plus, he kind of liked stoking his erotic charge. He’d never felt so alive!

He knew he should have been pissed at his friend for his homophobic (and transphobic) behavior the night before but Zayne wasn’t ashamed of his bisexuality and he certainly wasn’t going to apologize for loving Hakeem after his transition. While he primarily saw himself as straight, he’d always had a thing for guys. Even though Hakeem’s decision to become a man had been shocking at first, he’d adapted…and found the whole experience to be a lot of fun. And then after Hakeem left him for a woman, his relationship with Tyler had been both sweet and wild, the perfect balm to soothe his heartache. Being a rebound relationship, it wasn’t destined to last but he’d had fun with Tyler and still enjoyed a romp with the guy from time to time.

He grinned to himself, jacking his fat cock and loving the languid sway of his heavier balls. Yeah, he thought, fuck Colton if he hates who I am! I’m happy and that’s all that matters.

He only just managed to squeeze back into his shorts when he heard Colton approaching from the river. His erection was plastered against the flimsy nylon fabric but he didn’t make any attempt to conceal it. He didn’t even feel a twinge of embarrassment when the seam in the back of his shorts ripped wider. This time, the liner gave way, too, exposing a few inches of his crack. He busied himself packing up his tent and getting ready for the long trek to the lake ahead, whistling nonchalantly.

Colton ignored him but this was fine with Zayne. He got evil glee out of pushing his buddy’s buttons even if Colton didn’t react. In a particularly brazen move, he squatted down with his back to his friend while he packed up his tent. Surreptitiously casting a glance over his shoulder, he saw that while Colton studiously avoided looking at him, his jaw was clenched and a vein on his temple was bulging out. Zayne smiled to himself, chomping down the rest of the bag of cookies and sipping his morning coffee.

***

Unsurprisingly, his shorts gave way completely at the next portage. Zayne was bending over to hoist the gear barrel onto his back when the entire rear seam gave way with a loud RRRRRRIP! He flinched, realizing that his bare ass was hanging out behind him, and debated what to do. He didn’t mind being naked but doubted that Colton would be Ok with it. As much as he liked toying with his friend, he also didn’t want to antagonize him to the point it jeopardized their friendship. And, after the episode the night before, he sensed they were on shaky ground.

Should he change into another pair right now or wait until after they completed the portage? And, if his ass had busted through this pair, how did he know it wouldn’t bust through the next pair, too? He had brought only three pairs of shorts and they were all the same size and material. They had a long way to go; the portage was over a kilometer long, requiring that they carry the canoe and gear over a rocky hill to the lake on the other side…

Colton, who was somewhat precariously balancing the canoe on his shoulders, turned to look back at him questioningly.

“It’s Ok,” Zayne called out, deciding to wait to change. “I’m coming.” They were, he reasoned, in the middle of a wilderness area and hadn’t seen any people all day. If a guy couldn’t walk around bare-assed out there, where could he?

The shorts were thoroughly shredded by the time he’d finished scrambling up and over the boulders obstructing their path. He was so busy trying to help Colton–who was struggling mightily to keep control of the canoe on his shoulders–that he barely noticed. It wasn’t until they were resting on the top of the ridge overlooking the lake that he happened to look down at himself and saw that he was now basically naked, his fat cock and big balls dangling out the front and his bare ass sticking out the back.

Colton took one look at him and complained, “C’mon, bro! What is wrong with you? Why do ya think I wanna look at that?”

“My shorts ripped while we were climbing,” Zayne pointed out, “and I figured helping you out was more important than being ‘decent’. I’ll change into another pair of shorts now, though.”

“Please do,” Colton said, muttering under his breath, ‘Effin’ exhibitionist!’

Zayne rolled his eyes and opened the gear barrel, extracting a pair of shorts. While Colton turned the other way, he stepped out of his shredded attire and pulled on a new pair.

Or at least tried to.

“Fuck!” he exclaimed after trying several times to pull the damned shorts up his thighs. “They’re too fuckin’ small!” He looked down at himself, shaking his head. “I just fuckin’ bought ‘em! They’re fuckin’ brand new!”

Still refusing to look, Colton sighed, “Didn’t ya try ‘em on before you bought ‘em?”

“I ordered them online through MEC,” Zayne explained, flustered. “But they’re the same size I always wear!”

“Try on a different pair,” his friend suggested. “Maybe they’re just an odd size?”

Zayne did…with the same results. He had three pairs of shorts and he couldn’t squeeze into any of them. They all got stuck midway up his thighs. To make matters worse, he hadn’t packed any underwear; he didn’t think he’d need them because his shorts had liners! Out of desperation, he slit the sides on a pair of the shorts, thinking that if he could at least get them over his thighs, he’d be good to go.

It didn’t work. 

No matter how hard he pulled, he couldn’t force them over his butt. He jumped up and down, cursing loudly, before giving up. Admitting defeat, he hung his head, asking Colton in a small voice, “Um, hey, bro, could I maybe, ya know, borrow a pair of yers?”

“I wish you could, man,” his friend replied, “but I only have one pair of shorts; the ones I’m wearing right now. As much as I’d like to help out, I’m not takin’ ‘em off for you.”

“You only brought one pair of shorts?” Zayne asked in disbelief. “For a whole fuckin’ month?!”

“You told me to pack light, dude,” Colton said, spreading his hands (while still keeping his back turned on him.) “I figured I’d throw ‘em out after we were done. ‘Sides, I’m gonna be swimming in ‘em every day so it’s not like they won’t stay clean.”

Zayne raised his hands in the air, ranting loudly, “He only brought one pair of shorts for a month-long canoe trip! Only one pair! Jesus fuckin’ Christ!”

“Hey, I don’t see why this is my problem,” Colton said with more than a hint of smugness. “Yer the one who didn’t try on his shorts before packing ‘em.”

Zayne narrowed his eyes at this but bit his tongue, turning his attention instead on thinking up a solution that would keep him covered enough to satisfy Colton. After a while, he had an idea. “What about underwear? Can I borrow a pair of yer boxers?”

Colton shook his head. “Nope, I only brought a jockstrap to keep my boys tied down when we’re hiking and yer not gonna go prancing around in that!”

“I do not ‘prance’,” Zayne said coldly. He stood there, glaring at his friend for a while before sighing, “I guess that settles it. I’ll just have to go naked.”

“Oh, no you won’t!” Colton protested, raising his voice. “If yer gonna be a nudist, we might as well turn around and head back ‘cuz this is not what I signed up for!”

“Well, then, what do you suggest I wear?”

***

“There,” Colton said as he surveyed Zayne’s improvised getup. “You look like a Viking warrior.”

“I feel ridiculous,” Zayne grumbled, looking down at himself and shaking his head.

It was Colton who came up with the solution to Zayne’s wardrobe malfunction. After rummaging through their gear, he’d pulled out Zayne’s camp towel. Holding it up, he’d examined it closely before nodding to himself. Then, taking a length of rope off the canoe, he instructed Zayne to tie it around his waist. “If you thread the towel through yer legs,” he instructed, “you’ll have yerself a loincloth.”

It worked, sort of.

Zayne was now the proud wearer of a breechcloth that covered his privates and ass, for the most part. Staring down at it, he wondered how this was any better than going naked. All this just to protect Colton’s delicate sensibilities, he thought, snorting.

***

They settled into an uneasy detente over the next couple of weeks. They no longer quarreled but they also didn’t really talk beyond the logistics of their voyage and grunting orders at each other during portages. The silence stretched and it became clear that neither took much joy from each other’s company. They wouldn’t have admitted it but both had begun to count the days until the trip was over. The problem was that by that point they were so far into the backcountry that turning around wouldn’t have cut much time off the trip. They were stuck with each other for another two weeks. 

Nearly oblivious to the natural beauty around them, they got up early each day and went at it, doggedly canoeing and portaging and canoeing and portaging until they were exhausted and forced to make camp. With the efficiency of automatons, they set up their tents and gathered wood for a fire. Then Zayne would go fishing, tossing Colton the bass as he caught them. They ate in silence, staring out at the river and watching the sunlight fade. After dinner, Colton drank himself to sleep and Zayne snacked on cookies until he felt his eyes grow heavy…along with his gut. 

He was chagrined to find that he was steadily gaining weight. It was subtle at first but soon his belly was hanging over the rope of his breechcloth and each morning there seemed to be less and less of that rope to tie around his waist. Soon, he could no longer see his penis when he looked down; his tummy jutted out round and full before him, blocking his view. Behind him, his butt cheeks ballooned at least as much and he could feel them swaying heavily behind him when he walked. And there were his thighs…

His ego put up a good fight but when he discovered long, ugly stretch marks on his stomach from gaining weight so rapidly he could no longer deceive himself. For the first time in his life, he was fat. Why couldn’t he control himself around food?

One morning when he was bathing, he caught sight of his face in a still pool along the river and did a double take. He barely recognized himself; his face was so round! He felt his face, hoping that it was his growing beard that made his cheeks so chubby but, no, there was barely more than a patch of down on his cheeks. He looked away from his reflection,  The extra weight was even affecting his face! Not only were his features heavier, the fleshiness made him look older and more serious.

His mood grew sour as he despaired about getting fatter and fatter. Zayne had always been incredibly lean and athletic. Being a triathlete was a core part of his identity and it was profoundly disturbing when he realized he might not be able to compete in the races he’d signed up for later in the summer. He could probably still swim and he might be able to bike but he couldn’t imagine jogging, much less running now that he was this heavy. He lost the usual spring in his step and started moving more ponderously, surprised by how much harder he had to work to get around. He had difficulty with the portages and relied more and more on Colton to pick up the slack.

As he gained weight, Colton lost it. His friend had started the trip with a sizable gut but was now looking quite svelte. With his waist slimming down, his shoulders looked even broader. His arms put on muscle from carrying the gear and the canoe and his legs and buttocks firmed up noticeably…all of which was driving Zayne to the point of madness.

Colton was a fucking stud!

It killed him to watch his buddy grow beefier and leaner with each passing day, his muscular ass pushing against his tight shorts, his broad back tapering down to a slim yet sturdy waist. While Colton was as covert as ever about nudity, he did stop wearing a shirt during the day. Zayne had to chew the inside of his cheeks every morning when his buddy asked him to smooth sunblock over his striated back. It was all Zayne could do to resist running his fingers across those firm, corded muscles and sighing aloud.

Compared to Colton, Zayne was not only fatter but he was softer as well. Strangely, his skin got smoother the bigger he grew. The hair on his formerly furry chest retreated until he had just a few curly wisps between his pecs. His treasure trail likewise disappeared along with most of his pubic hair. It shrank away until there was just a tiny patch of blond pubes over his dick.

And speaking of that dick, it kept growing fatter and fatter. He couldn’t believe it was possible. He’d never heard of fat accumulating around the base of your cock when you gained weight but that was what he was experiencing. Incredibly, his generous foreskin shortened, pulling back and eventually exposing his glans. And then his shaft thickened and grew softer, swelling until it threatened to envelope his cockhead. One morning when he pulled his belly out of the way and looked down at himself, he realized his cock looked like half of a football jutting out from his pubes; it was incredibly girthy at the base and narrowing down to a tiny cockhead. When he squeezed it, it was spongy without any trace of firmness. Panicked, he jacked himself until he was hard…sort of. Even though he was incredibly horny, his cock didn’t really grow much bigger or harder.

What was happening to him?

Zayne oscillated between self-loathing and panic. He knew that something was wrong but he was powerless to stop it. His will power evaporated around food and he couldn’t stop eating. He hated himself but this only made things worse; the more he beat himself up over getting fat, the more he ate.

Things got really bad when he devoured all of their food supplies two days before they reprovisioned. Zayne emptied the last cookie crumbs into his mouth and heard his stomach growl loudly. He reached down and massaged his big belly, moaning piteously.

Colton was unsympathetic. “It’s yer own fault,” he growled, giving him the hairy eyeball. “I tole ya to stop eating so much!”

“Oh, fuck you! You don’t know how hard I’ve been trying to cut back!” Zayne complained. “But I can’t! I’m always hungry!”

Colton’s eyes narrowed. “C’mon, bro! Cut the bullshit. We both know what’s goin’ on with you.”

His tone was so condescending that it took Zayne aback and he rounded on his friend, demanding, “And what is that, Colton? Why exactly am I always hungry?”

Colton’s lip curled. When he spoke, his voice was pure acid. “‘Cuz ya can’t have what ya really want: Me. Admit it, Zayne. You lured me out here to try an’ seduce me. When ya realized I wasn’t gonna fill yer butthole with my dick, ya started stuffin’ yer pie hole full with food.”

Zayne was struck dumb by this accusation. He couldn’t believe that Colton could be so cruel! His words cut him to the quick and he felt like he’d been stabbed in the heart. Even worse was the realization that he was at least partially right: Zayne had harbored fantasies of getting it on with his big friend. Part of him had hoped that something might happen while they were out in the wilderness alone together. Maybe he really was trying to fill his frustration with food?

Tears slid down his face and he absently reached up to wipe them away. Embarrassed by this show of emotion, he stumbled away, gritting his teeth as he lurched over the rocks, his big butt wobbling behind him and his big belly bouncing up and down before him. Self-hatred vied with the hatred he was feeling toward his friend. Even if it was true, why did Colton have to deliver his assessment in such a stinging manner?

A half hour later, Colton found him sitting on a rock beside the river. Zayne had drawn up his knees as far as they would go now that his belly had expanded so much. And, try as he might, he couldn’t stop noticing how big and soft his butt had become; it was like sitting on two extra cushions.

“I’m sorry, bro.”

Zayne didn’t bother trying to hide the tears streaming down his face when he looked up. He remained mute because he didn’t trust himself to speak; he knew his voice would crack and he would sound ridiculous.

Colton sighed and settled down next to him on the rock. “I…That was really cruel.” He slung a big arm over Zayne’s shoulders and hugged him against his side. “I’m the last guy who should lecture you about eating yer feelings ‘cuz I know exactly what it’s like. That’s why I got so fat. I started eating too much when Stephanie began working out with her hot, new personal trainer. I knew our marriage was over and couldn’t admit it to myself…so I ate. A lot.”

Zayne lowered his head, sniffling. 

“And there’s something else,” Colton said, staring meaningfully at him. “I ran out of vodka two nights ago. I haven’t gone this long without a drink for three years and it’s making me crazy. I took it out on you.”

Zayne rubbed his nose on his arm, smiling wanly. “Something tells me the next couple days are gonna be bad with neither of us being able to feed our addictions.”

Colton chuckled. “Yer probably right, bro. I’ll do my best but I can’t guarantee I won’t snap.” He lifted his arm off Zayne’s shoulder and started to stand up but stopped, adding, “And, Zayne?”

“Yeah?”

“If there was any chance that I leaned bi, nothin’ could keep me outta yer pants. Yer one hella sexy dude!”

***

Chapter 5

Zayne tried his best to resist but his infatuation with Colton only grew stronger. He knew the dude had no interest in him but he couldn’t tell that to his heart. Over the next couple of days, he spent every waking moment lusting over his big, studly friend. The fact that Colton had admitted he would be attracted to Zayne if he were bi only added fuel to his infatuation. 

Everything about the big man was attractive. Colton’s brown beard had grown thick and bushy and his face was leaner now that he’d slimmed down. Even beneath his beard, Zayne could see his strong jaw and pleasantly square chin. And his brown eyes were flecked with gold that sparkled in the sunlight when he smiled.

Of course, there was also his amazingly hulking and muscular bod…as well as the rumored beast lurking between his thighs. Zayne was ashamed to admit that he went to great lengths to see his friend nude. The phantom outline of Colton’s huge dick haunted his waking hours and, while his bro was obliviously paddling along in the front, he’d jack himself in the back of the canoe, squeezing his fat, soft cock and lusting after his buddy’s cock. He wanted that cock in the worst way, wanted it in his mouth or up his ass but he would settle for just a glimpse.

He was disappointed. Colton’s guard never dropped and he was infuriatingly discreet about nudity. Zayne followed him stealthily in the evenings when he went to bathe but never once saw more than his buddy’s naked back. Fuck, he would have been delighted with just the sight of Colton’s big, blocky ass…but, no. He struck out and was left with only a pair of furiously aching blue balls for his efforts.

The night before they reached the reprovisioning outpost, both guys were on edge. Colton had been surly all day and was noticeably jonesing for a drink. Zayne could see his shaking hands when he gripped the paddle and observed that he had trouble concentrating on even the simplest of tasks. 

Zayne wasn’t much better off. His stomach growled all day and he was still famished after devouring three, big trout. He had a headache and his teeth were sore from grinding them at night. His dreams were filled with ice cream and caramel sauce and cookies. He held his big, round belly and moaned piteously to himself. He couldn’t wait to get to those supplies!

He was sulking beside the fire when Colton stirred and looked over at him as if seeing him for the first time. “Jesus, bro!” he complained. “I sure hope ya packed a bra in your provisions ‘cuz yer tits are huge! Talk about man boobs!”

Zayne jumped, inadvertently covering his chest with his hands. He flinched when he touched his pecs. Colton was right! They were really swollen. He flushed crimson as he looked down at his huge, puffy nipples poking out like little construction cones from his saggy moobs. He’d been so worked up about his expanding belly and butt that he hadn’t even noticed his big tits!

He hung his head, both stung and embarrassed. Knowing that Colton was irritable didn’t help much. Why did he have to be such an asshole? He knew that Zayne was self-conscious about his weight and yet he still couldn’t help goading him.

Pushing himself awkwardly to his feet, he staggered down to the river and lay down in the current. The sky overhead was a limpid gold as the sun descended toward the horizon and he could hear the lonely call of a loon far away. He steadfastly refused to look at his tits or his belly but knew they were poking up out of the water like islands in an archipelago of fat. He hated himself for what he’d become and also for allowing Colton to abuse him like this.

What made it worse was knowing that he would be right there by Colton’s side again in the morning, happily taking more abuse as long as he got to bask in the studly man’s presence. He clenched his jaw, thinking, ‘I really am pathetic! Fat and pathetic!’

***

Reaching the outpost was the happiest day of Zayne’s life. He all but sprang out of the canoe and launched himself toward the primitive lockers where their fresh supplies were waiting. They had paid a good sum to have their provisions hauled out to this remote location but it had been worth it; it meant they didn’t have to haul all of their supplies with them from the beginning. 

He found their locker and pulled out his key, nearly dropping it in his eagerness to get at the cookies hiding inside. When the door opened, he pawed through the contents of the bag marked with his name, yanking out a box of cookies and stuffing his face full. He’d never tasted anything so good!  The bag was soon empty and crumbs were scattered over his huge, soft belly. He grimaced looking down at himself, wiping at his mouth. Where was his self-control?

Colton watched him, shaking his head. He had extricated his provisions from the locker while Zayne was eating and the first thing he took out was a big bottle of vodka. He lifted the bottle and took a long pull before snarking, “Hope you packed more of those cookies ‘cuz those sure didn’t last long!” He cradled the bottle against his muscular chest like a baby.

Zayne didn’t reply. He is already longing for more of those delicious cookies!

***

The mood between them eased somewhat by afternoon. Colton was back to his easy going self after a half bottle of booze and Zayne was feeling marginally better with a full tummy. Neither of them was very cheerful, though, and they remained silent until setting up camp.

The last portage of the evening had been difficult, especially for Zayne, and Colton had to do most of the hauling. His added weight was making the journey harder for poor Zayne and he had trouble maintaining his balance while navigating over rocks and roots. He was very mindful that one fall could mean serious injury and didn’t relish being evacuated by helicopter…after spending god knows how long waiting for Colton to get help. Also, just carrying his added bulk was the equivalent of a full backpack and he simply couldn’t manage much more. Fortunately, Colton didn’t make a big deal out of it and shouldered the extra burden without complaint.

Zayne tried to make up for it by setting up camp while Colton fished for dinner. They were on the shores of a big, deep lake whose waters were so clear that every detail below the surface was visible, including the ghostly forms of trout. They looked like they were magically suspended in liquid air and both guys were mesmerized by the beauty of it.

“It drops off an underwater cliff just a few feet from shore,” Colton observed. “It’s like a giant kettle!”

“A kettle lake,” Zayne said, nodding. “It’s a thing. They are rare but I’ve seen a couple before. None this clear, though. It’s like crystal!”

He went back to building the fire, whistling to himself as he watched Colton cast his fishing line. He knew he should be ashamed of himself for adoring his hunky friend, especially after enduring his barbs and taunts, but he couldn’t get over the fact that he was hopelessly in love with the big guy. Everything about Colton was sexy…except when he wasn’t. Still, he took a little solace in knowing the dude would be somewhat nicer now that he had his alcohol fix.

Colton grew warmer and friendlier as the evening wore on. He nursed his bottle of vodka and stared at Zayne across the fire, eventually getting up and coming to sit next to him. When he pressed his great, firm, warm body next to him, Zayne’s cock spasmed in his loincloth.

Both guys were pretty rank by that point despite bathing regularly. There were just some odors you couldn’t remove when you wore the same clothes every day. Zayne had been wearing the same camp towel breechcloth for more than two weeks now and Colton likewise hadn’t changed his shorts. Their twin, potent smells filled Zayne’s nostrils and he grew lightheaded, a feeling that only increased when Colton handed him the bottle and urged him to drink deeply.

He did and soon his head was swimming. He smiled over at Colton in what he hoped was a flirtatious manner but his buddy didn’t notice; he was way too drunk by then. He had to content himself with the physical closeness that would never lead anywhere. It was such a sad thought, he reached over and took another swig from Colton’s bottle.

Colton ended up drinking a lot that night. More than Zayne thought possible. By the time it was fully dark, he passed out, slumping down next to him like a bag of potatoes. Zayne took the opportunity to steal his vodka and finished it in one long swallow. Wiping the back of his hand across his face, he stared down at his big friend’s gorgeously muscular body lit by the orange glow of the dwindling fire. His dick stirred in his loincloth and he pulled it out to jack himself, reasoning that Colton was too far gone to notice.

As he was jacking his ridiculously fat, spongy cock and enjoying the sway of his huge, hairless balls, he studied Colton in the firelight. He looked so fucking hot with his arms splayed out and his muscular chest pressing against his flannel shirt. And those thighs! They were firm and shapely and big as tree trunks, stretching his shorts so tight that he could see the dude’s mouth-watering bulge clearly.

He licked his lips.

“Colton, hey buddy?”

No response.

Zayne toyed with an idea that he never would have entertained if he hadn’t been so drunk. It nagged at him until he couldn’t resist any longer and he gave in. He simply had to see Colton’s junk and this was his perfect opportunity!

With shaking hands, he reached out and untied the drawstring on Colton’s shorts, holding his breath when his buddy stirred, groaning. After a few seconds, though, he slumped back down and Zayne continued. His heart pounded in his chest as he straightened Colton’s legs and proceeded to tug the waistband of those heavily-stained swim trunks inexorably downward. It was slow going because the shorts were so tight and Zayne didn’t want to risk waking up his bro by pulling them off too quickly. The fact that he was wearing a dirty jockstrap underneath didn’t help. Zayne had to work extra hard to peel both the shorts and the jock off.

He held his breath, cock throbbing painfully with excitement, as inch after hairy inch of Colton’s pubes were revealed. Unlike Zayne who was all but hairless, Colton was a furry mass of hair. His black pubes were incredibly long and kinky and coarse and…fragrant. Zayne inhaled the potent scent, grinning devilishly.

When the base of his cock was finally revealed, Zayne froze. Even the dim light of the fire did nothing to conceal the dude’s giant.

Colton hadn’t been lying, he really was huge!

The base of his cock was more than three inches wide and covered in veins. He moaned softly at the sight of it, pulling his shorts down faster in his eagerness to liberate that enormous schlong.

Ten inches.

It was more than ten inches long!

And it wasn’t even hard!

He gaped at the uncircumcised masterpiece. He had no idea that a man could have a cock that big. He’d never seen anything like it even in porn. He stared longingly at the fat, long tube steak, swallowing drool and working up the nerve to touch it.

It didn’t take him long.

Soon, he had folded his hand around that incredibly girth fuckstick and was rhythmically jacking. Colton let out a long, low moan and arched his back but otherwise remained quiet as Zayne had his way with him. Precum dribbled out of the copious folds of his thick foreskin and he retracted it, freeing the dude’s ridiculously bulbous and…Wait, what was that? He squinted, convinced he was seeing things in the dim light. But, no, something thick, round and silver caught the firelight.

He inhaled sharply when he recognized it for what it was.

Colton had a piercing through his cockhead!

But a piercing?! Colton??!!

He stared, realizing he wasn’t mistaken.

Conservative Colton Baybeck had a pierced piss slit! 

Yes, a heavy-gauge, silver ring more than two inches in diameter was fitted through his glans.

Zayne shook his head.

No wonder Colton was so shy about getting naked in front of him! Who would have guessed that he was hiding a hulking ring of metal on his cock!

But that wasn’t all.

He also sported a heavy ring around his balls.

Zayne stared with surprise at the thick, steel ring around Colton’s bull balls. It was more than two inches wide and really heavy duty. He picked up those massive balls and rolled them around in his hand, realizing the ring was permanently attached. There was no seam, no hinge, no way to take it off.

Whoa.

Who would have guessed?

Colton was a big kinkster!

Somehow, this knowledge only served to drive Zayne madder with lust and, almost without thinking, he launched his mouth at the pierced beast between Colton’s legs.

He was sucking Colton’s cock!

He folded his lips over Colton’s leaking cockhead, toying with the clunky piercing with his tongue and lapping up the pre squirting out at regular intervals from his stretched-out piss slit. It was a good start but Zayne wanted more. Not even bothering to be gentle, he yanked his bro’s shorts and jockstrap off and tossed them aside, pushing his beefy legs apart and folding himself down between them. He now had free rein to go down on that beautiful cock, somehow managing to swallow several inches despite the awkward piercing. The problem was that Colton’s erection was well over a foot long and Zayne wanted to take all of him inside his mouth.

Well, if he couldn’t fit that cock inside his mouth, maybe he could take it another way…

He stopped, tongue glued to Colton’s glory. What was he thinking?

He couldn’t do…that…it was too transgressive.

More transgressive than sucking him off?

Yes, fucking his buddy would definitely cross a line.

Was it a line he dared cross?

He didn’t have to think long before he knew the answer. He’d waited too long for this, endured too much abuse. Colton owed him this. Colton owed him a night on his cock! He pulled back, letting the slimy, wet cock flop out of his mouth, and laughed. Fuckin’ right! Colton owed him this and so much more!

He pulled off his loincloth and spit into his hand, filling it with saliva. When he had enough, he smothered his butthole with it and used the rest to make sure Colton’s giant was thoroughly slicked up. Satisfied he was properly lubed, he crept up to his friend, slowly straddling him and positioning that big cockhead over his hole. His hands were shaking as he pulled his big, jiggly ass cheeks apart and sat down, pushing his nubile manbud firmly onto Colton. He had to wiggle around to get that big ring at the right angle. 

He paused, lust-filled thoughts clearing for a moment as the reality of what he was about to do hit him. He’d never taken a cock up his ass before; when he was Hakeem, well, the dude didn’t have a dick so he couldn’t fuck him. And his first (and only) boyfriend, Tyler, had been a greedy bottom. It had always been Zayne who was on top. Fuck, he hadn’t even taken a dildo up there before!

But he had wanted Colton to fuck him from the first time they’d met. There was something so powerful and dominant about him that made Zayne’s knees go weak. He wanted to be Colton’s bitch. He wanted Colton to beat him down, insult him, degrade him and then fuck him. Yeah, there was part of Zayne that enjoyed his bro’s abuse, part of him that got off on it. It was perverse but true.

He wanted Colton’s big, fat mancock up his ass.

Now!

Arching his back and pushing down with all his might, he moaned with delight as his butthole gave way and Colton’s cock pushed inside him.

Colton was fucking him!

He’d finally gotten his wish!

And it felt amazing.

His joy was short-lived when, not three seconds later, Colton stirred beneath him. Zayne panicked as he watched his bro’s eyes blink open. There was a perilous moment when they made eye contact and Zayne was certain that Colton would throw him off of him. But then miraculously, Colton closed his eyes again and a huge smile spread across his drunken face. He cupped Zayne’s big, soft ass cheeks, muttering, “Steph! Ahhhhh, fuuuuuck, Steph! Yer such a slutty cunt! Stop it!”

Zayne froze. Steph? he wondered. Fuck, he thinks I’m his ex-wife, Stephanie!

He knew he should have stopped then but he couldn’t believe this stroke of good fortune. Shit, Colton must be really drunk if he thought that Zayne was Stephanie…but why question it? It was his lucky break. If the big stud thought he was fucking his ex-wife, then so be it. It was better for Zayne, better for Colton. Fuck, it was a win-win situation! So he stayed, squatting over Colton and arching his back, inviting more and more of that fat cock inside him.

Colton was happy to oblige. He thrust deep inside him, grabbing his mounded cheeks and digging his big fingers into him so hard that Zayne squealed in delicious pain. “Fahck, Steph! Yer ass is sooo biggggg!” he slurred. “An’ yer cunt’s all sloppy!”

Soon his bro was banging him with vigor, trying to ram his giant as far up his hole as possible. When this proved impossible from the current angle, he flipped Zayne over onto his hands and knees and grabbed him by the hips.

“Sssssome little trashee slut likes anal,” Colton drawled, making Zayne wet with expectation. He slapped him hard on the ass eliciting a startled yelp from Zayne and then seemed to teeter precariously on his knees behind him but, just when it seemed like he might topple over, he righted himself and aimed his huge fuckstick at Zayne’s eager hole. 

Zayne’s eyes rolled back in his head as he felt that huge dick rocket up his chute. The thick ring on Colton’s cockhead added to the incredible carnality of the fucking, doing things to Zayne’s insides he’d only dreamed about. He found himself on his elbows, chewing his tongue as Colton slammed into him. And it wasn’t just his cock splitting him open that got Zayne worked into a frenzy. Being weighed down by their huge ring, Colton’s big balls hung low and heavy and they slapped his taint into submission, overwhelming Zayne’s nervous system with lurid sensation.

Colton lifted his head and bawled like a bull moose when he exploded inside him and Zayne wasn’t far behind. Even though his fat, spongy cock couldn’t get hard anymore, he had no trouble rubbing out a volcanic climax as he felt Colton emptying gallons of potent seed inside him. When it was over, Colton sagged down on top of him, resting his cheek on Zayne’s shoulder and sighing with contentment.

“Think I mighta got ya preggerz,” he murmured, laughing. “Wanna have my babeeeeee?”

Zayne snickered, feeling like his bro might not be far from the truth. Given the copious spunk dribbling down his thighs, he might very well be pregnant! Having Colton’s baby would be a dream come true.

When Colton started snoring in his ear, he reluctantly detached himself from that beautiful and still throbbing cock. There was a loud slurp as it exited his gaping hole and Zayne felt the pain of emptiness descend on him…along with remorse.

Fuck, what have I done?! What have I done?!

Looking down at his sleeping bro, so innocent and happy in his drunken slumber, his heart twisted in his chest. He couldn’t believe he’d taken advantage of him like that! He was a fucking rapist! There was no other word for it. He was just like those awful guys who drugged women and raped them. Sure, maybe he hadn’t forced Colton to get drunk but he had definitely taken advantage of him when he was in no position to consent.

He clenched his jaw, hating himself with fresh fervor. It was all he could do to get Colton cleaned up and dressed again without bursting into tears. He felt like a complete asshole. And more than that, he felt like a loser. He was such a fat loser that the only way he could get a guy to fuck him was to take advantage of him when he was plastered. If Colton ever realized what he’d done, their friendship would be over. He knew that for a fact. Colton Baybeck would not forgive him. He would take it as the ultimate betrayal.

Fuck, fuck, fuck! What had he done?

***

Chapter 6

Zayne was so wracked with guilt he didn’t sleep that night. The sun was just beginning to brighten the sky in the east when he arose and gingerly picked his way down to the lake. Colton was still asleep where he’d left him, snoring soundly next to the smoldering remains of the fire. Zayne looked down at him and frowned. He was so studly, so perfect, so manly. He was everything he could ever want. Yet he was completely out of reach, now more than ever. How could he go on with their trip, weighed down by the knowledge of what he’d done?

He sank into the cold water, blinking back tears as he floated out toward the middle of the lake. The campsite was idyllic, the canoe pulled up on shore and the tents immaculately perched on the little knoll nearby. Looking at it, you’d never guess what the mess the occupants were, especially the really big, fat douchebag who had raped his best friend.

The trip was supposed to be a way for them to bond, for Colton to get his life back on track and for Zayne to enjoy alone time with his bro. It had not turned out at all like they’d planned, going sour almost from the beginning. And Zayne was not only a disgusting, fat slob, he was also a pervert and a predator. 

Would he ever get back to where he’d been? Back to being a slim and svelte jock. A triathlete and outdoorsman who was full of life and hope? He looked down at his bloated, blobby body and shuddered. What if he was destined to spend the rest of his life like this?

He couldn’t do it.

He just couldn’t do it.

He was lying in the water, feeling despair wash over him, when he heard laughter echoing from across the far side of the lake. He lifted his head to see the first other humans in weeks. A line of red canoes was heading off to the south, probably tracing the same route that he and Colton were following. More laughter rang out and on impulse Zayne started swimming toward it. He had no idea why but he knew he had to join this group, that his journey with Colton had come to an end. Yes, leaving Colton was the best thing. He’d screwed everything up and there was no way to repair the damage. It was best if he left. Maybe these canoers would give him a lift to the nearest ranger station? It was worth a shot.

Even before he’d gained so much weight, he wasn’t much of a swimmer (In triathlons, the swim leg was his weakest) and he watched with despair as the canoes disappeared into the distance. Out of desperation, he cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted.

The canoe in the rear slowed and Zayne let out a whoop of delight as he watched it turn and head back toward him.

He yelled again, waving his hands in the air.

The guy in the canoe called out to his friends and continued paddling toward him. As the canoe drew closer, though, Zayne’s hope curdled. There was no mistaking the big, white cross painted on the side and, if that weren’t enough, the words, “Algonquin Christian Camp,” were inscribed in bold letters beneath it.

Jesus fucking Christ! he thought. It’s just my fuckin’ luck to be picked up while skinny dipping by a bunch of fucking Bible bangers! What’re the odds? He kicked himself for his impetuous decision to hail them. What the fuck was he thinking?

He looked down at himself and grimaced, realizing it was worse than he’d thought: He was butt-naked in the clearest water on earth. Heat crept up his neck and his face turned scarlet.

“Uh, are you Ok?”

Zayne covered his crotch with his hands and treaded water as he looked up at the guy in the canoe. He didn’t want to say anything but realized he couldn’t just turn around and swim away. Teeth chattering from the cold, he stammered, “I-I-I-I’m f-f-fine. Sorry! J-J-J-Just thought y-y-you were s-s-s-someone else!”

The man, a handsome guy with sun-touched auburn hair and a thick, brown beard furrowed his brow. “Are you sure? You look pretty cold.” He looked around, squinting. “Is something wrong? Did you fall out of your canoe?” Zayne sighed through his nose, done with the conversation. He turned and was starting to swim away when the man called out, “Wait, friend! Don’t go!”

For some reason, he stopped swimming and bobbed there, treading water, hands clamped over his privates as the young guy paddled over. Zayne was particularly relieved when he positioned his canoe to shield Zayne’s naked body from the view of the other canoers. He couldn’t see them but he could hear splashing as they drew closer. The voices of the occupants were all male. Young males from the sound of it. Probably a bunch of teenagers. He had no doubt by that point that he’d stumbled upon a wilderness camping trip for Christian youth. The young dude in the canoe above him must be their counselor.

The man shouted over his shoulder at his charges, “Yo, guys! Go wait for me at the portage. It’s straight ahead. You can’t miss the rock cairn marker. I’ll be with you in a few minutes.”

The boys complained but, being good Christians, did as they were told. Soon, Zayne could hear the splashing of their paddles retreating in the distance. When they were a suitable distance away, his would-be rescuer asked, “Can you swim to the shore?” When Zayne nodded, he said, “Great! You can hold onto the side of the canoe if you’re tired and I’ll pull you.”

A few minutes later, Zayne was cowering at the edge of the lake, doing his best to shield his fat, naked body from view. Keeping his back turned to him, the young guy tossed him a fresh towel before rummaging around in his gear. He extracted something and then straightened, keeping his gaze politely averted.

He held out his hand, offering, “Here, take these. They should fit.”

Zayne looked up to see he was holding a pair of shorts and a flannel shirt. Even though he knew there was no way the clothes would fit his bloated body, he accepted them. He was so chilled that he wasn’t about to turn away a chance to warm up!

While the guy kept his back turned, he stepped out of the water and unfurled the shorts. He was shocked to discover they really did fit and pulled them up his big, smooth thighs with satisfaction. For the first time in weeks, he was wearing proper clothing! It felt so weird!

The shirt also fit–and smelled remarkably clean, too!–and soon his ugly body was decently covered. Even better, he was starting to warm up. He cleared his throat and the counselor turned, face lighting up when he saw that Zayne was dressed. “Glad to see they fit!” When Zayne remained mute, he added, “I’m Nathanael but everyone calls me Nate.” 

He extended his hand and Zayne shook it, finding his grip warm, firm and welcoming. He was surprised to discover he was smiling as he replied, “I’m Zayne. Just Zayne.”

“Zayne,” Nate repeated, testing the name on his tongue. “I like it. It suits you.”

“Thanks.” For some reason, Zayne felt even more self-conscious now that he was fully clothed and searched for something to talk about. Finally, he landed on something, asking, “How come you have clothes big enough to fit me? They can’t be yours ‘cuz…well, ‘cuz yer not fat, I mean, big enough.”

Nate looked off to the side. “Thanks, but they’re mine. I’ve, er, slimmed down a bit recently. We’ve been away for nearly a month.” He spread his big hands, explaining, “It’s the same thing every summer. I lose a ton of weight while we’re out in the backcountry and then gain it back as soon as I return to basecamp.”

At first, Zayne was stunned by this admission (he couldn’t imagine Nate being overweight) but then realized that the dude was a pretty big guy. He possessed a stocky build, kind of like a rugby player’s. But there was something timid about him that made him seem smaller. Yeah, that’s it, he thought as he covertly eyed Nate, he moves like a small guy trapped in a big man’s body. Zayne decided it was endearing…even if the dude was Christian and ostensibly straight.

“Can I do anything for you besides offer you clothing?” Nate inquired. “Where is your camp?”

Later, Zayne would wonder what came over him but, at that moment, he didn’t think, he just blurted, “It was ransacked by a mother bear and her cubs! I had to jump into the lake to get away from her!”

Nate’s bushy eyebrows shot up. “A mother bear and her cubs! Really? Gosh, that’s a really dangerous situation! Glad you got out of there in one piece!”

Zayne nodded, amazed the dude had bought his lie. He decided to push his luck and see where it got him. “Can I, uh, maybe hitch a ride with you to the nearest ranger station? I’m too scared to go back there!”

“Of course!” Nate answered without a trace of hesitation, something that further endeared him to Zayne. “There’s a station near basecamp. I would be happy to take you.” He paused and looked across the lake toward the portage before adding, “But you’ll have to put up with me and a bunch of teenage boys for three days. Is that Ok with you?”

Zayne grinned, feeling his attraction to this gentle giant of a man increasing by the second. “I’d be delighted!”

***

His conscience didn’t nag at him until after he’d climbed into Nate’s canoe and then he was plagued with guilt about abandoning Colton. He warred with himself, feeling awful for leaving his friend without a word or even a note. What would he think when he woke up and Zayne wasn’t anywhere to be seen? It killed him to think how worried Colton would be.

But…

But these misgivings were more than outweighed by his shame over tricking Colton into fucking him. As difficult as it was to leave, he couldn’t imagine going back there and pretending like nothing happened. And what if Colton remembered? He couldn’t live with himself. No, it was better like this. Better to leave and make a fresh start. He would send Colton an email when he got back apologizing and then delete him from his contacts and never contact the guy again.

Sitting in the front of the canoe (and trying not to notice how low in the water it rode under his massive weight), he smiled back at his handsome rescuer and looked forward to getting back to his life. He would do his best to forget about Colton while exercising his butt off–literally! He was determined to lose all of this grotesque fat even if he had to starve himself.

The boys were waiting for them at the portage. They had unloaded their gear and were all ready to go. Zayne was impressed. He’d never met a more conscientious group of teenagers and he wished that Colton was there to see them. (His erstwhile friend was a high school teacher and often complained about the state of kids these days.) Maybe there’s something to the Christian thing? he wondered. When he looked behind him, though, he caught Nate grinning at him.

“You should’ve seen ‘em on the first day,” he commented drily. “Let’s just say it’s been a lot of work getting them to this point.”

The boys regarded Zayne with curiosity as he stepped out of the canoe and Nate introduced him, announcing, “Guys, this is Zayne. He’s gonna join us for a few days. He’ll ride in my canoe and camp with us until we drop him off at the ranger station.”

The kids nodded, looking Zayne up and down appraisingly. He flushed with embarrassment as they took in his corpulent physique and had to stop himself from explaining that he was normally lean and athletic like them.

As they examined him, he did the same to them. There were ten of them in all and they appeared to be quite a diverse group, made of guys of various races and ethnicities. They might be diverse racially but they all shared basically the same body type: Lean and sinewy to the point of near emaciation. This was a look he knew well from doing his share of backcountry treks. It was the body of a man after a month in the wilderness pushing his body past exhaustion. Their clothes fit them loosely and several had improvised belts to keep their shorts from slipping down. Seeing them made him feel even fatter and he ducked his head, hating his new, bloated body with renewed vigor.

Nate informed him later that the boys were all eighteen years old and this was the capstone of their summer camping experience: Each summer, beginning at age ten, the boys worked their way up to longer and more challenging canoe adventures until they were eighteen. The final excursion was a month-long trip without reprovisioning. Zayne’s jaw dropped at this; carrying that much food and gear was a feat. No wonder the boys were so lean! 

“This is my last trip, too,” Nate revealed. “I’ve been leading these trips for eight years now. Ted and Javier over there,” he nodded toward two particularly lean and muscular boys, “were on my first expedition when they were ten. I’m gonna miss it but I start my new job as youth minister for a church in Halifax next month. It’s time to move on.”

Zayne murmured something in response, belatedly realizing he was witnessing the group as they entered their victory lap; they were a seasoned band of warriors by now…but not above an occasional bout of roughhousing. As he helped Nate unload the canoe, a couple of the boys started wrestling and soon the whole lot was piled on top of each other, squirming and laughing.

“Ok, guys!” Nate called out. “C’mon! Let’s get this over with! I hear there might be a fresh stockpile of supplies waiting for us at the other end of the portage. Something about chocolate and graham crackers and marshmallows.” He paused to scratch his chin thoughtfully, adding, “I wonder what we could make with those?”

Instantly, the boys sprang to attention, helping each other to load up. Soon, they were picking their way across the rocky hillside in perfect single file.

Nate winked at Zayne’s look of amazement. “At this point in their journey, food is a powerful motivator.”

Zayne nodded, commenting, “Food is a powerful motivator for me at any point in the journey.”

Nate laughed, surprising him by reaching out to muss his hair. “Something tells me you and me are a lot alike.”

I hope so, Zayne thought, licking his lips covertly as Nate shed his shirt to reveal a powerful, hairy chest. The sagging folds of skin around his middle from his formerly rotund belly only served to make him cuter in Zayne’s estimation. Nate was a big stud. If only he embraced it, he’d be unstoppable!

***

There was a celebration when they reached the end of the nearly five kilometer portage and the boys discovered the cache of treats. Only with great difficulty was Nate able to restrain them long enough to offer an invocation. The boys reluctantly bowed their heads in prayer as Nate thanked Jesus for the bounty, for the approaching end of a safe journey and for old friends…and new ones. He looked up and winked at Zayne at this last part, causing him to flush.

Zayne was dead on his feet. His toes were blistered from the too-big pair of water shoes he’d borrowed. Even without anything to carry but his immense weight, he had lagged behind, taking frequent breaks to drink water and nibble at the trail mix Nate had given him. Nate had been a perfect gentleman, waiting for him along the way and cheering him on. The big guy was the best kind of leader, one who inspired rather than goaded, and Zayne felt his crush strengthen. Nate was just so fucking hot!

At their destination beside the banks of a wide river, he and Nate settled back on the rocks and watched the boys devour the treats. Nate kept them away from the s’more ingredients, though, promising that they would have them as an after-dinner snack around the campfire. There was a lot of complaining about the unfairness of this but the kids forgot about it as soon they discovered the fresh bread, salami, cheese and fruit.

“We’ve been subsisting on trail mix and oatmeal for the past month,” Nate explained as he offered an apple and some cheese to Zayne. “Fresh fruit is a welcome luxury!” He spread his shirt out behind him on the rocks and lay back, looking up at Zayne until he did the same. (He put a towel down, though; nothing could convince him to let Nate see him without his shirt on!) “I get the sense there is more to your story,” the young guy continued, face wrinkling into a warm smile, “but I won’t pry. I’m just glad you’re here with us now. I think Jesus brought you into our lives for a reason.”

“Yeah, Jesus and gay rape,” Zayne muttered under his breath. When Nate looked at him questioningly, he said, “I dunno ‘bout that but I do know that it’s good to be with you.”

Nate’s smile widened and he was about to say something when they were interrupted by one of the boys sitting down beside them. They were joined a moment later by two more. In no time, Zayne found himself ringed by all ten boys and they proceeded to pepper him with questions that became increasingly personal. 

Nate finally shushed them, jerking his head over at the river; it was wide and deep and moving quickly. “Ok, guys, that’s enough!” he said, holding up a hand. “You’ll have plenty of time later to get Zayne’s life story. Right now, you need to rest. We have five miles of paddling upstream ahead of us!”

This was met with a chorus of groans but it had the intended effect; the boys dispersed, leaving Zayne and Nate alone on the rocks in the sun. It was a beautiful, if cool, day by that point and Zayne had forgotten completely about sun block until Nate offered him some for his face. He accepted and had just finished rubbing it over his nose when he looked up to find Nate’s bare back facing him.

“Would you mind?” the big guy asked, glancing over his shoulder shyly.

Like Zayne needed any encouragement! He attacked the job with such gusto that Nate had to ask him to ease up, laughing, “You should be a massage therapist with that firm touch!”

Zayne didn’t reply; he was too busy enjoying his hands on that big, muscular back. It almost felt like Nate got more muscular the longer he rubbed but it was probably just the effect of his hands warming up those lovely sinews. When Nate got up to make sandwiches for them, he marveled at the dude’s physique. Nate was so beefy and broad! Zayne’s cock stirred and he reached down surreptitiously to massage it. Was it his lot in life to be trapped with hunky, husky men? His balls ached at the thought.

The afternoon trip up the river was difficult but he scarcely noticed because he and Nate were engrossed in conversation the whole time. They found out that they both grew up in the same town and attended the same school when they were boys. Zayne was a couple years older than Nate but he knew some of the same people. They also shared a love of the outdoors and conservation and traded tips on some of the best hiking and camping spots.

Zayne all but forgot about Colton. Even his aching butthole from the previous night’s butt sex faded into the background of his awareness. It was as if the sordid affair back at the campsite had never happened. Yes, being around Nate had that effect on him. The young guy’s positive attitude and wide-eyed innocence were refreshing. And the fact that he was such a stud didn’t hurt, either.

When he turned to look back at Nate at the end of the journey, he did a double take, thinking, Holy shit! What–?

“Everything Ok?” Nate rumbled, smiling warmly.

Zayne only kept his mouth from hanging open with force of will. “Um, yeah, ‘course!”

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Zayne shook himself, realizing he was staring wantonly at Nate. He looked away, trying to convince himself that it was his imagination. When he looked back at the guy, though, he realized that his eyes weren’t fooling him.

Nate was bigger.

And more macho.

His chin was squarer and his beard was fuller. His shoulders were wider and his pecs more developed. The kinky, brown hair that had covered only the upper part of his chest had spread downward and thickened. And, while the skin still sagged around his midsection, his waist looked thinner. And those legs…shit! Nate had a pair of fucking tree trunks for thighs. His shorts were on the verge of ripping open…

…which inevitably invited Zayen’s attention toward his crotch.

Jesus fucking Christ! Now that’s a bulge!

His tongue was thick in his mouth and his balls, already aching from spending all day in the proximity of such a desirable man, throbbed fiercely. He had to make himself look away to get himself under control but, when he happened to look over at the boys pulling their canoes out of the water, he was dumbstruck.

It wasn’t just Nate who was bigger.

Everyone was bigger!

It was subtle but noticeable. The tone of the boys’ voices had dropped a half octave. Like their trip leader, they sported broader, thicker shoulders. Even their necks were wider and their swelling traps and biceps forced their arms out from their sides. To a boy–a man, he mentally corrected himself, because the word ‘boy’ didn’t do these guys justice–they possessed narrow, powerful waists. Their generous glutes filled up the back of their shorts and their bulges…

Zayne closed his eyes. He swayed on his feet before he caught himself and had to stagger off to the side to collect himself.

What the fuck was going on?

And why was he the only one who seemed to notice?

He watched the group closely for a few minutes. Either Nate and his charges were really good actors or they were oblivious to their changing bodies. Sure, their changes weren’t super obvious but they were still distinctive. Was he hallucinating? He didn’t know. In the end, he didn’t have any choice but to go along and ignore this new, unsettling–and arousing!–reality. 

When he noticed curly hairs on the boys’ chests that hadn’t been there just a half hour ago, though, he experienced another crisis and had to take a break. Saying he was going to wash up, he stumbled down the riverbank until he was well away from the campsite and could no longer hear the deeper, more manly voices of the boys calling out to each other.

He squatted down on a rock and held his head in his hands, trying to make sense out of this crazy situation. He closed his eyes and took deep breaths, listening to the gurgle of the river and feeling the soft breeze ruffle through his hair. Clouds had rolled in and he smelled the promise of rain. He swatted away a gnat and opened his eyes, feeling a bit more in control of himself.

He decided that he must have imagined the changes. Some people looked different after you got to know them and you noticed things about them that you didn’t pay attention to at first. Being away from people for so long had done something to his brain. There was no way that boys could mature into men over the course of an afternoon. No way!

Yeah, that was it.

It was all in his head.

He sighed with relief, realizing how close he’d come to cracking apart. It was like his whole perception of reality had tilted there for a while. It was good to have his feet back on firm ground!

He got up and walked back to the campsite.

***

Chapter 7

Nate waved as he approached. Zayne smiled, coming to sit next to the big man as he prepared dinner. He marveled at how immense the dude was, everything about his body seemed oversized from his shaggy head to his hulking shoulders to his massive buttocks straining against his shorts. It was incredibly hot being so close to him and Zayne felt both turned on and safe at the same time. He realized he liked being with big men. Unlike most guys, his ego had no trouble ceding dominance to a taller, brawnier guy.

“You smell cleaner,” Nate said, sniffing the air. “Did you like my shampoo?”

“Yeah,” Zayne lied. “It was great. Thanks!”

“I hope you’re hungry because I’m making a feast!” Nate glanced down at the skillet where he was frying up bacon and ham. “I had basecamp pack some special treats for the boys. I wanna make their last couple of nights out here memorable.”

That won’t be a problem, Zayne thought, glancing around the campsite. He couldn’t remember ever being surrounded by a more gorgeous group of studs.

“They have really grown up!” Nate said, following his gaze. “I feel like I’m watching them turn into men before my eyes. I’m so proud of them!”

“You should be,” Zayne replied, watching one of the guys scratch his bulging crotch absently while next to him his buddy scratched his hairy armpits. He blinked when he noticed the slight pillows of facial hair on their cheeks. He could have sworn they were all bare-cheeked that morning. He shook his head, trying to clear it, murmuring, “They are…quite something, alright!”

True to his promise, Nate prepared an enormous feast that the boys wolfed down with gusto. Zayne sat on a rock, rubbing shoulders with Nate, and watched them in disbelief. That morning they had looked like a bunch of fresh-faced boys but now they had matured into virile youths in the first flush of manhood. Most of them now sported full beards. Even their faces had become more rugged, still fresh and full of eager excitement but definitely more chiseled. 

These changes were magnified on Nate. Zayne studied the man sitting next to him and noticed how Nate’s gaze had sharpened. He seemed at ease in a way that was new since the morning. Earlier, Zayne had thought the dude’s body language was a wordless apology for being so big but now Nate seemed settled into his large, muscular frame and was at home there.

It was a huge turn-on.

He had to chew the inside of his cheek to distract himself from his leaking cock. It was pure torture being surrounded by such potent manflesh without being able to do anything about it. He gritted his teeth when he realized he was surrounded by eleven Coltons. Eleven incredibly kind and generous Coltons, that is. He shook his head at the irony of the situation; rather than making a fresh start, he’d jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire of unrequited lust. This was just awful! And delicious! Argh, what was going on?

He looked up when one of the…men…squeezed between him and Nate. Zayne glanced over and lost himself in the guy’s interested gaze. Sticking out a huge hand, the dude said, “I’m Kwame. Can I make you a s’more?”

Zayne’s tongue stuck in the back of his throat. He’d never seen such a beautiful man. Kwame’s afro was loose and puffy but, far from untamed, it was immaculately groomed. Zayne had to hand it to the guy; it couldn’t be easy to keep all that hair in such pristine condition out in the backcountry. It made him glad that his own hair was so short!

Reeling that Kwame was still waiting for his reply, he nodded. “Yeah, that’d be great.” He paused to rub his huge tummy, adding, “Just don’t make it too big. I gotta watch my figure.”

Kwame’s eyes glinted in the firelight at this and he raked his gaze up and down Zayne’s body with a vulpine grin that made him shiver. He watched, mesmerized, as the big, beefy man got up and sauntered over to the supplies, casting an occasional glance over at Zayne as if making sure he was still there.

Zayne had barely taken a breath before another guy sat down in the spot vacated by Kwame. “I’m Ted,” the dude announced, grabbing Zayne’s hand in a viselike grip. “You want something to drink?”

Zayne’s pulse pounded as he found himself swimming in Ted’s dancing, green eyes. He was opening his mouth to respond when Nate interrupted. He put a heavy hand on Ted’s shoulder, urging, “Hey, bud, can you give Zayne and I some space? We’re talking about adult stuff right now. You can flirt with him later.”

Even in the dim firelight, Zayne could see the flush of red that swept up Ted’s neck and enveloped his furry cheeks. Instantly, Ted morphed from a confident man into an awkward boy and he staggered to his feet, backing away like a scolded puppy.

“That was cruel.”

Nate laughed. “I know! But he has to learn he can’t just barge in whenever he feels like it.”

“What about Kwame?” Zayne inclined his head across the fire where the big guy was earnestly roasting a s’more.

“He’s different,” Nate said, shrugging. “You weren’t along with us so you couldn’t know but there is no way I could have done this trip without him. I might be the trip leader but he’s the glue that keeps us together. There’s something special about him I can’t quite put my finger on but I know he’ll grow to be a strong leader.”

As if he knew that Nate was talking about him, Kwame lifted his head and favored them with a brilliant smile. Zayne was so dazzled by it that he was left speechless.

“I see you know what I mean,” Nate commented, mouth quirking.

“Yeah, I do. I really do!”

Zayne got more than his share of male attention that night. The ‘boys’ continued to insert themselves into his conversation with Nate in flattering and increasingly insistent ways. At one point, he looked up and found the entire group seated at his feet, listening in with rapt attention. He blinked back at them, flushing. Even when he’d been lean and attractive, he’d never had this many hot men notice him. 

He was starting to feel better about himself when he remembered they had been trapped with only each other for company for the past month without even a book or a smartphone for distraction. In the face of such deprivation, he must seem incredibly interesting. It wouldn’t last, though; they would forget about him as soon as they reached basecamp. Still, he was determined to enjoy it while it lasted.

They stayed up late and were rewarded with a rare sighting of the summertime aurora borealis. Beginning as a soft, white glow on the northern horizon, the lights gradually grew in size and intensity until they flashed green and red against the moonless sky. Zayne lay back and watched them with a lump in his throat, thinking about Colton. He missed his big friend even if he didn’t miss the dude’s heavy drinking and abuse. Colton was probably freaking out or drinking himself into oblivion or both. He felt a sharp stab of regret, both for raping his friend and abandoning him, and pushed himself to his feet. Without saying goodnight to Nate or the boys, he headed into his borrowed tent and collapsed on the floor. It was a long time before he managed to fall asleep.

***

When he awoke the next morning, Nate was lying next to him with his head propped on his elbow. He smiled when Zayne opened his eyes, mouthing the words, “Good morning.” His expressive eyes were filled with tenderness as they traveled the length of Zayne’s body.

Zayne was lying on his belly and he was naked from the waist up. The sheet that Nate had loaned him had fallen off, revealing the entirety of his bloated, ugly body. Nate stopped him, though, when he started to cover himself.

“What does your tattoo mean?” he asked, craning his neck to see the small of Zayne’s back. “‘Power Bottom’? What’s that?”

“Fuck.”

Nate’s eyes widened at his use of profanity but he didn’t say anything as Zayne hurriedly slapped the sheet over himself. He waited as Zayne fought for self control, finally querying, “What’s wrong? Why’re you upset? There’s nothing wrong with tattoos. I have several.” He held out his arm for Zayne’s inspection; his forearm was covered with a forest of expertly-rendered pine trees.

Zayne grimaced. “I forgot about my tattoo. I thought it was a joke.”

“A joke? Did someone tattoo you while you were unconscious…or when you were drunk?”

Zayne shook his head. “No! Well, not that I’m aware of, at least.” Seeing the look of confusion on Nate’s face, he explained, “I have no memory of getting it. As far as I know it just appeared on my ass overnight. All I know is that my buddy started teasing me about it one day when I took my shirt off. He thought it was fuckin’ hilarious.” He kicked himself when Nate winced again at his cuss word, promising to be more judicious in his use of foul language.

“Can I look at it?”

This time it was Zayne’s turn to wince. “I’d rather you didn’t.”

Nate surprised him by sitting up and placing a warm hand on his shoulder. “You can tell me anything, Zayne, and I won’t judge you. You know that, right?”

Zayne grimaced. “Yer a regular fuckin’ saint, aren’t you?” He regretted saying it as soon as the words left his mouth but he was finding Nate’s rosy disposition to be a bit wearisome. 

Rather than acting stung, though, Nate just smiled. “I don’t deal in polarities. All of us are sinners and, at times, we’re saints, too.”

Zayne opened his mouth to say something biting but the words died on his tongue. Coming from anyone else, this line would have sounded trite but Nate was so sincere that Zayne’s heart twisted in his chest. (It didn’t hurt that Nate looked incredibly studly that morning, even beefier and wider than Zayne remembered from the night before. His shoulders were almost too wide for the tent!)

Rather than lashing out, he smiled grimly, saying, “I should’ve had that tattooed on my ass instead: SINNER & SAINT. It’s closer to the truth ‘cuz honestly I’m not much of a power bottom.”

Nate’s brow furrowed. “Are you going to tell me what that–”

He was interrupted by a commotion outside. There was a startled yelp of surprise from one of the guys followed soon after by several more. Sighing with resignation, Nate pulled himself up on his knees, eliciting a jingle of metal as he did so. He cast a funny look over at Zayne when the jingling continued and was about to say something when the commotion turned into an uproar. Nate unzipped the tent and sprang outside to investigate, the strange jingling following along in his wake like Santa’s reindeer.

Zayne lay there for a moment, waiting for Nate to return but when the commotion spread across the campground with seemingly all of the boys raising their voices in alarm, he threw his shirt on and exited the tent.

Nate was standing with his back to him, surrounded by a semi-circle of agitated boys. Zayne’s eyebrows went up when he saw that the boys’ physical changes had continued overnight and, to a man, they were now impossibly svelte and broad-shouldered. Their bodies rippled with muscles and their chest and faces were covered with hair. 

His cock gave a twinge in his shorts and he was reaching down to adjust it when Kwame stepped apart from the group and approached Nate. He said something that Zayne didn’t catch and gestured down at his lower torso. Zayne’s eyes followed, widening when he saw the guy’s belly. Even with the thick hair covering Kwame’s stomach, Zayne had no trouble reading the huge, bold tattoo etched in black, gothic lettering under his belly button. A single word stretched across the width of his narrow waist in three-inch letters: SAINT. 

But that wasn’t all.

Kwame grabbed the waistband of his shorts and started tugging it downward. Zayne blinked when he realized that there was more to the tattoo. Much more. At first, he hadn’t registered the large S over the middle ‘i’ in ‘SAINT’ but, as Kwame pulled down his shorts, Zayne saw that the word was bisected by another word, SINNER, running vertically downward into the increasingly dense bush of the boy’s pubes. 

“That’s enough, Kwame.” Nate held up his hand, stopping him before the ‘R’ was revealed because it was obvious from the sheer length of the tattoo that it was inscribed on the base of the boy’s cock.

Nate turned to look back at him, confused shock on his face. Zayne met his gaze with a look of shock of his own and lifted his shoulders helplessly. The hair on the back of his neck was standing on end, his skin was clammy and his heart was pounding in his chest. His sense of alarm only increased when each boy stepped forward to reveal that he had the exact same tattoo on his belly and crotch.

There was a brief moment of silence with only the soft morning birdsong filling the air. The boys looked at each other and then at Nate, pleading in their eyes. It was clear they were looking to their leader for reassurance in the face of this impossible occurrence.

Standing behind him, Zayne couldn’t see Nate’s face but he could see the man square his shoulders and sigh. When he spoke, his voice was so low that Zayne had to strain to hear it. “Kwame, take the guys down to the river and see if you can wash it off. It might not be permanent. I’ll go start breakfast.”

He was starting to turn away when Kwame stopped him with a question. Clearing his throat, he stammered, “Uh, N-N-Nate, um, y-y-y-you might wanna j-j-join us and see if yer tattoo comes off, too.”

Nate froze midstep. “What?”

Kwame looked down at his feet. “Yer tattoo. You got one, too.” He lifted his hand and pointed at his throat. “On yer neck.”

Nate forced a laugh. “Nice try. You’re a regular comedian, Kwame.”

Kwame hung his head but next to him Ted looked up, insisting, “It’s true. You got one, too!”

Nate exhaled slowly and Zayne watched him unclench his hands. Very deliberately, he turned and faced Zayne, asking, “Is what they’re saying true, Zayne? Do I have a tattoo on my neck?”

Zayne had to force himself to look because he already knew in the pit of his stomach what he was going to see. Slowly lifting his gaze upward, he flinched when he spotted the huge, ugly tattoo stenciled across Nate’s throat. No amount of beard hair could cover it. The words, “HUNG TOP” were clearly visible, along with the large outline of an erect phallus between them.

***

Chapter 8

He found Nate sitting under a white pine a half hour later. The big man was seated with legs crossed and eyes closed, either meditating or praying. Even from a distance, Zayne could tell that his tattoos had spread and multiplied, working their way down his shoulders and arms. The designs were quite vivid and he squinted, thinking at first that they represented the Stations of the Cross, but then he flushed when he realized he was mistaken. The tattoos represented stations, alright, but there was nothing holy about them. Quite the opposite! They were graphic representations of the most carnal and inventive gay sex positions Zayne had ever seen.

Heat crept up his neck and he averted his gaze. “I need to leave, Nate. Can you loan me a map, canoe and tent? I’ll return them to the camp after I report to the ranger station.”

Nate nodded, not opening his eyes. “Yes, see Kwame. Tell him I said to set you up.” 

A tear slid down his cheek as he spoke, nearly breaking Zayne’s heart. Like everyone else, Zayne was in shock, unable to comprehend what was happening to Nate and the boys. But, even though he had no idea why it was happening, he had a sick certainty that he was somehow to blame. This knowledge nearly killed him.

Zayne thanked him and hesitated a moment before saying, “Listen, Nate. I…I’m sorry. I–” At a loss for words, his voice trailed off.

Nate nodded again but remained mute, eyes still closed.

Zayne turned, casting one last glance at back. He cringed, though, and hastened away when he noticed that both of Nate’s nipples were now pierced with bright gold half-moon inserts.

What the fuck was going on???

***

He paddled off a half hour later, feeling miserable. There was no sign of Nate as the boys lined up on the shore of the river, waving goodbye. Incredibly, they didn’t blame him for the mysterious appearance of tattoos on their bodies. It was only a matter of time before they did, he reasoned. They would inevitably connect the dots once the reality of what had happened to them set in.

Kwame had tried to talk him into staying but Zayne declined. He’d looked up at the towering boy-man who had been shorter than he was only a day ago and shook his head. Kwame frowned and turned away, giving Zayne a start when he saw the angel-wing tattoos spreading across his shoulder blades. And that wasn’t all; Zayne’s cheeks colored when he noticed that, further down, a devil’s tail curved out of the waistband of Kwame’s shorts, tracing the upper curve of his generous buttocks.

He got out of there as fast as possible. Who knew what else would happen to the boys if he didn’t leave now?

Having to portage by himself kept his mind busy and, for a time at least, he was able to focus on the extreme effort required to lug the canoe up and over a rocky hill to the lake on the far side. He had to make two trips, teetering and nearly falling several times. He scowled as he looked down at his vast bulk sloshing from side to side. He couldn’t believe that his body could have grown so fat! He was a disgusting pig. A cursed, disgusting pig!

Self-recrimination set in as the shock wore off and self-hatred wasn’t far behind. He hated himself for what he’d done to Colton and, even though he wasn’t religious, he felt like somehow God’s punishment had been meted out against Nate and the boys instead of him. It was like the lightning bolt meant to smite him but had splintered and hit everyone around him instead. The innocence of the victims–they were devout Christians after all!–only made the punishment worse. How would he ever absolve himself of this horrible guilt? He was forever tainted.

After the arduous portage, the rest of the day’s journey was relatively easy. He paddled across the lake, the warm sun on his shoulders. The world around him was completely silent and the sky above was a vast, cerulean blue as far as he could see. There was no sign of civilization, no noise or contrails from overhead jets, no traffic, no voices. Just endless silence…and him.

It was almost unbearable.

One final portage found him on the shore of a new lake. A thin thread of smoke to the south indicated that he was nearing his destination. According to the map that Kwame had loaned him, the ranger station was a day’s voyage away. Only one more day and this horrible trip would be over! He both longed for it to end and worried about going back to his old life in Toronto. What would his friends think when they saw how fat he’d become? And would he ever cease to be haunted by the specter of this trip? He felt like the tramp stamp over his big buttocks was a scarlet letter, a permanent reminder of his sins.

He found a suitable spot on the lake to camp and set up the tent. He was building a fire and preparing to make a small dinner with the supply of food that the boys had given him when he looked up to see the canoe approaching. He squinted, shielding his eyes from the setting sun, and his pulse spiked when he recognized Kwame. What is he doing here?

The boy waved as he pulled up, leaping out and beaching the canoe next to Zayne’s. He was wearing just a pair of tiny, red shorts and looked as stunning as ever. (He’d even trimmed his new beard and the dense, black hair really set off his warm, brown eyes.) As Zayne stared, Kwame smiled and put his hands on his hips. “The guys and I were wondering if you’d join us for dinner? I’ll make you another S’more…”

Zayne had opened his mouth to reply when he noticed the purple, upside-down pentagram tattoo in the center of Kwame’s chest. He blinked, hoping it was his imagination but, no, the tattoo was real. He stood there with his mouth open for a long time before he managed to sputter, “I-I-I don’t think that’s a good idea.” He stepped away from the boy, adding, “I mean, unless you want yer whole body covered with ink. You gotta have figured out that I’m responsible for this…curse…or whatever it is. Stay away from me!”

Kwame laughed, a deep, pleasant sound that sent shivers down Zayne’s back. “Zayne, you’re not responsible for this.” He gestured down at his increasingly tattoo-covered body. “But, even if by some miracle you are, we think it’s super cool.”

Zayne’s mouth fell open again. “You do?”

“‘Course we do!” Kwame’s eyes were dancing as he took a provocative step closer.  “I mean, look at me! Between this killer bod and all these tats, I’m a total beast and I love it!”

“So, it’s not just me,” Zayne observed, shoulders relaxing somewhat. “You’ve noticed yer bodies are, um, maturing, too.”

“Oh, heck yeah, man, we’ve noticed! Took us a while but we figured it out after that first tat showed up.”

“This is just crazy,” Zayne murmured, disconcerted by how close Kwame was standing to him. The boy was very desirable and it was having certain effects on him. “I can’t help thinking I’m to blame.”

Kwame put a big hand on his shoulder and steered him toward his canoe, saying, “Listen, man, we can worry about the why later but right now me and the guys just wanna hang out with you one last time.”

***

When they paddled up to the boys’ campsite, he was quickly surrounded by ten of the hottest, hunkiest guys on the face of the earth. He flushed, heart pounding against his ribcage and cock stiffening in his shorts. (Well, as much as it could stiffen in its present, spongy state.) They encircled him, towering above him like perfect, young gods, and gave him one of the warmest welcomes he’d ever had. It left him weak in the knees with lust.

“Where is Nate?” he asked when he was finally able to extricate himself from the affectionate group. “Is he Ok?”

Ted looked off to the side. “He’s…uh, he’s not with us right now.” He jerked his head across the lake. “Said he wants to be alone.”

“Yeah, he’s takin’ it hard,” Kwame added, shaking his head. “It’s…well, it’s affecting him differently than us.” 

To illustrate, he motioned to the group and Zayne noticed that Kwame’s tattoos were replicated on all ten youths. The theme was a continuation of the saint/sinner motif: Pentagrams on their chests and burning crosses on their backs, angel wings on their shoulders and devil’s tails on their butts. His eyebrows went up when he saw the cherubs spiraling up their right legs, complemented by a horde of winged demons circling down their left legs. He had to admit that the artistry of the tats was impressive; he would have traded a body full of these tattoos for the tramp stamp scrawled across his back. (Even though he had yet to see it, he had no doubt it was there; this was one reason he refused to remove the flannel shirt that Nate had loaned him.)

The boys led him over to the campfire and offered him a seat on a log. Zayne sat down and was immediately flanked by Kwame and Ted. An angel and a devil, he thought with amusement, but which one is which? The answer came to him immediately; the only devil at this campsite was him.

“We’re glad you came, Zayne.”

He looked over and lost himself in Ted’s dazzling green eyes. He shook his head, unable to believe any of this was real. Guys like Ted didn’t flirt with fat, ugly guys like him!

“Yeah, super glad.” It was Kwame, gazing at him with soft, brown eyes that were equally mesmerizing.

Zayne swallowed, acutely aware of the sexual tension in the camp. When he spoke, his voice cracked embarrassingly. “Uh, yeah. Thanks.”

He sat there with both studs pressing against him as the other boys made dinner. Soon, they were feasting on some of the yummiest food that Zayne had ever tasted, although any food would have been delicious when he was surrounded by such beautiful boys.

The sun sank down to the horizon, casting golden rays across the lake, the trees, the canoe…and the young studs. Zayne was so enraptured that he forgot for a time about Colton and Nate and the strange events of the past few days. He allowed himself to savor the adoring male attention, feeling his cock dripping with excitement and his balls aching for release. He couldn’t wait to go back to his campsite and jack off!

Spin The Bottle.

After dinner, the boys wanted to play, ‘Spin The Bottle.’

Zayne shook his head, muttering, “I thought that game went out of style back in the 1950’s.”

“This is our version of it,” Kwame explained. “Think of it as Truth or Dare meets Spin The Bottle.”

“How very original of you!” Zayne said, rolling his eyes. “I’m sure no one has thought of that before.”

Kwame lifted his big, broad shoulders. “Hey, what can I say? We go to a Christian school and live sheltered lives.”

Zayne smiled at this, relenting, “Oh, alright. Somehow, though, I suspect Nate wouldn’t approve.”

Ted looked across the lake toward their sequestered trip leader’s campsite and narrowed his eyes. “He can’t do anything ‘bout it now, can he?”

“Such rebellion!” Zayne exclaimed with mock seriousness. “What’re you gonna do next? Drink beer?”

“We don’t drink alcohol,” Kwame replied innocently. “And we won’t get into trouble. C’mon, let’s do it!”

Zayne complied, mostly because he would do anything to prolong contact with these young stallions. He even offered to take the first turn, twirling Ted’s aluminum water bottle on the flat rock in front of the fire. The boys were crowded around him, eyes sparkling in the firelight. They cheered when the bottle came to a halt, pointing directly at Zayne.

He sighed and chose truth. There was no way he could trust himself with a dare around these boys.

At a nod from Kwame, one of the boys raised his hand. “Have you ever kissed a girl?”

Zayne blinked. “Of course!” He looked around at the guys, realizing belatedly that they might be physically grown up but they had a lot of maturing to do before they were really men. “You do realize I’m nearly thirty, don’t you?”

“What was it like?”

“Wait,” Zayne said, holding up a hand. “That’s two questions. I think I’m only required to answer one, right?”

This was met with a chorus of groans but Ted silenced them, urging Zayne, “Go on. Spin again.”

Zayne did so and was startled to find that, when the bottle stopped, once again it was pointing at him. “Is this thing weighted?” he muttered under his breath before announcing once again, “Truth.”

The next boy lifted his head and fixed Zayne with a curious stare. “What’s it like?”

“You mean you really haven’t kissed anyone before?” The boy shook his head. When Zayne turned, he saw that all of the boys were looking down at their feet in embarrassment. “Geesh, you guys need to get out more!”

“We go to an all-boys school,” Kwame explained. “They don’t let us see girls except a few times a year at dances.”

“And then they don’t let us do anything,” Ted finished sadly.

“They’re not doin’ ya any favors,” Zayne grumbled. “I can tell ya what it’s like but it’s not the same as doin’ it. Ya gotta practice!”

The boys perked up at this and one of them asked, “Will you show us?”

Zayne sat up straight, protesting, “What!? No! In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a guy. If yer gonna practice on a guy, why not practice on each other?”

“That’s not true,” Kwame said with a laugh. “You’re not really a guy.”

“I’m not?” Zayne demanded, indignant. “Then what am I?”

Kwame smiled, dazzling him with his brilliant teeth. “You’re more than that.”

Zayne stared at him as the boys around him fell silent. The back of his neck grew hot when he looked up and realized they were staring at him hungrily.

You’re more than that…

You’re more than that…

He looked down at his bloated body with fresh eyes as if seeing himself for the first time. He was so curvaceous and full-figured that he was nearly bursting out of the seams of Nate’s clothing. Holy shit, he thought, Kwame’s right! He’s fuckin’ right! I don’t look like a guy anymore. No wonder these boys are flirting with me! 

It was true. His body’s changes meant that he now transcended and enveloped both genders at the same time. He was feminine and masculine and everything in between and beyond. 

It was a startling revelation but not an entirely unwelcome one. For the first time since he’d gained all the weight and his buttocks and breasts had expanded and rounded and softened, he found himself liking himself.

He wasn’t a guy anymore.

He was more than that.

***

The boys took turns practicing kissing Zayne that night. They were timid at first but grew bolder the longer they kissed. They were apt pupils, responding well to his cues and sporadic gasps of instruction. It was both tender and tantalizing and left him aching to take the contact further. But he didn’t. He followed their lead, never pushing them beyond first base. The most he got was Kwame’s hot, thick tongue probing the depths of his throat before the boy drew back, wiping his hand across his face and smiling back at him.

“You’re so beautiful, Zayne.”

The other boys murmured their assent and Zayne glowed. He had to admit that his body’s vast bulk and soft smoothness was kind of sexy. It provided a welcoming cushion that held and embraced each boy’s rock-hard body. They melted into him, the perfect union of soft and firm. He reached out and pulled Kwame to him, inviting him to explore the mounds and folds of his body with his big hands.

By the time Kwame dropped him off back at his campsite, Zayne was on fire. His poor, spongy cock was dripping and his balls were aching fiercely. He offered the boy only a single, chaste kiss and a tender hug in farewell, though. As much as he longed to have Kwame’s cock inside him, he wasn’t about to take the boy in that way. No, he wouldn’t tarnish him. He was leaving Kwame better off than when he’d met him and that was a reward in itself.

He watched the canoe disappear into the moonlight and then raced back to his tent to beat off.

***

He reached the ranger station in the late afternoon of the next day. When he pulled up to the dock in his canoe, though, he discovered it was closed. Sighing in defeat, he read the sign on the door; the ranger had left for an emergency backcountry rescue and wouldn’t be back until evening. Realizing he had no choice but to wait, he busied himself hauling his gear out and setting up camp in the designated area next to the station.

The day had started off rainy but the clouds lifted soon after he set up his tent. He gazed out over the lake, watching the mist lifting skyward. If he squinted, he could just make out the barracks-style buildings of Algonquin Christian Camp in the distance. The camp occupied most of the northern shore of a small, rocky island in the middle of the lake. A long pier jutted out into the water lined with red canoes and a few small figures were moving here and there amongst the buildings. He smiled at the memory of the previous night, feeling proud of himself for resisting the temptation to corrupt the boys. As much as he would have loved to teach them more than how to kiss, he was glad he hadn’t. It was better that they remain innocent; the world would change that soon enough without Zayne’s help. They were men now.

The afternoon wore on toward evening. Zayne took a dip off the dock, cooling off in the crystalline waters and listening to the geese honking in the distance. At some point, he became aware of a drumbeat and looked across the lake to see torches had been lit on the pier of the camp. Boys lined the dock, rhythmically thumping canoe paddles against the wood. How very pagan for a Christian camp, Zayne thought, pulling himself up out of the water to watch.

From the north, a horn blared and he turned to see a line of familiar red canoes streaking across the lake toward the camp. He smiled, realizing it was Kwame and the boys making their triumphant return to the basecamp. This must be some sort of end-of-the-journey ritual, he thought. Something to mark the boys’ rite of passage. It made sense; the boys had just completed the longest and most rigorous trip of their lives and were now poised to enter adulthood. He smiled when he realized he had unwittingly participated in this rite, helping the boys with their sexual awakening…among other things.

He sighed, leaning back on the dock and watching the red canoes approach the pier. The sunlight was fading and the shadows were lengthening as the drumming increased in intensity. Soon, it was booming over the lake. The boys in the canoes called out, their deep, masculine voices meeting and mingling with the drumbeat. They looked like proud warriors returning home after a victorious battle and Zayne’s heart swelled with vicarious pride and excitement. This was quelled, however, when he spotted the last canoe trailing far behind the others. In it, a single figure sat, hunched over in defeat. Even though the man was covered from head to toe with dark clothing, Zayne knew who it was.

Nate.

Zayne ached at the sight of him, his guilt returning with a vengeance. The shame and humiliation rolling off Nate’s shadowy form were palpable and Zayne had to look away. It hurt too much to watch. Oh, Nate! What have I done to you?

He looked back only once more, this time as Nate’s canoe pulled up to the pier. Zayne watched him hesitate before heaving himself out of the boat. He was approached by someone that Zayne guessed must be the camp’s director but Nate turned away from the man. With long, slow, deliberate steps, he stalked off of the pier and disappeared into the darkness, leaving a bunch of confused and disappointed boys behind him.

***

Not long after that, a truck pulled up in front of the ranger station and Zayne stood up hopefully. This was it. This was finally it! His backcountry saga was finally drawing to a close. Making sure he was appropriately attired, he crept around the side of the building to wait at the door while the truck parked. A moment later, a small woman in a dun-colored shirt and khaki shorts jumped out. When she spotted him, she gave him a startled look and immediately reached for the radio receiver in the truck.

“Cancel that SAR, guys!” she announced, never taking her eyes off of Zayne. “I’ve found the missing party. He’s at the ranger station.” She clicked down on the receiver and stepped out of the truck, saying to Zayne, “We were getting ready to call the RCMP for backup, Mr. Greaves. It’s good to see you’re alive and well.”

Zayne was starting to ask how she knew who he was when he heard the sound of another car approaching. A moment later, a familiar Subaru barreled into the parking area, spinning out on the gravel and sending up a cloud of dust as Colton leaped out and made a beeline for Zayne. He had hoisted him off the ground and was spinning him around before Zayne knew what was happening. When Colton finally lowered him back down again, tears were in his eyes.

And then his mouth was over Zayne’s and they were kissing.

***

Chapter 9

“Don’t ever do that again, Zayne.”

They were lying inside his tent. He was still in a pleasant state of shock, cradled in his big buddy’s arms and enjoying the sensation of the sizable tumescence in Colton’s shorts as it pressed against his ample buttocks. He lifted his lips and they kissed again, this time more sweetly than their original coming together. The ranger had departed after Colton arrived, politely leaving them to enjoy their amorous reunion.

“Colton?”

The beautiful man smiled back at him. “Yes, Zayne?”

Zayne took a deep breath. “I don’t understand. I thought you were straight.”

“I thought I was, too,” Colton said, laughing. “But you wore me down. I’ve been dying to fuck you for the past two weeks!”

“Really? Then why were you such an asshole?”

The corner of Colton’s mouth lifted. “In case you haven’t noticed, bro, I’m a stubborn bastard. I was damned if I was gonna give you the satisfaction of converting me. Why do you think I was drinking so much? And then when I thought you pierced my cock and put that ring around my balls while I was asleep…”

“Wait,” Zayne objected, holding up a hand. “I had nothing to do with that! I thought that was why you wouldn’t let me see yer dick: You were too scared I’d see yer kinky-ass piercing and ball ring!”

Colton gave a start, fixing him with his steady, brown eyes. “Zayne,” he growled. “How did you know about my dick piercing and the ring around my balls? Were you spying on me?” He waved the question off, though, a moment later, relenting. “Scratch that, I don’t wanna know. I’m just glad yer back.”

Zayne turned his head to catch and hold his bro’s gaze. “I didn’t have anything to do with the piercing or the ring, Colton. You gotta believe me!”

Colton smiled and was about to reply when he cocked his head and stared at Zayne’s neck. “What is that on yer neck, bro? Are those hickies?”

A wave of heat washed over Zayne, leaving him scarlet-faced. He had completely forgotten about making out with the boys the night before!

When he hung his head and remained mute, Colton chuckled. “What a fuckin’ a slut! Even in the middle of nowhere you manage to get some action.” He shook his head, adding, “I don’t know whether to be jealous or envious.”

If possible, Zayne’s face grew even redder. “Colton, it…it wasn’t anything. Really! I just made out with…” his voice trailed off. He knew he was already on thin ice and putting a number on the guys he’d kissed would only aggravate Colton further.

“Maybe yer beginning to understand why I resisted you for so long,” his bro grumbled. “I married one slut already and got burned. I’m not sure I’m ready to homo up with another one.”

“I’m not a slut!” Zayne objected. “I’ve only had sex with two guys in my life, you and Tyler.”

He kicked himself as soon as he said it. What the fuck was he thinking? Colton’s face darkened and there was a long, ominous silence during which Zayne was convinced that he was going to storm out of the tent.

When Colton did finally speak, his light tone belied an ominous rage seething just beneath the surface. “You say we had sex, huh? Ha! That’s funny ‘cuz I don’t remember it. You’d think I’d remember something as big as fucking my best friend, wouldn’t you?”

Here it is, Zayne thought, wilting with shame. Time to come clean. I knew this wasn’t gonna be fun. Finding strength he didn’t know he possessed, he steadied himself and took a deep breath, plunging ahead, “Colton, you don’t remember it but you already fucked me. I…I, um, took advantage of you when you were drunk the other night. That’s why I left, actually. I felt so awful afterward I couldn’t bear it.”

“You what?!” The hurt, disbelief and fury in Colton’s voice was palpable. He dropped his hands away from Zayne, body as inert and hard as stone beneath him.

“I, um, waited until you were passed out,” Zayne explained meekly, “and hopped on yer dick, bro. You fucked the shit out of me. Kept callin’ me Stephanie.”

There was another incredibly long pause during which Zayne prepared for the inevitable explosion. He bowed his head in shame, ready to receive it. He deserved everything and more.

When Colton’s fury broke, though, it was a furious laughter rather than rage. He threw his head back, laughter booming out of the tent and across the lake. He laughed so hard he was shaking. Finally, he collapsed on top of Zayne and wound his great, beefy arms around him and hugged him fiercely, still chuckling.

“Oh, fuck! I know I shouldn’t be laughin’ but I can’t believe it! You assaulted me! You fuckin’ sexually assaulted me when I was drunk, bro!”

“Yer right. It’s not funny. Rape is not funny.” Zayne shook his head. “I violated you, your body and our friendship, Colton.”

Colton wiped the tears from his eyes. “Yeah, I ‘spose I should be pissed with ya and maybe I will be later. Right now, though, I’m just so fuckin’ happy to see you and hold ya in my arms, bro! I thought you drowned or sumthin’!”

“I’m not a good friend,” Zayne admitted, bowing his head. “I’m selfish, conniving and thoughtless. Are you sure you wanna be with me?”

In answer, Colton gently lay him on his back and pushed his big thighs up over his head and proceeded to fuck him with gusto. 

They fucked.

And fucked.

And fucked.

And fucked.

Colton couldn’t get enough of Zayne’s big, soft bottom or his huge tits. He sucked on his nipples until they were distended like a pair of udders. He lavished attention, spit and cum over every inch and orifice of his body, not stopping until Zayne begged him to. His poor holes were raw and beard-burned and stretched out. He was exhausted and hungry and stank like a filthy cow. The inside of the tent was rank with their juices. And his poor spongy cock and balls were drained to the point of lifelessness.

Colton Baybeck was a monster in bed, even more potent and voracious than when he’d been drunk. Zayne knew he was pent up but even so realized that he was the kind of lover you only stumbled across rarely; a true sex hound who could literally go all night. He was astounded and happy and very sore.

***

They were washing up in the lake, the light of the half moon shimmering like mercury over the water, when he noticed them. He reached out and touched one, uncertain if he was seeing things but the cool, hard metal was most definitely real.

“Nipple rings,” Zayne said as Colton looked down at his pecs. “Colton, you have rings through your nipples!”

“Huh? Those’re new.” He picked one up, frowning at the size and weight. The silver rings were thick and heavy, stretching out his formerly pert nipples. They were seamless, too; the only way to remove them would be to cut them off.

Colton sighed heavily, settling down next to Zayne on the dock and staring at his chest unhappily. Before, they had been able to dismiss the tattoos and piercings. But now that their sexual appetite had been sated, the implications of this new, bizarre reality began to dawn on them.

Zayne still couldn’t shake the feeling that he was somehow to blame and said as much. “What is going on?” he asked, nuzzling against his big, beefy bro until Colton slung an arm over his shoulders. “What’s happening to us? People don’t just grow piercings and develop tattoos randomly. This is seriously weird shit!”

Silent for a long time, Colton finally stirred. “I dunno for sure but I have an idea.” When Zayne looked over at him questioningly, he got up and stalked back to his car, returning a minute later holding something in his hand. “It’s gotta be these things, Zayne. There’s no other explanation.”

Zayne squinted. The light was dim and it took him a while to recognize the objects. When he did, he exhaled sharply. “The statues! Fuck, I completely forgot ‘bout them!” He picked them out of Colton’s hands, holding them up to the moonlight. The skin prickled on the back of his neck as he examined them, looking from one to the other and then from his body to Colton’s. The resemblance was uncanny; the ‘female’ statue with its wide hips, protruding stomach and big breasts matched his body almost precisely. And the ‘male’ statue with its impossibly broad shoulders, narrow hips and giant cock and balls was clearly just like Colton.

“We’re changing into them!” he breathed, heart pounding. “Colton! Do you see this?”

The still very naked Colton squatted down next to him and Zayne couldn’t help noticing that his cock was so long that the piercing on his dick knocked against the wood of the dock. His balls were so stretched out they likewise lolled on the dock, the heavy rings glinting in the moonlight. He really was immense and hulking. His body was so replete with muscles, he almost looked like he could be in steroids. It was both exhilarating and ominous.

Zayne looked down at his own, fleshy and sensuous body with its folds of skin and burgeoning breasts. His wide buttocks splayed across the dock in an almost wanton fashion. Everything about him was exaggerated, voluptuous to the extreme. He was like a big, soft, hairless ambisexual god.

The perfect opposite to Colton’s hyper-masculine physique.

No wonder sex between them was so wonderful!

And so wrong.

He sighed, hanging his head in resignation. He wasn’t supposed to be like this. And Colton wasn’t supposed to be like he was, either. The statues felt cold in his hands and he had to resist the urge to throw them into the lake. He could almost feel the tendrils of their curse wrapping around him and Colton, strangling them even as it pulled them together.

“We have to put them back.” It was Colton who spoke but both men were thinking the same thing.

Zayne looked up at him and nodded. “You’re right. I should never have taken them. I was wrong.”

***

That night, they drove back to the parking area where they had begun their trip over three weeks ago. It was well past midnight by then and both guys were exhausted but Colton insisted they return the statues that night. Zayne grumbled about it but nonetheless complied, fishing his hiking boots out of his car and following the light of Colton’s headlamp up to the cliff. He stopped and stared up at it with trepidation; three weeks ago when he’d been slim and svelte, it had been an easy climb but now in his vastly inflated form, it looked incredibly daunting. 

“You can do it, bro,” Colton coaxed. “I’ll help you. Just take it slow and follow my lead.”

He was right. It took Zayne more than an hour…and a lot of help from Colton, but he finally reached the mouth of the cave. Once inside, though, it was another chore trying to squeeze his fat body into the low, narrow crevice. He would have given up if Colton hadn’t been so insistent. His big friend gave him a pep talk, eventually pushing him through while ignoring Zayne’s protests. He got stuck at several points, panicking that he would need to be chiseled out, but eventually managed to squeak through. His clothes weren’t so lucky; they were soon shredded and his skin was covered with abrasions. It was nearing morning by the time they made it into the tiny antechamber containing the fateful crack where Zayne had found the artefacts.

Colton stopped him when he started to reach for the statues, saying, “Hold up, bro.”

“What’s wrong?” Zayne was beyond exhausted by then and wanted nothing more than to get this over with.

Colton straightened, the beam of his lamp shining down on him like a spotlight. The cave was tall enough at that point for them to stand up and Zayne found himself once again staring up in awe at his studly bro. Colton looked to the side before saying, “I juss thought of something. What if…?” His voice trailed off.

“What if what?”

Tears were in Colton’s eyes as he looked down at him. “What if we, you know, don’t wanna be together after we put ‘em back? What if I’m only gay ‘cuz of the statues?” He gestured down at his greatly enhanced and pierced body. “I mean, I swear I never had a gay thought before–”

Zayne cut him off, shaking his head vehemently. “No! That won’t happen! We love each other! No rock carving can change that.”

Colton didn’t reply. Zayne squinted up at him in the bright light of his headlamp, waiting for him to say something but instead his friend lowered his lips and kissed him. Soon, he was pushing Zayne down onto the cave floor and pulling the shreds of his shorts off. He spit in his palm and smeared it over Zayne’s worn-out hole, gradually entering him once again with that magnificently pierced cock. “This is just in case,” he gasped in between thrusts. “Just in case I don’t wanna…” He never completed the sentence because Zayne lifted his head and covered his mouth with his lips.

***

It wasn’t the most romantic fuck of Zayne’s life–the cave floor was damp and covered in bat guano and the rocks bit into his skin–but it was poignant and sweet and, of course, there was Colton’s huge cock buried inside him with its thick ring flipping back and forth. He loved the heft and solidity of his bro’s muscular body on top of him and the way he made him feel naughty, brazen and slatternly. Colton alternated between teasing him for being such a sloppy, slutty bottom and praising him for his acrobatics and the pleasing cushiness of his fat body. When he finally came in a volcanic climax, he chewed Zayne’s nipple and squeezed his soft, puffy cock like a cow’s udder until he was spewing hot ‘milk’ of his own.

Colton held him for a long time afterward, licking his ear and kissing his neck. From far away, they could hear birdsong and knew the sun must be rising. It had been a brutally long night but not without its pleasures. Zayne wanted to protest when Colton told him it was time to replace the statues but he did as he was told. Soon, he was cramming his arm as far into the crevice as possible while Colton pushed on him from the other end. With his arm’s increased girth, he thought it would be impossible to reach far enough inside the little opening but his hand eventually found its way into the small opening on the other side.

“There it is,” he announced, face crushed against the abrasive rock. “I’m gonna put ‘em back now.”

“Do it, bro.”

He released the little statues from his grip and he heard them land with a barely audible thud. There, he thought, all better. They’re back where I found them. Colton eased up, allowing him to withdraw his arm from the fissure and he sank back on his heels, breathing a sigh of relief.

“Feel any different?” he asked, looking up at Colton. The light on his friend’s headlamp was beginning to dim but there was enough ambient light seeping inside the cave by then that he could see his face. “‘Cuz I don’t.”

He was pushing himself to his feet to kiss his friend when Colton stopped him. “Zayne, don’t.”

Zayne laughed, playfully batting his hand away. “Why not? C’mere! I want you to hold me!”

“I said DON’T!”

Colton’s voice was so harsh that Zayne stopped short, pleading, “What’s wrong, babe? I only–”

His bro took a step backward. “It worked. Can’t you tell? It’s over.”

These words poured over him like icy water, leaving him gasping. Even though he already knew in the pit of his stomach what Colton was referring to, he couldn’t stop himself from asking, “Wh-Wh-What? What’s over?”

“We’re over, Zayne,” Colton spat, anger building in his voice. “We’re fucking over! I can’t believe you fucking did this to me! You fucking turned me into a fucking gay freakshow!” He looked down at his naked body, covered in piercings, and his face wrinkled in disgust. “Yer gonna pay for this, asshole!”

With that, he turned and stumbled out of the cave, leaving a very stricken Zayne behind.

***

Chapter 10

Colton’s car was gone by the time he managed to climb down out of the cave. His face was tear-streaked and his body was bruised, bleeding and filthy. He’d nearly fallen several times in his exhausted and heartbroken state and part of him almost wished he had. He wished he was dead. Wished he’d never even existed. He couldn’t face life without Colton, looking like a bloated whale.

Colton had left his gear on the gravel beside Zayne’s car with a note saying that he was keeping the canoe. ‘It’s the least you owe me, you sick fuck,’ the note read. Zayne stared at it, emotionless. He was too drained to feel anything; he was nothing but a lifeless shell. A fat, lifeless shell, he amended sourly.

There was an energy bar still in the tatters of his shorts. He waddled disconsolately down to the canoe launch and dangled his feet in the cool water, munching on the tasteless lump and feeling sorry for himself. He was so out of it that he didn’t hear the sound of the engine until the car was almost to the parking area. He looked up expectantly, hoping against hope that it was Colton. Maybe his friend had realized he loved Zayne after all and was coming back to rescue him?

But, no, it wasn’t Colton’s Subaru. It was an old Ford pickup truck, covered in dust and looking somewhat worse for wear. Zayne tugged the remnants of his shirt over his shoulders and grimaced in distaste when he looked down and saw his shorts were barely decent. The last thing he wanted was to be seen looking like this! Staggering to his feet, he waded across the river and hid in the shadows of the spruce on the far side.

He positioned himself so that he was sufficiently concealed behind the branches but still able to see across the river.  From this vantage point, he watched as the truck parked in the lot and a man exited, looking around the area. He paced over to Zayne’s car and peered in the windows before turning to gaze off toward the river. 

Zayne studied him curiously. There was something strange about the guy. He was incredibly tall and broad, almost to the point of being a caricature. And his waist was so thin! But there was something else. Zayne squinted, trying to figure out what it was.

The guy was wearing just a ball cap, aviator sunglasses and a tiny pair of green nylon shorts over…what? A compression top and a pair of tights covered in colorful designs? Zayne had never anything like it and he peered through the scrim of tree branches, trying to get a better look.

He froze, realizing those weren’t tights.

They were tattoos.

The man’s entire body from top to bottom was covered in colorful, intricate tattoos.

At that moment, the guy lifted the hat off his head and ran a hand through his buzzed hair. Even from that distance, it was clear the tattoos didn’t stop at his hairline but continued, covering the sides of his head and scalp. And that wasn’t all. Something flashed in the morning sun and Zayne blinked when he realized the dude’s body was almost as covered in piercings as tattoos. His ears, nose, eyebrow, lips, nipples, belly button…who knew where else?

At that moment, the guy looked across the river and Zayne experienced a disorienting lurch, almost as if the earth had shifted under his feet. His jaw dropped as he recognized the man.

It was Nate.

Whoa.

The dude was almost unrecognizable! Big, tall, muscular and freakishly tattooed and pierced, Nate had shorn his hair and beard. Rather than trying to conceal his altered body like he’d done before, now he was clearly comfortable with putting it on full display. It was almost like he was daring the world to stare at him.

And Zayne was only too happy to oblige.

He gaped at the big man, feeling his fat, useless cock begin to drip between his soft thighs. He was dead on his feet, looking like shit and feeling like an emotional basket case but he didn’t give a fuck. Nate had that effect on him. He had opened his mouth and called out to him before he could stop himself.

Nate snapped to attention, focusing like a laser on Zayne as he stepped out from behind the trees. Zayne smiled shyly as a broad grin split Nate’s handsome face and then Zayne was walking across the river, slipping and sliding and coming perilously close to falling over. 

It seemed to take forever but he made it. He was finally standing in front of the gorgeous, godlike man who had been irrevocably transformed, thanks to Zayne.

“You look different,” he said, smiling up at the big guy. 

With his beard and hair trimmed, Nate’s sex appeal had skyrocketed and he had entered the rarified strata occupied only by the elite. The tattoos were just as lurid as Zayne remembered but they suited Nate somehow, setting off every ridge and ripple and bulge on his giant, muscled frame. He towered over him, standing close to seven feet tall, and he was incredibly handsome with icy blue eyes and his freshly trimmed auburn beard. 

Up close, his tattoos were even more impressive–and obscene. Only an oval of skin on each of his cheeks had been left un-inked. Well, sort of. Zayne blinked when he read the words, ‘JESUS FREAK,’ tattooed in the center of these bare patches, directly under Nate’s eyes.

His gaze lifted and he met those beautiful eyes which were at the moment filled with a wanton hunger. Zayne looked down, abashed, only to flush when he saw the humongous bulge tenting out the dude’s tiny pair of running shorts. He didn’t need to see Nate’s cock to know it had been pierced even more extremely than Colton’s: The outlines of numerous rings, bars and other more inventive shapes were clearly visible against the sheer fabric. When Nate shifted his weight, a telltale jingling followed the movement. It was the jingling of metal against metal.

“What do you think, Zayne?” Nate rumbled in a gravelly baritone. “I’m a huge freak. Will you have me?”

Zayne’s shoulder flushed crimson as the big man lowered his hands down onto his shoulders. He lifted his chin, responding, “That depends. Will you have me?” 

He spread his arms, revealing his soft, jiggly and saggy body. His tits were so big they hung down over his belly and he could feel his giant ass ballooning out behind him even as his belly hung down over his crotch. He was just as much of a huge freak as Nate, just in different ways.

In answer, Nate slid his huge hands down Zayne’s body, landing on his bloated buttocks. With a smirk of victory, he squatted down and cupped his ass cheeks, moving his fingers inward until they were tickling his hole. 

His eyes widened when he touched that much-used orifice, slack and gaping and still dripping with the remnants of Colton’s cum. “Looks like somebody got here before me,” he muttered wryly. When Zayne winced, Nate lowered his lips and kissed each of his eyelids. “But that’s probably just as well because you’re gonna need to be stretched out to take me inside of you.”

He was right.

Nate exceeded Colton in every respect. In size, girth, voracity, kinkiness and ardour. He took Zayne on the banks of the river in an unending variety of positions, outdoing himself at every turn. He was gentle at first, worried his heavily pierced cock would tear Zayne’s delicate insides open, but soon learned that Zayne was a pro at riding cock and the piercings only served to augment his pleasure. The kid gloves came off at that point and he punished Zayne with a ferocity that verged on savagery. Not that Zayne was complaining! By that point, he had transcended exhaustion and his body came alive with a carnal vigor of its own. He met Nate with arms and holes wide open, inviting, challenging and exhorting him to take him again and again.

Nate later confessed that he’d never had sex before but Zayne didn’t believe him. There was no way a guy could be that good his first time! He insisted, though, and Zayne knew him well enough already to know that he didn’t lie.

“I felt something change inside me this morning,” he said, sprawled out next to Zayne. Zayne was lying on his side, head propped on an elbow, and running his hands over Nate’s incredible body. “I don’t know what exactly but I didn’t want to hide myself any longer.” He paused to lift his great head and fix Zayne with those piercing blue eyes. “And I knew I had to find you.”

Zayne smiled, feeling Nate’s juices trickling out of various places in his weary and bruised body. “That must have been when I put the statues back.” When this was met with confusion from Nate, he explained about finding the artefacts on the first day of their trip and the eventual realization that this theft was the cause of their woes.

“It’s not a curse, Zayne,” Nate corrected, rolling over onto his side and pulling Zayne against him until they were face to face, drowning in each other’s eyes. “It’s a liberation. Those statues liberated us.”

Zayne’s brow furrowed. “Liberation? You call this liberation? Look at us! How exactly are we liberated by what we’ve become? Neither of us can show ourselves in public again without ridicule!”

“Maybe,” Nate conceded, “but we’re also free now to be who we really are.” When Zayne scoffed at this, he continued, “Think about it. Are you really that unhappy with how you look now?”

Zayne hesitated, contemplating Nate’s question. Finally, he confessed, “I…well, I don’t look forward to the looks and comments I’m gonna get now, but…yeah, I guess I don’t mind being fat too much. I’ll maybe, you know, try to slim down a bit so I can still do rock climbing and backcountry hiking. I wanna keep my big butt, belly and breasts, though.”

Nate nodded, face breaking into a brilliant smile. “I was hoping you’d say that, Zayne, ‘cuz I love you just the way you are.” 

He sat up then, coaxing Zayne to do the same and soon they were sitting cross legged, facing each other on the rocks. This way, both men had an unimpeded view of the other’s body and Zayne was able to take in the full magnitude of Nate’s changes. He really was tatted and pierced from head to toe! Rings flashed everywhere, even on parts of his body that Zayne would never have thought could be pierced. And his cock…

Nate’s circumcised cock was enormous and covered in ink so thick that it was nearly black. Even his glans sported a double male symbol. A line of rings ran from the tip of his penis down to his taint with the biggest through his gaping piss slit. His apple-sized balls were adorned with more than a dozen gold rings, stretching them out nearly as long as his dick. As Zayne stared, Nate’s monster began to grow, rearing its ugly head until it was standing upright, a line of pre drooling out of the tip and down the thick ring.

Nate reached out and took each of Zayne’s protruding nipples in his fingers and pinched, laughing at his reaction. “You brought out my inner freak, Zayne. I can’t thank you enough. But mostly I wanna thank you for giving me so many ideas!” He nodded at the provocative and inventive gay sex positions tattooed over his arms, legs and chest. “We’ve been fucking all morning and I still haven’t tried out half of these!”

They fucked again for the hundredth time. This time, Nate was gentler and cradled him on his lap as he worked his horny dragon inside his hole. They sat like that with Nate thrusting slowly, gradually driving Zayne to the point of madness. He massaged Zayne’s sponge cock, bringing him to orgasm at the same moment that he exploded inside him. And then they were kissing and Nate’s big, muscular arms were around him, drawing him against his rugged body. When he finally released him, Zayne’s soft torso bore the impressions of Nate’s many piercings.

***

Epilogue

Colton eventually forgave Zayne. It took him a few months but he finally texted him and they met up at a rock climbing park in Toronto. The autumn day was warm and Colton was wearing a tight tank top that showed off his impressive chest…as well as the telltale outlines of his big nipple rings. He was, Zayne realized, looking even studlier than before. He’d kept the weight off after their canoe trip and, if anything, his muscles were even bigger.

“So you decided to keep ‘em!” Zayne said, pulling back from their brief hug. He had to resist the urge to reach out and touch the nipple rings and instead inclined his head downward. 

Colton smiled as he followed Zayne’s gaze. “What? Oh, yeah, these. Well, I thought seriously ‘bout having them cut off but finally decided I liked ‘em. Even better, Hadley love’s ‘em, too.”

“Hadley?”

Colton’s cheeks colored as he confessed, “Hadley’s my new boyfriend.”

Zayne’s mouth fell open. “Your…boyfriend? Colton, I thought–”

“I thought so, too,” the big man admitted, dipping his head in embarrassment. “And something did change inside me when you put back those fuckin’ statues. I felt like a veil had been lifted or sumthin’. For a while I hoped I was straight again. Mostly, though, I was just pissed at you for what you’d done.” He lifted his head and fixed Zayne with his soft, puppy dog eyes, concluding, “but you won, Zayne. You made me gay. And I’m…happy. In fact, I’ve never been so happy!”

“And that makes me happy, Colton,” Zayne said without a trace of bitterness. He was surprised to realize he really meant it. “When do I get to meet Hadley?”

“Soon but not yet. I’m still sore ‘bout what happened, Zayne. It’s gonna take time for me to trust you again.”

Zayne nodded. “I get that. I wouldn’t trust me, either, if I were you.”

Colton looked off to the side before meeting his gaze again. “You’re looking good, bro. The weight suits you.”

“Thanks, bud! I’m getting more comfortable with it.” Zayne looked down at himself. He had slimmed down somewhat over the summer but was still far from the svelte stud he’d been before. “It’s been an adjustment. My friends and family didn’t recognize me. And everyone seems to have advice for me on how to lose weight. But I like myself this way…and Nate does, too.”

This time, Colton’s eyebrows shot up. “Nate? Your–?”

“Boyfriend,” Zayne replied, nodding. “He’s a youth minister at a shelter for the unhoused downtown.”

“Wow. A youth minister!” Colton shook his head. “I never woulda put you together with a minister, Zayne. He must be someone special.”

Zayne smiled and reached out to put his hand on Colton’s shoulder. “He is. He really is. But so are you. Hadley is a lucky guy.” He withdrew his hand and turned toward the rock wall, urging, “Now let’s climb that fucker!”

***