Xander hauled himself out of the pool with more determination than finesse. Staggering over to one of the chaise lounges scattered around the deck, he collapsed face first. The sun beating down on his back felt wonderful, and some of the ache started to fade. Xander knew he’d been pushing himself too hard. Since Dave had given him the go-ahead to use the pool two days before, he’d spent almost every waking hour in the water. Swimming laps kept him busy and wore him out enough to guarantee that he’d be asleep before Tony came to bed.

Xander tried to doze off, wanting to give his mind a rest, but the questions in his head kept him awake.

After Dave had finished giving him a checkup two days before, Xander had gone to tell Tony the good news. As he came down the hall, he heard Tony and Ben talking about him.

"So, Antony, how is Xander’s training coming along? Are you making any progress?" Xander heard Ben ask.

"I’m not training Xander, Ben."

"What? Why not?"

"I was going to, but first I wanted to give him time to heal, then he got snatched. Since I got him back...I don’t know, it just doesn’t seem like the right thing to do anymore. Besides, we’re already sleeping together. It’s a little late to start now."

"Since you are already intimate, it would be more difficult, but it can still be done, Antony. I think it would be good, for both of you."

"Ben, Xander has been traumatized. He doesn’t need the stress. Besides, things are fine just the way they are."

"For now, perhaps. But what about the future, Antony? How long is he going to be willing to stay with you? A year? Maybe two? He’s an intelligent young man, and a curious one. He’ll get bored with nothing to do except to wait for you to come home."

"I’ve talked to him about college, he’s not really thrilled with the idea. He says he’s no good at school and doesn’t want to go. And it’s not like I can force him to. We’ll be fine."

"Antony, Hamid could speak four languages when I met him, but he barely write his own name. If I hadn’t have taken him through the training, I doubt he would have gone to college, but he did. And graduated with honors. He made up for years of lost time because he had the self-control and discipline to study. I realize that the training is...difficult...on both the trainer and the trainee, but Antony; you can’t tell me you don’t think he’s worth it. Good God man, you paid $750,000.00 to get him back from those animals, surely he’s worth a little extra effort."

The phone ringing in the study put a halt to the conversation and Xander snuck past the door and out to the pool. Xander knew that Tony had paid to get him back, but that much? That was more money than he’d ever expected to earn in his lifetime. Since he’d heard them talking that day, he couldn’t get it out of his head. He had questions, but he couldn’t talk to Tony about this. Xander didn’t know what to do, so he’d been avoiding Tony as much as possible. The older man had a lot to do keeping up with business, so it wasn’t that difficult, but he knew he was running out of time. Tony was starting to get suspicious. Taking a deep breath, and hoping he wasn’t making a complete ass out of himself, he went to find Hamid.

Xander went to his and Tony’s room and took a shower. As he got dressed, he tried to think of a way to start the conversation, but finally decided to just ask.

Tony and Ben had gone to a meeting and Hamid was working in the study. Xander stood in the doorway and knocked on the doorframe. Hamid looked up from the computer screen and smiled at him. "Xander, come in. I have not seen much of you lately, I was being to think you were avoiding me."

"Huh, no, not avoiding. I just needed to think about some things."

Hamid shut down the program and leaned back in his chair, it was obvious that Xander needed to talk. "Is there something I could help you with? I have been told that I am a good listener."

Xander nodded, but didn’t look at him. "Yeah. I was wondering...I heard...Ah, Hell. I overheard Tony and Ben talking the other day. Ben was asking Tony why he wasn’t training me. And they mentioned you, I can’t ask Tony about this…"

Hamid frowned slightly, he’d thought that Tony had planned on training Xander for the future, but Xander needed answers, he’d worry about Tony later. "You can ask me anything you’d like, Xander. I don’t mind."

Xander glanced up at him through his eyelashes, "You sure? I don’t want to pry or anything."

Hamid grinned, "I don’t mind at all. Come on, let’s go get something to drink and sit by the pool. It’s too nice to be indoors."

The two men were quickly settled on the deck and Hamid picked up their conversation again. "What would you like to know, Xander?" When he saw how embarrassed the younger man was, he felt sorry for him. "Would it be easier if I just told you about my training and why I was trained?"

Xander smiled gratefully, "Yeah. I mean, I don’t have a clue what they were talking about. Did you go to a special school or something?"

Hamid almost choked on his iced tea. "No. No school. Ben trained me."

"For what?" Xander asked in exasperation.

"For him, Xander. Ben trained me for him." Xander’s face went pale. Hamid reached across and grabbed him the arm, hoping to calm him. "Xander, it was nothing bad, he did not hurt me. Of course, I hated him at the time. Relax, and I will tell you a story."

Hamid sipped his tea and thought back to that day, so many years ago. "I grew up in Cairo. I never knew who my father was and my mother died when I was very young. I lived with my uncle for a time. He taught be how to steal, pick pockets and run scams on the tourists. When I was twelve he was going to sell me to brothel. I ran. For the next three years I took care of myself. I never knew where I was going to sleep or if I’d manage to get enough money to eat, but it was better than what he’d had planned for me."

Xander was silently staring at Hamid, his eyes wide with shock. Hamid smiled at him, "It was a very long time ago, Xander. I’ve been with Ben for ten years now. My past no longer has any hold on me."

"Ten years?" Xander squeaked. "But you’re not that old."

"Thank you." Hamid said dryly. "I was fifteen when Ben found me." Seeing the expression on Xander’s face Hamid hastened to reassure him. "I know that sounds horrible. But if Ben hadn’t taken me, I’d be dead now. I picked his pocket on the street and got caught. The penalties for theft are severe in my country, Xander. If I were lucky, I would have just lost my hand, but I probably would have been beaten to death or sold. Ben convinced the local constable that he wanted the satisfaction of punishing me himself. The constable let him take me and my life has never been the same."

"What did he do to you?" Xander asked quietly.

"He made me take a bath, gave me food, more food than I had ever seen before. Good food. I’m not really sure when he decided to keep me; but when he left Cairo, he took me with him. I wasn’t at all pleased. I called him horrible names and tried to run away every chance I got. Once we got to his country, he took me to one of his palaces and began training me." Hamid looked at Xander with a quiet smile on his face. "What is the one thing that you remember about being fifteen, Xander?"

Xander laughed, "Oh, man, I was a walking hormone when I was fifteen."

"Exactly. Ben used that against me. The man drove me insane. He’d keep me aroused for days at a time, until I was willing to do anything to gain relief. He taught me to read and write, how to act in public, he taught me everything. The better I did, the more pleasure he gave me. If I did something wrong, I was punished. He’d take me to the edge, and keep me there. He came to mean everything to me. He was in my every thought. But I admit that I was convinced on more than one occasion that he was Satan himself and I was going to die of frustration. But I learned, and I’ve never forgotten those lessons."

Hamid grinned as he thought back on some of the punishments he’d received. "I must admit, I occasionally got into trouble on purpose. In fact, I still do, just to keep Ben on his toes. I wouldn’t want him to take me for granted."

"But, you were just a kid, that’s wrong." Xander said faintly.

"In my country, I was considered to be an adult, Xander. I love Ben, and Ben loves me. I have no doubt of that. I am more than just his lover. I’m his friend, the one person he trusts explicitly, there’s nothing that he doesn’t know about me or I him. It’s an incredibly freeing sensation to know that there is one person you can always trust, that will always love you, no matter what."

"So Ben trained you to be his companion or something?"

"Not just companion, I also help run his companies and I am his heir. When he retires, hopefully not for many years to come, I will take control of his companies and I will run them the way that Ben planned from the beginning. It wasn’t easy, there was so much for me to learn, and I wasn’t exactly what you could call grateful. But now I have an education, more money than I’d ever dreamed and respect. No one meeting me today would ever suspect that I was once an illiterate pickpocket on the streets of Cairo."

"What if you could change things?" Xander asked curiously.

"I wouldn’t change my life for anything in the world. There is nothing that anyone could offer me that would make me want to leave Ben. He’s everything to me." Hamid said sincerely.

"Wow. You really love him that much?"

"Yes, I do. And besides, the sex is amazing." Hamid said with a smirk, laughing when Xander blushed.

"There is nothing to be ashamed of Xander. Nothing done in love is wrong. Did I manage to answer your questions?"

"Yeah, but why did Tony say he wasn’t going to train me? Doesn’t he think I’d be any good at it?" Xander’s confusion was evident.

"Ask him." Hamid said.

"Ask him? I can’t ask him!" Xander squeaked.

"I think you need to, Xander. This has been wearing on you for a couple of days now. And if he does decide to train you, that is part of it. He’ll expect you to talk to him, about anything and everything. And he will do the same for you. There is no other way to get to know each other, you must be willing to talk." Hamid said seriously.

"I’ll try, but I don’t think I’d be able to look him in the face ever again if I did."

"Xander, Tony has a great deal of feeling for you. When you were taken, he was going to kill all of them and just take you back. Ben convinced him to play it smart and go through the auction."

"Hamid? Did he really pay that much money for me?"

"$750,000.00? Yes he did. But that’s not the point, Xander. Tony would pay any amount of money to have you here with him and safe. Remember that when you are trying to find the courage to speak with him."

"Thanks, Hamid. You’ve helped a lot."

"You are welcome, Xander. I am hoping that we will become friends. I, too, could use a friendly ear on occasion."

Xander grinned and clapped him on the back, "That’d be cool. So, Hamid, did Ben teach you how to swim?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Dude, we have a totally awesome pool here, all to ourselves. We shouldn’t let it go to waste."

"Good point. I’ll meet you back here in fifteen minutes?"

"Works for me."

********

Tony and Ben arrived back at the Malibu house much later than they had planned. Negotiations with Mitre Corp. had hit a stalemate early in the day and they had fought for the contract for hours. Both men were frustrated, tired and hungry so it was a pleasant surprise to find their young lovers out on the deck barbequing something that smelled wonderful.

Hamid was standing in front of the grill wearing his swimming suit and a chief’s apron. Waving the tongs he held in his hand he said, "Good evening, gentlemen. It’s good to know you remembered us. Have a seat. Dinner is almost ready."

The two older men sat down in adjoining chairs and gratefully accepted the drinks Xander brought over to them.

Tony sipped his scotch with a rather goofy grin on his face. It was nice to see Xander hitting it off with Hamid. And the sight of the two of them running around in Speedos and aprons was rather enticing.

After a simple, but satisfying, meal, Xander brought out a huge pitcher of Margaritas and they all lounged around the deck talking quietly about absolutely nothing. It was a good ending to a bad day.

Ben and Hamid headed inside to get some sleep, but Xander and Tony stayed out on the deck for a while, just watching the moonlight sparkle on the ocean. Tony noticed Xander sneaking glances at him every few seconds, but let the younger man start the conversation when he was ready. It didn’t take long.

"Tony? Can I ask you something?"

"Of course, Xander. What do you want to know?" Tony said amicably.

"Um, the other day...you know, when Dave was here? I overhead you and Ben talking about me."

The reasons behind Xander’s recent behavior were immediately clear. "Oh. I hadn’t realized you’d overheard us."

"Well, I was curious, so I asked Hamid about it. He explained it to me." Xander said.

Tony put his hand on Xander’s arm, "Xander, there’s nothing to worry about. I’m not going to train you."

"Why not? Don’t you think I could do it?"

Tony gaped at his young lover; that was not the reaction he’d been expecting. Xander sounded almost upset that he wasn’t being trained. "Xander? What exactly did Hamid tell you?"

"He told me about how he grew up and Ben teaching him and stuff."

"Did he tell you how Ben taught him?" Tony asked curiously.

It was too dark for Tony to see Xander’s face, but he could tell he was blushing. "Yeah. But he said that there’s no doubt that Ben loves him, why else would he take all that time? And he’s got a degree and everything now. He said that Ben trusts him more than anyone else and he feels the same about Ben."

Tony stayed silent for a moment, trying to guess where Xander was going with this. "Xander, do you want to be trained like Hamid was?"

"I don’t know." He said quietly. "But I heard you say that you were going to, and now you’re not. How come?"

Tony tugged Xander out of his chair and pulled him into his lap. "Xander, there are several reasons for that. For one, you’re older, and your circumstances are completely different from Hamid’s. You’ve been through a lot lately, I’m not sure if you can handle that kind of structure right now. And since we’re already involved, it would change things."

"Like what?"

"There would be rules that you would have to follow. Follow them, and you would be rewarded. Disobey, and you would be punished."

Xander put his head down on Tony’s chest, "What kind of rules are we talking about here?"

"You’d have to go to school, study, do chores around here just for the added responsibility. And you’d have to learn to talk to me about how you’re feeling and what you want out of life. And our sexual relationship would intensify dramatically." Xander didn’t say anything, but he didn’t pull away either. "Xander, what do you want?"

"I want what Hamid has." Xander whispered.

Tony took a deep breath and made a decision. "Very well. From now on, what I say goes. If you have a real problem with something, we’ll discuss it. The only thing not up for discussion will be your punishments. Those I will decide upon and they will depend on the infraction. Tomorrow, I’ll find a tutor for you and we’ll get you enrolled in the junior college here in Malibu. After we finish there, we’ll go get you a car to use. When you aren’t in class you will either be studying or you’ll come to the office and run errands for me. No drinking, no smoking and no drugs. We’ll work out together every other day, but you can swim whenever you like as long as your other responsibilities are taken care of. We’ll also set up a study for you in one of the spare rooms. You’ll need a computer too."

Tony tugged Xander’s head up and kissed him lightly. "Xander, with Hamid’s training, sex wasn’t just used for rewards and punishment. Hamid was trained to be everything Ben could ever want in a sexual companion. He knows what Ben likes and what Ben wants. If Ben wanted to have sex in the middle of the street during rush hour, Hamid wouldn’t think twice. If we do this, it would be the same for you. Can you handle that?"

Xander shrugged, "I trust you. But, you aren’t actually going to want to have sex in the middle of the street are you?"

Tony cracked up laughing, "No, not in the middle of the street. I’ve never been into having an audience. Now, the desk in my office is a possibility."

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