Lukas was in the shower.

Matthew heard water, but saw darkness. He wasn’t sure what was happening.

He was running his fingers through his hair? Wet hair?

Lukas was in the shower.

He stood back, blinking the water out of his eyes, and Matthew was in Lukas’ bathroom. In his shower. A long, wide shower, glass fronted, which ran the length of one wall.

Lukas was using his fingers to wipe the water out of his eyes.

Matthew was in Lukas’ body.

But not quite.

It wasn’t quite the same.

Lukas stepped out of the flow and reached for the shelf. There was a bottle of shampoo there. Pine scented. He squirted some into his hand and started lathering his hair.

Matthew became aware of his arse – Lukas’ arse, poking backwards, naked in the shower.

He felt the rake of fingernails through his hair.

And then felt Lukas’ body shiver as his skin puckered into gooseflesh.

Lukas shivered.

Matthew shivered.

Everything resolved itself, hard and bright. His ears popped with the sound of the shower. Felt the water running down his thighs. He was there.

Lukas stepped forward into the flow, trying to warm himself up a bit, letting the shower hit his chest, and turning so it hit him in the back.

Matthew told himself he wasn’t going to make Lukas do anything. He would try it, at some stage, see if he could move Lukas’ hand, or something, just to see if he could, but he would keep quite, for the most part.

Just be there.

Lukas rinsed his hair.

Matthew felt the soapy water flowing down his back and into his arse cheeks, turning around, underneath him, under his perineum, and sliding down the insides of his thighs. Smooth and soapy. Sliding.

He started to get hard.

Lukas started to get hard.

Lukas stepped back and felt for the bottle of conditioner on the shelf, wiping the hair out of his eyes firstly, and ignoring his lengthening cock. He squirted the conditioner into his hand and began to rub it into his hair.

Matthew wanted to see what it would be like if Lukas reached down and started pulling himself with the conditioner, which was creamy and slippery.

Lukas thought about it.

His cock stood up.

And he reached his hand down and began tugging it gently.

Oh! Matthew thought, feeling the hard little cock in his hand.

It was so much better without Christian. So much better without Christian being here.

Matthew pulled a bit harder.

And Lukas felt down with his other hand. And began to massage his balls.

They were so small. And so firm-soft. Grapes, exactly. Just like grapes. Maybe a little larger.

Lukas wondered if his balls were like grapes. He supposed they were.

He could hit them with something. That would make him come. There was the back-scrubbing brush. He had done that before.

Lukas got excited about the idea, and picked the back-scrubbing brush from where it was hanging on a hook under the shelf. It was a long-handled brush with a big square head on it. Lukas turned it over so the bristles were facing down. He moved his legs apart and held the end of the handle.

‘This is what you get,’ he said.

He flipped the handle up into his nuts and jumped back a bit at the same time, trying to lessen the blow.

Lukas closed his eyes.

‘No way. You moved,’ he said. He was pretending he was someone else. Someone who was talking to him. He stepped backwards till he was up against the far end of the shower. Till his back was against the cold tiles.

Matthew wanted him to keep pulling his cock, to just pull himself until he came, and he moved Lukas’ hand a couple of times up and down, though Lukas didn’t want this. He was pulling himself slowly, not wanting to come yet.

‘Ah, now you’re up against the wall. Your back’s against the wall, Sorensen,’ he said.

‘No,’ Lukas said. ‘No. Don’t. I didn’t mean it.’

‘Too bad kid, you’re in for some pain. What did we say boys? five good hits? Well, too bad, Sorensen, you moved. Tie him boys.’

Lukas pretended his ankles and shoulders were getting tied to wall behind him, his legs wide apart.

‘What are you going to do to me?’ he said, trying to sound frightened, scared about what was going to happen to him.

‘What do you say boys? I reckon he takes ten, like a man. Do you think you can do that, Sorensen?’

Lukas nodded, wondering what his crime was. ‘But what did I do?’ he said, making his voice high and scared.

And then his deeper voice. ‘Fifteen, Sorensen. Shut your mouth.’

Lukas swallowed.

‘One,’ he said in his deep abuser’s voice, whacking the back of the brush up into his groin.

Shit! Matthew thought. That really fucking hurt. There was a sting as the hard back of the brush whacked against Lukas’ sack, and then, afterwards, a deeper feeling, pain, but it seemed to spread out through Lukas’ body and become, pleasure?

‘Two.’

‘Three.’

‘Four.’

‘Five.’

Lukas made each hit a little harder. And bit his lips as though he was trying not to make a sound, his eyes starting to water.

‘Not a sound, Sorensen,’ he said.

‘Six.’

‘Seven.’

‘Eight.’

‘Nine.’

‘Ten.’

With ten, he whacked himself really hard, as hard as he thought he could stand.

Ow! Matthew thought, and then, Oh!, as he felt the ripples of pleasure flow outward, into Lukas’ thighs, into his abs, into the small of his back. He could come now, if he just tugged on Lukas’ cock a bit.

‘I reckon you oughta give him some proper ones boss.’

There were a lot of gruntings, apparently, in agreement.

‘You hear that, Sorensen. Think you can keep your pretty little trap shut?’

Lukas nodded, afraid, pretending fear.

What the fuck? Matthew thought. He’s going to hurt himself more than that?

‘Eleven.’

‘Twelve.’

‘Thirteen.’

‘Fourteen.’

Lukas paused. He had made every one a little bit harder. And then, when the pause had just started, when he wasn’t even ready for it, he hit himself again.

He didn’t even say fifteen, but made a little sound, as though he couldn’t help it. He took a couple of breaths, wincing, in real pain, pulled on his cock gently a couple of times, pulling it hard.

‘Did you hear that boss?’ he suddenly said, pretending, his eyes still closed. ‘Reckon that was a sound there.’

‘I didn’t.’

‘Sure as the day is warm, I heard a sound there. Reckon that’s the end of the road for him boss.’

‘What do you boys think? You all in agreement?’ Apparently they all were. ‘Sorry, Sorensen, can’t do nothing about that. I would have given you a chance, but it looks like the boys have their minds made up. A nutfucker, boys?’

‘Sure, nutfucker.’

‘Nutfucker.’

‘Nutfucker.’

All the boys mumbled.

Lukas opened his eyes, which were really teary, and straightened his legs, preparing himself.

‘Say goodbye to your balls, Sorensen.’

Lukas paused, moved the brush once, twice, trying to work up the courage. And then he whacked himself as hard as he could with the brush.

At first, there was nothing. No pain. And then Matthew felt it like a hot, solid core in Lukas’ balls.

Lukas tugged himself once, twice, tugged himself jerkingly, and came, his thighs quivering.

He dropped the brush, put his other hand down and cupped it around his balls. He turned, and put his head against the back of the shower wall, feeling sick in his stomach. Disgusted with himself, ashamed.

‘Don’t worry about it,’ Matthew said, mumblingly, talking to himself in his bed, though Lukas heard the voice loud and clear.

And shivered.