No Limits (4 page)

Chace threw up. His stomach heaved as he emptied his lunch into the garbage can in the training room.

“You’ve got to up your game, Chace,” Sam yelled. “I’m kicking your ass.”

“I know that,” Chace said. He puked again. He was covered in bruises. Did the Gargarean think Chace was oblivious to the fact that he was getting his butt kicked? Chace had never been hit with a metal
bo staff so hard in his life before. Come to think it, prior to coming to the Gargarean mansion, he had never been hit with a bo staff at all.

Even after three weeks of combat training, Chace refused to think of himself as a Gargarean. All he could think about was escaping and freeing his sister from the Amazons. He had been told that was who had taken her. Although he was gaining more and more control over his powers, Chace had trouble believing that he wasn’t just trapped in some sort of crazy dream. He half expected Riley to shake him awake at any moment and tell him that he was late for school.

The training itself was tortuous. New recruits were not allowed to leave the mansion. Instead, they were pushed to their physical limits in cavernous training rooms underneath the mansion. Chace was forced to run, jump, and fight until he was sick, sore, and bloody. His body mended itself with amazing rapidity, however, and he was quickly thrown back into training sessions.

That was not to say that Chace was bad at the training.
Much the opposite. The senior Gargareans marveled at his progress and told him that he was the most powerful warrior they had ever trained before. Chace was quickly moved up into more advanced training groups. Therein laid the problem. More experienced Gargareans like Sam pulverized him. The pain he had experienced with the new recruits quickly magnified.

The only silver lining was that Kyle was moved up quickly with him. Chace could tell that Kyle hated him with a passion. Chace more than returned the sentiment. If it wasn’t for Kyle and his powers of persuasion, Chace might have still been free to find Riley. Training with Kyle gave Chace the opportunity to pummel the guy’s ass. Sure, sometimes Kyle got the better of Chace, but Chace was learning quickly and there were days when he would get to feel the pretty boy’s bones crack against
Chace’s knuckles. He enjoyed that feeling.

“Alright everyone, bring it in,” Jacob announced. At about 25 years of age or so, he was the senior Gargarean trainer present. “Tomorrow we are doing group battles,” he said. “Gargareans must often fight as a team in the real world. You need to start learning how to do so, even if you do not get along with your partner,” Jacob said. He pointedly looked at Kyle and Chace. “Here are the pairings,” he said. He started to read names. As people were paired up, Chace tried to think about
who else was left. There were only about 20 Gargareans in the room. Perhaps Logan, or Hunter, or David… “Chace and Kyle,” Jacob announced with a smug look.

Chace groane
d. He looked over at his enemy. For some reason, Kyle had a pleased smile on his face.

Once the training session was over, Kyle approached Chace.

“What are you so happy about?” Chace asked suspiciously.

“Look, I may not like you, but I respect your abilities,” Kyle said. “I think we’ve got a good shot tomorrow.”

Chace looked at him skeptically. He found it hard to believe that Kyle as genuinely excited to be partnered with him.

“Okay, you don’t believe me? Fine, I’ll prove it to you,” Kyle said. “Follow me to my room. I’ve got something that will help for tomorrow.”

Chace didn’t want to listen to Kyle but he also didn’t want to get beat up again. Reluctantly, Chace let Kyle lead the way to his room upstairs.

When they reached Kyle’s room, Kyle threw open a dresser and extracted some sort of silver garment.

“What the hell is that?” Chace asked.

Kyle rolled his eyes. “Haven’t you heard about the Amazonian’s magic girdle?” he asked. “It was given to the Amazonian queen Hippolyta by her father, Ares. This is sort of the same thing but for guys.”

“It looks like a nut cup,” Chace said. “Is this a joke? Look man, I’m sorry for kicking you in the nuts. Well, actually, not really.”

Kyle’s mouth tightened in frustration but a moment later he was smiling again. “Just put it on for the competition tomorrow. Worst case scenario, it keeps your little balls safe. Best case, it gives you the power to help us win.”

“Why don’t you wear it?” Chace asked.

“Because I sort of stole it,” Kyle said. “I was in a room with Paul when he was putting it away. If he sees me with all this extra power, he’s going to know I took it. If it’s you, however, well, your power is already growing by leaps and bounds. It will not look suspicious. Come on, please? I’d really like to win this one.”

“I’ll think about it,” Chace said shortly, taking the silver garment from Kyle. “In the meantime, get some sleep. I don’t want to have to carry you out there tomorrow.”

Kyle felt butterflies in his stomach. The day had finally arrived. If he succeeded, he would redeem himself and crush the jerk Chace just like he had promised. If he failed, well, it might very well mean his head.

Kyle got to the training room early and waited anxiously for Chace to show up. He pretended to stretch but he was really just trying to avoid showing how terrified he was that the plan would not work.

Finally, Chace walked into the room. Kyle fears quickly dissipated when he saw the guy. They were replaced by an intense desire for revenge. Kyle knew that Chace blamed him for the loss of
Chace’s sister but what was Kyle supposed to do about that? He had been separated from a foster family of his own. It might not be the same as losing a sister but Kyle knew how loss and abandonment felt. That didn’t excuse Chace making him seem like a fool. Kyle looked Chace up and down. The boy was wearing black sweats and a tight fitting black spandex shirt. It was impossible to tell whether Chace was wearing the cup but Kyle could see the boy’s muscles rippling under the spandex. Chace looked like a girl’s dream guy with his short blond hair, startlingly blue eyes, cute face, and tall and lean frame. He had probably pleasured dozens of girls. Kyle relished the thought of telling this stud that he had effectively been neutered. Then Kyle could slowly break the kid down and bend him to Kyle’s will.

Chace walked over to Kyle and stood by him sullenly as their Gargarean brothers filtered in.

“Are you wearing the cup?” Kyle whispered to him.

Chace ignored him.

“Hey, you need to tell me,” Kyle said. “I’ve got to know if you have the extra power or not before we start fighting.”

“You’ll just have to wait and see,” Chace said.

Kyle bit his lip to stop from shouting at the idiot. There were too many people around and Jacob looked like he was about to give his instructions.

Chace refused to give any clue as to whether he was wearing the cup as each pair went up to fight. Kyle was getting more and more anxious. Finally, Jordan announced that it was their turn.

Kyle grabbed Chace’s arm. “Tell me now or I won’t help you out there,” he said. “If I don’t know what to expect from my partner I can’t fight properly.”

Chace glared at him. “Yeah, I put the cup on,” he said. “It closed in tight to my skin so maybe that means
it’s working. Now, do you mind if we focus on the fight?”

A wave of excitement and relief washed over Kyle. He patted Chace on the back. “This is really going to suck for you, my friend,” he said. Then he took a step forward and looked at Jordan. “Brother,” he said in a loud voice, “I am afraid I am not eligible to compete in this competition with junior Gargareans.”

“And why is that, brother?” Jacob asked dangerously.

“Because I have just acquired the position of lieutenant by defeating a junior Gargarean.
I claim him as my subordinate.”

That definitely got the attention of the senior Gargareans in the room. “What are you talking about?” Jacob asked.

Kyle pointed back at Chace. “I have defeated my brother Chace in a battle of wits,” he said. “He now wears the silver cup that I convinced him to wear. I therefore claim him as my property.”

Kyle turned to look at Chace, who wore a troubled expression. The poor fool still hadn’t figured it out.

“See?” Kyle said. “I told you that I would own you. Now I do.”

Jacob stormed up to them. He looked at Chace. “Is this true?” he demanded. “Are you wearing a silver cup?”

“Uh, yeah,” Chace admitted hesitantly. “Kyle told me to…”

“Wait here,” Jacob said tersely. He pointed at Jacob. “You, come with me.”

Jacob took Kyle up to the king’s office. Jacob went in to see the king while Kyle waited nervously with Gordy. Finally, the door opened up and Jacob waved for Kyle to come in.

The king was seated behind his rich, ancient mahogany desk. Kyle had never seen anyone older than King
Telemachus. The king had a long white beard and frazzled white hair. His eyes were grey and seemingly all-knowing. Kyle had no trouble picturing him as one of the great Greek philosophers of old.

“So, is it true?” the king asked in a raspy voice. “Has one of our struggling junior recruits taken one of our most promising ones as his subordinate?
His slave?”

Kyle stiffened. “I had to, Your M
ajesty,” he said. “I was worried that I was not getting the training to succeed in the one-year competitions so I used my wit instead. Yes, Chace is powerful, but I fooled him. He should not have trusted me. He should have asked his other brothers for guidance.”

“And you did this thing because you desired to be free to have sex with women?” the king asked. “Or did you do it because you wished to deprive your enemy of the ability to do so?”

The king was weighing him, trying to figure out what kind of man he was. Kyle knew it. He didn’t know what the king was looking for. Given that, he thought it was best to go with the truth. “Both,” Kyle admitted. “I wish to enjoy the pleasures of sex and fulfill my duty to the Gargarean race by making male babies who will become strong warriors. Yet I also wished to deprive Chace of his manhood. I wanted to make him realize that I had defeated him once and for all. I want him to live with that knowledge. I am sorry to have deprived you of the genes of a promising Gargarean but I urge you to consider what we could do with my brains and his skills. It only makes sense that I command him.”

“Is that so?” the king said impassively. “Tell me, how did you learn of the cups?”

Kyle was not willing to rat out Paul. “I cannot reveal my source, Your Majesty,” he said. “Suffice it to say that I was clever enough to discover the truth. Chace was not.”

“And what will you do if I order you to release the boy?” the king asked.

Kyle hesitated, considering his answer carefully. “I have been told that the spell placed on the cup by Circe requires that a lieutenant agree to the cup’s removal,” Kyle said. “I am sorry, your majesty. If I release Chace he will turn on me and find a way to kill me. I cannot agree to it.”

The king stood up. He appeared fierce and menacing at his full height. Kyle shrank back. “You would defy me?” the king thundered.

“Not in anything else but this, my king,” Kyle said.

The king stared at him for a moment and then, shockingly, started laughing. He sat back down in his seat. “Impressive. Very impressive,” he said. “It seems that I misjudged both you
and Chace. Very well. You may keep him. There are other ways we can get his genes if we need them. Jacob, see that Lieutenant Kyle is trained in the device.”

“Trained?” Kyle asked quizzically.

“A lieutenant may control his subordinate with the cup,” Jacob said. “I will show you how it is done. It is not difficult. Once you know how, you can decide when to cause the cup to contract and force Chace to obey your orders.”

Kyle hid his smile until he was out of the king’s office. The first thing he was going to do after learning h
ow to control the device was pay Chace a little visit. They were going to have a very gratifying conversation.

The cup wouldn’t come off. Chace pulled on it will all his might but it seemed as attached to him as his own skin. The waistband had cinched up tight around his waist and it had no give so he couldn’t pull
it over his hips. The bands that wound under his buttocks were equally tight. He couldn’t even figure out how the cup came out of the supportive pouch. Of course he had worn nut cups before but this was ridiculous. He hoped someone told him what the trick to getting it off was soon. He hated having his most important body parts cooped up. It felt unnatural. He kept trying to scratch his balls only to discover that he couldn’t.

Chace couldn’t figure out what had happened in the training room. Why had Kyle looked so pleased with himself? Why had Chace been sent back to his room? None of it made any sense. All he could do was sit and wait for someone to come explain it to him.

It was several hours before the door to Chace’s room opened again. When it did, Kyle appeared. The guy walked strolled into the room and shut the door behind him.

“What the hell is going on?” Chace demanded.

Kyle folded his arms across his chest and smirked at Chace. “Hit me,” he said.

“What?” Chace replied.

“I want you to hit me,” Kyle said. “Go ahead, do it. Give it your best shot.”

“What kind of game is this?” Chace asked.

“No game. I just want you to hit me,” Kyle said.

Well, if the asshole wanted to get hit, Chace was more than happy to oblige. Chace took two steps forward and cocked his arm. Then, suddenly, he felt a blinding pain his groin.

“Ah!” he yelled. He dropped to his knees and clutched helplessly at the cup. It felt like his balls were being pulverized

“It works!” Kyle cried gleefully. “Alright, listen up now
, kid. From now on, you will refer to me as Lieutenant. Is that understood?”

“Screw you…
ahh!” Chace cried again as his balls were crushed. He fell into a fetal position.

“You’ve got to say, ‘Yes sir,’ when I give you an order, kid,” Kyle said. “Here’s the deal. That cup you just put on? You can’t take it off.
Ever. Your little cajones are trapped in it forever. You’ll never see them again. Nor will anyone else. You can keep them intact only as long as you do exactly what I say. You see, I’ve programmed a couple conditions into that cup. First of all, you can never harm me in any way. As soon as you try to do so, your malicious intent activates the response mechanism in the cup. Secondly, you must obey any order that I give you. That’s it for now. I may add more later. Now, you’re leaving this room. As a lieutenant I get a larger room. You’ll be staying with me so you can serve me better.”

Kyle knelt down and lifted
Chace’s chin so that Chace was looking into his eyes. “One more thing,” Kyle said. “I want you to remember every girl you have ever had sex with. Are you thinking about them?”

Chace couldn’t help obeying and it had nothing to do with the cup. The word “sex” automatically conjured up the girls’ images in his mind. He remembered how they squealed with joy as he made love to them again and again.

“Now I want you to remember when I told you that I was going to own you,” Kyle said. His face gleamed with the triumph. “Now I do. I own your balls. I have taken your manhood from you. You will never again be able to make love to a woman. You know what though? I’m just getting started with you.”