** RAVEN'S HOLLOW – Part IV **
=== TROPHY BOY ===
Behind the Raven Mansion was a plot of land styled after Japanese tea gardens as much as the Cascadian climate allowed. Mossy stones, arranged amid select trees, were connected by winding, lichen covered paths.
Looking out onto this yard through circle top windows was the south annex that had become a spa. Within it was Jasper's little empire – the massage studio.
Formerly the hunting room, its flaking walls had been restored with gentle earth tones and bright, flowing textiles. Display cases had given way to shelfs of oils and towels, while trophies and old rifles had been stored elsewhere if valuable and thrown out if not. A picturesque arrangement of plants and minimalist oriental décor ran along in front of a wall length mirror left-side of the massage table.
Jasper Raven's mixed features tended to keep people guessing. The warm brown of his face glowed with perfect skincare. A purposeful slit in his right eyebrow drew focus to his pitch black irises and the playful crinkle of his eyes. His full lips carried an impish smile. The natural texture of his hair was hidden by a sharply delineated crew cut.
Japser's hairless body was honed for aesthetic size in the gym, the navy blue polo's sleeves tightly embracing his proportionate biceps.
"Welcome back," Jasper said and handed a rolled towel to one of his few select customers who didn't sleep at the resort. "Strip over there, as far as you're comfortable. You know what you're in for?"
"Yeah," Hunter said. "Coach told me."
Jasper hummed. "Keeping up with your teammates?"
"Sure."
Hunter's parents were Raven's Hollow residents, like a surprising amount of promising college athletes. Wrestling required a certain physique and Hunter was already freakishly muscled for his age. Light brown hair, with a round but strong jawline and curious eyes.
"Any particular wishes?"
"Nah."
On his first time with Jasper he hadn't been too talkative either, but that would change.
The freshman didn't use the towel, instead leaving his boxers on again, as if afraid of showing his dick. Those kids were way too uptight.
As if incidentally, Jasper ran his fingers along a harp beside the mirror. Aside from missing the lowest tone string, it was well tuned. Hunter, on his way to the massage table, stiffened up then relaxed his shoulders and laid on his back.
Jasper heated up the oil. Barely any body hair had regrown but the pained noises of a `tough guy' were always a delight.
"How's the team?"
"Decent," Hunter said and bit his lip as his remaining chest fuzz was ripped out. "Coach is pushing us as usual."
"I hear that from most of you boys. You think it's too much?"
Hunter whimpered as the remains of his treasure trail were waxed. "Nah, it's fine. He's just looking out for us. College is just... more of everything."
"Well put. Arm up," Jasper said and started waxing pits – his favorite area since it drew out the funniest expressions. "Turn over."
Working his way down the back, Jasper glanced at the tray of oils labeled only with initials by his handwriting. The base ingredient was regular massage oil, everything else was up to individual needs of the customer – and the masseur.
"Any new areas with tensions? Still the shoulders?"
Hunter hummed. "Lower back a little. Garth really slammed me into the mat."
"Aw, I hope you took revenge."
The freshman chuckled, making his shoulder blades flex a bit. "Sure the fuck did."
"Okay," Jasper said a mere minute later. "That's everywhere. Wasn't so bad the second time, was it?"
"Nah," Hunter lied. "There was basically nothing anyway."
Jasper stepped around the table and brushed against the harp again. Hunter tensed up for a split second. Every note was drawing Hunter's mind toward sex, just a tiny bit. The masseur plucked strings for a quiet little melody as he pondered his options.
He didn't want to turn the wrestler into a blabbermouth, so a full-fledged truth serum was out of the question. He poured one shot of a clear liquid into the heated massage oil from a flacon labeled WOL (web of lies) that would simply let any false statements die in Hunter's throat.
Next came a few drops of UM (uncolored mind) that would tone down biases and inhibitions. Not mind control, just relaxation. No stronger than a glass of rum or two. Although since Hunter was pretty massive... Jasper added a second shot.
Then only one tiny drop of VB (virgin's bane) in case he wasn't as horny as he should be or had exceptional self-control.
Jasper Raven's fingers slid one last time across the harp's strings and he returned to the table with a well-mixed bowl of oil.
"Front or back first?"
Hunter stayed on his stomach. "Like that."
The boy barely flinched as the body-temperature oil spread along his spine. Working knots out of the beefy muscles, Jasper let his hands wander up the boxers when he massaged the legs and into the hem when kneading the lower back.
Hunter didn't resist as Jasper pulled the underwear off and massaged the glutes. Then pulled the boxers off all the way.
The freshman's dick lay heavy between his thick thighs, head lightly pulsing with each breath, chubbed but not growing any further.
As if on accident Jasper brushed over the shaft and frenulum, while moving his hands quickly up and down the whole body. Hunter stirred.
Jasper retreated to the shoulders. "How are you feeling?"
"Good."
"You like my hands on your back."
"Uh, sure."
"On your ass."
"Maybe not all the w-" The boy stuttered. A lie was getting stuck in the `web'. "Yeah, it's great."
Jasper moved back down, rubbing along the ass crack. Hunter's hole was too tempting not to touch. Another pour of oil, this time right onto the crack, and Hunter sighed.
A finger poking the hole. A finger entering. No resistance. A second finger joining to the knuckle.
The door swung open. "Jasper! How many times..."
Kamron's eyes narrowed, first in confusion then in a smile.
"Kam," Jasper said, trying to sound only half as agitated as he felt.
"I did the bookkeeping again," the Asian concierge said. "You know I don't mind, but Mordec-"
"Yeah yeah," Jasper said, his hand long withdrawn from the boy's crack. "Back office is my responsibility. I'm, ugh, I'm sorry, okay?"
"Well, now that I'm here," Kamron said. "A sip of tea? I was about to drop this off at the bar since Lady Courtenay has friends over."
He held up a ceremonial tray of Japanese cups and a steaming kettle.
"Actually," Hunter said, twisting to see the standing men, "can I get my underwear back?"
Jasper stopped himself from cursing. "Sure, but have a refreshing cup first. Here."
The masseur glared at Kamron while preparing a cup with one carefully measured drop of virgin's bane. His coworker's expression was disapproving but nothing was said.
Taken orally, virgin's bane was much stronger and faster acting. Less a shot of rum and more an injection of sex.
Jasper kicked Kamron out while the wrestler emptied the little cup.
The masseur didn't even ask. He just kept rubbing buttocks and the now hardening dick. When Hunter began to unabashedly moan, Jasper leaned down and gave the dickhead a lick, then ran his tongue up the shaft to the hole.
"F-fuck..."
"What's that, Hunter?"
"Nothing."
"You want me to fuck you?"
"Yes," the boy said, realized what he had just done, then realized it was true. "Yeah, yeah, fuck me."
Jasper stripped and gave the old harp on last tug. The virgin's bane made the wrestler horny for any and all sex, but Jasper wanted the boy to want him specifically.
"Ever been dicked down, Hunter?"
"No."
"Ever had any sex?"
"N- no. I'm a little, uh, uptight."
"Hot. We'll see just how tight you are."
With only one application of runny lube, Jasper entered the hole, slowly fucking lube into the athlete's guts. He dried one hand on a towel and reached for his phone. He couldn't fall behind in the little competition he had with his cousin and the wall mirror was a great way of capturing the shapely masseur slamming his hips into the hunky bottom.
The hole was so amazing, for a moment the alchemist wasn't sure he had downed this week's dose of AtS (anchor the senses) to keep his oil from affecting him. But no, Hunter's body was just making him that horny.
He started slow and kept it sensual but the bottom's moans kept him going faster. When Hunter slightly raised his ass to get fucked deeper, Jasper used all his seven inches with every thrust, hands traveling the wrestler's arched back.
Ten minutes into the fuck and Jasper, now somewhat covered in oil himself, was ready to shoot. He pulled out instead.
"Turn around."
Hunter laid on his back, hardon slapping his flexed abs. He bit his lips, looking down on himself and seeing his top's dick for the first time. "F-fuck, dude."
Jasper reached over to a drawer where a stack of little butt plugs was hidden. With shaking hands, he grabbed a pink plug and shoved it into his customer's hole without even looking. Hunter giggled dumbly.
Jasper poured oil – sans alchemical enhancements – onto the torso, ending at the shaft which he lubed rather than oiled. Hunter quivered with a whine at the dick stimulation.
The masseur mounted the table again. Sinking onto the dick nearly drove Jasper to a handsfree orgasm. Both hunks groaned as the fuck sped up.
Jasper covered Hunter's eyes, which the boy didn't question, and used his phone again. His cousin needed to know how fun things were in Raven's Hollow. Maybe he'd even bother checking in one day.
"I'm... cumming," the college kid squeezed through rapid breaths.
"Me too!"
Jasper slipped off the dick and leaned forward on his knees. While Hunter unloaded onto his own abs, the masseur rained into the wrestler's open mouth, missing half the shots.
"Fuuuuck," Jasper groaned and milked his dick empty. The orgasm was so great it still left him half as horny. His sex drive was something to behold.
He climbed off the customer and grinned. "All relaxed, muscle boy?"
"Yeah," Hunter said, now seeming timid. He sat up, making no move to take the plug out.
Holding up a shampoo bottle, Jasper pointed at the door. "Shower's around the corner to the right. Then you can have your boxers back."
"Uh, do I get a towel?"
Jasper shook his head with a trademark smirk as he opened the door. "You didn't want one, remember?"
"Fuck."
==========+++++==========
Surrounded by mahogany shelves stuffed with tomes old and new, Phoenix felt almost oppressively cozy. The dark wood and fancy sconces made him want to forgo his work and spend even more time exploring this place.
Kamron had checked by and lit the library's marble fireplace, but eventually the historian had seen the need to flee from the overcast sky's glare, leaving the gold trimmed satin sofa for an antique desk in an alcove where his laptop was easier to work on.
The hotel library doubled as the Raven family's private library, with several shelves locked behind glass. It was Phoenix' job to add to this collection. So far he had been met with great success since most books had been passed to the original buyers' descendants, who cared little to keep them.
Nobody else had entered the library all day, so Phoenix was keenly aware of the voices rushing toward him - Kamron and the spa worker, Jasper.
The two men came to a stand on the other side of a shelf and Phoenix leaned up to glance through the rows of dusty volumes. The concierges in navy polos kept their voices down but were clearly agitated.
"-how that makes me look?" Kamron hissed. "I'm doing your work half the time, no, more than half the time and you can't keep your substances stored safely. You put a bottle of VB on my tray and basically kicked me out."
Jasper took a deep breath. "Fucking fine. I'm an idiot. Happy now? Let's check who drank it."
Kamron put a hand on his forehead. "No, dammit. I want you to get a grip and take responsivity for things. Not just this. Everything." He waved his arms in a circle. "This is your family but all you do is feed your escapism and fuck college kids and sneak out to dance with your latest boy toy."
"Sammy's not my- I have actual friendships, you know."
Phoenix slumped into his chair. Should he make himself known? He wasn't an eavesdropper by nature.
"Don't act like I want to be the boss around here," Jasper continued. "If you can convince Gramps to make Alec the heir I'll gladly stay in my lane and be a concierge. Hell, I'd happily make you my supervisor."
The fight seemed to have gone out of Kamron all of the sudden. The Asian receptionist grabbed the shelf as if to support his weight.
"Look, Jasper. I'm... sorry you're stuck with all this. Alec is just as much of an irresponsible escapist – he's basically not been here for more than a week since high school - but this really isn't asking anything special of you. Just... do your fucking jobs."
Silence descended on the duo and Phoenix felt the urge to clear his throat flaring up. But now he could only hope he wasn't going to be noticed at all.
"Any idea who took the VB?" Jasper finally broke the silence.
Kamron gestured. "I brought it to the bar as I said. The Lady in Black was having a meeting with her `bridge club' and you know they don't like anyone listening in."
The historian had seen a mixed company of seven, mostly black-clad, elegant individuals lounging at the bar. Pale, of varied ages, quiet. He had assumed there was a funeral happening and kept his respectful distance. The `lady' was probably the white haired, slender woman from the Teak Room in the north-west corner, right next to his own room. He'd never seen her at any of the meals.
Jasper chuckled bitterly. "I can image Madam Courtenay or someone in her company knowing exactly what they were looking at and playing a little prank on someone who would be ignorant enough to down a whole glass of VB. Well, it's not like we have that many rooms to check. You right, me left?"
Kamron patted the Raven heir's shoulder. "No, you check on the guests. I check on the staff. Not everyone here is privy to your talents."
"Good thinking," Jasper said and they started to move, walking past Phoenix without looking back to notice him.
"We should talk more often," Kamron said.
Jasper bumped him in the shoulder. "We should."
Phoenix relaxed, only now realizing how much he had tensed. Feeling too riled up to go straight back to work, he closed his laptop and vowed to take a stroll. He didn't even make it out of the library when the Lady in Black herself stepped into his way.
"Good afternoon, Phoenix," she said. "How are you feeling?"
She had a transatlantic accent and her tone was maternal – so sweet it felt almost threatening, as if she was luring him into something. Perhaps it was simply the strange contrast between her warm attitude and her old fashioned, all black dress with subtle frills.
"Lady Courtenay," the student said and nodded.
She gave him a raised eyebrow. "Perceptive. We haven't been introduced, I don't think. But please, call me Sloane."
"W-what can I do for you, Sloane?"
"I was just going to take a walk since the weather is so nice." She looked out at the cloudy, increasingly darkening sky. Nobody Phoenix knew would have described it as nice but maybe the pacific north was used to worse.
"Yeah... It doesn't look like it's raining until later."
"I never leave without an umbrella, don't you worry. But one of my associates," she smirked, "my bridge club members, I mean, has taken an interest in your work and was wondering if you'd like to visit her collection someday. She thinks you'll find some of her books enlightening."
"That sounds great. Where..."
Kamron passed them by in the corridor outside the library, jogging toward the front of the house.
Sloane handed Phoenix a piece of paper and said her goodbyes with another smirk. If Phoenix didn't know better he'd say she was guilty of whatever pranks the concierges had accused her off and wanted to keep a low profile. He didn't see her again all day.