Asper's Den

...+{Kasper's Den}+...

Part 11

-[By Emri & Xelos]-

"We have a guest coming tonight," Mr. Hamad said as I sat down by his side at the breakfast table. He sipped his coffee while reading something in Arabic on his tablet. He looked so handsome in a blue suit with a white dress shirt and blue, silk tie. He must have had an important day of meetings.

"More guests?" I squirmed. Seeing Kai and Reza last night wasn't exactly fun for me even if the making up with Amir was quite enjoyable. I instantly thought of meeting more of Amir's ex-loves. Maybe there would be a parade of them. I guess that's just part of dating one of Satra's most eligible twins.

"Someone you know. It's a surprise," Mr. Hamad said nonchalantly like it wasn't anything to get excited over. He didn't look up from his tablet, but I saw a little smile slide across his lips.

"Can I guess?" I asked as I reached for the bowl of fruit Emerson had just finished cutting up.

"You are free to do whatever you like, little one." Mr. Hamad set down his tablet as I lifted the fruit bowl. He scooped himself out a serving of grapes, pineapple, and some green thing I couldn't identify.

"Is it someone from Durban? Michael the producer?" I asked. Mr. Hamad hadn't met many people i knew, and I remembered that Michael had wanted to film a reality show about them.

"Maybe," Mr. Hamad chuckled then looked back at his tablet.

"You said I could guess!" I protested, the sound of a whining little boy in my voice. I always turned into a child around him. He was the father I would have liked to have.

"Didn't say I would answer. Just be patient, little one," Mr. Hamad winked at me and swiped his thumb across my cheek. He leaned over and rubbed his nose against mine as Emerson brought me over a plate of eggs and toast.

Emerson lingered, put his hand on my shoulder, and then kissed my cheek.

"Good morning," I signed to him then added a "Thank you."

He rubbed a hand over my hair as he signed something with his husband. Mr. Hamad nodded and laughed.

"Yes I told him, but don't tell him who it is! A boy should learn patience," Mr. Hamad said and signed. I gave him a fake scowl and started on my breakfast.

+++

"You have to know who it is! Just tell me!" I said when I got back to the bedroom and found Amir still under the covers. He was watching some dumb viral video and scratching his stomach as he slowly woke up.

"Hmmm, If I knew, and I'm saying IF! I wouldn't ruin father's surprise. I could only say, that IF I KNEW, that you would be happy about it... We hope," Amir said firmly. He wasn't even offering a clue. I climbed over him on the small bed and laid down against his side. He stretched out his arm to wrap around me and pulled me in against his chest.

"You! Tell! Me! Now!" I whisper-yelled and showed him my fake angry face while raising my fist.

"Oh no! Don't beat me up," Amir begged, but then changed his mind. "Wait, I forgot! I'm way stronger than you!" He put his arms around me and pretended to wrestle but mostly just laughed at my attempts to get away.

"Mmmush-Mush," I mumbled as he pushed my face into his armpit. I smacked his chest to break free, but he was stronger and seemed to enjoy my struggle.

"Yes, I agree. I am the hottest guy you've ever met. You don't have to keep saying it," Amir laughed as I struggled to push off of him. He started to tickle me and I tried to shove him away while I laughed. The musk of his armpit calmed me, but then I got a weird hair in my mouth.

"Blech," I pushed away from him and stuck out my tongue to pick the hair off it.

"Mmm, my gift to you. Taste a real man," Amir laughed as I picked it off and wiped it on his chest. He frowned at that.

"You don't appreciate what it is given to you, my boy. But there's plenty more down here," he said as he rubbed his hand down his chiseled brown abs and pushed down the comforter. He reached for my head and pulled me down to the throbbing cock in his blue boxer-briefs.

+++

I spent the day with Emerson working on plans for a future visit from some royal family in a country I'd never heard of. The dignitaries were coming to look at some businesses Mr. Hamad wanted to expand into their country. Emerson was planning every aspect of their trip from their dietary and religious needs to their preferred entertainment. He would make sure they remembered Satra as a place that made them feel at home.

I was learning to be a better assistant for Emerson. He didn't really need me, but I learned to fit in and help out when I could. I carried his bag and held his tablet. I made sure he had water and alerted him when his phone made any kind of movement. He asked my opinion on certain choices and tried to make me feel useful even though he had a much better eye for things.

I was so busy that I nearly forgot about Mr. Hamad dangling a surprise visitor in front of me that morning. By the time we got home, I only thought about it because I saw the car Mr. Hamad drove in the garage.

"You know who comes?" I signed to Emerson in my fledgling skills. He look confused for a minute but then pieced it together and just smiled as he winked at me.

He shook his head and signed back, "Yes, but I won't tell."

I gave him a disappointed look but then he signed "You did a good job today, Kasper [He used a name sign for me that was the letter K rising through the air like a creepy ghost]."

"Thank you, I want sign better," I signed back as our driver pulled us into the garage.

Emerson nodded with a smile and kissed me as the driver came around to open his door. He gave me a smile like he was in on the surprise as well. It was building up to something big and my stomach gave a leap as we walked to the little house at the back of the compound.

I don't know that I'll ever get used to living in the sprawling compound at the crest of a mountain that overlooks the seaside city-state of Satra. There was the endless main house where Dr. Hamad, the patriarch lived with two of his sons, Samir and Zaid. Zaid, the middle-born Hamad son, had two men and no children. Samir, the youngest Hamad son and probably close to 40, lived with his husband Lincoln, close to 30 years old, and their two young sons.

At the back of the compound, past the gardens and pool that meandered around a small rocky island with a waterfall, was a smaller house where Mr. Hamad, Ali Senior, the eldest Hamad son, lived with his husband Emerson and their twin sons, Ali and Amir. I judged Mr. Hamad to be in his late 40's and Emerson, though youthful had to be at least in his late 30's because the boys were nearly 19 years old. The little home is where I had landed when they brought me here. It was a modern house of cement and steel, but it was just the perfect fit. It was a small, homey nest inside the endless sprawl of the compound. I felt safe there. It had all I needed.

I was thinking about all of that as the front door to the smaller Hamad house opened and I followed Emerson inside. I was lost in my thoughts until I saw everyone was waiting inside and sitting around the dining table in the open kitchen. All of their eyes were on me like I'd walked in to a surprise party five minutes too early and they hadn't had the chance to hide.

All eyes were on me except for one blonde head that had his back turned to me. When the head turned around, I got a slow roll of emotions from confusion to delight to dread. The disturbed blue eyes that met my own belonged to my brother, Kyle. My worlds were crashing together.

"Hey bro," he said and nodded to me then got up from his chair. He came towards me in a tight green polo shirt that barely contained his pecs and biceps tucked into his best pair of khakis. I'd never seen him this dressed up outside of Easter or Mother's Day.

He took me into one of those weird brother hugs that starts out nice but quickly turns into a wrestling move that ends with me in a headlock. It messed up the elaborate ponytail Emerson had done this morning. I tried to wiggle out and push against his steel chest. Kyle just laughed as we wrestled like we were kids. We were too old for this game and I didn't want to do this in front of the Hamads.

"Dude!" I yelled as I pinched him hard in that spot under his bicep that always made him pull back when we were younger. He winced, but then laughed and went right back to pinning me. He had to be the most immature 21 year old in history.

"Stop, stop! Mommy!" Kyle whined in a tone that mocked the endless cries he'd heard from me growing up. I struggled futilely to escape his hold. He let me go suddenly, probably because the Hamads were giving us awkward looks. Amir looked unsure about stepping in. I gave him a shove and he just laughed as I straightened my shirt and tried to reclaim some of my dignity.

"You came to visit me?" I asked, feeling truly dumbstruck that out of all my brothers he'd be the one to show up. I wasn't that close to any of them, honestly, but I would have expected Kerry or Kaleb before him. Kyle was only two years older but a world apart. He was the strapping, athletic boy my dad was always proud of. If Kyle ever got in trouble it was just boys being boys and my dad usually laughed it off.

Kyle was meant to be the baby of the family, the last born who got all the attention and permissiveness. I was the afterthought, the oops in the otherwise model Christian family. Kyle had my dad's height and broad shoulders with that smile that made people forgive whatever dumb thing he'd done or said. I'm sure he turned it on for Mr. Hamad, everyone did.

"Yeah right," Kyle laughed like it was a joke.

"Of course he did, little one. Your family loves you very much, as do we," Mr. Hamad said. He came to stand beside Kyle and put his hand on his shoulder. He was taking control of the situation and Kyle shrank back under his touch.

"Of course! It's good to see you...you look happy here," Kyle said with a very forced smile.

"But he also came to give me an update on my investments and talk about where we can grow from here," Mr. Hamad added.

His hand gripped Kyle's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. The pieces of the puzzle clicked into place. I knew Mr. Hamad had given them money to help out, but I didn't realize Mr. Hamad had "invested" in them. I wasn't kept in the loop on financial matters. Looking at Kyle melt at his touch, I wondered just how much Mr. Hamad was asserting his control over my family.

I hadn't had to think about it in awhile. Mr. Hamad had been buying them quietly, keeping me out of unpleasantness with them. It was just as he'd promised. They had seen that my family just wanted money and wanted to protect me from it. I felt a weird mix of gratitude to the Hamads and anger at my family for trying to cash in on them. The Hamads wanted me happy, but I felt the need to protect them too.

"It's good to see you with family," Mr. Hamad said as he put his other hand on my back and nudged me closer to Kyle. Emerson waived for us to get side by side so he could get a picture. Kyle put his arm around me and pulled me into his side while we smiled for him.

Emerson grilled steaks for dinner for them and some shrimp for us. Kyle was on his best behavior seated next to Mr. Hamad who kept trying to steer the conversation from their business investments, Kyle's interest, to my "accomplishments." Mr. Hamad kept talking me up as though Kyle cared about how I worked with Emerson and helped him with the charities. Kyle kept steering the conversation back to the Hamad's businesses and he kept looking at Ali as if Ali made him nervous. Ali paid him little attention, and seemed more interested in something on his phone. I could see where Kyle was heading. He had dollar signs in his eyes.

We were just finishing up dinner when two men, members of the house staff I'd seen many times, brought in what looked like a bed folded in half. They paused and looked at us as if to ask if they were interrupting. Mr. Hamad said something in Arabic and directed them back towards the bedrooms.

"No, father. There's no need for it. Kyle can have Kasper's room and Kasper and I can sleep in my bed," Amir said with a panic-stricken look.

"Everyone will sleep in their own beds for a few nights. Kyle wants to be close to his brother and I'm sure Kasper will want to spend time with him as well. Kasper will be in his own bed and Kyle on the roll-away," Mr. Hamad said, then finished the last bite of his steak as if that minor bombshell of separating me and Amir for the night was nothing important.

"I'm sure Kyle will want his own room," I offered as my eyes darted between Amir and his father.

"Nah! We'll share, just like old times. You and me," Kyle beamed, earning an approving nod from Mr. Hamad who clearly wanted us to heal our strained relationship.

"Please," I looked at Mister Hamad with pleading eyes and gave my most innocent look. "I can't sleep without Amir."

"He needs me," Amir confirmed.

Mr. Hamad looked slightly moved as he finished chewing. He set down his fork and took a swig of his drink as thought he was thinking about it. He reached his hand over to rest on mine. I looked down at the heavy, dark hand that covered mine and raised my fingers up between his. I leaned over to rest my head on his shoulder and looked up at him like a poor, homeless kitten. I was using every cuteness missile in my arsenal on him.

"You'll be fine, little one. You don't get a chance to see your brother very often and you should use this time to connect. It's settled," Mr. Hamad squeezed my fingers and kissed my hair.

I looked over to Emerson to save me. He lowered his sad, blue eyes to the tablet that translated all of our speech to text. He cleared his throat and pushed back a lock of blonde hair that had fallen, but signed nothing to intervene. He wouldn't go against his husband.

"Father, you can't..." Amir started, but Mr. Hamad cut him off. He said something that sounded harsh in Arabic and Amir went silent. I turned to glare across Mr. Hamad's chest at Kyle. He just smiled like he didn't know, didn't care what he'd just done.

After dinner, Mr. Hamad let Kyle pick a movie. It was a dumb action movie with a group of guys making crude jokes at each other. Amir and I didn't care though. We were cuddled up on the farthest couch making the most of our time together. We were acting like sad lovers in a tragic movie where he was about to be shipped off to war for four years instead of just a bed two doors away for the night.

Kyle gave me a few odd looks. In the past, I never would have even kissed a guy in front of my family, but now I didn't care. I was wrapped in his arms and snuggled down into his chest. Kyle could fuck off for all I cared. I wanted to fall asleep right there against Amir's heartbeat, but soon enough the movie was over and Mr. Hamad told me it was my bedtime.

"Oh me too," Kyle stood and stretched with a suspicious yawn. "Guess I'm still on LA time," he added even though LA was 11 hours behind us so it should be morning for him.

"Yes, of course you must be tired," Mr. Hamad said as he untangled from Emerson and stood up. "Oh and the surprise you brought Kasper is waiting in his room." That piqued my interest.

"Surprise?!" I yelled and looked up at Amir who wasn't sharing in my joy. He knew this was it for us for the night. I pushed off his chest and got to my feet, following Kyle to the bedroom with Amir and the others coming behind us.

"My old suitcase?" I asked when I opened the door. The staff had set up Kyle's bed just a few feet from my own. They'd put comfortable pillows and a dark blue spread. On my bed was the suitcase I'd had as a kid. It was yellow and covered with animated ninjas in various poses.

"Stuff from your room. Mom put it together with things she thought you'd want with you," Kyle said as he kicked off his shoes and flopped down on his bed.

"Open it, baby," Amir said as he came up behind me and slid his arms around my waist. I stopped as his lips found the back of my neck and sent a shiver through me. He gave my stomach a rub and I melted back against his chest.

"Seriously guys," Ali growled, displeased with our pause for affection. I looked over to Kyle expecting a snide comment, but he just ignored us from the bed and focused on his phone. I guessed he didn't want to risk offending me in front of Mr. Hamad.

Amir said something in Arabic and laughed, then stretched out his hands to unzip my childhood suitcase, saying, "Let's see what Kasper magic we have here!"

"Mr. Tooth!" I exclaimed when I saw my stuffed alligator on top.

"Oh no. I thought mom threw that old thing away," Kyle laughed and got off the bed.

"No way. I've had him forever." I glared at Kyle.

"You mean since you stole him from me! Grandma brought us each one from her trip to Florida and Kasper here decided to see if his could fly when we were driving down the 101 one day. He held it out the window and then it blew away. He howled and cried so bad that mom and dad made me give him mine when we got home," Kyle said as he came over to see what else was in the case.

"I don't remember that," I said. "This one is yours?" I looked at him guiltily.

"You didn't know any better and the window was open. You were two... I was too old for stuffed animals anyways... See the little K on the torn off tag? They tore off the Y, L, and E." Kyle flipped it over to show me the tag.

"I'm sorry... I didn't know," I said.

"No bigs, Kas... just what big brothers do," Kyle chucked me on the shoulder lightly.

"That's very sweet. I'm sure you've done a lot for your brother that he doesn't always remember," Mr. Hamad said, trying his best to foster a warm moment between us.

"Yeah well..." Kyle looked down, uncomfortably.

"Thank you," I said and put my hand on his shoulder. The rest of the suitcase was a few clothes, pictures, and the blanket from my bed back home. After we went through it all, Mr. Hamad insisted Kyle and I be left alone for the night. Amir and I spent a few minutes kissing before Mr. Hamad enforced his declaration.

"We gotta talk, dude," Kyle whispered when everyone had left and the doors were closed. He found a small speaker on my shelf and put on some music to cover us. I knew immediately he had done something to get in big trouble with our parents.

"We're in trouble, bro. We kinda well... Ok you know how the Hamad guy sent us money for the business," Kyle started. He pushed me to sit down on the edge of my bed and then he sat on his so we were face to face. He cut himself off and sprang into action looking around the room.

"I don't think they bugged my room. I'm not that interesting," I laughed.

"You can't be too sure. These dudes are loaded, Kasper. You don't even know what they're capable of!" Kyle's eyes flared and he kept looking around like we were being watched.

"What did you do?" I asked and reached for the stuffed alligator.

"Well we did invest in the business... with some of the money he gave us... but then I played with some. Dad got a work truck so I thought I should have one too, but then I saw this killer sound system and 4D tv setup. You have to see it! It's primo!" Kyle glowed.

"How much did he give you?" I asked. I hadn't heard about any of this.

"Well it just started coming and we did invest in the business with it. Really, we did. But then I kind of... spent some. I thought it was just like Kasper-rent. You know... for all the butt sex you give them," Kyle insisted.

"Eww. I'm not giving them... well... So you wasted it? How much?" I prodded, my voice getting a little louder than it should.

"A lot... It started with just some here and there stuff, but the money kept coming, until... " Kyle looked at me and his face fell in shame.