Raising the Limit-Book 1 - 14. Chapter 14

TC was still trying to play catch up from his trip overseas. The job that they had gotten a contract was a lucrative one. TC would probably need to head over there again before the end of the year. Now he needed to focus on the contracts they were working on closer to home. One of them was for a shipping company who lost two dozen containers off the coast of Georgia and wanted them brought up. They were in about a hundred and twenty feet of water and TC needed to start the preliminary projections on that one. He had once read somewhere that salvage operations were merely attempts at correcting man’s mistakes. He could see the truth in that statement. Accidents like losing containers off of a cargo ship were almost always the result of improper procedures when securing them in the first place.

Taking a long weekend to see David implode the building in Detroit was going to eat into his already strained work schedule, but he knew it would be worth it. Ten days of not seeing David had made him realize just how important the man had become to him.

TC knew he had made a mistake this weekend when he called David ‘Agori’ when he first woke up. David had been absolutely right in calling him out on it. The biggest problem that TC had was that his Dominant nature wanted more from David than what he was able to give. TC understood that it wasn’t that David wasn’t willing, he demonstrated his willingness every time they played together, but rather that he was mentally and emotionally unable to commit to the level of submission that TC needed.

So far they had been able to circumvent any real problems, but they both knew that David’s days, or rather nights, of submissive exploration on his part, were numbered. That fact alone made TC feel something that he couldn’t put a name to. Therein lay his biggest problem, he really wasn’t sure exactly where they stood. Their relationship went much deeper than friendship, but neither of them were able to commit to each other the way that lovers do.

TC knew they would have to address the issues sooner, rather than later, but figured that it would be more prudent to wait until after David’s kids went back to Maine and the Detroit job was completed.

David’s kids. Damn, David had two absolutely amazing offspring. TC was truly impressed at how well David had worked with his ex-wife and her new husband to raise Owen and Lyssa to become such amazing individuals. The more time that TC had spent with them the more he liked them and the more he admired David. Owen was coming into his own, on the verge of becoming a young adult. It was clear that both of his parents had instilled a strong work ethic in him. Every time he saw Sean at the marina he mentioned what a hard worker Owen was. Lyssa had also quickly endeared herself to TC. She was smart and funny, yet she was still a Daddy’s girl. She had David wrapped around her little finger, yet she didn’t take advantage of the fact, nor was she, or Owen, spoiled brats. He had truly enjoyed getting to know both of them this summer and would miss them when they left.

TC decided to see if they wanted to try to squeeze in one more weekend on the boat, even if it was just one night. They had taken the boat out several times for day trips, but no overnight trips since the twin’s birthday.

TC wanted to give David a little space after spending the weekend together and when several of his co-workers invited him to drinks and dinner for a birthday celebration, he decided it would be fun. After everyone was finished for the day they ended up with a group of ten. There was a casual restaurant with a tiki bar out on the island that the birthday girl had chosen and at this time of year it was possible to drive out to Longboat Key and head north to Anna Maria Island in about fifteen minutes. During snowbird season the locals just didn’t even bother.

The group managed to get seating together inside, right by the window. It was too hot and humid to take advantage of the outdoor patio, even with an ocean breeze. Their waitress was quick and attentive and the group spent a pleasant evening eating good food, enjoying a few drinks and just generally having a good time. One of the office girls had called ahead and made arrangements for a birthday cake to be delivered and at the end of the meal their waitress brought it out, ablaze with far too many candles and everyone sang an off key rendition of “Happy Birthday”. Tacky, but what the hell, they all had a couple of drinks in them and none of them were looking to impress anyone.

TC spent a couple of hours with the group, and the party broke up not long after the sun sank down beyond the horizon. He drove home and as he entered his condo he heard his phone beep with an incoming text. Glancing down at the phone as he kicked off his work shoes he saw that it was nearly nine-thirty. He headed into his bedroom and changed into a pair of gym shorts. He opened up the text from David and smiled as he read ‘hey, just wanted to say hi. Been a long day, i’ll call u tomorrow. Gnite TC’.

TC quickly typed out ‘ok gnite David’.

He went into his bathroom and went through his nighttime routine. He scooted into his bed, leaning back against the headboard and pulled his tablet out of the drawer of his nightstand. He cleaned out his personal email, which was mostly junk and once it was mostly empty he sighed as a new email came through. This one was from his Mom and TC mentally rolled his eyes.

TC’s Mom usually called when she wanted to talk to him so he opened up the email, curious to see what she had sent. Shit. It was a flight itinerary. It looked like she and the Overlord were coming down in October. Well, at least he had plenty of time to brace himself for their visit. He scanned through the paragraph his Mom had written, outlining their plans. Apparently his father was finally getting serious about his retirement. He had scaled back to part time a few years ago and so far it had been working for him. Now one of the recently appointed senior partners had offered to buy his shares of their firm. There were a lot of things that needed to be settled, but in the meantime, dear old Dad had been discussing the possibility of purchasing a home for the winter months and becoming snowbirds.

‘Great’, he thought. Just what he needed, the Overlord and his minion for five or six months out of the year. TC loved his parents, he just didn’t like their attitude. Yes, his father had worked hard all his life and built up his professional reputation and made a name for himself among the legal eagles up north, but he was more than a bit overbearing. There was a good reason he and his sister had broken free at the first chance they had. His mom, even though she had her moments, like when she had his back unconditionally when he came out, she still kowtowed to her husband more often than not.

Well, at least he had a few months to steel himself for their visit. He typed out a short reply acknowledging their upcoming visit and informed his Mom that the closest hotels to him were a Westin, a Ritz Carlton and a Hyatt Regency, all within walking distance. He gave himself a mental thank you for leasing a one-bedroom condo, the perfect excuse to not host guests for extended stays.

TC plugged the dates of their visit into his phone and let it sync with his work calendar so his administrative assistant could keep his schedule flexible for the week that they would be in town. He closed his email app, not wanting to deal with anything else and then read some of a book he had downloaded before calling it a night.

TC had some pretty vivid dreams that night and could only remember bits and pieces of them afterward. The few bits that he did remember had him confused. As he lay there trying to hang onto the last remnants of sleep he had impressions flicking through his barely conscious mind of David tied up intricately and then their positions were reversed and TC was the one tied up, but he was on Triton’s Conch all alone and didn’t know who had left him hanging from the ceiling, bound with complex knots. He remembered David’s voice telling him that it was his turn to tap his ass now that he hit subspace.

TC pulled himself into full awareness and mentally shook the cobwebs from his brain. He had no clue what his disjointed dream meant and he really didn’t feel like trying to figure it out. He had a headache and knew that he needed to get some ibuprofen into him before it blew up into either a migraine or even worse, cluster headaches. Migraines at least only lasted a day with him, but if he ended up with cluster headaches they could go on for three or four days.

He pulled himself out of bed and made a beeline for the bathroom, turning on the shower and then reaching for the bottle of Advil he kept in the linen closet. He shook out four, hoping it would be enough to drive the shards of pain away. He stepped into the hot spray and let the heat beat down on his shoulders and the back of his neck. The warmth slowly relaxed the muscles that he didn’t even realize had been tense. He slowly rotated his head around in circles, helping to ease the tension. He should probably schedule a full massage, it usually helped.

TC washed up, rinsed and then stepped out into the steamy room, grabbing a towel off the bar and drying off. Tuesdays were meeting days at work so he pulled on a pair of black dress pants and a light blue button up shirt. He had discovered early on that dress codes were more relaxed in Florida, probably because of the heat and humidity. He used to wear suits nearly everyday and now he hardly ever wore one. Most days a nice pair of jeans and a company polo was his usual office attire, but on Tuesdays he always tried to present a more formal appearance, he was part owner after all.

He skipped making coffee as he had lingered in the shower and didn’t have time. He’d grab some from the employee break room where a perpetual pot seemed to always be on the burner. He’d have his assistant order some bagels and cream cheese for everyone.

He still managed to make it in to work on time and his entire day was pretty much back to back meetings. The ibuprofen had kept his headache at bay and he managed to make it to early afternoon before taking some more. That seemed to do the trick and he was back to function at full capacity by the time his two o’clock meeting started. Thankfully all of the meetings were actually necessary as they dealt directly with different projects. His partner Tom was there for most of them as well. Tom handled most of the financial part of the business, while TC took care of the day to day operations. It worked out well for them as they were both savvy enough to understand the other when certain things were discussed. TC didn’t really worry too much about the company’s financial health as he knew that Tom was completely transparent with him. TC also had the option of requesting a full audit if he ever felt the need to. Tom was more than happy to leave the constant interactions with their clients in TC’s capable hands. He had a mild form of social anxiety and didn’t like to deal with others very much. Numbers didn’t talk back and he liked it that way.

TC had always been an outgoing person and he felt that his Dominant nature gave him an edge when it came to contract negotiations or just plain doing a sales pitch of their service. Most of the time if they lost a bid it was because they didn’t have a specialized piece of equipment. Their operation wasn’t huge and there were some jobs that were beyond their company’s capability. It could handle retrieving two dozen shipping containers from the bottom of the ocean a hundred feet down, but it didn’t have the equipment or the manpower to refloat a cruise ship like the Costa Concordia that sank off the coast of Italy last year. What a clusterfuck that was. Smit International had won that contract and while the bulk of the vessel was gone there was still some underwater work to do. It was one of the biggest and most expensive salvage operations in history. TC watched the progress from afar, thankful that he didn’t have to manage such a complex operation. It was a little beyond his area of expertise.

Late that afternoon he finally had a chance to call David. They chatted for a few minutes before David had to end the call. He was putting in extra hours at the office the next two weeks finalizing the Detroit project. TC mentioned taking the kids for one last overnight on the boat and David said it sounded like a good idea, but he’d have to check with the kids to make sure they didn’t have other plans.

The rest of the week was typical for TC. The only thing that was different was the fact that he kept having weird dreams where either he or David was tied up in unusual places. Last night’s dream he had found himself tied to the bar at the Ale House while the staff and patrons went about their business like it was perfectly normal to have a naked man tied up to the bar. The weirdest part was that David was the bartender and he kept telling TC to watch the dolphins play in the moonlight. TC was pretty sure he didn't mean the Miami Dolphins.

Thursday David texted him that the kids would like to do the overnight on the boat next weekend as they had already committed to another sleepover at the farm this Saturday. That actually would work out better for TC as he now had another contract bid to work on and he could do that on Saturday. David indicated that he would also use the extra time to work on his Detroit paperwork. David asked if TC minded if they skipped this weekend, he just had way too much to do. TC assured him it was OK. He wondered however, if David was still spooked by his mistake last weekend.

TC kept busy both over the weekend and the week that followed. By the time Friday rolled around he was ready for a break. Headaches had followed him sporadically over the past week, but nothing had morphed into anything more serious. He was stressed and his constant worrying over whether or not he had royally screwed up with David weighed heavily on his mind. He’d have to somehow find a private moment to talk with the man this weekend. He’d rather have the conversation face to face, and not on the phone.

He had made arrangements for more groceries to be delivered and had one of the marina staff who was capable of driving the boat take it over to the fuel dock to fill the tanks. He also had them clean the cabin as it needed a little TLC in the form of dusting and polishing.

David had agreed to be at the dock by nine with the kids and sure enough he was right on time. TC greeted everyone with hugs, he had missed not only David, but the two teenagers as well. Owen didn’t need much in the way of guidance when it came to working through the checklist of things that needed to be done and in no time at all they were on their way. TC had already decided not to travel too far, so he had Owen head south and they anchored off the shore of Siesta Key. This way they could swim out to the beach and play in the sand. TC challenged the kids to a sand sculpture contest and it was game on!

Lyssa and Owen were relentless in their pursuit of constructing a better sand sculpture. They recruited some nearby kids and then persuaded a few others that TC tried to recruit not to help him and David.

TC and David finally had to hang it up after the gang of kids declared victory with an elaborate sandcastle, complete with turrets, adorned with shells and surrounded by a moat. TC and David had managed a rather sad looking sculpture that ended up looking like a cross between a mermaid and a beached whale.

David looked at TC and said, “I’m going to head back and fix a snack, I should probably get out of the sun for a while too.” TC could see that his back was getting red.

“I’ll go with you. You need some more sunscreen on your back.” TC told him.

They conceded defeat and let the twins know what they were doing and that they would have food ready if they got hungry. It was a short swim as TC had anchored about two hundred feet offshore. He let David climb the ladder first just so he could watch that perfect ass as it ascended.

“Stop perving on my ass, you letch.” David teased as he reached the top of the ladder and flexed his glutes to make his butt tighten up.”

“Not my fault you have a fat ass and it’s blocking out the sun.” TC teased right back, as he hauled himself out of the water.

He was greeted by a towel being thrown over his face as he came up to the top of the ladder.

“You’ve never complained about my ‘fat ass’ before.” David shot back at him.

“Nope, and I never will. I happen to like your fat ass.” TC grabbed David and pulled him close, grabbing two handfuls of ass and pulling him close, giving him a quick peck on the lips before letting go.

The two of them laughed and dried off before heading below deck to get some food from the galley. TC had stocked the fridge with cold cuts and cheese which he took out, along with some lettuce and tomato. David grabbed a bag of potato chips and a bag of SunChips, which were his favorite.

They worked side by side, each creating their own Dagwood style masterpiece. David chuckled when TC topped off his sandwich with a handful of chips, then smushed down the top piece of bread, making a loud crunching sound. It was cool in the cabin as TC had turned on the A/C to chase away the hot stuffiness that had built up while they were playing on the beach.

They sat at the table to enjoy their food and TC decided to make sure the air was clear between them David had been more quiet than usual and that worried him a bit.

“Hey, are we OK? You’ve been really quiet, and we barely spoke the past couple of weeks.” TC asked him.

When David looked up at him and finished swallowing his bite of food he replied “Yeah, we’re good. I’ve just had a lot on my mind and I’ve had to focus pretty much all of my attention on this Detroit gig. I get like this whenever we get close to wrapping up a big project. My kids have told me more than once these past couple of weeks that I’m scattered. I hate not being able to focus on them more, especially now that they’re going back so soon.”

“Well that explains it, I was worried that I really fucked up a few weeks ago and you were mad at me.” TC said.

“I was never mad at you TC, you messed up, you realized it and we talked about it like we’re supposed to. I will tell you, though, that there are a few things that I’m working on in my own head. I’m just not ready to address it yet. There’s too much spinning around up there right now. I need to focus on my kids this week and then I’ll be in Detroit the following week. I’m sorry if you’ve been worrying, I hope I didn’t stress you out. I just need to make it through these next couple of weeks and then I won’t neglect you anymore.” David promised.

TC thought back to his battle with stress headaches and admitted “I was a little stressed, but I feel better now. Whatever you need to work out, take as much time as you need. We agreed to be flexible and I’m willing to do just that.”

They finished their sandwiches and had just cleaned up their mess when the kids came back to the boat. After they ate, everyone just lounged around on deck. TC lathered David up with more sunscreen and David nagged the kids to reapply as well. TC had thrown some sheets over the vinyl seats and he and David kicked back and enjoyed the gentle rocking of the boat as it bobbed in the waves. The kids swam back to the beach to hang out with a couple of other kids they had met earlier.

David ended up falling asleep and TC enjoyed watching him for a while before succumbing to his own stupor. They were brought back to full consciousness by the sound of splashing as Owen and Lyssa returned to the boat. David stretched and then swatted TC’s tight abs as he did the same, eliciting an ‘ooof’ from the man.

Owen shook himself off as he stood on the deck, managing to hit both TC and David with salty droplets from his bushy head of hair. David would need to take him to get it cut this week. He had let it grow out over the summer and it had grown into a wild mess. Renee liked the kids returned in roughly the same shape as when they left, so a haircut would be a must on the to do list.

TC had marinated some boneless chicken breasts and fired up the portable grill. He had also gotten some ears of corn already shucked and had wrapped them individually in foil with some butter and seasoning. He put those on first while Lyssa doctored up the bag of salad mix.

They ate in the cool comfort of the cabin and after dinner was cleaned up TC broke out the deck of Monopoly Deal cards so they could play a few rounds. Unlike the board game, they could get through a round in about fifteen to twenty minutes. Lyssa proved to be a competitive little wench and she was ruthless in working the cards to her advantage. After three rounds where she wiped them all clean, Owen bowed out, stating that he was tired while Lyssa gloated.

The sun and the heat had done a number on everyone and despite the short nap that David and TC had taken, they all were yawning and more than ready to hit the sack. Both kids were out like lights and soon as their heads hit their pillows. David and TC weren’t far behind.

Sunday morning after breakfast TC moved the boat to the south end of Siesta Key. There was an area called Point of Rocks that was good for snorkeling and he had brought gear for everyone. High tide was mid morning and that was the best time to see a variety of local tropical fish that like to call the rocky area home. They skimmed along the surface, occasionally diving down to check out something that caught their eye. Grouper and snook were in abundance. TC loved how the sea muffled all the sounds around him. It gave him a sense of calm and rightness.

The four spent a couple of hours exploring the reef and corals before deciding to call it a day. David was in need of some aloe on his back as it had deepened from pink to red, despite a liberal coating of SPF 90. He’d be hurting later on and applying the aloe sooner, rather than later should help.

The kids stowed the snorkel equipment in the compartment that TC pointed out as he made David sit in the shade to dry off so he could coat the reddened skin with aloe. David hummed in contentment as the cool gel hit his skin. TC didn’t think it looked too bad, it was merely warm to the touch, not flaming hot. David had told him that he had been burned very badly a few times when he was young, enough to cause blisters and leave him in pain for several days. Right now his skin looked like his ass had a few weeks ago and TC couldn’t help but to giggle a little at the thought.

David could see right through him and told him softly “Get your mind out of the gutter.”

TC’s giggle turned into an outright laugh.

He finished applying the aloe to David’s back and ordered him to put a UV repelling shirt on once it dried and to stay out of the damn sun the rest of the day. It was early afternoon and TC decided to cruise around for a bit before heading back to the marina. They headed north until they got to the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. Both kids snapped selfies with the bridge in the background. Lyssa looked like a typical happy teeneager and even Owen was smiling brightly in his shots. TC took one of him and David and set it as the background on his phone.

They took their time getting back to the marina and once they were docked and everything cleaned up or stowed away they decided to eat dinner at the casual restaurant next to the marina office, overlooking the water and the sailboats that were moored out there. It was all you can eat fish and chips night and that’s what everyone ended up ordering.

At the end of dinner the kids once again thanked TC profusely for a fun weekend. He promised to take them all out to dinner Friday night, their last night before heading back to Maine. He really was going to miss them.

TC kissed David goodbye and David promised to call him every night. TC assured him that every night was not necessary, but it would be nice to hear his voice at least a few times. David returned his goodnight kiss and threw in a quick pinch to TC’s ass just to be a pain.

“I won’t forget that.” TC whispered.

“That’s why I did it.” David whispered back.

The rest of the week passed in a blur for both TC and David.

David somehow managed to get a box of stuff shipped out to Maine with the kids’ stuff. He took Owen for a haircut after he got out of work on Tuesday and damned if the kid didn’t clean up well. Owen had finally stopped growing for the moment and currently stood 6’2”. He still needed to put some more meat on his bones, but his dedication to his workouts over the summer, with the help of the personal trainer had given him some nice definition, not to mention he was pretty damn strong too. David had agreed to fund a gym membership for him back in Maine so he could keep up with the routine and training schedule.

Lyssa somehow seemed to have amassed twice as much stuff as she had when she arrived. They decided that she should keep the majority of her lightweight summer clothes, bathing suits and flip flops at David’s house. There wasn’t much call for tank tops in Maine during the winter.

True to his word David did call TC every night, even if it was just to say hello and goodnight. He worked late Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. He had to put in a full day on Friday as well, but managed to get everything buttoned up and ready for his arrival on the job site in Detroit early Monday morning. He had been on the phone with Lt. Dan, his explosive expert all week making sure they had the correct explosives and the detonators, plus a myriad of other items necessary to place the charges in the right spots. Dan was going to meet up with him at the hotel Sunday night so they could start going over everything that needed to be done next week.

Friday night TC took all of them to the Ale House so the kids could enjoy one more meal there. They all got some variation of Zingers and TC and David each enjoyed a couple of the local brews.

Lyssa and Owen weren’t quite as enthusiastic as they normally were. Both of them had mixed feelings about leaving. On one hand they didn’t want to leave David. It was hard on all of them, being so far apart, but on the other hand, they were excited to see their friends again. Lyssa’s best friend Kendra was chomping at the bit to see her bestie in person. She apparently had a summer fling while at her aunt’s and absolutely had to see Lyssa in person to give her all the juicy details. Owen was also looking forward to seeing his friends, especially the girl he had started dating during the last school year. Both of them had a nice head start on a padded bank account and Owen was thinking of getting something part time so he could continue saving up for a car. Lyssa was considering the same, but she could always fall back on babysitting, like she had been doing for a few years now.

TC drove everyone back to David’s and ended up staying the night. He had agreed to drive them all to the airport and he would fly back with David from Detroit the following weekend. He would only need to park at the airport for two nights instead of David having to park there for over a week.

TC and David traded blow jobs, a nice release for both of them, before going to sleep. They were able to sleep in a little bit as the flight to Maine didn’t didn’t leave until one o’clock. Lyssa cried as she hugged TC goodbye. He gave her a big bear hug and kissed her forehead. He pulled Owen into a big hug as well, receiving a tight hug back. He told both kids that he would miss them and reminded them to text or call once in a while.

He gave David a kiss goodbye as well. “I’ll see you Friday afternoon. Don’t worry about calling me this week. I know you’re going to be busy. I’ll touch base with you Thursday OK?”

David kissed him back and told him “I’ll call if I can, but in all likelihood I’ll be putting in twelve to fourteen hour days so if it’s too late I’ll at least text. Don’t forget, take an Uber from the airport, I’ll have a rental for the week.”

TC nodded and watched the three walk into the terminal. He got back in his car just as the Florida State Trooper headed his way. He left the airport in a funk, he was really going to miss those kids.