He'd driven through a series of small towns, and the next was only about 20 miles on. He figured the next town would be a good place to stop and let the storm pass. Andre didn’t like to be so exposed when any thunderstorm struck, let alone a monster like this one.

.     .     .

Andre had underestimated the speed at which the storm was coming in. The skies were darkening by the minute and spots of rain began to appear on the windscreen of his car. The town was still too far away before the storm broke, but there was a gas station coming up on his right. Josh thought he’d take a chance and ask if he could wait out the storm there.

He pulled off the road and parked the car, beginning to wonder if this was a good idea. He looked himself in the eye in the rear-view mirror and assured himself that these would be decent people willing to help him out. Hadn’t he seen a child’s toy bike just a minute ago? Andre realised he was frowning and relaxed his face. Snapped back by a clap of thunder, he pulled in and jogged over to the station. The spotting rain had become a steady drizzle, and he was grateful to be under the shelter of the canape. Before he got a chance to go inside, the next door swung open.

Standing there was a man who looked slightly older than Andre, perhaps early thirties. He was tall and thickset, with short blond hair, bright green eyes and a clean shaven, rather handsome face. Josh smiled a little and opened his mouth to speak, but the man cut him off. “Get your ass inside, quick!” he exclaimed, roughly pulling Josh in the door by his arm. “What are you doing outside, there’s a tornado watch on all day!”

“I- the storm- I didn’t know nothing about no tornado watch!” Andre gasped, suddenly alarmed, following the man up the stairs to the apartment above the gas station. “I just wanted to stop and let this here storm pass by-“

“I’m Dan, by the way, and this here is Anna, the man interrupted, gesturing into the sitting room.

“Andre” Andre replied, his eyes following Dan’s hand gesturing to the Pitbull terrier wiggling around on the carpet and chewing gleefully on a piece of rope. Josh couldn’t stop himself grinning at the sight of her, for he had always liked dogs and how silly they could be.

Anna paused for a second, taking in the new guest, before wandering over, tail wagging and sniffing around Andre’s legs.

“I think she likes you” Dan chuckled as Andre bent down to rub Anna’s belly.

They were interrupted by the shrill emergency alerts on their phones as a siren being to wail, sending shivers down Andre’s spine and causing Anna to whine as he saw, to his horror, a tornado warning alert. Before he could react, Dan had already scooped the dog up in his arms and started down the hall. “Shelter’s this way!” he yelled above the blaring sirens, leading Josh down a double flight of stairs, presumably to a basement. Dan opened the door, and set Anna down, who ran into a kennel opposite the basement door and hid from the noise. “Be right back!” he shouted, dashing back up the stairs.

Andre crossed over to a small table, with some strange looking objects on it. Upon looking more closely, there was a collection of brushes, dog grooming mitts, rolls of duct tape, a blindfold and for some reason, a metal head massager. Josh picked up the head massager and chuckled to himself. Then he caught sight of a rather bizarre contraption that looked like a chair. A chair with several straps and restraints, along with parts protruding out from the body of the chair. “What kind of nutjob-“

“A ticklemaster,” came Dan’s voice from behind him. “That’s what kind of nutjob!”

“The fuc-“ Andre started, before a rag was pressed to his face and he breathed chloroform. Andre caught him as he lost consciousness, his body limp as a rag doll.

Dan carried Andre over to the chair and set him down there before standing back to admire the hunk before him. Andre was a little over six feet tall, Hispanic, also thickset, muscular and broad shouldered. His handsome face was rugged, with a strong jaw, framed by black stubble. His top three shirt buttons were open, revealing a toned, smooth chest. Dan ripped the shirt fully open to reveal Andre’s washboard abs. He had struck gold! Reaching into Andre’s pocket, he drew out a wallet and driver’s license that revealed Andre to be twenty-six years of age.

Dan set about removing Andre’s shirt, and knelt to take off his sneakers. They were rather big, and revealed Andre’s size 12 feet which were covered with thin white socks. Dan couldn’t resist trailing a finger down Andre’s sole, which caused him to squirm a little, even in his unconscious state. Wasting no more time, Dan stripped Andre naked, save for his boxer shorts, and secured him to the tickling chair, hoisting his muscular arms above his head with little give, leaving his armpits and ribs fully exposed.

Andre had begun to stir a little, so Dan quickly strapped his ankles and knees down, leaving his socked soles in full view.

Andre’s eyes drifted open, and quickly widened as he pulled against his restraints. “Wha-What the fuck?” he gasped, started to panic. “What are you doing to me?”

“Ah, is sleeping beauty finally awake?” Dan smirked. “I’m glad you fit in these restraints so we-“

“LET ME FUCKING OUT OF THIS!” Andre screamed at him. “YOU FUCKING PSYCHO, YOU-

“If it weren’t for me, you’d still be out there, with that fucking twister on your ass” Dan cut him off. “I almost feel bad for you, all strapped down like that. Almost…”

“Wh-Why are you doing this?” Andre plead, fearfully.

“Don’t worry, I’m not gonna hurt you,” Dan reassured him, meeting Andre’s big, frightened eyes. “Gorgeous hunk like you, I’d not want you hurt. I just want to… play with you,” he finished, with an evil smirk on his face. “I told you I was a ticklemaster, did I not?”

Andre’s mouth fell open as he realised fate. He had always been remarkably ticklish, and had often been ganged up on by his older brothers, cousins, and friends and tickled till he could take no more. He was totally helpless, all his most sensitive spots exposed. And here he was, at the mercy of this man who was about to find out just where those spots were.

“N-no, please! I’ll do-“

“Anything?” Dan mocked. “But in a minute, you’ll be doing just what I want to you do, laughing and smiling for me!”

“I’m hardly even ticklish anyway!” You’ll be wasting your tim-“ he gasped as Dan poked him in the ribs.

“Are you sure about that, boy?” Dan teased, trailing a finger down Andre’s arm, over his bulging muscles, slowly toward his exposed armpit. Andre closed his eyes and tensed, desperate not to show any signs of weakness. Dan’s finger reached the edge of Andre’s armpit and began to teasingly circle it, as Andre desperately held his composure. He needed to smile, but he knew that would open the floodgates and he’d begin giggling and laughing- he wasn’t going to laugh, he couldn’t laugh. Not here, with this stranger touching him. Andre bore down with all his might, when without warning, ten fingers struck at once, scribbling in both his pits at once. Andre immediately bucked and laughed out loud. He couldn’t help it. Dan tickled his pits until Andre’s laughter was well underway, before stopping momentarily.

Andre gulped air and begged for that to be it, but no sooner had he said that when Dan began poking and counting his ribs methodically. Andre lost it and roared with laughter. His ribs were one of his weakest spots, and they were being relentlessly poked and prodded. He turned his head sideways, burying his smiling, laughing face in his bicep, wishing for it be over.

Alas, Dan had begun to spider tickle the hunk’s washboard tummy, tracing between his abs over and over. Andre giggled uncontrollably as his stomach was tickled, bursting into gales of laughter when Dan occasionally scribbled full out all over his belly, before going back to tracing his abs.

“Heheheheplehehease” he giggled, “it’s too muhuhuhuhuch”

“Aw, what’s the matter, can’t you handle it? Big strong man like yourself, can’t handle a lickle tummy tickle? Want me to stop tickling this tummy?”

Andre nodded desperately, still giggling. “Yehehes please staHAHAHAHAHAHA-“ he started, laughing out loud as Dan attacked full on once more.

Finally, mercifully, the tickling stopped and Dan allowed Andre a full minute to catch his breath. He opened a bottle of water and let Andre drink a few mouthfuls before he laid his head back and opened his eyes. “Okay, you’ve had your fun. Please, just let me go and we’ll say no more. No hard feelings even,” Andre bargained. “That storm’s got to have passed by now.”

“Fair point, boy,” Dan mused, pulling out his cell phone. “Maybe it has passed already- oh. Oh snap!!!” his tone turned mocking again. “The warning’s still in place.”

“But please just let me out of HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA,” Andre broke into fresh gales of laughter as Dan tickled his socked soles. “What was that, I can’t hear you,” came the reply. Dan tore off Andre’s socks, pausing for a second at the sight of his beautiful, smooth soles and rounded toes. Andre managed to catch a lungful of air before he felt Dan’s fingernails scrawling all over his soft, sweaty soles, sending him into hysterics. This went on for several minutes, and stopped for a moment, allowing Andre the cruel false hope that he was getting a break, before an electric toothbrush was turned on and pushed between his toes. Andre screamed with laughter, his toes wiggling desperately in a futile effort to evade the buzzing sensation. On and on this went, Dan giving all of his toes a good torture.

“Don’t forget to brush between all your toes!” he laughed as tears began to trickle from his captive’s eyes. He set the brush aside and unable to resist the urge any longer, began licking Andre’s meaty soles. Andre gasped before lapsing back into screaming laughter as Dan’s tongue wiggled and danced against the sensitive skin. He began to lick between and nibble Andre’s toes, glancing up at the helpless man before him. Tears of laughter were pouring down his face. He was lost in a tickle hell, unable to even beg for mercy. He grunted for a moment, resuming silent laughter as his hips bucked. Andre shot his load in his boxers, a dark patch forming on the grey fabric.

Dan relented, and stood up as Andre panted and sighed, his big brown eyes shining with tears. Dan sat next to him again, Andre tensing anticipating another tickle attack, but it never came. Dan released Andre’s arms from the straps. They slumped by his sides, exhausted. Unexpectedly, Andre leaned into Dan, who pulled the hunk into his arms and cradled him for a moment. He looked down to see Andre staring up at him, and without thinking, took his face in his hands and kissed him. Andre did not resist. On the contrary, he began to kiss Dan back passionately, and then lay back. Dan unstrapped his legs, and he stood straight up and embraced Dan in a bear hug.

“That thing you did with your tongue… it was fucking amazing,” Andre whispered. The two men hugged for a moment longer, then Dan reached over to the basement door.

“I think the storm is over,” Dan began, taking Andre by the hand and leading him back up to the apartment. Then Dan froze. “I-It’s over,” he began. “Half the station-“ he trailed off. While the main building including his apartment had been spared, the tornado had destroyed one side of the gas pumps, leaving debris and a tree in its wake. Even Andre’s car had gone.

“My car-“ Andre began, sitting down. There was a long trail of rubble and trees blocking the way in and out of the gas station. Though men were already working to clear the wreckage and clear a path to the gas station, it would be a while before Andre could go anywhere.

And just as well. Because Dan sat down beside him, and he couldn’t resist kissing him again, Dan pushing Andre down on the couch and grabbing his ankles in a headlock. Dan looked Andre straight in the eye and stuck his tongue out teasingly.

The lickles weren’t over yet.