Those who unlock your compassion are those to whom you’ve been assigned.”
― Mike Murdock
Casey K. Cox’s FREE short story, Be My Boy, isn’t at all what I was expecting it would be. For one thing, with the Master/Slave dynamic as the entire premise of the book, I was expecting quite a lot of BDSM, which is most likely owed entirely to my misunderstanding of the context of that type of relationship. In fact, there was none whatsoever. And I guess, going hand-in-hand with the BDSM, I was also expecting some pretty heavy erotica, which, again, was not the case.
In the end, this is what Be My Boy boiled down to for me; this story has all the makings of a deeply romantic relationship and of an urgent bond that grows between a man who is emotionally crippled by the death of his Master, and the young man who comes along to redeem this broken soul. What I’d have loved is if there’d been just a bit more to it, but there was something so gentle and sentimental about the relationship between Owen and Mitchell that I’m eager to forgive that it left me with some questions I’ll just have to guess at myself. Honestly, they’re more a curiosity than they are relevant, anyway.
There was a bittersweet sense of yearning to Owen’s lost and tattered life, a life he’d spent in servitude to Cole for more than twenty years, a life that was cruelly snatched from him not only by Cole’s death but by the greed and spite of a woman who couldn’t bear to see Owen get what she believed herself to be entitled to. Owen was a man who was ripe to be taken advantage of, and he very much was until Mitchell took him home and made Owen his own.
I loved the twist on the Dom/sub relationship in this story, Owen being the older man and Mitchell being the “boy”, though only in the chronological sense. And although there’s a sense of tentativeness involved on Mitchell’s part, being rather new to his role as a Dom, there is no doubt at all which man is the Master and which is the Slave within this pact, and for lack of a more original conclusion, I can only say that I’d love to see more of these two, mostly to get a better feel for Mitchell and his family ties, but also to see more of the growth between him and Owen.
Though the story begins with Owen in a perfectly horrid situation, of which I don’t want to give too much away, I’d definitely say this story is worth reading.
You can download it here: 
Be My Boy is one of those in my TBR pile I was telling you about. I just might have to read it later today. :)
You should! It’s a really quick read and as far as I’m concerned, worth it,even if it left me with some loose ends I’d love to see tied up.
Let me know what you think of it when you’re done. :)
I read this one last night and I agree with you. Definitely worth reading. It is very interesting when the younger man is the dominant and the older man the submissive, especially with that much of an age difference between them. Haven’t read too many books like that. One that comes to mind is A Perfect Game by Reno MacLeod and Jaye Valentine. There was a lot more BDSM in that one, but I really liked it.
Glad that Owen got what he deserved (in more ways than one). :)
I’m glad you liked it! I did like the age twist a lot. I also found out that Casey is currently outlining and has a few scenes written for Owen and Mitchell’s sequel. :)
I think one of the things I loved most was Owen’s complete sense of need and vulnerability. He was so incredibly sweet and there was almost a childlike quality of innocence about him, but I never once felt that he was weak. There definitely could’ve been a tipping point there where he might’ve come across as pitiful, but I all I wanted was for him to be taken care of and looked after.