The Connoisseur (Patreon)

When Hank Hannigan received the letter marked GG, it felt like the greatest day of his life. Giorgio Grande was one of the most renowned photographers in the world. He took on only one model a year, if any, always a man. The work done on that day often became the definitive images for aspiring models for their entire careers, and anyone who had a portfolio of Giorgio Grande photographs was guaranteed their pick of jobs for life. But at the back of his mind, there was a worry. Some years, Giorgio Grande released no portfolio at all. When asked about it in a rare interview he merely commented that “those years, the subjects just weren’t able to be released”. Hank feared failure, nobody had ever spoken with those models whose portfolios had gone unreleased, and so nobody knew what went wrong.

So it was on a cool, crisp Halloween morning that Hank found himself driving down a pale driveway flanked by Cypress trees as he approached the villa of the reclusive photographer. The man himself emerged as he drove up, and Hank was stunned. Giorgio Grande had been doing work for over three decades, yet the sun-kissed, Armani suit-clad man who approached him was a gorgeous, masculine man with dark wavy hair in his early 30s. As they shook hands, and Giorgio had a strong grip, Hank noticed that the man was even taller than his own six feet, standing half a foot taller than himself. It took all of Hank’s willpower not to pop a boner then and there.

“You seem a little surprised,” Giorgio said. “I’m sorry,” said Hank sheepishly, “I just expected you to look, well…more mature?”. Giorgio laughed “You can say old Hank but yes, I am more mature than I appear. One of the benefits of wealth is having access to ways to hold off the ravages of age, and I do appreciate beauty”.

“So Hank” Giorgio said in flawless English as he gestured for Hank to follow him into the villa. “Are you excited?”

Hank panicked for a moment and felt that Giorgio had picked up on his attraction, but then realized Giorgio meant excited for the day ahead. “Of course” Hank responded with his all-American grin, “every guy in our industry dreams of getting an invite on this day. You’re the best there is!”

Giorgio smiled broadly at that, and Hank felt his insides quiver at that smile. “Flattery will get you everywhere Hank! Let us begin at once, I wish to show you to my studio”.

Giorgi led the eager young man into his home and through several galleries. Whereas Hank had expected them to be decorated with paintings and other art, they were instead filled with photographs taken by Giorgio. Hank noticed that the images were of the same individuals. A doe-eyed boy barely into adulthood with long, flowing hair and a touch of Asian ancestry. A bald, barrel-chested, and ebony-skinned man with an intense gaze. A grizzled man with a thick salt and pepper beard, clad in bike leathers, and an athletic Hispanic man in the prime of his life.

“I’ve never seen these photos before,” Hank said. “Are these from the missing portfolios?!”

“Si,” said Giorgio.

“I don’t understand though, I thought those hadn’t turned out well?”

“Ah, a misunderstanding my dear Hank. It is not that they were bad works, it is that I couldn’t bear to share them. They are my favorites”.

Hank felt worried. “But the models in these pictures, nobody has ever seen them.”

“It’s in the contract my dear Hank. If I think you’re one of my favorites, I keep your photos for myself and you can never model for anyone else, ever again. You did read the contract right?”.

He hadn’t. He had signed immediately in his excitement.

“But how will I make a living?” Hank said, a sense of dread creeping over him.

The man turned around and cupped his cheek. “Don’t worry Hank. I make the same promise, if I decide to keep your images for myself, then I will take care of you for the rest of your life”.

As they moved deeper into the home, Hank saw that the photographs became increasingly erotic. The models began appearing together, without clothes in many cases, sucking each other off, caressing each other’s skin, fucking each other in pairs or orgies.

“Will…will you want me to do that?” Hank stammered out, his face flushed and hot.

“If you want to my sweet” Giorgio said. Hank didn’t even bother to hide his erection anymore.

And then Giorgio was in the photographs, but not as he was. He was gargantuan, holding and fondling each of the models as if they were dolls. “I have an interest in forced perspectives,” Giorgio said at last.

Finally, they stopped in a room that wasn’t what Hank had been expecting. There was none of the expected paraphernalia for a shoot. No cameras, no props, no makeup. There was just a bed, and across from the bed a trophy case. Hank understood immediately when Giorgio began removing his clothes. “I am a Connoisseur Hank” Giorgio said, as he revealed his muscular body. Hank felt his tongue go dry.

“I seek the most perfect examples of men out there, but there are so many different types. Look into my case and you will see”.

Hank approached the case and looked in. The case was divided into several compartments, several were empty as if waiting to be occupied, but in four of the alcoves, he saw something astonishing. Perfect little models of the models he had seen in the galleries, all naked.

“Rico is there on the right,” he said, pointing out the model of the Hispanic man. He was frozen in position, a miniature baseball bat in his grasp, as if he were taking a swing at a ball nobody could see.

“He was so handsome. So full of life. But afraid too, that his team-mates would find out his secret”.

“And then there’s Mitchell.” Hank’s eyes followed Giorgio’s finger to look at the older man, who sat naked astride a model motorbike. “Mitchell loved nothing more than wandering the open road, and he would have joined a gang were it not for his love of taking a thick cock up his ass”. Giorgio snickered and grabbed his thick, floppy dick.

“Henry was special” Giorgio continued. The model of the intimidating boxer possessed the same intense gaze from the photographs and had been posed with both fists up as if he were ready for an incoming strike. “He didn’t care if anyone knew he was a lover of men, and anyone who called him out on it, he’d leave them flat on their backs. I ADMIRED that confidence and strength of will.”

“That one on the left is Tsuzuku,” he said, pointing out at the model of the beautiful doe-eyed boy. The model was posed on a bed of roses, draped in an open dressing gown that left his impossibly svelte body exposed.  “He was so delicate and fragile when I met him, both in terms of personality and body. Japanese father, and French mother, sadly neglected by both parents and bullied at his school for being beautiful, being gay and being weak. He entered adulthood incapable of looking after himself, terrified of the world around him. I look after him now. I look after them all now”.

Hank gulped and turned around. Giorgio was fully naked, his body a monument to masculine perfection.

“You take care of them?” he said slowly, his breath slowing. Giorgio cupped his cheek.

“Yes. All their needs taken care of. All living happy, fulfilling lives. You could be someone I look after Hank. I have no one else like you under my protection. Big, buff, and blonde. The All-American boy.”

Did Hank want it? He imagined it, a life of quiet anonymity and luxury, paid for by Giorgio Grande himself. He wouldn’t have stardom or fame, but he would have…this.

“Yes,” he breathed and Giorgio smiled, leaning in for a kiss. Hank normally topped with his boyfriends, but Giorgio was so overwhelmingly dominant that Hank fell back on the bed and opened his legs without question. He felt Giorgio enter him, and scrunched his face in pain before he felt the ecstasy. He looked Giorgio in the eyes, smiling in pleasure.

Giorgio’s eyes were as black as the new moon as he came.

“What!” Hank gasped in shock. He tried to struggle a little but…something was happening. He felt weaker all of a sudden, weaker than he ever had. He tried to break free from Giorgio’s grasp but the more he tried, the harder it got. And with each passing second, Giorgio seemed to loom bigger, and bigger, and impossibly bigger in his field of view until at last Hank found himself standing in the hand of a Giant.

The handsome Giant looked down at him, laughing and trying to catch his breath. “What’s happened to me!?” Hank shrieked up at him. Giorgio just shrugged his shoulders, for Hank it was like seeing the ridge line of a mountain move up and done. “You signed the contract my little Hank and have become one of my permanent models.” He laughed again as Hank finally understood.

“Those models in the Trophy case, they aren’t recreations, they’re…”

“My perfect examples. I told you, I am a connoisseur. I seek out the best of the best. But they age, they wilt, they die. So sad. But not with me. Thanks to me, you all live forever!”

Hank fell back on his ass on that giant palm, shocked. “Why would you do this?” he said at last, plaintively.

“Because my little Hank” Giorgio said, “I want to stay young and healthy forever, and a price has to be paid. So I take all that vital energy you have, and it keeps me as I am for a few years more. And when I say all, I mean all”.

He tipped his palm, and Hank slid out of it, falling towards the tangled sheets of the bed. But the moment he lost contact with Giorgio, everything changed. His limbs became stiff and wouldn’t move. His eyes were fixed in place. His voice was stilled and he could not take a breath. He was frozen.

Giorgio loomed over him. “You see? You need my touch to come to life now my little Hank. Otherwise, you are just a pretty little doll. But don’t worry, I like my pretty little dolls, my perfect models.”

He scooped Hank up, and life returned to the little guy but Giorgio sauntered over to the Trophy case.

“Time to join your brothers,” he said. “Don’t worry, you’ll get to know them all. I love playing with my little dolls, and the more I feel crawling over my body the better. I can just picture you and Rico tag-teaming little Tsuzuku while on my stomach. He bottoms for everyone, the lucky little mite”.

Hank struggled as Giorgio slid him into the Trophy case. Giorgio gave him a shake. “Now, now,” he said in a warning tone. “The moment I remove my hand, you’ll become a little doll. Do you want me to leave you in an uncomfortable position? No? Then make yourself comfortable and presentable!”

Hank nearly cried then, but he knew Giorgio was right. He stood up straight but made sure to fix his gaze as one of anger. “Acceptable,” Giorgio said at last “But we will do better in the future”. The hand slipped from his body, and the animating connection was severed. Hank once again felt his limbs freeze, his breath still and his eyes locked into position as he once again became an inanimate doll.

Giorgio smiled at him as he withdrew. “A perfect addition to my collection. I wanted the All-American boy so much for so long, and the perfect one is now in my hands. I’ll give time to settle in, and then we can do your shoot. I have so many ideas for you!” Giorgio blew a kiss at his new addition, and withdrew, leaving Hank alone. Immobile. A life full of promise and possibilities gone. Now he was little more than a trinket for the cruel Giant into whose hands he had quite literally stepped. Hank wished that he could shed a single tear, but even that was beyond him.