Boundaries

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/33967951.

Rating: Explicit
Archive Warning: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Category: M/M
Fandom: เพราะเราคูกัน | 2gether: The Series (Thailand TV) RPF
Relationship: Bright Vachirawit Chivaaree/Win Metawin Opas-iamkajorn
Characters: Bright Vachirawit Chivaaree, Win Metawin Opas-iamkajorn, Original
Characters
Additional Tags: BDSM, Switch Topping and Bottoming, Recreational Drug Use
Language: English
Stats: Published: 2021-09-19 Updated: 2023-05-19 Words: 52,347 Chapters:
7/?
 Boundaries
by Anonymous (Tae16)

Summary

"And what about this whole Dom/sub thing? Because if we're..." Bright paused, gritted his
teeth and reluctantly coerced his mouth to say the word, "partners, that changes things and—"

Win opened his mouth but Bright held up his hand, forestalling Win's interruption. "I still
want to be your sub. I like to play but I don't want to do it all the time. Or even most of the
time. How do we…?" He ran his hand though his hair and shook his head. Too many
unknowns. Last night he'd pushed aside all of these complications but they hadn't gone away.
Now it was time to face them and he could feel their oppressive weight on him.
------
It took place after the events in "Last Kiss."
New relationship status, new rules? Who sets them, and why? Can they change and if so,
under what circumstances?

Notes

I wanted to express my gratitude to all the readers and all those lovely comments for Last
Kiss. I didn't expect the Last Kiss to be well received, especially with its theme. So thank you
so much.
Initially, I planned to finish it, as it is. But I got tons of messages that LK felt unfinished and
had unresolved issues. So here's Book Two :)
I think I finished four chapters already, but I got confused with what I am writing. What do I
want or do with this? So I ended up deleting those and make a new one. Hopefully, this will
be more coherent.

See the end of the work for more notes

 Chapter 1

Bright rolled over, sliding from sleep to consciousness and before he opened his eyes, he was
aware of two facts. He was in Win’s bed and Win was sleeping next to him. Sleep-induced
disorientation lingered for a few seconds before he remembered last night. Kissing Win. Win
kissing him. And coming upstairs. And…

He smiled at the vivid mental pictures and the throbbing ache in his ass when he moved
reminded him that they’d spent the rest of the night doing more fucking than sleeping. He
wasn’t even sure how many times they’d fucked either. The first time…well, that had been
slow and intense, neither of them in a hurry to reach the finish line. Usually sex between
them was fast and physical; even the few times they'd slowed the pace, the mutual goal had
still been getting off. Not so the first round, and even the second had been easygoing, on their
sides with Win behind him and he'd been asleep before Win even got rid of the condom. In
between had been a lot of kissing and touching, soft laughter as they talked about nothing in
particular.

Each of them had topped once and then again when they’d later flipped mid-fuck – that much
he could remember more or less clearly. And he had some vague recollection that they might
have fucked again just a few hours ago. He glanced over at the clock and shook his head, not
surprised at the time on the display.

Next to him, the rhythm of Win’s breathing changed before he shifted and opened his eyes,
smiling when he saw Bright already awake. “Good morning, you.”

“Too late. Try again,” Bright replied, amused by the confused expression on Win’s face until
he looked over his shoulder at the clock.

“Fine, good afternoon then,” Win amended, then leaned over to kiss Bright, first softly then
more deeply before pulling back. “Mmm…I can definitely get used to this. Still feels surreal,
though.”

Bright nodded. That’s exactly how it felt to him too. Not in a bad way but definitely different.

Undeterred by either morning breath or the lateness of the hour, Win clearly wanted to
continue making up for lost time spent not kissing Bright. With his tongue, he traced the
outline of Bright’s lips then playfully refused to hold still and let Bright do the same. A
tongue battle for dominance followed but ended with both men abandoning the contest in
favor of more intense pursuits. Kisses grew more heated as their bodies came together,
breathless groans filling the room.

Win pulled back, a sheepish look on his face. “Um, I guess we wore out our dicks,” he said,
and snorted out a laugh. Even after several minutes of determined attention to each other’s
cocks, neither one of them had been able to manage more than a few half-hearted twitches.
After last night’s fun, clearly nothing short of Viagra was going to get a rise out of either of
them today. “We aren’t eighteen anymore.”

Bright scowled at the insinuation that he was getting older. “Speak for yourself. A shower,
some food and I’ll be good as new. And I definitely do need a shower,” he said, leaning over
to kiss Win before climbing off the bed.

“You can bring all your stuff over here. This is your room too now.” Win’s words made
Bright pause as he bent down to retrieve his clothes from the floor where he’d left them last
night. Without looking at Win, he scooped up his clothes and went across the hall to his
room. Or apparently what used to be his room.

Bright tossed his clothes on the bed and walked into the adjoining bathroom, heading to the
toilet to piss before turning on the shower. Standing under the spray, he closed his eyes and
let the warm cocoon envelop him but even in there he couldn’t hide from the tangle of
thoughts and emotions pulling at him. Win’s suggestion made perfect sense but it was more
than just changing the location of his shampoo and underwear. It was…well, it was moving
in. That simple act made last night’s surreal experience become real in a very physical way.
Part of him started to panic; this was moving too fast. Yes, last night he’d agreed to be
Win’s…boyfriend? Partner? What the fuck were they now exactly? And how the hell was this
whole thing going to work? The questions kept coming, piling on him like an oppressive
weight.

Win finished relieving himself and walked back into his bedroom, stopping to stare in
puzzlement through his doorway across to Bright’s room. What was taking Bright so long?
He was feeling downright disgusting and the shower beckoned. True, Bright owned – and
traveled with – an array of body care products but how long did it take to grab a couple of
them and come back? Thinking that Bright might be taking a dump and want some privacy,
he decided to be patient and used the time to brush his teeth and freshen his breath with some
mouthwash.

When Bright still hadn’t reappeared five minutes later, he went to find out why. Walking into
Bright’s room, the sound coming from the bathroom answered his question. Bright was in the
shower. He’d assumed Bright would pick up what he needed and come right back to shower
with him but since he hadn’t said so explicitly, Bright had probably misunderstood his
suggestion to bring his stuff over now, not later.

Win considered joining Bright but just as quickly abandoned the idea. Bright’s shower was
too small and he was probably almost done now anyway. Walking slowly back to his room,
he tried to quell his disappointment by reminding himself that they would have many more
chances to shower together. Because that’s what they were now.

Together.

-----------

Showered, shaved and dressed, Win found Bright already in the kitchen finishing his first cup
of coffee. “It’s amazing what a shower can do,” Win said, filling his own cup. “I feel like a
new human.”

Bright refilled his cup and leaned over to accept the chaste kiss Win was offering. "Same
here."

While he finished his coffee, Win poked around in the fridge. "Too late for breakfast. Let's
see…I've got homemade minestrone soup, egg salad, marinated vegetables and some oatmeal
bread, if you don't mind leftovers. I'm not in the mood to cook."

"Fine," Bright answered without turning around. While Win had been contemplating lunch,
he'd walked over to the patio doors and stood staring out over Win's backyard. Or should he
say their backyard now? Was this their house too?

In a split second, the room was stifling. Too close. Need to get out. He had opened the sliding
door and stepped onto the patio before Win's voice caught up with him. "Where're you off to?
Lunch will be ready in a few minutes."

He heard himself tell Win something about fresh air. That must have been the right response
because Win smiled and remarked about it being such a nice day that they ought to eat
outside.

Win watched Bright make a beeline for the far end of the yard and frowned. His normally
loose, easy gait was gone; now his movements were stiff, like a tightly wound spring. The
rigid set of his shoulders was another clue to Bright's stress. Probably emotionally hung-over
from yesterday's grueling scene, Win figured. Last night had been one of the best nights of
his life but it had only been a diversion from the aftermath of the emotional wringer they'd
both been through yesterday. They hadn't had the chance to work through the scene and
process Bright's raw emotions so naturally, in the light of day, all of the grief would come
back to the surface, leaving him emotionally fragile.

Once lunch was on the table, Win found Bright alternately pacing and leaning against the
gazebo, his body vibrating with restless agitation. Silently, he walked up behind Bright and
slid one arm around his waist, molding his body to Bright's, his chin on Bright's shoulder. He
felt the other man's body tense then sink back against his and they stood like that for several
moments, one enjoying the intimate moment, the other grateful for an anchor saving him
from drowning in a whirlpool of his own thoughts.

"Lunch is ready," Win said softly. "But first I brought you something." With his free hand, he
offered his cigarette pack and lighter to Bright, smiling at the look of relief and gratitude that
washed across his face when he turned around.

"Thanks," he said after he lit one and inhaled deeply. "I need to get some more later."

"I figured," Win said, watching Bright's body language soften slightly but not enough to
qualify as relaxed.

Bright held the pack out to Win, who hesitated, biting his lip and then shook his head. "I…
uh…no. Thanks."

He studied Bright as he smoked, taking in his jerky motions before speaking. "Bright, I can
see you're upset and after lunch we'll talk. I didn't think you were up to it last night. Then
other things – other wonderful things - happened but that doesn’t change the fact that we need
to debrief. Especially after that scene."

Bright's expression was a mixture of annoyance and confusion. "Scene? What are you talking
about?"

"Yesterday. Your nephew? Your mother? Don't you remember….?"

"Of course I remember," Bright snapped. "What the fuck does that have to do with
anything?"

"But you're uptight and I think it's because we still need to talk about how you feel and—"

"I don't need to talk about my feelings," Bright interrupted with a dismissive wave of his
hand. "And definitely not about my mother."

Silently, Win disagreed; Bright still hadn't fully processed his emotions over his mother's
accusations but now wasn't the time to argue that point. "Okay, then was it something I said?
Or did? 'Cause last night everything was…" He stopped, letting his emotions catch up. He
was afraid to ask but he forced himself to swallow and form the words. "Are y-you having
second thoughts about last night?"

Bright scrubbed his hand over his face. "I don't…no, I'm not but whatever the fuck this is," he
gestured between him and Win, "I'm not your wife or your slave!"

"Good, because I don't want either," Win retorted, affronted by the accusation. "When did I
ask you to be?"

"You didn't." Bright turned and stalked a few yards away before stopping, his hand on the
back of his neck, his face turned upward. Win fought the urge to go after him and continue
the conversation, partly to assuage his fear that Bright really was having second thoughts
about last night. He wanted to hold Bright but he had a strong hunch that Bright was feeling
crowded and needed space to sort out his emotions. By sheer willpower, he held his ground
and waited. God, he wished he could have a smoke right now.

Bright took a final drag then crushed his cigarette out under his heel and spun around to face
Win. "I don't want to become some pathetic imitation of a happy hetero couple. We're fags
and if we're together, it's on our terms."

Win nodded. "I agree."

"And we fuck who we want to, when we—"

"Whoa! Wait." Win held up his hand. "You mean tricking. So we're partners but you still
want to trick?"

"Yes. Same goes for you."

"But I don't trick," Win countered. And he hadn't, not since he'd picked up Bright that night.
Or had Bright picked him up? He'd never quite settled that one in his mind.

"You do fuck other men though. Like Daniel—"

"He's my Dom! Hardly a trick," Win protested.

"And there's Carson and Billkin and probably others."

Win's tone turned strident, the volume going up a notch. "But they're play partners! That's not
the same." He realized how defensive he sounded but right now he didn't give a fuck. He did,
however remember that they were outside and softened his voice. The neighbors didn't need
to be privy to his private life.

"You still fuck them. Are you willing to give that up?"

Win blew out a breath. His answer, though resigned was firm. "No, I'm not."

"And I don't care who you fuck. I expect the same."

Win tried to shake off his disappointment before it settled too heavily on him. He'd been
hopeful but expecting Bright to give up his lifestyle would have been too idyllic, especially
since he wasn't willing to do the same.

"Fine," Win conceded, "but just don't do it here. In New York," he added in clarification, lest
Bright think he was referring only to the house.

"And that's another thing," Bright said, not acknowledging Win's stipulation. "How is this…
this thing between us going to work? I'm there and you're here. I'm not willing to give up my
job and move down here."

Win blinked and stared at Bright, puzzled. "Did I ask you to?"

"No." Bright huffed out a breath. "I assume you aren't planning to move to the L.A. So how is
this—?"

"—I don't know," Win admitted. "I've been wondering the same thing. Guess it's something
we need to discuss."

"And what about this whole Dom/sub thing? Because if we're..." Bright paused, gritted his
teeth and reluctantly coerced his mouth to say the word, "partners, that changes things and—"

Win opened his mouth but Bright held up his hand, forestalling Win's interruption. "I still
want to be your sub. I like to play but I don't want to do it all the time. Or even most of the
time. How do we…?" He ran his hand though his hair and shook his head. Too many
unknowns. Last night he'd pushed aside all of these complications but they hadn't gone away.
Now it was time to face them and he could feel their oppressive weight on him.

Win crossed the distance between them and reached out, framing Bright's face with his hands
and waiting until their eyes met. "That's something else we need to figure out," he said,
gently. "And we will. Together. But one thing at a time, okay?"

Bright gazed at Win for a long moment, as if drawing reassurance from him before nodding
slowly. If Win was just as clueless as he was about this new arrangement, would they even be
able to make this work? He did want it, so he took his cue from Win and tried to let go of
some of his apprehension.

Win smiled and kissed him lightly on the lips but didn't pull back. "Good. Rome wasn't built
in a day and neither are relationships. You don't have to do this alone, either. We're partners,
remember?"

Seeing Bright's look of distaste, Win cocked his head. "You really don't like the term 'partner,'
do you?"

"I don't like to be defined by a label, period," Bright stated matter-of-factly.

"I hear that but how should I introduce you to people? 'My boyfriend' sounds juvenile.
Lover?" Win suggested. "Or what about 'significant other'?"

The words had barely left Win's mouth when Bright interjected, "Hell no! I hate that stupid
term."

"Not my favorite either," Win admitted. "There's always 'honey' or 'darling.' 'Babe' has a nice
ring to it," he added, a mischievous smile spreading across his face.

"No fucking way! You try it and my cock won't speak to you for a very long time." Bright's
death glare made Win laugh.

"I'm pretty sure I could hold out longer than you," Win said. "But if you don't tell me what
I can call you, then I get to pick whatever word I like."

"Fine. 'Partner,' for lack of a better one," Bright grudgingly conceded. "I'll try to get used to
it."

"Partner it is." Win kissed Bright, once quickly then again slowly, as if still savoring what
he'd missed for so long. "I'm starving and the soup is probably cold by now. We can talk more
over lunch."
---------

They warmed up their bowls of soup and Bright fetched two bottles of cold beer from the
fridge. "Practically, the first thing to settle is the geography issue," Win began. "Unless you
have a better idea, I suppose we'll have to continue as we have been – getting together on the
weekends. We can split the traveling, make things easier for you. Not ideal but it will have to
do. How does that sound?" he asked before digging into his egg salad.

"Fine with me," Bright replied. "That schedule has worked so far." It was probably the only
logical way they could make this work and actually see each other.

"And besides," Win said, spearing a chunk of marinated tomato," I want to meet your
friends."

Bright nearly choked on the beer he'd just swigged. Oh, fuck! How was he going to handle
having Win in Los Angeles? Passing Win off as a business associate would work exactly
once. He certainly wasn't going to introduce Win as his Dom. That part of his life was going
to stay where it belonged - here. As far away from Los Angeles as possible. If he offered no
explanation, the gang would eventually figure out that Win was his boyfriend. Which, he
was. And that assumption was a hell of a lot safer than giving them any reason to suspect
there was more going on behind the scenes.

He wasn't sure how he felt about everyone in the L.A knowing that he was in a relationship,
though. And once Gun and Tay, and especially New, had that information, every fag within
spitting distance would find out. Did that automatically disqualify him from being the hottest
fuck in L.A? Would tricking be the same or would everyone consider him 'off the market'?

"Bright! Hello?" Win called, waving a hand in front of Bright's face and pulling his attention
back to the lunch table. "You looked like you were a million miles away. What were you
thinking about?"

Bright shook his head and took a drink while he assembled his thoughts. "Dreaming about all
of those frequent flier miles I'm going to accumulate. You were saying…"

"I said that if you want to trick, you can do it during the week in Los Angeles. Just don't lie to
me or sneak around. If it comes up, admit that you were out fucking and I won't give you a
hard time about it."

"Not the jealous type?" Bright asked with a quirk of his eyebrow, partly to mess with Win but
there was an undercurrent of seriousness to his question. He had no patience for jealous
bullshit from Win when it came to his sex life.

"The tricks don't mean anything to you, right?"

Bright snorted. "The fact that they ARE tricks is your answer." He looked over to see that
Win was actually waiting for a real answer. "Of course not!"

"Well, I was a trick," Win pointed out. "But yeah I get it. I have no reason to be jealous. And
to be fair, I won't play with other people when you are in town. Unless you're included in the
scene," he added.

Bright leered at Win. "I don't get to watch you get all oiled up, put on a mask and terrorize
some poor hapless sub? Too bad; that was hot."

Win wore a wolfish grin. "That scene did get you riled up, didn't it? Well, being a spectator
could count as 'included.' I was referring to playing with Daniel and Carson. Or Billkin."
Bright bristled momentarily at the mention of Billkin's name but didn't say anything and Win
pretended not to notice. "I'd rather have you all to myself on the weekends but I wouldn't be
opposed to tricking together if we want some variety, either here or in Los Angeles."

Threesomes with Win. Now THAT was an appealing idea that spawned all kinds of images in
his mind. "We're not going to tie up and spank the queers in Los Angeles, though. I don't
want to get a reputation for being seriously into kinky shit."

"Can't have that," Win agreed and laughed.

They spent the rest of lunch in light conversation about their respective jobs and Bright's
unfiltered opinion of Tay and New's foray into shacking up. "Disgusting. Acting like a pair of
pathetic queens playing house."

"How are they different from us moving in together? Aside from the fact that we're in
separate cities," Win added.

"No resemblance, trust me. The two of them together…." Bright shuddered in mock
revulsion.

"So because we make a hot couple, it's okay for us to live together."

"Precisely," Bright answered completely without apology.

They finished lunch and cleared the table. As he was loading the dishwasher, Win said, "We
still need to discuss how to integrate playtime into our relationship but I'd rather wait until
I've had a chance to think about it." Then he caught himself. "I want your input too. This
is our playtime." He looked over at Bright who nodded but didn't say anything. From the
expression on Bright's face, something was still weighing on his mind. And he had a pretty
good idea what it might be.

He placed the plate into the rack and turned so he was standing in front of Bright. "Hey," he
said, putting his hands on Bright's hips and pulling their bodies together. "Don't worry. I don't
want a full-time sub. What I do want is a partner who also happens to be my submissive
when we play. Okay?"

"Okay," Bright replied, putting more positive enthusiasm in his voice than he felt. In truth, he
had his doubts whether they could keep these two parts of their lives from colliding. For as
long as they'd known each other, being Dom and sub was how they related to each other.
Now things were different and he wasn't even sure how to separate the two in his own mind.
Still, he and Win seemed to be on the same page so he could let his anxiety go for now.

Win smiled. "We'll work it out so we're both happy." He kissed Bright deeply, as if
transferring some reassurance through the touch of his lips.

"Mmm…..I can't get enough of you," Win said, grinning against Bright's mouth. He kissed
him again, then pulled back. "I really ought to go to the gym but it's already middle of the
afternoon and I feel like a lazy slug. Unless you want to go," he asked Bright, and continued
when Bright shook his head. "There are a few things I need to do around the house and then
tonight we could watch a movie and…what?" he asked, when Bright gave him a strange look.

"It's Sunday. My flight leaves at 5:30."

At first Win stared at Bright in confusion before remembering that Bright had come down
yesterday morning, not last night. His face fell and the disappointment there was so tangible
Bright wished he could wipe it off. "Damn," he said softly. "I'm so used to having you here
for two nights." He attempted to shrug away the ache he already felt about saying good-bye.
"We'll have to make the most of the time we do have."

"And there's always next weekend. I had already planned to come down then."

Win brightened. "Only five days. I'll try to survive." He paused, and a flicker of a cloud
passed over his face. "Say, you mentioned wanting to go get cigarettes. There's a convenience
store about five minutes away."

"Thanks for reminding me." Bright knew he'd want to have a smoke before he went to the
airport.

"Do you mind picking up a half-gallon of milk and filling the tank while you're out?"
Reflexively, Win almost said he'd pay Bright back but stopped. They were equal partners and
he didn't want to imply that Bright couldn't afford a tank of gas and some milk. If the
situations were reversed, he wouldn't think of taking Bright's money.

"No problem. Should be back in twenty minutes."

Win tossed him the keys to his car and gave him directions. "Take your time. I..uh…I need to
do….something." He bit his lip and looked like he was dreading whatever it was he had to
do.

When Bright quirked his head, Win sighed. He shouldn't have said anything but it wasn't fair
to make a statement like that and not share what was bothering him. Besides, this would be
good for Bright to hear. "I need to call Daniel. See, last night, while you were out walking
and I was climbing the walls, I smoked two cigarettes over the limit Daniel imposed on me.
Now I need to 'fess up and accept the consequences of disobeying him."

Win looked miserable and in that moment, Bright caught a glimpse of Win as Daniel's sub.
Like him, Win just wanted to please his Dom. He knew, at least to some extent, how Win felt
right now and it sucked. He also sensed Win's desire to be alone while he called Daniel and
he didn't blame him one bit.

"Will he punish you?" Bright asked. It was kind of a lame question but he didn't know what
else to say. And, as he knew, any imposed punishment was mostly beside the point. Having to
face your Dom after you screwed up was unpleasant enough.

Win sighed and nodded. "It happened once before. For each one over the limit, I have to go
two days without smoking. So four days this time."

"It'll be a long four days," Bright said, sounding genuinely sympathetic and then smirked.
"Too bad I can't stay and find other ways to keep your mouth busy."

"I wish you could. It won't be unbearable; withdrawal from two a day isn't nearly as bad a
half a pack a day, which is what I was up to before Daniel made me cut down. Now they're
more a psychological habit than a physical one."

"Won't be a fun call, though," Bright said, and reached over to pull Win into a hug. Yes, Win
was his Dom but right now, he needed Bright to be his partner, not his sub. Bright closed his
eyes; shit, this was complicated. It had been less than a full day and already he could see that
trying to draw lines between their kinky and non-kinky lives was going to be anything but
simple.

They pulled back and Bright hefted the keys in his hand. He'd take his time, give Win some
space. "Will a half hour be enough time?"

Win nodded. "Should be, assuming Daniel answers his phone."

"When I get back, I can think of one thing you can put in your mouth," Bright promised,
cupping his crotch and giving Win a look that was positively lascivious.

"Oh, can you now?" Win's look was equally lustful. "You'd better hurry back then."

Win's eyes followed Bright as he sauntered down the hall and out the front door, then he
moved to the living room window to watch him get in the car. The way Bright walked, his
body language and even his voice were more fluid now – such a contrast to the way he'd been
just an hour or two ago.

He remained at the front window, staring at the back of his car as it disappeared down the
street and mentally replayed pieces of their earlier conversation. Bright had been acutely
concerned about not being a "wife" or a "slave" and being able to trick. Not losing his
autonomy. Bright was afraid that being his partner would restrict him in ways that he wasn't
willing to allow. Once they'd established some parameters, however rudimentary and
preliminary right now, and Bright could see that he didn't have to stop being Bright, he
relaxed. He just needed some ground rules—

And then Win mentally snapped his fingers. Aha! That was it - rules. Just like when they
played, Bright needed structure in other relationships too; he needed to know what was
expected of him and what was allowed. He might choose to ignore those rules constructed by
societal expectations; hell, he already did a lot of the time but he still needed to know where
the boundaries were. Based on their earlier discussion, Bright clearly wanted the edges of
those particular boundaries as far away from him as possible.

Now Bright could relax because he was comfortable with where they'd set the boundaries.
True, they still had a lot more to work out but these looming concerns, at least in Bright's
mind, were set for now. Even though he knew he'd miss Bright during the week, more than he
already did, the physical separation would hopefully help Bright to feel less confined. For his
part, he knew he needed to work on giving Bright emotional space as well.

Win smiled to himself, pleased that he'd figured out another piece of the enigma that was
Bright. The man had so many wonderful and complex layers, he wondered if he'd ever fully
understand his pet. His partner, he corrected himself. God, he never thought he'd be able to
say that and he couldn't imagine ever getting tired of doing it.

His mind turned to the task he couldn't procrastinate any longer and the smile faded from his
face. Best to suck it up and get it over with. Plus, Bright would be back soon and he wanted
to enjoy every minute of his company before he left.

--------

Bright put the milk in the fridge and cocked an ear, listening for the sound of Win's voice. He
wasn't in the kitchen, den or living room and his office door was open so he probably wasn't
in there either. Upstairs, Bright assumed, and was just about to head into the den to relax
when Win appeared from the direction of the playroom.

"How'd it go?" Bright asked, slightly confused by the relaxed – or was that relieved? – look
on Win's face.

Win smiled and kissed him on the lips. "Better than I expected. I explained what happened,
without making excuses, and Daniel said he understood the extenuating circumstances. I
didn't willfully disobey him so he wasn't disappointed. In fact, he's really happy for us."

"That's good!" Bright replied, sharing Win's cheerful mood and again he could imagine
himself in Win's shoes and having received a reprieve from his Dom. "So no punishment."

"Not true; I still broke a rule and I’m glad he didn't rescind the punishment," Win replied.
Seeing Bright's puzzled expression, Win suggested that they grab a cold drink and sit outside
on the patio while he explained.

"Punishment," Win began, once they were outside with two tall glasses of lemonade, "can be
purely a deterrent or teach a lesson about the misconduct, such as when you mouthed off to
me and had to wear a gag for an afternoon." Bright grimaced; he'd rather forget that entire
weekend had happened.

Bright's reaction did not escape Win's notice but he didn't acknowledge it. Bright had
accepted his punishment and the issue was closed, which was the point he wanted to make.
"But punishment also allows a sub to move forward with a clean slate instead of having the
offense hanging between him and his Dom. Does that make sense?"

"The punishment is atonement for the crime."

"Yes!" Win said, pleased that Bright got was he was trying to say. "And this punishment tells
me that Daniel cares enough about me to want to clear the air between us. So yes, I welcome
it even if I'm not looking forward to it."

Bright nodded. It made sense even though he knew there was no way he'd remember all of
this if he ever had to face one of Win's punishments again. The weekend Win mentioned, he
remembered feeling an unexpected sense of relief that Win was going to punish him and he
knew that he would have lost some respect for Win if he had let him get away with his
bullshit.

"Enough heavy talk," Win said, after finishing his lemonade. "You said something about
keeping my mouth occupied?"

Leaning back in his chair and spreading his legs, Bright quirked an eyebrow at Win. "Well,
what are you waiting for?"

Win licked his lips. "Let's go inside."

"Why?" Bright gestured at the fence. "No one is going to see."

"True but you moaning like a whore in a porn flick will be a dead giveaway to the
neighbors."

Bright's look was pure indignation. "I do not moan like a whore."

Okay, maybe he'd exaggerated a bit to get a rise out of Bright but, on occasion, Bright had
definitely produced a sound that was moan-like during sex. "Oh, really? I'll bet I can get a
moan out of you."

"Go for it," Bright replied, the challenge clear.

Win gestured toward the house. "After you." Bright rolled his eyes but got up anyway and
sauntered inside without further argument. He wasn't really concerned about the noise; Bright
was responsive during sex but he wasn't a screamer. The real reason for wanting to move
inside was that even though they weren't in scene, the Dom in him couldn't bring himself to
kneel in front of his sub. It wasn’t a rule or anything, just his issue. Some Doms would never
consider bottoming for their subs yet he did. Every Dom had a line he wouldn't cross and
kneeling was where he drew his.

------

Win sat back, a self-satisfied look on his face as he regarded Bright sprawled out on the floor
pillows in the den, the picture of sexual fulfillment. Using his thumb, he swiped a drop of
come from the corner of his mouth, then sucked it off. "Mm…good to the last drop."

Seeing Win's smug smile, Bright snorted. "What? I didn't moan."

"Oh really?" Win replied, thoroughly amused by Bright's denial. "Oh yeah," he mimicked
Bright's responses while he was sucking him off. "Uhhh, yesss."

"That's not…" Bright started to protest before realizing that Win was right. "I was expressing
my appreciation, that's all," he said, lamely trying to save face rather than admit he was
wrong. And so what if he had? Win gave amazing head and he had every right to moan once.

Or maybe twice.

Win adjusted himself, palming his hard-on. Bright noticed and reached over. "Need some
help with that?"

For several moments, Win seemed to ignore Bright's question, not breaking eye contact as he
continued to squeeze and rub, the outline of his cock visible through his jeans. Then, already
shirtless, he rid himself of the rest of his clothes and lay down beside Bright on the pillows.
When Bright tried to move down and reciprocate the blowjob, Win stopped him. He wanted
Bright's mouth and lips up here where he could kiss them, not buried in his crotch.
Wordlessly, he took Bright's hand and licked the palm, getting it good and wet before guiding
it between his legs.

Bright didn't need any further coaxing. Lying on his side, propped up on one elbow, he leaned
over and kissed Win as he took Win's cock in hand, starting slowly. His own hunger satisfied,
Bright devoted his full attention to Win's gratification, alternately kissing him and watching
the ripples of pleasure dance across his face. Win held nothing back, the sonata of his gasps
and sighs and whimpers was all the feedback Bright needed. He took his time, building the
sensation to a crescendo then slowing down and letting it ebb, each time drawing Win closer
and closer to release.

Blissfully content, Win lay back to enjoy the ride regardless of how Bright chose to drive. His
partner's hand was no less talented than his mouth or his cock or any other part of his
amazing body and he wanted to take full advantage of it. And looking up into Bright's face,
their eyes speaking everything that needed to be said, he knew this was making love just as
much as what they'd done last night.

After Win came with a quiet groan, they both lay there, hands absently petting as they
listened to the whir of the fan overhead and the melodic chorus of the birds outside.

"I wish you didn't have to go." Win's voice broke the silence. He looked over at Bright.

"Me neither," Bright replied, with complete honesty.

"I love you, Bright."

Bright didn't react for a long moment, then he leaned over and kissed Win. "I know. I'm not…
there yet, okay?"

Win smiled and nodded in understanding. He reminded himself that he'd known the depth of
his feelings for Bright for some time now but for Bright, the last twenty-four hours had been
emotionally tumultuous. He did need time.

And space.

One step at a time but he had no doubt they'd get there eventually.

----------------

As Bright was loading his bag into the trunk of Win's car, he heard Bernice call to him from
across the street.

"Have a safe trip, Bright. You hurry back to visit, y'hear?"

"I'll be back Friday," Bright answered, and returned her wave.

Bright slid into the passenger seat, then looked over to see Win staring at him. "What?"

Win chuckled. "Pretty soon I'm going to start wonderin' whether you're coming down to see
me or her."

"Maybe both."
 Chapter 2
Chapter Summary

Now he was…what? Taken? No, that made it sound like he was fucking married. He
could still trick and he'd just as soon be castrated as say "I do." 'Partner' was the term he
and Win had decided on. He was Win's partner. And his sub, but that part was nothing
new.

Chapter Notes

I know, I know I suck at updating, Real life got in the way, work and then I get fracture
hahahahaah. I have one month of sick leave but imagine doing everything with one
hand. It took ages before I can finish two chapters.
Enjoy!!!!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Bright strolled into the diner on Monday morning and headed for the gang, predictably
ensconced at their usual booth. Tay and New on one side, all but sitting on each other's laps,
and Gun, sans Off, on the other side.

Gun noticed his arrival first. "Hey, Bright's here."

Scooting in next to Gun, Bright scowled across the table at the two lovebirds. "At least let me
order before I lose my appetite."

"How was your weekend?" Gun asked. After their talk a few weeks ago, Gun had stopped
prying into his weekend activities outside Los Angeles and kept his inquiries general.

"It was…good," Bright answered, caught off-guard by the question. His weekend had been a
lot of things but 'good' was all he could say without giving away anything. The past seventy-
two hours had turned his world upside down but in truth, the past several months had already
done that. This past weekend had just been the culmination. His life wouldn't be the same
now but neither would he and he wasn't sure—

"Bright!" Gun's voice cut through his mental excursion.

Bright shot Gun an annoyed look. "What?"

"You were staring off into space. Jennie asked you twice what you want to order."

Looking up, Bright found Jennie watching him with a mixture of concern and amusement.
"You feeling okay, baby?" she asked.

"Fine. Just tired."

"Uh huh," Jennie answered with a knowing smile. "He must have been quite the hottie to
make you that distracted."

"Oh, he was," Bright said, content to let them believe what they wanted. "I'll have coffee,
wheat toast and an egg white omelet."

"Coming right up. Will Off be joining you?" Jennie asked Gun.

"No. He's at the gym again."

Jennie nodded and headed toward the kitchen with Bright's order.

"Off's been at the gym a lot lately, hasn't he?" New asked, taking a bite of hash browns from
Tay's plate.

"Yeah, and he bit my head off when I asked him to stay home with me last night instead of
working out. You'd have thought I'd asked him to give up exercise completely, the way he
responded."

Sipping the coffee Jennie had just brought, Bright tuned out the conversation as he looked
around the diner, taking in the normalcy of the scene that he saw almost every day. The diner
looked as it always did with everyone following the usual routine. Nothing was different.

Nothing…except him.

Now he was…what? Taken? No, that made it sound like he was fucking married. He could
still trick and he'd just as soon be castrated as say "I do." 'Partner' was the term he and Win
had decided on. He was Win's partner. And his sub, but that part was nothing new.

Okay, so he was Win's partner now. Practically speaking what difference did that make? Win
was there and he was here, at least during the week. His day-to-day routine wouldn't change.
He'd go to work, endure the diner's cuisine, and unwind as he always did. Fuck hot guys,
drink to excess and hang out with Gun. Life would be the same as it had been the past few
months.

Years.

So why did he feel different? Now he felt…connected to Win. Yes, he'd been connected to
Win as his sub but this was deeper. Up to now, he'd been able to confine what he and Win did
to weekends and New York. It had been easy to separate that part of his life from the rest.
Now he wondered if he could, especially with Win planning to visit him here. Fuck, he'd
have to deal with that complication and—

Jennie plunking his plate down in front of him startled him from his reverie. "Egg white
omelet and wheat toast," she announced and refilled his coffee.

"Thanks, Jennie," Bright answered, reaching for the salt and pepper.

"…and Lucy is taking us out to look at houses today," Tay was saying. "She knows of some
that she thinks would be perfect for us."

New beamed and pulled Tay closer. "I can't wait! It's so exciting."

"With the success, you two have had trying to live together, you might want to just leave the
'For Sale' sign in the front yard," Bright suggested. "Save the effort of putting it back out in a
day or two."

All three men glared in unison at Bright who took a bite of his eggs and unapologetically
stared back at them.

"I can't say I'm surprised to hear something like that from you," New retorted. "I guess you
just can't understand how two people can be in a relationship and actually be happy together."

A relationship. For lack of a better term, that's what he and Win had now, Bright thought as
the others returned to their conversation and ignored him. Bright Vachirawit in a relationship
– and admitting it, if only to himself. Wasn't that one of the signs of the apocalypse? Surely
that occurrence was in the same category as pigs flying and hell freezing over.

Much as he tried to convince himself that he'd made a huge, fucking mistake this past
weekend and tell himself that he didn't care about Win as any more than a friend – and yeah,
as his Dom – he simply couldn't do it. He'd spent last night and this morning trying to deny
what he felt for Win and finally had to admit that he did care. A lot.

And he realized something else. Not only was he okay with being in a relationship with Win,
he was actually happy about it. He definitely wouldn't be shouting it from the rooftops or
sending sappy Hallmark cards, but he couldn't deny that he felt content.

Bright felt a tap on his shoulder and looked up to see Jennie staring at him, hand on her hip.
"I know that smile isn't because you enjoyed your breakfast that much."

"Just thinking about all the food I had this past weekend that wasn't from here," Bright
answered, insincere smile pasted on his face.

Jennie just gave him a look that told Bright she wasn't buying his story, handed him the check
and walked away.

Shit! He needed to be more careful, he thought as he paid his bill and picked up his briefcase.
Once Jennie or Gun figured out the truth, he might as well announce it in a full-page ad in
Out magazine. Although with Win coming to visit, the end result might be the same.
-----------------------

"How was your day, dear?" Bright asked in a tone of mock pleasantness when Win's face
appeared on the webcam.

Win laughed and played along. "Uh, just fine, dear. And how was your day?"

"Splendid."

"You're in a strange mood tonight."

"What?" Bright asked, feigning total seriousness. "Isn't that how partners are supposed to
greet one another?"

Win almost fell for the ploy but the slight upturn of Bright's lips gave away the joke. "If you
want to sound like Desi and Lucy, sure. Seriously though, how was your day?"

Bright shrugged. "Got a new client. A furniture store."

"Nice stuff?"

"I'm sure the breeders think so," Bright answered, the look of distaste on his face indicating
what he thought of the style.

"Well, you could always drape some hot studs on the couches and tables," Win suggested.

"Even sex can't overcome their legal problems." Bright took a drag on the cigarette he'd just
lit.

"How was your game with Tine earlier?"

"I beat him and that's something I always enjoy. After dinner, he took me out for a couple of
drinks. To cel-e-brate," Bright added, enunciating the last word.

"What was the occasion?"

Bright rolled his lips in before allowing a reluctant smile to emerge. "Us."

"You told him?" Win was surprised; he hadn't figured Bright would be eager to spread the
news about them.

"He asked about the weekend, figured out something had happened and prodded it out of
me." Bright mentally kicked himself for being so easy to read tonight, something he needed
to remedy before someone else became suspicious. He didn’t mind Tine knowing; he
probably would have told Tine anyway but he'd rather not have to answer questions from
Gun or Pam before it was absolutely necessary.

"Ah." That sounded more like Bright. "Was he surprised?"

"Not really. Said he figured it would happen eventually."

Win smiled. "I hope I get to meet him when I come up to visit you."

"That can be arranged. Something I meant to bring up the other night...what about my
curfew? Do I still have one? I mean, if we're not just…." Bright frowned and shook his head
in frustration at not being able to put into words the jumble of thoughts in his head. "How
does that work now that…?"

"Oh." The question caught Win off-guard. "That's a good question." He still hadn't fully
shifted his own thinking, to seeing Bright as his partner, not just as his sub. "I guess we
should talk about how playtime will fit into things now. Have you given it any thought?"

Bright had been thinking a lot about that subject lately. "Why not just play whenever we're in
the mood? The rest of the time we'll just do what we normally do." Just what did they
"normally" do together anyway, besides being Dom and sub?

Win considered the idea. "The other option is a set schedule for playtime. Some scenes take
some advance preparation but otherwise I think your suggestion should be fine. We'll have to
make the time to play. You've made very good progress as a sub and I don't want you to lose
the momentum."

"We both enjoy playing so I doubt that'll happen." Being a sub was something he enjoyed
doing but it wasn't the totality of his persona. Until a few days ago though, he'd only ever
related to Win as his Dom. Now their relationship was "more" and he wasn't at all sure of
what that meant. One thing he did know, he wanted this to work with Win so he'd give it his
best effort.

Win nodded. "I totally agree. Back to your question about curfew…I guess if the Dom/sub
part of our relationship has to stay in the playroom, then the curfew doesn't make sense
anymore, does it?"

"Guess not," Bright replied. Win's answer should have made him happy. After all, the curfew
had been a pain in his ass. More than a few times it had interfered with his social life. So why
the fuck was he experiencing a pang of disappointment at its elimination?

Win continued, "Also, I don't want to always be the one who initiates play, although I'll
usually decide what we do in the scene. There may be times I will insist that we play because
I think you need it but if you want to play, ask. It's your playtime too."

"Will do."

"And that brings me to another point. I want us to play this weekend when you come down.
I'm coming up to Los Angeles next weekend and the weekend after that is the dinner party at
The Exchange so this is our only chance to review protocol and discuss how the evening will
go, what I expect of you and what will happen there. Then we can have a regular scene. I'll
plan something enjoyable for us. How does that sound?"

Despite being slightly apprehensive about the upcoming event at The Exchange, Bright was
looking forward to the evening, more out of curiosity than anything else. He did want Win to
be proud of him so a bit of review and practice sounded like a good idea. And a fun scene
with Win was definitely a nice bonus. "On Friday night?" he asked.

"We'll have to play on Saturday night. Friday night is the monthly get-together, this time at
Tiger and Cub's. Poker and sandwiches. We don't have to go, but I missed a couple when you
were in town…"

"We'll go," Bright said, not needing to think about his response. He liked Win's friends and he
certainly didn't need Win to stay home just to entertain him.

-----------

Bright gave Win's address to the cab driver and settled back in his seat. Out of habit, he
began mentally preparing to be Win's sub before remembering that things were different now.
He wasn't coming down to New York just to be Win's sub. He was here to visit his partner.

Partner.

Six days and already the word was rolling off his tongue as easily as the lines he used to snag
tricks. Had it really only been six days since they'd kissed? Six days since he'd agreed to
something he'd sworn he'd never do. He had a partner now and truthfully he didn't even mind
it so much. Christ, he thought, rolling his eyes at himself. Evidently he was well and truly on
his way to being a full-fledged lesbian.

On the other hand, it wasn't anyone's fucking business what he and Win were to each other.
Dom and sub. Lovers. Friends. Partners. Just words that meant whatever they wanted them to
mean. They didn't have to conform to anyone's expectations but their own.

Suddenly impatient with the cab ride, Bright looked at his watch and shifted, trying to get
comfortable on the cheap vinyl seats that had seen better days. Was the ride always this long?

Of course he was happy to see Win after their week apart but he was feeling strangely
unsettled this time. As Win's sub, he knew how to act and what Win expected of him but now,
in these uncharted waters of a relationship, what were the ground rules? The old cliché, 'be
yourself' came to mind and he snorted. Yeah. Whatever, except that he wondered exactly
what that meant as Win's partner.

Usually he would be unbelievably horny right now, coming off two and sometimes three or
four days of abstinence at Win's orders. And while the orgasm denial guaranteed that he
wasn't thinking about much of anything except getting off, he still found pleasure in doing it
simply because it pleased Win. Not to mention the mind-blowing sex that awaited him at the
end of the cab ride.

Today though, he was only feeling the normal, expected tug in his groin at the prospect of
seeing Win. He should have been happy not to be itching to fuck anything with a dick but
instead, he felt inexplicably lost, as if something was missing.

---------------

"Bright!" Win made a beeline for the front door as soon as he heard it open and Bright
dropped his bags just in time to have his arms full of Win, their mouths seeking each other
out as their bodies molded themselves together like two interlocking puzzle pieces. The kiss
was both welcoming and probing as if recalibrating their senses to each other's bodies.

"How was your flight?" Win asked when they finally broke their kiss, breathless.

Bright half-shrugged and feigned boredom. "The usual. The flight attendant blew me in the
first-class galley. I fucked a hot guy in the bathroom."

Win gave a huff of mock annoyance. "I certainly hope not. I have plans for this," he said, and
reached between them to squeeze Bright's half-hard cock in his fist. "So you'd better not have
worn it out."

A leer on his face, Bright pushed back against Win's palm. "Lucky for both of us that it's
well-rested."

"It's mine now." Win began unbuckling Bright's belt as he maneuvered Bright around and
started backing him into the living room while simultaneously kissing him.

"You…think…so?" Bright answered between kisses, letting Win guide him while trying not
to fall. He got with the plan and set to work undoing his shirt buttons.

"I…know…so," Win answered, kisses punctuating his responses as he finished unzipping

Bright's pants.

Bright's calves hit the edge of the lounge chair in the living room just as his fingers reached
the last button on his shirt. He slipped it off and tossed it to the side, his undershirt following
a second later. Win pushed Bright's pants down over his hips and let them fall. Tottering
slightly as he toed off his shoes now tangled in the cloth of his pants, he finally freed himself
and kicked the whole pile out of the way.

Grinning triumphantly, Win pushed Bright, now naked, backward and down into the chair.
Win's grin faded into a look of heated intensity bordering on incendiary as his clothes started
joining Bright's on the floor. Buttons hastily undone, his shirt slipped off his shoulders before
being flung to the side. Top button of his jeans, then the second and third before turning
around and easing them down over his ass. Black boxer briefs followed. Not tarrying but just
slow enough to give Bright a seductive, teasing strip show. He tossed a condom at Bright
while he extracted his feet from his jeans and kicked them in the same direction his shirt had
gone.

Bright had barely finished rolling the condom on before Win was straddling his lap, aligning
himself with Bright's cock then lowering his body down. Just as the tip breached Win's body,
Bright thought, "lube" but before he could get the word out, his cock was sliding right in, and
holy fuck! Win had lubed his ass beforehand. That thought spawned images which pretty
much turned his brain inside out and put an end to any coherent thinking.

"Like that?" Win asked between gasps as he began moving, tentatively at first while he got
used to the position. His chuckle bled into a long moan as his body found that perfect
combination of angle and rhythm and he began moving in earnest. Head thrown back, Win
held nothing back, his primal grunts and groans echoing in the large room.

Sliding his hands around Win's body, Bright squeezed his ass cheeks. In a flash, Win grabbed
his wrists and forced them around behind his back. "Don't move!" Win snarled and Bright
knew that he wouldn't. His Dom's command was enough to bind him.

Win was in full dominant mode now, taking what he wanted. All Bright had to do was stay
hard, not that he had anything to worry about. The challenge was not blowing his load too
soon; seeing Win like this was turning him on in a big way and letting Win use his body
pushed his submissive buttons at the same time.

Bright's eyes raked over Win's body, watching Win's powerful thigh muscles flexing and
straining as he fucked himself on Bright's cock. He clenched his hands, fighting the almost
unbearable desire to slide them over skin that was slick and shiny with sweat. Closing his
eyes for an instant, Bright inhaled, taking in the scent of Win's body, radiating off his body in
waves of damp heat, overpowering his senses.

"Open your eyes!" Win ordered, his voice sharp, and Bright's eyes flew open. "Look at me!
Watch me use you. Like a toy. Or," he leaned over, his voice dropping to a whisper, "a
fucking sssslut!" he hissed in Bright's ear, sending a shiver through Bright's body.

Win wrapped his hands around Bright's throat, tightening his fingers just enough to send a
supersonic burst of fear through Bright. "Yes!" he growled, his face less than an inch from
Bright's. "You're my slut. Aren't you?"

Shit! His neck…Win wouldn't…no, but fuck! If Win kept talking like this, he was going to
lose what little control he still had. Eyes wide, Bright gasped, "Yours, sir. Your slut."

Win sat fully on Bright's lap, impaled on his cock, rocking his hips as his lips connected with
Bright's, the kisses rough and possessive. Grabbing Bright's hair and pulling his head back,
Win bit the side of his neck with just enough force to mingle pain and pleasure. His fingers
found Bright's nipples, teasing and toying with them until they were erect and then pinching
them, the sharp pain causing Bright to moan into his mouth.

Eyes locked on Bright's, Win took himself in hand, and using the slippery precome as lube,
started jerking himself off. His face was a mask of sadistic, gloating pleasure at seeing
Bright's hungry look, forced to watch but not being able to touch. He put on a seductive
show, fueled by Bright's groans of helpless frustration.

It didn't take long before Win came hard with a strangled shout, shooting all over his hand
and both of their chests, then, after telling Bright, "Come for me, pet," kept moving until
Bright followed a minute later, his cock pulsing inside Win as orgasmic tremors, so intense
they bordered on painful, flooded his body.

Sweaty and sated, Win slumped against Bright who sat breathless and stunned after what was
probably one of the hottest fucks he'd ever had – an amazing accomplishment considering his
extensive repertoire. It was more than a minute before he could gather his wits and string
together a coherent sentence.

Bright cleared his throat, trying to find his voice. "Missed me?" he finally asked.

"Nope. Not at all," Win said, smiling against Bright's neck. "What gave you that idea?" He
pulled back to plant a wet kiss on Bright's mouth. "But as long as you're here, thanks for
christening my new chair."

"Always happy to help."

They untangled themselves and dealt with the condom, then headed upstairs for a quick, joint
shower before getting dressed to go to Tiger and Cub's.

While Win went down to the kitchen to finish some food preparation for tomorrow, Bright
unpacked his bags and brought the rest of his stuff over from his room. His former room, he
amended. At Win's suggestion, he'd brought a few more things down to keep here but he'd
also decided just to go shopping this weekend and pick up some extra clothes – a complete
suit, a couple of casual outfits, club clothes as well as underwear and socks. A duplicate set
of toiletries. The convenience of not having to lug stuff back and forth more than justified the
expense. And besides, it provided an excuse to go shopping for new clothes. Not that he ever
needed an excuse.

Walking into the spacious closet, he noticed the area Win had cleared out for him. He didn't
need all that room but at least he wouldn't have to worry about wrinkled clothes in a crowded
closet. Curious, he browsed through Win's suits. Mostly Tom Ford with some Dior Homme
casual wear. Even some Ozwald Boateng. Not his usual labels but he definitely approved of
Win's taste. He admired the cut of the suits, pulling out one to get a better look. He usually
stuck to Armani, Prada, and Gucci with some select Hugo Boss pieces but expanding his
fashion horizons might not be a bad idea.

A couple of Win's ties caught his eye as he flipped through them so he took them over to the
full-length mirror on the back of the closet door and held them up against his chest. "Not
bad," he commented aloud. Might just have to borrow one or two of these sometimes, he
thought, then snorted at himself. "Christ," he muttered, "What am I, a teenage girl?"

After replacing the ties in the closet, he glanced down at Win's shoes. Black dress shoes,
probably Gucci by the look of them. New Balance running shoes. Sandals, a pair of slippers
and...what's this? He picked up a pair of sneakers and snickered as he examined the label. As
he guessed, they were Martin Margiela. They weren't his style and he definitely wouldn't
have figured Win for a fan of them. He tried to remember if he'd ever seen Win wear them.

Next to the sneakers were Win's leather boots, the ones he wore when they played.
Remembering how the leather felt under his hands when he'd unlaced them from Win's feet,
how the scent of the warm leather had infiltrated his consciousness, the memory went straight
to his groin and he groaned as he squeezed his cock through his pants.

Almost directly above the boots were Win's other leather apparel – a couple of vests and
shirts, a few pairs of pants. As he fingered the supple leather of the pants, he imagined Win
up here, getting ready to come downstairs and play, his mind slipping into his Dom role as
the leather slid over his body, molding to him like a second skin. Did he have any rituals he
went through to prepare? Maybe he stood in front of the mirror, checking his appearance one
last time, adding an armband or other accessory.

He closed his eyes and inhaled, taking in the earthy aroma of the leather mixed with the
lingering traces of Win's cologne clinging to his clothes and permeating the enclosed space.
Subtle yet strong enough that his body noticed, the dark masculine scent evoked mental
images of his Dom, dominant and…erotic. Standing here in Win's closet was like being in
Win's embrace. He shivered slightly as his skin became hypersensitive, the hairs on the back
of his neck standing up as they often did right before a scene.

Reluctantly, Bright pulled his thoughts back to the present and decided he'd better finish
getting ready before Win found him in the closet with a boner.

In the bedroom, he found one of the bureau drawers standing open and empty, waiting for his
underwear and socks. No deluding himself now, he was moving in. For several moments he
stood staring at the drawer, caught between two emotions. He appreciated Win's gesture but
this – the spaces he'd made in the closet and in the bathroom and now his drawer – the
domesticity of all of it hit him so suddenly he had to tamp down an ingrained aversion to the
whole idea. They were meshing their lives together and that wasn't a bad thing, he reminded
himself. He couldn't very well be Win's partner and keep his stuff across the hall, pretending
he was still a guest.

Bright scowled and mentally chided himself. It's only a drawer, for fuck's sake. He tossed a
couple of things in and closed it a bit more forcefully than necessary.

A square wooden box on top of the dresser caught his attention. Inside he found a small
collection of earrings, a Jaeger LeCoultre watch, and a few pairs of cuff links. Nice, Bright
thought, picking up a gold one engraved with an ornate 'W.' Maybe a gift from someone?
Daniel? Nick?
"There you are." Win's voice startled him as he was putting his bag in the closet. "Getting
settled?"

"I was checking out your clothes."

Win shook his head and chuckled. "Why am I not surprised? And?" He cocked his head to
the side. "Do my fashion choices satisfy your exacting standards?"

"Actually, yes but," Bright raised his eyebrow, "Martin Margiela sneakers? Really?"

Win crossed his arms over his chest and looked affronted. "Hey, you leave my sneakers
alone. They're comfortable, not to mention very trendy right now."

"Trendy." Bright rolled his eyes. "Sounds like a line the salesman used on you. I'm sure they
are comfortable but they're not something I would have expected to see in your closet."

"I'll be sure to get you a pair for Christmas. I think lime green would be perfect for you. Or
maybe tangerine."

"Fuck you," Bright retorted, good-naturedly. "That's all I need, for New to mistake me for his
long-lost, fashion-challenged twin."

Win laughed. "Okay, maybe a different color but I'm still getting you a pair. Once you wear
them, you'll wish you'd gotten a pair a long time ago."

"At least they're good quality," Bright conceded.

"Before I forget," Win said, holding up a key. "I should have given this to you before now but
I never got around to it. And the alarm code – do you remember it from a few weeks ago?"

Bright took the key. "I think so." He recited the numbers from memory and Win nodded.

"Good. That key fits all the exterior house doors and you know where the playroom key is."
Win slid his arms around Bright's waist and pulled him closer, planting a wet kiss on his lips.
"Mi casa es su casa. Our house. And now, we have to shake a leg so we're not late to the
poker game."

-------------

"I'm out," Carson said, tossing in his cards and glaring as Marcus raked in his winnings. With
five dollars as the top bet, the large pile didn't really amount to much but that didn't dampen
the competitiveness around the table.

"My deal," Cub called, collecting all the cards so he could shuffle. "Where are Win and
Bright? Should I deal them in?"
"Bright said he was going to the bathroom," Tiger answered. "Not sure where Win went."

Jerry snorted. "Probably went to hold it for him." He got up and walked around the corner in
the direction of the bathroom, nearly running into the two missing men. "Good Lord!
Again?" he announced loudly. "It's like you two just learned how to kiss or somethin'."

"Or something," Win answered. Both Win and Bright snickered, shared one last kiss under
Jerry's heckling gaze and rejoined the others.

--------------------

Bright stumbled from the bathroom, now relieved of what felt like a gallon of beer from last
night and slid back under the covers next to Win. A glance at the clock told him that it was
early enough that he'd rather not be awake but late enough that his body wouldn't give him
much choice in the matter. His cock was definitely voting for staying up.

He looked over, watching Win asleep next to him. Until last weekend, he would have been
coming in right now to wake his Dom with a deluxe blowjob before going downstairs to
make coffee. Getting up early had been a pain in the ass but he had to admit that particular
"chore" was one he'd actually looked forward to doing. He'd especially enjoyed those
moments when Win hadn't yet woken but his body had already begun responding on its own,
expressing a subconscious desire for him. Pushing aside his own relief to pleasure Win in that
way made him feel…subby, for lack of a better word and that special time together always set
the tone for the rest of their day.

He wouldn't be doing that anymore and part of him actually felt a brief twist of
disappointment. Now he could sleep in Win's bed instead of across the hall and that was
better, he told himself. Still, it wasn't the same thing.

Even though he wasn't obligated as Win's partner, he realized there was nothing stopping him
from delivering the blowjob anyway. He had no doubt that Win enjoyed waking up with his
cock in a warm mouth as much as he did.

As Win emerged from sleep, he could feel his cock hardening, Bright's lips and tongue
working their magic. "Mmm….pet. Yes," he murmured, his fingers carding through Bright's
hair. As always during their morning ritual, he lost himself in the ecstasy of the moment,
letting his sub do what he did best.

Bright's hand took over for his mouth as he inched his way up Win's body, kissing a path to
his lips before claiming them with his own. "Shall I finish or do you want me to fuck you?"
he whispered, his voice deep and rough, sending a tingle zipping down Win's back.

Looking up at him, Win blinked in confusion at this deviation from their routine before it
dawned on him that Bright was asking as his partner, not as his sub. A single drop of
disappointment fell before he reminded himself that waking up next to your partner had some
pretty amazing benefits too. His hand went to the nightstand and came back with the answer
between his fingers, then handed it to Bright.

As he got ready, Bright watched Win stroking himself lazily, his other arm over his head,
tucked partially beneath the pillow, eyes heavy-lidded with desire. Win had made no move to
change positions so Bright leaned forward, his body stretched out over Win's. Their lips met
in a deep kiss, tongues caressing before Bright pulled back to watch Win's face as he pushed
into him, smiling at the soft moan that rose from his chest. Reading Win's quiet mood, Bright
set an easy pace, his strokes long and deep as they shared kisses that were, in turns, soft and
gentle or intense and possessive.

Bright had never thought of Win as anything other than a generous lover and even when he
bottomed, he usually took an active role in pleasuring his partner. Yesterday's fuck in the
chair was proof of that. But as he was learning, every so often, like this morning, Win wanted
to lie back and let Bright take care of him, worship him even, and he was more than happy to
oblige.

In this position, face to face, he could feed off Win's responses, move faster or slower, or
adjust his angle to give Win the most pleasure. That's why he fucked tricks from behind;
watching their faces didn't do anything for him. In. Out. Done. Win was different.

Not for the first time, he threw up a prayer of thanks that he and Win were so sexually
compatible. If his life was destined to include a partner…Dom…whatever the fuck, he was
lucky to have one who complimented his sexual tastes. Outside of scenes, Win seemed to
prefer to bottom but in scenes, Win always topped, and that also suited Bright just fine.
Playing put him in a different headspace altogether and for him, bottoming was intertwined
with being a sub.

----------------------------------------

After Bright had dressed and headed downstairs on a quest for warm caffeine, Win selected a
shirt and pants from the closet and brought them out to the bed, taking his time as he put
them on. He was half thinking about what they were going to do today – clothes shopping,
Bright had informed him in no uncertain terms – and half trying to figure out why the past
hour had left him with mixed feelings.

He'd loved having Bright in his bed and thinking about the wake-up sex brought a smile to
his face and a twitch in his crotch. Showering together and even sharing the bathroom as they
attended to the mundane tasks of shaving and brushing their teeth – all of that had felt nice
and comfortable. And amusing, as he watched Bright spend ten minutes and two different
products arranging his hair. He had such an urge to mess it up for the sole fun of it. Maybe he
would after breakfast.

He'd dreamed and fantasized about sharing his life with Bright and now that dream had come
 true. Still, something was missing. One of the highlights of their weekends together had been
Bright serving him in the morning – waking him, making coffee while he showered and then
kneeling as he drank, basking in the attention of his Dom. Those times were ones of quiet
closeness that he'd grown to treasure over the past few weeks and he knew without a doubt
that Bright had enjoyed them too, being more relaxed and at ease with his submission than
any other time.

Things were different now and the way their arrangement was headed, they could only be
Dom and sub during their mutually agreed playtimes. Service, it seemed, had no place in
their relationship now, which meant that they'd have to figure out what to do about another
service that Bright used to perform.

Win sighed; he understood Bright's resolute desire to separate being a sub from being a
partner, he really did. He even agreed with it to some extent. He'd never wanted to have a 24-
7 sub, nor had he wanted to be one either, as he'd told Daniel with as much sensitivity as he
could. But could he limit being a Dom to the playroom, figuratively speaking? Was it
possible for him to confine it within such a finite boundary, as Bright wanted?

He was probably drawing conclusions before even giving things a chance. Maybe he just
needed to get used to how things were now. Different didn't equate to bad or wrong. They
were both adjusting to a new reality and that took time. He'd said as much to Bright but the
advice held for him too.

Win's stomach growled and he shook his head, forcing his attention back to the task at hand:
getting dressed so he could join Bright downstairs. After re-buttoning his shirt correctly, he
chose a small gold stud for his ear, slipped on his watch and tried to remember what the
refrigerator contained for breakfast as he followed the aroma of fresh coffee.

-----

Chapter End Notes

Give thanks to this video for inspiration

 Chapter 3
Chapter Summary

FLOGGING...

Chapter Notes

My RL currently sucks. Busy with work then my grandma is on ICU, I got time to write
coz im staying with her for a few dyas before she needed to be transfer to ICU. This
helps me not to think to much on what is happening. I hope whatever you are going
through, somehow my writing will hwlp you escape reality even for a moment.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Are you doing any shopping today or just playing chauffeur for me?" Bright asked as they
cleaned up the lunch dishes.

"Probably shopping. I need a new suit or two; some of mine are starting to look worn out so
I'm going to take advantage of your fashion expertise. And I'd be happy to take advantage of
you in the dressing room," Win said, leering at Bright.

"I'm sure you would." He was always in the mood for a quickie in a public place, all the more
fun if there were hidden cameras.

"And after that, we're going over to the club and get our flu shots."

Bright started to laugh and then realized Win was serious. "I'll pass."

Win looked at Bright in surprise. "You don't get a flu shot every year?" Bright shook his
head. "Why not?"

"Never needed one. I hardly ever get sick." Thankfully, he was born with good genes in that
respect.

"The flu this year is supposed to be especially nasty so I want you to get one," Win replied,
his tone caring yet firm.

"And I said that I don't need one." Bright's voice carried an edge of irritation. "You can get
one if you want."
"Getting a flu shot is part of staying healthy and that's something we both agreed to in our
contract so I expect—"

"Contract?" Bright interrupted, an incredulous look on his face. "What does that have to do
with anything?"

Now it was Win's turn to be astonished, although he tried to keep his voice even. "Taking
care of yourself is something you need to do all the time. As your Dom, I am insisting that
you get a flu shot."

"My Dom?" Bright echoed Win's words back to him. "Funny, I didn't think we were playing
now."

"I never stop being your Dom!" Win could no longer keep his voice restrained. "And you're
always my sub."

"That's not what we agreed!" Bright shot back. "We decided—"

"—that we'd play whenever we were in the mood," Win finished. "Yes, and I can see how
that limitation means you won't be doing chores or wearing a collar outside the playroom but
when it comes to things like staying healthy and practicing safe sex, those are your
responsibilities all the time."

"I'm a big boy now. I think I can make those decisions for myself."

Bright's tone was outright disrespectful and Win opened his mouth to reprimand his sub
before catching himself. Tensions were already high and thanks to their "agreement" he really
wasn't sure what their status was as Dom and sub right this minute. He took a deep breath and
forced himself to stay in control of his emotions.

"Yes, you can but it's part of my job as your Dom to take care of you." Win held up his hand,
cutting off Bright's retort. "Stop. I know what you are going to say and if we keep going with
this argument, we'll be chasing our tails all afternoon, only to end up right back at this same
point, and waste our shopping time." He kept his hand up, signaling Bright that he needed to
collect his thoughts.

"Okay," Win continued a minute later, "even if I'd made this demand in the playroom, unless
Doc Herrera joins us for a scene to give you the flu shot, that part would have to take place
outside the playroom. So, for the sake of ending this argument and moving on, I'm asking
you to please indulge me and agree to get a flu shot today."

"Demand," Bright repeated, mildly. "And if I don't agree, I'll be punished?"

Win sighed. Moving closer to Bright, he slipped his arms around the other man's waist. "Bad
choice of wording. I'm sorry. No, I won't punish you, although if you refuse, I would
appreciate a specific reason why not." He looked intently into Bright's eyes and then leaned
in to kiss him tenderly on the lips. When he spoke again, his tone was softer. "Look, I don't
want us to fight. Clearly we still have some things to work out in our relationship but now
isn't the time or place. I care about you so I'd like you to get a flu shot." He saw the look of
distaste on Bright's face. "But if you feel that strongly about it, I won't push."

Bright hesitated and then, deciding it wasn't such a big deal in the first place, nodded
reluctantly. "Fine. You really know how to show a guy a good time, don't you?"

Win smiled and kissed Bright again. "Always. And if you're a good boy for your shot, I'll
give you a reward after." He waggled his eyebrows.

"You said we're going to the club?"

"Yes, one of the subs is a doctor – a dermatologist. As a service to club members, Doc
Herrera offers free flu shots on a couple of Saturday afternoons in the fall. I've gone every
year for the past five or six years now."

After a productive afternoon of shopping and mostly discreet mutual blowjobs in the dressing
room, both of which improved Bright's mood immensely, they arrived at The Exchange.
Bright was curious about this famous club but he didn't get a chance to see much of the place
on this visit. They entered through a side door and went directly upstairs to one of the demo
rooms, the smell of isopropyl alcohol invading their nostrils confirmed that they were in the
right place. The room they were in was nondescript and he could see movable partitions on
either end that could enlarge the room, presumably to accommodate larger crowds. A St.
Andrews cross stood in the corner and a large storage cabinet took up part of the opposite
wall.

After waiting while Doc administered a shot to someone ahead of them, Win introduced
Bright to the doctor.

"Pleased to meet you, Bright," he said, extending his hand.

"Same here." Bright returned the handshake. Doc Herrera appeared to be mid-forties with a
warm smile and firm handshake. His calm and pleasant demeanor probably made him
popular with his patients, Bright thought.

Win looked around. "Not too busy today?"

"Actually," Doc said, "things just slowed down about twenty minutes ago. There's been a line
almost all afternoon."

Taking in Doc's slight grin, Win raised his eyebrow. "You look like you're having entirely too
much fun doing this."

"Of course. Look at this from my perspective; I'm just a lowly sub and I get to spend the
afternoon sticking needles into macho Doms, at least half of whom put on a show and
pretend that they aren't a little bit nervous when the sharp end is pointed at them. If I get a
little kick out of doing it, well, that's a side benefit."

Chuckling, Win shook his head. "Indulging your inner sadist?"

"I'm a doctor, first and foremost, so I'm always compassionate. But I can enjoy my work too."
"You can put me in the other half that can take it," Win assured Doc Herrera. "Needles don't
bother me."

"I'm glad to hear that." Doc slipped back into his professional persona. "Now let's see. Win,
you've been here before. Bright, have you ever had a flu shot?" Bright shook his head.

"So I'll do you first and then I need you to hang out in here for about twenty minutes so I can
be sure you aren't going to have a reaction." He asked Bright a couple of questions about
allergies and then motioned for him to sit down on the bondage table he was using for the
occasion.

"Left arm okay with you?" Bright nodded then unbuttoned his shirt and slipped his arm out of
the sleeve.

Doc looked appraisingly at Bright's half-naked torso and smiled in approval at Win. "Very
nice."

"Just keep it professional, Doc," Win said with mock warning. He was proud of his gorgeous,
sexy sub and didn't mind when others looked, not that he had anything to worry about; Doc
was collared to his Master and partner.

Doc picked up a syringe from the pile on the end of the table and began drawing up the clear
liquid from a small vial. He noticed the expression on Bright's face. "Afraid of needles?"

"No," Bright answered quickly. "But that doesn't mean I enjoy having one jabbed into me."

"Most people don't. I'll do my best to make it quick and hopefully painless." He tore open an
alcohol wipe and cleaned Bright's upper arm. "Look over at Win. He can distract you, I'm
sure."

"Want me to hold your hand?" Win offered and received a withering look in reply.

"Drop your shoulder and relax your arm," Doc directed, giving Bright's arm a shake to loosen
it. "Now take a deep breath in and let it out." As he exhaled, he felt a quick prick followed by
a slight twinge and then it was over.

"All done," Doc pronounced, capping the needle and applying a small band-aid. "How did I
do?"

Bright was impressed. "Not bad at all." Too bad everyone wasn't that good. The nurse who
stabbed him when he got his last tetanus shot had clearly mistaken him for a dartboard.

"Doc is very good," Win agreed and Doc smiled at the compliment. He prided himself on his
injection technique.

"Do you, by chance, do Botox treatments?" Bright asked.

"Yes," Doc replied, running his professional gaze over Bright's face and assessing his skin.
"But you don't need Botox."
"Not yet but I will someday. I have no intention of having wrinkles." Bright shuddered at the
thought. Win smiled and shook his head at Bright's vanity.

"You'll have less chance of wrinkles if you stop smoking," Doc Herrera admonished.
Noticing Bright's look of surprise, Doc added, "Besides the fact that I can smell it on you, I
can also read it in your skin, Bright. The best thing you can do to prevent wrinkles is to quit."

Bright scowled and huffed out an indignant breath.

"Anything else I can do for you today?" Doc asked, motioning to an assortment of small
vials. "I've got Hepatitis A and B vaccines with me. Chicken pox. Measles. And tetanus, if
you need a booster."

"Uh, no. But thanks anyway."

Watching Bright get his shot, Win realized that seeing Bright in the role of the patient had
turned him on. Not when he was truly injured or sick but here, in this type of setting,
definitely. He could foresee a medical role play scene in their future and his mind was already
scrolling through the plethora of wicked things he could do to his "patient."

Bright finished buttoning his shirt and traded places with Win, who started unbuttoning his
own shirt.

"Okay, Win, where do you want it?" Doc asked, picking up a syringe and beginning to fill it.

"Left arm is fine with me too."

Doc nodded. "Good choice. Most people can't handle a shot in the ass and you wouldn't want
to embarrass yourself in front of your sub."

"Fuck that," Win replied with a snort. "I've been a pincushion* more than once so a shot in
my ass would be a piece of cake."

"Care to place a little wager on that?"

Win grinned. "Fifty bucks says I don't move or make a sound." This was going to be the
easiest money he'd ever made.

"You're on. Bright can watch your face to make sure."

Bright was making no attempt to hide his amusement at the exchange. He wouldn't have
dropped his pants for fifty bucks but if Win wanted to take it in the ass, he wasn't going to
stop him.

After hopping down from the table, Win unbuttoned his jeans, pushed them partway down
and bent over slightly, his hands flat on the table to brace himself. He took a deep breath and
relaxed, not concerned at all. Besides, he had Bright to look at and that pretty much
guaranteed that he wouldn't even notice what Doc was doing.
Win flinched slightly when the cool, wet wipe touched his skin and he reminded himself to
concentrate. He schooled his expression, locked eyes with Bright and waited.

"Whoohoo! Nice ass!" Both Win and Bright turned their heads toward the sound. A small
group of Win's friends had gathered just inside the door to watch.

"Oh, shit!" Win said, closing his eyes and shaking his head.

At that moment, Doc plunged the needle into his ass and Win, distracted, exclaimed, "Ow!"
loud enough for everyone to hear, making all of them laugh and exchange high-fives.

Win gritted his teeth while Doc finished the injection and put on a band-aid. Then he yanked
his pants up and turned around. "That fucking hurt," he said, scowling at Doc Herrera. The
little crowd laughed again and Win scowled at them too, which only encouraged their mirth.
Even Bright had joined in, not caring that he would probably pay for his disloyalty the next
time Win had a chance to do something unpleasant to him.

"It did?" Doc feigned surprise. He looked at the syringe. "Whoops, I accidentally used a 22
gauge instead of a 25 gauge needle. Sorry about that." Doc didn't look the least bit sorry
about the "mistake."

Ignoring the spectators, Win stood up straighter and aimed his most intimidating glare at Doc.
"That's cheating."

Doc held up his hands in mock surrender. "I don't remember any rules about what size the
needle had to be. Either gauge is perfectly acceptable for flu shots but most people don't use a
22 because it hurts more."

"No kidding." Win said, rubbing his ass. Damn, that really had hurt.

Doc pointed to Win's ass. "The injection site might be a bit tender for a day or two. Ice will
help. And you'll want to make sure to use the muscle to keep it from getting stiff and sore."

"Yeah, Win. Keep that ass moving," Tiger suggested helpfully, making thrusting motions with
his hips.

"Fuck you. That was a dirty trick to play." Then he gave up on being pissed and joined in the
fun, knowing that he'd walked right into their little trap. He had only himself to blame. And
when his ass stopped hurting, he'd probably admit it was a clever trick.

Doc held out his hand. "Time to pay up."

Win got out his wallet and grudgingly handed over fifty dollars. Holding up the money, Doc
called to the onlookers, "First round's on me," and they all cheered.

"C'mon, Win," Jerry said. "Bring your injured ass and have a beer with us."

Win shrugged and chuckled. "Might as well since it's my money."

As they were leaving, Bright leaned over to Win and said with mock sympathy, "Want me to
kiss it and make it better?"

"Just wait till we get home, pet. Don't think I didn't notice you laughing too."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Bright took his new clothes upstairs while Win went into the kitchen to start dinner. The
shopping trip had been a fruitful one. In addition to the basic stuff he needed, Win and the
queen at the men's clothing store had convinced him to try a Tom Ford suit in midnight navy
with a very subtle and tasteful pattern. He'd been impressed enough with what he saw to buy
it, although he'd pretended that Win had to twist his arm. Win had chosen a similar suit, plus
a charcoal gray one. The lady tailor that Win used had efficiently taken his measurements and
assured them their suits would be ready in a week.

After he'd removed the tags from his purchases and found places for everything in the closet
and dresser, he grabbed a quick shower and dressed in one of his new outfits, a button-down
shirt that Win had especially liked, left hanging untucked over a new pair of jeans. Pleased
with the image in the mirror, he headed downstairs to see if Win needed any help in the
kitchen. The detour to the bar after their flu shots had been fun, even if they'd limited
themselves to one beer each since they were playing later, but the delay had set them behind
schedule. Win wanted to leave time for their dinner to settle before their scene so he had
abandoned his original dinner idea for one that was quicker.

"Mm…" Bright sauntered up behind Win as he stood at the counter and kissed the back of his
neck. His hand came to rest on Win's ass, precisely on a certain tender spot and he squeezed,
causing Win to flinch and drop the peeler he was using. "How's your ass?" Bright asked, his
lips on Win's ear, and Win could hear the smirk in his voice.

"A little sore but mostly okay when it's not being man-handled by inconsiderate partners,"
Win replied, turning his head to catch Bright's lips with his own. "More importantly, how's
your arm?" He watched Bright's reaction carefully, making sure he wasn't hiding anything.

"It's fine. I took your advice; I've been moving it a lot and I don't feel any soreness." Bright
rotated his shoulder, flexing his deltoid muscle without grimacing.

"You're okay to play tonight? No stiffness?"

"No stiffness," Bright confirmed. "At least not in my arm."

Win snorted. "Tease."

Bright looked over Win's shoulder at the array of vegetables. "What's for dinner and can I
help with anything?"

"Beef and vegetable stir-fry over noodles and yes, you can. Please bring me the sesame oil
from the pantry."
Just as Bright set the bottle of oil down on the counter, he froze, eyes wide. "What's wrong?"
Win asked.

"That smell! It's…" His eyes cast over the vegetables scattered on the counter, finally
alighting on the culprit.

Win's gaze followed his and then smiled. "Ah, yes. There's ginger in this recipe."

"I just lost my appetite," Bright declared, tearing his attention away from the offending item.

"Well, I suggest you find it because we're not playing unless you eat dinner," Win replied, his
tone playful but Bright didn't doubt that he meant every word of his threat. When Bright
looked like he might actually consider skipping dinner – and play – Win shook his head. "I've
had ginger in my ass too, not to mention other sensitive places, and I didn't like it any more
than you did but I still enjoy eating it. I can separate them in my mind but maybe it's too soon
for you. The memory is too fresh."

"I think next millennium is too soon," Bright answered, his face still showing his revulsion.

"My poor pet." Win grinned and leaned over to kiss Bright. "Why don't you go set the table
and I'll deal with the dreaded ginger?"

"Gladly."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Tell me about the club," Bright said, after taking a tentative bite of the vegetables and
finding, to his relief, that he didn't taste much ginger. "I hardly saw any of it today."

"We didn't have time for a tour today but you'll get to see more when we go in two weeks.
There's a spacious, open lobby for socializing at the events, a large dining room and top-of-
the-line kitchen plus offices and meeting rooms on the first floor. Second floor is for play.
Rooms of various sizes, all stocked with equipment and toys. A medic room, which
thankfully isn't needed very often, and a few rooms for overnight guests."

"Is membership open? Should I join?" Bright asked. "Since we're uh…partners now." He
could almost say the word aloud without stumbling over it.

Almost but not quite.

"I can take you as a guest whenever I want but yes, you'll probably want to join eventually.
Membership is open but heavily screened. Subs need a least one reference from a Top to join,
unless they are joining as a novice. Novices have to go through a training program with a
mentor Top before they can play with anyone they choose. Tops need at least two references
to join, one from a sub and one from another Top who can vouch for them. Unless they are
joining to train and then we set up a training program with a mentor Top. All other Tops are
on probation when they first join; we monitor their first two scenes and require good
evaluations from both of their bottoms to pass probation."

Bright raised his eyebrows. "Pretty strict but I can see why."
Win took a drink of his iced tea. "We run a very safe club and we have the reputation to prove
it. Deliberate violations of safety rules get you kicked out."

"We?" Was Win part-owner? He'd never mentioned it.

"The club is run as a cooperative," Win explained, "and all the members contribute so we
think of it as 'ours'. There's a basic membership fee and as long as you contribute a specified
number of hours a year in service duties, that's all you pay. If not, the full membership is
pretty steep. And there's a special rate for college students and others who can't afford to
pay."

Interesting concept, Bright thought, taking a bite of his stir-fry. Not what he would have
expected. "What do you have to do to contribute?"

"If you have a specific skill, that makes it easier. Carson is a police officer so he often works
security or as a Dungeon Monitor for play events. Marcus is in IT, so he's in charge of our
website and computer network. Some people take a turn at serving on the Board of Directors
or one of the many committees. I cooked for one event when our chef was sick and I've also
put in hours training subs and giving workshops. Tyler and Greg sometimes volunteer to be
the bottoms at those events. Cub inspects and maintains the toys and equipment. Doc Herrera
gives flu shots and, along with the other physicians, takes turns being 'on call' for injuries.
Subs sometimes work as waiters or kitchen help during the big social events. And bathrooms
always need to be cleaned and yard work done. See, no shortage of things to do."

"Impressive. I wonder if they need any legal expertise."

Win laughed. "Perhaps. I'm sure we could find something for you to do."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Bright stripped, laid his clothes on the chair by the door. Usually he went right to his spot and
knelt but tonight, he walked around, surveying the playroom and trying to reacquaint himself
with the space that he'd always remembered as familiar and safe, yet tonight seemed…large.
When had he last been in here? He had to think for a moment. It was…last weekend, when
he….fuck! John. His mother. And he shut down that thought before it went any further.

Not going there.

Before that…the scene with Win and Josh had been a lot of fun. And the hot wax which was
fucking intense. Win had really gotten off on that one. Playing with Billkin several weeks
ago. And the nipple clamps. Win marking him. Getting fucked. Yes, lots of good memories in
this room.

And tonight too, he hoped. Win had promised they'd have a fun scene, even if Win's idea of
fun wasn't always the same as his. He knew they were going over positions and protocol for
their evening at The Exchange but what else did Win have planned? Win had laid some
things out on the table but he'd covered it with a sheet so it was impossible to tell what was
on the agenda tonight without disobeying Win's order not to snoop. The bottle of lube was
out so that was a good sign.
He went to the middle of the floor, knelt with his back to the door and made sure his body
was in correct position. Kneeling still felt familiar yet not as automatic as it usually did.
Finally satisfied that he'd pass inspection, he closed his eyes and took several deep breaths,
consciously working to clear his mind. Push away thoughts of shopping and flu shots. He
rotated his left arm one more time, warding off any soreness from the injection.

No. Concentrate, he told himself. Focus.

Time to play.

Time to submit to Win.

His new suit…he needed to remind Win to pick it up before….No! Think about that later. He
shook his head, trying to clear it.

Focus.

Deep breath. Another.

Relax.

Submit. Win's sub now.

Where was Win anyway?

Standing in the doorway and watching Bright, Win shook his head. Settling down and finding
his submissive headspace had become fairly easy and natural for Bright the past few months,
yet tonight it was almost as if he was a newbie again. Even if his position was technically
correct, his body was tense and he wasn't still. Fidgeting and shifting wasn't typical for him
once he found his headspace which means he hadn't yet. And giving him more time wasn't
likely to help either.

Closing the door behind him with a soft click, Win watched, unsurprised as Bright started to
look over his shoulder before catching himself. No, Bright definitely wasn't in his headspace.
The question was why.

Win stood in front of Bright, pleased when he maintained his position and didn't look up.
Good, at least he hadn't forgotten his training. He certainly didn't want to punish Bright for
something so basic.

"It feels good to be in here again. Don't you agree, pet?" Win asked, cupping Bright's cheek
in his palm.

"Yes, sir," Bright answered, leaning into Win's touch.

Win went to the table and returned with the metal collar, fastening it around Bright's neck
when he leaned forward, head bowed in acceptance of this tangible symbol of his submission.

Stepping back, Win admired the visual image – both the collar and the owner of the neck it
rested upon. "Beautiful," he pronounced. "And mine."
"Thank you, sir," Bright answered. At first, the metal felt cold against his bare skin, and he
suppressed a shudder at the sensation but then his body memory kicked in, remembering the
weight of it resting on his collarbone. He relaxed, almost sighing as he felt a heaviness lift
from his body, leaving him feeling lighter. And more centered. Calm.

Win could see Bright visibly relax under the collar but he suspected Bright might need a little
more help achieving the deep submissive mindset that he'd need for this scene. "Close your
eyes, pet."

Win spoke quietly, petting Bright as he did so. "Breathe. Push everything else aside. Sink into
it. Open yourself. Focus on my voice. Being my pet."

Bright focused on Win's words, losing himself in his Dom's touch. Feeling himself slipping
into that comfortable, safe place where nothing else mattered except pleasing his Dom.

Win could see that his assistance had been precisely what Bright needed. His breathing was
now even and his body was still. Relaxed.

"Very good, pet. Your safeword?"

"Red, sir."

"Red," Win repeated. "And yellow. Later tonight, I'm going to test your limits and I want you
to use 'yellow' if you need me to slow down or back off a bit but not stop the scene. Do you
understand, pet?"

"Yes, sir. Yellow to slow down."

"Correct. First I want to talk about what you can expect when we go to the club. We will both
be in suits and ties. You'll be wearing a white shirt, as will all of the subs. The Doms will be
wearing any color other than white. When we are socializing, I'll introduce you as my sub
and you may participate in the conversation when appropriate but you will be respectful to
me at all times. You will address me as 'sir' and anyone else by their first name. Some subs
are under orders not to speak so you are not to initiate conversation with another sub without
permission of his Dom. Everything clear so far, pet?"

"Yes, sir.

"Good. When we are walking, I expect you to walk to heel, which you learned several weeks
ago but we're going to practice again now, along with common positions. Stand up, please.
Display position."

Win checked his position, made a couple of adjustments to his posture and then nodded in
satisfaction. "Very nice. And, as I mentioned before," he said as he walked over to the table,
"you'll be on a leash that night." He picked up a leather leash from the table and turned back
to Bright. "This is new for you so we're going to practice now."

Heart pounding, Bright stared at the coil of leather in Win's hand as he walked toward him.
His fists clenched. Two quick breaths to steady his resolve.
"Red."

Win hesitated only a split second before his Dom training kicked in. He dropped the leash
and reached out for Bright, making sure he wasn't on the verge of fainting or ill.

"What's the matter, pet? Talk to me."

"I can't." Bright shook his head.

"The leash?" Win asked and Bright nodded. "Too humiliating?"

"Yes. Sir," he added.

"Okay. It's okay. Relax." Win kept his voice calm, his hands petting Bright, feeling the
tension in his body, sensing his distress. Over the leash, yes but probably from having to use
his safeword at all. "Let's sit down and talk for a minute." Win guided him over to the couch
and had Bright kneel in front of him.

He held Bright's face, both hands framing his face. "Look at me, pet. First of all, I'm not
angry. I am proud of you, though. You used your safeword and I know you didn't do that
lightly." Smiling, he leaned forward and kissed Bright, then enveloped him in a hug, holding
him securely and letting Bright know everything was okay.

Closing his eyes, Bright relaxed into Win's embrace. It was okay now. He'd dreaded having to
use his safeword but, for the first time, he was glad he had one.

After a few minutes, Win pulled back but kept his hands on Bright's body, maintaining the
connection. "Do you want to end the scene or are you alright to continue?"

"I want to keep going, sir."

"Very good." Win kissed him and then stood, motioning for Bright to return to his prior
position. He picked the leash up from the floor and deliberately put it away, out of sight so its
presence wouldn't distract Bright.

"Walking to heel will be more difficult to master without a leash but not impossible. For
training, I may need to use nipple clamps attached to a chain but let's see if you can manage
without using pain."

"Thank you, sir." Bright decided that the threat was enough to motivate him to get this right
the first time. His nipples were aching just thinking about it.

"You're welcome, pet." They walked around the playroom, Win leading with Bright one step
behind and to his right. It took a while for Bright to find the right combination of distance
and pace to stay close enough to Win without running into him but eventually he worked it
out and Win was pleased with his progress. He still felt like a trained dog doing this but if
walking to heel pleased Win and he didn't have to wear a leash, he could handle it.

"Very nice, pet. We'll practice again the day of the dinner." He had Bright assume the
kneeling position and carefully scrutinized his position but could find nothing to correct.
Standing behind Bright, Win took a moment to enjoy the view; Bright on his knees was truly
a lovely sight to behold and he was a lucky bastard to have it all to himself.

"As I said before, when I'm standing, you may stand next to me but at heel position. Some
subs are trained to drop to their knees whenever their master stops walking but I won't ask
you to do that. Personally, I find all of the changing position, up and down, every time I want
to move a few steps to be awkward but that's my opinion." Win paused and smiled. "Plus,
how can everyone admire my gorgeous sub if he's on the floor?"

"Good question, sir." Bright answered with a touch of cheekiness, at the same time basking in
the compliment and agreeing wholeheartedly with Win.

Win rolled his eyes but couldn't help giving a slight chuckle. "You should be in your element
that night, pet. Dressing up in nice clothes and getting to spend the evening looking beautiful
and making everyone in the room envious. Just don't let your ego get too inflated. I may have
to spank you when we get home just to settle you down enough to sleep."

"I hope so, sir." Bright didn't even try to hide the smirk.

"I think you need to be taken down a notch tonight and the last part of tonight's scene should
accomplish that. Back to our evening at The Exchange, you don't have to kneel when I'm
standing but I do expect you to kneel next to my chair when I'm sitting at dinner and I will be
feeding you by hand."

Bright's stomach tightened and he could feel his heartbeat pounding in his ears. "Sir?"

"Yes, pet?"

"I don—," Bright rephrased his response. "I'm uncomfortable with you feeding me in public."
Yes, Win had fed him once at home and it had been okay, even kinda fun, but in front of other
people was too much.

"Yes, I know you are but we're going to do it anyway. Unless you choose to use your
safeword again now, I have decided that you are going to kneel and eat from my hand at the
club." Win's voice was firm, carrying that dominant edge which was so effective. And even
turned him on a little.

Yes, the idea of Win feeding him was embarrassing, definitely outside of his comfort zone
but he knew that was the point. Win was pushing him to do something he didn't want to do
and that's why he submitted to Win. Plus, deep down, he knew he wanted Win to challenge
him.

Win watched Bright struggle with accepting this new element in their play. He'd promised
Bright they weren't going to participate in any scenes but they were going out that night as
Dom and sub and Bright needed to actively function as his sub in order to find the event
fulfilling on some level. Yes, he admitted to himself that he wanted to show off for his friends
but he also knew that Bright needed to do this as a preliminary step toward public play.

"Understood, pet?"
"Yes, sir," Bright replied, his voice subdued.

"Good. I think you'll find that it won't be so bad. There will be cushions on the floor and
many other subs will be doing the same thing. But most importantly, you will be pleasing me
and I know you'll make me proud." Win leaned down and kissed Bright's lips. God, how it
felt good to be able to do that after holding himself back for so long.

"I will, sir."

"Excellent! Now I think that about covers—oh, one more thing. The day of the dinner, I want
you to wear your collar and be 'in scene' from the time you wake up. Having that grounding
beforehand will make the evening easier for you." Win knew that Bright hadn't yet learned to
easily shift in and out of his role as a sub so having this longer transition period would be
good for him. "Any questions?"

Questions? Yeah, a lot of them. He wanted to object to Win's suggestion but he didn't know
exactly how to say what he was thinking, even if his thoughts and feelings weren't all
jumbled together. They'd agreed that 'play' was to stay in the playroom. Or at The Exchange.
Being Win's sub all day, that wasn't what they'd agreed to but in truth, what Win said made
sense. And he had to admit that the prospect of spending the day being subby wasn't
unappealing. It was just one day, to get ready for their evening out.

"No questions, sir."

"Now we can get to the fun part of our scene, pet. Please go over to the St. Andrews cross."

Bright acknowledged the command and then waited while Win first fastened his ankles
before standing to secure his wrists to the arms of the cross, deliberately crowding him as he
did so, trapping his body against the cross. The soft leather of Win's pants, cool against his
skin, the bulge of Win's half-hard cock resting in the cleft of his ass. Bright couldn't resist
pushing back, as much as the restraints would allow, and grinding his ass against Win's
crotch, smiling in satisfaction at the growl he provoked.

"Impatient pet, aren't you?" Win's voice was low and hard, as he ran his palm over Bright's
flank, up his back and over his shoulder. Before Bright could answer, Win grabbed a handful
of his hair and yanked his head back. "We'll see how cocky you are when I'm done with you,
boy."

Bright grunted in surprise more than pain. "Yes, sir," he gasped and smiled to himself. Win
was definitely in a dominant mood tonight. This was going to be fun!

Win dropped his hand down to Bright's cock, already stiff, and gave it a few quick strokes.
He snorted in amusement when Bright automatically tried to thrust into his fist. "Impatient
and horny. Can you control yourself or do you need a cock ring?"

Controlling himself wasn't an issue so no, he didn't need a cock ring. "I'll try, sir."

"See that you do, pet, or there will be consequences." Win added a few more pulls on his
cock, grinning in sadistic delight when Bright groaned in frustration. Good. Starting the scene
already aroused would help things along.

"I know you enjoy flogging and tonight we're going to take it to the next level. You're ready
for it but you are going to hurt, pet - tonight and for the next several days. You'll have marks,
likely even bruises. I'm going to use a few floggers and try different types of strokes on you."
While he talked, he ran his hands over Bright's back and ass, lightly punching and squeezing
toned muscles, his touch rough and possessive, as if mapping his target and imagining how
beautiful it would look after an hour of attention from his flogger.

Bright shivered in anticipation, feeling Win's dominance enveloping him, making promises of
what was to come in a few minutes. His cock agreed and he groaned at the knowledge that he
wouldn't be getting relief for a while yet.

Giving one final slap to Bright's ass, Win removed the sheet from the table, uncovering an
array of floggers from his collection. "I'll be watching your reactions – what you enjoy and
where you are most sensitive. All you have to do is relax and don't hold anything back. After
a quick warm up, things will get intense very quickly so use the 'yellow' safeword if you
need. Or 'red' if it gets too bad. Understand, pet?"

"Yes, sir." Sure, he enjoyed flogging, if 'enjoy' was the right word when someone was hitting
you with something designed to inflict pain, but this scene sounded serious. He definitely
wasn't looking forward to the pain. Still, he was here because he wanted to submit to his Dom
and if Win thought he was ready for this, he'd do his best to please him. A part of him even
welcomed the challenge.

Picking up an all-purpose deerskin flogger, Win dragged the tails over the curve of Bright's
ass, up the length of his body, caressing his neck and shoulders before letting them slide
down his back. "So beautiful," he said, almost to himself. "Ready for me, waiting to feel the
bite of my whip." Win's voice dropped an octave. "God, I'm going to enjoy hurting you,
making you scream for me. Shall we begin, pet?"

That tone always went right to his cock but Bright had to push aside that thought. He took a
deep breath and let it out, adjusted his stance and nodded. "Yes, sir."

Win stepped back, shook out the flogger and began with easy strokes, enough to warm up and
sensitize Bright's skin, gradually but steadily increasing the intensity to get the blood flowing.
After a couple of minutes of attention, Bright's upper back, ass and the backs of his thighs
were turning pink and his breathing was starting to catch on each impact.

Time to pick up the pace. He switched to a kangaroo hide stinger flogger with thin, narrow
tails and landed a solid hit on Bright's left shoulder, which elicited a hiss of pain.

"Stings. Like…" Bright flinched, hissing again when the second impact hit next to the first.
"Like a thousand needles."

Win followed through with the next stroke but didn't wind up for another one. "No, pet. Don't
analyze." He wanted Bright to turn his brain off, not put it to work here. "I can tell everything
I need to know just from watching you. All you need to do is feel and react."
Oh. That was easier. "Yes, sir."

Win resumed, still using the same kangaroo flogger, one that he knew from experience stung
like a bitch. In fact, he personally hated being on the receiving end of this flogger and
judging from Bright's reactions, Win had no doubt he felt the same way. He definitely wasn't
enjoying the sensation, at least not on his shoulders and upper back. Each stroke yielded a
hiss of discomfort, often accompanied by a flinch or a short cry and Bright's breathing was
rapid and uneven as he worked simply to cope with the pain.

Moving the strike zone down to Bright's ass helped slightly; he seemed to tolerate that sort of
pain a little better on his ass, than on his upper body. Interesting, Win thought as he made a
note of this fact.

After another minute or two of focused attention, the skin on Bright's ass was as deep pink as
it was across his upper back. Seeing that Bright was still struggling, his breathing erratic - not
yet panicked but definitely flustered and uncontrolled, Win set the flogger on the table and
went to Bright, gently running his hand over his pet's flushed skin and watching, unsurprised,
when Bright pulled away from his touch with a gasp of pain.

"Easy, pet. Breathe. Slow and deep. That's it," he said, speaking softly yet with strong
reassurance. Bright needed to hear his Dom's voice. "You're doing so well."

"Thank you, sir," Bright answered quietly, focusing on Win touching him, petting him as he
tried to relax. That flogger had really thrown him for a loop. It was unlike anything Win had
used on him before; he just hadn't been able to really get into the scene because the God-
awful sting had kept him off balance. All he could do was hang on and wait for it to be over.

With his hands free for the moment, Win stripped off his black tee shirt and tossed it on the
table. He wasn't overheated yet but he was confident that he soon would be. A good scene
often left him as physically worn out as his sub and this one promised to do exactly that.

Win stepped in right behind Bright, slid one arm around his chest and the other around his
hips and pulled Bright's body flush against his own naked torso, hearing his pet's whimpered
protest as he felt the heat from Bright's back and shoulders leach into his bare skin. Pressing
his hard cock against Bright's ass, Win whispered into his ear, "Feel what you do to me, pet."

Bright let his head fall back against Win's shoulder, a needy moan escaping from his parted
lips. God, yes, how he needed to hear his Dom's voice, praising him. Strengthening him.
Right now, all he wanted to do was to submit and make Win proud of him.

Dipping his hand down to Bright's crotch, Win wasn't surprised to find that Bright's hard-on
had disappeared. He squeezed Bright's cock and balls and growled softly. His pet was
working hard for him, giving him everything but tonight wasn't about his arousal. In fact, he
doubted Bright would even be able to come at all tonight.

After allowing Bright's skin a brief rest for a few more moments, he kissed Bright hard.
"Ready for more, pet?"
"Yes, sir," Bright answered, seeming to gather his resolve in preparation for more stinging
lashes. Instead, to Bright's relief, Win selected a green-hued moose-hide flogger that would
deliver a combination of slappy and thuddy sensations. So far, the kangaroo stinger flogger
had merely heated up Bright's skin, causing only surface irritation that would have faded by
tomorrow morning. Now it was time to start working him harder, taking the pain deeper so
he'd feel it in his muscles for several days.

At first, Bright continued to fight the pain as the wider and thicker tails of the bison-hide
flogger rained down on his overheated and hyper-sensitive skin but very soon Win was
pleased to see a shift in his reactions. Bit by bit, Bright gained control over his breathing and
was not only coping with the pain, he was adjusting as the intensity increased.

"Very good, pet. Harness the pain, don't let it control you." Damn, he was so proud of Bright
that he couldn't hide the smile on his face as he continued swinging the flogger. Yes, this is
what he loved to see – his sub fighting and struggling but eventually settling under his whip.

Rotating between Bright's upper body and his ass and varying his rhythm, Win mapped
Bright's body, making note of Bright's vulnerable spots and devoting extra attention to them,
his lips curled into a grin of perverse satisfaction.

"Aaah, fuck!" Bright's voice was tight and though he was clearly in a lot of discomfort, Win
didn't detect any real distress yet. In fact, Bright was coping well, timing his breathing and
making a noticeable effort to relax and accept, rather than fight the pain. Every few strokes,
instead of a whimper of pain from Bright, Win heard a groan of what sounded like pleasure
slip out, a clue that the endorphins were staring to work their magic.

"You're doing great, pet. You look so beautiful." And he did, Win thought. Bright's gorgeous
body, muscles flexing, his skin shiny with sweat and reddened from his whip. He groaned, his
free hand squeezing his hard cock through leather pants that were now uncomfortably tight.
Soon he could sink into hot flesh, possessing and claiming his pet.

Seeing that Bright was managing the pain well, Win decided to kick the intensity up one
more notch. His goal tonight was to push Bright to his limit and see how well he handled
play at a higher level. Without breaking his rhythm, he picked up a fourth flogger with his
left hand and effortlessly switched hands. This one was made of heavy, black bull hide tails
that would deliver pure thud and would almost certainly leave bruises if wielded with any
force.

Bright's eyes flew open as the first stroke of the bull hide nearly knocked the air out of his
chest. Instead of the tapping and slapping of the last flogger, this one felt as if someone were
punching him repeatedly – across his shoulders, along the muscles of his back and ass. He
fought to adjust to the new sensation, consciously reminding himself to breathe.

Oh fuck, this hurt, and he was unable to suppress a cry of pain on almost every stroke. After
only a couple of minutes, his muscles were already aching and the thought that flashed
through his mind was that he was going to be very, very sore tomorrow. Finding his
equilibrium again under this new flogger was a battle he wasn't winning. Was Win hitting
him harder or was it just the accumulation of the impacts? This was too much. Too fast.
Maybe if Win slowed down so he could breathe between strikes…
"Yellow…slower….please…sir," Bright gasped.

"Yellow. Very good, pet." Win slowed the pace of the strikes then smiled in satisfaction when
Bright settled down, more accepting and less fighting against the pain.

"That's it, hurt for me, pet!" Win landed a heavy blow right on Bright's reddened ass, eliciting
a cry of pain. "Yes! Let me hear you!" This was his sub, taking pain from his hand and fuck,
the feeling was heady! Hearing the slap of leather on skin - so fucking intoxicating!

Win smiled again, as he began to hear Bright's grunts and groans of pleasure, a clear
indication that he was flying on endorphins and possibly even on his way to subspace.

Seeing Bright really riding the pain, Win could let go and revel in his own pleasure. Ride his
top's high, relishing the physical exertion of the scene, like a good workout. As his own
endorphins kicked in, he groaned, so horny that he wanted nothing more than to drop the
flogger and fuck Bright into next week. Soon, he promised himself as he ran his free hand
through his sweaty hair.

To finish the scene, he switched to a suede flogger. The lighter, softer tails would provide a
smooth transition, not too abrupt or jarring. Slowly, he tapered off the intensity and slowed
down the pace until the tails were merely kissing Bright's body.

After setting the flogger on the table, he went to Bright, not touching, just watching. Fuck, he
was stunning. Eyes closed, jaw slack. Slumped against the cross, utterly blissed out. His
damp skin and hair and his flushed face proof of the physical ordeal he'd just been through.

Win touched Bright's cheek. "My brave pet. You were perfect." Bright's eyes fluttered and he
moaned softly, making Win nod in understanding. Oh yeah, Bright was flying.

"Thank you…sir," Bright answered softly.

"Feeling pretty good?"

"Mm hmm."

Quickly he checked over Bright's shoulders, back and ass. The skin was inflamed and red but
unbroken. He had no doubt that Bright would be sore for several days and he allowed himself
a moment of purely indulgent Dom pride at the thought. He'd done this and his sub, his
fucking gorgeous sub, would bear the marks.

"Let's get you over to the bed."

Win unfastened Bright's ankles first, then his arms, keeping a protective grip on him. As he
expected, Bright was unsteady on his feet so he slung Bright's left arm around his shoulders
and, keeping his right arm around Bright's waist, he guided his sub over to the bed. Carefully,
he lowered Bright onto the bed, face down and positioned a pillow under his hips.

Win leaned down to nip Bright's neck before whispering in his ear. "I can't wait to fuck you.
You want to feel my cock, pet?"
Bright nodded, a look of utter ecstasy on his face, as he spread his legs and pushed his ass up
slightly.

Win didn't need any further encouragement. Eager to claim the rest of his reward, he quickly
got himself ready and then pushed in, groaning as his almost painfully hard cock slid into the
tight heat of Bright's ass. Oh fuck, that felt so good!

Fucking Bright in this position, he could not only admire his handiwork but also feel the heat
radiating off Bright's skin when their bodies came into contact. On his lips as he kissed and
bit Bright's shoulders. Against his pelvis as he sank his cock deep into Bright's body. Under
his hands as he held Bright down and fucked him hard, using his pet for his own pleasure.

After having been achingly hard for so long, it didn't take Win long before he was on the
edge. Gripping Bright's hips hard enough to bruise, he pushed in to the hilt, groaning as his
own hips tried to drive him still deeper into Bright's body. "Oh fuck, YES!" he shouted.

Listening to Bright's moans and whimpers, Win knew he'd enjoyed being fucked but he didn't
seem close to coming. Likely he was too deep in subspace for his body to achieve orgasm so
he didn’t try to push Bright.

After he pulled out and disposed of the condom, he fetched a warm, wet cloth and cleaned
them both. He helped Bright sit up enough to drink some water and then applied some aloe
gel to his back and ass to cool the skin. After draping a light blanket over Bright, he quickly
checked the doors in the rest of the house and shut off the lights. A quick trip to the bathroom
and then he joined Bright in the playroom bed for the night.

Whether Bright was sleeping or merely drifting on a haze of endorphins, he couldn't tell but
his own senses were on alert and he'd be awake in an instant if Bright needed him in the
night.

"My pet, my beautiful, strong pet," he murmured. "I love you." Running his hands through
Bright's hair and petting his face and neck, Win basked in the post-scene contentment of an
evening well spent. They'd both had fun, worked hard and now was the time to enjoy the
rewards. He'd been able to let go for a while and really play with Bright, not as a novice but
as the experienced sub he was becoming and that had been a truly exhilarating feeling.

Notes

* "Pincushion" refers to the bottom in a needle play scene where the Top inserts needles in
various places on the bottom's body.

Here are pictures of the floggers referenced in the chapter:

Deerskin, for warm-up. Soft, supple tails. More sensation and stimulation than pain.

Kangaroo Stinger. It feels just like the name sounds.

Moose-hide flogger. Middle-weight, medium intensity, mostly thuddy without much sting.

Bull-hide flogger. Thick, heavy tails yield intense thud.

 Suede flogger. Soft tails to finish off the scene.

Chapter End Notes

Thanks you for reading.

 Chapter 4
Chapter Summary

"What's really wrong, pet? And don't say 'fine' again. Talk to me."

"I don't need to talk, I just…" Bright blew out a breath. "I don't know if I want to do this
anymore."

Win's stomach sank and he closed his eyes. Shit. "What do you mean?" he forced
himself to ask.

"This kinky shit. It's not…I've had enough."

Chapter Notes

Hello everyone! I'm back. I haven't read the new comments yet, I appreciate those
messages. Thank you so much.
There are some parts of this chapter like I'm 'meh' I'm not sure hahaha. I'm still working
on that other story I'm thinking of writing... AM I giving myself my own headache
hahahaha its a bodyguard story, with some dom/sub undertones. I'm halfway done with
1st chapter, when I remember I haven't finished chapter 4 and 5 hahaha. I know I'm
rambling here it is Enjoy!!!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

"Hey Bright! How was your flight?" Win's voice greeted him as soon as he answered his cell
phone.

"Fine," came Bright's monotone reply.

"Usually you call me when your flight gets in. Everything okay?"

"It's fine."

'Fine' again. Hmm… "Bright, are you feeling alright? You seem irritable."

"I'm tired and the plane ride was hell because my whole body fucking hurts," Bright snapped.
"Other than that, I'm fine."

Win frowned. He didn't doubt that Bright was uncomfortable after last night's scene.
Examining Bright's body this afternoon, he'd seen an array of bruises beginning to appear
across his back and buttocks, visual evidence of the deep ache he was probably feeling. Most
of the surface redness and heat were gone but Bright's skin was still hypersensitive to touch.
Yes, it had been a physically challenging scene and while he might good-naturedly grouse
about being sore, real complaining was unlike Bright.

And being tired…true, neither of them slept well last night – Bright, probably because of the
discomfort, and he'd slept lightly in case his pet needed him during the night. Bright had
napped on the couch before lunch so he shouldn't be overly tired. Something else had to be
going on and he hoped it wasn't what he suspected.

"What's really wrong, pet? And don't say 'fine' again. Talk to me."

"I don't need to talk, I just…" Bright blew out a breath. "I don't know if I want to do this
anymore."

Win's stomach sank and he closed his eyes. Shit. "What do you mean?" he forced himself to
ask.

"This kinky shit. It's not…I've had enough."

Fuck, fuck, fuck! This was exactly what he'd feared might happen, if not now then
eventually. "Listen to me, pet—"

"Spare me the 'pet' bullshit," Bright snapped.

Win took a deep breath, trying to keep his responses measured and calm. "Listen to me," he
tried again, speaking very deliberately and using the tone he knew – or hoped – Bright would
respond to. "I think you're experiencing sub drop. It's normal but—"

"What the fuck is that?"

"It's like a subspace hangover. It'll pass in a day or two but you shouldn't be alone right now."
While he was talking, Win had opened his laptop and had already pulled up the airline
websites. "I can get on the last flight out tonight, leaving in just over two hours." He glanced
at the clock in the corner of his computer screen and mentally did the math. He'd be cutting it
close but he'd make it. Barely. But even if he didn't check any luggage, considering flight
time and getting a taxi, he was still looking at more than four hours before he could be at
Bright's place.

"Why the fuck do you need to come up? I said I'm fine."

"You aren't fine and I need to be there with you." Win thought quickly; four hours was too
long for Bright to be alone in this state. He wasn't even sure exactly how Bright would react.
Sub drop affected everyone differently. It was hard enough to cope with for someone who'd
been through it before but the first time could be really rough.

Then an idea formed in Win's mind. Someone who'd been through it before. "What is Tine's
number?"

"Why?"

"I'm going to ask him to come over and be with you until I can get there," Win explained.

"I don't need a fucking babysitter!"

Taking a deep breath before answering, Win ignored Bright's disrespect. Bright wasn't
himself; this was the sub drop talking. He forced himself to be patient. "Please just trust me,
pet. I've been through this and it really sucks. Knowing that Tine is with you until I can get
there will ease my mind. The number, please?"

Bright grunted but recited the number from memory.

"Thank you, pet," Win said, deliberately continuing to use the term of affection to keep
Bright focused on his role. To keep him grounded. "Why don't you take a long shower? The
warm water will loosen your muscles and relax you. Call me afterward." The shower would
give him time to call Tine and pack a quick bag. Hopefully, when Bright called back, he'd be
on his way to the airport.

"Okay," Bright answered, his voice flat and deflated.

"It will be okay, pet. Just hang on and soon I'll be there with you." Win hoped his soothing
tone would get through to Bright on some level.

"Whatever."

Win disconnected the call and dialed Tine's number. After introducing himself and
exchanging brief greetings, Win got to the purpose of his call.

"I have a huge favor to ask of you. As you probably know, Bright spent the weekend down
here. We did a scene last night, our most intense one yet. He's just returned to L.A and I
strongly suspect he's experiencing sub drop for the first time."

"Ugh, that sucks!" Tine replied. "What can I do to help?"

"I'm booked on the next flight up tonight but I can't be there for at least four hours. Would
you be willing to go over and sit with Bright in the meantime? I'd feel better if he wasn't
alone."

Win heard some muffled conversation on the line before Tine's voice was back. "No problem.
I'm happy to help out."

Win let out a breath, relieved. "Thank you. Bright told me that you're 24/7 now with your
Dom. Do you want me to clear this with him?"

"I appreciate the offer but no need. Sarawat already went to find my keys and wallet. He's
very supportive of my friendship with Bright."

"Please thank him for me. Bright knows you're coming but he's not happy about you
babysitting him, to quote his words. See if you can get him to eat something and don't let him
drink."

"I'll do my best. Have a safe flight."

"Thanks – for everything."

Win grabbed his weekend bag and tossed in two days of clothes and toiletries. At the last
minute, he retrieved a small bottle from the bathroom and added it to his bag before zipping it
up. Laptop and charger in hand, he headed out the door.

Bright called just as he was backing out of the garage. "Okay, I showered."

"How are you feeling, pet?"

"I'm fine."

Win sighed and tried a more specific question. "Did the shower help?"

"Some."

One-word answers were probably all he was going to get from Bright right now. Real talking
would have to wait until they were together. "That's good. I'm on my way to the airport and
Tine is on his way over now. We'll stay on the phone until he arrives."

"You're wasting your time and money coming here. There's nothing wrong with me," Bright
protested.

"Please just trust me, pet," Win urged. "And being with you is never a waste."

"Whatever. Your money."

Win heard the click of the lighter and the soft hiss of the cigarette igniting. "Why don't you
put on some relaxing music? Soft jazz or something like that. And when Tine gets there,
please order some food. No drinking tonight, though."

Bright snorted. "So Tine is coming to make sure I behave myself?"

"No," Win answered patiently. "I asked Tine to be with you because he's experienced sub
drop before and will be a supportive shoulder until I can get there."

"I told you, there's nothing wrong with me."

Win could hear the annoyance in Bright's voice. "I know you think you're fine but I can tell
you aren't yourself right now."
"I still don’t get it. What the fuck is sub drop?"

Win quickly weighed how much he wanted to get into things now, on the phone. He decided
to give Bright only the basic explanation. "Last night, after the scene, you were flying on a
natural cocktail of adrenaline and endorphins. Sometimes, after the scene is over, when the
levels of those chemicals plummet, subs can experience a temporary "hangover" or crash. It's
normal; most subs have experienced it to some degree."

Bright was quiet for several moments, processing what Win said while he took a drag off his
cigarette. "How long does this thing last?"

"Varies. A few hours for some. A day or two for others."

Bright grunted in irritation. "Whatever. I'm just fucking sore. I don't need this shit anymore."

"I promise everything will be okay, pet. Take some deep breaths and try to relax. We'll talk
when I get there."

"I don't need to—." Bright's reply was cut off and Win could hear the buzz of the intercom in
the background.

"That must be Tine," Win said, relieved. He wasn't able to really help Bright over the phone,
nor could he fully focus on Bright's needs while he was driving. Bright would be in good
hands with Tine, he was sure.

"Oh, goody. The fucking babysitter is here." Win could picture Bright's rolling eyes
accompanying his snarky remark.

"Please let Tine help. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Yeah. Okay," Bright said, his voice resigned, and then he clicked off.

Bright crushed out his cigarette and pulled open the door just as Tine reached the top of the
stairs.

"Hey, buddy. How're you doing?" Tine pulled Bright into a hug, his arms wrapped around
Bright, holding him tightly. When Bright winced at the contact to his back, Tine loosened his
grip with an apologetic "oops, sorry." At first, Bright didn't reciprocate but then, to Tine's
surprise, Bright returned the affection and let himself be held.

"There's nothing wrong with me," Bright stated emphatically as he let go of Tine and pulled
the door shut behind them.

"Okay." Tine wasn't going to argue with Bright. "So let's just hang out for a while."

"I'm tired and sore so don't expect me to be good company tonight." Bright opened the fridge
and asked Tine if he wanted a beer.
"Water, if you have it." Bright tossed him a bottle and took one for himself. "Thanks," Tine
answered, catching it and cracking the seal. "You know, when I'm sore after a scene, a hot
shower and a few Advil help take the edge off the aching."

"I already had a shower. And I took Advil this morning."

"That was more than eight hours ago. Why don't you take another dose now? Might help you
sleep later."

Bright glared at Tine, who stood his ground with a look that was a mixture of concern and
resolve, not deterred by Bright's ill humor or his attempt to look intimidating.

"Yes, mother," Bright retorted, finally giving in and stalking off to the bathroom, muttering
something about him being as bad as Win.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Tine called after him, smiling and shaking his head at
Bright's petulance. Win certainly had his hands full. When Bright reappeared, Tine suggested
they order some food.

"I'm not hungry." Between a large lunch and the physical state of his body, Bright didn't feel
like eating.

"Well, I am so we'll order and if you don't want to eat when it comes you can put it in the
fridge for later, okay?" Tine phrased it as a quasi-question but he didn't give Bright a chance
to refuse. "How do sandwiches sound?"

Bright held up his hands in mock surrender. "Suit yourself."

Tine placed an order for two meatball subs on whole wheat with side orders of coleslaw and
fruit salad. With any luck, he hoped the tempting aroma of the sandwiches would arouse
Bright's appetite. After finishing his water and tossing the bottle in the trash, he took a spot
on the couch and motioned for Bright to join him. Wincing in discomfort, Bright eased
himself down beside Tine but in deference to his tender back, he didn't lean back against the
couch.

"So tell me about the scene you had with Win this weekend. A big one, eh?"

A scowl firmly in place, Bright looked over at Tine. "Shouldn't you be at home serving your
Dom or something?"

"He gave me the night off." Which was basically true; Sarawat had told him to take as long as
he needed. "The scene was last night?"

"Yeah."

"What did he use, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Floggers."

"Bet you have some impressive marks." Tine wasn't put off by Bright's short, clipped replies.
He was never chatty on a good day and the effects of sub drop were undoubtedly fueling his
prickliness.

"I suppose you want to see them?" Bright asked, his tone insolent.

Tine shrugged. "Sure, but only if you want to show me."

Turning slightly so his back was toward Tine, Bright lifted his shirt, wincing again at the
stretch of sore muscles.

Tine whistled in appreciation at the stunning array of multicolored bruises spread across
Bright's shoulders and upper back. "Fuck! Those are beautiful marks, Bright! You're a lucky
guy."

"They fucking hurt!" Bright snapped, easing his shirt down and turning back around toward
Tine. "My ass looks just as bad. Sitting is torture."

"I know." Tine's tone was sympathetic, but he was careful not to give in to the self-pity that
was so unlike the Bright he knew. "But those are your Dom's marks and I’m sure he wouldn't
have given them to you if he didn't care about you very much."

"I don't need this shit anymore."

Tine paused to choose his words carefully. He wasn't sure how Win wanted to address these
issues with Bright and he didn't want to say the wrong thing. "I'm positive that you care about
Win as much as he does you. And I know you find a lot of fulfillment being his sub. Tonight,
everything looks depressing but tomorrow—"

"You think I have this sub…flop…whatever thing, too?" Bright interrupted.

"Yes, I do. You aren't yourself tonight." After only a few minutes with Bright, Tine had no
doubt that Win's suspicions were right on the money.

"You've had it?"

"Yes, several times," Tine answered, relieved. Sharing his own experiences was safer territory
than trying to address Bright's issues. Win was in a better position to help Bright and
thankfully, he'd be here soon. And besides, given Bright's mood right now, listening to
someone else's experiences might be more therapeutic than talking about his own feelings,
something he hated to do all the time.

"The first time," Tine began, "my Top was inexperienced and didn't recognize what was
happening."

"Not Sarawat?" Bright asked.

"No. George was a nice guy but he didn't know a lot of things he should have. Anyway, the
next morning, I felt ashamed of what we'd done together, sure that there had to be something
fucked up about me if I let someone tie me up and hit me. He took my doubts as a sincere
desire to stop playing and we parted ways. Eventually I worked through my issues and
continued to play but trying to cope with sub drop alone was scary and confusing.

"When it hit me the second time," Tine continued, "Sarawat quickly picked up on what was
wrong. I had convinced myself that I was the worst sub in the world – I wasn't obedient
enough, I didn't handle pain well, I made mistakes, etc. I told Sarawat that he deserved a
better sub than me and I was a waste of his time." Tine shook his head and sighed. "At the
time, I was so depressed, but when I look back on it now, those kinds of feelings are classic
manifestations of sub drop."

Bright didn't respond immediately, letting Tine's words sink in. If he was being honest with
himself, parts of what Tine just said echoed what he was feeling right now. Not only was he
doubting whether he was even cut out to be a sub, he was also questioning whether this kinky
shit was just too fucked up – and him as well, for getting involved in it.

"How did you…get over it?"

"Sarawat reassured me that what I was feeling was normal and temporary. Then he pampered
me with comfort foods, put on soft music and held me close, reminding me what a great sub I
was. Telling me how happy I made him. There's no magic elixir, Bright; time is the only thing
that cures sub drop. That and lots of support from play partners and friends." Tine squeezed
Bright's upper arm and smiled. "That's why I'm here to help."

Bright looked over at Tine and nodded, suddenly glad that Tine was here. Maybe there was
something to this…whatever the fuck it was. Or maybe not. But he was feeling a little better
now, for whatever reason.

The intercom interrupted his thoughts, announcing that their dinner had arrived. By the time
Tine had spread everything out on the coffee table and fetched two more waters from the
fridge, Bright's stomach had decided it was hungry after all.

---------------------

Win looked up when a flight attendant asked him if he wanted anything to drink. "Ginger
ale," he replied. "No pretzels, thanks."

After she'd moved down the aisle, Win settled back in his seat and sipped his drink; finally
free of distractions, he could turn his thoughts to Bright. Thank God for a half-empty flight
and for Tine; at least he wasn't worried about Bright's safety. In a state like this, Bright would
probably fall back on one of his familiar coping tools – a bottle of whiskey is the most likely
culprit. If Bright then went out and was involved in an accident…well, he'd never forgive
himself.

He replayed the day in his mind, looking for any sign that he'd missed. Yes, Bright had been
tired this morning but he'd chalked that up to being uncomfortable and sleeping on his
stomach all night. The nap before lunch had seemed to refresh him. He'd even cleaned up the
playroom without being reminded. A fond smile crossed Win's face. A scene like that
deserved a reward so he'd planned to give Bright the day off, but he hadn't had a chance to
tell Bright before he'd already finished.

Yes, Bright had been in a fair amount of discomfort and he'd taken care to show his pet some
extra affection. Advil had helped, as well as some Arnica applied to the worst of the bruises.
The marks were impressive and he'd made sure to let Bright know how proud he was. He had
coped with the pain well, which is why his genuine complaining this evening sounded so out
of place.

After lunch, they'd debriefed the scene and Bright had seemed content if subdued, and
sincerely pleased with the scene and his performance. He had no doubt that Bright was still
processing what had probably been the most intense scene they'd ever done and they'd agreed
to talk again in a couple of days when Bright's thoughts and feelings had had time to settle.
They'd discussed the safewords and thankfully, Bright hadn't appeared to be upset or guilty at
having to use them. He'd brought up the topic of the leash, and after some discussion, they'd
come to a mutual understanding that it would stay in the storage closet permanently. Then
Bright had expressed his thanks for the scene. Nothing about the debrief set off any alarms in
his mind.

Thankfully, he'd stuck to his habit of talking to Bright every Sunday evening when he
returned to Los Angeles – for this very reason. Sooner or later, he figured Bright, like many
subs, might have an episode of sub drop. He shuddered to think of Bright going through this
alone and him not catching it until the next day or later.

He knew there was nothing he could have done to prevent sub drop from happening so he
didn't bother dissecting the scene looking for a trigger. Subspace, not pain, seemed to be the
common element; he'd even dealt with it once himself after a heavy bondage scene that didn't
include any pain. If Bright hadn't crashed this time, he might have on an earlier scene, or
maybe not until months or years from now. All he could do now was to be physically present
for Bright now and support him as best as he could.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Win wrapped his arms around Bright when he stepped into his embrace. "I'm so glad to see
you, pet." He held Bright tightly, while consciously avoiding the tender spots on his back.

Bright didn't say anything, just buried his face in Win's neck and closed his eyes. He hadn't
thought he wanted – or needed – Win to fly up tonight but now that he was here, relief
washed over him. He'd felt confused all evening but now in Win's arms, he felt safe.
Everything would be okay.

Keeping his hand on Bright's lower back, Win turned to Tine, waiting off to the side, already
in his jacket. "You must be Tine," he said, shaking Tine's hand and then clasping his shoulder.
"Great to finally meet you. I can't thank you enough."

"It's my pleasure," Tine replied. "I hope we can get better acquainted under different
circumstances."

"Count on it!" Win replied.

"Take good care of him," Tine said, nodding his head toward Bright. "I don't have to tell you
what a great guy he is."

"Oh, I plan to. Thanks again and please give your Dom my regards."

"Will do." Tine briefly hugged Bright before letting himself out.

Win turned to Bright and, framing his face in his hands, kissed him once gently and then
again, more deeply. A kiss of comfort and security, and Win could feel Bright accepting.
Welcoming his strength.

"It's okay. I'm here now," Win said, pulling back but not letting go of Bright. "How are you
feeling?"

Bright shrugged. "I'm fine."

Win took a good look at Bright and noticed how tired he looked. No, not tired. Flat. The life
and energy he usually saw in Bright's expression was missing. Even stressed, Bright still
managed some snark or humor…or at his worst, some good old-fashioned anger. These one-
word responses not only told him how low his pet was feeling right now but also that his trip
up here was the right decision.

He reminded himself to ask Bright questions that were more specific. "Have you eaten?"

"Yeah, Tine ordered sandwiches." Bright had been surprised by how much better he'd felt
after eating.

"Good. When was your last dose of Advil?"

"Two or three hours ago, I think. Tine made me take some when he showed up."

"Smart man." Win kissed Bright once more. "Tonight I'm going to take care of you." He
nodded toward the bedroom area. "Go on, I'll be there in a moment." Win watched Bright
plod toward the bed, almost dragging himself forward. The usual saunter and effortless grace
that came so naturally to Bright were missing as well.
Win frowned; he had his work cut out for him tonight and tomorrow. He put on some soft
music, grabbed two bottles of water from the fridge and then, after stripping down to his
underwear, joined Bright on the bed.

Win handed a bottle to Bright and they each took a long drink. "Ah, that hits the spot," Win
said, capping his bottle and putting it on the nightstand. He waited while Bright finished his
water then pulled him close, touching him, kissing his lips, nuzzling his neck. "I'm going to
make you feel good," he whispered.

"What are you going to do?" Bright asked, leaning into Win's touch. As much as he enjoyed
Win's hands on him right now, he hoped Win wasn't going to fuck him. He could honestly say
he wasn't in the mood for sex tonight.

"Take off your clothes and lie down on your stomach. Leave the rest to me. I'll help you
through this," Win replied, reaching over the side of the bed to his overnight bag and pulling
out the small bottle he'd included on his way out the door earlier.

"Stop fussing. There's nothing wrong with me," Bright insisted, even as he followed Win's
instructions and lay down, albeit slowly and with a few winces as sore muscles protested.

"Yes, there is, pet. Please trust me on this. I know sub drop can be scary and confusing but
that's why I'm here." While he talked, Win positioned himself on the bed next to Bright,
sitting cross-legged. He poured a bit of the sandalwood-infused almond massage oil into his
cupped palm and let it warm.

"I'm not confused. I just don't want to do this anymore," Bright replied, matter-of-factly.

Win rubbed his hands together and then, taking Bright's left arm, began smoothing the oil
over his skin and kneading his tense muscles. Bright's shoulders and back were too sore to
welcome a massage tonight but his arms and legs weren't and that's where Win directed his
attention. "By 'this' you mean…."

"Playing. Kinky shit. Uhh, that feels good," he groaned when Win hit a particularly tense spot
on his bicep.

"Can I ask why? You seemed to enjoy it up to now." Win kept his voice calm and soothing.
Tonight was about comfort and reassurance, not getting into an in-depth discussion with
Bright; that would come later. First, he just wanted Bright to relax enough to open up to him
so he would know how best to help him.

Bright groaned again and Win could feel him let go of some of the tightness he'd been
holding. "Just tired of the bruises and…and all the rules. I just fuck up anyway so why
bother?"

Aha! Win thought, as he moved around to work on Bright's right arm. Now they were getting
to the crux of at least one of Bright's issues. He wasn't worried about Bright wanting to stop
playing – that was clearly the side effect of sub drop – but sometimes an episode like this
brought deep seated fears or insecurities to the surface.
"Yes, you've made some mistakes but you've learned from them," Win answered gently, his
hands continuing to work out the deep stress in Bright's body. "You've been doing so well and
you please me very much. Every day I remember how lucky I am to have you as my sub.
And now as my partner."

"Why waste your time with me," Bright said, his voice flat, "when you could play with
someone like Billkin instead?"

Win paused and shook his head before continuing the massage. He wasn't at all surprised to
hear Bright say something like this and he filed his real response away for tomorrow, when
Bright was in a better frame of mind to listen to him.

"You're the sub I want, Bright. Billkin is nice but you're my very special pet." Win moved
down to Bright's right leg, re-oiled his hands and picked up where he left off. "As for the
bruises…yes, I know they're uncomfortable but don't forget that they're my marks. Proof of
how much I care about you – and I do, very much."

"Mmm….don't stop," Bright murmured in response to Win's powerful hands on his leg
muscles. He was quiet for a long moment. "It's just…I can't even sleep on my fucking back.
Every time I move, it hurts. Just sitting down to take a shit is a fucking ordeal."

"I know, pet," Win said softly, using his voice to soothe Bright's raw emotions. "And I hope
you realize how brave and strong you are. You make me very proud." Win knew Bright
wouldn't absorb everything he said tonight but it was the comfort and emotion rather than the
words themselves which Bright needed right now. Tomorrow they'd really talk, when Bright's
head was clearer.

Bright grunted but didn't offer a retort. Win continued the massage; the silence broken only
by the soft music and a steady stream of appreciative groans and sighs from Bright. By the
time he'd finished with Bright's left leg and had made it down to his feet, Bright's responses
had narrowed to an occasional mumbled word or sleepy sigh.

Eventually, as Bright's breathing deepened and slowed, Win finished and wiped his tired
hands. Careful not to disturb Bright, Win leaned over to see his face, smiling at the picture of
complete relaxation, as his body lay sprawled loosely on the bed. No doubt he'd sleep well
tonight.

After covering Bright with a sheet and light blanket, he turned off the music and lights, used
the bathroom and crawled in next to his pet. Tonight had gone well, considering, he thought
as he stroked Bright's hair. At least Bright seemed to welcome his presence. Well, that's what
his body language said, even if his words tried to convince him otherwise. Tomorrow would
be better, he thought as he drifted off to sleep.

------------

When the alarm went off the next morning, Bright forced himself to wake up enough to grope
around blindly for the off button. The incessant beeping finally ceased and Bright groaned in
bleary annoyance.

"Call in sick."

What the fuck? The voice startled him and he looked over his shoulder to see Win, still half-
asleep but with one eye open. What was he doing here anyway?

"How do you feel this morning?" Win said softly before giving in to a yawn. "Sorry."

How did he feel? Oh, right. That thing. "I'm okay."

'Okay' was better than 'fine'. Not much but a little. "Please call Annie and tell her you won't
be in today."

Bright scowled in confusion. "Why would I do that?"

"Because I asked you to. You need the rest," Win replied. "And I want to spend some time
with you."

"Can't. Have a client meeting this afternoon," Bright answered, tossing back the covers to get
up.

Win grabbed his arm before he stood up. "Then at least stay home this morning. Please."

Bright hesitated, more tempted than he wanted to admit. "The ten o'clock and eleven o'clock
meetings are in-house and could wait until tomorrow," Bright said, mostly to himself. If
Annie checked the papers on the table and made sure everything was set for the client
meeting, he could probably afford to take the morning off.

"All right," Bright conceded. He called Annie and explained that he wouldn't be in until the
afternoon. After recovering from the shock of Bright actually calling in sick, even if it was
only a headache, she took down all of his instructions and promised to call if anything came
up.

"Thank you," Win said, leaning over to kiss Bright softly before pulling him back under the
covers and snuggling up behind him, arm wrapped protectively around his chest. "Now let's
try to get some more sleep and then I'll see about making us some breakfast."

Neither of them was able to fall back to sleep though, and soon their close proximity led to
touching that quickly turned heated. Win's hard cock lay nestled in the cleft of Bright's ass
and he groaned, wanting more but not sure if it was a good idea...

"Too sore?" Win whispered into Bright's ear, his gently rocking hips making his intentions
obvious.

"I can handle it," Bright answered, his breathless reply giving away his own arousal. "Just
take it easy."
"I will. Do you have a—?" Bright answered Win's question by passing him a condom,
handing it over his shoulder, followed by the lube. He got ready and took his place directly
behind Bright, aligning his cock. On their sides was the only position that made sense, given
Bright's physical condition; he was too sore to be on his back, or riding on top. And
considering the headspace they were both in, him topping Bright was what they both needed
right now.

Going slowly, Win pressed into the tight enclosure, pausing when he heard the now familiar
soft hiss of Bright sucking in a breath, ever so slightly fighting the initial penetration. Yes,
Bright enjoyed being fucked, once they got going, but had difficulty allowing himself to relax
and let it happen at first. He just chalked that up to Bright's resistance to giving up control in
general.

Bright exhaled, breathing through the burning stretch and Win was able to slide in with a sigh
of relief. He pulled back, then pushed in again slowly, listening for any sign of discomfort
from Bright. "Okay?" he asked, after delivering a kiss to the back of Bright's neck.

"Yeah," Bright replied, arching his back slightly to improve the angle. The next time Win
rocked his hips forward, Bright moaned, his hand clenching in the duvet. Yes…fuck, yes…
right there.

Win took over holding Bright's top leg up, freeing Bright to stroke his own cock. Their pace
was leisurely, not yet fast enough to get off but rather to savor the pleasure. Enjoying each
other's bodies…and being together.

"Mmm….feel so good," Win murmured into Bright's ear, in between dropping kisses to
Bright's shoulder and neck. "Mine…my pet."

Bright stretched his free hand over his head, finding Win's and entwining their fingers.
Closing his eyes, he let Win's voice envelop him. He was Win's pet. As Win moved, chest
flush against his sore and bruised back, the twinges of pain connected him to his Dom. Pain
and pleasure, reminding him whom he belonged to.

It felt…good. Right.

Win felt Bright's movements speeding up, his breathing growing more rapid, and he knew
Bright was close.

"Ask me," Win said, his voice low and dark, using that edge of authority he knew Bright
needed to hear right now.

"Uh…can I…can I come now," Bright asked, panting as he fought to hold on, not lose control
of his orgasm.

"Come for me now, pet."

He picked up his own pace, pushing Bright over the edge and fucking him through his
climax. He felt Bright's ass clamp down on his dick as his body jerked and shuddered.

Breathless and spent, Bright sank back, his sweaty skin sliding along Win's.

"Good?" Win kissed the side of Bright's neck.

"Oh yeahhh...."

Win continued to thrust but at this angle, he knew he couldn't get enough stimulation to
come. He pulled out, slipped off the condom and moved around to crouch next to Bright's
face.

"I want to use your mouth, pet. Can you do this for me?"

"Yes…sir," Bright answered, hazily as he struggled to keep the post-orgasmic satiety from
overtaking him.

His hand gripping the back of Bright's head, Win slid his cock between Bright's lips and
began fucking his mouth. Not too hard or deep but with enough energy to get off as quickly
as possible. He groaned in appreciation when he felt Bright's hand reach for his balls,
squeezing and playing with them and when Bright slid his finger back to press on his
perineum, that was just the extra nudge he needed.

After Bright had licked him clean, Win bent down and kissed Bright's well-used lips. "Thank
you, pet," he said softly, nuzzling Bright's cheek. "I enjoyed that very much. I'm going to take
a shower and make breakfast, thinking about you falling asleep with my taste in your mouth."

Bright gave a soft hum of contentment, a smile on his face as he drifted off to sleep.

Win quickly showered, shaved, dressed and headed for the kitchen. When he pulled open the
refrigerator, he found a curious assortment of items – bottles of water and beer, poppers,
some salad dressing, a half-eaten salad from a local deli, a few apples and leftover Chinese
that probably dated back to the Ming dynasty – but nothing in the way of breakfast food. The
freezer was no help. Checking the cupboards, Win found a few staples, such as pasta and
soup, some spices and of course, coffee. Good grief, did Bright eat all his meals out?

He'd hoped to whip up a quick breakfast but it looked like a trip to the grocery store was
unavoidable. With a sigh and a shake of his head, he found a pen and paper and began
making a shopping list. After a perusal of Bright's cabinets and drawers, where he located an
expensive set of cookware and a few basic utensils, he added several kitchen items to his list.
At least Bright already had a nice set of dishes, cutlery and glasses, a gourmet coffee maker
and a high-end juicer.

Clearly, the kitchen hadn't seen much practical use but that didn't surprise him. Bright's
cooking skills were non-existent, aside from making coffee. While he was grateful for the
top-of-the-line appliances, the kitchen lacked many essential items, a deficiency he was going
to have to remedy if he was going to spend every other weekend or so here with Bright.
Eating out or ordering take-out food was fine occasionally but a steady diet of it was both
expensive and unhealthy. He made a mental note to discuss this topic with Bright before his
next visit – and before going on a kitchen essentials shopping spree. This was Bright's space
and he didn't want to barge in and start taking over.

--------

"Wake up, sleepyhead." Win stroked Bright's cheek.

"Mmm…what time is it?" Bright mumbled, still half-asleep as he stretched.

"Somewhere around ten. How do you feel?"

Still struggling to wake up, Bright thought about the question. "Horny."

"Again?" Win asked, initially surprised before remembering who he was dealing with.

"Still," Bright corrected. He lifted up the duvet. "See?"

"I believe you. You know, I already fucked you once today."

While his mind flicked back to earlier that morning, Bright shifted his lower half, smiling as
the slight achy feeling told him that something large had been in there recently. "So you did.
And?"

Win chuckled and shook his head. "If you are a good boy, I'll jerk you off in the shower."

"Didn't you already shower?" Bright asked, raising his eyebrow at Win's appearance.

"Yes, but that was boring. I'll gladly get wet again if it means I can play with your soapy
body." Actually, he figured that Bright wouldn't mind some pampering in the form of having
someone wash and dry his body. He certainly wouldn't mind doing it.

"I can have breakfast ready in a few minutes. Do you want to eat or shower first?"

Bright grimaced at the state of his body. "Shower."

--------

"When are you going back?" Bright asked, as they sat down to breakfast.

"Early tomorrow morning," Win replied, adding a helping of scrambled eggs with cheese to
his plate. Pressed for time and working in an unfamiliar kitchen, he stuck to simple breakfast
fare, even compromising by using frozen hash browns. Coffee, fresh cantaloupe and
croissants completed the meal. "I'm scheduled to come back up Friday evening but I can
change it if…well, since I'm here now."

"No, it's fine." Bright took a bite of cantaloupe, then paused in his chewing as he realized that
Win would be here – in Los Angeles – all weekend. Fuck! He'd better figure out how to deal
with that situation. They couldn't hide here for two straight days. He did want to see Win,
though so he added, "I'd like you to come this weekend."

Relieved at the prospect of getting to see Bright again so soon, Win said, "I just didn't want to
infringe on your space."

Bright shrugged. "You're not. I'll make some room in the closet."

"Thanks. Um, do you mind if I get some things for the kitchen? If I'm going to be here
somewhat regularly, I plan to cook and your kitchen…" Win trailed off, not wanting to
outright insult Bright's home.

"Knock yourself out," Bright replied, not offended. "I don't use it so get whatever you need."

"I will." Win hadn't planned to ask about the kitchen today but the issue came up naturally.

"There's probably a spare key around here somewhere," Bright said, before taking a drink of
his coffee and fighting the edges of panic that were encroaching on him. Yes, Win was
basically moving in part-time and that's okay, he reminded himself. He could handle this.
And besides, he'd done the same thing himself just a few days ago.

Win cleared his throat. "Something I wanted to clarify," he began. "Asking you to miss work,
I don't intend for that to become a habit. Today was, hopefully, an anomaly. A much-needed
rest after dealing with sub drop. But I don't want what we do together to interfere with your
work at all."

Bright snorted. "You mean other than having to spend most Mondays standing up because my
ass is too sore to sit on it?"

Win paused, his coffee cup halfway to his mouth. "If that's really a distraction from your job
then we should reevaluate—"

"No, it isn't. The pain…I don't like it but it makes me feel…" Bright struggled for the right
words. "Settled, basically."

Smiling, Win nodded. "I know what you mean. I feel loose and relaxed after a good scene,
especially if I'm sporting marks."

"Annie has already warned me that if I'm not careful on Mondays, people might start thinking
I'm a nice person. I certainly squelched that rumor." Bright smiled evilly at the memory of
threatening one of the new account execs in front of half the staff and watching them all
scatter in terror.

"Behave yourself," Win warned with a mischievous grin. "Or I might have to arrive at your
office unannounced and spank you over your desk."

With a groan, Bright said, "I'm sure my schedule will be busy that day."
"Uh huh." Win's voice turned serious. "Please promise me that if our kinky activities interfere
with your job, you'll tell me."

Bright nodded. "I will."

------
Win pushed away from the desk and his laptop, stretching and cracking his neck. After much
coaxing, on his part, and grumbling, on Bright's part, he'd convinced Bright to let him have
the car for the afternoon so he could go shopping for dinner ingredients and kitchen wares.
First, though, he'd come back to the loft and done a couple of hours of work, mostly returning
emails and having a Zoom meeting with a client.

Now he'd done everything he could from here, work-wise, so, picking up the keys, he headed
out. Instead of going right to the store, he took a detour to the famous Gay Area. Through
Bright, he knew it was the center of gay life in Los Angeles and he wanted to experience it
for himself. He parked and started walking, taking advantage of the nice day.

After perusing some of the shops, he spotted the a diner on a corner. A cup of coffee sounded
good…and maybe something else. Breakfast had really been brunch and he hadn't eaten
anything since.

He seated himself and looked around at the typical diner décor. Except, not quite. It was
blatantly obvious that this establishment was in the heart of gay Los Angeles. Advertisements
on the walls announced everything from strip aerobics and drag queen performances to a gay
roommate wanted and a jungle-themed night at Club Zion. He even saw an advertisement
offering a St. Andrew's cross. Wonder what the guy was asking—

"Well, hello. Haven't seen you around before." Win turned and found himself looking at a
very…colorful…woman holding an order pad.

"Um, no, ma'am. I'm just visiting." Win turned on his best boy charm and let his accent loose.

Jennie smiled. "Ain't you got nice manners, unlike most of the customers I have to deal with.
What's your name and where're you from, honey?"

"Win. From New York, ma'am." Win's eyes drifted down to Jennie's attire, first noticing her
tee-shirt emblazoned with 'Got Cock?' to her array of buttons, everything from a rainbow
flag, to AIDS awareness to—

Realizing that he'd just been asked a question, Win looked up sheepishly. "I'm sorry. I was
just…"

"S'okay. I wear 'em so people will read them. What brings you to Los Angeles, Win?"

"Visiting a friend," Win said automatically, then realized that Jennie might ask who the
'friend' was and that he didn't want to "out" Bright inadvertently.

Thankfully, Jennie didn't press any further. "What can I get for you, baby?" she asked, pulling
the pencil from behind her ear.

"A cup of coffee sounds great. Cream and sugar, please. And maybe something else…" He
quickly scanned the menu. Nothing too filling…bowl of soup? Nah, not in the mood. He
wasn't in the mood for grease either…ah, a dessert! "What kind of pie do you have?"

"Cherry and custard."

"Homemade?" Win asked, hopefully.

"No, sorry. The filling is from a can and the crust is frozen."

"Oh," Win answered, disappointedly. "No, thanks. I'll just stick with the—"

"Hey, wait. We've still got some of the banana cream pie I brought in from home this
morning. My sister Godji made it and she's a fucking great pastry chef. You gotta taste it."
She hurried off to the kitchen without even confirming that Win wanted a piece.

She came back a few minutes later with the pie and coffee, but instead of putting it down and
leaving, she slid into the booth across from Win. Smiling at her eager expression, Win took a
small bite of the pie, chewing slowly to savor the taste. He closed his eyes and almost
moaned. This was the best banana cream pie he'd ever tasted.

"Well?" Jennie prodded.

"It's absolutely incredible, ma'am. Even better than my mom's and I've never said that about
anybody's pie before." Win took another bite and had almost the same reaction. "Your sister
made this?"

Jennie smiled proudly. "Godji's a great cook."

"I think I want to marry her for her pie recipe!"

Laughing, Jennie patted Win's cheek. "You're fucking adorable. I'll be sure to tell her she's
got a fan in New York."

"Oh, yes, ma'am she sure does." Win took a drink of his coffee and happened to glance at the
nametag on her shirt. Jennie. He thought for a moment…something Bright had said…
Jennie…wait! This must be THE Jennie, Gun's auntie. The one with the cop boyfriend.
Thank God he hadn't mentioned Bright's name.

Customers came in and Jennie left to serve them, after giving him the check, refilling his
coffee, and making him promise to come back the next time he was in Los Angeles.
------

"How are you feeling?" Win asked, settled comfortably on the couch with his feet on Bright's
coffee table and Bright's head in his lap. With one hand, he stroked Bright's hair, while the
other found its way under Bright's shirt, thumb idly tracing circles on Bright's bare stomach.
"Stuffed. Dinner was really good."

Win waited; that's not what he meant and Bright knew it.

"I feel pretty good," Bright admitted. "Better than last night." He was still sore and the marks
were in full bloom but the discomfort was bearable. Lying on his back wasn't even so bad
now, once he got settled.

"That's good! I'd like to talk about last night. Do you see now what I meant about sub drop?
About how you felt?"

Bright blew out a breath. "Yeah, I do. You said it could happen again?"

"Could be next week, next year or never. We'll hope for never and if it crops up again sooner,
we'll deal with it. Together. The important thing is that you are always honest with me about
how you're feeling so I can help."

A thought popped into Bright's head and he looked up at Win. "That's why you always talk to
me when I get back here. And get over-protective when I sound tired."

"Guilty as charged," Win confessed, then added, a bit proudly, "I take care of what's mine.

"Bright, last night, you said that you were having doubts about wanting to continue playing.
Is that still how you feel?"

"No," Bright answered immediately. "I do want to play. Assume most of what I said last night
was bullshit."

Win smiled. "I'm very happy to hear that. I figured as much but I had to ask. Something else
from last night…you mentioned Billkin, saying that I should play with him instead because
he's a better sub."

Bright winced; yeah, he vaguely remembered saying something along those lines.

"I know you weren't yourself last night," Win said, gently, "and a lot of what you said was
just the product of sub drop but sometimes it brings deeply buried issues to the surface. Is
that how you feel about Billkin?"

When Bright hesitated, Win leaned over so Bright had to meet his gaze. "I want an honest
answer."

Clearly uncomfortable, Bright tried to stall but couldn't dodge the question. "I'm always
fucking up. And he seems like an obedient little sub."

Win sighed; yes, this is what he'd suspected. Time to put this insecurity to rest.

"You are correct; Billkin is well-trained, experienced and follows instructions. Submission
 comes easily to him. And many Doms look for exactly that type of sub, especially in long-
term play partners. But Billkin doesn't interest me as a regular sub. Do you know why?"

"No idea."

"Subs like that are boring as fuck to me. They do what they're told and submit without
hesitation. Yes, I suppose there's satisfaction in trying new tools and stretching limits. For
some, that's enough but not for me.

"You're different, Bright. Each time we play, you make a conscious decision to hand over
your power. You struggle to give me your submission, which means I value it even more. As
a Dom, I want to be worthy of that gift, push myself to be the best Dom I can be. To be the
Dom you need me to be.

"You challenge me and that's one of the things I love about you. True, I wish you'd question
my authority less and be more accepting of my decisions but we're working on that. As to
screwing up…yes, I know it's your personality to want to be perfect, never making mistakes.
That's why I wrote in your contract that I don't expect perfection, only progress.

"I love being the one to introduce you to this new world, to help you learn to accept both pain
and pleasure from my hand, to see you yield control of your sexual release, something I'll bet
you never thought you'd be able do. Most of all, I love watching you find strength and
contentment within yourself that you didn't know was there. You're the only sub I want,
Bright."

Bright looked up at Win, their eyes searching each other's as if an entire conversation could
pass silently between them. He knew there was nothing to say, certainly no response that
would begin to convey his feelings right now, so he nodded once and tilted his face up. Win
took the cue and leaned down to kiss Bright, their lips communicating what their words
couldn't.

When Win sat back, smiling, Bright rolled his eyes. "Is the Hallmark moment over yet?"

Win laughed aloud and shook his head. "Nobody will ever accuse you of being romantic."

"Nope. Now are we going to talk or watch that movie you brought home?"

Yes, Bright was definitely back to normal. And so was his pet.

Chapter End Notes

Notes
Sub drop is a real phenomenon in BDSM play. Some subs/bottoms experience it more
than once; others might never encounter it. The one "trigger" seems to be a subspace. It's
the mix of adrenaline and endorphins that create the high of subspace and makes you
feel so good during play. But after play is over, when the levels of those lovely
chemicals plummet, that's when sub drop can occur.

Sub drop occurs differently for everyone. It can begin a few hours after play is over or
up to a day or two later. It can last a few hours, or up to a few days. The symptoms can
be as mild as a "let-down" feeling after the scene or as severe as depression and
everything in-between. Some common feelings associated with sub drop are guilt and
shame over the play itself and the sub's involvement in it, inadequacy or self-doubt as a
play partner, loneliness or isolation because they often can't talk about this part of their
lives with friends or family. They might also experience unexplained agitation,
exhaustion, anxiety, and sadness. Subs might ask themselves, "Why am I doing this?"
No one experiences all of these symptoms every time but these are the most common
descriptors I found in my research.

Bright's sub drop probably started on Sunday afternoon, peaked Sunday evening, and
was almost gone by Monday morning. By Monday evening, he was back to normal. If it
seemed like his emotions and actions were fluctuating from agitation to depression,
from pushing Win away to wanting his touch, that's because they were. Mood swings
are common, as is a general feeling of confusion and being unsettled. Bright wasn't sure
what he wanted from one minute to the next.

The only way to prevent sub-drop is not to play at all. As Tine told Bright, time and
support are the best coping tools. It will resolve itself eventually when the body's
chemistry is back in balance. Until that happens, support from one's play partner or a
trusted friend is essential. Comfort food, hugs, a sympathetic ear, and reassurances can
go a long way. Ideally, the Top or dominant should provide hands-on support as part of
aftercare but when that's not possible, even telephone support can be helpful. And subs
who have dealt with sub-drop before can develop coping mechanisms to help
themselves. A bit of self-pampering can work wonders along with the knowledge that
the feelings are only temporary.

Will Win need to come up to Los Angeles every time Bright experiences sub drop?
Hopefully, Bright won't have to deal with it again but if he does, Win will probably see
how well Bright is managing and decide whether his presence is needed or he can
provide enough support via webcam. Knowing what to expect, Bright should be able to
cope with it better next time. Plus, I'll bet Tine wouldn't mind helping out again with
some tangible hugs and reassurances.

Sub drop is loosely analogous to post-partum depression that some women occasionally
experience after birthing a baby. The wonderful chemicals that contribute to the high of
childbirth then decrease sharply after the baby is born, causing a woman to feel
depressed, let-down with their experience, inadequate as a mother, sad, exhausted, and
anxious about the baby. Although the triggers are very different, the effect is similar.
The flip side is Top-drop and it's just as real as sub-drop. A Top can also experience a
type of rush during a scene, as Win did in this chapter, which can lead to a general let-
down feeling once the excitement of the scene is over. Conveniently enough, the very
act of performing aftercare and being nurturing and attentive to the sub is precisely what
the Top or Dom needs to help them through their Top-drop.
 Chapter 5
Chapter Summary

Meeting the family.

Chapter Notes

This chapter is done with the help of Ms. Q . Thank you mam!!!

Warning: Drug use

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Chapter 5

Win looked around at the flashing lights, glinting off the falling glitter, some clinging to the
sweaty, half-naked bodies gyrating to the pounding bass beat of the music. Scantily-clad go-
go boys who barely looked eighteen writhed on the daises or danced on the bar. Club Fastidio
wasn't much different from most of the clubs he'd been in, although it evidently catered to a
younger crowd than his usual taste. He could see why Bright would feel at home here,
reigning over his domain. A sex god among his worshippers.

Bright pulled their bodies together, hands gripping Win's ass through tight black pants as he
ground their hips together. Win growled, feeling the solid ridge of Bright's cock, his own
hardening in response. He could feel the heat radiating from Bright's body, Bright's scent
filling his senses, enveloping him in its spell. His darkly seductive smile was that of a
predator laying claim to his prey and Win had no doubt that he was the prey tonight. Which
was fine with him; this was Bright's hunting ground and he was content to follow Bright's
lead tonight. In fact, watching Bright like this, the conqueror showing off his conquest,
turned him on.

All eyes followed them, looking on hungrily, even enviously. The night was still early and
already they were the center of attention. Guys were shooting him looks, maybe because he
was a new face but more probably because he was monopolizing Bright's attention. He
guessed that by now Bright would normally have been into his first trick for the night, or at
least openly on the prowl. Instead, Bright was dancing with him – only with him – and
oblivious to the attention they were attracting.

Well, he assumed that what Bright was doing was his version of dancing. How could Bright
be so comfortable with, and in control of, his body yet not be a great dancer? He smiled to
himself; at least Bright's lack of dancing skills hadn’t seemed to hinder his social life.

Watching Bright more closely, he noticed how he seemed more tense than usual, especially
considering that if Bright would be at ease anywhere, it would be here at Club Fastidio. And
Bright had even smoked a joint after their Thai take-out dinner at the loft. He should be
mellow right now, not wound up like a coiled spring.

Win pulled Bright up against him, feeling the rigid set to his body. Leaning close to Bright's
ear to make himself heard over the music without shouting, he said, "Why so uptight? I
thought I fucked that out of you earlier."

Bright smiled and turned his mouth toward Win's ear. "I fucked you, remember?"

"I know." Win's voice took on a husky edge and his expression turned lustful. "Maybe I
should have returned the favor. There's always later."

"Dream on." Bright had no intention of bottoming; he just wasn't in the right frame of mind
tonight. Or even this weekend. They were in his domain now, where he reigned and everyone
wanted to be fucked by Bright Vachirawit.

As if to prove his point, he grabbed the back of Win's head and kissed him hard, tongue
invading Win's mouth. Possessing him. When Bright finally pushed him away, Win raised an
eyebrow and smiled in amused satisfaction. With Bright in this mood, the evening promised
to be an exciting ride.

They danced for a few more minutes before Win leaned close again. "Wanna get a drink?"

Bright glanced toward the bar. "I'm fine but go right ahead."

Win sighed and scanned the bar area, his eyes alighting on what he thought was the reason
for Bright's reluctance. "You can't avoid them all weekend. I promise to be on my best
behavior." When Bright still hesitated, Win rested his arms on Bright's shoulders and looked
him in the eye. "Don't you think I've been your dirty little secret long enough?"

Bright huffed out a breath; Win was right. As his Dom, Win would remain his secret but not
as his partner. He'd spent the past few days preparing himself for this weekend. He and Win
were together and it wasn't anyone else's business who he shared his bed – or his life – with.

With a nod, Bright headed to the bar, with Win following. Might as well get this over with.

"Chivas Regal," Bright said to the bartender and turned to Win.

"Same. Make mine on the rocks," Win replied. He anticipated that Bright wouldn't be in any
shape to drive tonight so he planned on nursing what would likely be his sole drink for the
night.

When their drinks arrived, Bright tossed his back while Win took a measured drink, letting
the smooth warmth work its way down.
"Hey, Bright." Bright turned to find Gun, accompanied by Tay and New. "I'm surprised to see
you here. You haven't been around much lately."

"Well, today's your lucky day," Bright replied dryly, signaling the bartender for another drink.

Three pairs of eyes darted between Bright and Win in the suddenly awkward silence. Bright
never bought drinks for tricks. And pointedly ignored any that didn't take the hint when he
was done with them. Except this one was now standing here with all of them, standing very
close to Bright as he sipped his drink. As a matter of fact, he and Bright had been quite close
on the dance floor too. The smiles they'd shared out there hadn't gone unnoticed by any of
them.

New, attired true to form in a shimmery silver shirt that left nothing to the imagination and
sporting silver glitter around his eyes, broke the tension. "So, who's your friend?"

"This is Win," Bright answered. "Gun, Tay and New," he added, pointing to each of them in
turn.

"Nice to meet you," Win said, shaking hands with each of them.

"Likewise," Tay answered, and then they all returned to glancing between Win and Bright, no
less confused than before the introductions.

After downing the second drink, Bright rolled his eyes and decided it was time to cut through
the shit so he could get on with enjoying his evening. "Win's my partner. Now if you yentas
will excuse us." He took Win's hand and made a beeline back to the dance floor.

"Don't you feel better now?" Win asked when they'd found a spot amongst the crowd. He
couldn't hide his grin of amusement at Bright's obvious distress over the whole interaction.

Bright fixed Win with a look of annoyance and Win just chuckled before pulling Bright into
his arms. "C'mon," he urged. "Relax. We're here to have fun." Gradually, Bright allowed
Win's hands and the beat of the music to draw him in and unwind him.

Bright felt a tap on his shoulder. "Mind if I cut in?" New asked, a hopeful smile on his face.
"I have a thing for tall, hunky Asian boys."

"You have a thing for anyone with a big dick," Bright countered, making no move to leave.
"And his is off limits to you."

"Actually," New admitted, "Gun sent me over because he wants to talk to you."

His eyes closed, Bright shook his head. Gun had all the subtlety of a land mine. He shouldn't
be surprised. Might as well get this over with. "Behave yourself," Bright warned, moving
aside to let New take his place.

"I will," Win answered, chuckling at New's look of disappointment.

"I wasn't talking to you," Bright retorted, shooting a menacing scowl at New before steeling
himself to deal with Gun.

"Can't blame a girl for trying." New shrugged and turned to Win. "Now you look about as
delicious as my Aunt Lula's pecan pie but I guess I'll have to keep my hands to myself."

Bright wandered back to the bar where Gun lay in wait, like a vulture waiting to swoop down
on him. Here it comes, Bright thought, as he ordered another shot of Chivas.

"Your partner? Bright, what the fuck is going on?" Gun asked, his hands gesturing excitedly.

"Yes, Gun," Bright said, patiently. "It's like boyfriends but for grown-ups."

Gun glared at Bright. "I know what the word means. But you don't do…and wait, you told
me you didn't have a boyfriend, and then you show up with him! Where'd you meet him?"

"New York."

"Is that where you've been all these weeks?"

Bright downed his drink in one swallow and savored the burn. "Calm down, Gun, before you
hurt yourself. When I told you that, Win and I were…we weren't partners. Now we are. And
yes, I've been going to New York a lot of weekends. Any other questions?"

"How did you meet him? What does he do for a living?"

"He's an architect and I met him on a business trip. Picked him up at a club," Bright
answered, drawing all on his reserves of patience. He'd have to answer these questions
eventually anyway and at least it was just Gun right now and not the whole crew at once. He
figured Gun would fill in Tay and New and everyone else who lived in the greater Los
Angeles area.

"So he was a trick too? Look how that turned out last time," Gun said sarcastically.

"Shut the fuck up, Gun," Bright snapped, his eyes glaring.

Bright started to order another drink but then changed his mind. He looked over at the dance
floor; New still had Win's attention, chattering away and gesturing animatedly as they
danced.

"C'mon," Bright said, heading in the direction of the bathrooms.

Bright maneuvered Gun into a stall, locked the door and pulled out a small vial. He took a
snort and then offered it to Gun. "It's good shit."

Gun shook his head. "No, thanks."

Closing his eyes and resting the back of his head against the wall of the stall, Bright waited
for the drugs to hit his system.

Gun's voice interrupted his growing buzz. "Are you happy with him?" he asked, his tone
gentler than earlier.

Bright opened his eyes and waited for his brain to come back online. "Yeah, I am," he
answered honestly. "But don't worry." He kissed Gun on the cheeks and then pulled him into
a tight hug. "I still love you. Always have…"

"…Always will," Gun finished.

They stood in silence for several moments, Bright enjoying the beginnings of a good high
from the K, until Gun spoke again, the worry creeping into his voice. "Are you moving to
New York? I mean, he's there and you're here and—"

"Gun!" Bright struggled to focus, holding his friend at arm's length, both to look at him and
for support since the room was swirling around him. "Gun, it's okay. I'm not moving. We get
together on weekends. Now stop…no more questions tonight." Bright's words were slightly
slurred and his thoughts were becoming fuzzy.

Someone banged on the door to the stall and Bright told them to fuck off, but he and Gun
decided it was time to go back out to the bar anyway. They found Win halfway through a
bottle of water and chatting with Tay and New, who was holding the ubiquitous
Cosmopolitan.

"There you are," Win said. "I wondered where you'd disappeared to."

"I took good care of him," New said, indicating Win.

Bright snorted. "Win can take care of himself."

"He was even a perfect gentleman and bought me a drink." New held his glass up, saluting
Win.

Win returned the gesture with his water. "It's the least I could do. After all, you did let me
lead."

New giggled and Bright rolled his eyes before getting the bartender's attention for another
drink.

Win frowned; this made four drinks in less than two hours if his count was accurate. No,
Bright wasn't drinking on an empty stomach but even given his presumably high tolerance,
that was still a lot of alcohol in a short period of time and the night was still early. Plus,
Bright was already starting to weave and his words sounded slightly fuzzy. Taking a closer
look, he noticed that Bright's eyes were unfocused and dilated. For someone who presumably
drank as much as Bright did, the alcohol seemed to have really affected him.
"Don't you think you ought to slow down on the drinking?" Win asked, leaning close to
Bright and lowering his voice.

"Get off my back!" Bright snapped. "I can handle my booze. Besides," he smiled insincerely,
"I'm not driving tonight. That's your job." He flicked his finger against Win's water bottle,
defiantly tossed back his drink, then set the glass down hard on the bar and stared at Win,
almost challenging him.

Win stared back at him, lips pursed into a tight line, before making up his mind. Leaning
close to Bright again and dropping his voice, which now carried a sharp edge Bright was all
too familiar with, he said, "That's your last drink tonight." At the same time, he wrapped his
hand around Bright's wrist, gripping just firmly enough that Bright couldn't ignore it.

Bright started to tell Win to fuck off, but between Win's hold on his wrist and the look on
Win's face, he thought better of it. This was his Dom talking, and regardless of the status of
their agreement about playtime, or how impaired he was at the moment, he had the sense not
to push Win right now.

Bright nodded once and then glanced around to see if anyone had been paying attention to
them. Gun was talking to Tay and New was absorbed in his Cosmo. He knew no one had
overheard them but he didn't need anyone watching them to get the wrong idea.

Or the right idea, actually.

Transferring his grip to Bright's upper arm, Win jerked his head toward the dance floor and
then, in the most casual tone he could muster, said, so everyone else could hear, "Let's dance
some more. Gives me an excuse to molest you in public."

Win pretty much manhandled Bright out onto the dance floor. He couldn't effectively deal
with Bright's behavior here but he hoped that Bright was at least coherent enough to pick up
on his displeasure.

Neither of them noticed New, who'd observed their exchange moments ago and who now
watched them with a look of dawning comprehension on his face.

They danced through a few songs and by the time Win's irritation had ebbed, Gun appeared
and asked if he could borrow Bright for a while. "Uh, I guess," Win replied. "I need to hit the
bathroom anyway." He didn't really want to relinquish Bright again but he reminded himself
that here in Los Angeles he had to share Bright with his friends. Besides, he figured Bright
couldn't get into any trouble on the dance floor.

After relieving himself, Win decided to give Bright some more time with his best friend and
instead joined Tay and New at the bar. He listened to their house hunting tales, offering some
architectural advice about building styles. The conversation eventually drifted to Tay's porn
website and Win, after politely declining an invitation to be a guest star in a video, excused
himself to go dance with his partner.

As he made his way through the jumble of sweaty male flesh, he finally spotted Gun and
Bright. Before he could reach them, he saw Bright pull a small vial out of his pocket, take a
snort and then pass it to Gun, who did the same and handed it back to Bright.

Win stopped in his tracks, surprised. What had Bright just taken? He had to admit that he
didn't have a working knowledge of the club drugs in vogue now. He knew Bright wasn't a
saint by a longshot. Hell, neither was he. He partook of Jerry's "special blend" weed fully
aware that it included a little of this and a little of that but otherwise, he generally stuck to
alcohol.

Surprise turned into concern, which quickly flared back into irritation. Bright may have
obeyed the letter of his rule about not having another drink but he certainly hadn't obeyed the
spirit. Bright seemed hell-bent on being chemically impaired tonight and he didn't have to
think hard to figure out the reason.

"I'd like to have my partner back," Win said to Gun while staring coolly at Bright.

"Sure. See you later, Bright." Gun left and Win took his place. He didn't dance, just stood in
front of Bright.

Win opted for the direct approach. "What did you just take? The stuff in your pocket?"

"Special K." Bright grinned. "Want some?" He fished the vial out and offered it to Win.

"No, I don't." Win hadn't ever taken K but he was familiar with it. A bit harder core than he
preferred but probably no worse than E, and he'd taken that himself a few times when he was
younger. At least it wasn't coke. And if Bright's habit was purely social, he doubted there was
any reason to be worried. He wondered how often Bright used drugs other than weed.

However, he was concerned about the fact that Bright felt the need to use chemicals to deal
with issues he didn't want to face, specifically the stress of this weekend and having him here.
On his turf. Interacting with his friends. Bright's two worlds were colliding and he wasn't
handling it well.

Win sighed. He'd have to think about this situation more tomorrow; this was neither the time
nor the place. For now, he'd just keep Bright from consuming any more drugs or alcohol
tonight.

"Was that the only snort you've had tonight?" Win kept his voice neutral. He wasn't trying to
start an argument, just get an idea of what he was dealing with.

Bright had to think hard to remember…everything was blurry in his brain. "Nooo…earlier, in
the uh…the bathroom. With Gun."

Damn! So that's why Bright seemed more inebriated than four drinks would have caused.
"No more tonight," Win said, again gripping Bright's wrist firmly while simultaneously
giving Bright a look that showed he wasn't to be disobeyed.

"Okay," Bright agreed. He hadn't been planning to take anymore tonight anyway. Win
seemed unhappy with him again and he knew he probably should be worried about that but
his brain was too unfocused right now. Everything was floaty and…what was he just thinking
about?

Win did his best to shelve his anger for later. There was nothing he could do tonight anyway.
They continued to dance until Win could see that Bright was coming down from his high,
then he steered Bright to the bar and ordered a bottle of water for each of them.

"Leaving early too?" Gun asked, when they all made their way to the door later.

"It's been a long day for me," Win explained, "and it's time to get certain drunken boys tucked
into bed."

"You just got me drunk so you could take me home and get into my pants," Bright said,
slightly slurring his words, and then laughed at his own joke.

"Yeah, like he needs to get you drunk to do that," Gun shot back.

"Are you implying I'm easy?"

"Honey," New started, "You're so—" before Tay clapped his hand over New's mouth and cut
off whatever insult New had planned to share.

"I don't think we want to scare away Win just yet, do we?" Tay said, smiling at Win.

Bright scowled. "Am I easy?" he asked Win.

"Your virtue is safe with me." Win winked at the rest of the gang and managed a convincing
conspiratorial smile. Once outside, he guided Bright in the direction of the car, a little more
roughly than he might otherwise, the smile having vanished from his face.

******************

Win slipped out of bed, careful not to wake Bright. After using the bathroom, he dressed in
his running shorts and a tee shirt. He had almost finished tying his shoes when he heard
Bright stir in the bed.

"What time is it?" Bright mumbled, not quite awake.

"Early. I'm going for a run. Go back to sleep."

Bright made an agreeable-sounding noise and Win smiled at Bright's look of contentment as
he buried his face in the pillow Win had recently vacated and instantly drifted back to sleep.

Win took the key Bright had given him, disabled the alarm and let himself out. He hoped he
wouldn't get lost but just in case, he'd brought his cell phone and made sure Bright's was near
the bed.
He stretched for a few minutes and then set off at an easy pace, letting his body fall into the
rhythm of the run. He tried to run at least twice a week at home, usually during the week
when Bright wasn't visiting. Today he happened to wake up early and felt the urge to get out
for a while by himself.

Most of the time, he let his mind wander as he ran but today he knew exactly where it would
go: to last night and this weekend and how Bright was dealing with having him here. He had
to admit that while he knew the man who visited him in New York and who knelt at his feet,
he had a strong suspicion, after watching Bright in his natural habitat last night, that the
Bright who reigned over Los Angeles's gay scene was a different creature in many ways.

Now he'd walked into this world as Bright's partner, a fact that will have probably made the
circuit of the gossip chain by lunchtime today. Even if they weren't monogamous, Bright's
image and status on the social scene would likely change and Bright would fight that change
as long as he could. He might loudly proclaim that he didn't care what people thought but
deep down he was a control freak.

Yes, Bright had taken him to Club Fastidio and introduced him as his partner but he'd also
resorted to chemicals to dull the emotions he didn't want to face. And he'd been blatantly
disrespectful in the process.

He knew better than to try to talk to Bright about this issue. Bright would just shut down and
deny anything was bothering him. What could he really do to help Bright anyway, other than
just be a supportive and caring partner? Besides, he had a feeling that after the initial interest
in this news died down, Bright's friends would ease off and his social life would find a new
equilibrium that wasn't radically different from now. At least by continuing to trick, he
wouldn't feel as if his world had been turned completely upside down.

As to the drinking and drug use, he wouldn't bring it up now but he would keep an eye on
Bright's consumption and intervene only if he saw a real problem. He wasn't even sure to
what extent drugs were a part of Bright's normal socializing. Perhaps last night's hits of K
were typical.

The disrespect was a different matter but he was unsure how to deal with it. In New York,
he'd have certainly punished Bright today, when he was calm and Bright was sober. He didn't
tolerate outright disrespect from subs and he never stopped thinking of Bright as his sub, no
matter where they were but, functionally speaking, what did that mean when they were in Los
Angeles? He'd stepped into his Dom role last night and Bright had instinctively reacted to it
but had that been the right course of action?

Fuck, this was complicated! Clearly they needed to iron out some more wrinkles in this
relationship. For now, he'd set aside Bright's behavior last night until they'd clarified these
issues.

Rounding the corner near Bright's building, he slowed his pace and let his breathing and heart
rate gradually slow before going upstairs. Inside, he tried to slip into the loft as quietly as he
could but Bright was already awake.
"Hey. How was your run?" Bright asked, as he lay sprawled across the bed, naked and
absently fondling his cock, which was not yet fully hard but showing potential interest.

Win stripped off his sweaty t-shirt and wiped his face with it. "Satisfying. Did about two
miles, I think."

"We'll have to put a gold star on your exercise chart," Bright replied, his eyes tracking Win's
movements as he divested himself of the rest of his damp clothing.

"Goody for me." Win caught the look Bright was giving him and raised an eyebrow.

"Come here." Bright's voice was quiet but the heat in the command - and it was a command -
was blatantly obvious.

Win scrunched up his face in disgust. "Shower first. I'm all sweaty."

"I know." Bright's eyes raked over Win's body, taking in his shiny, wet skin, flushed with
exertion…and growing desire. "Come here," he repeated.

Win moved a few steps until he stood facing Bright, who had moved to sit on the edge of the
bed, knees apart.

Pulling him closer, Bright ran his hands up Win's muscular thighs, fingers sliding over slick
skin, and around to his ass, clenching his tight buttocks, one in each hand. Ignoring Win's
cock, now hard and bobbing, Bright dipped his head and aimed for that enticing space next to
his balls, dragging his tongue along the crevice, feeling the short hairs of Win's pubes prickly
against his tongue. Taking in the taste of Win's body, damp heat that was all musk and salt…
and sex.

Win groaned, spreading his legs as he tried to nudge Bright's mouth closer to his cock but
Bright had other plans. Grabbing Win's wrists, he pushed them around behind Win, crossing
them at the small of his back. His message was clear; he was running this show and Win
could just sit back and enjoy the ride.

Hands on Win's hips to hold him still and eyes locked on Win's, Bright's tongue began its
upward journey, gliding along moist skin, winding a path across the taut, flat plane of Win's
pelvis. Tracing the rolling curves of Win's ab muscles that stood out in sharp relief when Win
pulled them in tight.

A bead of sweat rolled down Win's chest to hang suspended on the peaked nub of his nipple.
Bright caught it on the tip of his tongue before his mouth closed over Win's nipple, teeth
nipping at the sensitive spot.

"Fuck, Bright," Win said, the plea little more than a labored breath. Hands still behind his
back, he fought the urge to move, to reciprocate in some way but in truth, Bright's
aggressiveness turned him on. This definitely wasn't his pet seducing him. No, this was his
lover.
His partner. His very sexy partner.

Bright bit down again, gently tugging at Win's nipple while his fingers pinched the other one.
Eliciting a gasp followed by a groan from Win, Bright let go of the hard bead, standing as he
dragged his tongue up over Win's chest and continued on to his neck.

Win tilted his head up, offering his neck to Bright and closed his eyes, lost in the feel of
Bright's tongue on his skin. Bright's hands, drawing him close, sending shivers down his
body.

Bright kissed him hard and he groaned, tasting the saltiness from his own skin in Bright's
mouth. When Bright pulled back, his smile was playful yet lustful, almost feral. He stepped
aside and, placing a hand on Win's back, between his shoulder blades, gave a slight shove
toward the bed.

Hint taken, Win crawled onto the bed then looked over his shoulder. "How do you want me?"
He didn't care as long as he got fucked and happily that seemed to be a foregone conclusion.
Bright's answer was to crawl in behind him and shove his head down to the mattress so his
ass was in the air.

Expecting to feel Bright's cock on his ass, or at least his fingers, Win twitched in surprise,
moaning when he felt the warm wetness of Bright's tongue lick a line from his balls up his
crack.

"God, Bright. That's…oh, fuck! " Win spread his legs further, pushing his ass up, anything to
get Bright's tongue deeper inside. Needed more of that unbelievable mouth on his ass. On his
balls. Licking and sucking…fuck, his neglected cock felt like it was going to explode.

Bright pulled back, replacing his tongue with his cock, sliding it along the slippery valley
between Win's ass cheeks. "You want it?" he asked, his words and his cock both teasing Win.

"Yes," Win answered, his voice rough and tinged with desperation. "Fuck me, Bright."

Bright reached over to grab a condom and get it on as fast as he could. He'd have liked to
continue teasing but considering this was Win, his normal control was shot to fucking hell.

He turned back to find Win stroking his own cock. "Don't think so." He grabbed Win's wrist
and pulled it away, then shifted his hips, pushing into Win, sheathing his cock in one
unbroken thrust.

"Fuck! Oh, God!" Win gasped, panting and groaning through the stretch. He shifted and then
pushed back against Bright. "Now fuck me."

Bright didn't need any further encouragement. His hips snapped as the sound of slick skin
slapping together filled the air. Fast and rough. Bright's hands gripping his hips, cock filling
him, stroking him from the inside. It was all Win could do to hold on and enjoy the
rollercoaster ride.
He felt Bright's tongue on his back, tracing the line of his spine, Bright's mouth kissing and
sucking, teeth nipping then finally biting down on the back of his neck.

Win arched his back, feeling Bright's cock slide just a little deeper. Yes! Fuck, yes…just like
that. He groaned, overwhelmed with the need to come before he came apart at the seams. He
reached for his cock again only to have Bright yank his hand out of the way and hold it
behind his back for a few seconds, long enough to make it clear that he'd come only when
Bright decided and not before.

"Bright…please," Win ground out, trying not to sound like he was begging but fuck if he
wasn't nearly at that point. His cock was so hard it was in danger of shattering into a million
pieces while his balls hung heavy between his legs, achingly tight and full.

Bright ignored Win's plea and his cock and continued to fuck him, driving home his point
that this was his fuck and he was in control.

Finally, Win whimpered in relief when Bright reached around, taking his cock in hand and
jerking him off with firm, practiced strokes. He was so fucking hard and within a minute, his
fists clenched as the pressure built higher and higher before it all exploded in a storm of
white heat inside his head.

He barely registered when Bright drove into him two, three more times before his brain went
completely offline and he collapsed on the bed, sated and well-fucked.

Somewhere through the haze, Win heard Bright chuckle. "You need a shower."

"Ya think?" Win mumbled without opening his eyes. Shower sounded….good. Just…later.

Much later.

**********

"Hey, look who's back!" Jennie's voice rang out across the diner when she saw Win come
through the door. Then she spotted Bright right behind him and her smile instantly faded.
Hand on her hip, she fixed Bright with a critical stare. "Already? What, you get a text
whenever someone new shows up in town so you can be the first to deliver the welcome-to-
Los Angeles fuck?"

Bright scowled at her with a mixture of annoyance and confusion. "No idea what the fuck
you're talking about, Jen."

"I'm talking about him," Jennie answer, jabbing a thumb in Win's direction. "He's only been
here a few days and you've probably already crossed him off your to-do list."

"What—?" Bright turned to Win who cleared his throat and looked sheepish.
"Uh, I can explain. On Monday afternoon when I took your car to go shopping, I stopped in
here for a cup of coffee and a piece of pie."

"Godji's banana cream pie," Jennie supplied helpfully. And then, "Wait! You were here
visiting Bright?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Why didn't you say something?" Win started to answer but Jennie just continued. "Hang on,
how do you know Bright?"

"Win is Bright's partner, " Gun announced from halfway across the diner.

Bright shot a murderous glare at Gun but Jennie, who spun around to look at Gun, cut off his
retort. "Bright's what? I must be hearing things. I thought you just said 'partner.'" She turned
back around to face Bright and Win.

Win looked at Bright and gave a slight nod in his direction. This was Bright's turf and he
should be the one to explain.

Bright sighed and decided to get this over as quickly as possible. "Yes, Jen. Win and I are
together…partners…whatever-the-fuck. Now can we please sit down and order before we
starve to death?"

"Oh…uh. Sure," Jen said hesitantly, still processing the bomb Bright had just dropped. "I'll
bring you...some…uh…coffee."

Since Tay, New, Gun and Off were already occupying their usual booth, Bright and Win took
the adjacent one. Bright looked over to see Gulf watching them from behind the counter.
Unless he was deaf, there's no way Gulf could have missed Gun's proclamation about him
and Win. Everyone from here to San Francisco had heard. Fuck! As if this whole situation
wasn't awkward enough already.

Their eyes met and in the instant before Gulf turned away, Bright had read the jumble of
emotions on his face: Surprise. Curiosity. Jealousy. And something else in his eyes that
Bright couldn't quite decipher but he was sure he didn't want to think about.

Gun introduced Off to Win, who smiled to himself when Off turned away. "What?" Bright
asked, his eyebrow raised at Win's amusement.

Win shook his head. "Not here. Ask me later."

After bringing their orders and refilling their coffees, Jennie slid into the booth next to Win,
forcing him to move over to make room for her. "So how long have you been keeping this a
secret?" she asked Bright. "How did you two meet? Is that where you've been all these
weekends? Gun's missed you, I hope you know."
Bright suppressed the urge to snap at Jennie. Rapid-fire questions weren't his idea of an
enjoyable dining experience but he'd known they'd have to face Jennie sooner or later. This
weekend couldn't be over soon enough for him. "We met at a club in New York a couple of
months ago, while I was on a business trip. And yes, that's where I've been spending a lot of
my weekends. Anything else you want to know, I'm sure the full story will be on CNN
anytime now."

Jennie ignored Bright's sarcasm and directed her attention to Win. "What do you do for a
living, honey?"

"I'm an architect, ma'am. I design house for people who have more money than they know
what to do with." Win had pulled out his best manners and turned on the boyish charm that
had worked so well on Jennie the last time. He'd already surmised that Jennie was an
important person in Bright's life, possibly even his de facto surrogate mother, considering
how his biological mother treated him. So making a good impression on Jennie was a wise
plan of action.

"Ma'am?" Bright snorted. "Where'd that come from?"

"It's a Southern thing," Win explained. "I don’t do it as much now that I'm older but when I
was a kid, we had to address all adults as 'ma'am' or 'sir'."

"He's right," New chimed in from the next booth. "My mama would tan my hide if she heard
me being disrespectful to my elders."

"Your mama and mine must have been cut from the same cloth," Win replied. "She took a
switch to my ass once when I refused to call my teacher 'ma'am'."

"Are you originally from New York?" Jennie asked. "Do you have brothers and sisters?"

"No, ma'am. I grew up in Texas. I have one brother and two sisters. "

"Is that where your parents live? What do they do?"

Bright's face wore a pained expression. "Please, Jen. We're trying to eat here. Next you'll be
asking him what his favorite color is and whether he prefers boxers or briefs."

A mischievous expression crept over Win's face. "Dark green and I wear black boxer-briefs
most of the time." He winked at Jennie, who grinned and put her arm around Win.

"I like you. You can stay. Maybe some of your good manners will rub off on him." She
inclined her head toward Bright who rolled his eyes and looked bored.

The cook rang the bell signaling that a new order was ready. "Hey Gulf!" Jennie called. "Can
you get that for me? Table six."

"Sure, Jen," Gulf answered and headed toward the kitchen.

The name immediately caught Win's attention and his head turned, eyes tracking Gulf as he
made his way across the room, observing everything from his facial expression to his clothes
to his body movements. So this was the famous Gulf, he thought. The Gulf who'd stood
between him and Bright all those months. He was so young. Nice enough looking kid,
though, if you were into twinks. He wasn't and he didn't think Gulf looked like Bright's type
either. In fact, he didn't look like anything special. What on earth had kept Bright interested
beyond the time it took to fuck the kid?

And if Gulf worked here, then Bright probably saw him most days, maybe even interacted
with him. Should he be concerned? What if Gulf dumped his boyfriend and decided he
wanted Bright back? The thought roused his possessive streak like a grizzly bear disturbed
from sleep. Bright might have a history with this kid but he belonged to Win now.

The exchange between Jennie and Gulf hadn't gone unnoticed by Bright either, nor had Win's
reaction to Gulf's presence. So much for being subtle but there was nothing to do about it
now. Win already knew about Gulf. Now he'd seen Gulf in person. So what? Bright had
resolved to come out of the closet, so to speak, about Win this weekend. Now everyone knew.
Full disclosure and all that shit.

Jennie soon left them in peace and Win, now free to scoot out of the booth, excused himself
to use the bathroom. Bright looked over to see Gulf clearing the dishes from a nearby table.

"Hey," Gulf said, casually.

"Hey," Bright replied, and then, unable to think of anything else to say, asked, "How's
school?"

"Good. I have some pieces in a student show next month."

Bright nodded; nothing that he hadn't expected to hear. He chewed on a toothpick, watching
Gulf as he cleaned the table, taking his time and obviously stalling.

Gulf glanced at the door to the men's room, then looked back at Bright. He didn't say
anything, just finished wiping the table but the words passed silently between them as clearly
as if they'd been spoken aloud.

I see you've moved on.

So have you.

Win emerged from the bathroom and Gulf moved away to clear another table. Sensing that
some communication had transpired, Win glanced from Bright to Gulf and back. A spark of
jealousy arose but Win, acknowledging that the moment had passed, let it go.

Mostly. He leaned over and boldly planted a kiss on Bright's mouth that was anything but
chaste.

"Ahem. When you two are finished, here's the check," Jennie said, an amused look on her
face.

"Yes, ma'am, " Win said, releasing Bright's mouth and standing up, completely unapologetic
for his public display of affection. His glance across the room to Gulf sent a clear
message. I'm the one he kisses now.

Bright smiled to himself, seeing Win's kiss for precisely what it was. He'd allow Win his
jealousy, not that he had anything to worry about. Besides, Win had probably earned the right
to be a little territorial.

As they were leaving, Jennie spared no affection in giving Win a hug. "You're coming back
soon." It wasn't a question.

"In a couple of weeks, I think," Win answered.

"You let me know and I'll have Godji make one of his special pies, just for you."

"I'd like that. Thank you, ma'am."

"Thank you, ma'am," Bright mimicked in a falsetto voice.

"And you," Jennie turned to face Bright, her finger pointed at him. Bright braced himself for
the reproach he knew was imminent.

Instead, Jennie reached out and cupped Bright's face in both hands. "You did good, kiddo.
Now don't fuck it up," she said, punctuating her statement with a not-too-gentle slap on his
cheek.

"Yes, ma'am," Bright said again, in the same high-pitched tone but this time accompanied by
a mostly sincere smile at Jennie.

"That wasn't so bad," Win commented when they'd reached the car.

"If you enjoy being interrogated."

"Oh, she was just curious. She's a nice lady."

"Well, you certainly made an impression. You'll know you're really part of the family when
she starts physically assaulting you. It's how she shows affection."

"I'll remember to wear protective padding next time," Win said, remembering Jennie's
exuberant hug. "Off is quite the hunk, isn't he? Probably spends a lot of time at the gym."

"Yeah, and he even spends some of that time exercising," Bright said, caustically.

"Huh?"

"Off gets his muscles, some of them at least, from a needle."Bright said noncommittally.
"What was so amusing about Off earlier?"

"Is Off kinky? Do he and Gun play?"

Bright snorted out a laugh. "I've never asked but I'm sure they don't. As to his past sex
partners, I have no idea. Why?"

"Off gives off a very subby vibe. Nothing conscious but it's there. Just wondered."

Bright's mind flashed on the time he'd tied Off to the headboard and fucked him. That had
been fun but he wasn't about to share the memory with Win. "Don't bother getting out your
flogger. Gun and the professor are monogamous."

"No worries. I wasn't about to start hitting on your friends."

********

"That was a fun evening. I liked them both a lot," Win commented, looking over at Bright
who was driving them home. They'd had dinner at Tine and Sarawat's house and then they'd
all gone to a small club where they'd had a few beers and listened to a local band. "Did you
have a good time?"

"Yeah. It was nice," Bright answered, distractedly.

"'Not exactly an enthusiastic response. Something wrong?"

"Just thinking about Tine and Sarawat. Watching them tonight…Tine always having to serve
Sarawat. Rushing to refill his glass. Watching him like a hawk so he could pass him things
before he had to ask for them. He didn't even start eating until Sarawat had already begun and
then nodded for him to eat."

Win was quiet for a moment, mentally replaying the evening. "I was watching them too. I
could tell they're still new at this arrangement. Made things a little awkward but they'll get
the hang of it with time."

"Whatever. The whole thing is just so…" Bright shook his head, as if he couldn't make sense
of it.

"Intense?" Win supplied.

"Yeah. Too intense for me. I remember reading about total power exchange and now that I've
seen it, I know I'm not interested."

"Hmm…" Win paused, reflecting on what he'd seen of Tine and Sarawat's interactions. "I
could be wrong but I don't think their relationship is TPE."

Bright shot Win a perplexed look. "Tine told me himself that they're 24/7 now."
"But TPE and 24/7 aren't the same thing," Win explained. "TPE would mean that Sarawat
controls everything – what Tine eats and wears. His job. Health. Friends. When he can use
the bathroom. You get the idea. And I don't get that sense from watching them tonight."

"I can't see Tine being controlled to that extent," Bright agreed.

"The way I understand things," Win continued, "24/7 just means that there's the potential for
power exchange at any time, whether or not it's actually happening. Like…" Win paused,
searching for an example. "Tiger and Cub. They're always Dom and sub but they aren't
always involved in power exchange. Whenever he chooses, Tiger could make a demand of
Cub as his Dom so the potential is always there. They don't strictly separate kink from their
daily lives."

"So you're saying that Tine and Sarawat are 24/7, just not into TPE?"

"I think so. Ask Tine to be sure."

Bright frowned. "So many fucking labels for everything."

"I know," Win said, with a sigh. "I hate them too but common terminology is helpful.
Remember what I told you: every couple has to find their place on the spectrum."

"Whatever gets you off but it's still fucking confusing," Bright concluded.

"I agree," Win said, then stifled a yawn as they pulled into the parking spot at Bright's
building. "Too confusing for one o'clock in the morning."

Leaning over, Bright planted a wet kiss on Win's lips. "Tonight, it looks like I'll be tucking
you into bed."

Win smiled, tiredly. "Promise to get me naked and take advantage of me?"

Rolling his eyes, Bright feigned annoyance. "And you called me 'easy'?"

***********

They'd just finished eating breakfast the next morning when there was a knock at the door.
Bright stifled a groan of irritation. He'd figured someone would be over to visit before Win
left for the airport. The question was who. His bet was on Gun or Jennie. Sliding the door
open, Bright found Love and Pam instead,

"Yes?" Bright asked, blandly, gesturing for them to come in. "What do you want?" He knew
exactly why they'd come – to meet Win – but he didn't feel like playing the gracious hostess
this morning.

"Good morning. Nice to see you too, Bright," Pam replied in a chiding tone. "Can't we just
come for a social visit?
"You could, except you never do. You only show up when you need something from me."

"That's not—" Pam protested but Love interrupted.

"Aren't you going to introduce us to your…friend? Or are you going to persist in being a
social cretin?"

"Hi, I'm Win." Win finished drying his hand on a kitchen towel and offered it to Pam.

"Pamela," she said, taking his hand and giving him a charming smile.

"Nice to meet you." He returned her smile before turning to Love and taking her hand. "And
you must be Love."

Love smiled, pleasantly surprised by the recognition. "I am."

"You're Charlotte's mothers," Win said. Thank God he was good with names.

"So Bright did tell you something about us. Too bad we can't say the same thing," Love said,
amused.

"Sure, Bright told me all about you and Charlotte." Win looked at Bright, not sure what his
role was here. Bright motioned for him to carry on with entertaining their guests so he
decided to extend some Southern hospitality, even if they were in Los Angeles.

"Can I get anyone a drink?" Win asked. "There's fresh coffee."

"I'll take a cup - black," Love replied.

"If that's orange juice," Pam said, nodding toward a pitcher on the counter, "I'd love a glass."

"Sure is," Win answered, pouring her a glass and then taking down a mug to fill for Love.

"Thank you, Win." Pam looked around the kitchen and then turned to Bright. "I don't think
I've ever seen you cook before."

"That's because I don't," Bright said. "Win does."

"It's a hobby of mine," Win said, handing the coffee to Love. "My mama is a chef and she
taught me." He followed them to the sitting area and indicated for Bright to join them.

"Where's 'Lotte?" Bright asked.

"Jennie's watching him for a while so we could come over and meet Win," Pam answered.

"Interrogate, you mean," Bright said. "Who told you he was here?"

"Tay called me yesterday morning," Love admitted.

"New," Pam said.

Bright rolled his eyes, not the least bit surprised to hear that the gay gossip line was in
working order.

"So tell us about yourself," Pam prompted Win. "It's not like Bright even told us you
existed."

Win filled them in on the basics, what he did for a living, what he liked to do in his spare
time, a bit about his family. Bright forced himself to maintain a straight face knowing that
Win couldn't tell them everything he did in his spare time. He was very surprised to learn that
Win owned a gun and enjoyed going to the shooting range with Carson. He wasn't sure how
he felt about that but what Win did when they weren't together was none of his business.

Love was delighted to find someone who shared her love of motorcycles. "Wow, Bright. I'm
impressed. Win has a great job; he's intelligent, good-looking…"

"And his cock is almost as perfect as mine," Bright added.

Pam pursed her lips and gave Bright a disapproving look. "He cooks and has nice manners,
not to mention a lovely accent."

"He's even age-appropriate," Love quipped.

"Not that we don't love Gulf," Pam added, quickly. "But he's awfully young."

"Win seems like such a great catch. What does he see in you?" Love asked Bright, who
sneered at her.

"My sexual prowess, obviously."

"And his clothes," Win said, with a wink, causing the two women to laugh.

Win held up his own coffee mug. "Can I get anyone a refill while I'm up?" No one needed
anything so he excused himself to fill his own mug. Half listening to the conversation from
the kitchen area, Win observed how Bright interacted with each of the women. The friendly –
or, not-so-friendly - rivalry between him and Love was obvious from their barbed banter but
he didn't detect any true malice. He had to give her credit for holding her own against Bright,
something few could do.

Pam's relationship with Bright was more complicated. That much he could already tell from
their visit so far. He remembered Bright saying they'd been involved briefly but he couldn't
imagine it. She wasn't his type, even if he wasn't gay. She was too…conventional. He'd be
willing to bet that settling down with kids and a mortgage was her dream but he couldn't
imagine Bright wanting any part of that.

Pam seemed to radiate some claim to Bright. Even now, he noticed her watching him, as if
she were evaluating him, deciding if he was suitable for Bright. He'd have to keep an eye on
her.

After returning to his seat, Win chatted with Pam and Love about their jobs and backgrounds
and then asked some questions about Charlotte. Her favorite toys and which books she liked.
Smiling proudly, Pam pulled out her wallet and showed him some pictures of Charlotte.

"She looks like you, Bright," Win commented, holding up a picture to compare their two
faces. Bright pretended to be bored with the whole conversation but Win could see the
paternal pride peeking through the cracks in his veneer of nonchalance.

When they left a short time later, Pam and Love invited them both over to have dinner at their
house and to spend time with Charlotte the next time Win was in town.

********
Win looked around the gym, thoroughly amused. Every time he blinked, some guy was
cruising him. Two of them had outright hit on him, one inviting him to the steam room and
the other trying to hand him his phone number. No wonder Bright's sex life was so lively if
he worked out here on a regular basis.

With Bright, he'd noticed that the dynamic was different. A few guys openly cruised him but
most kept their distance, confining their interest to looks of either longing or resignation.
Either Bright had fucked them already or he'd turned them down before. Or they didn't think
they stood a chance with the great Bright Vachirawit.

One brave guy had approached Bright and after watching him discreetly take the trick's
number with a promise to call him soon, Gun exploded. "Bright! What do you think you're
doing? You have a boyfriend now and he's sitting right over there."

Bright took a deep breath and reminded himself not to take off Gun's head. "Which is why
I'm not heading to the steam room right now to stick my cock down his throat," Bright said in
a deceptively patient voice. "I'll probably call him this week."

"You shouldn't be calling him at all," Gun said, reprovingly. "You're in a relationship now."

"If you and the professor want to forsake all others, that's your business."

Gun turned to face Win. "He's still tricking and this is okay with you?"

Win shrugged. "What Bright said is correct. We can each fuck whomever we want when we
aren't physically together."

"And it doesn’t bother you?" Gun persisted, still talking to Win.

"Drop it, Gun," Bright warned. "Our relationship. Our rules."

Win went back to his leg press, grateful that Bright had put a stop to Gun's questions. The
truth was that Bright's tricking did bother him. He'd accepted it and resolved not to make an
issue of it, but he couldn't honestly say that he didn't wish Bright could give up tricking.
Maybe someday he would. In the meantime, if tricking kept Bright happy and content when
they were apart, he could deal with it. Bright was his in every other way and that's what really
mattered.

"Gee," New remarked to Tay as they walked on the treadmills, "I never thought I'd live to see
the day when Bright admitted he was in a relationship. What's next, Liza staying sober?"

**********

Gun shoved his sweaty clothes into his gym bag, half-listening to New's animated description
of the porn site he'd found which featured all hairy men. He gathered up his shampoo and
deodorant and then looked around.

"Hey, wait up," he told Tay and New, who were zipping their bags. "I forgot my soap in the
shower." He headed back through the nearly empty locker room but when he reached the
doorway of the shower room, he stopped short, hanging back to watch the only two
remaining occupants.

Win and Bright were oblivious to the water sluicing over their bodies as they stood under the
shower spray, bodies entwined. Win said something that Gun couldn't hear over the sound of
the shower. He saw Bright nod and lean into Win's palm that was cupping his cheek. They
kissed once, then again, tenderly, before a deep kiss of unhurried passion.

Gun turned away, not wanting to interrupt. What he'd just witnessed wasn't merely lust-fueled
groping. This was something altogether different. Deeper and more intimate than he could
have guessed.

He rejoined the others, soap forgotten.

Notes

I don't support the use of illegal substances or any substance abuse. Bright uses these to drugs
to help cope with the emotions he can't process but that doesn't mean I condone this. Here are
some drugs mentioned in this chapter just for your extra knowledge hehehehe

Special K is Ketamine. Ketamine is an anesthetic drug used by medical practitioners or

veterinarians. it can be in liquid or powdered form. It is sometimes used illegally, hence the
Special K; by people to get high.

"E" is Ecstacy. Ecstasy (also known as MDMA) is an illegal synthetic drug that is classed as
an empathogen (increases feeling of empathy and compassion towards others) but also acts as
a nervous system stimulant.

Coke is cocaine. I think this one is pretty well known.

 Before I thought recreational drug use is ok, but seeing people started from that to become an
addict, it's better not to use it all. Drinking is ok but in moderation.

Chapter End Notes

Thank you for all the comments and the kudos!!! I will try to be more active now that
the COVID cases are dropping, it means more time to write!!!!
There's a lot of QAF dynamics here thank you to Ms. Q for helping me write this
chapter.
 Chapter 6
Chapter Summary

"I like spending time with him, Gun." Especially on my knees in his playroom. "Sex is
phenomenal." When I'm tied up and begging to come. "He's smart and knows how to
dress." He's a sadistic bastard who looks great in black leather. "And…well, a lot of
reasons that I can't put into words." He pushes me to my limits and I trust him more than
I've ever trusted anyone in my life.

Chapter Notes

I know its been a long time, I was hit by a major writer's block. Finally resolved the idea
of what direction I want with Boundaries. Hopefully you will enjoy this. Thank you for
your patience!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

"Now if I can just get everyone else to stop with the fucking questions and comments, my life
would be infinitely more pleasant." Normally Bright relished being the center of attention but
not about Win. He could hardly wait for this coming weekend; a chance to escape and
unwind in his favorite way.

"They will," Win said, with conviction. "My sudden appearance was a shock but I'm not
exciting enough to keep the gossip mill churning for too long. Now if I'd turned up wearing
head-to-toe leather dungeon apparel and wielding a flogger, they might find me more
fascinating." Win's mouth formed a devious smile.

The image that shot through Bright's head, of Win in a black leather mask, his body oiled,
wearing tight leather pants, made his cock suddenly wake up and stretch. "Thank fuck that
isn't ever going to happen." At least not in Los Angeles, he thought. New York…well, that
was a different story.

Win opened his mouth to say something, closed it and then changed his mind. "Can I ask you
something?" he said quickly, before he could change his mind again.

Bright shrugged. "Go ahead."

Biting his lip, Win now wished he'd kept his mouth shut. "Never mind."
"No, go on," Bright prompted, his curiosity piqued. He had a pretty good idea what was on
Win's mind but he wanted to hear him ask.

"It's…uh…I mean, I wondered…" Win huffed in frustration and made himself just spit it out.
"Gulf. Now that I've seen him…I just don’t get it." God, he hated himself for not letting it go.
No matter what Bright told him, he knew he didn't want to hear it but in some twisted
masochistic way he just couldn't stop himself from asking anyway.

Not surprised, Bright sighed to himself. Might as well get this out in the open so Win would
drop it. "What do you want to know? How we met? I picked him up outside, took him home
and fucked him."

"You fuck a lot of guys, Bright. What made him boyfriend material?"

Covering up a grimace by taking a drink of water, Bright fought the urge to tell Win to mind
his own fucking business. He really didn't want to talk about Gulf, least of all with Win, but
he was trying to put himself in Win's shoes. However, he wasn't about to tear open his heart
and share his innermost feelings about Gulf. He shifted uncomfortably, resolving to get this
little sharing session over with and change the subject as fast as he could.

"Things didn't start out that way," Bright began. "The last thing I wanted was a boyfriend and
I made that very clear but Gulf just wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. He followed me around
and started hanging out with my friends. Sometimes I didn't mind having him around - the
convenient sex was a bonus – but I spent just as much time treating him like shit so he'd go
away. He was a persistent little fucker. Then, after a while, I realized I didn't want him to go
away. Then Gulf, met Mew and Mew can give what Gulf wants…”

‘romantic bullshits and monogamy’ , Bright thought quietly.

Win didn't say anything, holding back his response as he let his thoughts settle. He knew very
well that things weren't as cleanly resolved as Bright let on in his explanation. Emotions
didn't stay wrapped up in a neat, tidy package, and he'd seen firsthand the frayed loose ends
of Bright's feelings for Gulf.

Now he felt a pang of guilt for pushing Bright to talk about Gulf but at least he'd gained a
better understanding of Bright through his approach to relationships. Bright hadn't intended
to be in a relationship with Gulf but over time, the feelings had taken root and sprouted. And
in a way, the same had happened to him and Bright. They hadn't started out as anything more
than Dom and sub but their feelings had slowly evolved and gotten stronger.

Win cleared his throat. "Thanks for telling me," he said softly before lapsing into an
uncomfortable silence. Bright excused himself to go get a cigarette and his lighter.

"Changing the subject," Win said, when Bright had returned to the couch, "I was surprised to
see you snorting some shits at the club. Is that a regular thing?"

Bright's relief at not having to talk more about Gulf was short-lived. He was not in the mood
for Win to criticize his drug consumption. "I wouldn't say 'regular.' I do it when I'm in the
mood and happen to have any. Sometimes I do E instead. Why the questions?"

"Just curious, is all. But you don't use drugs outside the club, when you aren't socializing?"

"Look," Bright said, beginning to get annoyed at Win's prying. "I'm not addicted, if that's
where you are going with this discussion. I don't need the drugs. Or the alcohol. Besides,
you're no saint yourself."

Win frowned; maybe Bright didn't need the drugs but the alcohol was definitely a coping
mechanism. He didn't feel like tackling that issue now so he kept it to himself. "As I said, I
was just surprised and curious. I never claimed to be a saint but I don't partake as often as you
do."

"What you do, or don't do, is your business," Bright answered.

Win gritted his teeth. "You know, I came to Los Angeles to spend time with you but that's
kinda hard when you were falling-down drunk and higher than a kite!"

"Then don't come," Bright snapped.

There was a long pause. "Is that what you want?" Win asked, neutrally.

Bright blew out a breath. "No. But stop nagging about my drinking and drug use, alright? It's
my choice."

"So it was okay for you to treat me like shit Friday night, just because you were too fucked
up to control yourself?" Because of the ambiguity of their Dom/sub relationship, he'd
concluded that he couldn't punish Bright for his disrespectful behavior. However, he could
and would hold Bright responsible for just being an ass to him when he was only expressing
concern.

Bright mentally replayed the evening, vaguely remembering Win being upset with him about
something. "When?"

"After you came out of the bathroom with Gun, I expressed concern over how much you'd
been drinking and you snapped at me."

Ah, now it was coming back to him. He didn't think he'd been that big of an asshole but he
was willing to admit that his recollection wasn't reliable.

Win saw the dawning comprehension on Bright's face and continued. "Bright, I don't mind a
little drinking to loosen up and relax, or even something more once in a while for fun. All I'm
asking for is some moderation. And for you not to take my head off when I try to talk to you
about it."

"Or you'll pull your Dom trump card again?" Bright said, the accusation clear. Yes, Win had
been discreet in using that tactic but it still crossed a line that he thought they'd agreed on.
"Maybe I wouldn't have if you hadn't shut me down when I tried to talk to you. I was
frustrated and I did what I knew would get through to you."

"But we agreed that the kinky stuff would stay in New York, in the playroom. Definitely not
in Los Angeles," Bright protested.

"Oh, yes," Win said, a hint of mocking in his tone. "Behind closed doors. Locked away. But
Bright, it's not that simple. I'm your Dom. It's who I am, not something I can turn on and off
with a switch just because we're in a different city."

Bright glared at Win. "Well, you'd better fucking figure out how because that's not happening
here. Period."

They both stared at each other through the webcam, seemingly at an impasse. Win's mind
raced; he'd meant everything he said but relationships went two ways. Bright's idea of where
the boundary should be was different than his but did that mean it was wrong? One thing he
knew for sure, he wasn't going to lose Bright over this.

"Fine, I apologize for overstepping that boundary. I was frustrated and reacted instinctively
but that doesn't make it right."

Bright nodded, accepting the apology. "And I shouldn't have acted like a prick. I was more
fucked up than usual but that's not an excuse." He took a last drag off his cigarette and
crushed it out angrily. He hadn't meant to hurt Win so the apology was warranted but fuck,
this partner shit was so frustrating. He had no fucking idea what the rules were here. When
they'd only been Dom and sub, things had been a lot more straightforward between them.

"I need to go," Win said, suddenly craving a cigarette of his own. He'd hoped that he and
Bright could get off together tonight but now he just wasn't in the mood. Things between
them felt so unresolved, a tangled mass of loose ends. He needed time alone to think about
how to sort them out.

"Yeah, me too," Bright agreed. "Later."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Did Win have a good time?" Gun asked, kicking aside the empty pizza box and reaching for
his beer.

"I guess so." Bright finished rolling the joint, licked the edge of the paper and twisted the
ends.

Gun waited while Bright took a long hit before handing him the joint. "How'd you meet him
again?" he asked.
"Picked him up at a club, went to my hotel room and fucked," Bright answered easily. "He
wasn't bad so I went back for seconds." No need to elaborate on who fucked whom or what
additional fun took place.

Gun passed the joint back to Bright. "But you've fucked hundreds, probably thousands, of hot
guys. How did he earn a promotion from trick to partner?"

Bright rolled his eyes. Christ, this sounded just like the conversation he'd had with Win
yesterday. "We talked a bit, he gave me his number and a few weeks later, I went down to
visit him. I had a good time and it became a regular thing."

Gun stared at Bright, wondering who this man was in front of him because the Bright he
knew didn't do regular fucking with anyone. Well, except for Gulf. "I don't have to ask why
you're attracted to him. He's successful and hot. Seems really nice. But so are a lot of guys.
Why not the rich stockbroker you fucked a couple of weeks ago? Remember, the one with the
Aston Martin?"

Bright snorted and shook his head. "The car was okay, I'll admit that, but he was clearly using
it to compensate for his dick."

"Really?" Gun looked disenchanted. "Or how about that client, a few months back, the one
that you swore was the hottest thing on two legs?"

After thinking for a moment, Bright grimaced. "Pretentious prick. I could barely put up with
him long enough to shoot a load."

Throwing up his hands, Gun gave up. "So what does Win have that those guys don't?"

"I like spending time with him, Gun." Especially on my knees in his playroom. "Sex is
phenomenal." When I'm tied up and begging to come. "He's smart and knows how to
dress." He's a sadistic bastard who looks great in black leather. "And…well, a lot of reasons
that I can't put into words." He pushes me to my limits and I trust him more than I've ever
trusted anyone in my life.

"It's pretty serious between you two, isn't it?" Gun said, softly, recalling the scene in the
shower at the gym.

"I care about him." Bright paused to take one last toke and then dropped the roach in the cup
they were using for an ashtray. "And he feels the same way so I guess that qualifies as
serious."

"So you guys just see each other on weekends?"

"Yes," Bright answered, and ambled off to the kitchen for another beer. "For now, we're
alternating weekends here and there."

"That's a lot of traveling," Gun pointed out. "And neither one of you is thinking about
moving?"
"No. Gun, stop worrying, okay? I have my job here and he has a very good job there.
Besides, this arrangement works for us. If we were together all the time, we'd probably get on
each other's nerves."

"And being here means you can keep tricking." Gun's tone left no doubt what he thought of
that perk.

"That too."

"He really doesn't mind you tricking?" Gun pressed.

Bright sighed and decided he needed to be blunt with Gun. "He accepts it. And he's not
monogamous either so it's a mutual understanding."

Gun looked incredulous. "Win tricks? Now I can see why you two get along so well."

Fuck, he didn't mean it that way. "Not tricks." Feeling the need to defend Win, Bright's mind
scrambled for an innocuous explanation. "He has fuck buddies that he hooks up with." That
sounded better than tricking, he decided.

"But what if things change and you two decide to live together and…?"

"Gun! Listen to me. Are you listening?" Bright leaned forward and held both of Gun's
shoulders.

"Yes, I'm listening."

"I have no plans to move but no matter what might happen, I'll always be there for you."
Remembering what Win said about setting boundaries, Bright added, "You have Off and now
I have Win. We can still hang out together but we each have our own lives." He was loathe to
compare himself and Win to Gun and Off but it was the only way Gun would get the
message.

"Yeah, I know. It's just hard to imagine you with a boyfriend. Partner," Gun corrected
himself. "Other than Gulf, I mean."

"Me too," Bright agreed. "Sometimes I don't know what the fuck I'm doing. But other times it
feels right to just let things happen. To not be in control for a while."

Staring at Bright as if he'd grown an extra head, Gun asked, "What did you just say?"

Fuck! "Nothing. Must be the weed." Bright mentally kicked himself. He needed to watch
what he said, especially around Gun. "It's still early. Wanna go out?"

"Sure," Gun said, Bright's strange comment already forgotten.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"How'd the rest of the weekend go?" Tine asked, once they'd placed their order and started in
on their beers.

"Okay. I'm just glad it's over."

Tine's chipper expression disappeared, replaced by a concerned one. "Why? Something

happened?"

Bright shook his head. "Just sick of everyone making a big deal about him."

"Well," Tine replied, chuckling, "you have to admit that with your reputation, to suddenly
pull a partner out of thin air is a rather shocking feat.

"It's none of their business who I fuck," Bright said, a touch of defensiveness in his voice.

"True. Was it strange having him here?"

"Kinda, yeah. Different than New York. No kinky shit, just…us."

Tine took a drink of his beer. "Must have been hard on Win."

"Huh?"

"I just meant that Win is so noticeably dominant around you," Tine explained. "But he had to
keep it under wraps because he was here."

"It's that obvious?" Bright asked, slightly alarmed. Who else might have noticed?

"To me it was, but only because I knew it was there. Win's body language spoke volumes if
you knew what to look for."

"I guess that's just how he is," Bright said with a shrug. He remembered Win saying
something along those lines the last time they'd talked, so he made a mental note to pay more
attention to how they acted together in public.

"Bright, are you ever going to tell your friends here about what you and Win do?"

"No." Bright's response left no room for further discussion but Tine pressed on anyway.

"Leading a double life, it's going to be hard on both of you—"

"I said no."

"—hiding who you really are whenever he visits—"

"Fuck off!" Bright spat and stood up to leave.

Tine grabbed his arm. "Stop. I'm sorry, okay? Please stay."

"Sorry's bullshit," Bright retorted but sat down and picked up his beer.

"Maybe but I didn't mean to upset you. I'm just going to say one more thing," Tine held up
his hand when Bright started to protest, "and then I promise to drop it. It seemed to me that
you and Win were working so hard, putting on an act, pretending not to be Dom and sub that
neither of you were able to relax. I care about you and I hate to see you…well, you just didn't
seem to be enjoying yourselves. There. I'm done."

The arrival of their food right then provided a welcome diversion, and by the time they'd
tasted their dinners and the waiter had supplied fresh beers, Bright's irritation had faded.
.
Bright polished off one of his shrimp and nodded in approval. They'd tried a new Mexican
restaurant and he'd ordered the shrimp with chipotle spices, served fajita style. "Can I ask you
a question?"

"Sure," Tine replied after finishing his bite of his grilled chicken sandwich and tasting the
mango-avocado slaw.

"Your relationship with Sarawat is 24/7, right?"

"Yeah, I guess that's the label that best describes us. Why?"

"Does that mean TPE too?"

Tine's fork stopped halfway to his mouth. "Definitely not." He caught the look on Bright's
face. "What? You thought they were the same?"

"Well…yeah."

Tine chewed his food while he considered his response. "TPE would mean that Sarawat had
control over every aspect of my life – my finances, my health, what clothes I wear, what food
I eat…you get the idea. I wouldn't be happy living like that and I know Sarawat wouldn’t
want that kind of power."

Bright nodded. He completely agreed with Tine on that issue.

"To us, being 24/7 simply means that I'm always in the role of Sarawat's sub. Except for our
weekly "time out" breaks," Tine amended.

Seeing Bright's frown of confusion, Tine opted for a different tactic to convey his point.
"Think of a car engine. When it's idling, it is running but it's not working hard. That's us most
of the time. The D/s energy is there but it's at a low level. But the engine could, at any time,
rev up into a higher gear. Sarawat could give me an order or…decide to launch a spontaneous
scene in the middle of dinner." Tine laughed. "No, that doesn't happen on a regular basis."
"Could be fun."

"I agree. Basically, Bright, 24/7 just means that, as his sub, I always put him first and
acknowledge that the potential is always there for things to kick into a higher gear, which it
does occasionally. Not that we spend all day doing kinky things; after all, the laundry has to
be washed, the shopping done and the lawn mown. I'm still his sub all the time, though. Does
that make things clearer?"

Bright nodded. "Yeah, thanks." Tine's explanation of their version of 24/7 seemed much more
logical than the extreme mental picture he'd had. He'd have to remember to tell Win that he'd
been right.

"So," Tine smiled, an excited look on his face, "this is the big weekend, right?"

"The party at The Exchange, yeah." Bright managed to muster some enthusiasm into his
voice.

"Are you excited? Nervous?"

Bright shrugged, trying to project nonchalance but Tine saw right through it. "What's
bothering you?"

When Bright hesitated, Tine set down his fork and reached over to clasp Bright's shoulder.
"This is me, remember? The one person here that you can talk to about this stuff."

Huffing out a breath, Bright pushed through his reluctance. He did need to talk to someone.
"I don't want to fuck it up."

"Win must think you're ready for this or he wouldn't be taking you. It's just dinner and then
watching some play scenes, right?"

"Basically." If only it was just that simple, Bright thought.

"So, what's the big deal?" Tine shrugged, confused over Bright's distress. "Sounds like a fun
night."

"I'll be there as his sub. And he expects me to walk to heel and…" Bright took a deep breath.
"…and kneel beside his chair at dinner."

"He's going to feed you?" Bright nodded, not looking at Tine. "Have you ever done that
before?"

"Once," Bright answered, his voice tight. "At his house."

"And how did that go?"

"It was okay. But that was in private."

 "You're embarrassed to do it in public," Tine said, not posing it as a question. Again, Bright
nodded. "And Win knows this?"

"I told him but he didn't change his mind." Part of him was relieved that Win didn't let him
off the hook. He'd learned to trust Win to be a strong Dom and give him what he needed,
even if he didn't particularly like it at the time. He knew all this and….and he was still
uncomfortable.

"Good. He's pushing you." Tine thought for a moment before continuing. "I'll give you some
advice that helps me when we're playing in public. Focus on your Dom. Don't think about
who is looking at you or what they might be thinking about you. Block out everything but
Win and what he expects. You do that and you'll be just fine. And you'll make Win proud."

Bright toyed with his beer bottle as he contemplated Tine's answer. Win had essentially told
him the same thing but hearing the advice from Tine drove it home. It made sense; when he
played, he blocked out everything else to concentrate only on Win. The same would hold true
for public play.

And yes, he definitely wanted Win to be proud of him. Now if he could only remember Tine's
advice on Saturday night.

-----

Chapter End Notes

Fuckin Finally I managed to finish this one. I'm so conflicted with what direction should
I do with Boundaries. Maybe I will focus on their more on their relationship and there
will still be BDSM stuff but not as much as Last Kiss.
Thank you for reading ! And I still need to catch up with the comments keep them
coming hahahaha.
Thank you again!
 Chapter 7
Chapter Summary

The calm before the storm....

Chapter Notes

Hi!! Do you still remember me? 😘

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“Let’s play tonight,” Win said unexpectedly, ending a heavy silence between them over
dinner on Friday night. “Something relaxing, I think.” He hadn’t planned a scene for tonight
but after the tension of the past week, he was yearning for a release. They’d smoothed things
over after the argument on Monday evening but all week they’d both been treading carefully
through their conversations and relying on cybersex to avoid talking about any potentially
sensitive topics.

“That sounds good,” Bright said honestly. He’d been looking forward to coming down here
all week, escaping Los Angeles and all the infuriating questions and comments. ABeing back
in Win’s arms earlier had made him feel safe, as it always did, but it hadn’t been enough.
Until Win suggested playing, he hadn’t realized how much he’d been craving something
more to unwind his tangled nerves.

Win let out a quiet sigh of relief, having half-expected Bright to protest the additional
playtime infringing on their agreement, although he was becoming less and less sure of what
they’d actually agreed on. They were already planning to spend all day tomorrow as Dom
and sub in preparation for their outing at The Exchange. From his lack of objection to
tonight’s proposed scene, clearly Bright felt the same need to unwind as he did.

“After dinner,” Win instructed, his voice naturally slipping into the quietly authoritative Dom
tone that Bright knew so well, “take a shower and then meet me in the playroom. Usual
protocol.”

“Yes, sir.” Just hearing Win’s ‘scene’ voice and responding as his sub, Bright could already
feel himself sinking down into the submissive headspace. A relaxing scene probably meant
bondage but he truly didn’t care what they did. He trusted Win to select the right sort of scene
for them.
Bright walked into the playroom an hour later feeling refreshed from his shower and savoring
the quiet anticipation that he often felt before a scene but without the thread of jittery fear that
came from wondering what Win might do to him. As he had begun doing the past few times
they'd played, he walked around the room, touching the equipment and reorienting himself to
the room and its aura. Inhaling, he caught the earthy smells of leather and wood, mixed with
a hint of Win’s own scent, always present, just under the surface.

Before kneeling in his usual spot, he first stretched his neck and rolled his shoulders, then
shook out his arms and twisted his back until he heard a satisfying crack. Ah, that was better.
He knelt, settled into position then closed his eyes and focused on his breathing.

Using his breathing as a way to transition into submission was something he’d read in one of
the essays that Win sometimes sent to him. And, thankfully, it was helping. He could feel the
shift in his own consciousness and perception with each breath.

He heard Win come in a short time later and forced himself to remain still. He couldn’t resist
glancing over to see Win lay a length of coiled rope on the bed, though. Just as he’d
predicted, he thought to himself with a smile. He tried, without much success, to curtail his
curiosity when Win went over to the storage cabinet and selected a few items to add to the
rope on the bed. What was Win planning to do to him after he tied him up? At least one of the
items had been lube and that was always a good sign.

Satisfied that everything was ready, Win stood in front of Bright. “Ready, pet?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Bring your collar to me, please.”

Bright retrieved the collar from the storage cabinet, returned to his position in front of Win
and handed the collar to him with both hands, eyes down.

“Very good.” Win held the metal ring open while Bright leaned forward and then fastened it
behind his neck.

“Thank you, sir.” As always, Bright was pleasantly surprised at how familiar and secure the
weight of the collar felt around his neck.

“You’re welcome. Safewords?”

“Red and yellow, sir.”

“Red and yellow,” Win repeated. He stroked Bright’s cheek with his fingertips. “I think we
both need this tonight.”

It wasn’t a question so Bright didn’t feel the need to respond; he just closed his eyes and
leaned into Win’s touch. He couldn’t agree more.

“Please go over to the bed and lie on your back.”

Bright did as Win instructed, noticing a gag, a squeaky ball and something else – a blindfold,
maybe – in a heap next to the rope. This might turn out to be even more fun than he’d
thought. Then he spotted the cock ring, a metal one. Okay, maybe not quite as much fun for
him but he wasn’t entirely surprised.

Win sat down next to him on the bed and picked up the cock ring. “Sorry, pet,” he said as he
grasped the tip of Bright’s semi-hard cock between his thumb and forefinger, just under the
head, and squeezed, hard, to deflate his erection.

Bright gasped in discomfort; not pain exactly but definitely not a pleasant sensation. Win
threaded his now limp cock and balls through the opening. This ring was smaller than his
gold one and it was a tight squeeze. No way was he going to come while wearing it but that
didn’t really bother him. Or rather, he had grown used to being denied. Being allowed to
come was a privilege that Win might – or might not – grant to him.

Next, Win picked up the penis-style gag and fitted it into Bright’s mouth, buckling the strap
behind his neck. Bright’s opinion of gags hadn’t improved at all and he fought the urge to
resist the intrusion. And while he enjoyed having cocks in his mouth, he preferred the real
thing to a silicone imposter. This one filled his mouth so completely that the only way he
could breathe was through his nose.

Win didn’t miss the look of aversion on Bright’s face. “I know, pet, but you’ll do this for
me.”

A statement, not a question and something inside Bright settled, content in the knowledge
that Win wasn’t giving him a choice. Not having to make a decision was freeing.

Win placed the rubber ball in his right hand and Bright, familiar with what he called the “safe
ball,” automatically squeezed it, the loud squeak sound confirming that it worked.

“Close your eyes.” Win placed the blindfold over Bright’s eyes and secured it in place.
Again, he heard and felt Bright’s breathing quicken as he struggled to accept the blindfold,
which wasn’t surprising. By taking away his sight, his speech and soon, his movement, he
was rendering Bright completely passive, a state that Bright wasn’t comfortable being in.

“Such a good pet.” Win’s praise was calming and he concentrated on that rather than the gag
in his mouth or the blindfold over his eyes.

Starting at Bright’s shoulders and working down, Win wound the rope around his body,
employing the same Shibari wrap he’d used a few weeks ago to help Bright release pent-up
emotions after the incident with his nephew. This time though, he intended to use the
bondage, not to agitate him but to relax him. Every knot or loop of the rope was accompanied
by a caress or a kiss on that patch of skin, and all the time, Win kept up a soft litany of praise.
“So beautiful…my special pet. You look stunning right now…so strong. You please me so
much.”

At first, Win’s words sounded slightly corny but as Bright sank deeper into his submission,
the comforting cadence was what mattered, not what Win was saying. He didn’t go too deep
into subspace; Win’s touches and words kept him grounded. The tightness of the ropes
around his body made him feel safe and protected and his consciousness began to drift. All of
the stress from the past weeks just flowed out of him, and his perception narrowed to only the
feel of the rope and Win’s touch on his body and the sound of his words swirling around him.

Win knotted the rope around Bright’s ankles and then continued touching him.
Simultaneously possessive and affectionate, but not overtly sexual. Win ignored his cock and
balls, imprisoned and relegated to the sidelines for tonight.

“Yes, pet,” Win said, softly. “Sink into it. Relax and give it up to me. You’re mine.”

After placing a pillow next to Bright, Win carefully rolled him over onto his stomach so the
pillow was under his hips. He checked to make sure Bright’s breathing wasn’t obstructed and
that he still had the safe ball in his hand then picked up where he left off, touching and
kissing random spots on Bright’s back and shoulders between the ropes. Running his fingers
through Bright’s hair.

Picking up a condom, Win made sure that Bright heard the crinkle of the wrapper so he’d
know what was coming. No sudden surprises tonight.

Bright felt Win separate his ass cheeks and begin to push into him. Ohhh, fuck! He groaned
around the gag and shook his head. Fuck, no…too tight…his legs bound together….won’t fit.
Even arching his back didn't provide much additional room.

Win felt Bright’s resistance and ran his hand down Bright’s hip. “Don’t fight me, pet…just let
go. Let me in.”

Breathing deeply through his nose, Bright struggled to relax, despite the feeling of being
forced open. Win’s cock wasn’t huge but it was large enough. Another breath. He could
handle this. Christ, it was tight but no, don’t fight it.

Let it happen. Breathe.

After a long moment, Win heard a soft noise from Bright that might have been a whimper
and felt his whole body relax, like a dam giving way under pressure. “Yes, that’s it….good,"
he said softly as his cock slid deep – so slick and impossibly tight – until he bottomed out. He
pulled back then pushed all the way in several times, his strokes long and slow, adding more
lube to ease the way.

Win stretched out, blanketing Bright’s body with his own, pressing him into the mattress.
Kissing the back of his neck, whispering into his ear, “Yes…so helpless…at my mercy.”

Yes, Bright thought. At his mercy. Submitting – to the cock ring and the ropes binding him,
to the gag and Win’s cock filling him, and now to Win’s weight holding him down. The relief
of not being responsible for anything right now, not having to make decisions or worry about
one fucking thing washed over him. The only thing that mattered right now was what was
happening here in this room.

He was aware of Win fucking him but almost as if he was watching it happen from a
distance. Unable to move, all he could do was to lie there and take it. Accept his Dom's
control. A swell of frustration started to rise and he forced himself to ignore it. Being
completely passive during sex was such a contradiction for him but tonight wasn’t about
what he wanted.

Within minutes, Win came in a series of stuttering groans and gasps, pushing deep inside him
and he had a momentary vision of Win’s come flowing into his body even though logically he
knew that was highly unlikely with the condom.

After Win had recovered slightly and done a cursory cleanup, he rolled Bright onto his back
and removed the gag. “Okay?” Win asked, and Bright nodded as he worked his jaw and
swallowed a few times. Unable to resist Bright’s lips, Win kissed him, gently a couple of
times and then more intensely, their tongues sliding against each other’s.

Bright was still aroused and Win felt his unfulfilled hunger bleeding through into his kiss. He
kept control of the kiss, taking what he wanted but not indulging Bright’s need. He dropped
one final, chaste kiss on Bright’s lips, as if to sympathize but remain resolute in the answer.

“Close your eyes,” Win suggested and lifted the blindfold from Bright’s face. The lights over
the bed weren’t particularly bright but Bright still squinted and blinked, waiting for his eyes
to adjust. “Better?”

“Yes, sir,” Bright replied.

When Win began to remove the rope binding, Bright made a soft, involuntary noise of
protest. “Do you want me to leave them on for a while longer?” As if surprised by his own
reaction, Bright nodded hesitantly.

“Okay, but they have to come off before we go to sleep”. He stroked Bright’s cheek.
“Someday I’ll let you sleep in bondage but not tonight,” Win said, and pulled a light blanket
over them before lying down next to Bright. He wasn’t surprised that Bright enjoyed the
bondage so much that he was reluctant to relinquish the secure feeling.

Perhaps an hour later, Win stretched and yawned. “I’m starting to fall asleep so it’s time to
undo these knots and call it a night. We have a big day tomorrow.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Bright raised his head, licked the last of Win’s come from his lips and moved up to lie beside
Win. Pulling him close, Win kissed him, humming in pleasure at tasting himself on Bright’s
lips.

“Thank you, pet. My favorite way to wake up.” Win kissed Bright again, still blown away by
the novelty of being able to kiss him at all and forever trying to make up for lost time. He
could kiss Bright for hours on end but regrettably not this morning.

“Today I want you to attend to me as a manservant would. Wash and dress me, serve me food
– that sort of thing.”
“Yes, sir,” Bright answered. That sounded fun enough. He was surprised at how easily he’d
slipped into his role when he awoke this morning, even though they hadn’t had a weekend of
extended play for a while. He’d had a moment of confusion at waking up in Win’s bed with
the collar on but once he’d remembered last night and what was on today’s agenda,
everything settled into place and he’d wasted no time in waking Win as pleasurably as he
could.

“Please go start the shower and quickly wash yourself. I’ll join you in a few minutes.”

When Win walked into the shower, Bright was just about ready for him. Closing his eyes, he
luxuriated in the feel of Bright’s large hands working the lather through his hair and sliding
along his wet skin, his touch almost reverent. Win basked in the physical enjoyment of the
whole experience, not hiding his delight at his sub serving him this way.

“Mm….very nice, pet. I could get used to this,” Win murmured.

Bright took his time, making sure not to miss a spot. Sure, he’d washed Win before but this
wasn’t just for fun. He was serving his Dom and besides needing to do it right, he wanted to
take his time and savor the experience. His cock was hard, which wasn’t a surprise since he
had his hands all over Win’s wet, naked body, but he ignored it just as he’d done earlier while
blowing Win. Nor did he acknowledge Win’s partial hard-on, other than to carefully and
thoroughly wash and rinse it.

Win pushed Bright back against the wall, forearm across his chest and regarded him as a
jaguar might contemplate its imminent meal. “If I hadn’t just come down your throat, I’d turn
you around right now and nail you to the wall,” Win said, his voice low and feral. Then he
kissed Bright hard, forcing his tongue into Bright’s mouth.

Bright gave in to the kiss, letting Win take from him. He wished Win would fuck him right
now but he supposed Win needed time to recover. Not that he ever had that problem.

Win pulled back and let go of Bright. “Step out and quickly dry yourself, then be ready to dry
me.” Win used the extra minute or two to wash his face and then stepped out into a fresh
towel that Bright was holding open for him.

“Thank you, pet,” Win said, wrapping the towel around his waist once he was dry. “Why
don’t you go make coffee while I shave and brush my teeth? You can bring me a cup, like
you used to do.” He'd have loved to have Bright shave him but he decided to save that for a
time when they could drag it out and make it sexy and fun.

Bright was almost out the door when Win added, “While you’re waiting for the coffee to
finish, go into the playroom and select one of the small hand paddles – whichever one you
want – and bring it back up with the coffee.”

Oh. “Yes, sir,” Bright replied slowly, caught off guard by the order. He was suddenly aware
of his ass, imagining how it would feel afterward. Warm, tingly…maybe stinging a little, if
Win really got into it. His cock enthusiastically approved of the news but what did it know?
Bright knew better than to expect that he’d be getting off.
Or maybe he would, depending on Win’s intentions. He could always hope.

The first thing Bright noticed when he walked into the playroom was the mess from last
night’s scene – the rope and toys laying on the unmade bed and the condom wrapper on the
floor. He made a mental note to come in here after breakfast and clean up.

Now to find a paddle. He opened the drawer of the cabinet containing the smaller ones. Many
of them were leather-covered, a couple of them were made of finished wood, one was clear
plastic and one was rubber. There was even one covered in fake fur. He smiled, knowing that
Win wouldn’t approve of that one but he fought back an urge to take it upstairs just to see
Win’s reaction.

Most of the paddles were smooth, although some were textured and one of them had small
metal studs affixed onto the leather. He ran his fingers over the studs; ever since he'd seen
this paddle, he'd been intensely curious about how those studs would feel in action. Two of
the paddles had holes to reduce air resistance, which of course meant more pain so he
bypassed those; why choose more discomfort?

Leather or wood? While he liked the simplicity of the wood, as well as the feel and weight of
it in his hand, in the end, his curiosity won out. The studs proved to be too much of a
temptation. He had a feeling he’d regret his inquisitiveness but it was going to hurt a little bit
regardless of which one he chose and what fun was play without a little risk?

The tantalizing aroma of the coffee nearly seduced him into having a cup right now but he’d
wasted enough time in the playroom choosing a paddle. He didn’t want to leave Win waiting
for him. He filled Win’s mug, picked up the paddle and went upstairs.

“Ah, there you are. I was just wondering if you’d gotten lost,” Win said, coming out of the
bathroom, the towel still around his waist, freshly shaved and with his hair styled. His
aftershave smelled light and clean, Bright noticed. Win raised his eyebrow at Bright’s choice
of a paddle but didn’t say anything. He motioned for Bright to set it on the dresser before
sitting down in his chair. Bright knelt in front of him and presented the cup of coffee.

“Thank you, pet. Mmm…that’s good.” While he drank, Win absently petted him, while
rambling on about some of the people from the club, whether they’d be there tonight,
whether they might play or not. He didn’t seem to expect Bright to remember all of that so
Bright only half listened while he just enjoyed the feel of Win’s hands on him, the sound of
his voice. And contemplated the spanking that he knew was coming. Not that he was
dreading it but the anticipation was buzzing through him, stirring up his senses.

Win placed his cup on the dresser, removed the towel from around his waist and sat on the
end of their bed. “I think jeans and one of my casual button-down shirts will do.
Underwear…,” he pondered for a moment, “you can select a pair you think I’d like to wear
today.”

Slightly disappointed that Win was getting dressed before spanking him, Bright contemplated
Win’s instructions as he walked into the closet. Without a second’s thought, he chose his
favorite of Win’s shirts – if this was his decision, he would make sure Win looked fucking
fabulous – and a pair of jeans that hugged his ass perfectly.
Now the dilemma…underwear. A perusal of Win’s drawer revealed the expected assortment
of styles, plus a jock strap, a thong and a couple of low-rise bikini briefs complete with a
cock pouch. In dark red. Fuck, those would be sexy, he thought as he rubbed the soft, silky
material between his fingers. He knew what he wanted to pick but Win had told him to
choose something for him to wear today. The pouch briefs were more appropriate for a
special occasion. The drawer also contained a predominance of boxer-briefs in dark colors.
Clearly Win preferred them and he was dressing casually today so that’s what he chose.

Bright’s admiration of the pouch briefs didn’t escape Win’s notice and he filed the
information away for a future application.

Bright helped Win into his underwear and then his jeans, carefully buttoning the fly, before
holding the shirt while Win placed his arms into the sleeves, then slipping it over his
shoulders. Bright fastened the buttons, paying close attention to the task so he didn’t miss
one. He could put his own clothes on without thinking about it but dressing someone else was
not as mindless.

Win smiled at Bright’s intense concentration. Always the perfectionist. “A gold stud for
today, I think. In the box on the dresser.”

Gold stud? Bright was momentarily confused before it occurred to him: earring. He brought
it to Win, who tilted his head so Bright could put it in his earlobe. Bright struggled with the
tiny backing but finally managed to attach it securely.

“I’m thinking about getting the other ear done. What do you think, pet?”

Bright studied Win’s ears as he thought about the question. “From what I’ve noticed, most
guys have both of them pierced.”

“Hmm…I think you’re right. Now my sneakers, the Martin Margiela ones you find so
amusing. And socks, please.”

When Bright finished lacing the shoes and looked up, Win leaned over and kissed him.
“Thank you, pet. You did very well. You’ll have another opportunity tonight when we get
ready to go to The Exchange. Now, let’s see how you like the feel of that paddle on your ass.
Interesting choice you made.”

“I was curious, sir.”

Win laughed. “Good for you.” He sat down on the edge of the bed and held out his hand.
Bright presented the paddle to him, remembering to use proper form, and then lay over Win’s
lap. As always, a flush of embarrassment swept over him at having to assume this position.
He’d probably never cease to react this way but he also figured Win knew all of this and
chose the position in spite of his feelings. Or maybe because of them.

“No coming.” His left hand on Bright’s neck, Win kneaded Bright’s ass cheeks a few times
with his right before lightly slapping them a few times. “This is to remind you that I’ll always
give you what you need,” he said as he picked up the paddle.
Win touched the paddle to Bright’s ass and Bright could feel the metal of the studs, dots of
coolness amidst the slight warmth left behind by Win’s hand. He wondered how they’d feel
when things really got going.

At first, the smacks started out light but the intensity quickly built, as did the heat in his skin
and the metallic nubs were quickly forgotten. Win mostly alternated between sides, making
sure to cover his entire ass but for a minute or two he concentrated the blows in one spot until
Bright would have done almost anything to get Win to shift the paddle to anywhere else. He
wasn’t feeling pain yet, but things were definitely becoming uncomfortable. Not enough to
discourage his cock though, which was still lobbying for some action.

Just when the strikes began to hurt enough to elicit a hiss through clenched teeth, Win gave
him one final thwack that made him yelp and then set aside the paddle.

Win rested his hand on Bright’s ass, now bright pink and very warm and Bright almost pulled
away from the discomfort before reminding himself to hold still. “So nice,” Win murmured.
“Now I have something pretty to look at today. Who do you belong to, pet?”

“You, sir,” Bright replied softly. The heat on his ass was starting to blur into a pleasant little
buzz.

“Yes, you do, and every time you move today this,” he patted Bright’s tender buttocks, “will
remind you. I’ll refresh it before we leave tonight. Now, I’m going downstairs to make
breakfast. You can lie here for a few minutes while you pull yourself together, then shave and
do the rest of your beauty regimen before joining me.”

“What should I wear?”

Halfway to the door, Win turned around to face Bright, who was lying on his stomach, head
resting on his folded arms. “Not a single thing,” he said, as if the answer was as plain as day.
“Except for your collar. I want you naked until we leave tonight.” He started to go and then
stopped to ask, “On second thought…did you bring your gold cock ring?"

“Yes, sir.”

“Wear that too. Just your collar and cock ring. Yes,” he said, almost to himself. “I like that.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Bright came downstairs to find the table set for one and a cushion on the floor. And that
could only mean one thing. Feeding him tonight wasn’t enough?

“Breakfast is almost done,” Win announced. “Then I’m going to sit down and you are going
to serve me.” He noticed Bright staring at the cushion and added, “I figured we should
practice so we don’t embarrass ourselves tonight or worse, ruin your suit.”

Well, okay, Bright thought. That made some sense, because fucking up a new suit would be
tragic.
Win took his place at the table and waited while Bright brought the food from the kitchen and
filled his plate, adding extra portions of everything because Win would be feeding him as
well. After filling Win’s coffee cup, he knelt on the cushion.

“Thank you, pet.” Win cut the whole grain waffle and took a bite, careful not to let the
blackberry sauce drip on his shirt. “Mm…not bad. I’ll have to remember to add a touch more
sugar to the blackberries next time.” He ate another bite and then turned to feed one to Bright,
again mindful of the sauce dripping from the fork. “What do you think, pet?”

“It’s tart but still good,” Bright replied. He didn’t have Win’s sweet tooth so the taste suited
him just fine.

Win ate another bite and then fed one to Bright. “The food tonight won’t be this messy. They
know that everyone will be dressed up and that many of the Doms will be feeding their subs
so they stick to foods which are easy to manage.” He took a drink of his coffee and then
offered one to Bright but he misjudged the level of the liquid and tilted the mug too far,
causing Bright to splutter and cough and spilling coffee down his chest.

“Are you okay?” Win asked. Bright nodded, not yet trusting his voice. “I’m sorry, pet.”
Thankfully, the coffee wasn’t piping hot. “For now, you can handle the mug and tonight, the
clear glasses will make this much easier.”

After Bright cleaned up, he refilled the coffee mug and they finished breakfast without
further mishaps from the scrambled eggs and fresh pineapple and honeydew melon. He found
that once he stopped Thinking about it and accepted it as his Dom feeding him, the
experience was actually enjoyable.

“Damn,” Win said, noticing the time on the clock. “Derrick, the kid from down the street, is
coming over in a few minutes to mow the lawn for the first time and I need to show him
where everything is. Please clean up the dishes and put the food away."

Bright’s attention derailed at Win’s mention of someone coming over to mow the lawn.
Wasn’t that his chore? Well, no, it probably wasn’t anymore since they weren’t…or they
were, but play was confined to the playroom. Except for today, but this was an exception. He
hadn’t really thought about who would take over that task now. He supposed Win didn’t have
time…

“Did you hear me, pet?”

“Huh?” Bright was so absorbed in thought that he didn’t hear Win’s last sentence.

Win scowled at him. “Please pay attention when I’m speaking. I said I want you to clean up
and put the food away.”

“Yes, sir,” Bright answered, still distracted.

The doorbell rang and Win went outside to meet Derrick while Bright turned his attention,
some of it anyway, to his assigned task. The rest of his attention was lured outside, watching
Win through the kitchen window as he showed Derrick the tools in the shed. The kid couldn’t
be more than 11 or 12 years old and he was going to mow the whole lawn? And pull the
weeds? Yeah, right. He’d probably make it through half and then go hang out with his
friends.

Bright shoved the last plate into the dishwasher and closed the door hard enough to make the
dishes rattle before heading for the playroom to clean up there. After he'd thrown away the
trash and changed the sheets, he sat down, carefully in deference to his recently paddled ass,
to untangle the rope but after a few uttered ‘fucks,’ he threw it aside and instead cleaned the
gag, blindfold and cock ring.

The playroom was windowless so he had no way of knowing if Derrick was still working or
whether he’d given up yet. He wasn’t sure why he even cared. Win could hire whomever he
chose to do his yard work. He should be relieved it wasn’t his responsibility anymore. He had
hated doing it.

Not, not ‘hated.’ Physically, he hadn’t enjoyed the work; he definitely wouldn’t miss the heat
or the bugs. But he had found satisfaction in serving Win and he'd taken pride in doing the
job well. Plus, the work had been mindless enough that he’d often used the time to sort out
his feelings about being Win’s sub and to process recent scenes.

“There you are.” Win’s voice interrupted his thoughts. “I’m glad you remembered to clean up
in here. I’d forgotten about it so thank you. Almost done?”

“I still need to untangle the rope.”

“Good. Just coil it up and leave it on the bed. Then I want you to give all the toys a good
cleaning. Anything waterproof can be cleaned in the sink with the anti-bacterial solution. Use
the leather cleaner for the crops, whips, restraints, etc. The only thing you don’t have to clean
are the rattan canes; I’ll soak them later this week. Make note of anything that needs to be
repaired or replaced and set it aside. Also, check the supply of condoms and bottles of water
– anything that’s consumable. Inventory the first aid kit. If any of the medicines in there are
expired or low, make a list of what we need. Oh, and wipe out the drawers and shelves before
you replace the toys.”

Bright just stared at Win in disbelief. He was talking about several dozen toys, at least.
“That’s going to take all fucking day,” Bright protested.

“It might,” Win agreed, in an unconcerned voice. “So I suggest you get started. I’ll call you
when lunch is ready.”

Bright glared at the now closed door of the playroom, fuming over Win’s edict. He’d be stuck
in here for hours doing tedious work. He’d much rather they spent the day doing….what? He
was in sub mode today and Win wanted him naked so what could they do anyway? Be on his
knees at Win’s feet all day? While he didn’t mind doing that occasionally, a 7 or 8 hour
stretch would lead to his death from boredom.

By the time he’d untangled the rope and coiled it up as Win had instructed, his initial
irritation had run its course and he could devote his full attention to the task in front of him.
The chore gave him the opportunity to handle all of the toys and soon he realized that he was
actually enjoying himself. Several of the items brought back memories, some pleasant and a
couple…not so much. Others, such as the chastity devices, he was tempted to hide
somewhere Win would never find them. The toys they hadn’t used yet were something to
look forward to, and Bright let his imagination wander unfettered as he cleaned and dried
each of them.

He fingered one of Win's glass dildos, a beautiful one twisted like a double helix. Long and
satisfyingly thick. God, he was so fucking horny; he hadn’t gotten off last night or this
morning and touching all of these toys had made him achingly hard. Stroking the dildo in one
hand, he wrapped the palm of his other around his cock and glanced at the door. A little lube
and this would feel fucking amazing sliding in. He could shoot a load and have everything
cleaned up in less than 5 minutes. Win would never…

No.

Even before he finished the thought, he dismissed it. He looked longingly at the dildo one last
time before placing it carefully in the sink to clean.

Spending this much time in the playroom gave him an excuse to indulge his curiosity and to
delve into drawers and cabinets he hadn’t previously. One drawer was full of props and
supplies for a medical role play, including a stethoscope, a blood pressure cuff, and a lighted
otoscope, to name a few. Maybe he and Win could play doctor sometime. And judging by
some of the various probes and spreaders, he had a feeling his ass would be well-examined if
they did.

In the same drawer was a sectioned storage case full of needles, organized by length and
gauge and all still in their sterile packaging. Dozens and dozens of them and the sight made
him wince in apprehension. Win had mentioned having been a ‘pincushion’ himself but he
hoped Win didn’t plan to do that to him. Having a bunch of needles stuck through his flesh
was not his idea of fun.

The contents of the drawer below didn’t appeal to him any more than the needles had. Win
had promised – threatened, in Bright’s opinion – to give him an enema as part of a scene
sometime and just looking at all the bags and nozzles and the long rubber tubing lying coiled
like a snake ready to strike sent a twist through his gut and a hot flush of humiliation across
his face. It was bad enough that Win sometimes made him give himself an enema before they
played; he didn’t want to think about Win giving him one. He could only hope that Win
would forget all about that aspect of playing.

The next drawer revealed several flat, rectangular cases. Opening one, he found a set of metal
rods, about a dozen, of varying diameters, all about ten inches in length. Urethral sounds, as
he’d learned in his research and designed to be inserted into his cock, all the way down.
Vince had told him that the sensation was unlike anything he’d ever felt before and the idea
made him both nervous and intrigued. Sure, like most guys he loved playing with the opening
but just inside, along the edge. This would be more intense and he was itching for Win to use
them on him.

Bright opened another drawer to find stuff that was even more fascinating than the sounds:
electrical toys and equipment. Wires and pads, clamps and plugs and even a long, thin probe
that didn’t require much guessing as to where it was supposed to be inserted. His cock
twitched in confused interest, not entirely sure how it felt about that idea. Win had given him
only a small taste of e-stim play a few months ago but that brief experience had been enough
to whet his appetite for more.

There wasn’t much in these last few drawers that he could actually clean. He wiped down a
few items but he was hesitant to immerse anything in water and risk damaging it.

“How is the cleaning coming along, pet?” Win asked, walking into the playroom.

“I haven’t started the leather yet but most everything else is clean. I’ll go through the first aid
kit and inventory the supplies last.”

“Sounds like you made great progress.” He circled around behind Bright and trapped his
body against the counter. His hands slid down to cup Bright’s ass cheeks and squeezed. “So
pretty. And still warm for me,” Win said, the words rough and hot against the back of
Bright’s neck. Turning slightly, he landed a solid slap on Bright’s right buttock, drawing a
sharp intake of breath. “Do you still feel the echo of the paddle every time you move? Does it
make you hard, pet?”

“Yes, sir,” Bright managed to answer, his head buzzing as the remainder of his blood supply
headed for his cock.

“Yet you weren’t hard when I walked in.” Now Win’s voice carried an ominous edge. “I
guess the spanking won’t be enough to hold your attention for the afternoon. Bend over the
table, weight on your forearms. Face forward.”

Now what was Win going to do to him? Spank him again? He heard Win rummaging through
one of the drawers but he didn’t dare turn around to look. Next came a wet sound – lube? He
felt Win spread his ass cheeks before pushing a small round object into his ass. Followed by
another and several more, all connected by a thin tether. Anal beads. His cock twitched as his
asshole opened and closed around each one.

Win left the last and largest one outside to act as a stopper. The rest of the balls weren’t that
large but with all of them inside him, he felt…full.

“Stand up and turn around.”

Bright did and felt the beads shift around in his ass. Win gave his cock, now at full mast, a
downward tug and watched it bounce back up. “Much better,” he pronounced. "I expect that
will keep you’re attention focused this afternoon.” When Bright groaned in frustration, he
just chuckled.

“Horny?” Win asked, an innocent smile on his face.

Bright just glared, not wanting to give Win the satisfaction of admitting just how horny he
was.
“Poor pet. Now c’mon.” Win delivered a stinging swat to Bright’s backside. “I’m hungry and
lunch is ready.” He motioned for Bright to go first. “I want to watch you walk with that up
your ass.”

Determined not to give Win the satisfaction of seeing the tiniest hint of a waddle, Bright
straightened up and tried to ignore the toy lodged in his ass. Walking normally was simply
not possible and he flushed with humiliation at hearing Win’s snickering behind him as they
proceeded to the kitchen.

Bright brought the food from the kitchen and just as he was in the middle of serving Win, he
felt the beads start vibrating in his ass. His eyes widened and he almost knocked over Win’s
glass.

His eyes flew to Win's face, only to find his expression deadpan. “Did I not mention that they
vibrate? Must have slipped my mind.”

Bright stifled his glare and tried to ignore the vibrating but oh, God! The sensation was
maddening, fueling his already heightened arousal. Enough to push him closer to the edge but
not over. With a cock ring on, getting off would be nearly impossible anyway. And relief was
nowhere in sight.

Bright finished serving the food and then took his place on the cushion. He was finding that
this whole Win-feeding-him thing was getting a little easier. Or maybe he tolerated it because
they were practicing for tonight.

The vibrating beads were providing enough distraction that he had to focus all his attention
on not making a mess but thankfully, lunch went smoother than breakfast had. He had to
clench his fists a few times to keep from squirming. The need to touch his cock and just get
the fuck off was overwhelming. Unfortunately, eating lunch wasn’t providing enough of a
diversion.

“May I ask a question, sir?”

“Of course.” Win offered a forkful of chicken salad and Bright accepted it, chewed and
swallowed.

“Did you want me to wash the urethral sounds? They’re all in storage cases, so I wasn’t
sure.”

Win took a drink of iced tea and then held the glass for Bright. “No, you can skip those. They
shouldn’t be dirty and besides, I always clean and boil them right before I use them. Urinary
tract infections are not fun.”

Bright wasn’t going to disagree with that logic. “Can we use them sometime?”

“Curious?”

“Yes, although the thought of them going in all the way…it’s a bit…” Bright winced a bit at
the thought. His cock might have had some reaction to that idea, were it not otherwise
occupied with being so hard it ached.

“Unnerving,” Win supplied.

“Yes,” Bright agreed, “But I still want to try them. Tine said it feels fucking amazing.”

“He’s right and yes, the first time is a little scary. I enjoy using them, even on myself. They’re
more of a sex toy than anything else so we could use them whenever. Unless you’d rather
keep them for play?”

Bright thought about Win’s question as he took a bite of strawberry from Win’s fork. “They
might be more fun as part of a scene.”

“I agree.”

“I’d also like to try the e-stim stuff,” Bright said, shifting around as he struggled to keep his
mind on anything but what was going on below his waist. Definitely not a smart idea right
now to torture himself further by asking Win when he was going to stick metal rods into his
cock and shock it with electricity.

Win smiled. “I’d already planned to hook you up to my electrical toys and blow your mind.”
Win fed Bright another bite of chicken salad and studied him, an amused expression on his
face. “Cleaning the toys has piqued your curiosity.”

Bright nodded. That was an understatement; his imagination had been running wild thinking
about all the fun they could have with Win’s toy collection. “I never realized how much
kinky shit you have. Thousands of dollars at least.”

“Tens of thousands, when you figure in the equipment, but it’s worth it. Not only do I have a
private place to play, but I can also take my own toys when I play elsewhere. More hygienic
and safer, since I know how they handle and that they are in good repair.”

Win’s point about being able to play at home was something Bright had mostly taken for
granted. Would he have been so willing to immerse himself in this lifestyle if the only place
they could play was a public club? Highly doubtful. He'd been fucking lucky to hook up with
a Dom who could afford his own playroom and top of the line equipment.

Win continued. “I’m glad you’re curious about the toys and enjoy working with them
because they’re yours as much as mine. Maybe more so, since you’re the one on the
receiving end of them. Therefore, I’ve decided that maintaining them is now your
responsibility. Make sure that everything is clean and in working order at all times. Restock
condoms, lube, water bottles, ice and first aid supplies after every scene. If we are low on
something, I want to know then, not during the next scene."

“Yes, sir.” Bright didn’t mind this chore; in fact, he was looking forward to doing it. Washing
everything was tedious and time-consuming but he realized that it was in his best interest to
take care of their playroom.
Win gave the last bite of Oriental pasta salad to Bright and then offered him the last of the
iced tea. “Did you have enough to eat, pet?”

“Yes, sir. Thank you. Everything was delicious.”

“My pleasure,” Win said before leaning over to kiss Bright. A soft caress of lips then a
deeper kiss, their tongues sliding against each other’s.

Bright channeled all of his pent-up hunger and need into the kiss hoping that if he could
seduce Win, he’d relent and let him come. Just once, to take the edge off. Anything. Fuck, he
just wanted…needed. Knowing the rule about touching his Dom sexually without
permission, he risked putting his hand on Win’s knee. When Win didn’t stop him, he slowly
slid his hand along the inside of Win’s thigh, closer…

Win broke the kiss but didn’t pull back. “I love you like this, so needy and desperate for me,”
he said, his voice husky. He ran his thumb over Bright’s bottom lip before sliding it into his
mouth and letting him suck on it. “Fuck, pet,” Win breathed, entranced by the sight of
Bright’s lips molded around his thumb. “You’re so tempting but I have things to do before we
go. And I want you to clean up the lunch dishes and put away the food, then finish in the
playroom.”

Bright nodded, swallowing his disappointment. “Yes, sir.”

“While I love to watch you suffer so beautifully for me, I’m feeling merciful.” Win reached
over and clicked the remote, turning off the vibrations. “I want you to stay hard for me all
afternoon. You may not touch your cock but you can turn the vibrator on if you need extra
stimulation.” He handed the remote to Bright. “I will be checking on you and if you aren’t
fully erect, the consequences will be very unpleasant.”

“Yes, sir. Thank you.” The cessation of the infuriating vibrations was a relief, but was this
really a reprieve? Not only didn’t he succeed in getting Win to let him come, now he'd have
to torture himself if he couldn’t keep it up. Although given his state of horniness, he might
not need to turn on the remote.

As he cleaned up from lunch, Bright admitted to himself, grudgingly, that he was glad Win
hadn’t let him come. Sure, his body was screaming in frustration but he’d have felt let down
if Win had succumbed to his obvious manipulations. Win was right; he was suffering but on
some level, he wanted Win to make him suffer. And being horny wasn’t fatal.

The afternoon passed uneventfully, if not comfortably. Bright managed to maintain his hard-
on, and Win kept his promise, poking his head into the playroom at random times. By late
afternoon, he was ready to trade his left nut for an orgasm but at least he’d finished cleaning
the leather toys and checking the inventory.

He found Win in the garage, reorganizing some shelves and drenched in sweat. “All done?”
Win asked, wiping his brow with a towel.

“Yes, sir. The list of what we need is on the kitchen counter. The leather on one of the
restraints is worn and might not hold much longer and one of the glass butt plugs is chipped.
I almost cut myself on the sharp edge.”

“I’m glad you didn’t. I’ll take care of replacing them.” Win picked up a box and put it on the
top shelf. “I’m almost done. I’ll meet you back inside in a few minutes.” The garage door
was open and although Win’s car was blocking the direct view from the street, Bright was
still standing in his garage naked with a hard-on. Bernice might not mind but the rest of the
neighbors would.

Win found Bright in the kitchen finishing a glass of ice water. After washing his hands, he
bent Bright over the counter and slowly pulled the string of beads from Bright’s ass, watching
as they popped out one by one and smiling at Bright’s failed attempts to stifle a couple of
moans as they slid over his prostate. “Go wash it and put it back in the drawer,” he said,
holding it out. “You did very well. The rest of the day I want your full attention on me.” He
smiled and kissed Bright. “I’m going to relax on the couch with a cold beer and watch the
rest of the Falcons game. Maybe take a short nap. I’d like you to rest too; we have a big
evening ahead of us.”

Bright wasn’t interested in watching football so he washed the anal beads and then headed
upstairs. Cleaning toys hadn’t been particularly taxing but being sexually on edge all day had
been draining enough that a nap sounded good.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Wake up, sleepyhead.” Win’s voice sifted through Bright’s consciousness and he opened his
eyes.

“What time is it?” Bright blinked sleepily and yawned.

“About five forty-five. We overslept and now we’re behind schedule. Cocktails are at seven
so we only have about an hour.”

“Plenty of time,” Bright said, stretching his arms over his head.

“Not really, by the time we shower, you dress me and then yourself. Oh, and I need to refresh
that spanking.”

With all that on the agenda, Bright thought as he went into the bathroom to start the shower,
they would have to hurry.

Bright quickly washed himself and then did the same for Win a few minutes later, although
he lingered a bit longer on Win’s body, making sure all the crevices were clean and
thoroughly rinsed. He wasn't in too much of a rush to be turned on either; being in the shower
with Win pretty much guaranteed he’d be hard.

Before Win stepped out of the shower, Bright dropped to his knees at Win’s feet and looked
up. “Please.” His mouth was positioned right in front of Win’s cock without actually touching
it, leaving no doubt of what he was asking.

“We’re late enough as it is.”

Win caught the flash of ego in Bright’s answer. “It’ll be quick.” And still mind-blowing. You
know I’m that good, his expression said.

In answer, Win ran his fingers through Bright’s wet hair, grasped a handful and yanked,
pulling Bright’s head back and to his left. “I’m not going to let you come.” Win was
undeniably in control but Bright could hear the lust in his voice.

“I know. I want…I need your cock, sir.” Bright saw the effect those last words had on Win,
how his eyes widened and his nostrils flared.

Win regarded him for a long moment before letting go of Bright’s hair and motioning for him
to stand up. Convinced that Win was turning him down, he was caught off-guard when Win
spun him around and shoved him against the wall. “That floor is murder on the knees. I know
from experience.” He grabbed a condom from the shelf above the shower as Bright lifted his
right leg, resting his foot on the soap dish set into the wall.

“This is going to be fast and rough,” Win warned Bright as he bent his legs and pushed up
into Bright’s body hard enough to draw in a gasp of surprise and undoubtedly a little pain. No
time for preliminaries, Win set a rapid pace, holding Bright’s hips and grunting on every
thrust.

With nothing to grasp onto to keep his balance, Bright just leaned his weight against the wall
and let his Dom use his body. He wasn’t even sure why he’d initiated this right now. Even
before he’d said it, he'd known Win wouldn't let him come so it wasn’t about his own relief.
He couldn't explain it; he’d just needed to offer his body to pleasure his Dom.

He felt Win's teeth scrape against the back of his neck then sink into his shoulder, the sharp
pain giving him something to focus on instead of his cock. Thankfully, he was still wearing
his gold cock ring because he could occasionally shoot a load just from being fucked.
Considering his current physical state, he was glad for the ring to keep him in check.

Soon he felt Win come with a loud groan, his cock pulsing in his ass. Win pulled out and
turned Bright around, kissing him hard. “Thank you, pet. I enjoyed that a lot. Now we need to
shake a leg.”

This time, Win chose to spank him before he got dressed, probably to avoid wrinkling his suit
pants, Bright assumed. He’d exchanged the studded leather paddle for a basic wooden one.
Simple and sturdy and Bright could feel the weight of it as it connected with his buttocks.
Win didn’t waste time playing around and delivered the spanking efficiently and effectively,
leaving Bright’s ass pink, warm and tingling.

“Thank you, sir.”

“You’re welcome, pet. It’s always my pleasure to spank your ass. Now to get dressed. Our
new suits, I think. Please choose a shirt for me – anything but white – and a tie. And you can
go get that underwear you were fondling this morning.”

Bright selected a pale green shirt and a dark grey tie and dressed Win, making sure to take his
time tucking Win’s cock into the pouch of that fucking sexy underwear. Gucci shoes and a
diamond stud completed the look. Bright noticed that Win’s cologne tonight was the one he
wore when they played. The dark, mysterious scent that spoke of leather and pain. And sex.
Fuck! How was he supposed to concentrate on anything tonight when his cock smelled
playtime?

As Win instructed, Bright wore only a black jockstrap under his suit. Win wanted him to feel
the material of his pants shifting across his sensitive ass all night. Win said he’d decided
against plugging Bright, for which Bright was infinitely grateful. It would be hard enough
walking normally with a sore asshole and a freshly spanked ass.

“Nervous?” Win asked, in the car on the way to the club.

“Not really.” Bright was feeling relaxed and fully immersed in his sub mindset. After
spending the day as Dom and sub, this evening felt like simply an extension of their play.

“You remember the rules? How you are to act?”

“Yes.” Bright was working not to squirm in his seat, searching for a comfortable position that
didn’t exist.

“If you need my attention at dinner—”

“—touch your elbow, I know,” Bright finished. “I’ll remember.”

“And don’t touch the other—”

“—subs without permission. I got it. Now stop fussing.”

Win opened his mouth, then shut it again. Bright was right; he was fussing and he didn’t want
to admit it, but he was nervous. Why, he had no idea. Bright was smart, charming, and
handsome. He’d do just fine tonight.

“I just want you to know that I’m fucking proud of you.”

Bright looked over, a puzzled expression on his face. “What for? I didn’t do anything.”

“For tonight. For just being here with me.”

They pulled into the circular driveway in front of the club at about ten past seven. A young
man opened Win’s door so he could step out. A sub, Bright assumed from his white shirt.

“Good evening, Master Win.”

“Good evening, Chris.”

“Your ticket, sir,” Chris said, handing Win half of the valet parking claim ticket and placing
the other half on his dashboard. “Enjoy your evening.”

“Thank you.”
As Chris drove the car to the parking lot, Win took his place at Bright’s side in front of the
main doors. “Ready?”

“Yes, sir.”

They started up the short walkway. “To heel, please,” Win said, quietly, and Bright dropped
back a step.

Here we go, Bright thought as another sub opened the door and they walked inside.

--------

Notes

I know this feel like a filler chapter but there are some plot points and previews in this
chapter so it isn't a complete waste of time and space. There will be conflict coming down the
pike so the boys deserved some bonding time now.

Anyway here are some pics !!

Shibari Rope Bondage

Penis Gag

Studded paddle

Twisted Glass dildo

Urethral Sounds

Anal Beads
 Wooden Paddle

I hope you enjoy.

Chapter End Notes

Life been so hectic lately, i tried to recover whatever i saved on my laptop, but it was
roasted 😭😭😭 i learned to save on cloud now.
I forgot some names of the characters so please be gentle with my mistakes in the future.
End Notes

So what do you think? :)

Also I may not be so good at replying to everyone, but I really do appreciate it.
Thank you so much for reading I hope you like it.

Please drop by the Archive and comment to let the creator know if you enjoyed their work!