“Don’t worry, Bandit, when we get home you’ll get wet food.” He sat on the floor petting Bandit as the small cat ate his dinner.
Jake walked out of the bedroom dressed in black leathers and a pair of high boots with a matching vest. “What should I wear tonight, Sir?” Davey scrambled to stand up.
“Wear your second pair of jeans and another shirt from the package of white T-shirts I gave you.”
Davey couldn’t stop himself from asking, “Why does Brian wear a tunic and Jim leather shorts?”
“Because their Masters like to look at their bodies while they’re at the club.” Jake sat down on the couch.
“And Greg, why does he wear jeans and a white shirt like I do?”
“Because, although Cisco is proud of Greg’s body, he’s a jealous man and prefers for Greg to show far less skin although Greg wears both his jeans and his shirt tight.”
§ § §
“What do you prefer, Sir?” Davey asked, diverting his gaze from Jake’s. Jake reached out and grabbed Davey’s hands.
“All of my scenes are well away from prying eyes. I always have a private room reserved at the club if I plan a scene.” Jake stroked Davey’s arms. “If I had a sub of my own, I would keep him covered as Cisco does Greg. I don’t need to show anyone that my sub is beautiful. That’s something only I have to know. Does that meet with your approval, Davey?” Jake asked, eyes twinkling.
“From what I’ve seen, Sir, I wouldn’t have much of a choice.”
“Quite true, do you object to a white T-shirt and jeans?” Jake looked at where the tight jeans covered Davey’s swelling cock.
“No, Sir.”
“Then it’s all good.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Jake watched Davey cover his mouth in embarrassment. “How does Sir come so easily to your lips, boy?” Jake patted the sofa beside him.
“In the group home we had to be polite to our betters. If we weren’t we’d get a beating.” Davey slumped down next to Jake.
“I thought they weren’t allowed to do that anymore.”
Jake watched Davey’s lips turn into a thin line. “They’re not. They had the older kids do it.”
“How long were you there?” Jake asked, the compassion evident in his voice.
“Seven years.”
Jake blanched. “Davey, you may see some things tonight that you may find difficult to watch. Remember, every sub has a safe word and some subs, like Jamie, are into pain.”
“How can that be?” Davey looked directly into Jake’s eyes. Jake could tell he really wanted an answer to this question that he could process.
“Our brains produce something called endorphins. They pour into your nervous system and cause you to feel pain or pleasure. There are some artificial drugs that do the same thing like heroin and cocaine. Natural endorphins come from both pain and pleasure. There comes a time and some subs experience it very quickly, when the feeling of pain recedes and you ride above it on the pleasure of your endorphins. It’s called subspace and some subs will do anything to stay there. That’s why a good Master is necessary, if the sub is riding too high, he may not know when he’s had enough. The Master has to know when to stop— if he doesn’t there is another level of safety.” Jake turned Davey around and started to massage Davey’s shoulders.
“What’s that, S…um, Jake— the other level of safety?” Davey asked, wiggling in his seat.
“At Indiscreet we have a Dungeon Master, you’ve met him—Bull. Bull and his crew monitor all of the rooms with video equipment—with a live feed of pictures and sound. They’ve been trained to recognize when a sub is in distress even if the sub and the Master don’t recognize the signs. If they think someone is going too far, Bull or one of his men will stop the scene. The Master can get their membership suspended or be completely barred from the club forever if they go too far or don’t immediately cease what they’re doing when Bull or one of his crew opens the door. We recognize that the subs give us their absolute trust so we must strive to earn that trust every day.”
“Trust?”
“Yes, it takes absolute trust in someone to allow them to lay their hands on you and cause you pain. Can you depend upon them to stop if you safe word? Can they stop if you’ve had enough but don’t want to stop? When you’re coming down from subspace you’re very vulnerable and subject to suggestion. Will the Dom try to go farther than you originally agreed when you negotiated the terms of the scene? If the sub didn’t agree to sex, will the Dom attempt to seduce him? This is all explained in Bull’s class. All of these rules are designed to keep the scene safe, sane, and consensual.” Jake dug his hands deep into Davey’s neck and shoulders. “You’re very tight.”
§ § §
“I’ve been kind of nervous…” Davey leaned into Jake’s touch.
“Do I make you nervous, Davey?” Jake asked in a silky voice from a space so near Davey’s ear that he could feel Jake’s hot breath on his neck.
“Yes…” Dave pulled slightly away. Jake kept up the sensuous massage of his shoulders.
“Ask yourself why I make you nervous.”
Davey’s breath hitched and he sighed. “I think I already know, Sir—but don’t make me tell you, I’m vulnerable enough already.”
“I’ll leave you to your secrets then, baby. At the end of the evening though, I’d like to know if you wish to sign up for Bull’s class. No commitment, just take the class. We’ll leave early from work all next week and I’ll have a driver bring us down here and drive us home every evening. The sub’s class only lasts one hour. Can you give me five hours of your life, baby?”
“I’ve put my life in your hands for the next three months, how can I deny you five hours?”
“You’re going to honor the initial contract?”
“Not as a sub yet, but I’ll do everything you tell me to do. I can be obedient. I just have to make sure I can take the pain.”
Jake smiled. “I’ll make the arrangements.” He stood and they got ready to leave.
§ § §
They drove to the club in silence. Tim was again the valet for their car. Dan gave Davey the white armband and Jake ordered a private table for four to watch the collaring. He put the play collar on Davey as soon as they sat down. He was going to try something bold. He asked Reed for a simple contract and took the list of BDSM practices and tore it out of the document and grabbed a pencil.
“We’re going to go to all the live demonstrations tonight. All of these things on the list are things people can do here. I’ve already crossed off those that the club doesn’t allow and any that are personally repugnant to me.” Davey eyed the list with suspicion.
“I’d like you to go over the list and tell me what might turn you on—on those items you put a one. On something you’re not sure you’d like to try right away, but may in the future—mark a two. On things you never want to experience—mark a three. Then after you take Bull’s class, take another copy of this list and mark it again. Could you do that for me, baby? Trust me that much.” Jake stared into Davey’s eyes.
“Yes, for the man who didn’t have me arrested, who saved my home and took me into his, this much I can do.”
“Everyone will be on high protocol tonight. I know you don’t know what that means, but if you follow what the other boys do, you should be fine. I’ve asked Cisco and he and Greg will come with us on our tour so you have someone to talk to that isn’t a Dom.”
“Thank you, Sir.”
“Now, down on your knees on your pillow and sit in the same position as you did last night. You many not speak to anyone without my permission and no one, if they value their membership, will speak to you. I give you blanket permission to speak and discuss your reactions with the sub club. If you wish to ask me a question, put two fingers on my forearm and tap lightly. That way I’ll know you need to speak to me. Don’t interrupt me unless it’s absolutely necessary.”
§ § §
Davey spent the next fifteen minutes in abject terror. He had no idea if he could handle what he was about to see.
“I say we take the worst first. Bull is giving a demonstration to the crowd with Jamie using the rose flogger followed by the whip.”
Greg and Cisco sauntered over to their table and together they walked into a large open space with various types of equipment. Since they were early, Greg was able to explain how each implement was used. “Truthfully, Jake doesn’t use the spanking bench. He does it all by hand. Danny and Jamie can attest to that because at one time they were house subs.”
“What’s a house sub?”
“A house sub is a sub that is paid to be at Indiscreet and serve the Masters who don’t have one. They only have to take one Master a night, two if Bull feels that they can take a second. The rest of the time they socialize and look for a Master of their own. To walk in these doors, you have to be wealthy if you’re a Dom. All of the subs are looking for Masters who can direct their lives and take good care of them,” Greg answered.
“Doesn’t that make them gold diggers?” Davey asked, his face white. He didn’t want Jake to think he was a gold digger. Jake interrupted their conversation and answered Davey’s question.
“No, not if the sub is up front about what he wants. Besides, look at the sub club, one could make the argument that each of those boys are being cared for in some capacity, even Johnny who is having his emotional needs met if not his financial needs. But all of them work, just like you do. The fact that another man takes care of them and makes the decisions for both of them hasn’t prevented the subs from becoming self-actualized human beings.” Jake seemed to be very practical in the way he viewed this subject.
“They all seemed self-sufficient last night…” Davey thought about his conversations with the seven subs.
“Davey, I paid a twenty thousand dollar fee to sign up for membership at Indiscreet. That fee has recently increased to forty. My club dues are two thousand dollars a month, to be raised to three thousand five hundred in January of the New Year. Some of the men, like Tom and Bull, can only afford to be at Indiscreet because they work at the club and therefore get free memberships. The boys who work here know that the men who buy memberships are wealthy. Just as the men know the boys, for the most part, are not well off. Johnny and Greg paid their own membership fees which are much reduced for subs, even though Johnny could well afford to pay the full rate,” Jake explained. Davey put two fingers on Jake’s forearm. “Yes, baby?”
“Why do the subs get a discounted rate? It seems that each side benefits from the relationship.”
“A sub gets a reduced rate because there are always fewer subs than there are Doms. It takes courage and trust to be a sub. Now watch Jamie.” Jake loosely put his hand on Davey’s shoulder.
Bull put Jamie on the Saint Andrew’s cross and took out his rose flogger. He raised his voice and got the attention of the crowd. “This flogger provides the sub with a heavier thud than a regular flogger does because of the big knots at the end of the lashes, called roses. Tonight Jamie will take ten strokes of the rose flogger and two from my whip. Count for me, Jamie, and thank me for each stroke.”
Bull drew back his arm and the flogger made a noise like a hard thud when it hit Jamie’s skin. Jamie said, “That’s one, Sir. Thank you, Sir,” and proceeded to count the strokes to ten.
Davey shivered. He couldn’t figure out whether he was turned on or repulsed. Still, he couldn’t look away, fascinated by what went on onstage. After the ten strikes, Bull took out a bullwhip and cracked it in the air.
Jake whispered, “The bull whip can travel through the air surpassing the speed of sound depending on whose wielding the instrument. Bull keeps his whip to about ninety miles an hour, that’s why Jamie can take two strikes.” Jake squeezed Davey’s shoulder as his eyes went wide. “Be aware that Jamie gets off on this. When they are finished they will go back to a room for aftercare where the Master will rub cream on any bruising he left and, if he accidentally drew blood, put on an antiseptic cream and a dressing. Indiscreet also has medics on call. Greg is one and so are Cisco and Jim. Remember I said drawing blood is an accident. At Indiscreet, no blood play is allowed. Now watch Bull with the whip.” Davey concentrated on the scene with Jamie. He was more interested in Jamie’s reactions than Bull’s technique.
Davey observed Jamie’s back carefully. He was startled at the first crack of the whip but prepared himself to observe the second. When Bull finished, he noticed that Jamie had raised welts on his skin, but no blood. When Bull took Jamie down from the cross, Jamie seemed euphoric. That must be the subspace Jake had told him about. Bull helped Jamie to a room behind the stage.
Jake pulled Davey in closer to his side. “Bull will stay with Jamie until he comes down from subspace, then they will probably make love.”
“Jamie will want to make love after being hurt?” Davey asked Jake.
“Yes, this is the moment when the sub and the Master are closest, right after a scene. You may see the sub cry, or shout, but most of the time it’s not in pain, after the first few strokes. The sub releases all their pent up emotions and gives them to their Dom as a gift—a gift that a good Dom does not take lightly.”
Davey went with Jake, Greg and Cisco to watch the rest of the couples who did demonstrations that evening— including two house subs, Benji and Dex, that played together with Chet Hall, a new Dom who was just introduced to the club.
Cisco, Jake, Greg and Davey walked around the room watching all of the public scenes. Almost every implement on his list was covered. He marked his paper as he went through the club. When they finished and the collaring was about to begin, Davey’s eyes went down to his list and he was surprised that he had actually given a one to a few things: spanking, a suede flogger, sensation play and orgasm denial. Two other items he listed as maybes: a leather flogger and a tawse. Everything else was definitely a three. He would revise his list after Bull’s class.
CHAPTER NINE
The Masters and subs retreated to the Master’s dining room where the buffet was set up for the collaring. A large man was up on a small stage set up in the Dom’s dining room in a pair of leather boy shorts, kneeling in what Greg hastily whispered was formal presentation position. A much smaller man held a flogger in his hand. Reed got up and introduced the couple. Jose Sanchez was the sub in the boy shorts and Beau Rockford was the Dom.