Hunter had noticed Payne was touching him more than usual. He liked it — probably more than he should — but he thought Payne probably wanted to reassure him through touch as well as words. “Well, my questions might include things like ‘how in the hell does he get off onthat?’ Different strokes, I know, but some things I saw online seemed really strange.”
Payne blinked and cocked his head as he watched Hunter. “What kind of things?”
“Things like borderline torture. Electric shocks, being suspended upside down in a way that would cause unconsciousness. Some stuff reminded me of crap the CIA got chewed out for as ‘interrogation methods.’ I’m sure some of it was intended more for shock value, but it did make me wonder if there are people who actually do go that extreme looking for the endorphin rush.”
“There are, but more dangerous types of play — electric shocks, branding, breath play — are supposed to be done under very careful and controlled circumstances,” Payne said. “That’s not to say there aren’t people who aren’t careful, but they’re outliers. Most people who want to play that way are stringent about safety.”
“I’d certainly hope so.” Hunter shook his head, then fell silent as the curtains opened.
On the stage, a man almost as tall and broad as Hunter was bound naked to a St. Andrews cross with thick leather cuffs around his wrists and ankles.
A woman in black leather pants and a black leather overbust corset studded with chains and metal buckles stood behind him, wielding a cane similar to Payne’s. Hunter’s eyes skimmed over the woman, but he was more interested in the sub. The Domme launched into a spiel about caning, going over the basics and demonstrating on the sub until his ass was practically glowing red, and bruises were already forming. The marks he sported were far more painful looking than Hunter’s own welts, and he realized Payne had been holding back. Payne could have dealt Hunter an incredible amount of damage, and Hunter realized how much trust he was placing in Payne. The idea didn’t bother him, which was good, and it also gave him an idea of how much control a Dom had to exercise over himself as well. Going into a scene angry or upset would probably be a bad thing.
“If you want more, you’d better get your ass where I can reach it,” the Domme said, and the sub pushed his ass out as best he could, giving what sounded like a happy moan. “Five more. Count them off.”
She delivered five more stinging blows while the sub called out the numbers, wriggling helplessly on the cross. But his face was suffused with bliss despite the pain, and after the Domme untied him and helped him down, he clung to her.
Hunter had read about the endorphins released during a session, but he’d had to admit to a little skepticism. But seeing the look on the sub’s face demonstrated the truth of it in a way Hunter couldn’t doubt. The marks on the sub’s ass looked painful, and no doubt if he weren’t on a hormonal high, they would have hurt enough to make the guy cry, no matter how tough he looked.
“What did you think?” Payne asked. Although his voice sounded casual, his cheeks were flushed, and there was a heated glitter in his eyes.
Hunter hesitated. “The stuff about endorphins must be true,” he said slowly. “You weren’t anywhere near that hard with me.”
“No, we didn’t reach that point,” Payne said. “I might have if you’d been more resistant, but you didn’t need it.”
“I hope I don’t ever need it,” Hunter admitted. “Where do you draw the line on ‘safe’ and ‘sane?’ Having bloody welts you can’t sit on for days seems to be pushing a boundary, at least to me.”
“It’s not pushing a boundary if it’s what the Dom and sub have agreed on,” Payne said. “What you saw in the demo was negotiated ahead of time. The sub knew what the results would be. Hewantedthem. That’s how it works in any scene.”
Hunter inclined his head to acknowledge the point. “Understood. Would it bother you if I said I’m not sure I’d like it that hard? Maybe it’s because I’m aware being impaired in any way makes it harder to do my job.”
“No, it wouldn’t bother me.” Payne ran his hand along Hunter’s forearm in a soothing caress. “What we’re doing is for you. Pushing you past your boundaries might cause more harm than good, and that’s not what I want to do.”
“Oh, I think I have your number, Master Payne,” Hunter said, leaning closer and lowering his voice. “Daddy likes causing just enough pain that he can kiss it and make it better, right?”
Payne sucked in a breath, and the flush in his cheeks deepened. “Yes, he does,” he said huskily. “But that’s not all he likes.”
Hunter couldn’t resist the obvious set up. Their relationship seemed to be changing, and Hunter couldn’t help but look at Payne a bit differently. “What else does Daddy like?”
A wicked smirk curved Payne’s lips as he picked up his water bottle and pressed the still-chilly bottom against Hunter’s warm neck. “Sensation play.”
Hunter drew in a breath. He wasn’t quite sure if it was the cold plastic or Payne’s smile raising the goosebumps on his arms, but whichever it was, he liked it. A lot.
“Now that might be something I would like,” he murmured. “I live by my senses, after all. They’re highly developed.”
“Then we could have a lot of fun.” Payne trailed the bottle along the curve of Hunter’s shoulder, leaving beads of condensation in its wake. “Imagine what it might be like if I had you tied up and blindfolded, and I used ice or fur on your bare skin.”
All the air seemed to have been sucked out of the room, and Hunter stared at Payne, his eyes wide as arousal flowed over him in a heated wave. It took him several moments to find his voice, and when he did, it was rough with need. “I can imagine it.”
The mischievous gleam in Payne’s eyes was the only warning Hunter got before Payne leaned over and dragged his tongue along Hunter’s skin to lap up the water. “You don’t have to imagine it,” he said. “I’d do it if you want me to.”
Hunter shivered. He hadn’t had sex or even pleasured himself in a long time. The specter that had haunted him since Stack’s death rose up, trying to tell him he didn’t deserve to feel good or to enjoy any life affirmation in the face of his loss. But the warmth of Payne’s body and the seductive words drowned out that specter. “Trying to get me to stare into the abyss, Master Payne?”
Payne met and held Hunter’s gaze. “I would love to make you stare into the abyss,” he said, his voice low and beguiling. “I would love to witness the moment you surrender to sub space and set yourself free.”
“I want it, too.” Hunter reached for Payne’s hand, grasping it and clinging to it like a lifeline. “I want it more than you can imagine.”
Payne tightened his fingers around Hunter’s. “Then let’s go home, and I’ll give it to you.”
