Within seconds, an honest-to-God lion looked up at Ellery, big brown eyes wearing the same serious expression Kefir was so fond of.Reaching out, Ellery scratched the rather large lion behind the ear, just as he would any other kitten.
Kefir came cautiously closer and rubbed his side against Ellery’s leg, just like a tabby—albeit one who was almost strong enough to accidentally knock his master over.Crouching down, Ellery ran his hands over the lion’s fur, examining him carefully.A huge, rough tongue caressed his hand when it came in range of his mouth.
Kefir nuzzled against him every chance he got, rubbing his forehead against Ellery’s body as he looked for reassurance and comfort, no different in his feline form than the human.
As he ran his fingers over Kefir’s head and down to his neck, Ellery found Kefir’s collar nestled amongst the longer fur where his mane was just starting to grow in, and he remembered what he was supposed to be doing.If Kefir had tried to shift when the collar had been locked, he’d have either choked himself or broken his collar.Neither outcome was acceptable.Frowning slightly to himself as he turned his complete attention to the problem, Ellery rose to his feet, collar in hand.
He took a step forward.Kefir did the same.
“No.Stay.”
Probably an order more suited to a dog than a cat, but as Ellery walked away, Kefir stayed where he was, so it was good enough.The lion mewed a little, as if he didn’t like being left behind, much less left behind without his collar, but Ellery resolutely ignored the summons back to the kitten’s side.It really wouldn’t do to let a sub, even one with as sweet a temper as Kefir’s was, to think he could be manipulated quite that easily.
On the other side of the playroom, Ellery took out an extra length of chain.A little bit of rummaging around in his toolbox and a few appropriate fixings were found and easily fastened in place.Carrying them back to Kefir, Ellery crouched down in front of him and silently fixed the collar around his neck.
Never a man to find himself short of an order under normal circumstances, he found himself unsure of the appropriate command for the moment.
“Show your master the other side of you, kitten,” he settled on.
Kefir obeyed.
Ellery’s attention remained on the collar as the more familiar version of Kefir appeared before him.The extra length of chain hung down around his neck like a fancy necklace.A circular loop was now fastened to one end of the chain and two bars to the other.Pulling more of the chain through the loop, Ellery doubled the links around Kefir’s neck, until they reached around to the loop again and could be fixed in place there by the thinnest of the two bars.
When Ellery clicked the padlock back on to the chain, it was really more decoration than anything else.Ellery weighed the lump of metal in his palm.The extra weight would remind Kefir of the collar’s presence; it added a bit of extra psychological weight to the collar, too.He left it where it was.
Kefir looked up at him, blinking his eyes as he seemed to struggle to regain his focus through entirely human eyes.“Sir?”he finally managed, his voice more like a purr than ever.
Ellery caressed the hair just behind Kefir’s ear again, in exactly the same way as he had when he was a lion.That made Kefir smile as he slowly reached up and touched his collar.
“If you forget to alter the catch before you shift, the bar doubling it up will give way easily enough, but the thicker bar will hold strong.It won’t fall off completely.”He joined Kefir in running his fingers over it again.“You didn’t think that you changing shapes would stop your master letting the whole world know who you belong to, did you?”
A lick to his hand from a dainty, human-sized tongue was the only answer he received.
“A few minutes ago, you were going to tell your master what you want,” Ellery reminded him.“You’re allowed to answer me if I ask you.”
Kefir parted his lips, but he didn’t seem to be able to find the right words.Ellery let him struggle against his innocence, curious to see what he’d come up with.
“I want…you, sir,” Kefir finally whispered.“I want you to…to tie me up, or screw me, or spank me, to do whatever you want with me.”He thought a little bit more.”Be my master, sir?”
Ellery smiled down at him.It still wasn’t quite the collaring ceremony he had planned.He was still the one doing the accepting rather than the asking, but there was no way he could do anything other than nod his complete approval.
Wrapping his hand around Kefir’s wrist, he held onto him tightly as he looked around the room and considered his options.So many toys, so many bindings he could choose, and not just in the playroom.
Kefir would look stunning locked in the cage under the glass-topped table in the dining room, big brown eyes staring at his master through the bars.The St.Andrew’s cross set up next to the television in the living room cried out to be brought in to play.The eye hook above the bath only needed a pair of cuffs attached to it to be a perfect proposition.
There’d been other men he’d looked at and wanted to do everything with, all at the same time.But there hadn’t been any other men he needed to bring into his home and make a part of every room, a part of the very fabric of his life.It was a slightly terrifying realisation.
Still grasping Kefir’s wrist, Ellery led him out of the playroom into the hallway.
A sling was set up on the landing at the top of the stairs, where the man restrained by it would be visible to anyone who entered the front door or ventured out of any almost any room in the building.It put the sub who was bound to it at the very centre of the house, of Ellery’s world.
Perfect.
Ellery led Kefir up to the web of leather and chain without a word.Kefir tilted his head on one side as he looked it over, apparently entirely clueless about what he was looking at.Polite curiosity flashed across his face as he looked up at Ellery for more information.
When Ellery picked up the little lion, there was no sign of uncertainty, no hesitation, just complete trust in his master.And, as Ellery sat him down on the seat of the sling, Kefir made no attempt to cling to him.He let Ellery step back, completely confident that his master wouldn’t put him anywhere where he wouldn’t be perfectly safe.
Running his hands over Kefir’s bare skin, Ellery began to fasten the buckles and fastenings around Kefir’s limbs, locking him in place, ensuring he’d always be safe and content, exactly where his master wanted him.With every restraint he added, something inside Ellery settled a little further, and the world became a little more perfect.
