Although he knew that this was only about twice as long as lunch had been, the fact that it was dark outside and the office was truly dark made it seem like it was much longer. He couldn't see anything to give him a frame of reference for how much time had passed. He kept thinking that he heard someone coming up to the door of the office, rattling the knob, but no one came in. After a long time, he was sure that Nikolai wasn't coming back that night. He was stiff, hungry and needed to take a piss. Soon, irritation gave way to anger and he started pulling on the chair next to his good leg, getting it close enough to stand on and finally take his weight off his shoulders. This gave him enough slack that he could undo the quick links that held him to the winch chain and he fiddled with them with his fingers, sorely tempted to fully release himself and deal with the whipping he'd receive for it. A whipping would be better than just hanging around naked in the dark waiting for Nikolai to finish schmoozing the investors. After a while he heard someone in the outer office and keys jingling. Quickly he stepped off the chair and tried to push it back to some semblance of where it had been and closed his eyes against the lights as they came on.
Nikolai came into the room and took in the scene carefully. Greg was swinging on the chain, too much to account for just being startled by his entrance after the dark silence. His eyes settled on the chair moved off kilter from its original position. He nodded, having expected some defiance this evening.
"Did I or did I not urge you to resist the temptation to disturb the furniture?" he asked in a stern, unforgiving tone.
Feeling more than a little guilty, Greg could only nod in agreement.
"But you did touch this chair. I can only assume to pull it close enough to stand on, am I correct?" He could see by the flicker of apprehension in Greg's face that he was. Nikolai picked up the phone and dialed. "Sebastien, I won't be home until late this evening. Go ahead and eat then close up for the night. I'll deal with Greg when we return."
Nikolai lowered the chain and unhooked the cuffs from it. Greg figured he was about to get whipped but at least he wouldn't be hanging around like a plant. Nikolai went to the closet and pulled out a box which he carried back to the desk and opened it in Greg's sight. It was full of leather restraints. One went over Greg's head like a sling, one band over his forehead the other around his chin and buckled behind his head. A body harness that reminded Greg of a parachute harness went on next. The dildo was pulled out of his ass and replaced by a large butt plug that stretched him even wider. His eyes went wide when he realized it had been coated with something that was making him itch. Nikolai then strapped his legs to each other and hooked the winch chain to a central ring on the back of the harness, lifting him up a few inches until he tipped forward. Both hands were drawn up behind him and clipped to the harness ring at the small of his back, likewise the sling around his head and the straps around his ankles were clipped to the same harness ring. Then the winch raised him up into the air so that he was hanging hog tied, with his head held back and up.
Greg struggled at the end of the chain as the itching worsened, groaning and trying to plead with Nikolai. Although uncomfortably in a bound position, his limbs didn't hurt since the body harness was actually supporting his weight very evenly and there was very little pressure on his joints.
"I know, you were probably expecting a whipping," Nikolai said as he leaned against the desk. "You and I both know that whippings do nothing for you. They are an easy way out of doing something you don't want to do or a relatively small price to pay for doing something you do want to do. No, I have to get creative to have discipline have any effect on you." He put clamp on nipple rings and a cock ring, arousing Greg to full erection then again turned off the lights and left the office, although this time he went only as far as his office waiting area and settled to read by the security lights coming through from the clinic. He only wanted Greg to have the illusion of being alone.
Greg was left to his misery for three full hours. He was still painfully erect; his ass was itching so bad he felt like it was spreading through his whole body. He couldn't move at all thanks to the way Nikolai had trussed him up and by the time Nikolai returned he was in tears. He moaned, pleading that he was sorry, to let him down, although none of his words could be made out because of the bit.
The winch was lowered and Nikolai freed him from all the cuffs, straps and harness, though he left the butt plug and cock ring in place along with the nipple clamps. "Now when I put you up there, I expect you to simply hang there and wait for my return. Not to try to avoid doing so by standing on the furniture, not to try to provoke a response by overturning objects on my desk or making a great deal of noise. Now get dressed. It's time to go home," he said, removing the bit.
Greg slowly stood up and got dressed, waiting miserably while Nikolai cleaned up and put things away. At last he came over with a leash, but instead of hooking it onto Greg's collar he held a leather tab up to his lips. Greg gave him a wide eyed look of surprise then slowly opened his mouth and gripped the leather with his teeth and was lead out of the building that way, past the night guard and into the back of Nikolai's car. He held on for the whole ride, even though he'd not been ordered to, but he didn't dare release it. Nikolai led him into den and took the leash from his mouth.
"Well done. Strip out of your clothes and set them in the chair by the door for Maddie to clean in the morning."
Greg undressed then came back to Nikolai, kneeling on the floor at his feet and even dared to kiss his feet, he was so eager to have this correction end. Nikolai stroked his hair and put a finger under his chin pulling him up to look at him.
"I will meet every challenge you give me head on, do you understand? I know you'll continue to test the boundaries and try to push the line back. This is done out of insecurity and inconsistency but I will show you consistency so that you can begin to feel secure, probably for the first time in your life unless I miss my guess. Lie over my lap and I'll end this correction."
Greg awkwardly spread himself over Nikolai's lap and he removed the butt plug, took another the same size but longer and coated it with another ointment before sliding it into Greg's ass, working it in and out until the last of the itching was soothed. Then he slid the dildo, also coated with the soothing agent back in and buckled it into place. "Stand up," he said quietly and gave him a steadying hand to do so.
Nikolai removed the nipple clamps, rubbing some oil onto his nipples and chest, back and arm muscles before releasing the cock ring and stroking him through a strong orgasm until he was drained. "Now go to bed," he said when Greg got his breath back. Greg nodded and went to his room going into the bathroom first to brush his teeth and wash his face then collapsed into bed. He realized that the butt plug had been so big that he couldn't really feel the dildo now and cursed himself that he actually was sorry he couldn't. Somehow he knew that he'd lose the battle for mastery with Nikolai and he could only hope the man would stay at PPTH for a good long while.
When he woke to Sebastien's prodding the next morning, his clothing was cleaned and folded for him on the chair in his room. Sebastien took off the dildo so that he could use the restroom and shower then put it back in and strapped it into place. Again he ate on the floor at Nikolai's feet, oatmeal this morning complete with brown sugar and a spoon, with orange juice and coffee and they were on their way to the hospital. Nikolai had chosen to use the leash he held in his teeth today and he couldn't imagine walking into the lobby like that but knew that he would all the same. The main entrance was full of people coming and going and they met up with Cuddy and Wilson about ten feet before the doors.
"Good morning, Dr. Cuddy, Dr. Wilson," Nikolai greeted. Both returned the greeting, Wilson a little stiffly, although he couldn't take his eyes off Greg, following along behind obediently, holding the leash in his teeth.
"Good morning, Mr. Airsid. I hear the investors were quite impressed with your proposal," Dr. Cuddy said with a smile, pleased to see such good behavior out of Greg.
"Well if you've heard so that confirms my feeling on the meeting," Nikolai said with a smile, as he held the door for her and Dr. Wilson to enter before them. "Dr. Wilson, we're still have our meeting this afternoon at 1pm?"
"Yes, yes, I've got everything on the new trials all put together for you," Wilson answered as they all walked to the desk to get their messages.
"Mr. Airsid, I have a message here for Dr. House," the nurse said, unsure what the proper procedure was at this point.
"Dr. House will not be in until tomorrow, Nurse Previn. If it is urgent, send it to Dr. Foreman to respond to, if not hold it until Dr. House arrives," Nikolai said casually, his whole attitude revealing that in his mind, Dr. House absolutely was not present, before starting toward his office with Greg in tow, but not before Greg cast a quick glance back at the message Nurse Previn was putting back into the rack. Normally he didn't read his messages much, but now the curiosity was nearly overwhelming his control to hang onto the leash as he was supposed to do. Fortunately, Nikolai's office was close by and the temptation was removed when they arrived. Nikolai did not remove the leather tab from his teeth, but wrapped the other end of the leash loosely around a floor lamp and went to his desk to answer his messages, leaving Greg tethered off to the side until he had finished.
Nikolai stood and walked over to Greg removing the leather tab from his teeth and wrapping the leash up, stroking his hand lightly down Greg's chest. "Today I have four meetings including a lunch meeting out. The first meeting is with an assistant for Linda. This one you will kneel at my side, eyes fixed on the floor and silent and I will be handling you while I am speaking with the candidate. I want to be sure of her reactions around slaves, since the hospital owns so many. She will be here in 40 minutes. Provided she passes this interview; I will offer her the job. While I am in my second meeting, you will play guide dog for her as she goes down to human resources and then give her a brief tour of the facilities she will most need to know; the cafeteria, the clinic, the conference and board rooms, as well as how to get to the diagnostics department. She will be introducing herself to your team so that they know that I have sent her for you when I have need. Once that is done, you'll return here. You are not to take on Dr. House at any time, even within diagnostics. Part of her test is to report your behavior honestly to me. You may of course feel free to test her, short of running away from her, and I will not reprimand you, UNLESS you do so as Dr. House instead of my slave Greg. In that case, I will reprimand you. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Master Nikolai," Greg said, though he had a faint look of mischief at being allowed to test the new employee a little bit.
"Good. Your part in her testing is reward for your good behavior this morning. Dr. Cuddy has some charts that need to be reviewed which you will do for her until I return from lunch to meet with Dr. Wilson. You will be present for that meeting. As to what you will do the rest of the afternoon... we'll see how this part plays out. Now bring us both some coffee and amuse yourself with this until our job candidate arrives," Nikolai said, putting a handheld video game onto the corner of his desk.
Greg fixed them both a cup of coffee and put Nikolai's on the coaster he pointed to then picked up his game and settled onto the couch to play for a time as he drank his coffee. It seemed that no time had passed at all for Greg, though he'd played several levels of his game, when the intercom buzzed and Linda announced that the job candidate was there.
"Tell her I'll be with her in just a moment," Nikolai instructed as Greg rose up and put his coffee cup into the sink to be cleaned before bringing the video game back to Nikolai, who tucked it into the drawer of his desk, before getting out the file folder with the candidate's information on it and carrying it to the coffee table. "Greg kneel here, and face the coffee table," he said, placing him just off the arm of the sofa. Greg used the sofa and table to get down and relatively comfortable in a position he could hold for a while and dropped his eyes to the floor, though he was quite excited with the setup that Nikolai had in place. He hoped she got the job, so he'd get to play his part and show her around the hospital. The only part he wasn't looking forward to was taking her to diagnostics and having her introduce herself to Foreman with Mr. Airsid's slave instead of claiming his role of Dr. House within the department proper. No doubt Foreman would enjoy it though, he thought with a huff as Nikolai buzzed Linda to send the girl in.
"Ms. Walker, welcome. I am Nikolai Airsid, chairman of the board here at Princeton Plainsboro. Please have a seat. Would you like a cup of coffee, bottle of water?" he offered as he escorted her to the couches that bracketed the coffee table.
"Bottled water please, Mr. Airsid," she said, slightly nervous to be interviewed by the chairman himself as she sat down and crossed her legs properly, smoothing her skirt over her knees.
"Greg, water for our guest," Nikolai said as he took his seat himself. Greg stood up slowly and carefully, so as not to lurch forward on either of them, guessing that Nikolai wouldn't appreciate that unless it was a complete accident beyond his control to prevent. Actually, Greg found that his leg was not hurting as bad, freed from standing long hours in the clinic on it. He went to the refrigerator and got out a cold bottle of water as well as a napkin for the table top, popped the seal on the bottle and brought it over, putting it on the napkin in front of her before settling back down on the floor at Nikolai's side. His extra actions to serve the guest had not gone unnoticed and earned him a stroke of approval from Nikolai.
Nikolai conducted his interview of the candidate's job capabilities and schooling, all the while he was stroking Greg, starting with the back of his head and neck then moving to his shoulder and upper arm, the side of his face, and across his chest, and Greg shuddered under his hands as they deliberately aroused him. His nipples hardened and were plainly visible through the fabric of the tee shirt he was wearing.
Nikolai approved of Ms. Walker's job qualifications and that she had only faltered once, initially when he began a more provocative stroke on Greg, when answering his questions, but quickly recovered herself and maintained her focus. "Now you indicated in your second interview that you have never owned a slave nor worked in a company that owned one, is that correct?"
"Yes, it is," she answered. "The college I attended had slaves in the maintenance and cafeteria though, so I have had a small amount of experience with them around."
"Have you ever seen one in need of discipline or being disciplined? Have you ever seen one used sexually?" Nikolai asked, watching as a deep blush came over the young woman's face. "I'll take that as a yes," he half said and half asked.
"I... I have seen some of the other college staff using the slaves sexually before," she haltingly explained. "I've never seen one disciplined."
"Here at the hospital, the staff may use any slave not bearing an exclusive tag as Greg wears," he said, touching the tag with his fingers, "any time the staff is off duty and are encouraged to do so to keep the slaves ready and able to be used without damage. So you may see this as you move about the hospital on errands or tasks, although it is supposed to be done removed from public areas. Our patients and visitors prefer not to see this, nor to risk having their children see this."
"Discipline is another matter. When a slave requires a whipping that is done in the hospital basement by slave committee. I recommend that at some time during your tenure you attend one. That way, you will know what it entails, how it is done and the aftermath on the slave and you will be better suited to deem whether an offense is worthy of report to get such a discipline. Of course, should you choose not to report the offense, the burden of the discipline falls onto you to provide."
"What sort of discipline?" she asked warily.
"Greg stand up, remove your shirt and turn around," Nikolai ordered. Greg did so, baring his much scarred back to them. "This is the result of a judicial whipping, over and over again for a variety of behaviors, few of which, in my opinion, were serious enough for such a discipline. Greg received these before I came to the hospital. Some slaves get a whipping such as this and find it such a deterrent that they never misbehave again. Some need a few exposures before that lesson sets in. Some, like Greg here, come to view it as a price, or cost of doing business. In a perverse sense, like writing a check you know you do not have the funds to cover, but will once it has been bounced and redeposited along with the exorbitant fee the bank will charge you for this. Whatever you wrote the check for, you considered it vital enough to have immediately and pay the fee for. Put your shirt back on Greg."
"For slaves like Greg, a continually changing discipline must be in place, one of greater price to them than that of a judicial whipping. Sometimes even that is not enough for a slave that is of strong will and opinion. You will be asked only to administer certain initial steps and then return him to me for further disciplining. The order of the steps is thus; use of a leash snapped to the rings on his collar, a bit gag placed into his mouth, his hands cuffed behind him which deprives him the use of his cane. I assure you he is well trained enough that he will comply with your orders. But you may eventually come to understand the very wide gulf between compliance and willing obedience. Once you reach the point of having him cuffed, you should immediately bring him here to me, as that is as far as I will authorize you to go."
"On the other hand, one that I find is not used anywhere near enough, you will also be asked to offer reward for good behavior. Initially, this is for simply not requiring any of the initial steps of discipline I've just laid out, but with time and experience, you will learn to reward for obedience. Rewards for most slaves are quite simple, verbal praise, food that they are not normally given, though you must be sure that you have them eat in it in your presence to save them from accusations of theft by security. Greg enjoys food rewards, his favorites being red suckers and french fries. I have a handheld video game that he enjoys playing. He is also and mostly praised with touch," Nikolai explained as he caressed Greg's face and allowed his hand to continue downward to his chest.
"Kneel at her feet, Greg," Nikolai ordered. Greg stiffened at the order, immediately on edge as to what Nikolai would allow her to do to him, but he felt Nikolai's hand stroke his back comfortingly. He took a quick breath and shuffled over, kneeling at her feet, between the coffee table and the sofa as Nikolai leaned back in his seat.
"Gently run your fingertips down the side of his face from temple to jawline," Nikolai instructed her. Greg stiffened reflexively as she touched him lightly and she pulled her hand away.
"He's flinching back, Mr. Airsid, clearly he doesn't want me to touch him," Ms. Walker said, unnerved at the twist that had been put to this interview.
"Yes, he is flinching and in part, it is because he doesn't want you to touch him," Nikolai agreed. "Why do you think he feels that way?"
"Well... I think because as a slave he can't say who can and who can't touch him and that would make him resentful."
"Can you think of any other reasons? Not that this one isn't valid, but answers are rarely so clean-cut, Ms. Walker."
Ms. Walker frowned, puzzled as she turned her attention back to the slave, Greg, at her feet. He was breathing rapidly, his muscles kept flexing in his arms and his fingers twitched in the effort to remain still though he kept his eyes firmly on the floor. Carefully she reached out and touched his face again, and again he flinched as she made contact. This time, she didn't pull away but slowly stroked down his face in a light caress.
"Because he doesn't know me. Or even if I'm staying on," she guessed as she continued to caress his face and was surprised when he began to relax somewhat. "Because he doesn't know if you can control me the way you can control him," she added, her voice taking on the quality that Greg's often did when having an epiphany.
"Very good, Ms. Walker. Add all of those reasons to the stark fact that Greg has known little friendly touch in his lifetime and you have a complete answer. I am prepared to offer you the position on the spot Ms. Walker. If you want it, the job is yours."
"Thank you, Mr. Airsid. I accept the offer," she said with a confident smile.
"Excellent. Greg will take you down to HR to fill out your paperwork and get your badge then take you on a short tour of main areas of the hospital before returning you here. I will be working closely with the diagnostics department and you'll be introducing yourself to the assistant director and the team today. The department director, Dr. House, won't be in until tomorrow." Nikolai handed her some papers with locations she should be shown and gave her a hand up. "Here is a leash, should he stray too far from you or should anyone question his presence in an area without me. I will have to instruct you on the use of cuffs and bits, but for now, if you have need of it, you can use a pen or pencil for the job. Command him to hold it in place, he will do so."
Nikolai gave a copy of the tour to Greg and ordered him to his feet and to show her around. Linda looked up with a pleased expression after Greg and Ms. Walker passed through into the clinic area. "She passed the test then?"
"The one to be hired, yes. The next one is at play right now."
"You've given him leave to misbehave for her, haven't you?" Linda asked knowingly.
"I have indeed. I need to know if she can praise and correct him, so that I can make other arrangements for him should you not be available to cover my absence when he is in my office. And he has been remarkably obedient this morning, so permission to tease is a reward. I strongly believe he'll leave it at that."