Mike presses the tips of his fingers into the red and purple hickeys on his neck the next morning while standing naked and disheveled in front of Harvey's bathroom mirror. They're more sore than he expected but the visible proof of Harvey's attention makes him smile.

"You look good with my marks."

Harvey grins at him as he passes. Unlike Mike he's still dressed, but he lets Mike watch him as he pulls off his silk pants and climbs naked into the shower.

Mike finishes toweling off his hair and watches Harvey through the foggy glass doors. If he were bolder he would climb in with him, but - Harvey's instructions were very specific on that point. At least for now.

When Mike had woken to the early morning sun shining in through the windows, he suddenly remembered the events of the previous evening. And as delicious as they were he couldn't stop thinking of the orgasm Harvey hadn't had. So, thinking it would be a welcome surprise, he curled into Harvey's sleeping arms and ran his hand boldly down Harvey's body until he had his cock in hand. The thick heavy weight of it startled him at first. So much so that he'd forgotten what he was planning to do with it. Unlike Mike who has the thinner cock of a Sub, Harvey's is thick and wide and solid.

While Mike was still thinking about the sheer size of him, Harvey woke and wrapped his own fingers around Mike's wrist. His voice was gravely and sleep slurred. "Good morning."

Mike smiled and leaned up for a kiss while slowly moving his hand over the thickening bulge. But before he could get more than a twinge of approval, Harvey gently lifted him away by the wrist. "I don't like my Subs to initiate, Mike."

"Sorry. I just thought... maybe I should have been more... maybe last night I should have..."

Harvey shook his head and kissed Mike lightly. "You didn't do anything wrong. I'm just letting you know what the rules are. There's nothing you should or shouldn't do except submit and follow my orders. Understood?"

Mike had nodded then, but now, Mike isn't so sure he understands at all. Why can't he initiate? What if there's something he wants, or needs, or - what if now that he can touch Harvey he doesn't want to sit back and wait around like a good boy.

He looks over at Harvey's exposed backside as he slicks water back over his hair.

What if he wants to pounce?

Mike looks in the mirror while Harvey turns off the water and towels himself off behind him. Mike wishes he had a robe or a towel bigger than the pathetic thing Harvey gave him, or something. Standing around naked isn't exactly the norm for him, even when he's alone. But when he got out of bed this morning his clothes had disappeared into Harvey's dry cleaning pile to be cleaned and Harvey had shaken his head when Mike suggested he go to his room for something else to wear.

He brushes his teeth and with a surge of confidence turns and leans back on the vanity with his chin raised high as if warding off any sign of the embarrassment he feels.

"Already practicing for the office?"

"What about it?"

"That Dom face is cute, but kind of inappropriate under the circumstances."

Mike lets his shoulders relax but holds his chin up defiantly while he rubs at the sleep still lingering in the corner of his eyes.

"I wish we didn't have to work today."

"Seconded. But it's Friday. We can look forward to the weekend." Harvey grins mischievously and throws his towel in a basket before taking his silk robe from the hook beside the shower. With Harvey clothed Mike feels twice as uncomfortable, and it probably shows since Harvey has mercy on him and comes to stand close with his hands on Mike's hips, steadying him.

"If you were a registered submissive employee you could take today off without penalty. Wouldn't that be nice?"

Mike cringes and looks the other way, not really interested in seeing Harvey's ignorant amusement. "No, not exactly. I don't think submissive discrimination is nice. That law is half the reason employers don't hire us."

Harvey hums and gently redirects his gaze back with a finger beneath the chin.

"You're probably right. But the intention is sound. Most Subs don't easily bounce back from sub-drop."

Mike twists out of Harvey's grip and walks into the bedroom. "That wouldn't be the case if Doms respected their working Sub's professional responsibilities. Submissive exhaustion is a dominant's problem, and yet they treat us like wilting flowers." Mike is wandering around the bed looking for his watch and cuff links. They must be somewhere.

Harvey catches up to him and points to a little silver tray on the low rise dresser. Mike mumbles a thanks and plucks them out.

"I really should get ready for work."

Harvey's eyes are heavy lidded and concerned.

"I didn't mean to upset you."

He shrugs. "Life is just fucked, that's all."

Harvey gently tucks a wisp of hair behind Mike's ear and holds him by the shoulder so that he can't just step away.

"You always make a great point about these things, but," he tightens his grip, "you also have to understand that it can be more complicated than you know."

Mike stares at him for a long moment. The conversation is too delicate, too personal, too... heated for what should have been a lazy morning of lovemaking and Mike getting to know if this Dom were worth taking a chance on. Politics seem far too disruptive and he suddenly wants to get away and pretend the conversation never happened. Maybe by the time the day is over he'll remember how easy it was to play the Sub to Harvey's Dom when he wasn't thinking about all these fucked up logistics.

"Can I get dressed now?" Mike asks, but when Harvey doesn't immediately let him go, his eyes still dark and concerned, his posture still tense, Mike jokes - "I'm still learning to tie a tie. I need extra time or else I'll be an embarrassment."

Harvey grins and relaxes his grip, but before letting go completely he leans in and kisses Mike, lingeringly but chastely.

"You couldn't be an embarrassment. Besides, I won't let you out of the apartment without checking. At least for another few weeks."


At the office Harvey walks by Mike's desk so many times that gossip starts brewing in the other cubicles. First it's a reasonable question, and then it's an errand Donna or any random assistant could do. After the fourth unnecessary walk through Mike makes an excuse to deliver something to Harvey's office. On the way there he runs into Rachel.

"Oh, hey." She smiles and tucks some hair behind her ear. "Seeing Harvey?"

Mike almost trips on a computer cord as he goes by the receptionist counter. "What?"

"I was on my way to bring some research to him too." She laughs at Mike's expression. "Wow, Mike, take a breather. You really are working too hard." They come to Donna's desk and Rachel turns to him with a grin. "Go first, I'll probably need longer."

Mike just nods and slips in through the glass doors.

"Mike, what's up?"

Mike puts a folder of blank paper down on Harvey's desk and tries to look casual. "Harvey, you really need to stop coming around every half hour. The other associates are talking."

Harvey grins and takes a sip of his coffee. "Fine, let them talk. Trust me kid, they're just jealous that the new guy is getting so much attention."

"Harvey, I don't want attention, I want to blend in. We talked about this."

"I thought we talked about you wanting a great opportunity. I'm giving you one."

Mike sighs and scratches at the back of his neck in frustration. "Listen, we both know what this is about and I get it. I sympathize. But, please Harvey."

Harvey taps his pen on the desk. "I told you I can keep my personal and private life separate, and I can. But when my Sub is thirty feet away and I can sense him with every breath but I can't see him, can't know for sure he's alright, then yeah, I might make a few more excuses to know for sure."

Mike blushes. "Your Sub?"

"Yeah. Mine."

Mike smiles like a fool until he realizes that he's giving away too much. He coughs, shrugs, and looks away from Harvey's penetrating gaze.

"Okay, well, just keep it at a minimum. Text me instead or something, if you want to, you know, check."

Harvey nods.

Mike walks out again just as Harvey opens his folder, laughs, and tosses it in the trash. Outside Rachel is leaning against Donna's desk with a distinctive blush to her cheek and a hint of smile around the lips.

"All done?" She asks.

"Yep. Sorry I made you wait."

"It's not a problem. Donna kept me busy." She gestures over and Donna licks her lips without ever taking her eyes from the computer. Once Rachel is out of earshot Mike leans over the desk.

"What was that about?"

She shrugs. "None of your business, nosy. Besides, aren't you busy enough with your own personal life?"


Harvey spends an hour on Friday clicking back and forth between a file saved in his personal folder and his packed full email. It's not like it hasn't occurred to him that Mike would be - delicate. But, it has been a long time since he's been in a relationship important enough to need a contract. Usually these things are simple enough for Harvey to just figure out, or if not, a brief conversation with a Sub is usually enough to iron out the kinks - so to speak. But Mike's different. Mike is something Harvey has never encountered before. Inexperienced, just a bit damaged, and - God help him - more precious than anything he's ever had before.

Making up his mind he clicks over to his simple limits checklist and prints one out. He slips it into a manilla folder.

He unlocks his phone and types out a message to Mike.

I'm sending you home early. Come by my office on your way out.

Within ten minutes Mike is peering through the door. "Why? I have work to do here. It's only four."

"Anything critical?"

"Not really, but -"

"You won't see me interrupting a work day for personal reasons again, but I'm a selfish man and I want you to finish something before I go home tonight." He holds the folder out to a perplexed Mike. "I've also sent a copy to your personal email."

He takes it, flicks it open, and shuts it again with a violent blush. "For fucks sake! Harvey, is this really necessary?"

"Yes."

"Is this because of," he stutters, "what I told you?"

"Partly. But it's also because I want to be responsible, and I can't do that until you decide what you need and what," he taps his fingers nervously against the table, "what you can't tolerate."

"Harvey, really, I don't know." He's flushed and already crinkling the folder between his fingers. "Can't we just, figure it out as we go along? Or maybe, could we do this together?"

Harvey shakes his head. "It's important that you make these decisions without my influence. Go home, make some tea, and do the best you can. Email me what you think, it's less disconcerting that way. Anything you feel really unsure about we'll go over together soon. There's nothing on there that I'm not prepared to give to a Sub. It's my own personal list. But, honestly, I, well I haven't cared enough to give it to a Sub in a while"

Mike nods, his mind going double speed, probably looking over all the little check boxes in that incredibly perfect brain of his from just that quick glance. "Yeah, okay. I'll try."

"Good." He smiles. "I'd like nothing more than to follow you home and get started with the practical demonstrations, but -"

Mike grins. "We have the whole weekend." He slips the folder into his briefcase and grins shyly as he rounds Donna's desk and disappears down the hall. Donna turns around and gives him a look. Just then his phone rings.

"Did you give him the thing?" Donna's voice is excited in that way only really great gossip makes it.

"You need to stop listening in on my meetings."

She rolls her eyes. "Soooo boring. Why do you think I keep this job? And furthermore, why do you think I'm so good at it?"

He shakes his head fondly. "Yeah, I gave it to him."

"Don't take it personally. There will always be," she looks around to see who might be listening before whispering, "there will always be Subs who need formalized boundaries. You might think you're the greatest living Dom, but even you need a little help."

Harvey props his feet up on his desk. "I'm not the greatest living Dom. But I am the best in the office, that's for sure."

Donna's mouth falls open in shock. "You know what, I've seen your little list and mine is way more interesting."

Harvey rolls his eyes and hangs up the phone, determined to wait out the next few hours without worrying too much about Mike.

At quarter after six an email dings on Harvey's personal account.

Harvey quickly sets aside the papers he was piddling with, trying to bide his time waiting. Harvey opens the file, but before he has time to look it over his phone buzzes.

What if you don't want me after this?

The words are so vulnerable that Harvey feels his chest flutter.

Impossible.

Okay good. Just checking.


When Harvey wanders into the apartment a few hours later Mike is curled up on his couch with the cup of tea he'd suggested sitting cold on the coffee table.

"Use a coaster in the future," Harvey says.

Mike rolls his eyes. "You would focus on that."

Harvey loosens his tie before walking up behind Mike who is clutching a pillow to his chest defensively and shifting his eyes away whenever Harvey looks at him. He grips the kid's chin and leans his head back for a long lingering upside down kiss. Mike returns the kiss obediently but without any of the passion of the night before.

"Are we talking about it now?"

"What?"

Mike looks aggravated. "My email. I've been sitting here panicking for an hour and you pretend like you don't even know what I'm talking about."

Harvey rubs a hand down Mike's chest firmly. "This doesn't require a formal interview, Mike. It just helped give me better information about you."

Mike nods but doesn't loosen his grip on the pillow. Harvey sits down next to him and gently coaxes him off the couch and on to his knees. He goes, reluctantly.

"What do you need to talk about, Mike?"

He glances up and there are so many muddled up emotions in his eyes that Harvey aches for him. Maybe the checklist hadn't been such a good idea after all. Most Subs are so familiar with the things a Dom does to them, or with them. And the things a Sub does for their Dom, that a checklist is just a formality. For Mike, it must have seemed like a whole new terrifying world of possibilities has exploded and he doesn't have a fucking clue what to expect.

"You trust me, don't you?" Harvey asks in lieu of an answer.

"Yes."

"What are you afraid of then? I wouldn't do anything you couldn't handle."

"Yeah." He's wringing his hands and the muscles in his shoulders are cramped up tight. "It's just. Some of the things I didn't list as soft limits are starting to sound more alarming now that I can't take them back."

"Mike, you can always revise what you want or don't want in a relationship. But I would like it if you'd let me show you some things before you make new decisions. Not everything a Dom does to a Sub is supposed to be fun. Sometimes it's supposed to... recalibrate you."

Mike's eyebrows knit together as he looks up at him.

"And the thing I said. At the end?"

Harvey pets him, paying particular attention to the hair that always sticks up around his ears and the frown lines in his forehead.

"I've never had a Sub question that rule before."

"I'm not just any Sub. I want to be able to kiss you if I want to."

Harvey laughs. "That's not what I meant when I said I didn't want you initiating. You can kiss me whenever you'd like. I just wouldn't like it if my Subs started designing our scenes."

Mike thinks about this.

"Is this negotiable?"

"Perhaps."

"What if - what if I can initiate so long as I submit once we start."

Harvey smiles. "That might be acceptable. But, if I want to withdraw my permission, I have the right to do that for a certain period of time."

Mike looks aggravated. "Well what's the point then? If you can just revert our negotiations at any time, then why negotiate at all?" He ducks out of Harvey's touch and sits back on his heels where Harvey can't reach him.

"Because if you can't trust me to respect your wishes and also to decide what's best for you, even if you don't think it's fair, then what's the point of any of this, Mike?" He tries to keep his tone reasonable, but it's hard. He's never had a Sub be such a willful over-thinker. "Either you submit to me, or you don't. If you want to play at being the Dom in the office, fine. Shit, haven't I been helping you? But I don't want a Dom for a partner, I want a Sub."

"I am a Sub."

"I know. Now let me show you how nice it is to be one."

Mike sighs and leans back down on Harvey's knee, but he doesn't find any relaxation there. Harvey can sense the storm cloud of thoughts and emotions battling around inside him.

"When was the last time you were in subspace?"

"I dunno. Before you got back from London."

"That's too long."

Mike shrugs. "I've gone a lot longer."

Harvey sits back in his chair and rests his hand atop Mike's head.

"I want you to pick a safeword."

Mike looks at him. "Is that going to be necessary?"

"It's always necessary. Even bonded couples should have a safeword."

Mike looks away for him for a long time.

"Carl Sandvick"

Harvey frowns. "Who is that?"

"He's one of the Doms who - you know."

Harvey cringes. "Mike, no. Please."

"What? I don't like saying it if I don't absolutely have to, and now that you know it'll make you stop."

"And it'll also make both you and me equate whatever we're doing to rape," Harvey says bitterly.

Mike looks apologetic. "I didn't think of that."

"A safe-word should allow a couple to stop, evaluate, and negotiate. It shouldn't be so emotionally charged. Let's think of something more generic. How about subpoena? Bringing law into the bedroom will stop me well enough."

"Fair. Let's go with that."

Harvey tugs at Mike's shirt and guides him up until he's straddling his lap with hands on each hip. Mike smiles sadly and rests his head on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry I brought it up, before."

"Don't be. Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really. It's not that big of a deal."

"Yes, it is. If you think it's not then we have a bigger problem."

Mike rests in the hollow of his shoulder with his face carefully hidden.

"I want you to go in my room, strip off your clothes and lay on the bed."

Mike looks up at him, his eyes pleading.

"You said you trust me?" He nods. "Then go. I don't like asking twice."

He can hear faint popping sounds in Mike's joints as he unfolds himself and walks unsteadily down the hall. Harvey listens carefully for the sounds of Mike undressing. When the sounds have stopped and he's sure Mike is laying out on his bed, he looks at the clock and waits. Ten minutes. This might be a bad idea, it really might. But his instincts are winning out.

When the ten minutes are up he stands, takes off his jacket so he looks that much less intimidating, and goes into the bedroom. Mike's eyes find him immediately and he pulls his knees together shyly.

Harvey stands beside him, watching his Sub's heavy breathing and whipcord tight muscles. He runs his hands down each leg, urging them out straight and relaxed, then he takes each arm and does the same.

"You look beautiful like this."

Mike closes his eyes, turns his head away, and gulps.

Harvey thinks about correcting the avoidance, but, the rest of the night is designed to do just that, and it should be enough. He leaves one hand resting on Mike's thigh for comfort and opens the second drawer of his night stand to pull out a black-out eye mask. He holds it up for Mike to see.

"I won't hurt you, Mike. I promise. But this is going to be different from anything you've done before. Tell me again that you trust me. I need to hear it."

Mike nods. "Yeah. I trust you, Harvey."

"Good boy." The words alone make something click in Mike's eyes. Harvey slips the elastic around the back of his head and places the fabric down over his closed eyes. Harvey's used this mask himself a couple times with hangovers. Even the most stubborn light can't penetrate it.

"Shit. It's really dark."

Harvey doesn't respond he just goes over to his dresser and unlocks the bottom drawer with a key. Mike's head is turned toward the noise. Harvey take out what he needs and lays them out. First, the cuffs. He uses the most comfortable ones he has. Plush lined with durable but soft fabric buckles. Mike doesn't resist him when he ties each foot and wrist to the four corners of the bed. Harvey adjust the straps until he's pulled too snug to move much from his position.

"Are you comfortable?" Harvey asks.

"Yeah."

"You sure?"

Mike smiles. "How long before you stop worrying about me?"

Harvey laughs. "Probably never. Now stop talking unless I ask you something."

"Okay."

Harvey's desire to force him to call him sir is overwhelming. But not quite yet. After this, maybe.

Harvey brings the last two things over and sets them down beside Mike on the bed.

"I'm going to gag you. If you need to safeword out, do it now."

Mike squirms around on the bed and licks him lips.

"No. It's okay."

Harvey wipes his fingers along Mike's lips in encouragement to open. But with his delicious looking lips soft and gaping and inviting he can't help bending down to kiss and nip and swipe his tongue in and around the folds of his lips. When he moves away he replaces his lips with a finger, which Mike generously takes into his mouth and sucks. Harvey breathes hard, panting and moaning at the sensation. When it becomes too much he pulls his finger out and presses the rubber ball gag to the lips which take the obtrusion without fuss. Harvey buckles everything in place and then places the last thing - a pair of thick noise canceling headphone. He switches them on to a low white noise and then steps back, admiring his work.

Mike is gagged, bound, and helpless in his bed. And if Harvey's not mistaken, slowly coming to terms with how disorienting sensory deprivation can be.

Mike hadn't listed it as a limit, which is good. He suspects that for a Sub with a brain like Mike's, this particularly type of mental restraint is going to be essential. Harvey sits back in his reading chair and grabs a book, knowing full well that he can't just stare at a Sub for this long without going crazy. He sets his phone for twenty minutes. When it beeps he looks up. Mike is pulling at the restraints and tossing his head side to side. Harvey stands beside the bed and gently slides two hands over Mike's stomach. He moans and presses up against the touch. His cock is hardening against his stomach and leaking pre-come. Harvey wants to touch, but resists. Instead he adjusts the headphones up two notches so that the white noise is subtly louder. Then, he goes back to his chair.

He sets the second alarm for thirty minutes, and when it dings, Mike is desperate. He's pulling hard enough to bruise, but Harvey knows the restraints are too forgiving to allow it. The curve of his neck is pronounced as he strains himself. Harvey strokes Mike's face and neck and runs his hands down over his chest and belly. Mike is practically screaming against the rubber when Harvey's hands gather up his cock to pull at it until he's hard and desperately close to coming. When Mike is just on the edge he releases him, turns up the headphones, and backs away, ignoring Mike's struggles with as much indifference as he can muster. But he's not made of stone, so after setting the clock for a final forty minutes he sits back and lets himself jack off to Mike's desperate struggling. He comes all over himself with a shout, and then lays back to catch his breath. When he looks back to Mike he's already starting to submit and it makes him smile. Maybe this will work after all.

When the last alarm sounds Mike has stopped pulling and is laying motionless on the bed. His breath is even and the tension in his fingers has loosened. If Harvey didn't know better, he'd think the kid was sleeping. But when he again lays his hands down on each thigh Mike barely reacts, he just turns his head toward him and takes a long deep breath in through his nose. His chest rises and falls, but nothing else even twitches. Harvey rubs his hands up and down Mike's legs and then rubs the tips of his fingers teasingly on the sensitive inner thigh, and all the way up to the warm crease where groin meets thigh. Mike's erection has wilted, just as he suspected, but that doesn't stop him from wrapping his fist around him and stroking. Mike's breath quickens and he gently presses his pelvis up, but other than that he just lays back, trusting, in that astoundingly beautiful way Subs do, that their Dom will take care of them. When his erection is painfully hard again Harvey can't resist the urge to bend over and inhale the intoxicating scent of him, and when that isn't enough he lets his eyes flutter up to Mike's half masked face while he swipes the flat of his tongue from base to tip where he gathers up the fragrant pre-come. Mike keens and his toes curl. Harvey smiles brilliantly as he finishes pulling him off until he comes with a low guttural groan.

Harvey watches from a distance as Mike comes down from his high and peacefully settles back into his restraints without fuss. Only then does he use a soft cloth to first wipe the spit from around the gag, and then wash away the come from his belly.

He could give Mike another ten minutes, or another two hours, and it wouldn't matter. He's deep in subspace now.

Harvey takes off his clothes and puts them away, then he turns off all the lights in the apartment so the room is dark.

Starting with his feet Harvey removes the cuffs and rubs at the skin underneath. Mike doesn't respond aside from a few twitches of his toes. Harvey then gives the same treatment to his arms and helps him adjust them back down to his sides. In the morning he'll need a shoulder massage to get the kinks out.

Finally, he removes the gag, the blindfold, and the head phones. Mike blinks up at him dreamily, his eyes tired and sensitive to even the minimal light in the room.

"Drink this." He holds up Mike's head while he sips and then lays him back down again.

"I feel - "

"You don't have to talk. Just try to rest."

Mike turns his head toward Harvey who is climbing into bed and arranging the sheets and blankets over them both. Mike rolls gratefully into Harvey's arms with a sigh.

"Thank you." He whispers.

Harvey kisses him on the forehead and then tilts his chin up for a kiss on the lips. "You're welcome. Now, go to sleep."