Kurt slowly came down from his high. Blaine had a very talented mouth, but what pleased him even more was that he had done exactly as he had been told – not rushing, taking his time, even though he knew that when it took too long, he might not be able to get off himself. But they were not quite as short of time as Kurt had pretended, and Blaine definitely deserved a reward.

Blaine was still kneeling before him, his cock hard and his eyes cast down, but a smug little grin on his face. Kurt pulled him up and kissed him long, hard and claiming, then ordered him to lie face up on the bed, his eyes closed. He rummaged through the drawers a bit, wishing he was at home with his own supplies and his own toys, but finally found what he was looking for. He laid the items on a little table within easy reach from the bed, then knelt above Blaine.

"Open your eyes," he whispered.

When Blaine obeyed, Kurt slowly pulled off his tie and used it to tie Blaine's hands together above his head, and then to the bed. Blaine's eyes went wide, but he said nothing.

Kurt kissed him once more and ran his hands over Blaine's neck, arms and chest, before stopping at his nipples and rolling them between his fingers until they were hard. Blaine moaned and writhed a little beneath him, but when Kurt told him to be still, he instantly obeyed. Kurt kissed him as a reward, then took one of the items he had laid out before, a beautiful set of nipple clamps connected by a light silver chain, and applied them to Blaine's erect nipples. Blaine gasped with the pain, but he said nothing, and when Kurt looked into his eyes that he kept open obediently, they were starting to unfocus.

Kurt thought he understood now that for Blaine, it wasn't the pain itself he craved but the total submission it brought to surrender himself to it. It was the act of lying there, bound and clamped, after having served his master, that had Blaine's cock hard and leaking and himself sliding into subspace.

Kurt lubed up his hand and began stroking Blaine while kissing down his neck and then kissing and licking around the clamps at his nipples. He knew that the softness of his lips and tongue would offer a striking contrast to the bite of the clamps, and from the way Blaine whimpered and struggled to keep still, he felt the same way. Kurt lifted his head for a short time to whisper,

"You may move and make sounds and speak, if you want to, but don't come."

Blaine moaned, relieved, and began to buck up in Kurt's hand, seeking the friction, even though he knew he couldn't come. It didn't take long until he moaned with every breath, struggling against his bonds, until at last he started begging.

"Sir, please...so good...so...God...please let me come..."

Kurt kept stroking him, but slowed down a little. "Not yet, sweetheart. You'll know when."

He continued kissing and licking at Blaine's nipples and neck and gradually increased the speed of his hand on Blaine's cock, until Blaine was panting and drenched in sweat, struggling against the bonds tying him to the bed and trembling from the exertion of holding back. Then Kurt yanked on the chain connecting the nipple clamps and pulled them off. Blaine screamed at the pain of the blood rushing back and came violently in Kurt's hand, arching off the bed and slumping back down on it, before lying completely still, breathing heavily.

Kurt cleaned him up, sat beside him and carefully undid the tie, gently rubbing his wrists and the faint red marks that had appeared on them. He discreetly looked at the time on his cell and sighed inwardly. He should have left ten minutes ago, but there was no way he was leaving Blaine now. He smiled. Sleep was overrated, and couldn't compare to the feeling of having a sated sub in his arms. He pressed a kiss into Blaine's sweaty hair.

"You did so well, sweetheart, so beautifully. Such a good boy."

He draped a blanket over Blaine and then called room service for water, all the while holding Blaine, gently caressing him and whispering praise. When the water arrived, he had to rise to get it from where it had been left at the door, which caused a quiet protesting mumble from Blaine.

Kurt smiled as he hurried back to the bed.

"I'm here, sweetheart, I'm not leaving you. I just got you something to drink."

He helped Blaine to drink, which seemed to bring him back a little. He smiled at Kurt.

"Don't you have to leave, Sir?"

"Soon, unfortunately. But I can stay a little longer."

Blaine sighed contentedly and snuggled into Kurt's side to rest for a few more minutes. After a time, he sat up a little.

"Sir, what you give me, when we meet here, it's...I need that. I haven't felt like this – I don't know. In a very long time, if ever. So, if you're agreeable, I would like to meet you...somewhere else, to talk. Monday, perhaps?"

Kurt smiled. "Make it Tuesday, and I'm very agreeable."

Kurt was relieved. He had hoped for such a request; his second meeting with Blaine had only reinforced his desire to get to really know him, to do more than the occasional scene. He hoped that Blaine wanted the same, that this meant...Well. Better not get too run away with himself.

...

The next day, a little irritable after not enough sleep and a meeting that had gone less than well, Kurt called Chandler.

"Kurt! I've been waiting for you to call me."

"I know! You've made that very clear. Chan, what was that stunt you pulled yesterday?"

"In front of your new boy? Don't you know? Kurt, apart from Master Elliot himself, you are the best Dom we have. He needs to know that you have other options. He needs to know that he has to prove himself...worthy of you."

"I'm very flattered, Chan. But what you seem to forget is that I decide if he's worthy. This is about Blaine and myself. It's none of your business."

"And that's where you're wrong. You met at the club, Master Elliot set you up, you caused a minor riot when you showed up after half a year and then played with the same sub twice. You talked to Blaine's former Dom, Blaine knows about me, you'll undoubtedly give Master Elliot a copy of your contract if you make one. Perhaps you'll even do a public scene once in a while. We're a tight group, Kurt, and you know how important it is to have friends within the lifestyle. You're not getting rid of us so easily."

Kurt had a lingering suspicion that he was right. Still...

"Don't do something like that again, Chandler. We're not together anymore, and there isn't, nor has there ever been, a need for you to protect me."

"Yes, Sir. I'm sorry, Sir."

Kurt sighed, rubbing his neck. "How are you? Honestly?"

"I'm fine, I guess. Still waiting, but I'll get there."

"...I'm sorry I couldn't be what you need."

"We've been over this, Kurt. It just wasn't. To be fair, my needs are rather...specific, and I wasn't
what you needed either. But maybe your new boy is?"

"I couldn't tell yet. It's too soon. We're testing the waters right now. But...let's say, it's looking good. Still, I'm nervous. He wants to talk to me, I don't know exactly what about – I just hate not being in control."

"Duh," Chandler laughed. "But I'm sure it'll work out. I'm happy for you."

"Thank you, Chan. Have a good night."

"Good night, Sir."

"Chandler..."

"Sorry. Good night, Kurt."

...

Kurt spent the weekend cleaning up his playroom. It was a little premature, perhaps, but he was hopeful he would need it in the near future. He hadn't lied to Chandler – thinks were looking good.

On Sunday he met his friend Rachel for brunch. It was a tradition they had started after the end of his relationship with Chandler; Rachel had been single, too, and they had been determined to make the best of it by getting to see more of each other. He'd have to ask her now to shift their weekly outing to another day as he hoped to need his Sundays for Blaine, but he had to be careful – Rachel knew nothing about his lifestyle, and he planned to keep it this way.

So he only told her,

"I've met someone."

She squealed and asked the questions that were to be expected – when, where, when will I meet him, can he sing – which Kurt answered as best and as truthfully as he could without letting anything slip. It was a fine line he was walking, but he was used to it. The biggest difficulty was the point where his private life, his work and his friends, and his love life – which basically meant BDSM – overlapped. Parties, work functions, meeting friends who wanted to meet the man in his life – that was where it got complicated, but he could handle it. It had even worked out somehow with Chandler, who was utterly bad at pretending to be a boyfriend instead of a sub. Maybe Blaine would be better at it, and more agreeable to pretending on the whole.

...

Tuesday arrived both too soon and not soon enough. Blaine had chosen and texted Kurt where they would meet – a small Japanese restaurant that had cushions instead of chairs and low tables that were separated by paper walls. A waitress in a kimono led him to their table, and it all felt a little surreal, except that Blaine, on his knees, waiting for him was an increasingly familiar and very welcome sight.

"Blaine," he greeted him, kneeling on the opposite side of the table.

"Kurt, thanks for coming. You'll have to take your shoes off, they won't serve you until you do."

Kurt raised an eyebrow, but pulled off his shoes and placed them neatly against the paper wall.

"I'll admit this is not what I expected when I agreed to meet you 'on your turf."

"So what did you expect?" Blaine asked, pouring him tea from a pot kept on a warmer.

Kurt shrugged. "Somewhere with chairs?"

Blaine laughed. "Well, I figured if I wanted to see you on your knees even once, it would better be now. So I took the opportunity."

"You'll have to choose for me, too. I have never eaten Japanese food before."

"We'll do the beginner's version then. Nothing too exotic. The food is excellent here, I promise."

"Just don't expect a repeat of this," Kurt said with mock sternness. "I like you on your knees very much. Me – considerably less so." He shifted a bit in the unfamiliar position.

"I agree. It is a little weird. But I would like to talk to you face to face, as equals, today, if that's okay." He paused to order their food when the waitress returned, then sipped at his tea.

"As you've probably guessed, I'm interested in entering a contract with you."

"I'm not just a bedroom Dom, Blaine."

"I know. That wouldn't be enough for me. I'm not interested in a slave position, but I do enjoy service, and I would want to submit to you in every area within certain boundaries. I am an elementary school teacher, and if anything leaked about what I do in my free time, I would be fired immediately. I'm out, that's not the problem, so in public, anywhere but our homes and the club, you could be my boyfriend, but not my Dom. I know that's not for everyone, but it's not negotiable for me. I love my job, I want to keep it, and I also want to keep my friends who don't know about the lifestyle."

Kurt nodded, smiling. "That is definitely okay. It's similar with me. I'm a fashion designer, so a certain amount of eccentricity is expected of me, but I think the whole truth would be a little too much. And I have friends whom I don't want to explain the lifestyle to, so we're on the same page here. I would also like if we could be just boyfriends in public, rather than trying to keep our relationship on the whole a secret. It gets tiring very fast when friends want to set you up all the time when you have someone chained to your bed every night."

Blaine snorted and laughed, a little shocked. "I wouldn't know that. But – you'd be interested? In entering a contract?"

"Very much so."

"Why?"

"What do you mean, why?"

"You must have noticed I'm...that I don't submit easily. I'm not exactly sure I'm a good sub anymore. I used to be, I think, but some things happened, and I...I'm having difficulties, now. You are popular at Defiance, you could easily find someone with less...issues."

Kurt was saved for a moment when their food arrived, but he used the time to think about his answer. It was a valid question, and though it saddened him to hear Blaine talk about himself so deprecatingly, he meant to answer honestly.

"Do you want me to tell you what I know about you? I know you've been abused. I don't know particulars, almost nothing but the mere fact, but I do know that you had courage enough to return to the lifestyle even after an experience like that. You did that because you want to submit, because submission gives you something you need, something you don't get anywhere else. I know you're constantly pushing yourself to be better. I'm guessing that is why you didn't use safewords – an ill-advised attempt to surrender to whatever Dom you're currently playing with, but without having to really think about what you need, what your limits are. You intrigue me. I would very much like to show you that this kind of relationship is a two-way street, that for me to truly fulfill my needs, I have to be able to fulfill yours. And for that, I have to know you, but more importantly, you have to know yourself. I want to teach you. I want to try to wake what's in you. So what do you say?"