Kurt was a little put off when he awoke on Monday morning and found Blaine already gone. He even felt an irrational bolt of fear when the side of the bed Blaine had slept in was empty. They had been in a good place by yesterday evening, watching movie after movie until they went to bed and Kurt one last time rubbed cream on the red marks on Blaine's back and then held Blaine until they fell asleep, but there was no denying the morning had gone horribly, horribly wrong, and he wouldn't even blame Blaine if he had changed his mind and run.

When he came into the kitchen, however, there was coffee made and kept warm for him, with a note that said, "Have a good day, Sir."

It wasn't exactly a love letter, but it was enough, for now.

…...

Blaine did not have a good day. His ass and back hurt, which would not bother him so much if it had been after a normal scene. This ache, the reminder of a scene, of belonging to someone, was one of his favorite things in being a sub, but not this time. He didn't like to remember the scene from which this particular ache originated...although, if he was honest, he would have imagined his own reaction to be stronger. He would have imagined he would feel abused again, being hurt far beyond his consent, and he would have imagined himself running, wanting out of this relationship, this contract, as fast as possible.

But he didn't. Never, even during the scene at its most unpleasant phase, had he felt abused, and he knew now that was because he had never had the feeling of not being able to get away. Subconsciously, he had always known that one word would suffice to stop the scene. So why hadn't he used that word?

His third-graders were especially evil today, or so he imagined. It wasn't their fault he couldn't really concentrate today, so at some point he surrendered, sat down at the piano and just had them sing to at least somewhat control the noise they made. He groaned as he glanced on his watch and saw that it was only two pm., two more hours to go before he could call it a day, go home and...probably think some more.

He realized there would be no relaxing for him today, not with the way his thoughts were spiraling, going from the scene to the way Kurt had cared for him afterwards to their talk and back. During the scene and shortly after, he had come to doubt Kurt, his own decision to trust Kurt, and his need to submit. He did not like any of that, so why did he want it? But when his thoughts turned to the beginning of the scene, to the first gentle strokes of the flogger and then his own welcoming of the sting, the pain that so quickly morphed into pleasure before it all became too much, he knew why he wanted, he needed, that. And when he thought of the aftercare and their talk, his doubts of Kurt evaporated. He had cared for him so well, with such dedication, and he had explained his reasons for the flogging in a way that made completely clear that it was not his goal to make Blaine suffer. And the way the day had gone afterwards, their lunch, the cuddles in front of the TV, made him think he could establish a connection to Kurt that went beyond a D/s relationship, that they could be friends, and lovers, even without the Dom/sub part.

If only his thoughts would stay there, but of course they again turned to the scene and his own doubts, and, above all, the question he did not have an answer to: why hadn't he used his safeword?

He thought he should probably talk about all of this with someone, but only Sebastian came to mind, and he didn't really want to talk to him about this. As far as he remembered, he had never safeworded with Sebastian, had never needed to, because the few scenes they had done had never even come near any of his limits. Except for the punishment with the cage...and he hadn't safeworded there, either, although it had been much worse than the flogging. So Sebastian probably wouldn't be able to help him about this, anyway. They hadn't really talked since Blaine's mini - freakout about the contract, and Blaine didn't want to just use Sebastian to talk about his new Dom, which couldn't be easy for him – even without constantly hearing about it, just knowing that Blaine had moved on had to be hard for Sebastian, who was still a little hung up on Blaine.

Then it occurred to him: there was one person he could go to. Perhaps he was even the only one who could help him over his doubts of their relationship, but he was certainly the only one who could take Blaine out of his own head tonight.

He glanced at his watch again as if that could make time move faster.

…...

Kurt was battling himself whether to call Blaine and check up on him for the ump-teenth time today when his phone rang and the screen flashed with Blaine's name. Smiling, he answered.

"Hello, sweetheart. How are you?"

"Hello, Sir. I'm fine, I think. I just...I feel a little scattered. I kind of feel like I'm crawling out of my skin, my thoughts won't shut up, and I was wondering if I...could come over? If you're not busy, I mean, I know we hadn't planned to meet today, but I...I need you."

"Then you'd better come over," Kurt said without hesitation. He could hear the need in Blaine's voice, and though he technically had plans for the evening, they could be canceled. He could also hear that Blaine didn't just need to talk to him – he needed a scene.

"Bring a bag, if you like; you can stay the night. Use the extra key I showed you to let yourself in, close the door, undress and wait for me. I have to make a few phone calls, I'll come to get you when I'm ready."

Rachel made him promise to bring Blaine to her karaoke night the weekend after next to make up for canceling their plans for tonight, but he would have had to introduce Blaine to her at some time anyway, so that was alright. Kurt smiled when he heard the key in the lock and quickly made his way into the playroom to set up the scene. Blaine would just have to wait a while. It would give him the opportunity to calm down, get into the right mindset.

In the playroom, he pulled out the extensions of this custom-made spanking bench so it was long enough to lie down on. Then he laid out some not too soft rope and a blindfold. Blaine had said he felt 'scattered', so Kurt thought some bondage would be the right thing to hold him together, in the literal as well as the figurative sense. He'd have to ask about the blindfold, though. Being tied and blindfolded could be too much for Blaine, too close to the sensory deprivation he so feared.

…...

Blaine had started to be calmer as soon as he heard the first of Kurt's commands over the phone, and now, as he was kneeling on the hardwood floor in the hall in front of Kurt's front door, his head started to firmly settle in his submission, finally giving him the calm he had wished for all day.

He didn't lift his head when he heard Kurt's steps, staying in position until Kurt pulled him up and greeted him with a firm, lingering kiss.

"Come with me," he said, and Blaine followed him into the playroom, feeling every thought leave his body until there was nothing left but Kurt.

"Lie down on the bench, on your back," Kurt said, and it took Blaine a moment to realize that the new piece of furniture on which he was about to lie down was in fact the converted spanking bench. When he was settled on the bench, Kurt showed him some long pieces of black rope.

"I'm going to tie you to the bench. Every part of you that the rope is wrapped around, belongs to me."

He started by tying Blaine's left, then his right arm to the bench, wrapping the rope around them but leaving the hands free. He did the same to his feet, and Blaine thought they would surely be done now, as he was pretty much immobilized as it was. He couldn't see very well what Kurt was doing; with his arms tied against the bench, he had to lift his head in a way that was quite tiring for any period of time longer than a second, but he found he didn't even want to see. He laid back, relaxing, and let Kurt do with him as he liked.

Blaine then felt the rope against his chest, chafing against his nipples, as Kurt wrapped it around his upper body, across his belly, and then around his groin. He left room for Blaine's cock and wrapped the rope once around his thighs right under his bally, then tying it somewhere under the bench, completely immobilizing Blaine. He then came back into Blaine's line of sight, kissing him once and then holding up a thin, black scarf.

"I would like to blindfold you. Is that okay?"

Blaine swallowed, but whispered,"Yes, Sir." He was so turned on by now, his cock jutting out obscenely from the pattern of rope surrounding it, and he could feel himself sliding into subspace. There wasn't much that he wouldn't let Kurt do at the moment.

He closed his eyes as he felt the gentle touch of the fabric against his face, giving up his sight as well as his freedom to move to his Dom.

"This...is mine too," he heard Kurt whisper as he tied the blindfold, and Blaine realized that Kurt had just effectively claimed not only his arms, legs and his cock, but also his head and his heart.

"Yours, Sir," he confirmed, voice quiet but sincere.

He felt Kurt's hand in his hair. "Good boy. You know what to do when it becomes too much."

Blaine was glad that he didn't say more about yesterday's fiasco, and he realized that this was an exercise in trust for Kurt as well as for him. With these words, Kurt showed him that he trusted him to stop the scene this time when he needed to.

Blaine told himself he would, but he didn't think he would need to; he felt amazing. Kurt had begun to massage the parts of him that weren't covered by rope with some sort of oil that left his skin tingling and warm, and when his hands reached Blaine's cock, he didn't even try to suppress his whimper. The rope across his chest rubbed against his nipples as he squirmed, in vain trying to press against Kurt's hand, his light touch not enough.

"Please, Sir," he begged after a while when Kurt's touch on him stayed light, never enough and yet almost too much. "Please...I need more."

"Oh, but this -" Kurt's hand on his cock squeezed briefly, making Blaine groan, " - this doesn't belong to you, pet. It belongs to me, and I will touch it the way I choose."

Blaine surrendered then. He realized that nothing here was his to control, that he had to care for nothing, just like he had wanted the whole day. He closed his eyes behind the blindfold, and his whole body relaxed. He was still wildly turned on, but Kurt's too-light touch wasn't frustrating anymore; as he completely gave himself over, he could feel all tension quietly floating away. Only Kurt and his touch remained.

He didn't know how long he was lying there, how long Kurt kept stroking him lightly, only slowly touching him more firmly, more insistently, until Blaine's hips involuntarily tried bucking up against him all the time, but couldn't because of the ties; until Blaine's every exhale was a long, drawn-out moan; until, finally, Kurt twisted his hand and whispered, "Come," and Blaine did, mixing his own come with the oil on his body and sinking back onto the bench, spent and completely owned.