Tenderly Wicked

by Katerina Ross

  “I’m fine now,” Vadim hastened to add. “We can still go somewhere.”

  “We surely will. There’s a tiny cafe across the street, we’ll go there. I’m not dragging you a long distance when you’re like that. You’ll eat something, and then we’ll go home. And have a talk.” Vadim sighed, and Max ruffled his hair in a reassuring manner. “Don’t scare me like this again, okay? I thought you were going to faint.”

  “Quite a damsel in distress, am I?” Vadim huffed.

  “Just a careless boy who seems to be in need of a guiding hand.”

  Vadim just sighed again in response.

  If he thought he would be able to avoid a reprimand simply by dropping to his knees as soon as they entered Max’s apartment, it was a huge mistake on his part. He slid down in one graceful movement and teasingly rubbed his face across Max’s hip. Both hands skimmed the curves at the back of his calves, but Max grabbed a fistful of Vadim’s soft curly hair and forced him to look up.

  “A nice try to distract me. You may continue later, but we’re going to have a serious chat first. No, don’t stand up.” Max didn’t let go, a firm grip still tightened on Vadim’s curls. “It’s better if you stay kneeling. Now explain to your Dom why you treat your body like that. Why you abuse it.”

  “I sometimes just don’t realize I’m hungry,” Vadim babbled almost pleadingly, “not until my hands start trembling and I lose my balance a bit. Must be a funny spectacle.” He managed a charmingly diffident smile, but it didn’t work on Max.

  “So it wasn’t the first time, huh?” Max demanded. “That’s even worse. But it’s not going to happen again. You’re mine now. It means I’m responsible for you. I’m not going to let you starve. We should do something about your eating habits. It’s unhealthy, going hungry until you almost pass out. If you tend to forget about your lunch, you should make it into a routine. Have post-it notes around saying ‘eat something’, or set a reminder on your cell phone. Whatever. And from now on, you’ll text me every time you have something to eat during the day. Every. Single. Time. If you don’t follow this rule, there will be consequences. Do you understand?”

  Vadim let out a timid, “Uh-huh.”

  Max thumbed open the button on his trousers and unzipped the fly, one-handed. “Now back to business. Oh, just one more thing. You’re going to have a full medical exam. It’s an order, too. If you treat your body badly, it’s better to find out if you have any health problems. I should know if you’re, um, in the right physical shape before trying some things on you.”

  “What things?” Vadim inquired.

  “You’ll see,” Max grinned down at him. “Besides…” He pulled his cock out from his underwear, drew it slowly across Vadim’s cheek. “Besides, I might want to come inside of you one day. So let’s make sure we’re both clean.”

  Vadim seemed to be surprised. “You’ll do it, too?”

  “Sure. As I said, I’m responsible for you, aren’t I? If you don’t take good care of yourself, then I will. Now, let’s keep your mouth busy, or you might come up with more questions.”

  ****

  That night, Vadim stayed at Max’s place for the first time on a week day. Max wouldn’t let him leave under the pretext Vadim still might feel dizzy on his way. “You can get up earlier and pop home if you need a change of clothes,” he said firmly and set the alarm clock on his phone. Vadim watched him, naked, sleepy and relaxed in the bed, his wrists loosely bound, more symbolically than for the purpose of immobilizing him. Max ran a hand up his arm and circled Vadim’s chin with a single finger. “As for correction, we’ll save it for the morning, too. An additional few minutes will suffice, I suppose. You should remember that mistreating your body has consequences, and you will remember, I promise. Every time you’ll sit down.”

  “Will you spank me?” Vadim asked drowsily and pressed his cheek to Max’s hand, seeking a caress.

  “That, or maybe a wooden spatula will do, for a change. Yes, I think a cooking implement will be very appropriate,” Max mused, cupping Vadim’s head with both palms and leaning in for a goodnight kiss. “Anyway, your backside will be nicely reddened by the time I finish with it.”

  “All right,” Vadim murmured, settling beside him, which was hardly a proper reaction to a promise of a painful ordeal, but Max found it endearing.

  The next day, Vadim texted him at lunchtime, just like he’d been told to do. Well, of course it was unlikely he’d forget Max’s order right away, not with his ass so thoroughly paddled that he really must have had trouble sitting.

  They formed a routine, just as Max had intended. Vadim was diligent, sending him text messages at regular hours. Until one day, a usual report didn’t come in.

  Max waited for an hour, then another. Then he called.

  “Oh,” came Vadim’s surprised reply. “I’m sorry, we’ve got sort of an emergency up here. Problems on a construction site. I forgot about the time. Sorry again.”

  “Go get yourself something to eat, at least a chocolate bar. Right now,” Max demanded. “There must be something you can buy without wandering too far from your work place if it’s really an emergency. Order take-out if you can’t leave at all. I’ll be waiting for you to report back. You have an hour.” And he hung up.

  Vadim’s message came in forty minutes. “That’s better,” Max texted back. “When you finish with your work, come home straight away. We’ll need to have a talk.”

  In another minute, he clarified, “I mean to my apartment.” Strangely, now he thought of it as their home. Vadim slept over with him a lot. Maybe it was time to give him the keys? Max decided to make duplicates at a small locksmith store near the metro station.

  “I might be late,” Vadim warned him.

  “I’ll wait,” Max typed in, hoping his brevity came across ominous enough. It was Friday, a work-free evening. He had no other plans but getting ready for a session with his sub. This one promised to be interesting. He still had time to buy some supplies he might need.

  When Vadim finally showed up, Max was in the process of cooking supper. Vadim was clearly surprised to see him mincing vegetables instead of doing some other sinister preparations he had probably imagined after his transgression. Max thought it proper to give his sub a stern glare. “Go take a shower. Don’t bother dressing afterwards.”

  While Vadim was in the bathroom, Max explored his pile of clothes in the armchair. It was quite a neat pile. Despite his haste, Vadim had managed to remain orderly. It seemed like he strived to occupy as little space with his things in Max’s apartment as possible.

  Max fished out Vadim’s tie. Silk, probably expensive. Vadim obviously had a taste for posh clothes. Suits looked good on him, as did casual outfits.

  And he looked even more stunning without any clothes on. When he emerged from the bathroom, his hair still damp, and stood at attention in the middle of the room, barefoot on the green carpet, Max took his time to enjoy the view. Finally, when Vadim started getting edgy, Max laid the tie aside for further use and beckoned him to come to the kitchen table. “It’s been a long day for you. Not too tired?”

  Vadim chuckled nervously. “Tired? No. I’m still running on adrenaline. The problem’s sorted out, but I’m going over it in my head, over and over again. Can’t stop.”

  “I can help you with that,” Max assured him. “I’ll teach you to relax as a part of today’s lesson. Bend over the table and put your hands flat on it. Yeah, like that. Good. See, you can be obedient when you’re paying attention.”

  Max proceeded to the kitchenette counter, took a knife, and looked back to see Vadim’s face. Not a worried expression, more like a curious one. Max suppressed a sigh. It was good of course that Vadim seemed to trust him so much and didn’t go into panic mode on seeing him with a knife, but what if Max were some kind of psychopath?

  “What I’m going to do is to try this on you.” Max took an oblong ginger root from a plastic bag of groceries on the counter. It was the size of a fist, with several thick
fingers extending from it. “As you have a problem with food, it seems fitting to use something edible for correction. But this medicine won’t be administered orally.” Max sat down opposite Vadim and began working on the root. First, he removed one of its fingers, not at the joint but by cutting down into the palm of the hand so he got a wide stick, about four inches long, and then he started carving it so it would become smooth, without any bumps and knots.

  “It’s an old practice, very old,” he explained as he worked, “known since Victorian times, or maybe earlier. Are you familiar with it? No? Then a surprise awaits you.” He smiled most amiably, peeling off the tough brown skin of the root. A delicious aroma spread through the kitchen. “Believe me, the experience will be unforgettable. Not very delightful perhaps, but it’s all for your own good.”

  Admiring his own handiwork, Max looked at the ginger that now very much resembled a butt plug, thicker around than a thumb, rounded at the end, and with a shallow groove near the base of the finger to keep the root in place when it was inserted. Almost ready for use. He only had to rinse it under cold water.

  “Spread your legs. Wider,” he ordered, kicking Vadim’s bare feet apart until he was stretched tight, his most intimate parts well on display. “Are you nice and clean there?” Max skimmed a thumb across the tender cleft between Vadim’s buttocks and circled the puckered orifice offered to him so submissively. “A good boy. I think you understand now where this thing goes.”

  Vadim gasped as Max started slowly working the root into his freshly cleaned back passage, gently nudging it against the anus. The ginger was slick enough to slide in without lubricant, not quite effortlessly, yet without much difficulty either. The tight ring of muscle finally gave way and opened up to accept the round end of the improvised plug. Max pushed farther, fondling the skin around the dilated hole in the process to make Vadim relax. Soon the ginger suppository was in, up to the groove Max had carved. The sphincter had closed around it.

  “Now, let’s wait a bit,” Max suggested, admiring the yellow pebble-like base of the plug where it peeked out. “Meanwhile, stay like that. Don’t move.” Vadim clearly craved to sneak a hand under the table because his dick looked like it needed attention after all the ministrations, so Max decided to elaborate. “Keep both palms flat on the table. If you think you’ll be allowed to touch yourself any time soon, you’re very, very wrong.”

  Vadim’s dick filled even more visibly, as a quick look confirmed. Well, that was Vadim’s problem.

  Meanwhile, Max went to wash his hands, very thoroughly, for he didn’t want any ginger oil on them, and returned to his previous activity. He had supper to cook.

  Vadim stayed bent over the table as he had been told to. But not for long. A minute or two passed and Max, on looking away from the stove, caught him reaching behind his back after all.

  Now enter the silk tie, Max thought with a wicked grin.

  “Hey!” he barked. “What are you doing? I told you to stay still.”

  “It feels … it feels strange … it kind of…” Vadim blabbered apologetically, but Max cut him short.

  “Starting to feel the warmth, huh? That’s only the beginning. I think we should do something to keep you in place before you get too fidgety. Hands behind your back. Now.”

  Having set the timer on the stove, Max went to fetch the tie. It went around Vadim’s wrists. Max made a tight, secure knot this time. “That’ll help you to stay still, like a good boy should. Don’t worry about what you feel. It’s perfectly normal. It takes a little while for the effects to take place, but now the ginger oil seems to be doing its job. See, it’s not just a butt plug. Initially, they put ginger up a horse’s fundament to make him lively, then they started using it on men and women too, wayward men and women, as a part of their punishment.”

  He squeezed Vadim’s buttocks and pressed them together. “First, it’s a feeling of warmth, then it starts to tingle, and then there’s quite an intense burning sensation. Which of them do you feel?” Vadim jerked in his grip, but Max held him tight. “The latter, I think. Right? You can wriggle your pretty ass as much as you want, but the more you squeeze around the root, the more intense the burning gets.”

  With his hands bound behind his back, there wasn’t much Vadim could do. Eventually, when he stopped thrashing about, Max eased his grip. “Now, if you try to relax instead of tensing up, it’ll get better.”

  “Not too much better,” Vadim complained.

  Max pinched his buttocks together again. “And compared to this?”

  “Yeah, all right, all right, please!” Vadim begged, trying to worm out and failing of course.

  Max let him go, but with no intention of stopping. He had something more in mind. “In Victorian England, they usually combined this kind of punishment with caning. As you might have guessed, the burning increases if you clench. On the other hand, not tightening up means that the smack is more intense. But I’ll go light on you. You broke the rule today, but I know you did it because you got carried away and not because you chose to disobey intentionally, so no caning this first time. Just a spanking. Just twenty swats.”

  The first one was light, yet it elicited a startled grunt, short and bitten off. Vadim’s muscles must have clenched instinctively, increasing the discomfort of the ginger inside him, just like Max had warned.

  “Stings?” Max asked conversationally. “Try to force your muscles to relax around the plug.” He rubbed a few soothing circles around the small of Vadim’s back and then suddenly brought his palm against the underside of his buttock, with a loud smack. As Max had read, most submissives usually became rather vocal as the ginger worked its magic, and Vadim was no exception. A flurry of heartfelt swats, each one jostling the ginger—and he couldn’t hold back anymore. The sound of each slap was now followed by a strangled yelp.

  “Don’t struggle, just take it,” Max ordered, laying hard and steady blows on Vadim’s jiggling butt cheeks.

  When yelps gave way to muted wailing, Max finally stopped, his hand resting solidly on the pinked skin. He could feel Vadim shaking. “That’ll teach you a lesson. When things get intense, you should force yourself to relax, or it’ll be too much. Understood?”

  “Please,” Vadim sobbed, tucking his knee up. “Max, please…”

  “Is. That. Understood?”

  “Yes. Yes. I promise … just please…”

  “Sh-sh-sh…” Max stroked along Vadim’s quivering thighs soothingly, with both hands, first on the outside, downwards, and then on the inside, upwards. “It’s almost over. I know you want this evil thing out. Just show me what you’ve learned, and I’ll remove it.” He pressed on the plug base slightly, holding it between thumb and forefinger, rocked it forward and back, cupping one of Vadim’s buttocks with his free hand for balance. The muscles under his palm fluttered between tense and relaxed. “I see you’re trying to behave. That’s a good start. I think we’re done for now.”

  Max carefully eased the plug out, drew back for a moment to toss it into the bin, and got back right in time to support Vadim when he tried to stand up. His hands were still bound and his knees suddenly buckled. He practically sagged into Max’s arms, lax and pliant at last.

  “Come on. Just a few steps.” Max untied Vadim and guided him to bed. They settled there quite comfortably, Max sitting with his back against the headboard and Vadim lying between his spread legs, his head tilted back as to have his chin rubbed and resting in the curve of Max’s shoulder, eyes closed and eyelashes still wet. Max gently wiped the moisture with the back of his palm. “It’s all right. It’s all over now.”

  “It still burns,” Vadim complained with an almost childish pout.

  Max kissed his temple, just a slight peck against the auburn curls. “Give it a few minutes. The warmth remains for a quarter of an hour or so, especially when moving around or sitting down, but it’ll pass.”

  Vadim sighed. “All right then.”

  His neglected cock was still half-hard. It twitched m
ost enthusiastically when Max brushed his fingers against it. “How about I give you a little treat as a distraction?” He took his time toying with its tip until he got Vadim squirming and moaning helplessly in his grasp, and when he started stroking in earnest, his palm slick with pre-cum, it didn’t take long for Vadim to come. He shot his load with a choked off cry, spurts of semen covering Max’s fist as he milked Vadim’s cock for more.

  Afterwards, they both stayed still for a while, Max’s arms circling Vadim’s waist.

  “What about you? Do you want me to bring you off?” Vadim murmured hazily.

  “Nah, maybe later. Let’s feed you.” His cock protested, poking uncomfortably against the fly of his still-zipped jeans, but Max chose to ignore it for now. Vadim might be eager for further games, but it had been a long exhausting day for him. Maybe it was better to save some pleasures for later. Morning sex would be more compelling.

  “I want to,” Vadim whispered and twisted in Max’s arms to face him. His eyes were dreamy. All the tension seemed to leave his body. “Won’t you let me feed on this first?” And he slowly slid lower to show what he meant.

  ****

  They did have a supper after all and then lay cuddled on the verge of sleep for some time. Max was drowsy, yet he wanted to stay awake for as long as he could, to bask in the sense of contentment that overwhelmed him. He wondered if Vadim felt the same way, like an intense scene had created a connection between them. It was something more than physical intimacy. Something he wished would last.

  He asked quietly, “Have you ever tried it before? Playing with ginger?”

  In the dark, Vadim shook his head, curls ticklish against Max’s chest.

  It was surprising that he hadn’t, Max thought. The trick was simple, and the nice thing about the whole experience, aside from its enticing combination of humiliation, penetration and pain, was that it provided interesting sensations without any risk of injuring or harming your partner. Also, its effects were short-lived. It was an easy way to start with pain play, though perhaps it required more preparation on a Dom’s part than just tethering a sub to a piece of furniture and whipping him.