Could it be Vadim preferred much rougher treatment? Max remembered the welts on his back left by a belt, and a few marks he’d discovered afterwards during their sessions when he’d been meticulously exploring Vadim’s body. He went slowly with Vadim, but where exactly were they going? Was it a path towards more extreme scenes, and if so, could he give Vadim what he wanted? A really severe beating, for instance, instead of moderate spankings that he personally enjoyed much more?
It was strange to realize he seemed to care more about Vadim’s satisfaction than his own. Wasn’t it atypical for a Dom? Maybe it was, and yet Max couldn’t wipe away the feeling that now it wasn’t only about trying out everything he’d secretly dreamed of. He did give a damn if Vadim liked it or not. He wanted to please. He wanted to be good at what he was doing, to be appreciated, and not just by anyone. It was Vadim who had become the center of his attention.
It was perplexing but still enjoyable to bask in the warm glow of pride at the thought he’d done good today, that he’d managed to distract Vadim from his worries. If that had been achieved by the means of reducing him to a moaning, quivering mess—well, it was more fun.
Vadim shifted beside him and nudged in closer, his face tucked against Max’s armpit. They were both stark naked, but Max suspected by the end of the night, entangled as they were, they would become a sweaty heap under the blanket. At the end of September, when a frosty chill had settled for a few days, the central heating had been turned on by the authorities, but then the weather had become warm again and the heating still stayed on. Most apartments in Moscow had no heating off switch. For those who had no air conditioning, Max among them, the only way to cool the room down was to open the window. Max thought of getting up and at least opening a fortochka, a small, hinged pane for ventilation set into a regular one. But he felt too sated and lazy to leave the bed. Besides, he didn’t want to disturb Vadim. Maybe later, he told himself groggily, drifting to sleep.
He woke up in the middle of the night, and the first thing he felt was a light wind. He wondered dimly, still half-asleep, if the poorly closed fortochka had opened on its own accord. Then he discovered something was missing from the bed. Namely, Vadim.
The balcony door stood ajar. Max hastily threw on his jeans, grabbed his shirt, and went to investigate.
Vadim stood on the balcony, smoking. He leaned against the railing, his spine arched, which presented his rear end in the most enticing way. He’d put his clothes on. Good for him. The nights were still warm, but not enough for one to linger outside in a state of undress.
Max watched him for a while, admiring his—um—posture, and then slid out after him. “Why aren’t you asleep at this time of night?”
“Oh.” Vadim looked back across his shoulder, startled. “I woke you up after all. Sorry.”
Max put an arm loosely around his waist, and murmured into the crook of his neck, “Luckily, no one has to go to work early in the morning. I only have classes at midday.”
The railings were a bit rusty, but at night, everything was a decent dark gray color. There were no lights visible through the thick crown of the ash tree. Everyone seemed to be sound asleep.
“What’s keeping you up?” Max repeated, still holding Vadim from behind. “Are you thinking about your work?”
“Mmm. No. It’s just… It was so good today. I think it frightens me a tad.”
Well, that was a surprise. “Why’s that?”
Vadim leaned back, rested his head against Max’s shoulder, peering into the darkness. “I just don’t want it to be over, that’s all.”
“Neither do I. What’s the problem then?”
Vadim was silent for a moment. “It’s silly, I know,” he said at last.
Max pressed tighter against his back. “Of course it’s silly.”
He didn’t dare to admit aloud that it had been unexpectedly terrifying for him, too, to know that he now was responsible for someone else’s wellbeing. That was what worried him the most. Vadim’s pleasure depended on his decisions, on his planning … and almost nonexistent skills as a Dom. He wanted their relationship to last. He wanted them both to go into a dream-like state where nothing mattered outside the scenes he created, but what if he screwed it all up? It had been fine today, but what about tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow?
Max needed to get all these doubts out of his mind, and the only way to do it was to concentrate on Vadim and not on self-analysis. “You need to stop thinking too much,” he said sternly. “I suppose it’s my responsibility now to prevent you from doing that. Let’s keep you occupied. Given that you tend to neglect your health, I think, as your Dom, I should start a really strict correction training. First, you’re going to quit smoking.”
Vadim let out a laugh, the half-smoked cigarette still in his hand. “Believe me, I tried.”
“No. I’m serious. You’re going to quit smoking.”
“Why would I?”
“Because I told you so.”
A moment of hesitation. Then Vadim stubbed his cigarette against the rusty railing and threw it down into the darkness.
“How very compliant—and how very disrespectful towards public property,” Max purred into his ear. “What should I do now? Reward you for obedience—or punish you for littering? Or maybe both?” With one hand wrapped around Vadim’s waist, Max traced the other up Vadim’s chest and throat and chin until he parted his lips with the index finger. “Suck. Yes, like that. We need to do something about your disgraceful smoking habit. Save this pretty mouth for purposes other than pulling on a cigarette.”
Vadim twirled his tongue around Max’s finger.
“Yes, like that,” Max encouraged him. “Wet it. You’ll need distractions to cope. I’ll give you distractions. As much as you can take, and more.”
“Gingering again?” Vadim asked dreamily when Max pulled his finger out.
“You seem to have liked it, huh?”
Vadim sighed. “Um, not much, but it helped.”
Max undid the button on Vadim’s pants, and his hand reached into the waistband. Vadim’s breath hitched as he felt a finger, moistened with his own saliva, between his buttocks.
“What if someone … sees?” he panted out.
“Hm. Then let’s give them a spectacle to watch.” It was highly unlikely that someone would, in the dark, through the branches of the ash tree, but Max chose not to reassure Vadim, and the thrill seemed to work perfectly on Vadim’s cock. Max started working on it with one hand, alternating strokes along his length with swipes of his thumb across the wet head, and plunged knuckle deep into Vadim’s ass at the same time, rubbing his prostate.
It didn’t take much time to bring him to the brink, but as soon as Max felt the tightness of Vadim’s balls and the treacherous pulse in his cock, he squeezed his fingers tight in a circle around the base of his shaft, preventing orgasm. Vadim bit back a growl of frustration.
“Not that fast,” Max warned him. Vadim squirmed in his arms but didn’t resist, too far gone for that, completely at his Dom’s mercy.
A giddy feeling of being in control swept over Max once again. If he’d had any doubts, now everything was decided.
Vadim was his. If it meant responsibility as well as pleasures, so be it.
What Max needed to make it work was more time they could spend together. Vaguely, he thought of asking if it was possible to change his teaching hours. At the moment, there were no vacancies for daytime at the school where he taught. If his wish would be granted, it would probably end up with him having to travel from place to place for different classes. The language link he was working for had over twenty centers in Moscow, and he could be sent to any of them. His contract was for a certain number of hours, so he’d need to make up the total. But if being with Vadim required sacrifices, Max was willing to pay the price.
These thoughts came in a flash and vaporized from his mind just as quickly. He was too preoccupied with the task at hand. Well, two hands, to be precise.
; Chapter Five
Surprises, Pleasant and Otherwise
“Such a pity that we have to get out of bed at all,” Vadim murmured. It was a very late morning, but after the balcony scene last night neither of them was too keen to get up early.
Max chuckled softly. “You don’t, lazybones. It’s only me who works today. You can stay in bed all day long if you want to. In fact, I’d be pleased to find you still naked when I return.”
Vadim pushed himself up on his elbows, suddenly acting less sleepy than a moment ago. “You’ll let me stay here on my own? Just like that?”
Max turned to his side to face him. “Sure. Why not?”
“What if I’m some kind of fraud? What if I took something?”
Max laughed. “It’s not much you can take here. A TV perhaps? Or my old laptop? It has a crack in its lid, no one will buy it.”
Vadim fidgeted. “Still… Wouldn’t you maybe want to tie me up while you’re away? I don’t mind if it’s for a couple of hours, and you’ll be sure that I won’t mess up your apartment.”
Max felt taken aback by this offer. Vadim didn’t look up, trailing nervous circles on the bedclothes with his index finger. Didn’t he realize what he’d suggested was dangerous?
“To leave you completely helpless? No way,” Max said firmly. Vadim darted a quick glance at him, and Max cupped his cheek to make the rejection less harsh. “Maybe nothing bad would happen. But I’m not taking risks when it concerns you. I’ll never leave you alone when you’re bound.” He gently rubbed his thumb across Vadim’s cheekbone. “If you trust me enough to let me tie you up at all, then I’d rather try my luck and check if I can trust you too. You may stay, and you don’t have to put yourself in danger for that.”
Vadim contemplated this statement for a few seconds, and finally let out a timorous, “All right… Thanks.” He sounded uncharacteristically relieved for a man who’d just said he didn’t mind staying bound on his own.
Max wondered if his previous liaisons had been too short-lived to include living together with his Doms, but pushed this thought away. He didn’t want to imagine Vadim with someone else.
After all, he had other, more pleasant things to occupy his imagination with.
When Max left for work a few hours and a blowjob later, he gave Vadim some last instructions. “Remember what I told you last night? No smoking anymore. I know there’s a cigarette pack, at least half-full, in the pocket of your pants. I’m not throwing it away yet. Let’s see if you can endure a temptation for me. If you manage, I promise a present for you when I return.”
“What kind of present?” Vadim demanded from the bed where he lay seductively sprawled.
Max chortled fondly. “Curious, aren’t you? You can keep guessing while waiting for me. As a host, I should provide you with some entertainment, shouldn’t I? Stay in place, like a good boy should, and you’ll be rewarded. But if you move, you can start trying to figure out your punishment instead. Don’t hold your fantasy back. I might get very creative, especially if my students are too annoying today.”
****
His classes went tediously slow that day, but it was a matter of minutes to make duplicates of his keys at the locksmith on his way back home. Max felt boyish excitement as he entered his apartment block and waited for the sluggish elevator.
He found Vadim sitting on the edge of the bed, legs drawn up and crossed, tailor style. Only a tailor probably wouldn’t be nude.
“I was a good boy,” Vadim said, head tilted to one side. “You see, nothing’s broken, nothing’s missing, not even a cigarette.”
His posture was somewhat tense, hands clasped in his lap, and his voice overly casual and flirty, as if he wanted to mask his discomfort. Maybe he’d been looking through some drawers after all, out of boredom and understandable curiosity, and now expected to be caught on it.
Max grinned at him. Actually, he’d been a teensy bit afraid Vadim might be gone by the time he came back. It had been a long wait after all. The fact Vadim was still here made up for his waywardness. “I’m glad that you’re not missing too. In fact, I would be most happy if it became a habit to find you like that, ready for use, when I return home. And thus,” he produced a set of keys from the pocket of his jeans, “I’d rather you have this. You can come here any time you like.”
He didn’t say “move in with me”, maybe it was a bit early for that, but he wouldn’t be against it.
“Oh. That’s… Thank you.” Vadim’s voice suddenly lost its playful nonchalance. He sounded genuinely pleased and perhaps confused. “I wasn’t expecting… A nice present indeed.”
Max waved a hand, fighting an insipid fear that it looked too much like a declaration of serious intentions. “That’s just keys. I had something else in mind when I talked of a present for you.” He retreated to the wardrobe and opened its doors to search for something hidden in its depths. “I promised you distractions to help you curb your urge to smoke. Well, let me show you one of them.”
He finally found what he was looking for—a small black box. He returned to sit beside Vadim and raised its lid to reveal shiny sets of different nipple clamps. He’d only tried them on himself so far, to know how each type felt. The most vicious of them were the so called clover clamps. You couldn’t lessen the considerable pressure they provided once you’d put them on, and tugging on them only caused their jaws to close tighter. Maybe they were better left for punishment rather than reward.
Vadim looked mesmerized by the variety of options presented to him. With an index finger, Max traced the outlines of tweezer clamps—two lengths of metal with a small ring that fixed them together and helped to adjust the tension if you slipped it up or down the arms. The closer the toggle was along the shaft toward the nipple, the tighter the grip became.
“I think they will look good on you,” he said pensively. “Let me help you choose. Which pair would you prefer to start with? This one? Or the bull nosed clamps perhaps, those with blunt ends and screws in the middle?”
“Uh. Whatever you want. Just … could I use the toilet first? Please? It’s kind of urgent.”
“Sure.” So that was why Vadim looked so tense. Then a thought caught up with him. “Did you leave this bed at all while I was away?”
“Of course not,” Vadim said indignantly and proudly. “You told me to stay in place. And I did.”
He rolled off the bed, leaving Max stunned, and maybe not in a good way. It was half fascinating and half frightening that Vadim might push himself to extremes to do literally what his Dom demanded of him. Frightening because Max wasn’t sure he always gave thought to what he said.
****
By October, Max’s life had settled into a new routine. He was fortunate to have found a way to change the time of his classes, though the school year had long begun, and now he traveled between two language centers on working days. He didn’t mind it much. Unlike many Muscovites, he loved the Moscow metro, though not during rush hour. Many of its stations resembled palaces rather than parts of a transport system—like the lavish Baroque-style Komsomolskaya, very much like a wedding cake, all covered in stucco.
One of Max’s favorites was Ploschad Revolucii, or The Revolution Square, the station closest to the Kremlin. Its arches were flanked by life-size bronze figures of soldiers, farmers, athletes, aviators, and workers. It was funny to find out young people rubbed the nose of a bronze frontier guard’s dog for luck before exams. Some of his own students thought it helped, and probably lots of other scholars, too. The statue’s muzzle was shiny and smooth from all the petting it got.
Max still had abundant free time and kept his promise to provide Vadim with distractions. Vadim obviously needed them. His smoking habit hadn’t faded away all that smoothly and his body protested against the strain. He got fidgety and anxious. Max ordered Vadim to call him if he felt an unbearable urge to smoke at work, and Vadim did so a few times. Afterwards, Max wondered if Vadim had a good cell phone tariff because they’d spent quite some tim
e on telephone sessions. They were more entertaining than psychological, but they seemed to help. Vadim locked himself in a toilet stall, so he was able to do everything Max told him on the phone without embarrassing his colleagues.
At home, they had a greater variety of supportive measures. Some of them included Vadim on his hands and knees, with a chain attached to his nipple clamps, its weight providing him with additional sensation while Max worked on his behind. The chain swayed back and forth with every thrust most enticingly, or sometimes Max attached it to another one, connected to Vadim’s cock ring—oh, that was fun too. As well as taking the clamps off. It restarted the circulation, which brought more pain. Max enjoyed holding Vadim through this ordeal and then gently applying body lotion to his irritated nipples.
Max found himself exceptionally inventive when keeping his sub occupied. Soon, the whole bunch of SM gear hidden in his wardrobe was put to good use. Well, that was all for Vadim’s sake, wasn’t it?
What Max loved the most were lazy weekend afternoons when they both had time for long, unhurried sessions, like today, for instance.
The ash leaves behind the window were bright yellow against the vibrant blue sky, and the sun sparks that burst through the tree canopy danced around the room.
“The need for a cigarette may completely vanish after just two to four weeks,” Max cited out loud. He lay in bed on his stomach, dressed only in sweatpants, with his laptop in front of him, and read another article about how to quit smoking. “But it takes, on average, about twelve weeks for the nicotine receptors in the brain to switch off, so you need to plan for at least three months of concerted efforts to avoid smoking. Are your efforts concentrated enough, huh?”
Vadim didn’t reply, too focused on what he was doing. He knelt on the floor beside the bed, wearing even less clothing than Max, and his mouth was wrapped around a huge dildo. Max had set him to improve his blowjob skills because one of the articles recommended that ex-smokers find an oral substitute for cigarettes—and wasn’t a dildo the perfect choice?
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