Soft Limits: A Deviations Novel (Deviations Series Book 6)

by Jodi Payne

“Have a seat.” It was thrilling to have had an excuse to top Nikki just then, even to that small extent, and he felt goose bumps rise on his skin. He stood, intending to resume his casual position on the front of his desk for the rest of their talk.

  “Yes, sir.”

  The boy’s reply, however, went straight to Bradford’s cock and he sat abruptly, thinking it better that he remain ensconced behind his desk for the moment. He reached for the bottle of water sitting on a ceramic coaster on his desk and took a long sip before relaxing back in his chair. He’d have to do casual indifference from here.

  “You have been an excellent employee, Nikki,” Bradford began, finally regaining control over himself.

  “Thanks, Bradford.”

  Bradford’s lips twitched at the boy’s use of his name. “Yes. Well. You’re welcome.” He shifted in his seat. “I’d like to try to offer someone else a leg up soon, so I think this is an appropriate time for a promotion.”

  “A promotion?”

  “Yes. I have an opening on my house staff, I was thinking perhaps you might be interested.” He actually did have an opening this time; Timothy was being moved into the dining room. That Timothy’s well-deserved promotion came about at this moment because Bradford needed an opening for Nikki on his house staff was utterly beside the point.

  “The staff. Which means…?”

  “Oh, you’d be cleaning and restocking the second- and third-floor rooms, running errands, keeping the main floor presentable. Assisting our members as needed. At any given time, there are at least two boys on shift, three shifts in a day. Shifts are typically chosen by seniority, so I’m not sure which one you’d be on just yet, but—”

  “It is much cooler out here than in the kitchen,” Nikki observed, interrupting.

  He raised an eyebrow. “It’s a small raise as well.”

  Nikki nodded. “I could maybe meet a few more people.”

  “Naturally. You’d meet the rest of the house staff, the waitstaff, my bartenders, and you’d potentially have the opportunity to get to know some of the members, depending on what shift you work. Also, house staff have a uniform.”

  He carelessly neglected to mention that the uniform was little more than a custom-fitted leather harness.

  Oops.

  “Well, okay. It sounds pretty good. Thank you.”

  He allowed himself a subtle smile. So far, so good. “You’re welcome.” He was finally able to move out from behind his desk, and he stepped around it. “There is some training involved. Have you met Levi?”

  “Not yet.”

  “Oh, you’re in for a treat. He’s a…” He stopped himself by pursing his lips together. “He’s very good at what he does.” Perhaps better not to scare the boy off. The uniform might be enough without more information on Levi—his handsome, talented, and submissive daytime manager.

  “Okay, great.”

  “Wonderful. Welcome to the front of the house. I’m very proud of you.” He offered his hand and Nikki shook it politely. “We’ll get you set up with Levi soon.”

  “Sounds good.” Nikki stood up, apparently understanding that the meeting was over. “Later.” He headed for the door.

  “Have a nice afternoon,” he replied, and Nikki closed the door behind him with a quiet click. God, how he wanted to get under that boy’s skin. Nikki made his spine itch impatiently and his fingers long for a paddle.

  Patience, old boy, he thought. Patience.

  If he handled this right, it would be a beautiful thing.

  5

  The next afternoon, Bradford arranged for Nikki to be fitted for his uniform. His contracted artisans—be they leathersmiths like Liam, tailors, or even carpenters—typically chose one of the playrooms on the second floor to work. They had privacy and plenty of room to move around. But today, at his request, Nikki was being fitted in his office. This particular fitting needed to be carefully managed, and he didn’t think that beginning the boy’s journey in a room full of whips and chains would quite set the tone he was looking for. He wanted to do this where Nikki would feel comfortable. He needed the boy to be open. Receptive.

  Nikki was relaxed. He submitted to the measurements easily enough, then took a seat while Liam hurried out to his van. Bradford sat quietly behind his desk, pretending to look over a couple of budget reports, waiting for the craftsman’s return. It seemed wiser not to warn the boy what Liam would be returning with. It was on occasion better to beg forgiveness than to ask permission, or so it was said, and though it pained him, for the moment he did still require Nikki’s permission.

  Liam returned with a contraption made of studded leather hanging over his shoulder and some extra leather straps and buckles in one hand. Brian held the door open for him and followed him inside, a small toolbox in one hand.

  “Ah, Liam. Let Brian know if he can assist.” Bradford suggested.

  Brian grinned. “Thank you, sir.”

  Nikki looked Liam over with a doubtful expression. “What are those?”

  “Stand up, please,” Liam replied cheerfully. Nikki stood and made his way over. “You’ll want to take your shirt off.”

  “My shirt…?” Nikki’s fingers went to the collar of his T-shirt, but he didn’t pull it off.

  Bradford looked up from the file he wasn’t reading. “You have to be bare-chested to be fitted.”

  That doubtful look seemed to settle into Nikki’s entire body, but he tugged off his shirt and tossed it onto a chair uncertainly. “Okay.”

  Oh, so much better than okay. The boy’s skin was like cream, smooth and flawless, and eating regularly had definitely been good for his physique. The leather bulldog harness Liam picked up was black and white: black leather straps with bright white edging, stainless-steel hardware and details, and a D-ring over the sternum. Nikki’s eyes looked from the harness to Bradford and back again.

  “What is that?”

  Bradford allowed himself a slow grin, amazed that the boy had actually been oblivious.

  Oh, what fun.

  “That is your uniform, the chest piece at least. Brian has a selection of shorts for you; it doesn’t matter to me which you choose.”

  “I’m not wearing that. I thought I was cleaning and running errands or whatever?”

  “You are.” His tone was reassuring.

  “In that?”

  “Well, yes. Of course,” he replied calmly, adding a soothing lilt to his words and lowering the pitch of his voice just slightly. “All the house staff boys wear this, or a version of it. This one I picked out especially for you.” He had been slowly making his way from behind his desk to Nikki’s side. “I think if you try it, you’ll find the weight quite satisfying.” Nikki stared at him and he continued speaking softly, gently, in a practiced, hypnotic tone. “Why don’t you just try it on, Nikki? If you really don’t care for it, perhaps we can work something else out.” He rested one hand lightly on the boy’s bare shoulder, practically whispering now. “Go on. Just try it.”

  Nikki was silent. This was the moment.

  “Brian, the mirror.” There may have been a touch more urgency in his voice than he’d intended.

  Brian set the toolbox on the floor and hurried over to pull a heavy curtain back from an oversized dressing mirror. It was seven feet tall and four feet wide and its heavy, wooden frame was anchored to the wall in several places. Bradford slipped his fingers through the shoulders of the chest harness, taking it from Liam, and coaxed Nikki over to the mirror.

  “Look.” He slipped his arms around Nikki’s shoulders and held the harness up to the boy’s chest, whispering in the boy’s ear. “You see? Stunning.” He kept talking, his voice low and musical, and he kept his lips close to Nikki’s ear. “The leather won’t bind. It’s padded under the shoulder pieces. Liam makes these himself in his shop, and all by hand—he does amazing work. Sometime, I will take you over to see, if you like…” He let his voice trail off.

  Nikki stood there, looking in the mirror at himself and at the harn
ess for a long time. Long enough that Bradford was starting to get nervous. This step was crucial to his plans; it was imperative that the boy accept the trappings of the lifestyle if Nikki was going to continue to work at the club.

  And Nikki must continue if Bradford had any hope of teaching him everything he wanted to.

  “Try it,” Bradford whispered once more in Nikki’s ear. He felt Nikki sway just the tiniest bit toward his voice, and he smiled slightly but kept a tight lid on his emotions.

  “Okay.”

  Liam stepped forward to help with the buckles, but Bradford stopped him with a quick gesture and settled the harness onto Nikki’s shoulders himself. He moved slowly, taking his time gently adjusting and fastening each buckle, keeping close contact with Nikki by sliding his fingers over the boy’s skin as he moved from front to back. When he was done, he walked a slow circle around Nikki, then nodded to Liam.

  “Nikki, dear, I’m going to let the expert in here to make sure this all fits properly. Are you okay?”

  Nikki nodded wordlessly, staring at himself in the mirror.

  There was an eruption of pure joy deep in the pit of his soul. Bradford reached out to steady himself, placing one hand on the solid reassurance of the mirror’s heavy frame as a bolt of pride traveled up the length of his spine, and another, stronger and darker in nature, drove straight into his groin.

  Oh, yes, he thought. The boy is perfect.

  Perfect.

  6

  One of the beautiful things about the harness Bradford had picked out for Nikki was that Nikki couldn’t completely put it on himself. There was a buckle between Nikki’s shoulder blades that absolutely had to be done by a second set of hands. He answered the knock on his bedroom door with anticipation and as Nikki stepped into his room, he gave himself a mental pat on the back, whispering, “Attaboy.”

  “What?”

  “Sorry, nothing,” he lied. “Let me have a look.” He turned the boy around and fussed with the buckle for a moment. “How does that feel?”

  “Fine, I guess.”

  “Now, you’re sure you’re all right wearing this?” he asked slyly, as he checked and tested each of the other buckles on the harness, which was absolutely unnecessary.

  Bradford noted with amusement that the boy hadn’t complained even once about the black leather boy shorts he’d been required to wear with the harness.

  “Well, yeah. I mean, if it’s the uniform, then what choice do I have?” Nikki replied with a tone of resignation. Bradford didn’t buy it, and he was very pleased about that.

  “Indeed.” Reluctantly, he forced himself to remove his fingers from the leather and step away from Nikki. “Run along now. You won’t want to keep Levi waiting.”

  “Right.”

  “Eat something before you head out.”

  “Will do.”

  Will do, sir. Bradford mentally corrected the boy, grinning to himself.

  Soon.

  In the meantime, Bradford needed to clear his evening schedule and prepare himself for the conversation he knew would be coming after Nikki experienced his first day cleaning and restocking the playrooms. It would be an interesting day.

  Nikki finished off his apple and made his way down the long hall and through the heavy door into the main dining room. At one end of the room, a couple of other guys were waiting; Brian and someone else he didn’t recognize were similarly dressed in harnesses and speaking with a third man, who spotted him instantly and waved him over.

  “Come join us, Nikki.”

  He hurried over, falling in line beside Brian.

  “Good morning, and welcome. I’m Levi.”

  Levi was wearing leather pants, a sleeveless white button-down shirt that was open enough to show off his smooth chest, and a collar made of heavy, studded black leather. The collar had a round ring hanging from it and from that, a silver key hung at Levi’s throat.

  He nodded. “Hey.” He shook Levi’s hand and looked over at the guy he hadn’t met before. “Nikki.”

  “Jamison. Nice to meet you.”

  “And you know Brian, of course. You’ll be shadowing him today; then you and I will have a chat toward the end of the shift. Your actual shift will be midday, two to eight p.m. You’ll have a thirty-minute break to be taken at your discretion. The days will vary week to week as I make the schedules.”

  “Sounds good.”

  “Sir,” Liam replied.

  “Hm?”

  “Sounds good, sir. I’m not a Master, but I am your supervisor and that is the way we address our superiors out here in the house. I know the kitchen is far less formal, but our members expect a certain level of respect.”

  “Uh, okay.”

  Levi raised an eyebrow at him. He blinked for a moment before he got it. “Oh! Okay, sir. Sorry.”

  Brian leaned over, grinning at him. “Sorry, sir.”

  “Wow. Really?” Nikki cleared his throat and tried again. “Okay, sir. Sorry, sir.”

  Levi laughed. “Very nice. You’ll get used to it. You’ll hear it all over the house; it will become second nature, I assure you.”

  He wondered about that, but he nodded anyway.

  “You’ll generally find me at the bar. I supervise the club during business hours for Master Bradford, and as I need to be readily available to everyone, I use the bar as my office. From there I can deal with the phone, the door, and staff can easily find me.”

  Nikki nodded again. He didn’t dare speak; he was afraid to say the wrong thing.

  Levi smiled at him. “Good. Jamison, you’ll take three. Brian, second floor, please.”

  “Yes, sir!” Brian and Jamison answered in unison.

  Levi waved them off. “Oh, Brian. Do stick to the second floor today, hm? Master Bradford was very clear that Nikki should steer clear of the third floor for now. He doesn’t want to overwhelm the boy on his first day. Start with the light bondage rooms, take your time, and be sure to answer all of Nikki’s questions completely. Don’t worry if it slows you down; I’ll have second shift cover anything you don’t get to.”

  “Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. Come on, Nikki.”

  He hurried after Brian, who left the dining room and headed straight for the stairs. He was a little confused. He was pretty sure he’d just heard Levi say “bondage room,” but he didn’t want to ask and make a fool of himself, so he held on to his questions for now.

  Nikki noted as they walked that Brian’s uniform was different than his own: it was made of softer, wider leather straps that hugged his body and moved with Brian’s skin. It crisscrossed in a complicated pattern across his entire torso, and it had a ring in the back as well as in front.

  Brian reached for a key that hung on a strap at his hip and opened up the very first door they came to. “Each of the rooms at the club is a little different. This one is the simplest and can serve a lot of different purposes. Some of the rooms farther down the hall have more tailored uses. And the rooms on the third floor are very specific.”

  The third floor that Bradford didn’t want him to see today. What the hell was on the third floor?

  He followed Brian inside and had a look around, more than a little shocked to realize that Levi really had said “bondage room.” He also sensed, as soon as the door closed behind them, that the room was soundproofed. “Oh, my God.”

  “Nice, right?”

  The floor under his feet was black and made of a nonslip material that looked like rubber. He figured it must have padding underneath of some kind, because it gave a little under his feet. Two of the walls in the room were covered in heavy red curtains and the third, opposite the door, was black and had a set of chains attached to it by heavy metal rings. Next to the chains on the wall hung a clear-fronted cabinet full of a variety of cuffs in different sizes and colors: padded, fur-lined, stiff leather, a set with studs on the outside, and another set with something rough and studded on the inside. There was a large, iron-framed bed set up against one of the curtained walls; it was made up
with a dark red comforter, and the frame was painted matte black. The headboard was nearly obscured by a ton of pillows.

  He turned toward Brian, his heart pounding slightly. “What is this place?”

  Brian was across the room, hanging what looked like a riding crop on a hook on the far wall. Nikki stared, eyes going wide as he caught sight of all the other things hanging there: whips in a bunch of sizes, a variety of paddles, long and short crops, long strips of leather.

  “Brian?”

  Brian smiled at him, speaking softly. “It’s a bondage room, Nikki. Have you never seen one?”

  “No, Brian. Not the room. What is this place? This building. What goes on here?” When he’d started in the kitchen, he’d thought it was a restaurant and bar. After a while he’d figured out that it was some kind of members-only club for men. Nikki realized when he saw himself in the mirror, wearing Bradford’s hand-chosen uniform, that there was something kinky going on, but even then he’d figured it was like a Hooters vibe or a Tilted Kilt. Sexy waitstaff, that kind of thing.

  “Ohhhh. Oh, my.” Brian walked over, took him by the shoulders, and led him over to the bed. “Sit.”

  Nikki was fighting the urge to run. He felt it building in his body, that flight response he got when things just felt off. Like when someone came into an alley he was sleeping in. Like when a couple of guys crossed the street toward him or when a cop flashed a badge. But Brian’s hands were warm on his shoulders, and nothing about the last couple of months was telling him he was unsafe. It was just that all this added up to something much…bigger…and more intimidating than he’d expected.

  “It’s a dungeon, isn’t it?” He’d heard stories on the street.

  “No. It’s a gentlemen’s club.”

  “For BDSM.”

  “Yes. That is practiced here in a safe environment. It’s also a social club.”

  “Social?”

  “Sure, for the club’s members. Masters, submissives, some with ties or contracts and some without. There are parties and events, the dining room, the bar.”