The sun was sinking into the west. Its fading glow bathed the clouds in red and carefully silhouetted each leaf of the gingko tree a deep golden red. Through the windows of the second floor, the scene framed itself like a vibrant painting.
It was late autumn already.
Lu Cheng had his head held up and was staring blankly at a leaf near the window frame. The leaf was about to be blown off in the wind but held on stubbornly and refused to part from the branch.
He had been staring for a long time now. His body was stiff. As discreetly as he could he shifted his weight slightly, relieving just a little the pressure off his legs that were numb from kneeling. From behind him, a sudden quiet sound of a whip cracked in the air and struck across his spine, a deep burning pain surged across his back.
Biting back an urge to cry out, he breathed through a series of heavy pants, straightened his back and remained in his kneeling position. He dared not move again. He lowered his gaze and spoke: "I made a mistake, Master."
"What mistake did you make?" It was a deep masculine voice that was cold and austere.
"I shouldn't have moved without your permission." Lu Cheng replied obediently.
Silently a pair of dress shoes tread across the thick carpet and turned to face him. The hard texture of a whip handle pressed into him and slowly raised his chin, forcing him to look up.
Moving his gaze upwards, his sight met with a pair of long, straight legs tightly fitted in tailored dress pants, and above them, an impeccably fitted dark suit. The suit looked exceptionally alluring on the tall full stature of the man. The deep colour accentuated the paleness of his skin which somehow exuded a quality of stoic restraint.
Lu Cheng gazed up at him, unable to control his mind that ran wild with the image of the man naked – broad shoulders, slim hips, toned muscles, and the instant when those arms would pin him down … intoxicating images surged through his mind, quickening and deepening his breath.
In just a mere moment of distraction, the raised handle of the whip pressed exactingly against his larynx and cut off his breath. Feeling within him a knowing and helpless smile, Lu Cheng obediently raised up his face, exposing the full vulnerability of his neck towards the man before him.
In this moment, he knelt naked with his arms crossed behind his back, like a devout believer worshipping his deity.
It was a posture of surrendering one's body, an expression of complete submission to the other person. It was the proper attitude of a Sub towards his Dom.
Yes. This was a session of BDSM play.
The Dominant sets the rules and exacts discipline, the Submissive obeys the rules and surrenders their body. Through this dynamic, they fulfil each other's desire and obtain mutual pleasure.
The languid light of the setting sun spilled across the room, silhouetting the lines of their bodies: standing and kneeling, whip and flesh, fully clothed and starkly naked, dominance and submission, they came together to form an undeniable contrast of sharp, cruel beauty.
Lu Cheng adored this kind of play. He had long lost interest in plain ordinary sex. He was a true Submissve, and he had tried many Doms, but none had ensnared him more than the one who stood before him.
Just being near him was enough to make him feel unjustifiably excited.
He gazed infatuatedly at the man who was the cause of this obsession – a strikingly handsome face, an air of elegant serenity, and an aura, though usually restrained, that erupted unbridled the moment he lifted the whip – authority, power, domination. It was an oppressive, cold and irrefusable aura. It was like a cold woody fragrance, deep and grounded, yet detached and elusive – it was utterly addictive to Lu Cheng.
"You enjoy drifting off." The man gazed down at him from above and adjusted the glasses that sat on his nose with the curl of his finger.
"Please punish me, my Master." Lu Cheng's throat was unbearably dry. He desperately desired something to relieve it.
The man bestowed him an indifferent glance, the handle of the whip slowly slid down his neck towards his chest, then pressed against the tip of his nipple, slowly, deliberately circling.
A small shiver passed through Lu Cheng. He took a deep breath. Don't move.
During play, the command of a Dom is the rule and a Sub is punished whenever they violate that rule. Although Lu Cheng was able to elicit pleasure from pain, what he truly loved was the feeling of being enslaved, of kneeling at the feet of another begging for mercy, becoming the slave, pet or object of another. This peculiar craving stemmed from his inner self, long repressed, long unspoken, slowly evolving into a deep chasm that stretched across his heart – a chasm that he stared into and that stared back at him.
BDSM play fulfilled him and liberated him.
His nipple was being tormented by both pain and itch, bringing over him an irrefutable sensation of tingling numbness. From within the mess of sensations, his body sensitively caught onto the flashes of pleasure. And the sensations that the next act brought drew him into deeper excitement.
The man raised his foot and with the point of his leather shoe casually flicked around Lu Cheng's sexual organ. He dared not move an inch, submitting himself to the rough handling of his most vulnerable area. The rigid leather rubbed, pressed, lightly, heavily, drawing from him an uncontrolled muted moan.
He was being controlled and freely toyed with by the person before him, yet he shamelessly wanted more. The shame he hid deep within him reacted like a volatile catalyst, the organ that had laid limp was now completely stiff. It was as if a fire had been lit from inside him, burning and spreading beneath his skin, inch by inch engulfing every nerve and inner organ.
The man lightly kicked against his testes, and as anticipated heard a sound like a low whimpery gasp. He derided: "Are you in heat? Two kicks and you're already this hard."
"Master…" Lu Cheng rasped. It was a face filled with desire yet fear. Desiring a release for his craving, the pity of his master and even more excitation, yet fearful of the strength of his control, the unpredictability of his methods, and the severity of his punishments.
The man stroked and toyed with his larynx: "Tell me, what are you?"
"I am Master's dog." Lu Cheng replied.
The reply seemed to satisfy the man, he curled his lips slightly: "A dog should look like a dog."
Lu Cheng obediently extended his tongue wanting to the lick the man's fingers but was tapped on his head by the curl of a finger. He immediately bent forward, lay flat on the ground and licked the point of the man's immaculately clean shoe.
"Do you smell yourself? The scent of an animal in heat." The man questioned.
Well before the man had arrived, Lu Cheng had already carefully cleaned himself inside and out. There was evidently nothing on the shoe, yet within those suggestive words he felt an unutterable scent of obscenity. He folded his elbows and sprawled himself against the ground. Rubbing his face against the other's leg, he said: "Your skank dog has dirtied Master's shoe, please punish me."
"Go, fetch the item in the box at the door. Bring it to me."
Lu Cheng crawled over and opened the ribbon with his teeth. He pushed aside the white lid with his nose.
Inside was a "tail".
At the end of the half metre long yellow fur was a silicone dildo. The tip was curved and raised.
Lu Cheng knew: that exact spot would press against his sensitive gland and put him in the throes of ecstasy and agony. His body uncontrollably reached another level of excitement. He crawled back with the "tail" in his mouth, knelt beside the feet of the man and looked up.
"A present for you. Do you like it?" The man asked.
Lu Cheng had his mouth full and nodded his head instead of speaking.
"Put it on." The man sat on the single armchair in the entire room and gave his second command, "Do it the way I like."
Lu Cheng hesitated for a moment, his face flushed red. He clenched the back of his teeth and slowly raised a leg, like the way a dog does when urinating. Then bit by bit inserted a wetted finger into the back opening hidden between his cheeks and began loosening.
The man rested his chin on one hand, quietly observing.
A feeling of shame rapidly fermented beneath the gaze, Lu Cheng's entire body flushed pink. It was as if the gaze had a certain temperature to it, bit by bit kindling flames across his body, from inside to out, he was burning. His breath was a mess, his body tensed uncontrollably, the whole process became increasingly arduous. Panicked, he edged the dildo against his entrance, but in the moment before it entered, he heard a command.
"Come here."
Lu Cheng stopped, his face full of apprehension, he didn't know what he had done wrong nor did he dare to ask. Fetching the tail between his teeth he slowly crawled over. The man stood up and pulled at his hair forcing him to look up.
It wasn't too painful, but there was a clear pleasurable sensation of being humiliated.
"So impatient to fill that hole of yours, you don't even want to prep properly." He spoke coldly, "Do you want to change to a thicker one, that'll give you some proper pleasure."
Lu Cheng apologised with a tremble: "Your skank dog was being stupid, please let Master severely punish me."
"Show me that thirsty hole of yours."
Lu Cheng bent over and turned around, he raised his pale rear up high and voluntarily used both hands to firmly spread his cheeks, revealing his hole to his Master in this most humiliating position. Behind him there was a soft sound, he dared not look, bending over uneasily, straining to listen.
Without warning, something warm and wet pushed against his rear entrance, and slowly penetrated inside.
It was the man's finger covered in lube.
When the sphincter was forced wide, Lu Cheng let out a muffled groan, his body reflexively resisting the foreign object, his whole body tensed, and his anus clutched. Then, a sharp slap fell on his cheeks, the sound crisp.
"Relax. I'm not patient." His words were firm, but his hand was gentle. Carefully expanding and loosening until three fingers could enter and then the dildo was inserted. The entire dildo entered the anus in one go as Lu Cheng gasped brokenly, leaving only the furry tail trailing behind.
"Crawl a full lap with this new tail of yours." The man sat down again, throwing aside the surgical glove, calmly adding another sentence, "If it falls out, then you won't receive the opportunity to climax tonight."
"Yes, Master." Lu Cheng replied.
The room was fully air-conditioned and carpeted, it was not painful to crawl upon. Yet the command was still difficult to execute, the dildo slipped easily whilst moving, the tail was heavy, and swayed side to side, he could only desperately clutch tight his anus. The tip of the dildo pressed against his gland again, an electric feeling shot up the base of his spine. His whole body was on edge; waves of the sensation rose before the last one subsided. The long and thick fur of the tail worsened the ordeal as it swayed and tickled and itched against his entire backside. Not even half a lap and he was already covered in a thin layer of sweat, his sex stiff and seeping with a transparent fluid.
The man sat on the armchair without a trace of emotion, watching Lu Cheng struggle within the turmoil of sexual desire, behind the dim of his eyes was an unreadable glow.
The desire that arose from the constant pressing failed to climb to the high point, like an itch that could only be reached through clothing. The half lap that Lu Cheng had endured became increasingly intolerable, just when he wanted to pause and catch his breath, the tormenting thing within his rear suddenly started vibrating. The overwhelming thrill made him cry out, all his muscles tensing as one, his legs quivered.
The electric sensation swept within him wave after wave, almost drowning the last of his clarity. "Master, ah.. Master, please, I beg you…" There was a sob in his voice and he didn't even know what he was begging for.
"Do you remember what punishment you received the last time you ejaculated without permission?"
"Twenty… Twenty lashes."
"If you don't want the same lashes, don't anger me."
"... Yes, Master." Lu Cheng was panting as he replied. He was about to cry, the pleasure and the thrill gathered at a single point in his lower body, constantly on the verge of erupting, yet he could only agonisingly hold back. He was almost completely prostrated on the ground, like a dog with a tail between its legs, edging forward on the carpet.
Within the torment was an unsurpassable ecstasy. In the moment he was given permission to ejaculate, a dizzying pleasure erupted within him. His whole body limped and collapsed to the ground.
When he returned to consciousness, Lu Cheng was being held by the man. He leaned into his embrace, quietly enjoying the serenity of the moment. There was a clean and inviting scent that emanated from the man and a warmth that could be felt through the fabric, inviting him into deeper obsession. It was as if within this embrace, he had found again the feeling of a babe returning to the warmth of his mother's womb.
"Are you ok?" The man asked.
Lu Cheng nodded and met with a pair of dark eyes; he couldn't help it and softly called him "Master".
The man gently caressed his head and comforted him: "Lu Cheng, we have just gone through a play session, all words and actions of humiliation that I have conducted towards you are a necessity of play only. You understand, don't you?"
Lu Cheng's gaze wavered a little.
Yes. The play between them had ended.
Him and him, they had both returned to an equal status.
When he heard his name spoken from the man's lips, he had felt a deep disappointment. Before this man, he'd rather always be a dog, being caressed, being punished, being protected, being humiliated as his dog. Only then did it seem they belonged to each other.
Lu Cheng lowered his gaze, hiding away the many emotions and smiled: "Yes, I understand."
The man helped him to his feet and mindfully wrapped a bathrobe around him. The cold, domineering aura of before was once again reigned in, in this moment he was very much alike a tender lover.
But it was only alike.
"Do you not need… me to do something?" Lu Cheng glanced downwards at the man's crotch, there didn't seem to be much movement there. He felt disheartened, but chose a playful tone to speak: "Do you really not have any interest in me? How hurtful."
The man smiled but did not reply.
"Shall we have dinner together? I heard a new Cantonese chef has joined Nan De Restaurant, their Buddha Leaps seafood stew…." Before the quiet gaze of the other, Lu Cheng failed to continue his persistence, and quickly changed tune, "I'll drive you home."
"No need." The man refused.
Lu Cheng stood at the edge of the door and watched as the GLS500 disappeared beneath the shadow of trees that lined the mansion. When he returned to the room, it was with a feeling of heavy emptiness. He picked up from the ground the whip and caressed the soft leather.
He had commissioned a craftsman to custom make the whip and gifted it as a birthday present to the man – to use it to punish him. The whip was a meter in length, made with three strands of soft lambskin and a thread of gold. The ebony handle had engraved on it in cursive the English word "rule", and at its tip a small golden stamp that bore the mark of the character "Mu".
The "Mu" of his name "Qin Mu".