Hunter and Prey Ch. 05: Proposition

"In the morning he let me go up and see Jess when she woke up asking for me. And he hung around until he was sure Jess was ok with it all. I'm not going to go into all the details as that's between my wife and me, but needless to say she'd loved the experience as much as I did. We talked about what we liked, what we didn't, what we wanted to continue to explore. It was the most open, intimate conversation we've ever had with each other."

His expression turns dreamy as he adds, "We cuddled and made love on and off for the rest of the afternoon, only stopping to eat or sleep.

"The next day, with my agreement, Colin took my understanding to the next level. He made me strip in the main exhibition hall, put on a chastity belt, tied me up and showed Jess how to punish me. After a few angry lashes she seemed to work off any residual resentment, so people in the audience took turns flogging or whipping me under Colin's watchful eye. He ended the lesson with me gagging on his cock as I gave my first ever blow job. Once the chastity belt was off, I came so hard it hurt. Jess and I both left that first weekend bruised, tender, and more satisfied than we've ever been."

He pauses as he sees my astonished expression and takes the opportunity to focus back on my naked body in front of him, spreading my very wet slit. I can barely focus on his next words as his fingers slide slowly in and out of me.

"I learnt a valuable lesson that trip; I have no business dominating someone until I really understand what it takes to submit: to take pain and punishment and turn it into joy, pleasure, and feel the love behind the actions and words.

"It was also an object lesson for Jess and me. We realised we had different triggers, different things we enjoyed. It took us a long while exploring until we agreed to have an open relationship with some rules. We arranged it so that we each got to do what we most enjoyed. If she got to enjoy being the public slut on our terms, then she was happy for me to train pain sluts to satisfy my darker urges. We've never looked back from that first weekend."

My heart is hammering; his fingers relentless in their exploration of me.

"Fluffy, you won't understand this right now, but opening yourself up to someone else enough to share and accept each other's darkest desire is the most profound experience you can share with anyone. It's the truest form of love."

As he finishes talking, his fingers bring me to a gasping orgasm. I lose all sense of where I am until I feel him rest his wet digits against my open mouth, inviting me to lick them clean. The taste of me floods my mouth, a visceral undertone to the images playing through my mind.

In this dopamine-drenched moment I'm struck by how little I really know him. It makes me weirdly grateful he insisted on taking something from me in return for baring his soul so openly.

When he's satisfied I've cleaned his fingers well enough, he sits back, and we quietly study each other. He's calm, his blue eyes unrepentant, confident in who he is. I'm trembling, sitting naked on the table, trying to take it all in. Honestly, I'm a hair's breadth from being completely overwhelmed by all of this.

Gently he says, "Why don't you wash the dishes while I make us some more coffee? When you're done come meet me on the balcony."

I nod mutely and slide off the table and head to the sink. The soothing, repetitive motion of scrubbing the dishes is a welcome piece of 'normal' in a strange set of days.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see him reach up to fetch a box before he disappears out of view again with our coffee mugs.

The sound of the splashing water matches the white noise in my head as it loops chaotically. I'm torn about how I feel about what he did to Jess at the bonfire party; how I feel about knowing how out of control he can be. On the one hand I'm appalled that he would demand someone he loves be used like that; the anger and violence underlying it all. I have no idea how much she wanted that to happen. And yet ... and yet I can't get Jess's blissful expression out of my mind as Oliver fucked her hard. And let's not forget that Jess isn't exactly a pushover as a person, she would never do something she didn't want to.

Choice. Such a simple word and yet the explicit understanding between all involved about that choice and its limits is so profoundly complicated. A stab of overwhelming jealousy washes over me, and it takes me a moment to understand why. The level of honesty that Jess and Ryan have in their relationship is something I didn't even think was possible. But more than that, the fact that Jess is confident enough to ask for what she wants and knows she won't be judged as a result. Yes, that's where my green-eyed monster lives.

I barely notice the beautiful scenery as I join Bear on the balcony. Wordlessly he hands me a coffee mug. On the table beside us is a nondescript box that I barely notice.

I peek at him out of the corner of my eye as I take a sip of coffee. With his legs stretched out, he's the picture of masculine serenity, admiring the mountain-scape, ready to conquer any challenges that come up. It's very clear the next move in this situation is on me. I melt thoughtfully back into the chair, drawing my knees up to my chest as I think about what I want.

I think back to all the things I've let him do to me - being teased, tied, punished, fucked - and all the opportunities he's had to take it too far. The exhilaration I get every time I hear his voice telling me to do something. The feel of the ropes biting into me, knowing he can do anything to me and I'm powerless to stop it... I bite my lip to stop from moaning.

My eyes stray absentmindedly back to the box on the table before I look up and see him watching me. I have to know. With false bravado I try to smile coyly to lighten the mood and say, "You didn't answer all my questions yet."

His wolfish eyes lock on me, the look so intense it takes my breath away. "I only feel like answering one more question, so think wisely before you ask."

It's not really a choice. "What's in the box?" How could a simple black box make me feel so overwhelmingly scared.

His relaxed smile is unreadable as he says, "First tell me about that mark on the back of your neck and how you got it." I frown at him in confusion, so he qualifies with, "The mark that looks like rope burn."

I flush bright red as I remember a recent night-time experimentation with rope bondage. I had been so desperate for Ryan to tease me, but he'd been distracted with finalising work before we came on this trip. The hard look is back in his eyes as he sees me hesitate, so I start babbling in a panic.

"I wanted ... needed ... (deep breath) ... I couldn't stop thinking about being tied up. I needed to feel the rope against my skin again, so I started looking into self-tying tutorials online."

I can't stop my face from heating up as I continue, "I was trying different ties and got carried away with the feel of the rope tightening and tightening around me. The delicious burn as it ran against my skin leading up to the incredible feeling of making myself cum without touching myself."

When I finish explaining I realise I've been caressing my neck where the rope had been and pull my hand away hastily and hide my face in my coffee cup in embarrassment. Bear laughs at my self-conscious action and instead of saying anything pushes the box towards me in an invitation to open it.

With a frown, I open it. My eyes grow large as I stare at a handmade black leather collar, ankle, and wrist cuffs. I pick up the collar in trembling hands and stupidly note the exquisite craftsmanship, and shiny steel buckle and rings. An image of Elliott being pulled submissively after Colin by a collar similar to this jumps into my mind.

Pieces fall into place ... "train pain sluts to satisfy my darker urges" .... As his eyes whisper the silent offer behind the collar, a shiver runs through me, and I'm reminded again of his dry cum on my naked body as it pulls against my shivering skin. My breathing is ragged.

His devilish smile only gets wider at the expression on my face. "Well if you want me to spell it out for you... what you have here Fluffy, is a Matrix-like binary choice.

"On the one hand you can take the metaphorical blue pill: enjoy the fun we've had so far, tick 'I'm not a virgin anymore' off your bucket list and we can have a few more tumbles in the sack before heading back to normal life.

"Or... you can take the red pill, put on the collar and follow me down the rabbit hole and learn some uncomfortable truths about yourself and what you want."

He leans forward, "I must admit people normally approach me to get trained. Do you even understand yet how badly you want this?"

His voice drops to a seductive rumble, "How much pleasure do you get from obeying me or from being punished? And when I force you to try new things? Delicious new things that make you scream in pain and pleasure and beg me for more?"

My eyes are huge staring at him. The truth is like acid, it eats through the layer of lies I've wrapped around myself about what's 'decent', 'proper', 'right'. And there he sits, the honesty of what he wants to do to me written plain on his face... "pain slut".... Fuck, the honesty of what I WANT him to do reflected in every excited, trembling heartbeat. Every part of me is tingling and I think I'm shivering despite the heat of the day already building up.

Uncontrollable emotions are welling up inside me; I hug myself to hold them in, and absentmindedly reflect that I always seem to get cold when I have to confront things about myself I've been avoiding.

Rather than come over and hug me in comfort as I so desperately want him to do, Bear sits calmly and unyieldingly. "So, what do you really want Fluffy?"

His words have left me raw inside, the filters that hide the truth stripped away. The voice I've been pushing down for years is tired of being told to shut up. I turn around to face him; he's still calmly watching me.

Everything around me stops. He lets the silence stretch. We both stare at the forgotten collar in my hands. I nod a shaky affirmative to what he's offering; my throat is too tight to even whisper a word.

His voice is deep as he replies, "I must have your complete trust and obedience. We will talk about safe words if you say yes but understand when you put that collar on you are agreeing to my rules."

He continues with a hard look, "Once you say yes there is no going back. And let's not sugar coat this, I want to cause you pain: sometimes for pleasure, or to punish you, and sometimes because I just feel like it because I love watching you squirm. I want to fuck you - and let others fuck you - in every conceivable way I can imagine. I want you to understand pleasure in all its guises and make you want to beg me to do more to you.

"I know words are meaningless to you, you need to feel it to know if it's right. So, I have a proposition for you..."

"For one day - today - I want you to put on that collar and be my full-time sex slave, whether you know if you want that or not. I will treat you exactly as I wish, and you will soon learn what that collar stands for."

My eyes are huge, my head spinning. What am I doing? I think in a blind panic. I mindlessly slide my trembling hands between my thighs to still them; only to feel the silky slipperiness of my excitement.

Ryan continues, "That servitude will end tomorrow morning. At that point it is your choice if you continue down this path, or explore different things with me, Jess or anymore else. I will not pressure or force you from then onwards. Jess and I will always be there for you as friends regardless of what you decided. But know that from that point, if you want this bad enough you will have to kneel and beg for the collar and what it stands for."

His eyes strip me of all pretence, and I feel as if I'm put on a scale for measurement. Our eyes drop back to the collar in my hand; all I can hear now is the pounding of my heart.

His wicked smile is back, "So what's it going to be: want to play more, little one?"

The collar spins round and round in my hands as I think about my life: the choices I've made; the things I've given up on because people told me it wasn't right for me.

I think about all the moments in my life I've felt the most alive. The thought of losing something is a great incentive to FOCUS. A steady resolve starts to grow in me. It's time to make fucking choices that I want.

"Ok, but I have some conditions before I say yes," I whisper softly. He says nothing, just watches me quietly.

I start off hoarsely and gain strength as I go, "Absolute no to involving children or animals of any kind." He's put a healthy fear in me; if I'm agreeing to giving up control, I need to know there are boundaries, no matter how obvious they may seem.

From there it all starts getting murky. "No to piss or faeces. Although obviously anal isn't a problem," I blush furiously.

"I... I don't like the idea of things like full-face latex masks that some slaves wear, it makes me feel like I'm hideous and need to be hidden for someone to want to fuck me. I have enough self-confidence issues; I don't need more ways to feel bad about myself," I end awkwardly.

I could be imagining it, but it looks as if there's a smile of pride playing in the corner of his mouth.

He waits patiently and then his eyebrows raise, "Nothing else? What about whips, canes, drawing blood, suffocation, drowning, being forced to fuck strangers, gang banged, electrocution, knife play, bound in stockades, leashed, caged, fucked in public, gagged?"

And there it is - my disturbing conclusion - the thing I keep circling back to. Once pandora's box is open, my curiosity won't let me close it again. How will I know until I try it, all of it? The bigger decision is what if I don't like it, will he keep doing it to me? And then I realise fear of something isn't a reason to not try it; it is a reason to go into it with eyes wide open. My breathing gets steadier as my resolve strengthens, and my excitement builds.

He puts his finger under my chin and tilts my face up to look at him, in a seductively quiet voice he asks, "So what do I get out of this arrangement?"

There's only a slight tremor in my voice as I say, "You get to do whatever you want to me. I'm yours completely. I... I trust... I hope you'll pull me back if it goes too far."

He gives me a weighing look. I sense that he's testing this newly found resolve to such an open remit. I suddenly realise what a weight I've put on him, the responsibility to gauge how far is too far. Fuck, am I crazy? My nerve starts crumbling...

"Agreed. The choice is now mine on what happens to you."

The note of finality sounds like the slamming of a cage door. I don't know if that means I've been let free of a prison or locked into one.

"Before I put that collar on you there are some things we need to talk about and I'm going to need you to be very honest with me. We can't afford to lie to each other from this point onwards."

I nod wordlessly, unable to do more.

"I know you are on birth control, and I expect you to be responsible for taking it every day. If for any reason you don't you need to tell me."

I flush red, nod yes.

"Jess, myself and everyone in the club get regularly tested for STIs, would you like to see our latest reports to see we're clean? This is also something you will need to start doing regularly."

I bite my lip, and stare at him in shock, shaking my head to indicate no. I trust him not to lie to me... and well it's a bit late to be asking that question as I think about all the times he's fucked me so far! I grit my teeth as I'm reminded once again of how little I've thought things through. That ends now. Fuck, what would have happened to me if I'd given myself to anyone else less conscientious? His knowing eyes rebuke me gently. A shiver of relief at a near miss runs through me.

He continues, smiling reassuringly, "I get that this is all new to you. I will do my best to guide you and keep you safe. But you also have a responsibility to tell me when there is a problem or issue we need to deal with.

"It will be difficult at times; you will not always like me as I push you to find where those boundaries inside you lie. You will need a safe word for when the play gets dangerous; from now on if things start to get too much it's 'orange' and I will stop to check in before deciding if we start again, or 'red' and we'll stop completely."

I blink as I wrap such inane words with such a profound experience.

He continues, "There will also be moments like breath play where you won't be able to speak. We will agree other ways for you to communicate then, such as tapping me three times in quick succession to tell me you want to stop."

I'm shaking like a leaf as he explains about safe words and gestures. Of course, I'd heard about this, but the matter-of-fact way he says it really makes this feel real now. I'm petrified at the need for safe words, and perversely so fucking turned on.

He continues with his instructions on how I will care for my body while I'm with him. My face is burning in humiliation as he explains how he likes my pussy shaved, what an anal douche is, and when I should take my contraceptive pill so I don't break our routine. The level by which he knows my body and habits is horrifying - and strangely comforting - I don't have to explain anything more to him.

"I've left everything you need to prepare yourself for me in the bathroom. You have an hour to get ready, have a shower and then I want you standing back here for me to inspect you before I'm satisfied you're ready to be collared. Do you understand my little pain slut?"

"Yes, Sir," I whisper meekly.

He stands up and I follow suit. Before I can head off he points at the floor in front of him. "It's time for an object lesson about what you've just agreed to," he says in a firm voice.

My knees lock for a moment, an old habit of fear before I kneel in front of him. He pulls his shorts down slowly and his dick pop out; it still has my dry cum on it from sex this morning.

"Hold your hands behind your back and spread your legs so I can see that cunt. Suck me off and show me how bad you want this."

His blue-grey eyes stare down at me and watch as my mouth wraps around his head, my tongue worshipping every part of him. I suck his hairy balls gently, bury my face in the base of him and breathe in his sweaty smell. I pull his hard length into my mouth and start sucking like he's a melting ice cream and I can't spill a drop.

In short, my mouth, my tongue, my very wet cunt tells him what words will never truly capture: the sincerity of my promise to give myself to him completely in exchange for learning all he can teach me.

At some point his hands tighten in my hair, holding me in place as he finishes fucking my mouth. Once I've sucked him clean again, he pulls his soft cock out.

"What do you say slut?" Throughout, he never once took his eyes off of me; and I could not look away from him. He still has that weighing look in his eyes.

"Thank you, Sir. I hope you use me more for your pleasure," I say as a cheeky, excited grin blooms on my face.

His satisfied smile holds a world of promise that sends shivers of lust through me. I head towards the bathroom as instructed, close the door with a trembling hand and take in everything he's left for me. The whirlwind in my head is still raging but at its centre is a new grounding thought: I want this. With a deep breath, I step forward to get started.

*****

As I finally step out of the bathroom I glance at a clock on the wall and see I have a bit of time left. I rush quickly to the balcony and have a stupidly indecisive moment of trying to figure out what way to face to stand and wait.