Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Your life was pretty sweet and it was not just because you spent most of your day covered in powdered sugar.

After years of hard back breaking work and at least two dozen nervous breakdowns you had managed to not only open the bakery you had long dreamed of running but had also made it a huge success. The Sweet Spot had earned a reputation as being one of the best premiere businesses in Linkon that very year! Numerous awards your shop and baking skills had won lined a small shelf on the wall, proof of all the hard work you had put in to creating this place.

Your menu was constantly changing as ingredients came in and out of season. Special limited time items being created and sold when you perfected a new recipe you wanted to sell but couldn’t afford to keep on the regular menu.

Many faces came through every day looking for sweet treats and delicious breads. There were many that were nothing but strangers coming in for the first time or those who came in infrequently enough that you didn’t know their faces. Then there were your regulars. Like the stressed out university student that came in every morning for her pistachio muffin on her way to class. There was the old couple that came in every week to split a slice of cherry pie. You had a single dad that came by after dropping his kids off at school to get a loaf of bread for dinner at least twice a week.

Then there was the quiet and stoic doctor who always seemed to get something different but he favored your macarons. You could never get a beat on when he would come in. He wasn’t like your other regulars where you could usually pin down a time or day they came in. He was always in at least once a week, sometimes more.

For a while you had been too intimidated by him to make your usual idle small talk you usually extended to regular customers. You had learned he was a doctor when one of your friends that worked in Akso Hospital spotted him in your bakery one day. Dr. Zayne Li, you learned his name was. You were surprised to hear he was a doctor, he looked rather young to be one. Then she told you that he had apparently graduated from medical school early and that only proved to intimidate you more. You really had someone that smart coming in to buy sweets regularly?

It did not help matters that he was incredibly handsome as well. He looked like he had stepped right out of a drama. A hot successful doctor was perfect for him but you could also see him as the work-obsessed CEO.

What finally erased the tension you felt around him happened one day outside the bakery oddly enough. It had begun to rain and you were trapped at the bus stop waiting for it to lighten up so you could go home without getting soaked. You heard footsteps running your way and then there was Zayne, newspaper covering his head as he rushed for the shelter of the bus stop.

He shook the rain off his coat and glanced over at you, recognition obvious in his eyes. “Hello,” he said.

“Hello.” you repeated, “You get caught in the rain without an umbrella as well I see.”

“There was nothing in the forecast about rain today so I had left it at home.” he sighed, staring up at the abysmal grey sky. “How long have you been waiting here?”

“A few minutes.” you shrugged.

“You’re soaked.” he reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. “Here, dry yourself off before you catch a cold.”

“Thank you.” you took the handkerchief and used it dry your face and hands. “Where were you off to?”

“I was heading home. It was a nice day so I decided to walk but then this came out of nowhere. And you?”

“I was heading home as well.” you pulled out your phone to check the weather. This sudden squall wasn’t going to end at least for another half an hour.

You opened your bag and pulled out a small bag you had tucked inside. It was wedding season and as a result the bakery was incredibly busy making wedding cakes and other sweet snacks for receptions. One of your best selling were the heart shaped macarons you made. You had stolen some of the cracked ones you weren’t able to sell as a treat for later but you may as well have them now while you were waiting.

You held the bag out for Zayne, knowing he was a fan of sweets. “Care for one?” you asked.

“Thank you very much.” he took one from the bag and bit into it. “Hm, almond?”

“Yep. Good taste buds.” you bit into your own. “They’re one of the most popular flavors for weddings so there’s a lot to spare when it comes to rejects.”

“Your macarons never disappoint.” he licked a smear of buttercream off his finger. Your eyes involuntarily followed the motion. You weren’t even aware you were staring until you caught him watching you with that same polite but stoic expression he always wore.

“Thank you.” You straightened. “Do you have a preferred flavor?” you asked, hoping he hadn’t realized you were ogling him so blatantly.

If he was uncomfortable he didn’t show it in either expression or tone. “Your blackberry basil are delicious, but so are they all.”

“I’ll remember that.” already your brain was buzzing with ideas on new recipes to make that involved blackberries and basil. You could make a basil and almond puff pastry tart topped with blackberries, a blackberry and basil cream puff, a blackberry galette, you could even make a blackberry jam filled cake with basil and mint buttercream! It was peak blackberry season too! You could make a lot of different things.

Your mouth was practically watering thinking about it all. “You just gave me some great ideas.” you told him with a delighted smile. “Thanks!”

“Oh? How did I do that?” he asked.

“Well when you mentioned blackberries and basil I started thinking of things I could make that involved those two ingredients.” you explained, “I might just have to have a limited time blackberry event at the shop just so I can get all the ideas out of my system.”

“You really thought of that many in the past thirty seconds?” he seemed impressed.

“It’s my baker’s brain. She’s constantly thinking up recipes.” you started listing off the various ideas you had. Zayne nodded along, speaking up when he thought a particular recipe sounded delicious.

You were talking for a while about possible desserts and ideas and preferred flavors that you hadn’t even noticed that the rain had all but stopped. You finally noticed when you saw a streak of sunlight break through the storm clouds and light up the wet streets. Neither of you wanted to get caught in the rain again so quickly said your goodbyes and took off to get home. Zayne handed you the newspaper he had been using to cover his head before you left. “Just in case it starts up again.”

“Thanks.” you took the newspaper and bolted. It wasn’t until you got back to your place that you realized that you had taken his handkerchief with him. You washed it and packed it in your bag to give back to him the next time you saw him.

In the meantime you sat down at your kitchen table and started playing around with blackberry recipe ideas.

The next time you saw Zayne was at the bakery, he had come in for some cookies and you were able to give him his handkerchief back. You also gave him one of your pink take out boxes for cakes but inside was actually a small sampling of the different blackberry recipes you were planning on making for the blackberry event you were planning. You had made all the recipes and had your staff taste test them first before moving forward with ordering the huge amount of blackberries you were going to need for this event.

“These look great.” he had said, “How much do I owe you?”

“Oh no, this is on me.” you gave the box a little shove across the counter. “You’re the one that inspired it so this is my way of paying you back.”

“I couldn’t possibly--”

“Just take it. Please.” You insisted.

“Thank you. Thank you very much.” For the first time in your memory you saw him crack the smallest smile as he gazed through the plastic on top to look in at the collection of blackberry treats. “I’m sure they will be as delicious as everything you sell.”

“I appreciate hearing that.” your smile was easily twice as big and bright as his. “Let me know what you thought of them next time you’re in.”

“Will do.” he gave a small bow of his head, “You have a nice day, miss.”

“You too, doctor.” you gave a small wave as he left.

From then on you felt less intimidated by him. You were able to talk easily, he always had something nice to say, asking about your day or your weekend with genuine interest, and you couldn’t help giving him a free sample of new products you were baking when you had them. You saw more of that soft shy smile and once even got the tiniest chuckle out of him. He had gone from being the stoic regular you could barely string a sentence around to something close to a friend. It was nice. Maybe one of these days you’d gather the courage to ask him to hang out outside of the bakery.

Your friends and co-workers often teased you about the friendship you had formed with Zayne. They encouraged you over and over to ask him out since it looked like you were smitten with each other. You had to tell them over and over each time that it wasn’t anything like that. Even if you thought you had a shot with him you wouldn’t ask him out. It wasn’t because you were opposed to the idea of dating him, far from it. He would make any girl a great boyfriend you were sure. The problem was you.

If your past relationships were anything to go by then you could be labelled as a disaster of a girlfriend. Each new relationship always ended on less than great terms. Either you dumped them or they dumped you. Most of the time when you broke up with someone it was over the fact that you were too busy with work to dedicate the needed time to a relationship. They claimed that you were a workaholic that didn’t actually care about this relationship and while you may have liked and admired them you couldn’t say they were wrong. You had built this business from the ground up, spent years in school learning to be a great baker and then even more time saving money and renovating this shop to be what it was now. One of your worst relationships had actually tried to convince you to give up on your dreams and when you refused he threw your personal stand mixer out the window of your apartment. You thankfully hadn’t heard from that psycho since.

The success of your business had come at the cost of your love life. It was sad but this bakery had been your dream since you were a kid so you weren’t going to lament your choices too much.

The only real downside to not having a partner was that it often left you unsatisfied sexually. You had certain tastes when it came to sex that often left any regular one night stand you could pick up at a bar a decent replacement but ultimately left you bored and unfulfilled. Which is what brought you to Passion’s Playhouse. It was a kink venue and sex dungeon open a couple nights out of the week where people interested in kink and BDSM could go to do scenes. You often went there when you were pent up and needed a relief to the tension running a business did to you. It was open to couples and singles so you were almost always able to find a partner, sometimes join in with a couple if you were in the mood.

It was a rainy spring evening when you had decided to go and find someone to have some fun and mindless sex with for the evening. You had just finished a shift at the bakery, the spring season ushering in a lot of orders for stuff like carrot cakes, carrot loaves, carrot brownies, carrot rolls, carrot cheesecake. All of it slathered in copious amounts of cream cheese frosting. It was so much carrot you thought you were going to be sick if you saw another one of those evil orange vegetables or a block of cream cheese again. It was nearly as bad as pumpkin season in the fall. You came out of the bakery smelling like Cinderella’s carriage for months!

When you got to the club you checked your things in at the lobby then went to change. You had a few different outfits you wore to these evenings, the most lazy of which aside from full nudity was a nice black lingerie set. Simple, practical, and sexy.

Entering the back rooms you stepped into a softly lit dream of leather furniture, the perfume of sex, and chorus of moans. Couples were intertwined doing scenes or having sex, some people milled about talking and laughing, you noticed the dungeon master walking around keeping an eye out for anyone breaking any rules.

You decided to make your way to the other end of the room to the bar and grab a drink. Nothing heavy since you had to drive home later, but enough to warm your belly and loosen up after a long day.

You leaned against the bar sipping your drink and feeling the heat and desire in the room warm you up. It wasn’t long until someone approached you. Handsome guy, little stubble wearing tight fitted shorts and a leather harness.

“Here by yourself too?” he asked.

“Yeah. You been here before? I can’t say I recognize you.”

“A couple times.”

“I see. Here to socialize or to have fun?”

“Fun if I can get it.” he looked you up and down, “You interested or are you just here to socialize?”

“I’m interested.” you smiled, finishing off your drink. “Anything you’re into in particular?”

“Up for pretty much anything so long as I get called master and can sink my tongue in someone’s pussy.”

“Good to hear. You any good at tying rope?”

“I teach how to tie rope.” he said with a disbelieving smile. “I actually just got hired here to teach a class every month.”

“Really?” you brightened. “So if I said I wanted to be suspended from the ceiling?”

“I could have that ready. Is that what you want?”

“Maybe not complete suspension but hoist my arms above my head and I’d like that a lot.” you were vibrating now with excitement and expectation.

“Any hard or soft limits I should know about? Medical conditions?”

“I’m into some verbal degradation but I respond better to praise. I also prefer submitting as a brat but for this I can be obedient. I’d also like to not be edged today but overstimulation is okay. No medical conditions.” you told him. “You?”

“No medical conditions but I do have a soft limit on pain play. I don’t know if that may come up in the scene but I’m not into it in case we end up doing something else after.” he explained. “Any particular names you like to be called?”

“I like brat or pet, I pretty lax on names though. And you want to be called master?”

“You got it. Shall we then?” he gestured a hand out to the floor.

“Let’s.” you took his hand and followed him through the bodies to the area where you could do rigging. He took a length of soft rope and twined it around your arms, locking them together before hoisting them up and tying it to a ring above your head, lifting you up until you were hovering slightly on your knees. If you stood up the line would be slack but on your knees your arms were held tight above your head.

The scene began with him trailing his lips down your body. You were acting a little bit like a brat by not opening your legs for him immediately, making him force them apart. He laid down with your cunt above his face and started eating you out.

Your arms instinctively pulled on the rope and a thrill went through you with the resistance. There was something comforting and exciting about relinquishing control like this. There was nothing for you to worry about or do, you could just sit here and let a stranger make you feel good.

He’d come up for air to mutter dirty words and praise, listen to you moan for master to keep going and make you come before going back in again. It was all very well but you weren’t quite there despite his best efforts, and he was very good at eating pussy.

You opened your eyes, scanning the crowd of other bodies to see if watching them or seeing someone watching you would help get you off quicker. Your eyes snagged on a pair of eyes that were watching you and your excitement flip flopped into shock when you realized you knew those eyes.

Zayne. Your stoic regular that had been avoiding the bakery all week because he hated the smell of carrot cake was standing fifteen feet away in an all black ensemble that looked like he stepped off the cover of a billionaire erotica novel. Black slacks, black dress shoes, and a black button up with most of the buttons undone, and a piercing gaze.

You knew he recognized you too and he wasn’t looking away. It was as if a trance had fallen over you two. Neither of you capable of looking away but nothing else being done or said. All you knew was that he was watching you and damn it all it was getting you off!

You couldn’t help it. You had someone else’s tongue tracing patterns over your clit and you were so close to an orgasm. Your moans were muted in your ears as you stared at him. His jaw was rigid, his whole body was as still as a statue. But his eyes burned through you as if twin columns of roaring hot flame was pouring out of them.

Oh god! You were going to come! He was going to watch you come!

That thought lodged into your brain and with a single loud drawn out moan you came, your hips grinding down on your partner’s face, and your head tilted back in rapture.

When your orgasm had passed and you dropped your head down again Zayne was still there, still watching. He blinked, the trance broke, and he walked away.

Your partner slid out from under you, asking how you were doing and telling you how good you were but you were still reeling from seeing Zayne. Out of all the customers that you could have run into here it had to be the hot doctor with a sweet tooth, didn’t it?

---

Zayne was sure he knew what to expect to find when entering a place called Passion’s Playhouse. But life liked to throw him curveballs because then there you were, his smiley sweet baker in revealing black lingerie, tied up with rope, and a man’s head slotted between your legs. Whatever voice of reason or decency that would have made him avert his gaze and walk away was drowned out by the roaring of blood in his ears. A feeling as constricting as the rope wound around your arms kept him staring right back at you, watching the way your chest heaved and your legs shook. The moans that left you as you were driven closer and closer to a climax were deafeningly loud in his head.

The moment your orgasm was over and you looked back at him, less a dark fantasy and more the wide eyed business owner he knew he snapped out of whatever had tethered him to the floor and fled behind a pillar, his cock straining against the confines of his pants. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to flush the memory out of his head as if that could make up for witnessing it in the first place. But when he closed his eyes he only saw you, you and your pert breasts and exposed legs and glazed eyes pleading with him not to look away until you had come.

“Damn it.” he hissed under his breath. How the hell was he supposed to look you in the face and order macarons now?

Chapter Text

Zayne was avoiding the bakery. You knew he was. It wasn’t because of the carrot cake either because that event finally ended. No. It had been over a week since you had seen him around and you knew it was because of what happened at the club.

At first when it happened you had been worried and a little embarrassed but then you remembered you were literally in a sex dungeon full of people and it slowly went away. If Zayne was there it was because he had the same kind of sexual interests as you. That was nothing to be embarrassed about. You were a proud defender of people being able to indulge in whatever fantasies or kinks they had. The fact that the doctor with the chilled stare was into some kinky stuff isn’t what bothered you.

Honestly, what was bothering you most was the fact that he was avoiding you now. You understood that it was a bit of an awkward situation but really you were both adults. He shouldn’t be avoiding your work just because of what he saw.

You also knew it was presumptuous to think that he was avoiding you and not just busy. But that man came in every single week! And suddenly he wasn’t around after what happened at the club? Coincidences happened but you believed they were far rarer than people liked to think. His absence was no coincidence, you’d bet money on it.

You wanted to see him. You figured that if you could talk to him you could clear the air and straighten everything out. But unless you wanted to drag yourself over to the hospital and barge into his office you had to wait for him to turn up on his own. You could also lure him in.

You had no idea if luring would actually work but it was an idea. You went through the recipes and flavors you knew Zayne liked best and came up with an idea for a limited time event that should be hard for him to resist. It was more work than should have been necessary to talk to a regular that you saw at a kink club but his absence was really bothering you.

It was relatively simple in the end. You made blueberry tarts with chocolate crust dusted with powdered sugar and garnished with a sprig of mint. Then all there was to do was wait.

Sure enough, you saw him come in head bowed low over his phone as he approached the counter. One of the others was manning the counter and you politely took over and had her go help boxing pick-up orders.

“Hello, what can I get for you today?” you asked as cheerful as you could.

Zayne froze, his head tilting up from his phone, hazel eyes staring at you from behind the fringe of his dark hair. Your bravado wavered a moment but you kept your smile up. “Oh um…” he shoved his phone in his pocket and you noticed the tips of his ears turning pink. “Yes I am.”

“You are what?” you asked, confused.

His eyes widened again as he realized the slip up. “I meant I’ll take one of the chocolate blueberry tarts. Apologies. My mind seems to be elsewhere today.”

“No worries.” You turned to get one of the blueberry tarts. “How are you? I haven’t seen you in for a while.”

“I’ve been busy but I’m doing fine.”

“That’s good to hear.” you packaged up the tart, taking your time so you could ease into the conversation. “So, any plans for the weekend? Are you planning on going out tonight?”

“Pardon?” he asked.

“I was just wondering since I saw you the other week if you were planning on hanging out there again.” you said, hoping your vagueness wouldn’t be picked up by the other customers.

His ears were burning red now and he glanced away. “Oh that place.” he cleared his throat. “I was not planning on it. I hadn’t even planned on going the last time, it was just a whim.”

“A whim for a party you have to fill out an entry form to even get into?” you cocked a brow up at him.

“Yes.” he still wasn’t looking directly at you. “How much do I owe for the tart?” he asked, digging into his pocket for his wallet.

You took the card he handed you and swiped it. “Do you have some free time right now?” you asked.

“I suppose I do.” he said. “Why?”

“Cause I think we need to talk.” you handed his card and receipt back to him. You called over your shoulder, “Franny, I’m going on break. I’ll be back in a bit.”

“Okay!” Fran called back, taking up her spot at the counter again. You hung up your apron and moved around the counter.

“Come on, doc. Let’s go for a walk.” you nudged him, indicating him to follow.

He seemed dumbfounded by the abrupt invitation but followed nonetheless. You walked down the street until you got to the nearby park. You wanted to get away from the more crowded street for such a conversation, private as it was.

“So, was that your first time there?” you asked, not bothering to beat around the bush.

He seemed surprised by your bluntness but nodded. “It was.”

You had thought as much. “Listen, I know that you must feel awkward about us running into each other there but I wish you wouldn’t. The Playhouse is a place where you go to see and be seen, it’s not like I’m mad or upset that you saw me.”

“I had not expected to see anyone I knew there.” he said quietly. He glanced around to make sure there was no one around to overhear you.

“Unless you are someone who is very active in the community you aren’t going to expect to see someone you know at one of those parties so I do understand the reaction. I was pretty skittish and awkward when I first started. It was a big step to go to a place like that for the first time.” you craned your neck to try and see his face better. “Do you have an interest in kink or was that night just for novelty?”

“Why do we need to talk about it?” he asked, finally glancing over at you again.

“Because I don’t want one of my best customers to avoid his favorite bakery because he saw me in a negligee. And there’s nothing wrong with being interested in kink. Judging by your reaction though I’m going to go out on a limb and say that this is all a little new to you, am I right?”

Zayne sighed, running a hand through his hair. “We’re really talking about this. Okay.” He cleared his throat and spoke almost robotically. “I do have an interest but before the other night the most I had done to indulge it was online research. So yes, I am fairly new to the practice.”

“I see. I didn’t see you with anyone so were you there alone or do you have a partner?”

“I came alone. I’m not seeing anyone.” he answered promptly. “And you, do you go to those sorts of events a lot with your boyfriend?”

“Boyfriend?” your brows drew together, “What boyfriend--oh! Oh you mean the guy I was with? He’s not my boyfriend, I had just met him that night.”

Zayne’s eyes widened a fraction, the red in his ears trailing down his neck. “And you let him…” his gaze traitorously slipped to your hips before snapping back up.

“That’s kind of the point.” you bit back an amused giggle. “And I wouldn’t say I’m at the Playhouse a lot. I usually only go when I’m looking for some fun or relief. I didn’t see you for the rest of the night so did you get up to some fun of your own?”

“No.” the answer was sharp and immediate.

“And there’s nothing wrong with that either.” you answered calmly, offering him a smile that you hoped was reassuring. “Kink is about exploring things that bring you pleasure and having a safe place to experiment with fantasies. You are not only allowed but encouraged to go at your own pace. Nervousness I’ve come to find is often a different way of expressing excitement, it just gets conflated with fear a lot.”

“You’re very open about all of this.”

“I’ve been in the community long enough that I’m not ashamed of my interests and desires. I’m certainly not scared of talking about it, especially with someone from the same community. I’m not screaming from the rooftops that I’m into BDSM and kink but I don’t feel awkward about it. Discretion is a must in this kind of community. So I apologize if it feels like I ambushed you with this entire conversation but it felt like something we needed to discuss sooner rather than later.”

“I appreciate your candor. Being forthright is an admirable trait as far as I’m concerned.” Zayne looked to relax a little, “And in the spirit of being direct would you mind me asking how you got into all of this? I know that people contain multitudes but I suppose I never saw you as the sort to go into all this.”

“The same could be said about you, prodigy heart surgeon.” you joked. “But if you want to know then I have to say it started with hearing about people using handcuffs in bed and I thought it sounded nice. I started looking into restraints and from there I fell down a rabbit hole. Do I get to know about your awakening too?”

“Oh um…” he didn’t seem ready to have the question turned back on him. “Came across a video that had elements and it sort of spiraled from there.”

“Elements like…”

“Discipline.”

“I see.” You wanted to ask if it was disciplining or being disciplined that interested him but figured that you had pried enough into his personal tastes. “Well, I’m glad you let us talk.”

“I’m glad as well, it was…enlightening.” he stared down at the pastry box in his hands. “I’m also glad that you don’t find anything awkward about what happened. It would have been a shame to stop coming by your shop because of an accident.”

“I literally made a dessert I knew you would like just to get you in the store.” you felt a little ridiculous admitting it. “And it worked.”

“Am I really so predictable?”

“As it turns out, not really.” you caught his eye and you watched his composure slip into a barely there smile. “I just really hope seeing me didn’t turn you off.”

If human expressions could make error messages you were sure that was what Zayne’s face looked like at that moment. “What?”

“From the parties!” you blurted out, mortified at your own phrasing. “I hope seeing me didn’t turn you off from going to the parties. The Playhouse is a really good place to get familiar and comfortable with kink so you should go back when you want to.”

Shit! You were going to bury yourself in a hole and die there.

Zayne wasn’t looking at you again. “Maybe I will.” he said, his voice barely above a mutter.

“You should.” you needed out of this conversation now. “Well, this was fun and I’m glad we talked but I have to be getting back to work. Enjoy your tart and hey, I’ll be by the Playhouse later tonight so if you come by we can hang out, I can show you around, introduce you to some people.”

“I’ll think about it.” he nodded to you, still avoiding meeting your eyes. “Goodbye.”

“Bye.” you turned and went back to the shop, cursing yourself for the slip up over and over. You were so cool and collected and mature that entire conversation then you flubbed it right at the end! And you committed yourself to going to the Playhouse tonight even though you knew you were opening tomorrow. But you couldn’t just not go now that Zayne may show up expecting you to be there.

Why did you do these things?

You came back into the store. There was still a lot of time left for your break but you honestly didn’t even want it at that point. You wanted to get lost in work and take your mind off of everything. Everything like how you now knew that Zayne was into discipline. You didn’t know what side of the spectrum he was on. Maybe he liked both.

Was it really so surprising though? He was a doctor. He’s used to giving commands to patients so wouldn’t it be natural giving orders to a partner? He probably exercised a lot of control. Or maybe he liked giving over control. Maybe after having the weight of lives literally in his hands he just wanted to be commanded and made a mess of--

Damn it all to hell and back!

You could not start fantasizing about that!

---

Zayne returned to work rather reluctantly. He knew he wasn’t going to be able to focus after the conversation he had with you. The little box with the blueberry tart he had bought sat on his desk unopened. It almost felt like he’d be admitting something if he opened it which was ridiculous. It was just a tart.

A tart that you had specifically made just to get him to come to your bakery so you could pull him aside and talk to him about everything he had been trying to avoid for over a week. What you had said was reassuring and did help ease him a bit. You were just so open and honest about it that it threw him. He had always looked at this sort of thing as something that needed hidden behind closed doors. Going to that club had been the result of his curiosity maxing out and also his libido yelling at him to do something more than jerk off in his bedroom after a long day at work.

The last thing he had ever expected was to see you there. Now he was plagued with that image of you all tied up and moaning. It kept popping into his head randomly throughout the day when he let his mind wander. Suddenly there you were in that black lingerie and that desperate look in your eyes as you came right in front of him.

And you were so casual about it! As if it was an every day occurrence and he was the one overreacting! You even invited him to come back to the Playhouse that night as if you were going to a restaurant and not to an actual sex dungeon.

The rational part of his mind told him to avoid all of this. Pretend like none of it ever happened and move on with his life. He didn’t need to explore sexually. He’d be perfectly fine having regular sex with whatever romantic partner he may end up having in the future, if he ever had one. Who needed all those bells and whistles anyway? Who needed things like submission and blindfolds and pretty bakers tied up with string, their naked slick cunt grinding against his face as he ate you out again and again until you were sobbing and trembling and--

“Stop thinking about her like that.” Zayne hissed, to himself. He glanced at the tart again and felt a spike of heat ricochet up his spine. “This is all your fault.”

He opened up the box and took a bite of the tart. Once it was gone he wouldn’t have to look at it anymore and then maybe he’d be able to think clearly.

With just the first bite the sweet combination of chocolate and blueberry exploded on his tongue in a perfect symphony of flavors. You were really good at your job. You always made the sweetest desserts.

The sweetest dessert is probably between her legs.

Zayne groaned, annoyed and ashamed of himself. This wasn’t going away easily.

Chapter Text

Despite the fact that you knew you had to be up early in the morning you still found yourself at the Playhouse that evening. You had more or less promised you would be there in case Zayne actually stopped by. You decided that if you hadn’t seen him by midnight you were going to go home and get a few hours of sleep before heading into work.

Either way you were going to be exhausted the next day so it didn't matter much.

It was pushing eleven and you were thinking about calling it early when you saw him wander into the lobby. “Hey, you came.” You walked up to him. “Wasn't sure if you were.”

“I decided to give it another shot.” He glanced you up and down. You had known you were coming just to spend time hanging out so you had dressed more conservative, a pair of shorts and a crop top you made from an old band tee. Zayne was dressed in the same all black ensemble from last time, minus the undone buttons.

“That's great. Come on, I'll show you around.” You grabbed his arm and tugged him forward. You checked your phones and other possessions at the desk and went back.

Like last time there was a crowd of people enjoying the atmosphere and each others company. Zayne stayed close to you, weaving around intertwined couples as you approached the bar. “Anything to drink?” You asked.

“Oh no, I don't drink.” He said.

You shrugged and ordered a couple of sodas for you both. There was another couple at the bar that you recognized, you had fooled around with them once or twice. “Hey guys,” you approached them, pulling Zayne behind you. “Nice to see you again.”

“Nice to see you too.” They greeted you warmly. “What brings you by and could we maybe tempt you away with us?”

“As fun as that sounds, I'm here as an observer tonight. I'm also showing my friend around.” You gestured to Zayne. “He's new to all this so be gentle with him.”

“Hello. Nice to meet you.” The couple waved at him. “First time at the Playhouse?”

“I've been here once before." He said, hands stuffed in his pockets.

“It can be intimidating.” They chuckled, “I remember it took us at least five visits before we actually got out on the floor. We were just reserving private rooms instead, which is fun but being out with everyone has its perks. Lets you meet a lot of new people.”

“How did you get comfortable with all of this?” Zayne asked, casting a glance at a couple using a flogger at the other end of the room.

“It just takes time and the realization that literally no one is judging you for what you're doing. We're all here because we enjoy this kind of thing. There's nothing to be ashamed or self conscious about.” they assured him.

You stayed talking to them for a bit before you decided to take Zayne around. You showed him the different amenities the club had, where the bathrooms and showers were, where there was a supply station to wipe down equipment and get extra condoms and lube. There were a few private rooms that could be booked out for couples that didn’t want an audience and had different themes. There was a specific section of the club that was specifically for things like knife play since cutting was involved it had to be extra sanitary. You explained that the upper floors were a studio for photoshoots and video shoots as well as the offices and employee break room.

Finally you introduced him to the dungeon master. “And this is Curt, he’s one of the dungeon masters that works here so you’ll see him walking around. He makes sure that everyone is safe and obeying the rules. If things ever get overwhelming or you see someone doing something they shouldn’t be, find him.”

“Always nice to see a new face.” Curt smiled, “It’s either me or Desmond working, you can find us because we wear these neon orange arm bands. Now, as much as I would love to stay and chat I have to go make the rounds. You two have fun.”

“Thanks Curt.” you waved goodbye. “Alright, that pretty much covers everything. Was there anything you had questions about or maybe something you wanted to go back and look at?”

“No. I think I understood everything.” Zayne looked around, “You know, you don’t have to stick to me. You can go have fun if you want to.”

“I’m perfectly fine right here.” you said. “If I was really desperate for something I’d excuse myself but I’m more than content just like this. It’s nice just talking to people and mingling, but you still look uncomfortable it seems. What’s going through that big brain of yours, doc?”

“I suppose I’m more worried about running into someone I know. If I ran into you then I don’t know who else I might see that I know.” he said.

“Understandable. If they’re someone you’re close to it can be jolting and embarrassing. I heard a story once about this couple that came in and one of them accidentally came across their parents. Now that is an awkward situation.”

Zayne paled, looking a little woozy. “You understand that isn’t helping any.”

“Right. That’s an extreme. More than likely you won’t end up running into someone you know but even if you did I like to think it means you learned you have something in common. Yeah, it’s a surprise but it won’t ruin your reputation or anything. They can’t slander you by saying they saw you in the sex dungeon because they themselves were also in the sex dungeon.”

“But I do have a professional reputation to think of.”

“I know. And liking kink does not affect your professional life. It doesn’t make you any worse of a doctor than it does make me a worse baker. And if people want to think of you less as a doctor because you like impact play or ballgags that’s on them, not on you. You’re a grown ass adult. You have a sex drive. It’s normal. It’s not like you’re practicing kink in the operating room. It’s something done in private or in safe spaces like this.”

Zayne looked almost touched. “Thank you. This has been illuminating.”

“And that’s all this visit has to be. You don’t have to dive into anything until you’re ready. Although, I would suggest taking a test just to see where your interests are.”

“A test?”

“It’s more like a questionnaire. It helps gauge what kinds of things you’re into and what you may like exploring. I can send you the link to the one I used.”

“That would be helpful.”

“Great.” you reached for your pocket then remembered you had to leave your phone at the desk. You looked around and saw someone using a permanent marker to write derogatory things on their partner’s thighs. “Oh hey, so sorry, can I borrow that for just a second?”

“Hm? Oh sure.” they handed you the marker.

“Thanks.” you held it out to Zayne, “If you write your number on my arm here I’ll send you the link later.”

“Or we could just go to the lobby and get our phones.” Zayne averted his eyes from the couple on the floor.

“Right. That is an option.” you tossed the marker back to the couple. “I guess I’m done here anyway, what about you?”

“I think I’ve taken in all I can for one night.”

You made your way back to the lobby and checked your items back out. You exchanged numbers and walked out of the club into the cool spring night. “Remember, if you have any questions about anything the test asks you feel free to ask me. Or if you just have questions in general.”

“Will do.” Zayne nodded, staring at the link you sent him. “Get home safe.”

“You too.” you turned and got into your car. That went far better than you had thought. And it was only a little past midnight so you still had a few hours before you had to be at the bakery for opening shift.

Unfortunately three hours of sleep didn’t stop you from being a total zombie when you had to wake up later. You dragged yourself to work and muddled through the opening tasks and baking you had to do before the store opened. You were so dead you were probably gonna have to leave early just so you didn’t end up collapsing. You hated the idea of leaving early on a busy weekend but by the time the store opened and your co-workers came in you were about ready to pass out.

You actually didn’t trust yourself to drive so got a cab back to your apartment and collapsed on your bed. Your collection of plushies went flying off the bed as you thwumped down on the mattress. You weren’t sure how long you were asleep for but you felt more like a functional human when the sound of your phone ringing woke you up.

“Hello?” you yawned.

“Hello, sorry to bother you on a weekend but are you busy right now?” Zayne’s voice snapped you to attention.

“Oh uh, yeah, I’m not busy. What’s up?” you scrambled to sit up, smoothing out your hair as if he could see your napping bedhead.

“You said to contact you if I had any questions.” he said, his voice getting quieter as he spoke.

“Yes. I did say that. What did you need clarification on?” you asked, calming down slightly now that you knew why he was calling you out of the blue.

“Well, I have an idea about what this could mean but I’m taking the questionnaire you sent me right now and it is asking me about degrading treatment. What does that mean exactly? How is that relevant to BDSM?”

“Oh okay. So degradation in this context means that the partners engaged in the scene get off to degrading their partner or being degraded. This can be done through words as well as actions.”

“What does that imply? What sorts of things are being said?”

“You know, saying things like ‘You’re a little whore,’ ‘dumb slut,’ or ‘You’re only good for being a cumdump.’ that sort of thing. And then degrading them physically would be stuff like treating them as mere objects, forcing them to do humiliating stuff, I’ve heard some gentle face slapping is big in that community right now, all of this is done with consent of course.”

“Oh. I guess that makes sense.” You could hear his voice waver a little. It was cute that he got all embarrassed like this. “And people really like that, huh?”

“Yup. I know I like a little degradation during a scene. Nothing egregious but I have to say I’m more of a praise girly. If you mix the two then I’m in heaven.” Okay, calm down, he didn’t ask to know all your kinks. He had just barely gotten over the whole watching you orgasm thing, you didn’t need to make him spiral further by telling him how you liked being called master’s perfect little slut.

“Mix?”

“You know, praising them while also still degrading them. Like, ‘my good little fuckhole is taking it so well.’ That sorta thing.” You were starting to regret telling him he could ask you anything because you were turning yourself on thinking about all of this. That was not what you needed right after a nap!

“Little fuckhole…” he muttered so quietly you barely heard it. Zayne cleared his throat. “I--I see.”

Zayne stuttering was something you didn’t know would sound so cute. You couldn’t help but tease him a little. “That doing anything for you or is it not up your alley?”

“It’s fine…good even.” he cleared his throat again. “Sorry for calling you up like this. I probably should have just looked it up myself.”

“No no, it’s fine. This is why I gave you my number. Did you have any more questions?” you shook off your embarrassment and horniness and kept talking.

“No. Not right now.”

“Okay. And you can always text me if that’s easier.”

“I didn’t think I’d be able to type the words. It’d feel too permanent.”

“Ah, no papertrail. I understand.” you only used private tabs to look up stuff early on too. “Well, good luck to you on the rest of the quiz. Let me know what your results are when you’re done. I’m curious to see what you get. I’ll even send you my results so it’s fair.”

“Sure. Goodbye now.”

“Bye.” you hung up. You laid back on your bed, legs pressed tight together. The mental image of being bent over your bed while someone with dark hair and hazel eyes spoke dirty words of praise and degradation would not leave you alone now. That low timbre of his voice, hot breath on the back of your neck as you were used like a toy. Little fuckhole.

“He just had to repeat that part didn’t he?” you muttered, thighs clenching closer together. Your brain was playing it on repeat, adding onto it in his same voice.

Little fuckhole. Master’s little fuckhole. Master’s little fuckhole is doing such a good job. Say it. Say what you are, my beautiful little fuckhole.

“Master’s beautiful little fuckhole…” you whispered to your ceiling.

“Ugh!” you rolled over, blindly reaching for your bedside table and the vibrator in the drawer. Maybe you’d calm down after an orgasm.

---

The questionnaire was certainly helpful in the ways that Zayne expected it to be. It was nice to have explored his comfort with different types of kinks and dynamics to see where he leaned. The downside was that after he had made that call to you each question he answered he kept thinking about you. It wasn’t just, how would he feel about using restraints on a partner but instead his brain kept asking him how he would feel using restraints on you specifically. And it just kept on going like that. Would he like punishing you? Would he like being hit by you? Does his pleasure not matter if it gets you off?

Eventually he had to stop swatting the thoughts away and correcting himself or else he’d never finish the damn quiz.

All of this could have been avoided if he had just looked it up on his phone instead of calling you. Why had he even called? Why hadn’t he just texted like a normal person? He had to call you and hear you say all those dirty things as if it was the most natural thing in the world. He wasn’t proud to say that hearing you say all those things made him a little stiff in the pants. It certainly didn’t go away for the rest of the quiz, only getting more noticeable and harder to ignore the more he kept imagining a number of the scenarios presented to him with you as his partner.

Why was he acting like this anyway? It wasn’t like he was some wide-eyed virgin in his freshman year at university. He’s watched porn. He’s had sex. He’s had plenty of regular sex before deciding to get into kink. It was not as if you were the first woman he ever saw have an orgasm. So why were you invading his mind like this?

It’s a phase. He told himself. You were the first real introduction he had to kink that wasn’t through a screen and you were being so kind as to help him get started and familiar with the community it was only natural that you kept popping up in his head. It was affiliation. Once he was settled and he didn’t need to rely on you for guidance then all of this would go away and he’d stop having perverted fantasies about you wearing nothing but your apron.

Once he finished the quiz he looked over the results. The results he had promised to send you. Was he really going to send this to you? You were going to know all the things he was into.

You promised to send him your results as well. He was going to know without a shadow of a doubt all the things that you preferred in the bedroom too. He knew a few already like how you liked being tied up and degraded and praised. He knew you liked having an audience…

Shit. His spiral earlier had almost gotten rid of his hard on but now it was back.

This really wasn’t how he imagined spending his day off. Before last night his plan was to go to the library and do some grocery shopping. Now instead he was sitting at his desk, laptop opened to a BDSM quiz, and an erection that was pressing more insistently against his zipper the more he kept thinking about you.

He opened a different tab on his laptop and went to his preferred site for porn. His fingers typed in what he was looking for, certain tags leaping onto the screen. Degradation. Praise. Restraints. Baker.

His gaze halted when he realized he typed in that last word. Nope. No. He wasn’t flying that close to the sun.

Hit delete. Hit. Delete.

*Enter*

The screen filled with a large array of videos descending in relevancy. One title caught his eye.

Naughty Bakery: Morning Shift (daddy rails and degrades me on front counter. Ribbon restraint. Apron. Creampie)

Fuck. The girl in the thumbnail even had a small resemblance to you. Same face shape and hair color but she had pink colored contacts in and the size of her chest was wrong. The looping five seconds of video that played when he hovered over it showed her sat on the front counter, apron barely covering her jiggling chest while she was being pounded, face twisted in ecstasy.

*Click*

It was embarrassing just how fast he came after watching that video. Even more so when his vision went out of focus, blurring the actress’s face enough for Zayne to imagine it was actually you instead. The voice wasn’t right but that hardly mattered when he spent himself into a tissue. The video still had a few minutes left on it, the camera pushing in close on her raw abused pussy as she squeezed out a glob of thick cum.

He closed everything, leaning back in his chair as the high of the orgasm faded and the sour taste of regret settled over him. “What am I doing?” he muttered to himself.

He cleaned himself up and dusted himself off. “This is fine. It was a slip up. She’s on my mind a lot because she’s helping me and because everything is sex related that’s why she keeps popping up as a fantasy. That’s it. I indulged the fantasy this one time, there’s no more curiosity now. I’ll be fine so long as I don’t make a habit of it.”

Saying it out loud was supposed to make him feel more certain in his reasoning but it all sounded like excuses instead.

Zayne decided to take his mind off of everything and head to the library. He picked up a few books he had been meaning to read and on his way back to his house he ended up passing by your bakery. Normally he would have gone inside and picked up a snack to bring back home while he read but it felt far too invasive to go inside after what he had watched earlier. What if you were manning the front counter again? You and your wide easy going smile and powdered sugar sticking to your cheek. Would he be able to look you in the eye, his brain betraying him by making him imagine you in your work apron without anything on underneath.

Best to skip it for today and see if he could get back to some form of order another day. Yet when he returned home and cracked open one of the books he borrowed he found he couldn’t concentrate. He was rereading the same paragraph over and over and yet couldn’t remember a word of it. His mind kept wandering away to inappropriate things he had thought he had put aside for the day.

“Fine.” he snapped the book closed. “I will indulge it today and get it out of my system so the next time I see her I won’t have any problems…I’m also going to stop talking to myself before it becomes a habit.”

Zayne pulled out his laptop again. The tab with the quiz results was still up. One of the results that he had a high interest in was labeling him as a Rigger/Rope Bunny. He had a feeling what that was but decided to look it up just to make sure. Sure enough it was all about restraints.

It was actually rather fascinating seeing the different types of restraints there were. It was not just rope and handcuffs, basically it was about any kind of bondage material. The more he looked into it the more he realized how little he actually knew. Like, he didn’t know about spreader bars before this. The images he came across made his pulse quicken.

While doing his research he came across some other bondage he hadn’t heard about before, something called shibari. It was a rope restraint but instead of doing a basic knot to restrain your partner it was about creating an artistic piece out of rope and your partner. Zayne had to admit, the complex knotwork and designs people made to cross over their lover’s body were actually quite beautiful.

He was scrolling through some images and how-to guides when his phone lit up with a notification with your name. He opened it and saw a seemingly innocent text.

Hey! I was just wondering if you finished taking your test yet

Deep breath. Nothing to get embarrassed about. You have been drilling it into his head that his interests are nothing to be awkward about or ashamed of.

Yes, I did. Did you still want to see the results?

Your response came in a moment later.

Only if you want to! I am really curious though

He could deny sending you the results but what was the point at this moment in time? Had he not already crossed so many boundaries with you already? He sent over the results and waited with some level of anxiety to hear your response. His phone pinged again and he took a beat before looking at what you said.

Hell yeah! We’re switch buddies!

Zayne snorted just a little. That seemed a very keeping in character reaction from you.

You got a 100% on restraints. That’s hot ngl. Did I inspire you??

He could tell by the silly little emojis you added that you were teasing him but he certainly couldn’t admit that you were partially right. Before he could think of a response another text popped up.

Some things I’m honestly a little surprised about but all around these are good results imho

This is a great jumping off point. Is there anything in particular you are looking forward to trying or learning more about?

Zayne didn’t know exactly how to respond to that. There were many things he was curious about but where to start? He glanced at his computer that was still open to the shibari guides he had been looking at.

Well, there is this type of bondage called shibari that piqued my interest.

You responded almost immediately.

Oooooooh!!! The Playhouse actually does a shibari class every month! You can go to that if you want to try it out irl

Zayne blinked at the screen.

Really?

A link to a website was sent to him.

Yepper! And don’t worry, people are fully clothed the entire time. It’s really just a class to learn knots and safety.

Have you been to these classes?

I’ve been to one before but I have to admit my hands are better at braiding bread than tying knots.

Zayne paused, unsure what to say now. After a minute of silence you texted him again.

If you want, I can go with you as your partner that way you don’t have to pair up with a stranger.

He hadn’t even thought about that. He was still nervous about attending such a class and the idea of having to pair up with an absolute stranger only made it worse.

That would be a relief, if you wouldn’t mind. I’d hate to put you out.

Never! It’ll be fun! Look over the link I sent you and see if the date of the class works for you. If you can’t make it lmk and we’ll figure out another time to go

He let you know that the date worked for him and you expressed your excitement about going once more. Zayne felt more at ease knowing that he’d have you there to steady him. Then he glanced at his laptop and his blood froze.

He was going to a shibari class with you. He was going to spend an entire afternoon tying rope around your body and from the examples he had seen they could get quite…intimate. An entire afternoon with his hands on your body while you smiled sweetly and innocently just as you had at the Playhouse when you were showing him around. So at ease with everything while he felt like he was going to combust from the scenes going on around him.

He should have got masochist on his results because it seemed he was a true glutton for torture.

Chapter Text

You were excited about going to this shibari class with Zayne. Being more of a rope bunny instead of a rigger there was still stuff for you to learn but these classes while about the pair were mostly for the riggers to learn weaves and knots. You had been on this scene for a longer time so you could have went to one of the intermediate courses being taught that day but since it was Zayne’s first time you had to go through the beginners course. Nothing wrong with that, it just meant any of the more exciting or complicated knots you would have liked to have tested out wouldn’t be done.

Zayne was rather quiet as you made your way to the Playhouse. It was strange seeing the club in the light of day and all the overhead lights on inside instead of the typical mood lighting. You walked down into the dungeon, space had been made in the center of the room with the rigging station. Two instructors stood at the front and you recognized the one as the man that ate you out a couple weeks ago. He had said he was teaching this class, didn’t he?

You pulled Zayne along as you went to greet him. “Hey, fancy seeing you here.” you said.

“Oh hello, almost didn’t recognize you with clothes on.” he joked. “I realized like an hour after we went our separate ways I had never even asked your name.”

“Is there not a certain appeal to that?” you chuckled but introduced yourself.

“Nice to formally meet you. My name’s Gabe. You’re here for the class, I assume.”

“Yeah, showing my friend Zayne around. He mentioned he was interested in shibari so here we are.” you glanced back at Zayne who was staring intensely at the instructor. “Zayne?”

“Yes, nice to meet you.” Zayne said, gripping Gabe’s hand a little harder than necessary. “I was looking forward to the class.”

“Glad to hear it.” Gabe flexed his hand. “Um--oh! This is my partner for our demonstrations, Jamie.”

“Hello,” Jamie waved. “You guys should find a place to sit, we’re gonna start soon.”

“Got it. Come on, Zayne.” You turned around and found a good spot amongst the pairs to sit and listen.

“So, you seem very casual about all of this.” Zayne said, casting a glance back at Gabe.

“Oh, because of a few weeks ago? I mean, he’s nice and we understood that we were just having fun when we met. I don’t think there’s a need to be awkward about it.” you shrugged.

As the class began they went over the rules and safety precautions of the class. Everyone was given an equal length of rope and a pair of shears to cut through them in case of an emergency. Before beginning any knot tying though they had everyone stand and stretch, warming up their muscles and ridding the body of any stiff joints before sitting back down.

“We’re going to start with a few simple knots just with the rope to get you used to working with it before we move on to tying it around your partners.” Gabe explained.

Zayne kept close attention, following instructions diligently like a programmed robot. His work was far from stiff though. You watched his hands move deftly as he wove the rope around in knots over and over. You hadn’t really noticed until now but on his hands and up his forearms were various slanted scars that stood out in pink lines against his pale skin. You couldn’t think of any reason why he would have so many scars like that. You doubted it was occupational so maybe an old injury? A car crash perhaps?

Watching the scars move and flex with his arms was entrancing. He had such long fingers…

You shook the thought from your head. You had been doing such a good job behaving normally around him after the other day. You were kind of embarrassed about getting yourself off to the thought of him that day he called you to ask about degradation. Then ended up masturbating again when he sent you his results and your imagination started running wild with all the scenarios with your similar kinks.

You were here to learn and help your friend. That was it. No more impure thoughts!

After the safety precautions were done and the knots were more or less mastered it was time for everyone to start tying their partners. “Remember, as the rigger it is your job to make sure your partner is comfortable and safe the entire time. Part of shibari is moving with your partner, guiding their bodies as you bind them.” Gabe said, “What you choose to do in your free time is your business but here we aren’t going to be tossing our partners around or commanding them. For this class your partner is your canvas and you do not want to scuff or disrespect your canvas, understood?”

The class echoed their agreements. “Good, the first restraint we are going to do is called a bunny tie. It is called a bunny tie because the restraint keeps your partners arms bent up by their head like a pair of bunny ears. There are multiple ways to do a bunny tie, the one we are going to do wraps the upper arm to the wrists and hands to keep them in place.”

You moved your arms into position like Jamie did and waited patiently as Zayne went through the steps one by one. Despite the many times you had been tied up before, your heart started racing. Each brush of his fingers and twist of rope around you made your jaw clench and your toes curl. You found yourself glad that you were starting with a restraint that happened behind your head. If you had to look at him head on right now you couldn’t be sure that you wouldn’t have gotten flustered…well, more flustered.

I’m being ridiculous. You thought to yourself. It’s just a class. He isn’t tying me up to have his wicked way with me. Not that I would be opposed--

Your head slumped forward, annoyed at yourself for letting your thoughts run rampant at such a time.

“Are you okay?” Zayne asked, pausing his work to check in on you, “Is it uncomfortable? Do you need a break?”

“No, no, I’m fine.” you assured him, your voice more chipper than you had intended, “My neck is just a little stiff.”

“If you’re sure.” he leaned around you to look at your face, “Let me know if you need to stop, okay?”

“Will do.” you gave him a smile, hoping that was enough to appease him that nothing was wrong.

The demonstration ended and the other pairs around the room took the time to appreciate their creations. There were differing levels of how nice each of them looked, some had uneven lines, some were looser than they should have been. You couldn’t tell how Zayne’s turned out until Gabe came around checking everyone’s work.

“Wow, that’s about the most perfect bunny tie I’ve ever seen.” he said, tugging gently against your restraints to test them. “Not too tight either. Is this really your first time doing this kind of thing?”

“I’m good with my hands and good at following instructions.” Zayne said, his jaw clenching slightly when Gabe tugged on your restraints.

“I’ll say.” Jamie came over, their arms still up in the restraint. “You could probably skip straight to the advanced class if you’re this good already.”

“I prefer to start at beginner and work my way up as is expected.” Zayne said. “I don’t want to run the risk of missing something important by jumping around.”

“Well said,” Gabe clapped him on the back.

One of the other workers that stood by for safety and first aid reasons walked over to your group. You recognized her, Elektra, she was usually around in the evenings handing out condoms and making sure people wiped down equipment after they were done. “Hey girly,” she beamed, “Do you mind terribly if I get a picture of you for the website? I’d love to put it on the class gallery so people can see the type of ties the course offers.”

“Oh yeah, I don’t mind.” You knew the Playhouse would be careful with your pictures. Even though you were fully clothed there were those who may try to take advantage. Thankfully, certain items on the Playhouse website, like the gallery, were only accessible to people who were members like yourself. They were also copyright protected so if anyone tried to use them or post them without express consent from the company and the individual then the offender was fined, their membership revoked, and the images removed from wherever they reposted them to.

Zayne stood off to the side while your picture was taken. “You don’t want to get in with your partner?” Elektra asked him.

“Oh no, I’m fine over here.” he said.

With that finished up the knots were undone, everyone took a break to stretch out their arms and get a drink of water before sitting back down for the next restraint. Now, you knew that Zayne was rather quiet and reserved but his absolute silence was worrying you a bit.

The next restraint they were teaching was an arms ladder tie so you were facing Zayne this time as he draped the rope across the back of your neck like a halter top and started twining it around your arms.

“Zayne,” you whispered so not to disturb the lesson. “Everything alright? You’re really quiet.”

“I’m fine.” he said, not looking up at you.

“Are you sure? You’re not uncomfortable or anything?”

“No. I am perfectly well.”

You sighed, wishing he would give you something more to work off of.

So you stayed silent and watched him work. He was so precise and careful with each inch of rope he wrapped around your arms, tight enough to restrain but not enough to hurt or cut off circulation. His hands gently caressed your arms, moving them so slightly whenever he needed to weave under them. You could easily imagine those same hands in sterile gloves operating on a patient with the same kind of care he was showing here with you.

Yet you saw his BDSM test results. You knew what else he was capable of doing with those hands, or what he wanted to do with them. You could imagine it so clearly, touching and teasing, long fingers buried deep in your pussy, leading you to the precipice of an orgasm before taking them away. Punishing, broad hands slapping your exposed and bruised ass over and over. Greedy, a firm grip holding your hips, nails digging into your thighs as he took whatever he wanted from you until you were screaming and sobbing for mercy, unable to get away.

“Too tight?” Zayne’s voice brought you back to reality.

“Pardon?” your body flushed with heat, pooling uncomfortably between your legs. Damn it. This was the problem with silence, it let your mind wander too far into dangerous territory.

“Is the rope too tight? You were making a face.” he asked.

Oh god, what kind of face had you made?

“No. It’s fine.” you stared down at what he had created. The rope crisscrossed your arms down to your wrists, a beautiful geometrical pattern that flowed as seamlessly as an optical illusion. “Wow. It’s pretty.”

“I thought so too.” Zayne said.

“Y’know, Zayne, I have to ask, why shibari of all things?” you asked. “That’s not me being judgemental, I like it too, I’m just curious.”

He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly as he thought. “So, one of the reasons I became a doctor is because I find the human body fascinating. The things the human body can endure, the way one hiccup in your genetic pattern can literally transform a person, it’s amazing. When I look at a diagram or even when I’m doing surgery I can see the complex artistry that comprises a human being from their blood vessels, their bones, the way their skin can stretch and stitch itself together again. The human body is art. Then when I was researching I saw shibari, saw all the complicated knots and ties and ways that people create art with something as simple as a length of rope. It gave me that same feeling of fascination as mapping the nervous system does.”

Wow. Up until now Zayne had been a man of very few words with you. That was the longest you had heard him speak in one go and it was honestly beautiful. There was a wistfulness in his eyes as his fingers ran over the rope around your arms. “To create something like this on a canvas as interesting as a human body, I couldn’t ignore it.”

“So it’s more about the artistry of it than the kink.”

“I wouldn’t say that. This class has practical uses too.” his eyes flicked to yours and your heart leapt into your throat at the knowing glint.

You looked away first, straightening your back. “Good to know.”

Elektra came over to get another picture of you for the gallery, as well as a few other people. You tried persuading Zayne into the picture too but he was resolute in staying off to the side. The class eventually finished and you rubbed some ointment on your arms to avoid any irritation later. It was evening now, what were you going to do about dinner? You didn’t have a whole lot of groceries at home.

“Hey, are you free this evening?” Zayne asked as you started making your way out of the club.

“I don’t have any plans. Why?” you asked.

“Well, I wanted to thank you for being my partner during class and for being a steady helpful presence through,” he gestured to the club, “all of this.”

“You don’t need to do all that. I’m glad to be of help.”

“I insist.”

It definitely beat going home and trying to cook up something with your limited groceries. You also liked the idea of hanging out with Zayne outside of helping educate him. “Alright. That sounds nice.”

You followed him to a quaint little restaurant, nothing fancy of course, pretty standard and casual eats. You sat down and ordered and silence fell over you two again. You refused to let your mind go wandering into inappropriate thoughts again and cleared your throat. “So, how did you like the class?”

“It was educational.” he said. “Thank you for accompanying me.”

“Not a problem, I was happy to be there.” you drummed your fingers on your glass, “Do you think you’ll go to another one? With how well you did today you could enter the advanced course next time.”

“I’ll think about it. I’d like to but it is a matter of having the time and I’d hate to have to call you out every time I need a partner.”

“Don’t be afraid to call me. This is more or less my domain, I like going to these kinds of things and learning more.” you shrugged. “But on the subject of partners, you said before that you aren’t seeing anyone right now. Are you maybe hoping to meet someone now that you’re getting involved in this stuff more?”

“I don’t think I have time for anything that serious.” he sighed, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “I am usually very busy with work at the hospital it makes commitments like having a girlfriend a near impossibility. I barely have the time to be indulging in going to the club and these classes in the first place. As much as getting into practice may interest me, it’s just not feasible.”

“I understand that all too well.” you muttered, stirring the ice around in your glass, “When I first decided to open the bakery it was a lot of pressure. I was working all the time to afford to open, working on the bakery when I wasn’t at my job, then when the bakery did open it was even worse. I was a one woman show, working open to close pretty much every day of the week just trying to make this dream work.

“At the end of the day I’d come home exhausted and beat down. I’d be too exhausted to do anything else. My days were only filled with work and the business was picking up but I was losing my sense of self because my life had become the bakery. My relationships both romantic and platonic suffered greatly. Then one day I may have a teeny weeny burnout while I was working. My boyfriend had dumped me the night before after I got off a grueling shift and I went into the work the next day and at some point I just broke. I had seriously considered closing the shop completely just to save me all this stress I was putting on myself.”

“You must have talked yourself out of it considering the bakery is doing well.” Zayne said.

“More like my co-workers and remaining friends basically staged an intervention and told me I needed to take a step back and take a break. I took some time off to relax and clear my head, even got myself laid since I hadn’t had sex in forever during that time. Then I came back with a schedule that didn’t have me there all day every day. I was still there a lot but it was the start that eventually led me to a much better work life balance.”

Zayne hummed in agreement. “I won’t lie, it sounds a lot like myself during med school. I had virtually no sense of work life balance.”

“Sounds like you haven’t improved much given how busy you always say you are.”

“I can’t deny that.”

“You know, maybe this is good for you. I mean, I know being a doctor is a huge commitment and you can’t simply change your schedule to lessen your load like I did but taking the time to acknowledge and address it could help you from crashing out like I did.”

“Maybe so. But still, it leaves all these new experiences as nothing more than research since I can’t…practice with anyone.” there was a tinge of red at the tip of his ears.

Your food arrived and you both dug in.

“You know Zayne, you can practice without having a girlfriend.” you told him in between bites. “I mean, most experiences I have nowadays are people I meet for a single night at the Playhouse. You could do the same.”

He nearly choked on his food, looking at you shocked. “Apologies. It is just, I do not feel as if I can perform something as intimate as kink and sex with a stranger. That’s no judgement on you or anyone else who does, it simply isn’t for me.”

“That’s okay too.” you assured him, a sense of relief flooding you as well. “If you don’t want a girlfriend and you don’t want to hook up with strangers you could always make a friend and do stuff with them.”

His brow wrinkled. “Become friends with someone just to have sex? Is that something people do?”

“Yeah, it’s called friends with benefits. No romantic entanglements of any kind or demanding expectations of a romantic partner. You’re instead two friends that occasionally have sex.” you explained. You felt like laughing at his bewildered expression but managed to keep it inside.

“How does that work?” he asked.

“Well, you find a friend that you also consider attractive and mutually agree to have sex without any expectation or desire for a romantic relationship. It's about fulfilling desires with someone you trust. And if someone wants out there's no hard feelings.” there was more nuances to it but that was the short of it to give him an idea.

“And have you done that before? Had a friend with benefits?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh. Are you still friends?”

“Eh, not really. One of them I get coffee with when they’re in town but they moved far away so I basically never see them except when they stop by to visit family. More often than not we can’t meet up anyway because of conflicting schedules. The other friend with benefits I had does live in town but he accidentally let slip to his girlfriend that we used to be a thing and she freaked out and basically said the relationship was over if he didn’t stop hanging out with me, which I guess I understand. So he chose his girlfriend and I haven’t talked to him since. Last I heard they were engaged so I guess things are going well for them.”

“Interesting. And when you were together it didn’t make things awkward?”

“I mean, it’s not exactly like we just turned it on and off. Like you’ve said, sex is an intimate thing. I can brush off one night stands like I had with Gabe easily enough but friends can get a little tricky, especially if it goes on for a long time. It can get even trickier when you factor in kink because that’s a lot of trust to put in a person and then you have to engage in aftercare as well. It’s best to really think about it and weigh your options before deciding to engage in that kind of relationship. But if you do then you’ll have a great way to practice kink without the emotional commitment of a romantic relationship.”

“I’ll have to think more on it.” Zayne said.

“Yes, absolutely. Like I said, this is just an option, you don’t have to actually do anything.” you leaned back in your seat. Maybe you needed to consider finding a new friend with benefits if your hormones kept revving up like they had been lately. There was only so much you could do with one night stands and masturbating.

Then you looked up at Zayne, caught him lick a bit of sauce off his thumb and your thighs clenched.

How was this man so nonchalantly hot? Was it because he was always so stoic? You liked to think that you had been behaving very normally around him despite finding him attractive and most of your conversations being almost explicitly sexual in nature. Yet lately he was occupying every fantasy you had. You wanted to blame it on just getting his results but it started before that. Before even that night he stared you in the eyes as you came on someone else’s tongue.

You wouldn’t lie and say that in the time you had known him you hadn’t had a stray thought or two. Back then though he was just Doctor Zayne, your acquaintance with a sweet tooth. Now he was basically your friend, someone that he trusted to help him navigate the world of kink. And all you could think about in that moment was how badly you wanted to be that bit of sauce on his thumb.

You said your goodbyes after dinner and returned home. Your body was buzzing with fantasies and memories of the shibari class, Zayne’s hands carefully roaming you and tightening rope around you. You weren’t even surprised to find that your panties were wet when you peeled them off.

You rifled through your drawer, setting aside your vibrator for the little rose petal grinder you had and strapping it down to your pillow to grind on. You weren’t even trying to pretend like you weren’t getting off to the thought of Zayne right then. It was all too fresh in your head and your body was desperate for release.

You closed your eyes, your hips moving frantically as you ground your sopping wet cunt against the little silicone toy. In your imagination you were back at the shibari class and Zayne had just finished tying your arms behind your back. He pulled you forward onto his lap and shoved your hips down to grind against the bulge in his pants.

“That’s it, my pretty little toy. Keep grinding.” the Zayne in your imagination said. “Does it feel good?”

“Want more.” you whimpered, grinding your clit faster on the toy.

“Only good girls get more, not slutty brats that tease their masters. Do you want to know why you’re a tease, brat?”

“Oh fuck…” you braced your hands on the mattress, the pillow between your legs being squeezed tighter.

“It’s because you told me about friends with benefits but didn’t offer to be mine. Maybe if you had you’d be riding my cock right now, instead of being so unfulfilled.”

“Zayne!” you cried out, the fantasy beginning to fracture as your orgasm got closer.

“That’s why you mentioned it, isn’t it? You’re not just being a good friend, you want me. You want all the things you know I want to do done to you.”

“Please! Please please please!” you whimpered, shoving two fingers in your mouth as you danced right on the edge.

“What a greedy little brat.”

You came while blubbering out pleas and Zayne’s name on repeat. You fell back against the bed, pillow still sandwiched between your thighs as your cunt fluttered around nothing.

After the stars had cleared from your vision you let out a little huff, pressing the heel of your palms to your eyes. “I am so screwed.”

Chapter Text

A strange sort of calm settled over Zayne. Not an actual calm like being in a lone mountainside cabin enjoying the snowy peaks and evergreen trees. It was the calm of a bomb slowly ticking down to its inevitable explosion.

He went about his days as normally as possible. He got up, had a morning workout, went to work, went home, made dinner, went to bed. That was his routine. He liked his routine. Yet at every single turn in his routine there were sprinklings of you.

You who sent him pictures of what you were baking when you opened the bakery, grabbing a snack from your bakery on his lunch break, driving past the bakery again on his way home, eating the leftover sweets he bought after dinner, and then all the thoughts that came crawling back to him night after night when he got into bed.

Images of you tied up in rope, wide eyes staring up at him, lips stretched wide in a smile as you joked with him. Fantasies of stretching you out on the floor and taking you right there in front of the entire shibari class. The image of you getting off to everyone watching you be used, moaning for him, showing everyone exactly how you felt when he was the one handling you.

Zayne never thought he was a jealous man but seeing that man again, Gabe, had irked him in ways he didn’t know possible. And for what reason? Because he ate you out once weeks ago? And what right did Zayne have to be jealous anyway? You were not in any kind of relationship. You were a kind friend who was taking the time out of your day to help him explore kink. He had no control over who you met with or slept with. So why did seeing you act all chummy with that guy make him tense?

That class truly had been torture for numerous reasons. First with Gabe showing up as the teacher. Then the actual act of tying you up with rope. Being so close to you, touching you so familiarly, watching the rope twist and bind your limbs together. Watching how your body transformed a simple length of rope into a visual and sensual masterpiece. By some miracle he was able to keep cool and not get hard during class. Oh no, that was saved for later that night when he got home.

He had been steadily getting more and more flustered as the day went on. First with the class and then asking you out to dinner which should have been a simple friendly meal but devolved into him stomping down fantasies of being your “friend with benefits” as you put it. And to think the conversation before that started with you relating how much you struggled with finding a work life balance.

When he had gone home that evening he took a cold shower that helped very little to alleviate the heat that curled in his gut. He had promised himself before that he was only going to indulge the fantasies of you that one time and not again. But then he remembered what that girl from the class had said, the one taking pictures. Pictures that would be uploaded to the website gallery.

Zayne held out for maybe an hour before he found himself in front of the computer, logging into his account on the website and heading straight for the gallery. Then there were the pictures as promised. They were all from the class, some of other students but then there was you. Rope tying your arms together, your face staring up at the camera with a proud smile.

Outside of the rope it wasn’t necessarily a scandalous picture. There were plenty of pictures in the gallery that showed people in fetishwear and other states of undress from photoshoots they must have done on the upper floors. You were fully clothed, nothing short or even low cut on. The rope wasn’t a chest harness that accentuated your breasts or anything like that. It was about as innocent a picture you could get from a shibari class.

And still Zayne felt his dick pressing against the fly of his pants the longer he looked at it. He couldn’t even bother feeling ashamed when he ended up coming staring at your picture. Fantasies he wanted to fulfill but never dared speaking running rampant in his head. Fucking you in front of the entire class was just one of them and on the tamer side. His most debauched had to be tying you completely naked to the leg of his desk and using your mouth as a cock sleeve while he controlled a toy deep in your cunt to make you come. He imagined your face streaked with tears as you struggled to fit all of him down your throat and a puddle of your arousal staining his pristine floor.

“Fuck…” he panted as he laid in bed, another dirty fantasy about you flitting away as he came down from the high of his orgasm. The heat of the fantasy giving way to the cold lonely reality of his empty bed.

This was getting out of control. He couldn’t continue on like this. Every time he saw you or thought of you he wound up here. It needed to end. He needed to get laid and as much as he was not the type of person for one night stands it was either that or keep torturing himself like this.

So one evening after a long day at work and another silly picture you sent him of little cat shaped breads you were making at the bakery, Zayne found himself at Passion’s Playhouse. He had debated coming here all day. He was back and forth on whether he actually was going to commit to having a one night stand and what that would even look like. But if he was going to do it he may as well come to the place where everyone is there to do a scene or have sex. How did he even approach someone?

The more he thought about it the more he was regretting it when he walked down into the actual dungeon. It really was amazing what mood lighting did to transform the space from the bright fluorescents that illuminated it the last time he was here for the class.

Much like his first time there, Zayne wandered about aimlessly, his gaze roaming over the space and the people already intertwined. There were others like him, standing alone watching or chatting with others. Could it really be as easy as walking up and asking someone?

“Oh look, it’s tall, dark, and handsome.”

Zayne turned to see who was talking and found himself in front of the couple you had introduced him to the night you came here together. “Oh hello.” he said, a small sense of relief seeing someone he was already acquainted with.

“We saw you wandering around alone. Is your girl not here?” they asked.

“No, I came by myself.” he cleared his throat. “Kind of regretting it now actually.”

“Don’t look so lost, handsome. Branching out on your own is a good thing.” the woman patted his arm.

“May I be forthright with you?” Zayne asked, growing desperate for direction.

“Sure. What’s on your mind?”

“It is just…I feel adrift when she’s not with me. She’s been around helping me basically since I started exploring kink and we’re only friends but I keep thinking about her in ways I know I shouldn’t. Is that normal?”

“Do you get jealous when you think of her with other people?”

“Kind of. A little.” he sighed. Zayne remembered that you had said that you had slept with this couple but it didn’t bother him really the same way it bothered him thinking of Gabe. It didn’t even bother him when he thought of you with your previous friends with benefits. So why did just Gabe bother him so much?

“Alright.” they nodded, “And you said that she’s the one that’s been teaching you everything, being your guide, correct?”

“Yes.”

“So most of your conversations are sexual in nature?”

“Yes.” you were texting about other things but it did feel like the majority of interactions revolved around kink and sex.

“I think I see the problem.” the man said, giving Zayne a sympathetic look. “You are more reserved in your sexuality from what it seems so from your point of view you expect her to be the same way and when she isn’t you get jealous. But the reality is that you two are in this mentor/student relationship and she is someone who is very open about sex so this isn’t as big a deal to her as it is to you.”

Hearing it laid out like that Zayne began to understand what they were saying. It was like he was some naive regency debutante sharing a dance with a rake and thinking that meant they were going to get married whereas it was nothing but harmless flirting to them. He was seeking too much from something that could just be friendly.

“I see your point.” Zayne said, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

“Honestly, the best way to get over this is to talk to other people, branch out and engage with other members of the community. If she is your only connection to this world you’re going to get hung up on her like you are now.” they said. “Unless, these feelings aren’t just lust.”

That snapped him to attention. “What do you mean?”

They tried their best to repress some smiles. “Is it at all possible that you may have romantic feelings for her as well?”

“That is not…” Zayne was searching for something to say, “Frankly, I do not know what it is I feel. There is definitely lust and I admire her as a friend but anything more than that…I don’t know. I don’t think so.”

“That’s the great thing about being young, you have time to figure it out.”

“I’m not exactly that young anymore, I’m far from being a young and naive twenty year old.”

“And we didn’t get married until we were in our thirties. Trust me, you have time.” they gave him a little pat on the back and sauntered off with some wishes of good luck.

Okay. Well, that was helpful at least. It would probably do well to follow their advice and branch out. He needed other people to talk to besides you and he had been avoiding that because he felt awkward and ashamed about his desires. Yet here he was in a place full of people who understood those desires the best. Now if only he were better at actually talking to people he didn’t know.

He wandered around the club, doing his best to strike up conversations with other people, getting their stories and interests. More than once someone tried to entice him into a scene or something but even with this spike in confidence he wasn’t quite ready for that. He did eventually let himself get coerced into being a voyeur for a trio. Two of them were going at it while the third was behind Zayne, keeping his head forward watching them.

It was hot watching them. About halfway through the third behind him placed a hand on his thigh, skirting awfully close to the hard on in his pants. “Do you want any help with that?” she asked.

“I don’t think I’m ready for that.” Zayne said.

She shrugged and went back to massaging his shoulders and neck which didn’t help his erection go down any.

When it was all over Zayne walked away with a feeling of control. He was grateful that he had you around to help guide him and be a steady presence but he was also proud of himself for coming out here on his own. He even did something kinky with others, even if it wasn’t more than watching. It also made him realize just how different you and he were in terms of sex. Whereas this was a big step for him and he still has some shame regarding getting turned on with other people, he knew that you would be happy for him and encouraging him before running off with your own conquest.

Zayne also realized that he could ask you to do a scene with him and you’d say yes and it would be intimate and hot and everything he had been fantasizing about for weeks. But you’d still look at him as only a friend after it was done then tell him to go try using what he learned on someone else. He was honestly jealous of just how free you were. He wished he could bounce from fling to fling as casually as you do. It seemed like you had no worries. But unfortunately Zayne couldn’t help getting invested, at least a little.

“Even with everything I’ve learned I’m still very green in this world.” he muttered to himself as he started making his way to the exit.

He was so close to making it out of there without any problems when fate intervened. Over the chorus of moans a familiar laugh pierced the air. Zayne’s head snapped in the direction of it and saw you. You hadn’t mentioned you were coming tonight. No doubt for a reason, you looked like a wet dream in an old school porn way. The ensemble you had on could only be described as a cheesy naughty school girl costume complete with ridiculously short skirt, button up blouse with an uneven tie, and knee high socks.

You were standing with someone Zayne didn’t recognize, leaning on him suggestively. Zayne knew he should walk away, give you your privacy, but it was as if his feet grew roots. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from your smile, even when it was smothered by the other man’s mouth. Then when his hand disappeared under your skirt and started pumping, your face twisting with pleasure as you let this stranger finger you.

Fuck. He should walk away. He should really walk away and stop watching. This was everything he had been telling himself all night. He had no right or claim to you. You were not in any committed relationship. But still…he wanted to be the one doing that. He wanted to be the one keeping you pinned against a wall while he drilled his fingers into your cunt. He wanted to be the one tying you up while eating your pussy and feeling you come on his face. He wanted to dominate someone and he really wanted it to be you.

The man you were with slipped the tie off your neck and tied it over your eyes as a blindfold. You were smiling, your body trembling with excitement as you were blinded before he hoisted you by the hips and started fucking into you.

Zayne wanted that. He wanted to be a dominant but he doubted he’d even be any good at it. He’s a grown adult with a sex life but in this world he was basically a virgin again! He couldn’t properly dominate you as you deserved, not right now. He’d be terrible at it.

Insecurity came creeping back in. Was it too late to call a quits on being into BDSM? Could he go back to believing he didn’t want all the kinky things and just have regular sex with people who didn’t intimidate the hell out of him?

Stop watching her! He yelled at himself internally. Walk away and stop watching her! She’s not ours. She never was. Stop watching!

---

You were having a rough day--no, scratch that--a rough week. Work was busier than usual since two of your workers got sick so you were working your butt off covering for them all week while they recovered. The price of eggs went up again so now you were having to rebudget. Egg custard tarts were one of your best sellers but with this spike in prices again you may have to cycle them out of your inventory for a while until prices lowered again. It was stressful to say the least.

You came home exhausted, your feet pulsing, hands sore, and brain fried. You’d fall into bed and ended up masturbating to unwind and help you fall asleep after a long day. But as the days pressed on and your stress got higher, your hands and toys weren’t enough to help you destress. Thankfully you had a free morning tomorrow since you didn’t open which meant you could go seek out some more potent relaxant. Which is how you ended up at the club.

It felt like forever since the last time you came by yourself. The last couple of times you had been there it had been with Zayne and you hadn’t done anything more than hang out. It almost felt strange being there without him now. But an upside to not having him there was that you didn’t feel weird about wearing one of your costumes. You decided on a classic naughty schoolgirl outfit that was sure to get attention.

Sure enough, finding a partner wasn’t hard when you did get there. What started as a makeout quickly heated up until you found yourself blindfolded and pinned to the wall as you were fucked hard and deep. It felt good, it really did. You were enjoying yourself but it just wasn’t scratching that itch! The same itch you couldn’t get when you were at home by yourself. It was so frustrating! How come nothing was getting you off?

When was the last time you had a really good orgasm? What had you been thinking about? You ran through the fantasies in your head and realized with no shortage of inner turmoil that the last truly satisfying orgasm you had was when you were fantasizing about Zayne. Damn it.

With the blindfold on it was really easy to pretend too. Pretend that the arms pinning you against the wall were Zayne’s, pretend the cock filling you was his, the mouth biting your neck would leave the imprint of his teeth. The only thing that detracted from the experience was the voice. Just as you were getting into it and it felt like you could come he would say something and it snapped the fantasy of your friend away, reminding you that you were embracing a stranger. A few weeks ago that would have helped you get off, the mystique of not even knowing their name. Now all you wanted was for them to shut up so you could pretend they were someone else, someone you shouldn’t have been thinking about.

You felt the tie keeping you blind start to slip, the hastily done knot coming undone and falling away from your face. Without the blindfold in place you could look out at the room again. It also just proved to remind you that the person fucking you wasn’t--

Zayne! You caught sight of him across the room. Oh dear god above, that was Zayne. He was here? He didn’t mention that he was coming here tonight!

A sense of deja vu overcame you as you locked eyes with him from across the floor. Him standing to the side watching you, his stare piercing and hot. Unlike last time though where he was more stunned into immobility this time you felt like he was staring at you with purpose. He wasn’t shocked to see you so to say, he was watching you because he wanted to and damn it all to hell you wanted him to watch you too.

Your eyes were begging him not to look away. You were finally close to an orgasm and if he walked away you were sure it was going to disappear too. It was a test in self restraint to not accidentally moan his name but you were screaming it in your head.

Please! Please Zayne! Your brain screamed in ecstasy. I want to come so bad! Please! Zayne!

He shoved a hand into his pocket, the motion catching your eye. It was innocuous enough but you could see what he was doing. Adjusting himself. He was watching you and he was hard and he was touching himself and--fuck!

Your breath caught in your throat as you came, this time your gaze never left him. You were scared if you so much as blinked he’d disappear. All you knew was that you felt so good. You felt relieved in a way you hadn’t been for days and you were positive it wouldn’t have happened if Zayne wasn’t there.

Your partner came too, pulling out of you and checking in with you to make sure you were okay. You forced yourself to stop looking at Zayne and assure your partner you were fine and exchanged a few lazy soft kisses for aftercare before setting you down and letting you go for the evening. When you looked up again Zayne was gone.

No! Damn it! Where had he run off to? You had to find him.

Why though? It wasn’t like this was the first time where you could tell he was new and was going to avoid you. You were friends now. He knew that this was normal for you. He had a list of your kinks for goodness sake! So why did you think it was so important to find him?

What were you even going to say to him when you found him? Hi? How was your evening? Did you enjoy watching someone else fuck me and can I please help you with the erection in your pants?

Still, it didn’t stop you from looking around. Why did he have to be in all black? It made him blend in with the walls!

“Looking for your voyeur?” Curt the dungeon master asked when you walked past him for a third time.

“Oh, hey Curt. And yes.”

“Saw him making his way towards the bathroom.” he jutted his chin to the pair of doors at the other end of the club. “I think he may have been embarrassed about relieving that tent in his pants where everyone could see.”

“Right. Thanks Curt.” you made your way over to the bathrooms. You paused outside. It wasn’t your place to go in there, it wasn’t part of the club like it was out on the floor. Bathrooms meant real privacy, not kinky privacy. So you stayed outside, pacing and trying to think of what you were going to say. Was it weird that you were waiting outside the bathroom while he was--was--ah!

You slumped against the wall. What in the actual hell did you think you were doing?

“Oh,” your head snapped up to the voice above you. Zayne had exited the bathroom and caught sight of you dramatically leaning against the wall. “Are you alright?”

“Yes. Yes, I’m fine.” you straightened out. “How are you?”

“Fine.” he cleared his throat. “I didn’t expect to see you here tonight.”

“Nor I you.” you clasped your fidgeting hands behind your back. “We could have come together if I had known you were coming out.”

“No, it’s alright. I’m an adult. I thought I’d try a night on my own…make some friends.” he let the words hang in the air.

Friends. Or at least one special friend you had to guess. “Great.” you plastered on a smile that you hoped was encouraging. “Good idea. I won’t keep you then.”

“I was actually just about to leave.” he said.

“Right.” God you wished that you had just left this alone instead of trying to have a normal conversation like he hadn’t watched you orgasm right in front of him again. “Then I still won’t keep you. Have a nice night.” you turned to escape this interaction.

“Wait.” Zayne called, his hand outstretched to grab you but thinking better about it and tucking it back to his side. “We are friends, right?”

“Yes.” you felt your palms begin to sweat.

“And as my friend I can tell you anything, correct?”

You softened. “Of course, Zayne. What do you want to tell me?”

He wiped his hands off on his pants, casting his gaze around the room and up at the ceiling as he searched for the right words. He glanced back at you and your patient gaze and sighed. “To hell with it,” he muttered under his breath. He squared his shoulders with a steely determination. “I can’t think of a nicer way to put this so I’m just going to say it and I apologize if it is blunt. But I really really want to have sex with you.”

You had a feeling that was where this conversation was leaning but you hadn’t actually expected him to be so forward about it.

“And let me be clear that I do not expect you to reciprocate. I understand that you are a lot more free about this kind of thing but lately I find myself unable to stop thinking about you in such a way and it is becoming detrimental to my mental state.” he said, “If this makes you uncomfortable I understand but I found I could not in good conscience continue on with our friendship without letting you know.

“It is only, every time we discuss kink I find myself wanting you more. It may just be affiliation but it does not erase what I feel. The last thing I want to do is make you uncomfortable and if this has crossed some line then I accept that.”

You paused to make sure he was done then gently reached out and took his hand. “I understand, Zayne. And I have to say I’m also relieved.” His eyebrows drew together. You offered a smile to his confusion. “I’m relieved because I haven’t been able to stop thinking about having sex with you either.”

His mouth dropped open. “Really?”

You bit back a laugh at his shocked expression. “Well, yeah. The only reason I was able to get off earlier was because I saw you.” You couldn’t believe you were actually confessing all of this right now.

“I really want to have sex with you too. I thought that it made me a bad mentor for wanting you like that when I was supposed to be helping you. I was supposed to be this sort of sage guide through kink, teaching you and encouraging you so you had a healthy understanding and got the most out of your sex life. Then I had to go ahead and start wanting you.”

“Is it really that bad?” he asked. “Does it make you less of a teacher or confidant if we have the same desire?”

“Doesn’t it? Shouldn’t this be professional or something?”

Zayne looked around the club then back at you. “Professional? We’re standing outside the bathroom of a sex dungeon and you’re worried about being perceived as professional?”

“Just because it’s sexual doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be professional.”

“Then think of it professionally.” he said. “Call it hands on teaching.”

“Metaphorically or literally speaking?”

He squeezed your hand, something fragile, desperate, and primal in his gaze that made your knees weak and heart race. “Explicitly.”

Chapter Text

To say that the evening had not turned out the way you were expecting would be an understatement. You had left your house intent on going to the Playhouse, having some mindless fun that ended in a good orgasm, and leaving. You had certainly not expected Zayne to be there again, watching you while you were driven into body tingling bliss by someone else. But most of all you hadn’t expected your conversation, your confessions, and the plans you had laid afterwards.

After you and Zayne confessed to being attracted to each other and Zayne suggested that you basically become friends with benefits you set aside a time to talk about it more in detail. You were going to grab coffee and go over whether being friends with benefits was truly the right move and what the relationship would entail if you decided to go through with it.

Needless to say you returned home dizzy with possibility. You had been quietly lusting after Zayne for a while and you knew that you wanted any excuse to be able to sleep with him. Still, you weren’t going to carelessly jump into something as precarious as a friends with benefits arrangement without talking to him about it more. It was the right thing but you couldn’t help the heat that curled throughout your body at the idea that very soon you may have him in your bed.

When the morning came for your coffee date you were a little jumpy. Your baker brain had woken you up far too early so your mind was running through everything that could happen the entire time you were getting ready. You ended up at the coffee shop extremely early but pacing around your house wasn’t helping either.

Upon getting to the cafe it started raining and the pitter patter of drops against the window did help to soothe your mood. You loved rainy days because they gave you an excuse to stay cozied up inside and fire up the ovens for a warm dessert. It was almost a shame that you didn’t open today, you loved the ambience of a silent rainy bakery early in the morning.

Closer to the time you were actually meant to meet up Zayne walked in, slicking rain off his coat and shaking out his umbrella. He ordered a coffee and came to sit down with you. “Morning,” he said, “Have you been waiting long?”

“Not too long.” you lied, not wanting him to know how nervous you really were. “How’s your morning going?”

“Fine, aside from the rain. Yours?”

“Fine.”

You lapsed into silence.

“Okay, so, should we just jump right into things?” You needed this conversation over with so you could move on and stop worrying.

“No way to move forward otherwise.” he clasped his hands in front of him on the table. “Can I say something first though?”

“Of course.”

“I’ve mentioned before that I am not like you when it comes to these sorts of things. When I have sex it is because I know that person, I care about that person, I want to sleep with that person because it is an act of intimacy and connection as well as pleasure. Inviting someone into my bed isn’t something I do on a whim.” His words were carefully chosen as if he had been rehearsing them.

“I understand.” you nodded along. “So the fact that we are here discussing whether we want to sleep with each other is a big deal to you. It is for me too. Just because I’m more “sexually liberated” so to say, doesn’t mean that I don’t recognize that this is important. We aren’t just talking about a one night stand, this is an established arrangement that can go on indefinitely. That isn’t something I would jump into with just anyone I met at the Playhouse. I told you before I’ve only had two friends with benefits before and they were fun but they were still commitments.”

“That does make me feel better about all of this.” he stared down into his mug. He grabbed some packets of sugar and poured them in. You fought back an amused giggle at the sheer amount of sugar he was adding to make his drink palatable.

He caught you smiling and he straightened. “What is it?”

“Nothing.” you swirled your stirrer around in your cup. “So, having it all out there are you sure that this is what you want? You wouldn’t prefer finding yourself a girlfriend or something?”

“I don’t have the time to commit to having a girlfriend.” Zayne sighed. “I’m always so busy with work and using my free time to try dating seems exhausting. I cannot commit to that level of emotional attention.”

“Preaching to the choir.” you muttered, “It seems every time I get into a relationship it crashes and burns. My first priority has always been my business and it’s caused many fights with past partners. Either they felt neglected or they got angry with me for having a hectic schedule. It’s bad. There was one psycho I dated who threw my stand mixer out my apartment window, did I ever tell you about that?”

“No.” Zayne’s eyes widened in horror. “He really did that?”

“Oh yeah, that was a bad rebound relationship that lasted longer than it should have. I haven’t heard from him since so that’s a positive.”

“Wow.” Zayne sat back in his chair, “My worst break up was nowhere near that volatile. She just packed up everything of mine into a box and set it out on the curb for me to pick up so we didn’t need to see each other.”

“Why did that relationship end?”

“She didn’t like how often I was working but she also complained that I was wooden and boring. Said she wanted someone who wasn’t afraid to be expressive and said I was far too cold to be a proper boyfriend.”

“Ouch.” you winced, “That’s harsh. And what was she on about? Boring? You’re pretty stoic but you’re not cold and you’re definitely not boring. I know I have a lot of fun hanging out with you.”

A whisper of a smile graced his face only proving your point. “Thank you.”

“So,” you waved away the topic of toxic exes. “I know that you said you wanted to be friends with benefits because of our mutual attraction and because it’ll let you practice BDSM safely with a trusted partner. I want this because of attraction and because I don’t get to have the kind of experiences or play out the fantasies I desire just from one night stands. I would also feel better knowing that you are learning and practicing kink with someone who isn’t going to take advantage of the fact that you’re still new to this. With all of that said, are we going to be friends with benefits?”

“I think we are.”

“Great. Now we have to discuss what all of this is going to entail.” you started explaining how friends with benefits arrangements usually function and together the both of you hashed out some rules and expectations.

First and foremost was that because you both had crazy schedules all encounters you would have needed to be arranged in advance. That meant no late night booty calls when one of you was horny.

You agreed that while you were in this arrangement you would not sleep with other people as a matter of health concerns.

You also put in the stipulation that while sleeping over at each others places was fine it should be avoided when possible.

Next you decided that you would go out on a “date” once a month. These were pretty important because while the relationship is mainly about sex it was important to remember you weren’t just using each other as sex toys. You were still friends and you still cared about each other as friends and the dates were a way to remember that.

You established safe words, preferring to go with the Playhouse’s traffic light system. Green for everything is good and you wish to proceed. Yellow for pause or less intensity. Red for hard stop and a complete end to the scene. You also talked about soft and hard limits as well as what you preferred for aftercare.

Lastly, you agreed that if either of you wanted to end the arrangement for whatever reason there were no questions asked and no hard feelings.

With everything sorted through the only thing left to do was plan your first scene. It was getting late in the morning though and Zayne had to leave for work. You decided to walk with him so you could keep talking. The both of you huddled under his umbrella as you walked along the rainy streets of Linkon towards Akso Hospital.

“Do you want to do an actual scene when we get together for the first time or would you prefer we start with normal not kinky sex to break the ice?” you asked, turning the collar of your coat up to keep your neck warm.

“Oh um…” the tips of his ears started to turn pink, “Whichever you would prefer is fine.”

You rolled your eyes. “Nope. You don’t get to be passive about this. Choose.”

“A scene would be nice.” he mumbled, “Not something massively intense though.”

“Not a problem, that’s very doable.” you assured him. “I can even be the one in charge this first time if that would be easier. Planning scenes is a lot of responsibility and if you’re not entirely confident then maybe leave it to the more experienced of us to take the lead.”

“I think that would be best.” he looked relieved.

“Don’t worry, I promise to take very good care of you. Then maybe next time you can be dom.” you stood across the street from the hospital. “I guess this is where I leave you. I’ll text you later to figure out a date. Okay?”

“Sounds perfect.” he glanced across the street at the hospital then back at you. “Did you bring an umbrella?”

“No. It wasn’t raining when I left so I forgot it.”

With a small shake of his head he held his umbrella out to you.

“Oh, I couldn’t--”

“The hospital is right there, I can only get so wet. You on the other hand have no umbrella and will be out in the rain longer. Take it.” he shoved it into your hands. “Don’t need you catching a cold.”

“Thanks.” you took it. “I’ll give it back to you as soon as I can.”

“No rush. I’ll be seeing you.” he ducked his head and left the shelter of the umbrella.

“Wait!” you caught the sleeve of his coat.

“What is it?” he asked, turning to look at you.

“I know we’re going to get together some other day but maybe we could do something to break the ice before then.”

“What do you mean?”

“Can I give you a kiss before you leave?”

He blinked, rain catching on his lashes. “Yes. If you’d like to.”

No going back now. You pushed yourself to your toes but chickened out halfway and pressed a kiss to his cheek instead. You cursed yourself mentally for losing your nerve. You could start fucking a guy moments after meeting them but giving Zayne a kiss was too much? You hated where your courage’s priorities were.

When you pulled back he was looking at you perplexed. “What?”

“Are you teasing me?” he asked.

“No. Why would I do that?”

“Because the test results you sent me said that you’re a brat. So I wouldn’t put it past you to try and mock me right now.” He cupped your cheek. “Since you gave me a kiss, does that mean I can give you one?”

“I’m not trying to be a brat.” your body shivered at the touch of his hand, “But if you want to give me a kiss as well that’s fine.”

“Good.” he pulled you forward. Instead of pressing a quick kiss to your cheek he pushed his mouth against yours.

Now, you felt like you knew Zayne fairly well by this point. He was stoic and taciturn most of the time. You were not surprised by the fact that many saw him as a cold person, but you knew it wasn’t the truth. He was reserved but he was kind. His hands were always freezing but the touch they ignited was red hot.

And the kiss? It was everything you had suspected lurked beneath the doctor’s reticent shell. Heat and passion and need. Power and desperation restrained only by the public setting of the rainy street you found yourself rooted to. The sweet taste of his sugar filled coffee licked into your mouth, deepening things further when you tried to take in a breath of air.

Then, all too soon, it was over. He pulled back, his lips pinker than they had been a moment ago. He brushed his thumb across your bottom lip, eyes hooded. “I need to go for real this time.” he said. “Promise I’ll text you later.”

“Right.” you cleared your throat. “Good luck at work.”

He pulled your arm up to put the umbrella back over your head. You hadn’t realized you let it fall back to your side while you were being kissed. He gave you a small knowing smile and dashed across the street towards the hospital entrance.

You stood there a moment, hand hovering over your mouth as the kiss replayed over and over in your head. “God I love rainy days.”

---

It didn’t surprise Zayne how much he enjoyed kissing you. That wasn’t what surprised him. It was how badly he didn’t want it to end that caught him.

Zayne was never one for public displays of affection. He preferred keeping such things private, a quick kiss or holding hands was fine but he never considered himself someone who was okay with embracing someone where everyone could see. Passion was for his partner and them alone.

But you caught him off guard out there in the rain. When you asked to kiss him all he could think about was how he was going to finally get confirmation on how soft your lips actually were. And they were indeed soft, but they had only pressed against his cheek. It was sweet. A kind gesture to break the tension between then and when you would actually sleep together. But by god did he not want to wait any longer to actually taste your lips.

He was surprised to find that you tasted more spiced than sweet, probably due to whatever spiced concoction you ordered at the cafe. Cinnamon and cardamom and a lingering bitterness of dark chocolate. He had a strong sweet tooth, but he found he could quickly become addicted to this flavor, especially if served off your warm mouth.

He could have and would have stood there all day if the rain hitting the back of his head wasn’t a cruel reminder that he was indeed out on a public street across from his place of work. He didn’t want or need any of his coworkers spotting him outside and sparking a line of questions and rumors he didn’t want to deal with. So he pulled away, reminding himself that he would have the chance to kiss you again in the future.

After getting inside he toweled dried his hair and checked his schedule for any free time he had coming up. He texted you what times worked best for him and asked if you made it out of the rain. You responded with a thumbs up and a picture of you in front of your bakery’s large ovens keeping you warm.

Cute.

The work day passed. Once in a while Zayne found himself lingering on your kiss and had to snap himself back to reality. If this was how he was acting after one kiss how useless was he going to be after sleeping with you?

It was soon time for him to learn exactly that. You arranged a time for the both of you to get together for your first scene, an evening that you both had free. He was coming to your apartment. All that you asked was that he bring his preferred brand of condoms but while at the store he ended up impulse purchasing some flowers as well. Was it too much? Maybe. He felt strange that you were putting in all this work for him and didn’t have anything to give you.

Which is how he ended up in front of your apartment door with a box of condoms in his coat pocket and a bouquet of yellow tulips in his hands. You had already buzzed him in and he took a deep breath as he raised his hand to knock on the door.

Knock. Knock.

A moment passed and you answered, face bright with a smile. “Hey Zayne, did you find the place okay?” you stepped aside to let him in.

“Yes.” He held the bouquet out for you. “These are for you.”

“Oh thank you so much! They’re lovely!” you took them and turned to find a vase to put them in. “You didn’t need to get me flowers but I appreciate the gesture.”

“I wanted to.” he toed off his shoes and hung up his coat. “How has your day been?”

“Fine.” you found a large cup from some promotional event and dropped the tulips in along with some water. “I brought home some leftover macarons if you want any.”

There was indeed a little plate piled with brown colored macarons. He picked one up and gave a small sniff before taking a bite. It was the same dark chocolate and spiced flavor he tasted when he kissed you.

“Good, right? They’re dark chocolate and chai flavored macarons. I got the idea after we went to the cafe.” you said with a proud smile.

“Very good.” Zayne may have found his new favorite macaron flavor.

You hopped up on the counter next to the plate of macarons and popped one in your mouth, so at ease in your own home. Your apartment was exactly what he expected too. Cozy and warm, a homier reflection of your bakery but with softer lighting.

You ate macarons and chatted idly about the past couple of days since you saw each other last. A bit of buttercream was caught at the corner of your mouth and Zayne reached out to swipe it away. You blinked at him and he was suddenly flummoxed by his own actions.

“Sorry,” he said, “you had some cream there and--”

You grabbed his hand and brought his finger to your lips sucking the buttercream off his fingertip. He went stock still, gaze following the way your lips wrapped around the digit, tongue swirling around it once before letting go. When your eyes trailed back to his face he literally gulped at the determination and heat in your stare. With one simple action you had pulled him from a friendly chat about work into the beginning of what this night was really about.

“Zayne,” you said, playing with his fingers and trailing your hand up his forearm, slowly drawing him into the space between your spread legs without him even noticing. “Do you want to keep talking about work or do you want to head to the bedroom?”

“I…” This was a horrible time for words to fail him. “Bedroom.” he managed to say.

“Wonderful.” you wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him even closer so you were chest to chest. “Don’t worry, I promised you nothing intense and I’m sticking by it. Tonight, no toys or tools, all you need to do is follow instructions. Does that sound okay?”

“Yes. I can follow instructions.”

“I believe you.” you grinned. “First, tell me our safewords and what they mean.”

“Green is everything is good and wish to proceed. Yellow means we need to pause the scene. Red means the scene needs to stop immediately.” he said. His thoughts were scattered as more of your body came into contact with his.

“And you are?” your breath ghosted over his lips.

“Green.” he was aching to close the distance and kiss you again. “I’m green.”

“Perfect. Don’t be afraid to use your safewords if you need them, your comfort comes first. Now, let’s get started.” you closed the distance first, pushing your mouth against his.

The kiss you had on the street was deep but because he was aware of his surroundings he had been holding back. He didn’t need to anymore. Your hands tangled in his hair, urging him closer. His hands roamed your body, taking in every curve and dip in a way he only allowed in fantasies. You were so soft and pliant in his hands and it made his head dizzy with want.

He ran a hand down your thigh, grabbing the back of your knee and pulling your leg up to try and get closer to you. If he didn’t stop he may have taken you right there on the counter. But he was not the one in charge tonight.

“Zayne,” you grabbed his chin, pulling him off your mouth, “Ready for your first scene?”

“Yes,” he breathed out, already massively turned on.

“Yes, what? You remember what I said to call me when I was the one in charge?” you gave him a pointed look.

“Yes, mistress.” the title fell off his tongue with surprising ease.

You smiled. “Good boy. Where are your condoms?”

“In my coat pocket.”

“Go grab them and give them to me.”

Zayne reluctantly let go of you and turned to grab the box of condoms out of his coat. He handed them over to you. “Perfect.” you hopped off the counter, sauntering a few feet away towards a door. You cracked open the box and pulled out a line of foils. “Follow me.”

He followed you inside to your bedroom. It was more of what he had seen in the entry to your apartment but even more you if that made sense. The lighting was already made soft and dreamy and the bed was made up for what was going to soon follow. This was actually happening. It wasn’t a fantasy conjured in the loneliness of his room. It was real.

You set the condoms on your bedside table and turned back to him. “What we are going to do is simple. I will give you commands, instructions to follow. If you obey them you’ll get a reward. If you fail to follow them then you’ll get a punishment. Understand?”

“Yes, mistress.”

“Good.” you sat down at the edge of the bed. “First command, strip. Starting from the top and working your way down.”

Zayne reached for his shirt, glad he had thought ahead not to wear anything with buttons and pulled it off over his head. He started to reach for his belt next but you held up a hand. “Wait.” you said. “Take it slow, no need to rush.”

A show? Is that what you wanted? He wasn’t sure he was someone who could put on a show but you said slower so he went slower. Taking his time in undoing his belt and pulling it off, letting it clatter to the floor along with his shirt. Next was his pants, undoing the fly and pulling them down his legs. He stood for a moment, hands hovering over his underwear and looked to you. You gave a slow nod and he pulled them off as well.

“Do you want me to take the socks off as well?” he asked, now stark naked in the middle of your bedroom, his dick already at halfmast.

“You can keep those on if it makes you more comfortable.” you chuckled and stood up. You walked up to him, placing your hands on his chest, gently exploring his exposed flesh with a predatory curiosity. Like a cat weaving through your legs you trailed your hands across his body, leaving him to wonder if you were seeking attention or luring him into a false sense of safety before sinking your claws in.

“Good to know the good doctor isn’t a hypocrite.” you said, trailing a hand down the center of his chest, “It would be rather hypocritical to encourage your patients to practice healthy living if you weren’t. By the sight before me though, you keep yourself very fit.”

“Thank you.”

You pressed a kiss to his chest, right above his heart. Your lips made a journey across his torso, quickening his breath. When you nipped playfully at his shoulder is when his arms moved to hold you, wanting to feel you against his body. Before they could close you stepped away out of his reach.

“I didn’t say you could touch.”

“Sorry.” he snapped his arms back to his side.

“Apologize properly.” you told him.

“I’m sorry, mistress.” he suddenly couldn’t stand the distance, he wanted you near again.

“I’ll forgive you since it’s your first time but you need to remember to properly address your dom. Use their title unless told otherwise, okay?”

“Yes, mistress.”

“Good boy. You really are a fast learner.” you grabbed his hand and pulled him in for a kiss. “Sit down on the bed.”

Zayne sat down, waiting for further instructions. You stepped into the space between his legs, grabbed his arms and settled his hands on your waist. “Now it’s my turn. Strip me. Start from the top and move down.”

Zayne had seen you in states of risque clothing that left little to the imagination. But there would be no need to wonder any more.

Unlike Zayne who had chosen something easy to take off you had decided to wear a button up shirt so he had to painstakingly undo every little button. You had to have done it on purpose. Like unwrapping a present, more of your body became clear to him. Once the buttons were all undone you slid the shirt off. His arms moved behind you, reaching for the clasp of your bra and undoing it in a single motion.

Your breasts were free from their lacy confines and stared him right in the face. He wanted to touch them, to take the perky nub of your nipples into his mouth and see what noises you’d make. But he remembered what he was supposed to be doing and instead let his hands glide down your naked sides, taking what little he could get in the moment, and resting his fingers at your waistband. He slid them down your legs and was floored by the discovery that you hadn’t been wearing panties. He had prepared himself for one final layer and you stunned him by having nothing on underneath, your naked cunt all at once exposed to him.

Fuck.

You stepped out of your discarded pants and kicked them away.

“Do you want to touch me, Zayne?” you asked, drawing his attention away from your cunt.

“Yes, mistress. Very much.” he hoped he sounded a little more dignified than he felt, staring longingly and pathetically at your nude body.

“You can touch, just be mindful of where your hands go. Don’t take more than you should.”

“Yes, mistress. Thank you.” he reached out, lettings his hands skate across your body with reverence. Up and down your sides, across your stomach, over your thighs. His hands rested under the swell of your breasts, debating if touching them would be taking more than he should have like you warned.

“May I touch you here, mistress?” he asked.

“You may.” you ran a hand through his hair, “So polite. I need to think of something to call you besides just Zayne and good boy. You’re being rather obedient so I could call you puppy, how does that sound?”

“I don’t know about puppy…”

“Okay, we’ll keep trying.” you thought for a moment, your nails scratched soothingly against his scalp, “How about honey? You have such a sweet tooth, I think it would fit well. Honey. My sweet boy.”

“That sounds nice.” he pressed a kiss to your breast.

“Good to know, honey.” you sighed, letting him kiss and and fondle your breasts like he had been wanting to. “Sweet boy, you’re so eager, I can tell. How long have you been wanting to touch me like this?”

“Weeks.” he admitted, “Ever since that first time I saw you at the Playhouse with someone else between your legs.”

“You mean Gabe?”

Zayne couldn’t help the annoyed tsk that came out of his mouth upon hearing his name. You only giggled. “Maybe I should call you my jealous boy instead.”

You could call him whatever you wanted if it kept that other name out of your mouth.

“Don’t be jealous, honey.” you whispered, “He was just a bit of fun, you’re so much more. You’re my sweet boy and tonight I promise I’m going to make you feel so good.”

Each word from your sinful little mouth was like a hot nail through his brain, melting it into goo.

“Okay, stop.” you said and he pulled away. “You’ve been so very good so far, I’ll give you a treat.” You lowered to your knees.

You pressed a kiss to his knee then another just above it. You moved slowly, peppering kisses along his thighs, each time pressing closer to the erection that was up at full standing now, flushed and desperate for touch. You purposely let your breath hit it, making him twitch and fist his hands in the sheets of your bed to keep from reaching out and touching you while you continued your torturous ministrations.

“Nothing to say?” you asked, resting your chin on his knee. “You’ve been so quiet, honey.”

“You didn’t tell me to say anything, mistress.” he said.

You smirked. “Clever boy. You can say whatever you want, there’s nothing to be scared of. I want to hear every little noise you make.”

You sucked the tip of him into your mouth and Zayne nearly came just from that. His hips did jump, pushing into your mouth a little more. You pressed your hands on his thighs, keeping him in place as you started taking him down your throat, your head bobbing along his cock until your chin was pressed up against his balls. Wide eyes, watering slightly from the effort of fitting him down your throat stared up at him. The sight was even better than it had been in his fantasies, the way your lips stretched and dragged along his cock, saliva and precum dribbling from the corner of your mouth.

He wanted to tangle a hand in your hair and thrust into your mouth, use it like a cocksleeve as he had imagined many times by now. But he was not the one in charge. If he tried to do something like that you’d punish him. He didn’t know what punishment you had in mind but he wasn’t interested in rocking the boat, at least for tonight.

“Mistress,” Zayne panted as you started to suck him harder, “I’m--I’m gonna--”

You hummed, the vibrations ricocheting through his body. Your eyes were still staring at him, lashes wet with tears as you forced your head to bob faster, pleading with him to come. Oh god!

“Fuck!” he hissed. He was coming! Fucking hell, he was coming in your mouth! He was coming down your throat!

You popped off his cock, wiping the tears from your cheeks and swallowing the cum that filled your cheeks almost to bursting. You caught your breath, laying your cheek against his thigh as you took in deep lungfuls of air. “How was that, honey?” you asked.

Zayne was still trying to collect his wits after such an intense orgasm. “Fantastic.” he answered honestly.

“Glad you thought so.” you got off your knees and sat next to him on the bed. You inclined your head and paused. “Is it okay if I kiss you or would you prefer I wash out my mouth first?”

“I do not give a damn if I can taste my cum on your tongue.” it was rather brash but he needed your lips on his again.

“Such language.” you teased before giving him a kiss. The taste of himself on your tongue was strangely potent. “Now that I’ve given you your reward, I want you to do something for me.”

“Anything, mistress.” he murmured against your lips.

“Lay me down.” you told him.

He shuffled back on the bed and made room to lay you down on it and waited for more instruction.

“Spread my legs.” you said. He obeyed.

Your legs spread and he could see everything now. The puffy mold of your folds, the glistening proof of your arousal dripping from your pussy.

“What do you want to do now?” you asked.

“I want to eat your pussy, mistress.” he said, his eyes never leaving your cunt.

“Ask politely, honey.”

“Mistress, may I please eat your pussy?” he asked, tearing his gaze away to look in your eyes while he pleaded. “I’ll make you feel good, I promise. May I eat your pussy? Please?”

“You’ll make me feel good? You’re sure about that?” you were teasing him again, trying to rile him up.

“Yes, mistress. I’ll do my best to make you feel so good. I promise I’ll make you come.” he needed your pussy on his tongue yesterday. Any pride he had left was gone. He’d promise anything if it just meant you’d let him get a taste. “Please. May I please eat your pussy, mistress?”

“Such a good sweet boy.” you relaxed, “You may. Eat my pussy, honey. Make me come like you promised now.”

“Thank you, mistress. Thank you.” He didn’t waste another second before slotting himself between your legs and burying his tongue in your cunt. He didn’t have the patience at that moment to be subtle and build like you had. He was on a mission to drink every drop of you and feel you come on his face again and again.

“Ah! Fuck Zayne!” you moaned, hands winding into his hair.

You tasted amazing. He thought the taste of your lips was sweet, the arousal between your legs was even more so. Finally he had you in his hands. You were the one in charge but he was the one between your legs, doing everything in his power to make you come and it was bliss. The taste of your pussy, the heat that came off it that felt like it would burn his tongue. The sound of your moans whimpering his name and your hands in his hair, grinding your slick cunt up to meet his mouth.

It was all for your pleasure but it was also the most selfish he had ever been, taking every bit of you he could get whilst between your legs. Come! He begged in his head, his mouth busy licking up and down your slit and teasing the engorged bundle of nerves that was your clit. Please come! Come for me! I need to feel you come for me! Let me drive every other experience out of your head! Remember only me and the way I make you feel!

The possessiveness was new but it only doubled his efforts to make a complete mess out of you. So was every moan of pleasure and call of his name. Not the pet name you had given him but his name. Over and over, shouted with ecstasy.

“Zayne! Keep going! I’m almost--almost--I’m almost there--fuck!” your head tipped back against the pillow. “Coming! Zayne!”

You came against his face, arousal pouring out of your fluttering cunt. He lapped up every drop, swiping his nose against your clit to make sure it lasted as long as possible and he wrung every bit he could out of you. If it wasn’t for the fact that you told him to come further up the bed and hold you he would have definitely started eating you out again, determined to pull another two or three orgasms from you before he was truly satisfied. But he did now have your naked body nestled in his arms, exchanging lazy kisses with him as you came back to reality.

“You definitely kept your promise.” you sighed, nuzzling your face in his neck.

“Thank you for letting me eat your pussy, mistress.” he tried to keep how terribly horny he still was out of his voice. “You tasted amazing. I want to taste you again.”

“In due time.” you chuckled. You laced your hand with his. “You ready to keep going, my sweet boy?”

He nodded. “Yes, mistress.”

“Good.” you rolled on top of him. You grabbed his arms and pinned them above his head. “Keep these here unless I say so. Do you think you can do that?”

“Yes, mistress.”

“And what color are you?”

“Green. Very green.” you had to stretch to keep his arms pinned above his head, your breasts so tantalizingly close to his face.

“If you need to pause don’t be afraid to say so.” you let go of his wrists and pressed a kiss to his nose. “And one more thing before we get started, you only come when I say you can.”

Control. You were testing his self control. He honestly wondered if he’d be able to follow through. Not touching you may have been easy but he had no idea how long you were going to make him hold back from coming.

Your hands mapped his body, committing every bump and scar to memory. He could see the curiosity in your eyes as you examined the scars crisscrossing his arms but said nothing. It wasn't the time or place to be talking about that.

The gentility was new. Petting him as if he was a rare endangered animal. Your gaze was certainly awe struck as if you were examining a never before seen species.

He could say the same of you. Even though he wasn't permitted to touch right now he damn well was memorizing every inch of you as if he would never see it again.

You ran your thumb over his nipple, his heart skipping a beat with the action. You continued, tweaking his nipples between your fingers and dipping your head to lave over the sensitive buds with your hot wet tongue.

You smiled at him, pressing kisses up his chest and across his collarbones. Only once did he catch himself trying to touch you. Your body was pressed against his, your hips hovering so close to the heat of his erection as you sucked on his neck. He had intended to grab your hips and force them down so he could grind against your cunt but caught himself just as his arms lifted off the mattress. He quietly set them back down but cursed the circumstances. He should have said he wanted to have regular sex, at least then he wouldn't have had to play these games before knowing what it felt like to be inside you.

That was a lie. He was enjoying this far too much to want to hurry it along. He knew he'd let you keep doing whatever you wanted if it made this last longer. But damn it he still wanted to be inside you. He was going insane with your feather light touches and teasing kisses.

“Still so quiet, even when I have you stretched out like this.” You said, sitting up straight. “You were so vocal before, are you waiting for permission again? Because I didn't say you needed to be quiet, honey.”

“Focusing,” he said, “trying not to disobey.”

“That close already?” Your eyebrows raised on your forehead. “I didn't know it took so little to work you up, Zaynie.”

You shuffled further back so you were straddled over his hips. “Wow, you weren't kidding. You look ready to burst.” Your hand wrapped around his cock, still slick from your mouth.

He moaned, clenching his eyes shut tight to keep from falling apart in your hand as you pumped him slowly. “You’re so big too.” You said, your voice a filthy saccharine whisper. “I could barely fit you down my throat, I wonder if I'll actually be able to fit you in my pussy.”

“I'm sorry?” He said, unsure what to say to that.

“Oh honey, never apologize.” You teased the tip of him, a drop of precum welling out and smearing on your finger. “I can't wait to fuck myself on a big thick cock like this. You can't wait either, can you? You want to feel me. You want to feel what it's like to have me wrapped around your massive good boy cock, bouncing on it like a toy. Is that what you want?”

“Yes,” he gasped, your hand getting faster the more you spoke, “Yes mistress! I want to feel you around me. I want you to fuck yourself on me and make you feel good.”

“That's what I wanted to hear.” You cupped his face and gave him a kiss, slow and languid. “I love hearing the noises you make so don't hold back. I'm going to put it in now, and remember the rules.”

“Don't move my arms and don't come until you say I can.” He repeated. “And my color is green.” He added in anticipation to your next question.

“Good boy.” You smiled at him with pride. “And don't be afraid to beg either. I might have mercy and let you come sooner if you do.”

He was close to begging now.

You grabbed one of the condoms off the bedside table and tore the foil open, rolling the rubber over his dick. You took him in hand and rubbed him across your folds, coating him in your arousal. You felt so hot and every single time the head of his dick caught at the entrance to your pussy he bit back a curse. He just wanted in you! He just wanted to feel what it was like to be in you already.

The desperation must have been obvious on his face because you finally had mercy and lined him up with your hole and sunk down. He couldn't choose where to look. He wanted to watch his cock disappear inside you but he also wanted to watch your face as you took him. Both were erotic beyond words.

Zayne couldn't help the long strangled moan that came out of him when you were fully sat on his dick. Your nails scratched into his chest as you struggled to fit all of it. Despite all your bravado you were whimpering and trembling on top of him. He didn’t blame you, he was in the exact same boat. You were so tight and warm, if he wasn't already fighting against it he may have come the moment he was inside.

“Wow,” you huffed, squirming on top of him in an effort to get comfortable and adjust to his size. “You’re really stretching me out. It feels so good, honey. You make me feel so full.”

When you praised him like that it made it feel like his brain was melting out his ears. “Glad to be of service, mistress.” He stammered out.

“You’re just too adorable when you're desperate.” Your laughter was mixed with moans as his cock twitched deep inside you.

“Please, mistress,” Zayne couldn't wait anymore. If you didn’t start fucking him soon he'd end up coming before you could get started and he didn’t want it to end too quickly. “Please fuck me. I'm already inside you, just let me make you feel good. Please! Please please plea--aah!”

You finally started moving, lifting your hips and sliding back down. That friction he craved being delivered at long last. Your tight wet walls stretching and gripping him, breaking open to take him easier the more you moved.

“I'm fucking you like you asked,” you said, using his chest as a stable point to brace on, “What do you say?”

“Thank you! Thank you, mistress!” he broke off into a chorus of moans again, trying to breathe through the pleasure so he didn’t come. His hands fisted the pillow in an attempt to not grab your hips and force you down harder and faster. “Thank you for fucking me!”

“Good boy!” Your hips snapped against him faster, “That’s my good fucking boy! You're doing so well. You're making me feel so good, honey! You can come after I do, okay?”

“Yes, mistress. Want you to--want you to feel good!” He didn't know how much longer he could hold on. If you didn’t say he could come soon he may disobey your command and he didn’t want to do that. He wanted to follow your orders but it was getting increasingly harder to hold back.

“So close!” You moaned, your fingers pressing to your clit and swiping at it madly. “Gonna come!”

“Please come!” He stressed through clenched teeth, “Please come, mistress! Please come so I can come!”

You shoved the two fingers you had been using to play with your clit into his mouth. He sucked on them hard, savoring the juices that clung to them like they were an immortal elixir. “You're so pretty like this.” Your voice cracked, pitching up an octave. Your thrusts started to lose rhythm as you got closer to finishing.

He needed it. He needed it so bad. Zayne needed to feel you come around him, needed to see the way your face twisted as you came. He had seen you come twice now but never because of him. He wanted to remember exactly how you looked.

He also needed you to come so he could finally come as well. Only by some miracle did he not come already, but he couldn’t hold on forever. You slipped your fingers out of his mouth, collapsing forward and grinding your hips against him, hands tangled in his hair. “Hold me!” you gasped, smothering your face in his neck.

He didn’t need to be told twice, his arms snapped around you, taking in handfuls of your ass and helping to keep you moving.

“Zayne!” your voice came out as a drawn out whine as your pussy clamped down tight around him, trembling and pulsing. Your hips ground against his, drawing it out as long as possible. It felt so good Zayne almost cracked his teeth with how hard he was clenching his jaw trying not to come too.

“You can--you can come now.” you told him, body still rolling with the waves of your orgasm.

“Thank you!” he moaned, grabbing your hips and fucking up into you. “Thank you, mistress!” he came with a shout, shoving your hips down on him one last time as he spent himself inside. The pleasure bordered on painful and his vision had gone white for a moment as the initial tidal wave crashed over him.

He was shaking, rocking your hips slowly against him to let the feeling last for just a few more moments. He was breathing hard, heart thudding wildly in his chest as the spots from his vision cleared.

You were holding him, speaking soft words and humming softly in his ear. “That’s it, breathe. You did so well, honey. My sweet boy did so well, you followed all my commands perfectly.”

He turned over, taking you with him and nuzzling his face into your neck. You rubbed his back, leg slung over his hips. The two of you were still joined and with a groan he pulled out. You winced slightly but when he tried to ask how you were you silenced him with a deep kiss.

“You were so good.” you murmured against his lips. “You made me feel so good, Zayne. I haven’t come that hard in ages.”

If you kept praising him like that he was going to end up hard again.

“How are you feeling? Doing okay?” you asked, pressing a couple kisses to his cheeks and jaw.

“Yes.” he sighed, words finally returning to him. “That was…that was far more intense than I thought it was going to be. But I liked it.”

“That’s good to hear.” you smiled, resting your forehead against his. “I didn’t want to do something too intense since it was your first scene but I figured you could handle something like this for your first time. And now you have some ideas on what to do when you dom me. It can be as simple as tying me up and having your wicked way with me if you want.”

“Thank you. It was great.” he brushed his nose against yours, “You were great. You sure you lean towards being a submissive because you took on the role of dominant very easily.”

“I hold multitudes, what can I say?” you laid in bed for a few more minutes just breathing and letting your bodies come down from the high. “Wait here a second.” you told him and rolled out of bed. You went into an adjoining bathroom and came back out with a hand towel. You stripped the used condom off his soft dick and cleaned him up. He tried to say he could do that but you gently batted his hand away. “No, I’m taking care of you tonight. That includes this.”

You discarded the condom and sat back down on the bed. “There. I know you don’t really know what you prefer for aftercare yet but I was thinking that we’d throw on some comfy clothes, I’ll make us something warm to drink, and we’ll go out to the couch and watch some tv for a bit. Does that sound good?”

“That sounds perfect.”

“Great.” you gave his cheek a kiss. “Clean up, there’s an extra toothbrush in the bathroom if you want to brush your teeth. I bought some men’s sized sweats for you to change into, they’re on the dresser. Meet me in the living room whenever you’re ready.”

“Thanks.” Zayne watched you get up and throw on some comfortable clothes you had set out earlier and swept out of the room.

He took a moment to breathe and replay the events of the evening that had just transpired. That was far better than he had ever imagined it could be. While he leaned towards being a dominant there was something incredibly freeing about giving over control to someone else. He definitely would not mind submitting to you again if it was anything like tonight. And to think this was you going easy on him.

Zayne got out of bed and did as you suggested, cleaning himself up a bit and brushing his teeth before putting on the sweats you got him. He hadn’t expected such attention to detail but there was a reason you were the expert and he was the newbie. He’d look more into aftercare preparations for when it was his turn to dominate you.

He reappeared in your kitchen. You were at the stove, whisking something in a saucepan. “I thought you were making drinks.” he said.

You startled, glancing over at him. “For such a tall guy you move so quietly.” you said. “And I am making drinks, this is how I make my hot chocolate.” You picked up a bottle of vanilla and poured a bit into the saucepan. You whisked it for another minute before turning off the heat and pouring the steaming chocolatey concoction into two waiting mugs.

“Marshmallows?” you asked, holding up a bag of mini-marshmallows.

“Please.” you dropped a handful into each of your mugs and handed one to him. You took his hand and pulled him over to the couch. The pair of you sat down, you cuddled into Zayne’s side as you pulled up a nature documentary about the antarctic.

“Comfy?” you asked, pulling a blanket off the back of the couch and throwing it over your legs.

“Very.”

“Good.” you rested your head on his shoulder, your free hand running idly through his hair.

“So,” he said after a few sips of the amazing hot chocolate you had made, “Is this the sort of thing that you did when you started practicing BDSM?”

“Yeah. It’s important to start slow and build up when you’re a beginner.” you yawned, the weight of the day catching up to you. “Thankfully I had a partner who was an absolute angel. They showed me what practicing safe kink was supposed to be like and all that. I’ve heard enough horror stories about naive people who come in and get involved with someone who deliberately takes advantage of their inexperience to make them normalize toxic behaviors. It is disgusting and I’m really glad I can be your guide this time around so nothing like that happens to you.”

“I’m glad too.” he hesitated for a moment but wrapped an arm around your waist, keeping you close to his side.

The hot chocolate was slowly drained, warming your blood and your hearts, the soothing voice of the narrator in the documentary lulling you further into the sleepy atmosphere you found yourself encased in. Zayne felt your body sag against him, sleep taking over your body after a long day and he was powerless but to follow, your arms around him and the lingering taste of chocolate on his tongue.

Chapter Text

The first thing you became aware of was the ache in your neck. It was the kind of pain that came from sleeping with your head at an odd angle and you winced as you tried to stretch it out. Blinking away the pain you realized that you had fallen asleep in your living room instead of your bedroom. It wasn’t as if it was the first time something like this had happened, your couch was rather comfy. It was the first time in a long time that you woke up not alone though.

Zayne was stretched out on the couch with his arms wrapped around you still sleeping peacefully. You decided to indulge in the fact that you had company this morning and nestled back into his side, turning his head slightly so it was at a more comfortable angle when he woke up.

Last night had been everything you had been fantasizing about and more. It had been a while since you had been the dominant in a scene. You were a little nervous but you surprised yourself how effortlessly you were able to slip into the role. You were also proud of Zayne for how good he was about being a submissive. Was her perfect? No but that was only natural for a beginner. He was so obedient and sweet the entire time though, you felt a little bad about threatening to punish him when he looked up at you with such wide wet eyes. You didn’t need to punish him in the end though, he had done everything right.

You were also glad to finally see him naked. With how many times he had seen you in states of near nudity it was nice to finally see all of him. He did not disappoint either. You did get a little intimidated seeing how thick his cock was. You were someone who had seen many dicks in your life and you wouldn’t say he was unlike anything you had seen before but he was definitely now your favorite. Perfect length and just thick enough to give that delectable stretch that promised to fill you and then some.

It was a good thing you were in charge last night because if you were at his mercy, going at his pace with something like that between his legs, you weren’t sure you would have survived. It made you all the more excited about seeing him in charge when he was ready.

It was also great to see a different side of him. Gone was the stoic doctor and his barely there smiles, beneath you had been your sweet boy with wide pleading eyes and flushed face. You were sure if you had teased him more you would have been able to fuck him stupid. You were really curious to see how he looked when you were able to drive him so deep into pleasure he lost track of the rest of the world. Those were games to play when he was more comfortable. How sweet they promised to be though.

Phew, you needed to stop thinking about it before you ended up starting the morning with couch sex. It was a tempting idea but from what you could remember Zayne said he had to go to work this morning. What time was it anyway?

You reached for your phone and turned it on. “Shit!” you hissed, sitting up.

“Hm?” Zayne was roused from his sleep, looking around bleary eyed and confused. “What happened?”

“Zayne, you gotta wake up. I didn’t set an alarm and it’s five minutes till eight. Don’t you have work at eight thirty?” you shook his shoulder to get him up faster.

“It’s what--but I--” he cleared the sleep from his eyes and squinted at your phone. “Oh no. I’m going to have to call and say I’m going to be late since I won’t have time to go home and get ready--”

“You can get ready here.” you said, standing up and balling up the blanket you used last night. “My apartment is like ten minutes from the hospital by car so if you hustle you can make it on time.”

“I don’t have clean clothes.”

“Wear the sweats.”

“I can’t wear sweatpants to work.”

“Right. Put on your clothes from yesterday but keep the sweatshirt over it so no one notices. I assume you’re the kind of busybody that keeps an extra set of clothes at your office, am I right?”

“Am I really so easy to read?”

“Only because I also keep a spare outfit at the bakery for the same reasons. Now go, you know where the bathroom is, feel free to use whatever. I’ll do a quick iron of your clothes so they aren’t wrinkled.” you shooed him off.

“Thank you. Thank you so much.” he stood up, “I’m really sorry to be inconveniencing you like this first thing in the morning.”

“Literally don’t even worry about it. Just go get ready.” you gave him a shove towards your bathroom.

You heard the water turn on and you grabbed his discarded clothes from last night and opened your closet to grab the ironing board. Which is when you remembered that you had stuffed all of your plushies inside to keep them out of the way when you were having sex. They tumbled out in an avalanche of cuteness. You did not have time to shove them back in and grabbed the ironing board. You had ironed out the last of the creases in his clothes when he came stumbling out of the bathroom, hair damp and towel around his hips.

“I forgot to grab my underwear--” he stopped, eyes landing on the pile of plushies now scattered across your floor. His eyes drifted over to the closet from which they emerged and raised an eyebrow at you. “You must really like plushies.”

“I was--I--” you shoved his clothes into his arms. “Go get dressed.”

He took the clothes, a tiny smile on his face as he shook his head and went back into the bathroom to change. You thought it was kind of cute that he was still being private about getting changed in front of you as if you didn’t literally have his dick in your mouth less than twelve hours ago. Probably a good idea though because seeing him fresh out of the shower was putting many inappropriate thoughts in your head.

Once he was changed he slipped the sweatshirt back on and then raced to the door to grab his coat and put on his shoes. “So sorry to be running out like this. I shouldn’t have slept over in the first place like we said we were going to--”

“Zayne, it’s alright.” you assured him. “It was a high energy night and then we ended it cuddled up and full of hot chocolate. It was bound to happen. Don’t stress about it. Just get to work before you actually end up late.”

“Right. Thank you again for this morning…and for last night.” a blush tinted the tips of his ears.

“Trust me, the pleasure was all mine.” you gave him a quick kiss. “Now go. You’re going to be late.”

Zayne shrugged on his coat and took off. Not the start to the morning you would have preferred but it is what it is. You looked back out at your apartment and felt a feeling of emptiness now that Zayne wasn’t there. It had been nice having someone over. If you had woken up earlier you would have made him breakfast and you could have had an easy morning together. But you hadn’t set an alarm and with his phone in the other room neither of you heard his going off.

You walked back into the bedroom, stripping the dirty sheets off your bed and remaking it. You piled your plushies back on it, scooping them up off the floor. That was when you noticed something by one of the legs of your bed. It was a black leather wallet. You opened it and sure enough it was Zayne’s. It must have fallen out of his pocket last night and he didn’t realize it was missing when he left in such a hurry this morning.

“I do have errands to run today, guess dropping this off will be first on the list.” you sighed. You sent a text off to Zayne letting him know that he left his wallet at your place and told him you would drop it off. He sent back a relieved text and apologized for the inconvenience. He tried to say he’d come pick it up later but then you reminded him if he drove over to get it he’d technically be driving without his license. You could practically hear his sigh over the text as he conceded to let you drop it off at the hospital.

You got ready for the day, grabbed your grocery list, purse, and Zayne’s wallet then were out the door. You actually stopped by the bakery first and picked up some croissants and some green tea then went to the hospital.

You were usually a very healthy person, outside of some mild burns from cooking you hadn’t been one to visit the doctor a lot. The building was huge and practically gleaming as you stepped inside and went up to the front desk. There was a relief when you noticed that your friend Amy was working reception today.

“Hey Amy,” you said, “I’m here to drop something off for Doctor Zayne. Where is his office?”

“Oh hey, what are you dropping off?” Amy asked.

“His wallet. He accidentally left it at my place this morning.” you showed her the wallet. “He knows I’m coming I’m just not sure where his office is.”

“Okay. I see you.” Amy started to smile. “When did that start?”

“None of your business, Ames.”

“Boo. No fun.” Amy pouted, “Tell me or I’m not giving you his office number.”

“If you don’t tell me I’ll text him and ask. Now stop being nosey and give me the number.”

“Fine. His office is on the eighth floor, room 803. I’ll give you a visitor’s pass.” Amy grabbed a sticker and wrote your name on it.

“Thanks.” You pressed the sticker to your shirt. “Hey, I don’t work today, what time do you get off? Maybe we can get lunch or something?”

“That sounds nice but I’m an hour from finishing a nightshift I picked up from Dennis so all I’m gonna do later is go home and pass out.” Amy said.

“I get you. Okay, you rest up. I’ll talk to you later.” you waved before taking the elevator up to the eighth floor.

You had just gotten to the floor and the elevator doors opened to reveal Zayne on the other side. “Oh hi.” you stepped off the elevator.

“Hello,” he said, “I was going to come down, you didn’t need to come up here.”

“I’m the one with the day off, you shouldn’t be running around after me.” you noticed that he had already changed into different clothes from this morning but his hair was still a tad damp. You held out his wallet. “Here you are. One wallet safe and accounted for.”

“Thank you.” he stowed it in his pocket. “And I wanted to apologize again about this morning.”

“I told you already it was fine.” you held up the drink and paper bag in your other hand. “And since I know you didn’t get to eat anything this morning I stopped by the bakery and got you something.”

“You didn’t have to do that.” he took the tea and croissants nonetheless.

“It was no trouble.”

“I’ll walk you back out. Give me a moment to put these down.” you followed him back to his office. You gazed around and gave a low whistle. It was exactly what you would imagine Zayne’s office would look like. It was a direct reflection of him. All business, clean, organized, not much in the way of personal clutter. Big desk, office chairs, tall bookshelves, a couch with a low coffee table, automatic blinds lowered just enough to keep the sun from being blinding.

“Wow. You sure are an adult, huh?”

He set the tea and croissants on his desk. “What does that mean? You’re an adult too.”

“Yeah but like you have this big professional looking office and I run around wearing jeans and an apron with dancing cookies on it for my work. Like, I’ve always known you were a doctor but it really set in seeing your office. You’re a doctor doctor. Went to medical school and everything.” your gaze wandered to the degree on the wall.

“Yes, but you also went to school, did you not?” Zayne joined you by the wall, “Culinary school isn’t easy either. There’s a reason the saying is “if you can’t handle the heat, get out of the kitchen.” Was it not intense?”

“I mean, yeah it was but medical school is a lot higher stakes than perfecting a mocha dacquoise cake.”

“A what?”

“It’s a meringue dessert, I think you’d actually really like it.” You hadn’t made one in forever because it was such a pain, but it was a phenomenal dessert when you got it right.

“See, right there. Your job brings joy to people.”

“And your job literally saves lives.” you poked his chest.

He shook his head, fighting back an amused smile. “How about we stop comparing jobs and say we both have our talents and leave it at that?”

“Sounds fine to me.” You and Zayne left his office and got back in the elevator down to the main floor. “While I have you, I wanted to make sure you were doing okay. No aftereffects from last night?”

“Oh,” he cleared his throat, “No. I am well.”

“Positive?”

“Yes. There is nothing to be worried about. I appreciate your concern though.” there was that slight blush that always started at his ears. You had to fight back the instinct to say something to make them even redder.

“It’s my role to be concerned after such an evening.” You stepped off the elevator and walked out of the hospital. “Well, I gotta get going now. I have errands to run and I’m sure your morning is busy too.”

“Right. Drive safely.”

“Always do. I’ll talk to you later.” you took a half step forward as if to close the distance between you then caught yourself. You had been so caught up in the chaos of the morning that you had barely registered that kissing him goodbye was something friends shouldn’t be doing. You could write that off as still being in the bubble since it was within the privacy of your house but kissing him outside his place of work? Nope.

You stepped back, opting for a small wave before retreating to your car. You drove over to the grocery store and was picking out produce when your phone started ringing. You pulled it out confused as to why Amy was calling you.

“Hey, what’s up?” you asked, “I thought you said you were going home and passing out.”

“I’m heading out now but I needed to know something real quick.”

“Okay?”

“Are you dating Dr. Zayne?” she asked without even a hint of shame.

“Straight for the jugular, huh? This is about the wallet earlier, isn’t it?” you sighed, rifling through a pile of onions for a decently sized one.

“Yep. Also some of the nurses saw you acting all chummy so there’s buzz going around about Dr. Zayne’s new girlfriend.”

You hadn’t thought that your interaction had been exactly chummy but if people saw him acting friendlier than he normally does they could easily misconstrue your relationship. “I mean technically we are seeing each other but not in the way you’re thinking.”

“What other way is there?”

“The kind that involves sex and not much more than that.”

“You’re what!” Amy practically shouted into the phone, shattering your eardrum. “How in the world did you swing that?”

You rolled your eyes, throwing an onion into your basket. “It’s private.”

“Oh come on! Since when are you shy about giving details?”

“Those were one night stands, this is something a little more delicate.”

“But he did spend the night last night, didn’t he?”

You let out a deep sigh. “Yes.”

“So you two…”

“Yes.”

“Was it good? I have to admit I’ve always been curious about how someone that handsome would be in bed.”

“Keep wondering.”

“Please!”

“No. And don’t go blabbing about our relationship to everyone at work. I may be very open about my sex life but Zayne is decidedly not. This information doesn’t leave you, got it?”

“Fine.”

“Good. Go home and get some sleep.” you hung up and let out an aggravated breath. You had been hoping to keep the relationship to yourself a while longer but if rumors were already flying just by dropping off his wallet then there was no avoiding it now. You hoped it didn’t cause any problems for Zayne.

---

Zayne could only describe himself as careless. That was what he had been. First he had ended up sleeping over at your place despite the fact that you agreed that was something you would try to avoid. Then in his haste to get to work on time he had abandoned his wallet at your apartment and put you out by having you return it. He had meant to be down in the lobby before you got to the hospital so he could pick it up without incident and let you get back on your way but he hadn’t even been able to do that.

Then there was you who had been nothing but helpful and thoughtful the entire morning. First with letting him get ready at your place, even ironing his clothes so the fact that he had worn them to work the day before wasn’t obvious. Then coming over to return his wallet and even bringing him food and tea so he wasn’t working on an empty stomach.

Speaking of, the croissants and tea were great. Of course they were great. Even if you weren’t the one who baked them they were still your recipe and they were light and fluffy and perfectly buttery. The tea as well had been warm and soothing, helping ease him after such a hectic morning.

He wished there was something he could do to pay you back for everything you had done but he wasn’t sure what you would like. He had already given you flowers so he couldn’t do that again so soon. You would probably insist he didn’t need to repay you. It didn’t feel right to just leave it alone either. Was a gift card too impersonal? Maybe he could just treat you to coffee or a lunch in the future and call it even.

“Dr. Zayne, here’s those reports you were looking for.” Yvonne stepped into Zayne’s office, setting some documents down on his desk.

“Thank you. I’ll look at them now.” Zayne straightened, wiping some croissant crumbs from his lap as he took the papers.

“I see you already stopped by the bakery today.” Yvonne said, eyeing the paper bag printed with your shop’s logo. “I didn’t think you had the time since you were running behind today.”

“It was delivery.” Zayne said.

“I didn’t know The Sweet Spot did individual deliveries. I thought they only delivered catering.” she said. “No receipt on the bag either…”

“Is there a purpose to your sudden interest in my breakfast?”

“I was just wondering why the owner of a very successful bakery would be doing personal deliveries. If someone wanted delivery she could very well hire a delivery person.” Yvonne shrugged. “Just a thought.”

“What are you implying?”

“I was only wondering if there was another reason she’d be making deliveries to you.” the way she was looking at Zayne alerted him to the fact that she must have caught wind of you dropping off his wallet.

“My relationship with her is a personal one. Let us leave it at that.” Zayne responded, his tone terse.

“No need to get defensive.” Yvonne brightened despite his mood. “It is just so unlike you. In all the time I’ve worked here I’ve never caught so much as a whiff of anything romantic around you. Now out of the blue you have a girlfriend, you have to admit it is surprising.”

“She’s not my girlfriend.” Zayne ran a hand through his hair, trying to focus on the reports in front of him.

“So you leave your wallet at your friend’s place often?”

“Frankly, it is none of your business.” Zayne snapped his gaze to her, praying that she would drop it. “How do you even know about that?”

“I know her through my girlfriend Amy who works in reception. Amy told me and well…” Yvonne smiled, “I think it’s a good thing.”

“Thank you for your input, Yvonne. Is that all?”

“One more thing.” she said to Zayne’s growing mortification. “Do not screw up whatever this is between you two or else you will never be able to set foot in her bakery ever again.”

Zayne’s brows drew together. “Why would I not be able to go back?”

“Well, if things went wrong and didn’t end up working out then wouldn’t you find it strange to show up at her place of work all the time?”

“Not any stranger than if she had an emergency and needed to come to the hospital I imagine.” Zayne said. “We are adults, something as small as a breakup would not stop us from being functional human beings capable of professional interaction.”

“You sound very sure so I’ll take your word for it. Remember to treat her well and maybe see if she’ll give medical staff a discount at her store.” Yvonne said before leaving his office.

Zayne leaned forward, head in his hands and sighed. If that was how Yvonne was talking about him then he did not want to know what Greyson was thinking. Hopefully this was just a phase and everyone would forget about it soon. He didn’t want to have to keep dodging questions about your relationship.

There was another knock at his door and Zayne composed himself. “Come in.”

Greyson appeared in his doorway. “So I hear you have a girlfriend now.”

Zayne closed his eyes and let out an impressive string of curses in his head. It was going to be a long day.