A Thousand Yesses (2 page)

“You
guys, it’s
perfect!”
she crooned. “With Rodney’s skills, and Maverick’s
looks, you guys would be a huge hit! You can post links to your videos online,
and charge guys by the hour, or session, or something.”

“Gee,
thanks, Cel,” Rodney muttered.

Celia
rolled her eyes. “I don’t mean
you
don’t look nice. You do. But you know
that. I mean that
Maverick
is the one that looks like a Dom.”

“That
was supposed to make me feel better?”

Maverick
frowned at her.

“See?”
Celia said to Rodney, as if Maverick’s reaction was proving her point. “Totally
Dom.”

He
shook his head. Yeah, he was tall, a big guy, and muscular, with longish dark
hair graying at the temples, a heavy beard, and dark eyes. He was handsome in a
rugged sort of way, and was a serious guy by nature.

“He
frowns and scowls, and makes submissives go aquiver.”

He
shook his head at her.

“You’re
just proving my point,” she muttered, looking longingly at the drink glass he
wouldn’t let her touch.

“I
don’t know about this,” Maverick said. “It sounds weird. I mean, do guys who
want to be Doms really want to learn how to
dom
,
anyway? I wouldn’t want some asshole telling me how to pull hair, or use a
paddle, or how to hold a girl over my knee.
Uh uh.
If
I
didn’t
know how to do all that stuff, I’d figure it out on my own.”

“Give
me my drink,” Celia said, glaring at him.

“No,”
he said back, arms crossed on his chest.

“So
I have to sit here and listen to you say
paddle
and
over my knee
and I can’t have a drink?”

“That’s
right, princess.”

She
hated when he called her princess, but she was pushing too far.

“I’m
in,” Rodney said. “Totally. That would be a blast.”

Louanne
giggled. “What kinds of things would you do?”

“Oh,
the possibilities are endless!” Celia said, shooting one final glare at
Maverick. Maybe she
could
use a spanking. He shook his head as she
continued. “How to use restraints, and how to set rules. Things like that, you
know? And even if the guys who want to Dom wouldn’t watch the videos, you can
guarantee yourself the girls will.”

Rodney
turned to Maverick. “You know you could use the extra income.”

Maverick
sighed. He could. He’d recently moved back into his mother’s house. After a
bout with a stroke and finally, a heart condition, his father had passed away
quietly in the fall. Left alone with Maverick’s sister, Maverick’s mother
couldn’t handle her. Marianna was mentally disabled, and at times very
difficult to manage. It was at his dad’s funeral that Maverick decided he’d
need to come home, at least at first, to help his mom with his sister. His mom
was struggling paying off the medical bills, and though Maverick helped her a
great deal, the extra income would come at a really good time.

“I
don’t know anything about that stuff,” Maverick said. “How to shoot videos, or
start a web page, or any of that shit.”

“Doesn’t
matter,” Celia said. “
You
are the experienced Dom in the group. You know
what to do.” She was right. He’d been a Dom for years, had played the scene for
a while before he’d settled down with a long-term submissive. Though Crystal
had been a wonderful submissive, the chemistry was off, and the two of them had
mutually agreed to break up. Shortly after, his father passed away, and
Maverick hadn’t taken the time to even begin to look for another submissive.

He
did
know the scene. He knew it well.

He
grumbled. “I’ll think about it.”

Celia
grinned. “I’ll write up a business plan. We meet at Rodney’s place tomorrow
anyway, for the game. We can talk more then.
And anyway,
Maverick.
Think about it this way.” She paused, and sobered. “You and
Rodney, you two would be doing the whole community a service, improving things
for the better for Doms and subs across the country. You’d be saving girls like
me from ending up with losers.”

Rodney
snorted. “Might be able to build a web page, but I’m not a magician, Celia,” he
said.

She
punched his arm, and Louanne giggled. But Maverick didn’t respond.

She
had a point. Celia knew how to play her cards.

* * *

Maverick
sat on a high stool in Rodney’s basement. It was what Louanne called the Man
Cave, framed prints on the walls of the New York Giants, and the Yankees.
Autographed baseballs stood in cases, and a large, leather, wraparound couch
encircled one wall. It was dark, and casual, and perfect.

“Dungeon
domming,” Celia crooned. “Love it.”

“Jesus,”
Maverick muttered.

They
practiced the filming, until they got it just right. Viewers would get a look
at Maverick from the neck down.

“That
way we get the yummy biceps and dommy posture, but no one knows who you are,”
Celia said.

Whatever.

It
had taken a solid week to get Maverick to agree to film, and another solid week
until they got the set to his liking. He’d agreed to film half a dozen videos,
and Celia came up with their tagline.
Teaching Dominants: How-to from
experienced Doms.
They’d asked around with people they knew, and gotten a
few people to come and pose as models.

“All
right, so what’s the topic tonight?” Maverick asked.

“Implements!”
Celia said with glee, as she produced a large canvas bag from behind her back
and dumped the contents on the bar. “And I
know
you don’t spank your
friend, but if you need to demonstrate the flogger, have at it, big boy.”

“The
hell with the flogger. You’ve got a tawse in there?” Maverick quipped. The
flogger Celia brought was soft, flexible suede and would be fun and sensual.
The shorter, harsher leather tawse would have her begging for mercy. She
sobered.

“No
tawse,” she said.

“Shame,”
he responded, staring her down. She grumbled under her breath, frowning as she
assembled the implements on the bar next to him. He stifled a chuckle. Good.

Maverick
looked at the assortment she’d laid out. Celia had somehow managed to pull
strings, and the local BDSM club was sponsoring their filming. They’d donated
new equipment, in exchange for their name being emblazoned at the top and
bottom of each of the instructional videos. Maverick had agreed reluctantly,
not having spent much time at the club, but Rodney and Louanne assured them it
was fairly tame. And they had a good reputation.

“Quite
the arsenal of ass destruction,” Rodney said, as he eyed the pile of implements
atop the bar.

Louanne
snorted. “Oh
my gosh
, Rodney,” she said, her cheeks
flushing, as he picked up a wicked-looking cane.

He
raised an eyebrow. “Do I need to bend you over the bar, little lady?” he asked
with mock sternness. She flushed deeper.

Celia
rolled her eyes. “Move along, you two. Go play somewhere else. We need to get
this show moving.”

Louanne
gratefully fled to the couch at the back of the room, and Rodney pretended to
pocket the cane, but Celia snatched it from him.

Maverick
picked up the oak fraternity paddle, twisting it in his hand appreciatively. It
had good heft to it and would do well for a real discipline session. He put
that down, and picked up the cane Rodney had been playing with. He frowned.
Didn’t like canes, too easy to inflict unnecessary pain. Still, he knew they
had their place, as he put it down next to a thick leather strap.

“We
ready?” he asked Celia.

He’d
been encouraged by the way their podcasts and videos had taken off, due in no
small part, he surmised, to the club’s promotion. But
he had
to admit
,
the videos
were
well done
.
He’d watched them himself, and Celia filmed them expertly. Within the first
week, their intro video on “Setting rules and expectations” topped the charts
with hits, and Celia showed him how it had been posted on blogs and social
media across the
internet
. Huh. Who knew? Maybe she was
on to something.

“Ready,”
he said. He’d already decided how he’d demonstrate the implement video.

A
flicker of light, and she signaled for him to begin as Rodney sat on the bar
stool next to him.

“Evening,
ladies and gentlemen,” Maverick began. He intentionally used his lowest voice
for these videos, as he felt it necessary to convey
self
control
and authority, two trademarks of a man who dommed well. “In
previous videos, we’ve discussed setting rules and expectations, and
establishing roles. We hope the intro videos to this series have given those of
you interested in the scene some food for thought. Now, as you all know, these
series of videos are
not
BDSM intro videos. There are many resources out
there for those of you into the BDSM scene. But we also know there is quite a
bit of, shall we say...” he paused dramatically as his hands went out, palms
up, “
overlap
when it comes to different scenes.” Rodney snorted at the
obviously placed pun, and Celia shook her head, while Louanne covered her mouth
and giggled. Maverick grinned, even though he knew he was only visible on
camera from the neck down.

“But
in most Dominant and submissive relationships, those that have established
roles and rules, there comes a time to administer a punishment.” His voice
dropped as he sobered. “Punishment can range from mild to severe, depending on
a variety of criteria. What is the infraction? Is it a repeat offense? Has the
submissive become disrespectful, or somehow compounded the punishment? And the
list goes on. The length of time a couple has been doing this will also impact
how punishment is meted out. For example, if I were just beginning, and my
submissive talked back, I would probably only warn her initially what my
expectations are.” He waved a warning finger in front of the camera. “But if I
had a long-term submissive who had disrespected me, I wouldn’t warn but would
administer a firm punishment.” He let his word settle, as he well knew
submissives that watched him talking about punishment would be squirming in
their seats by now. He wanted his audience’s rapt attention.

“You
likely know that punishment can also vary quite a bit. And the depth with which
a couple dabbles in the BDSM scene will also impact punishment greatly.” He
paused. “However, for me, most punishment will involve a good spanking.” He’d
lifted the fraternity paddle in his hand, and cracked it down on the palm of
his hand for emphasis. He heard Louanne squeal, but Celia didn’t waver as she
filmed.

“There
are many different factors that determine the severity of a spanking,” he said.
“And for the next segment, I’ll turn this over to my partner.” He motioned for
Rodney to take over.

“Thanks,”
Rodney said. “As my partner here said, there are many things to keep in mind
before you spank, and the most basic is your submissive’s tolerance level. Why
you’re giving a spanking is really important. For erotic spankings or something
similar, it’s likely a good idea to spank on the lighter side.”

Maverick
piped in. “But if you need to teach her a lesson, then it’s important that you
take her just
above
her pain tolerance. We are, after all, talking about
a spanking that’s meant to modify behavior.”

He
smacked the paddle against his hand again.

“Always
test your implements,” he said. “Looks can be deceiving.” He smacked his hand
again. “This is a heavy, varnished paddle. A few well-aimed swats with this,
and your submissive will remember her lesson well. A longer spanking with this
paddle, and she won’t sit for a week.” He put it down and lifted the soft suede
flogger. “This flogger, however, may fool you. It looks like a whip, and the
word ‘flogger’ sounds intimidating. But this is a more sensual feel. He flicked
it against his palm. “I can barely feel the sting. Some floggers are much more
intense than this, but the novelty ones made of suede will not have much of an
impact.” He put the flogger down and handed Rodney a lightweight wooden spoon.

Rodney
held it in his hand. “The classic wooden spoon will get the job done, and it’s
a perfect length for over the knee. But be careful of rounded handles, as they
are more likely to slip. Flat handles will give you a better grip. Longer
implements are awkward for over-the-knee spankings, and require you to lay your
submissive over the bed, or couch, or kneeling on a chair. However, please
remember that smaller implements like this concentrate impact in one spot, and
are more likely to bruise than something like the paddle.”

Next,
Maverick picked up the thick leather strap. He swung it hard against his hand.
It whistled in the air and he flinched at the impact. “Leather straps are
serious. The thicker ones like this will leave a lasting impression, and your
girl will remember her place well.” He put it down and picked up a black
implement that looked almost like a wire whisk, two oval-shaped loops that came
together at a handle. “This is a loopy johnny, an implement that I would put
into the ‘silent but deadly’ category. It will make almost no sound upon
impact, but I can’t guarantee your submissive will do the same. They’re handy
for situations that warrant discretion, but need to be wielded very
cautiously.”