I nodded. “I think you’re right, that maintenance might give me what I need, even if regular scenes don’t. I’ll try hard to follow the rules so you don’t have to punish me.”

“Oh, there’ll almost certainly be a learning curve to start, and you’ll likely need to be punished enough in your first weeks with me, you’ll avoid it for the pain and not just because you don’t want to be bad, but there’s more to explain. I follow the boot-camp method, and that means once we decide things are serious enough for a long-term contract, once you move in with me and give up your own place, I’ll put you through a boot-camp type scenario, where you don’t get a whole lot of sleep and life is just plain rough until we get through it. A wake-up spanking, and then you’ll fix breakfast for us, and the day will proceed per a schedule that will have you hard most of the day, and any orgasms you get will be earned by going above and beyond what is expected. We’ll work out together, you’ll do a lot of housework, shopping, and other things you’ll be expected to manage for me. Having a slave means my house manager doesn’t need to be on premises as often, and it means I won’t need to have someone come in and clean every other day. Since you wish to continue to work outside the home, we’ll have to figure out how much you can do for me, and how much I’ll continue to hire others to do, but it’s my belief that people who are important need to feel as if they’re part of the household, and having jobs that keep the household running is a sure-fire way to do that.”

“It’s important I have a way to leave, and that means holding down a job. I never again want to be in a position where I have no way out.”

“I have friends who have a slave. Not super-close friends, but close enough I know a little about how their household runs. It’s a four-person poly group with two Doms, a submissive, and a slave. The slave works from home and earns an impressive income, but he doesn’t have access to his funds. They go into an account he jointly owns with the others, and as soon as the funds go in, they transfer into an account he isn’t on. He has access to another account with enough money for him to get an apartment and then living expenses for about a year, but if he ever touches even a penny of it, it means he wants to leave them. If he wants money for something,anything, he has to ask them for it. When he was still in college, he got a cash allowance so he could get lunch and buy gas. Any clothes purchases, one of his Masters goes with him and pays, but only for what they like, of course.”

I nodded. “Yeah, I can see how that would work. My need for the ability to leave seems at odds with being a total slave, and some version of that could work. The thing is, I really enjoy my job, and I don’t think I want to give it up. Plus, the bikers kind of need me. I couldn’t leave without giving them probably a six or eight month notice. I mean, I could legally, but not morally, you know? They took care of me when I so badly needed help, at first. I can’t leave them in the lurch, and I know they’ve promised work out months in advance, expecting I’ll be there to do it.”

“Exactly as it should be, and the fact is, there are times you may not see me more than a few hours a day when I crash for short naps. When I’m busy composing, it’s kind of a manic thing, and I might call you in for a blow job or to bend over, but it won’t be a scene. Sex stuff won’t happen much when I’m like that, but if the composing isn’t working, sometimes draining everything helps it get back on track. Once the song is put together, things’ll go back to normal. So, a few times a year, sometimes more, you’ll have to accept that I’m off-limits and must be left alone, and not much talking if I call you to me, just do as you’re told and keep your mouth shut.”

I nodded because it made sense, so if it didn’t happen often, I’d live with it. Plus, it seemed kind of hot from a slave perspective, but only because it was an occasional thing. I’d never let myself be treated horribly all the time again. I wanted to be a slave, property,owned, but I also wanted to be a beloved slave.

“And then the whole band gets together,” Will said, “and does something similar when we polish new stuff and decide what gets made public, and how we’ll showboat each song on video and on stage, but that’s different. We work until we need a break, so there isn’t a schedule, but you’ll be able to talk to us and shit when we break. It’s a different kind of creative process, and maybe I’ll take you behind closed doors and work some stress off, or maybe we’ll all hang out together.”

He paused and leaned back again, which told me he was going to ask another forward question, and he didn’t want to be too aggressive when he asked it.

“Have you ever been used in front of others?”

I nodded. “My first Master made me blow him during meetings with his top people. Sometimes, if one of them did something really good, he’d lend me to them for the night, or for a couple of hours. When the higher-up people came to town, I had to go around the room and blow everyone, and he loaned me out to one of the head guys the whole night. They only came for a big meeting twice while I was with him, and other than sex stuff, he mostly kept me away from them, thankfully. I think they scared him, too.”

Bubbles had loaned me out when he needed to make a deal with someone, but he’d made dire threats to them about what would happen if I wasn’t returned in pristine condition. I couldn’t tell that to Will, though. Nothing about Bubbles until I could talk to him, and maybe nothing even after we talked.

“Okay,” Will said. “We’ll have to see how things go. I may want blow jobs in front of people, but maybe not. I may want you to blow people I’m close to, and maybe give up your ass to them, but I can’t say for sure until…” He shrugged. “It’ll be something we can discuss before we develop a long-term contract, if we get that far.”

I nodded. It was part of being owned by someone. If you own a car, you can loan it to a friend. I wanted to be owned.

“Yes, Sir. If you truly own something, you can lend it, but…” I shrugged. “If you value it, you only loan it out to people you know won’t trash it.”

“Exactly right. Finish your beer and we’ll go.”

I downed the rest, settled the bottle back on the table since I hadn’t poured it into the fancy beer glass, and met his gaze. “Yes, Sir.”

He nodded and stood, waited for me to do the same, and then grasped my bicep and walked me out the same side door we’d come in. He hadn’t paid, so I assumed his assistant took care of that for him as well.

“Normally, I’d open your door and put you in, but I’m not in disguise and it seems best we just get in and go.”

Once we were in and on the way, I told him, “No one’s ever opened a door for me. It isn’t necessary.”

“And yet, if I tell you to wait for me, you’ll do so. Unzip and pull your cock out. Leave your jeans in place so you can zip back up if necessary, but I’d like you to give yourself a super-slow handjob in the seven or so minutes it’ll take us to get to my place.”

My cock was rock hard, so it took a little finagling to get it past the zipper without injury, but I obeyed without hesitating or arguing. I’d called himSirseveral times already, so it’d be insane to refuse a simple direct order.

And then he pulled into one of those big box drug stores and pulled a twenty from his wallet. “Get whatever condoms we need and return to me. Zip up before you open the car door.”

Easier said than done, but I managed to get my dick back inside and everything put back together enough I could get out of the car.

There wasn’t a line, thankfully, so I was in and out in no time. I didn’t know what to do with the change, so I put it in the bag with the condoms. When I returned, he’d turned the car around so he was backed into the parking spot. It caught me off guard a little, but I didn’t mention it when I slid back into the car.

Will waited for me to fasten my seatbelt before telling me, “Dick back out. As you were.”

He pulled out of the parking spot while I followed orders, and then smoothly pulled back out onto the road. The Stingray wassweet.

“You’ll undress in the garage, fold your clothes, and put them on the shelving unit by the door going into the house. Today, we’ll have to go to the playroom before I can plug you, but in the future, if you aren’t plugged when you arrive, you’ll insert whatever plug you find waiting for you before you enter. My house has fantastic views of the city, which means I’ve had to pay someone to put special windows in, so we can see out but no one can see in. A few rooms have film on the windows instead, because they’re odd-shaped and original, and the interior designer wouldn’t hear of replacing the glass, but every window in the house has been treated so people can’t see in. You’ll find I value my privacy as Will, but I’m open to the public as Lord Byron.”

“If we work out, where will I fit into that, Sir?”

“Much will depend on what you’re comfortable with, but no one will know about you unless you sign a contract and move in with me. At that point, if you’re comfortable in the public eye, you can certainly be there as my boyfriend, but no one needs to know the specifics of our relationship.”