A small smile appeared on Shen Liu’s face. He turned slightly to the side and, with gentlemanly style, raised his hand as an “after you”.
Qin Mu headed upstairs. Shen Liu turned his head and threw Tao Ze a look. The personal assistant, as if struck by sudden inspiration, jolted to attention. In three minutes, he cleared everyone, including himself, from the main house.
One behind the other, they entered the bedroom. Qin Mu asked, “What do you want me to do?”
“Eager, are we?” Shen Liu quipped. He took off his coat, pulled out his phone and tapped the screen a few times.
The large mural in the bedroom silently slid open, revealing the black door hidden within.
“Didn’t notice while you were here?” Shen Liu asked.
Qin Mu shook his head.
The man laughed with a fairly boyish sense of gloating. The fingerprint lock opened with a click. He stood by the door, turning his head to look at Qin Mu.
He was waiting.
Neither hurrying nor coaxing. More like a hunter waiting for his prey to willingly enter the trap.
Qin Mu knew that he should walk over with a natural, effortless, carefree attitude. This was a deal he had agreed to. There was no excuse for turning back now. But from the moment the word “deal” had left his mouth, a commotion of noise had relentlessly swirled like waves in his mind. They howled and clamoured to interrogate him–
Do you even know what you’ve agreed to?
He’s coercing you, don’t you know?
Didn’t you decide to draw a clear boundary?
The love you shared is long over. How can you let this kind of thing happen now?
Are you really going to drag him into all this?
What does this make the two of you?
…
In this moment, he was like a restless sea. Everywhere, there were churning chaoses of currents and frantic schools of fish. Yet he had no choice but to bury it all and put on an illusion of windless, tranquil waters.
In this game of chess, Shen Liu had backed him into a corner, forcing him to make what seemed under the circumstances to be the optimal choice.
Because he was out of options.
Because he was eager for revenge.
Because he was forced into it.
But deep down, he knew. All these reasons that one would give in public were so fragile they would fall apart under the slightest scrutiny. They were hardly sufficient to make him change his boundaries and agree to this absurd deal.
The real reason was none other than… the person before him.
This man that he had held in his heart all these years, whose name he didn’t even dare to lightly mention, after so many years of separation, still held sway over his soul, could shatter all his pretences, and still possessed the entirety of his trust.
Qin Mu exhausted all his strength to persuade himself that this was nothing more than a transaction. But the moment he neared the door, he suddenly grew afraid. Like a rookie soldier’s first foray into battle, he instinctively wanted to retreat. This impulse was so overwhelming that he even started to consider the idea of throwing away his dignity and going back on the agreement.
But he could not back down.
At least, not in this moment.
This deal of a one-night stand, if Shen Liu could say it, then he could play it.
Without drawing attention to it, he took a deep breath and advanced towards the door. His steps seemed calm and measured. As he passed Shen Liu, the man suddenly said, “I have given you the chance to turn back.”
Qin Mu raised his eyes to look at him. He said calmly, “Why should I turn back?”
A mellow glow of light spread before his eyes, illuminating a different world.
Before he entered, Qin Mu had already guessed what sort of place this was. But seeing it with his own eyes, he was still somewhat shocked.
It was a ‘dungeon’. The main area was much larger than the private dungeon he used at Eastern Shore club. Adding on the separate bathing area, dressing room, and the glass infinity pool that extended out flamboyantly, the total area was likely even larger than Chu Yu and Xu Ye’s private playroom.
Shen Liu turned the AC up, poured him a glass of water and politely suggested, “Have a look around?”
Qin Mu’s eyes ran over the cabinet lined with various sex toys, swept across the row of neatly hung, uniformly styled whips, briefly paused at the steel-framed four-poster bed and returned upon Shen Liu’s face. He asked, “Which role do you want me to take?”
“What do you think?” the man countered.
“Compared to being Sub, I’d likely satisfy you more as a Dom. But I’ll need a bit of time to familiarise myself with the space and the toys.” Qin Mu said seriously, “But of course, this is merely a suggestion. The decision is yours.”
Shen Liu let out a short laugh, “I imagine Mr Pharaoh hasn’t been Sub in a long time. Today would be the perfect opportunity for a good revision.” He used a remote to lower the floor-to-ceiling curtains, put on some light music, then said unhurriedly, “Are there any commands you can’t accept?”
After a brief pause, Qin Mu said, “No.”
This answer surprised Shen Liu a little. He had expected Qin Mu to impose a long list of “off-limits”, restricting the play to a very small scope. He was prepared to have to nitpick words and find loopholes. He hadn’t expected Qin Mu to be so open and generous. His preemptive calculations seemed petty in contrast.
“Trust me a lot, do you?” Shen Liu looked at him with amusement, “Safe word the same? Or change to a different one?”
“Same.”
“Alright.” He nodded at the bathroom, “Go, get yourself cleaned. You have fifteen minutes.”
Without another word, Qin Mu turned and walked to the bathroom.
Fifteen minutes was more than enough time for a shower. But to clean “inside and out”, time was tight.
He went around the built-in jacuzzi, which was big enough for three or four people, and took a quick look at the bathroom’s setup. The wash area was separated into a wet and dry zone. In the inner section, there was a specialised enema device, a bidet spray and a wall-mounted leg spreader chair. In the outer section, the glass cabinet contained a dizzying assortment of bottles and jars, all organised by function and colour. As a seasoned expert, Qin Mu knew what to do. But it had been too long since he last used it all on himself, and the process was somewhat challenging.
By the time he had quickly completed the cleaning routine and stepped out with a bathrobe, the digital clock on the wall showed he was past the time limit.
The room was warm. Shen Liu had taken off his sweater, the sleeves of his shirt were rolled up, the buttons on the front were undone. His toned muscles could be seen through the gap as he moved about. He tapped the riding crop in his hand against the floor, “Clothes off. Come here.”
With obedience, Qin Mu did as instructed. He hung his bathrobe on the tree-shaped coat rack. Entirely naked, he walked in front of Shen Liu and knelt.
A textbook-perfect kneeling posture: straight back, core drawn in, hands behind his back, knees shoulder-width apart – flawless in every regard. He turned his face up towards the man in front of him. The eyes behind the glasses were quiet and focused. He was kneeling completely naked at someone’s feet, yet he carried himself with the solemnity of attending a formal meeting. Not a touch or taste of desire about him.
Silently, Shen Liu smirked. The handle of the whip brushed upwards across Qin Mu’s chest, tracing over his throat, and pressed against the jaw, raising it. Looking down from above, he spoke, “Tell me your identity.”
This was a routine exchange of question and answer aimed at helping both parties quickly enter their roles.
“I am your slave.” Qin Mu replied calmly.
“Tell me your rights.”
“Giving you everything is my only right.”
“Tell me your duty.”
“Obeying your command is my entire duty.”
“Very good.” With the handle of the whip, Shen Liu lightly tapped the side of his face, “I gave you fifteen minutes. How much longer did you take?”
The riding crop lifted in an instant and smacked hard upon his chest. The clapper struck accurately on the nipple. The strike was quite heavy. Qin Mu tensed his muscles in an instant, clenched his teeth and steadied himself.
A red mark slowly appeared on the skin. The coarse leather at the tip of the riding crop intentionally kneaded the sensitive spot where the pain had not subsided, delivering a stimulation that was at times light, at times firm. Involuntarily, a shiver ran through Qin Mu.
“Painful?” Shen Liu asked.
“As long as Master is pleased, your slave can bear anything.” Like an emotionless machine, Qin Mu answered with formulaic perfunctoriness. Yet it was hard to find any fault with him.
– I will obey your rules, but these rules cannot truly affect me. This is your domain, but I am not under your control.
For a Dom, this situation was nothing short of a provocation.
Stroking the whip in his hands, Shen Liu gazed down at him from above.
He had truly changed.
In his youth, Qin Mu was easily flustered when it came to sex. Most of the time, he just went along with whatever mischief Shen Liu came up with. On the occasions when they did switch roles and he tried his hand at being the Dom, he was caught up in the moment too easily and would lose control only after one or two playful teases. In the years after their separation, time had silently erased all his emotional vibrancy and fashioned him into this figure of cold, remote distance.
This was the so-called stoic restraint?
A dark, unfathomable light glimmered in Shen Liu’s eyes.
Don’t the delights of this world reside exactly in breaking taboos?
To cast angels into hell, to drag authority off its horse, to bring a master into submission, to make the self-restrained surrender to desire – the more forbidden the deed, the more wild the fire of conquest burns.
And in this moment, his battlefield lay right before him.
Shen Liu threw the whip aside and took out an eye mask from the cabinet.
Qin Mu felt his heart jump.
“Do you like it, Slave?” Shen Liu asked.
Qin Mu lowered his eyes and replied, “I do, Master.”
“Very good.”
His glasses were removed. The black cloth deprived him of all light. His world fell into darkness.
When a person loses their sight, they feel an instinctive sense of danger. For Qin Mu, who had experienced certain terrible ordeals, this feeling of insecurity was only intensified.
Shen Liu noticed that Qin Mu’s body had visibly tensed. He stroked the side of his face, “I am here.”
“Yes, Master.” Qin Mu did his best to regain his composure, forcing himself to relax.
Darkness was not the only thing that Shen Liu gave him. A collar was fastened around his neck, and he was led towards the wall.
Shen Liu commanded him to stand against the wall, and then, on the steel bar that jutted out, his hands were fastened, one on the left, one on the right. His wrists felt something cool. He guessed that he had been handcuffed. Qin Mu stood motionless and in silence, letting Shen Liu do as he pleased
“Lift your right leg.”
Qin Mu hesitated for two seconds at this command, but did as instructed. Soon, his right leg was pulled outwards and also secured onto the steel bar. This time with a soft restraint strap.
Under these circumstances, Qin Mu could only lean against the wall, just managing to balance on one leg. His private area was forcibly and entirely exposed to the other’s gaze.
It was a humiliating position, but still, he didn’t show any emotion.
Shen Liu made a few finer adjustments to the bondage posture. Teasingly, he flicked about Qin Mu’s unresponsive sex organ, “My slave doesn’t seem very interested today?”
“I’m sorry, Master.” A dull, mechanical reply.
“That’s ok. Some things are more fun when you take it slow.” Shen Liu laughed lightly. Slowly, he caressed the chest where it had been struck, sliding upward little by little, and then, gripping Qin Mu’s jaw, he kissed him.