"You never really get over the shame of it, to be honest. At a certain point you just have to decide to embrace it or move on."
I nodded politely.
While accustomed to hearing advice from strangers in bars, this perspective hit differently. Primarily because the guy offering it wasn't a complete stranger. He was Kristen's gimp, Nick. And as he sipped his beer I couldn't help but think back to watching him use that same mouth to lick his cum up off her latex-clad body.
Our meeting was Mistress' idea.
It had been a couple weeks since Kristen's and my first date and we hadn't seen one another in-person since. Instead, we spoke regularly while I worked through a range of tasks -- from medical exams to providing the usernames and passwords to all of my online accounts -- she required of me.
"I'm tired of fakers wasting my time," she explained matter-of-factly. "Consider the process another trust exercise if it helps."
She was right. Every quality relationship, even non-traditional ones, are grounded in trust, I reasoned. Even if most don't involve handing over access to years-worth of e-mail correspondence, contact lists and the opening of a shared credit card.
The latter wasn't as tough as you'd think; money is money. As a life-long bachelor I placed much greater value in my privacy. Which is why installing webcams at strategic points in my home -- bedroom, living room, bathroom -- felt very 'Truman Show' and nearly caused me to call the whole thing off.
As the cameras went online and their lights turned green, I swallowed hard -- here goes ... something!
"Very good pet, I appreciate that this is significant for you."
I froze.
"Cuuute. Look at you all startled," Kristen chuckled. Did you really enable the speaker function without figuring I'd use it?"
I hadn't truly considered it, I thought.
"You look so handsome there in your living room, pet. You have the rarest of things at the moment ... my attention. Make it worth my while."
"Yes, Mistress."
I quickly took off my t-shirt, pants and boxers and then kneeled next to the disheveled pile of clothes.
"So vulnerable, pet. Show me how strong you are with some push-ups."
I banged out 10 with ease, my erect cock crushing into the ground with each rep.
"I didn't tell you to stop."
So I continued. And continued. Eventually, Kristen put me through an entire workout: sit-ups, squats, lunges ... All the while I could hear her through the speaker giggling, commenting on my body, correcting my form, and commanding me through an increasingly involved routine.
Finally, mercifully, she allowed me to stop and lie back on the floor.
"Very good, Thomas. You looked so ridiculous, but I loved your commitment. You should have seen your cock swinging while running in place. Delicious! Can you even imagine what Carl or Andy might think? Or Suzy?"
Hearing two of my good buddy's and a former girlfriend's name come out of my Mistress' mouth sent an electric shock through my body.
"Oooh, look at you both getting squirmy and hard at the thought. Love that. Start stroking for me."
I had never felt my cock so hard in my hand, and I complied with slow, deliberate pulls.
Meanwhile, Kristen began reading aloud from my Slack threads.
She had me totally captured. Socially. Professionally. I had even afforded her a wide window into the privacy of my own home. The thought both terrified and excited me.
Suddenly, violently, I exploded at the thought of it all, covering myself in cum from the chin down.
"Verrry, good, Thomas! Now be a good boy, rub all that in, and don't you dare wash."
She closed our virtual session with an invitation to meet Nick out the next night at a swank hotel lounge bar downtown.
Which led me to wonder: how do you greet your Mistress' gimp?
When the time came, I went in with a friendly smile and fist bump. Figured I'd also acknowledge the nature of our relationship.
"Nice meeting the man behind the latex mask."
Nick chuckled and returned my fist bump.
"Yeah man," he responded, "Welcome to the party."
Over the next hour and a half I learned that Nick had been serving Kristen for more than a year. So far as he knew, she enjoyed the pleasure of additional partners on occasion, but he was the only one she sustained a longer term relationship with. His commitment was all the more impressive, if not unbelievable, considering he also had a wife and child at home to nurture and raise.
"A totally different conversation, man," is all he said when I asked how he balanced it all. "What I will tell you is to be careful, Thomas. If you go down this path, Mistress Kristen will blow your world wide open."
As if on queue, there was a hush across the bar as Kristen made a grand entrance in a dramatic red latex halter neck evening dress.
"Atsuko Kudo," I said as she approached.
"Correct, Thomas. I'm proud to see you have been studying," Kristen exclaimed as she took a seat with us. "And which shade, my pet?" she asked, puckering a perfectly formed red lip inches from my face.
I guessed Rouge Hermes matte #97, Pourpre Figue.
"Wrong. Nick?"
"He was close, Mistress. It is #85, Rouge H."
"Very good! But then, you have enjoyed the taste of both on your lips. And the sight of them on your gorgeous manhood," she said, while discreetly reaching under our bar top table and grabbing his cock. "So interesting that you would defend his incorrect answer though, Gimp.
I take it to mean you like him?"
"He seems like a good guy."
"Do you think we should play with him?"
"Yes, Mistress, if it pleases you I think we should."
Kristen leaned over, kissed Nick lightly on the mouth and whispered in his ear. Then, she turned to me while keeping a firm hold of Nick under the table.
"Thomas, have you ever felt another man's erection before?"
I hadn't. Truth be told, I didn't even particularly enjoy seeing other guy's dicks when watching porn.
Kristen seized on my hesitation.
"Thomas, I am glad you have gotten to know Nick a little bit. He's my constant. And he's fantastic. Wasn't always that way. Shoot, you should have seen him when we started; all thrust and no vector. But I broke him down and built him into what you see before you: a strong, dedicated, servant and lover who can intuit and finds joy in fulfilling my most depraved desires."
It wasn't lost on me that Kristen was now full-on stroking Nick's cock through his pants under the table. Precum was even beginning to pool through the fabric.
It unlocked something unexpectedly primal in me.
"I will touch it," I said.
"Oh, are you in charge now, Nick? Because I'm pretty sure I'm the one who will be dictating what you will and won't be doing. Especially when it comes to my gimp."
"I'm sorry, Mistress. I forgot my place ... may I touch it?"
"Touch what, Nick? I will give you one more chance to ask fully and properly for what you would like."
I swallowed hard and worked to get out a sentence I never in my life imagined uttering, even in jest.
"Mistress Kristen, may I please touch your gimp's erection under the table?"
She smiled.
"Naughty, Thomas, you eager little perv," she chuckled. "All I asked is if you had ever touched one and you went right to asking to manhandle the closest one to you.
No, you may not."
She nodded at Nick and he excused himself from the table without saying a word.
I sat transfixed as Mistress Kristen dipped a manicured nail into her cocktail - a Vieux Carre - and began stirring. She looked me in the eye and eloquently raised her sharply-pointed finger to my lips.
"Taste."