The Craftsman
I'm a craftsman who works mainly in leather. I have no formal training and nearly everything I know about my craft was earned through trial and error, finding out what worked best for me, and eventually, what worked best for my clients. Each item is made by hand, made to measure, and tailored to fit each individual client exactly. Yes, I am expensive, but there are discerning clients out there who are willing to pay my prices to have my unique and exclusive services. I am always kept busy, and have a waiting list. You won't find me in yellow pages.
My grandfather was a shoemaker, and I don't mean someone who soled, heeled, and repaired shoes in a shopping mall. Yes, he did repair shoes, but only shoes he had made himself. By that, I mean his customers had their shoes hand made by my grandfather, and took them back to him to have them repaired. He hoped I would follow in his footsteps, and would from time to time attempt to pass on his knowledge to me, telling me how to choose the best grades of leather, etc. I loved my grandfather, and didn't like to spoil his illusions, so I was very attentive and genuinely paid attention to what he told me, which stood me in good stead when I later returned to working in leather. When he died, I inherited his tools, which were stored away, until the unlikely day I may have some use for them. I'm glad I kept them.
I won't go into all the details of how I got started in my specialist market, suffice to say that I sort of fell into it accidentally when a chance remark by a woman I met set me to thinking. She told me it was hard to get really well-made items of a certain kind in good quality leather, which reminded me about the tools, my grandfather had left me. I asked her to show me examples of the kind of thing she meant, and after looking at various catalogues, I could see what was required. I told her I could make what she wanted, and she agreed to help me make my first harness. She would describe exactly what she wanted, and I would measure her for it, and refine my manufacturing technique using her as my template. Our mutually beneficial arrangement worked really well, and she was delighted with the harness and other items I made for her.
By now you probably realise that my client base is from the fetish and BDSM community, where my reputation soon spread. One woman would ask the other where they got their leathers, and soon I was working every spare hour in my garden shed until it became more profitable than my full-time day job. I decided to quit the day job, and get myself more professional premises with a small workshop, a changing room and a small showroom and sales area. I soon extended my range from bondage harness to other items in leather such as whips, cat o' nine tails, paddles, etc, etc. These not only extended my range, but gave me extra merchandise to sell, so when a client came in to order a larger item, like a body harness, or leather corset, they might, 'impulse buy,' a smaller item like a whip or paddle, all of which added to the revenue stream.
It's hard work, but I earn ample reward for it, and there are other perks of the job too. I make my items exclusively for women, and the women are all very aware sexually, which means sometimes I get to be incredibly lucky. For instance, towards the end of last year, a woman in her late thirties arrived to enquire about a consultation. She was tall, slim, and sophisticated, very chic. Dark hair immaculately cut, dark brown eyes, bright red lipstick, matching her nail varnish. Her skin was lightly tanned, and her legs were to die for, with trim ankles and extremely high heeled shoes. She was a very, very classy lady and everything about her shrieked, 'Money,' and lots of it. She wasn't a hundred percent sure of what she wanted, so needed to ask my advice. I showed her examples of various items I'd already made, and gave her a small catalogue to take away with her, but as she was leaving she noticed my range of whips, and paddles. 'Mmm... I'd like one or two of those,' she remarked. Going over to the wall where they were displayed she looked at a few thing, but seemed somewhat indecisive. 'What would you recommend?' she asked me. I suggested she have a lighter item to start with, depending on how experienced she was and how much pain she could tolerate, and she admitted to not being very experienced. So, she just couldn't make up her mind, but selected a few items, passing them to me until she decided, and this was where it got interesting.
'I'm still not sure, perhaps you could smack me with a selection to see which ones I like?' I for my part was rather reluctant to comply with her request, not that she wasn't attractive, she was drop dead gorgeous. I just couldn't quite believe that she wanted
me
to smack her gorgeous bottom. I'm quite a modest guy and believe me when I say, I'm not exactly god's gift to women. Okay, I'm tall enough I suppose, standing just over six foot, and I have a decent physique thanks to the occasional jog and weights. I have short-ish dark hair, blue eyes, good teeth, but I looked 'rugged,' rather than handsome, and despite working in and being part of the fetish community, I don't really fit into their list of 'pigeon holes.' I could never be described as a submissive, I'm too assertive for that, but on the other hand I'm not a natural sadist either. However, my little kink is that I love to give women pleasure in any way 'she' wants, and if being spanked, whipped or whatever makes her happy, then I will inflict pain, but only because it gives
her
pleasure. She sensed my reluctance and turned those gorgeous eyes on me, and I got the full 'blast' treatment as she looked at me without saying a word. I felt myself go hard as she held my gaze. She came to me then, never taking her eyes from mine, and caressed my cheek gently with that oh so elegant hand, and then she reached up and whispered in my ear.
