Page 8 of Love Lessons

When it had happened the next time, Zhong either ignored it or truly hadn’t noticed. Which was why they could have this conversation now. OK, so tell me what you were watching. Actually, wait. I want to see it.

I don’t know why I indulge you. It was a scene with a whip. Are you sure you want to see it?

See? That wasn’t that hard. And yes, I want to see it. Share your screen. What did you like about it?

Dustin sighed. Even though it led to some of the weirdest conversations ever, he kind of appreciated how calm and matter-of-fact Zhong was about this. No matter how much Dustin read or watched, he still didn’t quite trust any of it. I don’t even know if any of this is real. Like, it’s porn.

Everyone knew porn wasn’t real. Anal sex without prep was totally a joke. Or at least a fantasy. Whipping someone like that probably was too. Maybe it just didn’t hurt as much as it looked like it should.

Zhong was still waiting for his answer with visible anticipation.

I liked… I don’t even know. The sub was covered with these red marks, all over her shoulders and ass. I don’t even understand why that turns me on.

Did the sub like it?

She was crying. But, God, she’d sure sounded like she was enjoying it. Isn’t it fucked up that I find that arousing?

Not if you’re a sadist. And the other person consents.

I know.

Zhong shook his head. I don’t think you do.Now show me.

Dustin started playing the video again on half his screen with Zhong’s call on the other half. He tried to split his attention, but his eyes kept going back to that translucent skin as another strike fell and another, their path marked in tight, red lines. The woman’s cries and moans filled the room, a counterpoint to the sharp smacks. Dustin could imagine himself holding that whip, owning her responses and making her beg him like she was doing to the Dom on the screen.

Zhong waved to get his attention and he reluctantly drew his eyes away. She looks like she’s enjoying it. She even said please. She might be a porn star, but it looks pretty real to me.

Dustin could hear her voice and moans, even if words didn’t always get transmitted meaningfully from his ears to his brain. Zhong had clearly been able to read her lips, even through the distortion of her heavy breathing and sobs.

Zhong shrugged. So if you like it, and the sub likes it, I think you’ve got your answers.

Dustin nodded, his eyes still darting back and forth across the split screen. It just looked so… scary. Sickeningly appealing. He was greedy for it even though he felt guilty.

Hey, Zhong waved his hand vertically again to get his attention. There must be some homemade porn, right? Like DIY? Where are the real people?

Dustin paused the video. He hesitated for a moment and then pulled up a different one. I swear to God, I wouldn’t share this with anyone but you.

Zhong rubbed his hands together to sign his enthusiasm.

He hesitated again. It was his favorite, favorite video. The one he’d watched over and over again until he had it memorized. He’d even listened to it enough that he knew all the words they were saying, which wasn’t something that came easily to him.

He blew out a deep breath, reminding himself that he trusted Zhong. Reluctantly, he pressed play.

The lighting was bad, and the sub was kneeling in front of a cheap, plastic stool that Dustin had definitely seen at IKEA. You could see how the Dom, a small, slight man clad in black leather, set things up. He first clipped the kneeling sub’s feet together and then, while the sub watched him in adoration, attached a row of small clamps to his balls. They talked with each other, their voices a low rumble that mostly washed over Dustin. As each clamp was attached, the sub winced and then smiled, his eyes going glassy.

Then, the Dom chained the sub’s hand to a duct-tape covered pole in front of the stool, so that his thick, hairy chest rested against the stool and his rounded, furry belly hung down. The Dom took out a curved piece of metal, like a U, lubed it up with an economy sized bottle of lube that he left sitting on a milk crate, and slowly started fucking the bigger sub with it. The sub rolled and pulled at his chains, arching into the motion, while the Dom laughed.

When the Dom was satisfied with the placement, he attached one end of the metal U to the post. Then he attached the dangling chains from the sub’s balls to his feet. When the sub was fully trapped between the two painful sensations, he started shaking, then crying and gasping. The Dom walked around in front of him to look him in the eye and pet his hair. That was the moment that always got to Dustin. That pure look of love and desire and connection.

Then, they kissed on the lips, a slow, luxurious kiss that seemed almost out of context with the rest of the scene. It only heightened it for Dustin.

It didn’t matter that he couldn’t see much of what was going on when the Dom started using the flogger on the sub’s broad, muscular back. Or that the sub hid his face in his arms halfway through and only looked up again with those agonized, blissed-out eyes at the very end. The whole thing was barely fifteen minutes long, but Dustin had stayed up many nights replaying it in his head.

Strangely, though, Dustin was watching Zhong more than the video this time. What would he say?

The video eventually blacked out, cut off suddenly in the midst of the Dom removing the rope from the post.

Zhong stared at the black screen with him, while Dustin grew more nervous. They love each other, he finally said.