Merlin watched hidden in the kitchen as Arthur entered the house, put his shoes and jacket away and found the collar. He smiled as Arthur read the note attached.

When you put this on, go to the living room and strip. Fold your clothes and put them on the coffee table. There, you'll find the vibrating egg.

Merlin watched, remaining hidden, as Arthur did so. He crept from the kitchen to the living room doorway, watching as Arthur stripped, folded his clothes, and turned to the vibrating egg resting on the velvet blindfold.

Take this, put it up your arse. Put on the blindfold. Stand behind the couch.

Again, Arthur complied. It took him a bit of work and stretching to insert the thing, seeing as Merlin hadn't given him lube, but eventually, he managed, and stood behind the couch, where there was another note waiting.

Spread your legs twice as wide as your shoulders, bend over, put your folded arms on the couch, head in your arms, and wait. Do not move from this position until I say otherwise. Do not come.

Arthur complied.

Merlin waited, to see what would happen. He didn't know what was running through Arthur's mind, but considering he could see the hardening of his cock, he could take a few guesses. Arthur's arse just jutting out like that was tempting, and Merlin nearly decided to screw away his plan.

Then he looked down at the latest toy resting on the kitchen table, and remembered how great it would be.

At exactly a quarter to midnight, Merlin picked up the small remote silently in the kitchen, and turned on the vibrating egg.

Arthur gasped and moaned as it seemingly turned on at random, and Merlin grinned, watching Arthur struggle with staying still while he so clearly wanted to move.

Arthur kept position, panting and breathing heavily against the couch.

After a while, he turned it up a notch, then again, and soon, Arthur was moaning and gasping and trying desperately not to come or move, and on the edge of failing.

At exactly midnight, he quickly grabbed the new toy and walked in.

"Hello."

"Mer...M-Merlin...?" Arthur panted out.

"Mmhm," Merlin said. "You were good, you know. I saw. I've been watching."

Arthur's breath hitched, before he let out another moan.

"Please, Merlin...let me come..."

"...no," Merlin said, cheekily. "Not yet."

Arthur let out another moan, a mix of lust and despair.

Merlin leaned down and licked a drop of sweat off of Arthur's neck, and Arthur gasped and tried to lean into the touch, but Merlin moved away, before crouching down.

Arthur turned his head in confusion when he felt a leather manacle clasp on one ankle, then on the other.

"Try pushing your legs together," Merlin instructed.

Arthur tried, then moaned again when he couldn't - the spreader bar wasn't letting him. As Arthur started to realize what it was, Merlin grinned at the look on his face.

Merlin turned up the vibrating egg again, and said, "Your feet and arms stay still, anything else can move."

Arthur practically collapsed in on himself as he writhed, and while he was busy being frustrated, Merlin silently stripped, folded his clothes, put them by Arthur's.

Without warning Arthur, he slowly pushed one finger into Arthur's hole. Arthur bucked a little, but with a calming stroke over his thigh, he stilled. Merlin pushed his finger further in, bumping into the egg, then moving it up to make room.

He pulled out a bit to work in a second finger, then a third, and Merlin kept a careful eye on Arthur, not having given him any lube and not using any, but so far, Arthur seemed to handle it well.

Merlin worked in a fourth finger just to be sure, and he frequently had to pinch the base of Arthur's cock to keep him from coming from the combined stimulation of the egg and of Merlin's hand, but he managed.

Finally, he pulled out the egg, and put in his cock.

They both groaned in unison, and at first, it was rough, and Merlin had to go slow, very slow.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Arthur nodded, before pushing his hips back, motioning for Merlin to go faster.

Slowly, carefully, he sped up. The friction was rough, almost painful but not quite. They couldn't really just fuck like usual, but the general idea was still applicable, and with a dry slap, Merlin's thighs were slamming into Arthur's, who was panting and moaning and begging Merlin to let him come.

Not yet.

He kept one hand firmly gripping Arthur's hip, the other around his cock, and bent over to lean across Arthur's back, licking his shoulder before saying in Arthur's ear, "Good, so good, Arthur, your arse is so good..." with every word punctuated with a poignant thrust.

When Merlin knew he was about to come, he released Arthur's cock and with a last thrust and holding himself inside Arthur, he murmured into Arthur's ear, "Come with me."

And Arthur did.

Arthur nearly screamed as he came, hips grinding hard against Merlin's, chest fluttering with his erratic breathing, and oh this was brilliant, Merlin thought, as he filled Arthur's arse with his come.

They drifted down off their orgasmic high together, and Merlin slowly, carefully, pulled out of Arthur.

"Good?" Merlin asked simply.

Arthur nodded, an emphatic mmpf emanating from his mouth, breathing still rough and deep.

Merlin smiled, and swatted Arthur's arse, making him jump and yelp, and said, "Stay here."

Arthur nodded, squirming but generally not moving. Merlin stood back and for a few moments, just admired the sight of Arthur standing there, legs forcibly spread, his come dripping out of Arthur's red, abused hole.

He silently went over and got a washcloth, soft flannel, dampened it with warm water, and headed back.

Arthur jumped a little at the feeling of the wet washcloth cleaning up around the edges of his hole - and even more so when Merlin replaced it with his tongue - but he moaned all the same, enjoying the treatment, and whimpering a little when it ended.

"Shh..." Merlin soothed. He released Arthur from the leg-spreader, and hooked a chain to Arthur's collar, and led the blindfolded man through the house, telling him where there were doorways or stairs. Arthur was limp and his gait unsteady, but he managed.

When they reached the bed, Merlin lay Arthur down, then lay down beside him. He didn't chain Arthur up, but simply curled a loose finger through the O-ring and pulled Arthur down to sleep - still blindfolded.


A week or two later, Merlin came home, a package for Arthur hidden in his bag, only to sigh at the sight of the collar still in the locked drawer of the hallway table. And a moment later, he did indeed hear Arthur talking furiously to someone on the phone.

Yet again, Merlin was glad he didn't work directly for Arthur. He smiled fondly to himself as he stood in the living room to see Arthur pacing around his office as he yelled at someone on the phone.

While a promotion to a head designer, or even the graphics chief, wouldn't be so bad, he had no intention of trying to climb his way up to being the Head of the Design Department, and peering into Arthur's office, he knew he was looking at the reason why.

"What the hell do you mean you don't know what the third quarter figures are?" Arthur shouted. "That's your job!"

More muttering over the line. "No - no! Then do them tonight - we need the presentation ready by the end of the week, and if I don't have a complete copy of the full set of third quarter margins from you on my desk, in my office, by tomorrow morning, you're on probation!"

Arthur continued to yell at whoever was on the phone and Merlin sighed, looking in the direction of his bag. He had some plans, but one of their solid rules about this was that Merlin did not ever push the collar on Arthur. Arthur put on and took off the collar on his whim. In the collar, Merlin had complete power over Arthur, and out of it, they were equals - and not just equals, but Merlin deferred to Arthur and let him do whatever he wanted or needed when it concerned work, with no more words than any other boyfriend. And he put no pressure on Arthur to put on the collar any sooner than when he felt like it.

He'd just have to wait.

As it turned out, it was a while. It appears that for once, there was actually a legitimate crisis for Arthur to be blowing his head off for, rather than his usual non-crises, and Merlin's only interference was to bring a protein bar and a soda around dinner time. It was the only way Arthur would eat, or else he wouldn't even touch it, too focused to be able to actually pay attention to a meal.

Arthur had thanked him with a kiss, before turning back to his computer - three computers, actually, and Merlin had no idea how the hell Arthur managed those and the five monitors - and went back to typing furiously, numbers and letters and the blood of western Europe's biggest independent software company running across the screens.

Kissing a distracted Arthur's forehead good night, Merlin went to bed.


For the entire weekend, Arthur focused on work and the crisis inspired therein. This part generally didn't affect Merlin - someone told him to make a logo, and he made it, simple as that.

Merlin realized just how deep into this D/s thing he and Arthur were in the next night. Arthur had come to bed, dressed for once and collarless. But Merlin had kissed along his jawline and Arthur responded, and they rubbed and stroked each other, and when Merlin realized he was actually reminding himself that Arthur wasn't his slave for the night, he internally laughed, and then sucked Arthur off into a gentle sleep. Or, well, nap, considering he knew Arthur would wake in a few hours. But at least he could ensure that it would be a good, deep sleep, however little of it he got.


A few days after, Arthur came home and flopped on the couch. He took about an hour's nap, before slipping on the collar.

It'd been five days since Arthur last touched it, and Merlin jumped Arthur immediately, pressing Arthur's front against the wall, pressing his chest to Arthur's back, pressing his cock against Arthur's arse.

Arthur moaned, and Merlin slipped his hand down to find Arthur was even harder than he was.

There were so many things Merlin wanted to say, to whisper and hiss into Arthur's ear, as he rutted their clothed bodies together. But he mostly settled on rubbing them both to crude completion.

Then, he dragged Arthur to the living room.

"Strip," he ordered.

Arthur nodded, an orgasm-dazed smile on his face as he complied.

Merlin walked over to his bag, and pulled out his latest gift for Arthur - lingerie.

They were an assortment of boy-shorts underwear, technically intended for women. A variety of colors, blue, green, red, gold, silver, even pink, all with black lace trimmings.

"It's rather frustrating how much my view of you gets blocked with those stupid suits you wear." Which Merlin knew were all designer, tailored, and each one was probably worth about a month of his salary, at least. He did look good in them. But they were still cockblocking pieces of fabric, and Arthur looked even better out of them.

Arthur nodded dutifully.

Merlin made a show of shuffling through the lace shorts, before smirking and tugging out the red one, and tossing it to Arthur. "Put it on."

Arthur did so, and then stood. Merlin admired the front view, where it wrapped around Arthur's hips and hugged his cock, an impressive bulge. "Turn around." And yes, the prize, it made Arthur's arse look positively gorgeous. It only covered the top half, leaving the bottom half bare, and really, could anyone blame Merlin for stepped forward and taking a squeeze for himself?

Pressing into the touch, Arthur panted as his head leaned back on Merlin's shoulder. He rested his chin on Arthur's shoulder, sliding his hand down Arthur's well-defined chest and groping his way along, ending with wrapping his hand around Arthur's hips.

"You're delicious, you know that?" Merlin said.

Arthur nodded.

Merlin smacked his arse. "Say thank you when someone compliments you."

Arthur nodded again. "Thank you."

"I hadn't complimented you, right then," Merlin said.

He bent Arthur over an arm of the couch, and clasped him in the leg spreader, and raised his hand. "Five strikes."

"Yes, sir," Arthur murmured, and fell into the haze.

Merlin watched, Arthur's hips jerking with each strike. His own hand stung, and Arthur's arse reddened with the blows, and he whimpered, but as usual, Arthur's cock hardened, too, and clearly, he loved it.

Arthur was shivering, slightly, as the last strike landed, and Merlin leaned forward and bit down on his right arse cheek, then his left, before kissing his way over the underwear and up Arthur's spine.

"Gorgeous."

"Thank you."


Merlin grinned at the ropes around his bedpost, having finally mastered the knots. He'd spent weeks working on these knots with the new jute ropes, and finally, finally, he got it completely right - fifth time in a row, no flukes, and, the last and final test - slipping only one knot, with only one tug...

...and the entire thing came apart. An effective safety measure, and that meant Merlin was ready for this, finally trusting himself with the rope. He had refused himself to even think about trying until he was completely ready. Because if Merlin couldn't trust himself, then Arthur couldn't trust him, either.

He fought to keep the big grin off his face when Arthur came home that night.

Merlin was waiting in the bedroom, standing by the window, when Arthur came in, collared, to find Merlin leaning with his arms crossed against the wall, and a large, wrapped package on the bed for him.

"Another gift?" Arthur asked enthusiastically, eying the gift as he stripped on Merlin's command.

"Underwear," Merlin added to Arthur. Thinking about the off-white color of the ropes, he said, "Green one."

Arthur obliged, making a slight show of pulling it on, and at Merlin's nod, he walked forward and unwrapped the gift.

His eyebrows shot up.

"Jute rope," Merlin said. "Popular in bondage, both Western and Japanese - it'll be somewhat like real, rough-hemp rope, but it won't be as abrasive to the skin. Good for most kinds of rope bondage."

Arthur stared, then slowly grinned up at Merlin.

Merlin stepped forward and took the rope in hand, setting aside the paper, and pushing Arthur onto the bed, fighting to keep his breathing in control as Arthur, well, didn't. He shaped Arthur into position with his hands, rather than commands, having him kneel on the bed, legs pressed together and sitting on his heels, his back straight up, hands clasped, fingers laced, behind his back. Arthur would need to move while he bound him, but this was how he would end up.

Getting the rope, he started by having Arthur rise onto his knees and spread his legs a little. Merlin wove the rope around and between his legs, tightening them back together, until the rope was halfway down his thigh, before bringing him down onto his heels again. This took more maneuvering, but Merlin did the same for his lower legs, starting midway down his shins and ending at his ankles, with only about an inch of rope between the thighs and the shins, locking him into that kneel.

Merlin brought the rope back up, snugly in the crack formed by Arthur's arse, and started wrapping it around and through Arthur's wrists, the roping turning almost into a sleeve, and pulling Arthur's elbows together, though for now he left a few inches, knowing Arthur's flexibility limits. He skipped over the elbows, and then Merlin created less of a sleeve, and more of an elaborate geometric web between Arthur's widespread upper arms, so his arms were hidden by the ropes, but Merlin could get tantalizing glimpses of Arthur's back and shoulder blades.

Having little rope left to work with, Merlin hooked the rope several times over Arthur's shoulders, crisscrossing his upper back. With a few inches left, Merlin turned Arthur's collar around and hooked the last of the rope through the ring, and tied it off.

He finished it off by blindfolding Arthur.

Stepping back, Merlin grinned and let out a breath at his handiwork. It had taken almost fifteen minutes to do this, and properly, but looking at Arthur, now, it was worth it.

He was intricately wrapped up in thin rope all around, tension between Arthur's muscles and the rope creating a tightened effect, his position pushing out his chest, highlighting the shape of his well-defined muscles as he breathed.

"God, you're beautiful," Merlin said, stroking Arthur's face.

Arthur smiled and leaned into the touch. "Thank you."

Merlin left him like that for a while. Arthur seemed to slowly melt into his bonds, relaxing, somewhat, as much as his position could allow.

Setting his camera on silent, Merlin couldn't resist taking a few pictures.

Then he couldn't resist taking more than a few.

He grinned when he tucked the camera away, before padding silently up, and bringing a soft hand up to Arthur's cheek.

It took a few moments for Arthur to slip back into reality, but then he leaned his head and nuzzled Merlin's palm slightly, and Merlin kissed Arthur's forehead before setting to work.

He untied Arthur in the same way that he had tied him - from the thighs down.

But he left Arthur's ankles bound and tied the now-free end of the rope to the bed post, before placing himself in the fleshy diamond of Arthur's legs, his fingers already inside the man as he squirmed on his bound arms.

"So gorgeous," Merlin murmured, kissing Arthur. "You looked amazing...all tied up. Like a work of art, you know? I should do a painting of you, like that, or maybe a charcoal sketch..."

Arthur writhed on the bed beneath Merlin, stilling for only a moment when Merlin put his cock in, before moving again - or rather, trying to - when Merlin hit his prostate.

"You can come when you want," Merlin gasped into Arthur's ear.

He barely managed to arch off the bed, Merlin keeping a firm grip on his hips as he drove in, again, and again, and again-

"Merlin!" was the only warning he got before Arthur was clenching around him and Arthur's stomach was covered in ropes of white. And the visual feast of Arthur all tied up and blind-folded and covered in cum, even if it wasn't his, drove Merlin to the edge and then right over it, too.

Not wanting to put any more stress on Arthur's shoulders, Merlin propped himself up and sat back a little, pulling out of Arthur as they breathed heavily, the sound filling the room as their orgasmic bliss faded to contentment. Once Arthur's breathing seemed to have calmed down, Merlin moved, taking the rope off Arthur.

As Merlin unwound the rope, he asked Arthur, "Are you okay?"

Arthur tested out his legs and arms once they came loose.

"My shoulders are sore," Arthur admitted. "But that's it."

Merlin nodded, having expected this. He made Arhtur lie down on his stomach, and grabbed some of the tingly oil they had been using before. Straddling Arthur's back, Merlin proceeded to give the deepest massage he could, smoothing out the soreness and tension from Arthur's muscles.

With the way Arthur was responding to a post-bondage massage, melting bonelessly under his fingers, Merlin found himself already planning future positions to put Arthur in - each one more stressful than the last.


Arthur, of course, still had some limits.

He was breathing heavily as he lay on the bed, blindfolded, and Merlin kneeled beside him, hovering over him.

"Let's try something new, shall we...?" Merlin offered, sliding a hand around Arthur's hip. Arthur smiled and nodded, stretching languidly on the bed, for once not tied up. Merlin wanted him free for this. Merlin, personally, didn't really care much for this one, but Arthur might like it.

He slowly slid his hand over Arthur's waist, and up his chest. Here he took a detour to trace around Arthur's nipples, before sliding his fingers back up to dance over his collarbone, and stroke Arthur's neck, over the collar.

He slid his fingers, slowly, gently, until they were wrapped around Arthur's neck.

Then he started putting on the pressure. Arthur gasped, and Merlin took that as a sign to go forward.

He pressed on the heel of his palm, just above the Adam's apple and at an angle to it, and he continued manipulating his fingers like this carefully, remembering the forum's advice on how to do this without actually damaging Arthur, and limiting the bruises it would leave. If he did this right, he could even leave little to no bruising at all.

He pushed down, until Arthur's breathing was starting to be cut-off, and-

Arthur suddenly started struggling, and for a brief moment, Merlin did nothing.

Then, he realized, this wasn't play - Arthur was legitimately terrified.

Horror icing his gut, Merlin snatched back his hand like it had been burned, eyes widening, and Arthur sat up, gasping, rubbing his throat with shaking hands.

"Arthur?" Merlin cried out, standing on his knees and hovering over Arthur, but not touching, because, because, because he hadn't meant to, to do this, he thought Arthur would like it, and, fuck, what if he-

"Merlin?" Arthur said, reaching out to grasp onto Merlin's shoulder with a shaking hand.

"Arthur," Merlin said, softly, putting a gentle hand on Arthur's shoulder. "Are you all right?"

"Y-yeah," Arthur said, still gasping for breath like a shark in the desert. "I'm fine."

"I...I'm sorry, Arthur-"

"S'okay, just give me a minute," he said. "You didn't know...I didn't know..."

Merlin watched as Arthur got his breathing back under control, before sighing and saying, "Fuck, Arthur, I'm so sorry, I thought you'd like it, you, I...I'll start telling you all my plans before hand and-"

"No!" Arthur said, head snapping up. "Merlin, I like it when you surprise me. Just...this is one bad one. It's okay, just...please don't do it again. I...I don't know why, but strangling..."

Merlin nodded. Not everyone liked every kink. And this was one of those thing was that definitely not for everyone. "But...are you sure?"

"I like the surprise."

"...okay," Merlin relented, still eying him worriedly. "But - seriously, we need safeword, this time, not just a 'no' - I've gotten so used to you struggling it took me a few seconds to-no, Arthur, no exceptions!"

"Merlin, it was-"

"Safeword or nothing," Merlin said.

Arthur nodded slowly. "I think you may have been more scared than me," he said.

Merlin swallowed. "I am! I don't want to hurt you, and I don't want to leave you scared of what will happen."

Arthur smiled, and lay down to rest his head in Merlin's lap. "Just a bit more time before we start again? Please?"

His hand stroking Arthur's hair, Merlin said, "Yes - and we'll take it light for tonight, too."

Even if Arthur wanted to object, he didn't, simply pressing his head into Merlin's hand and humming happily as Merlin continued his tactile musings.


One other reason, besides decoration and quality, that the collar had cost so much, was because it was waterproof. Right now, he was fairly certain it was worth the investment.

Merlin smiled as strong arms wrapped around him in the shower, and he leaned back against Arthur's well muscled chest, sighing before turning and wrapping his arms around Arthur, pressing their wet bodies and wet lips all together.

He kneaded Arthur's tense shoulders under the jet of hot water, before pushing down on Arthur's shoulders so Arthur was on his knees before him.

Grabbing Arthur's shampoo, Merlin lathered up Arthur's hair and thoroughly cleaned every strand of it, massaging Arthur's scalp, until Arthur was almost leaning against Merlin's thigh, soft, happy sighs of contentment coming from his mouth.

Once Arthur was clean, both hair and his soaped down and rinsed off body, Merlin stood back to admire his work. "Beautiful."

"Thank you," Arthur said.

Merlin nodded. "Good...now, you might want to move, I really need to take a piss."

There was a slight pause, then Arthur looked up at him and said, "I...might not need to...? There isn't much room in here to move, anyway."

Skipping over the fact the last statement was a blatant lie, Merlin's mind was fast-forwarding to what would happen, how this would play out, how it would go...pee play, he knew there was another name for this...watersports!

Remembering they were in a shower, Merlin smiled sardonically at the irony of the name, before critically eying Arthur, again, who was kneeling right in the water's spray.

Merlin took his cock in his hand and aimed at Arthur's head, his hair - heh, gold and gold - and released his bladder.

Arthur shut his eyes as he was hit with the spray, the yellow liquid seeping out of his hair down his face and neck, trailing across his shoulders, dripping down his chest, and off his hips, covering him in the liquid.

Merlin rather felt like-

"I feel like I'm marking my territory," he muttered, once his bladder was empty. He even pushed Arthur out of the way of the spray to see it on him longer. "Like a dog or something."

Arthur opened his eyes, looked up at him through his eyelashes, and said, "I'm yours, Merlin."

So submissive, so servile, and So. Fucking. Hot. Merlin was rock hard, and it took only a few soapy strokes for him to come, his seed splattering all through Arthur's hair, and with a glib word of permission from Merlin, Arthur was coming too, his seed washed away by the water.

As they gasped their way through the aftermath, Merlin looked down and said, "Who knew there was such a kinky slut hidden under all that Golden Boy exterior?"

A pause, then Merlin smiled lasciviously. "You know this means we're going to have to clean you up all over again, right?"

Arthur just grinned.