The atmosphere of the room changed the moment Kurt closed the door behind him. Blaine stood in the silence and took it all in. He had given the room a once over when Nick had finished with the renovation, but Blaine had been so excited about getting Kurt over to see it that he never really took the time to appreciate all the work his friend had done – the research that went in to making it perfect, all of the meticulous details. Blaine didn’t even know what was in half of the drawers in the new dresser. Some of the instruments he caught a glimpse of he had no idea how Kurt would use.

There in lay the thrill.

The room seemed darker, and in a way, a bit more foreboding than it had before, but not in an ominous or creepy way. The dark colored walls and the rows of sinister looking implements hanging from them added to the anticipation, the excitement of what was yet to come.

Blaine stripped his clothes off slowly, savoring that excitement. He knew his dom, knew that Kurt would take his time preparing. He always did. Kurt had private rituals with regard to putting on his armor that Blaine never witnessed, and in a way that helped set the mood. Kurt’s control began when he decided to dominate Blaine; from the moment the words left his lips and he went off by himself to change.

Blaine turned getting undressed for Kurt into a ritual of his own. With each article of clothing he removed, he opened himself up to the atmosphere around him, becoming a creature of pure sensation, one who thrived on stimulation, who craved touch, but also craved deprivation. Usually, he breathed in deeply and cleared his mind, but it was too difficult not to dwell on everything that had brought him to this point, all the things that had changed for him in mere months.

Before he met Kurt he was cocky, self-centered…and so terribly alone. He convinced himself otherwise, of course, bouncing back and forth from Mia’s bed to Sebastian’s bed. He almost had himself fooled that he had the best of all worlds – a hot girlfriend, an even hotter semi-boyfriend, and the life of a bachelor all rolled together. No responsibilities, no cares…

…no happiness, no family.

He drank more than he would have admitted to anyone who cared to ask.

A life that he thought had structure and order, between his constant work-schedule and his carefully planned promotional/charity work was actually spiraling out of control.

He needed an anchor, and part of him had been searching for one.

He found Kurt.

Now he had love, he had a family, children he adored and a best friend he never realized he wanted so much.

Blaine smiled as he knelt to the floor, naked, waiting, wanting. He felt the darkness press in around him, but it was an erotic sensation, removing what was once comfortable and safe and adding mystery.

Kurt was nothing if not creative, and Blaine was counting on that.

Kurt left Blaine kneeling on the floor for close to an hour, until his knees ached and his back became stiff from staying bowed. Blaine focused on the grain of the wood floor, following the flow of the swirl patterns over and over, suspending his thoughts in a trance to keep from accidentally falling asleep. Blaine’s whole body became hypersensitive while he waited for his dom to appear. No matter how hard he tried to slow the racing of his heart, it seemed to beat faster.

The doorknob turned. Blaine felt it before he heard it, and every muscle, every nerve stood at attention. Kurt stepped into the room, and Blaine could tell that Kurt’s mood had shifted by the sound of his strut when his heels hit the floor. Blaine only saw a hint of black ice as Kurt walked toward him and he knew his black swan had returned, his body wrapped in that same luscious vinyl cat suit that Blaine got to polish with his tongue; the one that clung to Kurt’s body like sin and accentuated every muscle, every curve, and most especially the impressive bulge that told Blaine that his dom desired him, desired his body, desired his submission.

Blaine had feared that too much had changed between them, but in some ways nothing had changed.

Kurt walked by Blaine as if he didn’t even exist, as if he his presence in the room was inconsequential. It didn’t bother Blaine. He knew Kurt’s game. This was more waiting, more tension, ratcheting up the anticipation. Blaine took this opportunity to be perfect, to sit straighter, and keep his fidgety hands still. He heard Kurt sliding drawers open as he investigated, items shifting and rolling around, chains clinking and rattling. Occasionally, Kurt tossed something that landed on the bed, but Blaine knew better than to look.

Kurt opened another drawer and gasped.

“No he didn’t!” Kurt exclaimed. “Oh, Nick, you little…”

Blaine burned with curiosity at the sound of amusement in Kurt’s voice. He wished he had paid better attention when Nick explained what some of the toys were. Blaine vaguely remembered one thing that Nick jabbered on about, something Kurt was dying to try, but it was too expensive.

Shit! What was it?

Kurt’s impish laugh broke through Blaine’s thoughts.

“Well, I think I’m ready for you, sweetheart,” Kurt said finally, strutting back toward the spot where Blaine knelt. Kurt stood in front of him, but Blaine saw only his shiny stiletto boots, the reflection obscured by the dim light. Blaine couldn’t help himself. His eyes flicked up, just the slightest movement, barely perceptible to anyone who wasn’t looking at Blaine as intensely as Kurt was in that moment.

“Ah, I see you noticed,” Kurt purred, slowly kneeling before his sub. Blaine clenched his teeth, breathing through his nose, ready for anything. He waited for the pain to come. He wanted to be punished. Kurt threaded his fingers through Blaine’s hair, curling them into a fist and pulling hard. With a harsh, sudden movement, Kurt shoved Blaine’s face roughly down toward the bulge in his crotch, just an inch or so away from the prize that Blaine wanted. Blaine felt his mouth water as he looked at it, longing so much to run his tongue over it, even with the barrier of black vinyl separating them. He wanted to feel Kurt tremble, but Blaine didn’t try to reach him.

“Is that what you want, princess?” Kurt asked. The slight puffing of Blaine’s breath on his cock made him achingly hard. He rolled his head on his shoulders since he knew Blaine couldn’t see, reeling from the ecstasy of that muted sensation. “Is that what you want to look at? Is that what you want to put your mouth on?”

Kurt could hear Blaine’s breaths come quickly through his nose, the soft snuffling sound made by his sub struggling desperately to obey. Kurt could remember when dominating men was just a job. It tapped into a part of him that he never realized existed. He was good at it, always in such high demand. But it never affected him. He could distance himself physically from acts that others might see as sexual, put himself into the game mentally, and be the dom that his subs needed.

Dominating Blaine was different.  

It was a tremendous turn-on.

“Well,” Kurt continued, struggling to keep the sound of his own lust from clouding his voice, “that you can’t have unless you learn to play nice.”

Kurt rose to his feet nimbly, pulling Blaine up from the floor by his hair. Kurt pushed him to the bed roughly, bending Blaine over the frame. Blaine let out a breath as the air knocked from his lungs. Kurt didn’t let him recover. He spread Blaine’s legs and stepped between them, coming down hard on Blaine’s ass with the flat of his hand. He knew just how to make the hit sting. He waited a beat, and then spanked him again, trying to ignore the way Blaine’s skin shifted, his cheeks spreading just a bit and exposing his enticing entrance, or how his skin glowed pink with the impression of his handprint.

Blaine wanted to hiss at the sting on his cheeks, but he desperately wanted to moan from the friction surrounding his cock when he shifted up on the bed and rubbed against the new sheets. Without any warning, Kurt shoved a hand under Blaine and wrapped his fingers around his half-hard cock. Kurt tutted, his own erection rubbing along Blaine’s entrance, the slick vinyl teasing his sensitive skin.

“Tsk-tsk,” Kurt whispered. “This will never do. You never could control this, could you, princess?”

Kurt didn’t stand up. He simply reached past Blaine’s bent body to an area of the mattress out of sight. When his hand returned to Blaine’s cock, he slipped something cold, metallic, and extremely lubricated over his member, sliding it swiftly all the way to the base. Kurt fit another metal ring over his ball sack, just above his testicles.

If Blaine had permission to do it, he would have screamed. Kurt never used a metal cock ring on him. Only soft leather ones. Ones that weren’t too restrictive. Ones that gave Blaine room to get hard without leaving him in agony. The ring above his balls was new, but he was pretty sure he knew what it was for.

He knew Nick had bought these. He wanted to find his friend and throttle him.

Kurt took a moment to relish the shuddering sigh that issued from Blaine’s lips, muffled by the sheets.

“Hmmm, well that won’t do, princess,” Kurt murmured, a frown evident in his voice as he considered some more options.

Blaine felt Kurt lean over him again, and a thick piece of fabric forced between his teeth. Kurt tied the gag tight around the back of Blaine’s head, securing it with a double-knot.

“Now that we have that taken care of, I want to introduce you to something new.”

Blaine swallowed hard when Kurt pulled a strange little box attached to an elastic strap up in front of his face so he could see. It looked like an old-school transistor radio. It had a red and green light on the front, an on-and-off switch, and a gauge of some kind. Blaine’s blood went cold and wondered for a moment if the device delivered some sort of electric shock.

Fuck you, Nick!

“It’s a Doppler monitor,” Kurt continued, feeling Blaine’s apprehension in the way his entire back went rigid. “With this little gadget, I’ll be able to hear your heart beat.” Blaine shifted on the bed when Kurt slipped the gadget beneath his chest and wrapped the elastic around his back, securing it over his spine with Velcro closures. “People with heart beat fetishes use these. I’ve always wanted to try this.”

Kurt flicked the device on, and after a spattering of feedback, the sound of Blaine’s beating heart filled the room.

“Now, if this was part of our sessions, you would try and control your heart the way you control your body…” Kurt explained, running a finger beneath the elastic strap. He pulled at the strap and let it snap back into place. Blaine didn’t flinch, but the thrumming of his heart sped up a hair before returning back to normal. Kurt grinned. He massaged Blaine’s hips firmly, pulling his ass flush against him, listening to the beating rush again. Kurt didn’t think hearing Blaine’s heart beat race would be a thing for him, but having this proof of his obvious effect on Blaine could become addicting.

Kurt wasn’t satisfied yet. Blaine looked way too comfortable, and for the Doppler to work best he needed to up the ante. He perused the assortment of items he had laid out on the bed. One in particular caught his eye. This time he walked around Blaine and the bed to reach it. He grabbed a pair of leather cuffs and jingled the chains, keeping them just out of Blaine’s line of sight.

“Now, let’s see just how flexible you are,” Kurt said playfully. Kurt pulled Blaine’s arms behind his back and locked his wrists together in the leather cuffs. The cuffs attached to each other by a short length of metal chain, giving Blaine barely any room to pull his arms apart. Two larger cuffs attached to the wrist cuffs by a separate chain. Now that Kurt had Blaine’s wrists locked in the thick cuffs behind his back, he locked his ankles too. He lifted each leg, bending it at the knee, and securing them tight to his wrists. Kurt gently parted Blaine’s knees, then stepped back to take a look. Kurt swallowed hard. Blaine looked breathtaking, locked up tight and spread open, just for him.

Blaine felt exposed, trussed up, unable to stretch his legs or his arms. In the hand of any other lover, this would terrify him. Kurt always pushed Blaine’s boundaries; put him in positions that could be considered humiliating, but with Kurt, it always made him want more.

“Mmmm,” Kurt hummed appreciatively, running a finger down Blaine’s spine, “don’t you look delicious.” When he reached the cuffs he tugged on them hard, making sure that the chains and buckles held. He smiled with the satisfaction that Blaine would be sore. He would feel this in his arms and legs, most likely with marks on his ankles and wrists for the next few days at least.

Blaine, ever obedient, the perfect submissive, didn’t speak, didn’t react, but his heart gave him away. All around them, the sound of it pounding filled the air. Kurt smirked, using all his strength to focus on his task. Meanwhile, his stomach tied itself into knots, like the intoxicating first time he had Blaine under his control. Blaine could say whatever pretty words he wanted. He could act charming and aloof, but his heart didn’t lie. It sang with just how much he wanted this, how much he wanted Kurt.

“God, sweetheart, you have such a beautiful ass.” Kurt landed a slap to Blaine’s left cheek, giddy when he didn’t respond but his heart raced faster. He took both cheeks in his hands and kneaded them. He played rough, squeezing hard, digging his nails into the tanned flesh. “All of the things I can think of to do with this gorgeous ass, and all of these toys to play with. Where would I even begin?”

It wasn’t a question…not for Blaine at least. Blaine’s mouth moved soundlessly with a desire to answer, to scream all the things he wanted, all the ways Kurt could torture him. But he bit his tongue and squeezed his eyes shut. He felt himself sweat, beads of moisture rolling down his back and brow. His discipline was slipping.

Kurt bent low over Blaine’s exposed ass hole, and breathed hot air over the skin.

“Do you want my mouth on you?” he whispered. The tiny tremble in Blaine’s legs was mostly involuntary; a combination of muscle fatigue and exhilaration that he failed to control.

The sound of Blaine’s heartbeat when Kurt’s tongue circled his entrance was hypnotic. It pulsed so loudly from the monitor strapped to his chest that it drowned out every other sound. Kurt caressed Blaine’s balls in his hand, feeling them tighten as he continued to lick slowly. Kurt almost felt sorry for Blaine, knowing with the testicle cuff in place there was no relief for him in sight, no matter how long he spent eating him out.

“What a good boy,” Kurt breathed against Blaine’s puckered entrance. “What a good, obedient boy you are.”

More praise against his sensitive skin along with erratic licks around his entrance made Blaine ready to snap. He had nowhere left in his mind to retreat to. Usually he could lose himself in the quiet of the room, or in focusing on Kurt’s touch, but the sound of his heart beating, strange and erotic all at once, kept pulling his focus away. Even with all this, he felt no need to break free…he wanted to be broken. More than that, he wanted to be ridden until he screamed.

Kurt’s tongue was delightfully cruel, dipping inside his ass, swirling over his balls, sneaking beneath the metal ring at the base of Blaine’s cock and dancing around in between. Blaine bit down on the gag to suppress a moan. He tried to be good. He wanted to be obedient, but this already surpassed every limit they had ever breached. The beating of his heart blurred into a single sound, like a prolonged explosion that had yet to resolve.

Kurt had just about reached his brink. Never had he wanted to pound into Blaine so much. He wanted to take him. He wanted to be animal and dirty, ruthless and demanding. He needed to back away for a moment, or this would be over too quickly. He could see the sheen of sweat coating Blaine’s skin. His accelerated heart beat punctuated the air around them. Blaine might just safe word and then what? It hadn’t happened before, but it conceivably could.

He’d crossed so many lines with Blaine. Forcing himself on a sub after he used the safe word wouldn’t be one of them.

“Here’s what we’re going to do, sweetheart,” Kurt said, standing up, using this time as an excuse to undress. “I’m going to take you, and you…you’re not going to do anything. Do you understand? Nod your head so I know you understand.”

Blaine couldn’t nod his head quick enough. His wrists, pulled by the pressure of his legs, ached. His ears rang with the sound of his own heart beating. He wanted Kurt inside him, using him. He longed for that moment after they came when Kurt would take care of him, and they could curl up together in bed, wrapped in each other’s arms.

Another part of him didn’t want this to end.

Given the choice between staying tied up and being spanked or having Kurt fucking his ass, he would pick Kurt any day of the week.

Blaine felt Kurt pushing the blunt head of his hard cock against him, lube dribbling off the tip and over his skin. If he could have, that would have been enough to make Blaine cum. For some reason, the thought of Kurt lubricating his cock to the point of dripping made something in Blaine’s body ignite.

“No moving,” Kurt said in a deceptively calm, sing-song voice. His hands shook like mad as he slowly positioned himself to enter Blaine.

Don’t moan, don’t moan, don’t moan, don’t moan… Blaine chanted in his head as he felt himself being stretched, his body engulfing Kurt’s length. He could feel the moan rising in his throat. Keeping it at bay was his only choice, or Kurt would pull away, leave him tied up, probably douse his aching cock in ice to cool him down. Maybe he would give up on fucking Blaine completely and masturbate in front on him, stroking his erection inches from Blaine’s mouth, cumming all over his lips without another touch to his cock trapped by that God-awful metal ring.

Blaine kept his forehead pressed to the blanket, trying to block out the image of a naked Kurt cumming on his face.

Kurt slid inside Blaine quickly, burying himself deep, grabbing his hips and pulling him impossibly close, doing anything to evoke a sound out of him, but Blaine chewed on the fabric gag and suffered in silence. Kurt pulled back slowly, and then in a single, fluid motion, rammed into Blaine hard, but still Blaine said nothing. Kurt smirked and began fucking Blaine in earnest, driving into him hard, watching his wrists and ankles strain in the leather cuffs, listening for what he hoped were muffled grunts.

“God,” Kurt moaned loudly as he slammed into Blaine again and again, “it’s kind of nice like this…taking you…owning you…”

Blaine felt tears running down his cheeks as he held back, the restraint becoming too much to bear. He felt his cock throbbing in its ring, begging for a release he knew wouldn’t come until Kurt gave his say so.

“I could do this to you all night if I wanted, sweetheart, and you’d let me,” Kurt said. He tried hard to sound detached, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t help the moans that refused to stop, not with Blaine’s tight heat surrounding him. Listening to Blaine’s heart race egged Kurt on. It made him drive his cock into Blaine deeper, until he knew Blaine was biting back whimpers, probably painfully.

Kurt got a sudden rush of inspiration. At first it seemed too wicked, but the more he thought about, the sweeter it became. Kurt reached over Blaine’s back quickly and untied the gag. Blaine sucked in a deep breath the moment it fell from his mouth.

“Okay, sweetheart,” Kurt said, his voice hoarse and ragged, but at this point he was beyond caring. “I want you to beg for me. I give you permission to beg me.”

He saw Blaine nod, his head of sweaty curls heavy on his neck.

“P-please, Kurt…” the first words out of Blaine's mouth just a stutter of sound, “Please, Kurt…”

“Beg me not to let you cum.”

Kurt heard Blaine’s breath hitch, his tired hands curling into weak fists.

Blaine could have choked. He was so close. So many times Kurt had assaulted that one spot that would have normally turned him into a moaning mess, even with the restrictive metal cock ring fastened to the base of his cock, if not for that God damned cuff on his balls. Every time he tightened, every time they tried to rise up and let him release, the metal cuff stopped them. His cock and his balls were one big throbbing ache. He just prayed Kurt would let him cum, and that finally having an orgasm would solve the problem.

But now, Kurt wanted him to beg him, to plead with him not to cum.

Blaine didn’t know if Kurt was an angel or a sadist. Probably a bit of both, Blaine decided.

Kurt gritted his teeth and waited, slowing down to collect himself.

“Come on, sweetheart,” Kurt purred. Blaine could hear an edge in his dom’s voice. “I want to hear you beg…”

“P-please, Kurt,” Blaine started, swallowing hard to find his voice. “Please, don’t let me cum.”

Blaine felt Kurt’s hands grip his legs tight for leverage.

“Really?” Kurt mocked. “You don’t want to cum?”

Blaine blew out a long breath when Kurt shifted angles and hit him perfectly. He whined deep in his throat.

“N-no, Kurt. I don’t want to cum.”

Blaine tried to sound convincing, but his voice shook, noticeable even over the sound of the Doppler. Kurt snaked a hand beneath Blaine’s body to fondle Blaine’s cock. Blaine bit his lip so hard it bled.

“But, you’re so ready…” Kurt teased. “You’re so close.”

Kurt’s hand disappeared, offering Blaine a brief opportunity to pull himself together before Kurt was slamming into him again.

“Mmmm,” Kurt moaned, “you’re so tight, sweetheart. And you feel so good.”

Kurt keened loudly, obscenely, and Blaine felt himself shatter. Blaine didn’t think he had anything left to give. He felt Kurt’s hips shudder, and he lost himself completely.

“Oh, God, Blaine,” Kurt panted, “I’m going to cum…”

Blaine slumped in defeat. All of a sudden his impossibly tight balls and aching cock didn’t seem to matter. The disappointment and the physical pain of not being able to cum should have killed him, but incredibly he became euphoric. Listening to Kurt moan, knowing his dom took pleasure from his body thrilled him, and he did his best to be more at ease.

Kurt held off cumming, biding as long as he could, waiting for a sign.

Blaine’s heart rate slowing down was that sign.

Kurt had no disillusions. He knew what kind of stress Blaine’s body was under. He knew his muscles ached, knew his cock strained to bursting, but there it was in the beating of his heart – trust, acceptance, discipline, and love.

Mostly love.

Kurt fumbled beneath Blaine’s body for the rings, deftly undoing the catches on the cock ring and the cuff, carefully removing them.

“Good boy!” Kurt gasped. “Good boy! Cum for me, sweetheart. Please, cum for me.”

Kurt’s voice became soft, less demanding, but it was the addition of the ‘please’ that made Blaine let go, his cock pulsing almost agonizingly, but the incredible release of pressure so relieving, so satisfying, that he wished it would go on forever. He could feel Kurt shiver against him, feel him buried deep in his body, filling him up. He felt complete.

This was what he wanted. This was what he needed. This was a perfect moment.

Kurt’s orgasm hit him, barreling through his body like a freight train and taking his breath away. He came inside Blaine’s body, pushed so close against him he wasn’t just Kurt anymore. For a moment, Kurt and Blaine became a part of each other. In an instant, the dark and terrifying black swan that Blaine so often craved disappeared. Kurt didn’t want to move. He wanted to lay down with Blaine and fall into a blissful sleep, but knew he wasn’t done. More important than himself was his sub.

He had to take care of Blaine.

Kurt’s hand still trembled with the aftershocks of his orgasm as he reached around Blaine’s body and beneath his chest to turn off the Doppler. The rhythmic ‘thump-thump’ of Blaine’s heart beating vanished, and the room became quiet again.

Blaine’s breath rasped as he shuddered, his fingers flexing in their binds. Kurt rushed to rescue Blaine’s aching arms.

“Okay,” Kurt said, leaning weakly against the bed frame, “this is going to take a bit, so try and relax.”

Blaine couldn’t speak, so he nodded instead, laying his head against the sheets.

Kurt massaged Blaine’s genitals gently, making sure his time spent locked and engorged didn’t cause any damage. Blaine couldn’t imagine getting hard again, but Kurt’s touch felt soothing, his entire body relaxed by the comforting strokes. Kurt undid the buckles on the ankle cuffs one at a time, carefully bending Blaine’s knees back into place and stretching his legs out. He did the same with the wrist cuffs, releasing his arms individually, rubbing each limb to help the blood circulation return, and then stretching it out over the bed. He unstrapped the Doppler monitor from Blaine’s chest and returned it to its drawer.

Blaine could barely get up on his knees. Every time he put weight on his hands to boost himself up, he slid back down to the mattress. Kurt helped Blaine crawl up to the head of the bed. He rearranged the pillows, and rested his head on them.

“Just lay here and relax,” Kurt cooed, brushing back a few stray hairs on Blaine’s forehead. “I’ll be right back.”

Kurt had noticed Nick hadn’t just stocked the playroom, but the bathroom as well with all sorts of lotions and creams in exotic looking bottles and dark colored labels. Some of them were pretty straight forward. Some had sinister sounding names. Kurt knew these were all ordered from specialty shops. He rolled his eyes when he looked at some of them, but he had to smile at Nick’s enthusiasm for the craft and all the thought he put into after care.

Kurt peeked out the bathroom door at Blaine, sated, sighing against the pillows, his arms laying out at his sides, and wondered how he got so lucky. He remembered earlier that morning, when he thought for sure their relationship was over. He knew for certain that someone could die from a broken heart.

He would never survive losing Blaine.

Kurt took a moment to clean up, and then started on Blaine. Kurt surrounded Blaine’s body with towels to keep the bed from getting drenched, and with a warm, wet cloth, he wiped down Blaine’s body, carefully negotiating the skin around his cock that was still extremely sensitive. Then, with a sweet-scented almond-based oil he massaged all of Blaine’s sore limbs and aching joints, humming lightly as he worked. Blaine’s face relaxed into a goofy grin while Kurt’s fingers moved over his body. Kurt found another lotion that smelled of peppermint, and used it to massage Blaine’s scalp, threading oil-laden fingers through his curls and tugging gently, then rubbing in circles over his skin.

Kurt smiled as he heard Blaine’s breathing start to even out.

“Are you going to fall asleep on me?” Kurt asked quietly, not wanting to wake Blaine if he had already gone to sleep.

“I don’t want to,” Blaine grumbled, his eyes still shut. “I don’t want to fall asleep without you.”

Kurt looked at the raw red marks on Blaine’s wrists. He picked out a smaller bottle with a shimmery gold-colored liquid inside.

“Nick bought this scar minimizing potion,” Kurt explained, opening the bottle. “I’m just going to put a little…”

Blaine’s eyes snapped open. He pulled his wrist from Kurt’s grasp.

“No,” he said, sounding vaguely childish.

Kurt laughed at his adorable boyfriend.

“Come on, Blaine,” Kurt said, reaching out for his wrist again. “Your wrists are rubbed raw.”

“They’ll heal on their own,” Blaine said, wrapping his fingers around one wrist protectively.

“But…but what about the meeting?” Kurt said. “With the producers? Everyone will see…”

“Let them see,” Blaine demanded. “Why do I care? I belong to you, right? So let them see. It never bothered me before.”

Kurt nodded, putting the bottle of gold liquid to the side. Kurt stretched out beside him and sighed, looking at Blaine’s serene face. He brushed a stray curl from Blaine’s brow and kissed his forehead.

“I haven’t done anything like that in…geez, ages…” Kurt confessed.

Blaine furrowed his brow.

“I thought you didn’t have sex with clients,” Blaine moped.

“I didn’t before you,” Kurt reassured him. “But, you know, I’ve still tied guys up and gotten them off. There’s other ways to play with subs than fucking them, you know.”

Blaine chuckled at Kurt’s brashness.

“I hope it’s still fun having just me to play with,” Blaine joked, nipping Kurt playfully on the lip. “But I’m still new to all this. Sometimes I feel I must suffer by comparison.”

Kurt’s face changed suddenly, his expression drawn and pale.

“Blaine, it’s different with you.” Kurt kissed Blaine gently. “It’s never been a job with you, Blaine. You paid me, but…but I would have never…you were special…you are special…”

Blaine saw the emotion on Kurt’s face, heard his need to reassure Blaine of how much he meant to him.

“Hey, hey, no. It’s okay.” Blaine wrapped fatigued arms around Kurt and pulled him close. “It was just a bad joke. I didn’t mean anything by it. I swear.”

Kurt nodded, but said nothing.

Blaine folded Kurt completely in his arms.

“Tell me, Kurt,” Blaine pleaded. “Tell me what’s bothering you.”

Kurt ran his fingers through Blaine’s curls and smiled to himself.

“I just want this to last forever. I don’t want you to wake up beside me one day and realize just how damaged I really am. I don’t want you to look at me and see all the pieces that are missing and think there’s not enough of me to be worth anything.”

Blaine frowned, looking up at Kurt with wide, hazel eyes.

“I have pieces missing, too, you know,” Blaine confessed. “And I can’t tell you how many times I’ve woken up in the middle of the night and thought the same thing – that you’ll see how broken I am, and you’ll want to pack up and leave.” Blaine rested his forehead against Kurt’s and shuddered. “If you left me, Kurt, you’d take the rest of me with you. There’d be nothing left.”

Kurt kissed Blaine’s face, pressing his lips to Blaine’s eyes, then the bridge of his nose, over his cheeks, and then meeting up with his mouth, lips trembling as they connected.

“Well,” Kurt whispered, “maybe there’s enough of me and enough of you to make a whole person. Because I’m done being alone, Blaine. There is no me without you. Not anymore.”