Layering

This was originally posted on MaxFisch. Since not all of you read the boards there, I figured I’d cross post. Hope you don’t mind.

Recently I played with someone whom I knew to be a fairly experienced corporal bottom (he’d even appeared in several videos) but was seeing me specifically for bondage. Since we had time to explore, I wanted to be sure not to miss an opportunity to throw my whips, promising all the bondage he could handle after. (Thanks again to Bart for the lovely review. I lovelovelove corporal play and don’t get to do it nearly enough.)

For his corporal “warmup,” I bound his arms, wrists, and chest in a wide leather belt from Mr. S. Then I affixed his head to theAnchor Point and spread his legs shoulder width apart with a rigid bar.

Then I started flogging him. Shoulders, ass. A thuddy cow flogger. A stingy Flipcat. Some hand spanking. Nothing terribly intense. This was a warmup, after all. Yet less than 10 minutes into it, he was melting down and his body was giving off telltale “I’m gonna pass out” signs.

I took him out of the bondage and he sunk into a child’s pose (knees folded, bowed forward). “I don’t know what happened,” he said. I didn’t either. He’d eaten recently, was hydrated. And it definitely wasn’t the pain: I’d seen the “handiwork” other dommes had left on him from stunningly bad corporal before. He can take a LOT. What I’d done wasn’t even close by anyone’s measure.

“Are you comfortable like that?” I asked once he’d collected himself and declared he was ready to continue. “Great!” I responded to his ‘Yes, Mistress.’ “I’ll just beat you there!” So I did. More flogging, spanking, crops. Whatever. Sensational. Sometimes intense, but nothing too jarring. I wasn’t nearly ready to be done.

After a while of that, I stood him up against the A-Frame, facing the wall, ankles tethered to the inside of the frame, arms lightly cuffed at shoulder height. Showtime! Out came the dragon tail, the single tail. Mmmm. Happy Troy.

After working over his backside to a nice warmth (and no marks), I turned him to face me. He was blindfolded. I teased his nipples and cock+balls with swooping vertical strokes: butterfly kisses from my singletail. He flinched and contorted and wailed. “Oh, come on!” I was a little exasperated. “You’re too much in your head. You’re overanticipating. Breathe! I’m not hitting you hard at all. FEEL the stroke. Don’t anticipate it.” We kept going. At one point I paused and stepped back to select another single tail. “Please don’t kick me in the balls!” he begged.

Dear lord! I thought. Where on Earth did THAT come from!?!?

I removed his blindfold and resumed with the same strokes that caused him to flinch before. “That’s how you were hitting me before,” he asked, bewildered. “That’s nothing!”

“Yup,” I said. “Told ya.”

I kept it up for a few more minutes, but my whippin’ woody had gone limp. When I put him in bondage, rather than layer multiple elements (e.g. electric butt plug, spiked cock sheath, spiked nipple pads, ball stretchers, other electrics, etc.), I limited it to a leather sleepsack and basic leather hood (wide mouth opening, no gag, no inflation, no sensedep padding/earplugs). Pretty simple/basic for me.

Well. Ok, so I DID pin down the sleepsack by screwing it to the board underneath with metal strips and a power drill … but only at strategic points, just enough that he was aware of the additional restriction, but not so much that I couldn’t get him out fast if he started to melt down again. But, really, it wasn’t much. 

*****

Afterwards we talked at length about the corporal segment of our scene. We were both surprised at how little he was able to take, particularly given his history/experience. He observed, “I’ve never been in uncomfortable bondage before and I’ve never been so strictly restrained for corporal. I mean, maybe cuffs to the cross but never anything I couldn’t at least get out of.”

I chuckled at this. When I’m binding someone, there’s no getting out. I’d no sooner springclip a cuff to a frame than I would …. I dunno. I can’t even imagine. (For the record, I use padlocks. On just about everything. Nearly all my bondage gear — belts, cuffs, bags, gags, even hoods — are lockable. When I do use a springclip, it’s a superfluous stay at best. Or I think you’re a pussy.)

When I stopped giggling, I thought about what he said. It’s really rare that I do any scene without layering different elements. If you’re in bondage, there’ll be some CBT/NT. And vice versa. If I’m spanking you, there’ll be some restraint, even if it’s just my body pressed against or twined into yours, keeping you still. If I’m piercing your cock, you’re probably gagged, too. If I’m caning your feet, your nipples may be pinched and stretched with clover clamps. I like layers. It’s just how I play.

Interestingly enough, a few weeks later, after an overnight scene, my play partner wrote me:

The way you layer a scene one piece at a time is a complete thrill. I think that’s a piece that was missing from those recent Reviews. Whether it’s the buildup or the wind down there is always something going on. It’s never just okay I’ll tie you up and beat you; or okay the beating is over so now I’ll quickly untie you. Each level and layer are unique and special. Even sleeping is not just sleeping but the layers of being tied in the sleep sack, having the chastity cage pulled tightly through the opening, adding the ear plugs to muffle a lot (but not all) of the sound, putting on the mask and then hearing the cage door locking shut all add to a wonderful night and enhance feelings of your control that I (for one) seek out.

I would love to hear your thoughts on layered play. Please share them in the comments. Thank you .