Page 47 of Their Pup to Tame

“Arf! Arf!”

Phoenix wiggled his butt too and made his tail wag, while Tristan giggled and looked to me for permission to rub his head.

“It’s okay,” I told him and watched Phoenix wiggle and wag when Tristan rubbed over his headgear.

As soon as he stopped, Phoenix held still, but I watched his eyes through the slits in his gear, and when Tristan touched him with the rope for the first time, he quivered, and I saw goosebumps crop up along his forearms. His gaze went from open and curious to glazed and heavy-lidded as Tristan wove the loops up his torso.

By the time Tristan finished, Phoenix’s breathing had picked up, and he stepped into my embrace, nose running along the curve of my neck as he slowly used me to ground himself.

“I’m going to need to sign up for your next workshop,” I told Tristan as I caressed the skin between the ropes and felt him quiver.

“I’ve got one coming in three weeks. Let me get your details, and I’ll add you to the spreadsheet,” Tristan replied. “I’m holding it here so, if you’re local, you won’t have to worry about traveling.”

“We’re local,” I said as I passed him my phone.

“If he’d like, he can keep the corset on. I can show you how to untie it.”

“Yip! Yip, yip, yip!” Phoenix cried, dancing in my arms.

Phoenix hadn’t moved away from my side, not one single inch, since Tristan had finished tying his corset. His head rocked in aslow, lazy rhythm as he rubbed his cheek against my shoulder, but when I murmured in his ear and asked him to turn around for me, he responded instantly and held completely still while Tristan showed me the knot he’d secured the corset with.

“Do I need to keep track of how long he wears it?” I asked, keeping one hand on Phoenix’s arm since I knew he enjoyed the contact.

“Yes,” Tristan said. “Has he ever worn one before?”

“No, it’s his first time.”

“Then you’ll want to take it off him in two hours or less,” Tristan explained.

Once we’d exchanged details and I’d entered the workshop information into my day planner, I set a timer to let me know when to remove the corset and ran my finger along the edge of one of the ropes, just to hear Phoenix suck in a breath and groan. A thought hit, and I realized there might be a way to get started on my ropework without having to wait three weeks.

“You wouldn’t happen to have any books you’d recommend?” I asked.

“Several. Hang on, I have a list, let me send it to you,” Tristan said, fiddling with his phone for a moment before my phone chimed to let me know I’d received a message.

“Perfect, thank you. I can tell he enjoys having it on.”

“At the workshop you’ll learn how to tie one, and several of the books on the list have step-by-step diagrams so you’ll be able to tie him in one at home. Start with no more than two hours and let him build up an hour at a time if wearing them is somethinghe enjoys, which I think it is. He was such a good boy for me while I was tying him up. He never twitched or squirmed.”

“I have pictures of Zephyr in my den,” I explained. “As soon as he saw them, he was fascinated.”

“I loved that photoshoot,” Tristan said. “Zephyr is the perfect muse and always enhances whatever ropes I choose to bind him in.”

“I’m looking forward to that with my pup,” I said. “Thank you for the demonstration and for taking the extra time with us.”

“No problem. I’ll see you at the workshop. Bring him with you. It’s much easier to learn how to tie knots and patterns on a partner, especially an eager one. Just leave the gear at home, it gets in the way.”

“We will. Thanks again.”

Phoenix waved his paw as I led him back over to Parker and his pillow, and happily settled back on it with a yip, while Zephyr emerged again, this time doing cartwheels.

Later tonight, I’d be doing a bit of online shopping for soft lengths of rope to practice with, as well as some of the books on the list he’d given me and safety scissors. Shit, better make a mental note of that since they were prominently displayed beside the ropes he’d laid out. They did three other demonstrations before ending with a suspension display, their Daddy handling that part of the performance.

Every piece had a musical theme. Several times I felt Phoenix swaying to the beat, one of his ears brushing against my hand, but he stayed behind the rope and on his pillow, fully engaged with the presentation from start to finish. When it was over, heclapped his paws enthusiastically and stayed on his pillow until some of the crowd had thinned out, making it much easier for us to move.

I checked the timer and saw that he had roughly thirty minutes left to keep the corset on. Despite knowing it would buzz and vibrate when the time was up, I was a protective Daddy and slid my finger beneath the ropes again, just to be sure it wasn’t digging into his skin. Tristan had done an amazing job of making the corset snug without being tight. Phoenix would have faint impressions that I could picture him admiring whenever he saw them. The low, rumbly sound he let out was pure pup space, so I never took my hand off him as I guided him deeper into the dungeon.

“Is there something you’d like to do tonight?” I asked.