Outcast

Chapter 40

---Lane's POV---

Shivers ran down my spine, heat spreading over my body with each breath Jethro took.

After Charlie had made the mistake of rolling a literal ball of tangled yarn ropes on the floor, I had shamefully lost control of my shift, much to Zander and Jethro's amusement.

It had taken me quite a bit to wrest control away from my tiger self, which had managed to completely entangle itself in rope within a few seconds.

Chasing the ball around the living room, pouncing after it to the point where I didn't even know where the yarn wasn't tangled around me.

And when the tiger finally realized it's mistake, it had flopped over like a scolded kitten. Mewling when Jethro had sighed and shook his head at my shift's behavior.

"To give Lane credit, his shift is extremely young." Jethro murmured after removing the last rope tangled around my body and grinned. "I was expecting him to pounce sooner."

My murmured apologies were easily waved away by both dominants as even Faust managed to find his voice. "New shifts will always take over when least expected. It's only natural that the animals struggle with their instincts. Speaking of experience." He trailed off, giving a hesitant smile.

It made me feel a little bit better, especially when Jethro pulled me in his lap and simply scratched through my nape. Scratching the last of my nerves away as Zander grinned brightly.

"Relax Lane. We're Dominants, not monsters. We'd be more than hypocritical if we'd punish  anyone due to their instincts taking over."

The man effortlessly wound the yarn into a simple loop as he added, "Besides, your shift realized this would be the best moment to lose control, compared to a scene or a potentially dangerous situation. That means it knows that you're in safe hands."

Jethro hummed in agreement. "Indeed. We'd much rather have your shift intervene now and get rid of all the surplus energy instead of when you're tied up and possibly put both of you at risk."

I smiled, leaning into Jethro's hold as Zander cleared his throat, clapping his hands together to regain our attention. "Alright...We've gone over ropes and how to read your partner. Now we need to point out that nobody, and I mean nobody, is going to master Kinbaku overnight."

Zander motioned to himself as he explained, "I actually studied under a Japanese Master of Kinbaku, went all the way to Japan in order to learn from the best. And that still took me several months to get the hang of it and years to perfect it."

As the Dominant stood up, he grabbed a few small bundles out of the box and presented them to Jethro. Along with a set of safety scissors, intended to cut ropes in case of emergency.

"For your first few scenes, you would want to start with soft and short ropes. Trust me, there is nothing less exciting than waiting for your partner to untie a slew of knots from an overly long rope." Zander chuckled while glancing at Charlie and Faust, both nodding in agreement.

Charlie grinned slightly, lowering her head as she added "Though if I may say so Master, it was amusing hearing you curse in frustration for several minutes before just throwing the rope away."

Zander scratched at his nape, seemingly embarrassed as he muttered "Not my most graceful moment, I agree." He chuckled before motioning to the table, where several papers and forms laid.

Lifting one of the forms off the table, Zander cleared his throat before wiggling the paper. "Rules are extremely important with any type of play but especially rope and suspension play. Before a session, both of you are supposed to sit down and explain the scene, what can be expected and precautions that should be taken."