Chapter 32

After dropping off Jordan at her apartment, Cassandra drove me and Katrina over to a fetish store she frequented called The Leather Box. I expected it to be in a fairly seedy neighborhood, not that I really knew what that meant, but it turned out to be surrounded by other fairly conservative stores (by comparison) like Sears, Kroger's, and Radio Shack. Unlike its neighbors however, the little shop was having a slow day.

The first thought that crossed my mind when I walked in was to walk right back out again. Standing not five feet from the entrance was a mannequin dressed completely in leather, including a hood with zippers for the eyes, nose, mouth and ears.

Before I could follow through with my planned retreat, Cassandra hooked her arm through mine and dragged me further into the store where we were greeted by a small man with a big voice. "Caaasss!" he yelled, trotting our way. He gave her a hug like she was his long lost sister. "It's been so very long, dear! How have you been?" He wore a white dress shirt that was unbuttoned halfway down his chest, a pair of slacks held up by a black leather belt, a pair of expensive looking dress shoes. I hadn't known what to expect from the store owner, but this was better than what greeted me at the entrance.

Cassandra smiled at him, looking on level with his eyes because he was that short. "I've been well, Peter. How's your shop doing?"

He looked around like he had forgotten where he was. "I have a shop?!? Oh! Yes, I do!" He laughed at his own joke and said, "The shop is doing well." Then he looked up at me and flattened his hand on his chest. "Be still my heart. What have we got here?"

"This is Seth Connors," Cassandra said. "Seth, this is the store owner, Peter Mathis."

I frowned as Peter walked around me like I was some piece of art that had to be inspected from every angle. He even pinched my bottom!

I jumped away from him, rubbing the sore. "Please keep your hands to yourself."

He had a coy smile and said, "Oh, my, Cass. Please tell me you've brought him to play."

She smiled her wicked smile and said, "He needs a Dom outfit, Peter."

He arched an eyebrow and looked at her. "Really? And what is the occasion?"

She flicked a stray hair from her face and said, "He's taking me to House Lacertae."

His eyes widened. "Tonight?"

She nodded. "We're going to meet my brother there." She looked at me again. "I want Seth to scare him."

Peter looked me over, completely over. I felt like cattle about to be chopped up for steaks. He waved at me. "Take off your shirt. Let me see what we have to work with."

I glanced at Cassandra and she nodded.

Peter caught the exchange. "Are you sure he should be dressed as a Dom?"

I frowned. Cassandra smiled. "Oh yes, and we don't have much time."

Peter nodded. "Very good then." He looked at me again. "Well? You heard the lady. You don't have much time! Off with the shirt!"

I frowned but took off my shirt.

Peter's eyes widened. "Oh my! If the rest of you is this nice, I could make some suggestions for modeling."

I swallowed. "Thanks. I already have a manager." Sammi told me I should say that if anyone made the offer. I laughed it off at the time.

All three of them looked at me then. Peter smiled. "Really? And what, pray tell, do you model?"

I looked from him to Cassandra, to Katrina, and back again. All of them were waiting for my answer. "I ... um ... I model men's underwear," I said, virtually under my breath.

"For whom?" Peter asked.

I frowned. This was beginning to get a little too personal, to me at least. "For Silk and Lace right now."

Peter frowned, as did the other two. "Silk and Lace doesn't have a men's line..." then his eyes lit up. "Is Sammi finally getting it off the ground?" and followed that almost instantly with, "And you're the model she's been so excited about!"

I was flabbergasted. "You know Sammi?"

He nodded. "She came in just the other day, looking for something a bit more outrageous than her store carries. I heard she finally broke it off with that bastard Stan and fell into the arms of some young stud in the same moment. I think she has something planned for this weekend for him."

Cassandra waved at me. "What do you think, Peter? Where do we start?" She obviously wanted to get him back on track.

He smiled. "You're a model," he said to me, "So, you shouldn't have any problems stripping down for me, right?"

I frowned and crossed my arms. "I'll get undressed to change, but not simply to be gawked at."

Peter's face fell into a huge frown. "Aw, no fun!" Then he turned and slipped off toward a counter. "I have something here that might suit him. Whether it'll fit or not is a different question though."

Once he was out of earshot, Cassandra stepped closer to me. "Can you Magic the suit so it'll fit?"

I glanced sideways at her. "You're really into the Magic thing, aren't you?" She didn't say anything because she was serious. "Maybe," I said. "I'll have to think on how to do it."

"Whatever he gives you, it should be form fitting," she said and then stepped away.

"You do know where the power for my Magic comes from, right?" I asked under my breath. The store was so quiet that she heard me. She threw one of her wicked grins my way. I was beginning to hate that grin.

Peter came back with what looked like a pile of straps and large chrome rings. He held it out to me. "There you go, give that a try. Okay?"

I held it up, truly confused as to how it was supposed to look on me, much less how to get into it.

Katrina came to my rescue. She took it from me, turned it this way and that, and then held it up with a large opening in the straps. I slipped into it like a t-shirt, only it didn't give or stretch like one.

Once it was on, it was obvious that I had room to spare in it. Peter scoffed. "Take it off, I'll find another one."

"Do you have a smaller one?" Cassandra asked.

He shook his head as he reached the counter. "That was one of a kind." Then he ducked behind the counter to rifle through whatever else he had hidden there.

Cassandra looked at me. "What do you think?"

I looked down at myself. "I don't know. Straps suggest sub, don't they?"

She nodded. "Yeah, you're right."

I nodded too and between Katrina and myself, we got it off by the time Peter returned. It bothered me that it was so much more difficult to take off, but since I wouldn't be wearing it again, I let the thought go.

Peter took the shirt-o-straps and handed me what looked pretty much like a leather jacket. "Try that one on." He said and headed back to the counter.

I glanced at Cassandra and slipped it on. It was a leather jacket, only with elaborate bits here and there, as well as different types of rings all over it.

Cassandra's eyes widened. "Oh, zip it up."

I did and still had room to spare. Whoever these were made for must have been a lot bigger than me.

Cassandra and Katrina looked me over and fiddled with different parts of the coat. "I think this will work," Cassandra said. Then she met my eyes. "Can you tighten it down, make it fit snug?"

I had been considering how to do that. I had ideas for something that needed to be made bigger, but to shrink the coat I didn't have any thoughts. "How would I shrink a leather coat normally?" I asked her quietly.

She shook her head. "You wouldn't. You'd just ask for the next smaller size."

"Drawstrings," Katrina said. "If the coat had drawstrings, you could make it fit."

Cassandra frowned. "There aren't any drawstrings on this though."

I shook my head. "It doesn't matter. I just needed an idea of how I would make it fit."

Cassandra looked at me and watched as I pulled at draw strings that weren't there. The coat shrank in the areas I needed it to until it fit like a glove.

"I don't have anything else in the Dom department that might be considered 'Scary'," Peter said returning from the counter. Then he saw me wearing the jacket. "Oh my! Very nice. And it fits you perfectly. Like it was made for you!" He skipped around me, looking from every angle again. "I could have sworn this was made for someone bigger than you." He stopped in front of me with his finger on his lips as he thought about it.

I realized what he said and asked, "You said this was made for someone bigger than me. Was it special order? Aren't they going to come by to pick it up?"

Peter looked up at my questions. "Oh, no. No, I get things like this every so often from different sources. Leather crafters and members of various leather fetish groups make them and send them to different stores like mine in the hopes to get orders for more. I got these six months ago and no one's been interested in them at all. Too bad too, because, my friend, you look like a grade A bad ass!"

I glanced at Cassandra. She met my eyes and smiled. "Now, if we could only find some matching pants," she said.

Peter's eyes dropped from my chest to my crotch. I almost felt the need to cover myself. He backed away slowly, never taking his eyes off me. "You'll want to take those pants off. I have a number of different outfits for you to consider." Then he finally turned and dashed toward the back of the store.

Cassandra waited until he was out of sight and then turned to me. "Are you really a model for Sammi?"

I nodded. "Yes, I am. Jordan helped me get the job."

She sidled closer. "And are you the ... young stud that Peter mentioned? The one who Sammi found right after dumping Stan?"

I glanced past her toward the doorway Peter had disappeared through. "Yes, but don't tell him."

"Why?" she asked. "Afraid he'll be jealous?"

She moved even closer, running a hand over the leather jacket. "You know, sooner or later, he's going to ask you to remove your underwear."

I had heard of the term "a deer caught in headlights" and I suddenly knew what that felt like. I swallowed and shook my head adamantly. "No, not happening."

Cassandra kissed my cheek. "But Beefcake, he has some very interesting leather underwear that I would love to see you in."

I suddenly wished Jordan was with me, but with this desire to touch and be touched, I thought better of it. She would probably be egging this on like the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders during the Super Bowl.

Peter returned with a pile of leather hung over his arm and shoulder. I couldn't even begin to imagine what he was going to try to get me into. When he saw me standing there with my pants still on, he frowned. "Even if you're not gay, you have two gorgeous women here who I'm sure would love to see you in your shorts as much as I would. Now lose the pants." He glanced at the women. "Ladies ... help him."

I sighed in resignation and then kicked off my shoes. Cassandra helped me get undressed while Katrina watched from the side with a slightly amused look on her face. She caught me looking at her and did her best to wipe away the small smile.

Peter, however, was ever the entrepreneur. "Seth, when we finish putting this ensemble together, would you mind posing for some pictures?" He met my eyes and quickly added, "For the store's website, honestly." He looked me over again. "I would hate for you to get the wrong idea about me."

Oh, I was pretty sure I had the right idea about him.

About twenty minutes later, after trying on an unknown number of different leather pants, we had narrowed down my options to three pairs. One pair was simple, straight cut leather pants. No pockets. Only a zipper and snap to close them up. I liked them only because they were so simple. The next pair were the girls' favorite. They fit like rodeo chaps, which meant they had a built in cup to keep my equipment safe and left my cheeks hanging out behind me. They were meant to fit over normal denim jeans, but all three confessed that a lot of leather fetish groups would wear them as I was, minus the shorts I continued to refuse to remove. The third pair were interesting because they had more of those different rings built into them. In that manner, they resembled the jacket, and because it was supposed to be a full outfit, I was most inclined to choose them. The style was different though. It would be obvious that I had thrown this together last second, no matter which pair I went with, but that wasn't the point.

"So," said Peter, thrilled to see me standing there in only my shorts. After trying on all the different pants with the jacket, and narrowing down my selection, I took off the jacket to stave off sweating to death. "Which will it be, dear Seth?"

I pointed at the pants with the rings in it. "I still say those are the best choice. They most closely match the jacket."

Peter rolled his eyes. "Yes, but are you going to use any of those rings?"

I frowned and looked at him. "What do you mean?"

He looked at me for a second like he couldn't believe what he was seeing and then turned to Cassandra. "I thought you said he was a Dom. He should know what the rings are for."

She waved him off. "Seth, having too many rings is like asking someone to make fun of you. The jacket works, so there's no problem there. But with so many rings already built into that, you don't need them on your pants." She held up the chaps. "Go with these. If it turns into a fight, at least no one will get the better of you by a nut shot."

I looked at Katrina. "What do you think?"

She looked at Peter and Cassandra. "I like the chaps too. They make you look bigger in the thighs."

She looked away from me then and I knew she was leaving something out. "What else?"

She blushed and said, "And I like the way your ass looks in them."

I rolled my eyes. "They don't even cover me back there."

She smiled and blushed more. Yeah. Well, that was what she liked.

I shook my head and looked at Peter. "Don't you have anything else?"

He frowned at me. "You didn't like anything else I had." Then he glanced at the clock. "And if you really are in a hurry..."

I sighed and closed my eyes. The girls liked the chaps, and if Cassandra was right about having too many rings on me, then I couldn't choose the other pair. I leaned toward the simple leather pants but then grabbed the chaps. "Okay, these then."

Cassandra and Katrina both smiled. Peter smiled too and waved toward another counter behind me. "There are a few other details you might consider to help make the outfit complete."

I picked up my clothes and looked behind me. Since I had chosen a jacket and pants, I probably wouldn't need to be standing around in my shorts in order to choose anything else. Katrina went to the counter but Cassandra turned to Peter. "What about boots?" she asked. "He'd be better suited in boots with the chaps than tennis shoes."

Peter nodded. "You're right. What size do you wear?" he asked me.

I told him and he trotted off with arms full of leather pants to the back of the store.

Considering I was about to try on boots, I left my shoes off after I got dressed. I went over to the counter where Katrina was looking at different hoods. She pulled one down and giggled as she slipped it on. This hood, unlike the one at the entrance, didn't have any zippers. The openings for the eyes, nostrils, and mouth were all open and double stitched so they wouldn't fray.

I had a sudden inspiration. "Do you like it?"

Katrina shrugged her shoulders and then smiled and nodded.

I nodded too and said, "Find a matching one for Cassandra."

She arched an eyebrow but did as she was told.

I looked at the other things in and behind the counter. I spotted an assortment of leashes and had to hop over the counter to get to them. I found two that were identical and began searching for collars.