Bull's Whip

Chapter 1Tuesday “You’ve got to leave Bull Raleigh alone,” Jim Menetti said to Jaime. Jamie O’Hara was one of the service subs at Indiscreet, the Gentlemen’s b**m club in Western Monmouth County, New Jersey. Jim, a collared sub who owned a percentage of Indiscreet, was sitting in the kitchen having tea with Brian Murphy, a fellow sub who belonged to Bear Drummond the not so silent partner of Jim’s Master, Reed Davis who owned the club. Jim and Brian had tea every weekday morning at precisely ten. When Jim didn’t have to work, they were at his and Reed’s cottage; other days they spent Jim’s break in the kitchen at Indiscreet. Jaime stood in front of both men looking sheepish. This wasn’t the first time the ebony-haired twink had bothered Bull, the Dungeon Master of the exclusive club. Bull trained all the Masters and the subs or they couldn’t get through the door. Jaime had finished training two months ago and his crush on the Dungeon Master was on its way to becoming legendary. Bull was looking for a sub and Jaime was determined to fill that position. The trouble was, Bull didn’t do twinks and Jaime looked like the textbook definition of the word. Jamie was five foot four inches to Bull’s six foot three. Jaime, although buff, was slender with the build of a runner while Bull had played as a linebacker at Annapolis and kept his body in peak condition. Jaime had hair as black as midnight, pulled back in a pony tail that reached his waist. Bull didn’t style his blond hair; he wore a military buzz cut. Jamie’s big blue eyes and fair skin along with his slight build made him look as if he would blow away with a strong wind and misrepresented his true age of twenty-two. He looked sixteen on a good day, and on a bad one, nowhere-near-legal. Bull was thirty and had been a captain in the Marines who was outed by his lover before Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was repealed. In that debacle, Bull lost his military career, his health care, and his pension. Bull was a bitter man. This made him a very tough Master and few subs wanted to take him on, even the big, burly ones that he favored. When Jamie and the other new submissives were introduced to the club, there was another twink and two other men, Masato and Greg. Jamie knew that Bull made an offer for Greg. Luckily for Jamie, Greg wanted Cisco de Loria, and Bull didn’t offer for anyone else. Despite that, Jaime O’Hara wanted Bull Raleigh as his Master with a ferocity that belied his looks and status as a service sub. “Bull goes for a completely different type,” Brian tried to tell him as he helped Jim put the tea things away. “You can’t make someone love you.” Jim stood in front of Jamie, hands on his hips showing his exasperation. “More importantly, you can’t even make him like you. Bull doesn’t do twinks.” Brian put the cups and saucers in the rack to load into the dishwasher. “But I’m not a twink…” Jamie claimed. “Walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, has duck feet…just saying.” Jim took a kitchen wipe to the counter. “I may look like a twink, but I’m not one. I can take pain. I’m not a pain slut, but I can take it. I’m not looking for a sugar daddy. I have my own money, a legacy from my grandma. It doesn’t make me rich but it keeps me comfortable. Outside of the way I look, I meet none of the typical criteria for twinkdom,” Jamie said, getting in Jim’s face. “All right, all right, but it’s not me you have to convince, it’s him and he can’t see past the way you look.” Jim sat down on his stool behind the counter. “It’s not like I run after him, I just put myself in a position where he will notice me.” Jamie’s eyes narrowed in annoyance. “He’s noticed and complained. Reed and Bear haven’t paid any attention to his protests, but the club can’t afford to lose its Dungeon Master.” Jim sighed. “You’ll have to tone it down. There must be another way of getting him to notice you other than pushing yourself into his face every time you see him.” Jim leaned on the counter and put his hand under his chin. “It’s not like we don’t want Bull to find someone, we do. Plus, we like you and don’t want to lose you either. But if it comes to a choice between the Dungeon Master and a service sub…well you know the answer to that.” Brian patted Jamie on the back. “What if I join the club as a paying member? Would that make a difference?” Jamie asked thinking out loud. “It would prove I can pay the freight.” “It would, but it would also leave you unemployed and unless your legacy was very large, it won’t keep you very well in New Jersey and living off it is the surest way to lose it. You never touch the principal. You live off the interest and if there isn’t enough interest, you work. Unless you want to do something else for a living…” Brian’s voice trailed off. “I have a degree in accounting. I can do something else for a living, but I wouldn’t be able to see Bull every day,” Jamie said c*****g his head to the side. Brian abruptly stood up and paced. “I have an idea. Wasn’t Reed complaining the club was doing so well he couldn’t keep up with the paperwork?” “Yeah,” Jim sat up, waggled his eyebrows and drank his tea, “I’ve had to listen to him complain for over six months.” “Stop that, just stop with the eyebrow. You know it annoys me because I can’t do it.” Brian plopped back down on the stool. Jamie giggled. “Getting back to what you were saying about Reed…” “Jim, why don’t we suggest to Reed that Jamie act as his assistant? If Jamie can do the books and relieve Reed of the general paperwork, Reed could manage the club more efficiently.” Brian was excited. “You’re right. Then if Bull complains, Reed and Bear would have an excuse not to listen. You’d get paid more money and on top of that have more time to work on Bull.” Jim tapped his fingers on the counter. “This could really work, but you still have to get Bull to like you, never mind collaring you.” Brian observed with asperity. He got up and moved around the counter to start the dishwasher. “Both Bear and Reed are upstairs. You stay with Brian, Jamie. I’ll go up and see what I can do about a new position for you.” Jim pushed open the swinging door of the kitchen and went upstairs. * * * * Bear was drinking his Kona coffee and eating blueberry muffins from Greg’s recipe. Reed sat behind his desk with papers stacked all around him. “Bear, we have to get someone to handle the paperwork. I’ve got to deal with the new members and running the club, I don’t have the time to fill out the proper government forms, do payroll and taxes.” Reed looked up to find Jim standing at the door. “Master, I think I have an answer for you.” “…so we give Jamie the job as our accountant. He’ll still have access to Bull but won’t be able to bother him constantly. I talked to Jamie. Even though he looks like a twink, he’s not. If Bull could get over Jamie’s size and looks, they’d be a good fit.” Bear scratched his chin. “Jim said the kid was going to quit and join as a paying member? He must have some money. Membership here is cheaper for subs but still costs a pretty penny. Does he have his own funds? Bull’s got a thing about his sub being a leech.” “He has a legacy from his grandmother—that and working keeps him what he calls comfortable. He was willing to spend the legacy and risk unemployment to get Bull to pay attention and if we hire him as the accountant, membership would be included. May I sit, Master?” “Go ahead, Jim. I’m interested. Bull is short with everyone since he lost his bid for Greg. It’s not like he was in love with the man, just that Greg was the type that Bull thought he wanted. Thank God that Bull knows enough to stay away from Greg now that Cisco has him. Cisco has turned out to be one jealous son of a b***h,” Bear said sipping his coffee. “Yeah, who da thunk?” Jim remarked with sarcasm but ruined the effect by giggling. “I figured he would be. He is proprietary about the hospital, what made you think he would be any different about someone he came to love? In fact, with a lover, it’s worse. I should know. Seeing you with that Caleb character set my teeth on edge.” Reed got up and started going through the papers. “What do we pay him?” Reed asked Bear. “The club is doing well. I don’t want to cheap out but I don’t know the going rate.” “I can find out from Mavis how much we currently pay junior accountants and we’ll add ten percent. Does that sound reasonable?” Bear finished his coffee and put the cup and saucer on the coffee table between the chairs. “Call her, Bear. Now that Jim came up with the idea; I find myself anxious to get rid of all of this.” Reed swept his arm over the papers. “Although we have a problem; we only have one room to use as an office and it’s right next to Bull’s lair.” Bear doubled over in laughter. “That’s perfect.” * * * * Wednesday Jamie was nervous. It was only yesterday morning he asked Brian and Jim’s advice, and that resulted in this interview. As a paid submissive, he rarely saw Reed or Bear. I wonder if I am hired if I will be on protocol during the day. He’d have to ask Brian or Jim. Jamie didn’t know how he could work if he had to bow and crawl all of the time. He knocked on the door of Reed’s office. “Come in, Jamie,” he heard Reed say. Opening the door, Jamie slipped into the room. “Sirs,” he said, standing in presentation position. “If you’re going to do the accounts, you don’t have to be on protocol unless you’re dressed as a submissive and going downstairs. You’re a paid member now and that means you don’t have to take on any member for a scene,” Bear told him. “Coffee? It’s one of the perks of working with management, Kona coffee and blueberry muffins or scones. It depends on who’s baking.” “Thank you, I’ll have some coffee. May I sit down, Sirs?” Bear handed Jamie the coffee and motioned to the second chair in front of the desk. “You won’t have to Sir us all day, working at the club. Neither Bear or I are your Master.” Reed started to gather up piles of paper. “If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather use Sir all the time, so I don’t forget when I am on protocol,” Jamie said, his hands a bit shaky. He couldn’t blow this interview. He wasn’t getting anywhere with Bull as a paid sub, so this position would make a great deal of difference; he wouldn’t be seen as a complete twink. “I brought a resume, Sir,” he told Reed. Jamie handed a copy to both Reed and Bear. “Summa c*m laude from Rutgers, why are you here?” Bear asked astounded. “I know I’m a natural submissive and I wanted to investigate that part of my personality. I came to Indiscreet because it has the best reputation of all the clubs in the state among people in the know. I needed a job and wanted to explore my nature, why not here?” Jamie answered, stating what he thought was the obvious. “You’re hired. As you see, I’ve been piling all of these papers into this file box. You take the office next to Master Raleigh’s. There is a laptop with all of the programs we use and you’ll be networked to the POS registers in the kitchen and the bar as well as the reservation desk for the rooms upstairs. You’ll be responsible for daily final tally, payroll and quarterly taxes, getting the new employees’ W-4s and getting out the W-2s, and making bank deposits. We’ll see how you can handle that and we’ll add duties along with additional compensation as we go along. This mess is paperwork I haven’t gotten to yet. It’s now yours. Is the salary agreeable?” “The salary is generous. I’m happy to accept the job. I can work in my field and still be able to find out about twenty four/seven submission.” Jamie smiled. My office is right next to Bull’s. I’ll see him all the time. This was a cause for celebration. Bear and Reed gave him an armband that indicated he was a paid member. He brought his submissive clothing with him. He was going to try to attract Bull Raleigh tonight with his new position.