Part 5 – Afterwards

Michael awoke. He stretched and yawned, blearily rubbed his eyes and sat up.

He was in Mitchell’s big bed, the same one he’d been chained to the night before. The heady musk of last night’s sex still clung to the sheets.

There was no sign of his big panther master. All the restraints and leather items he’d been wearing when he’d fallen asleep had been removed. Only the padlocked collar around his neck remained. He reached up and fingered it a little, running his fingers over the smooth leather, remembering the fun he’d had as a collared slave. He had to admit he liked the feel of the collar against his skin.

There was light filtering in through the bedroom windows. It was morning. Michael sighed. He’d only meant to spend the evening with Mitchell. Now he’d have to make excuses when he got home.

This wouldn’t be the first time he’d been gone all night after telling his parents he’d be home. But it was always annoying having to come up with excuses. He could hardly tell them the truth, that he’d been hanging around gay bars. Maybe one day he’d get up the courage to be honest with them, tell them he was gay, but that day was a long way off.

Ideally, he’d like to have a place of his own, where he wouldn’t have to make excuses. But he was unemployed, so that made things difficult.

He pushed such thoughts away and climbed out of bed. He walked to the door, letting out another yawn as he went. It wasn’t until he reached the door that the lion noticed that he was naked. After all the time spent naked the night before, he’d just got used to it. He still had his cum splattered across his stomach from last night, now dried into his fur. He shrugged and left the bedroom stepping into the hall beyond

He’d hadn’t seen this part of the house before, having been blindfolded when he was brought to the bedroom, and was a little lost. He was in a brightly decorated hallway, with a soft blue carpet beneath his feet.

Michael wasn’t sure where to go, where that big sexy panther might have gone.

“Mitchell?” He called out cautiously. The lion stopped a moment. Should he be calling out for ‘master’, not ‘Mitchell’?

The young lion walked along the hallway as he thought about it. At the end he found the stairs. He padded downstairs, looking for Mitchell. Where could he…

“I’m in here, Michael.” Came a call from what Michael knew to be the living room. The panther must have heard him on the stairs.

The lion paused at the bottom of the stairs. How would Mitchell be expecting him to act and be addressed? Michael’s stint as a slave was only supposed to be for last night. Yet, he still wore the collar, it was a very comforting presence around his neck, and was supposed to be the panther’s slave until it was removed.

Michael already knew which way he wanted to play it.

He entered the living room to find Mitchell. The big panther was wearing a blue silk robe that hung open, showing that underneath he had on a red leather jockstrap and nothing else, his big rippling muscles visible. He was sat on one of the sofas, reading a newspaper, with a mug of steaming coffee on the small table beside him.

He also had a pair of reading glasses perched on his nose. It was such an out of place sight for what he thought of as a ‘master’ that Michael momentarily paused just inside the room. But he supposed that just because Mitchell was a master, didn’t mean he was immune to eye problems.

“Good morning, beautiful.” He beamed as Michael walked in.

The lion walked up to the panther and fell to his knees in front of him. “Good morning, Master.”

Mitchell blinked in surprise and then smiled. He put his newspaper aside and patted Michael on the head.

“That’s very nice of you, slave.” He said. “But I wouldn’t have held it against you if you had ignored the fact you still have my collar on. Our deal was for just last night and I always honour my deals. The only reason I didn’t remove the collar while you were asleep was because you look so great in it.”

The panther got to his feet. He took off his glasses and dropped them beside his coffee. “Well, time to set you free, slave.” There was an edge of sadness to his voice.

Mitchell wandered across the room, to the cabinet from which he had first pulled the collar, and returned with a small ring of keys. He crouched and fiddled with the collar and its padlock. A second later, he stood up again, the unlocked collar in his hands.

The young lion rubbed at his neck. The collar had been there so long, his neck now felt strange without it. Sort of… empty. 

“There you go. Free.” Mitchell headed back to the cabinet, returning the collar to its place. 

“Yeah.” Michael stood up. He was a little sorry the experience was over now.

“I put you clothes from last night on that chair over there.” The big panther motioned to a chair in the corner. “You can get dressed now if you want.”

Michael was about to, but then realised. He didn’t actually want to right now.

“Thanks, but I’m fine as I am right now.”

Mitchell smiled at him. “So you like being naked. That’s good.”

The big panther sauntered over to the sofa and sat down again, beckoning Michael to join him.

Michael went and sat down beside him. An instant later, Mitchell wrapped his muscular arms around him and gave him a hug. The young lion could feel another erection coming on.

“So tell me,” said the panther afterwards, “did you enjoy last night?”

“Yeah, I really enjoyed it.” Michael purred, melting in Mitchell’s embrace. “It was surprising. I’d never have imagined I would have such a good time as a slave.”

“I have to say you really surprised me.” Mitchell told him. “Once you got into it, you really got into it. You were very obedient and submissive, almost a natural.”

The young lion shifted uneasily. “I never even suspected I’d like it so much…”

“Hey, I know how you feel.” Mitchell said, in a reassuring tone. “I’ve been there. Suddenly discovering that you’re into stuff like this can be a real shock. But discovering it is one thing. Accepting it as who you are is something else.”

“Hmm.” Michael murmured, thoughtfully.

The big panther smiled, trying to cheer up his young companion. “You know, some day I’ll have to tell you about the first time I found out I like being the one in charge, being a master. It’s a very funny story.”

The young lion frowned and withdrew from the hug.

“What’s wrong?” The panther was concerned.

“It’s just…” Michael said. “You said ‘some day’ you’ll tell me. I hadn’t really thought about beyond me trying out being a slave. I mean, what happens between us now?”

Mitchell shrugged. “Right now, I’d say that’s very much up to you, Michael. If you want to go further, explore and experience more, I can certainly help you. Hell, I’d love to help you. After all, there is more to being a slave than just acting as your master’s sex toy. But you have to want to go further. If you need some time to fully take in and accept what you’ve learned about yourself so far, then I can understand that.”

“Well, I…” Michael began.

Mitchell interrupted. “No, don’t decide anything just yet. Think about it some more. Be sure before you make up your mind one way or the other.” The panther got up. “And while you’re thinking, maybe you should get yourself cleaned up.” He took Michael’s hand and pulled the lion to his feet.

Leading Michael by the hand, Mitchell took him upstairs to the white-tiled bathroom.

“Have a shower.” The panther commanded. “Take as long as you want. There are towels over there. Come down when you’re done.”

Mitchell was just leaving, but stopped for a moment at the door, looking back at the nude young lion with a smile on his face. “You know,” he said, “you really do look beautiful when you’re naked.” And then the panther was gone.

Michael stepped into the shower, welcoming the cascade of hot water over his body. He set about scrubbing his fur clean, while thoughts about what he’d be doing next raged in the back of his mind.

He hadn’t been lying when he’d said he’d enjoyed being the slave. It had been an eye-opening experience for him. Just thinking about it there and then, his cock was standing to attention. He was tempted to grab hold of it and jerk off. But he resisted. He still had things to think about and couldn’t let himself get sidetracked.

There was still a part of him that was uncertain. Was this really a side of himself he wanted to know about? Did he really want to pursue it further? He still thought of all this master and slave stuff as deeply strange. It’d be difficult to fully get past that.

On the other hand, another part of did him really wanted to experience more as a slave. Last night’s taster of things had really whetted his appetite. And there was Mitchell. He was wonderful. Handsome, strong, kind, considerate, passionate. Everything he could want in a guy. He wanted to be with him more, and the thought of leaving him and not seeing him again was a horrible one.

The young lion stood there in the shower, trying to make a decision.

* * * * * * * *

Mitchell made his way downstairs, bound for the kitchen.

It had been tempting to stay with Michael, climb into that shower with him, but he had decided not to. He didn’t want to take things too far too fast before the lion was ready. But the more time he spent with him, the more he found himself growing attracted to him. He liked Michael a lot.

The big panther arrived in the kitchen and set about making breakfast for Michael and himself. He had no idea what his cute lion companion might want, so he just decided to thrown together an assortment of things, some eggs, some toast, some cereal. He also made some more coffee, the stuff he’d made for himself earlier had started to go cold.

As he worked, his thoughts once more turned to Michael. He would like nothing more than for the lion to be his slave on something of a more permanent basis. But he was determined not to take things too quickly. He’d made that mistake before too many times.

Although, he had to admit, the last time he’d found someone he’d really taken a shine to, it had actually been down to his friend Zack that things had gone wrong.

It had been a real shame. Harris had been great, a big lovable badger, and more than willing to be his slave. Even though it wasn’t really his scene, he’d wanted to give it a try for Mitchell. He’d ultimately have needed a little slave training, he hadn’t been as nearly as close to being a ‘natural’ as Michael was, but that was okay. Then Harris had met Zack.

While Zack had many qualities, he took some getting used to, and you really had to take the time to get to know him. Zack was also a master, like Mitchell, and once he met Harris and found out he was interested in being Mitchell’s slave… well things had not gone well.

Mitchell never knew what actually happened. As far as he’d been able to piece together, Zack and talked to Harris about all the more extreme things that were sometimes involved in being a slave. This had seriously freaked out the poor badger, putting him off the whole thing completely. He had also found out that Zack had made a comment, saying that maybe when Harris was fully trained, Mitchell would let him ‘borrow’ Harris for a while, and he could give him a try. Zack insisted to Mitchell he’d been joking, but Harris hadn’t known.

Mitchell had only spoken to Harris a few times after that, and each time, the badger had been very cold toward him.

He’d been extremely angry with Zack for a long time after that, and Zack had seriously worked to try and make it up to him. He’d set the panther up with numerous other submissive furs since then, but none had held any interest for him. He’d even offered to let Mitchell ‘borrow’ his own slave if ever he felt like a bit of fun…

Mitchell stopped suddenly in what he was doing. An idea had just occurred. He made a mental note to call Zack later.

Of course, that would only be if Michael decided he wanted to go further.

He sighed and went on preparing breakfast.

Eventually, Michael came padding down the stairs and into the kitchen.  The young lion was wearing only a towel around his waist. His fur was now clean. 

“There you are!” Mitchell grinned. He motioned to the dining table, and the breakfast he’d prepared. “Sit, help yourself.”

“Thank you.” Michael nodded.

The two of them sat down to breakfast, sitting on opposite sides of the table from each other, and for several minutes there was silence except for the sounds of them eating. It was Michael who ended up speaking first.

“Can we talk?” He said. “About what we do next?”

“Of course.” Mitchell replied. Outwardly, the panther was calm, but his heart was pounding. Would the lion want to carry on? He didn’t want to lose Michael…

“I want to go on.” Michael said, nervously. “I’d like to learn more, and I very much want you to teach me. If that’s alright with you.”

Awash with relief, Mitchell gave the cute young lion a wide smile.

“I mean, this is obviously a part of who I am.” Michael went on. “So I shouldn’t just ignore it…”

Mitchell stood up, walked around the table to the lion, and pulled him to his feet and into a passionate embrace, wrapping his arms around him and kissing him. Michael didn’t resist or complain.

A moment later, Mitchell pulled away, grinning broadly. “I’ll teach you, Michael.”

“Thank you!” Michael was pleased.

“But we take it slowly and on my terms.” Mitchell added.

“Of course.” Michael nodded. “Whatever you say.”

The panther ran a big hand playfully through the lion’s mane. “Okay. Now, finish your breakfast.”

They sat down again to continue eating, but this time, Mitchell sat beside Michael.

“So what happens now?” Michael wanted to know. “I have to go home today, but when do we pick things up again?”

“Let’s see.” Said Mitchell, thoughtfully. “The weekend is a few days away. Can you make it back here Friday evening? Maybe stay the whole weekend, right through till Sunday evening?”

Michael thought about it. “Yes, I should be able to.”

“Then it’s settled.” Mitchell put a muscular arm around the lion’s shoulders. “You come back here Friday, say about 6pm, and you can spend the weekend as my slave. How’s that sound?”

“I think that sounds wonderful.” Michael purred.

“I can tell that’s what you think.” The panther had spotted the bulge in the towel around his waist.

He slipped a hand under the towel and took of the lion’s stiffening cock. He gave it a few quick and gentle strokes. Michael shuddered in delight where he sat.

Mitchell let go and withdrew his hand. “There’ll be more of that at the weekend.” He promised, giving Michael another kiss.

After breakfast, it was time for Michael to go. Mitchell watched him get dressed, admiring his body with a grin. The lion noticed and wiggled his ass at him suggestively.

They walked to the front door together, Mitchell with an arm around Michael. He really didn’t want to let him go, even though he had to. At the door, the big panther embraced him again, and the lion snuggled lovingly against his muscular chest, seemingly savouring the moment.

They said their final goodbyes and Michael left.

Mitchell watched him go. He was sad to see him leave. But at the same time, he had the weekend to look forward to. He was already planning the surprise he’d have for the lion when he came back.

It was time to call Zack…

To Be Continued...