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“Yes.”
My hands ball into fists and I’m sure the veins in my temples are protruding. I need to calm down. The fact that she’s being this open so soon is amazing. I can’t ruin it.
Dipping my face closer hers to get full eye contact, I hold Mak’s gaze. “I respect the word no more than any other word.” I give her a moment to let that sink in. “As part of our dynamic, you’ll see that my actions—and inactions—will speak for themselves. But we will also have a safe word in place.” Like normal, I’ve gone into professional mode because I have no clue how else to respond. “Coercion is not consent. That goes for both parties.”
She nods and looks down at the floor. It’s not submission, it’s a mix of shame, fear, and uncertainty I sense in her body language. That bugs me. A lot.
Getting up off the couch, I squat down in front of her. “I have to be honest with you, Makayla. And you have to be honest with me. You can change your mind at any time and walk away from this.” I really hope she doesn’t. “And at any point, you can call your safe word and the game is over.”
She pales and her hazel eyes turn a little glassy. “Game?”
“The scene,” I correct. “You read my profile before you signed the contract, right?”
“Yes.”
“All of it?”
“Yes.”
“And all of the contract?”
“Yes.”
Good. “Then you know I get off on making my sub come. I also get off on chasing you and pinning you down. Marking you with bites and scratches. I like being extremely physical and the more you play with me and the more you fight back or faster you run, the harder I’ll want to fuck you.”
I really need a lesson on how to talk to women because this is likely not it. She’s just come down from a vulnerable moment and I went straight into talking about chasing, pinning, and fucking her. Someone should castrate me.
“Cupcake,” she says. I must look confused because she follows that up with, “My safe word is Cupcake.”
My smile nearly splits my face. “Cupcake it is.”
She blows out a shaky breath, but at least she’s smiling again. “What’s yours?”
Bless her soul. “I’ll use Cupcake too, just to keep it simple.” Never in my life have I had to use a safe word for myself.
“Okay.” Her brow furrows. “And the minute one of us says it, everything stops?”
“Immediately.” I notice she’s hanging on my answer like a fucking prayer, and that doesn’t sit well with me. I have a feeling Mr. Coercive did things he shouldn’t have with my girl. “Use the word the instant you start feeling uncomfortable or anxious about what we’re doing. Or if you’re in pain or are scared.” I wait for her to nod again. “We’ll stop and go over what the problem is and if there’s a way to fix it, fine. If not, we stop the scene and that’s the end.”
Her face is red, and eyes are round like I’ve said something she doesn’t want to hear.
“The end of the scene, Mak, not of our partnership. Unless, of course, you want that too. But there won’t be any hard feelings on my end if you use the safe word. Ever. It’s important and should be used. Everyone has a limit and if you don’t know what that limit is, then it’s even more important to say ‘cupcake’ if something’s bothering you.”
She chews on her bottom lip. Once again, I feel like I’m saying things in the wrong order, but I can’t help myself. This is how I’m made. Some guys are all suave and confidence—looking at you, Trey—and others have the dominant gene times ten that they can balance with humor—*cough, cough* Glitch *cough, cough*—but I don’t have those things.
I have brutal honesty.
Mak stares into the crackling fire for a moment. I give her some space and back off, busying myself by adding more wood to the small hearth. This old house has a lot of charm, but it’s also hard to keep comfortable in. Too cold in winter, too hot in summer. Still, my hardwood floors are original to the house and so are the beams above us in the living room. I love my home, but right now I want fresh air.
And I want to strip Mak out of her clothes and fuck her against every surface I can reach.
I’m an animal sometimes. With Mak in my space, I’m going to be an animal more often than not.
I hope she can handle me. Turning my back to her, I figure I should lay out more ground rules. “How long have you been into primal play, Mak?”
“A little while now.” She’s crept up behind me without my realizing it. Her hands are icy when she runs her fingers along the cords of muscle in my arms. “I felt your eyes on me at the club. I kept trying to catch you looking at me and couldn’t, but I know you were watching me.”
I’m still as stone.