Total pages in book: 147
Estimated words: 141810 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 709(@200wpm)___ 567(@250wpm)___ 473(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 141810 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 709(@200wpm)___ 567(@250wpm)___ 473(@300wpm)
He stopped in front of Sean and showed him the tool. “This, Sean, is a two-foot spreader bar. I’m gonna hook it to your ankles to keep ‘em apart.”
Sean eyed the thing. Shit. If he guessed correctly, that fucker would make standing even harder. Max dropped to his haunches and hooked the thing on, attaching Sean’s ankle cuffs to each end. Fuuuck. Now he was standing on just his toes.
Max rose to his feet. A grin curved his lips. “All done. How’s that feel?”
Sean’s whole body rotated slightly to the left. “Um… Kinda awkward.”
“A little off balance?”
“Yeah.” Sean tried to twist back around.
Ugh. No such luck.
Max chuckled and helped him out. Which sent Sean purring. Those big warm hands gripping his sides, holding him steady...
Max looked into Sean’s eyes. His timbre dipped low. “Vulnerable? Disconcerted? Helpless?”
Sean held his gaze. Couldn’t look away if he tried. “Yeah,” he rasped. “All of those things.” Shit. What was wrong with his voice?
“Ever felt that way before?”
“No. Not ever.”
Max grinned. “Then we’re off to a good start.” Without warning, he gave Sean a little spin, then smacked him on the ass. “First topic, caitín.”
Sean inhaled sharply as he struggled for balance. “Catcheen?”
“Mmhmm.” Max gripped his hips from behind. Brushed his lips against Sean’s ear. “Means little cat.”
“Oh.” Sean shivered. “In… what language?”
“Irish.” Max’s warm breath tickled his neck.
Sean’s lashes fluttered. Max was Irish? Guess that made sense. He did have red hints in his hair. But he didn’t have freckles. And his skin wasn’t pale. In fact, it was always really tan. Sean turned his head. “You don’t look very Irish. Got something else in you, too?”
“Mmhmm,” Max murmured.
“I knew it.” Sean grinned. “You’re part Irish, part Greek God.”
Max chuckled. “Close. Navajo.”
“Get out. You’ve got Native American in you?”
“Mmhmm. Would you like some in you as well?”
He was grinning. Sean could hear it.
Sean laughed. “Yes, please.” Because no doubt about it, Max’s Navajo-Irish dick would taste absolutely amazing in his mouth.
Max chuckled again and gave Sean’s ass a second swat. “First topic: the dynamic between a Dom and his sub.”
Oh, well. Guess that was the end of that.
“There are three crucial elements that have to exist. Trust. Communication. And Honesty. If any of those are missing, the collaboration won’t work. Understand?” he asked, curling his fingers around Sean’s throat.
Sean tensed, swallowing instinctively against Max’s palm. “Yeah. I think so. Makes logical sense.”
Max’s grip closed tighter, threatening to constrict Sean’s airway. “Promise to always trust that your safety’s my priority.”
Sean’s heart pounded faster. He swallowed a second time. Then closed his eyes and forced himself to relax. “I promise,” he whispered. “I trust you.”
Max let go and tunneled his fingers into Sean’s hair. “Now promise to never hold back your feelings. Especially regarding scenes. It’s imperative. As is always being honest.” He grazed his fingernails along Sean’s scalp.
Sean moaned, eyes still closed. “Totally promise that, too.”
Another soft chuckle. “Good boy. Next topic.”
Sean stilled when a strip of fabric lowered over his eyes. Shit. With no vision, all his other senses would go haywire. No doubt, Max’s total intentions.
“Before a scene starts, a safe word’s gotta be in place.” Max tied the blindfold swiftly from behind. “You’re familiar with safe words, Sean?”
“Um… Yeah? Maybe?”
A soft, amused sound. “Safe words are what subs use to tell their Dom during a scene that all activity needs to cease. Like immediately. Since a lot of subs like to struggle and fight as part of their scene’s fantasy, a simple “no” or “stop” can be ambiguous. Lots of Dom and subs use “red” as the safe word to convey without any question what the sub means.”
“Ah.” Sean nodded. That made sense also.
“Some, including myself, like to use “yellow” as well, which means that the sub needs his Dom to slow down, that he’s almost at red. This allows them to prolong the scene, to pace it according to the sub’s needs.”
Sean smiled. “I like that.”
“Yeah. Me, too.”
God, the sound of Max’s dark chocolate voice…
“So you’re clear on safe words? Red means stop. Yellow, slow down.”
Sean nodded. “Clear.”
Max squeezed his shoulders. “Good. Moving on to what I, as your Dom, expect from you. Some general rules of thumb to be obeyed at all times, from the start of a scene to its finish. Eyes down unless instructed otherwise. No speaking unless spoken to. When you do speak, you’ll address me as Sir each time. Fail to obey these, and you’ll be disciplined accordingly. Which isn’t unusual, so don’t worry. Just part of the process of training a new sub.”
Sean swallowed. He remembered reading about discipline on Max’s website. It’d kind of unnerved him and excited him all at once. “Disciplined how?”
Max moved Sean’s hair to the side, breathed across his nape. “However I choose. But never in a way you’d enjoy.”
Sean shivered, goosebumps rising. “So… pain, then?”