talk.”
Rachel frowned up at him, puzzled at the abrupt change of pace. He continued to talk to her, trailing his fingers lightly through her tangled hair as he spoke.
“We need to sort out safe words. And hard limits, as per your erotic reading matter. You need to know what I intend to do, and I need to know if there’s anything you really, really don’t want to try. I need to know what scares you, so that I can help you get past being afraid. Okay so far?”
Rachel nodded, tentative. Her previous sexual encounters bore no resemblance to this. In the past, when she’d actually got as far as bouncing around in bed with anyone, it had been along the lines of a quick, if passionate, fumble. Adventurous, in that she’d been in uncharted territory a lot of the time, but certainly never this level of careful planning. She had a suspicion there would be passion with Callum, and definitely adventure. Callum’s approach had a new quality to it, one she found unfamiliar and a little intimidating. He was purposeful—everything seemed to be done by intent, in line with his careful instructions. She found herself obeying, as much as responding. It was disconcerting, at odds with her normal independent spirit. She was a professional woman, successful, a businesswoman, a parent. So why was she allowing herself to be bossed around by a man half her age, in her own home, in her own bed, for God’s sake?
Because it was oddly comfortable. Solid and safe. Her nerves of a few minutes earlier melted into the duvet as she relaxed under his gentle, capable fingers. She knew she was going to defer to him, in this, and maybe a lot more besides? And she would do it gladly.
“First—safe words.” His tone was calm, competent, as he continued. “Your safe word needs to be something you wouldn’t normally say, that you can use to stop me dead if you need to. If what I’m doing to you is too much, if I push you too hard, scare you, hurt you more than you can bear. Do you have a word you’d like to use for that?”
She shook her head. “Hurt me? Why would you hurt me? And, why can’t I just say ‘no’, or ‘stop’?”
“Because it’s too easy to confuse those words with the sort of things you might say anyway when you’re very aroused. We don’t want to make any mistakes over this. So, how about ‘carrot and coriander’?”
Still locked on to the notion of ‘hurt’ and working that through in her head Rachel continued to stare at him, her face mirroring her confusion.
He dropped his hand to her shoulder gave her a gentle shake. “So, carrot and coriander?”
She considered for a moment, then nodded. “Okay. Carrot and coriander.”
He continued, all business and matter-of-fact now, dealing with the basics for her. With her. “Right. That’s your ‘stop’ signal. Your red light, so to speak. And what about if you just want me to slow down, or you need to talk about something. Do you have a word we could use for ‘amber’? A moment’s thought, then, “Rockery.” Rachel managed to keep her voice remarkably steady. Despite the outrageous things he was saying, suggesting, he hadn’t managed to scare her off . At least, not yet.
“Rockery works. Fine then. Now, do you want to specify any hard limits now or shall we agree those as we go along?”
“I don’t know. What’s best?”
“Unless there’s anything else you want to get straight now, anything bothering you, I’d suggest we play it by ear. We’ll go slow, I’ll keep checking with you that you’re okay.”
“You’ll check with me ? What about me checking you ?”
He chuckled, leaning down to nudge her nose with his playfully. “Ah, but I’m going to be the top, Rachel. And you’ll be the bottom. That’s how it is, so I’ll be calling the shots, dishing it out. You’ll be on the receiving end. And I’ll do the checking.”
“Receiving end? Receiving what, exactly?”
“Ah, that’s the accountant talking. Right, I mentioned
Rachel frowned up at him, puzzled at the abrupt change of pace. He continued to talk to her, trailing his fingers lightly through her tangled hair as he spoke.
“We need to sort out safe words. And hard limits, as per your erotic reading matter. You need to know what I intend to do, and I need to know if there’s anything you really, really don’t want to try. I need to know what scares you, so that I can help you get past being afraid. Okay so far?”
Rachel nodded, tentative. Her previous sexual encounters bore no resemblance to this. In the past, when she’d actually got as far as bouncing around in bed with anyone, it had been along the lines of a quick, if passionate, fumble. Adventurous, in that she’d been in uncharted territory a lot of the time, but certainly never this level of careful planning. She had a suspicion there would be passion with Callum, and definitely adventure. Callum’s approach had a new quality to it, one she found unfamiliar and a little intimidating. He was purposeful—everything seemed to be done by intent, in line with his careful instructions. She found herself obeying, as much as responding. It was disconcerting, at odds with her normal independent spirit. She was a professional woman, successful, a businesswoman, a parent. So why was she allowing herself to be bossed around by a man half her age, in her own home, in her own bed, for God’s sake?
Because it was oddly comfortable. Solid and safe. Her nerves of a few minutes earlier melted into the duvet as she relaxed under his gentle, capable fingers. She knew she was going to defer to him, in this, and maybe a lot more besides? And she would do it gladly.
“First—safe words.” His tone was calm, competent, as he continued. “Your safe word needs to be something you wouldn’t normally say, that you can use to stop me dead if you need to. If what I’m doing to you is too much, if I push you too hard, scare you, hurt you more than you can bear. Do you have a word you’d like to use for that?”
She shook her head. “Hurt me? Why would you hurt me? And, why can’t I just say ‘no’, or ‘stop’?”
“Because it’s too easy to confuse those words with the sort of things you might say anyway when you’re very aroused. We don’t want to make any mistakes over this. So, how about ‘carrot and coriander’?”
Still locked on to the notion of ‘hurt’ and working that through in her head Rachel continued to stare at him, her face mirroring her confusion.
He dropped his hand to her shoulder gave her a gentle shake. “So, carrot and coriander?”
She considered for a moment, then nodded. “Okay. Carrot and coriander.”
He continued, all business and matter-of-fact now, dealing with the basics for her. With her. “Right. That’s your ‘stop’ signal. Your red light, so to speak. And what about if you just want me to slow down, or you need to talk about something. Do you have a word we could use for ‘amber’? A moment’s thought, then, “Rockery.” Rachel managed to keep her voice remarkably steady. Despite the outrageous things he was saying, suggesting, he hadn’t managed to scare her off . At least, not yet.
“Rockery works. Fine then. Now, do you want to specify any hard limits now or shall we agree those as we go along?”
“I don’t know. What’s best?”
“Unless there’s anything else you want to get straight now, anything bothering you, I’d suggest we play it by ear. We’ll go slow, I’ll keep checking with you that you’re okay.”
“You’ll check with me ? What about me checking you ?”
He chuckled, leaning down to nudge her nose with his playfully. “Ah, but I’m going to be the top, Rachel. And you’ll be the bottom. That’s how it is, so I’ll be calling the shots, dishing it out. You’ll be on the receiving end. And I’ll do the checking.”
“Receiving end? Receiving what, exactly?”
“Ah, that’s the accountant talking. Right, I mentioned
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