Page 110 of Blush
“Okay,” Mary says. “First things first. You have varying degrees of experience, but you all chose to come to this beginner class. Some of this may be a repeat for some of you. If at any time, you feel you should leave and seek more advanced training, feel free to do so.”
Collective murmurs of okay.
“So,” she continues, “let’s talk about the power of submission. First of all, being a submissive doesnotmean you’re a doormat to be taken advantage of. In fact, you have to have a pretty strong personality to be a good submissive. Some of you may know this already, but I am a submissive. I do not serve a Dominant during all of my life. I choose only to submit in a scene setting, meaning I participate in scenes at a club or at the home of a Dominant I trust who has requested a scene with me.”
Has Mary been to Jackson’s place? An image I don’t want pops into my mind.
“I do not have a full-time Dominant in my life,” Mary continues.
Liberty shoots her hand up.
“Yes?” Mary says.
“If you don’t have one Dominant, how do you know who to play with? I mean…isn’t the most important thing trust?”
“That’s a good question, Liberty, and we’ll get to that. That’s the next thing. Trust is essential. A good Dominant will always give a submissive a safe word—or some other way of communicating if their mouth is bound—and the Dominant will respect it without question.”
My safe word. Jackson gave me a safe word. Blush.
I trust Jackson. I trust him without question. It seems like he didn’t trust himself.
“So submissive is easy to define. The person who is consensually obedient and compliant to the other partner and who is willing to give control to their partner during sexual activity or during all other parts of life. I personally, as I just said, do not live in a Dominant-submissive relationship. I exercise my proclivities only in scenes with Dominants I trust.”
“But how do you know who to trust?” Liberty asks again.
“There’s no easy answer to that question,” Mary says. “But a good Dominant will show you that you can trust him.”
Lakisha clears her throat.
“Orher.” Mary smiles. “Sorry about that, Lakisha.”
“I’m definitely interested in a Dominant ‘her’ as well,” Jason says. “After many years, I’ve gotten used to the fact that I prefer the submissive lifestyle. It felt kind of emasculating at first.”
“If I can interject?” Lakisha raises her hand.
“Of course, Lakisha.”
“When I was working as a dominatrix, I had many clients who were very, very masculine, Jason. High-powered men, men with muscles the size of theTitanic. There was nothing effeminate about them. The desires you’re having are quite normal.”
“Lakisha is right,” Mary says. “What we enjoy in the bedroom is what we enjoy in the bedroom. How you present on the outside doesn’t necessarily coincide with what you enjoy sexually.”
Jason smiles. “Would it be wrong to say I wish you were still doing dominatrix work, Lakisha?”
A burst of energy passes between Jason and Lakisha. It’s so filled with electricity, I almost feel it. The two of them are going to end up in the sack tonight after class. I’d bet money on it.
Maybe Lakisha will realize she’s still a Dominant.
And oh God, there goes Liberty’s hand again.
Mary nods to her.
“So how do you know you can trust your Dominant? You said a good Dominant will show you that you can trust them. How?”
Mary smiles. The woman has the patience of a saint. “We’re going to get to that. Bear with me. Submissives can take on many roles. Each encounter with your Dom is called a scene. It’s up to the Dom to decide how the scene will play out, but it’s up to the submissive—you—to let your Dom know if anything makes you uncomfortable. A good Dom knows his submissive’s limitations. Limitations are called hard limits and soft limits. You should agree on these with your Dom ahead of time before you begin any scene. For example, one of my hard limits is gunplay.”
“Gunplay!” Liberty gasps. “Why would anyone want that?”
“Some do. Gunplay is considered edge play, which I’ll get to. But I’m just using it as an example. Another of my hard limits is breath play.”