“If only you knew what you looked like right now…” The mistress smirked, putting one of her vinyl-booted feet on her kneeling, blindfolded submissive’s shoulder. The other was placed between her submissive’s feet, the top of the boot growing slick with arousal. The room was nearly quiet, only the sounds of heavy breathing filled the silence.  

Laura kept as still as possible; her mind focused on keeping still, not letting any more of her neediness show. The ambiance alone could push her past her limits; the combination of the slow, sensual music and the nearly degrading naughts being directed towards her nearly made her burst. If only she could get some more friction against her goddess’s boot. She only stopped as she felt her love’s breath go hot against her.

Her Goddess, her Mistress, her Everything leaned towards her, bit a hickey into her neck and then whispered into her ear,

“Max, did you get in my smut stash?”

The grey haired girl, startled by the shift in volume, quickly clapped the paperback shut as she nearly fell out of the loveseat. A copy of  Tainted by the Chains of Love ended up at the shorter girl’s feet. It was originally found in a thrift store as something to fill the bottom shelf of Violet’s pin-up magazines and other pulp novels.

She could have lightened the conversation, but they both knew she was never one to sugar coat things. There was no use lying to her either, especially over something so trivial as a book. “Do forgive me. I was under the impression the bookshelves were communal?”

“You’re good. Just tell me before you’re gonna borrow anything from that shelf, kay? I was worried I lost it.” Violet bent over and picked up the novel, recognizing the bookmarked page. “Oh, you’re at a  spicy part too.”

Max’s lips pursed into an awkward smile as her girlfriend further through the pages. She half expected her to read an excerpt aloud. “That is… definitely a word I would use to describe it.”

“Didn’t realize you were into this dime store stuff. I figured this was too  raunchy and  dirty for your tastes.” She scrunched her nose in fake disgust.  

Max didn’t respond as she slumped back onto the loveseat. “I… I figured I’d try something different?”

“And that’s completely valid. I guess I should ask what you think of it so far.” Violet stared into her girlfriend’s eyes that waited for a response. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to, baby.”

“Well… um…” Max flexed her finger repeatedly, as if she was reaching for the right thing to say. This type of literature wasn’t in her radar; hence it was harder for her to review. Most of the time she veered away from  those types of books, but there was something about this one that made her want to keep reading. Was it the fact that the woman she loved so dearly had read it?

Nevertheless, she decided to humor her and still give her opinions. “I think it’s good so far…”

“Maxie, you’re a good chunk into it. Surely you have more to say… About the plot, how much of that there is.” She slightly raised the pitch of her voice, clearly getting some satisfaction from the secondhand embarrassment.

Max nodded her head, swimming through her thoughts to find coherent sentences, as she straightened her posture. “The writer seems to definitely know what they are talking about. The dynamic between Laura and Rachel isn’t just a thinly-veiled excuse for abuse, unlike some novels I can name. There is open communication and safe words and Rachel listens when her sub says no or when she wants to stop and… Yes, I know it’s basic human decency, but it’s just so…” She squealed with excitement. “And the dynamic… it’s just perfect and-”

“By god, you’re a nerd.” Violet couldn’t help but let out a laugh. There wasn’t a response this time. “Is something the matter, booboo? I’d normally get, like, a slap on the wrist for that.” There was still no answer. “Come on, I don’t hate it as much as I used to. I’m a masochist now, remember?” She shimmied closer towards Max, the pink silk from her robe brushing against her love’s skin and her breasts nearly at eye level.  

She sighed, holding her head in her hands. The embarrassment crept from her face into every fiber of her being. The reminder of the last time they did something of this sort, plus Violet’s remark about her infodumping, rubbed her slightly the wrong way. “Yes. About that. I’ve still been thinking about the other week, and-”

“While we’re on the subject of that, I’m still surprised at how well you did for your first time domming. I’ve been thinking, and-”

“Do you want me to do it again?”

“No.”

“If I was that bad, you can just tell me. Honesty and all…”

“Far from it. You were great!” Violet complimented earnestly, or as earnestly as she would allow herself to get. Apologizing, nor vulnerability for that manner, was never really her strongest suit; it was still too early in the relationship for that sort of thing. “I want to thank you for that… I’m sorry if that whole experience made you uncomfy and… I want to make it up to you.”

“Really?” The silver-haired girl blinked at her girlfriend, staring as if she had grown an extra head. Was she being serious? After all of the things she had said and done, Violet was still proud of her. “But… I hurt you!”

“But you didn’t harm me, and that’s what mattered. Also wasn’t topping that one time your idea? All because of those goddamn cat ears.” She chuckled, thinking about the situation in hindsight.

“And I kept spritzing you with that bottle,” She ignored the compliment and got slightly more defensive.“that must’ve been annoying.”

“Isn’t that the point? What matters is I liked it, you hear me? You’re smarter than you give yourself credit for. Now shut up and let me return the favor, okay?”

Max nodded her head, suddenly growing timid at her girlfriend’s demeanor. “What is it you want to do?”

Violet’s face grew a mischievous smirk; she’d been planning her strategy the moment she saw Max reading on the loveseat. She leaned into her girlfriend’s ear and whispered, “How about we recreate one of those scenes from this book? Would you like me to ruin you, Miss Maxine.  I bet you’ve wanted to be in Laura’s position from the moment you picked up that.”

“Yes…” Max blushed even more scarlet. She stopped herself as the logical and modest parts of her brain took over. “No, wait… shouldn’t we go over safe words and limits first?”

“We’ll get to that! I just wanna confirm if that sounds like a good idea. Granted it’s one of mine, so it’s good by default.”

“Violet!” Her lover chastised.

“Okay, I deserved that. Do you want me to do those things to you? We don’t have to do it exactly by the book.” Max nodded her head. “Perfect, let’s get playing! But first, have you eaten anything today?”

There was silence.

Violet sighed as she cupped her girlfriend’s face. “Max. My darling. Love of my life and-”  

“I’ll be fine…” Max interrupted, slightly whining as she slowly got out of the loveseat. “Please don’t worry about me. Besides, I’m not hungry.” She lied through her teeth.

It was still quite early in the afternoon and she had been too engrossed in the literature to think about bare necessities. At least she remembered to shower; that’s always a good start.

“For all the times you fuss at me about not eating, you should take better care of yourself. I don’t want you passing out.” Violet pulled Max close, then sat her down at the kitchen table. “I’ll fix something real quick and then we’ll get to it. I promise.”

The two further negotiated as they had their meal. They set limits and safe words, and it seemed as if nothing had changed since last time. Max was a little unsure about hickeys since she had a presentation the next day, but Violet calmed her down. When in doubt, there were always clean turtlenecks on standby.

“Now, last thing. Do you want me to be kind or cruel?”

Max took a bite of her salad and contemplated, as if her partner had asked a trick question. One could easily be disguised as the other given certain circumstances. “Kind,” she swallowed, unsure of her answer. “But also cruel. Possibly both? I’m sorry; I still don’t understand.”

“Let me rephrase that. How far do you want me to go? I mean, there’s a big difference between calling you a cumslut and calling you stupid.” The black-haired woman clarified, drumming her fingers on the table as she waited for an answer.

It wasn’t hard to tease Max; there were many things about her that were practically a bullseye for bullying. She was the kind of girl who would take too long to get ready, yet look like she barely had any makeup on. The kind who’d talk during a movie she’d seen ten times before just to spout trivia, quietly going on until shushed. She was practically a grandmother when it came to social media and she was just so… rigid out in public. It was too easy to make fun of the things bullies had told Max for years (her hair, her height, and the way she spoke to name a few), plus it was wrong.  

Yes, Violet was a bitch, but she still had standards.

“As far as you want.” Max continued, starting to protest yet not sure of what. “I swear… I can take it.” A hush fell over the kitchen. “I’ll safeword when I feel uncomfortable. I promise.”

Violet swallowed a mouthful of spinach and sighed, “I know you will. I trust you, but will you remember when the time comes?” A hush fell over the kitchen. “It’s just- in the past it was hard for you to come out of your subspace and I don’t wanna make you cry. Well, at least in a bad way. We should have discussed this earlier, but I got distracted by other things and-”

“Now look who’s being fussy.” The grey-haired lady teased as she finished up the rest of her meal. With a small grunt of protest from her partner, she continued. “Well… calling me stupid or worthless is a hard no, and other things in that vein. Nothing negative about my body. And… I think that’s it.”

“Perfect.” Violet shot up and took her and Max’s bowls. “I’ve got to get ready, but remember. As soon as I see you next, your ass is mine. Give me about thirty-ish minutes and I’ll be ready for you. I have some research to do.” She strode towards the door, flipping through the pulp novel’s pages for emphasis.

“Sounds good to me, darling.”

“Then it’s a date!” As she pulled herself into the bedroom, the newly appointed mistress quickly stuck out her head and winked before closing the door.