Tucker chuckled. “No, I would guess not. I meant the being tied up part, the submitting to a Dominant,” he ventured. “The choice of partner is a bit newer.”
She nodded.
“Tell me what you think submission is?” he asked. They’d start there and then move on.
“The act of yielding to the will of another,” she replied in a monotone voice.
“Spoken like a true professor.” He pulled an arm behind her back. “Grab that bar.”
She hesitated, her mouth opening and closing. Tucker curved his hand around the side of her neck and steered her focus back to him. “Say it.”
Maggie scrunched up her nose and bit her lip.
Tucker leaned forward and pressed against her soft frame. “I mean it, Maggie. I want to hear every word going through your head right now. If during our play, I decide you need to hold your tongue, I’ll definitely let you know. So say it.”
He leaned back and watched her shoulders straighten.
“I may not have any practical experience but I’m not stupid. It doesn’t take play to understand what something means or to feel it inside.”
Tucker let her words digest for a moment before he responded. Her intelligence was both a blessing and a barrier. At least for now. “Relax, Maggie. I don’t disagree with you at all and I’m not going to try to correct how you feel.” He brushed his nose along her cheek and nuzzled behind her ear. “Quite the contrary. I only want to prove it’s even more than you’ve imagined. At the end of the day I want you curled on your side with my arm wrapped around you, your body tucked to mine and your mind only able to register how content you are. My motives are that simple.”
Before she could respond, he grabbed her opposite hand and pulled it behind her back. “Grab the bar.”
She complied and after he fastened her wrists to the bar with leather straps, he stood back to admire her stance. With both hands forced behind her back to grab the cross bar, her chest pushed forward and her luscious nipples pointed into the air.
Her ability to still follow his directions while questioning his motives left a knowing mark. Unconsciously she wanted to submit as much, if not more than her mind even knew.
“Submission is exactly what you said it was. However, the clinical definition will give way to something a bit more indescribable during play if things go well between us.”
“If?” Her voice trembled.
Tucker stroked a lone finger along her check and dipped the tip of his finger between her lips. “Yes, Maggie. There is always the possibility that at some point it will become too much for you. That’s what a safe word is for. Do you have one?”
“No, not really.” Her eyes cast in the opposite direction.
He tucked his finger behind her teeth like a hook and tugged her jaw until she was forced to look at him. “No what?” he asked.
Confusion clouded her eyes for a moment before her mistake dawned on her. “No, Sir,” she replied.
“Much better. Keep it simple today. I’m not planning to judge you. So pick a safe word then. Something easy to remember but not often used in your daily life. It can’t be a word that would come up in a normal conversation.”
“Love,” she blurted.
Tucker winced. He knew as well as the next psychologist that a sudden word association like that came with meaning. She’d been hurt and whether she’d fully recovered or not, there were scars. For now he’d tread carefully.
“I was thinking something a bit more unusual, like aardvark.”
Maggie stared at him for a few seconds, blinked and then broke out in laughter. The rich lilting sound went a long way to relieving some of the tension he’d begun to feel. While he had complete confidence in his ability to carry out the scene, he felt an urgent need to get this right. Maggie had to be different than all the rest.
All the rest.
Tucker refused to go there. Today was his and Maggie’s fresh start.
“Can we just stick with red? If I need you to stop that’s more likely what I’m going to say.”
While he’d been wandering in his thoughts, Maggie had stopped laughing and grown serious. Her flushed face drew his attention again. “Yes, red works. I’m not a stickler for protocols, I simply want you to feel safe to explore anything and everything you desire.”
“Thank you, Sir” Her head dropped when she spoke the words in a soft voice.
He didn’t think he could hide his grin of satisfaction this time, so he turned to the small antique cabinet behind him where he stored many of his beloved toys. He opened the middle drawer and scooped up the nipple clamps he’d picked out for her over a week ago. They’d arrived in the mail just in time.