Safeword by Perdita, Zoe

in the contract. “Sort of. Well, the S and M part. Is that what this is? I’m a pain junkie?” A smile tugs at his practiced calm. “It’s a little deeper than that, but I think you are. How much control do you want to take of your own life, and how much do you want to give to me?” I never thought someone would ask me that! But I’m clearly not in the right place to be in control at the moment. “Fuck if I know! This is all new to me – not in a bad way.” He sighs, pushing a strand of hair out of his face. “The contract can wait until you’re ready.” The pit in my stomach clenches. That’s definitely not what I want. “I’m ready now.” He nods. “Then I’ll push you as far as you want to be pushed. If you don’t like something let me know.” “Sounds good to me.” What else can I say? I’m in too deep to back out now. I scrawl my signature and the date on the bottom of the paper. He signs it too, his handwriting more precise than my own. As we sit down to eat, I dish up his food, since that’s what a good sub would do (I guess), and wait for him to take a bite. He nods, and I dig into my own plate. The food’s pretty decent since it’s my first time making anything more than a sandwich or a rice ball. “We need to go shopping. And I need something else to do while I’m home all day. I could help you unpack, if you don’t mind me going through your things.” He chews his bite of chicken masala and sips his wine before answering. Is this what normal couples do? “Would you like that?” “I don’t mind. Org