Page 166 of Terms of Exposure
I opened my mouth to argue—
He held a finger to his lips.
I closed it.
"Good girl," he purred. "You're already learning."
"You may speak when spoken to directly," he continued, his voicetaking on the cadence of instruction. "You may use your safe words at any time—those are always allowed, no matter what. And you may ask for clarification if you don't understand an instruction."
His thumb traced my bottom lip, slow and deliberate.
"But idle chatter? Backtalk?" His gaze glittered. "Those pretty little quips you love so much?"
He leaned closer. "Save them for outside this room."
"When we're in here, your job is simple." He straightened to his full height again. "Listen. Obey. Feel. Let me do the thinking. Let me carry the weight."
His voice dropped to something tender.
"All you have to do is surrender."
The word settled. A key sliding into a lock.
Surrender.
"Now," he said, "onto your safe words."
My brows furrowed. His gaze gleamed with delight at my confusion.
"You will have two words to remember. Two ways to communicate with me when words aren't easy to find."
He held up a single finger.
"The first ismercy."
He let the word hang in the air between us.
"You will use this when things become too intense—physically or emotionally. If something doesn't sit right. If you need a moment to breathe."
"For example. If I have you tied to my spanking bench and the pain becomes too sharp, or if your mind starts spiraling somewhere I can't follow—you saymercy, Master."
His voice was calm. Instructive. But beneath it, I could hear the care threaded through every syllable.
This was important.
"When I hear those words, I will stop. I will check in. We will recalibrate together." He tucked a stray wisp of hair behind myear—one that had escaped the braid. "You can use this as often as you need. No judgment. No repercussions."
I nodded slowly, absorbing.
He held up a second finger.
"The second word issalvation."
His voice dragged the word out—low, reverent.
The moment it left his lips, the man I knew disappeared. The softness in his expression hardened into something sharper.
More primal.
