Page 40 of Mercy
“Mercy is your safe word?”
She nods. “Yep. It’s easy to remember.”
I swallow uncomfortably. “Have you ever had to use it?”
Her lips tighten as she shakes her head. “But Emerson trusts that I would if I needed to.”
“The trust goes both ways,” Eden adds. “You have to trust your sub as much as they have to be able to trust you.”
“And what about…punishment?” I ask, which makes Charlotte shake her head with a sweet smile.
“Maggie, I’m a good girl. I don’t get punished.”
Eden laughs. “Bullshit.”
“It’s true!” Charlie replies, nudging Eden playfully on the shoulder. “I spent enough time pissing off ex-boyfriends. I don’t like to bereprimanded,”she replies, and I swallow down the discomfort building in my throat. I have a feeling I know exactly which ex-boyfriend she’s referring to.
“Well, Maggie has herself a brat.”
“Oh,” Charlotte says with interest, “I have to admit, that sounds fun. I can think of a few guys I’d like to punish.” She and Eden laugh while I dig my fingernails into my thigh to keep from cracking under the pressure of this conversation.Oh, if they only knew.
“Do you tell him if you don’t like something?” I ask, changing the subject.
“Oh, sure. We’ll talk about it after, and sometimes I cross it off the list,” she says.
“I need a list.”
“Here,” she replies eagerly, taking out her phone, “let me send you the one we use. It’s long, but it covers everything.”
Reaching across the table, I grab Eden’s martini glass and force the rest of it down, just as my phone pings. It’s a text message from Charlie with a link to a BDSM checklist, and my stomach turns.
I’m definitely not going to tell Beau where I got this.
* * *
I’m sending you homework.
I type with a smile.It’s past three in the morning and Ringo is snoring by my feet as I lie in bed to see if Beau is still awake. The three dots start to bounce, which means he’s up, so I wait for his reply.
Teacher/student role-play? That’s hot.
A laugh escapes my lips as I type back to him.
This is real homework.
Like reading or something?
It’s a checklist.
I drop the link Charlie sent me into our chat then press send. After a few minutes, he responds.
Oh.
I furrow my brow in concern.
What’s wrong?
Nothing. I’ve seen this before.
