Page 24 of Good Girl

“Do you want to leave, now that you know why I asked you here?”

Yesinstinctively popped into my mind, but I wasn’t going to change if I gave in to that fear all the time.

“No.”

“Do you think I should go easy on you because you are a virgin?”

“No...”

“Why?”

“I...” I paused, and the growing tension within my chest suddenly snapped. “I liked how you made me feel like I was something to be desired.”

“That’s exactly what you are.” Derek drained the remains of his glass.

“I don’tfeellike it. And you made me feel that, and I want to feel it again—no, Ineedto.”

“Why?”

“Because...” The second restraining tendril of tension snapped, and I straightened up in my seat. “Because after what we did, I felt amazing and I was excited. I felt like a new person, but within twenty minutes of being around my supposed best friend and her gaggle of asshole cronies, I was back to feeling like the fat frump who’s just there to give everyone else something to laugh at.”

Derek’s jaw tensed, and the nerve on the left side jumped visibly, but he remained quiet.

“I’m tired of being mocked. I feel out of place all the time, like I’m constantly taking up too much space and I’ll never find where I’m supposed to slot in. I work constantly to keep Haley happy, to keep my mother happy with my choices and grades, but in that moment I realized that I amunhappywith all of that, and you made me feel like I was the center of my own universe.” A little breathless from my speech, I paused and swallowed hard. My heart was hammering and a slight tremble had swept down my arms. “I want to feel that again. I want to change so I always feel like that.”

Derek leaned forward, setting his glass on the table, then he clasped his long fingers together, studying me.

“BDSM won’t change you,” he said carefully, “but it can mold what you already are into something you can further understand. It will awaken things in you and unlock parts of yourself you didn’t know were there. I will need yourtrustand you will have mine.”

He sounded so serious that I couldn’t find any word strong enough to show how I agreed, so instead, I nodded repeatedly.

“Pick a safe word.”

“A what?”

“A safe word.” Derek stood suddenly, and I was struck by how incredibly tall he was from my seat. “It is a word that would not come up in regular play that will call an immediate end to our play regardless of what is happening.”

“Can’t I just say no?” I asked. He motioned for me to stand, and I obeyed, setting my half-drunk wine aside.

“No. Our instinct is to saynowhen limits are being teased, when we think we can’t take any more, but deep down, wewantto. It can be a tease and can hold multiple meanings.” Derek reached for me and gently brushed some blonde strands away from my face. “A safe word holds only one unbreakable meaning that will never be ignored.”

That made sense. Like yelling no on a rollercoaster when you really wanted to feel that exhilarating rush ten times over.

“Can it be anything?”

“Anything. Mine is warbird.”

“You have a safe word?” I hadn’t intended to sound so surprised as I followed Derek through the lounge, but I couldn’t help myself.

“Of course,” Derek replied. He led me into a small corridor filled with two doors. Into the room on the right, we were in his bedroom. “Doms need safe words just as much as subs. While we hold the illusion of control, the sub holds the majority, and there may be times when a Dom needs to safe word just like a sub.”

He turned to face me, his presence taking up the entire space in front of me, and my breath caught in my throat.

“Pick a word, Charlotte... and we can begin.”

“Marionette,” I whispered.

“Do you want to be my puppet, Charlotte?” Derek leaned in so close, and I immediately closed my eyes. A warm gust of breath brushed across my right cheek, and his lips followed. That firm, warm press sent heat skittering through me, and my heart rate skyrocketed.

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