A shy public reference librarian, and a college dropout who was disowned when she refused to submit to conversion therapy, encounter each other in a bookstore. He's been waiting his whole life for her. Meanwhile, she's starting her whole life over...
This section contains descriptions of intense needle, scalpel, and knife play. It is not safe to insert piercings of any kind without being properly trained on technique. If you have not learned from a professional, do NOT attempt to do any of the things "Magister" does to "ancilla" with needles.
For that matter, if you have never studied shiatsu, don't play with meridians and pressure points, whether you use sharps or just your hands.
I would also like to iterate that bloodsports are controversial in the BDSM community. Aside from the risk of disease transmission, there's the simple risk that someone on the receiving end of a blade might be a heavy bleeder.
As with the activities depicted in the "Netzach" chapter, I ask, as an author to reader, and as an experienced dominant to anybody with any degree of interest or experience in BDSM, to exercise discretion. Just because some things are interesting plot elements in a work of fiction does not make them safe. There is nothing sexy about a trip to the emergency room or a call to 911.
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After a claustrophobic silence that seems to stretch into eternity, he sighs. "Oh, my eromene. You never cease to amaze me... Promise me you will stop me before I exceed your limits. As your teacher, it is, of course, my duty to push you as hard as you can endure, and then some, but we have somehow become much more than Magister and ancilla, have we not? And as your lover, I want you to delight in me, not suffer me."
I nod. I don't trust my voice.
"Do you really want me to be your master, now? Outside of the bedroom and the circle of light? Or were you just saying that in the heat of the moment?"
"I don't know. I didn't know I was going to say it until it escaped my mouth."
"We're going to need to talk later... although for now, I think it best to not assume you meant it literally. Fear sometimes makes people say things they do not intend, and in translation, the meaning is usually about needing security."
My gaze keeps getting drawn to the tray of needles and sharp things behind me, and every time I force myself to look forward to Magister again, the effort required drains me. A part of me - a large part of me - would rather be running naked down a crowded street right now, pursued by hornets and rabid dogs, en route to jumping off a high cliff into the wild blue yonder, to fall endlessly through thunderclouds full of lightning, until landing at last in a sea full of hungry sharks. Anything but this.
The other part is insane.
"Could you hold me when you do it?" I whisper.
He takes me by the shoulders and kisses me, long and gently. "Yes. Whenever that is possible." His mouth moves to my eyes, my cheeks; I realize that he is kissing me and drinking in my tears. At some point, I must have started crying. I hadn't even noticed. How can anyone not notice when they start crying? Impossible. "It takes incredible strength and courage to face down a phobia, you know. I am honored to have you as a pupil. Sometimes, however, I think you push yourself farther than even I do, my eromene, and I shudder to think to what lengths you will be capable of taking your future lovers if you expect them to follow you into the darkness."
