Free Light Switch by Lauren Gallagher Page B

even Doms—who like having their senses overwhelmed, be it with pain or anything else.” He paused. “I mean, Amy is really and truly a pain slut. That woman loves pain. But sometimes it’s a misnomer. It usually refers to someone who is a stimulus junkie.”
    “But Amy likes pain?”
    “More than anything. Which works out perfectly, since her husband doesn’t particularly like inflicting pain, and I’m a bit of a sadist.”
    I laughed and rolled my eyes. “I hadn’t noticed.”
    “Oh, please. You don’t even know the half of it yet.”
    “I’m sure you’ll enlighten me sooner or later,” I said. “So, what else is there?”
    “Sky’s the limit. I know one Domme who has an extremely ticklish sub. She can torture him for hours with a feather the way I can beat Amy with a cane, and with similar results. It’s just about teasing the senses. Some people like to play with hot and cold, too.” He shuddered. “Cold is probably my Achilles’ heel.”
    “How so?”
    “Because it’s fucking cold! ” He laughed. “Okay, seriously, it’s kind of like pain play. It’s an intense sensation, one that would be unpleasant under other circumstances. It’s incredible, it’s a turn-on, but make no mistake: it still hurts. You don’t get to play with endorphins without experiencing some pain. And cold is kind of the same. It’s erotic and torture at the same time.”
    “Okay, so what about heat?”
    “Heat can be fun. I’m admittedly a little iffy about playing with candle wax,” he said. “If a sub really wants me to, I will, but it makes me nervous. It’s just so easy to burn someone. If something’s going to go wrong, it can happen so, so quickly.”
    “Have you ever known a sub who was burned playing with wax?”
    “Yes, I have.” He ran his fingers through his hair and I thought he might have shuddered again. “Really, it’s easy to keep the temperature controlled enough to prevent injury. Intellectually, I know I’m not going to hurt her, but it’s still something that makes me nervous. If a sub trusts me enough to do it, I’m not going to say no to her as long as she knows the risks. Tara likes it from time to time. Amy does too, but I’m really hesitant to do it with her.”
    “Why’s that?”
    “Because she likes pain. A lot . Rational or not, I—” He paused. “You’re cold. Stand up for a second.”
    I got up, and Scott pulled the covers back. Then he gestured for me to lie down again, and when I did, he put the covers over me. Now that I was under them, I had to admit he was right: I had been getting cold.
    “Better?” he asked.
    “Much. Thank you.”
    He smiled. “Anyway, like I was saying, Amy likes pain, but I have to be careful nothing crosses the line into actual injury before it hurts her enough tell me to stop. Sometimes she gets so far into subspace, I—”
    “Subspace?”
    He nodded. “The endorphins take over and a sub will almost go into a trance. She’ll pretty much be unaware of anything except what I’m doing to her.”
    “So, that’s a bad thing?”
    “No, no, not at all,” he said. “But it means I have to be extra careful to keep an eye on her and make sure I don’t hurt her. With a flogger, I can control how hard I’m hitting her, and I won’t let it get out of hand.” He absently smoothed a wrinkle in the blanket with his fingertip. “With something like candle wax or any other heat play, if I were to burn her, she might not respond until it’s gone from a mild sting to a more serious burn. And even though I can keep the temperature well below any level that would cause a problem, I’m not comfortable with it. Amy gets so far into subspace, there are times I could probably saw off a limb and she wouldn’t protest.”
    I laughed. “Wow, she really does like pain, doesn’t she?”
    He smiled. “God, yes. More than any other sub I’ve ever had.” His smile faded a little, and he worried at another wrinkle in the comforter. “Which just,