Page 17 of The Dragon’s Good Girl

"I read the part about following instructions and wanted it enough that it embarrassed me."

Soren is quiet for a moment, but there's nothing uncomfortable about it. He doesn't rush to tell me I shouldn't be embarrassed or try to make the admission smaller than it felt.

"All right," he says. "I can give you that."

Five words, and something in me loosens.

He shifts forward, resting his forearms on his thighs. "Your safeword is red. I know Gael already explained how the contract works, so I'm not going to make you listen to the whole speech again. What I need you to remember is that if you say red, I will stop. Immediately. You never need to justify using it, and you never need to worry about how I'll feel about it. Understood?"

"Yes."

"Say the word for me."

"Red."

"Good girl."

The praise catches me somewhere low in my stomach.

Oh.

I keep my face as neutral as possible, although something in the slight narrowing of his eyes tells me I may not have succeeded.

"There'll be rules while you're with me," he says. "Nothing complicated. If I ask you a question, you answer honestly. If you need something or something doesn't feel right, you tell me. I'll be clear about what I expect from you, so you never have to guess."

That sounds suspiciously simple.

"I can do that."

"We'll see."

There's no challenge in it, but my spine straightens anyway.

Soren notices.

"When I ask you a question, I want an answer out loud. No nodding or shaking your head and expecting me to interpret it. I want to hear you, and when you answer me, you'll end it with sir. Yes, sir. No, sir. Understand?"

I nod automatically.

His eyebrows lift.

Right. "Yes, sir."

The corner of his mouth moves. "Better."

“One more thing. Your intake said the Daddy side of this appealed to you, but there’s no expectation that you call me that. Some clients use Daddy, others prefer sir. You can start with sir and decide what feels right.”

My face goes warm, because he read that part too. But there's no teasing in how he says it. He's just… putting it out there.

"Okay," I manage. Then, "Yes, sir."

He stands, and I'm reminded all over again just how large he is. "Come here."

I follow him through a door at the side of the room and into a bathroom dominated by a deep stone tub. It's already half full, steam curling off the surface, and for a second I just stare at it.

He ran me a bath.

Before I got here.