Page 127 of Reign

“There’s no punishment attached to it. I won’t be disappointed, and you’ll never be expected to apologize for using it.”

The humor inside me settles.

“If we enter a scene where you may not be able to speak, we establish a physical signal beforehand,” he continues. “You won’t lose your ability to stop me because I’ve taken away your ability to use the word.”

I look at anaranjada on the page.

“Okay,” I say quietly. “So, basically, if you have your dick in my mouth, we’ll need another signal.”

Luciano closes his eyes for a moment. Whether he’s suppressing a laugh or the image I just put in his head, I can’t tell.

“Yes, Elena. If I have my dick in your mouth, we’ll establish another signal.”

“Good. Just making sure the syllabus covers oral exams.”

His eyes open.

I smile innocently.

He watches me for another moment, then continues as though he isn’t already reconsidering every decision that brought him here.

“Second, colors. Green means continue. Red or your safeword means stop. Yellow means something needs attention before we go any further.”

“So, slow down.”

“Sometimes. Yellow means you’re still with me, but something needs to change before we continue. That may be the position, the pace, reassurance, or time to understand what you’re feeling.”

I tap the pen against the notebook. “So yellow is emotional customer service.”

His mouth twitches. “Explain.”

“I’m still participating, but the current experience needs assistance before we continue.”

“Correct.”

I write:

Red = stop.

Yellow = customer service.

Green = go.

Then I add:

Like traffic lights, but emotionally damaging.

Luciano lowers his eyes to the page.

“Can you read upside down?”

“Yes.”

“Of course you can.”

“You can write whatever helps you remember.”

His smiles. It’s Stupid and devastatingly handsome.