Sometimes you can pinpoint a moment where things... changed. A crossroads where you could have taken another path and things would have turned out differently.
For me, that was two weeks ago. Winding down with you on the sofa. You were curled up tightly with your head in my lap. My fingers weaving absent-mindedly through the tresses of your hair.
I felt a soft, lazy wave of arousal swell over me, the heat of your body radiating up my thighs as I noted the proximity of your lips to my cock.
I traced my fingers over the curve of your waist and we shared a brief flicker of eye contact as I gently squeezed your ass. I smiled wickedly, thinking how easily I might manoeuvre you over my lap and spank you then tease your aching clit, making you burn and tingle with desire.
That's why I wasn't ready for what you said next. You sprung it on me, shaking me awake from my idle daydream.
"Do I ever... have rape fantasies?"
"What?"
"What do you mean? Why do you ask?"
Well, I did know why you were asking. Of course I knew. That familiar spectre, clouding the edges of this otherwise contented scene. Pushed so far to the periphery of our vision, I forgot he was there. I thought we were just enjoying a cosy evening together, alone.
I started to feel a heavy fog behind my eyes. I rubbed the bridge of my nose, trying to forge a path through it, so I could find the answer for you.
I really didn't know what response you wanted to this.
Are there times I feel overwhelmed by my lust for you? Do I enjoy the powerful feeling of claiming you when I first plunge into your wet little cunt, gripping your hair and feeling you tremble beneath me? When the only thought that blazes through my mind is 'she..is..mine'? Yes, I do.
And when I put my hands firmly on your body, and it feels so perfectly ripe that it makes me want to squeeze you, to mold your innocent flesh to my desire, and make you mine in ways that would tear your sense of self apart? Is that a rape fantasy? I don't know. I've never examined it too hard. I suppose I've had that privilege.
Then I looked at you. Your eyes were wide, waiting patiently. You're so innocent sometimes that I forget. Sometimes it just hits me that underneath my spirited and daring lover, there's someone who's been hurt. In ways that can't be neatly healed. You've just had to learn to live with the scars. The thing is... scars itch sometimes.
"Real rape fantasies? I don't think I do, no baby."
I wish I had drawn a line under that conversation now. Maybe I should have just pulled you across my knee and spanked you. For testing me. Asking me silly questions. It could have ended with a playful battle of wills, with you giggling and breathless as I pounded you into the sofa. I didn't though.
It went on. You wanted to know if I would enjoy taking you. Using you harshly and taking my ferocious pleasure from your body, without considering yours.
"What are you asking me? You have to come out and say it. What do you want?"
Of course, if you asked me outright, that would break the spell for you. It wouldn't be 'rape' if you asked for it.
I got it. You wanted to replace those memories with something you could be in control of. You wanted to endure the pain but emerge unbroken this time. But first, you wanted to struggle. To fight. To turn our bedroom into an arena. Of course.
You never fought back, all those times. You were terrified. Just the sound of his key in the door made your heart sink, by the end. So when he slithered into bed next to you, pawing at your clothes, you squeezed your eyes shut, because it was safer to just lie there than risk making him angry. Wait for it to be over.
I turned it over in my brain. Who was I to tell you that what you wanted was wrong?
So last week, I decided to make it happen. The mood didn't take me until Friday. There was just something about getting to the end of a draining week of commuting and petty office politics that made me start ticking with need. The slog and then the relief of finally shaking off those deadlines put me in the mind to blow off some steam.
My cock was already twitching on the cab ride home, a nervous excitement growing as I anticipated taking a leap into the unknown. By the time I walked through the door, I was tightly coiled and ready to strike.
You frowned, confused, as I grabbed your wrist and spun you around to face me, my eyes flashing dangerously with lust. A fleeting look of recognition crossed your face, but it was soon replaced with defiance, your eyes burning brightly as you steeled your jaw and prepared to resist me.
I grabbed your other wrist and started to pull you towards our bedroom, your feet dragging on the floor in protest.
The scent of your fear filling my senses started to affect me. Emotions were flooding in and I felt an intoxicating rush of my own power, one I didn't even know I wanted. It felt reckless, but it felt honest for the first time. The spectre in the room wasn't just the past, it was the power imbalance between us, my strength and your weakness in my burning grip.
Then as you pressed your face away from me and started to whine, I was confused. And I'll admit, almost... annoyed.
"Isn't this what you wanted?"
"To test me?"
I scruffed you from behind and bent you over the bed. I was grasping a fistful of your hair, the short, wispy strands that cover the nape of your neck. As I did, I thought about how I've never even put my hand on the front of your throat. How I can't because of the things he did to you. And just then, I felt furious. Paying for his mistakes. Picking up his mess, even now.
So even when you whimpered with shock at the pain, I didn't feel bad. I felt vindicated for one glorious, awful moment. And I gripped tighter.