Page 24 of Love Lessons: Expanded Edition

Dustin nodded. Now that he could see Landon’s passion for teaching, it made the practiced seduction feel a little more fake. They were clearly both sides of Landon’s personality, but teaching seemed more real.

Great. I’m sending you my list. Some things we wouldn’t do without a third person to be a mentor while you’re learning, but there are still a lot of things that you can just try with me. Landon fiddled with his phone for a moment and then Dustin heard a chime from his pocket.

Dustin pulled up the text, not having any idea what to expect. There were two typed pages of categorized entries and most of them had a hand-drawn star beside them.

Dustin’s mind was reeling. Not just from the exhaustive list of kinky possibilities, which went far beyond anything Dustin had imagined for the day, but also that Landon used this list so often that he had it ready on his phone.

So the stars are the ones you’re interested in?he confirmed.

Yeah.

Are some of them soft limits? Or are those blank?

Landon thought for a moment. I guess I don’t really distinguish between soft and hard limits. I think I’d need to have a lot of trust in someone to push my soft limits and I never really get there.

With every word, Dustin was starting to get a fuller picture of Landon. He was outgoing and popular, but he didn’t have close friends. He sent out his kink list from his phone, but he’d never been with someone for long enough to think about soft limits, let alone test them. He was fascinating and complex, but he seemed closed off to anything more than one-night stands.

Dustin’s protective instincts were firing hard, and he tried to turn them down. Right now, he wanted to wrap Landon up and take care of his every need. He wanted to crack him open and put him back together again.

But Landon hadn’t said he wanted that. And all of Dustin’s exes had told him he was suffocating when he acted like this. He didn’t always realize he was doing it, though. He’d just wanted to make their lives easier and show them that he cared.

Zhong was the only one who didn’t find it overbearing, but then again, Zhong was just as bad.

All of these protective feelings were his signal to get out now, before he started to get in over his head. Not to mention that he still didn’t know if he could even spank Landon correctly, or whatever he was supposed to do.

Yet at the same time, he really wanted to try. He wanted to see Landon stripped bare and vulnerable, honest beyond just revealing his body.

And he reminded himself, this was his opportunity to learn. A lesson.

What’s your safeword? he finally thought to ask.

I use the traffic light system. It’s easier for people to remember. He said it with a smile on his face, like he didn’t even realize that his safewords might be worth someone remembering. Do you understand how that works?

I’ve read about red to stop, yellow to slow down, and green to go. But you’ll need to sign your safewords,explained Dustin quickly. He tried to push memories of Alan out of his mind. He’d been too foolish to tell Alan the same thing, and he wouldn’t make that mistake again. I can technically hear you, but what you’re saying might not make sense to me. Especially if I’m having strong feelings myself.

Landon nodded. I’ve only been with one other Deaf Dom, but I think I can remember. He winked.

Dustin thought for a minute. How does it work if your hands are bound? GREEN and YELLOW you can sign anywhere, but RED wouldn’t work. It was a finger pulled down over the lips to indicate their red color.

Oh, right. I forgot. We signed it like this. He made the R shape and twisted it in the air the same way he would twist G for GREEN or Y for YELLOW.

And you’ll really remember that? He didn’t want to doubt. And what if he forgot it? He was already rehearsing it in his head. R meant stop. R meant stop. The second Landon twisted his fingers, he would stop.

I’ll remember. Landon’s eyes were softer now, maybe picking up on Dustin’s agitation.

Dustin sure as hell hoped he meant it. Is there anything else you want to tell me? Or anything specific that you’d like to do together? He needed some sort of guidance here.

Landon shrugged. The heavier stuff, like breath play, that you’d need to train for first. Otherwise, if it’s on the list, we can talk about what you’re interested in.

Yeah. I wasn’t even thinking of anything like that while I figured things out.

We’ll keep it simple. There are a lot of things you can do with just your hands. Or, we can go to my bedroom and check out my toy chest. See what looks appealing.

How could Landon just be so casual about all of this? In a way, Dustin kind of wished that Landon were just as nervous as he was, so that they could start small and explore together. He was feeling completely out of his depth.

Is there anything that you’d particularly like to do tonight?he repeated.

Landon leaned forward, that seductive grin on his face. What do you want to do?