Trust and BDSM
Jocelyn, the protagonist of Kitten, was a victim of gang rape. That event is never described in detail, but rather in bursts and flashes of memory. After the revelation, she is still handled roughly by men in the book, however, none of them rape her.
A line in BDSM, that is often drawn with smudging, is consent. She has given herself to me so I can do whatever I want with her. It’s a scary thought. It puts women back into a position they held years ago where they were victims of men, unable to stand up for themselves with any expectation of being respected in her wishes. Done properly, a Master knows his partner’s limits and may press them but not pass them. It isn’t fair to take someone’s trust and betray it before they can have a chance to say no. Jocelyn comes to trust Will despite his violent nature and degrading language. It is made apparent to her that it is a game. He can say anything without really meaning it. He spreads his violence out, letting punishments be titillating instead of painful. Most importantly, when helping her move beyond her rape fears, he moves slowly.
He lets her know up front where it is headed and what she will do, “All of your holes can take me,” but he goes slow, using first fingers, then smaller men, and finally himself.
Jocelyn informs the vampires on her first encounter that she isn’t interested in rape play. She say, “I might be willing to be hurt, but I won’t be raped again.” This is a perfect instance of not establishing the trust and ground rules up front. Terrance, her first partner in Blue Moon House, isn’t playing hard, he isn’t going for broke, but even so, he discovers where her limits are and what is out of bounds.
I don’t claim my book is an excellent primer on BDSM. I know it’s not. However, I do hope to faithfully respect the wishes of my characters and portray a safe environment. There is another scene where Jocelyn thinks perhaps she has misplaced her trust and the thought is echoed by one of the vampires.
“You cannot truly be a part of this house unless you trust your master. We have no place for you otherwise.”
To completely surrender to another requires trust. I hate to think of that trust being betrayed by someone who selfishly seeks their own pleasure and assumes they know what is best for their partner.
Communication is the key to any relationship, and the reason why the vampires reveal themselves immediately after such trust is established. They are in as much danger as their partners. If they are discovered they risk being hunted and killed. The stakes for them are easily as high as the human partners who surrender to their bites as well as canes, paddles, chains and any other implements used to combine pain and pleasure.
Trust is the bottom line in Blue Moon House, and Kitten is no exception.
Angelica Dawson is the author of Blue Moon House, a vampire BDSM story, and its prequels. She’s no stranger to blood sucking hoards, but in her day job as an environmental consultant, they tend to be black flies and mosquitoes rather than vampires. She is constantly sharing flashfiction on her blog and can also be found on twitter and Facebook. Her books, including the newly released Kitten, can be purchased from her publisher, Amazon and All Romance Ebooks.
