Read Telepaths Don't Need Safewords, by Cecilia Tan for Free Online Page A

him?”
    She
raised her eyebrow in surprise. “Oh, he’s not for sale.”
    “I
thought you said he meant nothing to you.” Corwin sobbed
silently in my lap, his voice spent. Perhaps it was true.
    “You
are right.” She stood up and tapped him with her boot. “I
suppose I could set a price.”
    “Name
it.” I swallowed, unable to tell where this scene was going
next.
    “Twenty
five lashes, hard enough that we might hear them in the next room.”
she said, her voice cold. She held a whip out to me, daring me. “On
him. You deliver them.”
    I
looked into his eyes.
    He
nodded. I began lifting him up. “Give me the whip.” They
put him back up in the frame and Marella went into the other room to
keep count.
    “I
do this,” I said, drawing my arm back, “because I love
you.”
    My
first stroke wasn’t hard enough for Marella to hear, but it was
hard enough to make Corwin scream. I pressed the whip handle to my
forehead, praying. I said “I love you,” and let the
second one fall. Marella shouted “One!” from the other
room.
    On
the next blow I drew blood. Corwin was whimpering. I let another blow
fall. Tears sprang to my eyes as he bit down on a cry. Sweat broke
out on his skin as I struck him. We were both crying. My arm began to
hurt. By the time I got to twenty I didn’t know if I could give
him the last five. I was panting, the whip hanging limp as I had to
look away from his tortured skin. You have to do this, I told myself,
or she’ll finish it for you. But I could not steel myself to
raise my arm again.
    “Cleo!”
he said, his head hanging. “Finish me!”
    By
the time the last one was delivered, Glinda had already gone.
    I
let the whip fall and sank to my knees, unsure when exactly the line
had been crossed between play and reality, waiting for the scene to
end. But there was Corwin in my arms, kissing me.
    Now
I lie here at night, before I fall asleep, admiring his hair falling
over the pillow. Some nights, like tonight, I’m happy to watch
the moon shining on his skin, but other nights, I’ll wake him
gently and make him talk to me. My prince.
    FYI...

    Arshan
and Mriah do have a story of how they met. It appeared under the
title “Master Spirit” in N. T. Morley’s Master/slave anthology, which first was published by the Venus
Book Club, then had an edition published by Simon & Shuster. It
can also be found under the title “Master Mind” in my
ebook called EDGE PLAYS, which collects all the stories that take
place in the “Telepaths” universe. EDGE PLAYS was
originally a limited edition ebook from the Erotic Authors
Association as a fundraiser for their awards program, and a new ebook
edition of it will be out from Circlet Press imminently, if it is not
already by the time you read this.

    Arshan’s
backstory, the prequel to Master Mind, is a novella called ROYAL
TREATMENT, published in December 2009 by Torquere Press, another fine
ebook publisher.

    I
still hope eventually to write a novel about them. It’s still
percolating in the back of my mind.
    About the Author

    Cecilia
Tan is the author of many, many books and short stories of erotica,
science fiction, BDSM, and fantasy, and it’s much easier now to
just Google her to find out exactly what. Recent books include Mind
Games, White Flames, The Siren & The Sword, and The Hot
Streak . She continues as editorial director for Circlet Press,
Inc. and as a leather/BDSM activist. Find her at ceciliatan.com and
on Livejournal, Twitter, Facebook, etc. She has several web serials
ongoing as well, including The Prince’s Boy on
circlet.com and a 1980s coming-out novel, Daron’s Guitar
Chronicles (at daron.ceciliatan.com). By the time you read this
bio, it will already be out of date.