The best slavedoes not need to be beaten.She beats herself. – Erica Jong, "Alcestis on the Poetry Circuit"On our second date, Teddy told me that he was a sadist.He said, "I want to do horrible things to you." He looked at me intently. He wasn't playing around. A bead of sweat formed on the

Do you ever get that whiplash feeling when you totally understand what a bunch of words mean individually, but once they're strung together in a certain way, you have absolutely no idea what's being said? I felt like this when I spent four years getting fluent in schoolroom French and then went to

I grew up believing sex was an act of surrender. As a girl, I'd heard horror stories of women being driven mad after being duped by their first partner. By losing her virginity, a woman had to give up her body as well as her mind. There was something about sex that made women vulnerable, and they

The first time you discover the world of kink, you'll probably be a little bit apprehensive, but mostly excited. That's how I felt, at least, once I could fully embrace that part of myself and joined my local community.But, as a lifelong writer and thinker and future psychologist, I started looking

I waited until I was engaged to have sex for the first time. I was with the man I love, and it was his first time, too. I was ready, and although I was expecting some pain, I was not prepared for how much pain I would experience — neither of us were. I had read articles and heard stories