Why Bondage Turns Readers On (#bondage #bdsm #99cents)

By Vonna Harper (Guest Blogger)

The next thing Lacey knew, the man was helping her out of the car. Her knees started to buckle, prompting her to grip his arm. “Where are we?” she asked.

“It doesn’t matter. Look around. What do you see?”

It was daylight. She didn’t recognize their surroundings but with him so close, she dismissed the question of where he’d taken her. She was fully awake—and wearing sandals she’d never seen.

“I have on shoes.” Was that what he’d wanted her to say?

“Yes, you do because you’re going to be walking. Now, before we get going, I want you to tell me about your latest dream or fantasy or whatever you’re inclined to call it. Were you restrained?”

Even with her nightshirt on, she felt more vulnerable than she ever had. “What does that—”

“You were. That’s why you’re having trouble answering me.” He’d backed away after her legs were under her but now stepped close. He indicated the car’s open trunk. “What I need to get things started is in there, but I have to know whether I’ll be using rope or cuffs.”

Rope or cuffs? She opened her mouth but couldn’t think of anything to say. Darn it, Fantasies Unlimited should have given her an instruction manual or something, at least a general outline of what to expect. She was a cautious woman—all except for her imagination.

“Rope or cuffs?” he repeated.

His sharp tone alarmed her so much she started to slide back. Shaking his head, he grabbed her shoulders and forced her up against his superior strength. “I prefer rope but what gets you off?”

He wanted and deserved an answer. After all, she’d set this—this crazy nonsense in motion. Why couldn’t she speak?

“I’m not a patient man.” With that, he spun her away from him, clamped a hand over the back of her neck, and forced her to lean over so far she had to widen her stance to keep from falling. Instead of trying to resist, she stared at the space between her new sandals. “Let’s see if this loosens your tongue.” He flipped up her nightshirt’s hem, exposing her buttocks, and planted a sharp blow on her ass. She stumbled forward a little and tried to straighten. The pressure on her neck continued.

“Hey! What are you—”

“Getting a response from you and leaving you with no doubt that we aren’t playing games.” He swatted her a second time. “You want to explore what it means to be a submissive. The sooner we get to it the better. Now—” The third blow might have knocked her to her knees if he hadn’t switched his hold from the back of her neck to around her waist. “I asked you a question. What’s your preference?”

To not be spanked. However, despite her silent protest, there was something erotic about being manhandled. Not testing his willingness to let her straighten, which he might not, she let his arm support her. Not thinking about her exposed buttocks was impossible. Any second now he might discipline her some more. He was probably looking at her ass, maybe admiring the red marks he was responsible for.

“Ropes,” she admitted and spilled what she remembered of her last fantasy.

I wrote that. The scene appears in my erotic romance Taken And Trained which is currently on sale for only 99 cents! Just go here:

https://www.amazon.com/Taken-Trained-Vonna-Harper-ebook/dp/B01CUMGBFI/

Although it’s far from my first story dealing with bondage, I'm still amazed by the direction my writing has taken.

Back when I was writing conventional romance, it would have never occurred to me there might be a market for the kinkier aspects of sex, let alone that readers would be hungry for fantasies I'd kept to myself.

Just goes to show how little I knew.

Why was I so naïve? So repressed?

A lot of finger pointing can be aimed at none other than Sigmund Freud who in 1908 maintained, "A happy person never fantasizes, only a dissatisfied one." (Say what?) The man studied S & M for over twenty years, maintaining that the practice was pathological and tied into unresolved issues of dominance and subservience traceable back to childhood. Therapists who worshiped at Freud's feet incorporated his conclusions into their practices.

Fortunately the tide has changed. Erotica and erotic romance books have become extremely popular. I don’t have an exact count, but I’m sure I’ve written more than forty such stories.

Back to the question of why BDSM and bondage stories have become so lucrative, for the answers, I turned to those diggers into the human psychic, psychologists.

Roy F. Baumeister pointed out that today's culture places more demands on people than any time in history. "That stress makes forgetting who you are an appealing escape." Fantasy sex slaves want to imagine shedding their own identity with its autonomy and responsibility and submit to the will of another.”

According to Ethel Person, author of By Force of Fantasy, 44 percent of men imagine dominating a partner. Other studies concluded that 51 percent of women mentally placed themselves on the receiving end of forced sex. Leitenberg and Henning concur, adding that, "Women who find submission fantasies sexually arousing are very clear that they have no wish to be raped in reality," Women zero in on "the personal or emotional characteristics of the partner," even if the sex partner is a mysterious stranger, abductor, or dominatrix.

Strassberg and Lockerd reported that women who fantasize about being submissive have more positive attitudes about sex. Pelletier and Herold agreed, adding that such women feel less sexually guilty and more open to a variety of sexual experiences.

That, in part, is what makes BDSM, S&M, and spanking stories so popular—readers can safely read about living on the wild side.

“Not quite what you had in mind? Too bad.” He didn’t sound at all sorry or sympathetic, just making a comment. “In case you’ve missed the obvious, I’m now directing everything. And you, you’re going to do what I want.”

“No!” Where had that come from?

A sharp slap to her buttocks made her gasp. When she tried to aim a sideways kick at him, he slapped her again, harder this time. She couldn’t understand why she was testing him. Did she think she could peel off his layers this way?

“Yes, damn it! I don’t have to but I’m going to spell things out. You’ve been having a hell of a lot of fun mentally exploring this capture and bondage thing, the dom/sub exchange, endlessly debating whether it’s something you’d like to get into. Because you’re who you are, you’ve been trying to figure out how to safely and financially explore the possibilities without taking that final leap. I’d say I appreciate that it worked out so that I’m part of your exploration, but there isn’t much I’m appreciative of beyond being alive.” He briefly fell silent. “I’m here. That’s the only thing you need to concern yourself with for the foreseeable future.” He made his point by repeatedly striking her ass.

“You—ow—ow!” She didn’t have to see her buttocks to know they carried his palm print.

“More spelling out. You’re done ordering men, either real or imagined, around. The prosecutor the world believes you are no longer exists. To state the obvious, the shoe’s now on the other foot.”

“I don’t understand,” she said, trying to grasp everything he was telling her. She prided herself on being a quick learner and being a decent judge of people, but what could she do with his admission that he didn’t care about much except being alive? She wasn’t going to antagonize him, at least not deliberately. Damn, but he could seriously spank and why was her pussy becoming wet?

“Exactly.” Pulling her to a halt via his hold on her hair, he began massaging the sensitive flesh he’d just punished. Her heart continued to race from a combination of excitement, anticipation, and apprehension, but there was no denying that his manipulation of her ass felt good.

“Exactly what?” she finally managed to ask when she was capable of thinking again.

Hmm, his hands felt so good….

“That you don’t fully understand what’s taken place. I could give you a long and boring explanation of exactly how Fantasies Unlimited operates, but for the present, it pleases me to keep you somewhat in the dark. That way, I’ll always be at least one step ahead of you.” After giving her ass a light pat, he ran the side of his hand along the furrow between her bottom cheeks. Gasping, she stood on her toes. “A few pointers. I’m a bastard. I take pride in wearing the label. Also, there’s nothing make-believe or watered down about the education you’re about to receive.” Leaning close, he glided a nail over her labia. “Playacting bores the shit out of me.”

Oh, lord, what an unnerving sensation! No matter how much she fought to ignore what he was doing to her, she leaned forward a little and widened her stance, increasing his access to her private parts. A bastard, was he? Bored by playacting. She panted. With just a few touches he had her hot and wet and ready to fuck.

(Another excerpt from Taken andTrained)

The above leads to the question of how far erotica writers can push the boundaries. A study conducted by Eileen Zurbriggen and reported on in Journal of Sex Research (2004) indicates that as long as certain components remain, the sky may be the limit. Women are more likely than men to fantasize about submission and while men's fantasies focused on their and their partners' desires and pleasure, women tended to focus on their own. Such fantasies provide women with a safe place to let go. In the secret places of our minds, everything becomes about us.

Another delicious BDSM read...

I don't really want to be tied down, but I'm having a ball dreaming up scenarios and putting the results on paper.

As Ph.D. Cheryl Renaud said, "while bondage may be painful, thinking about it never hurt anyone."

Leitenberg agrees. "Sexual fantasy is a natural part of being human. It's pleasurable. So why not fantasize?"

Why not indeed?

Meanwhile, if you leave a comment with your email, I will enter you into a drawing for a free copy of Her Red Corset! 

www.VonnaHarper.com

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