BDSM, Consumerism and The Care of Self

This is in response to a very disappointingly unnuanced article published in the Atlantic Monthly. So, you’ve just seen Fifty Shades of Grey, or you read the book, or both and you’re thinking… wow, that’s looks sexy. I could go for some of that…. Okay, I really hope you read this fully and take what […]

The Cypher Dom: Christian Grey and the Failure of Visual Media

I guess you have to thank a bad book and a mediocre film if it engenders thought on the subject of the textual and visual portrayal of eroticism. The success of Fifty Shades of Grey has certainly brought a debate about BDSM, stalkerish males, passive women and the compromise of bad sex for love into […]

The Lepidopterists – Part 9

As the girl reached up to pull all that wet, unruly red hair off her face, Yvette saw them. A fleeting moment of eye contact told her that Daniel had seen them too. The scars. It was impossible not to wonder what else this perfectly beautiful young woman had done to herself to accommodate the […]

The Lepidopterists – Part 8

“I couldn’t help it!” Jessica wailed as Yvette and Daniel entered the room. It was obvious what she was referring to: her thighs were streaming wet and a puddle of liquid had gathered on the wood floor beneath where she sat. “Oh, my! What a filthy little slut!” Yvette allowed a stage-like resonance to ring […]

The Lepidopterists – Part 7

The lights from the pool cast an electric blue glow over the garden. They swam a few laps together, then Yvette rolled onto her back and floated in the water, listening to the strange, tortured cries coming from the upper floor. The sound moved Yvette in ways that almost defied description. It fascinated and exhilarated […]

The Lepidopterists – Part 6

They stood and watched Jessica writhe and jerk. Her eyes were shut tight, her thighs trembled and she made sounds that ranged from murmurs to full-throated groans. Between her legs, her juices had stained the crotch of her panties a darker cerise. “Isn’t that the vibrator I bought you? The German one?” Yvette folded her […]

The Lepidopterists – Part 5

Half-naked, Jessica tugged furiously against the cuffs. The steel grated and rattled against the wrought-iron of the chaise, but it was old and built to last. She wasn’t going anywhere. As she kicked and screamed and began to cry, Daniel came into the room, his formal suit exchanged for a t-shirt and a loose pair […]

The Lepidopterists – Part 4

Daniel pressed a kiss to Yvette’s temple. She was certain he could feel the familiar pulse of blood rushing through her vein there. “Can you manage?” He looked at Jessica as she struggled to get up. “Or shall I do the honours?” Her eyes met his and the excitement hummed between them. “Oh, no. This […]

The Lepidopterists – Part 3

With studied impassivity, Khanh held the car door open. Yvette took Daniel’s proffered hand, but the trio simply watched as Jessica struggled to get out of the car, awkward in her tight dress and ungainly platform heels. She emerged unsteadily. “Wow! I didn’t know there were places like this here. It’s huge!” The gravel crunched […]

The Lepidopterists – Part 2

Two lurid pink cocktails later, in the humming darkness of the back of the merc, Yvette and Daniel sat with a slightly more intoxicated Jessica between them. Her hair glinted like copper in the strobe of the passing street lamps. Daniel wound a heavy lock of it around her fingers. “What beautiful hair you have.” […]