Perhaps your partner has asked you to take on a role you don’t usually take. First, ask yourself, do you want to take on the role? Or is this solely your partner’s desire? If indeed you want to try a new role or position, keep your mind open as to what it might be. Is it a generic positioning (I want you to dominate me) or is it a specific role (you’re the school principal and I’m the troublemaker student). If your partner, say, wants you to initiate and dominate when you have mostly been the receiver or equal, talk with her—get details and examples. The fact that you’re already talking about it means you’re off to a good, sexy start. The fantasy in your partner’s head can help, but it can also hinder if she is too attached to the specifics and trying to fit you to them. If parts of the description resonate with you, start with one or two actions and weave them into your sex. If a role feels too cookie-cutter or stereotyped and doesn’t ring true for you, neither of you may get much pleasure from it.
Take five minutes on your own and (yep, corny) write down everything you think of when you imagine that role. Don’t edit. You might find laughter or goofiness on that list. Leave a sex toy, panties, or other piece of clothing with instructions for your lover. Email, text, IM, snail mail, write notes, or Skype your provocative invitations. Whatever resonates in you is where you begin your exploration of any new role. Let it grow and morph from there. If and when you get stuck, write as often as it’s useful. And whatever else you uncover, remember that desire and consent are the cornerstones of all rough sex.
ACTIVITIES, IDEAS, AND TECHNIQUES
You’ve talked, you’ve fantasized, you’ve plotted and conspired. Now what? Some activities that meet under the large umbrella that is rough sex include: face slapping, biting, hitting, pushing, pounding penetration, denying touch or orgasm, spitting, punching, spanking, gagging, name calling, and bondage. Folks also like to control-kiss, choke, and push or shove a bottom down on the bed, slam a bottom against a wall, pinch nipples, balls, and labia, grab and squeeze thighs/ ass/upper arms/wrists, pull hair, force a bottom’s face into a pillow, control breathing, talk smut, rip off clothing, and claim “ownership” of someone. Here are some delicious tips, ideas, techniques, and safety precautions you can incorporate into your rough sex play.
It’s a huge turn-on when a guy is pinning you down and you can just tell how bad he wants you. When it gets to that point where it feels like if you don’t get that person you’re seriously going to die on that bed, it’s hot. It’s needing someone in a really different way. And it’s insanely hot when you can see a guy feeling that way. Even if it’s only sex—not love or commitment or anything like that. It’s all about that moment. And the only thing he wants is you and he is seriously rabid to have you.
Tied spread-eagled to a headboard. Hands holding down arms. Pinned against a crumbling alley wall. Struggling to get free. Bondage and restraints. Our fantasies and sex are filled with all that and more. Luckily, this book has a chapter by Midori on how to do bondage and do it well. Let’s just touch on a just a few elements of restraint.
For all the reasons why rough sex is so prevalent and hot, the taboo desire to be held captive, without control or knowledge of what might happen to you, engages us just as fiercely. To deny someone (or to be denied of) something you really want, when you know you will get it sooner or later, can be sweet torture. Especially when the prize is sex.
Scarves, ties, rope, chain, leather belts, stockings, bedsheets—the materials that can be used to bind a lover are as endless as your imagination. Some are better than others, however. Silk scarves, though sensuous, knot quickly, easily, but are hell to unknot. Cheap handcuffs close further than they should and often get stuck. (Plus, “Oh my God! Where’s the key?” is the last thing you want to hear.) Both of these kinds of restraints can dig into wrists and ankles and cut off circulation; they should be avoided. If you do use scarves or other fabric to bind wrists or ankles, have medical or bandage scissors ready—they have a flat side intended to slide between the bind and the skin without hurting while cutting the bind. If you use handcuffs, pin the key(s) on a nearby bulletin board, curtain, or door frame; don’t leave them on the bedside table.
No matter what you tie your lover to—a bed, table, steering wheel, or tent stakes—make sure you’ve got the means to release your willing prey easily and quickly. This is also a great time for both of you to be ready to use a safeword or gesture in case of fear, pain, or emergency.
But you don’t need “stuff” to keep someone where you want him. The craving to be physically controlled can be managed by placing your knees, hands, feet, and body onto your lover in strategic positions. Avoid joint-to-joint pressure (for instance, your knees on his wrists); aim rather for the more muscular and meatier parts of the body, such as forearms and thighs. Using your legs, knees, and feet to press on him frees up your hands to slap, punch, fuck, stroke, or get busy with a dildo and harness. And don’t limit yourself to the bedroom: there are perfectly good walls, floors, picnic tables, trees, bathroom stalls, and movie seats aching for your play.
And finally, one of the most powerful methods of restraint doesn’t use any physical means at all. It’s your voice. “Keep that pretty mouth open.” “I don’t want to see you looking at me.” “Good boy, you’re sitting exactly where I left you.” When both people are into it, this is intoxicating.
Weave your hand into a fist in the hair underneath the back of the head. Hold and pull by the roots. Grabbing any other part of the hair can cause the hair to rip from the scalp, causing distracting, undesired pain. You can lead your lover where you want her by this technique. If the receiver is on top, this is a great way to tip your willing prey back to fuck deeply. Use caution; don’t jerk the neck or head.
In some cultures, spitting is seen as the deepest of insults. Regardless of where you live, spitting saliva on or at someone is disgusting at worst or humiliating at best. Yes, I said at best. There are lots of people whose kink has them hungry to be objectified, humiliated, and degraded in a sexy context. Desiring this is not a mark of low self-esteem as long as the parties involved don’t let this dynamic leak into nonsex situations. Spitting on or getting spit in the face, on the chest or breasts, or in the mouth are the definition of sexy to more people than you might imagine. Sometimes simply because it is considered so unacceptable, the shock of this unpredictable act can cement a sought-after power dynamic into place.
Some folks use saliva as lube—forget it. It dries up quickly and does nothing for the receiver. It might work to ease some friction for a hand job on a penis or dildo, but that’s about where its usefulness ends. Saliva itself is not known to carry HIV. It is possible, however, to transmit STIs if there is blood in the saliva due to cuts or sores in the mouth.
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1 Chasing the Jersey, “Why I Sleep With Athletes And Why You Should, Too,” December 24, 2010, http://www.sportsgrid.comnfl/chasing-the-jersey-why-i-sleep-with-athletes-and-why-you-should-too/.