Stewardess Fanfiction

In my fictional John's view, they weren't participating in bdsm play, so the safeword was irrelevant. It was a betrayal of trust, though, absolutely, because he used the bdsm scenario to get Rodney into a vulnerable position.

A dom doesn't rely on a safeword only. That would be dangerous, because a sub may not be able to get it out. My fictional John knows the physical and verbal signs that Rodney has reached his limits. If Rodney had reacted differently to the knife (weeping, cringing), John wouldn't have proceeded (regardless of whether he was "playing by the rules"), because his goal was not to break Rodney, but to get through to him.

In some D/s relationships, the couple negotiate not to have safewords, or make ignoring them an option. That's not something I would ever do, but I don't think we can say that in no situation is it all right. My comment above to angiepen has more of my thoughts on this.