Paul had only once choked Gabriel into unconsciousness. He had wanted to test Gabriel's limit, curious to see where exactly the pleasure became panic, to witness at which point the boy would finally concede and bow out or struggle. That point never came.<br/><br/>Gabriel, blissfully, had allowed Paul to choke him to blacking out without a single feeble protest. The boy had no limit, he never said no, he never said enough, he never said it was too much. And Paul suspected it wasnt that he trusted Paul to stop before it went too far. No, he suspected that Gabriel would happily allow Paul to kill him.<br/><br/>That had been an alarming discovery to have with the boy's unconscious body slumped against Paul's chest, throat bruised and weak breath wheezing from him. They had never discussed it, of course, the enormity of Gabriel's devotion was too big to discuss.<br/><br/>Paul became much more careful in their play after that. It was a dangerous thing to have a sub that would not use his safe word, so Paul had ever so meticulously defined his own limits. He refused to scar the boy, to damage him beyond repair, no broken bones though a little blood was allowed. Just as long as they managed to stay out of the ER.<br/><br/>So Paul had learned Gabriel's body intimately. He knew the exact force needed to get Gabriel to bruise, knew how to darken that mark to the specific shade he wanted as precisely as an artist at his easel. He could hear the distinction in Gabriel's moans. When the pain bordered on too much that was when he always wanted more, just on the verge of breaking. Paul had learned to stop completely when Gabriel begged.<br/><br/>He had measured down to the second how long he could choke the boy before he passed out. He was counting now as he squeezed Gabriel's throat. Paul pulled away from the kiss to watch the color change in Gabriel's face, white, then red, his thin chest heaving against the corset. It looked like agony but Gabriel always smiled through it.<br/><br/>He released just as Gabriel's vision began to spot and grey out, his hand moving down to the corset again, admiring how it strained as Gabriel gasped for breath.