Zara Stoneley's Blog, page 9

TagLine Tuesday! #TLT

Welcome to another Tagline Tuesday and some more great taglines (and covers!). Click on the links to find out more.

If you're an author and  want to take part then drop me a line at ZaraStoneley@gmail.com - all I need is a cover, buy links and a catchy tagline.

If you enjoy reading contemporary romance why not check out Tagline Tuesday over on my Susie Medwell blog.


TOO COLD TO LOVE by Doris O'Connor


In a marriage based on blackmail can passion turn into love, or will secrets and lies destroy all?

Buy from -  Amazon,  ARe Books, Evernight, Bookstrand




CAT'S EYES by Melissa Jolley

For Sarah, being a shape-shifter means having a wild side that craves variety. Can one human man tame her animal instinct?

Buy from -  Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), Breathless Press, Barnes and Noble, ARe Books

 
    RIDING HIGH by Zara Stoneley Sometimes lessons in lust can lead to love... Buy from -    Amazon (UK), Amazon (US), Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Xcite Books

New Release! 'Bubbles and Troubles' by Bebe Balocca

Hi Zara, and thank you so much for having me over today. It’s a chilly afternoon, just perfect for a nice cup of coffee and a chat about romance.Thanks for coming over Bebe, this book just looks so intriguing :-) Please tell us more.
“Bubbles and Troubles” is my third release from Total-E-Bound. It’s set in the fictional town of Charade, Kentucky and the adjacent Prescott Woods. “Bubbles and Troubles” is definitely a hot erotic romance, but, as its name is meant to suggest, it’s got some playful elements and a bit of suspense, too.
I recently went on a motorcycle trip with my husband through the mountains of Eastern Kentucky. Those gorgeous, old mountains are so compelling to me. They’re ancient and weathered, covered in trees and pocketed with caves. If those woods and mountains could talk, we’d hear some fascinating stories.
“Bubbles and Troubles” is inspired by those mysterious and beautiful woods. It’s also inspired by my own little village. Perhaps it’s not quite as quirky as Charade, but my hometown is certainly filled with interesting characters, social intrigue, and tight friendships. There are other elements of “Bubbles” that are near and dear to my heart: backyard chickens, lawyers who choose to scale back and live in the country, belly dancing, magical beings, and decadent spa treatments. I had a blast bringing them all together for this book, the first of my “Prescott Woods” series.
Here’s the blurb from “Bubbles and Troubles”:
Prescott Woods is in trouble! A belly dancing lawyer, a stray cat of highly questionable origin, and a particularly malodorous gnome come to the rescue.Carmen loves living in Charade, Kentucky. The quirky Appalachian village is everything that Chicago wasn't. Populated by modern day New Agers, Charade is like Mayberry with tie-dyed shirts, organic food, and incense thrown in for flavour.When Calvin Prescott makes plans to sell his land to a high-end property developer, Carmen fears that the town she calls home will be changed forever. A new neighbourhood of multi-million dollar mansions would spell disaster for Charade's simple, small town charm.Brock and his family moved to Prescott Woods over two hundred years ago. Like the other magical beings of the woods, they are immortal and imbued with special powers. Destruction of Prescott Woods would mean more than a change of pace for Brock and his kind—it would mean death. Brock can take on the appearance of anything—including animals of all sizes and shapes—in order to get closer to Carmen and save his home.As Carmen learns more of the secrets of Prescott Woods, she finds that Brock is irresistibly strokeable, regardless of his appearance. She also uncovers danger, family drama, and the most luxuriant subterranean spa she can imagine.
An adults-only excerpt:
An hour later, Carmen set off behind Brock into the murky twilight of Prescott Woods. Although only few steps separated her backyard from the lush old growth of trees, it seemed a world away. Another hour of picking their way among gnarled roots and craggy terrain brought them deep into the lush interior of the woods.“So, you’re telling me that there are magical beings in here, like elves and trolls and who-knows-what? And that I won’t even be able to see them as they are?” Carmen shuddered. She shifted her backpack, which was loaded with a few just-in-case necessities and a dozen carefully packed eggs, on her shoulders.“Don’t worry,” Brock reassured her. He gallantly lifted a thorny branch from her path and held it as she walked by. “They may well show their true selves when they see that I’m with you, but you will definitely not be in danger as long as you’re with me.”“What, you’ll glamour yourself into a squirrel and chuck nuts at them?” Carmen muttered as she stepped past him.Brock chuckled. “That’s always an option, if worse comes to worst. But I don’t think it will be necessary. My clan, the Fair Folk, rule these woods. Even the dark magic folk would only harm us if we attacked them first.” He caught Carmen’s elbow and stopped her. “Look, I know you only just met me, but you can trust me, Carmen. I’m inviting you to my home because I think you can help us save it, and also because I admire you.” He wrapped one strong arm around the small of her back and pulled her tightly to him in a stomach-to-stomach hold. “And because I am growing increasingly fond of you, minute by minute.” Carmen heard the rustle of woodland animals and the screeching call of a bird. The woods whirled away from her, though—all that mattered was the wild man in front of her. She raised her hands to his sides and was immediately reminded that his clothing – the hiking shorts and t-shirt – were simply a glamour. His warm, bare skin slid beneath her hands. Lower, at her stomach, he pressed his exposed cock insistently into her flesh. Pinpricks of arousal sparked at her breasts and in the slick space between her thighs. “And because I desire you as I’ve never desired any woman.” He lowered his face to hers for a deep, lingering kiss.
Find me on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/BebeBalocca?r... on my site: http://bebebalocca.comPurchase “Bubbles and Troubles” here http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=&P_ID=1970and find it on Amazon, too.
Zara, thanks again for inviting me to visit. It’s been a real pleasure. I hope you and your readers have days filled with romance, friendship, and magical surprises.
Thanks Bebe! Hope to see you again soon. 

TagLine Tuesday! #TLT

Welcome to another Tagline Tuesday and some more tempting taglines (and covers!). Click on the links to find out more.

If you're an author and  want to take part then drop me a line at ZaraStoneley@gmail.com - all I need is a cover, buy links and a catchy tagline.

If you enjoy reading contemporary romance why not check out Tagline Tuesday over on my Susie Medwell blog.

PHILIP'S WATCHER by Dianne Hartsock

Can passion melt a heart of stone?

Buy from -  Amazon,  ARe Books









SILVER SILK TIES (the House On Silk Street, book 1) by Raven McAllan
Will the house on Silk Street help Ara persuade her husband she is everything he needs?
Buy from - Evernight, Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), ARe, Bookstrand 





 
CONQUEST (My Vampire Lover #1) by Victoria Embers
Caroline, a werewolf and guardian of the Golden realm, has discovered a new love in her vampire captor. She's willing to risk everything, even her life, to prove to him she loves him and has forsaken all others including her family and her pack.

Buy From - Amazon

#SexySnippets - Seven from my Sexy Spaniard!

Happy Sunday everyone! I've decided to stick with my Sexy Spaniard again, it gives me an excuse to sit here daydreaming about Antonio Banderas, mmm I like this picture.

So here's another (unedited) seven sentences from 'Spice It Up'!

‘You’re keen.’ Her tongue darted out, slick over her top lip and he suddenly realized that keeping control was going to be much harder than he’d thought, the first shag had barely touched the surface of the raw need that was vying for escape.

‘Keen doesn’t get close, querida.’ He was between her legs, his hands grasping her hips so that she couldn’t squirm, his mouth nuzzling against her before pulling at her knickers with his teeth. 

She whimpered and he gave up, pulled her panties down roughly with one hand and paused inches away from her swollen lips. He blew a line of cold air down her slit and the moan finished him, he leant forward and as his tongue sought out the sweetness of her juices she gave a little sigh, a sound that he’d been waiting for. His tongue delved deeper and he could already feel her pussy grabbing, throbbing gently with need, he sucked on the tight bud of her clit, circled with his tongue and drank her in as she twisted in his grip, her thighs parting wider than ever to let him in.

I'm off to check out all the other SexySnippets now, hope you'll join me!

'Healing Hearts' with Liz Crowe

BLURB: Jay Longmire had it all--a successful business, a beautiful wife, two loving children. But one normal Sunday evening in Ann Arbor everything was ripped from his arms at knifepoint. He has retreated to Traverse City to hide from the world, nursing his physical and emotional wounds and trying to cope with mind-numbing guilt over his inability to protect his family.
Abby Powers serves him coffee he never drinks and has become obsessed with the movie-star handsome but melancholy man. And the anticipation of his appearance every day takes her mind off her own messy life.
What begins as a near desperate physical connection out of the blue develops into a friendship that has the potential to heal two damaged hearts. But Jay is terrified to love again. While Abby's fierce independence forces them both to acknowledge the deeper relationship they both desire, but that remains just out of reach.
Hi Liz, thank you so much for dropping by. Love that cover by the way!
Okay, starting off with the book… If you had to sum up ‘Healing Hearts’ in 30 words or less what would you say?Tragedy leads to the triumph of companionship and love.
Abby sounds intriguing – what do you most like about her?Her innate nurturing tendencies—she takes care of people—and she is channelling that into what she hopes will be success as a nurse someday.
Is there anything about her that frustrates you?  Not really. She has been through one young marriage that ended with her on the receiving end of a lot of debt she is determined to overcome. By the time she meets Jay she has such focus that she nearly misses the fact that he is in deep need of a human connection.
What does Jay most admire about her? What draws him to her?That nurturer in her soul—he needs it, bad. He has cut himself off from everything and anything that would remind him of his past and is drawn to her, without even realizing it at first, coming to her friend’s coffee shop in Traverse City every day to stare out the window.
Jay sounds quite damaged, what is/are his redeeming feature/s?Actually, Jay Longmire is a great guy. Good looking, driven, a successful entrepreneur with a nearly annoying positive outlook on life,  a pretty typical “romance alpha hero” if you will---it’s what happens to him and to the family he adores, right in front of his eyes, that is his motivation by the time the story begins, or rather, his anti-motivation.
And is he the type of guy you could fall for, or would you steer clear? I’d pay good money for a guy like him.
What/who inspired you to write the story?A story I read in Rolling Stone about 2 years or so ago. Something similar happened to a man in real life and I have had a hell of a time getting it out of my head. When I was asked to contribute to a series for Decadent Publishing about main characters facing challenges in their lives that must be overcome in order to find love, this is the very first thing I thought of. I changed the majority of the details, but the crux of the tragedy is there.
And what about the characters - are they a little bit you, people you know, or did they just leap out and grab you (metaphorically speaking of course!)?These are fictional characters of course, and really evolved for me over the course of writing this (For me) short story. Jay was a pretty easy guy to create. For Abby I needed someone strong, yet soft—a woman worth the effort for Jay to step back from the abyss of his horribly ruined life and cling to.
And we, sorry I, being naturally nosy would love to know a bit about you… Where/when do you write?Anywhere and everywhere. I own a brewery and manage the beer bar that is attached to it so I write early in the mornings, late at night in my office at the brewery, on weekends, while waiting for my kid to finish soccer practice, in the car, in my head…a better question for me is where and when DON’T you write.
What part of writing do you enjoy most, coming up with the idea, planning, writing it or typing The End?! I like The End because I feel like it’s an accomplishment. I’m a serious marathon writer (and reader for that matter). I wrote Healing Hearts in about three days. Once I get an idea I will head write, usually while walking my dogs or doing housework, then sit and it just will pour out of me until it’s done. I have a new nearly 200,000 word novel that will release later this year that I wrote in three and a half weeks. Of course the revision and editing and more revision occurs after that—I’m a sucker for a hard line edit that cleans up my repetitive words and what not. But because I write this way, typing “The End” feels like a real victory.
Sum yourself up in 30 words or less (ha, I hate questions like this!)?!Brewery-owning, beer snob/wench and mom with a soccer fetish and writing habit I must feed, daily.
Do you spend much time reading? What’s your favourite bedtime/holiday read? Favourite author/genre?I don’t read a lot anymore (see above: owning a brewery and trying to make money writing books). But when I do I will devour a book, cover to cover, OR I will set it a side and stop after a chapter or two. I’ve don’t a LOT more of this in 2012 than I care to mention, with a lot of “best sellers.” I can’t really abide copy-cat plots, thinly crafted characters, or cookie-cutter concepts. I had a reviewer just today say about one of my other recent releases (a ménage called Honey Red that is set in the brewing industry):“ If you like honest emotions even when they are uncomfortable, non-traditional relationships, and a love story that breaks all the romance novel rules, this book is probably just what you have been looking for. “I’m pondering adopting that: “breaking all the romance novel rules since 2009” thing as a mantra. There are plenty of people who don’t like it and don’t mind telling me as much. But more and more do and I’m gratified to find readers who are willing to go outside their typical reading box and contemplate a “novel” that may be called “romance” but it something else entirely.

I read a lot of mainstream fiction, some Young Adult if it comes recommended to me and have several authors whose grocery lists I would read. They include:John IrvingMargaret AtwoodAna QuinlanBarbara KingsolverJohn GreeneZadie SmithAs for my genre, I am sorry to say that I’ve put aside a dozen or more of those this year. However, I have discovered some new ones to me I enjoy:Roni LorenLauren Dane (non paranormal)Laura KayeCat GrantAnn Mayburn
The problem with this genre, in my honest opinion, is that many publishers push conformity, (having had it thrust upon me I know this for a fact). I get that they “know their readers” and the relative successes of many of them hinge upon cranking out the same story with different character names a different sets of man nipples on the cover every month. But I am willing to bet, now, that they are all re-evaluating their business models, and could open up for more “outside the box” type stories. I know Decadent Publishing (publisher of my Healing Hearts, Cheeky Blonde a stand alone brewery based suspense novel and Turkish Delights, a series of stories about a multicultural family) is doing this and my other main publisher Tri-Destiny avoids cookie cutter stories at all costs.  The model of “same old same old” is fading. And many publishers are shifting gears and reaping the rewards and benefits. Readers can only benefit.

Coffee or tea (or wine!)?Coffee in the morningCraft beer in the evening.

Starter or dessert?Starter, preferably something with a lot of cheese involved.

What would you be doing if time & money were no object?Exactly what I am doing but with a lot less stress and a sh*t ton more paid advertising for both of my businesses. Well, maybe I’d spend half the year on the southern coast of Turkey, but otherwise…yeah.
Best bit of advice you’ve ever been given, and by whomDon’t even think about taking yourself too seriously. And before you run off, can you share a little excerpt?
Thanks for sharing Liz and good luck with ‘Healing Hearts’. Thanks. This is a pretty tough story I won’t kid you. What Jay has experienced and is recounted through the telling of his recovery from it is beyond horrific.  This is a novella not for the faint of heart.

Excerpt:  “Stop flirting with me. That’s a personal bubble violation,” he whispered, letting his lips graze her earlobe, loving how her whole body shivered against him.“Fine, then stop pressing against me so hard I can feel how much money is in your pocket.”“Touché.” But he gripped her closer. The candlelight flickered, the music embraced them, and she nearly brought him to his knees with her next words.“I can’t be what you want me to be, Jay. I have goals. I need my independence. I want to make it on my own.”He sucked in a breath, slid the hand he had on her hip around to the small of her back. He didn’t need this. But he wanted it so much he was about to explode. “I’m never going to be what you want me to be, either. Let’s just be…what we are…tonight.”She laid her head against his chest, and he shut his eyes, trying not to let the moment overwhelm him, send him screaming into the night. Christy’s face at their wedding, at the birth of their children, and that last moment when her eyes clouded over after she told him not to blame himself while he watched her die—they all rose, clear and bright. He swallowed, leaned down into Abigail’s thick riot of dark curls, sucked in a deep breath. “What do you want me to be for you…tonight?” he asked.She put her hand to his face, went up on her tiptoes, and met his lips, urgent and needy. He kissed her, listening to the crowd clap and catcall. Then broke away. “Well?” he asked, his body zinging.“I want you to be the guy who takes me to bed again.” The simplicity of her words taking his breath away. “I don’t want to be made love to, not now. I need you, Jay. With me, inside me, all over me. And you need it, too. No strings, no emotion. Only physical urges met. I’m willing. Are you?”He stepped away from her, a little shocked and a lot horny. “Give me two minutes.” Grateful the room had dimmed for the music and dancing, he dropped three hundred in cash on the table, more than enough to cover the meal, wine, and a healthy tip, and took her hand.“I’ll take that as a yes,” she said, giggling when he pushed her up against the side of his SUV and dove into her mouth, sweeping into it with his tongue, his hands cradling her face then buried in her hair. She molded into him, making that damn noise, the one that made him insane, down in her throat.He broke from her, stared into her eyes. “Yes.”

Buy it: Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Healing-Hearts-Challenge-Series-ebook/dp/B00AV36MWG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357396295&sr=8-1&keywords=healing+hearts+liz+crowe
All Romance ebooks: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-healinghearts-1036413-149.html
Barnes & Noble:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/healing-hearts-liz-crowe/1114050249?ean=2940016149783
Bio:
Microbrewery owner, best-selling author, beer blogger and journalist, mom of three teenagers, and soccer fan, Liz lives in the great middle west, in a Major College Town.  Years of experience in sales and fund raising, plus an eight-year stint as an ex-pat trailing spouse plus making her way in a world of men (i.e. the beer industry) has prepped her for life as erotic romance author.  When she isn't sweating inventory and sales figures for the brewery, she can be found writing, editing or sweating promotional efforts for her latest publications.  Her ground breaking romance sub genre: “Romance for Real Life” has gained thousands of fans and followers, interested less in the “HEA” and more in the “WHA” (“What Happens After?”)
Her beer blog a2beerwench.com is nationally recognized for its insider yet outsider views on the craft beer industry. Her books are set in the not-so-common worlds of breweries, on the soccer pitch and in high powered real estate offices.  Don’t ask her for anything “like” a Budweiser or risk painful injury.
www.lizcrowe.comwww.brewingpasssion.comwww.a2beerwench.comwww.facebook.com/lizcroweauthorwww.twitter.com/beerwencha2www.facebook.com/romanceforreallife

CONTEST: I will give away a copy of any Decadent back list books to one commenterHere is a link to those books (The Turkish Delights books are a series. Cheeky Blonde and Caught Offside are stand alones).http://www.decadentpublishing.com/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=liz+crowe&osCsid=ss9pfgou4ttem2pf23mcag4oi0&button=search
Also, check out Decadent Publishing’s submission guidelines here: http://www.decadentpublishing.com/index.php?osCsid=vm2lcn38t4dk6b96pm24l844h3&content=submissions

Tagline Tuesday!

Welcome to Tagline Tuesday! If any of these covers or brilliant taglines hook you in then check out the links and find out more.

If you're an author and  want to take part then drop me a line at ZaraStoneley@gmail.com - all I need is a cover, buy links and a catchy tagline.

If you enjoy reading contemporary romance why not check out Tagline Tuesday over on my Susie Medwell blog.

RAISING THE BAR by Lucy Felthouse

A scorching hot Spaniard makes Kayleigh's gap year unforgettable.

Buy from -  Decadent Publishing Amazon UK Other






RED HOT by Ann Harrison

'Total honesty - hot sex! Would you trade one for the other?'

Buy from - Amazon 






THE PROGENY (The Progeny Series #1) by Ashlynne Laynne



'No fate other than the one I choose.' 
Buy from -  Amazon US   Amazon UK    BN   Smashwords

Tagline Tuesday!

Welcome to the first Tagline Tuesday! If any of these covers or brilliant taglines hook you in then check out the links and find out more.

If you're an author and  want to take part then drop me a line at ZaraStoneley@gmail.com - all I need is a cover, buy links and a catchy tagline.
If you enjoy reading contemporary romance why not check out Tagline Tuesday over on my Susie Medwell blog.

NATHANIEL by Dianne Hartsock



Only true love or magic could make the sex burn so hot...

Buy from -
Amazon
ARe Books






TOO HOT TO HANDLE by Doris O'Connor
Reunited years after their night of passion, can firefighter Alex win back the woman of his dreams, or will secrets and disaster prove too hot to handle?
Buy from -
Evernight, Amazon, BookStrand, ARe 









FORFEIT by Zara Stoneley

Break the rule, pay the Forfeit. One sexual fantasy at a time...

Buy from -
Amazon (COM), Amazon (UK),
Xcite Books, Barnes & Noble, ARe

Blog Barrage!

Today and tomorrow I have a blog barrage for 'Good Enough to Share' that has been organised by the brilliant CBLS Promotions. You can find the full schedule HERE or by clicking on the poster on the right.

There's a giveaway, excerpts and reviews :-)

If you want an insight then check out this great review on Harlie's Books - massive thanks to Harlie for the review and for everyone else involved in organising the tour, and of course all the great hosts! I'd love to see you at one of the stops!!

Zara x

#SexySnippets - Spice It Up!!

Happy Sunday everyone! Massive apologies - this post should have been up hours ago, but I've been having a weekend of techno hell, so hopefully better late then never....

These seven sentences are from my current work-in-progress 'Spice It Up'...


The gentle chuckle reverberated through her body, and then he had her wrists in his hand pulling them above her head.

“Slowly querida, we don’t rush the good bits.” His thumb brushed gently over the skin at her waist and she groaned. “You like that?” He bent down briefly and sucked on the soft skin, which was worse. Tons worse. She liked it so much that her nipples tightened to hard buds and her pussy started doing a dance all of its own. 

It's still cold here, so I'm off to check out the other SexySnippets - which I'm sure will warm me up!

New Release - 'Kinky Boots' by K D Grace

After a sizzling encounter in DEMON HEELS, a quirky all-night shoe store, with the store’s hot owner, FINN MASTERS, JILL HART walks away in the most gorgeous boots ever. Her new boots come with an unexpected bonus, a sexy demon named ELEANOR, who’s looking for a good time. All she lacks is a body, and Jill’s will do nicely.Jill quits her dead-end job and, not knowing what’s come over her stops by the nearest pub intent on doing tequila shots until she falls off the stool. Instead she does FINN MASTERS in the beer garden, unwittingly participating in her first ever threesome. The boots were the bait, the timing was right and Eleanor has new digs. It’s Finn job to prevent Eleanor’s misbehaving. His failure means he’ll have to ride shotgun and do damage control until Eleanor moves out at the next full moon.With Eleanor in residence, Jill’s bolder, sexier, willing to take risks. But is she a whole new Jill, or is it just demon courage? And how will Finn feel about her when she’s just plain Jill again? Will the maddeningly magical ménage make Jill’s dreams come true, or will it break her heart?
Available from:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B009UL1F36/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=lucyfelthouse-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B009UL1F36
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009UL1F36/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=lucyfelt-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B009UL1F36
More links will be added here as they become available: http://kdgrace.co.uk/books/kinky-boots/
*****
Excerpt:
There was a soft knock on the door and Meinrad entered the room with several hanks of what looked like ordinary rope. He nodded his greeting to Finn, then his gaze came to rest on Jill, and she felt her entire body blush at his inspection. ‘Turn around,’ he said.
She obeyed.
He made some sound low in his throat that could have passed as either approval or not. Then he placed a large hand on her shoulder and turned her back to face him. She noticed he wore the Kinky Boots uniform T-shirt stretched tight across his very broad chest. The shop name was punctuated by the hard pressure of nipples on muscular pecs. The black jeans he wore rode low on his hips. The wave of lust that rushed over her was staggering. How had she not noticed how sexy he was?
Then Finn moved to stand beside him, and she understood. Even though Meinrad was by far the larger man, Finn dominated the room. Finn dominated the space. Finn dominated every second of the last twenty-four hours of her life, as though he had shoved his way in and pushed everything else out. It did things to her, that thought, things that were way beyond lust, things that were a lot more frightening than being possessed by a demon.
He stood gazing down at her from some neutral distance that made her feel very much alone, as though the world and everyone in it had receded, leaving her to await her fate. Eleanor was keeping a low profile. Finn spoke without preamble. ‘Unless something’s hurting you, while Meinrad’s binding you, you’re not to speak. You’re only to move when he moves you. You’re to do exactly as he says. You’re to accept what he does to you in total passivity. Is that clear?’
‘Is he going to fuck me?’ She was embarrassed the minute she said it but it was too late to take it back.
‘If I want him to, yes,’ Finn said.
If Finn wanted him to. Dear God, what was she doing? Suddenly she felt unsteady on her feet. She didn’t know Meinrad. Not like she knew Finn. And yet the thought of the big man hammering her with his enormous cock while she was all trussed up was at least as exciting as it was uncomfortable. The thought that he would do so only at Finn’s bidding excited her even more.
‘There’ll be no safe word,’ Finn continued. ‘All you have to do is tell Meinrad to stop. Or if at any time he thinks you’re not fit to continue, he’ll stop, and that’ll be that. Are we clear?’
She nodded. ‘And what about you?’
‘Meinrad’s acting on my behalf.’ Finn held her in a cool gaze. ‘He’ll do as I say, and so will you, unless you choose at any point not to play.’ For a long moment he studied her, as though he might see something, perhaps some flaw, perhaps some weakness, she didn’t know what. He seemed too far away to tell. She held her breath. Waiting.
At last he blinked and stepped back, still holding her gaze. ‘I’ll ask you again, Jill. Are you sure this is what you want?’
She nodded, afraid to speak for fear her heart would jump out of her throat. Then she remembered to breathe again.
Finn said nothing. He took her hands in his and offered them to Meinrad, who took both her wrists in one huge palm and tied them across one another in a simple looped knot from which she could have easily escaped if she’d wanted. Then he led her to the bed and guided her onto it. There, he secured her hands to the headboard with several feet of slack, enough to allow him to work around her and at the same time allow Finn to observe from every angle. A quick glance over her shoulder revealed Finn had pulled a ladder back chair to the side of the bed and sat emotionlessly looking on. A quick glance was all she got before Meinrad settled her into a kneeling position facing the wall with her hands resting on the headboard.
In the beginning, it felt as though she were being decorated with rope; that’s the best way Jill could describe what Meinrad was doing to her. The rope was softer than she expected it to be and not unpleasant against her bare skin. The embarrassment she felt came, flashed hot, then passed as Meinrad looped the rope and efficiently placed knots above her breasts and then below and then tightened and cinched his efforts until the harnessing effect squeezed and pinched and offered up each of her breasts in a tight little nest of rope, like ripe fruit topped by the cherry-hard rise of her nipples. She’d always had sensitive breasts and to have them so handled and bound made her whole chest burn with a need that was replicated in her pussy.
Meinrad worked in complete silence, his hands moving over her body as though she were nothing more than the canvas for what he was creating. His touch was exacting and his rhythm as he worked was hypnotic. Early on she realised that one of his hands was on her at all times. She remembered basic knot training from her childhood days in the Girl Guides. Right over left and under and through. Left over right and under and through. Rope threaded through competent fingers, rope slid over bare skin, coiling, twisting, binding, descending right over left and left over right, pressing a column of knots down the length of her spine before looping around her waist and embracing her belly. Again. And again. Yes, she was his canvas, and what he created took its shape against her flesh, but his art didn’t happen without exacting a price from him, and in her peripheral vision, as he reached around her to secure a knot over her navel, she caught a glimpse of the erection set tight in his black jeans, and she felt the hitch of his breathing not quite hidden in the rhythm of right over left, left over right. As he crossed the ropes around her body, she felt the heat of his breath whisper along her back next to the weaving and twisting and soft swishing of the rope along her spine.
With a tug of the rope every pore of her body responded to the tightening just as he nestled a knot against the pucker of her bottom and her gasp sounded like a rush of wind in the stretching silence. Meinrad gave a little pull and her clit hardened in empathy with the pressure between her buttocks. Then without warning, he slipped an arm around her and turned her over as he pulled two strands of rope up between her legs, up tight against her upper thighs like the elastic of knickers, or a tightly cinched climber’s harness. That done, with a deft movement of his fingers he secured a knot just over her clit, and this time she cried out in the strange mix of discomfort and arousal. The whole gape of her was pressed between the two strands of rope, knotted at fore and aft like a ship, narrow and thick-hulled.
There was barely time to get used to the strange rub and pressure between her legs, or the knot that felt like the tip of a thick finger attempting to breach her bottom, before Meinrad began to bind her thighs to her lower legs and ankles, making the position in which she knelt mandatory. With each knot, with each looping of the rope, he forced her bent legs further apart until she was wide open, yet at the same time held closed by the ropes between her legs. Bound and kneeling on the bed, she tried to breathe deeply, tried to fight back the panic of her own helplessness, something she had never experienced before. She was dangerously close to hyperventilating, and Eleanor seemed to be completely absent from the whole event.
‘Shall I continue?’ Meinrad asked.
*****K D Grace believes Freud was right. In the end, it really IS all about sex, well sex and love. And nobody’s happier about that than she, cuz otherwise, what would she write about?
When she’s not writing, K D is veg gardening or walking. She walks her stories, and she’s serious about it. She and her husband recently walked the Coast to Coast rout across England. For her, inspiration is directly proportionate to how quickly she wears out a pair of walking boots.
K D has erotica published with Xcite Books, Harper Collins Mischief Books, Mammoth, Cleis Press, Black Lace, Erotic Review, Ravenous Romance, Sweetmeats Press and others.
K D’s critically acclaimed erotic romance novels include, The Initiation of Ms Holly, The Pet Shop. Her paranormal erotic novel, Body Temperature and Rising, the first book of her Lakeland Heatwave trilogy, was listed as honorable mention on Violet Blue’s Top 12 Sex Books for 2011. Book two, Riding the Ether, is now available.
K D Grace also writes hot romance as Grace Marshall.
http://kdgrace.co.uk
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