Undone Diva

Lila Dubois has done it again! The third book in her Undone Lovers series, Undone Diva, releases today. If you are looking for a red hot read that blows 50 Shades out of the water, this series is for YOU!

As an entertainment lawyer, Emory has his share of famous clients. But when A-lister Sasha Brazil is caught in a sex tape scandal it should have been a PR nightmare, not a legal matter. But Sasha is being blackmailed because her tape shows her bound and begging to be used, everything her hard action-star hero persona isn’t. If the tape gets out her image will be destroyed. 

Emory takes Sasha on as a submissive, telling her that she’s safer subbing to him than to a man who might blackmail or betray her. Together they begin a passionate BDSM relationship centered on Emory’s specialty, role-play. The sexual relationship quickly morphs into something more, but Sasha has secrets, and when the man who turned Sasha into a submissive shows up even love may not be enough to save her.

Excerpt:

Emory watched in stunned silence as a masked man hogtied Sasha. The video was dark and grainy, Sasha’s skin a strange green color. Despite the grainy quality, her naked body was clearly visible on the bed, her limbs long and supple. There’d yet to be a good shot of her fully nude, but there were plenty of her face. The video had started with her on her knees, head bent, though she was visible only from the shoulders up. There’d been a quick shot of her breasts as she stood and bent over a chair to have her ass paddled, and now she was facedown on the bed as the man looped rope around her wrists and ankles.

A BDSM session with her as the submissive went against everything Sasha Brazil was. Sasha Brazil was tough, smart, stylish and in control, not submissive—sexual or otherwise. The woman on the tape was soft, needy and above all submissive. No wonder they were worried.

“I’ve seen enough.” Emory paused the video. He saw Sasha’s shoulders sag in relief.

“We’ll all be ruined!” Sean circled back to the other side of the desk and dropped into his chair.

“Sean, perhaps you could wait outside.” Emory was tired of the other man’s near hysteria.

“Why?”

“You’re not helping,” he said frankly.

“Okay, okay, I need some tea or something anyway.”

Sean touched Sasha’s shoulder as he walked past. She had yet to turn around.

The door closed behind Sean and Emory slowly got to his feet. Sasha turned. Her shoulders were tense, her face expressionless.

Emory couldn’t believe it. She was a sub.

Of all the women in show business, she was the last he’d expect to be a submissive, which, he now understood was exactly the problem. She was known for being tough-sexy, not submissive-sexy. Her roles as the ball-busting action-movie heroine would dry up if this tape got out.

Then again, it was possible that she wasn’t a sub, but had simply been experimenting. But that didn’t seem like a sex game, it seemed like a formal BDSM session.

“I understand your concern,” Emory said. “This is not fitting with your persona.”

She snorted delicately but she was crushing the hat she held in her right hand.

“Please describe the circumstances that led to this video being made.”

Sasha paced his office side to side, her long legs eating up the distance in only a few steps. “I made arrangements to spend time with a…with the man in the video. I didn’t know he was taping it, and I didn’t tell him who I was. I thought it was okay, but yesterday I received this copy of the video with a demand for one hundred thousand dollars or the tape would be given to the media.”

Emory bent to make a few notes on a sheet of paper.

“And when did the events in the video take place?”

“The first of this month.”

“And where?”

“Columbus, Ohio.”

That surprised him and he looked up.

“Why were you in Columbus?”

“For that. To meet with him.”

Emory rubbed his thumb against his lips. There were still a lot of questions, a lot of gaps in this story, but he had a suspicion about what had happened.

And if he was right, it would mean that she wasn’t just playing at submission as part of a kinky sex game.

“You’re not being entirely truthful with me.”

“I’ve told you everything you need to know.” Her eyes flashed with dark fire as she faced him down. “Do your job. Make this go away.”

“It’s more complicated than that, and we both know it, because there’s more than this video, isn’t there?”

Her chin notched up. “Deal with the video and everything will be fine.”

Emory came around to the front of the desk and leaned back against it. “There are two possibilities in play here. The first is that you were experimenting sexually and decided to play at some BDSM.”

She jolted when he said BDSM and Emory grew more certain he was right.

“The second is that you’re a true submissive.”

Her eyes dropped. It was only a spit second before her fierce gaze met his, but Emory had caught it, her instinctive submission, evidenced in nothing more than the lowered gaze.

“What I want from you,” she said, voice a mix of silk and steel, “is to know what you plan to do about my problem.”

“And what problem is that? The tape or,” he pushed off from the desk and walked toward her, “your need to be dominated?”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I don’t?” They were face-to-face, so close Emory could see the flecks of gold in her irises.

“Step back. You get one warning.” Sasha’s tone was cool but her entire body radiated danger.

Emory circled her until he stood at her back. She kept facing forward but threw her glasses and hat onto a chair as if she wanted her hands free to hit him. Emory grimaced. If he was wrong he was probably about to get his ass handed to him by a girl.

“I know what you need, what you want.” Very carefully, he slid his hand under her hair and touched her nape. She started to turn and he wrapped his hand around the back of her neck, holding her tight. She could easily break away from his grip but she didn’t. Instead, her head dipped forward. He pulled the collar of her jacket down and pushed her hair aside, exposing bare flesh.

“You’re a submissive.”

She let out a long breath but didn’t say anything.

Emory pulled her jacket off her shoulders, pushed it down her arms until it dropped to the floor. “Are you a submissive?”

Still she didn’t answer, but when he put his hands on her shoulders and pushed down she dropped smoothly to her knees. Emory sucked in a breath. He’d never seen anything so arousing as the beautiful, powerful woman kneeling. Even fully clothed she was more alluring than any other woman he’d come into contact with.

“Sasha, you need to answer me.”

“You know the answer.” Her words came out through gritted teeth. Emory circled to her front and tipped her chin up with one finger. Her eyes were flashing fire and the muscles in her jaw working. Her fingers curled into fists and uncurled.

She was at war with herself; he could see it in her eyes, read it in her body language.

He had his answer.

Emory held out his hand. Confusion flitted across her face. Gingerly she put her hand in his. He pulled her to her feet, then turned back to his desk. He took a seat in his chair and focused on his computer, giving her time to compose herself. That was a mistake, because he still had the video up. Paused, it showed her beautiful, bound and ready to be used. The masked Dom had his hand between her legs, the other on the ropes that bound her.

Emory took a moment to compose himself before turning his attention back to her. She’d taken a seat in the chair across from him. She was wearing her jacket and her face was a cool mask, only her eyes showing inner turmoil.

Emory smiled blandly—his client smile—and pulled his notepad and pen toward himself. “Perhaps we could be more honest about the situation surrounding this video and the extortion attempt.”

“You seem to know a lot about it.”

“About the video? No, all I have is supposition.”

“Not about the video. About…me.”

Emory steepled his fingers, pressing his thumbs into his lower lip. He studied her for a moment, then said, “Though I don’t normally discuss my personal life with clients, in this case I think it’s only fair. I am an active player in the BDSM community. I’m a Dom.”

Sasha licked her lower lip, then leaned back in her chair to study him. “I can see it. You as a Dom.”

“I tell you only because it seems fair that you understand where my knowledge base comes from.”

“Is that how you talk when you’re topping? All studious and boring.”

“That’s not relevant to this conversation.”

“It’s not? You just got me on my knees, I think I’m entitled to be a little more personal.”

“My apologies for that. I needed to confirm my understanding of the situation.”

“And what is your,” she crossed her legs, dark eyes flashing, “understanding of the situation?”

“You’re a high-profile woman. Your sexual needs are the antithesis of your actor’s brand. I can only assume that in order to meet your sexual needs you’ve been seeking out professional Dominants, or men you trust not to betray your secret. Since that trust has been betrayed, I further assume you put your faith in the wrong man, or that he realized there was more money to be had through blackmail rather than merely the payment you gave him for services rendered.”

“I didn’t hire a hooker.” Sasha snarled the words. “You think I need to pay for my needs?”

“It might be safer to have involved a professional. If you didn’t hire a sex professional, then how did you meet the man in the video?”

She uncrossed her legs and sighed. For a moment her fierce expression slipped and she looked tired and a little scared. Emory blinked in surprise. It was the first time he’d really thought of her or seen her as a person, rather than a client. Unexpectedly, his heart clenched for her.

“I found him on a message board. I never told him my real name, I had Sean run a background check on him before I went out to meet him.”

“Why Columbus?”

“That’s where he is. I lied and said I lived nearby. I always leave the state. Usually people will say that I remind them of someone, but no one has ever figured out who I am. Until now.”

“We’ll put aside how dangerous it is to meet men out of state, without your bodyguards, and focus on this instance.” Emory made a quick note of what she’d told home so far, then said, “What concerns me is what may be out there besides the tape itself.”

Sasha’s brows drew together in confusion for a moment, then her eyes widened. “Oh fuck.”

Emory nodded grimly. “You signed a BDSM contract, didn’t you?”

“Of course I did. I thought I was being smart.”

“It’s the responsible thing to do.”

“Until you get blackmailed. Fuck!” Sasha smacked her hands on the arms of the chair and pushed to her feet. Anger radiated off her.

“Do you have your copy of the contract?”

“No, I threw it away. I assumed I was done with it.”

“We can assume he retained his. Did you fill it out by hand?”

“No, we negotiated the contract and the contents of the session online. But I signed it.”

“With your real name.”

“No. You might not believe it, but I’m not stupid.”

“I would think you’re stupid if you hadn’t negotiated or signed the contract. What concerns me is that even if you signed a false name it will be possible to match your handwriting. If this were to go public someone would go to the trouble of matching your handwriting, were he to sell not only the video but also the contract.”

“It’s not just the contract. I also signed a Risk-Aware Consensual Kink form.”

“Appropriate.”

“Stupid. God, how could I be so dumb!”

She pressed her fists to her forehead and paced.

“Sasha, please remain calm.”

“Easy for you to say.”

“Tell me about the man in the video.”

“His name is Don, Donald Sawatsky. He’s been part of the scene in Columbus for ten years. I emailed one of his regular subs, who said he was a good Dom. Like I said, I had Sean do a background check. He’s an insurance broker or insurance adjuster. Something boring.”

“Did he give any indication of knowing you when you were with him?”

“No.”

“How was the blackmail threat delivered?”

“It came to Sean’s office. He said it just came in the mail.”

“So he identified you, then found the address for your manager.”

“Yes. There was the flash drive and a demand for $100,000. He said I had three days to pay and he wanted the money transferred to his account.”

“An offshore account?”

“No idea. It was…ten digits I think. I stared at it plenty.”

“I’ll get it from Sean, but that sounds like a domestic account. I don’t think this man is a professional blackmailer who intentionally sought you out.”

“And again, fuck. I never even thought of that. If that were true, it would mean that people knew, that people could find out…” Her voice trailed off.

“There’s no need to panic, as it seems that it’s not the case here. It sounds like a case of someone being opportunistic.”

Sasha braced her hands on the back of the chair she’d been sitting in and bent at the waist, bowing her head. Her position was vaguely reminiscent of how she’d been in the video—bent, ready to be used. Emory wanted her like that. He wanted her.

“This problem is solvable.” Emory already had a few ideas of how to make this go away. All of them legal, none of them ethical.

“It is?”

“Yes. I’ll need everything Sean has, but I anticipate that we can take care of this. Please do not worry.”

“Right. That’ll be easy to do. My whole life hangs in the balance, and your advice is to relax.”

“There’s nothing you can do. You came to me. I’ll take care of it now. As your attorney, I’m advising you to have no contact with,” Emory checked his notes, “Mr. Sawatsky.”

Sasha met his gaze. There was a tense moment when he could see she was battling against her fear and anger, then she nodded and dropped into the chair.

“I’ll keep my distance.” She picked up her glasses from the other chair where they rested with her hat and fiddled with them. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Emory glanced back to his computer screen and the frozen grainy image of her naked body. He closed the paused video and faced Sasha once more. “I have another piece of advice, which you’re not going to like.”

She raised a brow.

“You cannot have BDSM sessions anymore.”

Sasha tensed. “I’ll be more careful.”

“No. It’s too risky. You’re lucky you haven’t faced this issue earlier. If this video were made public, I can only assume that anyone else you’ve been with, especially if they remarked on your resemblance to the actress Sasha Brazil, would come out of the woodwork, looking for their moment in the sun.”

“If you’re really in the scene then you know I can’t just…put away my feelings, my needs.”

“I completely understand, but unless you have the luxury of living the lifestyle full time, you need to protect your vanilla life. For you, the only foolproof way of protecting Sasha Brazil is to keep the needs of Sasha,” he had to search his mind for a moment for her real last name, “Menezes as secret as possible.”

“I have no desire to be some full-time house slave.” She sneered the words.

“That’s your choice, but not the point I was trying to make.”

“I know your point. You think I have to be some kind of nun.”

“No. I’m saying you need to find someone trustworthy, maybe a full-time partner—”

“No,” she shouted the word, nearly coming out of her chair. For a moment Emory was sure he could see fear in her eyes. “I won’t do that a—”

She cut herself off, turning her face away, but Emory was sure she’d been about to say “again”. Perhaps she’d had a bad experience with a regular partner, or in mixing a relationship with BDSM play.

“There are several men in L.A.’s BDSM community I know and trust. I could introduce you.”

“No. I don’t play in L.A.”

Interesting. He’d have to find out more about her past.

“Sasha, you need to understand—”

“I do understand, I’m the one being blackmailed. You don’t seem to understand.” She threw her glasses against the wall where they fell to the ground broken.

Slowly, Emory rose. “Control yourself, Sasha.”

She glanced toward him. There was only a moment of contact, but in that meeting of gazes Emory saw her need and knew what she wanted.

She was going to throw a tantrum, let out the anger and fear she was feeling. She was going to do it so he’d have a reason to punish her.

This sub needed, wanted, a spanking.