The Attraction of Pirates with Ashe Barker #BDSM #Historical
Today I’m swapping blogs with the irrepressible Ashe Barker. We’re talking about PIRATES! You can find me over on her blog where I give some special insight into the character of Gaston, the hero of Bound by the Buccaneer and Rescued by the Buccaneer. Take it away Ashe…
Why Pirates?
Thanks, Normandie, for inviting me over to chat a bit with fellow devotees about all things piratical, and why pirates offer such fertile ground for our lurid imaginations.
I started my career as a pirate groupie drooling over the insanely sexy, swashbuckling Errol Flynn as Captain Blood. Captain Blood was a buccaneer of the Robin Hood type, a good lad who’d fallen on hard times, and was quite adorable. For the pirate connossieurs among us there are many more pirates to choose from, both on screen and in literature. Each has their own unique contribution to make to the folklore of pirating derring do.
Pirates are complex beings. Their ranks offer up a ready and near-endless source of romantic heroes, but they somehow manage to also come across as terrifying rogues intent on robbery and murder. Sometimes they are comic figures. Particular favourites of mine were Kermit the Frog as Captain Smollet, and the wonderful Captain Pugwash. More recently we have been blessed with Captain Jack Sparrow, played by the truly delicious Johnny Depp. He’ll take some topping, if you’ll pardon the phrase.
The inspiration for my own Captain Rob Hawke, hero of Right of Salvage, is a cocktail of Captain Blood and Jack Sparrow. I wanted my hero to be wicked, amoral, a seriously bad lad, a thief, but with a sense of justice and a chivalrous soft centre. Add to that a healthy dose of kink from my own imaginings, and we have Rob Hawke. His daring rescue of Jane Browne is modelled on a scene from Pirates of the Caribbean where the wonderful Captain Jack dives into the sea to rescue Elizabeth Swann. He hauls her dripping from the depths, and continues the heroics by reviving her.
What is the romance of piracy? We shouldn’t like pirates – after all, they’re nothing more than a bunch of bloodthirsty cut-throats. But we do. Well, I do. We fantasise about them, enshrine them in literature and on the screen, turn them into romantic heroes, alpha males to get seriously spanked for. Maybe it’s their lawlessness. Pirates make their own rules, take what they want and stride roughshod over all protest or opposition. And they always get away with it, and seize the booty too.
Which is exactly how we like it. Who wouldn’t want to be captured – or captivated – by one of these larger than life characters?
Jane Browne in Right of Salvage has mixed feelings when she finds herself a captive on a pirate ship. Captain Rob Hawke confuses her. He is a ruthless brigand, a thief, a villain, but she owes him her life. She should be terrified of him, but instead he offers her safety, security, and above all pleasure. He claims to own her, but his possession is both sensual and erotic. Jane’s tender sensibilities never stand a chance.
Would yours?
Right of Salvage is part of the Jolly Rogered collection released by Totally Bound on 11 July. It is available from all the usual ebook sellers : Amazon.co.uk Amazon.com Totally Bound Barnes and Noble All Romance
Here’s the blurb …
He pulled her from the sea, breathed life back into her, and now she belongs to him. By right of salvage.
A passenger on a merchant ship carrying her husband’s cargo between the New World and Portsmouth, Jane Browne is unprepared for the devastating attraction she feels towards the fierce pirate who decides to relieve her husband of his goods. And his wife. Hurled into the sea by her violent husband in an act of spiteful, jealous revenge, Jane is rescued by the handsome pirate captain, who declares that she is now his property.
Jane has no choice but to accompany Captain Rob Hawke. With Jane installed on his ship and in his bed, he demands her total obedience and her willing submission. Frightened and alone, Jane nevertheless responds quickly to her pirate rescuer’s delicate seduction, as he draws her effortlessly into his world of pleasure tinged with pain. Having sampled what he can provide, Rob offers Jane a choice. Will she opt to accept her freedom, or remain with Rob as his willing submissive?
When Rob’s past and Jane’s jealous husband catch up with them again, can they find a new future…together?
Here’s an excerpt, the first encounter between Jane Browne and Captain Rob Hawke
The deck lurches again, and this time the hem of my cloak slips under my shoe. I miss my footing, staggering backwards towards the rail. I tense for the impact, my ribs already exploding in a burst of fresh agony as I twist to try to save myself. Suddenly, my tumble is halted. I’m caught in strong arms, quickly righted.
“Whoah, steady there.”
I gasp as powerful hands encircle my waist, pressing against my bruised ribs. I glance up over my right shoulder, into the same laughing blue eyes that I saw as the pirate ship came alongside us. I glance away quickly, mumbling my thanks. My husband’s attention is dangerous enough—how much more lethal would be the notice of the pirate captain?
“My apologies, madam. Did I hurt you?”
Madam? Apologies?
“Keep your filthy hands off my wife.” I’m convinced Giles’ response to my predicament owes less to a husbandly concern for my welfare than it does his own over-developed sense of ownership.
In any case, my pirate rescuer is no more impressed by his bluster that the crewman with the beefy fist. He ignores my husband, though he has clearly registered his words.
“Wife? That would make you Mrs…Browne?”
I have no option but to meet his gaze once more as he lounges in front of me, one hip resting on the rail of the ship behind him. “Yes, sir. Mrs Browne. Jane.”
He smiles at me, and the expression lights up his entire face and my entire world. He bows his head, his eyes never leaving mine.
“I’m delighted to make your acquaintance, Mrs Browne. Jane.”
He might have said more, but Giles has heard enough. He lurches for me, grabs my arm to drag me across the deck and away from the pirate captain. I scream, my tormented ribs just can’t abide this treatment, and my legs buckle. As I drop to my knees I’m aware of the swift movement behind me. I’m scooped up and once more gently set back on my feet, moments before Giles finds himself yet again on the wrong end of a sharp upper cut. This time it’s the pirate captain delivering the blow. No one moves to help Giles up.
“I’ve no objection to manhandling women, but there’s a right way to do it.” Standing over the prone figure of my husband, the pirate continues to offer his own advice. “And a proper time and place. This is neither. Lay a hand on Mrs Browne again, or make another sound, and you’ll be laid out cold. Is that clear?”
My husband chooses that moment to learn the wisdom of remaining silent, so the pirate helps his thinking along by means of a sharp nudge in the ribs with his booted foot. “Is that quite clear, Mr Giles Conrad Browne, merchant and friend to earls?”
Giles staggers unaided back to his feet and manages a surly nod, his jaw flexing awkwardly. I entertain the fond notion that it might just be broken. His glare at me leaves me with no doubts about what’s coming, though, as soon as my protector is out of sight. Which could be very soon indeed, as the captain of the brigands is already striding away across the deck, his attention back on the pressing matter of relieving my husband of his property.
Propelled by pure instinct now, I give a small whimper of terror and make to go after him. I have no idea what I’m thinking, no plan of any description, but it seems to me that my only hope of safety lies in the immediate proximity of the pirate captain. He hears me, turns, just as Giles grabs me again. I see the expression of steely intent on the pirate’s face as he heads for us, and I fully expect him to make good on his threat to knock Giles senseless.
Giles may be greedy, and stupid, but his instinct for self-preservation is second to none. He drags me in front of him, clearly intending to use me as a shield. Contempt is etched on the pirate’s face, his eyes now narrowed and fixed on Giles as he edges around us. Giles moves round too, backing towards the rail, keeping me between himself and the silent privateer.
“I’ll do it. You come one step closer, and she goes over.” Giles is babbling, almost incoherent.
The pirate’s head tilts, an almost imperceptible signal to someone close by, behind us. Giles, his animal instinct for escape now finely tuned, sees the gesture. As he senses the trap closing around him, desperation takes over. He grabs me around the waist and hauls me off my feet, at the same time lunging towards the rail.
I hear a shout from the pirate captain, sense movement on several sides, but everything seems to be happening in slow motion. I’m kicking wildly, struggling to escape, but Giles’ arms are an unmovable vice clamped around me. One moment we’re grappling on the rocking deck, the next I’m pressed briefly against the rail before being bodily lifted and launched into thin air. The last voice I hear is that of the pirate. His “Holy fuck, you bastard,” is echoing in my ears an instant before I hit the water and sink like a stone.
About the Author
Until 2010 I was a director of a regeneration company in Leeds, in the UK, before becoming convinced there must be more to life. So I left, and at last I’ve been able to realise my dream of writing erotic romance. I’ve been an avid reader of fiction for many years, erotic and other genres, and I still love reading historical and contemporary romances – the hotter the better. But now I have a good excuse for my guilty pleasure – research.
In my own writing I tend to draw on settings and anecdotes from my own experience to lend colour, detail and realism to my plots and characters. An incident here, a chance remark there, a bizarre event or quirky character, any of these can spark a story idea. But ultimately my tales of love, challenge, resilience and compassion are the conjurings of my own lurid and smutty imagination.
When not writing – which is not very often these days – my time is divided between my role as resident taxi driver for my teenage daughter, and caring for a menagerie of dogs, rabbits, tortoises. And most recently a very grumpy cockatiel. I’m a rural parish councillor, and I’m passionate about evolving rural traditions and values to suit twenty first century lifestyles.
I write for Totally Bound and now have over a dozen titles on general release, with several more in the pipeline. I’ve completed a fourth trilogy in the Black Combe ‘family’ which is due for release later this year. I also have a ‘May to September’ style novella out and a short story in the Paramour collection, as well as a stand-alone novel in the ‘What’s Her secret?’ imprint.
I have a pile of story ideas still to work through, and keep thinking of new ones at the most unlikely moments, so you can expect to see a lot more from me.
I love to hear from readers. You can find me on my blog, and on the Totally Bound site. I’m on Facebook, and twitter. I’m on Pinterest too, and Goodreads
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