Tag Archives: BDSM

Is Tonya Kinzer The Boss’s Pet?

I’d like to welcome Tonya Kinzer to A Hopeful Romantic today to tell us a little bit about herself and her hot new series, The Boss’s Pet. Welcome Tonya.

KD:  For the readers out there who might not know about you or your work, can you please tell them a little about yourself.

Tonya:  First, thank you so much for having me today so I can chat with your readers, too.  I’ve been writing for years, but only last year decided to put it ‘out there’.  I love that the erotic genre can go almost anywhere so the field is wide open and any topic is ‘up’ for discussion. I’m married and hubby and I have two Siamese cats who keep us entertained. That is, when we’re home long enough to spend time with them. We own our own business so that keeps us at the office, where I also write or take to the net when I’m not ‘working’ at my day job even though I’m AT my day job. Is that bad?? I’m a techie, love working with photo shop, creating covers, back grounds, book marks, etc…comes along with also knowing a bit about networks, servers and techie stuff.

KD:  Can you tell us a little about your current release?

Tonya:  I wrote The Boss’s Pet years ago for hubby because he IS my boss at the office, I suppose, and this just fit us so well. He also introduced me into the world of bondage, per se, and I learn a little more every day.  I’ve also learned, from listening to friends, that women tend to think of themselves last, whether it’s regarding family or their love life. They satisfy their partner, yet don’t get the same in return, nor do they ask to be satisfied when they are just as horny as their man! Why is this? If someone can enlighten me, I’d love to discuss this because I just don’t understand why they allow that to happen and end up frustrated. Now I’m off on a tangent….sorry!

KD:   The publishing industry is constantly changing; do you think that e-books will one day replace print?

Tonya:  I don’t think paperbacks will ever be non-existent but e-books are flooding the market because it’s another item we can have instantly and let’s face it, that is what our society has become accustomed to… ‘I want it NOW!’  So, as long as I can stay abreast of what’s happening out there and what our readers want, I plan to stay current with the needs of my readers and …. What we write is what they want!

KD:  Which do you prefer…e-books or print?

Tonya:  I prefer paperback but I do have to admit, the racy covers we produce are probably best downloaded to my Nook! Regarding the historical/contemporary romances, I prefer the good ol’ paperback!

KD:  How do you choose the topics for your stories?

Tonya:  I choose things that I like to read about and topics that curl my toes. Maybe some scenes are even things I’ve not experienced, but hope the research has provided me with enough information that the reader becomes part of the scene and hence, doesn’t realize that I’ve NOT experienced some of what I write.  If I may borrow a line…those who write murder mystery/thrillers have not killed, yet that is what THEY write about.

KD:  Tell us something readers might be surprised to know about you.

Tonya:  …….I’m your neighbor or the sweetheart next door that you’d NEVER suspect  would write erotic romance that makes you seep into your panties!

KD:  What do you think is most important in creating a character?

Tonya:  The more real we can make our characters, the more the reader will relate to them. They have to be so human-like that the reader would want to be their best friend, flaw or no flaw. Not all the characters are going to be size two because the majority of the world isn’t size two, although maybe it’d be nice to be that size for week just because…and I’m NOT a size two!  I like to show that my characters exercise and try to stay in shape, but they also like to eat and drink. Being in shape doesn’t just happen, one has to work at it; some are obsessive, another flaw, because they don’t want others to see them as not being in control. So, do the readers think being submissive is being in control? *wink*  If we weren’t actually in control, would our Masters be able to do what they do with us…because we are allowing it?  I’d call that being in control. That’s a post for another day!

KD:  What is the biggest misconception you think people have about erotic authors?

Tonya:  Those who have misconceptions don’t read erotic romance. Our readers don’t have misconceptions about us, other than to perhaps assume we’ve done EVERYTHING we write about. Not true! Then again, that may be the biggest turn on for some of having their fantasy that we’ve done it all.

KD:  What’s your guilty pleasure (if any)?

Tonya:  I LOVE dark chocolate, does that count? Dark chocolate truffles, Lindt, Godiva…mmmmm! Oh, and dark chocolate syrup! *wicked laugh*

KD:  What do you like best about being an author?

Tonya:  I love creating a world of pleasure, of characters that readers want to know more about and I hope I can make them beg for more of those characters. I like to make it possible for some to experience a new sexual act that they’ve not had a chance to try yet. When they get up the courage to discuss it with their partner then also ask for that to be done to them! Spreading chocolate syrup in places you were taught it doesn’t go…..is not all bad. Change your frame of mind. Be not afraid…how can you experience love when you’re afraid to take what you want. Perhaps your partner is dreaming of that day….make it happen!

KD:  What are you currently reading?

Tonya:  I recently finished Best Lover in Town by Brenda Woody and Steve Tindle, friends of mine that I met on the net and now we chat quite a bit. BLT is a hot read so be prepared. Their newest release, Temptation Triggers, is now out and I truly think it will be better than their first book. They write as a team and are fun to talk with. Currently, I’m reading Hour of the Lion by Cherise Sinclair, another fantastic author!

KD:  What do you think sets your stories apart from other authors?

Tonya:  I don’t think my books will be so much set apart from others, but will fit nicely in your library alongside books of the same type. I write about soft bondage, restraints, training, anal play, BDSM, but I don’t think you’ll ever find severe torture or needless pain in my books; I’m just not into that kind of thing.

KD:  Could you give us a little teaser of some of your work?

Tonya:  I’d love to share a few paragraphs of book one, The Boss’s Pet: The Contract, which is the ‘prequel’ to Office Training Goes Home. I wanted my readers to know more about Sondra and Nick if I expect them to continue reading the series I have planned for these two characters. Nick will be taking Sondra deeper into the world of a Dom/sub relationship so please stay tuned! I released book three, Sharing Among Friends, on June 22.

Book 1 – The Contract, BLURB:   Turning her in his arms, he wanted to see all of her. “You’re gorgeous, Sondra.” At the same time, she began to unbuckle his belt and loosen his slacks until they fell at his feet. His black thong matched hers but for the protrusion in the front. Sondra’s hand moved down his shaft and her nails lightly dug into the boys with a firm grip. “Be careful, woman, danger lies there.”

“I think I can handle danger…it’s the after effects that might be hard to deal with.”

“I think you might have a few tension knots in your back and shoulders that we need to tend to first. Spread out your towels at the edge of the bed and lay on your stomach for me.”

Watching her in the dim light churned his needs. Sensuous curves begged to be caressed. She pulled one of her pillows to place on the bed where her stomach would be then spread out the towels along the edge of the bed, twisted her hair and put in the clip, then seductively lay on her stomach for him. Immediately Nick thought of his tie in the other room. “Don’t move I’ll be right back, just close your eyes and relax.”

Back in her bedroom, Nick looped his tie around his neck then ran his hands up Sondra’s back, over her shoulders and down her arms. “Move your arms up over your head. I can get to the muscles better.”

Without hesitation, her arms rested on the bed above her head and Nick’s shaft hardened even more as he laid her wrists over one another then very lightly tied them together with his tie. A satisfied moan slipped from her throat letting him know she was okay with it. Visions of what he could do to her in the future filtered through his mind, seeing her tied and helpless while he explored her tender body. Taking it slow with her would gently introduce her to his lifestyle.

He grabbed the bottle of oil and straddled her thighs. Pouring oil into his palm, he pressed down the squirt tip, dropped it on the bed and rubbed his hands together over her back, allowing a few drops on her skin. The scent of eucalyptus and lavender filled his senses; he would forever associate this scent with Sondra. Lightly his hands touched her back then firmly moved up her spine to her shoulders, feeling for knots and smoothing them out one at a time. The softness of her skin tortured his senses; he wanted inside her so bad he could taste it. Tasting her would be his next move but knew he had to take his time. His fingers moved to her sides as his thumbs moved along her spine, massaging the firm muscles of her well toned back. The soft flesh of her breasts touched his finger tips and he pressed firmly there, too.

Then her back arched inward, pressing her pelvis into the pillows as she moaned again. A quick intake of breath filled Nick’s lungs. Her pleasure was in his hands and he was prepared to take her to the edge. Spreading the oil lower on her back, he rubbed it in along her hips before moving up and over her cheeks. The bottle of oil dribbled as he poured more in his palm, letting it drip into the crack of her ass and watched as the drops of oil slid lower toward her woman’s center. He dropped a few more as they slid to join the rest of the oil and imagined exactly where it was settling. Warming the rest of the oil in his hand, he then placed them directly on the cheeks, taking her flesh between his thumbs and fingers, massaging, swirling the oil over her skin, pressing up, then down. Nick moved her cheeks a bit wider apart then moved a thumb slowly through down the crack and back up, taking each cheek and massaging, pulling them apart  so he could peek then holding her open for a few seconds before continuing. Her pink rosebud winked at him more than once. He couldn’t resist holder her open with one hand while his fingers oiled the bud, barely touching as his fingers moved over her.

Sondra squirmed a bit but only to separate her legs which surprised and thrilled Nick. Never missing an offered opportunity, Nick touched her bud and pressed ever so slightly then pushed more, up to his first knuckle. Out came his finger for more oil and then he pressed in again.

“Oh Nick…..mmmm”

“It’s okay, pet….I’ll go slow but let me show you how much pleasure this will bring you. Trust me here…just relax…” Grabbing the oil again, he lifted the squirt tip and a few more drops landed directly on her bud and his finger push it in…ever so slowly…past his first knuckle and he swirled his fingertip around, feeling her tighten then relax. He pushed further and slowly swirled more before moving his finger in and out, getting a slow rhythm going. Kneeling beside her now, without removing his hand, his other fingers slipped lower and entered her through the silky juices there and her body responded. Her hips moved and squirmed as his fingers went deeper, swirling in both places until Sondra struggled to move her hands.

*****

KD:  As a writer, what is the best advice you were ever given?

Tonya:  The best advice came from one of my critique partners years ago…use all five senses, always. The reader needs to be able to smell what the character smells, feel what the character touches, taste what the character eats….or licks! *wink*

KD:  Any advice for new writers out there?

Tonya:  Your writing should not read like an instruction manual! It has to flow and be natural, not short choppy sentences. Read your work out loud. If the flow isn’t there, it won’t be for the reader either. Dialogue is not an enemy; allow your characters to communicate. Let the reader feel what your characters feel so the emotion is in the writing.

KD:  Where can readers find out more about you and your work?

Tonya:  M website is listed below; I love visitors and to hear from readers. Don’t be afraid to sign my guestbook! My day job at the office keeps me very busy but I do squeeze in time to write.  Please visit my Facebook, Twitter and now my Fan Page. My work is available for download at All Romance E-books (a great reader’s site!), Smashwords, on Nook at Barnes and Noble, and a few other sites out there.  I love doing techie stuff like my covers, websites, book marks, book trailers, formatting my work for various formats and I do self publish, but that’s not to say I won’t one day send a submission to a publisher.

Tonya’s Bio

 Tonya Kinzer writes erotic romance for readers who love to become a silent character within the story! You will be pulled into scenes to partake of the activities, to feel what her characters feel and taste what they taste…strong sexual desires! Be prepared to enter a world you’ll not want to leave and can’t wait to get back to. Their future holds new submissives and demanding Doms.

Her series, The Boss’s Pet, will take you on a journey alongside Nick and Sondra as they venture into a lifestyle that pulls them deeper into a world of sensuality and submission. You’ll not want to miss any of the books in this series so stay locked on her website to know when the next books get released.

B00k 1 – The Contract

B00k 2 – Office Training 

Book 3 – Sharing Among Friends

B00k 4 –  Out in Oct

 

Buy Links

B & N:  http://tinyurl.com/6cgprjf

Amazon:  http://tinyurl.com/3fetwfq

All Romance & OmniLit:  http://www.omnilit.com/category237.html

SmashWords:  http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/tonyakinzer

 

Site Links

Blog Site:  http://tonyakinzer.blogspot.com

Website:  http://tonyakinzer.com

FB Fan Page:  http://tinyurl.com/4sh37tk

FaceBook:  http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_163160073732655&ap=1

Twitter:  http://twitter.com/#!/tonyakinzer

IAN:  http://www.independentauthornetwork.com/tonya-kinzer.html

Author’s Den:  http://www.authorsden.com/tonyakinzer

Manic Readers:  http://www.manicreaders.com/TonyaKinzer/

BookBuzzr:  http://www.freado.com/users/26001/tonya-kinzer (Read Ch 1 of each book here)

Book Trailer: YouTube:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HykMSl9FYvY

Thanks for stopping by A Hopeful Romantic, Tonya, and best of luck with The Boss’s Pet series.

A Cast From the Past with Bianca Sommerland

I’m very excited to welcome the amazing Bianca Sommerland, who will be telling us about her ‘cast from the past’ in the Story Behind the Story of  Deadly Captive. Welcome, Bianca!

KD Grace is one of the wonderful people I’ve had the pleasure of meeting in my journey as a published author, but she’s the first to ask me a question that really stopped me short. She asked me whether there were personal experiences that inspired part, if not all of my novels. My automatic thought was no, of course not. I’ve been inspired by dreams, by pictures, by music…but my own life? Which of my novels could I actually say was inspired by my own life? Rosemary Entwined, about the descendant of a succubus and her nest of seven men? Deadly Captive, with the woman who’s lost her past and has no one but her fellow prisoner, Joe, to count on while she tries to survive degradation and torture?

Yeah, my life’s just not that interesting.

But when I thought about the question, I took another look at my stories and found certain personalities sticking out, certain qualities that reminded me of people I’ve known. Family, friends, lovers. The characters are all familiar to me because they are the best and worst of real people. Joe, for example, is the grown up version of a boy I had a crush on in high school. He could be so mean, but then he’d suddenly show a bit of kindness and that’s all I would see. My imagination painted him as a tough hero who would be tender with the woman he loved. Of course, in reality he was a player and a jerk and I’m kinda happy he saw me as one of the guys (even though I wished otherwise at the time). Years later, my muse took all I dreamed the boy could be and paired him up with one of my strongest heroines.

I believe many authors find the casts for their stories from their pasts. Only, some of the best memories aren’t Polaroids, or even portraits. They’re like abstract paintings, evoking only emotions. Kinda cool, because you can interpret them however you’d like 😉

And yes, my interpretations are a little twisted.

Deadly Captive Blurb:
Lydia awakes, bound and blind, to the whispered urgings of a man who has his hands on her. His words confuse her at first, but she soon understands they are both in the middle of a performance that will determine whether she remains in captivity or dies. The crowd must be entertained, and her cellmate makes sure it is.

Forced submission is not the only horror Lydia endures. She has no memories of life before her imprisonment, and Joe, her cellmate, is her only comfort as the powerful creatures that hold them captive torture and debase her. Together, she and Joe cling to the will to survive long enough to break free and seek revenge. Their desire to sustain one another triumphs over their wardens’ efforts to destroy them. There is no pain, no suffering, that can tear them apart.

Beyond their cell, their love is tested. Can they hold strong in the face of the challenge of the new powers they have gained along with their freedom?

Excerpt from Deadly Captive:

My eyes teared, but my gaze never wavered. “Right back at you. I didn’t sign up for your games.”

He eased his grip on my hair. “Neither of us signed up for any of this, Lydia. I wanted to make sure I could trust my cell mate.”

“Of all the . . . .” I shook my head. “Please, I need to know. Some kind of morbid curiosity, I guess. Why in the world would I fake memory loss? What purpose would it serve?”

With a shrug, he rested his arm on my shoulder, still loosely holding my hair. “It would be a clever sympathy card.”

Damn it, he’s right. I felt the tension ease from my body, no longer feeling very combative. “How do you know I’m not faking it? If I was, it would be pretty stupid to acknowledge my name.”

“No. Actually, it wouldn’t have proven much. It might have made me suspicious, more than I already was. It would be strange that you’d remember your name, but not your own face. I was hoping your reaction would be revealing.” He closed his eyes and dropped his head. “It was, but not in the way I’d hoped. The loss is worse than I thought. There wasn’t even a glimmer of recognition.”

Grazing my teeth back and forth along my bottom lip, I glared at his chest. “It could be an act.”

Fingers under my chin, he tilted my head up. “No, Lydia. You couldn’t have faked the fear I saw. You thought it was one of them.”

I jerked away from him and clenched my fists at my sides. “I’m not afraid of them.”

“Yes, you are. You’re not a stupid woman, Lydia.”

The way he said my name sent a chill down my spine. I dug my nails into my palms.

“Stop.”

He frowned. “Stop what?”

“Saying my name like that.”

With a wicked smile, he hooked his thumbs in the pockets of his jeans and rocked on his heels. “Lydia.” I swung my fist at his face. He knocked it aside and caught my wrist when I tried again.

“Lydia.” He backed me into the table. My hip knocked the empty plate and it clattered on the floor. Sitting me on the edge of the table, he trapped my face between his hands. My breath caught, and I pressed my eyes shut, expecting him to slam his mouth on mine. It could hurt; my lips were still sore.

His tongue gently traced the crease of my lips. He combed his fingers into my hair and tugged until I tipped my head back. Then, he kissed me so tenderly I opened my eyes and stared at him.

He kissed the tip of my nose. “Why do you look so surprised?”

Why? I licked my bottom lip and tasted the saltiness of his sweat. Delicious. My eyes dropped to the moisture beaded on his chest. I leaned forward. He tightened his grip.

“Well?”

I groaned. “I thought you’d be rough.”

“You keep looking at me like that, and I will be.”

Deadly Captive Buy Link: https://www.nobleromance.com/Books/269
Blog: http://imnoangelauthorsblog.wordpress.com/

Thanks for being my guest on The Story Behind the Story, Bianca, and thanks for the hot excerpt from Deadly Captive. Sounds like a must read to me.

Lisabet Sarai Shares the Story Behind Her Novella, The Understudy

It’s my pleasure to welcome the fabulous Lisabet Sarai to share with us the very personal story behind the story of her novella, The Understudy. Welcome Lisabet!

All authors use personal experience in their stories. How could we not? Any writer who claims that her characters and their conflicts are one hundred percent fictional is not being honest with herself.

On the other hand, it’s dangerous to make one’s work too autobiographical. There’s the very real risk of legal action by people who recognize themselves in your so-called fiction. A more subtle problem is the tendency for an author to write the same story over and over again- her own story. (I recognize that many authors are male. However, since I need to choose one pronoun, I prefer to use the female.)

I’ve incorporated bits and pieces of my life into my own work, of course. I’ve borrowed settings, character traits, and occasionally, specific erotic scenes. Normally, though, I mix everything up. A bit of this, a bit of that, all seasoned with plenty of fantasy, and no one’s the wiser.

My BDSM erotic romance novella The Understudy is an exception. Although the characters and the setting are fictional, the primary conflict in the book is based on my personal history.

Back when I was young, single and hormone-ridden, I had a D/s relationship with a fellow graduate student. I was totally new to the paradoxical delights of BDSM; I didn’t realize that I was submissive until my reactions revealed this truth – to him and to me. In contrast, he had done a great deal of research and also had some actual experience as a dominant.

Our explorations of power dynamics affected me profoundly. I’d never felt such passion, or such freedom, as I did when I surrendered myself to his will. We seemed to share a bond that went far beyond the physical. More than once I felt certain we were reading each other’s thoughts. I think we both believed in magic, that intense desire could create reality. Somehow I was able to trust my master completely, from the very beginning, though we really didn’t know each other well. He never betrayed that trust.

I fell deeply in love with this man. However, I believed that I was nothing more than a plaything for him. I knew that before he and I connected sexually, he’d had another lover who had also been submissive. I’d even met this woman at parties. She was gorgeous, confident, flamboyant – a sophisticated and elegant woman of the world. When she broke off their relationship, my master sank into a profound depression that lasted nearly a year.

He didn’t hesitate to tell me about what he and A. used to do together. I think he understood that I found it exciting as well as enlightening. However, our discussions led me to conclude that he was still in love with her. I figured that he and I had no future. I was happy enough to act the part of his slave in the present moment – indeed, I couldn’t resist him – but I always had the nagging worry that he was comparing me to her.

When I began working on The Understudy, I realized I wanted to transplant this situation into the story. The details and the setting are different, but the fundamental conflict is the same. Sarah Gladstone, pretty in a girl-next-door sort of way, gets her first real acting job at the Berks Summer Playhouse and discovers that she’ll be working with theater legend Geoffrey Hart. The charismatic actor initiates her into the dark delights of BDSM and she’s soon experiencing a level of intimacy and trust beyond anything she could have imagined.

According to the rumors, though, Geoff’s heart is taken. Renowned actress Anne Merrill, his long time partner and submissive lover, has severed their relationship and Hart has escaped to the Berkshires to lick his emotional wounds. Sarah knows that she can’t compete with the glamorous theater veteran and fears that she’s just a substitute for the real object of Geoff’s affections.

Writing Sarah was like revisiting my own insecurities in my relationship with my master. A number of reviewers have commented on the intensity of the tale. More than most of my work, the story reflects my own emotions. I stripped myself bare writing this book. I guess it shows.

Of course, one advantage of fiction is that I can give my characters a happy ending. The real world resolution of my relationship with my master was far more ambiguous. We drifted apart. I met and married my husband. Still, my master and I keep in touch and share a wistful fantasy life. (My husband is aware of this.) Only years later did I learn the depth of my master’s love for me, or understand that he had wanted a commitment but was too insecure to ask.

I sometimes wonder what my life had been like if he and I had been as skilled in communicating outside the bedroom as we were inside. I have no regrets. I love my husband and my current life and wouldn’t take back any of my choices. Writing The Understudy, though, gave me the chance to play with some seductive notions of what might have been.

I’ll end with a quick excerpt from the book.

EXCERPT:

The door to the Shays suite was half-open. I knocked anyway, swallowing my nervousness. Stop this silliness, Sarah, I lectured myself. Just be professional.

“Come in.” That voice, so full of music and power, sent chills through my sweaty body. Squaring my shoulders, I pushed the door wide and entered the sitting room, dragging the noisy bag after me.

Hart stood by the window with his back to me, appraising Mr. Higgin’s view. “Took you long enough,” he commented without turning around.

I should have been annoyed, but instead I felt embarrassed and guilty. “Sorry―the stairs―and it’s so hot today…”

“Never mind. Just put the suitcase on the bench next to the other bag.”

I hoisted the case up onto the luggage rack to the right of the door. He still didn’t turn around. I took the opportunity to get a good look at him.

He was tall―over six feet, I guessed―and the low ceilings typical of colonial buildings made him look even taller. Although he was relaxed and still, his lean, athletic body suggested unlimited energy. He had removed his jacket and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt. The tailored garment looked crisp and fresh despite the fact that the temperature must have been pushing ninety.

One hand clasped the other at the small of his back. His bare forearms were lightly furred with black hair, a touch of the animal that clashed with his aura of culture and sophistication. His trousers fit as perfectly as his shirt. I couldn’t stop myself from appreciating the swell of his muscular buttocks under the fabric. My nipples were swollen and painful. My jeans felt hot and tight.

The awkward silence lengthened. I took a deep breath and thought I caught a whiff of his cologne, something brisk and nautical, overwhelmingly male. My heart was a jackhammer in my chest. I looked around the room, trying to distract myself from the physical reactions Hart seemed provoke simply by being present.

It appeared he had already had time to do some unpacking. A stack of neatly folded shirts, all black, white or grey, lay on the sofa. Several pairs of shoes were lined up near the bedroom door. On the table near the window there was a fifth of Glenlivet, which I knew hadn’t been supplied by the inn, along with a pack of Gitanes, some books and a fancy-looking camera. A framed 8×10 colour photograph sat on the end table beside the couch, not far from where I stood.

I peered more closely at the photo. A pale, raven-haired beauty stared back at me. Her sultry dark eyes and enigmatic half-smile spoke of a passionate nature just barely held in check by convention. Luxurious curls tumbled over her shoulders but did not hide the ripe breasts swelling out of her burgundy velvet décolletage. Her delicate chin rested on the back of one hand. The graceful fingers were tipped with crimson enamel that exactly matched her lipstick.

I didn’t need to read the autograph to know who she was. Anne Merrill, Geoffrey’s long-time partner, the woman who, if I could believe Adele, had broken his heart.

My spirits sank even lower. It was easy to see how such a woman could captivate a man, even someone as bold and self-confident as Geoffrey Hart. When I compared myself to her―well, there was no comparison really. I was a short, unimpressive woman―a girl, Hart had called me―with plain brown hair too fine to curl and a B cup figure. I had no drama, no flair, nothing like this vivid, exotic creature who oozed sex appeal. So what if I had an MFA in acting from Columbia? I’d had almost no real world experience. I dreamed about Broadway and London’s West End, but this gig at Berks Hill was my first professional job as an actress. And what was I? Nothing more than a bit player, an understudy to the stars.

“You’re still here, Sarah.” Hart wheeled to face me, breaking into my bitter internal monologue. “Good. After all, I didn’t tell you that you could go.”

Amusement lit up his handsome features. He towered over me, close enough that I could feel the heat emanating from his body. Embarrassment washed over me but didn’t quite submerge the undercurrent of arousal. “May I leave?” I asked, my voice a weak quaver that disgusted me. Why was I asking, anyway? Who was he to tell me what to do?

“Not yet. I need your help unpacking. Go open the bag you carried up. It’s not locked.”

No, I wanted to scream. But I obeyed him anyway, pressing the chrome-plated catch on the sleek grey Samsonite case and flipping up the lid.

I gasped when I saw the contents. “It’s true!” I blurted out.

Hart came up behind me and looked over my shoulder. He didn’t touch me, but his mere presence was overpowering. “What’s true?” I heard laughter in his voice.

I pointed at the leather restraints and the rubber paddles, my hand shaking. “That―that you’re kinky. Into S and M, just like Adele said.”

“I prefer the term ‘D and S’. Dominance and submission. My focus is on the exchange of power, not the administration of pain. Though I’m not averse to using pain if that’s the right thing to do.”

“The right thing to do?” I turned to face him, hiding behind my indignation. “Are you joking?” He was close, too close for comfort, deliberately invading my personal space. I tried to step backward. I succeeded only in banging my shin against the luggage rack. “Ow!”

His eyes drilled into me. “I’m completely serious. D and S is not a game, despite the way it’s portrayed in popular culture. It’s not a fashion statement. It’s much, much more, a new way of being in the world. A doorway into a new kind of relationship, deeper and more intimate than anything you can imagine.”

“Right,” I muttered. I couldn’t bear to look at him. I stared down at my sandals, feeling the blush crawling up my cheeks and across my chest. “I’m sure that’s what all the perverts say.”

He caught my chin under his forefinger and raised my eyes to his. I trembled when his skin met mine. “I can’t pretend it’s not exciting, of course―trying new implements, pushing the sub’s limits, testing her devotion. But that’s not the main point.”

I burned in the heat of his stare. I felt myself begin to melt, the crotch of my jeans growing damper with every beat of my pulse. I didn’t want to listen but I couldn’t hide my fascination.

He stroked his thumb across my cheek. I held my breath, wanting him to stop, dying for him to go further. “Aren’t you curious, Sarah? Wouldn’t you like to drop your diligent, high-achieving, good little girl persona and find out what’s underneath?”

I couldn’t answer. How did he know these things about me, this man I’d met less than a half hour ago? Did he really understand the way I’d pushed myself in college and grad school, working for the top grades, following the rules, determined to succeed in my chosen path despite the odds? Did he know that I hadn’t had a lover for nearly four years? I hadn’t had time. Anyway, I’d been all too aware of the fact that everyone around me was both a colleague and a competitor.

I saw compassion in his chiseled face, mingled with lust. “I know you, little one. I know what you really crave. What you really need. Open yourself to me and I will fulfil the desires you don’t yet dare to admit, even to yourself.

The Understudy is available from Total-E-Bound (http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?P_ID=1175) as well as Amazon and other third party vendors.

More About Lisabet Sarai

A dozen years ago LISABET SARAI experienced a serendipitous fusion of her love of writing and her fascination with sex. Since then she has published three single author short story collections and six erotic novels, including the BDSM classic Raw Silk. Dozens of her shorter works have been released as ebooks and in print anthologies. She has also edited several acclaimed anthologies and is currently responsible for the altruistic erotica series COMING TOGETHER PRESENTS.

Lisabet holds more degrees than anyone needs from prestigious universities who would no doubt be embarrassed by her chosen genre. She loves to travel and currently lives in Southeast Asia with her highly tolerant husband and two over-indulged felines. For more information on Lisabet and her writing visit Lisabet Sarai’s Fantasy Factory (http://www.lisabetsarai.com) or her blog Beyond Romance (http://lisabetsarai.blogspot.com).

Thanks for stopping by, Lisabet, and sharing with us a bit about The Understudy. Definitely a must read!

Rachel Kramer Bussel Showcases Smut for All Occasions At Sh! Hoxton

I pile out of the over-heated tube at Old Street Station with my rucksack strapped to my back and my trusty google print-out of the directions to the Thistle City Barbican Hotel, the place I was lucky enough to find on lastminute.com just before desperation set in when every place else was full. The hotel is only the intermediate stop to my true destination, Sh! Women’s Emporium, Hoxton and the smut-reading highlight of the summer.

Yep, another fabulous reading! I’ve been looking forward to this one for ages. Aside from the obvious, that the reading is at Sh!, and I never miss a chance to visit Sh! there are several other reasons why this reading is special. Rachel Kramer Bussel is going to be at this reading, and she’s bringing cupcakes and reading smut! Even better than cupcakes, I get to read with her! Not only do I get to read with her, but I also get to read with some of my heros in the erotica firmament – Kay Jaybee, Jacqueline Applebee, Janine Ashbless, Justine Elyot, and Carmel Lockyer. So you can understand why I’m excited.

Like a woman with a mission, I manage to find the hotel without even one false turn, and I don’t even let the very large, rather disgruntled hen party in queue to check in ahead of me dampen my sweaty spirits. Once I’ve change, freshened up, and put on a bit of slap, I meet up with Kay Jaybee, who is in the same hotel, and we head off to say hi at Sh!, then to the Bluu Bar, which has become the meet-up place of choice for smutters before a read. Kay and I barely get settled in before Jacqueline Applebee arrives smiling and glowing from marching with Pride, earlier in the day. She’s traded in her Doc Martins for cool sandals and a summer dress, and that little twist of a smile she offers tells us we’re in for a treat tonight – nothing less than we would expect.

We’ve just commandeered a very large booth when we’re joined by the Lovely Lexie Bay, and the charming Mr. Bay, followed immediately by the fabulous Victoria Blisse down from Manchester, and this time she doesn’t have to take the last coach home! We’ve all just settled in when we’re joined by a yummy woman in black, who introduces herself as Justine Elyot, whose outrageously hot writing as well as online wit and charm we’re all familiar with, but until tonight we’ve never been able to put a face to a name. Tonight we even get to meet Mr Elyot.

I’m in smutter heaven chatting and laughing, talking writing and sex surrounded by so many great writers. And just when I think the company can’t get any better, a lovely redhead, dressed in green, and looking a bit like a wood nymph, stops at our table. ‘Excuse me,’ she says, ‘but you wouldn’t happen to be writers would you? I’m Janine Ashbless.’ And I’m over the moon!

Though I’m the odd one out with my American accent, we pretty much have England covered, with representatives from Devon, Doset, London, Yorkshire, Manchester, and Brighton, then there’s me representing Surrey by way of Oregon and Texas. Such an international world, the world of erotica!

At last we head over to Sh! where Renee greets us with a glass of fizz and Jo, looking angelic in white is busy putting out cupcakes. Downstairs Sh! is a hot pink Smutter’s Paradise, a place many of us have fond memories of previous readings on previous festive evenings. And for those who have never had the pleasure of a Sh! reading before, we know what a treat they’re in for. The exquisitely wicked Lucy Felthouse is not only there ahead of us, but she’s let her hair down for the occasion. She’s in the company of smutter extraordinaire, Rebecca Bond and the delicious Parv Roopray, who can always be relied upon for fab photos of the fun. They’re chatting with the one and only Ruby Jones, living up to her name in a hot red frock.

While Parv snaps photos with tenacious focus the rest of us sip fizz and eat cupcakes, catch up on the latest and wait for Rachel. I’m happy that Rebecca and Parv are both Smart Phone Divas, especially tonight since Raymond couldn’t be there, and I’m certain these two lovelies have already sent a quick photo or two off to Facebook for him to see from Louisiana.

While I’m slipping into my ‘make love to me naughtily’ shoes – made for reading, not walking, I meet the final author of the panoply, the stunning Carmel Lockyer, and the sly, knowing look on her face already tells me that she has a very hot read to share with us.

There’s a stirring in the crowd as a half a dozen people straight from Pride with face paint and sparkles join in the party, and the feeling is electric, as we wait. Suraya  Sidhu Singh, editor of the terrific magazine, Filament, is among the crowd, as is fantastic erotica writer and my very good friend, Scarlett French. And just when it’s beginning to feel like if one more person crowds into the luscious Sh! pinkness, the place will burst at the seams in a colourful explosion of collars and whips and knickers and lube, and naughty books, suddenly, there she is, Rachel Kramer Bussel! And wow, she is a fabulous mix of sparkle-goddess and little girl excitement, in a totally approachable package that instantly puts us all at ease, and makes us feel like SHE is actually there especially to meet US!

After Renee makes introductions, Rachel opens with an edgy story called ‘Belted,’ from her anthology, Orgasmic. It’s a story that’s hot and squirmy in an owchie sort of way.

I get to read second, following belts with mirrors and weight rooms and a little girl on girl fun from the Smooth anthology and my story, ‘Muscle Bound.’ From the Gotta Have It anthology, Jacqueline Applebee delights us with ‘Not a Bang, but a Whisper,’ a threesome story that has an outrageously yummy twist. Kay Jaybee regails us with ‘The Advantage of Working From Home,’ and Carmel Lockyer entertains us with the hottest fitting for a bridesmaid dress ever in ‘Crushed Satin Organza.’ She reads it while standing up because she says that’s how she wrote it. Both Kay and Carmel’s stories are also from the Gotta Have It anthology.

After a break for more fizz and cupcakes and mingling among smutters and audience and whips and lingerie, we get to be the first group ever to hear the phenomenal Justine Elyot read from her hot story, ‘The London O’ in Rachel’s Surrender anthology. I certainly hope it won’t be the last time we hear her read, because her delicious story about vibrating, remote control knickers had us all squirming in our seats.

Then Janine Ashbless took us for a little historic bondage romp with a hotter than hot coming-of-age twist in ‘The Ingénue’ from Best Bondage Erotica 2011. Oh my! And finally Rachel closed with another Gotta Have It offering by Heather Linn, called ‘Seven-letter Word.’

After the reading was done, Rachel opened up the floor for questions. One question asked was what Rachel found inspiring, to which she answered that she was inspired by ordinary things. I could see all the erotica writers nodding in agreement. What makes a good erotic story is finding the erotic in the ordinary because that is the place where it’s the most unexpected, which makes it the place where it’s the hottest.

Though Rachel was unable to join us, the party continued at Pizza Express at the table which has, by default become the smutter’s table over the months of reading and attending readings at Sh! I’ve never been too proud to elbow my way in at a seat closet to the middle of the table where I can talk with as many of the group as possible, and there were ten of us. The talk was all on the topics that never get old, the topics we keep coming back to over and over again: writing, sex, creativity, the process that consumes us and makes our lives, as erotica writers, such an interesting dance.

For the most part, we write in delicious isolation, creating a space to work in the midst of real life that takes up the lion share of our time. Though we’re now all connected to each other via the magic of technology, it’s the pleasure of meeting, in the flesh, other people who are also writing stories about connecting on the most basic, most human level that adds to the party atmosphere. That flesh and blood contact makes us feel connected in ways technology just can’t manage, makes us realize that though we may work in sweet isolation, we’re a part of something much bigger, something much more powerful.  And for the few hours we’re together we bask in the energy of it all.

When the night’s over and we return to our real lives, when we seek out our little bits of isolation and the stories that have to be written, we take some of that energy with us and translate it into hot, steamy, vibrant, sometimes dark and gritty stories. But at least for a few hours, we understand that we’re a part of a collective, and it’s an amazing vibrant creative hothouse of a collective that makes our isolation all the more delicious.

 

Nice Girls, Naughty Sex, Fabulous Read!

Nice Girls, Naughty Sex is one fabulous read! There. That sums it all up in a nutshell. Well, actually, it’s twenty fabulous reads. With a table of contents that reads like a who’s who among the goddesses and gods of erotica, I expected this  NGNS to be a great anthology. But with a fair few authors I’d never read before, what I wasn’t sure about was how consistent the anthology would be. How could I ever have doubted, with editors like Oysters and Chocolate’s fabulous Jordan LaRousse and Samantha Sade.

The only real problem I had with Nice Girls, Naughty Sex was remembering that I was supposed to be reading this anthology to review it. Apologies to all the authors, but I have to tell the truth, I read your stories for pleasure. How could I help it, really, when the stories were all so deliciously nasty?

It wasn’t just the nastiness which made me forget the task at hand, though, it was the story factor. Nice Girls, Naughty Sex is chock-a-block with flat-out good stories. Plus they’re nasty! What a fabulous combination.

The anthology is put together in that wonderful Oysters and Chocolate format, with five stories in each of O/C’s yummy categories: Vanilla, Dirty Martini, Licorice Whip, and Oysters.

The Vanilla stories start out with ‘A Technicality,’ the tender and moving, yet very sexy story by Sommer Marsden set, of all places, in a hospice, where two lonely people comfort each other while they wait for their loved-ones to die. The section ends with Trish DeVene’s story, ‘Looking for the Wintergreen.’ Heat and romance aside, ‘Looking for the Wintergreen’ is one of the most beautifully crafted stories I’ve ever read. Ms DeVene’s spare but elegant use of language lets the reader know of a family’s unhealed wounds, while building us up for the healing that begins with hot, sex alfresco on a cold winter day.

There seem to be a lot of stories in NGNS which start in a place of woundedness and end with sexy, healing celebrations of life, and Sienna Conroy’s Dirty Martini story, ‘For His Pleasure,’ does it beautifully as she tells the tale of the deliciously naughty way a wife and husband find their way back to each other after a miscarriage.

I romped my way through the Licorice Whip section of NGNS, which I have to admit, was my over-all favourite, beginning with Janine Ashbless’s wild frolic, ‘Good Doggie,’ progressing to Kay Jaybee’s kinky ‘Corset’ and reaching total melt-down with Kestra Gravier’s fabulous story, ‘A Lesson for Clair,’ in which a post grad student’s former professor gives her a sizzling lesson on taking control.

The anthology finishes off with some delicious girl on girl fun in the Oysters section. Having some experience in martial arts myself, I found Kristina Wright’s story of a woman boxer and the curvy gym bunny who’s got a crush on her. ‘The Dragon Lady’ is hot, sweaty, and fab reading. Jeremy Edwards steamy, and more than a little wet story, ‘Eastern Standard Time,’ is a perfect end to a damn-near perfect anthology.

The variety of stories in NGNS kept me fully engaged with every single offering. The stories were not only consistently sexy, but they were all consistently well-written and cracking good reads aside from the sex. Scorching sex along with a gripping story is always a winning combination, and this anthology has twenty totally different, totally enthralling winners. Reading Nice Girls, Naughty Sex was pure pleasure!