By
Ashe Barker (Guest Blogger)
Thank you for inviting me over today to chat about the re-release
of The Dark Side. This series was my first attempt to write anything
more steamy than a birthday card and I was delighted with it. I’ll
always be proud of how well the books did and the fabulous reviews
they received. I am eternally grateful to Totally Bound for accepting
them and for taking a chance on the unpublished rookie I was back
then.
So,
if it ain’t broke, why mend it?
As
I wrote The Dark Side I had no idea if anyone but me would
ever read the books. I knew next to nothing about the world of
publishing or professional writing, so although my editor did a
fabulous job of making the books fit to be seen among decent folk (or
should that be indecent folk?) there were always aspects of the story
I felt could be improved. There were scenes I thought about writing
but left out, and ways in which I believed the connection between
Nathan and Eva could be deepened. The re-release was a rare
opportunity to have my time again and complete the job.
There’s
new content in each of the three books, but I won’t spoil it by
saying exactly what. Suffice it to say we see yet another quirk in
Eva’s already complex nature, and aspects of Nathan which I hope
will endear him to readers even more. He’s a hard Dom, stern,
demanding and insanely sexy. We lose none of that, but the additional
content helps to bring out his caring nature a little more.
There’s
also a whole new epilogue to conclude the story. This picks up a
loose end which always bothered me so I feel the series is better
rounded now.
Series
Blurb
The
Dark Side
trilogy charts the sensual journey of academic musician Eva Byrne as
she struggles to overcome painful shyness, sexual inhibition and
personal tragedy. Lonely, unsophisticated, desperately seeking love
and approval, Eva is easy prey for sensual and experienced Nathan
Darke.
He wants her submission, and he knows how to go about getting it. Eva is quickly caught up by the whirlwind of his effortless seduction, though she has her own reasons for agreeing to join him in his world of pain and pleasure, on the dark side.
Inexplicably fascinated and at the same time totally frustrated by his new submissive, Nathan is increasingly drawn to her as she opens up in his hands and he realises there is much, much more to his latest playmate than he ever could have imagined.
The Dark Side charts the turbulent relationship between Eva and Nathan as their mutual fascination builds. They both discover what surrender truly means as together they explore the fragile bonds of desire, trust, risk and reward, and the destructive power of betrayal.
He wants her submission, and he knows how to go about getting it. Eva is quickly caught up by the whirlwind of his effortless seduction, though she has her own reasons for agreeing to join him in his world of pain and pleasure, on the dark side.
Inexplicably fascinated and at the same time totally frustrated by his new submissive, Nathan is increasingly drawn to her as she opens up in his hands and he realises there is much, much more to his latest playmate than he ever could have imagined.
The Dark Side charts the turbulent relationship between Eva and Nathan as their mutual fascination builds. They both discover what surrender truly means as together they explore the fragile bonds of desire, trust, risk and reward, and the destructive power of betrayal.
Darkening,
Book 1 in The Dark Side
Serial
Who
knows where pain ends and pleasure begins?
The
chance of a new life out in the wilds of the Yorkshire moors sounds
too good to be true to shy musician Eva Byrne. Stifled and smothered
within the cocoon of her brilliant academic career, Eva yearns for
something different. Something real and exciting. Something she can
feel.
Excitement.
Passion. Pleasure. She finds that sexy, enigmatic Nathan Darke can
provide all these and more when she moves into his home as violin
tutor to his young daughter. But Eva’s sensual encounters with her
demanding, domineering new employer quickly evoke her deepest fears,
as he introduces her to the trauma of submission and marks her with
his particularly dark brand of love.
But
will Eva’s natural curiosity and thirst for new experiences be
enough to withstand the sting of Nathan Darke’s exquisite touch?
Will simple surrender be enough as he challenges her every
inhibition, taking her on an erotic journey of self-discovery and
liberation?
Darker,
Book 2 in The Dark Side
Serial
Can
Eva outrun the secrets of her past, or is surrender her only choice?
Eva
Byrne’s first encounter with the darker side of Nathan Darke’s
sensuality ends in disaster. Frightened, hurt, betrayed, she
struggles to regather her shattered confidence—in him, and in
herself.
Desperate
to continue her journey of exploration and self-discovery, Eva has to
convince a skeptical Nathan that she’s worth the trouble. And that
she can learn to submit to him. When she is forced to reveal elements
of her past she has preferred to keep hidden, both her brilliance and
her vulnerability are laid bare. Will Nathan accept Eva as she is,
and help her to become the woman she longs to be, or will she face
yet another rejection?
Terrified
and intrigued in equal measure, Nathan has no idea how to deal with
the exquisitely enigmatic Eva Byrne. Should he cut his losses and
run, or allow their relationship to continue, and watch as Eva’s
delicate beauty unfurls in his hands?
Fascinated
and ensnared by Nathan, Eva longs to taste what he offers and her
erotic journey continues. But how much will she have to surrender to
him in order to liberate her own desires?
Darkest,
Book 3 in The Dark Side
Serial
When his past destroys Eva’s trust in her Master, can he win her back?
As
their turbulent, complex relationship deepens, Nathan Darke is
increasingly aware that Eva Byrne has become much more to him than
his submissive. She’s in his home, in his family. And in his heart.
Eva
hasn’t found it easy to trust, to believe in herself and in a
relationship that might last. But happiness, once so elusive, is
within her grasp. Nathan is her Master, her lover and her soulmate.
However,
no sooner do they manage to find a fragile balance between them—a
way of entwining both their worlds—and start to build a future than
their past comes crashing back to destroy their emerging love.
Jealousy and hate brutally shatter Eva’s and Nathan’s delicate
trust in each other, and their life together crumbles.
Can
they overcome the crushing pain of betrayal and deceit to regain some
sort of future together, or are some wounds just too deep to heal?
Are some risks too great? Some rewards just not enough?
Excerpt
from Darkening
He
breaks the kiss to start nibbling his way down my neck. As if not
finding the angle to his liking, he suddenly, effortlessly lifts me
from the chair, turns and lays me down with my bare back flat on the
table top. He holds both of my wrists in one hand, pinning them to
the table above my head and, standing between my legs, leans over to
look down at me, stroking his other hand the length of my body from
neck to waist.
“Beautiful…
Holy fuck, so lovely,” he murmurs before he leans down to take my
right nipple between his lips.
I
squeal, the shock jolting through me even though I had sensed what he
was about to do. His body weight and his hand around my wrists hold
me in place as he continues his work. The sensation is everywhere,
starting at my nipple, which is now painfully engorged. The tingling
pulses radiate out through my whole body, connecting as if by some
sort of internal electric current to that spot between my legs, which
is now drenched. It feels exquisite, acute, intense, forbidden and
overwhelming. I arch my back, pushing my breasts toward his mouth,
his tongue, his teeth, this source of ecstatic pleasure.
One
or two ill-fated fumblings from other students when I was a teenager
at university did nothing to prepare me for this. I have never, ever
felt anything remotely like this before. I might have read about it,
known the theoretical possibility was out there, somewhere. Happening
to other women—women who were attractive and had lush, sexy bodies
and soft, wavy hair. But this is here, now, happening to me.
I
feel the hard table beneath my shoulder blades as I writhe under his
skilled lips, his expert tongue and teeth, desperate for more. And he
knows what he is about—he knows what I need and he has more for me.
Opening his mouth wider, he takes more of my breast in and sucks
hard, first one side then the other. He slides his free hand, palm
up, between my shoulders and the table to raise me up, giving him
easier access with his mouth, his tongue, his teeth. Gently grazing
my now helplessly sensitized nipples with his teeth, he suckles me
relentlessly, nipping slightly harder, just enough to hurt, maybe—I’m
not sure where pain ends and pleasure begins now. What does it
matter, anyway? He can do whatever he wants to me as long as he
doesn’t stop.
He
is no longer holding my wrists—he has no need to because I’m
lying boneless under him, spread across his kitchen table, pleading
wordlessly for…for what? More? Less? The ecstatic pleasure tinged
with a hint of pain is so intense now that I can only moan, ride the
waves of sensation pulsing from my breasts out through my fingers and
toes, each wave bigger, heavier, more compelling than the one before
until I am writhing with need.
“I
can’t. Please, it’s too much…” Is
that me? Or someone else whimpering nearby?
“Yes,
you can, you are. Don’t fight it, sweetheart, come for me. Now.
Come now.” His words—insistent, soft and low, seductive—are
breathed into my ear before he returns to my breasts, nibbling and
sucking mercilessly, building the tension, increasing the sensations
coursing through every part of me, winding me tighter and tighter
until I burst, screaming out loud as fireworks explode in my head, my
groin, everywhere as the earth shifts beneath me. My inner core
clenches violently, the wetness surely flooding across the table. I
feel I am falling, floating as the tension is released and I hear
myself moan in delighted satisfaction, drifting back down toward
reality.
Me,
the girl who can’t bear to be touched. Somehow—God only knows how
it happened—I have just spent the last ten minutes spread out half
naked on Nathan Darke’s kitchen table, his hands and mouth all over
me until I totally lost control, and he watched me thrashing about in
the throes of my very first orgasm, right in front of him. Christ!
How wonderful, how intimate. How unlike me. And he’s achieved all
this without so much as a button of his coming undone.
Buy
Links
Darkening is FREE at Totally Bound and All Romance
until 30 April
2016!!
About
Ashe Barker
I’ve
been an avid reader of fiction for many years, erotic and other
genres. I still love reading, the hotter the better. But now I have a
good excuse for my guilty pleasure – research.
I
tend to draw on 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.
I
live in the North of England, on the edge of the Brontë moors. 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, tortoises. And a very
grumpy cockatiel.
I
have over thirty titles on general release with publishers on both
sides of the Atlantic, and I have several more in the pipeline. I
write M/f, M/M, and occasionally ring the changes with a little
M/M/f. All my books feature BDSM. I write explicit stories, always
hot, but they offer far more than just sizzling sex. I like to read
about complex characters, and compelling plots, so that’s what I
write too.
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.
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