D & S isn’t a game – #MFRWHooks #EroticRomance #PowerExchange

Welcome to this week’s edition of the Marketing for Romance Authors Book Hooks blog hop!

Today I’m going back a few months to sample an exclusive excerpt from my BDSM erotic romance The Understudy: Acts of Submission. Enjoy!

Blurb

One look from him and I melt. One word, and I’m on my knees.

When the Berks Hills Summer Playhouse offered me my first real acting job, I never expected to share a stage with theater legend Geoffrey Hart - let alone his bed. Nothing in my education or experience prepared me for the paradoxical pleasures of submission.

Now I’m devoted to my master, for better or worse. According to the rumors, though, Geoff’s heart is taken. Dumped by his long-time sub, he has escaped to the Berkshires to lick his emotional wounds. Geoffrey’s dark games arouse me beyond belief, but I fear I’m just a substitute for the real object of his affections. Am I willing to settle for the role of understudy in this perverse passion play?

 

The Hook

His mocking laughter rang through the room. He pulled me to my feet, far more roughly than I had expected. “Hold it right there! Did I give you permission to touch me?”

There was a cruel glint in his eye that worried me. “Uh, no, but I thought…”

His big hands circled my wrists. He held me at arm’s length. “It’s not your place to think. Your only responsibility is to obey.”

“I just wanted to please you—sir.” The honorific came so naturally that I was shocked. What was I doing?

His voice mellowed. “You do please me. But I make the rules here—that is, as long as you’re interested in playing this game.”

I extricated myself from his grasp and brushed the hair out of my eyes. My shirt was still tangled under my armpits. I yanked it down to cover my bare breasts, not bothering to refasten the bra. “I thought you said that D and S wasn’t a game.”

He folded his arms across his chest and looked at me. I felt that he was judging me, weighing me up before deciding on his next move. Comparing me, perhaps, to his lost Anne. I straightened my spine to my full five-feet-two-inches and stared back. I was determined not to be intimidated.

Emotions flitted across his expressive face—annoyance, desire, amusement, something like sorrow. I wondered if anyone really ever knew him. I was all too familiar with how hard it could be for actors to separate their real selves from the roles they played.

“You’re right. It’s not a game, though sometimes we pretend that it is. In any case, I can’t command your obedience. You have to consent, to give me your trust.”

His words stirred me, rousing something deeper than the lust I’d felt before. I didn’t understand what he was offering, not really, but I sensed its value. Our brief interlude had given me some clues. Still, I was mostly traveling blind.

“How can I trust you when I don’t even know you?”

He stepped closer, but didn’t touch me. “We’ll take it more slowly from now on. Step by step. I’m sorry I pushed so hard this time. It’s just—I had this sense that you’re a natural submissive, Sarah. That you were born to be my slave.”

I tried not to show how his words thrilled me. I didn’t want to even think about why I had that reaction.

“Let’s start with something simple, shall we? I already told you I don’t want you wearing a bra. Well, those jeans are damned inconvenient as well. So if you want to please me, from now on you’ll wear skirts or dresses only.”

“But I only have two skirts with me, here in Massachusetts.”

“I’ll take you shopping. I’ll dress you the way I want my slave to look.”

My blush was my only answer.

“And no panties. Ever. I want to have you always accessible.”

“What! I can’t…”

“Of course you can. You will, for me. Won’t you?” The yearning in his eyes startled me. Did this really mean so much to him? Or was he just playing with my emotions?

“Don’t answer me now. Go back to the theater. I’m sure you have work to do—besides entertaining the newly arrived leading man, that is.” He gave me a devilish grin as he led me to the exit. “I’ll see you at dinner tonight. And I’ll read your answer in what you’re wearing.”

Buy Links

Kinky Literature – https://www.kinkyliterature.com/book/4427-the-understudy-acts-of-submission/

Amazon US – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B092VYT8DN

Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B092VYT8DN

Smashwords – https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1080182

Barnes and Noble – https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-understudy-lisabet-sarai/1139312061?ean=2940164880460

Kobo – https://www.kobo.com/th/en/ebook/the-understudy-acts-of-submission

Add on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57802100-the-understudy

Be sure to visit the other authors participating in today’s hop, too!

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