By Ashe Barker (Guest Blogger)
Thank
you so much for inviting me over to Beyond Romance today to give a
shout out about Spirit, my latest release.
Much
of the story takes place against the backdrop of Le Grand Départ,
the start of the Tour de France cycle race which in the summer of
2014 took place in Yorkshire in the North of England. Maybe took
place is the wrong description, took over is closer to the mark. It
was a massive international occasion, and I suspect the sheer scale
of the event, and the audience it attracted, took most of us by
surprise. Roads were closed, Yorkshire was a no-go area, unless you
were on two wheels. Or two feet.
Somewhere
between 2.5million and 3.5 million people turned out to watch. It’s
impossible to know the number for sure as no one had to buy a ticket.
They just turned up, often hiking across miles of moorland, and lined
the route, local communities and international visitors alike. Ice
cream sellers reported a whole year’s trade in two days! The
audience on television was 3.5 billion, a truly spectacular showcase
for this little bit of England.
The
whole thing was fabulous, a wonderful atmosphere and it was a weekend
we won’t forget. One of the features I most enjoyed though was the
way bits of artwork popped up all over the moorland landscape as the
race got nearer. Farmers decorated their fields, and their sheep, in
the race colours. The route was decorated with bunting, spotted
jerseys, and the iconic yellow bicycles. We saw specially designed
crop circles, painted cows, and of course some fabulous sculptures.
All of these bits of public art were free to be enjoyed by the
billions watching. Most of these pieces were transient and have now
gone, though a few remain. One of these more permanent sculptures is
featured in Spirit, and gave me the title of the book.
Spirit
is first and foremost a sexy romance, but with some serious
issues underpinning it. It’s a story about one young woman’s
route to homelessness, and about childhood abuse. For all that though
it isn’t really a dark tale. This is a book about kindness,
generosity, and moving on.
Spirit
has its lighter side too, with some endearing minor characters of the
human and non-human variety. Look out for Ethel, the exuberant little
Westie dog, and rather bad-tempered macaw. Ethel is modelled on my
own little dog. I just had to put her in a book somewhere and this
seemed like a good home for her. George the macaw is inspired by my
husband’s grumpy cockatiel. There are other creatures in our
menagerie too, so I probably need to find places in my future books
for a couple of tortoises, and some rabbits.
Enough
of the Noah’s Ark, here’s the back cover stuff for Spirit…
When
Matthew Logan offers a homeless young woman a bed for a few nights,
he expects the girl to eat, sleep, recover from the flu, and then
move on. Instead, in no time at all eighteen-year-old Beth Harte has
captured his affections completely. Though Matt wants only to protect
her and has no intention of sleeping with her, Beth has other ideas,
and she proves to be very persuasive.
But
after Beth is attacked by a friend of Matt’s and subsequently
learns for the first time that Matt is an experienced dominant, she
is unable to separate the man she is growing to care about from her
hateful memories of previous exploitation. Confused and frightened,
she runs away.
Almost
six years pass before Matt sees Beth again, and in that time his
vulnerable little waif has reinvented herself as an artist. Now she
has a stunning proposition for him and his environmental engineering
company: to collaborate on a project fusing art and science to
promote one of the most prestigious sporting events in the world. But
when Matt demands to know what went wrong before, she tells him the
truth, both about her childhood and about his friend’s actions.
Matt
is determined to make Beth’s abusers pay for their crimes, but he’s
also not about to let her run away from him again. Can Beth bring
herself to trust Matt despite her fears and give him the chance to
love her and show her the pleasures of being his submissive, or will
the wounds of her past keep her from trusting anyone ever again?
Publisher’s
Note: Spirit is an erotic romance novel that includes
spankings, sexual scenes, anal play, BDSM content, and more. If such
material offends you, please don’t buy this book.
And
of course a sexy excerpt from Spirit, to whet your appetite.
* * * *
"Will you fuck
me now?"
"Mmm, that's
the plan, though I'm considering spanking you first."
"Why?"
"For fun, and
to get it out of the way. A girl's first spanking is a big event, I'm
thinking you might be nervous about it. Having another wobble maybe."
"Maybe,
but..."
"But?"
"But I'm sort
of excited too. I want it to hurt."
"I see. I can
manage that I reckon."
"But I want
you to fuck me as well. At the same time. Could you do that?
"Oh yes."
"I hoped you'd
say that."
"Get on all
fours then. And spread your legs wide."
I scramble into
position as Matt reaches for his bedside drawer. There's a snap of
foil, then the head of his cock is at my entrance. He waits, poised,
and I quiver with anticipation.
He doesn't move,
just holds that pose. I wriggle, roll my hips and try to shuffle
backwards. I'm rewarded by a resounding whack, and a sharp pain
resonates through my right buttock.
"Too
impatient, girl. Keep still."
"Oh, oh
Matt.."
"I think you
mean Sir. I've been lax until now, but you need to start obeying the
rules."
"Sir, sir,
sir!"
"Don't overdo
it. And if you move again, you'll get another slap. Harder next
time."
"Yes
Sir....oh, oh my God!" Matt drives his cock deep into me, right
to the balls. My body offers no resistance, so well prepared and
utterly ready am I, but he holds still as I stretch around him and
I'm glad of the moment's respite to gather my wits.
He withdraws, then
sinks his erection into me again, long and slow. I grasp the duvet
under me and cling on tight. My pussy squeezes around him, and he
slaps my bum again, this time on the left side.
"I told you to
keep still. That means on the inside too."
"I couldn't
help it. I...oh, oh!!
Two more hard slaps
land, the sound harsh in the otherwise silent room. My pussy
convulses again, and I tense, expecting more punishment.
It doesn't happen.
I turn my head to look at Matt behind me.
"I don't
understand, why didn't you spank me? I squeezed."
"Have I
unleashed your inner pain slut? How interesting. But I spank when I
choose to. And right now, I choose to fuck."
He pulls back,
almost out of me, then drives his cock forward again, pounding into
my cunt. Several more swift strokes and I lurch forward, my face
buried in the mattress and my bum held up high for him. He manages to
find that perfect angle to hit my G-spot with each hard thrust. My
cunt is spasming, my inner muscles well beyond any conscious control
of mine. I want him to spank me, and I'm afraid of it too, Afraid of
wanting it.
Matt drops several
more swift slaps onto my buttocks, each one making me squeal and
writhe under him. The conflicting sensations are a heady cocktail,
confusing signals scrambling my ability to think straight. In this
moment though reason seems over-rated. I relinquish any residual hold
on sanity and allow myself to sink into a submissive fog where all
that matters, all that counts, is what Matt wants, what he chooses to
do.
The slaps continue,
each one sharp, stinging, the pain beautiful in its purity. My clit
is quivering, swollen beyond belief. I want to feel his touch there,
but don't know if or how to tell him. But I need, I need so badly.
"Sir? I, may
I..."
"Do it."
The curt command
answers my unspoken question. I reach down to caress my clit, then
slide my fingers further back to feel the fast motion of his cock
plunging into me, the lips of my pussy splayed wide to receive him. I
let out a groan as I return to caressing my swollen bud, rubbing
harder as he picks up a pounding rhythm. He slaps my bottom again,
really hard now, and I scream, the perfect blend of agony and ecstasy
so intense it fills my consciousness. Suddenly I'm spinning,
weightless, my body collapsing into helpless spasming as my orgasm
washes over and through me, reaching every corner, every nerve and
muscle and melting my bones.
You
can grab a copy of Spirit from wherever you like to buy your
ebooks.
Spirit
Buy Links
More
about Ashe Barker
I’ve
been writing seriously for about two years but I’ve been an avid
reader for as long as I can remember, erotic and other genres. I
love reading historical and contemporary romances in all pairings –
the hotter the better. But now I have a good excuse for my guilty
pleasure – research.
My
stories are often set in the north of England where I live but I draw
inspiration from all over. 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.
On
the rare occasions I’m not writing 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 too.
My
other titles are many and varied, and include the ‘Black Combe’
trilogies, The
Dark Side, Sure Mastery, The Hardest Word and
A
Richness of Swallows,
all set in the atmospheric moorland of West Yorkshire or Cumbria and
with a strong BDSM theme. My stand alone novels are The
Three Rs,
Chameleon,
Red
Skye at Night,
and Faith
but
this list grows all the time.
The
Widow Is Mine
is a full length medieval erotic romance which I wrote for The
Conquered Brides
collection. I’ve also written several short stories, including
Re-Awakening,
a raunchy pirate tale, Right
of Salvage,
and a MM story, Bodywork,
which was included in the Amazon best-selling collection Brit
Boys on Boys.
You can find all my stories on my author
page on Amazon.
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.
