Nobody's Angel is Available Now! Here's the Playlist

If it's Sept. 30, it must be release day for Nobody's Angel, book 2 in the Rescue Me series (and my first actual Romance novel). 

Before I give you the links to purchase (or to download the first few chapters at Smashwords), please be sure you read Masters at Arms first. It's the introduction to the series and will make the reading of the romances SO much better if you know where these three men came from and how they formed their bond that led to starting their BDSM Club. (And two of them actually met their ladies in that book.) For a free download of Masters at Arms, use coupon code QV99H at Smashwords (good through Oct. 10).

(Keep scrolling down--the playlist for the book
is included in this blog. Hope it inspires you, too!)

Yes, the cocky, wealthy playboy Dom, Marc D'Alessio, is about to be brought to his knees by Angelina Giardano, who will breach his defenses. The Italian woman (you know that's one of the hard limits for Marc to begin with) will force him to break all of the rules that have kept his life on an even keel (and his heart under his control). 

The short description for Nobody's Angel:

When Marc d'Alessio rescued beautiful Angelina Giardano from an abusive Dom at his fetish club, he never imagined she'd upend his safe, controlled world. Then his search-and-rescue partner, widower Luke Denton, tells him Angelina is the angel his dead wife has sent to him to move on with his life. Marc knows only he can fulfill Angelina's sexual needs, but he can't provide her with the love and stability she should have. He also won’t let her come between him and his friend, after what happened with his brother and the first woman he loved. When the abusive Dom turns his sights on Angelina again, she turns to Marc for protection…and learns a submissive has power, too.

Nobody's Angel is available at
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.

Playlist for Nobody's Angel

Now for some fun. As those who follow me on Facebook and Twitter know (and if you don't--send me a friend/follow request!), I am inspired by music when I write. Each character has his or her theme songs, and certain songs evoke the emotions of particular scenes or characters. So, I thought I'd share the "playlist" for Nobody's Angel. 

Master Marc's theme song is heartbreaking, but exactly how he feels. Of course, Marc was born and lived his first decade in the Lombardy region of Italy, so he has no trouble understanding the Bocelli version. For those (like me!) who don't understand the Italian, the English lyrics are at the bottom of this blog post. (Por Amor, by Andrea Bocelli)

Master Marc loves the wilderness. He can't stand being confined inside running a business, so he hired a manager for his outfitter company and he takes care of the adventure treks for clients. This song inspired a particular scene with him where he has an epiphany, but also just epitomizes what he gets from his time in the wilderness. (To the Wild Country, by John Denver. Just replace Alaska with Colorado--even if there is an extra syllable.) 

Angelina Giardano gave BDSM a try once, to disastrous results. While she wants nothing more to do with exploring that lifestyle, she is plagued by an angel-man-wolf who comes to her in her dreams and rescues her from her bad scene. And then she meets Marc D'Alessio and can't understand why he reminds her so much of her dream lover. (Daydreams, by Jane Olivor)

But this song speaks to Angelina, as well, as well as to the book itself. Angels are a theme in this book, from start to finish!  (Angel, by Sarah McLachlan)

Luke Denton's wife died seven years ago in an accident that also took the life of a Search-and-Rescue worker he later discovers was Angelina's father. He's been plagued with guilt ever since, but his wife has come to him in a dream to tell him she is sending him an angel; it's time for him to move on. When he meets Angelina soon after, he's certain she's the one. (No One, by Mark Anthony)

Now for some specific scenes. When Angelina's father died, she later donated his beloved Dean Martin collection to her friend, Rico, for his bar's vintage jukebox. A few days before his death, her papa taught her to dance to Volare and when Marc chooses that song to dance to with her, she's brought to tears. (Volare, by Dean Martin)

He follows up with "You belong to Me," which conjures up thoughts of domestic death for Angelina. No way does she want to be some traditional Italian man's idea of the ideal wife. Not that she knows him well enough to know what he would expect in a wife. She figures her biological clock is on overdrive. (You Belong to Me, Dean Martin)

When all hope is lost, this song spoke to me (and Master Marc). This video isn't about romantic love, but it's the lyrics I love. (Goodbye, by Air Supply)

In a favorite scene of mine, Karla sings this at the club one night. While the words apply to her and Master Adam (as most of her songs do, not that he'd notice), Angelina's heart has been broken by Master Marc and they mean a lot to her, too. (Spellbound, by Lacuna Coil, an Italian Goth rock band--this was the closest I could get to correct lyrics, but they still messed up on them)

Nobody's Angel will give the Master Adam and Karla fans some delightful (and tragic) glimpses into their fledgling, still one-sided relationship. In the beginning of the book, she is singing this song to him at the club. While she was his siren at the end of Masters at Arms during her audition, he clearly is the siren spoken of in most of this song--touch me not. (Song to the Siren, by Sinead O'Connor) 

A little later in the story, Karla is singing this song to Master Adam during a scene orchestrated by Master Marc that was so much fun to write, and where I got my first glimpse of Luke as a Dom. *melt* (Poison, by Beyonce) 

Master and Adam's relationship will take a major turn in this book. This song works as a theme for them both in parts, but I hear Karla in most of the lyrics. both of them are guardians--and you will find out in Nobody's Angel why she followed him to Lake Michigan that cold Thanksgiving Day nine years ago--and why she was compelled to tell him she loved him. This song inspired several scenes in this book. *chills* (Guardian Angel, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus)

And here are the English lyrics to Por Amor, Master Marc's song and a theme song for Nobody's Angel, as well.

FOR LOVE (Por Amor)

I know your road,
every step you will make,
your closed anxieties and emptiness,
stones you will dismiss
without ever thinking that,
like rock, I return in you…

I know your every breath,
all you do not want.
You know well you do not live,
you cannot recognize it,
and it would be as if
this fiery sky
were to fall back within me
like a scene on an actor…

For love,
have you ever done anything
only for love?
Have you ever defied the wind and
cried out,
divided the heart itself,
paid and bet again,
behind this obsession
that remains only mine?

For love,
have you ever run breathless
for love,
lost and started again?
And you have to say now
how much of yourself you have
committed,
how much you have believed
in this lie,
and it would be as if
this river in flood
rose up again to me
like Indian ink to the artist.

For love,
have you ever spent everything,
reason, your pride, 

up to the tears?
You know tonight I remain.
I have no pretext,
only an obsession
that is still strong and mine
inside the soul you tear away.
And I tell you now,
sincere with myself,
how much it costs to know
you are not mine,
and it would be as if
all this sea
drowned in me

Master Adam is Karla's First (NOBODY'S ANGEL)

 

 

NOBODY'S ANGEL Comes Out Friday!

Time for another giveaway! Please leave a comment below. (No, you don't have to give the answer to the question below--say anything you like, but INCLUDE YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS!) Winner will receive a free e-copy of NOBODY'S ANGEL!  

Winner will be announced here Monday, Sept. 26, (after 6 p.m. Eastern US time).

Get a FREE Copy of MASTERS AT ARMS!

Haven't gotten your copy of Masters at Arms yet? Well, you absolutely do NOT want to read NOBODY'S ANGEL until you've read MASTERS AT ARMS, the introduction to the series (with riveting stories about five characters from the series). You'd miss so much!

So, for a limited time, download a FREE copy in any format you like at Smashwords! 

------> Use the Coupon Code QV99H (not case sensitive).  

SIX SENTENCE SUNDAY

SETUP:

Well, with nearly two books in the RESCUE ME series finished, I have just written Master Adam's first sensual scene, which appears in NOBODY'S ANGEL (release date Friday, Sept. 30)! I posted a larger excerpt of the scene on my Facebook wall Saturday (scroll down to the posting below the Air Force Band links, and the excerpt is in the fifth comment).

But before you peek, can you guess what Adam will be the first to do to Karla (well, in this scene/book, at least)? 

Don't want to give much away, but "she" is Karla and we're in Master Adam's head (point of view).

She blinked several times and raised her gaze.

“I apologize for speaking so harshly. This is your first time, isn’t it?”

Karla blinked again and her eyes opened wider. After a moment, as if understanding had dawned finally, she nodded.

“Thank you for allowing me to be your first.”

Each week, the new listing of Six Sentence Sunday (SSS) blogs goes live at about 9 a.m. EDT Sunday. This is a great way to find new authors to follow or read! For a list of this week's participants in the SSS blog tour, go to http://www.sixsunday.com/. Search #sixsunday on Twitter, as well!

 

NOBODY'S ANGEL will be released on Sept. 30 at Smashwords, and at Amazon and Barnes & Noble on or after that date. Read the opening pages (and see where the the three club owners are since we left them in the introduction--MASTERS AT ARMS--in this blog post (with great photos!). 

 

MASTERS AT ARMS is available for 99 cents for the Kindle at Amazon, (also at Amazon-UK and Amazon-Germany); for the Nook at Barnes & Noble (or at Smashwords), and for all formats at Smashwords. 

 

LIMITED TIME: Use the Coupon Code QV99H (not case sensitive) at Smashwords for a FREE copy!

Kally loves to add new friends on Facebook. 
Or follow her on Twitter.

Six Sunday: A Special Place in Hell (NOBODY'S ANGEL)

Here's another excerpt from my Sept. 30 release, NOBODY'S ANGEL. (This is book 2 in the RESCUE ME series. Scroll down for information on purchasing MASTERS AT ARMS, a must-read introduction to the series before you move on to the romances.)

OR comment below (WITH YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS!) for a chance to win a free copy of NOBODY'S ANGEL (and MASTERS AT ARMS, as well, if you don't have that one yet)!  Winner announced here Monday, Sept. 19, (after 6 p.m. Eastern US time).

Setup:

Angelina is on the cell phone talking with her mother and sitting between Master Marc's legs on the edge of her bed. He is...distracting her, because he knows he only has his toy to play with a short while longer and can't keep his hands off her. Okay, and he's a bit diabolical, as well. 

He slid his right hand down over her mons, his fingers slipping between the folds to encircle her clit. “Oh, yesss! I mean, yes, I will, Mama.” She tried to elbow him away. “Love you, too. Bye.”

She disconnected the call and stood up, spinning around to glare down at him, her teeth gritted. “There’s a special place in hell for a man who would seduce a woman while she’s talking to her mama.”

“Oh, I assure you, il diavolo long ago reserved a special place for me, bella, for sins far worse than that one.”

Each week, the new listing of Six Sentence Sunday (SSS) blogs goes live at about 9 a.m. EDT Sunday. This is a great way to find new authors to follow or read! For a list of this week's participants in the SSS blog tour, go to http://www.sixsunday.com/. Search #sixsunday on Twitter, as well!

 

NOBODY'S ANGEL will be released on Sept. 30 at Smashwords, and at Amazon and Barnes & Noble on or after that date. Read the opening pages (and see where the the three club owners are since we left them in the introduction--MASTERS AT ARMS--in this blog post (with great photos!). 

MASTERS AT ARMS (only 99 cents), the first novel in the RESCUE ME series, is available for the Kindle at Amazon, (also at Amazon-UK and Amazon-Germany--or at Smashwords); for the Nook at Barnes & Noble (or at Smashwords), and for all formats at Smashwords. 

Kally loves to add new friends on Facebook. 
Or follow her on Twitter.

GUEST: Steaming Up the Pages with Cari Silverwood

Please welcome fellow BDSM erotic romance author Cari Silverwood to my blog today. I met Cari in a BDSM readers/writers Facebook group I started this summer and she is one of the contributing members and moving forces behind the group’s BDSM Authors blog, The Playroom. 

Cari's got a wicked sense of humor and her romances give a whole new meaning to "steamy" novels. I think you'll also fall in love with her delightfully Dominant heroes, like Theo here. *melt*

New to steampunk as a subgenre? Well, think Victorian science fiction (H.G. Wells' Time Machine or Jules Vernes' submarine). The fashion is of the Victorian era; the machinery is steam powered; and, in the case of books by authors like Cari--the sex is steamy! 

Comment (with your e-mail address!) below by 12 noon (US Eastern time) Saturday, Sept. 17, for a chance to win an e-copy of Iron Dominance.

Steaming Up the Pages

Ingredients: Sexy military men. A rich handsome ex-Air Force colonel with a penchant for dominating his woman, who also likes to keep a paternal eye on those who work for him. A man who doesn’t shirk responsibilities and tackles his problems head-on if that’s how they need being handled. 

Theo’s also a man who keeps wolfhounds for pets, fully operational tanks (aka landships) in the vehicle depot on his property, and he has an employee who’s a whiz at inventing new devices to do erotically naughty things to Claire, Theo’s newly submissive mistress.

These are some of the people of my new novel, Iron Dominance, and I’ve been thinking about the genres, or the story niches, that people feel comfortable reading in. What makes someone choose a contemporary story with, say, a James Bond type, or a navy SEAL, and yet not want to read a story that has a steampunk setting? Many of the pieces of the story jigsaw are the same…you could almost transplant the people from many action stories and they’d snuggle in fine into a steampunk. 

But I guess it all is so personal. If you want to identify with the heroine, or the female main character, some find it only possible if they’re in the ‘real’ world. Exactly how real that really is in some novels is debatable, but I understand where that opinion comes from. Though, um, men with huge cocks who can go all night and ménages with five men and one woman are more ‘real’. Hmm. Maybe I need to get out more?

And no, Theo does not have a ten-inch cock. A reciprocating sexual probe? Yes. A handy St Andrews cross installed in his cabin on his airship, the Final Rebuttal? Yes. And, yes, he also has a limitless account at Hinchcliff and Co, the well-known up-market fetish and kink shop. He hasn’t however got the inflatable toy penis in the shape of an airship because that is so tasteless. And Theo certainly also has good taste—in women, in the men he chooses to work for him, in fashion, and also in BDSM equipment. 

Of course, I would love to imagine my story as drawing new readers into the steampunk genre, but only some are likely to rise to my bait. So here I am dangling it before your noses. Nibble it, sniff it, measure it for size—and take a bite if it appeals. The excerpt is down there. Go for it. Just don’t blame me if you get tangled up in some diabolical sexual machinery and then get spat out feeling all dizzy, hot, and bothered. 

Raised from childhood as an assassin, Claire finds her world knocked off kilter when Theo Kevonis, a rich, ex-Air Corp nobleman, rescues her from an airship crash. Being a soldier of a hostile nation she cannot reveal her identity, but Theo sinks his steely Dom fingers into her heart and soul, showing her the pleasures to be found in surrendering to his touch. Captivated, Claire cannot help but bind herself in lie after lie rather than risk losing the one man who’s ever loved her.

When her loathsome commander returns from the dead, her deceit is uncovered. Somehow, Claire must find a way to win back Theo's trust and destroy the man who threatens them both.

To purchase a copy of Iron Dominance, go to: 

http://www.loose-id.com/Iron-Dominance.aspx. 

Steamy Excerpt from Iron Dominance

“Stay there,” he said.

She could smell him. 

She almost opened her eyes to say something, but instead balanced there. Why she obeyed him, she wasn’t sure but it satisfied something primal, something deeply sexual. And letting go like this, made her feel safe. 

Anticipation strung her insides tight. She yearned for further caresses. Her cleft swelled. 

“Here. Raise your feet.” An article of clothing, both silken cloth and something harder, slid with muffled clicks up each leg. Theo arranged it about her torso, cool beads shifting across her breasts until the garment fitted snugly on her body. Something narrow settled between her legs. She gasped at a throb of pleasure as his fingers played in her moisture. A few more adjustments and he led her off to one side. A light flared on. “There. Open your eyes.” 

In a tall mirror, she saw herself, dressed in a black corset paneled with satin. Coming down from a halter, pearl ropes fanned out over each breast with her nipples peeking out between. A tiny skirt of chiffon, divided at the crotch, barely made it as far as her upper thighs. Lines of seed pearls undulated down the satin and a string of larger pearls dove deeply between her legs, emphasizing the split lips of her sex. She could feel it run up between the cheeks of her bottom at the back. Even as she looked, she felt a renewed throb, for every movement she made, from breath to heartbeat to shift of feet, moved the line of pearls and rubbed against her clit.

In the reflection, she saw Theo beyond her shoulder, bare-chested, the ringlets of his black hair stark against his forehead. He raised a satin and pearl choker and positioned it about her neck, clicking it into place. “And these,” he said, holding first one wrist and then the other to snick matching black satin bracelets on her wrists. “They suit you.” From the hardness, metal lurked beneath the black cloth.

Where the choker and bracelets rested on skin, her pulse rose, thumping, to the surface and reminded her of where she was, who she was with, and especially, how dangerous this could be. But…she trusted him.

To her surprise, her throat still worked, though the words seemed to stick to her tongue. “How did you know my size? Where did this come from?”

“Bought while I was away. I have a good memory, especially for someone as striking as you.” 

Which meant, he’d planned her…seduction, while she’d been planning escape. She leaned back against him, fascinated by the allure of the woman in the mirror. The heat from his body soaked into her like a glass of wine. She lifted each wrist and examined the bracelets -- identical, and each with tiny loops of steel projecting from them. 

“That’s for a chain to pass through,” he whispered, mouthing the nape of her neck. “Does it bother you? Think, before you answer.”

 “Yes…” she said slowly, fearful of being again restrained in cuffs.

“And yet?” He pressed a hand against her stomach, holding her against him, making her feel the rigid line of his cock. The pearls slid in her juices, pressing, rolling over her clit and anus. She let out a whimper. “Ahh. You feel them working on you.” He chuckled. “And yet?” 

And yet the idea of it, of being restrained by Theo, held a strange and deadly fascination. She shied away from that thought, and shook her head. “And nothing.”

“Ah-h. I can see my first project will be to get you talking more.”

She stood there in silence. The fear she felt came intertwined with lust in almost everything that Theo did to her. Taking her by the shoulders, he moved her to face him, gray eyes inches away, then his mouth descended, covering hers, devouring her. She breathed in his breath, letting him do as he willed. One broad hand held the base of her neck, the other splayed over the curve of her buttocks. His fingers wrapped around the pearl rope running between her legs, tightening it. Desire ran rampant through her, surging higher with every tiny movement of his lips on hers, and the rub of the pearls on her pussy and nipples.

When she put her hands to the belt of his pants, he reached between their bodies, snared both her wrists and pulled them round to the small of her back where he held them with one hand. Again, the pearls shifted. She bit her lip, a moan escaping her as she arched.

Eyes shut, she heard a soft animal-like growl.

“Claire, if you’re not damn careful, I’ll eat you up.” 

What? She opened her eyes a slit, still panting, to see that he’d stepped away a little, angling his stance so as to observe her. 

His gaze brushed her, lingering on her breasts before he locked on her eyes. “Last chance. Do you want to stop? Are you too sore? It might cause me irreparable harm, but I can stop.” Then he eyed her darkly, as if he’d liked to do exactly what he’d threatened to -- eat her up.

The pain of the bruise at her neck had faded to nothing in spite of the choker. With her whole being, she yearned for more of him. He inflamed her past bearing and knowing that he watched her, swept her excitement to another level.

She licked her lips, aware of her wrists still caught behind her and the display of her body. God, if he didn’t do more than this, she’d surely burst. 

“No,” she said huskily. “Don’t stop.”

“Please?”

Ah, how he tormented her. “Please.”

“Over here then.” Still gripping her wrists he urged her toward the bed, to kneel by the side of it, and lie face down across the quilt with her bottom up. He spread her hands, palm down over each cheek of her buttocks.

“Don’t move,” he whispered in her ear. “And I won’t have to tie you.”

Tie me? She almost let go at that. Was this what she wanted? But he held his hands over hers a moment. She stayed there. 

“Good.”

His fingers trailed over the backs of her hands, over the ends of her fingernails, and down her thighs. She quivered, sucking in air through the quilt bunched beneath her mouth.

“Spread your legs, Claire.”

She shifted them, feeling even more exposed, a breeze caressing her engorged labia. He traced down the line of pearls, reached her wet cleft and followed deeper where the pearls seemed to have sunk into her flesh. Slick and wet. The scent of her lust reached her. Slowly he went farther until he reached her clit. He circled it, teasing, making her shift her bottom to place the finger just right.

About Cari Silverwood

Though I’d much rather stay invisible and spin you all tales with my words, here’s a little snippet of my world.

I have a lovely family, with the prerequisite teenager who dwells in the dark bedroom catacombs, a husband who raises eyebrows when he catches glimpses of what I write, and a furry menagerie of other animals barking meowing, and swimming about the place. 

Before writing the novel Three Days of Dominance I had never dipped my little toes in the hot and lust-swirled sea of erotica. Now every time I turn around there’s someone begging me to write down their story in the most lurid way. I’m sure I don’t know where my people learnt their morals. They’re quite adamant about teaching me creative new ways of making love. So, I doubt I’ll run out of ideas anytime soon. 

And, dammit, I can’t seem to stop reading other erotic romance and erotica authors either. I have come over to the dark side. Someone please find me a candle...and some rope. 'Cause if Darth Vader's here, I'm going to see if he's up for some bondage and wax play.

My Web site, if you’re curious about my other evil pursuits:  http://www.carisilverwood.net/.

Six Sunday: She Went to a WHAT? (NOBODY'S ANGEL)

This is a scene from NOBODY'S ANGEL (release date Sept. 30 on Smashwords and soon after on Amazon and Barnes & Noble) where Angelina has just been spanked for disobeying. As a result, Marc broke through one of her barriers to BDSM and he is trying to get her to tell him where the hangup originated. He knows it happened at the Masters at Arms BDSM Club he co-owns, because he was there to rescue her from her abusive ex-boyfriend. (She was in deep subspace and doesn't remember him, just that he reminds her of a dream lover who has plagued her ever since.)

Angelina was raised in an Italian Catholic home with four overprotective older brothers and does not want to admit to Marc (also Italian and overprotective) that she was in a kink club. We're in Angelina's head and she's snuggling on his lap in aftercare.

“Um, it was in Denver at…um…a private club where adults…couples mostly…do...things to each other.”

“Just what kinds of things do they do?” She could have sworn by his voice he was smiling, but didn’t want to pull away from his comforting arms to look at his face. Did the man who professed to be a Dom have no clue what she meant by couples doing things to each other in a private club?

“Well, pretty much anything you can imagine.”

“I can imagine a lot, pet.”

 

NOBODY'S ANGEL will be available to purchase on Sept. 30 at Smashwords, and at Amazon and Barnes & Noble soon afterwards. Read the opening pages (ans see where the the three club owners are since we left them in the introduction--MASTERS AT ARMS--in this blog post (with great photos to go with it!).

MASTERS AT ARMS, the first novel in the RESCUE ME series, is now available to purchase for the Kindle at Amazon, (also at Amazon-UK and Amazon-Germany--or at Smashwords); for the Nook at Barnes & Noble (or at Smashwords), and for all formats at Smashwords. 

Kally loves to add new friends on Facebook. 
Or follow her on Twitter.

 

Opening Pages of NOBODY'S ANGEL (release Sept. 30)

I'm working hard to finish the latest edit of NOBODY'S ANGEL before sending it to my editor and beta readers for one more look before it's release date of Sept. 30. But I wanted to share with you the opening of the book, just to give you a chance to revisit the Masters at Arms club you read about in MASTERS AT ARMS, the introduction to the RESCUE ME series. 

If you haven't read MASTERS AT ARMS yet, you'll enjoy NOBODY'S ANGEL much better if you do, although each book will be written as a stand-alone novel, as well). You can purchase MASTERS for the Kindle at Amazon, (also at Amazon-UK and Amazon-Germany--or at Smashwords); for the Nook at Barnes & Noble (or at Smashwords), and for all formats at Smashwords. 

Keep in mind, the excerpt below may not be absolute the final version, as I go through final edits in the weeks to come. But it sure is close! 

And, if you want to read MASTERS first, DO NOT CONTINUE. There be SPOILERS (and dragons)!

NOBODY'S ANGEL

copyright by Kallypso Masters 

Chapter One

Marc D’Alessio ignored the familiar hitch in his breath caused when he overstretched the adhesions in his side as he donned the black leather vest over his bare chest. He checked to make sure the vest pockets included the safety and first-aid items he may need while on duty tonight and pulled his yellow armband over his right bicep, identifying him as the club’s Dungeon Monitor Supervisor.

Lastly, he donned the wolf mask to maintain some anonymity. What Italian men don’t do for their mamas… No one he knew from his earlier life in Aspen had ever shown up at the club, but he had promised Mama he wouldn’t be blatant about his lifestyle. Shit, just having her find out about his interest in the BDSM lifestyle had been bad enough. If his little brother Sandro had just kept his mouth shut….

He wished he’d chosen a different mask. The damned wolf one just brought him attention from the unattached subs he really didn’t want these days.

Marc stepped out of the dressing area and walked down the short hallway to where the great room at the Masters at Arms club opened before him. The club was hopping tonight, so he knew he’d have to stay alert. He also was about an hour late and needed to find co-owner Adam Montague to get the lowdown. He scanned the room looking for the retired Marine top sergeant.

Fellow Iraq War veteran Damián Orlando, the youngest of the three club owners, wore his trademark black-and-orange Harley leather vest and had a petite blonde chained to the center post where he delivered evenly placed lashes with his single-tailed whip. The center of the room had been roped off to keep onlookers out of the range of the whip. Both subs and Doms watched the demonstration with rapt attention.

Marc recognized the bottom as one of Damián’s regulars, the expression on her face one of pure ecstasy, despite the red welts he could see on her back, ass, and thighs. He didn’t get off on delivering that level of pain, but his friend sure was popular with the masochistic bottoms who did. 

 The tattoo on Damián’s flexing bicep showed the rippling tail of a dragon. The rest of the tat was hidden by his vest, but Marc knew it covered a good portion of his chest and back. He’d gone with him for some of the sessions at the tat parlor. With his shoulder-length hair pulled into a queue, and his goatee and moustache, Damián had the look of a real badass. 

Marc couldn’t help but remember the shy kid Damián had been when they’d met at Camp Pendleton. Or that trip to the L.A. fetish club the week before they’d deployed to Fallujah. Man, if he didn’t know it for a certainty, he wouldn’t believe this was the same man. The kid sure had come home from Iraq messed up. Marc and Adam had almost lost him during the kid’s deepest depression.

Apparently, with BDSM he’d found a way to regain some level of control over his life again, even if it did mean he’d chosen to delve deeply into the sensual sadist range of the lifestyle’s spectrum.

The two of them had gone through some serious shit together in Iraq. Damián had come out the worse for it. Marc wished he’d been able to do more to save his foot, but he was just thankful that, as his Navy Corpsman, he’d been able to keep him alive. His buddy’s limp was hardly noticeable now and he seemed to be getting his life back on track. Or on track as well as any of the three co-owners had been able to.

Marc loved Damián like a brother and realized he’d become closer to the kid since they trained together in the Marine Corps than he was to Sandro.

Continuing to look for Adam, the scent of sweat and sex filled the air as he glanced over at the stage where Karla Paxton prepared for tonight’s set. She flinched every time Damián’s whip struck the woman’s bare and sweating skin. When Marc had first met her, he hadn’t expected her to last more than her first weekend’s performances. She sure as hell didn’t care much for the lifestyle, even the milder stuff.

But Karla sure did care for Adam—not that his former master sergeant noticed. Shit, the man was clueless.

“You’re here.” Well, speak of the devil, he turned to watch Adam approach him. After all these years of retirement, his friend still kept his hair trimmed to near-Marine regs. Not a high and tight, but close enough. There was a heavy mix of gray among the dark brown hair now. 

 “Sorry. Got held up on…a mission.”

Adam’s intense stare bore through him as if to say he knew Marc wasn’t being honest, which niggled at his conscience. Adam had gone back for Marc on that rooftop in Fallujah after the mortar blast had slammed a projectile into Marc’s lung. He’d visited him in the hospital as he recovered, often spending his nights watching over Marc as he slept. Most importantly, he’d helped ease some of Marc’s guilt over the loss of his big brother, Gino, who also had served under Adam in Afghanistan. He owed the man so much. Why was he trying to distance himself from him now?

Because you distance yourself from everyone.

No, that was different. Yeah, he did keep women’s at arm’s length emotionally, but knew Adam would die before he ever hurt him or break his trust. So, why didn’t he let him in on what was going on with his lack of interest in the lifestyle lately? Adam had been nudging him for months to tell him what was going on in Marc’s head. He’d quit scening, opting to volunteer as a DM or DMS most nights, when he showed up at the club. One thing was certain. Marc would continue as a co-owner of the club with these men; their band-of-brothers bond would never be broken.

Shit, he couldn’t explain what was going on to himself, much less to his friend. He was just…unsettled since Pamela had dumped him last year. In no mood to talk now either, Marc deflected the unspoken questions. “So, what’s the situation?”

Adam paused a moment, then stood down, rubbing the back of his neck. “Keep an eye on Room 8. They’re new to the scene and I don’t get the feeling the two know each other very well.”

The recent surge in erotic BDSM books had couples coming out of the woodwork to try out what their partners, some of them nearly strangers, had discovered in those romanticized stories. Too bad. Most of the women should have stuck with the romanticized version. They got off on the idea of BDSM, but not the actual experience. Besides, most of their “Doms” had no clue. Too many of them were more into abuse than any type of consensual power exchange.

Until the last few months, Marc had held a series of weekend training sessions when he was off duty from the mountain rescue squad and didn’t have any camping or skiing expeditions planned with his outfitter company. Those Doms who truly wanted to learn to please their partners in the BDSM lifestyle signed up, but they’d represented a small fraction of the couples he saw coming in to experiment on the equipment at the club. Of course, he hadn’t given a class for quite a while.

“I’ll keep an eye on them,” said Marc. Adam filled him in on how many DMs were on duty tonight and where each was stationed. “Anything else?”

“No, pretty routine.” They shared a grin. There was nothing routine about the Masters at Arms, now one of Denver’s hottest fetish clubs. They’d become so popular since hiring Karla to sing that they’d just started opening on Wednesdays, in addition to Fridays and Saturdays. 

As Karla began to sing "Song to the Siren," Marc’s and Adam’s gazes were drawn to the young woman commanding attention on the stage. Her wardrobe sure had improved since she’d first started; tonight, she wore a black satin and sequin number that concealed her shoulders, but left a large oval expanse of her chest open, showing off the swell of her breasts. Her arms were bare except for lacy black gloves covering her forearms and wrists. The hem of the dress was more than a foot above her knees, showing off her sexy long legs encased in black mesh stockings. Definitely hot.

Marc turned back to Adam to finish up before getting to work. Shit. The look of intense longing on his friend’s face bordered on pain. If Adam wanted her so badly, why didn’t he just go after her? He knew he shared some kind of history with the woman, but Adam was doing his damnedest to treat her like a daughter. Hell, anyone with eyes could see that the looks Karla gave him were anything but those of a daughter’s. Sure, there was a chronological age difference, but she sure as hell didn’t act twenty-five. She was mature, almost somber sometimes. Not that Adam noticed—when he allowed himself to get anywhere near her. Maybe he was still holding onto the memory of his dead wife, but, after nine years, and with a beautiful woman like Karla wanting him, the man needed to wake up and smell the vino.

Like you’re the expert on relationships. Marc sighed. He’d better get to work. “I’ll make the rounds.”

“Hang around for a drink later on,” Adam said. “I have Birra Moretti in stock.”

Marc knew Adam didn’t drink alcohol, but just wanted an opportunity to grill him for information. He knew Adam wasn’t going to take much more of Marc’s shit before he kicked him in the ass. But not tonight. “Let me take a rain check. It’s been a helluva long day. I’d better go check on Room 8.”

Adam nodded and let him go, probably because he was worried about the couple in the private theme room, not because he wanted to let Marc off the hook. Marc maneuvered around some couples gyrating on the dance floor near the bar, almost tripping over a sub kneeling on the floor beside her Dom at one of the tables.

The Italian woman, who looked too damn much like Melissa for his taste, gave him a come-on with her eyes, then smiled. Totally disrespectful to her Dom, who seemed not to even notice as he spoke with another Dom. Marc just bent down to instruct the Dom to please keep his sub out of the walkway, then continued toward the theme rooms. He and the other DMs were going to be spread thin tonight with a crowd this size.

The hallway to the scene rooms was painted red from floor to ceiling. Flickers from the simulated-fire wall sconces caused his shadow to dance against the walls as he approached the fourth room on the right. To accommodate the voyeurs—and allow the DMs to do their job—a large window gave him a vantage point over the scene inside the room.

Each of the theme rooms was set up with specialized equipment. Some provided furniture and items that conjured up popular fantasies—the office, the gynecologist’s office, the dungeon. He’d hired Luke Denton, his Search and Rescue squad partner and the carpenter who helped renovate the club, to make the specialized BDSM equipment for the club

Room 8 focused on a number of spanking and whipping paraphernalia, including a spanking bench, a leather love seat, a sling, and the St. Andrew’s Cross. A blond Dom, dressed in black leather vest and pants over which his slight paunch spilled, held a leather flogger. His sub was tied spread-eagle on the cross, naked except for the blindfold. Her long black hair hung in waves halfway down her back. Thank God it stopped short of the gorgeous curves of her ass.

Focus, man. You aren’t here to get off on a sub tonight.

NOBODY'S ANGEL will be available to purchase on Sept. 30 at Smashwords, and at Amazon and Barnes & Noble soon afterwards. 

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