Totally Bound, 2016
Contemporary erotic romance
BDSM
Three
books, average 66,000 words
each
Cliffhangers,
but eventual HEA ending
#bdsm #eroticromance #ashebarker #discipline
#dominance #spanking #contemporary
Buy Links
NB.
Darkening is FREE at Totally Bound and All Romance until 30 April 2016
Introduction
Hi, and
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taking a chance on the unpublished rookie I was back then.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.
Enter my
Rafflecopter for a chance to win ALL THREE BOOKS in the series. The competition
ends on 1 May.
Find Rafflecopter Here
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.
Darkening (Book 1 Blurb)
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?
Darkening (Book 1 Excerpt)
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.
Darker (Book 2 Blurb)
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?
We continue to stroll in
the direction of the waterfront once more, and arrive back at Nathan’s
apartment around midnight. As soon as the lift doors close he is on me, kissing
me, exploring my mouth with his tongue while pulling my shirt from my pants. Deftly
undoing the buttons, before I know it he has my hands caught behind my back,
tangled in the sleeves. Lifting his head to glance appreciatively at my new,
pink lacy bra he cups my breasts, squeezing gently, lowering his head to kiss
the mounds visible above the lace. “So sweet, Eva, so pretty,” he breathes, and
I vaguely wonder if he means my underwear or my body. Who cares? He flicks open
the front fastening of my bra to bare my breasts for his ministrations. With
his mouth and clever fingers my nipples are brought to swollen, aching hardness
before the lift arrives at the penthouse, and the doors glide open.
It’s only when he takes my
elbow to tug me forward into the apartment that I realize my hands are
effectively tied behind my back, still caught up in my discarded blouse. I
wriggle, trying to free myself so I can kiss him back, hold him, but he smiles
down, knowingly. I realize he’s done this on purpose. And that he won’t free me
until he’s good and ready. After dropping a light kiss on my lips, he opens the
door to the apartment and gestures for me to enter before him.
Once inside, Nathan leaves
me standing, topless, in the middle of his living room as he goes over to the
fridge. Pulling out a chilled bottle of wine he quickly uncorks it and pours one
glass. Strolling back toward me, the glass in his right hand, his eyes are on
my breasts, admiring, lustful. I realize my usual inhibitions might be
diminishing, but have not yet disappeared as I wish I was better endowed,
curvier. Nathan doesn’t seem to mind, though, as with his free left hand he
cups and massages my breast whilst he reaches with his right hand, still
holding the glass, to curl it behind my neck. He pulls me close, kissing my
ear, nibbling the lobe before dropping his face to my neck.
“Christ, Eva, you are a
beautiful sight. Perfect. Exquisite.” He kisses me again before sipping the
wine.
“Would you like a drink,
Eva?”
I nod. “Yes, please. But
you’ll have to hold the glass.” I roll my shoulders to indicate my bound hands.
He smiles. “Ah, yes,
anything to be of service, Miss Byrne.”
He lifts the glass to my
lips, tipping a little of the crisp chilled liquid into my mouth before
immediately following it in with his tongue, tasting the wine before it
disappears down my throat.
“I do like to share, Miss
Byrne,” he murmurs before taking another sip himself. This time, though, he
catches my mouth in a deep, open-mouthed kiss, letting the liquid pour from his
tongue onto mine. It feels sensuous, intimate, delicious. I moan, swallow
quickly in surprised contentment.
Darkest (Book 3 Blurb)
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?
Darkest (Book 3 Excerpt)
“I just… I’ve never done
anything like this before. It feels sort of… Well, as if I shouldn’t be doing
it. On my own, that is.”
“Ah, but it’s the
forbidden that makes it so much fun. Lie back and enjoy, Miss Byrne. Let me
help you…”
“I wish you were here.” My voice is small, thready,
needy. I miss him so much.
His tone is low, gentle, caressing. “I will be. Soon.
But I’m with you now in spirit, sweetheart. So, tell me what you’re doing at
this moment.”
“I’m lying on my bed, talking to you.”
“Smart-ass. I think you’re taking advantage of the
situation. If I was there you’d be lying across my knees, and your bottom would
be smarting for that little wisecrack.”
“Ah, yes. I’m sorry.”
“I think you mean you’re sorry, Sir. Okay, now, are you lying on your back?”
“Yes.”
“Can you put your phone on speaker and leave it on the
pillow next to you? You’ll need both hands free for this.”
With a gulp I shove any embarrassment into a far
corner of my mind and decide to go for it, go with it. I push a few buttons and
lay the phone beside my head. “Okay, I’ve done that.”
“Open your legs wide and look at yourself in the
mirror on your wardrobe.”
“What! I…”
“Do it, Eva.” His tone is firm, the command one to be
obeyed. So I do it. I obey.
I hadn’t even realized how strategically placed my
wardrobe was, but as I lie there, my thighs spread wide, I can see the lips of
my vagina, still gloriously naked following the Brazilian wax, glistening with
my own juices. Just waiting to be touched, and stroked, waiting to be gently
opened to slide a smooth, warm dildo inside me. Oh. Wow.
“Tell me what you see, Eva.” The voice is soft now, a
seductive whisper brushing my ear.
“I can see—me. All of me.”
“Tell me exactly what you see. Use any words you
want.”
“I see my—my vagina. And my clitoris. They’re very
pink.”
“That’s good. Your slick, pink little cunt is one of
the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. And are you wet, Eva?”
“I, I don’t know. Maybe.”
“Find out for me now, love. Slide your hand down
there. Stroke your cunt just like I would if I was there with you. Tell me if
you’re wet.”
Despite what’s happening, despite my willing
participation, I am still a little shocked by the crude language. This is
explicit, even by Nathan’s standards. And it makes me hot as hell. He thinks
I’m beautiful. There. God!
Watching every movement in the mirror I slide my hand
along my stomach, trailing my fingertips across my lower abdomen to gently,
lightly probe between my legs. I deliberately skip over my clitoris, although I
can clearly see that hot, needy little nub starting to swell. Instead I run my
fingers around the entrance to my vagina, and gently dip the very end of my
middle finger inside.
“I, yes, Nathan. I’m wet. And, oh my God, this feels
so—decadent. I can’t believe I’m doing this. Talking to you like this. About
this.”
“Decadent? I like that, Eva. And does it feel good?”
“Yes,”
I whisper. “So good.”
Review Quotes
- Holy
crow! I knew Eva was intelligent but WHOA! (OK no spoiler reveals).
- The sex …
is bow-chica-wow-wow hot! Note to Eva - if you get tired I'll tag in for you!
Yes this is an erotic story but there is so much more than just sex. The soul
baring and secret revealings have me alternating between laughing, gasping and
tears.
- Author
Ashe Barker has definitely mastered the art of cliffhangers because just when I
think her books are going to end on a high note, BAM! there it is. I know I
will just be crushed to see this story end … an absolute must read and I do
highly recommend reading the Dark Side Trilogy.
- What a
fantastic third book. The ending was everything you could hope for. Ms Barker
knows what it takes to satisfy her readers, and she doesn't disappoint. My only
complaint is that there are no more books to read in this trilogy.
- Wow, I
have enjoyed these three books so much that I would like his version of this
love story, please it would be nice.
About Ashe
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—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.
Find Ashe Here
