Snippet Sunday: DEEP IN THE WOODS

Ah, it’s spring. The rain is falling, the trees are flowering, and Annabel’s allergies are going insane.

Haha. Well, I’ll survive, I’m sure. I’m hard at work on Waking Kiss and the follow up novel, Fever Dream, but since spring is reminding me of woods and nature, I thought I’d post a snippet of Deep in the Woods for you on this Snippet Sunday.

Deep in the Woods deals with the eternal BDSM question, how far is too far? The heroine, Sophie, has been involved in a lengthy “consensual nonconsent” relationship that not only endangered her, but others in the Atlanta kink community. As a result, her and her partner were ostracized from the very support system that might have saved her from a lot of pain and suffering.

When she tries to return to the kink scene, Dave, the hero, learns that many in the community don’t have the kindest feelings toward her.

 “She’s just an attention-whore,” Madame M said. “Before Depraved, there was that other one, you remember?”

     “But he wasn’t as bad,” said Veronica.

     “Well, he was bad enough. Anyway,” M continued, “eventually Sophie and Depraved were not welcome at the munches and parties anymore. They were blacklisted from Studio Erotica. Lawrence and Marie had to do it, otherwise the police would have found a way to shut them down.”

     They all fell silent. Dave looked from one face to the other. “Then what? What happened?”

     “Well,” said M. “They disappeared. We didn’t know. None of us knew what was going on until it was too late. Sophie’s parents came sniffing around, saying their daughter hadn’t contacted them in weeks. Again, the cops were all over us. No one knew who this ‘Depraved’ character was, where he lived, where he worked. No one had seen them, but the cops were at every venue, at every event looking for Sophie. Sophie’s father is some high-placed local businessman or something—”

     “That wasn’t the point, that the cops were everywhere,” said Clark. “So you had to answer a few questions! What about her?” He turned to Dave. “They found Sophie when she turned up in the emergency room. She had been abused. Drugged.” He went silent, searching for words. “Broken. She was a mess. She might have died.” He scowled at M. “No one would have asked to be treated like that. So calling her a bitch—”

     “She was a bitch! She made trouble for a lot of people—”

     “I cried,” said Veronica. “I felt so guilty.”

     “Exactly.” Madame M frowned. “We all felt guilty, but it was none of our faults. And when she failed again and again to report him, she endangered every other submissive in Atlanta, because he didn’t go away. He hasn’t gone away. She never did bring any charges against him, although as far as I know, he’s gone to ground. He couldn’t come anywhere near any munch or club in Atlanta without getting beaten to a bloody pulp, that’s for sure.”

     Dave thought that sounded like a good time, beating to a bloody pulp a man who had put Sophie in the hospital. A man who had done it in the name of BDSM. A “sadist.” That’s probably what this “Depraved” imagined himself. A kinky sadist, just like Dave, only he hadn’t known when to stop. He remembered how Jerry, a “daddy dom”-type player, had scowled at him as he’d chatted Sophie up. Jerry had probably thought, oh, no, she can’t fall into the hands of another sadist. Not on my watch. But there were sadists, and then there were sociopaths.

     “So why do you think she came back?” Dave asked.

     “Lonely, maybe?” offered Veronica.

     “God, I can’t imagine why she would show her face here,” said M with a snort. “You saw the reception she got. Just needs more attention, I suppose.”

     Well, she had gotten Dave’s attention. She definitely had his attention now.

If you haven’t read Deep in the Woods and the follow up book, Fortune, now is the time to do it since Fortune is marked down to $2.99 on Amazon! (I checked and it’s not marked down at Barnes and Noble, unfortunately.)

Click the book cover below to read a blurb of Deep in the Woods and find buy links. And I hope you’re having a wonderful spring!