Snippet Sunday: FEVER DREAM

Well, it’s getting close enough that I’m going to start teasing you with snippets of my upcoming release, Fever Dream.  Been missing Liam and Ashleigh from Waking Kiss? You’ll definitely see them again, AND you’ll learn much more about our bad boy Rubio, who has some real heart to go along with that libido.

But before the heart, Rubio and Petra have some stops and starts along the way. Everything’s complicated by the fact that they work together in a highly scrutinized ballet partnership.

What follows is a scene from the very beginning of their BDSM relationship, in Ruby’s POV. They’re about to embark on a different kind of partnership, which Petra insists won’t involve sex. Any bets how long that lasts? 😉

She sucked in a deep breath, stealing another glance at his hardening tool. “I don’t want there to be any sex.”

“Why not? I’m clean. We’ll be safe.”

She squared her shoulders and tugged at the hem of her dress. “I’ll let you spank me if you want. Do a scene with me out there.” She gestured to the equipment. “But no sex. I want you to put some pants on. Your hard-on is scaring me.” She shaded her eyes, like she hadn’t just been leering at his erection.

“No sex at all?” he asked. “You’re sure? You don’t think I’m sexy?”

“It’s the whole…the whole partner thing.”

“Okay,” he said. “I’ll put my pants on, but only if you take your clothes off.”

“What?”

He shrugged. “That’s my offer. I’ll dress if you undress.”

“Oh, we’re bargaining?”

He made a show of looking around. “No one cares if you’re naked. I don’t care. I already know your body anyway, all of it. I feel it with my hands every day.”

“The thing is, I’ve never done…I’ve never done anything public like this before.”

“Only your dress off,” he said. “My final offer. But it’s better if we’re both naked.”

“No it’s not, because we’re not going to have sex.” She pointed a finger at him. “I’m serious.”

“You don’t trust me?”

She almost said no, he could see it, but he’d never given her any reason not to trust him. Not in class, not in rehearsals, not onstage. He’d never once been careless or endangered her, or come close to dropping her, or did anything that might injure her or derail her career. “I trust you,” she finally admitted in a grudging tone. “You’re just really, really… God, Rubio. You might poke out my eyes with that thing waving loose.”

“Come on,” he said, taking her hand and leading her across the room. He found his jeans by the back wall and pulled them on, stuffing his erection into the rough denim. It would go down in a minute. Or not.

A horse. He’d make her straddle a sawhorse, secure her arms over her head so she couldn’t flail around too much. And then…

He rubbed the front of his fly. This was going to leave him with a horrible case of blue balls, but if she didn’t want sex, he couldn’t force her. If he played this scene right, they could start a whole journey of pain and submission and, eventually, she’d want something more. Like in ballet, he’d partner her, hold her steady and guide her through the hard parts.

     We can make perfection together.

She looked around self-consciously as he led her to the right side of the room, to a padded horse that was currently unoccupied. Strange, to see Petra without her usual confidence, but he liked her better this way. She was letting down walls, allowing him to see a sliver of her vulnerability. A sliver, that’s all she would give.

Like Liam in Waking Kiss, Rubio is a top, not a dominant. He insists on what he wants in the bedroom and play room, but he’s not heavy into roles anyplace else.

I probably won’t write another “plain top” for a while, but it is kind of fun when people are going at power exchange just for the pleasure aspect, as opposed to living “the lifestyle” or focusing on titles, rules, and protocols. It can get very dirty and naughty, and Petra loves naughty, just like us! Stay tuned for more info about Fever Dream, the sequel to Waking Kiss, coming out by the end of this month. If you click the book cover below, you can find it on Goodreads and add it to your TBR list.