TAKING EVE
by Tina Donahue
Blurb:
A willing slave
to possession, punishment, pleasure…
Dreams of a manor where submission and dominance once ruled draws
Faith to hypnotherapist Colin Danes. Potently virile, he looks remarkably like
her most cherished master from a past life. Desire smolders in his eyes,
proving he’s never forgotten her.
Their carnal dance continues in the present and leads to their
past when she was known as Eve. Through hypnotherapy, Colin brings her back to
the Victorian era, a hidden estate where she eagerly submits to whatever he and
her other noble masters crave. The exquisite discipline of the strap. Being bid
on and mounted each night. Displayed and used for the enjoyment of all.
Most will take her. One will try to imprison her. Only he will be
her true master in that life and this.
Excerpt:
The advertisement challenged, Are your dreams so real they seem to have
come from another time?
Faith Montgomery gripped the mail
circular. Its paper made a sharp, crackling noise, no different from ice
snapping.
Frigid wind swept past, delivering more
snow. Feverish and unsettled, Faith stood in front of the medical arts building
that catered to doctors, nutritionists, shrinks and hypnotherapists. Unlike
Seattle’s typical brick or glass structures, this place had a granite façade
and steepled ceilings. Similar to a castle where dominance, submission and
punishment played out. Where men wore dated clothing, while women were nude,
defenseless, sighing then crying out their arousal and pleasure.
Her mouth went dry.
From behind, a car’s horn blared, sending
her pulse into a faster sprint. Traffic continued to crawl along the slick
streets, headlights brushed past, illuminating the building’s directory. Faith
didn’t bother to search it. According to the circular, his office was on the
second floor. Her appointment in a few minutes, made earlier in the week by
phone. The first time she’d heard his voice and yet not the first time.
“Why do you want an appointment?” he’d
asked.
Something inside her had fluttered at his
smooth baritone, enticing and strangely familiar, reducing her to silence.
“You’ve seen things,” he’d coaxed. “Felt
things.”
God, yeah.
While he’d waited for her response, she’d
stared at his picture on the glossy flyer.
Several locks of his hair—thick, wavy, the
color of espresso—grazed his forehead. His strong, masculine features were
handsome as hell, nearly aristocratic. In her mind, Faith saw him dressed in
eveningwear, the kind worn during the early Victorian era. A coat with tails,
snug at the waist to accentuate his impressive shoulders. Dark trousers and a
shockingly white cravat. Identical to heroes in romance novels that she’d read
in high school.
He definitely had those guys beat.
His long-lashed eyes were a striking blue.
Even from the picture, they stripped Faith of all privacy, reaching into her
soul, the same as the promise of his full, rich mouth. A hint of stubble graced
his upper lip, chin and cheeks, virile and tempting. Young, possibly early
thirties, he was the kind of man a woman wouldn’t forget.
Faith certainly hadn’t.
“Yeah,” she’d murmured during the call, at
last answering him. “I’ve had recurring dreams, flashes of another time.”
You.
Rather than questioning her further, he’d
given her the last appointment of the day, well past the time other
professionals did business. His office windows were the only ones lit on the
second floor, the lights’ golden glow spilling onto the street. Waves of snow,
carried by the wind, twinkled like stars within the brightness.
Faith
half-expected—and fully hoped—he’d be at the window, looking down at her.
Watching. Waiting. Anticipating as she was.
He
wasn’t.
His
absence only stoked her stark need. Clearly, he had no doubt she’d keep their
appointment. Now, as before, he commanded and figured she’d obey.
On
an edgy sigh, she entered the building. Heated air and the scents of polished
wood, leather, wool washed over her. In the absolute quiet, she heard each
click of her heels across the floor, a dark-green marble veined with white.
Faith
avoided slick spots made by others who’d come and gone, tracking in the snow.
She should have worn more practical shoes in this weather, pants instead of a
skirt, but hadn’t, sensing he wouldn’t have approved.
Like
one possessed—or commanded by a Master—Faith climbed the stairs, reaching the
second floor. The walls were paneled in polished walnut, which gave them the
air of a private club where men called the shots. Their decisions law. Their
desires the only rule that counted, no matter what they demanded. A woman’s
full surrender to their needs. Having her down on her knees before them, her
lips parted for the taste of a thickened cock or to release her whimper of delight
at the strap one of them held, eager for him to discipline her.
Lightheaded
and breathless, she stared at the hall. His office was at the end, the door
open, a wedge of amber light demanding she go inside.
No
receptionist greeted her in the snug waiting room. Faith hadn’t expected one,
figuring he’d want them to be alone. Exactly what she craved.
She
inhaled as deeply as she could. Leather from the burgundy chairs perfumed the
small space, claiming it for a man. Beyond the reception area was his office, the
door open. He stood at his desk, his attention on a book he read.
Her
legs went watery. With indecent
curiosity, she drank him in, the charcoal sweater and dark trousers that
matched the color of his silky hair and fit his powerful frame so well. Broad
shoulders. Muscular thighs. She forced down a swallow, knowing there was raw
power in his strong hands. She’d dreamed of it, had seen glimpses in her mind.
And
would do anything to experience it again.
As
though he’d heard her thoughts, he closed his book with a faint snap and looked
up.
Time
shifted, the past bleeding into the present. Faith forgot to breathe or to step
closer, trapped within his potent gaze, overwhelmed with a sense of
recognition, irresistible and welcoming.
I know you…you
know me.
Unmistakable
longing flared in his eyes, the same yearning she felt. Beneath it was a flash
of lust.
CONTEST BELOW
BIO:
Tina Donahue is an award-winning,
bestselling novelist in erotic, paranormal, contemporary and historical romance
for Samhain Publishing, Ellora’s Cave, Siren Publishing, and Kensington. Booklist, Publisher’s Weekly, Romantic Times and numerous online sites
have praised her work. Three of her erotic romances (Adored, Lush Velvet Nights, and Deep,
Dark, Delicious) were named finalists in the 2011 EPIC competition. The
French review site, Blue Moon reviews, chose her erotic romance Sensual Stranger as their Book of the
Year 2010 (erotic category). The Golden Nib Award at Miz Love Loves Books was
created specifically for Lush Velvet
Nights, and two of her titles (The
Yearning and Deep, Dark, Delicious) received
an Award of Merit in the RWA Holt Medallion competition (2011 and 2012). Take Me Away and Adored both won second place in the NEC RWA contest (different
years). Tina is featured in the 2012 Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market.
She was the editor of an award–winning Midwestern newspaper and worked in Story
Direction for a Hollywood production company.
CONTEST
Please leave a comment. Tina
will be choosing one winner randomly from the comments section. The winner gets
her choice of one of Tina’s backlist ebooks – FIFTEEN IN ALL – contemporary,
paranormal, suspense, ménage. From this list:
1. Adored – RWA
award-winning; EPIC 2011 Finalist; 4 Stars RT
2. Deep, Dark, Delicious
– EPIC 2011 Finalist; Holt Medallion Award of Merit
3. Lush Velvet Nights –
EPIC 2011 Finalist; Golden Nib Award
4. In His Arms – SIX 5
Star Reviews; 4 Stars RT
5. Sensual Stranger –
2010 Book of the Year (erotic); 4 Stars RT
6. The Yearning – Top
Ten Bestseller
7. Take Me Away – #1
Pick, Miz Love Loves Books
8. Unending Desire – Best
Book Rating LASR
9. SiNN – Nominated for
Book of the Week LASR
10. Sinfully Wicked –
Magnificent – Romancing the Book
11. Claiming Magique – Top Pick – NOR
12. Illicit Desire –
Four Stars Romantic Times
13. Come Fill Me – Five
Stars – Guilty Pleasures
14. Losing Control -
Four and a Half Stars - Sensual Reads
15. Shameless Desire -
Four and Half Stars - The Jeep Diva
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