Can't Drag Me Down 3: Stepping Stone Not Doormat by Kareena Colcroft

Blurb

Fifteen years ago in Los Angeles, a man named Charlie lost everything in his life to drug and burglary charges. Everything including his lover Navon, who was unable to accept Charlie’s actions.

Nine years ago, after building a drag career that included TV appearances and international travel, Charlie left his entire life behind to escape his abusive boyfriend Mason, and started anew in Boston as club queen Solara Flare. Going by stage name and female pronouns, Solara has taken every step possible to prevent Mason–or anyone else from her former life–from finding her.

Now, Navon has tracked Solara down in the wake of Mason’s death to return something Mason had kept, and to apologize for abandoning her after her arrest. Fifteen years hasn’t dulled their sexual attraction to each other, but the memories brought up by Navon’s appearance are almost more than Solara can stand. And no matter how much she wants to give Navon the second chance he asks for, Solara doesn’t know whether she can move beyond the past.


EXCERPT:

The weekend shows went better than Solara expected, given her lack of focus. She knew the routines as well as her own phone number, and that was something to be thankful for when every time she quieted down for even a second, Navon’s face flashed through her mind.

She still loved him. At least she thought she did. More likely, it was the echo of old emotions, not something that existed in the here and now. Surely it wasn’t possible to be in love with someone after not even seeing them for nearly a decade.

Feelings aside, she wanted him again. The guy had only been in town a few days, but having him in her apartment—in both senses of “having”—had awakened desires she’d ignored for months. Fucking him had been as good as she remembered, if not better.

But she shouldn’t have done it. Bad enough he’d showed up in the first place. Fucking him had only let him believe they could have something again.

If he was going to stay in Boston awhile longer, maybe they could do more than fuck. Sex was great, but it wasn’t enough for Solara to be sure of how she felt. In the early days of their relationship, they’d gone on dates. Dancing at clubs. Taking long walks together. Even visiting a couple of museums.

Boston had opportunities for all of that. Solara could ask Navon out on a date and see whether the physical connection extended to emotional.

She might do exactly that if she ever spoke to him. All weekend, she couldn’t decide whether she dared let him back into her life at all, let alone as a lover. She didn’t want to give him false hope that they could try again.

She didn’t want to open herself up to being hurt again.

On Monday, she slept in, exhausted from performing and lack of sleep. When her phone’s ringtone awakened her, she glanced at her clock and was surprised to see it was already noon. She had a nice piece of morning wood in the front of her shorts, and seeing the name on the display didn’t do much to calm her hard-on.

Navon.

She couldn’t avoid him forever. He’d respected her request for space, and sooner or later, she would have to give him an answer about whether they could go forward despite their past.

She answered the phone. “Morning.”

“Afternoon,” Navon said. “I didn’t wake you, did I?”

“You did, but I’ll live.” Solara sat up and propped herself on the pillows. “Still in town?”

“I told you I wasn’t going to leave.” Navon paused. “I’d like to see you. You asked for space. Maybe it hasn’t been long enough, but we should figure out what’s going on.”

“Yeah. Let me think.” She wasn’t awake enough to decide whether seeing him would be a good idea. All she really wanted to do was curl up and go back to sleep for a few more hours.

But she knew better than to believe that she would be able to fall asleep again. Even if Navon didn’t come over, Solara’s brain would start whirling through all the things she needed to do in the next few days, and she would lie awake until she got up and actually did something. In that case, she might as well see Navon and resolve things between them once and for all.

“Bring coffee,” she said. “Large, and just like me. Hot and black.”

----

Buy Link: 

Loose ID-  http://www.loose-id.com/can-t-drag-me-down-stepping-stone-not-doormat.html/

Knot Intended by Kareena Colcroft

Blurb

Nolie and Joseph have a good marriage. They're still in love, have everything they need, and their careers are in good shape. But lately their sex life and time together has taken a back seat. One morning, Joseph brings up the changes in their sex life and expresses a desire to spice things up.

With his encouragement, Nolie confesses her darkest fantasy: Being kidnapped, bound, and "forced" to have sex with her "captor."

She assumes Joseph will forget the fantasy or decide it's better off left as something to talk about, but a week later, Joseph brings Nolie's fantasy into reality. Nolie is not only excited about the role play, but Joseph's willingness to fulfill her fantasy reminds her of how much they love each other and how much priority they need to put on their marriage.


EXCERPT:

Joseph nudged and tugged her down the short path between the deck and the gap in the fence. He pushed her ahead of him through the gap to the driveway, then dragged her to the passenger side of a blue car.
Her car. He was kidnapping her in her own car.

He opened the door and shoved her inside. “I’m going to have to buckle you up, bitch, since you can’t do it yourself. I wouldn’t want you to die before I have a piece of your ass.”

“You could untie my hands,” Nolie said.

“Not a chance.” Roughly, he pulled the seatbelt across her, leaning heavily on her, and she heard the buckle snap into place.

“There," he said. "Now shut up.”

He slammed her door. A few seconds later, cool air brushed against her when he opened the driver’s side door. He shut that door as forcefully as he had Nolie’s and started the car.

She tried to calm herself as he backed down the driveway. Knowing for certain that Joseph was the man in the mask only helped a little. He was being rough and aggressive, exactly as she’d fantasized, and she had no idea what he might do next.

Although she was excited as hell, part of her wanted to call a halt to the game. She hated being so off guard and not knowing what might happen.

No. I’m not stopping. I wanted this. Joseph’s trying to make things better between us. She had nothing to fear. Joseph would stop whenever she spoke the phrase he’d told her, assuming he remembered it when he heard it. But even if he didn’t remember that phrase, she believed she could persuade him to stop if the game became too much.

The car’s tires squealed as Joseph pulled away from the house. Surely that would attract a neighbor’s attention. Nolie had to hope that if anyone looked out a window, the heavy rain would obscure their view of anything other than her car. As long as they didn’t notice Joseph with his face obscured or Nolie blindfolded, any neighbor would see nothing unusual about her car leaving the house at this time of evening, despite the noise.

Nolie settled back as best she could and closed her eyes, which made little difference. Without sight, she didn’t have enough sense of direction to form any concept of where Joseph was going. Not that she needed to know. She trusted him, despite the circumstances.

Eventually, the car stopped. Without a word, Joseph got out and again slammed the door hard enough to rock the vehicle. Over the sound of rain against the roof of the car and distant rumbles of thunder, Nolie could hear nothing else. She waited for Joseph to come to her door, but several minutes passed without the door opening.

Where did he go? He couldn’t just leave her there. People might see her blindfolded and bound in her car. They might not realize it was a game. Joseph wouldn’t risk someone calling the police. He had to take her out of the car soon.

She shivered. Before, the game had been exciting. Arousing. But now she felt completely vulnerable. She couldn’t exit the car on her own because her hands were secured. She couldn’t remove the blindfold to figure out where they were. Alone in the car, she would be unable to defend herself if Joseph walked away and someone else came along. Tied and blindfolded, she would be a perfect target for a predator.
For all she knew, people might already be watching her. Given how much trouble Joseph seemed to have gone to, he might have brought others into the game. He might be planning almost anything, including having an audience.

The possibility caused a wave of desire that helped to quell Nolie’s fear. Before she and Joseph had married, she’d loved going out with him to bars and clubs wearing the most revealing outfits she owned. Having others looking at her, knowing some of them wanted her but only Joseph could have her, had been a turn-on for both of them.

Of course, she’d been able to see people watching her back then. Now she could only assume and wonder.
And somehow, that made it even more exciting.

A Pre-Halloween Treat! 'Knot Intended' by Karenna Colcroft. A Husband and Wife Take Role Playing To The Next Level In This Erotic Contemporary Romp.

No matter how good someone’s marriage is, every once in a while, things get a little stale. After you’ve been together for a few years, things like careers and sometimes kids can get in the way of focusing on your spouse. And the longer you’re married, the further in the past the “can’t keep my hands off you” days get.

That doesn’t mean couples should simply let their marriages stagnate, though. When you start settling in, it’s important to work even harder to keep things fun, interesting—and especially hot.

In my novella Knot Intended, Nolie and Joseph have only been married for a few years, but they’ve already started letting their careers take priority over their marriage. Neither is happy about it, but neither really knows what to do about it, until Joseph suggests sexual roleplaying.

At first, Nolie thinks her husband has lost his mind. She never even liked wearing Halloween costumes as a kid, let alone pretending to be someone she isn’t. But when she admits her darkest fantasy to Joseph, he’s fascinated by Nolie’s desire to be “kidnapped” and sexually used by her “captor.” And he promises to make that fantasy come true.

Even though Joseph and Nolie have let their marriage and sex life slide, Joseph loves his wife enough to go to great lengths to become her fantasy “kidnapper” and bring the fire back to their bedroom. And Nolie is thrilled by how much Joseph is willing to do to get their marriage back on track.

Knot Intended releases November 18, 2014 from Loose Id, http://www.loose-id.com. Here’s the blurb and a short excerpt:

Nolie and Joseph are happily married, but their careers have taken priority over their time together, and sex has grown stale. When Joseph suggests roleplaying to spice things up, Nolie is resistant, until Joseph offers to fulfill her darkest fantasy.

Just when Nolie thinks Joseph has forgotten their discussion, someone breaks into their home. Someone wearing a mask, but with Joseph’s eyes and voice. Joseph, playing the role of the kidnapper in Nolie’s fantasy. Nolie can’t begin to guess what her mild-mannered husband will do next in their game–and that’s exciting as hell.

EXCERPT:

Nolie nodded and tried to meet Joseph’s gaze. Waiting for time to magically be available was what they’d been doing. And when they did have enough time, sometimes they simply slept instead of fucking. Joseph was right. They needed to be interested in sex—in each other—again if they wanted to keep their sex life from trickling down the drain.

“Spice things up,” she said. Too bad I have no clue how to do that. She hoped Joseph would have some thoughts. “Okay, I agree with you. Did you have something in mind?”

“Role-playing,” he said without hesitating.

Nolie yanked her hand out of his and shook her head. Of course Joseph had a solution. She just hadn’t expected it to be one so far outside her comfort zone.

As a kid, she hadn’t even liked dressing up for Halloween. She’d always felt stupid walking around pretending to be something she wasn’t. She’d never been able to figure out why it bothered her, but she’d always avoided any type of costume and acting.

Joseph knew it. Their first Halloween together he’d wanted matching costumes, and she had flat out refused to even consider it. And now he was suggesting they do something that would make her feel like a complete idiot while they tried to make their sex life better.

What the hell is he thinking?

She couldn’t prevent the sarcasm that thickened her tone. “Yeah, okay. What are we going to do? Go out and buy cute little costumes? Sorry, Joseph, not interested.”

He gave her a tolerant smile, which did nothing to lessen her irritation. She stared back at him until he looked down at his hands.

 “I had a feeling you might react that way,” he said. “Some couples like role-playing. We don’t have to wear costumes. Role-playing isn’t about dressing up. It’s about fulfilling fantasies. Think about it, Nolie. Don’t you ever imagine anything sexy? Hot little cheerleader with the football coach or something?”

“Being a teenager again? Hardly.” The idea turned her stomach, and she couldn’t bring herself to ask whether Joseph had a thing for cheerleaders. “I pretty much prefer reality. The only other thing I ever think about—”

She snapped her mouth shut. She’d never discussed her fantasies with Joseph before. At first, reality had been hotter than anything Nolie could have imagined. Now, they barely had time to talk about anything, and with the decrease in their time together, their sex life had cooled. Now, more often than not, it was perfunctory. Even Joseph’s changing of positions during sex followed the same sequence.

And when she masturbated, her favorite daydream was dark and disturbing. Not something she had ever contemplated sharing with her quiet, vanilla husband. But he wanted to spice up their sex life, and this would definitely accomplish that, if she dared to tell him about it.
Some fantasies were better off never becoming reality, and this might turn out to be one of them. But the only way to find out was to try.

~~~~~~

Publisher Website:  http://www.loose-id.com


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