Genre: Erotic Contemporary BDSM Romance Heat Level: 4 Word Count: 16, 465 ISBN: 978-0-3695-0060-1 Editor: Audrey Bobak Cover Artist: Jay Aheer

Hard-Pressed by Queenie Black

Heat Level 4
$2.99
SKU 978-0-3695-0060-1
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Club Hard, 1

Everything to prove and everything to lose.

Master Lucien has one night at Club Hard.

One night to show bodyguard Rose Dainty that he can be the Dom she needs.

One night to show her that submitting to him doesn’t make her weak, that true submission requires strength and trust.

Will pushing Rose to her limits prove to her she can trust him with her body and heart, and can she let go of her deepest fears long enough to enjoy her surrender? 

Be Warned: BDSM, spanking, public exhibition

 

Excerpt:

I mounted the six shallow steps and faced the double front doors. Twin carriage lights cast a soft gleam over the brass plaque with its discrete lettering:

Club Hard

Private Members Only

I desperately wanted to run back down the steps, leap into my car, and drive home, but if I did, nothing would change, and I’d go back to dividing my time between working out, Candy Crush Saga, and the occasional night out with my friends. I might miss out on learning something about myself, something that could make a difference in my sex life. Worse, I might miss a chance at love.

I stayed, my feet rooted to the floor, but the insides of my hands were so damp, my finger slipped on the brass bell, setting off a short, discordant jangling. I winced as I rang it again properly this time. That certainly wouldn’t endear me to anyone.

Shifting from foot to foot, trying to keep the blood circulating in my toes, I looked around. Behind me, the gravel drive snaked away to a discreet carpark, and trees and shrubs created shadows within shadows. Autumn had finally reached London and in this exclusive part of it, crisp, clean air and earthy leaf mulch replaced the smell of fast food and exhaust.

I shifted again, starting to get irritated. If you were going to demand a woman wear nothing but a skirt that barely covered her butt, and a top that was little more than a bit of elastic bandage—on me it was ridiculous, if I sneezed, I’d pop out over the top—then you should damn well open the door promptly. Now, despite wearing my warmest coat over the absurd ensemble, there was a distinct draught zipping under my hem and freezing my exposed butt cheeks.

I lifted my finger to stab the bell again, and the door swung open.

Bloody hell. A real butler. I was no stranger to mansions with staff. Working as a bodyguard meant I saw the inside of a lot of wealthy homes, but so far, a liveried butler was a new one to me.

“Can I help you?”

I cleared my throat, wondering if there was any etiquette for addressing a butler, aware that my finger was still lurking in the vicinity of his eye. “Umm, I’m, ah, it’s Ms. Dainty. To see Mr. Dufort. I’m expected.”

He waved me through into a large marble-floored hall with a fire burning at one side. A wide, elegant staircase at the back curved away to the upper floors.

“I’ll inform Mr. Dufort that you’re here, if you’d like to take a seat.” He indicated a collection of sofas and easy chairs huddled as if for warmth around the fireplace. I made a beeline for the heat.

“May I take your coat?”

I crossed my arms tightly. No way was I exposing my scantily clad self. “Ah, thanks, but I’m a bit cold.”

“I see my guest has arrived, Henry.”

I turned away from the fire to see Lucien Dufort crossing the hall toward me. The floor seemed to drop a few inches and I had to grab the back of a chair to steady myself as his delicious, rich chocolate voice with its faint French accent wound around me, setting my heart hammering.

A tall, elegant man, he moved toward me with predatory intent, covering the floor in loose, confident strides, but it was his eyes that held my gaze, dark eyes, sharp with intelligence and power. He wasn’t a handsome man. HHis narrow-bladed Gallic nose, inherited from his mother, was slightly overlarge for that, but his lips were sensual, and the mix of tenderness and lust in his expression as he looked at me sent electric tingles charging down my spine.

“Rose, welcome to Club Hard.” He lifted my hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it, his tongue flickering into the little hollow between my two smallest fingers, mimicking the act of sex. Normally, that would be an instant turn-off, but when Lucien did it, everything inside me melted. I tugged my hand free and shoved it into my coat pocket. This was bad. We hadn’t even started yet and my hormones were doing a happy dance.

“Your coat, ma petite.”

I undid the buttons reluctantly and he stripped it off my shoulders, giving it to Henry before indicating my feet. “Barefoot, please.”

I obeyed, steadying myself with one hand on Lucien’s forearm. I could have rested it there all day, enjoying the feel of thick bone and the flex of hard muscles, but I quickly unzipped my boots and gave them to Henry, who took them as solemnly as if I was handing him the crown jewels for safekeeping. He disappeared, taking my things with him, and I stood shivering, waiting for Lucien to say or do something. I shouldn’t have felt vulnerable. I fought with this amount of flesh on display, so it shouldn’t have bothered me, yet insecurity and apprehension crept hand-in-hand up my spine. “Lucien?”

He cupped my chin, his palm warm and sure, his thumb stroking my cheekbone in a gesture I found calming. “Tonight, you will address me as Monsieur, or Sir.” His words sank deep inside me, reaching a place I wasn’t aware existed. A place I didn’t want to believe existed. I stepped back, dislodging his hand.

Lucien’s cheek creased in amusement. “So, ma belle perle, the challenge begins. Are you ready?”

Product Reviews

Score: 5 out of 5 (based on 2 ratings)
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5/5
LAS Reviews
Written by Fern on 30th Nov 2019

A well trained and professional bodyguard, Rose is perfectly comfortable with danger and risk in her professional life. In her personal life, however, she’s been reluctant to follow through on her true desires. Lucien has known for months that deep down Rose yearned to give up her control. Has the time finally come for them to both take what they really want? I found this to be a well paced and interesting short story. While Rose and Lucien’s characters are both fairly straight forward I found myself really enjoying and empathizing with Rose’s voice and the author’s style of narration. It was clear to me from the first page that even though Rose was a strong, capable and very modern woman she was new and a little off-kilter with the depth and hunger of her sexual needs. This small snippet of vulnerability really had me relating to Rose and helped make her feel more human to me – I wanted to watch her explore this side of herself that was new to her and I was rooting for her from the beginning. Each chapter alternated from Lucien’s to Rose’s perspective and I found this really helped me connect with both characters. While I continued to find Lucien somewhat mysterious I enjoyed that his affection and desire for Rose was genuine and deep-seated. It was refreshing to me that he didn’t start from the perspective of curiosity or wanting to teach (or worse to my mind – train) Rose into the BDSM lifestyle but held her not only in high esteem but he really wanted a proper and lasting relationship with her. I felt this lent an air of spice and edge to the whole story – knowing it wasn’t a game or a test-run for Lucien in particular, but more of an urgent desire to mesh both their needs into a form of intimacy they could both enjoy and explore together. Readers looking for an intense plot outside of the growing relationship between Rose and Lucien probably won’t be satisfied with the stalker side-plot. Only mentioned briefly then wrapped up very quickly toward the end I really feel that the main conflict and plot element is the self-discovery between Rose and Lucien and the deepening of their sexual relationship. The sex between Rose and Lucien was hot, intense and quite kinky. Readers looking for something with a bit of spice should find this aspect of the story quite satisfying. I was also intrigued by Lucien’s half-brother and am hopeful that there might be a follow-up story revolving around him. Hot, intense and kinky this is a great, quick read and I really enjoyed it. I’ll be keeping an eye out for any future works from this author.

5/5
Fantastic read
Written by A on 19th Sep 2019

I am quite new to erotica but reading this book has given me a thirst for more! I can’t wait to read another book by this author. Loved it!

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