She's ready for him—is he ready for her?
In the bar at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, Jade Bleecker celebrates with her three best friends, all of whom are there to get married. Jade is their bridesmaid, and beginning to believe that three times a bridesmaid really does mean never a bride. Tattooed, pierced and a martial artist, Jade is used to inspiring fear rather than desire in men, and even if she did find one who could handle her—well, no man is worth trusting with her body.
But as she is leaving the bar, she comes upon a mugging in progress and, with a few swift moves, makes short work of the mugger. Invited up to the victim's room for a nightcap, she is stunned to discover he is Will Vandenmeer—billionaire poster child of the Vandenmeer hotel and casino chain, and owner of The Sanctuary, one of the best-known BDSM clubs in New York City.
Jade finds herself hopelessly attracted to the sensual, dominant Will, and when he offers to induct her into the world of BDSM, she accepts…but can she truly give herself to him, and is Will ready for what Jade has to offer?
Publisher's Note: This story has been previously released as part of the Tied to the Billionaire anthology by Totally Bound Publishing.
General Release Date: 27th September 2013
Looking at each of her friends in turn, Jade Bleecker raised her glass of champagne and smiled. "A toast, everyone. Piper, you first."
Piper tucked her brown hair behind her ear and thought for a moment. "To marriage."
Beside her, Shaundra giggled. "Oh God, I can’t think of one. You guys go ahead of me, I’ll get one in a minute."
"To Vegas, baby," Leonie announced, pressing a red-lipped kiss to her glass before raising it, capping the gesture with an exaggerated wink.
"To us," Jade added, lifting her glass higher with mock solemnity.
"Ooh, ooh, ooh, I got one!" Shaundra cried. "To fucking!"
Their glasses clinked together and all four let out a cheer.
Ten p.m., and the bar at the Bellagio was buzzing with life. Jade sat back in her chair and observed her friends as they drank, all three in their own way thrumming with excitement. All three ready to get married in four days’ time, with her as their joint maid of honour.
Three times a bridesmaid, never the bride...
It had already been quite the upheaval. Jade had moved out of the New York apartment she had shared with Piper a month earlier. Joey had moved himself in immediately, ready for married life. Leonie would be uprooting herself completely to live in her fiancé Darren’s home state of Iowa. As for Shaundra, no one knew what she would end up doing. She and Andrew were already sharing a studio apartment, spending money on the funkiest fashions and eating beans on toast for dinner.
Jade took a mouthful of champagne and scanned the bar, careful not to let her eyes linger on anybody for too long. The slightest hint that she might be man-hunting and she’d never hear the end of it.
"See anyone you like?" Piper murmured in her ear.
"Nope," Jade murmured back, restraining an eye roll. "These aren’t my kind of men, you know?"
Piper shrugged airily. "You never know."
Well, maybe. Maybe opposites did attract. But Jade knew her appearance set a lot of these men—rich men, businessmen, professional gamblers—on edge. With a modern mohawk in black and green, her tattooed arms and her nose and brow piercings, she made most men quail at the sight. They looked at her as though she was going to either punch them or stab them.
I have been writing for ten years and first got into erotic romance through the Romantic Novelists' Association New Writer's Scheme; they critiqued my debut novel "The Hand He Dealt", which was published in June 2011 and was nominated for the Joan Hessayon Award.
I live in Yorkshire with my husband and two extremely bratty tuxedo cats. When I'm not writing I spend my time watching horror movies, listening to rock music, travelling to new places and trying out new restaurants.
Reviewed by Jeep Diva
Tanith Davenport creates a well-defined introduction to the lifestyle, while explaining away the bad connotations that come with the acronym. Jade is far more approachable and developed in this story...
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