BONDS OF DESIRE

TITLE: BONDS OF DESIRE

AUTHOR: LYNDA AICHER

Pages: 229

Date: 15/07/2013

Grade: 5-

Details: no. 3 Wicked Play

            Received from Carina Press

            Through NetGalley

Own/Kindle

The Blurb:

Lawyer Allison English never planned to return to The Den—despite her naughty fantasies about being bound by owner Seth Matthews. But when club guest Tyler Wysong is injured in a scene, Seth turns to Allie for help. Aroused by both men, Allie should turn the case down. But she can't.

After his bad experience, Tyler has no interest in being with another Dom. Yet he can't deny his attraction to Master Seth. When Seth offers him a place to stay, Tyler agrees—if Allie will stay too. But what good is a chaperone who adds to his temptation?

Living with two subs brings out Seth's protective instincts, though Allie insists she's not into the lifestyle, and Tyler swears he's done with it. But the chemistry between the trio prompts them to agree to submit to him for one week, and he'll show them both the true pleasure that a Dom can provide.

The intimacy could break them all, or bind them together forever…

This is the third book in the “Wicked Play” series and I think it is my favourite. While “Bonds of Need” and “Bonds of Trust” dealt with one-on-one relationships, be it in a BDSM environment, this book centres on a threesome.

Master Seth, one of the three Doms owning and running The Den BDSM club, and Allison (Allie) English haven’t seen each other since Allie made her one and only visit to the club a few months ago. Unbeknownst to them, they haven’t been able to get each other out of their minds.

Tyler Wysong is a new character. As a male prostitute working through an agency he finds himself submitting to a powerful and abusive Dom in one of the private rooms of The Den. When the Dom goes too far in his abuse, the owners of the club intervene and stop the scene. Their action comes too late though to prevent Tyler from being seriously injured.

Allie is called into the club by the three Doms for Tyler’s sake. If he wants to press charges, they want to make sure he has the best possible representation.

As soon as Seth, Tyler and Allie find themselves together it becomes clear that there is a strong chemistry between the three of them. But with Tyler being injured and very stand-offish and Allie having all sorts of doubts and misconceptions about the BDSM scene, Seth’s plan to introduce the other two to the pleasures of submission appear doomed from the start.

“The pull to Tyler was just as strong as the one to Allie – and just as wrong.” (Seth)

A week together under Seth’s gentle yet dominating guidance awakens strong and unexpected feelings in all three of them. Despite his resistance to Seth’s attentions and his doubts about why he is actually in the Dom’s loft, Tyler can’t deny that Seth’s presence has a profound effect on him:

“Just one touch, right there, and all of the tension dripped from him, leaving behind nothing but calm compliance.”

Tyler may have been renting himself out as a sub, he has never, ever truly submitted to anyone. And now, in his vulnerable position, he finds himself wondering:

“What would it be like to truly, honestly, surrender and trust this man before him?”

And Allie has a lot to come to terms with as well. She can’t deny her attraction to Seth and Tyler, in fact:

“Whether Allie admitted it to herself or not, she needed this. They all did for one reason or another.”

And she has to admit that submitting to her partners is not something that stems from her being weak or Seth and Tyler taking advantage of her.

“She wasn’t bound, she was freed. And with a long, slow exhale, she let go.”

Allie, like many a new submissive before her, has to learn that submitting isn’t about giving up your power to someone else. As Seth explains to her so very eloquently:

“It takes more courage to willingly give yourself to a Dom than it does for the Dom to tie you down…I can only have what you give me. In that way, you control me.”

But it is not just Allie and Tyler who have to come to terms with their new feelings. Seth may be an experienced Dom, the feelings he has for his two guests and the hopes these raise within him for the future are new and confusing:

“Seth bit back a groan. They were so close and damn, but he wanted this threesome to work. He wasn’t sure why or how it would succeed of if he wanted two subs, but he wouldn’t let this slip away. Allie seemed to give something to Tyler that Seth couldn’t and he wanted Tyler to have that. The man needed to know that he was more than his occupation. That there were people in the world who wanted him for who he was. And Allie stirred something in Seth he wanted to claim just as much as Tyler.”

Their one week together is magical for all three of them. But after that week the real world awaits them again. A secret act of kindness from Seth manages to upset Tyler so much that he breaks all contact with the Dom and Allie. And Allie and Seth don’t have a future if it doesn’t include Tyler as well. It will take a near disaster to bring the three together again and give them another opportunity to embrace the unconventional but oh so tempting relationship.

“Yeah, she really could have them both. The future would sort itself out and it’d be okay, because not trying, not seeing, would be worse.” (Allie)

There was a lot I loved in this book. First and foremost I really like Lynda Aicher’s writing and characters. The story runs smoothly and has the perfect balance between general story and (very) sexy scenes. These characters are real and completely normal people and it is easy to identify with them, even if you may not be able to imagine yourself in a similar situation.

I also liked that this book shows that there is another side to BDSM. A side that doesn’t involve pain or public displays of humiliation:

“Have faith in the three of us. No one is here to hurt the other.”

In fact, the author goes one step further. What started out as a power-exchange has turned into something completely different but equally wonderful by the time all conflicts are resolved:

“But he wasn’t their Master. He was their lover. That was perfect.”

It is wonderful to see the characters grow and change while at the same time staying true to themselves in this story. And the change is biggest for Allie with her very traditional and conservative background and career-driven life. She has to grow a lot but it is worth every struggle when she realizes that:

“More importantly, she needed them both. They gave her balance where she hadn’t known she required it.”

And I delighted in the hotness of this book. While a ménage may be a bit much for some readers, it worked very well for me. I’m impressed with the way in which Lynda Aicher managed to write a very sexy story about a three-some without ever making it feel cheap or over the top.

Although these three books take care of the three Doms who own The Den, I really hope that Lynda Aicher continues with this series. And it does appear that she has created a wonderful opportunity to do just that in the epilogue. My fingers are firmly crossed that she will continue with this very entertaining, if slightly wicked, series.