by Nia Farrell
If any other man said that, Jannet would be skeptical. But when Ian said it, she believed it. Trust. The foundation for any relationship, but crucial for a Dominant and submissive.
Back in the cottage, they stripped off their clothes and climbed into bed. She fell asleep in his arms and woke up the same, roused by the knock on their front door.
Ian stretched and called out, “Coming!”
Jannet looked at him, a silent question in her eyes. “Room service,” he told her. “Gotta feed my girl.”
My girl. Jannet’s heart thrilled to the sound of it.
He answered the door as naked as a newborn and wheeled in a cart laden with all manner of things. Instead of taking it to the sturdy, dark wood dining table, he pushed it beside the bed. Reaching beneath his pillow, he pulled out the blindfold that she’d worn last night, when she was bound to the cross in the corner.
She looked at the blindfold. At him. At the cart.
Food play.
No no no no no.
Jannet felt her anxiety kicking in. Her chest constricted. Her heart began pumping like a hummingbird’s. Her throat squeezed tight, bottling anything she might have said.
Damn it, that’s not how this morning was supposed to end!
“Jannet. Sweetheart.” Ian crooned to her like he would a wild thing in need of taming. “Jannet!”
The Dominant spoke.
Her head jerked, and she met his gaze.
“I know you marked this as a hard limit, but that’s when you had no idea who would be guiding you. Teaching you. Do you trust me?”
Staring at the blindfold, she felt the color leach from her face.
“Okay. No blindfold for now.” He shoved it back beneath his pillow. “What about feeding you with the blindfold off? Remember, your needs come before mine. I want to help you move past your fear. You can always use your safeword. Always. Using it when needed is not a sign of failure. It proves that you trust me enough to stop. Now, breathe with me, sweetheart.”
Ian took her hand, put it over his heart, and held it there. She felt the rise and fall with each breath and struggled to match it. Slowly, her chest loosened up. Each inhalation became easier. After a few long, tortuous minutes, her anxiety was at bay.
“Good girl,” he crooned. “Now, I’m going to fix a plate for us to share. I want you to put a pillow behind your back and sit up against the headboard. I’m going to see that we’re both fed. No blindfold until you’re ready. Agreed?”
Jannet nodded.
“Good girl.”
Chapter Ten
Ian took a pewter plate and began adding things to it. Fresh fruit. Hash browns. A wedge of French toast, swimming in syrup. Bacon. Sausage links. Eggs that looked like they’d been scrambled with cheese.
Counting the calories, Jannet suppressed a shudder.
“Coffee, tea, or orange juice?”
“Coffee, black, please.”
Taking an earthenware mug, he poured her a cup and handed it to her.
“Drink,” he said. “The heat will help relax those throat muscles of yours.”
The coffee did help.
“Thank you, Sir.”
Ian draped his lap with a towel and settled back against the headboard with their plate of food in his lap. The first thing he chose was a forkful of eggs.
Jannet nearly sighed in relief.
“Open,” he ordered.
She obeyed, holding very still while he fed her a bite. Delicious.
Next, he dipped into the hash browns. Lifting the fork, he cocked an eyebrow…and ate it himself.
“How are you with bacon?”
“Bacon this crisp and well drained is good. I’m not a big fan of sausages. Too greasy.”
“Duly noted.” He picked up a bacon strip, tore it in two, and held half of it up to her lips. Biting it, she managed to tear it with her teeth, then ate the rest.
Ian did the same.
He pointed to the wedge of French toast. “Normally, I’d say this was a hard limit for you. But there’s no powdered sugar, and the syrup is sugar free. What about now? Will you accept one bite?”
She was tempted. God, was she tempted. It was still bread, but how long had it been since she’d had actual French toast? Usually she scrambled eggs, spices, cream, and vanilla and maple flavorings for a low-carb version.
“One should be okay.”
“Good girl.”
He cut a very small piece and fed it to her. Heavenly….
Ian went through everything on the plate, asking what she liked, seeing what she’d eat. When nothing new was left, he turned to her, all seriousness.
“We need to finish breakfast, but I’d like you to let me blindfold you,” he said. “You’ve told me no sausages, no hash browns, no grapes or blueberries this early, and no more French toast. I took notes. I paid attention. I’m going to ask you again. Do you trust me?”
Did she?
Jannet looked into his thick-lashed hazel eyes and saw a man who had shown her nothing this morning but respect, and caring, and consideration. Clutching her mug of coffee, she answered the only way she could. “Yes, Sir. I trust you.”
Ian blessed her with a smile. “Good girl.”
He reloaded their shared plate and set it aside. Turning back, he fished the blindfold from beneath his pillow and reached to tie it on her head.
“How is it? Not too tight? Breathe, lassie.”
Unaware that she’d stopped, Jannet obeyed. She could do this, she told herself. With Ian as her guide, she could do this.
She exhaled, a deep, cleansing breath and waited for him to begin.
The mattress shifted when he moved. Dipped when he returned with their plate. The smell of breakfast wafted from it, teasing her, tempting her.
“Open.”
She parted her lips and pressed down her tongue, giving him ample space to feed her…eggs. Eggs were good. Probably the healthiest thing for her body on the plate.
Jannet swallowed and waited again.
“Open.” Bacon. There was no mistaking that smell. This time, Ian tore the strip into bite-size pieces and gave them to her one at a time.
She thought that he might have eaten a strip, too.
“Open.”
More eggs. Another strip of bacon. Between bites, Ian fed himself.
“Are you done with your coffee?” he asked her, noting that she was still holding it.
“For now. I’ll probably want more when we’re done.”
“More, we can manage.” Ian took the cup and set it on the cart. “Open.”
She obeyed.
The bed shifted, more than normal. This time, the smell of a sweet, ripe strawberry was mixed with a clean, male scent. The berry breached her lips. Their mouths touched. She bit down, juices bursting as her teeth cleaved the fruit in half. Ian pulled back just a bit and finished what was left.
Jannet swallowed, and waited.
“Open,” he said.
The bed hadn’t moved.
She happily obeyed.
By the time they came up for air, they were both late for work.
“I am so proud of you, sweetheart,” he told her, pride shining in the depths of his eyes. “You did it. You conquered your fear, and you did it. I knew that you could.”
“Only because you took the time to prepare me.” Like everything else this weekend, he’d made certain that she was ready before taking the next step, doing the next thing. Ian made her feel like there was nothing she couldn’t accomplish, with him there to encourage and guide her.
“Fuck,” Ian grumbled. “I don’t have anything on my schedule that won’t wait a day. How about playing hooky with me? We could spend the day in the hot tub. Get his-and-her massages. Go for a drive. Maybe we should visit the home of the state’s top-rated architect and see what he has to offer. You know, his patio has been featured in magazines. He has this incredible outdoor kitchen, and his grill…” He waggled his eyebrows. “What he has, well, most men can only wish
that theirs was that big.”
“Oh, you’re bad!”
“Just the truth, sweetheart.” He went still, and his face turned serious. “I really do want you there, Jannet. I know it seems soon, and we’ll take this as slow as we need to, but I don’t want to lie alone in bed and think about you in yours. I want you in my life, in my home, in my playroom. Here again, when they have weekends that you’d like to attend. I don’t want to share you, and I don’t want to be a Dom for any other submissive. Just you. Only you, if you’ll have me.”
“That depends,” she said slowly. “Will you dance for me?”
The corners of his mouth curved in a wicked grin. He spoke in his best Scottish brogue. “Ye want a Highland fling, lassie? If ye check, ye’ll find that I’m muir than up fer it.”
She did.
And he was.
And although Jannet didn’t know it then, Christmas that year would forever be her favorite, because it would be the first of many Christmases that Ian danced for her.
REPLAY SERIES
CAST OF CHARACTERS
with main book appearances
Adriana – Sir Josef’s ex-lover; Replay Book 5: Night Music
Alexis MacDonald – daughter of widower Micheil MacDonald; Replay Book 2: Triple Play
Ashley Slade – actress portraying Marie Antoinette during filming at Replay; Replay Book 5: Night Music
Aubrey Wolfe – gifted pianist, legally blind, savant submissive, in a MMF ménage with Dr. Josef Brandt and her mentor Luc Vashon; Replay Book 5: Night Music
Breanna Campbell Falk – Replay resort musical director, married to Gunnar Falk; Replay Book 1: Viking Raid
Cade Madden – actor portraying Louis XVI during filming at Replay; Replay Book 5: Night Music
Don – period musician who plays the lute, in a relationship with Jon; Replay Book 1: Viking Raid
Eleanor (Elly) Benoit St. Leger – psychologist, friend of Rowena Campbell MacDonald and Marcus Vos, married to Replay resort owner Piers St. Leger; Replay Book 3: Honour Bound
Geoffrey – chauffeur for Replay resort; Replay Book 2: Triple Play
Ginger Owens – children’s author, pen name of Rowena Campbell MacDonald; Replay Book 2: Triple Play
Gini (Virginia) Shelton – librarian and 5K runner, in a relationship with Marcus Vos; Replay Book 4: Hooked
Gunnar Falk – Viking Dom at Replay, married to Breanna Campbell Falk; Replay Book 1: Viking Raid
Henry – Sir Josef’s ex-lover; Replay Book 5: Night Music
Ian McGregor – architect, Scottish dancer, groomsman at the Campbell-MacDonald wedding, in a relationship with Jannet MacDonald; Replay Book 6: Highland Fling
Jannet MacDonald – former ballet dancer, sister to Micheil and Xander MacDonald, provided care for Micheil’s daughter Alexis after the accident that killed her mother, in a relationship with Ian McGregor; Replay Book 6: Highland Fling
Jewell Fraser – Domme wardrobe mistress at Replay; Replay series
Jody “Savage Joe” Greene – Native American Dom, personal coach, and former MMA cage fighter; Something Special (The Three Graces Book Six), that introduced Replay BDSM theme resort
Jon – period musician who plays the bass viola da gamba, in a relationship with Don; Replay Book 1: Viking Raid
Jorge – Josef Brandt’s groundskeeper, married to Nadine; Replay Book 5: Night Music
Dr. Josef Brandt (Sir Josef) – Replay resort psychiatrist; Replay series/Replay Book 5: Night Music
Kitten – Sir Piers’s secretary at Replay; Replay series
Leda – wardrobe assistant at Replay; Replay Book 2: Triple Play
Lenore – Replay chauffeur; Replay Book 5: Night Music
Luc Vashon – French Canadian piano instructor/professional musician, aide to Aubrey Wolfe, a switch in a MMF ménage with Dr. Josef Brandt and Aubrey; Replay Book 5: Night Music
Madeleine – Chez Cuisine’s owner’s wife; Replay Book 5: Night Music
Marcus Vos – private investigator who vets members for Replay resort and provides personal protection on occasion, an amputee veteran with PTSD, in a relationship with Gini Shelton; Replay Book 4: Hooked
Melody – bookstore owner; Replay Book 2: Triple Play
Micheil MacDonald – Scottish billionaire software designer, widower, now married to Rowena Campbell MacDonald; Replay Book 2: Triple Play
Michelle – Aubrey’s friend who helps her shop for women’s things; Replay Book 5: Night Music.
Ms. Bryan – Replay attorney; Replay Book 5: Night Music
Nadine – Josef Brandt’s housekeeper, married to Jorge; Replay Book 5: Night Music
Nathan Roth – literary agent to Regina Wright and Ginger Owens (aka Rowena Campbell MacDonald); Replay Book 2: Triple Play
Piers St. Leger – British Replay resort owner, kinbaku master, and husband of Eleanor Benoit St. Leger; Replay Book 3: Honour Bound
Regina Wright – erotic blogger, alter ego of Rowena Campbell; Replay Book 2: Triple Play
Rex – Marcus Vos’s PTSD service dog; Replay Book 4: Hooked
Rich / Richard Benjamin Franklin – Replay Dom; Replay Book 4: Hooked and Replay Book 6: Highland Fling
Rowena Campbell MacDonald – Replay musician, author, artist, married to Micheil MacDonald; Replay Book 2: Triple Play
Sabrina Wright – stage name of Breanna Campbell Falk; Replay Books 1 & 2: Viking Raid and Triple Play
Samael – Replay personal assistant; Replay series
Stephen Howard – talent agent for Regina Wright, bisexual Dom; Replay Book 2: Triple Play
Trent Blackwell – assistant to talent agent Stephen Howard, a switch; Replay Book 2: Triple Play
Xander MacDonald – software designer, brother of Micheil and Jannet MacDonald; Replay Book 2: Triple Play
Author’s Biography
Nia Farrell is the author of one of The 50 Best Indie Books of 2016, a 2016 Golden Flogger Finalist, and one of Mr. Blackthorne’s Wicked Pen Writers. A multi-genre writer published in nonfiction, poetry, music, articles, and children’s books, with one documentary screenplay under her literary belt, she’s an old soul and a period reenactor who’s been into corsets for centuries, although she wears them more to Civil War events these days.
Nia has been involved in the metaphysical community for over twenty-five years. She is a Reiki Master and crystal healer whose work encompasses this and other lifetimes. In her book Something More, BDSM and submission are tools for healing post-rape PTSD, earning a nomination for Best BDSM Book of the Year, Ménage Category, in the 2016 Golden Flogger Awards.
Her debut books from The Three Graces series, Something Else, Something Different, and Something More, are kink with a paranormal twist. Soul mates, reincarnation, karmic fallout, shamanism, and psychic abilities come into play. Personal experience and extensive research go into crafting her characters, but it’s her sense of whimsy that has made fictional Posey, Minnesota, the ménage capital of the United States, with a Monty-Python-inspired diner that’s central to the plotlines.
Nia was fortunate enough to meet her soul mate early on. She married her high school sweetheart, raised two children, and began writing at her husband’s suggestion. She has been published in erotic romance since 2015.
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THE THREE GRACES TRILOGY
by Nia Farrell
Now in paperback! Contains Something Else, Something Different, and Something More. 230 pages.
Amazon buy link http://mybook.to/TGr
Three women. Six men. Things are about to get interesting.
Welcome to fictional Posey, Minnesota, home of three young women whose names all mean “grace.” Grace Murphy is the local psychic medium who’s been saving herself for the men of her dreams. Anna James is a starving artist who lives for the music she makes. Rae Simmons (aka Rachel Givens) is everyone’s favorite waitress, delivering plate lunch specials with service and a smile. The Three Graces Trilogy contains their stories, originally released as separate e-book novellas.
SOMETHING ELSE
(The Three Graces Book One)
Three soulmates forge a future from the flames of their pasts in an interracial MMF ménage erotic romance. “It’s part paranormal, part BDSM, part love story, but all good.”
E-book buy link http://mybook.to/TG1
Author Pandora Spocks: “This is the first book in the Three Graces series and I can’t wait to read the next two. The story is at once mystical and heartbreaking, the characters rich and compelling. You find yourself pulling for Grace, Nico, and J.T. to find peace and happiness. And the sex…it’s MMF ménage at its hottest! Something Else is highly recommended!”
SOMETHING DIFFERENT
(The Three Graces Book Two)
Starving artist Anna James has sworn off men. Rock gods Jackson and Jacob Thomason just promised her the best sex of her life. Does Anna dare submit to the part-Comanche twins who perform as No Mercy? A BDSM MFM rock star erotic romance.