It’s time for #WIP again, even though I was too late to sign up! I’m still sharing snippets of ‘Black Light: Exposed’ which is actually the 2nd book in the Black Light series, but it can be read as a standalone. The first one by Livia Grant, ‘Black Light: Rocked’, came out in December so you can still dive into this kinky underground BDSM club before Exposed comes out on Saturday, January 14th!
‘Black Light: Exposed’ follows Madeline “Maddie” O’Neill, an aspiring reporter, who stumbles onto the story of a lifetime when she discovers the Black Light BDSM club hiding beneath popular Washington, D.C. hotspot Runway. Thomas Hathaway, a congressman, is there to play but he “rescues” her from security by buying her a guest pass before they kick her out. Let’s just say this BDSM romance has some fireworks in it, and Maddie will have some tough choices to make between her dreams and her heart before it’s over.
In this scene, Thomas has Maddie tied over a chair and he just finished spanking her. Enjoy this delicious, extended sneak peek of the book before it goes live on Saturday!
—
Thomas slipped his hand between her thighs, cupping the evidence of her arousal as he applied the barest hint of pressure to her clit. The shock of it pulled the brake on her thoughts, shifting gears to the thrumming heat inside her, the pulse of desire that beckoned her ever closer to the darkness all around her. Maddie pushed her hips forward, seeking a little more, and she knew that the story wasn’t the only reason she was bent over this chair. No, she’d let him tie her down because some piece of her wanted this, wanted more than what she knew, and he seemed more than willing to give it to her. “Please, sir…”
“Please what?” he asked, his hand staying still against the damp fabric of her underwear as she rocked more urgently against his touch.
“Please touch me!” It was begging, something she would have never have imagined herself capable of, but her mind was spinning out of her control, and her nerves were a network of need that she knew instinctively Thomas Hathaway could satisfy.
“Oh, no. Not yet.” He pulled his hand away and she actually whined, twisting against the rope and shifting her weight from heel to heel in a miniature fit. The dark tone in his voice instantly quieted her, “You know the deal, Maddie. Naughty girls don’t get rewards, they get punished. Then, if they’re very, very good, they get a reward.”
The next swat from his hand was so loud it seemed to bounce back off the ceiling, and she tried her best to swallow the shout as the full outline of his hand burned to life atop the still aching skin.
“Are you going to be good and take your punishment for lying to me? For trying to get into Black Light without any kind of real invitation?” She could hear the slightly playful tone in his voice, but deep inside her guilt twisted like a knife. Thomas thought he was punishing her for just sneaking in because she wanted to play at the club, when the reality was so much worse.
Maddie nodded her head, the fiery red of her hair probably competing with the shame-filled crimson of her cheeks. At least he can’t see that. “Yes, sir.”
“Good girl. Remember your safe words.”
There was no warning except the barest whisper of leather cutting air, and then a line of molten fire landed across both cheeks of her ass. She screamed, digging her nails into her palms as the pain peaked and then faded into the burning heat. ‘Red’, danced on the tip of her tongue, some part of her brain desperately enacting a fight or flight instinct urging her to shout it, but instead she clenched her jaw tight. Another lash from the leather, either a belt or a strap like he’d said, and the pain was unlike anything she’d ever felt. Sharp, unforgiving for a moment, and then it would fade and she would suddenly gasp in air.
Again.
And again.
And again, and again, and again.
Somehow always on a new place, a little higher, or a little lower, and she would cry out, but she knew she deserved it. She quietly begged him to stop, but there was no sincerity to the words. She knew she deserved the pain that had her so tense she was scratching furrows into her palms with her nails. There was no way she’d speak the words he’d given her to really stop this.
She didn’t deserve them, didn’t need them.
It was an unvocalized apology for using him like she was. Using him to gain entrance to this place, using him to lie her way past all of their elaborate security, and using him to explore this new, dark place inside herself that was steadily tipping her from the agonizing pain into some kind of humming energy.
There were tears on her cheeks, capturing strands of her hair against her cheeks. Her breathing had been ragged at first, but it was calming, and as the next strike landed she felt the burning heat of it, the flash of pain, but it faded so quickly into the blur of sensation that she almost couldn’t track it.
Another crack of the leather, another distant sting, and Maddie was floating somewhere outside herself. Somewhere the guilt was but a tiny blip in the sea of her mind. It was glorious, and quiet, and so much simpler than the chaotic torrent her brain was on a daily basis.
This is incredible.
The first lash across the backs of her thighs, just below her ass, made her lift her head, a quiet yelp of pain, but then she was limp again. A soft, low sound escaping her lips, and she couldn’t imagine using a safe word any more. Why had she ever wanted to escape this? It was catharsis embodied. It was perfect.
She just needed it to continue, to keep going. To wait in this place where her body was a lightning storm of tingling energy, where her mind was hushed and guiltless and free.
Another snap that she heard rather than felt, and she was warm and glowing through and through.
“Such a good girl, you’re such a good girl, Maddie…” Thomas’ voice filtered its way back into her awareness, and then she felt his hand between her thighs again. Rubbing, pressing the soaked fabric of her lacy underwear between her folds as he found her clit and focused his attention in delirious circles that had her hands twisting in the ropes again.
“Oh, God,” she whispered on a moan, arching her back to lift her head and push back more firmly against his touch. Her head was swimming, so close to some kind of glorious, sparkling horizon, as the tense pleasure built and built. Every touch was expert, and when his other hand landed in the small of her back, pressing her down, she reveled in it. In his strength, the wicked rhythm his fingers maintained on the focal point of her body, and the constant assurances he voiced from behind her.
“That’s it. You did so well, come for me, beautiful. Go on, let go and come for me. You did so well, you’re such a good girl…” His sweet lies pushed her to the very edge, the pleasure building until it was an almost agonizing boundary that she teetered over, her body tense to the point of pain – and then she fell.
White light burst behind her eyes, and she called out something incomprehensible as she came against his hand, every thought obliterated once more for a blissful moment of nothingness where she drifted in warm, golden perfection.
Bliss.
This was what that word meant. Languid, pure, unfettered by the bounds of reality.
Thomas’ touch left her a moment later and she felt lost for a second, confused, until she felt his deft, talented fingers at the rope near her hands. He released her and then his arms were under her, lifting her like she weighed nothing before he spun them and settled her in his lap in the chair. His strong arms wrapped around her, holding her firmly until she melted against his firm chest. Cool cloth brushed over her skin and she opened her eyes to see that he’d covered her with his suit jacket, the silk lining set against her. “Shhh, Maddie. Relax. That was… incredible.”
She mumbled something in agreement as he adjusted her in his lap and pulled her closer, letting her heels drape over the side of the chair.
“You are so beautiful,” his voice purred against her hair and she let herself just be. All of the pieces of herself, the parts that were usually in such a frenzy reminding her of her never ending to-do list, her failures, her mistakes – they were all hushed and calm. Sated beasts sleeping in the corners of her mind.
For a few minutes she wasn’t the disappointment she always saw herself as, she was just Maddie. Just a languid set of muscles, and bone, and still tingling nerves wrapped in his warmth.
If only the world would really fall away.
Awareness returned slowly, first with the steady brush of his thumb up and down her arm, the gentle touch of his hand near her knee where he held her in his lap. Then the strong, pounding beat of his heart under her cheek. Even and powerful. When she went to shift she felt the other strong thing nudging her… Thomas Hathaway was still hard as a rock under her ass.
Twisting in his arms, he relaxed his grip a little so she could move, but as soon as she reached between them to brush the steel of his cock through his pants he moved his arm from under her legs and caught her hand. “Just rest, Maddie.”
“But you’re –”
“Fine. I’m just fine, I want you to relax. That was intense, and I’m not sure I’ve ever had a sub drop into subspace so quickly from a belt.” He laughed and it was a warm, shaking feeling since she was propped against his chest. “You kind of surprised me.”
“Subspace?” she asked, still a little dazed.
He leaned forward to look at her, his hazel eyes shadowed with concern. “Has no one ever put you in subspace before?”
The blush that fired to life in her cheeks seemed to answer for her. “Thomas, I –”
“Oh, Maddie… that’s…” He sighed. “It’s terrible that no one’s taken care of you. You deserve so much more.” His interruption cut off her confession, and she bit down on her lip. He was too good. Too good to have stumbled into her twisted plans. “Masochists don’t always get treated well, but you deserve that. You know that, right? You deserve to be treated well?”
Her brows pulled together, because that was a word she definitely knew. Masochists were people who liked pain, but that wasn’t her. She wasn’t messed up like that… right?
“Madeline.” His use of her full name made her look up into his gaze, shifting in his lap until they were almost eye-to-eye. “Just because you enjoy this, doesn’t mean you don’t matter. People can’t just take advantage of you, and you can’t let them. Okay?”
“Okay.” She nodded, still unsteadied by everything that had happened, and then she cursed herself silently. “I mean, yes sir.”
Thomas chuckled. “Play is over, beautiful. You can just call me Thomas.”
“Alright, Thomas.” Maddie went to get off his lap, but he tugged her back.
“You don’t have to get up, I’m enjoying holding you. Aftercare is one of my favorite parts of play.” He leaned his cheek against her hair, hugging her against him once more. “Has no one done this for you either?”
“No,” she confessed, but when he sighed and held her a little closer she flinched. Aftercare? She didn’t even know what the fuck that was. No one had ever done any of this, any of it, because she was pretending to be someone she wasn’t – or she was discovering something she was for the first time – or she’d lied so thoroughly the whole damn night she couldn’t tell anymore – but regardless, she didn’t deserve this kindness. This warmth, this generosity. Not from someone like him.
—
Ohhhh, lovelies, I’m so happy to have this be the last snippet before the book goes live. I’ll still be giving you little tastes over the next few blog hops, but this defines Thomas and Maddie’s budding relationship. She’s working on the article, he’s working on protecting and learning about the new sub he’s found – and neither of them really know what the hell is going on. This is a book I’m so proud of, and I really can’t wait for you all to read it. The ARC readers have loved it! Check out the cover reveal if you haven’t yet, and then make sure you’re watching social media for the go-live announcement on Saturday!
A few exciting announcements… after ‘Black Light: Exposed’ comes out on January 14th, ‘The Dark Forest’ anthology of dark and twisted fairy tales will come out on January 24th. It’s already live for pre-order, and there’s a contest to win a $50 gift card over here. Go ahead and pre-order that naughtiness (that I was teasing before Exposed, it’s my dark and intense version of Rapunzel called ‘The Tower’), and enter the contest too! THEN – just because I’m completely insane – I’ll be releasing a story in the ‘Black Light: Valentine Roulette’ anthology, which will be out on 2/9. That story is also complete now, and I’ll be posting little snippets of it soon. As you can tell, I’ve been very busy, but I do hope you lovelies will enjoy everything. It’s been a lot of work, but I love this.
In the mean time, check out these other bloggers below (who responsibly signed up for WIP in time!).