You’re probably getting tired of the aftercare posts. Ironically the more I write about a topic, the more questions I hear about it. Since a lot of my posts are guided by questions I get… sometimes we ended up with multiple posts about a single topic in a short time. Sorry about that!
Because I’ve done several aftercare posts in the past couple of months, I’ve spent a lot of time comparing how fiction presents aftercare and how it tends to happen in real life, which can be quite different.
The specific question this time was, “We never used to see aftercare mentioned in books, but now we see it constantly. Is it a new concept?”
I’m really excited about this book, for a lot of reasons. First is that I’m a Scorpio who, in a lot of ways, doesn’t feel like a very good Scorpio. But also, because I get to work with an amazing group of authors to pull this world together.
This is probably one of my best books so far. The plot is deep and detailed. The kink is… yum. And the relationship is full of fire.
And because I got a bookbub new release deal on it I’ve marked it down to 2.99, but only through the 18th so grab it fast.
Scorpio
A stand-alone, multi-author paranormal romance series in a shared world.
Cole has become the epitome of a Scorpio without ever meaning to. Years of fighting fate and avoiding his path have somehow landed him exactly where he was always supposed to be.
Damn it.
But when he finds himself in the audience of a seedy underground auction, his successful, detached life comes to a screeching halt. The last person he expects to see up for sale is the woman who shattered his heart ten years ago.
Now that he owns her contract, he’ll finally be able to get the answers he needs to move on—and maybe extract a little revenge from her beautiful, lithe body too. But the answers don’t come easy, and Natalie’s return rips his past wide open to expose a deep well of secrets. His destiny had only been delayed, but now it’s back on track and everything is about to change. Steamy scenes, hot spanking and other kinks.
The plan was to have a nice soak in the tub. Her apartment had only had a shower stall and it had been a long time since she’d gotten to have a good soak. The jets eased every bit of tension from her muscles and in a very short time she fell asleep.
It could have been the jets shutting off, or the cooling water that woke her, but it wasn’t.
“Why are you in my tub?”
Natalie jerked, splashing water across the floor as she sat up in a hurry. “Your note said you would be gone all day,” she blurted.
“I forgot a file and had to stop hope to grab it.”
“Oh…”
“You know you’re not a guest here, right? You’re technically an employee and instead of doing your chores you’re lounging in my tub. What am I supposed to do about that?’
Cole leaned in the doorway; arms crossed across his chest. There was a slight smirk curving his lips up at one side. His eyes were narrowed and there was a coldness in them. Despite that she didn’t think he was actually angry.
“Punish me?” she suggested. Her insides flipped when she realized what she’d just said. Her ass was still sore and here she was asking for more punishment.
She had clearly lost her mind. “I mean… I’m just kidding.”
“Sure you are, bunny.” He laughed and reached for a towel on the counter.
She frowned. “Why do you keep calling me bunny?”
“I told you last night. You act like prey. I warned you that I wasn’t the man you knew. I’m a hell of a lot meaner now, but you insist on trying to entice me. Teasing me and laying yourself out like a buffet.”
She frowned and sat up fast, sending a small wave of water over the side of the tub. “I’m not prey. I’m not a weak animal waiting to be gobbled up.”
“Well, I believe that last part anyway. You’re Australian—nothing there is weak. I imagine even the bunnies will try to kill you. But you are prey. My prey. I paid for you and I’m keeping you.” He tossed the towel to her, and she wrapped it around herself as she stood up.
She wanted to snap at him. There were angry words filling her head, but the truth was… he was right. She was completely at his mercy, and she kept playing this like it was the romance she wanted it to be. Until he turned that cold look on her and set her trembling as the dread set in.
He held out a hand to her, and she took it after a brief hesitation. Despite the sudden flash of worry about what he was going to do, he only helped her out of the tub. As soon as she was standing on the bathmat, he let go.
“As much as I would love to spend the day teaching you your place… I have plans and you have work to get done. Don’t worry though. We’ll catch up tonight.” He smirked as his hand went up to grab a wet handful of hair.
The teasing tug was just hard enough to make her wince. “I can’t wait…” She tried to sound droll, as if she wasn’t in the least bit worried. His expression said she’d missed that mark. And truthfully, she was kind of excited to see what he came up with next.
“If I were you, I’d keep yourself busy today. I can already see you’re going to need a short leash, maybe daily punishments. We’ll see.”
Just the threat was enough to make her heart speed up. The sarcastic remarks she wanted to make died in her mouth and never got past her lips, which was probably a good thing.
If you like Paranormal romance, Urban Fantasy, and lots of steam and kink then you’ll love this book.
And for those of you who hang out on Facebook. Come join us in Sexy Spanking Reads on October 19th, 2022 for a release party from 5-9:30pm. There will be all kinds of prizes and giveaways, sneak peaks, and a chance to hang out with some of the Zodiac authors.
Not too long ago I posted this article: Finding Your Level in Kink, and I think a lot of that is relevant to this conversation if you’d like to check it out. I’ll try not to repeat too much of it here, but it focused a bit on gatekeeping and people who like to bar the door to those who enjoy milder, or different play.
Sometimes those people can be you… and the insecurities and fears in your own mind.
So, this time I’d like to focus a bit more on the internal fears and worries that someone who is interested in the scene might have.
“Can I still be part of the scene if I have a lot of triggers and limits?” This question came from an email through the blog recently, which put it back in my mind, but it’s not the first time I’ve seen people worried about this.
Musings of a Chaotic Mind 