Silk Ropes

Justine Myers is a top romance writer. Her stories of love, lust and the BDSM lifestyle intrigue many readers. It’s ironic that a woman who weaves such hot and sensuous stories has very little romance in her own life. Justine has just ended a twenty year marriage and has no intention of getting into another relationship for awhile. However, all that changes when she meets Barrett Depenau.

The hotel Barrett is staying at is hosting a romance convention and while he’s waiting for his driver to pick him up he spots Justine. Something about the petite woman fascinates him from the moment he lays eyes on her. After he reads one of her books he has renewed hope that he’s finally found the woman he’s been searching for. If she can write about the Master/Slave lifestyle then maybe she’s open minded enough to accept him?


Available at  http://www.whiskeycreekpress.com/torrid/

Excerpt:

Chapter One

Justine hurried around trying to grab the last few things she was going to need for her trip.

“Mom, it’s Dad,” Crystal said as she handed Justine the phone.

“Don’t you dare tell me you can’t make it,” Justine said. She tried to cradle the phone against her shoulder as she shoved her PDA into her purse.

“I’m just going to be a little late.”

“God damn it Andrew, I told you I have a plane to catch.”

“It can’t be helped.”

“Fine…when are you showing up?”

“In about an hour.”

“Marie will be here. I got to go. You better show up.”

“Of course I am.”

“I heard this before.” Justine slammed the phone down.

“Dad isn’t coming is he?” Crystal said.

“He said he was.”

“He has said that before.”

“Marie,” Justine called out. She thanked God everyday for Marie. Hiring her was the best thing Justine had done in awhile.

“Don’t worry Justine. I will get them ready for their father. If he doesn’t show up I will go to plan B.”

“Thank goodness for plan B.” Justine chuckled.

Justine couldn’t believe it’s been a year since her divorce. Though she had to admit it was long overdo. Her three children were the only good things that came out of her twenty-year marriage to Andrew. Andrew Jr was seventeen, Crystal was sixteen and Christopher was fifteen. Her three treasures she always called them. And now that Andrew Sr. was out of the picture everything seemed so much more relaxed.

“Do we have to go with Dad?” Andy asked.

“You know you have to.”

“When I turn eighteen I don’t.”

“Come on kids let’s let your mother get ready. You know this book signing is important.”

“You will do great, Mom,” Christopher said.

“Thank you, honey.”

Justine kissed everyone goodbye then headed for her car. It was scary leaving Andrew after all those years of being together. She almost didn’t have the courage to do it. Catching him with his little whore was probably the best thing that could have happened to this family. Strange to say something like that, but it’s true. She often wondered would she have had the courage to leave him if she hadn’t caught him cheating on her.

Justine wrote tales of romance. Funny, seeing how she had such little romance in her real life. But, it was her stories of love and lust that put food on the table. Andrew was always belittling her work. The more her stories sold the more he would criticize. Well, that’s the magic of divorce, his words meant nothing now. His lack of spending time with the kids was the only thing that got under her skin. Even though the children seemed indifferent to whether he showed up or not.

Justine drove to the airport and went through all the security hoops. She hated flying. She settled into her seat. She looked out the window as the flight attendant went through the motions of informing them about the emergency procedures.

Justine had just turned forty. Age never bothered her, it bothered Andrew though. He went through a ten-year mid-life crisis. Justine could feel the anger starting to build. Every time she thought about that man, she would get angry.

A part of her was mad at herself for staying with him for so long. She looked over at the pleasant-looking man who was obviously flirting with her. It has been so long since she felt the warmth of a man’s touch. After the hell Andrew put her through she was in no hurry to rush into any kind of relationship. She politely smiled at the man then turned her attention back to the window.

Luckily, the flight went smoothly and she was able to check into her hotel room right away. Her publisher had set up everything for her, so all she had to do was show up at the signing. Once she freshened up, she grabbed her things and went to do the signing.

The book show was a wonderful chaotic experience. She got to meet with her readers and fellow writers. It was a long, busy day for her. When it was over she crashed on the bed in her room then reached for the phone.

“Marie, how is everything?”

“Justine…Andrew never showed up.”

“That fucking bastard.” Justine sat straight up. “Let me talk to the kids.” Justine talked to each and every one of her kids.

“Don’t worry Justine, we had fun today.”

“Thank you, Marie.”

Justine hung up the phone and lay on the bed for a moment then she dialed up Andrew.  He gave her the same song and dance on why he didn’t pick up the kids. There was always a meeting or something to that affect. She was too tired to argue with him. She had a long day schedule for tomorrow.

***

Barett sat in the lobby of the hotel. His meeting went on longer than he thought it would. Las Vegas never really appealed to him. He wasn’t much of a gambler. He wanted to go home to Germany. It has been a long two weeks. With his business he was often traveling. Being the owner of a successful company took a lot of commitment.

He watched the ladies hustling through the lobby. There was a romance book convention going on. He smiled at a couple of ladies. Some even mistook him for one of those cover models. Barett was a handsome man. He stood six foot four, had shoulder-length sandy brown hair. He was quite muscular due to his love of working out. His eyes were a deep blue color and his smile was breathtaking. But it was his deep accented voice that really got a person’s attention.

As he waited for his limo he finished up some business calls. It looked like he was going to be in the States for a little longer than he expected.

His breath caught when he saw the petite woman hurrying through the lobby. She was busy looking at her PDA as she navigated her way through the crowd.  He was instantly drawn to her. She was a pretty petite woman. She had shoulder-length brown hair that seemed to have a mind of its own. She appeared to be in good shape, though the business dress she wore revealed little of her body. It wasn’t her appearance that drew him to her. It was the aura around her. His heart skipped a beat when she laughed. Her laughter was contagious. Everyone around her smiled. Barett had seen his fair share of strikingly beautiful women. Hell, he dated many women who were but fantasies to other men. Yet, this pretty little woman enthralled him and he has yet to speak with her.

He made his way to her. He had to meet her, had to find out if she was married. A crush of people entered the lobby and he lost track of her. He scanned everywhere.

“Damn it,” he muttered.

He went to the main desk.

“Excuse me.”

“Yes Sir.” The young desk clerk instantly perked up seeing Barett.

Barett barely noticed the feeble attempts of the young woman’s flirting. He was forty-two and any woman younger than thirty-five just didn’t capture his attention. 

“What is this convention that is going on?”

“It’s the romance author convention. Here is a list of author’s that will be attending the book signing today, if you’re interested.”

“Thank you.”

Barett took the flyer from her and looked it over. His eyes stopped on one picture. “Justine Meyers,” he said softly.

When his driver arrived he instructed him to wait. Barett was going to meet this Justine Meyers. There was no way he could leave without doing so.

***

Justine happily signed book after book. She loved meeting her readers. Putting faces to names was always so nice.

“Hello Justine.”

Justine looked up to see the owner of such a sexy voice. Her eyes locked with the most handsome man she had ever seen before.

“My name is Barett Depenau and I must have dinner with you.”

“Excuse me?”

“I saw you in the lobby and was instantly attracted to you.”

Justine was taken back by Barett’s bluntness. This was obviously a man used to getting what he wanted.

“I will be more than happy to sign a book for you Mr. Depenau but…”

“Are you married? Seeing anyone?”

“No.”

“Then please join me for dinner. We can go to this hotel’s restaurant if you like.”

Justine didn’t know what to say. There was no way this gorgeous man was asking her out. She must be daydreaming.

“I will meet you at eight tonight in the lobby.” He reached down and gently grabbed her hand. He bent over and kissed her hand. “Until tonight, Justine.”

Justine couldn’t move for a moment.

“Wow, what a hottie,” the author next to her said.

Justine snapped herself out of it and went back to signing books. She didn’t know if she was going to meet the mysterious stranger this evening or not. He could be a fruitcake for all she knew. Yet, she couldn’t deny her body’s response to him. Should she this once throw caution to the wind? After all they were just having dinner, nothing more.

***

Barett spent the afternoon in meeting after meeting. In between meetings he read an eBook of one of Justine’s books.  She knew how to tell a story he gave her that. But what interested him the most was the subject matter of this story.  A Master and his slaves, but more to the point was that this Master was bisexual. A spark of hope flickered in him. If Justine could write about such things maybe she was open minded to this lifestyle in real life.

Barett lived this lifestyle. He was a Master and had a male submissive. He had been through relationship after relationship looking for a woman open minded enough to accept him as he was. Yet each time when it came time for him to tell a woman about his submissive Derek, they would be repulsed or just call off the relationship. Maybe he was fooling himself. Maybe there wasn’t a woman out there that would love him for who he was. Barett was bisexual and needed to be with a man and a woman. Derek was also bisexual, but leaned more toward being with men. Barett loved Derek. Hell, they have been together for over ten years now. He would find a woman who would accept Derek and his lifestyle. He had to. He was tired of going from one relationship to another. He wanted a woman he could love like he loved Derek. Whether or not she wanted to be his submissive mattered little. The only thing he wanted was for her to love him as he was.

He waited in the lobby for Justine. He really hoped she was going to show up. He smiled when he spotted her walking toward him.

“Good evening, Justine.”

“Good evening.”

Barett offered her his arm and led her to the restaurant.

Barett couldn’t be real, Justine thought to herself throughout dinner. He was charming, handsome and very smart. No, there was no way this man was real. What was the catch?

After dinner Barett took her for a walk down the Vegas strip. The lights illuminated everything. The wide variety of people was fascinating. She felt safe being with him. They talked and walked forever then finally he brought her back to the hotel.

“I want to make love to you,” he whispered softly in her ear.

“I don’t know you well enough. I’m not the kind of woman…”

He pressed his fingertips to her lips.

“Then I shall wait.” He smiled at her. “I want to see you again.”

Justine gave him her cell number. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her like she had never been kissed before. Oh God, Andrew never kissed her like this. She melted into Barett’s embrace and surrendered to his sensuous kiss. He literally took her breath away and she was unable to say anything when he released her from their passionate embrace.

“I will call you later, Justine.”

And just like that he was gone. She stood there for a moment, wishing she had for once let go and made love to him.

She went into her room and sat on the bed. She could hardly believe what just happened to her. Did she really spend time with Barett or was she just daydreaming?

Her cell phone rang and she answered.

“Good night, Justine.”

“Good night, Barett.”

That’s all he said. She cradled the phone in her hand for a moment. He was real. Oh sweet Jesus, he was real.