The Beauty of Surrender A Novel

by Bradley, Eden

• ISBN13: 9780553385588
• ISBN10: 0553385585
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-10-27
• Publisher: Delta

Summary

Shibari, the ancient art of erotic restraint...Its finely knotted ropes are a turn-on, a sexual experience...and, for some, an absolute necessity. Serving the Master: Desmond and Ava At a San Francisco sex club called Pinnacle, Ava Gregory seeks something she cannot quite describe. But of one thing she is certain: the moments when she feels her most beautiful and complete are when she is tightly restrained in the Shibari ropes. At Pinnacle, she's paired with a master: Desmond Hale, who thrives on control. But something surprising happens when Desmond binds Ava's willing body and takes her to the edge of ecstasy. And now the two are taking their relationship out of the shadows of the club, sharing secrets unleashed and bodies unbound.... Soothing the Beast: Marina and James An art dealer and Shibari master, Marina has never hesitated to dominate anyone. Until she meets James, a dark, gorgeous, towering journalist who's survived horrors around the world. James confesses that submission is the only way to clear his troubled mind, but Marina is instantly overwhelmed by his strength and magnetism. To share the pleasures of bondage, something must change between them. When it does, it will come with an explosion of unexpected pleasureand a relationship that neither could ever have imagined....

Author Biography

Eden Bradley has been writing since she could hold a pen in her hand. When not writing, you'll find her wandering museums, cooking, eating, shopping, and reading everything she can get her hands on. Eden lives in Southern California.

Excerpts

Chapter One


Ava pushed through the door of the small cafe on Columbus Avenue. The rich scent of coffee hit her right away, along with the pungent aroma of garlic that seemed to be everywhere in North Beach, San Francisco's Italian district. She paused, allowing her eyes to adjust to the dim, gray light filtering in through the windows. To take a breath, to allow her heartbeat to calm. It wasn't working. She looked around the cafe, full of the casual Sunday-afternoon crowd. They hadn't arrived yet. Relief ran warm in her body, mixing with the exquisite tension that had been with her for several days, ever since her conversation with Marina about what she needed.

What she needed. She wasn't used to thinking in those terms, not in any sort of thorough way. She'd spent her whole adult life in a battle between what she desired and what she thought she should do. What other people thought she should do. Her family. Michael. Which had left her in a nowhere place she still hadn't figured out how to escape from. Not that BDSM was all about escape for her. She was looking for something deeper.

She'd read about subspace, that trancelike state often reached during bondage or sensation play where a person's mind could let go, get in touch with his or her deeper self. Perfect, blissful release. She knew it was what she yearned for, that it might help her clarify what she wanted, help her work through some of her old issues, but she hadn't quite figured out how to do it. Marina said she thought she had an answer.

She had come to trust Marina, even though they'd known each other only a few months. They'd met at Pinnacle, one of the most exclusive BDSM clubs in San Francisco, and Marina had quickly become a mentor and a friend. Now she was introducing Ava to one of her oldest friends from Pinnacle, someone she'd met there and known for a number of years. Marina believed he was one of the best at what they did: Shibari, the ancient and beautiful ritual of Japanese rope bondage.

Ava paused, looking for an empty table. She gave herself a moment to calm down, pulled air into her lungs, held it, blew it out slowly, as she'd been taught to center herself. But her pulse was still humming, her body trembling.

Today, she would meet him.

Would he be her answer? It was hard not to hope.

She didn't know why this felt so different. She'd been with other dominant men before. But Marina had told her this man was special. And something in Ava's body, in her very blood, answered to the sound of his name.

Desmond Hale.

How could she possibly know, even before meeting him, that with him things would be different?

Wishful thinking.

She hoped it wasn't anything so mundane.

Making her way between the tables, she found one miraculously empty right by the window. Taking her coat off, she sat down and stared out through the glass. It was the usual gray March day in San Francisco. But she wasn't looking at the weather. No, she was looking for Marina. And she was looking for him.

Marina had told her about him, but not nearly enough for this sort of utter certainty. She knew he was forty years old, older than she was by eleven years. Knew he was a software designer, had his own company. And more important, she knew Marina was confident that he was the perfect top to give Ava exactly what she needed: absolute release in the Shibari ropes. Her fondest wish. Her deepest unmet need.

She shifted in her chair, adjusted the hem of her dress, tried to smooth down her unruly mop of blond curls, knowing it was a fruitless task.

What would he look like? How would she know him if he arrived before Marina did?

Her gaze went back to the sidewalk outside just as Marina drew the door open. Ava's heartbeat accelerated as the tall, elegant woman with the gorgeous fall of wavy auburn hair spotted her and made her way to the table.

"Ah, I'm glad you f

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Excerpted from The Beauty of Surrender: An Erotic Romance by Eden Bradley
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