Title: DOMcember
Author: Stella Grae
Genre: Erotic Romance
Book Blurb:
When co-workers Taylor Anderson and Spencer Pollard decide to explore a friends-with-benefits agreement, neither one is prepared for the gift that collars them both with unexpected Christmas kink.
Excerpt:
Taylor
He’s breaking my heart and doesn’t even know it.
But what I really want is for him to break my will.
And put a bow on it just in time for Christmas.
Spencer Pollard wasn’t my first choice, far from it. Hell, honestly, he wasn’t even a choice at all. We were firmly in the “friend zone” and no matter how much I hurtled ideas from one side of my brain to the other, I didn’t see a way to extract that man from the idea that we were destined to be friends and only friends. Still, I couldn’t ignore that there was something drawing me to him and making me weak in the knees, tingly, heart double-fist pounding. What the heck? Get yourself under control and waste the key up for someone who’ll appreciate it.
Still…He is wickedly funny, can talk to anyone, and opens the door for me—any door. He buys homeless people food. He loves animals. And that man’s vocabulary? I think I melt a little each time when he speaks…titrate, ergo, and for all intents and purposes…how could I not fall for him? How could I keep my wits around him when all I want to do is climb on top and ride him like the one cent pony at the grocery? Oh yeah…we’re friends. Ugh.
***
“I like you, Anderson.” He traces his glass with his thumb. “I think I trust you—that’s what I like. I like you and I trust you, which makes me feel attached to you somehow. What do you think about going out with a co-worker?”
“I think it’s probably a disaster waiting to happen.”
He smiles and nods, but adds, “What about friends with benefits?”
I can’t remember how to swallow. Crap. He wants to use my body. I want him to want to use my body. Relationships are serious, and a lot of work. I don’t know if I have it in me for a relationship, but a deeper (pun intended!) friendship with sexual benefits? Why the hell not?
“Yeah, I’m gonna get real vulnerable here. I’m only saying this once and if you bring it up again, I’ll deny the hell out of it. You’re kinda my wonderwall, Spencer Pollard. I guess, if we’re being brutally honest…and fair…I’d be interested. I’m old fashioned, though, so there’d have to be rules.”
Spencer’s eyes drift off in the distance and I follow his line of sight to a hot chocolate food truck sitting on the corner, people snaked around it. “We could try this. There’s something though.”
“What do you mean?” Dammit! Here it comes. There’s always some skeleton in the attic.
“I told you I was taking a break from dating, sites and such. And, part of it is because there just weren’t a lot of choices and the whole process is awkward and weird, trying to get to know—really know—perfect strangers. I told myself that my next partner would have to be willing to try something I’ve always been interested in, and I was willing to get to know someone—to be friends first. My ex-wife thought I was perverted. Maybe I am. You’ll probably run off and report me.”
“My freaky little friend, Spencer!” I cackle.
“Maybe. You wanna know?”
I lean into him and push my chest up against the table so that he doesn’t have to work too hard to make a play with his eyes. And he does. “Of course I want to know. You might be surprised. I know I seem like the quiet demure lady of the office, but you never know who might be a freaky lady.”
“I think I might like to try some BDSM. I want to be a dom.”
And I’d be your…what? Sex slave?” I grimace, not liking the power deferential.
“No, not a slave—a sub. You’d have equal rights in the relationship and 100 percent say in what happens—if you’re agreeable. I don’t mean whips and chains shit—strictly stuff that doesn’t hurt you, and we’d have beforecare and aftercare—snuggling, dates, all the things that make you not feel used or cheapened by the experience. We’d have a safe word because I want you to feel totally comfortable trusting me unconditionally with your body.”
His eyes dilate like giant moons and match the lavender in his shirt. He chugs the last of his first beer, flagging down the waitress for another. He wasn’t joking…this is definitely a two-beer (or more!) lunch. The slutty waitress makes no waves in his eyes. His sole focus is on me.
“You’re not saying anything,” he marvels.
“I’m thinking. Actually, I’m overthinking. My brain is trying to put on the brakes, but there are certain parts of my body that are screaming ‘Go for it!’”
His smile is 1000 kilowatts of devious. “Using your brain is overrated.”
I like him. This is…refreshing. It’s honest…and it’s something new—to me. Why the hell not? Uhm…hi…brain here—I’m the problem, yes, it’s me. You could get your heart broken. Aaaand, she could have the best sex of her life, or find her soulmate, Miss Pinky Hole here, throwing my two-cents worth.
“Okay. So,” I ask, in between bites of pizza, “how does this work? We go get our tests. We’re all good and then what?”
“Well, I was thinking maybe we give it a spin for a month—30 days of kink, As the dom, I will plan the dates and the activities. You get to approve, of course. The tests should be back in seven to ten days; we can start in about a week—December 1st. I guess it’ll be our kinky advent of sorts.”
“If you want me on board, you’re gonna have to be a little less sacrilegious. I was raised Catholic, you know.”
He bites his lower lip and ambushes any remaining will I have left to decline his kind seasonal invitation. “Just think of it as Domcember. Thirty days of kinky sex.”
“I can work with that, but what happens after the 30 days? I’d kinda hate to be…frenemies? I guess? That sounds so middle school.”
“We don’t have to be anything different than we are now. I mean, except that we will have had sex. Who knows? It might be the beginning of something special—you don’t know if you don’t try.”
“I’m pretty sure my dad told me that when I reluctantly started learning how to ride my bike without training wheels.” I add an eye roll.
“Your dad’s a smart guy. You should take his advice.”
Spencer orders me another cider and we make a toast… To Domcember.
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):
Amazon: https://a.co/d/0fiGfuU
Universal Buy Links: https://books2read.com/u/47RdqL
Share a holiday family tradition:
In my family, we build a roaring bonfire (no matter the weather) and we sing Christmas carols while freezing our tooshes off and drinking Grandpa’s homemade wine, which will knock you on your toosh!
Why is your featured book perfect to get readers in the holiday mood?
DOMcember is a short, steamy, friend-to-lovers, workplace crush romance with a touch of naughty (BDSM) to remind you that the good girls and guys can have fun, too!
Giveaway –
One lucky reader will win a $100 Amazon gift card.
Open internationally.
Runs December 1 – 31, 2024
Drawing will be held on January 2, 2025.
Author Biography:
Stella Grae is an unassuming English professor, copyeditor, and copywriter living in Lexington, Kentucky. She’s the author of the short story “Power Play” that was originally published in the website erotica journal Oysters and Chocolate. In her spare time she enjoys sipping on bourbon, nibbling cheesy grits, and philosophizing about love and sex in her blog, “Bone Up,” which can be found on her site stella grae…along with other sexy tidbits. Just Call Me Confidence is her first erotica novel.
Social Media Links:
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AllAuthor: https://stellagraeerotica.allauthor.com/
Email: stellagrae@proton.me
Amazon Central Author Page: