About the Book
Bound To
Author: Sionna Fox
Publisher: Self-published
Released: April 24, 2018
Series: Bondage in Boston #1
Genre: Contemporary, BDSM, m/f
Author contact links: Facebook, Instagram, Newsletter, Twitter
Purchase links: Amazon, B&N, iBooks, Kobo
REVIEW
Snippet:
Friday night, we were camped at a table in a semi-crowded bar waiting for Matt, who was running late, my stomach doing backflips while I willed my brain to empty of the mental images of him naked that I’d been entertaining for the better part of six weeks. I’d barely met him, knew nothing about him. But the way he’d looked at me that night, like he was studying me, like he could systematically pull me apart then put me back together again, did something to my insides. I wanted him to take me apart. Maybe he could put me back together into something new.
He strode in on his long legs, wearing fitted, dark jeans and a somewhat worse-for-the-wear, olive-green waxed canvas jacket. The thick strap of the messenger bag slung over his shoulders emphasized the breadth of him. His hair was mussed, like he’d been running his hands through it—or like someone else had been tugging on it. I nearly choked as my deeply unhelpful psyche reminded me of all the times I’d dreamed of being the one doing the tugging. With his face between my legs.
F**********ck. Stop it. Stop it right the f*ck now. I’ll spend my first paycheck on a vibrator if this will just stop.
Why, yes, I was making desperate bargains with my vagina. Because that makes sense. I didn’t have time to hide under the table or make for an exit before he spotted us and started over, but I thought about it. Hard.
As he got closer, I wondered how long I had to stay before I excused myself to go climb out the bathroom window. Our eyes met. My brain screeched to a total halt. He gave me a satisfied, predatory smirk, holding my gaze like a challenge, and he wanted to win this time. The gears of my brain whirred back to life, and I looked away first as he got to the table. Izzy stood to give him a hug.
“Good to see you.”
“I’m glad we could tear you away from work,” Izzy teased.
He let go, set down his bag, and shrugged out of his jacket, revealing a plain black T-shirt stretched over his lean, muscled frame.
“I’ll go get a drink. Do you need another round?”
“I think we’re good. You good, Mouse?”
“Mm-hmm,” I squeaked. I wished she wouldn’t call me Mouse in front of new people, especially not in front of guys like Matthew. In my head, he was Matthew. He didn’t seem like a Matt. Matt was Molly’s nerdy older brother, Matthew was more fitting for the man who’d walked up to our table.
I could see Izzy plotting as he headed back to the table with his beer in hand. “Don’t leave me alone with him, Izzy. Seriously. Please?”
“I’m going to use the restroom.” The words were out of her mouth before he’d even fully sat down. I smacked her thigh as she passed me.
He clearly knew what Izzy was up to and had the grace to shake his head into his beer.
“Jolene, nice to see you again.” We were back to that predatory look. He knew he could chew me up, spit me out, and I wouldn’t make a peep in protest. Hell, I’d probably even offer myself up as a sacrifice, given the chance.
“Matthew.” I kept my voice as even as possible.
“Matthew. I like it.” He smiled at me, and my stomach fluttered wildly at the notion I had pleased him. “I’ve never met a Jolene before.”
“My mom is a Dolly Parton fan.” I shrugged and rubbed a water ring on the table. “Kind of weird to be named after a home-wrecker. And my middle name is Mae. Nana had a conniption when she found out I was named after not one, but two ‘women of low morals.’” Awesome. I was babbling.
Matthew laughed anyway and rescued me by changing the subject. “You know Izzy from college?”
“Uh-huh. We were roommates.” I kept my eyes down, picking at the label on my beer bottle. I didn’t trust myself to look him in the eye and speak at the same time.
“She said. You’ve stayed close, obviously. I know Izzy’s getting her master’s, but what brought you to Boston?”
There was no answer to his question that didn’t involve a long, detailed history of my family, the fact that I’d never left my hometown before, my fear of becoming a crazy cat lady, and hey, why not throw in the part where I had panic attacks about little things like leaving the house and meeting new people, but I had to say something. “She asked me to come.”
“You packed up and moved because she wanted you to?” I expected him to scoff like I was nothing more than Izzy’s willing pet, but he sounded intrigued.
“I don’t know.” I really, really didn’t. “I’m not usually impulsive. I think she caught me at the right moment.”
He raised one dark eyebrow. “Oh?”
I blushed furiously. “I needed a change.”
I shifted in my seat. The conversation felt less like polite small talk and more like an interview every time he opened his mouth. Thankfully, Izzy returned from the bathroom and saved me from Matthew’s scrutiny. I could feel his gaze on me as I sipped my beer and stripped the label while he and Izzy caught up on the last ten-odd years. I kept my eyes on his hands, long-fingered and elegant, and the way they moved as he gave us the briefest description of his post-doctoral work at the hospital. He laughed when Izzy informed him that his sister was convinced he never left the lab and was grateful we were taking him out.
“Please, tell her you’ve saved me from a lonely Friday night with the cell cultures.” He glanced at his watch. “But as it happens, I should get going.” He stood and slid into his jacket before leaning over to kiss Izzy on the cheek. “It was great to see you, Izzy.”
“You’re not going back to work?” Izzy asked incredulously, even though she was as likely to be working on a Friday night as Matthew apparently was.
He quirked his perfect mouth but didn’t otherwise acknowledge Izzy’s question. “Lovely to see you again, Jolene.”
I mumbled some sort of response as he headed for the door.
Book Blurb:
Take one neurotic new girl in town and one kinky neuroscientist, add sparks and a side of sexual awakening. This might hurt later.
Jolene Whitman has never left her hometown, hasn’t been on a date in six years, and when her best friend asks her to move to Boston with her, she jumps at the chance to leave her country mouse roots behind.
Starting over in a new city with one friend, no job, and her bank account bleeding out is enough to send Jolene’s anxiety through the roof. Add in a hot post-doc with a dominant streak and it could be a recipe for a panic attack big enough to send her home with her tail between her legs. But submitting to Matthew Ward shuts up the running monologue in her head like nothing ever has before.
Each night they spend together, exploring the limits of their trust, Jolene falls a little harder for the man responsible for her sexual awakening. Under Matthew’s care and control, she finds a place where she understands exactly who and what she’s supposed to be.
She knows it’s too good to last, that a man like Matthew will never stay with a woman like her. But if the cost of finding herself is a broken heart, she’s all in.
About the Author:
Sionna Fox is an author of sweet/hot HEAs, die-hard romance fan, and lover of things nerdy and twee. She drinks too much coffee, has a minor issue with washi tape and planner stickers, and tagging her in anything involving llamas, foxes, or women in suits is a surefire way to her heart. She lives in New Hampshire with her very patient husband and very put-upon dog.