A Little Slap and Tickle

by Elise Hepner

Genres: Romance; Contemporary Romance; Erotic & Steamy Romance

Synopsis

Eliza's stuck in a lacklustre, dead-end slump after coming home with her graduate degree to a slippery job market and her brother's fold out couch. Unable to circle newspaper ads for another second and desperately crawling into sexual fantasy to escape her dismal reality-Eliza takes her escapism a step further when she agrees to go to the Renaissance Faire with her best friend, Dru.

Her whole world shifts when Eliza meets Hunter, a quirky, mysterious leather worker who runs a booth at the faire. He's been a platonic friend of Dru's for ages and supplies her with homemade BDSM bedroom toys-toys that he's more than willing to demonstrate with Eliza once the faire closes. But can Eliza give up control in order to trust that one of her biggest fantasies will live up to her expectations?

Hunter's skills as a dominant force Eliza to trust herself again and Hunter finds himself with a feisty submissive that pushes more of his buttons than he ever thought possible. Together they push themselves farther than any fantasy, until their lives are never the same again.

Release date: November 29, 2013

Publisher: Headline

Print pages: 115

Sample

Chapter One

‘And another one bites the dust.’ Eliza threw down her latest credit card bill with a small huff of a sigh, watching it slowly float down onto the cheap carpet. She hung her head in resignation.

‘You all right, sis?’ Charlie picked up the bill from his apartment floor in front of his fold-out couch – now Eliza’s permanent home. She winced as he whistled. ‘I can see you’re not going to be moving out anytime soon.’

‘Sorry, Charlie,’ she said with little irony. ‘Not even McDonald’s will hire me with my degree and it’s not as if I can afford a train or bus ticket out of here. Until I settle my school loans which have already been pushed off, all my income is zilch.’

She gathered the strength to prop up her head with a hand and looked over at her tall, muscular brother. He had the look of an eternal frat boy: unshaven, black hair sticking up all over the place, and those damn blue mesh shorts she hadn’t seen him out of since junior high school. Perhaps they were the pair required for gym class? But either way his unsettlingly honest brown gaze was pinned on her face – and she couldn’t do anything but frown deeper. He paced, making his generic beer logo T-shirt with the holes in it sway against his body.

It was a wonder anyone employed Charlie. Lucky for him his local university sports scholarship had transferred over to writing for the sports section of the newspaper. When he graduated he had a job free and clear. Instead of pursuing higher learning hoping for the best and aiming to succeed in his dream job, like someone else she knew. Sometimes being an overachiever truly came back to bite her in the ass.

‘Well, it’s not as if it made practical sense to switch your major at the last second just because libraries are becoming a little overstaffed around here. You would have wasted more money that way. You did the best you could at the time, now we live with the consequences.’

‘The coffee shop interview is in two days and if I can nab that I’ll get a solid starting pay cheque. At least enough to cover the light bill here. Something to contribute. And from there I’ll save all my pennies and take as many buses as I need to apply to the libraries outside of a normal 50-mile radius. Maybe even a few trains if I have to do a longer commute, until I hit a job jackpot.’

‘At least you have a plan. That says something.’

‘How encouraging and motivational.’

He stopped his pacing and threw her a smile only a sister could love – and interpret that it was full of unleashed mischief. ‘Chin up,’ he said, ‘you should do something to make yourself feel better. I’ll reimburse you the cash for whatever you decide to do today. Consider it a fun day, on me. Besides, if you whine any more I’ll start having to pay for a psychiatrist and that’s a lot more expensive than a ticket to Rough Seas Water Park. Stop griping, get off your ass, and live a little. I kind of want my couch back.’

‘Fair enough. We’ve already established a tab for me, why not?’ Eliza uneasily restacked her collection of classic books on her makeshift egg crate bedside table. ‘Just give me a second to call Dru and I’ll see what she can whip up for the day.’

‘Thanks, sis, I could use a little time to myself.’

‘Oh, I don’t take offence to that at all.’

‘Good, you weren’t supposed to.’

Eliza rolled her eyes and reached for the cordless house phone beside her bed. The only way to wait eagerly for callbacks from her job interviews was with the receiver under her pillow for full alertness at all times. Who knew how late Danny’s Clam Shack and Strip Club would wait to call about their need for a cocktail waitress? Better to be prepared – which reminded her …

‘You’ll keep an eye on the phone when I leave?’

‘Yes, of course. I’ll answer every single call.’

‘It might be important,’ she stressed, hesitating to dial her best friend, Dru.

He wiped his simpleton smirk off his face. ‘I want you out as much as you want out, sis. I promise I wouldn’t jeopardise your big break by not answering my own phone line, ’kay?’

With a resigned nod, Eliza tapped in the memorised number with her fingers, and held the phone to her ear while shooing off her brother with her other hand.

‘All right, all right. When you’re done let me know how much you need.’

‘Sure,’ she mouthed, impatient for any smidgen of privacy while talking to her best friend. Charlie had been known to listen in to her conversations and repeat them back in a high-pitched, girlie voice as if they were children again. He would dissect every small detail and mock it until his voice went hoarse. And today was not the day for his odd, amusing escapades.

Several shrill rings later and the other end of the phone line clicked as Dru picked up her cell.

‘Y’ello?’

Eliza smiled at her friend’s confident, casual phone voice and welcomed the endorphins that had been missing from the rest of her bad day. The pull back into reality was a welcome change.

‘Hey lady, it’s Eliza. What are you up to today? Any plans?’

‘Glad you called, chick. Wanted to know if you would go to the Renaissance Faire with me today. I’ve got to go pick something up at one of the booths and it would be good for you to get out of the spunkhole known as your brother’s tiny apartment.’

Eliza shuddered, pushing the sexual reference to her brother deep, deep down where she could completely repress it. As for the Renn Faire – was she really in the mood for something so … alternative? Charlie complained enough that she lived in her own little world; she couldn’t imagine what he’d say when she spent the day in a make-believe land. But wouldn’t it be a distraction? There was no denying that she needed an escape – and books weren’t cutting it when her brother’s apartment smelled more and more like stale potato chips and sweat. A little Jane Eyre was far less captivating when the constant “pew-pew” of Charlie’s video games was on full blast.

‘You alive over there?’ Dru prodded.

‘Oh, sorry. Yeah, I’m here.’

‘And your answer would be …?’

‘Sure,’ Eliza impulsively blurted, eager to leave the apartment and no longer caring where she went so long as she could take a book along in her purse.

‘Really? You’re going to make it that easy on me, hermit-in-training?’

‘Yeah, yeah.’

‘I’ll cover the fees, booze, and food. Of course –’

‘I got it, Dru. Charlie said he would cover anything I spend today just to get me out the house.’

‘Desperate for a little alone time with his right hand, I’m sure. How can you take payment from him, but not from me? How does that work, crazy lady? Explain.’

‘Charlie owes me months and months of babysitting money he stole from me in junior high to toke up with his buddies. I’m completely justified in taking anything he’s willing to give me. Not to mention the fact that the little brat never paid back any loans. Despite my guilt at accepting handouts, he owes me. And God knows I owe him some space on the weekends instead of isolating myself again.’

‘At least you’re one to recognise your faults.’ Dru laughed.

‘Well, when there’s no work to distract you, you’d be shocked to know how much you can learn about yourself.’

‘I hope there’s something scintillating making its way into this conversation.’

Eliza held back her hard and fast denial. One word and her whole sex life – or lack thereof – would be out there. And, occasionally, she liked to play her secrets close to her chest. There was only so much teasing she could take from one aspect of her life to the next. For everyone in her inner circle, it was always open season on Eliza. The shy, sweet, untroubled one. The daughter her mother and father had always been able to count on to make her bed, drink her milk, come home way before curfew, and wake up at the crack of dawn to start breakfast.

A straight, no frills, Goody Two-Shoes from her very core. Familial expectations had encouraged her until perfection, books, and obedience became a comfort zone she wasn’t willing to stray from because she knew at any given time that she could tackle any problem in her way. Compliance turned into an e. . .