Tropes: enemies to lovers, hurt/comfort
Feels: 2/5
Steam*: 3/5
Kinks: Dubcon, Bondage, Control, orgasm denial, Breath play, hand necklaces, Knife play, Rough sex, Degradation/name calling, Toys (vibrator, anal plug, dildo, chastity device, sex machines, electroshock), Spanking, rape roleplay (kind of, mirroring of past)
Angst: medium
HEA: yes
Pairing: MM
Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: past CSA, murder, violence, gore, torture, trafficking, MC drugging other MC, abduction, homophobia, drug use, unsafe sex
Cheating between MCs: No
Any cheating: No
Other person drama: Rafael tries to rile up Dominic by making it look like he's going to have a threesome with a couple, kissing one of them and touching. Dominic pulls him away. Dominic is jealous at times. Dominic also goes on a date with a woman, but he wasn't interested in her, and Rafael interrupts. Neither of them are with anyone else.
3 stars
Rafael's dad was a bad guy and ticked off the wrong people, he got himself and his wife killed and Rafael at 12 was sex trafficked. An FBI agent got him out and adopted him in his mid-teens. He's f***** up though, and he spends his life alternating between running his business, indulging in rough sex, and hunting down pedophiles and bad people and murdering them. He recently helped kill Dominic's father.
Dominic's father was a horrible man. He was extremely homophobic and he sensed his child was gay, so he sent Dominic to the same sex trafficking location that Rafael was held at and let his son be raped for 8 months as punishment, to scare him away from being gay. Dominic has hid his sexuality since, but he's always had to deal with homophobia from his father and he's internalized his dad's voice. Dominic wants to kill Rafael because he thinks he should, because he's a temptation and because of what he did to his father. Dominic has been fascinated with and watching Rafael for years.
When they enter each other's orbit, they end up having sex instead of killing each other. Dominic thinks he will kill him eventually, that the sex is just a temporary diversion. But as opportunities present themselves, he can't bring himself to kill him, and he actually ends up protecting him as they end up in dangerous situations. They feel avoid for the other, they give each other what they need and understand each other.
This was an ok book. There was a lot of tension, there was a connection between the characters, there were lively characters, and there was a solid plot. I had a hard time enjoying this book though because the walls were up between the characters for such a long time, there were hints at vulnerability at times, but it wasn't quite enough emotion for me. And I just wasn't comfortable with some of the sex. I hesitated about whether I should ding the stars for my personal preference, but I couldn't bring myself to round up and reward the repeated rape role-playing that they did. It's probably pushing it to call it rape role play, because it was more subtle than that, but that was how it came off to me. I know it was how they coped with both being survivors of CSA, but on page graphic mirroring of elements from their past assaults for titillation was too far for me.
Some notable moments:
"When he starts to stir, waking up, I pretend to be asleep. If he’s going to leave, I don’t want to watch. He freezes when he registers our entanglement. I expect him to slide out from under me, to escape without waking me. Instead, his arm goes from lying loosely behind me to curling around me. I know he thinks I’m asleep, but holy fuck. I did not expect that. His thumb rubs lightly against my side."
"“Everything is actually fine.” “Fine?” Dante echoes. “Nothing here is fine, Tristan. And why the hell did you jump so guiltily when you saw me?” Anger flashes across Tristan’s face. “I was startled, not guilty. And it was because I knew how you’d react!” “You were serving drinks to a man who fucking kidnapped you!” “Apparently, I have a tolerance for psychotic, violent assholes.” He looks, quite pointedly, from Dante to Dominic to me. I can’t help it. I laugh. Everyone glares at me. I’m not sure why. That really was funny."
"I clamp a gloved hand over his mouth. “Listen to me, you sack of shit. If you shout, if you scream, if you do anything other than answer my questions quietly, I will rip off your balls.” I give the rope a light yank, making his eyes bug out. God, he’s gross. “I know you have men downstairs. I’ll be gone before they reach you—but so will your balls. Are we clear?” He nods frantically."
*FYI about steam: I rate steam based on a combination of quality & quantity. I note kink separate from steam because I don't want to underrate steamy reads that don't have much kink.
**Note about spoilers: I like to comment on the plot of a book in reviews, so I almost always mark my reviews as containing spoilers. But I try to avoid spoiling the big dramatic moments! As a reader, I personally like to know what I'm getting into before I read a book so I know more about the content and if it's to my taste/mood, so I try to give that information in my reviews for myself when I'm considering rereading and also for other readers.