Review-Truly Helpless by Joey W Hill
Blurb: Marius has all the things a Mistress could want in a one-night-sub encounter. Hot body, loads of charm and a willingness to get her off in any way she pleases. That’s his reputation at The Zone. But Marius has a dark side. When a Mistress pushes him for something deeper, he’ll push back, mess with her head. When he takes it too far one night, The Zone management has had enough. He’s kicked out of the club and there’s only one way back in—Lady Regina.
Regina’s been studying Marius for a while. She enjoys her submissives in all flavors, and she likes them challenging, though not usually the “knight-in-distress” type, so screwed up she’d need a backhoe to dig him out of his dysfunctions. But on that pivotal night, she sees something in Marius. He doesn’t know what it means to be truly helpless to a Mistress, but he needs it, more than any sub she’s ever encountered. And that’s a challenge this Mistress can’t resist.
What defines us and how do we define ourselves? Is it the events from our past that mark who we are, or can we find that part of ourselves we aspire to be? What is the key to unlocking that door? In the more than capable hands of Joey W Hill we explore those questions as they pertain to the deeply troubled man named Marius and the Mistress who helps him find himself, Regina. A bone deep sub with the world’s biggest chip on his shoulder, Marius is a man spiraling out of control. Violence is the armor he wears, whether it’s using mind games to keep everyone at bay or his fists to shut down his emotions. Physical pain doesn’t break him, in fact it allows him to retreat into himself and shut down even quicker.
But there’s something there, just under the surface that captures the attention of Mistress Regina. A need, a hunger…to let go, to feel, to want. The one time in the past that they played together at the Zone a connection was felt. It’s that connection that Regina now believes may be the key to helping Marius find himself again. She knows it won’t be easy and may in fact be dangerous, but she’s willing to take him on. When she follows him after he’s thrown out of the Zone, she discovers what he uses as an outlet. It gives her an insight as to how to proceed. Their first session together sets the tone. In order for Marius to start opening up, she shuts him down, literally. Without the ability to use his smart-assed mouth as a deflection, Regina strips his shields and makes him feel both physically and emotionally. That she uses pony-play as a means to get the job done was a revelation. I’ve never looked at this particular type of play very closely. That their scene together had a sensuality, a deep sense of connection was erotic to the max. Connecting man to beast and beast to man, it lent an elemental feeling to the sex.
Regina is such an honest character. She knows her own mind, her own limits, is comfortable in her own skin and doesn’t walk around with “rose-tinted” glasses on. She knows that there’s a real possibility that she may not be able to save Marius, but she also knows that she’s his best chance. Never cruel, but always in control Regina is a force to be reckoned with. I’m not quite sure how Joey managed it, but this is a Domme who makes some of the more softer qualities of kindness, humor and gentleness a key part of her Dominance with Marius. It’s what’s needed for this man. While extreme kink, or some of the harsher elements of BDSM may work for a lot of Domme/sub stories, it was refreshing to see a Domme/sub relationship where the main forms of Dominance were more to do with the emotional/mental aspects of the power exchange in order to reach the man. (not that the relationship wasn’t physically intense or lacked D/s eroticism. The heat factor was off the charts, but the SM elements weren’t what were needed for this relationship) When we discover along with Regina just what Marius’s past involves, well, heartbreaking doesn’t even scratch the surface. Yet, how she handles that information, and what she does to help him work through it makes their eventual HEA even more powerful. When Marius finally has that moment when it all “clicks” into place and for the first time home, and belonging and love are all wrapped up in Regina…..it’s everything. At the end of the day, what defines who we are IMHO is our ability to forgive not only our past but ourselves, to open ourselves to loving and being loved and to living our lives to its fullest measure.