Eli (sub, model & co-owner of Leashes & Lace) & Roman (Dom, photographer for Leashes & Lace).
Eli officially enters my top five of M.A. Innes/ Shaw Montgomery characters:
* besties Ryland and Finn (from “Unexpected” and “Unconventional”),
* “hubbies” Kevin & Jeremy (from “To Close to Love” et al.), and
* Eli (from “Leashes and Lace”).
(That’s in order that I met them, not in order of favorites.)
This is Eli’s book, but in some ways, this is Eli’s series. He’s the heart of Leashes & Lace. Preston plays bossman, handling hiring and the books, but Eli is the creative center, not only modeling and blogging, but choosing the fashion, and playing mother hen with his fellow models.
He’s a flirty, fabulous ball of enthusiasm covering up a keen mind and huge heart. He’s also a big brat, but this is his family, his safe space, and there is no way he’s going to shove his light under a bushel for anyone.
Strangely enough, the only employee that stuck around without surrendering to Eli’s charms immediately was Roman. A snarly genius of a photographer who got burned badly by his ex who was also a brat. Roman decided to lay in there and push Eli’s buttons, and Eli pushed right back. But the friction of their clashes brought out a passion that made the photographs sing.
Preston and Eli went round and round about whether Roman’s genius was worth the wear and tear on the employees nerves. As Reece predicted, that much passion would either lead them to fuck or set the place on fire.
No fucking, but one night reshoot got pretty intimate. Eli teased that a spanking would show off his panties to their best advantage and he pushed till Roman gave him that spanking. Eli sank into the scene, letting Roman dominate him, playing his body like an instrument, letting the photography go way beyond what they could use at Leashes & Lace.
Poor bewildered Eli came out of the scene a bit dazed and said the wrong thing and Roman was back to screaming. Verbally abusing Eli. That was it, the final straw. Preston used his veto to fire Roman. And that fucked with Eli’s glow big time.
Roman was out of work and scrambling to find a new path forward. Following a suggestion from his cousin, Roman decided to do private BDSM themed boudoir photos for couples. But he needed a portfolio and the X rated pictures of Eli were his best bet. He called Eli hoping to get his permission
to use the intimate photos, only to have Eli offer to model for more, to round out his portfolio.
The photo session started off lifeless. They were both suitable chastised for the mistakes that lead up to Roman getting fired. Finally Roman took the initiative and asked Eli to kneel so they could talk. They admitted their mutual attraction and desire for more than just photographs and suddenly Brat came out as a term of endearment and Eli’s sass, passion, and submission burned up the lens. Eli also got fucked. And thus a sparking, passionate relationship was born.
Includes mild bondage, orgasm control, and chastity.
BTW, love Eli directing the sweet subbie boys in the bonus chapter (in the omnibus edition).
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By the way, these books should clearly be read in order. Events and relationships build from one to the next.