The
Forever Forest
A
series of unusual, and unexplained murders in Bath, England, pushes Detective
Sergeant Rebecca Leigh and Psychic Investigator, Gabriel Lewis, to work
together.
They
discover a link to a new Steam Punk nightclub, The Wolf's Den, where owner
Darius Wolf, when interviewed, disorientates Rebecca. On exciting the club, Rebecca collapses,
seemingly intoxicated, leaving Gabriel no choice but to take her to his home.
She
has no memory of meeting Wolf, but attraction between Rebecca and Gabriel
reaches boiling point as she discovers Gabriel is not as he seems. The timid
psychic is a Dominant in the bedroom and turns her world upside down, as the
normally strong willed Detective realizes what has been missing in her past
relationships, the submission Gabriel requires from her.
Darius,
now obsessed with Rebecca, gains access to her dreams when she is kidnapped by
him, leaving Gabriel having to find a passage into Rebecca's dreams and save
her from The Forever Forest.
Excerpt
"You mentioned Jekyll and Hyde earlier, I'd that
how you see me?" Gabriel asked as they sat eating their pasta.
"A bit yes. You seem so quiet normally, but this
morning, when we were in your bedroom, you were a different person. More
forceful."
"I asked you this morning if that scared you and
you said no, but when you walked in here today you seemed very nervous."
"Apprehensive I think is more the terminology you
should be using."
"Why?" he asked casually.
"The word dominant conjures up many images in my
head. I've read books, and I know what it means."
"Is that how you see me?"
"Yes." She gulped.
"You are a very astute woman. You've already
worked me out from this morning?"
"Yes. I'm a Detective you know, it's my
job." She tried to make a joke, but she knew it just sounded like panic.
"The term Dominant can mean all sorts of things
in life."
"What does it mean to you?"
"I'd like you to look at yourself," he said,
deflecting her question.
"In what way?" she asked.
"You are an extremely dominant woman in your
work, and I presume you are like that because you are in a very male oriented
world and have had to learn to be like that. Am I right?"
"To a certain extent, yes," she agreed.
"But I get the feeling that is not your natural
personality." He took a long drink from his glass and refilled both
glasses again.
"How so?" She nodded in thanks to the wine and
picked her glass up and put it to her lips. The wine, along with the food that
Gabriel had prepared, was a taste sensation. "Every now and then I see
Alice falling down a rabbit hole, only fleetingly, but it's there."
"That's a strange analogy, explain." She
smiled as she put her glass down and picked up her fork once more.
"I know you're good at your job and you are
obviously very thorough, but I get the feeling that this persona, this hard
woman, is not the real you. You have been dragged out of your comfort zone with
this career and have had to learn to adapt."
"Keep talking." This man was good.
"You are an extremely foreboding personality and
I wouldn't want to cross you at work, but last night and this morning I saw a
different side to you, a timid side, and one I'd like to explore a little
further." She went to open her mouth, but Gabriel put his hand up to stop
her saying anything. "Before you jump down my throat, hear me out
please."
"Ok." She was beginning to take offense at
his hint that she was weak.
"You do not socialize with people from work, do
you?"
"No, they're a bunch of arseholes. I like a few
of them, but I still wouldn't choose to
spend any amount of with them, Tanya is probably the only one I would
see out of work."
"So is that because you don't want people to see
the real you when you take your mask off?"
"I'm sorry?"
"When you get home, do you close the door behind
you and lock the woman away and the little girl is released?"
Rebecca didn't say anything, visions of her unicorn pajamas
folded on her bed suddenly flicked through her mind.
"I take it by that silence I'm correct."
"Go
on..."
"Let's take another avenue. Tell me about your
last relationship."
"Er, ok, I met Harry when I was working on a
stalking case few years ago. He was the victim before you ask."
"And you started a relationship with him?"
"After the case was over, yes, I did. He was a
lovely man and wanted to marry me, but it wasn't what I wanted."
"What did you want?"
"Something else."
"And what was that?"
Silence reigned as Rebecca couldn't quite give him a
reason why she didn't want to marry Harry.
"Did you ever take that mask off in front of
him?"
"Why do you keep going on about a mask?"
"Because I think, and please feel free to correct
me if I'm wrong, that you are such a force in your work and all you want to do
when you get home is curl up and lock the door with a book and a glass of wine.
Am I right so far?"
"Possibly."
"Harry met you in a work environment, didn't
he?"
"Yes."
"When he was possibly at the lowest time in his
life being stalked, making him jumpy and needy."
"True."
"And you were the strong Detective Sergeant
Rebecca Leigh, crime fighter extraordinaire."
"Now you're taking the piss." She laughed.
"You had me believing you then."
"Look at the situation. Was it the tough DS Leigh
he fell in love with, or the little girl lost that escapes to her fantasy world
in books or TV?" Silence again. "How was your sex life?"
She blushed. "Good, I think." She hated
talking about her sex life as she'd discussed with Tanya that morning.
"Was it always you that took the lead, perhaps
always instigated sex?"
She thought for a moment. "He was busy, always
working long hours."
"And you weren’t?"
"That's not the point," she answered
abruptly.
"It totally is the point. He saw you as the
dominant personality in your relationship and in all aspects of it, and I don't
think you are. Yes, you are dominant in your work life, but you want to be that
woman who is taken care of, too."
"I think I get what you mean."
"So I want to explore that side of your quieter
personality, not the tough CID Detective Sergeant."
"How do you intend to do that?"
"There is one avenue I want to explore with you,
Rebecca. It will probably make you very apprehensive."
"What's that? You're killing me here, Gabriel.
Get to the point will you?"
"I want you to submit to me."
"What, in everything I do?" She panicked.
"No, just in the bedroom or wherever sex occurs.
Your life is your own. I would not try and change that. I like that side. It's
feisty, but it is Rebecca I want to explore further, not Detective Sergeant
Leigh."
"I'm not into whips and chains and things."
"Stop panicking. It's not all about that. It's
about control. It can be, but that's not what I want from this."
"What do you want from it?"
"Basically, to Dominate you in our sex
life."
"I'm not sure about this, Gabriel. Is this
something you're used to?"
"It has been in the past, yes. It can make a very
interesting relationship. Basically I want to pleasure you in every way
possible, and I want to ensure that you have enough orgasms to make your ears
bleed."
"And what do you get out of this?" she asked
curiously.
"To take care of you. Don't worry, you will
satisfy me, too, but my purpose will be your pleasure."
"The perfect man?" She chuckled.
"You said it, not me." His eyes looked over
his wine glass, and although she couldn't see his mouth she knew he was
smirking behind the blood red liquid.
Gayle Cranfield was born in London and found her
forever after, Mark at the age of 14.
After nearly 30 years of being together, they have two children, both at a
university, and now live in Wiltshire in the South West of England
somewhere between Stonehenge and Bath.
Whilst
on a road trip around California in 2013, she read some
disastrous books and when she returned home decided
to write one of her own. Having never creatively written a word since school, she
picked up her iPad and hesitantly started to write in secret thinking she'd
write a short story, before she knew it she had 97000 words!
That
was four books ago. She has written three erotic thrillers for Siren Publishing
and this time has written her first erotic/paranormal, The Forever Forest, and
has chosen Evernight to publish it for her.
"It is great to see your work come alive,"
Gayle says. "Although you have various Beta readers telling you it is a
great story and a real page turner until a publishing company says 'Yes we want
your work' you only think your friends are being nice and trying not to hurt
your feelings. Seeing the front cover being emailed to me for approval is
always the best part and Jay Aheer has done the most amazing job, as she always
does ,with all the Evernight Authors.
Amazon
UK
Amazon
US
Amazon
Australia
www.Twitter.com/@gaylecranfield
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