Safewords exist for a reason, and any sub who is forced to face a Dom without a verbal (or other) way to stop them is in danger of being hurt or worse. This story is set far outside the borders of “safe, sane, and consensual”, with a cruel arms dealer out to hurt and humiliate “his sub” as much as possible. I put his sub into quotation marks because what this guy does to Carter is torture, pure and simple. Luckily for my sanity none of it was on the page, but Carter’s attitude and hopelessness was a clear consequence of how he has been treated for years.

So when one of the arms dealer’s “guests” and potential future customers is given Carter as a perk, and told to do with him as he pleases for a weekend, Carter thinks he knows what he is in for. Imagine his surprise when Crow (the persona of undercover agent Damien Crow) turns out to be Carter’s dream master. Damien is strict but caring, willing and able to give just as much pain as Carter enjoys yet considerate, and surprises himself by how attracted he is to Carter – despite the fact that he thought he was straight. Amidst the need to solve the case, and Damien’s increasing need to keep Carter safe, this turns out to be quite a suspenseful adventure!

I loved the slowly developing trust between these two men, and the demonstration of the power of a safeword in helping develop that trust made this a great read. If you’re looking for an example of a mistreated sub relearning what it’s like to play with a considerate Dom, and if you enjoy a little suspense with your BDSM, then this story might be for you.


NOTE: The anthology this story was published in has been provided by Pride Publishing for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews. ( )