Special Guest - Victoria Blisse

Please welcome my friend and fellow Brit Babe Victoria Blisse to my blog today with her new release Satisfying Desires. Take it away, Victoria...

Admitting Weakness

Hi Lily, thanks for inviting me today.

People are self-sufficient these days. Women especially are encourage to be strong and independent and although this empowerment is fantastic I do think it makes it harder for people to ask for help when it’s needed. We’re all weak at some point or other, it is the nature of being human. Sometimes we need to admit it and accept help to get back to being the strong, independent people we are.

Satisfying Desires explores this theme with single woman Paula who has many acquaintances in her office at work but when she breaks her wrist she finds herself isolated in her flat with no one to help. She struggles to keep going on her own but she won’t ask for the help she very obviously needs.

After days of being in her tiny home she overcomes the struggles of getting dressed with a useless arm and goes out for a walk. Her rumbling tummy pulls her towards a café and the very handsome café owner recognises Sally’s needs and sets about satisfying them.

I’m not suggesting every woman needs a man to be whole, that isn’t what I want readers to take away from this short story, also featured in the Whip it Up Anthology. No, I want it to be empowering for women.  Admitting weakness and getting the help you need is far better than struggling on alone with the idea that saying you can’t cope on your own labels you in some way.

I hope readers realise we all need a helping hand now and then and it isn’t a bad thing to ask for aid. In fact, if you’re lucky you might get a handsome hunk like Lucas rush to your aid. Now, that’s a definite advantage!

Blurb:

Sally has a broken wrist and is struggling to cope with being off work and home alone. She’s eaten nothing but soup in days and is sick to death of daytime TV. She goes for a walk but is distracted by the delicious smells coming from the local café.

The tall and tanned Greek chef, Lucas, wants to look after Sally…and not just by feeding her with his delicious fried foods. He invites her back to enjoy a meal with him alone that night once the café is closed.

His special brand of optimism and dominance has Sally bending to his will and begging him for more. Their less than innocent evening meal is finished off by a trip to the bedroom with a pot of chocolate spread because, as Lucas says, the only thing better than a hot naked woman is a hot naked woman covered in chocolate!

Excerpt:

Lucas threw my coat over a table as he walked in. Coming back to the here and now, I became aware of the mouth-watering scents.

“Oh, it smells delicious in here.”

“Thank you.” He smiled. “I’ve made you my favourite meal, moussaka, it reminds me of my mum.”

“Ah, so you do have some exotic heritage then.”

He nodded and turned to the oven.

“Yes, my mum was Greek. She moved here when I was a little kid. So not that exotic.”

He picked up a plastic spatula and pushed some carrots around in a frying pan.

“You have a distinctive twang to your accent,” I said. “I wondered what it was.”

“So you, where are you from?”

“Lived here all my life,” I responded, watching him confidently shake a pan of asparagus. “Rather boring really.”

“No, no.” He shook his spatula at me as he spoke and was so vehement in its stabbing movement that it slipped from his fingers and clattered to the floor. “You are not boring and you should not be so quick to put yourself down.”

He bent to pick up the implement and threw it into the sink.

“Sorry,” I apologised. “It’s a bad habit.”

“Very bad,” he said. “You should never give people opportunity to say bad things about you, should never think it in your mind. That is my key to happiness. You are the best you there will ever be, so be proud of that.”

I nodded.

“Could you open the drawer beside you and pass me a clean spatula and a wooden spoon?”

“Sure.” I turned slightly to the side and looked questioningly at him. He nodded as I pulled at the handle closest to me. I dug out a spoon and a flat, wooden spatula then passed them both over.

He put the spatula onto the side and used the spoon to stir the veg, then he turned the heat off under them.

“Okay, so, I think you need to learn a lesson.”

“What lesson?” I felt the pressure of my blood rushing around rising in my ears.

“To respect yourself and to not make me so angry I drop my cooking implement.”

I dropped my gaze and looked at my toes.

“What do you think, Sally, do you need a lesson?”

I nodded. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen next but I was curious enough to find out.

“Look at me.”

I lifted my head again and met his piercing stare.

“Do you deserve to be punished?” he asked.

I gulped. The time had come. We were at the point where the dynamics flipped. I either handed him complete control or I didn’t. I could live out a favourite fantasy or I could chicken out and maybe lose Lucas in the process.

“Yes,” I gasped, mouth dry, body numb, heart racing.

He nodded and walked towards me. “Correct answer. Now turn and lean over the counter, please.”

Buy links: Satisfying Desires