I remember back when I was in high school, I had an assignment to turn in a sample of political music. I think the only thing I could think of was Country Joe and the Fish's Feel Like I'm Fixing To Die Rag. It is a common thing for current events to find its way into the arts–back then it was Vietnam–so it's no surprise for war to find its way into fiction, even when the genre is Domination and submission. Perhaps it is more likely in D/s fiction since the military is certainly focused on strict obedience.

Colonel Conrad DeWitt, the Soul Master in Reese Gabriel's latest BD story happens to be serving in the military. He is on leave to stand up in his brother's Caribbean Island wedding, when he expresses interest in another member of the wedding party, the bride's best friend Cindy. The couple getting married is the subject of an earlier D/s book Chaining His Heart.

Unlike her best friend who is into whips and chains, Cindy, however, has no experience with being submissive. She finds herself extremely attracted to Conrad, and assumes that he is a Dom just as his brother is, but she isn't quite certain if she wants to move forward on the basis of attraction. (That bit of reluctance seems to be one of the essentials that attracts Doms, at least fictional ones.)

And Conrad is attracted.

The early interchange between Cindy and Conrad is calculated to gauge her interest as a potential submissive one-night stand. The repartee stands out as a uniquely D/s style seduction. The scene is set in her point of view, so we know she's attracted in spite of herself, and that she responds to his not too subtle D/s code: "I'll be the judge of what's going on," he says, "Women can be weakened with kisses...Women can be spanked." Hot words for a submissive reader to hear. If those words don't hook you, your interests lie in another room in the house of fantasy.

The plot moves forward toward a one-night stand. The reader's question changes from whether or not this "date" will happen, to whether or not the one-night stand is a prelude of things to come (so to speak). Individuals interested in the lifestyle might do well to pay attention to how Conrad makes certain Cindy is receptive to his style of seduction. If you're interested in obedience rather than whips and chains, then this rather short tale has what every obedience-loving reader is out there looking for: a Dominant hero and a curiously intrigued heroine who is willing to be seduced. Bear in mind that this is not a 300-page novel with lots of twists and turns, but for seventy-three pages, it is a satisfying little jaunt on the slightly wild side. Reese knows her readers and she doesn't let them down.

Reviewed by Maîtresse
© Jan 2008