One must do violence to the object of one’s desire; when it surrenders, the pleasure is greater. – Marquis de Sade
Nick is perhaps the baddest of the bad boys at Market Garden, the man who doesn’t mind at all doing a little violence—for the right price, that is. He’s introduced briefly in the first two books of the Market Garden Tales series as one of the kinkier men who services the johns looking for a little, or a lot, of pain with their pleasure, and let me assure you Nick is a Dom and a sadist who really, really loves what he does. He is a master of his craft in much the same way an artist excels in transforming a once unmarred canvas into something that begs to be appreciated for the sweat, tears, sometimes even blood that went into creating it, but how much of what he does is simply part of the act he’s being paid to perform? Oh, there’s no mistaking Nick is a sexual dominant in every sense of the word, but there’s a difference between playing a role because the money dictates it, and fulfilling a need because the mind and body demands it.
That difference is a line Nick has never toed before, but all it takes is one man, a man whose needs as a purely trusting and giving submissive causes Nick to err on the side of fear and caution, because Spencer is the one man who has come along and unintentionally erased all the boundaries of sex for money and sex for the pure and unadulterated want of another human being who is more than simply an outlet for a fantasy. Spencer is the man who blurred those lines with a single kiss, in turn causing Nick to immediately and unflinchingly redraw them; not as mere intangibles but as a wall of silence and distance between himself and the temptation Spencer represents.
L.A. Witt and Aleksandr Voinov are exploring the Gordian knot of sex and love, and sex in which there is no emotion involved at all, only the physical act of pleasure that’s separate from the emotional act of being connected to someone else because it’s a choice and not a career obligation. Jealousy is not a factor in this equation for Spencer; possession is everything in this equation for Nick. For the sub and his Dom, it adds up to the promise that they’ve each found something they want beyond a simple business arrangement.
If you haven’t found the love for the Market Garden boys yet, then don’t start here. Get to know Tristan and Jared in Quid Pro Quo and Take It Off first; they’re very well worth introducing yourselves to. Whenever you do choose to impose yourself upon this world of high priced, top shelf rentboys, I will only say to be prepared for an extreme ride of the erotic variety, in which sex is a game of strategy and is played for maximum effect.
To quote the ever eloquent George Takei, “Oh myyyyy.” That’s pretty much it. Well, that and “Have mercy.” I don’t know who first said that one, but I did, at least a half dozen times while I was reading this book.
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