My novel The Escort’s Tale is a bisexual romance, told from the perspective of the sex worker Jasper Dylan, who sees clients under the working name of JD Pierce. One day Alethia Ballantine contacts Jasper; her husband Nick has suffered a spinal cord injury, is in a wheelchair, and can no longer walk or make love to her. Alethia and Nick have decided to hire a professional escort in an attempt to deal with the issues in their sex life.
Chapter Three describes Jasper’s first meeting with Nick when the escort arrives at their apartment, from Jasper’s perspective. The thoughts, fears and hopes of Nick Ballantine in that first meeting seemed like a story worth telling, though. Each stop on my blog tour for The Escort’s Tale contains a section of Nick’s story, in something I had to call…
The Husband’s Tale
by M.J. Edwards
Part 7
[Previously] JD glances at me, and the flash of fire in his eyes quickly changes to concern.
Ali looks over too, and I watch her physically withdraw from JD. I’m fucking this up for her, but I don’t know what to do. My hearth thumps painfully. This was a terrible idea, and I’m a terrible husband for putting her in this position. For holding out hope that she’d have a man fuck her like she hasn’t been fucked in eighteen months.
JD rises from the sofa, then crouches again to rest a hand on Ali’s knee. My pulse pounds until I hear blood rush in my ears. This is it. He’s touching my wife, and my face flushes with heat. I grip the wheels of my chair, jealousy and fear shaking me to my soul.
And then quiet descends like the first snowfall of winter. Heart rate slowing, my eyes drift to my right wrist. JD has reached out and wrapped his fingers firmly around me there. The warmth and strength of his grip soothe me into forgetting my nerves. I glance up and realize that the three of us now form a circuit, JD connecting me with my wife in a new and unlikely configuration. His touch drains away my fear and leaves behind it calm.
Underneath that, I feel a low thrum of anticipation.
“I know this is new to you,” JD says softly, looking between Ali and me. “And what’s new can be a little frightening. But I’m here for you. For both of you. You’ve talked about this, and you’ve decided this is an experience you need to try. Together. Right?” Ali nods, and JD stares into my eyes. “Right?” he prompts.
I swallow hard around the lump that tries to reappear in my throat, but I make myself nod. He’s right; we need to try. In the end, it’s just an experience. If we don’t like it, then we don’t repeat it. Simple as that.
“Good,” JD says. “I want to make something clear. I have no expectations. I’m here for the two of you. We go as far as you are comfortable, and no further. Maybe we do nothing but kiss.”
I look at Ali, and our eyes hold. I hear everything that she’s telling me with her silvery gaze. She loves me. She’s attracted to JD. She wants to see this through, but she won’t go forward if I’m not sure. We can find another solution, or try this one again some other time. With some other man, who doesn’t raise unsettling questions in my head, and who doesn’t make Ali so excited.
No. Ali’s ready to try. I started this with my fall, with my ruined spine, with my insistence that she let another man give her what I can’t. JD’s hand on my wrist gives me the courage to nod at her. We’re Nick and Alethia Ballantine, badass husband and wife. We’ll see the next step of our path through together.
JD’s grip on me relaxes slightly, and I see a smile glimmer in his blue eyes. Somehow I think he knows what Ali and I just said to each other with an exchange of glances. I like to think he’s happy at our decision.
The escort rises to his feet. “Why don’t we go into the bedroom, and see what happens?”
I hope you’ve enjoyed this glimpse into the head of Nick. If you’re intrigued and want to know more about my sexy couple and the man they’ve hired, follow the buy link or check out The Escort’s Tale at my website.
To read the rest of Nick’s story, you can follow the links for each prior stop of my blog tour:
12/10 IndiGo (Part 1)
12/10 MainelyStories (Part 2)
12/11 Bayou Book Junkie (Part 3)
12/11 Valerie Ullmer | Romance Author (Part 4)
12/12 Love Bytes (Part 5)
12/13 J. Scott Coatsworth (Part 6)
12/14 The Blogger Girls (Part 7)
About The Escort’s Tale
Do you want to spice up your marriage? Or perhaps you have a cuckold fantasy? Whatever your desire or kink, call JD Pierce.
Under his working name, Jasper has built a solid clientele and reputation. As JD Pierce, high-priced escort, he specializes in bringing bisexual fantasies to life. Sometimes a husband needs to be humiliated. Maybe a couple wants to be naughty and roleplay the seduction of an impressionable boy. Jasper, aka JD, is the man for the job.
When a young woman with a unique problem contacts Jasper, though, he fears he’s out of his depth. Alethia’s husband Nick suffered a spinal cord injury. He has paraplegia. The couple can no longer have conventional sex, and it’s driving a wedge between them. Nick is straight, but Alethia hires Jasper to help them fix things.
Despite his doubts, Jasper throws himself into the challenge. He wants to help sexy Nick reconnect with his beautiful wife. Using imagination and honesty, he unearths hidden fantasies in both of them. What he isn’t prepared for is his attraction to these new clients. The feeling grows quickly from desire to friendship and maybe something more. Will Jasper help Nick and Alethia and then move on? Or will they be the couple to bring to life this escort’s own fantasy?
The Escort’s Tale is a standalone bisexual erotic romance featuring a well-endowed lover-for-hire, a troubled man in a wheelchair, and the determined woman who brings them all together.
Available at: Amazon
An Excerpt from The Escort’s Tale
Excerpt from The Escort’s Tale, Chapter Two:
“Would you like to tell me how my name came up?” I ask, gauging that Alethia’s ready to discuss it.
She sets down her glass and darts glances left and right. Satisfied no one will overhear, she leans closer and speaks in a quiet, private voice. “Meredith is aware that my husband and I are facing some difficulties in our marriage. I mentioned to her recently over lunch that we’ve been struggling for a solution. She was very, um, detailed about her experiences with you.” Alethia blushes prettily. “And complimentary, as well.”
I smile at the circumspection. “Meredith has been a good client. I’m happy to hear she says nice things, since I don’t exactly ask for Yelp reviews.”
She snorts a little laugh, which I find charmingly awkward on such a chic woman. She puts a hand over her mouth to cover a grin. “I understand why, though that makes it tricky for, um…”
“Yes?” I prompt. “For someone in need of my services to find me?” I wink to show I take it lightly.
Alethia bobs her head in agreement. “I’d think in the internet age there’d be some sort of specialized rating service or booking site.”
There are a few actually, but I choose to avoid those. I don’t like the risk of zealous law enforcement having information about my working name or clientele. Word of mouth has always generated enough business for me anyway.
Since she seems more comfortable now, I dive in. “Why don’t you give me a general idea of what you’re looking for? We can discuss whether I’d be a good fit.”
Alethia inhales sharply and grabs her tea for a quick distraction. I wait her out again as she sips. Eventually, she places the glass back down with a sharp click and takes another glance around. She clasps her hands on the table top, as in prayer. I lean in, close enough to scent a trace of her delicate perfume. The essence of orange blossoms fills the air around her.
“My husband and I have been together for five years, nearly six,” she begins. “Nick has always been an avid rock climber. He played rugby, skied, competed in triathlons. Everything active like that you can think of. Eighteen months ago, he—”
She breaks off for a long moment to look at her entwined hands. Her knuckles gleam white, and I find myself reaching out to cover them with one of my own. She gives a shuddering breath at the touch, but doesn’t pull away.
“During a climb one afternoon on some cliffs, Nick had a bad fall when a handhold crumbled. The accident left him with a spinal cord injury. My husband uses a wheelchair now. He has paraplegia.”
I hear a sympathetic noise come out of me, entirely unplanned. She glances up to meet me eyes so I explain. “I’m sorry. I have a buddy from the Army who suffered an SCI. Rehab helped some, but it’s been a hard road for him.”
Alethia bites her lip and nods slowly. “It’s been…a learning process. Nick is strong-willed, though, and for the most part he’s adapted. We have home health aides to address his needs where he won’t accept my help. Also, we live in an apartment on a single floor that’s been made ready to accommodate his wheelchair.” She looks to where my hand still covers hers. “The problem is our sex life,” she whispers.
About M.J. Edwards
M.J. Edwards is the pen name for Robert Winter. As Robert, I write primarily gay contemporary romance. M.J. is the alter ego under which I get to explore a more erotic side of romance, with combinations of characters along the LGBTQ spectrum. The stories are light on angst, heavy on sex, and a happy ending for all is my goal.
I love hearing from readers so please feel free to ask questions or make comments. You can email me at mjedwardsauthor@gmail.com or find me on Goodreads.
As part of this blog tour, one lucky winner will receive a $25 Amazon giftcard!! To enter, just click the link below!
Rafflecopter Giveaway
Please be aware that the only way to enter the giveaway is to click the Rafflecopter link above. Any comments on this post will not count towards entering the giveaway unless otherwise stated but are still welcome anyway.
Good luck!
The Blogger Girls 