My Coney Island Obsession

by Avril Ashton

I’ve always been a fan of Coney Island. That Coney Island in New York. Brooklyn, to be exact. You see, I live in Brooklyn…I should say lived, since I just picked up the family and moved to Georgia on a whim a couple months ago. But I still feel like I live in Brooklyn.

So I’m fascinated by Coney Island. The Famous Coney Island with all its weird and terrifying attractions. All the bright sparkly things that keep pulling visitors in from all around the world year after year. My family and I used to just drive there almost every weekend—it’s about fifteen minutes away from where we lived. We’d go in the down season, during the winter months and sit on the boardwalk, look at the ocean, our toes freezing in the sand. Mostly for me, because I can’t stand to be away from it.

I don’t really know what about it that pulls at me. Maybe because it’s this huge playground where you feel like a kid again, no matter your age.

Coney Island makes an appearance in nearly all my books. If it’s set in Brooklyn, there’s a good chance one of my characters will make a stop in Coney Island for funnel cakes and a chance to ride the Wonder Wheel.

In (Watch Me) Break You, Coney Island does indeed make an appearance. But this one’s not quite like we’re used to seeing the amusement park. You see, Coney Island is in a tug-o-war. Two gang factions are fighting for the right to do their dirty deeds on its storied streets. Not many people get to see that side, the dark underbelly of what goes on behind the scenes of the pretty, happy place that smells of sea, cotton candy and hot dogs, and reverberates with laughter and squeals of frightful delight. Much of what you’ll read in (Watch Me) Break You is the real deal.

Names are only changed to protect the guilty.

About (Watch Me) Break You

They’re in a war for control of the streets, but love will be the ultimate prize.

Here comes trouble…

Men. Women. Drugs. Dima Zhirkov’s favorite things. Add in the element of danger and he should be right as rain. But not today. It’s not working, hasn’t for a long time. He’s grasping at the flimsiest of straws to prove he’s indeed strong enough to run his streets. Until he sets eyes on him. In the midst of a room full of strangers, Dima is drawn to a man as cold and dangerous as he’s beautiful. Captivated, Dima embarks on a ruthless campaign to get his new toy into bed.

Here comes the danger…

Xavier “X” Storm is content to pull the strings while someone else handles the day to day dealings of his gang, The Rude Boys. He’s after what Dima holds closest—the Coney Island streets. He contracts out the job of killing the Russian, except Dima isn’t that easy to kill. When he suddenly shows up in X’s path, tempting him to indulge in the dirtiest play, he finds Dima isn’t all that easy to shake, either. His cocky attitude and rough submission tempts X to go where he’d vowed to never return, and they plunge head first into an affair fueled by possessive obsession.

Run for cover

Sex and pain Dima can handle, and X delivers the most depraved kind. Their connection is explosive, their games addictive, but Dima can end it whenever he wishes. He doesn’t see that X is breaking him down, giving Dima everything he wants and even more than he ever thought to need. By the time he realizes who X is and what he wants, Dima is raw and bullet-riddled. It’s run or fight. And Dima doesn’t back down. Neither does X.

Warning: Includes strong BDSM elements, and reference to rape and sexual abuse.

Available at: Amazon, All Romance eBooks & Barnes and Noble

An Excerpt from (Watch Me) Break You

The Dom didn’t stay in the room upstairs long. He came out a short time later and quickly descended the stairs like a man on a mission. Dima followed him into a bathroom and stood by the door as his new toy rolled up his shirt sleeves and washed his hands in a nearby sink. When he turned away to wipe his hands via the paper towel machine mounted to the wall, Dima stepped out from behind his hiding place.

His new toy didn’t seem surprised to see him. He gazed at Dima through the mirror. Cool. Unruffled. In control. It made Dima’s blood race. Made his palms sweat.

“What’s your name?” he asked. The man didn’t blink and Dima realized he’d asked his question in Russian. He repeated himself in English.

The man didn’t answer. He remained facing the mirror, head cocked at an angle, watching Dima watch him. Their appearances couldn’t be any different. The Dom with his coffee with milk skin, impeccably dressed in a blue shirt and black pants, and Dima with his wrinkled shirt missing buttons, the ragged holes in his faded jeans, black motorcycle boots and the taste of weed, alcohol and Sylvie’s pussy on his tongue.

“I watched you,” Dima said. He sounded…rough, words halting with need. “Downstairs. I want it.”

“No.”

Just one word, but it fired Dima like nothing ever had. He stepped up close, pressing his front to the other man’s back. He was hard, the other man. Brick. But so was Dima. Achingly hard.

“I want you.” Fuck. He’d switched to Russian again. “Give me what you gave her.” It was a demand, but Dima heard hollow need all over those words.

The man spun around, lightning fast, and grabbed Dima by the throat. Mother of God. His balls tightened, threatening to explode. By that. Just that. The man’s expression hadn’t changed Dima found when he peered up at him through his eyelids. Dima kept his hands fisted at his sides.

Waiting.

Body pulsing.

“Give it to me,” he whispered in Russian.

“Touch me again and I’ll break your fucking neck.” He slammed Dima into a stall door. The pain made pre-cum pour, wetting Dima’s boxers. He groaned. The man released him and was gone before Dima could gulp in air.

His heart pounded as he clutched the edge of the sink, breathing fast. He met his own wild gaze in the mirror, shivering at the hungry grin on his face.

A chase. He could do that.

About Avril Ashton

A Caribbean transplant, Avril now lives in Stone Mountain, GA., with a tolerant spousal equivalent. Together they raise an eccentric daughter who loves reading and school (not so much school anymore). Avril’s earliest memories of reading revolve around discussing the plot points of Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys with an equally book-minded mother.

Always in love with the written word, Avril finally decided to do the writing in August of ’09 and never looked back. Spicy love scenes, delicious heroes, and wicked women burn up the pages of Avril’s stories, but there’ll always be a happy ending; Av remains a believer of love in all its forms.

Addicted to cake, the ID Channel and the UFC, Avril writes Erotic and GLBT Romance for Ellora’s Cave, Evernight Publishing, eXtasy Books, Secret Cravings Publishing and Total-e-Bound.

Connect with Avril on her Website, Facebook or Twitter.

Avril has graciously offered up an eBook copy of (Watch Me) Break You to one lucky winner!! The giveaway starts now and ends September 17, 2014 at 11:59 p.m. To enter, just click the link below!

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Good luck!