Covert Affair
by Geraldine O'Hara
WARNING: This book contains sex scenes including mild BDSM.
To celebrate the release of Covert Affair, Totally Bound are giving
away a bundle of ebooks by Geraldine O’Hara. Enter here for your chance to win.
There are times in life when we just need another person to make
everything bad go away. Holding the reins alone is all well and good when
everything is going swimmingly, but what about those times when everything
crashes around you?
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
In Covert Affair, many
things crash around Mandy and Leon. Mandy is a strong woman, but even she needs
a hug or a reassuring word sometimes. And, despite Leon being afraid for their
lives too, he steps up and takes care of Mandy when really, he might want a bit of a hug and some
reassurance. This is where offering support when you need a bit of comfort
yourself comes in handy. You can ask someone if they need a hug, and if they
respond that they do, you have an opportunity to bring one another relief.
But what if you’re alone? What if you don’t have a partner? Solving
so much by yourself can become a huge burden. Mandy had been through this prior
to being in a relationship with Leon. Now, though, she had to learn that
someone else could help shoulder the burdens.
That feeling of being cosseted, of fears draining away once you’re
in the arms of someone you love—there’s not much that can beat it, is there?
Knowing you’ve found the right man or woman for you is one of the perfect gems
of life. But we inevitably let doubt creep in. Mandy is no different.
It can take time, if you’ve been alone for a while, to become
accustomed to having someone new tell you what to do, to have someone else take
over, making the decisions for you. However, when life throws such horrible
curveballs, handing over control can be a liberating experience. Scary if
you’re used to plodding on by yourself—and some people do this even when they are in a relationship, don’t they—but
facing your fears might well be the best way to go. Surrendering parts of your life
to another, trusting them—now that’s
scary but, I feel, one of the key points in a relationship. Trust. Without
that, what do you have?
Excerpt:(warning: minor swearing)
“Oh, come here.” Leon held his arms out.I ran into them, was enfolded in the biggest embrace and immediately felt better. He had the amazing ability of being able to erase the trials and tribulations, to help me find a measure of peace.
“Just imagine,” I said, conscious of my wet hands dampening his top, “if the gang had more members and I was put here with a view to being taken somewhere else. Where I had to really become a new person.”“We, Mandy. We would have become new people. I’d give it all up for you. Our life back home, my job, our little gang. Everything.””Oh, fuck.” I cried in earnest at his kindness, his willingness to be with me no matter what. I’d dreamt of finding a man like him, thinking I’d never get one, and here I was, snotting up his shirt, staining him yet again with mess.“That’s it, cry it all out. I’m here.”There couldn’t possibly be another man like him on the planet, could there? Out of all the billions there were, he was the top of the pile when it came to caring, loving and being supportive. “We’ve been friends a long time, Mandy, and now we’re lovers, a partnership. Stands to reason I’m going to stick around, doesn’t it? What kind of man would I be if I left you in the lurch now?”“An arsehole, like all the other men I’ve been out with.” I hiccoughed, calming down, sniffing and knowing my face looked like a wet baboon’s arse. Hideous.He put his finger beneath my chin to lift my face but I pushed down so he couldn’t.“Don’t look at me,” I said. “I’ll be ugly and—”“I don’t care.” He forced my face off his chest.I looked up at him. His eyes were glistening.“I don’t care,” he said again. “All I want is for you to be happy. If you look less than your usual self it doesn’t matter. Whatever you look like, you’re beautiful to me. Overweight, slim. Pretty hair, greasy hair. Whatever, all right? You’re mine and I love you.”My bottom lip trembled. If I wasn’t careful I’d crumple into a madly crying heap on the floor. “You’re too good for me.”He frowned and a dark expression took hold of his face. “Don’t say that. Don’t ever say that. I’m not good enough for you. If I was, that man wouldn’t have pinched your arse in the first place. He’d never have followed you to the toilets. If I’d have been a better man I’d have met you at the door in the pub and walked you to the bar. Gone to meet you outside the toilets sooner. But I didn’t, and now we’re here in this crappy little house, all because we didn’t want to tell our friends we were seeing each other. Well, no more. From now on we’re doing it our way no matter what anyone else thinks. All that’s important is you, us, and living our life the best way we know how. And that starts now.”I nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly—but still hoping I didn’t look like that monkey’s bum.He wiped the tears from my face. “Go and have a wash. Put your pyjamas on. I’ll make the tea. The dinner will be here in a few minutes and I’ll deal with that too. We’ll watch a bit of telly on that stinky old sofa, cuddle up and pretend we’ve just moved in. Be a bit of practice for when we do it for real.”
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