Action by Liz Borino (Guest Post/Giveaway)

Please give a warm welcome to author Liz Borina and the characters from her new M/M romance, ACTION, Zack and Steve! 

Dom


“Go on this blog and talk about what it’s like to be a Dom,” she told me. Really, Liz? Be a little more vague, why don’t you? For a woman that demands specifics on every detail of our lives, so she can write them well, her writing prompts leave something to be desired. *Deep breath* I’m Steve Michaels, one of the main characters in Liz Borino’s forthcoming Action.  And that question is not an easy one to answer. Playing the Dom in club scene, as I did for around six years, is significantly different than the D/s relationship I have with my boyfriend, Zack. The clubs taught me the rules of the lifestyle, what it’s like to be on both sides of the dynamic, tested my limits, and showed me what I wanted long-term.


Zack had none of that preparation when we met, but good lord was the man a brat. I mean that both positively and negatively…mostly positively, though. All of the casting directors for Ben’s Life heard of Zack Greene—hell, everyone in Hollywood, and out, heard of him.  His ego was bigger than his talent, and after a typical Hollywood spiral, few wanted to work with him. However, I saw his first audition tape and was convinced he could pull off a lead role, if someone got the attitude under control. I don’t think anyone was more surprised than he, when he fell into line with just a change of tone and pointed look from me. At first, I just congratulated myself on getting him through the audition, and almost left it. But I couldn’t stop thinking about the spunky blonde. Believe me, I tried. 


After two days, I called and told him where we’d meet for dinner. Thought I’d get the bad boy out of my system. Then, something happened. He worked his way in even deeper. After the first weekend, surgery couldn’t remove Zack Greene from my mind…or heart. I hadn’t fallen so hard, ever. I wondered what he was doing, thinking and feeling far more than a thirty-year-old should have. Rather, I would have wondered, had everything about him not been wonderfully transparent. Zack gave me his trust very quickly. To this day, seeing his blue eyes burn with love and desire, ignites my own in a way nothing else can.


Remember how I said he was a brat? Well, in the BDSM community, a brat tests the limits of a Dom in an effort to get punished. I’m pretty sure he didn’t know he was doing this, but goddamn he pushed me too far one night with his attitude. I warned him repeatedly to cut it out. I even told him he’d get spanked if he kept it up. He laughed at me. And found himself over knee. No more than ten swats to warm his butt. His attitude? Gone. Arousal? Let’s just say the evidence he enjoyed it was all over my legs. 


As I spread aloe over the warm flesh, I understood for the first time something people in the clubs always said: the submissive partner was the one in control. I may be taking the lead in bed (most of the time), administering discipline, and having final say on matters concerning our shared life, but every decision I make directly contributes to his pleasure, well-being, or generally happiness. I don’t get off on hurting him. As a matter of fact, I wish he’d use his safe word when the pain got bad enough for tears. 


Our structure makes Zack feel safe and loved. Which he is. Could we have a relationship without the D/s elements? Yes. The question is why would we? It allows us to express who we are.


Action Blurb:

When the bright lights and flashing cameras of Hollywood capture your every move, how can you fulfill your deepest desires? For Zack Greene, a formerly out-of-control actor, and Steve Michaels, the director who unearthed the heart of the man beneath the ego, it’s a constant struggle. 
In public, Steve and Zack are the picture of professional partners. However, behind closed doors, their partnership is taken to a new level. They engage in a carefully constructed Dom/sub relationship that not only brings them pleasure, but keeps Zack from slipping back into his wild ways.
Their delicate balance is thrown askew when a producer on the show threatens to expose their lifestyle, while taking advantage of Zack in a moment of vulnerability. Will Steve be able to ease the pain and save the love they share? Or will they come apart when they need each other most?

*Warning: Light BDSM, D/s relationship, spanking, and hot m/m sex*
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Action Excerpt:


Zack placed tiny kisses across Steve’s chest as early morning sun rays danced over the bed. Steve tightened his hold on him and lifted his chin for a tender kiss and a shared smile. “Hey you. How’d you sleep?”
His head dropped back down and his stubble brushed against the sensitive skin.  “Mmm, good, you?”
“Better than the night before, that’s for sure.” Zack’s fresh, musky scent filled Steve’s senses as they cuddled. 
Zack sat up and patted Steve’s shoulder. “I’ll be right back. Wait for me.”
Steve’s eyes darkened as Zack walked toward the bathroom, with hips swaying and ass pale. Too pale. “Watch yourself. That got dangerously close to sounding like a command.”
“Yeah? What are you going to do about it?”
Steve raised his eyebrows. Zack had a smile in his voice, though. “Come here.”
“Can I finish peeing?” He groaned, “Fuck, this hurts.”
“Control your language, I’m serious. And peeing hurts?”
“No, fucking standing. My whole goddamn body aches.”
Steve whipped off the blankets, opened the nightstand drawer and took out the lube and butt plug before sitting at the end of the bed. He barely kept his straight face. Zack wanted games? He’d play. “I’m waiting.” 
Zack failed to work as hard at suppressing his smirk. “Yes?”
“Get in position.” Steve waited while Zack situated himself across his lap. He hooked his finger through the collar just long enough for the smile to fall from his boyfriend’s face. He then secured his arm around his waist and used his other hand to swat each of Zack’s bottom cheeks five times. “Now, why are you being punished?”
“I’m being obnoxious.”
“Yes, and continued being so even after I warned you to stop.” Steve spanked his two cheeks until they turned pink, then halted abruptly. He meandered his fingers over the sensitive flesh and noted Zack’s arousal. It matched his own, which his naked body did a terrible job of concealing. “Don’t move,” he said. The man underneath his hand panted softly, showing no signs of running away. Steve spread the warm, pink cheeks along the seam and Zack bucked into his hand. “Stop that. We’re not done.” 
Zack flattened his hips, this time, further up on Steve’s lap so their hardened members rubbed together with every movement. “Okay, I’m sorry.”
Steve spread the lube over the plug and the intimate entrance. His mind wandered to the ways that entrance would relieve the pressure throbbing between his legs. Zack stimulated himself on Steve’s thigh when the plug entered him. “I said stop.” A quick swat. “How many more do you think you 
should receive?”
“Twenty?” he tried.
“Close, twenty-five. Keep count. You can’t release until I say so.” As Steve spoke, he ran his hands over Zack’s butt, periodically patting.
“I…know.”
Steve had to exert a great deal of self-restraint not to kiss Zack from his shoulders to his knees. Instead, he took the flesh from warm to hot. Every smack drove the plug in further. “Five more, love.”
“I can’t hold out…” The stilted words, like his body, vibrated with need.
“Yes, you can because I told you to. It’ll be worth it.” He continued the spanking in rapid succession. At the count of twenty-five, Steve helped him wordlessly onto the bed and spread his legs. “Bend.” No questions, so Steve tucked his hand under Zack’s bottom. His middle finger shifted the plug around.
“Oh…please…Steve…” 
He answered the plea by capturing Zack’s throbbing hardness between his lips and sucking, while playing in the back. “Come for me.” The hot juice coated his throat and Steve swallowed and licked up the excess. When he pulled away, Zack still gasped, and more incredibly, despite the orgasm, didn’t lose his erection.  Steve pushed his knees to his chest, yanked out the plug, and added lube to himself and his partner. He leaned in close and whispered, “I’m going to come inside you now.”
Zack opened his arms and embraced Steve as he pushed in. “I love you.”
Steve stopped thrusting. There in his eyes shined love, trust, and submission. He pressed their lips together, as if sealing it all in. “I love you, too.” They alternated between slow and fast until they both released and lay together satiated. 
A few minutes later, as Steve applied the aloe, Zack chuckled softly, “Why would I ever swear again with those consequences?”


About the Author:

Liz Borino lives behind her computer screen, currently stationed in some irrelevant small town in Pennsylvania. When she leaves her computer, Liz loves to spend time in cities around the world, particularly New York and London.
She’s the quiet one with Snapple or green tea, at the local Starbucks, until someone threatens human rights within her earshot. Should you be around when that happens, take a step back and wait for the storm to pass. Her two pet causes are women and gay rights. Why? Because contrary to popular opinion, and current legislation, they’re people, too.
Liz believes her best training in the craft of fiction came from her Public Relations undergraduate degree. Now, when she isn’t writing or editing, she’s pursuing a master’s in English.

~*GIVEAWAY*~

Liz is giving away one eBook of Action to one lucky reader today. To enter, just leave a comment on this post and then fill out the rafflecopter below. Additional entries are available but not required. Good luck!

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