‘If you can’t be a good and faithful wife – then be The Devil!’ (Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, ‘Venus in Furs’)
‘A New Devotion’ and its sequel ‘An Obedient Husband’ in one volume. First published May 2016, now revised and re-edited February 2017.
Erotic fiction of love and obsession, and the evolution of a new kind of marriage.
Thriving in her career and with her children away at university, Catherine discovers a new and unexpected spark in her marriage by treating her husband as her slave. Intrigued by his surrender and her newfound authority, a whole new world opens up before her -
‘Taking charge of James made her feel daring and transgressive. Decent, respectable wives shouldn’t treat their husbands this way, it went against everything they’d been taught, but that knowledge only heightened the pleasure she found in her female authority. It excited her, and a new strength and confidence bloomed within her.’
But such freedom brings a new temptation in the form of a handsome admirer, and Catherine wonders if she can take a lover and keep the love of her devoted husband –
‘Catherine recalled telling James of the handsome man she’d met at the club, the man she wanted so much to see again. Had she merely been taunting him in the way she’d done before, or was some dark and primal force rising to the surface in their marriage? Certainly, her vow to take a lover had aroused them both very much, the intensity of their lovemaking had made that very clear, and Catherine wondered for the first time if it might be possible to take a lover without losing the love of her husband.’
Enthralled by Catherine's new confidence, James can see no escape from his servitude –
'A real man would never submit to a woman, he knew that in his blood. It wasn’t in the natural order of things. But now that his secret was out it carried all the force of a long-buried hunger. He lacked the strength to stand against it, and he found a dizzying pleasure in submitting to his wife ... The woman who used to be his loyal wife and eager lover was now an imperious goddess, her cruelty and indifference to him a torment which he craved with the hunger of an addict.’
Will Catherine dare to break the rules and live by her newfound freedom? Can she really take control of her life and marriage, and live as she likes?