Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Blurb

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1: The Menagerie

Chapter 2: Malcolm

Chapter 3: Wants and Needs

Chapter 4: Two Pieces of a Puzzle

Chapter 5: The Loving Dom

Chapter 6: Mistakes and Promises

Chapter 7: Tongue Tied

Chapter 8: The Shape of You

Chapter 9: Red and Green

Chapter 10: Release

Chapter 11: Choke Me

Epilogue

Keep Reading for an Exclusive Excerpt from If You Let Me by Saria Bryant

About the Author

By J.P. Caruso

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Copyright

The Menagerie

By J.P. Caruso

Rowan Campbell loves his life, finally. He’s happy. He’s happy, but… there’s something missing. Some itch under his skin he can’t quite scratch through his work as a paramedic or hobbies or family gatherings or casual hookups alone. Then one day he responds to a 9-1-1 call at an exclusive BDSM club, the Menagerie, and immediately splurges on a membership. He isn’t expecting much… until he meets the notoriously hard-to-please club veteran, Malcolm Savaryn. Mal is a firecracker of a man: Sharp and witty with a take-no-shit attitude, he fascinates Rowan from the start.

Rowan has a big secret he’s afraid to share, and Mal has walls that seem impenetrable. Both men have dark pasts, and mental health struggles have marred them, leaving them wary of relationships. Their chemistry is immediate and unmatched, though, and they quickly enter into a steamy Dom/sub relationship, meeting weekly at the club. It’s just sex, right? But can they keep things strictly sexual, or will one or both of them develop feelings along the way? And if so will they find the courage to admit them and risk their hearts?

The Menagerie is a compelling exploration of BDSM, trust, and the slow evolution of friendship and love between two complex characters.

Dedication

For everyone who kept me going with kudos and comments

Acknowledgments

I WANT to start off by thanking my amazing boyfriend, Dan, who has been supportive of me throughout the entire creation of this story even though it’s not his cup of literary tea. Thanks, love.

Thank you also to Ginnifer, Elizabeth, Andi, and the entire production team at Dreamspinner for giving this book a chance and for helping me to strengthen it with every revision. It’s been a pleasure working with you all, and I hope to do it again one day soon.

Of course I have to thank all of my readers. Your wonderfully unhinged comments and praise kept me writing and kept me passionate about these characters that we all love so dearly.

Chapter 1: The Menagerie

FOR THE first time in his life, Rowan Campbell has a savings account in the quadruple digits. He has a steady and fulfilling job as a paramedic, a small but clean one-bedroom apartment in Boston’s Back Bay, and a stable dose regimen of meds to keep his depression and PTSD in check.

He loves his life, finally.

He’s happy…

But.

He’s happy, but…