Slave To Her Desires (The Succubus Diaries #3.6) by Jill Myles

 

(Note: While this novella is set in the world of the Succubus Diaries, it is not necessary to read the series to enjoy the novella.)

Immortality is not always a blessing. Turned into a succubus against her will, Olivia Rhodes has lived the past 120 years as a slave to her cruel and vindictive vampire master. She's escaped him, but he's closing in fast. Her only hope? The fallen angel that abandoned her when she was turned, David Thornton.

But David's not the cold-hearted monster she's always thought he was...nor did he abandon her. And when Olivia's hatred of David turns to desire, will her need for revenge against her vampire master destroy the one beautiful thing in her life, or will she find a way to make David love her despite the creature she's become?

This novella (34,000 words), features a succubus enslaved to her needs, a sleeping beauty, and some explosive sex on a monastery floor.

My Review:

I was very confused with this story. I dived right into the book, without reading the summary and I thought this was somehow a continuation of Jackie’s story. However, this was not the case. Though we do see Noah in this short read, none of the other characters from The Succubus Diaries make an appearance in Slave To Her Desires.

We meet Olivia, a succubus who was turned more than a hundred years ago who’s been a slave to her sadistic vampire master. If Succubus Interrupted, showed us a dark side to the ‘Obey Your Master’ command function, Slave To Her Desires amps up the negative factor x 100. *even sadder julie*

Aside from torturing her every which way possible and playing cruel mind games with her, Olivia’s vampire master, Aloysius’ favorite past time is having Olivia swallow razor blades. :(

Naturally, Olivia runs from Aloysius and wants to seek her angel master, David, and beg him to kill Aloysius. There’s just a few problems. David has been missing for years and loves Aloysius like a brother. Through the course of the story we find out why David has been missing. Turns out, Aloysius placed a sleeping spell on David and only Olivia can wake him up.

With Noah’s help, Olivia finds David and revives him, but David’s not of much use. Not only is he having a hard time acclimating to the new era, he also finds it hard to believe Aloysius is so evil and cannot be redeemed. One positive thing though, is that David still has feelings for Olivia, and gives her happiness she hasn’t experienced in ages. Together they must find out if what they feel is strong enough to take on Aloysius, or will they fall prey to the evil vampire once more?

I thought this was a good read, though I couldn’t get on board with David. He just seemed like such a weak character, and it seemed like Olivia was on her own trying to solve her problem. The sex scenes were very well written, but again, I just couldn’t get it together with David.

Ultimately though, the reason I gave this book such few kisses was because it had nothing to do with The Succubus Diaries as Olivia doesn’t make an appearance in the series whatsoever. If there had just been a tie-in or something explaining the purpose of these characters, perhaps I would have given it more kisses.

I recommend reading Slave To Her Desires only if you really love all things succubus and have a thing for angst and torture. Also, I recommend reading it after Book 4 of the series since it doesn’t make sense to read it before as no characters in this book crossover to series.

 

I ate breakfast in silence, my body a bundle of nerves. Noah Gideon was in his study, working. I could hear the quiet clicking of the keyboard as he typed. David had not emerged from the bedroom, and I continued to eat, ravenous despite the anxious churning of my stomach.

What if David said no to me? What options did I have? I was asking him to kill his best friend – the man he had been a companion to for millennia. Longer than that – they‘d fallen together. Who was I to come between them? A liability. A plaything. A sexual toy with no feelings or needs of her own. This falling out between them could be nothing more than a spat between friends. Like David had said, I had known Aloysius for a mere hundred years. David had known him for four thousand.

The pancakes I had made tasted like ashes in my mouth.

David emerged from the bedroom and I froze in place. He glanced around the room, no doubt noting the wealth of unfamiliar objects, or the small size of Noah‘s apartment in
comparison to the manor houses of Victorian England. His gaze surveyed the room, and then came to rest on me, where I sat at the breakfast bar.

His silver eyes were flat with pain. “Tell me one thing, Olivia,” he said, not moving toward me. “One thing that will convince me to destroy the friend I have stood alongside for centuries. Tell me one thing that will make me realize that he is too far gone.”

I had anticipated such a question, and I was ready. I took a small piece of metal and slid it across the counter, gesturing for him to pick it up.

He picked up the square and looked at the blood welling on his fingertips in surprise.

“That is a razor blade,” I explained. “The razors of today‘s time are smaller than what you are familiar with. You place that inside the razor and glide it across your face. The edges are quite sharp.”

David licked the blood off his fingers, an unconscious act that made me panic, thinking of vampires. But then he gave me a rueful smile – no fangs.

“I see that. Very sharp.”

I picked up the razor-blade, careful to avoid the edges. “One of Aloysius‘s favorite punishments is to make me eat them. Usually about five or six, one after the other.” My gaze was steady on his. “He cannot kill me, you see. So he thinks of interesting ways to test my immortality. Swallowing razors is the one I hate the most. When they go down your throat, you feel them…slicing.”

My hand touched my breastbone, thinking of the painful memories. “You cough blood for hours, and your insides burn, and everything hurts worse than you can ever imagine. But the worst part of all is when it makes it to your stomach, because then you know that your options—“

”Enough,” he said, raising a hand. His eyes glittered as he looked at me. “Tell me…is that truth or a lie?”

”It is the truth,” I said softly, compelled to answer him.

He nodded, exhaling sharply. “I knew it was. Yet, I hoped…” he shook his head and then looked at me, face grim with resolve. “I will help you destroy him.”

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