One Chapter A Day - Re-Read Of Bared and Entwined

[Sharonm745]

Totally off-topic, and I apologize, but I am listening to BTY in audiobook. I have always read Eva as Eeeeva, but I guess it's Ava? Anyone else think that?

 

Carry on...

 

I posted a question on the website.  I heard a couple other people mention the same thing. 

[gayle]

I posted a question on the website.  I heard a couple other people mention the same thing. 

 

Thanks. Let me know what you hear back. No biggie, it just kind of threw me.

[Kirsten]

Thanks. Let me know what you hear back. No biggie, it just kind of threw me.

It actually is pronounced Ava. Hopefully you can see this video:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fqfKFpDLyMM

[gayle]

It actually is pronounced Ava. Hopefully you can see this video:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fqfKFpDLyMM

Yep. She pronounces it "Ava." OK. I need to go and digest this! Hahahahaha!

[Kirsten]

Yep. She pronounces it "Ava." OK. I need to go and digest this! Hahahahaha!

Threw me for a loop the first time I heard it too Gayle.

[sscrph]

Yep. She pronounces it "Ava." OK. I need to go and digest this! Hahahahaha!

Hmmm interesting but I still picture Gideon saying Ah Eeeeva in that raspy voice

:)

[Peachies]

Hmmm interesting but I still picture Gideon saying Ah Eeeeva in that raspy voice

Meeee tooooo .... She is Eeeeva in my mind :-)

[Peachies]

Hmmm interesting but I still picture Gideon saying Ah Eeeeva in that raspy voice

Meeee tooooo .... She is Eeeeva in my mind :-)

[Peachies]

Hmmm interesting but I still picture Gideon saying Ah Eeeeva in that raspy voice

[Sassy1]

Would anyone be able to explain in Chapter 17 what is meant when Eva and Gideon are discussing the D/S aspect of their relationship in the room he had made for her and this exchange takes place:

 

The edginess and sharpened focus I'd detected not long ago abruptly made sense to me-he wasn't restraining his force of will anymore. The tremendous power coiled inside him was now directed at me like a blast of heat.

 

"I've told you before, " he said huskily. "I'll take you however I can get you."

 

"Whatever. Don't think I don't know you're topping from the bottom."

 

I try to understand and make sense of it but I don't want to read into it the wrong way. Can someone help me understand? I would appreciate it

[Ript]

I haven't really seen anything, at this point, that makes me think of Gideon & Eva as traditional D/s relationship candidates.  I always had the feeling that Gideon asked for a safe word because he didn't want to take Eva some place that would scare her.  She wants to have the memory of Nathan erased from her head and, while Gideon is up for the task he doesn't want to move too quickly.  

 

He (Gideon) wanted her comfortable in their relationship.  Also while Gideon is a dominant/alpha male with a need to be in control I think he likes to give over a little to Eva when she needs it.  I think he senses that Eva "strikes first" so to speak because she doesn't want someone to take advantage of her.  Gideon wants her to completely lose herself in their physical relationship and wants her to submit to his need to pleasure her. 

 

That is what I've seen so far however, I'm not sure I expressed this correctly.  It makes sense to me when I think about it but not when I put it in writing.  Sylvia may have a stronger D/s relationship in store for later however, I don't think Eva is ready for that at this point of her recovery. 

 

 

OFF TOPIC:  My time is always off by 1 hour.  I have changed my time zone 4 times and it is still off.  Any suggestions?

.

I agree with you a hundred percent. I don't think he is looking for the traditional D/S relationship. I believe he is a dominating man, but he wants Eva to feel safe in the relationship.

[julie54]

.

I agree with you a hundred percent. I don't think he is looking for the traditional D/S relationship. I believe he is a dominating man, but he wants Eva to feel safe in the relationship.

Morning from England .

I have reposted comments from a previous page regarding this scene.

Sorry it posted twice.

[Andie]

Hello, ladies

 

Chapter 17

 

My Favorites

 

1. line: Are you projecting? (p. 253)

 

2. paragraph: "You've asked me to reacquaint your body with acts previously used to hurt and terrorize you. I can't tell you what your trust means to me or what it would do to me if I broke that trust. I can't risk it, Eva. We have to do this right." (p. 248)

 

3. scene: Eva slid the ring onto the ring finger of her right hand

 

 

XOXO

[LN Cronan]

Would anyone be able to explain in Chapter 17 what is meant when Eva and Gideon are discussing the D/S aspect of their relationship in the room he had made for her and this exchange takes place:

 

The edginess and sharpened focus I'd detected not long ago abruptly made sense to me-he wasn't restraining his force of will anymore. The tremendous power coiled inside him was now directed at me like a blast of heat.

 

"I've told you before, " he said huskily. "I'll take you however I can get you."

 

"Whatever. Don't think I don't know you're topping from the bottom."

 

I try to understand and make sense of it but I don't want to read into it the wrong way. Can someone help me understand? I would appreciate it

 

"Top" is another way of saying "dom" and "bottom" is another way of saying "sub." Top-bottom essentially is the same thing as dom-sub. When having sex, the top is the one in control - regardless of the actual sexual position(s) being used.

 

When Eva accused him of "topping from the bottom" she was saying she could tell he was still keeping his control as the dom instead of surrendering control to her. It didn't matter that literally she was on top of him and he was on the bottom -- figuratively he was still maintaining control of her. Not for a minute was she fooled just because he let her climb up onto him.

 

In the limo the first time they made love, she "topped" in the figurative sense -- she was the one in control of the sex. She initiated it, choose the position, set the pace -- and got him to accept the pleasure she was giving. She got him to surrender his control over the situation, in other words. It was that -- the surrender -- that blew his mind (and caused his head trip). It wasn't simply the fact they'd done it in the car -- it was the surrender part.

[LN Cronan]

Chapter Seventeen of Bared to You - The Readers Guide

 

This chapter starts Sunday (day 14) and goes through sometime middle of the night Sunday into Monday (day 15)

 

Key plot developments:

• Gideon yet again had a frank talk with Eva about how their sexual relationship would run. However, this time, he wasn't setting terms (like he had when they first got involved, supposedly under a friends-with-benefits deal). This time, he told Eva they were in a dominant-submission situation - they'd already naturally fallen into their own roles.
• Eva discovered more things he had done during the four days they had been apart to prepare for what he'd been counting on her coming back on her own. 1. He'd created a "safe room" for her in his apartment. He'd bought her a promise ring. 

 

New characters

None in this chapter

 

The Dom-Sub talk

His reason for talking about it is he believes the power exchange will make Eva feel safe with him sexually. Given her past, where she literally had no control and was at the mercy of her rapist, as an adult she'd fallen into a surrender pattern that signified trusting a partner.

Eva's first reaction, upon being called a submissive, is anger - anger at the thought of being ordered around sexually. Given what she went through as a girl, she needs a sense of control as much if not more than Gideon.

Her fears are of some of the stereo-types she's heard about dom-sub arrangements, including some in group therapy, where she'd heard a fellow client discuss the lifestyle that client was in. Essentially that woman's particular set up was master-slave, and her partner (the master) got to do whatever he wanted.

It's not that particular lifestyle Gideon meant, however.  Eva was jumping to the wrong conclusion he meant BDSM. "You know I don't want to beat you, punish you, hurt you, demean you or order you around like a pet ....  we're not talking games that get me off." (That would be BDSM).

What he meant is a willing exchange of power where she can trust him with control and he can feel in control in return, including feeling safe she can "safeword" to stop things if he ever inadvertently triggers any of her old trauma wounds.

The conversation didn't reassure Eva - she came away upset, still insisting she's not a submissive and fearing he's unsatisfied with her sexually. His attempt to define things left her more confused and upset - not less.

So to prove her point she wants control herself, she tries "topping" him sexually, playing the dom role as they make love.

But in the middle of the night, they make love again, this time with him in control and her willingly being submissive. It works out - he was able to explain with his body what he'd done a poor job of trying to explain verbally.

 

What Gideon was up to those four days they were apart

Eva already learned he'd made arrangements for them to start couple's therapy and for him to start individual psychotherapy too. He'd seen Dr. Petersen on Friday (the day after he'd dumped Eva) to set it up,  hoping she was going to come back on her own.

He also made some changes in his home: turning one of his guest rooms into a virtual recreation of Eva's own bedroom in her apartment. freaked her out a little, but Gideon explained he made it as a safe room for her. The idea was to give her a place to go, instead of running out on him yet again, if she needed to be alone.

He made changes to his own living space too, his home office/study. He created a large wall mural of photos of the pair of them together, most of them the various press photos taken of them over the course of the past week, but one of them of a candid he took of Eva asleep in her own bed.

Most importantly, he bought her a ring. "It's not that ring .... not yet. You're not ready." (Page 254). Instead, it was a promise ring.

A combination of relief and disappointment washed over her, making her realize she actually had fallen deeply in love with him. And she also realized that during those four days they had been apart, he's thought about her constantly. All he'd done, and the gifts he'd bought, in preparation for her coming back to him proved it.

[Sheens263]

Sylvia just posted this on FB, I thought it was funny.

so funny

[LN Cronan]

^^^^ O M F G !!!!!! I just spit coffee on my monitor and keyboard

[LN Cronan]

Chapter A Day Re-Read Project - Today is Chapter Eighteen of Bared

 

This chapter covers Monday (day 15) - two weeks to the day since they first met in the lobby of the Crossfire.

 

Key plot developments:

• For the first time, Eva says "I love you" to Gideon.
• Eva gives Gideon a promise ring
• Eva makes a regular Monday one of the happiest he's ever had at work.
• Eva learns how creepy his half-brother is, as she and Gideon see secretly shot video of Christopher sexually using Magdalene.

 

Once each of us has read Chapter Eighteen, our homework assignment from Sylvia herself is for each of us to pick our favorite quote or paragraph.

 

The chapter re-reads also have been the springboard here for lots of discussion. We're continuing to touch upon the chapter of the day, but even more, discussion has been jumping backward into the earlier chapters and forward in the story (even into Reflected and into what we've got for Entwined - Chapter One of it, part of Chapter Two, the snippets and the snapshot clues.) The re-read of one chapter daily is leading us to analyze how different parts of the Crossfire saga have been connecting.

[LN Cronan]

In Chapter Seventeen, when Gideon gave her the promise ring, at first Eva was uneasy. Already freaked out over false assumptions about what Gideon meant about dom-sub, she was envisioning being asked to wear a "collar" -- a sexual fetish prop that some submissives wear in the BDSM lifestyle.

 

Gideon was talking about something completely different than BDSM (which involves bondage and sadism along with dominance and submission) but Eva was confused, and being asked to wear a ring made her equate it with being asked to wear a collar in the figurative sense. For all she knew (and feared) Gideon would soon introduce a real collar into their sex life next along with all sorts of other kinky accessories - whips and chains, restraints ..... who knows.

 

But I wonder whether Gideon actually did engage in BDSM in the past with -- of all people -- Corrine. In Chapter Twenty, when Corrine is talking to Eva about her (Corrine's) past with Gideon, at one point Corrine described how possessive Gideon was and how much that frightened her at times. She claimed that's the reason she left him (when we all know in fact, the real reason she left is they were stuck in a dead-end sexual situation - his refusal to spend the night with her, including sleeping over in one another's dorms/apartments.)

 

When Corrine started talking about Gideon's frightening possessiveness, here's what she was doing at the time (page 313) "Her hand went to her throat, her slender fingers restlessly stroking, as if toying with a necklace she'd normally find there."

 

Was she actually recalling being collared by Gideon? Nervous at the time talking to Eva, was this throat stroking Corrine doing an unconscious nervous gesture. Literally, she was talking to Eva about Gideon's jealous nature, but perhaps underneath, Corrine was thinking about his sexual control of their past relationship.

 

Thoughts, ladies?

[sscrph]

In Chapter Seventeen, when Gideon gave her the promise ring, at first Eva was uneasy. Already freaked out over false assumptions about what Gideon meant about dom-sub, she was envisioning being asked to wear a "collar" -- a sexual fetish prop that some submissives wear in the BDSM lifestyle.

 

Gideon was talking about something completely different than BDSM (which involves bondage and sadism along with dominance and submission) but Eva was confused, and being asked to wear a ring made her equate it with being asked to wear a collar in the figurative sense. For all she knew (and feared) Gideon would soon introduce a real collar into their sex life next along with all sorts of other kinky accessories - whips and chains, restraints ..... who knows.

 

But I wonder whether Gideon actually did engage in BDSM in the past with -- of all people -- Corrine. In Chapter Twenty, when Corrine is talking to Eva about her (Corrine's) past with Gideon, at one point Corrine described how possessive Gideon was and how much that frightened her at times. She claimed that's the reason she left him (when we all know in fact, the real reason she left is they were stuck in a dead-end sexual situation - his refusal to spend the night with her, including sleeping over in one another's dorms/apartments.)

 

When Corrine started talking about Gideon's frightening possessiveness, here's what she was doing at the time (page 313) "Her hand went to her throat, her slender fingers restlessly stroking, as if toying with a necklace she'd normally find there."

 

Was she actually recalling being collared by Gideon? Nervous at the time talking to Eva, was this throat stroking Corrine doing an unconscious nervous gesture. Literally, she was talking to Eva about Gideon's jealous nature, but perhaps underneath, Corrine was thinking about his sexual control of their past relationship.

 

Thoughts, ladies?

WOW I have always wondered about that line in the book. I thought the throat stroking observation was odd at the time but yes this is an interesting possibility...

[sscrph]

WOW I have always wondered about that line in the book. I thought the throat stroking observation was odd at the time but yes this is an interesting possibility...

I keep going back to Gideon's statement in the elevator "no lies ever Eva". If in fact Gideon did engage in a full fledged Dom-sub relationship with Corinne which possibly included collaring don't you think that was a huge omission when Gideon was telling Eva the history of he and Corinne's relationship after the fund-raiser? I think Gideon will definitely have a lot more dark secrets to share...

[LN Cronan]

WOW I have always wondered about that line in the book. I thought the throat stroking observation was odd at the time but yes this is an interesting possibility...

 

The first time I read that scene, too, I thought Corrine possibly was recalling a necklace she always used to wear, maybe something  beautiful Gideon gave her as a gift and so she wore while they were together.

 

But yet again, this careful re-reading of a chapter at a time is making me pick up on possible patterns of one clue after another. Maybe Gideon had sexually collared Corrine as part of his early sexual experimentation, exploring ways in which he could learn to feel sexually in control.

 

If this is true, he could have been kicking himself when Eva jumped to the conclusion Gideon might want to collar her -- something that most certainly would have been a "hard limit" for her, given her history. (Hard limits are the list of things doms and especially subs agree to beforehand that won't ever be a part of their consensual sexually play -- the sexual activities they refuse to do, in other words.)

[Kirsten]

The first time I read that scene, too, I thought Corrine possibly was recalling a necklace she always used to wear, maybe something beautiful Gideon gave her as a gift and so she wore while they were together.

But yet again, this careful re-reading of a chapter at a time is making me pick up on possible patterns of one clue after another. Maybe Gideon had sexually collared Corrine as part of his early sexual experimentation, exploring ways in which he could learn to feel sexually in control.

If this is true, he could have been kicking himself when Eva jumped to the conclusion Gideon might want to collar her -- something that most certainly would have been a "hard limit" for her, given her history. (Hard limits are the list of things doms and especially subs agree to beforehand that won't ever be a part of their consensual sexually play -- the sexual activities they refuse to do, in other words.)

I have to agree LN, but I have to also agree with sscrph that, that was a pretty big omission on Gideon's part when talking about his relationship with Corrine.

[julie54]

In Chapter Seventeen, when Gideon gave her the promise ring, at first Eva was uneasy. Already freaked out over false assumptions about what Gideon meant about dom-sub, she was envisioning being asked to wear a "collar" -- a sexual fetish prop that some submissives wear in the BDSM lifestyle.

Gideon was talking about something completely different than BDSM (which involves bondage and sadism along with dominance and submission) but Eva was confused, and being asked to wear a ring made her equate it with being asked to wear a collar in the figurative sense. For all she knew (and feared) Gideon would soon introduce a real collar into their sex life next along with all sorts of other kinky accessories - whips and chains, restraints ..... who knows.

But I wonder whether Gideon actually did engage in BDSM in the past with -- of all people -- Corrine. In Chapter Twenty, when Corrine is talking to Eva about her (Corrine's) past with Gideon, at one point Corrine described how possessive Gideon was and how much that frightened her at times. She claimed that's the reason she left him (when we all know in fact, the real reason she left is they were stuck in a dead-end sexual situation - his refusal to spend the night with her, including sleeping over in one another's dorms/apartments.)

When Corrine started talking about Gideon's frightening possessiveness, here's what she was doing at the time (page 313) "Her hand went to her throat, her slender fingers restlessly stroking, as if toying with a necklace she'd normally find there."

Was she actually recalling being collared by Gideon? Nervous at the time talking to Eva, was this throat stroking Corrine doing an unconscious nervous gesture. Literally, she was talking to Eva about Gideon's jealous nature, but perhaps underneath, Corrine was thinking about his sexual control of their past relationship.

Thoughts, ladies?

Afternoon. Don't forget about the s* x swing. He seemed keen on this. Perhaps he is more dominant than we thought?

Perhaps Deanna has sampled his " dark side".

Somehow I can't see him introducing these in this relationship with Eva, given her past. Also theirs is a totally different relationship, to the others that he had. He didn't love the others. Eva is his beating heart. His next breath. Sigh.

[sscrph]

Afternoon. Don't forget about the s* x swing. He seemed keen on this. Perhaps he is more dominant than we thought?

Perhaps Deanna has sampled his " dark side".

Somehow I can't see him introducing these in this relationship with Eva, given her past. Also theirs is a totally different relationship, to the others that he had. He didn't love the others. Eva is his beating heart. His next breath. Sigh.

Well if his Dom/sub sexual behavior stemmed from his TRUST issues then I can see this not taking place in his relationship with Eva because he trusts her completely... If he needed this type of behavior to get turned on due to his past abuse this is obviously not the case with Eva because he is always turned on with her ... I don't really know enough about this lifestyle to comment on his motivation my only education in this matter being from FSOG. That being said remember when they go in his limo at the fundraiser he tells Eva "I've bent and adjusted for you Eva and I'll do anything to keep you but I won't be tamed or topped"