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A Cold Dark Place - Prologue

Cody Craig

New Member
Here is the prologue of a novel length manuscript that i have just completed. Please comment if you see fit.

bye

Cody Craig


PROLOGUE


As the high midday sun shines with unrelenting brilliance, Bernadette watches Calvin from her padded sun lounge. Watches as he swims beneath the glistening surface of the swimming pool.

She has started to become accustomed to the frequent midmorning tennis lessons that her husband Edward has financed for her. At one hundred dollars a lesson, Calvin doesn't come cheap but he had been highly recommended by Mandy, the wife of Edward's Manager. A leisurely swim in the pool was their way of cooling off after the rigorous lesson.

Calvin's dark hair breaks the mirrored surface, a bow wave of tiny ripples radiates from the small black island as it sluices forward through the crystal clear water. The rest of his head surfaces shortly afterwards revealing his handsome face with its square jaw and prominent brow. He heads for the stainless steel ladder at the deep end of the pool. His strong neck slices through the cool blue liquid as he effortlessly powers his body forward with a modified breaststroke.

Bernadette's sunglass clad eyes remain on Calvin as he climbs up the ladder and out of the pool. His toned and tanned body is slick with water droplets. He bends over and picks up a towel, his back and leg muscles pull tight and almost bulge out of his youthful skin. His skimpy white briefs are translucent from the water. Bernadette clearly sees his sizeable package through the flimsy material. She smiles at him and motions for him to come over to her.

"Can you rub some of that tanning lotion onto my back?" She asks as she rolls onto her stomach.

"Sure," replies Calvin, a hint of nervousness in his strong, usually confident voice.

Calvin picks up the tube of tanning lotion from the glass topped wrought iron table that is sitting next to the matching sun lounge. The tube feels slippery in his wet hands. He squats down next to Bernadette, who by now was laying face down and untying the knot in the middle of her back that holds the white string bikini top on. She lets the strings drop either side of her slim body, closes her eyes and waits.

Her body is tense with the anticipation of the sensual touch that it is about to receive. She shudders as a jet of cool lotion squirts from the tube and lands on the small of her back, tiny goose bumps smother her arms and legs. Her nasal cavity fills with the fresh aroma of coconuts. If she kept her eyes shut, in her mind's eye, she could be laying on a sun drenched beach on a deserted tropical island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, not here next to the pool in the middle of her own backyard.

Bernadette lets out a silent gasp of pleasure as Calvin's hands make contact with her overheated skin. He slides his hands up and down the length of her naked back, never stopping or dwelling on any spot in particular. He is business like in his approach, his hands doing a specific job and not seeking any forbidden pleasures.

Bernadette lifts her head and turns it slightly towards Calvin, "Don't forget my legs, hon," a sly, but terribly naughty smile on her face.

Bernadette has always rated her legs as her second best asset, of course running closely behind her sumptuous breasts. Her legs were long, with well defined calves, and her flawless thighs were topped off with a golden bronze tan.

Calvin squirts some of the white liquid onto the calf of her left leg. Once again he is very careful as to where his hands are travelling. Being particular not to venture too high up her inner thighs.

Bernadette reaches behind herself and pulls the edges of her white bikini bottom into the centre, it now looks like she is wearing a thong. Twin triangles of pure white flesh are a stark contrast to the deep tan of the rest of her exposed skin.

"You'd better put some on me there too," she laughs, as her hands gently caress her naked cheeks.

Calvin's hands cautiously apply lotion to her pale white rump. Bernadette squirms as he works the creamy lotion in. She ever so slightly lets her legs drift apart.

"Don't forget the inside of my thighs. I wouldn't want to get burnt there. I wouldn't be able walk for a week, you know."

At knee level he tentatively slides his hand between her legs and starts to apply the lotion. Massaging it in as he goes. The higher his strong hands work up her tender thighs, the wider Bernadette parts her legs.

She is certain that she is having the desired effect on him. What guy could resist the temptation of a beautiful, nearly naked woman? Especially a horny nineteen year old such as Calvin.

His hands venture further up her inner thigh; she feels her juices start to flow deep inside her groin. Bernadette wants him and she is accustomed to getting whatever she wanted. She wants him this instant, right here on the sun lounge out in the open.

A six-foot wooden plank fence is all that separates her backyard from the neighbours. They could be watching her right now, disgusted in her. Disgusted about the way that she is carrying on in the absence of her husband, but these are modern times and infidelity is commonplace these days. More than likely if any of her neighbours are hiding at one of their darkly tinted windows, they would be taking voyeuristic pleasure from the sexy sight over the fence. But the odd chance of someone watching them only adds fuel to the erotic fire that is raging uncontrollably deep inside of Bernadette.

She feels the side of his hand gently brush the thin strip of white nylon fabric between her legs. Her nipples instantly spring rigid. Bernadette gently pushes and writhes against the lounge's cushion, deriving hedonistic pleasure from the feeling of its vinyl cover that is invisibly caressing her naked flesh.

"All done," said Calvin as he removes his hands from her body and stands.

Bernadette turns her head in his direction and opens her eyes. The front of his skimpy brief underwear is jutting straight out, and she can clearly make out the shape of the head of his thick penis.

"I think you've missed an area on my back"

"Oh, did I," replied Calvin as he squirts a small amount of the coconut scented lotion into the palm of his hand. "Where?"

"Along the sides of my back, underneath my arms."

Bernadette lifts her arms above her head, in the process revealing the sides of her large breasts, which are mashed against the cushion of the sun lounge. Calvin starts to rub the lotion in. Bernadette raises the top half of her body so that her breasts lift clear of the cushion. She takes her weight on her elbows and arches her back.

Bernadette is overjoyed when she feels Calvin's strong slippery hands cup her breasts and gently thumb her rigid nipples. With his forefingers he gently traces circles around her areolas. A frenzy of carnal activity quickly follows.

With a satisfied smile on her face, Bernadette is totally aware that her actions had caused the desired effect. The game was now over and she had been victorious. He is now all hers.

Game, Set and Match. Well almost anyway, just one small matter to take care of, Edward!
 
Reply

PAST TENSE! Really, don't use present. It doesn't work for a number of reasons.

'Bernadette reaches behind herself and pulls the edges of her white bikini bottom into the centre, it now looks like she is wearing a thong.' Both phrases are complete sentences, so should be separated by a semi-colon.

Considering that you switched to present tense, I mostly scanned the text (I have read books/stories in present before, and have stopped bothering). I am surprised that I noticed the joined sentences.

What I tried to comprehend was what type of story you were attempting to tell. While I won't fault you for your presentation of the characters, there is nothing to clue the reader in on what is to be expected. An opening like this could just be the start of a complicated romance, a murder mystery, or something else. I would thus simply work on this more to pull the reader into the web you are spinning.
 
Cody Craig said:
As the high midday sun shines with unrelenting brilliance, Bernadette watches Calvin from her padded sun lounge. Watches as he swims beneath the glistening surface of the swimming pool.

Repetition of sun in the first sentence. Perhaps padded sun lounge can become lounger. The second sentence is a fragment and would be best served as an extension of the first sentence, separated only by a comma.

She has started to become accustomed to the frequent midmorning tennis lessons that her husband Edward has financed for her. At one hundred dollars a lesson, Calvin doesn't come cheap but he had been highly recommended by Mandy, the wife of Edward's Manager. A leisurely swim in the pool was their way of cooling off after the rigorous lesson.

She has become accustomed to...

started to and become are the same thing; strike the redundancy.

Calvin's dark hair breaks the mirrored surface, a bow wave of tiny ripples radiates from the small black island as it sluices forward through the crystal clear water. The rest of his head surfaces shortly afterwards revealing his handsome face with its square jaw and prominent brow. He heads for the stainless steel ladder at the deep end of the pool. His strong neck slices through the cool blue liquid as he effortlessly powers his body forward with a modified breaststroke.

I think you can come up with a better turn of phrase than the lazy use of effortlessly.

"Sure," replies Calvin, a hint of nervousness in his strong, usually confident voice.

Rather than tell us about how nervous he is, it would be much better if you showed it in his actions. Did he pause before he said it? Did he drop eye contact? Did he stutter it?

He squats down next to Bernadette, who by now was laying face down and untying the knot in the middle of her back that holds the white string bikini top on. She lets the strings drop either side of her slim body, closes her eyes and waits.

...who by now is...

Her body is tense with the anticipation of the sensual touch that it is about to receive. She shudders as a jet of cool lotion squirts from the tube and lands on the small of her back, tiny goose bumps smother her arms and legs. Her nasal cavity fills with the fresh aroma of coconuts. If she kept her eyes shut, in her mind's eye, she could be laying on a sun drenched beach on a deserted tropical island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, not here next to the pool in the middle of her own backyard.

I think nasal cavity is a bit flowery and technical for something that's supposed to read as sensual. Nose, in its simplicity, is better; it even sounds more sensual.

Calvin squirts some of the white liquid onto the calf of her left leg. Once again he is very careful as to where his hands are travelling. Being particular not to venture too high up her inner thighs.

You might want to define the white liquid. Or maybe I just have a filthy mind. ;)

She is certain that she is having the desired effect on him. What guy could resist the temptation of a beautiful, nearly naked woman? Especially a horny nineteen year old such as Calvin.

A nineteen year old tennis tutor charging one hundred dollars an hour? And how is she certain that she is having the desired effect? She's face down; he's behind. And, as we learn later, her eyes are closed.

A six-foot wooden plank fence is all that separates her backyard from the neighbours. They could be watching her right now, disgusted in her. Disgusted about the way that she is carrying on in the absence of her husband, but these are modern times and infidelity is commonplace these days. More than likely if any of her neighbours are hiding at one of their darkly tinted windows, they would be taking voyeuristic pleasure from the sexy sight over the fence. But the odd chance of someone watching them only adds fuel to the erotic fire that is raging uncontrollably deep inside of Bernadette.

...these are modern times...these days - repetition of these.


"Oh, did I," replied Calvin as he squirts a small amount of the coconut scented lotion into the palm of his hand. "Where?"

You've already told us it's coconut scented; there's little need to tell us again.


A frenzy of carnal activity quickly follows.

Spoilsport! That could mean anything. They could be doing it together, or the neighbours could suddenly appear from behind the fence join in, wipe off, and return to their gardens. :p

Well almost anyway, just one small matter to take care of, Edward!

just one small matter to take care of: Edward.


Okay, not my cup of tea, as they say. I'm hardly tempted to read on as there's little exciting happening other than in the characters' heads. And that's the problem, you jump from character to character here but rarely give them any depth. Richard Yates' writing springs to mind, not for pornography but because his writing (thinking of Cold Spring Harbor) jumps in an out of his different characters' heads but he truly got into what they were thinking.
 
Cody, I think your writing is good in places, but my overwhelming response is: Less is more! What we have here is little more than soft porn of the Jackie Collins school. Ease up on the relentless sensual detail a little, or at least balance it better than by having all this long build-up and then, "A frenzy of carnal activity quickly follows." It smacks of not having the courage of your convictions: general readers will be put off by the quasi-porn feel of the writing up to then, and trouser-fumblers will be disappointed by the lack of detail once (as Alan Partridge might say) battle commences.

I also had to stifle a laugh at "her legs ... running closely behind her sumptuous breasts." But that's a minor point.

Otherwise, I do think there is some nice writing here. Keep at it.
 
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