Narcissus in Chains chapter 52

Business first, kids!

It took a week, multiple phone calls AND a house-wide search for a tax return (DO. NOT. ASK) BUT! My Pubit! account is finally functional. What does that mean to you guys?

You can now buy (some of) my books on Barnes and Noble.com!

I'll be porting over Starbleached and Planet Bob in March, which is when my contract with KDP Select runs out. Planet Bob is over on Smashwords here, fyi.

It's not an earth-shaking thing, I know, but it took more than a couple hoops to get that damn account. I am VERY happy right now.

 Okay. On to sucky book.

Jean Claude is taking a bath. Micah is sitting on the couch naked. Anita has no idea how she feels about this, and goes on about it for a couple of pages.

I think I am finally absolutely burned out on being offended by this book. I'm just rolling on an ocean of WTF. It takes Jean Claude twenty minutes to wash the gore off. I actually think this is close to realistic, so kudos to getting one thing in this damn book right.

Also? Jean Claude is enjoying this:

The look on his face was all for Micah. It made me go up on one knee, my butt against the arm of the couch. I felt oddly possessive, almost jealous, as if I should be defending Micah’s honor. I’d never felt like this with Richard and Jean-Claude, but then, Jean-Claude had never looked at Richard in quite that way.

Anita, if you can't handle being involved with a man who has multiple partners, you are first of all a HUGE hypocrite, but we already knew that, and you should have ironed this out before you started fucking the bisexual polyamourus vampire. Because rules and bounderies are the kind of things that safe partners set up before they get too involved.

Anita is confused because Micah seems willing.. I get that LKH is trying to show us that Micah is better than Richard, but Anita is coming off as having this "how is babby formed?" level of ignorance re: bisexuality. The men are turned on by other men. It's not that hard to figure out, given that both guys are looking at each other and are naked.

Though I think Micah's really sending off "I have been abused before" flags. He's passive. Way too passive. "Do whatever you want to me" in bed play is a turn on. Outside of the bedroom, it's a warning sign. He's willing to do anything to keep Anita. She sleeps with other people? Cool. She needs to fuck somebody for dinner? Micah will provide. She needs Micah to offer himself to one of her other lovers as supper? His neck is ready. This is not devotion, kids. This is un-fucking-healthy co-dependency, and the role reversal is no healthier for a man than it would be for a woman.

And Jean Claude, boys and girls, is taking his goddamn time with this. Also? Micah likes it. A lot. And I am very glad that LKH does not describe exactly how happy he is in detail.

When he's done, Jean Claude does everything except ask, "Was it good for you?"

Meanwhile, Asher storms out of the room in a huff. I'd make a non-pc joke probably involving Bobby Trendy--seriously, that's how he's played in this book--but Jean Claude is Asher's long-term boyfriend, and he just fed on a very hot guy in front of Asher, and now it looks like Micah and probably Jean Claude are going to have sex with Anita. Something that Asher can't do because Anita will get miffed. I think Asher is justified in being huffy. In fact, I think Asher would be justified in blowing this popsicle stand entirely and shacking up with Dead Dave, and the only reason he won't blow is he has the self esteem of a flame-roasted turnip.

This is how Anita reacts to Asher expressing his displeasure:

Asher. “Look, I am so far over my comfort zone right now that I can’t think, but I’ll tell you one thing. I am not going to salve your male ego while the little voice in my brain is still screaming, run away, run away. So, put the attitude on ice, Asher, I can’t deal with it right now...Fuck you, Asher."

Asher reacts by getting into Anita's personal space. She divines that he doesn't want to hurt her physically, just damage her feelings a little bit. And he responds in kind:

“Don’t offer things you’re not willing to do, ma cherie, because that is annoying.”

And then he leaves.

Micah asks what that was about, Anita tells him to ask Jean Claude while she gets Damian, Jean Claude says he'll follow her, and there is not a lot of book left. Damn, there is not a lot of book at all. The chapter's over. I can think of several things that could go in there. Resolving the plot with the missing alphas, resolving the plot with the snake guys. Hell, I'll even endure Anita fucking Richard on that fake viking throne if it'll give this book an actual (sigh) climax. But I'm now very worried because there is not enough book left for a decent climax.