Music Mondays: "Get Some" by Lykke Li

"Like a shotgun needs an outcome, I'm your prostitute--you gon' get some." -- Lykke Li

Happy Boxing Day! Here's hoping that everyone out there is busy getting some. Lykke Li's "Get Some" is sexy--sometimes, I think her songs don't have enough beat, but this has a very satisfying twangy guitar driven by tribal-sounding drums. The video is a bit creepy, but also cool to watch.

When Lykke Li says, "You gon' get some," she doesn't sound like she's inviting or promising. She sounds--and looks--like she's threatening. It's pretty hot, if you're into that sort of thing.

If you need another reason to think this song's sexy, see it's association with Catwoman in the trailer for the Arkham City video game. Notice the creative editing to remove the word "prostitute."

The Advent Calendar

Advent is about anticipation, and that's the mood I was aiming for in "The Advent Calendar," which went up last night on Every Night Erotica. Here's an excerpt:

He didn’t have enough in the way of fingernails to do it easily, but he managed to open the windows for the 1st and 2nd. The first was a window to nothing identifiable–just a cream-colored square. The second, however, positioned close to the first, opened onto a view of a bright red fingernail. The fingernail slipped under a red satin bra strap, lifting it away from an otherwise bare shoulder.

Intrigued, Zack wrinkled his forehead. Day one must have shown a patch of bare skin. Where the hell did Eliza get this Advent calendar?

Read the rest of the story here.

Going Down

"Taking in the essence, taste, smell, and sexy up-closeness of a lover is a powerful aphrodisiac that affects one physically, mentally, and emotionally. Once you have your lover in your mouth, the heat of desire, passion, and lust focus, tying your arousal directly to them." -- from the description of the forthcoming Going Down anthology, edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel

My story, "Getting Something Out of It," will appear in this book. You can preorder now at Amazon, or you can wait until the book is out and pick it up at your favorite local purveyor of erotica. Expected publication date is May 15, 2012.

I'll post an excerpt of my story closer to time.

Here's the table of contents:

Pretty Dull Charlotte Stein
Milk Moustache Jacqueline Applebee
Lavender Cynthia Hamilton
Etiquette Sylvia Lowry
Stacked Logan Zachary
Sucking Casey’s Cock Shanna Germain
Getting Something Out of It Annabeth Leong
Bubble Dance Jeremy Edwards
Seriously Jeanette Grey
Shuck It Dusty Horn
Dover to Victoria Station Roxy Rogers
Blush Mary Borsellino
Clean/Dirty Lucy Felthouse
Trimming Tenille Brown
Your Body is a Temple Neil Gavriel
New Additions Rachel Kramer Bussel
Do You Speak French? Chrissie Bentley
Close Your Eyes Viktoria Michaelis
Snowjob A.M. Hartnett
The Perfect Shade Elizabeth Coldwell
The Thousand-and-One Ways Graydancer

Music Mondays: "Will Do" by TV on the Radio

"Any time will do. What choice of words will take me back to you?" -- TV on the Radio

Don't just listen to TV on the Radio's "Will Do." Watch the video. It's incredibly sensual, wistful, and, when I'm in the right mood, it makes me cry. I'd thought virtual reality was played out back in the 90s, but this video makes it fresh, meaningful and symbolic. Run, don't walk.

The Artist's Retreat

I love H.P. Lovecraft, and have been gratified to see a recent trend in Lovecraftian erotica. I was even more gratified to have a story of my own included in Circlet Press's excellent Lovecraftian collection, Whispers in Darkness. I'm proud to have had my story in this book described as "mercilessly sexy" (in the book's introduction), as well as "thoroughly, unwholesomely sexy" (in a review).

Here's an excerpt from the Artist's Retreat:

Up close, the ground swelled with twisted, fertile promise. The muddy earth sucked and pulsed around my feet. I could not imagine what might burst from it, what ancient things might wind around my ankle and pull me down to them. Olivia’s cheeks had grown bright. She pressed her body against the boulder as if against a lover’s chest, her free hand stroking it languidly. “Touch it,” she said.

I resisted, feeling a surge of fear and revulsion even as I wanted nothing more on earth than to feel the sensations I saw reflected in her eyes. I watched as if in slow motion as she pressed our linked hands also to the stone.

The boulder might have shuddered beneath my touch. Olivia guided me to stroke its moist surface, as smooth as skin. I felt little grooves in the stone and leaned closer. Shrouded by the moss, I could just see intricate engravings, impossibly complex and certainly older than any civilization I had known to live in this part of the world.

The cryptic images did not depict any shapes or beings I knew--still, they stirred me. I got to my knees beside Olivia, and together we explored the contours of the boulder. I could not piece together an overall image of the design. Neither could I decode any individual piece. But the longer I ran my fingers over it, and the longer I knelt beside her and stared, the more I began to see flashes of meaning. Two coiled appendages, wound around each other and rubbing their undersides together obscenely; what could have been a thousand tiny fingers caressing a swollen, monolithic shaft; a long and muscular tongue, curved into a suggestive question.
Though the boulder stood only as high as my shoulder, the engravings seemed impossibly vast. Soon I gasped aloud as we explored new regions of it. Olivia edged closer to me; we leaned our shoulders together as we moved our hands across the stone with increasing eagerness. I heard her panting beside me.

Gently, Olivia released my hand and placed both palms against the stone. I copied her movements. I imagined the boulder pressed back against my touch, molding itself to the contours of my hands. The skin below my collar bone felt hot. A light breeze chilled me more deeply than it should have, cooling the layer of sweat that coated my forehead and the back of my neck.

Olivia let her head fall onto my shoulder. I froze. She smelled earthy, like what I would expect from the herbs in a witch’s kitchen. I swallowed hard and turned my face into her hair, breathing deeply. The boulder in my palms pulsed to the rhythm of my breath. Intoxicated, overwhelmed, enthralled, my nose ventured deeper into her thick, red locks. Olivia’s hair brushed my lips, soft and warm in the shaded chill beneath the trees.

I could not think. I moaned and pressed my lips against that hair, kissing the top of her head. Olivia let go of the boulder and wrapped her arms around me. Even through my clothes, her hands burned. I released the boulder as well and buried both hands in that ambrosial hair. I shivered as I wrapped it around my fingers, remembering Olivia’s self-portrait and the way the woman’s body had disappeared into the dull black mass. I wanted to disappear into her hair just that way, to be tangled and shaped and possessed by it, though I could not allow those thoughts to form a bridge from urges to conclusions. I felt heat coming from all directions--my body, her body, the boulder, the ground.

Olivia stirred. She lifted her head. Her hair slipped across my lips and nearly undid me. Then her serious green eyes asked a question, a mere inch from mine. I couldn’t face questions or answers just then. I closed my eyes and pulled her against me, searching with blind lips. I found the top of her ear, her temple, her cheek, and finally her mouth, which opened willingly beneath my first avid touch.
Her tongue felt hot and strange against mine. The mystery of her taste drew me to reach deeper, gripping the back of her head now to explore her better. I could not have explained what I was doing, but at that moment I did not care to. My mind filled with incoherent thoughts, guided by the images of the past few days, but also with urges I could not fully describe. I wanted to pull her so close that I brought her into me. I wanted to press inside her so far that I would know her completely.

I needed this kiss like I had never needed anything. I gripped Olivia’s arms and directed her against the boulder. I needed leverage. I needed something to press against. I could not control my hands. They wanted to uncover all of her. I slipped them under her shirt and touched the small of her back, the flushed skin there twitching slightly under the force of my grip. I tugged her shirt up, my fingers attempting to decode her spine. I kissed harder, pinning her naked back to the boulder and crushing my hands against its rough engravings.

The kiss exploded around me. Suddenly, the trees were part of it, and the ground, and the rock, and the sun. Olivia and I, tangled together, became another part of the engravings on the stone, their natural extension as they reached into the air. We became part of something old and ancient and wanting, something that coiled at the bottom of my belly just as it nestled under the flesh of the earth.

I wanted to do everything, have everything, to plunge my hands into the mud, to curl my belly around the boulder and lie baking in the sun, to kiss and kiss Olivia until neither of us could ever breathe again. We screamed into each other’s mouths. Her body began to jerk slowly and rhythmically against mine, her tongue lagging just behind. For a moment, I felt she was feeding me secret, forbidden knowledge. Against the dark and private backdrop of my closed eyelids, I could almost glimpse a place far beyond the stars, a wild, great, terrible, and exhilarating enigma. She was there, I felt, but I could not quite join her.

I shifted my hands. Her skin felt clammy now. Concern gave me the strength I needed to break the kiss. The sight of the milky skin of her stomach and the bottom wire of her black bra would have enthralled me again were it not for the sickly pale of her face and her eyes rolled back in her head and the horror of her mouth, which did not seem aware that I had pulled away and still worked as if in the throes of ecstasy.
A dizzying wave of shame struck me full-force in the chest. I’d never felt these sorts of urges before. I couldn’t understand what I’d been doing. And I feared what might have happened to Olivia. My lust set aside for the moment, I gripped her arms and pulled her away from the boulder.

She came away heavily. I imagined for a wild moment that the stone parted with her only reluctantly. I stared into her clouded green eyes. She gave a slow blink, then began to shiver violently, her teeth chattering with the force of hailstones on pavement. “Olivia,” I said, a few times until she responded.

If I expected her to be disturbed by what had happened, her expression disabused me of my mistake. “Do you understand a little more?” she whispered when she had recovered, the feverish brightness returning to her cheeks and eyes.

It was great to have room to really stretch out and write this story, building up from sparks to a raging fire.

I highly recommend buying the anthology--not just for this story, but for everything in it. I'm astounded at the company I'm keeping here. Every one of the stories in this anthology is awesome, and there's a lot of range.

Check out, for example, Elizabeth Reeve's "The Dreams in the Laundromat," which is the sweetest, most romantic tentacle sex story I've ever read.

If you need more convincing, read this very flattering review. Then go forthwith and check out everything Circlet has to offer--they're doing great work over there.

Saturday Morning

And here's Saturday Morning, a romantic piece that appeared in Oysters & Chocolate:

“Saturday morning,” she whispered, stroking the side of his face and then letting her hand slide over his chest and down to his already hardening cock.

“Mmm,” Will said. His hands were much more awake than he sounded. He pinched her nipples with one, while the other felt between her legs. How was Alanna wet already? She wondered if some sort of Pavlovian reaction was at play.

“One second.” Alanna climbed out of bed, not even minding the chill of the room outside the covers. She’d gone to bed naked, too, wanting to feel Will’s skin even though they’d both been too exhausted the night before to do anything more than sleep.

She stumbled to the door and locked it. For a moment, she leaned her forehead against the cool wood and just breathed. The kids knew that bothering their parents on Saturday morning for anything short of fire risked the harshest punishments--hours or even days with no Xbox. Then she turned to Will and grinned. “You want to wrestle for who gets to be on top?”

“Sounds like a lot of effort.”

“Oh, you’re going to be making an effort, honey. Better get used to that now.”

You can read the rest here.

Some Useful Sailing Knots

I wanted to write a story that expressed the way I feel about rope. Just a length of it across my forearm makes me shiver. So, I wrote about a character who feels that way trying to get the courage to ask her boyfriend to tie her up for the first time. Luckily, she asks a guy who's done it before--"A few times, maybe."

Here's an excerpt from the piece, which appeared in Oysters and Chocolate:

He bit her earlobe, then worked his way down her neck. She shifted from foot to foot, rubbing her ass against his hard cock. She wanted him inside her more than she’d ever wanted anything.

“Please fuck me,” she whispered, amazed at how easily the words came now that the rope actually embraced her body.

She felt Chad grin against her neck, right before sinking his teeth in right at the nape. Rachel let out a strangled scream. Her legs gave way, but he held her up by the harness he’d made on her chest. “Seems to me like you need to be patient, sweetie,” Chad said. “You want me to tie you up, you want me to fuck you. You’ve got to give me time to do all these things you’re asking for.”

He picked up the third bundle of rope. Instead of the thick, braided lengths he’d used so far, this one was thin as clothesline. He fastened it to her chest harness and twisted it. Rachel’s eyes widened. He deftly caught her erect left nipple in one of the twists, squeezing it even tighter as he finished the maneuver and tied it off under her breast.

“You like that?” Chad asked.

Rachel bit her lip and nodded. The burn of the rope felt even more delicious on the strained nipple. Chad tweaked it gently and she gasped at the rope fibers that rubbed against the sensitive flesh.

“What’s your safeword?” Chad said.

“Applesauce.”

“When are you going to say that?”

“I’ll say it if I need you to stop.”

“Do you want me to stop?”

“God, no,” Rachel breathed. “Please, no.”

“OK, good girl. I’m going to do the other one now.”

You can read the rest here.

It was really important to me when I wrote this to show accurate details about rope, and also to show a responsible dom. I'm turned on sometimes when I read about dangerous bondage scenes, but it always gives me a little twist in the stomach. I wanted Chad to really know what he was doing--to dominate Rachel, but to make caring for her part of his dominance and confidence.

It was also very exciting to see my work illustrated by the talented Lochai--it made me feel rewarded for my specificity in describing Chad's rope technique.

Noise Complaints

I may have an unhealthy obsession with neighbors. My partner certainly knows--I whisper, "Hi, neighbors," after every time we fuck, a joke referring to how loud I usually get. And in my "to write" list, I have a huge bunch of ideas about neighbors and being overheard.

This story, which appeared a while back on Every Night Erotica, is the first of my neighbors stories to see the light of day.

Here's an excerpt:

Ginny had thought a gag would keep her quieter. Instead, it just makes it hard for her to use words. Behind her, Abram brings the crop down onto her ass with a crack. She knows it’s late, but she can’t help it. She screams into the leather bit gag. The horizontal bar stretches her mouth uncomfortably and digs into the corners of her lips. Each scream sends a new rush of drool dangling over her chin. But it also sends a flood of moisture to her cunt.

Despite the lingering sting from the crop, she pushes her ass back against Abram’s crotch, begging with her body since she can’t beg with her mouth. His jeans brush roughly against her naked flesh until he pushes her away and stuns her with another searing strike.

To read the rest, go here.

Playing Catch Up

I've got some catch up to play here, as I've fallen behind on posting story announcements and have sadly missed posting many sexy songs.

You'll see some updates over the next few days, packed with excerpts, links to a great new anthology, and, of course, some pointers to music to get you in the mood.

For writers out there, you may be interested to know that Every Night Erotica, where I frequently publish stories, is actively seeking submissions, including for holiday stories. If you're interested, you can submit here.

Music Mondays: "Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps" by Doris Day

"If you can't make your mind up, we'll never get started." -- Doris Day

Last week's post about Sinatra got me thinking about ballroom dancing and Strictly Ballroom, which is such a very hot movie. I thought I'd cheat a bit by including one of the iconic clips--the scene in which Fran and Scott dance to Doris Day's performance of Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps.

If you leave aside the hotness of the scene, the song is still quite a flirty thing. Day's teasing tone reaches iconic levels.

For an interesting male contrast, check out Cake's version of the same song.

Music Mondays: "The Best Is Yet To Come" by Frank Sinatra

"You think you've flown before--baby, you ain't left the ground." -- Frank Sinatra

I try to represent a wide variety of sexy music for Music Mondays, and this one is a classic. Frank Sinatra's "The Best Is Yet To Come" is so hot it should have been illegal.

Listen to that smooth, secret agent riff, and the way it changes along with the urgency of the song. Catch the innuendo of the lyrics, and Sinatra's tone when he says, "I'm gonna make you mine."

This song is all confident sexiness, made for leading someone around on a dance floor and seducing the clothes right off him or her.

Music Mondays: "Heart Skipped a Beat" by The XX

"Please don't say we're done when I'm not finished--I could give so much more." -- The XX

Heart Skipped a Beat by The XX is probably one of the best breakup songs of recent memory. I love the band's spare sound, and the raw, honest emotion of the lyrics.

I love the line I quoted at the top of the post. Direct, heartfelt, and absolutely true to the feeling of having to let go of a lover before you're ready.

This album, by the way, is on my top 10 sexiest of all time. Put it on, get in bed, and you'll see. I'll definitely post more songs from it in the future.

Music Mondays: "Angel" by Massive Attack

"Her eyes--she's on the dark side. Neutralize every man in sight." -- Massive Attack

Could anything be sexier than the beat to Massive Attack's Angel? It's such a perfect replica of the dark, buzzing tension of desire.

I particularly love the way the sound rises when the narrator repeats "love you, love you, love you, love you, love you...."

As a side note, it's interesting that there are no women in the video, and that the images portrayed suggest violence about to bubble over rather than sex.

Music Mondays: "I Quit Girls" by Japandroids

"If you're lucky, on the seventh day, she'll wear nothing." -- Japandroids

I fell under the spell of the Japandroids' I Quit Girls in the winter of 2009. I love wistful songs, and this is one of the best--the stripped-down sound of the lonely guitar, the noise, and the weak voice.

The lyrics are mysterious, but what's clear is that this girl has marked the narrator. He's never been able to move on. This song is the theme for my character Leonora, in my book The Six Swans.

Music Mondays: "You Shook Me" by Muddy Waters

"Oh, you kept on shaking me darling--you messed up my happy home." -- Muddy Waters

This is the version of You Shook Me that you need to hear--forget about Led Zeppelin. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Zeppelin cannot match the passion and sincerity of these older versions.

We're back to erotic insanity here. I love how halfway through the song, the narrator--who has until then simply been expressing how passionately he feels about a woman--starts to lament that he doesn't know what will happen to his poor wife and child. The lover has occupied his mind so thoroughly that he can barely think about his responsibilities.

Muddy Waters gets bonus points for his sexy, sexy voice, and other vocalizations that, um, affect me. I especially like the tone he uses to say, "I'm madly in love with you." I've wanted to play that clip for lovers before just because I can't match that tone myself.

Music Mondays: "Shameless" by Ani DiFranco

"I guess I'd shut my mouth and rethink a minute--but I can't shut it now because there's something in it." -- Ani DiFranco

Could there be a better song for that first flash of lesbian attraction than Ani DiFranco's driving Shameless? This song takes me back to high school and the first fumbling explorations that were marked as much by fear as by excitement--and by the excitement of fear and transgression.

One night, a girl put her head in my lap and I stroked her hair for hours, wanting her but not quite sure what to do about it. She mentioned this song to me right before she left, and I went immediately to the record store to buy the album so I could decode her meaning (ah, the times before the Internet!). I'll never forget the thrill I got when I realized what she had to have meant by it.

I was clumsy about everything back then--emotions as much as bodies. I'm afraid I didn't really know how to love when I was a teenager, but who does? My fear kept me from being with this girl more than furtively, but I remember her fondly, and I always will.

Music Mondays: "Love Me Like a Man" by Bonnie Raitt

"Oh, they want me to rock them like my back ain't got no bone. I want a man to rock me like my... backbone was his own." -- Bonnie Raitt

The first time I heard Bonnie Raitt sing Love Me Like a Man, something serious woke up in me and it hasn't gone to sleep since. One thing I love about writing and reading erotica is participating in conversations about sexuality that include a strong female viewpoint. There are a lot of songs out there about sex, but few that express female desire the way this one does. The line I quoted above gives me a shiver every time, and I still think it's a great description of the difference between a mediocre lover and a good one.

Music Mondays: "The Only One" by The Black Keys

"All I do is, baby, dream of you." -- The Black Keys

The Black Keys' The Only One is a simple song of longing. There's nothing much to analyze here. I love the way The Black Keys are able to capture a very classic, authentic blues vibe. The guitar is sexy, and the sentiment satisfies. Enjoy!

Music Mondays: "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga

"I don't want to be friends." -- Lady Gaga

Choosing a Lady Gaga song, I wanted to consider both video and music, since I find her visuals almost as important as her musical performances. Given that measure, Bad Romance immediately stands out for its vivid red costumes, Gaga's attitude, and that sexy man in the strange gold mask.

My favorite thing about this song is the line I quoted above. It's a common breakup tactic to claim that you want to be friends, but sometimes that's just wrong. Sometimes, if I can't have that person's body, I don't want anything at all. Maybe it's a bad romance, but it's often the truth.

Music Mondays: "Stronger" by Kanye West

"I don't know if you got a man or not, if you've made plans or not, if God put me in your plans or not. I'm trippin'--this drink got me saying a lot." -- Kanye West

I like the energy of Kanye West's Stronger. It drives hard while staying smooth. What's hot about this one to me is that the narrator's outburst about wanting this woman has been a long time coming. ("You know how long I've been on ya? Since Prince was on Apollonia, since OJ had isotoners--don't act like I never told you.")

More than a decade of desire explodes here. The narrator's decided tonight's the night, and he's coming for her, at the height of his power. The song builds, and the narrator convinces me that tension has building, and his talent has building. He's coming into his own, and that includes claiming the object of his desire.

One More Time

I've got another story up at Every Night Erotica:

Grace drifted her hands under Neil’s clothes, finding smooth and yielding skin, sensitive spots that she knew, old scars she had to touch. “I need you.” She hoped he wouldn’t hear, but he did.

Above her, Neil paused, his face softening and wrinkling, looking older. He kissed her again, his tongue rejecting her this time even as it slipped between her lips. “You know we can’t,” he said. “It never works with us.”

But she knew this protest. She knew him. Grace shifted beneath him so he could feel her sex hot around his thigh. “I know,” she said, but her hands kept moving, her fingertips under his jeans toying with the waistband of his boxers. “You don’t have to stay,” she said. “We should forget about this.”

He glared at her and laughed, propping himself up on one arm so he could rub his face with the other. “You don’t mean that at all.”

Read the rest here.

Music Mondays: "SexyBack" by Justin Timberlake (feat. Timbaland)

"I'll let you whip me if I misbehave. It's just that no one makes me feel this way." -- Justin Timberlake

I'm not into femdom myself, but Justin Timberlake just makes it sound so appealing in SexyBack. I think part of it is that he doesn't sound defeated at all--when he sings those lines, he sounds like he plans to put up quite a fight.

SexyBack--especially when the song is taken with the hot spy video--is all about the power exchange that goes with sexual negotiation. Timberlake makes it look fun to win or lose, and I'm usually breathless by the end.

Music Mondays: "Gett Off" by Prince

"Something about a little box with a mirror and a tongue inside..." -- Prince

Prince's music in general was heavily involved with my sexual awakening. Even before I really understood what he was talking about, I sensed that it was hot, nasty, and a lot of fun. Gett Off is one of my favorites--this song still gets me wet.

Effects that would be cheesy in anyone else's hands--the flute, the screams--work here as part of the wild atmosphere of unbridled passion. I've spent some lonely nights wishing someone would call me with an offer like this--one kinky, amazing night.

I especially love the sly way Prince delivers some of his lines: "Let me show you, baby, I'm a talented boy," or "Tonight, you're a star--and I'm the big dipper."

This song is my number one go-to for filthy fun.

Music Mondays: "Christiansands" by Tricky

"You and me--what does that mean? Always--what does that mean? Forever--what does that mean?" -- Tricky

Tricky's "Christiansands" is another case of mysterious lyrics, but the sound of this song is very sexy. First, listen to those tribal drums in the background. Then absorb Tricky's gravelly drawl, like a rough finger over the throat that has all the time in the world. This song changes the space it occupies.

Music Mondays: "Beauty*2" by Ladytron

"Hey, can I go with you? My beauty number 2. Hey, can I go with you, when the rendezvous is over?" -- Ladytron

That sick feeling when you know some desired lover's not coming back anymore is offset in Ladytron's Beauty*2 by the sensual peace of the music. And, of course, there's "Beauty Number Two" to turn to.

Ladytron's lyrics are always spare and mysterious, so it's hard for me to flesh out the story of any of their songs. This particular song, however, makes me think that the narrator may be addressing her boyfriend's other lover--his beauty number two. Maybe she's suggesting revenge sex between the two of them when the boyfriend's gone for the night. Or maybe this is just the erotica writer in me talking.

Music Mondays: "Fascination Street" by The Cure

"Yeah, I like you in that like I like you to scream, but if you open your mouth then I can't be responsible for quite what goes in or to care what comes out." -- The Cure

I want to quote every lyric of The Cure's stylishly sleazy "Fascination Street," which so clearly evokes the mood of a relationship that's over but hasn't ended yet. Even though the narrator's no longer in love, he and his lover are still caught in a sexual spell that's holding them together long after they should have let each other go. Robert Smith's impassioned lyrics have an edge of vulgarity that makes the song both hot and despairing.

If this amazing bass line doesn't make you want to grab your doomed love and "move to the beat like we know that it's over," then I don't know what will.

Music Mondays: "Kinda I Want To" by Nine Inch Nails

"Kinda I want to, maybe just for tonight. We can pretend it's all right. What's the price I pay? I don't care what they say -- I want to." -- Nine Inch Nails

Continuing my theme of erotic insanity, Nine Inch Nails' "Kinda I Want To" is all about the moment when you decide whether or not to give in. The song begins with the narrator seeing his desires as those of a devil who sleeps in his bed, and progresses through a seductive electronic beat until the narrator claims those desires as his own. At that point, "Kinda I want to" becomes an insistently repeated, "I want to." The qualms are pushed aside, and the erotic mistake will be made. This song makes the process of losing the struggle sound pretty damned good.

Lunch Break

I've got a new story up on Every Night Erotica. "Lunch Break" is about how Dina can never resist Kate's advances at the office. Kate's a new addition to my recent streak of playful, sexy tormentors:

“Don’t tease,” Dina said, trying to summon a serious frown.

Kate nipped her thigh and pretended to swipe Dina’s clit with her tongue.

Dina still had her hands in Kate’s hair, but before she could do anything stern, Kate screwed her face into such a funny expression that Dina had to laugh.

The moment the laughter started, Kate was on her, her fingers teasing Dina’s belly, and her tongue slipping into the sensitive crease where Dina’s pelvis met her thigh. Now Dina couldn’t stop laughing, writhing desperately under Kate’s tickling touches.

“Oh my God!” she howled. “What are you doing?”

“What?” Kate said in her most mischievous tone. “Did you think I was going to do this?” She gave a long lick up Dina’s pussy, but now that touch tickled, too.

“I hate you,” Dina choked out through her uncontrollable laughter.

“Mmm,” Kate said serenely. “I bet you especially hate me when I do this.” She slid two fingers into Dina’s slippery cunt, twisting them expertly to brush the inside walls of Dina’s pussy in all the best cases. Dina groaned and flung her head back, spreading her legs wider.

“Oh, you don’t hate that,” Kate said. “I guess I’ll go back to what I was doing before.”

The tickling onslaught began again.

Read the rest here.

Music Mondays: "Sacred Moment" by Platform One

"I can be everything you need." - Platform One

Platform One's Sacred Moment makes me picture a darkened club, a blood-red corset, and a handsome stranger with piercing blue eyes.

This goth/steampunk indie band has a stylish darkness that makes the crowd get up and dance and infects the blood with the thrill of the night. Definitely sexy.

Music Mondays: "Portland, Oregon" by Loretta Lynn (feat. Jack White)

"Well, Portland, Oregon, and sloe gin fizz -- if that ain't love, then tell me what is." -- Loretta Lynn

I'm still on the subject of erotic insanity, but this is a lighter version. "Portland, Oregon," Loretta Lynn's duet with Jack White is a song about getting drunk and getting laid, simple as that. Because of the singers' age difference, I find there's a stronger subtext of the ill-advised sexual connection. At the same time, the warmth of the singing gives the sense that the lovers don't really have regrets.

And a lot of the passion of this song is in White's guitar, which starts on a trippy, Beatles-esque note, and goes on to describe the excitement of stepping foolishly into the unknown.

Slowly

My new story, "Slowly," is up on Every Night Erotica:

He pressed his forehead against hers and stared into her eyes. His fingertips skimmed the lace surface of her bra, enough to tease but not enough to satisfy. With a groan of frustration, Lyla reached back to undo the bra herself, but Cam stopped her, his hands suddenly iron on her wrists.

“When we were at the restaurant,” he said, “did you tell me to eat my food faster?”

“What do you mean?”

“I want to enjoy you, just like the food we ate. When I chew, I like to do it slowly.”

Again, Cam’s strange, deliberate way sent arousal careening through Lyla’s body. She couldn’t help bucking her hips up against him, only stopping under the calm, heavy weight of his brown gaze. “I want you,” Lyla whispered finally.

“I know. I like that. It makes it more fun to tease you.”

Please check out the rest!

Music Mondays: "Recipe for Disaster" by Morcheeba

"Wanna know why there's a dead guy in my dining room? Hit a dead end with my best friend, met his end too soon." -- Morcheeba

Well, my first post did warn that my taste in sexy music runs dark.

Let's talk sound first. Recipe for Disaster has the smoothest beat, and Skye Edwards has a voice that makes me want to roll around in bed. If you're not listening to the lyrics, you could be forgiven for assuming this is the perfect song to have on while dropping gentle, tender kisses on your lover's lips, building up a slow burn that's going to ignite pretty soon.

In fact, like many Morcheeba songs, the lyrics are quite dark. I believe the song is a play on the classic blues murder ballad tradition. The narrator's found her lover in bed with her best friend, and has taken action.

So, why is the song still sexy? Edwards' croon, which I'm still reacting to the sound of, still conveys a tender, erotic feeling about the man and whatever deed she's done with him--whether sensual or murderous. This is another case of erotic insanity, sexual passion that's grown so that it confuses the meaning of a loving action.

Not a place I'd ever want to be in real life, but Edwards and the rest of the band convey it with powerful seduction.

Lesbian Cops Blog Tour: The Giveaway

I hope you've enjoyed all the posts about Lesbian Cops, both here and on all the participating blogs. By now, if you haven't already read the book, I hope you're dying to do so. Editor Sacchi Green has said that those who leave comments on any of these posts will be entered in a drawing for a copy of the book, so keep that in mind.

But I'd also like to give away a copy of the book. Leave a comment saying why you'd like to read it. I'll pick the one I like best and buy you a copy. You have until 11:59 p.m. Sunday, April 17, to leave your comment--at that point, I'll make my decision.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Music (Lesbian Cops Edition): "Bad Things" by Tricky

"I wanna do bad things and then we're one again." -- Tricky

I've been fascinated by the dark, sexy sound of Tricky's music since the first time I heard it. I can imagine Marleen and Nechama in bed together with his song Bad Things playing. Enjoy!

Lesbian Cops Blog Tour: Excerpt from "A Prayer Before Bed"

Officer Nechama Zayden is taking a statement from Marleen Williams, a witness for a murder case. Marleen is hostile, edgy, and strangely attractive to Nechama.

Nechama blinked and cleared her throat. "I'm very sorry for what you had to see, Ms. Williams," she began.

"Are you?" Marleen challenged. "I'm not like you. I don't get excited dealing with these situations."

"Ms. Williams, I do this because I want to help people, not because I get excited."

"Really?" Marleen's hand darted out and pinched Nechama's left nipple. Nechama had to bite back a yelp that would have been equal parts surprise and arousal. She jumped up from her chair, one hand on her gun.

"You're going to shoot me now?" Marleen said. "I saw your little nipples getting hard when I was talking to you."

Nechama glanced helplessly at her voice recorder. There was no way she wanted audio from the last minute playing in court. "Ms. Williams, I'd appreciate it if we could focus on taking your statement. Your testimony could be very important to finding the person who did this to your neighbor. What you or I feel about it really doesn't matter compared to that, does it?"

Marleen gave a sharp nod, leading with her chin, lowering her hands into her lap.

Nechama stopped her current recording and queued up a new one. It felt unethical to erase the embarrassing one, but she could try to set things up so it was easy not to play it in court. She kept her eyes off Marleen altogether, choosing a spot in the middle of the table. Her left breast felt like Marleen had burned it. She was so aroused, her nipple almost stung. She took a deep breath. "Now, I think we're going to need to start over."

To read more, check out Lesbian Cops.

Music (Lesbian Cops Edition): "Raised to Be Lowered" by Saul Williams

"To rise above hatred to love through seeming contradiction. To seldom take a side and learn to complement the friction. To bring about the change within that we can't live without." -- Saul Williams

When I write a story, I always start by choosing the music. For "A Prayer Before Bed," I knew I needed rage and urgency, with just a glimmer of hope. I jumped around a bit while I was writing, but Saul Williams' "Raised to Be Lowered" sums it up pretty well.

Nechama and Marleen are both walking wounded, they're both tougher than seems possible, and they're both softer than seems possible. They both want a better world that seems out of reach. They might both ask this question: "Was I raised to be lowered?"

But despite all the anger and fear and suspicion that stand between them, they manage to find redemption in each other's arms, at least for a moment.

Lesbian Cops Blog Tour: End of the Line

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Music Mondays: "I Can't Quit You Baby" by Otis Rush

"Well, I can't quit you, baby, but I've got to put you down for awhile." -- Otis Rush

I've got that one lover who got away, the one I tried it with too many times, the one I used to do anything to get alone with. This is the person I knew better than to see again, but whose calls still made my heart pound.

When I used to leave, and when we used to say it was over, for a long time I think neither of us believed that it was true. I remember driving away once and "I Can't Quit You Baby" by Otis Rush came on. It was exactly what I felt. I couldn't go through it anymore with this lover right then, but I knew I'd be back.

Ever since then, this song has symbolized that special erotic insanity that comes over people sometimes, when we act out of passion without any sense of the consequences.

There's another version of the song that I like better than the one I linked, but I have it on some mysterious mix tape and can't figure out where it's from. The old blues versions are far superior to the Led Zeppelin version, I have to say. The Led Zeppelin version feels flat and passionless to me when I listen to it after Otis Rush.

As a side note, in the video I linked, look at how entirely white the audience is--it's crazy.

Begging

My story, "Begging," went up last night on Every Night Erotica:

“No,” Christine sobbed. “It’s– Karl, I need you.”

“Need me to do what?” He still sounded alarmed.

“I just need you. Inside me. It’s been so long.”

“Jesus. You’re crying.”

“I’m sorry. It’s stupid.” Shame filled Christine. Never in her wildest dreams had she pictured herself making a call like this, begging a man for sex.

Visit the site to read the rest of the story!

Music Mondays: "Leather" by Tori Amos

"I can scream as loud as your last one, but I can't claim innocence." -- Tori Amos

A lot of my erotica comes out much darker than I mean it to, and I think some of it's that once I got under cover of a pseudonym, I started to tell the truth and the whole truth about what I know about sex, and, more importantly, people. I'm very inspired and affected by music, and I've wanted for a while to highlight some of the songs that I love, that told the truth to me, and that pushed or comforted me.

It's hard to think of a better way to start than with Tori Amos's incredible Leather, off the Little Earthquakes album. The song mixes vulnerability and aggression and stretches it to the breaking point. Give it a listen, and look for more posts on sexy music coming up in the future.

I'm borrowing Twitter's "Music Mondays" hashtag for these, since I figured everyone needs music to start the work week.

Lesbian Cops is out--and a blog tour!

My new story, "A Prayer Before Bed," is out in Sacchi Green's new anthology Lesbian Cops. I love Green's editing style--hot stories with a lot of range. She was kind enough to accept a very dark story from me, seeing the redemption hidden in the rage and despair (and, of course, the sex).

To get the word out about the book, she's also got a blog tour going (it's actually in progress already). You can read more about the story behind the book from Sacchi and many of the other authors (and, at the very end, from me). Where the posts are up already, I've linked directly to them, and where they're forthcoming, I've linked to the sites where you can find them. Please check it out:

March 31 - Sacchi Green Interview:
http://deadrobotssociety.com/2011/03/30/episode-169-getting-erotic-with-sacchi-green/

April 1 - JL Merrow:
http://jl-merrow.livejournal.com/63997.html

April 2 - Jove Belle:
http://jovebelle.wordpress.com/2011/04/02/lesbian-cops-hollis/

April 3 - Delilah Devlin:
http://www.delilahdevlin.com/blog/

April 4 - R. G. Emanuelle:
http://www.rgemanuelle.com/

April 5 - Andrea Dale:
http://cyvarwydd.blogspot.com/

April 6 - Kenzie Matthews:
http://sacchi-green.blogspot.com/

April 7 - Ily Goyanes:
http://realily.wordpress.com/

April 8 - Cheyenne Blue:
http://www.cheyenneblue.com/

April 9 - Evan Mora:
http://sacchi-green.blogspot.com/

April 10 - J.N. Gallagher:
http://sacchi-green.blogspot.com/

April 11 - Liz Coldwell:
http://elizabethcoldwell.wordpress.com/

April 12 - Teresa Noelle Roberts:
http://sacchi-green.blogspot.com/

April 13 - Lynn Mixon:
http://lynnmixon.com/

April 14 - RV Raiment:
http://sacchi-green.blogspot.com/

April 15 - me, right here

I'll have to come up with something good to celebrate the end of the party. Please check out the book, and be well!

Forthcoming Story

I just got the word that my story, "Begging," will be up on Every Night Erotica on April 4. Please take a look if you've got the time, and be sure to keep up with their sexy stories in the meantime!

Update

Just a quick update to say I've had a couple more stories come out since I last posted.

"Removing Barriers" has gone up on Every Night Erotica, along with another story called "Late Night."

My story, "An Easy Guy to Fall On," is out in Passion: Erotic Romance for Women.