Andromache's Prize Is Free Today!

Friends, my publisher, Forbidden Fiction, has made my story, Andromache's Prize, free to read for a limited time. You can find it on their free erotica page, here.

Here's the blurb:

When Briseis had belonged to noble Achilles, she had been better able to bear slavery. Now, though, the heroes had all sailed away home, leaving baser men to strip the carcass of Troy. Briseis had been given into the hands of cruel Calygdus, and nightly she suffered for his every shame and weakness. Until the night that Andromache and the women of Troy fell upon the Greek camp, slaying the men and releasing the women slaves, promising them freedom in the City of Women. Freedom, and love… (M/F, F/F)

This story includes hot, badass women, but be aware that it also contains dark content and descriptions of nonconsensual encounters.

While you're on the site, please consider checking out my short story collection, Liquid Longing. It includes plenty of dark erotica, often queer, and often mythologically based.

Free Erotica: Right Message, Wrong Man, Final Chapter

Forbidden Fiction is currently serializing my story "Right Message, Wrong Man" on their website, and the last chapter goes up today. This is your last chance to read it free—after this week, the story goes back behind the paywall.

Be sure to keep an eye on their free erotica section, though. It's a great way to sample a writer's work, and FF tends to keep a rotation of a diverse set of stories. The work they publish leans dark, the publisher has high literary standards, and if that's your thing this is a great place to find it.

If you'd like to see more of my work with them, they published a collection of dark fantasy erotica from me called Liquid Longing.

Free Erotica: Right Message, Wrong Man, Chapter 2

Just a quick reminder that chapter two of "Right Message, Wrong Man" is going up on the Forbidden Fiction site today. It's available to read for free for a limited time.

Here's the blurb:

Lila texted a come-on to her sometimes hook-up Jason, but instead it wound up going to her boss, Jaron. Afraid to upset her sadistic superior, Lila follows through when he responds with excitement, only to discover that Jaron knows how to hurt her in exactly the way that she needs. (M/F)

You can find more information here.

Free Erotica: Right Message, Wrong Man

I always liked mistaken identity stories, and a few years back, for a story I wrote called "Right Message, Wrong Man," I got the idea to play with an intense one. Here's the setup:

I’m in the neighborhood, I texted Jason. Can I come over? I want to get that big cock down my throat.

He wasn’t my boyfriend, by his choice, not mine. He was willing to hook up when I was horny, so long as he didn’t have anyone else over, and about three times a year, I’d get lonely enough to take that raw deal.

Tonight I just needed someone’s body touching mine. Work had been hell. My boss, Jaron, had ridden me like a show pony all damn day. If it took more than five minutes for me to answer an e-mail, he accused me of reading Internet gossip sites instead of doing my work. At the daily meeting, he threw me under the bus for a project I hadn’t been able to finish because of documents I needed from him. Asshole.

By the time 7 p.m. rolled around and it felt safe to leave—as in, enough other people had left that I wouldn’t be branded a slacker for going home—my shoulders had attached themselves to my ears, my stomach churned, and I desperately needed relief. I couldn’t afford massages or acupuncture. So I went home, threw on a short black skirt and pulled the bra out from under my red camisole, and texted Jason.

My nerves had me so edgy, I couldn’t sit still, so I worked the phone with one hand while balancing on one foot in the foyer, strapping on my sandals with the other hand. I started walking toward Jason’s neighborhood, figuring I ought to support my “in the neighborhood” lie. My dignity hung on how casually I could play this.

I kept having to consciously slow down my pace, because I didn’t want to get to Jason’s place looking sweaty and desperate. The phone buzzed in my purse with a return text, and I sighed loudly enough that a couple walking past turned and rolled their eyes at me. Fishing the phone out, I leaned against the window of a Chinese restaurant and squinted at the tiny screen (yeah, I was rocking a flip phone). Would Jason condescend to fuck me, or did he have a better offer?

This is… unexpected, the reply text said. Too soon for my place. If you want to meet at Crema, we can see what we can negotiate for my cock and your mouth in the alley out back.

I had to read it a few times. Crema? That wasn’t Jason’s neighborhood. That was some fancy neighborhood overlooking the river. And I’d never known Jason to use complete sentences.

Can you be there in 45 minutes? Another message popped up. This time, I watched it come through, complete with a picture of the sender. A military-style buzz cut framing a chiseled face and hard black eyes. A scar notched on the side of his jaw, making him look rough despite the suit he wore. My boss, Jaron. Not my fuck buddy, Jason. I fought down the urge to hyperventilate. Until that moment, I thought the expression, “So embarrassed that she wanted to die,” was an exaggeration.

If you want to see where this goes, my publisher, Forbidden Fiction, is serializing it on their website, so you can read it for free. The first chapter's up now, and the next two will go up on the next two Saturdays. If you've got questions or comments about the story, you can leave them there—I'll be keeping an eye on that, and will be sure to answer anything you bring up.

I hope you enjoy! Please check it out here.

Chat With Me Tonight!

Tonight is the release party for Timeless Lust in the Ancient World!

I'll be online from 5-8 pm ET, posting excerpts, answering questions, and chatting with the other authors. I'll be talking about The Snake and the Lyre (based on the myth of Orpheus), Andromache's Prize (about the aftermath of the Trojan War), and Hunting Artemis (in which the famously virginal goddess makes love to a worshiper through a surrogate).

Join us at this link, from 5-10 pm ET!

The Best Places for Timeless Lust

If you're into fascinating places, I've got a treat for you today. I've got the chance to share all kinds of details about the settings for the stories in Timeless Lust in the Ancient World, a new anthology from Forbidden Fiction (which includes three stories from me!).

Forbidden Fiction asked the book's authors the following question:

Describe the setting you used for your story. Why did you pick this particular place?

Read on for their answers (and for a glimpse at the covers for their stories)!

Jess Lea:

Keeper of the Bed Chamber:
This story is set in Alexandria at the end of the period of Hellenic rule. Like many people, I've long been fascinated by ancient Alexandria: a city famous for its architectural splendor, its financial wealth, its vibrant mix of cultures, and its intellectual and artistic achievements. The fascination is partly because, while we have so many stories of this ancient city, we have relatively little hard evidence: foreign invasions and natural disasters destroyed much of the ancient capital, and it's only now that significant relics are being recovered from the nearby sea bed. For a story about characters who are both infamous and strangely undocumented, Alexandria seemed a perfect setting.

Slave Nano:

The Nemesis Bird:
The Nemesis Bird is set in Ishfahan. Given that the story was inspired by The Tales of the Arabian Nights, this was a natural choice for the setting. It establishes the association with the original tales and places the story firmly within its Arabian context. Also, I just love the sound of the word. The name Ishfahan conjures up so many evocative images of exotic markets, embroidered slippers, scimitars and minarets. Now that relations between the west and Iran have improved, I've got it on my bucket list of places to go!

Maurin Piper:

Touched by Fire:
Touched by Fire is set in Ancient Rome, in the Temple of Vesta, which I picked for the obvious reason of if you want to write about Vestal Virgins, you’ve got to go to them because they can’t come to you. On a bigger scale I chose Ancient Rome because of unique way they lived, the opposing ways they lived. At one end of the scale they were enlightened enough to create most of the societal structure that we still live in today and yet, there were so many confines within these structures. And that creates the perfect place for a forbidden love, in one of those niches where everyone else seems to have a freedom that you are denied.

Konrad Hartmann:

Lot’s Sin:
I didn't explore the geography of the setting, but it appears that the story of Lot and his daughters has them going to the mountains near Zoar. My short story focuses on the events within their cave shelter, and so doesn't really take place within Sodom. I wanted to focus on the sudden isolation of the family, and the unfolding of events outside of social norms. Lot begins to have visions, while his daughters conceive of a taboo plot. Perhaps these things wouldn't have happened but for the catastrophe visited upon Sodom, and the lack of community restraints or influences on the characters.

Arena’s Breed:
I set the story in Carnuntum, around 300 AD. In recent years, a sizeable gladiator school was discovered at this location. Stories involving ancient Rome almost always take place within the city of Rome, but it was quite a large empire, and must have differed greatly in its various locations, and in the variety of its residents. I find frontiers interesting, and Carnuntum was at the edge of the Empire.

Annabeth Leong:

Hunting Artemis:
“Hunting Artemis” is set on Delos, a Greek island known for its archaeological treasures and role in mythology. I chose Delos because it’s traditionally considered the birthplace of Artemis, and as such it made sense as the location for a community of devoted priestesses.

The Snake and the Lyre: The primary setting for this story is my take on the underworld of Greek mythology. I’ve always been fascinated by the story of Orpheus—ranging from the versions found in books of myth to that of Claudio Monteverdi’s opera, Orfeo. The way I describe the underworld, there are a lot of vipers there. I wrote it that way to connect it to one traditional explanation of how Orpheus’s wife Eurydice died—that she was bitten by a viper. I think having vipers appear in the underworld makes her death appear more purposeful and fated.

Andromache’s Prize:
“Andromache’s Prize” is set in a wasted, apocalyptic setting of the past—the battlefields of Troy after everyone who’s able to leave has gone home. When writing stories that converse with well-known works, I find it helpful to search for gaps where new ideas can be inserted. Many Greek and Roman works refer to what happened in the aftermath of the Trojan War, but for the most part it’s not seen “onscreen.” Because of that, it felt like a fertile site for my own creative exploration and elaboration.

Mina Kelly:

Never Before Touched by Cupid:
The story is set at Maecenas's villa in Rome. I wanted a space where it made sense for Horace and Virgil to be meeting Propertius for the first time, somewhere luxurious and decadent and a little wild. Maecenas's gardens were infamous. He was frowned upon for the expense he lavished on them, with all the latest innovations and trends. He even went so far as to install heated baths, the world's first hot tubs!

Natasha Neil:

Hera’s Punishment:
Hera's Punishment is set mostly in Mount Olympus, home of the Greek gods. I've often wondered what the place where the gods lived would be like. I think in many myths we imagine Mount Olympus, like Hades, as "over there," a place that is an unseen idea. The gods live in the clouds. They are "up there." But what's happening up there? It's where the gods fight and make love, hold council, argue and feast. It is the place from which they watch mortals and decide who they want to bless, curse or bed. Even though Hera and Zeus could go anywhere in Ancient Greece, it seemed likely that the action between them would occur in Olympus. The earth can be their playground, but the skies are their home.

Elly Green:

Scylla’s Pool:
Scylla is recorded, by ancient authors, as living somewhere along the craggy coastline of Sicily or Italy. Having never been to this part of the world, I had to use the ever so helpful Google to figure out where she might have made her home. It wasn't easy as, currently, most of that land is occupied by sprawling cities and suburbs. Thus, a lot of my descriptions are completely made up. However, regarding Circe's home, I did use the ancient authors' descriptions of her island - Homer specifically talks of a large house surrounded by a forest with a myriad of beasts wandering amok - and a handful of paintings - Waterhouse's Circe, Strudwick's Circe and Scylla, and Burne-Jones' The Wine of Circe - to lead my imagination. I will admit to downplaying Circe's wealth a bit and putting her in a more humble, weathered home than a marble-encrusted palace. That decision was fueled by a desire for my readers to feel pity for the sorceress, instead of indignation.

***

We've put together a lot of cool "bonus content" to accompany Timeless Lust in the Ancient World—there's much more where this came from! You can see all the links here (including links to a giveaway where you'll get a chance to win a copy of the book!)

We'll also be having a release party tomorrow evening. I'll be online with other authors chatting about the stories and the inspirations behind them. I'll be there from 5-8 pm ET Thursday, May 26, but I know other authors will be on later than me. (The party goes until 10 pm ET). Follow this link to check it out.

And if your interest is piqued and you'd like to pick up the book, you can find it here.

Now is the Time for Timeless Lust

Out today, friends! Timeless Lust in the Ancient World is the newest anthology from Forbidden Fiction, and it contains three stories from me.

Here's what it's about:

"There have always been lusts that transcend limits. The rush of fire in the blood, the hunger for touch, the compulsion to bury oneself in the flesh of another. Ancient storytellers enraptured audiences with tales of love and lust, of the dangerous passions of gods and heroes and monstrous creatures, pursued sometimes to destruction.

These modern interpretations of those ancient themes span histories and cultures from Greece and Rome to Egypt and the Holy Lands, stories of love and betrayal, of vengeful gods and goddesses, and pleasurable peace. There is much more to a palace eunuch than meets the eye. One man must face his greatest sins, while another battles to save his lover’s life. A woman must balance appeasing her ethereal deity and her earthly desires, and another is imprisoned behind the bars of a gilded cage.

Eleven tales of intense lust in the ancient world crafted by ForbiddenFiction’s best authors, ready for you to peel back the cover and indulge your carnal appetites."

The staff at Forbidden Fiction have put together a lot of treats to accompany this book. I wrote a bunch of behind the scenes info for all three stories, and the authors did interviews giving even more insights into the underpinnings of and inspiration for the stories. You can find a complete list of the posts here. You can also watch this space—tomorrow, I'll be posting information about the ancient world settings used in the book—both historical and mythical.

Also, on Thursday evening, I'll be participating in the release party chat. I'll be online with several other authors talking about the book, sharing hot excerpts, and answering questions. My time slot is 5-8 pm ET, May 26th, but other authors will be on later—going until about 10 pm ET. You can join us by clicking this link at the appropriate time.

And don't forget to check out the book!

Timeless Lust

Myths have always been a major source of inspiration for my work, and I'm not the only one. Now, Forbidden Fiction has put together a collection called Timeless Lust, which includes three of my stories, and eight others.

My contributions include:

Hunting Artemis

Dedicated to remain virginal for Artemis, it is not until Nikia meets the hunter Theron that she realizes what she has given up with her vows to the goddess. In the heat of her newly-discovered passion, no touch but Theron’s can remove Nikia’s lust. Nikia and Theron form an uneasy kinship, united by the cruelty of unrequited desire. Together, they will make unlikely sacrifices for Artemis, and together, they will receive an impossible reward. (M/F, F/F, M/F/F)



The Snake and The Lyre

Eurydice longs to marry Orpheus, but his self-centered love for his music blinds him to her sensuality. A cruel Naiad seduces and kills Eurydice, unleashing the full hunger of her desire. When Orpheus braves the Underworld to save his lost Eurydice, can he pull his bride away from its depraved pleasures? (F/F)





Andromache's Prize

When Briseis had belonged to noble Achilles, she had been better able to bear slavery. Now, though, the heroes had all sailed away home, leaving baser men to strip the carcass of Troy. Briseis had been given into the hands of cruel Calygdus, and nightly she suffered for his every shame and weakness. Until the night that Andromache and the women of Troy fell upon the Greek camp, slaying the men and releasing the women slaves, promising them freedom in the City of Women. Freedom, and love… (M/F, F/F)

If you can't wait to read those stories, you can pick them up (and more!) in my collection, Liquid Longing.

Of course, I'd love you for checking my book out, but I think you should check out Timeless Lust, too. Forbidden Fiction is a fearless publisher committed to publishing interesting, boundary-pushing work. Timeless Lust will give you a good sample of what kind of work you'll find in their catalogue.




Here's a description of Timeless Lust:

"There have always been lusts that transcend limits. The rush of fire in the blood, the hunger for touch, the compulsion to bury oneself in the flesh of another. Ancient storytellers enraptured audiences with tales of love and lust, of the dangerous passions of gods and heroes and monstrous creatures, pursued sometimes to destruction.

These modern interpretations of those ancient themes span histories and cultures from Greece and Rome to Egypt and the Holy Lands, stories of love and betrayal, of vengeful gods and goddesses, and pleasurable peace. There is much more to a palace eunuch than meets the eye. One man must face his greatest sins, while another battles to save his lover’s life. A woman must balance appeasing her ethereal deity and her earthly desires, and another is imprisoned behind the bars of a gilded cage.

Eleven tales of intense lust in the ancient world crafted by ForbiddenFiction’s best authors, ready for you to peel back the cover and indulge your carnal appetites."

***

Timeless Lust will be released on May 24th, and there are a lot of cool events and posts planned. I'll be participating in the release party online on May 26th, and the other authors and I have been writing a lot of behind-the-scenes info.

Watch this space for more information—I'll be hosting a guest from among my colleagues, and I'll share pointers to the posts Forbidden Fiction is putting together about the historical settings of the stories in the book. Of course, I'll also tell you how you can find us on the 26th—it's a great chance to chat with authors, read hot excerpts, and win prizes.

Bi Magic and Phase Out

My darlings, I'm moving to the next phase with the new website (annabetherotica.com). It's getting comfortable over there. I still have to unpack the boxes of books (read, load all my titles onto the site), but it's a clean, well-lit space, and it's where I'm going to be spending all my time in the very near future. If you're reading this on a feed reader, please take a second to add the new site's blog instead.

For a while, I've been cross-posting, but at this point I'm feeling that's creating a situation where I've got one foot at each site. From here out, this blog will just get pointers to the new site. In a little while, when I'm ready to let go a little more, I won't be posting here at all (though I will leave it up for the time being for the archives).

With that phase out notice out of the way, let me tell you what I just put at the new site!



That gorgeous cover is for Bi Magic, a collection of bisexual fantasy anthology released today by Forbidden Fiction. At the new site, I'm giving you more details, including the blurb, the blurb for my story, and a delicious excerpt of a cruel and seductive Naiad doing her thing. You can read it here.

Icarus Takes Flight

Today, Forbidden Fiction released Taking Flight, an anthology of erotic stories focused on creatures with wings. Here's the blurb:

Desire can move the poorest man to take wing.
Curiosity can entice the smallest fairy to greatness.
Passion can drive the purest angel to fall.
And then there's the devils...

Flight has captured the human imagination for centuries, inspiring poets and lovers alike to greater heights. Is the exhilaration of soaring better even than sex? Is the ecstasy of a lover's touch worth more than all the feathers in heaven? Is one moment of passion on the wind worth the risk of a lifetime?

Here are seven erotic flights of fantasy, from gritty dystopian futures and surreal urban discoveries to mythic romances and fleeting moments of enchantment.

Includes:

Wingman by Catherine King
Valkyrie's Child by Ann Gimpel
Underneath It All by Kailin Morgan
Devilish Trick by L.D. Durham
Falling Into Her Arms by Laylah Hunter
Icarus Bleeds by Annabeth Leong
Elf Esteem by Nobilis Reed

You'll see that Taking Flight includes my novella, Icarus Bleeds, which I still think is one of the best things I've written. Here's the blurb:

Icarus, a man on the run, dreams of wings, and of taking flight like the surgically modified rich and famous of Central City. The hacker who harbors him will do anything to keep him, including paying for the dangerous operation in a back alley chop shop. Neither can imagine how much the wings will truly cost. (M/M)

And here's an excerpt:

“Are you scared?”

“No.”

“Open up for me.”

I pressed one finger in, and his body went stiff in my grip. He drew a shaking breath and writhed to get away, suddenly fighting me where before there had been only acquiescence. My hand froze, then eased out of him. He lay gasping in my arms.

“OK, maybe I am scared.”

I managed some compassion for the first time in a while. “Do you want to stop?”

He stayed silent for so long that I was tempted to take the lack of words as tacit permission and start playing with his ass again. I forced myself to wait, clenching my fingers to keep them still.

“No,” he said finally, though I had to strain to hear him. “I want you.”

“You do?” I could not keep the shock out of my voice. In response, he only nodded, keeping his face turned away. “Why?”

He shrugged, pulled my hand back toward his ass. I wanted to roll him onto his belly and just fuck him. Hard, triumphant victory filled my chest. But his expression of desire had destroyed my appetite for cruelty. I rubbed his back as my finger resumed teasing his hole, as gently and sweetly as I could. “Tell me about a beautiful thing,” I said. “Something that you think about that might help you relax.”

“Wings.” I felt his smile where his face pressed against my chest, but also in the sigh that passed over his body along with the word, leaving Icarus transformed in its wake.

“The wings of birds? Airplanes?” His ass had changed so much that it was almost sucking my finger in. I wanted to keep him talking.

“The wings of men,” Icarus sighed. “In the Central City, within the walls, you see them flying all hours of day and night. You know they’re not angels, but they look like they are. That’s not even the point, though. They go so high. It looks like almost to the sun. And it’s got to all look so different up there. You’ve got to feel free.”

I’d gotten two fingers into his ass by then, and had my other hand stroking his cock and balls. He shuddered with pleasure now as I worked my fingers in and out of him and dropped kisses along his neck and shoulder blade. I got a little distracted trying to place his accent. He had the flat, universal sound most of us have picked up from the Internet, but something changed when he mentioned Central City. I didn’t think there were any black people in the upper echelon. As a courtesy, I never looked into my clients’ histories while I obscured them, but now I wondered who he was.

A little whimper brought me back to more pressing concerns, and the need to help him stay inside his fantasy. “You ever seen one of those angel-men on the ground?”

A nod. “I used to climb up to the top of the Skywalk. They like to land up there. The view is nice, and there’s a good restaurant. That restaurant has towels for them, to wipe off the condensation they pick up from flying through the clouds.”

I grunted. “To wipe off sweat, more likely.”

“No!” The innocent wonder in his voice made me feel old. “Their faces have little frost crystals on them. Their wings are pale because the blood shrinks back in the skin under the feathers when it gets cold. When they warm up again, the wings get a rosy glow from the blood returning."

“You know a lot about this.” I slid a third finger into him. At this rate, he’d be ready for my cock sooner than I could have hoped.

“The operation is too expensive.”

“It doesn’t have to be.” I shouldn’t have said that, but my pulsing cock had destroyed my thinking by then. I needed inside him, and those words seemed like my golden key. I twisted my fingers, stroking the inner walls of his ass, while I pumped his cock with my other hand. Icarus moaned and pressed back toward me.

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing is impossible, kid. Outside of Central City, we learn to take what we want.”

“You really think so?”

“Hell, yes, I think so.”

He closed his eyes, obviously caught in his dream of flight. His whole body softened, except for his cock, which had gotten so hard it was quivering. I put on the rubber, lubed up my cock, and took a chance, lining up the head and holding my breath as I eased my way in.

Icarus made a little sound in the back of his throat. “You think I could—”

“Get wings yourself. Yeah.” I spoke between gritted teeth, probing ever deeper with my cock. “I can just see how pretty those wings would look on you, spread out to either side of your hot little body, feathers brushing this round ass of yours, your muscles rippling while you pump those wings up and down.”

I was fully fucking him by then, gaining confidence in the power of these magical words I had discovered. His ass welcomed my every stroke. Beneath me, he whimpered and arched his back, taking me in to the hilt. “Yes,” he whispered. I wasn’t sure if he approved of my cock or my words, but I didn’t really care.

I grabbed his shoulders. “You could fly up past the buildings. Up even higher than the clouds.” I fucked him so hard my words came out as gasps. “Big, wide wings. Tall wings. Whatever color feathers you want.”

His ass, for all of its compliance, massaged my cock with such a tight and persistent grip that every inch I sank into Icarus sent nerves tingling down to my feet and up to my head. I was seconds from orgasm, babbling incoherently by then, spewing out whatever wing-related words I could think of. A man will say some stupid things when his cock is happy, especially when it hasn’t been for a long time.

“You find somewhere to get wings,” I panted. “I’ll take you there and help you check them out. Hell, I could even pay for it.”

You can pick up the Taking Flight anthology at Forbidden Fiction's catalog site, All Romance E-books, and more! There's also a print edition on the way!

The Miracles of Dorothea of Andrine

I've got another novella forthcoming from Forbidden Fiction, a fetish story set in a convent. Here's the blurb:

France, 1794

At Little Flowers Convent in a remote French village, the memory of the late Reverend Mother Dorothea of Andrine has inspired worshippers to great fervor amid reports of miracles of healing. Besieged with requests to beatify the holy woman who started this movement, the Church dispatches the Right Reverend Louis Montblanc, Bishop of Andrine, to investigate the cult of Dorothea. What the Bishop learns, however, causes him to raise the alarm with his superiors. The sisters at Little Flowers Convent have begun to teach about the ecstatic pleasure of the womb and claim to possess the power of the milk that fed the Savior. Bishop Montblanc vows to shut down their blasphemy and idolatry before their corruption can spread to the larger Church, but his journey to the convent plunges him into a world of temptation and religious rapture that shakes the foundations of his faith and threatens to leave him a broken man. (M/F, F/F, M/F/F)

More details when I've got them!

In the meantime, if you'd like to sample my dark erotica, you can check out my most recent title from Forbidden Fiction, Icarus Bleeds.

Icarus Bleeds Out Today!

I've been waiting a long time to announce this one--Icarus Bleeds is that rare story that seemed to spring out fully formed, a gift from the muse in exchange for my long hours of grinding devotion. The novella is out today from Forbidden Fiction, and the story page here will include links to various sites where it can be purchased.

Here's the blurb:

Icarus, a man on the run, dreams of wings, and of taking flight like the surgically modified rich and famous of Central City. The hacker who harbors him will do anything to keep him, including paying for the dangerous operation in a back alley chop shop. Neither can imagine how much the wings will truly cost. (M/M)

And the opening:

I will call him Icarus, because he worked so hard to erase his birth name that I will not commit the sin of returning it to him now. The things I said and did when I knew him will only make sense if you understand how beautiful he was, so I will try to force the words of mortals to describe a man who never seemed to belong to earth at all.

Icarus first came to me in the dark, in the rain, passing out of the shadows falling over the street, slipping smoothly into the shadows I made for myself. His eyes glowed from the corner where he took a seat, huddled under shelves loaded with discarded computer equipment. Even then I wondered how a shadow could be so luminous within a shadow, how black could shimmer from within black.

I wasn’t in the habit of looking at my clients. They came because they wanted to be forgotten, and they generally did not want to be seen either. I could not help myself with Icarus. He reminded me of flesh I liked to pretend I didn’t have. Eyes, lips, fingertips, inner thighs, the sides of my stomach, the soles of my feet. And, yes. Tongue. Cock. Thoughts both crude and poetic competed to distract me from the mechanical process of obscuring someone from all the files and IP addresses that affirmed that person’s existence.

I avoided looking at his skin, a lighter shade of what is called black than my own purple-tinged pigment. Icarus’s brand of black flowed with honey, shone with sunlight, glittered with the gold that may once have be- longed to Pharaoh. Long, thin fingers, delicate as a girl’s. Red-gold palms, and the beginnings of a scar, a telltale revelation of a story that started in the hands and parted the flesh of the forearm nearly to the elbow.

He saw me looking, and pulled the sleeves of his sweater down low, clutching bunches of the material in clenched fists. “Can you really make me disappear?”

I snorted. “Of course not. Not these days, not with the backups they keep and the triple cross checks they have to avoid failure conditions. Best I can do is make them forget to look for you.”

He nodded, the gesture emphasizing the length of his neck, the quality of his silence. “How much?”

“How much you got?”

He shrank back from me, receding into the forest of parts and cords. “I’m not looking for favors.”

“I don’t do favors. I do a sliding scale. You pay what you can afford to pay. What you think is fair. I trust you.”

“Why?”

I sighed. No one ever understood this when I bothered to explain. “Because I’m not one of them. I don’t want to act like one.”

He swallowed, his Adam’s apple moving gracefully up and down in that impossibly lean neck. “I was going to see what you would take.” He bit his lip and didn’t explicate, but I got an idea of what he’d had in mind by the way his hands crept toward his fly, the gesture so subtle that I wasn’t sure it had been a conscious invitation.

On any other night, with any other man, I wouldn’t have. I would have kissed that smooth, wide forehead, done my work for free, and sent him back into the street uttering the vague promise that someday, when he could, he would take care of me. With Icarus, I could not resist the offer. I had to keep him a little longer. Though I hated myself for it, the sentence passed my lips as if it made up part of my daily stock in trade. “After I finish, you’ll come upstairs with me.”

His bowed head telegraphed his acquiescence well before his soft words. “Thank you.”

***

I should warn you that this is a dark story, but it's also one of the best I've written. You'll find the rest here.

Icarus Bleeds Cover Reveal

Blurb:
Icarus, a man on the run, dreams of wings, and of taking flight like the surgicaly modified rich and famous of Central City. The hacker who harbors him will do anything to keep him, including paying for the dangerous operation in a back alley chop shop. Neither can imagine how much the wings will truly cost. (M/M)

Every now and then, a writer gets a "bonus story," something that just flows as if it's coming straight out of the collective unconscious. I don't think it's a great idea to wait around for those--I try to show up at the page and do my work whether I feel inspired or not. However, it's nice to be inspired, nice to have the sensation of words burning and flowing and somehow sanctified. It's a rare occurrence for me, and happens maybe once a year.

Icarus Bleeds was that story for me last year. When I read it over now, I'm not even sure how I wrote it. It's a little scary to have a story like this, because I want everyone to read it and like it but it's also a fair bit different from what I normally write (it's only my second m/m piece ever).

In any case, it will be coming out soon. Watch for more information on its story page, here.

Andromache's Prize Now Available!

My newest release from Forbidden Fiction is out, Andromache's Prize, a dark story set in the world of Homer's Iliad:

When Briseis had belonged to noble Achilles, she had been better able to bear slavery. Now, though, the heroes have all sailed away home, leaving baser men to strip the carcass of Troy. Briseis has been given into the hands of cruel Calygdus, and nightly she suffers for his every shame and weakness — until Andromache and the women of Troy fall upon the Greek camp, slaying the men and releasing the women slaves, promising them freedom in the City of Women. Freedom — and love. (M/F, F/F)

(Be warned that while the story culminates in a lesbian romance, it includes disturbing scenes of nonconsensual slavery.)

You can find out more (including where to get it) here.

A Milestone, and How to Choose from My Work

Perhaps only of interest to me, since the books themselves have not posted yet, but I noticed recently that my author page on Ellora's Cave is up. So that's really happening. :)

Writing for them has made me think a lot about that phrase "erotic romance" -- in my work for EC so far, it's been really true. I employ all my eroticist tricks, coming up with varied sex scenes that reveal character and move the plot along, while also building a love story that comes to fruition in a happy ending. I've enjoyed the form, and it's taught me a lot about how to plan (that belongs in another post).

I'm very proud of my work for EC -- The Fugitive's Sexy Brother is the most complex story I've written, including a villain who nearly stole my heart, a thriller plot, and three different couples who use three different styles of BDSM. I'm planning to write a lot more in the erotic romance form.

And if you like my dark erotica (where happy endings are not guaranteed), never fear. I've got two deliciously dark pieces coming out from Forbidden Fiction this year (Andromache's Prize, which drops next week, and Icarus, a retelling of the myth that is, IMO, the best thing I wrote last year). And the year is young.

One thing I've always known is that as a writer I really like to stretch into a wide variety of styles. As I've moved into publishing more stand-alone books, I've tried to group them in sensible ways so readers know what to expect. Of course, it's wonderful if you love everything I do. On the other hand, if you prefer certain styles, my current system is:

Breathless Press - erotic paranormal romance (all werewolves so far, includes HFN)
Ellora's Cave - contemporary erotic romance (realistic modern settings, ends in HEA)
Forbidden Fiction - erotica (often mythological, generally dark, sex in a variety of moods, all bets are off about how this thing will end - some HEA, some tragic)

I love the freedom this system gives me, and I hope it helps readers pick up books they're going to enjoy. I also do a lot of work for anthologies, in which case I try to follow the mood that I think fits the publisher, and am generally erotic and sex-positive.

Andromache's Prize

I've got cover art to share, this time from the excellent Siolnatine (my favorite cover artist of the mythical). Love the way this cover refers to the style of Ancient Greek art.

Andromache's Prize is a lesbian love story set against the aftermath of The Trojan War. It pairs Andromache (wife to the late Hector) with Briseis (famous coveted object of Achilles and Agamemnon). It's a war story, so the opening is brutal and harsh -- be warned that some readers may find it disturbing.

I love The Iliad more than I can explain, so I'm really excited to write in its world. The book will drop in about a week, and you can check out an excerpt now at Forbidden Fiction's story page.

(This story was formerly titled "After Troy, the Women.")

Why Sex Writing Shouldn't Always Be Nice

I recently started reading Jean Roberta's Sex Is All Metaphors, and came across a great passage on the issue of "sex-positive" writing. As she explains, many editors ask that erotica be sex-positive, which generally means avoiding a certain standard list of squicks (including things like very extreme violence). Sometimes, the sense of "sex-positive" is extended to mean a general attitude about sex within the story -- that it should be empowering, pleasurable, and so forth.

I like to write and read sex-positive stories, certainly. I have a story for another time about how sex-positive erotica is actually what made me understand feminism and become willing to call myself a feminist.

However, not all of my writing and reading is sex-positive, and there are a lot of complicated reasons for that. Roberta gives a nice account of why sex writing needs a range that includes the very unpleasant:

If sex is all metaphors, it can't always be a simple way to get happy. Sex can be a desperate, doomed attempt to bridge a gap in credibility or understanding. It can be an extreme form of exploitation. It can be the event that turns a high school girl who is desperate to fit in into a target for contempt from everyone she knows. It can be an attempt to prove something improvable. Sex can be an act of self-hatred, or hatred of the other. It can be the means by which invading armies literally colonize the bodies of civilians, hoping to impregnate as many "enemy women" as possible. Sex, broadly defined, can destroy both body and soul.

Should erotic writers avoid saying anything disturbing about sex? The terms "adult" and "mature" are often used as euphemisms for sexual content, yet to avoid mentioning any negative emotions (guilt, hatred, rage, fear, despair, regret, etc.) in connection with sex is to limit oneself to a fairly childish view of the world.

I started writing erotica because it's the genre where I feel most honest as a writer. It's the subject on which I really have something to say. And I'd definitely be lying if I pretended all my experience with sex has been pleasant or positive. Sometimes, I feel strange about the range of my work. I worry that some of my dark work for Forbidden Fiction, for example, would freak out readers who enjoyed, say, my light piece in the Cleis erotic romance anthology, Passion. I also worry that readers who like the dark stuff will find my happy endings fluffy. But I need that full range to say all of what I have to say about sex, and I try not to censor myself in either direction.

Touched by Death Print Edition!

The good folks at Forbidden Fiction have just released a print edition of Touched by Death, an anthology of (very) dark erotica that includes my story, Less Than a Day.

Here's the official description:

An Erotic Horror Anthology
Authored by D.M. Atkins, Luna Lawrence, Theda Black, Annabeth Leong, Jane Potter, Claryssa Berg, E.E. Grey, Ann Gimpel, Konrad Hartmann, Ruth Black, Kailin Morgan, Peter Tupper, Lon Sarver, Rylan Hunter

An anthology of erotic encounters with death. Stories of living people who have been touched by vampires, ghosts, zombies or other dead. A collection that balances sexy and horror in a way that makes readers squirm.

You can find links to all versions of the book here.

Wicked Fairy Tales Out in Paperback!

I just noticed that Forbidden Fiction's Wicked Fairy Tales anthology is out in paperback. If you missed your chance to read the collection when it was first released in e-book form, now you've got a chance to take this set of naughty bedtime stories to bed. Includes my story The Three Wives of Bluebeard. Enjoy!

Right Message, Wrong Man

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