As part of the continuing celebration of our upcoming October 20th releases, R.G. and I have talked to bunch of our fellow authors about what makes vampires so alluring. The sensual appeal of vampires seems to be wide-spread, whether these authors love to write them, read about them, or watch them on film. I thought you’d all like to know what some of your favorite authors are thinking…
Incredibly prolific author Michelle M. Pillow is a favorite of readers everywhere, and I’m sure many of you have read her work! Be sure to catch her latest release, LAST MAN ON EARTH, from Ellora’s Cave! Michelle says about vampires: ‘I love vampires! What could be more alluring than being immortal, all-powerful, and eternally beautiful?’
Author Beth Kery writes hot stories with a wicked edge. Her newest is PARADISE RULES, which I’d buy just for the cover! I love her philosophy about the undead: ‘I’m drawn to the psychological aspects of the vampire story. All human beings ‘feed’ off each other as well as offer nourishment in the symbolic sense, meaning we draw off others’ energies and give our own to sustain others. Doing this in a healthy way is the eternal battle of human beings. In it’s darker aspects, it becomes the quandary of the vampire: how to live with an eternal thirst, how to tame the desire to take without harming…how to live with the gnawing fear that one can never give in return. ‘
The ever-fabulous Tawny Taylor’s latest release is TORRID HUNGER from Ellora’s Cave, Book 4 in her Twilight’s Possession series. Tawny loves her vampires—and you will, too! ‘To me, the vampire is the ultimate bad boy. He’s dark, powerful, eternally young and his sensual appeal is irrevocably tied to the danger of falling under his seduction. Under the veneer of a polite, civilized exterior lies a feral beast with dark urges we long to explore and understand.’
Jennifer Colgan does love a hero with some bite-the first book I ever read of hers was her erotic werewolf tale, WOLFSBANE, still available from Amber Quill Press. Keep your eyes open for her next book, LA VIDA MUERTA, coming from Amber Quill in November!
Jennifer is a long-time lover of vampires (ooh-that didn’t come out quite right-lol!). ‘I’ve been a vampire fan since Joss Whedon introduced Angel…yum. I guess I’ve become addicted to heroes who bite. ‘
James Buchanan’s erotic fiction is hot and sensual—and all male. He hasn’t written any vampire stories (never say never, James!), but understands their irresistible appeal. ‘Vampires are just hot. I don’t write them, but I love to read them. The dark eroticism of blood play, the forbidden lure of ancient knowledge, vast power shackled to unbearable need, being immortal in a world that fades before your eyes: the rich tapestry of loss woven into a vampire is a sensual feast. Jean Claude, Armand, even Dracula all have tragic hero written throughout their characters and I just eat it up.’
Jina Bacarr is one of my fellow Spice authors. She often incorporates her own world travels into her exotic tales. Her current release, CLEOPATRA’S PERFUME, is available now, and she has more in store for us in February with THE BLONDE SAMURAI!
Jina had this to say about our favorite immortals: ‘Imagine a tall, sexy vampire holding you close in a passionate embrace and inhaling the scent of your fragrant perfume. How can he ever forget you? He won’t. Because he’s a vampire, the memory of you will stay with him for eternity…’
Our friend, the gorgeous and talented Samantha Kane, has a new release tomorrow! PLAY IT AGAIN, SAM is the first book in the Cougar Challenge series from Ellora’s Cave-and you know I love the sound of that, being an official cougar myself-meow! Here’s what Samantha had to say: ‘The reason I love vampires has nothing to do with the whole mystical blood-sucking thing. For me it’s all about the dark, tormented soul of the ultimate bad boy. Evil? I think not. Just really, really misunderstood. ;-) Nothing the love of a good man or woman can’t cure.’
Stephanie Draven writes hot, myth-based speculative fiction for Nocturne, so the idea of monsters roaming the earth and interacting with humans is something she’s thought a lot about. Her latest is MIDNIGHT MEDUSA! Here are some of her thoughts: I love taking ancient Greek stories, uncovering the primal associations and eternal truths behind them, and turning them into modern mythology. That’s what I’ve done for gorgons, dryads and chimeras in the pieces I’ve written for Silhouette’s Nocturne line. One thing I have yet to tackle is the vampire.
The modern idea of what a vampire is stems almost entirely from 18th Century Western European lore, but of course various legends of vampirism can be found in cultures all over the world and the vampires of Greek Mythology weren’t even undead (which from my standpoint, makes them hotter because I like a lover with a heartbeat). What really fascinates me about Greek vampirism though, is how female-centric it is. Let’s face it, not many of the ancient Greek city states held women in high regard, but it’s plain that they feared women’s sexual power. Their legends of vampires were about irresistible women who seduced young men to feed upon their blood–a cautionary tale about sex outside of marriage if ever there was one.
But when I think about the sexiness of vampirism, it isn’t about the blood or the feeding. For me, it’s the idea of an exchange of power. We all know people who we teasingly say “suck the life out of us.” But we’ve probably also all felt the attraction to someone who needed us. Someone whose emotional (or maybe even physical) well-being relied upon something only we could give them. All these tortured alpha heroes in romance novels have this in common–they need nurturing that only the heroine can provide. And that taps something very deep in women because we feed people.
Whether it’s nursing a baby or cooking a meal, women have always had this role which has deep biological and sexual roots. I think the sensuality of a vampire isn’t only in that he’s a predator, but that he is so needy. So in need of sustenance that he wants to take it from our body, and that’s a hard thing to resist. Kate Pearce writes hot, hot, hot and sensual stories-which anyone who’s read her House of Pleasure series will know! Next up for her is SOME LIKE IT ROUGH, an anthology from the Kensington Aphrodisia line. We can’t wait! Kate loves a good vampire story. ‘I’ve always loved reading books about Vampires, from the classic Anne Rice, to L K Hamilton’s Anita Blake series and most recently, the J R Ward Black Dagger Brotherhood. For me one of the big thrills is the immortality aspect, that Vampires have lived through the ages and survived to tell the tale, (although some of them still seem pretty dumb despite all that experience. :) ) When I got the opportunity to create my own Vampire Tudor world, complete with its own set of rules, I jumped at the chance!’
R.G. and I agree that there is just something incredibly sexy about a creature who is acutely aware of every nuance of human existence: the sound of a beating heart, the scent of blood, the irresistible fragrance of human skin. They are creatures of the night, of the dark, where anything can happen. Maybe that’s why vampire stories are always so popular, why we love them, as writers and as readers.
We want to know what you think: what is it about these blood-sucking devils that we just cannot resist?
TODAY’S GIVEAWAY!
Everyone who posts today will be eligible to win! Those who are residents of the continental US can win a signed copy of my debut novel, THE DARK GARDEN. Those who live outside the US are eligible to win a copy of my e-book, BREAKING SKYE. (Just be sure to put into your post whether or not you are a US resident. Sorry folks, but shipping out of the country is expensive!).
And everyone who posts through our release date, October 20th, is eligible to win our October Grand Prize! We’re not telling what it is just yet, but I promise it’ll be grand-LOL! The Grand Prize will go to one of our most prolific posters, so don’t be shy! You’ll have to check back for the Grand Prize announcement, as well as excerpts from our books, R.G.’s MIDNIGHT FALLS, and my novella, THE SEEKING KISS!
Oh-and today’s winner will be announced on Friday in the comments here, so you must check back to see if you’ve won!
The lovely K.B. Alan, author of PERFECT FORMATION and her latest release, ALPHA TURNED, both available from Ellora’s Cave, has decided to throw caution to the wind along with her interview virginity, and who better to steal her cherry than The Smutketeers? So, grab a warm towel and some lube, and let’s get down to business. We promise to be gentle…
Smutketeers~ALPHA TURNED is your second book. Why do you think you’ve held onto your interview virginity for so long? Did you make a pledge, or has the right interviewer simply not come along until now? (and we do congratulate you on choosing a five-some for your first time, adventurous girl!).
K.B.~I believe strongly in holding out for just the right person. Or persons – if that’s what the job calls for. Who better to take me gently until I’m ready to be…wait, I’m sorry, what were we talking about?
Smutketeers ~Alpha heroes-what is it about them?
K.B.~Aren’t they just delicious? I can’t get enough of them, and yet, they’re all so different in their own ways. I think they’re perfect for the fantasy that is a good romance, where you just want to be swept up into something (and someone) so powerful, you know? Of course, in real life, I’d most likely freak out and run as fast as possible in the other direction.
Smutketeers ~Speaking of heroes, tell us about Zach, your sexy werewolf in ALPHA TURNED. Is he based on a real life person, or is he purely a lovely figment of your imagination?
K.B.~Zach isn’t based on anyone in real life, but he was my first hero, so I guess you could say he was my first love. He’s a kick-ass alpha but also the sweetest guy who really can’t believe how lucky he is to have Hillary in his life.
Smutketeers ~Any plans to write Zach’s brother, Aaron’s, story?
K.B.~Aaron’s already married! I really enjoyed Mountain View and its many inhabitants and I think it would be a lot of fun to return to them at some point. Plus, there’s just something so sexy about writing werewolves, I’m sure they’ll be calling to me again.
Smutketeers ~When writing shapeshifters, where do you think you have to draw the line between animalistic sex and um…sex with an animal? Is this determined by the publishing industry, your particular publisher or by the author?
K.B.~My publisher doesn’t accept sex with animals, but is perfectly happy with sex between animals, and, as you so brilliantly put it, animalistic sex between humans. My editor asked me if I wanted to include a scene between Zach and Hillary as wolves, and I’ll admit I was a bit nervous about getting the right balance between animal instincts and human emotions and needs. But I gave it a shot and was pleased with how it turned out.
Smutketeers ~Your March 2009 release, PERFECT FORMATION, is a ménage story. Tell us about the complicated logistics involved in writing a threesome-and any other interesting details you’d care to include. I hear there’s some rope involved…
K.B.~I loved writing Perfect Formation, but there were definitely some challenges to getting all the body parts doing all the right things. I found that simply closing my eyes and imagining the choreography for long minutes helped quite a bit. I can honestly say it was never a chore for me! The key for these three was in letting Caleb take charge and seeing how Richard and Taryn would react, which usually involved melting into a puddle of goo at Caleb’s feet. Of course, the fact that they were ready and willing to let him do his thing didn’t stop him from pulling out the cuffs. And ropes. And ties.
Smutketeers ~We like to imagine all of our fellow smut-peddlers lounging around in satin PJ’s, a glass of 1986 Cristal Reserve in one hand and Godiva chocolates in the other, putting each down long enough to type a few precious words while your loincloth-clad houseboy fans you or massages exotic oils into your shoulders…but then, being writers ourselves, we understand that real life is sometimes a bit different. What happens when you sit down to write? Do you have any writing rituals?
K.B.~I like to imagine the Cristal life, too, but unfortunately it’s far from the truth for me! I live by myself so there are no distractions, and I don’t even turn on music. I usually have a can of Dr Pepper next to me as I curl up in my big, fluffy chair, with my laptop on my lap. Most of the time I’m wearing boxer shorts and a t-shirt. There seems to be a distinct lack of loincloth-clad houseboys, I’m afraid. I’ll need to work on that, though I’m not sure how much work I’d actually get done!
Smutketeers~Do your family and friends know you write erotic romance or do you have to pretend you write something more tame? Have they been supportive, or have they disowned you?
K.B.~At first, I didn’t tell anyone that I was writing. Once I got the first acceptance though, that was it. My coworkers even got me a cake on the day of my first release. It said “It’s a boy. No, it’s a girl. No, it’s a book!” Later, they realized they should have put “It’s a boy. No, it’s a girl. No, it’s two boys and a girl!” The day I got the acceptance, I called my parents, who are huge readers, and they were amazed and excited. Then I told them they couldn’t read it! I’ve told them I’ll let them know if I ever write anything they can read, but to be proud from a distance for now, lol. I’m not sure what I’d do if I had to keep this a separate part of my regular life, it’s become such a part of who I am. Thankfully I don’t have to as not one person in my life has been anything less than thrilled and encouraging.
Smutketeers ~What are you working on now?
K.B.~Right now I’m working on a BDSM story that may never see the light of day. I’m also working on a contemporary set in the same town as Perfect Formation, as well as a modern day fae warrior and the woman who lives to drive him insane.
Smutketeers ~Where can we find you on the Internet?
* * * Smutketeers ~And now for some either/or questions, which we’ve found can be very revealing… K.B. says:
~Boxers or Briefs? Boxers. On the floor, next to the bed.
~Vegas or Paris? Paris
~Cold beer or girly drink with an umbrella? Girly drink
~Cotton T-shirt or silk nightie? T-shirt for wandering around the house, nightie if there’s anyone else around, naked between the sheets (but the sheets have to be fabulous!)
~Romantic night in with a movie, or hot night out on the town? Romantic night in
~Cheeseburger or filet mignon? Filet mignon
~Tahiti beach vacation or Colorado ski trip? Tahiti
~chocolate or vanilla? Both
~kink or vanilla? Both! I know, I’m a complicated person :D
* * * Here’s a peek at K.B. Alan’s latest release, ALPHA TURNED:
Hillary is done with being haunted by the brutal rape that turned her into a werewolf four years ago. She’s made a normal life for herself and is determined to ignore the fact that the moon calls to her and she occasionally turns furry. She’s avoided werewolves since her one nightmare experience and sees no reason that should change.
The minute Zach scents Hillary he knows she’s his mate. Now he just has to convince her that being an alpha werewolf has its benefits. What better way than giving her himself? Body, mind and soul.
Smutketeers ~Thanks for joining the Smutketeers today, and for handing over your interview cherry! Was it good for you…?
K.B.~I’m afraid you may have ruined me for all other interviewers…
Smutketeers ~Funny, so many have said exactly the same thing to us! Authors we’ve interviewed, men we’ve…um…back to K.B.
K.B.~Thank you so much for having me! I would love to give away an ebook copy of Perfect Formation. Please leave a comment and you’ll be entered to win. The winner will be announced here on Tuesday, so be sure to check back!
The Smutketeers have the great fortune of interviewing the fabulous Robin L. Rotham, best-selling author of ALIEN OVERNIGHT! The mysterious and elusive Robin has agreed to come out of hiding long enough for The Smutketeers to have our way with her, and we are titillated and honored.
Robin’s newest release, ENEMY OVERNIGHT is the long-awaited sequel to ALIEN OVERNIGHT, available now from Ellora’s Cave. And if you want a taste of just how exciting this book is, here’s the blurb:
The last time Jasmine King was aboard the Heptoral, she escaped by the skin of her teeth. This time she won’t be so lucky. Trapped on a ship full of sex-starved aliens and out of the pheromone blocker that holds off her physical transition, Jasmine makes a desperate escape attempt…and fails. The consequences are disastrous—she’s mated to three horny warriors, and one has a huge bone to pick with her. What’s a girl to do but fall in love?
The last time Shauss saw Jasmine, the deceitful little Terran stole his bondmate from under his nose. This time he won’t be so trusting. Finally master of his own bond, Shauss names secondary mates Jasmine feels safe with…and lives to regret it. One can’t stop puking long enough to claim her. The other challenges Shauss’ supremacy by digging into his psyche at every turn. What’s a Dom to do but fuck them all into submission?
He sets out to do just that, but his domination takes a brutal turn when he discovers Jasmine’s deadly secret…
Reader advisory: Contains a female/female sex scene.
~Robin, since this is your first time with the Smutketeers we’re trying to calm down enough to handle you as gently as possible. Okay, WTF, let’s just get right down to business. Alien sex-really? Do tell!
Those poor aliens didn’t know what they were getting themselves into when they landed in my brain, LOL! First they had to get past the squick factor of anal and now I’m making them do each other. What’s the galaxy coming to?!
~Oh my! (*fanning ourselves* Or rather, having our loin-clothed houseboys do it). So-the word is that fans have been dying for this sequel. We won’t hold it against you, especially now that it’s here. But we will consider you a tease! What have you been working on in the interim?
I’ve had three releases since AO came out, and they’re all very different from each other. I originally wrote SENIORELLA for the Romance Divas E-book Challenge to help promote AO, and it was so well-received, I turned around and sold it to EC. CARNAL HARVEST was just a little farm wife’s fantasy that wouldn’t go away, so I finally got it down on paper. It turned out to be so much more than a fantasy! (Don’t tell him I told you, but there’s a lot of my relationship with Mr. Robin in that story.) And then there was BIG TEMPTATION, which was actually the first book I ever wrote. I started it in the summer of 2005 and finished the shitty first draft in less than seven weeks. Didn’t have the courage to really look at it again until ALIEN OVERNIGHT was well into the revision stage. BIG is and probably always will be the book of my heart. I still do a double-take and think of Barrett every time I see a white Suburban.
~Was the incredible success of ALIEN OVERNIGHT a surprise to you, especially as your first published story? That must have made your head spin!
Oh baby, shocked doesn’t even begin to cover it. I’m still in shock. When readers emailed me (and still email me) begging for the sequel, I was both thrilled and frightened. There’s this level of expectation that I didn’t have to worry about when I wrote AO – that was just a lark, something fun to do. Knowing that so many readers were clamoring for EO made it much harder to write because I don’t want to let anyone down. But it’s inevitable that I’ll let some readers down because I had conflicting requests, LOL! Some wanted me to stay away from m/m and others wanted Shauss and Kellen to get it on. Some wanted Shauss and Kellen and Monica back together permanently and others wanted Shauss and Jasmine. Nobody asked for any f/f, but it found its way in there and I just couldn’t take it out because it felt inevitable—the challenge was issued and had to be answered. I just had to write the story as it wanted to be written.
~Tell us what your writing process is like. Do you have any particular rituals?
If I have one ritual, it’s making myself a nice big cup of cinnamon pecan coffee with half ‘n’ half…and then letting it sit there and get ice-cold while I write. I know it’s been a decent writing day when I’ve had to nuke my coffee at least four times. Generally I sit in the living room, in my recliner with my laptop, and try to ignore whatever is going on around me. I work best in complete quiet, but I can put on noise-cancelling headphones if I have to and make the world go away. I listen to music, but usually only to get myself in the mood. However, when I’m deep into really tense or emotional scenes, I’ll let classical music or a single mood piece play in a loop in the background. For instance, with EO, I listened to VAST’s Don’t Take Your Love Away and Gary Jules’ Mad World hundreds of times each. Oh, and I developed an EO soundtrack that I listened to in the car all the time to help keep me in the mood.
~What’s up next for you? New books releases, appearances, deviant sexual experiences?
Well, obviously ENEMY OVERNIGHT releases today, and then after that, it’s anyone’s guess. I have at least four sequels that need to be written and hopefully they’ll come a little easier than EO, which I didn’t really set up well for its sequels. As for personal appearances, on Wednesday, July 15, I’ll be signing copies of BIG TEMPTATION at the Readers for Life Literacy Autographing as part of the RWA national convention at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington DC. Deviant sexual experiences are still TBD. Any of you care to help me out with that…?
~Don’t tempt us, darling Robin. The Smutketeers are always glad to lend a helping hand! So to speak…
Okay, on to a few either/or questions:
~Voyeur or exhibitionist? Both ~Chocolate or vanilla? Chocolate, baby – the darker the better! ~Kinky or vanilla? If you have to ask, you haven’t read my books. ~Dirty farmer or dominant alien? I’ve had plenty of dirty farmer so I think Mr. Robin would forgive me if I wanted to try dominant alien. ~Backpacking in Nepal or lounging on the beach in Tahiti? Hmm, let’s see, hell or heaven…? TAHITI, of course! ~Mac-n-cheese or filet mignon? The filet. Nothing beats a tender piece of hand-beaten meat. ~Summer or Winter? After living ten years in Vail, SUMMER! ~Rich or famous? Rich, no contest. ~Handcuffs or silk scarves? Handcuffs—and a little police brutality to go with them.
~Any last words now that you’ve been stripped of your Smutketeer interview virginity?
Well, Mr. Robin is giving me the look, so it must be time to do some more research. *grin* Thank you for thinking I’m interesting enough to interview, my sexy Smutketeers. I hope you all enjoy ENEMY OVERNIGHT! And I’ll be picking a random winner or two from whoever posts today and giving them signed copies of Alien Overnight and Big!
Thanks so much for being here-was it good for you? We hope so-the Smutketeers never want to disappoint.
Where you girls are concerned, it’s always good for me.
I’m over at author Beth Kery’s blog today, talking about my latest books, A 21ST CENTURY COURTESAN and TEMPT ME TWICE! And I’m giving away some goodies to two lucky winners! Come on by and visit!
My latest release, TEMPT ME TWICE, is my very first hot menage story, and my first story from Samhain, and it’s out today!
One hot man is good. Two’s double the fun…until your heart gets involved.
Jessie has been in love with her bisexual best friend, Paul, since their college days. He’s never made a move on her, though, and at this point she values his friendship too much to risk revealing her feelings. Especially since now he has a new male lover and seems so happy.
Paul and Noah have only Jessie’s rest and relaxation in mind when they invite her along on a camping trip to Lake Tahoe. She’s been pretty stressed out preparing to show her art at a major New York gallery. A weekend getaway will do her a world of good—and they won’t take no for an answer.
Jesse thought she’d be nothing more than a third wheel on this trip. But Noah is as sweet and hot as Paul, and their first night turns into a heated tangle of bodies in the dark tent by the lake.
It’s an erotic, intense experience that must come to an end. And when it does, will she still have her best friend?
Warning: Explicit and unusual sex in nearly every possible combination: boy on girl, boy on boy, boys on girl, with a little anal action and some spanking thrown in just to keep things interesting!
* * *
Want a little peek inside? Okay, but only for you…
* * *
Somehow, an hour later, she was in Paul’s black Jeep Cherokee, roaring up Highway 80 on the way to Lake Tahoe. Music blared from the CD player, the windows were down to let the fresh summer air in and she was more relaxed than she’d been in months.
“So,” Noah started, “tell me how you two met.”
“I picked her up in a sex ed class,” Paul said, winking at her over his shoulder.
“Hah. Hardly. I was his English tutor.”
“Yeah, but my version is so much sexier.”
Why did he have to say something like that? When had things between them ever been sexy, other than in her vivid imagination?
“You’ve known each other a long time then,” Noah said.
“We’ve been friends for ten years.” Paul turned again, flashed her a quick smile, and her insides melted as always.
“Why just friends? Or has something more ever happened between you two?”
“No, nothing,” Paul was quick to answer, then they were both silent.
Noah looked from Jessie to Paul. “Sorry. Not my business. I shouldn’t have asked.”
“It’s okay,” Jessie told him. “It’s a reasonable enough question.”
One she’d never been able to answer.
“What about you two? You met when Paul went to Quebec to pick up that T-bird, right?”
Noah nodded, smiled, a brilliant flash of strong white teeth.
Beautiful man.
“Yeah. He came into the bar where I was having a drink with an old friend. I’m really not usually the bar type. But Paul walked in, the hot American import. I liked him right away. I still do.”
He reached out, stroked a hand over Paul’s T-shirt-clad shoulder, and a rush of envy went through her. If only she could touch Paul so casually, express her desire for him so openly.
If only Noah would touch her like that.
Jesus. She really was a mess. She didn’t even know who she wanted. And nothing was going to happen anyway. She may as well get over it.
But she was wet, aching, as much as she’d been in the shower.
They reached their campground on the edge of Lake Tahoe in another four hours, parked and got out of the car. The sun was lowering in the sky, casting darkening shadows over the crisp blue, touching the water in the lake with silver. Fir trees surrounded the lake, which sat like an enormous blue bowl, cradled by the surrounding mountains.
Jessie raised her arms over her head and stretched her back, breathing in the crisp, clean air. So gorgeous here. She was glad she’d come, despite her uncontrolled surges of lust. Paul came around the side of the car and slid an arm around her shoulders.
“Can I tempt you to get some food ready while we put the tent up?”
He could tempt her into doing almost anything, if only he knew it.
“Sure. I saw the ice chest in the back. I’ll take care of it.”
They spent some time getting the campsite together. The sun dove into the horizon in a blaze of summer sky glory. Shades of pink, amber and gold cast long shadows against the trees, touching the boughs with color, before sinking, leaving them in darkness other than the light from the fire they’d built and the two Coleman lanterns, the faint glow from the other campsites.
Dinner was simple, pan-fried steak and potatoes wrapped in foil and baked in the fire, a bottle of wine followed by another. Conversation was easy. Noah was easy to be with, warm, friendly, open. He and Paul sat side by side, laughing, touching, yet somehow still making Jessie feel included.
She’d had too much wine, but it didn’t seem to matter. Paul and Noah would take care of her, she knew. She could let go, for the first time in far too long.
Finally it was time to settle in for the night. Paul helped her to her feet.
“Whoa, Jess. Hang on.”
“I’m okay. Just have a nice little buzz going.”
“Maybe more than a little.” He grinned at her.
“Maybe.” She grinned back, her body going warm all over as he looped an arm around her waist.
They moved to the tent, and Noah held the flap back for them. It was a large tent, almost tall enough for Paul to stand up straight in. Noah was already spreading out their sleeping bags, Paul’s in the middle. Jessie sat on hers to take her shoes off.
Paul yawned, stretched.
“Anyone else tired?”
“A little sleepy from the wine,” Jessie said.
“Me too.” Noah pulled his shirt over his head, revealing tight abs and a wide chest. She could make out his muscle tone even in the dim light of the single lantern they’d taken into the tent with them.
Paul stripped his shirt off too. She’d seen him without a shirt before, and it was something she never got over. The lean lines of his body, his smooth skin, his nipples dark, surrounded by a sprinkling of black hair. She wanted to put her mouth there, to suck…
Stop it. Time to sleep.
The men stripped down to their boxer-briefs, and she could see they were both hard, aroused. She squeezed her thighs tightly, her sex burning with need.
Paul glanced at her. “You’re not sleeping in your clothes, are you, Jess? It’s too hot.”
“Um…I guess not.”
She shrugged, wiggled out of her jeans, leaving her in her tank top and her underwear. It wasn’t that she was ashamed of her slim body. But they were all nearly naked together, and as Paul lay on the sleeping bag next to hers, she could swear she felt the heat from his big body. His scent, warm on the night air. And more faintly, Noah’s scent, fresh and all male.
How was she ever going to get to sleep?
* * * Buy it now!
My next novel from Bantam/Delta, A 21ST CENTURY COURTESAN, will be out on March 24th, so I thought I’d post a teaser here for you curious folks. I’ll post more as we get closer, a new excerpt every few days, so be sure to come back! But first, a little about the book…
She’s spent her life pleasuring others.
Now it’s her turn…
A 21ST CENTURY COURTESAN
Eden Bradley
She lives in a world of silk sheets, imported champagne,
and endless erotic delight…
She fulfills the deepest fantasies of the most powerful men in the world. Sensual, seductive, and discreet, Valentine Day is a high class call girl, pampered and adored by her exclusive clientele. But Valentine has a secret. Always in control, she’s never experienced true pleasure outside of her work. But all that is about to change…Now, the woman who’s spent a decade pleasuring others is about to embark on an erotic journey of her own…
It happens one night at the opera. Seated next to her in the dark is a stranger. As the music swells, so does the sexual tension. Gorgeous, sophisticated Joshua Spencer invites her for a drink, and soon she’s fantasizing about taking him home. When they finally come together in a night of the wildest lovemaking Valentine has ever known, she’s hooked. But suddenly Valentine is questioning everything. Joshua has no idea what she does for a living. Can she risk everything—including her hard-earned freedom and one final, shattering secret—for one man? And would he still want her if he knew the truth?
I learned about something called suspension of disbelief a number of years ago in one of my English Lit classes. This is when a writer must make their reader suspend their disbelief in the unusual long enough to be drawn in and believe in the world the writer has created.
It’s something like that with my line of work. Our clients must suspend their disbelief long enough to believe the girl likes it. My particular ‘talent’, if you want to call it that-my particular perversion, really-is that they don’t have to do that with me. The truth is, I love it.
This is my dirty little secret. Because this is supposed to be taboo among the professionals of my world. Call girls. Prostitutes. Hookers. It doesn’t matter what you call us. The fact is, I get paid for sex. And it’s the only kind of sex I can get off on.
Who knew a nice Jewish girl from the Valley could end up here? Well, half Jewish, anyway, my father being a lapsed Catholic. And maybe I’ve never been all that nice.
I grew up in Van Nuys. Van Nuys is possibly the most generic, boring place on earth. Middle class, cardboard box houses that all look the same, block after block. The entire area looks as though a dull film has settled over it.
My family was at the lower end of the middle class. Not that we were poor. We always had a roof over our heads, food on the table. My father, a construction foreman, worked a lot, but he spent his money anywhere but at home. My mother never did much other than drink. Strange that he wasn’t the drinker. Jews don’t tend to be drinkers. Not that it ever stopped my mother. But my life has been a combination of the utterly dull and the most perverse, in every way, on every level. Classic hard life story, I know, but that’s my life. Or it was. Too fucking bad.
I make a lot of money. Enough to keep me very comfortable in my Hollywood Hills home. Enough to pay for the expensive clothes I buy at Barney’s and Kitson, my weekly facials and massage at the spa. Enough to pay for the breezy little Mercedes I drive, if it hadn’t been a gift from a happy client. This is why I do it.
Actually, that’s a lie. It’s what I tell myself when I’m not in the mood for the kind of deep, soul-searching honesty that keeps me up at night. How I justify it in the most basic, simple terms.
The truth, or part of it, anyway, is that I began in this business because I needed to distance myself from what I was before. From that lower middle class Jewish girl from the Valley whose mother was always passed out on the couch, surrounded by a sticky puddle of whatever she was drinking on the floor, the overflowing ashtrays. Repulsive. I won’t even allow my clients to smoke around me. If they don’t like it, they can find another girl. I’m at a point in my career where I can make a few demands of my own, and I do.
I am someone else entirely now.
*******
That’s all you get for now, unless you’d like to pre-order it on Amazon….Meanwhile, you can pick up my Harlequin Spice anthology, NAUGHTY BITS, at your local bookstore or on Amazon, Barnes & Noble online, or Border’s online. This is an amazing collection of sexy stories from some of Spice’s best authors!
This Tuesday, November 11th, listen to my interview on Sirius Satellite’s Playboy Radio’s Night Calls with adult superstar Christy Canyon! I’ll be talking about my October release, FORBIDDEN FRUIT, which was recently profiled in Cosmopolitan magazine’s Red Hot Reads. I’ll be on around 5:00PM PST. I never know what will happen on the air-Playboy is always tons of fun! Should be interesting…I might read an excerpt, give sex advice on the air, or whatever Christy thinks of-and believe me, she has a vivid imagination! This is my food fetish book ,and I plan to bring Christy a basket of strawberries and whipped cream…Stop by if you can.
Meanwhile, check out my interview online at Joyfully Reviewed!
I had such a great time writing this book. My favorite research materials were whipped cream and strawberries, which I plan to take with me to my Playboy Radio interview on November 11th-stay tuned for details!
I really tuned into the sensual aspects of food while writing this book; food is one of the great sensual pleasures in life, for me, anyway. What are yours? A steamy bath? Silk pajamas? I’m sure some of you have ideas I haven’t thought of…I hope you’ll share!
While you’re thinking about it, here’s the blurb for FORBIDDEN FRUIT:
Sometimes the forbidden…
is irresistible…
One taste is never enough.
For university professor Mia Rose Curry, it was all academic: her course in alternate sexuality was a safe, socially-acceptable way for her to talk about the things she desires most—but has never let herself experience. And while students crammed into her class to learn about fetishes, bondage, voyeurism and much more, Mia kept her own raging desires, and her most private fantasies, carefully under wraps…until one student undressed her with his eyes…
Jagger James is everything Mia wants and everything taboo, yet Mia can’t help imagining drawing closer and closer to this forbidden fruit. She soon discovers how much Jagger wants her, demanding she abandon every inhibition with him. Now, they are about to take a dangerous step, tempting each other’s flesh, savoring every touch and breaking every rule in the book—knowing that this dazzling, sensual feast is only a taste of something more to come…
And just for my blog readers, an excerpt from the book:
“That was an amazing meal, Jagger. Thank you.”
“It was my pleasure. I have dessert back at my place.”
“Oh, I don’t…I don’t think I should.”
“You’ll be ready for something sweet by the time we get there. Or we can sit and have some more wine first.”
“No, I don’t mean…Jagger, I shouldn’t go back to your place. I don’t think it’s a good idea. I need to figure some things out before I…” She trailed off, too unsure of what she needed to say, what she needed to do.
“It’s alright. I understand. I’ll walk you to your car, then.”
She nodded, half grateful he hadn’t argued the point with her and half wishing he had. God, you really are a mess.
They moved down the street, the night air cool on her face, but Jagger’s presence was warm next to her. As they walked, he took her hand, just a gentle twining of fingers around hers. It felt good. Better than it should have, and the sensation wasn’t entirely sexual. It was more, a different kind of heat that moved through her chest, loosened her up inside. Opened her up.
They reached her car, a silver Mini Cooper, parked only a few doors down from Jagger’s building, a little too quickly.
“This is me.” She tried to drop his hand, but he held on.
“Come upstairs with me, Mia Rose,” Jagger said softly.
She wanted to. Every cell in her body wanted nothing more than to go upstairs with him, to let him kiss her again, touch her. She blew out a long breath, leaned back against the passenger door of her car.
“I can’t, Jagger.”
“Alright. But I’m not going to let you go without kissing you.”
He leaned in, and she found herself lifting her face to his, her mind emptying even before his mouth met hers. Then it was just the cool, plush texture of his lips on hers, that soft press of flesh upon flesh. Her hands went around his neck, his skin so hot and smooth there, and he moved in closer, leaning into her, the weight of his body pressing her into the car. When his tongue moved her lips apart, he slid inside. She went soft and loose all over, her breasts aching for more than the hard press of his chest against hers, with the layers of sweater between them.
In moments she was panting, wet. And he deepened the kiss, the heat of his mouth making her crazy. She wanted him. Wanted him to fuck her. Right there. Right now.
His hips were hard up against hers, and that solid ridge of flesh pushed against her belly. God.
Her hips tilted, her sex filled, throbbed, wanting, wanting. But she wasn’t supposed to be doing this.
She was not supposed to be doing this.
He kissed her harder, wet and hurting, bruising her lips. His hands gripped her waist, his fingers biting into her, and all she wanted was more. God, she could almost come if he only kissed her long enough, just kissed her like this.
He pulled back, brushed her hair with his lips, with his cheek. He was breathing as hard as she was. He still had her up against the car, his body pressing her against the cold steel. His hands slid down over her hips, dug in again. She couldn’t have moved even if he hadn’t been holding her so tightly. She could barely breathe. She didn’t want to.
“Jagger…”
“Fuck. I’m sorry, Mia Rose.”
“No. That’s not it.”
“What, then?” He looked down at her, his eyes glittering in the silvery light of the street lamp a few feet away.
The words came out on a half whisper.
“I don’t want you to stop.”
***********
FORBIDDEN FRUIT was a Romantic Times Top Pick, and a Recommended Read at Fallen Angels Reviews! Here’s what people are saying about FORBIDDEN FRUIT:
“Eden Bradley has written one of the best erotic romances I have read this year…”
~Fallen Angels Reviews
“…Bradley delivers the goods. There is intense intimacy and heart-wrenching emotions… This is delicious and delightful from the first page until the conclusion.”
~Romantic Times
“Graphic, loving, and incredibly well-written, the sex scenes ratchet up the drama with unbelievable intensity…sexual desire intertwines with emotional intensity, resulting in a book you won’t want to put down…A thoroughly delightful read. Don’t miss FORBIDDEN FRUIT.”
~Romance Junkies
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We’ve had a few complaints from people who haven’t been able to log on and participate in the contests over the weekend, so just for them we have decided to extend all four opening days contests! Winners will be chosen and announced on Wednesday, October 8th. This means you can still enter any of the contests: my Name the Smutketeers contest on the October 1st post, R.G.’s TV Theme Song contest on the October 2nd post, Crystal’s Male Call contest on the October 3rd post, or Feisty’s Talk Dirty to Me contest on the October 4th post. Win books and other goodies-enter now!
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