MAXIM JAKUBOWSKI was born in England but educated in France. Following a career in publishing, he opened London’s famous MURDER ONE bookshop. He has published over 70 books, won the Anthony and Karel Awards and is a connoisseur of genre fiction in all its forms. His recent books include eight volumes in The Mammoth Book of Erotica series, as well as The Mammoth Book of Pulp Fiction and more recently The Mammoth Book of Pulp Action, The Mammoth Book of On The Road and The Mammoth Book of Future Cops. Other well-received anthologies include: London Noir, three volumes of Fresh Blood, Past Poisons, Chronicles of Crime and Murder Through the Ages. A regular broadcaster, he is the crime columnist for the Guardian, writes for The Times and is the Literary Director of London’s National Film Theatre Annual Crime Scene Festival. His fiction includes Life in the World of Women, It’s You That I Want to Kiss, Because She Thought She Loved Me, The State of Montana, On Tenderness Express, Kiss Me Sadly and Confessions of a Romantic Pornographer. He lives in London.
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Constable & Robinson Ltd
3 The Lanchesters
162 Fulham Palace Road
London W6 9ER
www.constablerobinson.com
First published in the UK by Robinson,
an imprint of Constable & Robinson Ltd 2004
Collection and editorial material
copyright © Maxim Jakubowski 2004
All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
A copy of the British Library Cataloguing in
Publication Data is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978-1-84119-802-1
eISBN 978-1-78033-376-2
Printed and bound in the EU
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Acknowledgments
Maxim Jakubowski
INTRODUCTION
Michel Faber
THE TWO HELLOS
Cara Bruce
FOR SALE
Mark Ramsden
TRULY SCRUMPTIOUS
Rich Logsdon
SWEET, SWEET ANNIE
Dawn O’Hara
LONDON DERRIÈRE
Andy Duncan
THE HOLY BRIGHT NUMBER
Debra Hyde
ON HALLOWED GROUND
M. Christian
THE COLOUR OF LUST
Mary Anne Mohanraj
WILD ROSES
Nicholas Kaufmann
THE VIP ROOM
Cheyenne Blue
CACTUS ASS
Maxim Jakubowski
THE SHAPE OF CITIES
Adhara Law
THE DEATH AND LIFE OF EDWARD GRABLE
Morgan Hawke
ALCHEMICAL INK: SHATTERED ANGEL
Lilian Pizzichini
MAKING WOOFIE
Michael Crawley
SIX BEFORE NINE
Jacqueline Lucas
MOTHERING
E. M. Arthur
DIVER’S MOON
Sage Vivant
THE LITTLE AMERICAN
Bianca James
FUGU
Mike Kimera
DESERVING RUTH
Anya Wassenberg
CAT
Cole Riley
IF IT MAKES YOU HAPPY
David Surface
GOING OUT WITH ANGELA
Renée M. Charles
DIVING INTO OCEANS OF AIR
Michèle Larue
THE WATER HOLE
John Grant
THE ADVENTURE OF THOMAS THE ROCK STAR IN THE COURT OF THE QUEEN OF FAERY
Justine Dubois
SAN SEBASTIAN
Karen Taylor
WANTING THAT MAN
Madeleine Oh
LA DÉESSE TERRE
Sacchi Green
TO REMEMBER YOU BY
O’Neil De Noux
DEATH ON DENIAL
Tara Alton
THE SWEATER
Jennifer Footman
TRYING IT ON
Claire Tristram
TOMATOES: A LOVE STORY IN THREE PARTS
Lisa Montanarelli
THE WHORE GENE
Julia Peters
SHOW TIME
Alison Tyler
PROGRESSIVE PARTY
Tom Piccirilli
HORSEPOWER
Lee Elliott
ENGLISH LESSONS
Lisabet Sarai
BUTTERFLY
Rachel Kramer Bussel
LAP DANCE LUST
R. Gay
A COOL DRY PLACE
Susannah Indigo
BACON, LOLA AND TOMATO
Mari Ness
THE SWING
Anne Tourney
THE BLOOD VIRGIN
Diane Kepler
SAKURA
Christopher Hart
DRIFT
Acknowledgments
THE TWO HELLOS by Michel Faber, © 2002 by Michel Faber. First appeared in THE EROTIC REVIEW. Reprinted by permission of the author.
FOR SALE by Cara Bruce, © 2002 by Cara Bruce. First appeared in BEST FETISH EROTICA. Reprinted by permission of the author.
TRULY SCRUMPTIOUS by Mark Ramsden, © 2003 by Mark Ramsden. Reprinted by permission of the author.
SWEET, SWEET ANNIE by Rich Logsdon, © 2002 by Rich Logsdon. First appeared in SUSPECT THOUGHTS. Reprinted by permission of the author.
LONDON DERRIÈRE by Dawn O’Hara, © 2002 by Dawn O’Hara. First appeared in BEST WOMEN’S EROTICA. Reprinted by permission of the author.
THE HOLY BRIGHT NUMBER by Andy Duncan, © 2002 by Andy Duncan. First appeared in POLYPHONY. Reprinted by permission of the author.
ON HALLOWED GROUND by Debra Hyde, © 2002 by Debra Hyde. First appeared in SCARLET LETTERS. Reprinted by permission of the author.
THE COLOUR OF LUST by M. Christian, © 2002 by M. Christian. First appeared in SPEAKING PARTS. Reprinted by permission of the
author.
WILD ROSES by Mary Anne Mohanraj, © 2002 by Mary Anne Mohanraj. First appeared in RIPE FRUIT. Reprinted by permission of the author.
THE VIP ROOM by Nicholas Kaufmann, © 2002 by Nicholas Kaufmann. First appeared in DECADENCE. Reprinted by permission of the author.
CACTUS ASS by Cheyenne Blue, © 2002 by Cheyenne Blue. First appeared in CLEAN SHEETS. Reprinted by permission of the author.
THE SHAPE OF CITIES by Maxim Jakubowski, © 2002, 2003 by Maxim Jakubowski. First appeared in different form in 13 and in a revised version in EROTIC TRAVEL TALES 2. Reprinted by permission of the author under dire threat of blackmail.
THE DEATH AND LIFE OF EDWARD GRABLE by Adhara Law, © 2002 by Adhara Law. First appeared in MIND CAVIAR. Reprinted by permission of the author.
ALCHEMICAL INK: SHATTERED ANGEL by Morgan Hawke, © 2002 by Morgan Hawke. First appeared in SUSPECT THOUGHTS. Reprinted by permission of the author.
MAKING WOOFIE by Lilian Pizzichini, © 2002 by Lilian Pizzichini. First appeared in THE EROTIC REVIEW. Reprinted by permission of the author.
SIX BEFORE NINE by Michael Crawley, © 2002 by Michael Crawley. First appeared in SMOKE SIGNALS. Reprinted by permission of the author.
MOTHERING by Jacqueline Lucas, © 2003 by Jacqueline Lucas. Reprinted by permission of the author.
DIVER’S MOON by E.M. Arthur, © 2002 by E.M. Arthur. First appeared in TOUCHWORD. Reprinted by permission of the author.
THE LITTLE AMERICAN by Sage Vivant, © 2002 by Sage Vivant. First appeared in PEACOCK BLUE. Reprinted by permission of the author.
FUGU by Bianca James, © 2002 by Bianca James. First appeared in THE BEST OF THE BEST MEAT EROTICA. Reprinted by permission of the author.
DESERVING RUTH by Mike Kimera, © 2002 by Mike Kimera. First appeared on the EROTIC READERS AND WRITERS ASSOCIATION website. Reprinted by permission of the author.
CAT by Anya Wassenberg, © 2002 by Anya Wassenberg. First appeared in GRUNT AND GROAN. Reprinted by permission of the author.
IF IT MAKES YOU HAPPY by Cole Riley, © 2002 by Cole Riley. First appeared in CLEAN SHEETS. Reprinted by permission of the author.
GOING OUT WITH ANGELA by David Surface, © 2002 by David Surface. First appeared in SLOW TRAINS. Reprinted by permission of the author.
DIVING INTO OCEANS OF AIR by Renée M. Charles, © 2002 by Renée M. Charles. First appeared in MIND AND BODY. Reprinted by permission of the author.
THE WATER HOLE by Michèle Larue, © 2003 by Michèle Larue. First appeared in France as JE D’O. Reprinted by permission of the author.
THE ADVENTURE OF THOMAS THE ROCK STAR IN THE COURT OF THE QUEEN OF FAERY by John Grant, © 2003 by John Grant. Reprinted by permission of the author.
SAN SEBASTIAN by Justine Dubois, © 2002 by Justine Dubois. First appeared in THE EROTIC REVIEW. Reprinted by permission of the author.
WANTING THAT MAN by Karen Taylor, © 2002 by Karen Taylor. First appeared in BEST BISEXUAL EROTICA. Reprinted by permission of the author.
LA DÉESSE TERRE by Madeleine Oh, © 2002 by Madeleine Oh. First appeared in WICKED WORDS 6. Reprinted by permission of the author.
TO REMEMBER YOU BY by Sacchi Green, © 2002 by Sacchi Green. First appeared in SHAMELESS. Reprinted by permission of the author.
DEATH ON DENIAL by O’Neil De Noux, © 2002 by O’Neil De Noux. First appeared in FRESH BLOOD: DARK DESIRE. Reprinted by permission of the author.
THE SWEATER by Tara Alton, © 2002 by Tara Alton. First appeared in SCARLET LETTERS. Reprinted by permission of the author.
TRYING IT ON by Jennifer Footman, © 2002 by Jennifer Footman. First appeared in FOR WOMEN. Reprinted by permission of the author.
TOMATOES: A LOVE STORY IN THREE PARTS by Claire Tristram, © 2002 by Claire Tristram. First appeared in CLEAN SHEETS. Reprinted by permission of the author.
THE WHORE GENE by Lisa Montanarelli, © 2002 by Lisa Montanarelli. First appeared in BEST FETISH EROTICA. Reprinted by permission of the author.
SHOW TIME by Julia Peters, © 2002 by Julia Peters. First appeared in CLEAN SHEETS. Reprinted by permission of the author.
PROGRESSIVE PARTY by Alison Tyler, © 2002 by Alison Tyler. First appeared in GOOD VIBRATIONS. Reprinted by permission of the author.
HORSEPOWER by Tom Piccirilli, © 2002 by Tom Piccirilli. First appeared in BEST FETISH EROTICA. Reprinted by permission of the author.
ENGLISH LESSONS by Lee Elliott, © 2002 by Lee Elliott. First appeared in CLEAN SHEETS. Reprinted by permission of the author.
BUTTERFLY by Lisabet Sarai, © 2002 by Lisabet Sarai. First appeared on the EROTIC READERS AND WRITERS ASSOCIATION website. Reprinted by permission of the author.
LAP DANCE LUST by Rachel Kramer Bussel, © 2002 by Rachel Kramer Bussel. First appeared in BEST WOMEN’S EROTICA. Reprinted by permission of the author.
A COOL DRY PLACE by R. Gay, © 2002 by R. Gay. First appeared in SHAMELESS. Reprinted by permission of the author.
BACON, LOLA AND TOMATO by Susannah Indigo, © 2002 by Susannah Indigo. First appeared in THE BEST OF THE BEST MEAT EROTICA. Reprinted by permission of the author.
THE SWING by Mari Ness, © 2002 by Mari Ness. First appeared in TONGUES OF FIRE. Reprinted by permission of the author.
THE BLOOD VIRGIN by Anne Tourney, © 2002 by Anne Tourney. First appeared in SUSPECT THOUGHTS. Reprinted by permission of the author.
SAKURA by Diane Kepler, © 2002 by Diane Kepler. First appeared in WET. Reprinted by permission of the author.
DRIFT by Christopher Hart, © 2002 by Christopher Hart. First appeared in THE EROTIC REVIEW. Reprinted by permission of the author.
Introduction
Maxim Jakubowski
And so THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF EROTICA series moves into its tenth year already. And it just feels like yesterday! Trust erotic matters to keep you eternally young . . .
When I wrote the introduction to the first volume in 1993, the erotic shelves in bookshops worldwide were thinly stocked, and in the majority of stores there wasn’t even an erotic section per se. In the previous couple of decades, there had been less than a handful of anthologies published, generally of an historic nature and explicit short stories in mainstream magazines were few and far between. Erotica was hiding, so to speak. Now, as cybersex is already becoming a thing of the past itself, the bookshelves are groaning under the sheer weight of new books in the genre (and I daresay the Mammoths contribute to this by being the longest, and also the best value books!) and anthologies on offer cover every theme and sexual orientation under the sun – or should it be the moonlight, for those who prefer their sexual entertainment to be concealed under a relative cover of darkness. In addition, the cyberworld has taken a leaf from the real world and a wonderful community of web magazines are flourishing and proving an invaluable training ground for so many new writers.
Long may this flourish.
Sexuality is at the core of our beings and the act of writing, of self-expression, must reflect this essential part of our psyche. Explicitness in writing about sexual matters need not be vulgar or downmarket, and there is more titillation in an elegant phrase or original storyline than there is in a picture or photograph in my humble, if prejudiced, opinion. And that’s the difference between eroticism and pornography. Yes, our Mammoth authors wish to arouse your dormant senses but it’s all in a good cause.
This year’s volume encompasses some of the best short stories I managed to come across published during the course of 2002 in a variety of places. There are familiar names for veteran readers of the series (all previous volumes are still in print and available, so go and complete your set and improve your sex life accordingly!), as well as new discoveries, many of whom, I hope, will become future regulars and will graduate to doing books of their own one day.
The stories hail from Great Britain, the USA, Canada, Australia and France and all evoke a rainbow of emotions and sexual feelings with talent and empathy to spare. There is still too much erotica that comes in the form of pseudo readers’ letters de
scribing a particular sexual encounter or ersatz poetic memories attempting to raise the mythic consciousness of a past tryst, but the majority of the authors here transcend these bonds and treat their characters with humour or even darkness, and hence make their fictional creatures of flesh, blood and genitals even more believable. That is the art of erotic writing at its best.
So, get ready for an exciting ride with some of the dirtiest and shrewdest minds in the business, and explore combinations, positions, variations and possibilities beyond even your wildest imagination. And, should you need reassurance, no bedsheets were harmed during the writing of this book.
Maxim Jakubowski
The Two Hellos
Michel Faber
She didn’t phone him directly after she got off the coach, because she was hungry and her bum was very sore. She phoned him about an hour later, after she’d had some breakfast and wandered around the city for a while.
“Hello?” she said, into a public telephone receiver that was cold and damp with other people’s breath.
“Yes?” he said back, having no idea, apparently, whose voice it was – as always.
In the pause before she identified herself, she felt that little prick of irritation which is merely the tip of a giant hypodermic full of fermented hatred. They’d argued about this so many times.
“Why don’t you ever know it’s me?” she would exclaim when she got him alone.
“For Christ’s sake – what do you expect when all you say is ‘hello’?” he would say, or (even worse): “Look – in the course of a day I’ll get calls from any number of women . . .”
“But I’m your wife,” she’d insist.
“I know that,” he’d assure her. “But what happens if I say ‘Hello, darling!’ and it turns out the woman on the line is a client for data management software?”
“If you knew my voice, it wouldn’t ever happen.”
“Look, lots of women sound . . . uh . . . similar. Especially on the phone.”
“No more so than lots of men. And I know your voice.”
“OK, so you’re better at recognizing voices than I am!” he would offer, as a concession that was at once exasperated and sarcastic. “Microsoft should develop you as a piece of voice recognition software.”
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