Every Monday I'll be posting an excerpt from one of the stories in Lust in the Dust.
The most "lit-erotica" tale in the anthology,
Hollywood by writer and photographer Jones,
is a dreamlike portrait of a F/F relationship painted in a near-hallucinogenic palette of reds and blacks: flames and ash.
“You're safe now,” Ruby said, moving over her. And everything was happening; everything seemed happening and possible all at once. Everything was vanishing around them, flowers and trees, birds burnt up in a lick of flame, massive swaths of land and sky were poisoned, everything rusted, so hot and broken, red light all the time, at morning and the hard sharp edges of evening, the sound of World War 3 always at the door, dust. Like stars, everything they could call theirs burst out of existence and still their hearts hummed and hammered like tiny engines and Ruby kissed her. Slid her arms around her waist and pressed her lips to Miami’s. Miami kissed her back long and full of hesitation, half taken breaths. They smiled at the end, into each other's mouths.
“No matter how massive this is, it is inevitable, necessary, that we try to understand it through our bodies,” Miami said, and Ruby laughed, still kissing her, kissing her again. Miami shivered as Ruby's fingers touched the nape of her neck. All the space between them collapsed in want, a hard weight deep in the center of them. Searching fingers gently ran the length of Ruby’s throat and shoulders, the dip of her spine. Miami’s hands stopped just above Ruby’s hips, then floated back up under the hem of her t-shirt. Ruby leaned in closer, feeling Miami’s length against her, breathing her in she gasped softly, Miami’s hands gathering around her breasts, her skin coming alive from the touch, palms and grazing over her nipples so long tendrils of pleasure slid through her. Exerting a little more pressure, Miami ran her hands over Ruby’s stomach, hard fingers, nails, and another moan escaped them, deepening their kiss. Soon Miami’s hand was cupping Ruby’s sex, and Ruby knew that she could feel the heat and want of her through her jeans.
The heavy sheet rustled, the fold and laughter of linen as Ruby pulled off their clothes, mouths and hands and hips always touching, growing frantic. Almost at once Ruby’s skin was slick with fresh sweat, a deep hard heat burning under her skin. She wanted touch. Miami’s hand tangled in her hair and held her still, kissing her more deeply. Miami let her go only to slide her hands up her back. Ruby pulled cotton over the landscape of Miami’s honey and burnt sugar skin. They locked eyes and Miami smiled at her, mouth red and wet, a fruit begging to be eaten. They touched again, kissing with growing heat, letting clothes fall around them, sheets dripping off the bed as they tied themselves together. They smelled like chlorine and smoke and the cool, sharp no-scent of the house. Miami’s skin was kissed by sun’s gradient, darkest at the tops of her shoulders, lightest on the heavy swell of the underside of her breasts. Ruby touched every part of her, legs and knees, the hill and valley of her hips, the small of her back.
“Is this right? To give up trying to survive, just to stay in this place and fuck you every day?”
Ruby felt herself go weak with want when she heard desperation in that voice, answering her with a kiss. There was so much she wanted to say, but the fire took her words, burned them up. But they didn’t need them. They spoke through kiss and touch, fingers pulling hard across the curl of a hip and thigh.
“Please…” The word escaped Ruby, only a little, only a moment “Don’t stop.”
So Miami didn’t.
Buy Lust in the Dust:
It's the end of the world as we know it.
Peace and plenty are ideals barely remembered. Everything we used to rely upon has crumbled away, and pleasure is something few can afford. Every joy has to be fought for. When all the trappings of a civilised life are taken away, all we can hope to truly call our own are our bodies and our hearts. In the ashes, we make alliances where we can, and find solace and humanity in unexpected places. And maybe even a little hope for the future…
Lust in the Dust brings together ten erotic short stories set in times where civilisation and the rule of law have crashed and burned. The aftermath of a terrible war, a zombie invasion, a cityscape over-run by nature, a medieval fortress. Wherever there is life, there is lust.
Edited by Janine Ashbless - with stories by S. Nano, Elizabeth Coldwell, Raven Sky, Sommer Marsden, Cara Thereon, Jones, Gregory L. Norris, Nicole Wolfe, Janine Ashbless, Quiet Ranger.
