Coming Together
the erotic cocktail
volume 01
Coming Together: The Erotic Cocktail
volume 1
Alessia Brio, editor
Copyright © 2010 Alessia Brio
All digital rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.
Cover art © 2010 Alessia Brio
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
A Coming Together Production
Smashwords edition
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/comingtogether
License Notes
Piracy robs authors of the income they need to be able to continue to write books for readers to enjoy. This ebook is licensed for the personal enjoyment of ONE reader only. This ebook may not be re-sold or copied. To do so is not only unethical, it's illegal. This ebook may not be forwarded via email, posted on personal websites, uploaded to file sharing sites, or printed and distributed. To share this book, please purchase an additional copy for each intended recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for you, please notify the author immediately. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this—and every—author.
DEDICATION
this volume of Coming Together
is dedicated to
Laurel & Manu,
the gracious hosts
of the online erotic haven
Literotica.com®
and to all
the guardians of free speech
Table of Contents
Foreword
You are holding a book in your hands. It is of a good weight, filled with substantial word count. Those words create stories and those stories weave fantasies, experiences, hopes, dreams and even fears into a celebration of something we all too often take for granted: The Freedom of Speech.
Freedom of Speech. A deceptively simple phrase; three words filled with just as many problems as promise. Though no one can truly trace the earliest beginnings of the right to free speech, clear documentation of the right can be found as early as the 1680s, when William and Mary took the throne during the Glorious Revolution. Soon after, freedom of speech was officially granted in Parliament.
Thus, the fun–and the censorship–began.
For countless years, the right to say whatever we please has been denied, debated and attacked. Freedom of speech–or more accurately, the attempt to curtail it–has sparked wars. Men and women have died in defense of it. Those in positions of power have made a vast history of their own in trying to tame the power of free speech. Why are governments the world over so afraid of letting the citizens speak their minds? In the world of democracy and enlightenment, why do so many subjects remain taboo?
Where there is free speech, there is active freedom of thought; where there is freedom of thought, there is danger to authority. Over the vast history of nations, the written word has been the one constant. It has often been the last bastion of stubborn resistance, and history teaches us that resistance to authority is often considered unacceptable.
When the Internet came along, things got very interesting indeed.
Since before its inception, the Internet has been a source of consternation for those who despise the power of freedom of speech. The Internet reaches farther than the pages of any book and in much less time. Suddenly everyone has a voice, and that voice is free to say whatever it pleases. Someone might even be able to openly discuss something as forbidden as sexuality. My goodness! What comes next?
The desperate attempts to stem the power of the Internet march on in more than a few governments across this globe. Every day there is a new challenge. The battles rage on in the courts, in the churches and in the houses of government. Those battles are being fought in a war that will never be truly won, for as long as there is someone afraid of what free speech can do, there will be another lawsuit, another proposal, or another bill passed in an attempt to bring free speech under tight rein.
In response, there will be those who prescribe to the age-old rule concerning authority: Rules are meant to be broken.
There was a time when this book you are holding would never have been published. There was a time when this book would have been burned while onlookers cheered. There was a time when the people who wrote the stories you are about to read would have been ridiculed. Shunned. Jailed. There are still places in our modern world where those writers might be executed for daring to loudly proclaim their support of sexuality in all its forms. Hard to believe, isn't it?
You hold in your hands more than a book. You hold a triumph. Every page is a testament to free speech. By reading the words in these pages, you are helping to ensure that book burnings continue to be relegated to the pages of history books. By purchasing this book, you have furthered the cause of those who fight to protect not only the author's right to say what they have said, but your right to read it.
The authors in this book are spread widely across the globe. They are men and women of varying races, creeds and educations. They are single and married, young and old, dreamers and realists. Whatever they are, wherever they are, there is a part of their lives that might sound just like yours.
They have one thing in common: They are not afraid to wield the written word. They are not afraid to use it to touch parts of the human psyche– and parts of the human body– to make you think, make you feel, make you want and need and desire and dream. They have found the ability to turn black and white words on a page into a kaleidoscope of color in your mind. If there is magic to be had in this world, writers are the magicians.
Now it's time to turn the page, reader. Time to make your way through the tales. Go ahead! No one is going to stop you. Exercise your right to read whatever you wish!
~ Gwen Masters
gwenmasters.net
Preface
Coming Together was conceived online in the Literotica.com® Author's Hangout. It is the result of many hours of collaboration between some very talented authors, poets, and illustrators who have (ahem) "come together" to produce a scintillating erotic cocktail.
In each volume of this serial, the reader may partake of a variety of intoxicating spirits: group sex, romance, both hetero- and homosexual romps, humor, incest, bondage, anal sex, dominance/submission, fantasy, and fetish. While each individual ingredient may not suit the tastes of every reader, the savory combination of flavors is sure to stir every imagination.
Proceeds from the sale of this volume of Coming Together will be donated to Electronic Frontier Foundation (www.eff.org) which is dedicated to protecting our digital rights.
So, join us in a toast: to sex!
Bottoms up,
~ Alessia Brio
Editor
alessiabrio.com
eroticanthology.com
Disclaimers
Coming Together is a compilation of erotic fiction, poetry, and illustrations. It is solely intended for persons of legal majority.
Please note that Coming Together contains works of fiction in which the characters may not practice safe sex. The authors and poets featured in this volume of Coming Together encourage all readers to act responsibly and to take appropriate precautions against both unwanted pregnancy and the transmission of disease.
For resources and frank discussion about safe sex practices, we refer the reader to the Coalition for Positive Sexuality at positive.org.
The First Time
© Justanne Farrow
Does your heart beat,
as mine,
I wonder,
each time we touch?
Does your pulse race,
as mine,
I wonder,
as our eyes meet?
Will your soul reach out,
as mine,
I wonder,
when we're alone?
Will all your dreams come true,
as mine,
I wonder,
when darkness falls?
Will our loving be all you want it to be,
I wonder?
These doubts and fears walk with me
as we leave the crowd behind,
as we close the door
and turn to each other -
in wonder.
Not What You See, What You Feel
© Victoria Blisse
I woke up yesterday morning in the same single bed, looking up at the same white ceiling, and anticipating the boredom of yet another day doing an office job I hate. Slinging my legs over the side of the bed and feeling the same worn old carpet beneath my feet, I sighed and wandered sleepily to the bathroom. As I took my usual shower, washing my hair in the same old shampoo, and drying myself on that faithfully fluffy towel, something snapped.
"Sod it!" I exclaimed at the top of my voice as I ran down stairs to the phone in the hall, my wet body wrapped in the towel and my hair dripping all over the carpet as I quickly dialed the number.
"Hello? Oh, hi! It's me. Mr. Hurst, I'm sorry, but I'm not going to be able to make it in to work today. I've just been really sick. Yeah, I think something has disagreed with me. I feel awful, really awful. I'll ring you later and let you know how I'm doing. I have to go, Mr. Hurst. I'm gonna... I'm gonna..." And with that, I slammed the phone down and twirled right out of my towel in delight!
An hour later, I locked my front door behind me and walked out into the hazy sunshine of an early spring day. The air was fresh and sharp with the smells of plants and flowers renewing and the sounds of the animal life returning to my little predictable house in the suburbs.
"I'm going to go and explore today!" I said out loud to myself as I walked with a slight skip in my step towards the nearest bus stop.
I wondered if people knew I was playing hooky. I felt so deliciously naughty and alive for the first time in what seemed like forever. How the hell had I gotten trapped in my life? When I was young, I dreamt of being a traveler, an explorer. I wanted to see the world; I wanted to be someone. Thank God no one told me back then that I'd end up in a dead end office job with no family, not even a boyfriend, and debts the same size as a small third world country's.
I jumped on the first bus that stopped, bought a saver ticket, and ran to the back of the bus. Taking a seat by the window, I watched the world go by, keeping an eye out for someplace interesting where I could hop off again. Soon we came to a group of shops I had never seen before. A crowd of people were getting off so I joined them, enjoying the thrill of putting my sensible shoes down on new un-trodden (by myself, at least) tarmac.
The shopping centre itself was nothing special, just the usual assortment of high street names and little family run businesses. What made it extraordinary to me was the way it was new: fresh and forbidden. I should be staring deep into the mind numbing gaze of my VDU right now, not trying on clothes in some strange part of town!
As I continued to mooch around, I found this curious little shop. You know the type: all dark and musty, smelling of incense and wood and other enticingly exotic things. I walked in and took in the surroundings. I was in a small pokey room, which seemed to be crammed from ceiling to floor with shelves full of the strangest array of pots and statues, beads and crystals, ornaments and candles. It nigh on took my breath away. I was in a browser's paradise, and soon I was lost in my own little world, investigating anything that caught my gaze.
"It's good stuff, is that," a rough growling voice said from behind me. I gasped and spun round.
"Ah, I'm sorry, lass. I didn't mean to scare thee. I'm only the shopkeeper here, my lamb. No need to fret."
I looked into the sparkling eyes of an old man whose wrinkles had overtaken every millimetre of his face. Crevices had turned into crevasses and yet his eyes twinkled with the light and life of a child. Giggling, I apologized for my reaction, explaining how I'd just gotten so lost in his shop that I had forgotten where I was.
"Aye, this place has a bit of magic about it. Doesn't it, my pet?" he replied, nodding his shaggy head up and down as if agreeing with himself. "I've worked in here all my life, and I swear it's this place that keeps me going."
I couldn't leave the shop without buying something. But what? I looked at the tub in my hand "Invisibility rub. Makes your skin feel so soft you'll swear it isn't there!" I decided I needed a bit of pampering, so why not get some moisturizing cream, even if it was a tad expensive. I handed it over to the shopkeeper.
"It's real good stuff this, petal. Make sure you apply it all over to get the best effect."
I nodded politely and watched as he put the tub in a brown paper bag, then handed it to me with my change.
Boarding the bus home, my heart was light and joyful, my mind already going over my excuse for not going in to work again tomorrow. I was going to start enjoying life from this moment on, and if that meant dumping my dead end job, then so be it. But what else could I do?
I was concentrating so hard I didn't look where I was going, and next I knew, my leg hit something solid and tripped me to the ground. As I raised myself to my knees, I came eye to crotch with a pair of faded jeans. I blushed bright red as a masculine hand reached down to help me up.