1. The Sleeping Beauty TrilogyBy Anne RiceAnne Rice did it before Fifty Shades of Grey, when she published her underground hit Sleeping Beauty trilogy in the 1980s under the pen name A.N. Roquelaure. Some 30 years later, it’s being rereleased with the message: “If you liked 50 Shades of Grey, you’ll love the Sleeping Beauty trilogy.” Rice told the New York Times, “Women have just as much right to pornography as men do, and I’m talking about literary porn, erotica. If a woman wants to read about being overwhelmed by a pirate, that’s her right.” And, boy, is it overwhelming. This is no Disney movie. Here’s how the Prince (not exactly Charming) wakes Sleeping Beauty up.
Naughty Bit:He mounted her, parting her legs, giving the white inner flesh of her thighs a soft, deep pinch, and, clasping her right breast in his left hand, he thrust his sex into her.
He was holding her up as he did this, to gather her mouth to him, and as he broke through her innocence, he opened her mouth with his tongue and pinched her breast sharply.
He sucked on her lips, he drew the life out of her into himself, and feeling his seed explode within her, heard her cry out.
And then her blue eyes opened.
2. LaceBy Shirley ConranA huge novel that was turned into a Warner Brothers mini-series. Lili went from porno princess to Hollywood star, and now she has mommy-issues: she wants to know which of four women she’s summoned to her New York hotel is her mother, because she’d like to destroy her. Let the over-the-top theatrics begin.Naughty Bit:Kate, who never knew whether to swallow, spit or dribble, tasted the oddly pungent, acrid almond odor. “What do men like?” she timidly asked Tom later.Silence, then he said, “Naturally, I can’t speak for the rest of my sex, but when borne on summits of delights such as I have just experienced, I neither know nor care.”
3. My Secret GardenBy Nancy FridayNancy Friday broke new ground in her bestseller My Secret Garden by revealing the real-life sexual fantasies of women, asserting that “sexual freedom was never a part of modern feminism.” Her scenarios are riotously fun to read. Here’s a fantasy about cheering on the Baltimore Colt (ha!) football player Johnny Unitas from the stands.Naughty Bit:Everyone is going mad. He’s got his cock out now and somehow it’s between my legs; he’s torn a hole in my tights under my short skirt and I yell louder as the touchdown gets nearer now. We are all jumping up and down and I have to lift my leg higher, to the next step on the bleachers, to steady myself; now the man behind me can slip it in more easily. We are all leaping about, thumping one another on the back, and he puts his arm around my shoulders to keep us in rhythm. He’s inside me now, shot straight up through me like a ramrod; my God, it’s like he’s in my throat! “All the way, Johnny! Go, go, run, run!”
4. Readerotica Vol. 1Labeled “a private, discreet way to read erotica,” this collection of free (yes, free!) short stories has the capability of vastly improving our subway rides. “Reading erotica on an electronic reader is a delicious experience because no one knows what you are reading,” the introduction says. Damn right. The opening story features a woman who gets a sex lesson by listening to her friend’s fantasy.Naughty Bit:I peek, and Annie is lifting her skirt next to me and it’s the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen a woman do. She wears nothing underneath and she has no hair at all on her pussy and it’s beautiful.“You can watch me, China, or we can put a scarf around your eyes to help you lose yourself and take off.”I want to watch. I suddenly can understand why Jack wants this. I take my jeans and panties off as she instructs and I lie back and spread my legs. She props me up with the pillows so I can see, but I notice that she has closed her eyes and is touching herself.
5. StolenBy Jinx Jamison and Minx MaloneThe Madame X School of Sex series of short ebooks are steamy cheap buys. This story is a prequel of sorts, featuring characters from the series and showing how they started. Stolen features a pickpocket with a cleavage to kill for who gets caught and has to return a wallet. Perhaps readers who’ve seen the film 1959 French film Pickpocket would find stirrings of a shared ecstasy, but honestly Stolen would probably kill the stoic and gaunt director Robert Bresson with a heart attack.Naughty Bit:Go on. You took it out so you should be the one to put it back,” he growls. When I take a tentative step forward his eyes glitter in triumph.He’s testing me and I am helpless to resist it. I should run away or throw the stupid wallet at his head. But I don’t do any of those things. Instead I step forward and slowly slide my hand into his pocket.I brush up against the hard length of his cock and he lets out a low moan. He doesn’t protest when I take my hand out of his pocket and unzip his slacks. I want to feel the impressive erection I know is hiding beneath the material.
6. Bared to YouBy Sylvia DayIf what you want is a complete Fifty Shades clone, this is it. Instead of a tie on the cover, we have cufflinks. Instead of a millionaire named Christian Grey we have Gideon Cross.Naughty Bit:“Haven’t you ever had sex in a limo?”“No.” His jaw hardened. “Have you?”Looking away without answering, I saw the traffic and pedestrians surging around us. We were only inches away from hundreds of people, but the dark glass concealed us and made me feel reckless. I wanted to please him. I wanted to know I was capable of reaching into Gideon Cross, and there was nothing to stop me but him.
7. DecadentBy Shayla BlackIf S&M between Anastasia and Grey isn’t enough for you, add another guy to the mix. This is the story of Kimber, a virgin who has a crush on Jesse, a pop star who likes threesomes. So she asks bodyguard Deke and his friend Luc for an education. Chaos ensues.Naughty Bit:Another foot forward, and he leaned into her personal space, putting his lips near her ear. “In my bedroom, ménage means two men simultaneously pounding a woman to orgasm and driving her so insane, she forgets her name and screams the roof down.”
8. Open For BusinessEdited by Alison TylerThis collection of office erotica is not exactly Secretary, the film based on the excellent collection of short stories, Bad Behavior, by Mary Gaitskill. But, just like Fifty Shades, these are, well, much more explicit.
Naughty Bit:“If you’re looking for a new job, we need a receptionist at HQ. It’s not a posh place like this, but we have a laugh, and it does mean I’d get to see you again.”His smile sent an aftershock of pleasure right through me.“Not to mention that a chick like you would be a hell of a lot more fun than the dragon they sent us from the agency.”“You reckon?” I asked, pushing him onto the floor on his back, straddling him and reaching for his belt.“I reckon,” he said, grinning widely when he felt my hand reach for his cock.What is the old saying about being in the right place at the right time and grabbing opportunities when they come by? My hand tightened on his cock. It looked like office work wasn’t going to be so bad after all.
9. Orgasmic: Erotica for WomenEdited by Rachel Kramer BusselThe great thing about Fifty Shades of Grey is that it was written by a woman, for women. Here are plenty more stories like it, centering on what gets women to the O word.Naughty Bit:I’m bucking my hips, feeling those little tickly sensations that mean my orgasm can’t be too far away, which is precisely when Danny orders me to stop what I’m doing and play the vibrator over my nipples instead.
10. Going DownBy Rachel Kramer BusselThere’s no shortage of oral excitement in erotica, but a whole collection dedicated on such pleasures is something else.Naughty Bit:She tried to imagine he’d said something else, instead, like: I just want to eat peaches until they yum all over the place. Which didn’t make any sense, she knew, but hell. It made more sense than his sudden desire to lick her panties and the stuff through her panties and oh no, oh no, he was licking her bottom. He was definitely licking her bottom.
11. Carrie’s StoryBy Molly WeatherfieldA very explicit sadomasochistic novel, but the writing is actually quite good. Naughty Bit:I had been Jonathan’s slave for about a year when he told me he wanted to sell me at an auction. I wasn’t in any condition to respond when he told me this—I was very carefully licking his balls, concentrating on doing it the way he liked.
12. Do Not DisturbEdited by Rachel Kramer Bussel
How much sex has a typical hotel bed been host to? It’s better not to think of that the next time you travel, but if the thought doesn’t disgust you, you’ll probably be a fan of this collection of hotel sex stories.
Naughty Bit:
“I’d like the room service waiter to have the chance to appreciate you.”
“No! Please, no.” the thought is as horrifying as it is arousing.
