A Splash of Colour

By Rachel Randall (Guest Blogger)

I can't help myself. I keep stealing art to put into my stories.

Let me explain.

It started with my Total E-Bound Lust Bites Taking It Off. I'd just come back from a visit to the Mauritshuis, a particularly fantastic gallery in The Hague. I was still high on seeing some some great art (Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring is there, and my god, it is luminous close up). I'd also just read an interesting article about auctions to sell the corporate art collections of failed Wall Street banks. And so I just had to give Lucy, my heroine, a job in the art world, buying up the collections for those banks in the first place.

Of course, when you're writing a shorter length story, many of those lovingly-envisioned character details have to get trimmed from the actual text. I couldn't resist, however, building Lucy's love of modern art into her courtship of Valentine.

From Taking It Off:

On Friday afternoon she texted him a web address. The Google map was the walking route from his office on Fleet Street down to the Millennium Bridge and across the Thames, with further directions to view Composition with Yellow, Blue and Red, 1937-42. He stood in front of the painting for a long while, absorbing every line in a way that he’d never bothered to do before because he largely preferred the cast of characters at the National Gallery to the abstractions and harsher angles he found at the Tate Modern.

PIET’S NOT ALL BAD, Valentine conceded.

LOVE THE PIET, she agreed.

I didn't get Mondrian's art for a long time. But since I've lived in the Netherlands I've been lucky enough to see enough of it that it's started to really speak to me, especially the particular shades of his colours (his white), and their stark simplicity. I hope that at least one person who's read Taking It Off is inspired to go see some Mondrian too!

My Total E-Bound novella Playing with Prudence is a menage story about a kinky married couple and their best friend. Harry's well-travelled and weary by the time he visits Ned and Prudence Lyell. To him, there's nothing more desirable than the familiarity of England--and the people he loves. But to Pru, chafing at the constraints of Victorian society, Harry represents the exotic. He's seen and done things that she wants to reach out and touch. And as an artist, she's definitely jealous of the fact that as a man passing through Paris, he was able to see the most talked-about paintings of the time.

From Playing with Prudence:

Her eyes gleamed. “And you saw Manet’s Luncheon on the Grass?”

Now, Lyell saw where she was going with this and he warmed with pleasure.

She tossed him a smouldering look. “I have heard it is quite scandalous.”

“A pastoral scene,” Harry said slowly. “A reclining nude with his wife’s naked body and his favourite model’s face. The two men, Manet’s brother and, I believe, his brother-in-law, are fully clothed. There is fruit spilled on the grass.”

Lyell came up behind her and wrapped his arm around her waist, very deliberately fitting her against his body. “On what are they intending to feast?” Lyell asked, running his fingers up along the edges of her neckline. He edged the fabric away to display some of her creamy flesh, then rubbed the pads of his fingertips across her collarbone.

“That,” said Harry, stepping towards them, “is up to the beholder.”

Every moment of Playing with Prudence is a seduction away from the every-day; I couldn't think of a better way to illustrate that with a cameo from that risqué painting!

PS -- the two galleries where you can see the art I featured in my stories couldn't be more different…or more stunning. The Tate Modern (where the Mondrian is on display) is a former power station on London's Southbank. Not only is the collection of 20th century art fantastic, but its cavernous Turbine Hall is host to the coolest installation art around. The gorgeously ornate Musee d'Orsay (where the Manet hangs) is also repurposed, this time from a train station! The D'Orsay on the Seine in Paris was the most enjoyable art experience I've ever had -- highly recommended, as it won't overwhelm through sheer volume like the Louvre, and has a drool-worthy collection that will make you plot erotic romances involving art forgers and catburglars. With so much "scope for imagination", will art make a cameo in my future stories? I think it's a fairly safe bet! :)

Thanks so much to Lisabet for hosting me.

Taking It Off and Playing with Prudence are available now. Find excerpts, artwork, buy links and more on my website at rachelrandall.wordpress.com.

Playing with Prudence

By Rachel Randall (Guest Blogger)

Erotic romance from Total-E-Bound.

Buy Now!

In Playing with Prudence, rules aren't there to be broken. They're to be flirted with, to be teased and stretched to their boundaries. And within those flexible boundaries, there's the comfort and safety of knowing someone who loves you is watching over you to make sure you don't overstep.

The story is set in the mid-1860s, within an established D/s relationship. Layering the distinctive rules of Victorian society over the complex personal play between my married couple, Prudence and Ned, provides the backdrop – adding the wildcard of their lust for their handsome houseguest Harry gives their already kinky boundaries that deliciously spicy push. The excerpt I want to share with you is the perfect example of how in Playing with Prudence, obeying the rules (and the sexy, dominant man who sets them) is much more fun than breaking them.

Blurb

Fantasies are even better when they’re shared.

Prudence loves the sexy games her husband arranges for her, and she craves the punishment for losing as much as the pleasures of victory. Edward is frustrated, however, that Pru denies them both her true submission by telling herself they are only playing.

A visit from Major Harry Sterling, their oldest friend, offers an erotic opportunity to push Pru past her boundaries. She has always fantasised about having Harry, but will sharing her body with another help Pru fully surrender to the man she loves?

Excerpt

Carefully, almost reverently, Harry brushed his hand across the swell of her breasts. Her areoles ached for his attention, but he shied away from the swollen centres, concentrating instead on shaping her curves with his fingers.

“Harry,” Ned drawled. “She is not a nice girl. You’re meant to hurt her.”

There was warning in the way he said it, a flavour so familiar it had her muscles tensing in anticipation. Harry heard it too, his answer coming in the way he finally squeezed her breasts, forcing her nipples into even tighter peaks beneath the clamps.

“What does this feel like?” Harry rasped.

“Hurts...” The lingering slide of sound she made gave the lie to it, however. Mere words couldn’t convey how, for her, pain was never a simple sensation.

Harry groaned, his fingers splaying possessively over her skin.

Instinct had her fumbling for the belt of his robe but that same instinct stilled her hands again. “May I?” She kept her eyes trained on Harry’s cock, sleek and hard and hot already. She trembled from the effort of not touching him. Ned’s reply was long enough in coming that she felt hysterical panic well within her. Please—please—

“Touch him,” Ned ordered.

Quickly, before Ned could change his mind, Pru grasped Harry’s erection within her circle of fingers. She stroked around the flared head, delighted when his foreskin drew tight for her. Harry’s legs spread to give her better access. She felt as much an adventurer as he in that moment, as she explored the unknown territory of his body. Gently, she squeezed Harry’s balls then slid her hands around to touch the firm globes of his ass. It was just the shape of him against her palms, but she was so accustomed to the contours of Ned’s body that the small differences were astonishingly amplified.

She dug in her fingers, hard muscle flexing under her touch while his robe brushed against her knuckles, filling her with ideas. She longed to see those muscles at his chest, his shoulders, bunch and tighten.

“Master—”

Ned uncoiled and stalked towards them. “What?”

Pru licked her lips, tongue-tied, even as her hands twitched at the edges of Harry’s robe. She didn’t fool Ned for an instant, of course. His eyes narrowed, causing a delicious line of fear to shoot down her spine. But he smiled sweetly at her.

“Absolutely,” Ned said, still with that sweetness. “By all means, Harry should show you the body you lust after like a bitch in heat.”

Her skin blazed with humiliation as she snatched her hands back from Harry’s skin. The dirty whispers that Ned pulled from her in the dark of their bedroom were one thing, but here, in front of Harry, she felt more naked than bare skin could make her.

Ned walked right up behind Harry and pressed himself against his back. Harry—unable to see him but clearly feeling every inch of him—froze in surprise, his face going slack when Ned wrapped his arms around his chest and pulled the robe open across his shoulders.

Ned said, “I feel sorry for her right now. All her fantasies out in the open. Forced to admit there’s nothing civilised about her after all, that deep down she’s just panting for your cock.” He slid his fingers down the wide lapels of Harry’s robe and, with a showy spread of his thumbs, lifted it back over Harry’s shoulders and dropped it down onto the floor between them.

For a cunt-drenching moment, the two men were pressed together, one of Ned’s thighs pushed proprietarily between Harry’s spread legs. “You like this,” he said. Soft. Dangerous, but she couldn’t bring herself to care, because she did like it, very much. “Your Master undressing your lover.”

Pru nodded jerkily.

This,” Ned snapped, “is the worst fucking example of punishment I’ve ever fucking seen.” Mouth near to Harry’s ear, he said, “Do I need to take over?”

Rachel Randall is currently enjoying the good cheese, cheap wine and excellent trains of European living. She believes in evidence-based smut, and keeps a pet scientist in the house for peer review.

Bio: Rachel draws inspiration from the kinky, classy, cool of London. She writes characters with interesting day jobs, who know what they want and how to ask for it (usually with a slow slide down to their knees). Her favourite words include “indulgence”, “filthy”, and “Here are your backstage passes to the Franz Ferdinand gig”. One day she’ll figure out how to get away with naming a character after Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

rachelrandall.wordpress.com

www.twitter.com/rachel_randall

But Will It Turn Me On?

By Rachel Randall (Guest Blogger)

Finding the best words to describe your own writing can as big an adventure as putting the story down on paper in the first place.

And it’s oh-so-important to get right. Readers want to know that a story will push their buttons and turn them on, and one of the most important parts of my job as an author is to show them how it will do just that.

In some ways, it’s pure pleasure. I know my characters intimately. I’ve got my favourite scenes. I want to share everything about the story RIGHTNOW and OOHLETMESHOWYOU and ISITRELEASEDAYYET?

In others, it’s pure challenge (which, fortunately, brings its own piquant pleasures). Many of you will know the agony/ecstasy of struggling with a synopsis or cover copy. It’s quite thrilling when the words come together, but there’s that midnight-moment of desperation when you just want to babble them all out in a big mess and leave it at that.

That’s why I love wordle.net. Wordles are “word clouds” that take the most commonly used words from your text and represent them in beautiful visualisations. It’s free, and you can tweak your creations exactly how you please.

Taking It Off, my next release from Total E-Bound, is due out on Valentine’s Day. I love this story. I think it’s funny, flirtatious and full of really hot sexual tension. I want to share everything about it with you RIGHTNOW and OOHLETMESHOWYOU and ISITRELEASEDAYYET?

But what’s the story really all about? There’s nothing quite like seeing it all there in burgundy, white, grey and pink!

Visit me at rachelrandall.wordpress.com where you can find free stories and Wordles galore. You can also check out my recent interview on Jenika Snow’s blog, where you’ll hear all about my love for my bicycle (when you live in the Netherlands, you love your bike), my dream date (a Britrock threesome), and my recent release His Christmas Present (also featuring Valentine from Taking It Off).

Thanks, Lisabet, for letting me stop by!

Add Taking It Off to your Valentine’s Day wishlist.

Valentine’s got a talent for finding the right fit—whether it’s matching an executive to a job or finding a lover for himself—but he’s never had a first impression like Lucy before.

Commandeered by the intriguing stranger at a luxury London department store, Valentine’s more than happy to provide the masculine opinion Lucy demands. After all, watching her model fabulous cocktail dresses, saucy shoes and mouth-watering lingerie is his pleasure.

He soon realises that he wants more than just one seductive afternoon with the luscious Lucy. Getting under those new clothes will be a challenge since she's gone back to New York, but he's not the only one being driven mad by the heat of their long-distance flirtation. Now Valentine just needs to convince his little tease that the best part of trying things on is taking them off again.

(A Wordle picture may be worth a thousand words, but it’s always fun to have an excerpt too! Read a selection from Taking It Off here )