Magical Lust
By Lisabet Sarai
In my latest
paranormal romance, The
Eyes of Bast,
my heroine and hero
can't touch one another
in even the most
casual way without experiencing
intense erotic attraction,
so strong that they
can rarely resist the
urge to join their
bodies and meld their
spirits. The powerful magnetism
draws them together is
an example of what
I call “magical lust”.
Magical lust goes way
beyond simple attraction.
It is irrational,
irresistible, totally overwhelming,
impossible to control,
and often seemingly pre-ordained.
In a realistic,
contemporary romance, immediate,
over-the-top arousal like this will
raise eyebrows. Sure, there's
chemistry, and love
at first sight, but
in the real world
there are limits to
how readily a couple
will act on that
sort of impulse.
In paranormal erotic
romance, though, readers are
willing to suspend their
disbelief. A paranormal
tale can offer
all sorts of reasons
why two characters simply
cannot keep their hands
off one another. Their
fates may have become
entwined over past lives.
They may be enchanted.
They may be destined
to mate due to
quirks of biology or
the magic that sustains
the shape shifter pack.
They may have been
chosen for one another
by some external power,
either beneficent or evil.
Whatever determines their
carnal connection, it's impossible
to ignore or repudiate.
In some paranormal books,
the fated lovers represent
different factions in
a cosmic struggle (a
sort of paranormal Romeo
and Juliet), but that
doesn't matter. No one
and nothing can keep
them apart. No other
love can satisfy them.
Sex that's driven by
magical lust is more
than just scratching an
itch. It's literally a
supernatural experience.
It's great fun
writing scenes driven by
magical lust. One can
give in to fantasy,
and yes, to hyperbole,
without turning readers off.
In The
Eyes of Bast,
I'm not specific about
what binds Shaina and
Tom, but it's clearly
beyond the realm of
the explicable. It's related
somehow to their animal
natures, to the generative
power of the earth.
I don't really have
to lay out all
the details. Anyone who
has read any paranormal
romance will recognize their
attraction.
Here's a snippet
from the book – the
first time Tom and
Shaina touch.
Excerpt from The
Eyes of Bast:
“It’s
not safe here after
dark, you know.”
His earnest tone
made me chuckle. I
held up the can
of mace. “I can
take care of myself.”
Worry furrowed his
high forehead. “That won’t
help against some of
the things that come
out at night.”
A chill shot
through me. I shook
it away. “I was
just headed home anyway.”
“Good. You
should be careful.” His
smile returned, melting my
last vestiges of suspicion.
He pronounced his English
with a precision that
made me wonder if
he spoke something else
as his native language.
It wasn’t exactly
an accent, but I
could tell he wasn’t
a native New Yorker.
“What about
you?”
“Oh – I
know my way around
here,” he answered. He
ran his fingers through
his curls and arched
his back a bit,
as though stretching.
Despite that odd awkwardness,
he was lithe and
graceful. A brief
pang of desire shot
through me. “And I
have excellent night vision.
Exceptionally sharp hearing,
too.”
I couldn’t
figure out why, but
something about him
felt familiar. “Have we
met before?” I asked,
then cringed, realizing it
sounded like a pick
up line. “I mean
– um – I don’t
mean…” Hot blood climbed
into my cheeks, though
the shadows were probably
too dense for him
detect my discomfort.
His bold laugh
rang out in the
growing darkness. “Maybe we
have met,” he
said. “I live in
the neighborhood. Do
you?”
“Pretty close,”
I answered, alarm bells
sounding in my head.
No matter how handsome
and charming he was,
I wasn’t about
to give him my
address.
“Well, then,
you never know. You
said you were heading
home. May I walk
with you?” He took
my arm without waiting
for my permission.
“Um – actually—”
His touch stopped me
cold. It drove out
rational thought. As if
someone had turned on
a faucet, hormones poured
into my blood. My
nipples tensed and my
lower lips grew plump
and slick. His fingers
on my bare forearm
were tipped with fire.
I gasped, staring up
in wonder at his
strong, even features, overcome
by his imminent maleness.
I wanted stretch
out in the grass
and pull him down
on top of me.
I was dying to
feel his weight on
my chest, his hardness
probing between my thighs.
Skin on skin was
what I craved, with
an urgency I’d
never experienced in my
all my twenty-eight
years.
His nostrils flared
and I knew he’d
caught the ocean scent
rising from my sex.
I could smell it
myself. My saturated panties
and jeans were no
barrier. He grinned, revealing
teeth so white they
gleamed in the twilight
gloom. I shuddered with
need, imagining those teeth
tearing my flesh, and
stumbled on the gravel
path.
“Are you
all right?” he asked.
He released his grasp
to search my face,
concern evident in his
eyes. The blaze raging
through my body subsided
slightly.
“Ah
– I think so. I’m
dizzy...” I wasn’t
lying. The world swung
around us, tree canopies
whirling overhead. Gradually, the
universe settled back into
place. My heart rate
fell to something close
to normal. My nipples
still ached for contact,
though. My clit pulsed,
the seam of my
jeans kindling sparks every
time I moved. “I’ve
– I’ve got to
go.”
I started down
the path, forcing myself
to move away from
him and his perilous
magnetism. It might
have been the most
difficult thing I’d
ever done.
****
See what I
mean?
There's a lot
of this in the
book, because it was
clear to me from
the start that Tom
and Shaina were bound
by the fierce ties
of magical lust. All
I had to do
was allow them to
act on their desires.
In fact, I doubt
I could have stopped
them – even if I'd
wanted to!
This post is
part of my blog
tour for The
Eyes of Bast.
Totally Bound has a
giveaway on their website
in conjunction with the
tour. Just to sweeten
the pot, I’m
adding a couple of
other prizes. Leave a
comment with your email
and you could win
this statue of Bastet
from the Boston Museum
of Fine Arts. Or
if you’d prefer,
I’ll send you
a brace of other
stories that feature magical
lust: Hot Spell
and Rough Weather.
Trust your heart.
Follow your dreams.
Shaina Williams’ grandmother bequeathed her that wisdom,
along with an old pendant from the Islands, carved from an ocelot’s tooth. When
instinct tells Shaina to visit the feral cat trap she’s set in Central Park,
she listens to that inner voice. She discovers she’s caged a magnificent black
tom, but the cat inexplicably vanishes after she tends to his wounds. Seeking
the errant feline, Shaina encounters instead a handsome stranger whose
slightest touch sets her body on fire. As the day dawns after a night of
ferocious passion, her mysterious lover is forced back into his true shape—the
tomcat she rescued.
Born a cat, Tom was transformed into an unwilling shape
shifter by a sorceress who craved a human plaything to satisfy her perverse
lusts. Centuries old and irresistibly powerful, Delphine Montserrat will stop
at nothing to find her runaway familiar. Shaina vows to do whatever is
necessary to defeat the vicious but seductive witch and save the man she
believes is her soul mate—even though it might mean losing him forever.
Publisher's Note: This
book was previously published elsewhere. It has been revised and re-edited for
release with Totally Bound.
Like the sound of The
Eyes of Bast? Buy it here.

Lisabet
has
more
degrees
than
anyone
would
ever
need,
from
prestigious
educational
institutions
who
would
no
doubt
be
deeply
embarrassed
by
her
chosen
genre. She has traveled widely and currently lives in Southeast Asia with her indulgent husband and two exceptional felines, where she pursues an alternative career that is completely unrelated to her creative writing.
For more information
about
Lisabet
and
her
writing,
visit
her
website
(http://www.lisabetsarai.com) or her blog Beyond
Romance
(http://lisabetsarai.blogspot.com). She also hangs out at the group blog Oh Get a Grip (http://ohgetagrip.blogspot.com), writes monthly reviews for Erotica Revealed (http://www.eroticarevealed.com) and contributes to the ERWA blog (http://erotica-readers.blogspot.com).
Hi, Crystal! Thank you for hosting me.
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