Thursday, June 03, 2010

The House that Tien Built

WARNING - explicit content...

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That night, in the house that Tien built, she fed me Viagra -- I couldn’t get it up otherwise, because of the olanzapine. I was one huge hard-on, from the drug, from the anger simmering below the veneer of my skin. But she was wild, happy with her power: her promotion, her house, me fucking her silly; I was the only one who ever made her orgasm, or so she said. That night, she only let me penetrate her from behind, not seeing me, or blind-folded, so we used scarves, lots of them, over the eyes, around wrists and ankles.

We fucked like feral cats, for hours, her yowling like a banshee, but despite all the wetness and touch and stimulation, I didn’t come. I didn’t ejaculate until I rubbed myself between her breasts, her holding them close together around me, facing me, the tip of my cock just reaching under her mouth.

I had to see her face, you see. Eyes wide open, both of us. But she kept hers closed. All I smelled were the orchids, scenting the room, scenting us, marking me hers. I came all over her chest, and she made me lick her clean, like a cat.

She curled into me, also like a cat, drowsy and warm. It was three in the morning.

“Marry me,” I said again to her as she drifted off. “Let’s have children. A boy and a girl. The girl will be just like you, beautiful and strong. Powerful.”

“And the boy?” she asked.

Not like me. I didn’t reply.

Her laugh muffled in the pillow.

“I love you,” I said.

“Good,” she whispered.

Night settled between us, uneasy. I disentangled my legs from hers, rolled to the other side of the expansive mattress. Her hand touched my back.

“Don’t leave,” she said.

“Why am I here, Tien?”

“Because I trust you,” she said. “Only you.”

I waited for more, for her to echo my earlier words. I wondered who else she trusted. Stan? Her periodic amours? I wondered if trust was strong enough glue.

“And I can only love those I trust,” she finally said.

Her fingers trailed down my back, then were gone. The cold of the room brushed up instead, making me shiver. I pulled the blanket around me, around us, her already sleeping.

When I woke, it was still dark. My pillow was damp and my eyes burned. In the thickest part of the night I listened to Tien sleep, her breath steady, soft like cat’s feet padding through a thicket before pouncing on a bird. I laid there, complete in my loneliness. Early in the morning, I woke again. I crept down the stairs, crashed on the unmade futon in my room, and dreamed of Phoebe.


***

Excerpted from PURE, a novel well on its way to completion. I pieced together the ENTIRE story today -- 91 scenes (80 written), 81,000 words, a beginning, and ending, and, at last, a middle. Aiming for a FULL solid first draft by the end of this month.

29 comments:

  1. This is great. Thanks for sharing your beautiful words with us. I look forward to seeing this on my bookshelf.

    And whew. HOT! EHEE.

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  2. What a crushing load of sadness underneath all that animal passion.

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  3. Linda, I am your fan. Can't wait to read all 81K words, in order.

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  4. This excerpt was powerful! Your writing has always brought great awe and satisfaction to me.

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  5. Thanks all for reading. I was nervous posting this -- pretty raw. And i realize now I have 4 references to cats. Hmmm, that's what first drafts are for -- to fix. Peace...

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  6. I thought the cat references were an attempt at a theme, but you can definitely clean them up and make them a little more subtle. The characters, though, will probably remain dirty. I hope nobody is put off by a lewd post. I think you have credit with enough readers by now to post what you want.

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  7. I agree wholeheartedly with John... I didn't view the material as crass.

    Keep it coming and yes, looking forward to that book.

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  8. That last line, brings it all home - the sadness most of all.

    Excellent writing. This is going to be a barnstormer of a novel. There is terrific energy in your characters.

    Explicit, but really well-written content.

    Very well done.

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  9. Even through the steamy sex, the sadness of this shines through. Good story.

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  10. as a taster for the novel this hits all the right buttons in me... Look forward to the full version

    marc nash

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  11. This is a powerful excerpt. It had me from the start, and not just because the sex was well written. There's a lot going on beneath the surface.

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  12. erotica? another side to this wonderfully emerging tale..very strong and potent.

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  13. Finally, some sex scenes that didn;t make me cringe! Although my alltime favourite still has to be a line from Jackie Collins's Lucky: "she took him to heaven and back and swallowed the evidence"

    Can't wait to read the full thing. That sadness after the passion is a killer line.

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  14. Nicely done!!! I agree with Mazzz, usually I'm not a fan of explicit scenes only because they are awkwardly handled, but this was great. Can't wait to read the rest.

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  15. Linda, I can only echo what some others have said. It's so easy to write bad sex, but you handled it beautifully and kept it interesting. A few lines here are sad, but the last one breaks my heart.

    Like the rest of your readers, I can't wait to read your novel. Many hugs, Olivia

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  16. Seriously well done. The physical closeness you describe just emphasizes his loneliness. Congrats for almost having a first draft complete! Wahoo :-)

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  17. I'm jealous of your progress on this novel - we've been seeing little pieces of the puzzle (you've dangled them before us like a toy mouse in front of a cat). Looking forward to seeing the final package.

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  18. It is so exciting to know you are very close to a completed first draft. This will be one dynamite novel, Linda. I can't wait.
    ~jon

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  19. Thanks all for reading and your kind words. Jon, yours were the sweetest ;^)

    Mark, keep plugging at yours. PURE is 3 years in the writing, 4 in the imagination.

    Also happy I didn't offend anyone with purply prose!

    I'm proud of this excerpt for many reasons, but mostly because it IS the voice of Ben. Truly.

    Thanks for your support and caring about this project. Peace, Linda

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  20. As most others noted, steamy and well-written sex scenes. I'm sure it's all part of the 'big picture' of your novel. Great job, Linda!

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  21. Phew!! Very well written. Good job.

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  22. Oh man! She's the powerhouse. He can't get it up until she feeds him Viagra. He finally comes and then the bitch makes him lick her clean. I don't know when I've felt this sorry for a man! And yet, the story was written by a woman. Linda, you are GOOD!

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  23. Not much more to add to what others have already said - you wrote this so well Linda! Having gotten to know Ben from other excerpts, I think this one just emphasizes how desperate he feels.

    I guess there is one thing to add - congratulations on reaching that 81K goal! You deserve a bottle or two of champagne Linda - drink up!

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  24. I tried to leave a comment here a few days ago but the blogger gods were against me... either that or my mother was paying attention... this was phenomenal writing, Linda, engrossing, delicious, just really, really good. And did I mention sexy? Oh yeah. Sexy. As. Hell.

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  25. Wow, wow, wow! I am SO psyched about your PURE deadline!!! OMG! I remember years ago, when it was just an inkling of what was to come after BTB, and now to see it almost fully realized, amazing.

    And GREAT scene. And it's like we were talking about on the facebook discussion, this scene does reveal sooo much about both of your characters. I love that he sleeps separately, that he dreams of Phoebe even after telling Tien he loves her. I love the image of him complete in his loneliness in a situation where you wouldn't normally think of a person as lonely, it's profound and I can relate.

    GREAT SCENE! You go, Linda!

    P.S. If you need a first reader, summer would be the perfect time for me to have the time and space to be one of them :) Hint, hint!

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  26. Wow! Seems the most appropriate word. You are an amazing writer - this was captivating and complex!

    You are gonna have one great novel out there soon!

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  27. I like your warning - it made me want to read it even more. ;)

    This was completely captivating, especially the ending. Left me breathless.

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  28. Congratulations of piecing together PURE. 81K is a good length too.
    You are gaining quite a following here - kudos to you.

    Poor Ben, stuck with the duplicitous Tien yet still yearning in secret for Phebes. Nicely handled scene - raw yet not uncomfortable.
    Double check your time references thought sweetie! THey're up til 3 am, then back deep in the night , then early in the am Ben creeps downstairs. Little quibble -- that's it. :)
    Take care,

    Kim

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