The Image at the Center by Annabeth Leong (@annabethleong)

Thanks so much for hosting me!

I plan my books by letting scenes play through my head, grabbing images that stick to me. Once I have a few that feel very compelling, very hot, and very meaningful, I start my outlining process, building around the emotional and erotic center of those scenes.

For my book Untouched, I knew I wanted to write about masturbation and a woman who struggles with being touched by other people. Very early on, I got an image of the woman playing with a dildo while watching a group of people having sex. I saw the intense looks passing between her and one of the people in the orgy, and then I envisioned that person stepping away from the group and coming toward her. He reaches out with one hand, approaching her face, and she stiffens because she thinks he’s going to touch her. There is enough tenderness and connection between them that maybe she wants him to, but her problems with touch still hold her back.

He gets this, though, and stops short, his hand a breath away from her upper lip, the scent of sex wafting up from his fingers and into her nostrils.

As soon as I had this image, I knew I had the seed of my book. Writing Untouched was a difficult process for me—the book was under my skin, changing me, raising questions I didn’t know if I could answer. This image was my icon, the true emotional and erotic north that I could turn to whenever I felt lost in the process of completing a novel.

Now I’ll give you a taste of the final version of that scene—which is still one of my favorites in the book.

Excerpt:

He yanked the condom free of his dick, juices spilling from it onto his hand. A pearl of cum formed at the slit on the head of his cock, and he caught it on the end of one finger.

Eli stepped toward Celia. Her heart pounded. She was afraid, but she was still coming too  hard to pull away. It felt as if she would be coming forever.

He went down on one knee and stretched his hand toward her. She was certain that he would touch her. If he touched her, she would not be able to stand it, but at that moment, she didn’t know if that was because of how horrible it would be to feel his fingers or because she would break apart from the pleasure of a brush from his hand.

Eli’s finger approached Celia’s face. She couldn’t breathe. It came closer and closer, until it was a hair’s breadth from her lip, and still she did not move. He gazed at her face as if she were a holy object that he was venerating.

The heat of his finger carried the scent of that pearl of cum to Celia’s nostrils. That heady musk—his essence—shot straight up into her brain. Celia gasped at the erotic shock of it. She had never felt so close to a man, had never willingly taken even this much of him in. Her hips jerked, and the new orgasm that took her obliterated her ability to form impressions. It was sharp and colorful and endless, and all the while, she was aware of Eli kneeling between her legs, close enough to touch but making no move to do so, offering his scent to her, worshipping her.

Blurb:

Celia Lambent lives in constant conflict. Her sexual appetite is voracious, and yet she cannot bear to be touched. Untouched is a raunchy journey of voyeurism and discovery as Celia seeks the cause and cure for her condition.

Preorder now:

Amazon US | Amazon UK

Publisher site: http://www.sweetmeatspress.com

Untouched is also distributed in the U.S. by Consortium, and will be available at many fine bookstores.

Bio:

Annabeth Leong has written erotica of many flavors. She loves shoes, stockings, cooking and excellent bass lines. Her work has appeared in more than 40 anthologies and counting, including Made for Hire from Sweetmeats Press. Visit her website, annabetherotica.com, or find her on Twitter @AnnabethLeong

Preorder offer:

Preorder Untouched now and forward your confirmation e-mail to annabeth dot leong at gmail dot com. As a thank you, Annabeth will send you a complimentary e-book copy of your choice of one of her other single-author titles (You can see them listed at annabetherotica.com). Please include which e-book and format you’d like in your e-mail.

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