Suffused with Heat: Tabitha Rayne Taking Flight

I wondered if Tabitha meant Shooting the Shit with Vida Bailey, or if she thinks I'm less waffly than I really am - but I do really agree about the ability of eroticists and sex writers to connect honestly, and of internet people to connect instantly - but anyway, I love her title, and I'm delighted to welcome her to Suffused with Heat to hear about her new novel, installment two of her futuristic apocalyptic trilogy.

Cutting the Crap with Vida Bailey!

Or getting down to the nitty gritty – still sounding a bit harsh? I don't meant to :D

Vida has kindly let me come over to shout about my new book – but before I do, I wanted to have a chat about how we communicate with each other.

I was lucky enough to attend Eroticon this year and met up with some of the fabulous people I chat to all year online. It is a completely unique event in my life as it is where I meet other erotic writers and find myself free to talk uncensored about my writing. It is a liberating experience as the erotic, spiritual erotic and artistic erotic are things that occupy my mind space...ooo... let's say 75% of the time (probably more, I edited it down a little). To find all these beautiful eloquent normal people at ease with their expressive side is just amazing. I'm not saying I don't have this in my 'real' world, but just on a different plane.

So, one of these people I happened to meet, is my delightful host, Ms Vida Bailey. We ducked out of one of the sessions to go and grab some sun and buy souvenirs (we both don't get to England much...). As we sat in the sun drinking our coffee, we fell into easy deep conversation about life, spirituality, the erotic, death, apocalypse – all the good stuff. We even connected over a scene in True Detective – which sounds trivial but it blew my mind.

It's an awesome piece of acting. “I can smell the psychosphere...”

So how, I hear you ask, does this fit in with my new book? (Come on, you knew this was coming!)

Well, in one of the scenes in Taking Flight where the leading couple have had to go into hiding, they meet another couple who take them under their wing and teach them how to survive in the wilderness – some sexy shenanigans ensue of course, it is an erotic novel after all, but they have agreed do never share their true identity. To do so may risk their safety.

The good thing that this brings up is that they have no baggage, no explanation for their existence is required. They are all in the same situation, with limited knowledge of each others 'real' life so they are very much experiencing the here and now. It means during conversation, they can explore any topic unhindered by expectation. They can talk philosophy, spirituality, love, death, transcendence. In other words they can get straight to the point.

I found it fascinating that I had the same feeling in Eroticon. We were all there – unhindered by our daily life. So the most outrageous, creative and erotic discussions were had.

Here's a little excerpt where Deborah ponders this very thought.

Deborah brought the past few days—could it be weeks?—to mind. The discussions the four of them had around the fire each night were philosophical, theological, sexual, scientific—never personal. Neither couple had inquired about the other’s situation or reasons for being there, exiled in the wood, or ventured their own story. It was like the code of the forest. It actually freed up a lot of space for getting right into the debates on life, existence, and all the good stuff. Deborah had found it scintillating and refreshing and had relished the talks. Marcus, though, seemed to have gleaned a lot more about the sexual spiritual side than she had. While she’d been thinking about the existence of God, he’d been wondering about fucking. She smiled to herself; she could only think after the best, most intense orgasm of her life that one of them had been the fool all this time, and it wasn’t him.

“So how do we do it?” She racked her brains and could only conclude that he must have been having private talks with Birch while they’d been out together hunting. She had to ask him. “Are you and Birch fucking?”

“Are you and Hazel?” His response was lightning fast, and she had not been expecting a counter-attack.

She blushed to the very roots of her hair.

“No!”

“But you want to, right?” he asked, boring into her with his stare.

“No!” She was shocked. They’d never had an exchange like this before. It felt like it was rocking their foundations. “Well, yes— God, I don’t know. Maybe?” She dropped her head into her armpit in horror at her admission.

He lifted her face so gently it made her weep. “Me too. I wanted Birch.” He paused to correct himself. “I want Birch.”

She sobbed.

“But only with my body. I’ve never felt like this. It feels like a freedom.” As he spoke his eyes lit up and she could feel his heart quicken beneath his shirt. “This is what our society is, a polyamorous one. I’ve never thought it made sense before until I met these two. Birch has taught me the beauty of it. It doesn’t diminish our love, it makes it stronger.”

“I still don’t understand.” She was sobbing, but their fingers were laced through each other’s as they spoke.

“Well, here’s the theory...” He sat up cross-legged and Deborah did the same. “If we manage to make the unity bond—that is, come together so hard our spirits could slip past physicality and into each other’s, even just for a second—it means that it will happen again with every orgasm we have. Even by ourselves, or with different people, a part of our spirit will always meet at that point. It’s a beautiful thing.”

Deborah did her very best to suspend her disbelief long enough to agree that, in theory, it actually was a beautiful thing.

Tiny snippet

“If we part ways,” he started but Deborah pressed a finger to his lips, she didn’t want to hear it, speaking it might make it true. He pushed her hand from his face and held it at his chest, his woozy gaze fixed on hers. “Deborah, if we part ways, I’ll find you. I’ll find you at the meeting point. Do everything you can to come. We are more than the physical.”

If that has whetted you appetite for some more sexy dystopian shenanigans – here's the blurb and all important buy links:

Taking Flight by Tabitha Rayne
The prequel to A Clockwork Butterfly
Genre(s): Futuristic Erotic Romance
Price: $4.99

Lovers on the run in search of a bond that transcends all else.

Dr. Deborah Regan is a scientist working on a cure to the poison that's killing the male population and destroying the natural world. But when she makes a breakthrough in her research, it becomes clear that the authorities have no intention of finding a cure, and now that she's getting closer to an answer, she's a threat to them—a threat they need to deal with quickly.

Deborah and her partner, Marcus, flee to the forest where they meet another couple on the run. Birch and Hazel show them how to survive in the wild and teach them the theory of ultimate unity. They believe that by finding sexual nirvana at the point of intense orgasm, they will break through the barriers of physicality and become one.

It soon becomes apparent that Deborah has an aptitude for falling into this trance-like state, and she manages to bring Marcus on her journey. Their spirits can indeed join together at the meeting point, suspended in time and space while they climax.

When Birch and Hazel become jealous of the young couple's ease at reaching ultimate unity—something they've unsuccessfully tried to do for years—they betray Deborah and Marcus to the authorities. As they are separated, Marcus begs Deborah to continue to search for the ultimate sexual unity, because he's convinced that no matter where they are, this connection will allow them to meet again on a spiritual plane.

Will this metaphysical union be enough for a couple so deeply in love?

Content Warning: This book contains apocalyptic peril and graphic sexual content, including m/f and f/f sexual interaction, along with BSDM

Note: This book has been previously published.

Bio

Tabitha Rayne has been told she is quirky, lovely and kinky – not necessarily in that order or by the same person. She writes erotic romance and as long as there’s a love scene – she’ll explore any genre.

Her short stories are included in anthologies from Cleis Press, Ravenous Romance, HarperCollins Mischief, Xcite, Oysters & Chocolate, Burning Books Press and House of Erotica. Her novella, Mia's Books won a Reader's Choice Award with TwoLips reviews. Taking Flight is the second book in The Clockwork Butterfly trilogy from Beachwalk Press.

Tabitha also has a passion for art and takes great pleasure in painting nude ladies.

Goodreads Author Page

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