FOREWORD: THE MOMENT

Annabel Joseph

I’ve always had a thing for short stories.

I cut my teeth on Ernest Hemingway, then started on the O. Henry Award anthologies, containing the most notable short stories of each year. When I got older and kinkier, I started reading erotic anthologies, and oh, that was a wondrous discovery. The thrill of short stories and eroticism together…well. More on that in a sex. I mean, sec. Ahem.

My love for short stories isn’t a time-saving thing—I’ll read a bajillion-page book if it holds my interest. People who love short stories don’t love them because they’re short. They love them because they’re sharp. Short story authors hone desire and emotion to a glittering, fine point and then jab you with it. See? Do you see?

As much as I love short stories, I generally write full-length novels, where there’s lots of space to tell a complex story. Novels allow for twists and turns, for chapters’ worth of buildup, but a short story demands brevity and finesse, and that fine, glittering point I mentioned earlier. Maybe it’s better to call it a moment.

Oh, the moment.

In a short story, there is always that moment when you realize something out of the ordinary is happening. It might be a sneaky, provocative tease of a reveal, or an earth-shattering shock that blows your mind. Either way, you’re hooked, and you read on until you reach that fine, glittering point the author meant to poke you with. In erotic tales, the moment is almost always about fulfillment, or connection, or a realization of something about oneself. In the best moments, you, the reader, find pleasure or joy.

In bondage too, there is that moment when you find yourself trapped in rope or cuffs, or yarn, or plaster, or one of the other delightfully creative bondage methods in this volume. In the best cases, you’ll feel yourself without recourse for getting away, and you’ll think Ah, and Oh, and What will happen to me now, and Will I be able to endure it? Will it change me?

How?

Or perhaps you’re the one doing the binding, and your moment arrives at the sound of your subject’s pleasure. Or terror. Perhaps it’s that moment when your gaze locks on your partner, and both of you realize, Wow. We’ve created this moment together. We’ve created this magic between us, at least until the bonds let loose.

The lovingly crafted erotic tales you’re about to read also build to a moment. In some cases it’s a quiet moment, and in others, a surprising or humorous moment. No matter what kind of moment, it will make you feel something. That’s good bondage—and good short-story writing. If you’re like me, you’ll pause on the page to enjoy the desire, or discovery, or emotion. Perhaps you’ll go back to reread and savor it again. Perhaps you’ll even go off to find a partner to savor it with in a more hands-on way.

To me, short stories and bondage go together as perfectly as subject and rigger, as top and bottom, as Mistress or Master and slave, because they all strive to create these memorable moments. If you’re reading this collection, you probably already agree with me. If you don’t agree with me yet, read a few stories and you’ll see.

I wish you many fine, glittering moments in reading, in bondage and in life. And if you haven’t had any moments lately, perhaps it’s time to start looking for them. I promise you’ll find many inspiring ones in the pages of this book.

Annabel Joseph

New York Times bestselling author of Comfort Object