Flesh to Fantasy
Secrets Volume 18 - Dark Passions
December 06
ISBN #0975451685
Red Sage
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Kelsa Bradshaw is an intense loner whose job keeps her happily immersed in a fanciful world of virtual reality. Desperate to protect her existence, she wants nothing to do with Trent Jordan, a laid-back paramedic who experiences the harsh realities of life up close and personal. But when their vastly different worlds collide in an erotic eruption of fantasy sex and real-life emotions, can Trent convince Kelsa to turn the fantasy into something real?
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Reviews for Volume 18
This collection is strong, erotic, emotional, and satisfying. Quite simply, this Secrets volume has restored my faith in romance short stories. I finished this anthology with a feeling that has been mostly missing in my romance reading this year - deep pleasure and full satisfaction. Though I reviewed this Secrets volume electronically, I’ll be looking for the print version come December. I’ve already saved the spot on my keeper shelves.
—All About Romance, a Desert Isle Keeper review
Not to be outdone by previous Secrets tales, number 18 releases inner beasts—paramedic hunks, a singer in distress and one hot and desperate werewolf—to make the latest Secrets one that will stay in readers’ hearts and minds for a long time. Fantastic love scenes make this a book to be enjoyed more than once.
—Romantic Times BOOKclub, 4 ½ stars
SECRETS VOLUME 18 does it again! With four distinct authors and their take on the fantasy, paranormal, and science fiction themes that have intrigued and kept readers coming back for more, Red Sage publishing has scored another hit. Previous volumes with authors like Angela Knight, Emma Holly, Liz Maverick, and Mary Janice Davidson have raised the bar pretty high on these stories. Rae Monet, Larissa Ione, Linda Gayle, and Cynthia Eden all deliver as their predecessors have.
—The Romance Readers Connection
Red Sage keeps cranking out incredible tales of explosive passion and intense desire that keeps the readers coming back for more.
Reviews for Flesh to Fantasy in Volume 18:
This story was my favorite in the anthology…Larissa Ione’s contemporary Flesh to Fantasy is about a woman addicted to virtual reality, and utterly terrified of the real thing. Kelsa is a videogame tester, and completely stunted socially. The gorgeous [Trent] next door is more than curious about his reclusive neighbor. They meet by accident and he makes it his goal to draw her out of her shell - and straight into his arms.
This story has some fantastic emotional development; the characters both have their issues, and Ione doesn’t rush through the resolution. The way that Kelsa eventually opens up to [Trent] emotionally feels very natural for her, and it packs one heck of an emotional punch.
I especially liked the way Ione integrated both characters’ slight work obsessions into the story, with [Trent] visiting Kelsa’s virtual world through a fantasy role-playing game, and Kelsa’s visit to [Trent’s] very real world as a paramedic. Grade: A
— Kate C, All About Romance
Flesh to Fantasy is a gut-wrenching tale that uses humor to expose and soothe Kelsa’s deep emotional scars. Larissa Ione’s fantastic grasp of the RPG gaming world is evident in the myriad of details she cleverly intersperses in the storyline. Kelsa is a very fragile, sheltered character and her total immersion in the gaming world is her way of hiding out. Trent ventures into that world with some very hilarious and sensual results, but he is more interested in reality than some fantasy world. Larissa Ione’s ability to weave together such vastly different worlds is nothing short of spectacular. “Flesh to Fantasy” is the sort of story that warms your heart and remains in your thoughts long after the last page is turned.
— Anne, CK2s Wips and Kritiques
Kelsa Bradshaw has been drooling over her new neighbor ever since he moved into her apartment complex. A video game tester, Kelsa spends much of her time
at home caught up in an imaginary world and she finds it quite easy to insert the hottie paramedic into her more sexual fantasies. But when the reality of Trent Jordan intrudes into her cloistered and well-structured life, can Kelsa find the courage to embrace a different kind of joystick? One that comes with strings attached?
A tragedy in his past has woken Trent up to life even as Kelsa still hides from it. Flesh to Fantasy is an entertaining and erotic tale that allows readers to watch as Trent tempts Kelsa into enjoying a full and real life by seducing her with her own fantasies. What happens when fantasy and reality collide? Check it out and see for yourself.
— Phillipa Ann, Romance Reviews Today
Larissa Ione’s contribution to the SECRETS anthology, FLESH TO FANTASY has a very fascinating story. I have read virtual reality fiction and stories based over the computer or internet, but never one quite so well thought out as Kelsa Bradshaw and Trent Jordan’s story. Kelsa has had a difficult life and buries herself in computer games and virtual reality. Trent has recently undergone some life changing events and is grounded solidly IN life as a professional EMT. This unlikely pair prove the adage that opposites attract. With quirky humor, interesting writing, and live characters, I really enjoyed watching Trent pull Kelsa into a relationship.
— Sarah Silversmith, The Romance Readers Connection
FLESH TO FANTASY is a special story in that the two main characters meet in a very different way. This adds an exciting aspect to their relationship and the question of what will happen next. Kelsa is a woman who prefers fantasy to reality, an aspect that many women can relate to. Trent deals with life and death on a regular basis, so a little fantasy is just what he needs in his life. The sparks that fly between Kelsa and Trent are explosive. Larissa Ione has created a wonderful tale that readers are sure to love.
— Angel Brewer, Romance Junkies
Kelsa and Trent are two characters that heat up the pages in this story. The pain Kelsa feels in the real world is understandable once things about her are revealed. Although it moves at a fast pace, this tale is full of erotic scenes and emotional moments. The characters play off each other well and Ms. Ione does a wonderful job fleshing them out. The mystery revolving around Kelsa and why she ended up the way she did in life is written in a believable way. This is a hard one to put down once you start it.
Larissa Ione’s FLESH TO FANTASY sizzles. What a debut!
— Alison Kent, author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Writing Erotic Romance
“Your neighbor is so hot, he could melt a glacier in January.”
An involuntary shiver raced through Kelsa Bradshaw at her friend’s breathy words. She wholeheartedly agreed. She stepped away from her apartment door to peer over the walkway rail at the object of Melanie’s lust, Trent… something-or-other, as he fetched a backpack from the bed of his pickup in the parking lot one story below. Mmm, sin in a uniform.
Broad shoulders flexed beneath his white Portland, Oregon, paramedic shirt, which was tucked into the waistband of black fatigue-style pants that hugged his ass in a fit so perfect, her mouth dried up like desert sand. She could use a sip of the soft drink he’d set on his truck’s roof.
“He can melt anything of mine anytime he wants,” she sighed to Melanie.
When the “he” in question grabbed his drink and strode away from the vehicle, the summer sun glinted in his tousled blond hair. His eyes, which she knew to be blue, hid behind sunglasses that didn’t diminish the intensity in his tanned, chiseled features. The man was a god. A god who just disappeared into the stairwell. Crap! Juggling her mail and gym bag, she fumbled around in her purse for the keys to her front door.
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t want to talk to him.” Kelsa grasped her keys but dropped a magazine on top of a milk crate-sized package the mailman had left at her door. “Mel, would you grab that?”
Melanie retrieved the box and magazine. “Why not talk to him? Now’s the perfect time to introduce yourself. You know, drool over him to his face instead of behind his back. Not that his back isn’t drool-worthy.”
The key slid into the lock, but the tangle of key chain and purse and gym bag looped around her wrist made it impossible to turn the knob. “Perfect time? After sweating for two hours at the gym?”
Melanie shrugged. “Sure. Give him a preview of what you’ll look like after two hours of sweating beneath him.”
“Oh, you’re a riot.” Kelsa placed the bags at her feet and unlocked the door. Just as she reached for the purse and duffel, footsteps thudded on the walkway. Great. Hot Paramedic Guy was going to get an eyeful of bubble-butt squeezed into sweaty shorts.
Quickly, she straightened and offered a blinding smile. Better to present a smile than butt crack.
Too bad it wasn’t the hottie. Well, good thing it wasn’t the hottie, but bad thing it was the accountant with a serious lack of social skills who lived three doors down.
Apparently encouraged by her smile, he grinned and stopped, looking at her feet. “I like your shoes,” he said. “May I touch them?”
“Um, not today, Steve. Thanks anyway.”
He just stood there, the goofy grin still on his face. How did the guy function in the world? Not that she had any room to talk. She didn’t operate in the real world either, and wasn’t sure she’d want to even if her job didn’t keep her indoors and inside a realm of virtual reality.
Melanie huffed. “You can go away now.”
“Oh, okay.” Steve shuffled off, and Kelsa glared at her friend.
“Really, Mel. Did you have to be so rude?” She twisted around to enter the apartment.
“You’re too nice. That’s how you get stalkers.”
“You’ve got a stalker?” A deep voice rumbled behind them, and Kelsa knew before she looked that the voice belonged to Trent.
She knew because she’d heard him talking and laughing in the pool off her balcony. She knew because that voice had a way of whispering to her in her dreams.
Pulling in a breath, she turned, struggling to find words appropriate for speaking with someone she’d only fantasized about. And as her gaze swept from his generous mouth to his fingers that now held his sunglasses, and right on down his slim physique to the impressive bulge at the base of his pants’ zipper, she knew instinctively that the orgasms those fantasies brought would pale in comparison to orgasms the real man could give her.
She dragged her gaze back up to his face, giving herself a mental kick in the butt for even thinking such a thing. Sex with Trent Something-Or-Other wasn’t in her future. It couldn’t be. “Uh… no. I don’t have a stalker.”
Trent smiled. Nice teeth. Very white. Very straight. Wouldn’t those teeth feel good as they nibbled and nipped their way to –
“She doesn’t have a stalker right this minute,” Melanie chirped. “But, that guy down the hall is obsessed with her–”
“Shoes,” Kelsa broke in. “Not with me. With my shoes.”
Melanie rolled her eyes. “And that’s better… how?” She leaned close to Trent and gave him a conspiratorial wink. “She needs someone to keep an eye on her. So maybe you could, you know, check in on her sometimes.”
“Mel,” she warned, but her friend merely grinned. The traitor.
“I’d be happy to,” he said in a sin-with-me voice that turned her insides to mush. “Anything for a neighbor.”
Kelsa smiled. “I appreciate that, but really, I can take care of myself. I don’t even know you, and–”
He extended his hand. “Trent Jordan.”
She grasped his hand with her empty one and tried to ignore the tingling prickles that skittered up her arm. “Kelsa Bradshaw.”
“Now you know me.” He held her hand in his firm grip, the pad of his thumb brushing over her knuckle in slow, sexy strokes. She doubted he realized what he was doing, but every erogenous zone of hers sat up and begged for the same attention. “I’ve been wanting you for weeks.”
“Excuse me?” Had he just said he’d been wanting her? Selective hearing on her part, or Freudian slip on his?
“I said I’ve been wanting to meet you for weeks.”
Was that fluttering sensation in her gut relief or disappointment? It had better be the former. With her luck, it was the latter. “Oh. Right. Well, I’m not around much.”
He arched a tawny eyebrow. “I see you on your balcony almost every day.”
Her heart skipped a beat. She hadn’t thought he’d noticed her, even though she often worked outside with her laptop when she wanted to escape the confines of her apartment.
Or when she wanted to get a look at his sleek body covered by nothing but skimpy swim shorts.
“I’m not the only woman who sits on her balcony.” Not when he was in the pool, anyway. Women flocked to their verandas like cats in heat when he came outside and strutted his stuff. And what nice stuff it was.
“No, but you’re the only one I pay attention to.”
Oh, my. A thrill of sexual awareness swept the length of her body at the honeyed drawl in his words. Then her brain kicked in and countered her raging hormones. She pulled her hand free of his grasp. “Surely you can come up with a better line than that?”
He flashed her a bad boy smile that said gobs about the lines he could come up with. “Yeah, I could, but it’s no line. Your balcony is the only place I ever see you, so I gotta look when I can. You must work some crazy hours.”
“My hours are very flexible.” He raised an eyebrow, and she added, “I work out of my home playing video games. RPGs mostly. Gaming takes up a lot of my time, so I don’t get out much.”
“Obviously you do get outside sometimes,” he said, raking his gaze over her grimy gym clothes.
Great. She’d made one hell of a first impression, what with her conversationally-challenged ramblings, sweat-drenched armpits, and crotch-gawking. Not that it mattered. She didn’t need to make a good first impression. She wanted to admire Trent from afar, not up close and personal. She didn’t do up close and personal. Not ever.
Trent shifted his weight in his rugged black military boots, and suddenly “not ever” took a dive right over the iron railing because he was up close, so close his salty-clean masculine scent wrapped around her, and her body reacted in ways that were very personal.
Her skin itched, too tight for her body. Her nipples tickled and her lungs struggled for every shallow breath. And when he cocked his head to watch her with eyes that seemed to see inside her, sweat dampened her skin. A strange whirring noise joined the thumping of her heart in her ears, and damn if she didn’t grow lightheaded.
She glanced at her door that was wide open and letting out the air-conditioned coolness into the summer heat. The door was more than a barrier against intruders; it was a barrier against the real world, which seemed to close in the longer she stood under Trent’s intense gaze. Time to go.
“Nice meeting you, neighbor.”
With that, she fled into the apartment, Melanie on her heels.
“Shut the door,” she called back to her friend as she darted into the kitchen and tossed her bag and purse to the floor.
Melanie slammed the door and followed. “What was that all about?” She dropped the box and magazine on the dining room table.
“I was going to have a panic attack.”
“You’ve never had a panic attack.”
“It was going to be my first,” Kelsa said with a sniff.
Melanie sighed. “You’re such a wuss. You’re going to die alone if you don’t learn to meet real guys, not virtual weirdos. That last guy, he thought he was a hobbit or something, right?”
“Half-orc. His character was a half-orc.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Melanie muttered something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like “geeks” and grabbed a pair of scissors out of the basket of crap on the table. “Can I open the box?” she asked, already wedging a pointed scissors edge under a flap.
Kelsa shrugged and searched the fridge for a bottle of water. “It’s from Grandma Sally. Her newest jams and jellies for the B and B.”
“Ooh, her quince jelly is to die for. She sent me some last week and it’s almost gone.”
Not a shock. Her friend ate the stuff right out of the jar and had been for the twelve years they’d been best buds, ever since Mel’s family had moved next to Kelsa’s grandma’s bed and breakfast when both girls were thirteen.
A loud thump from next door reverberated through the room. Trent on his Nautilus set. She’d seen it when he moved in, and she’d grown used to the rhythmic sound of his workouts. She could picture him working with the weights, bare-chested, sweat glistening on skin that stretched taut over rippling muscles. Mmm. Talk about to die for.
Those were the fantasies she clung to, held in her mind, which was the only place Trent Jordan belonged. He needed to stay there, trapped in her head because as beautiful as he was, she couldn’t deal with the real man. Reality was not something she did well.
“Um, Kels?”
“Um, Mel?” Damn, she was out of water. But the two watermelon wine coolers behind the piles of fruit and vegetables and tofu looked pretty tasty, even if they weren’t the ideal after-workout drinks. She yanked them from the fridge, mouth watering.
“I know you haven’t been getting any lately, but is there something you’d like to tell me?”
Kelsa twisted the top off both bottles and tossed them in the garbage. “Why?”
“These aren’t jams and jellies.”
She turned around and nearly dropped the drinks. The box Melanie had just opened most assuredly did not contain jars of quince jelly. Instead, it was filled with an interesting collection of sex toys and packs of batteries. She rushed to the table and put down the wine coolers, one in front of her friend.
“Those are so not mine.”
“Suuuuure.” Melanie lifted a rabbit-shaped vibrator from the box. “I’ve heard this one is like, uber-amazing.” She slid a sly glance at Kelsa. “You’ll have to let me know.”
“They aren’t mine,” Kelsa ground out as she spun the box around to get a look at the address on the flap. Oh, crap. “Mel, you aren’t going to believe this.”
Melanie looked up from digging through the box like a kid on Christmas morning. “What?”
“They’re Trent’s.”
The other woman’s mouth fell open. “Seriously? Oh, girlfriend, you need to get to know this guy.”
It was Kelsa’s turn to gape. “You’re kidding, right? Why would any guy order this stuff? He’s a freak!”
“Says the woman who screwed a hobbit.” Melanie smiled wickedly. “You’d better take the box to him.”
“I don’t think so.” She pushed the box toward Melanie. “You’re the one who’s fascinated by him. You do it.”
Making a big production of looking at her watch, Melanie tsked and shook her head. “I would, but I’m in a hurry. I’ll get my blender from you another time. Gotta go feed my dog. Later!” She swept out of the apartment without so much as a glance back.
“You don’t have a dog!” Kelsa shouted, but Mel slammed the door.
Crap. She looked at the box of toys, and heat seared her cheeks. She couldn’t possibly face Trent with this. Talk about awkward. Hey, neighbor. Thought you might be wondering what happened to your butt plugs. Need to borrow some lube? Oh, wait, there’re fifteen different kinds in the box. Have fun.
Ugh. She did not need this. She had enough to deal with now that the gaming company she worked for, Dream sOFT, had begun to shift its focus from fantasy role-playing games to reality-based, real-time strategy games. She’d tested a couple of the new products, without enthusiasm, and her lack of excitement had shown in her work. Her employer had demanded better performance from her or they’d cut her loose, but she wasn’t sure she could comply. War games and graphic first-person shooters made her uncomfortable, and at times, physically ill.
There was a reason she didn’t watch TV or read newspapers. Thanks to a childhood spent isolated from normal civilization, the big, bad world beyond her peaceful suburban neighborhood scared the bejeezus out of her. Or it would if she allowed herself to think about it, which she didn’t.
She did, however, think about her neighbor. Melanie was right; she was a wuss. She could handle leaving a simple box on the doorstep.
Except what the box contained was far from simple.
No, the contents of the plain brown package excited and disgusted her. Made her think things she’d never considered, even though she was far from a virgin and enjoyed sex as much as the next girl.
Made the man who’d ordered them more thrilling in real life than he’d ever been in her fantasies.
Damn, but she was in trouble. And this time, no amount of experience points, twentieth-level wizard potions, or enchanted broadswords were going to get her out of it.
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