Contest – Signs of spring: flowers, sunshine, orgies, spankings…

Today is the first day of spring, time to enjoy all the wonders of the vernal equinox: spring flowers, birdsong, sunshine, bunnies, peepers, and of course, sex with attractive strangers, and maybe a spanking or two–all in the name of religion.

What? Your springtime traditions aren’t that erotically charged?

How about winning a free book about erotically charged spring festivals? Yeah, thought that might sound more the thing. If you comment today, you might win a copy of Lady Sun Has Risen.

Apparently spring festivals in ancient times were often wild and sexy parties. Maybe it was surviving the long winter. Maybe it was all that new life burgeoning all around, from lambs to bunnies to plants. And keep in mind that until fairly recently, late winter and early spring were dangerously lean times, when stored food was gone and the new season’s crops were just getting planted. Those dandelions we yank out of the lawn as part of our springtime ritual? Those were food, eagerly welcomed because they, along with lambs’-quarters and other so-called weeds, and the first new leaves on the overwintered kale, were likely the first fresh edibles in months. And they were extra delicious with the first eggs available since fall. (Did you know chickens don’t like to lay eggs when the days are short, so for much of history, eggs were a seasonal product? I didn’t either, until recently.)

When people live that close to the bone, they seize the opportunity to celebrate life, and to give thanks for the return of light, warmth, and food. In my imaginary Soranian Empire, the setting for Lady Sun Has Risen and the rest of the Seasons of Sorania Cycle, the inhabitants figure spring comes because their god and goddess are finally reunited after a long winter apart. And how better to honor that passionate reunion than to do what lovers who’ve been apart for awhile like to do? (Hint: it’s what all those bunnies and birds are also doing–which, in a more primitive world, no doubt led to happy thoughts of rabbit stew and skewered starling.)

In the settled parts of Sorania, the spring festival has become an excuse to party and hook up with totally inappropriate people–all under the seal of religion. But in the wilder places, where life is harder and humans feel closer to the gods, the old rites are taken more seriously–and the spring festival involves a bit of kink to help the goddess and the god reconcile after their separation.

And as chance-met travelers Miryea and Adimir discover, sometimes the gods use these these wild rites to bring together people who are meant for each other.

“Oh, lovely. You are so sweet, little rabbit. So hot and sweet.” While she was still trembling from aftershock, Adimir helped her ease down to the grass.

“As Lady Sun offered herself so the Lord of Grain might grow once more, so does Miryea offer herself to me,” Adimir intoned, the words clearly ritualistic. “We honor Lady Sun and the Lord of Grain, and I honor Miryea, who yields and is greater for it, not lesser.”

He sat down then, leaning against a tree, and pulled her into his lap, rump in the air and face among the softly fragrant flowers of Lady’s Message.

She braced herself for a blow, but instead felt Adimir’s hand flowing along the line of her back, the curve of her cheeks, then slipping under her belly to cup her mound. “Lovely,” he said, “and still dripping. Rain to nourish the land.” He caressed, stroking at her, dipping into her overflowing sex with his fingers as he pressed against her clit with his palm, arousing her again until she felt like lava was flowing between her legs.

Then, and only, then, did he begin to spank her. To her surprise, the first few smacks weren’t even as hard as the ones he’d delivered when she was harvesting bonestrength. More firm, affectionate pats than swats, they made her already heated blood flow faster. No pain, just warmth, and the wonderful male smell of Adimir’s body blending with honey-sweet flowers, crushed young grass, and the musk of her own arousal. When she started arching her back, pushing back to invite the next swat, he began to stroke once again at her juicy sex.

The sunlight dazzled in front of her eyes, and her breath caught in her throat.

He was still caressing, when he delivered the next swat to her upraised bottom. It was a little harder, a little more stingy–but with Adimir’s hand circling her eager clit and stroking the slick, sensitized mouth of her sex, and her tender nipples brushing the soft new grass, the stinging transformed itself into yet another source of stimulation.

“More,” she gasped, amazing herself, and when he complied, “Oh, please, more!”

A flurry of lightly stinging blows set both her asscheeks and her pussy on her fire. All the colors of the spring glade seemed brighter, unnaturally vivid, and she could hear her blood rushing in her veins, and she was poised on the edge of coming, but Adimir was skillfully holding on that edge, making the delicious tension build more and more, but not letting her fall.

“Please,” she sobbed as the bright morning washed red with her desire. “Please.” She wasn’t sure if she meant “Please fuck me,” or “Please spank me some more,” or “Please let me come,” or simply, “Please don’t stop,” but it didn’t really matter. His hand, his cock, whatever he wanted to give her–it was all fine.

Comment today and tell me your favorite springtime seasonal delicacy, be it asparagus or the local brewpub’s seasonal ale, and you’ll have a chance to win a copy of Lady Sun Has Risen.

Which, oddly enough, doesn’t talk much about food. But that’s because I spent so much time writing about sex and falling in love.

But here’s a little spring recipe that should have been the books.

Greens and Eggs Soranian-Style (adapted freely from “Spinach with Eggs and Paprika” in The Complete Book of Turkish Cooking by Ghillie Basan)

Take one to two large bunches of the freshest and most tender greens you can find. Spinach is good. So is baby kale, arugula, young dandelion leaves, lambs’-quarters: whatever your garden, yard, or farmer’s market can provide, though I think bok choi or spicy mustard greens might give a completely different, though possibly tasty, end result. Rinse and chop.

Put a good dollop of olive oil into a frying pan. Heat it up. Add three cloves of garlic, minced fine, and one finely chopped small onion. Cook until the onion and garlic is translucent and aromatic. Throw in the chopped, washed greens and saute them briefly. Season with salt and just a pinch of nutmeg. You want a hint of nutmeg, not greens that taste like eggnog. (Yes, I made that mistake the first time I made this.)

When the greens look almost cooked, make two little holes or nests in the greens (more or less, depending on how many people you’re feeding) and plop an egg into each hole. Cover the pan and let the eggs cook until they’re soft-set. Sprinkle with pepper and paprika (in Turkey, and probably in Sorania, they use a half-sharp paprika, but sweet will do). Eat up!

This dish is all right made with supermarket ingredients, but will be really exceptional with farm-fresh eggs and really fresh, tender young greens.

And remember, comment to win a book. And if your spring traditions do involve naughty behavior and you dare to include that in your comment, you get entered twice!

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