Who can live without lust? All day and night, our minds run through delicious possibilities — a silky hand beckoning us into the VIP lounge; a stranger in the backseat; the hunky FedEx driver bringing his package to the door — not to mention our own lascivious memories. Lust is a collection of erotica by and for women, a fierce and joyous celebration of female desire and the triple-X trouble it gets us into.

In Kay Jaybee's "Tied to the Kitchen Sink," a birthday boy finds his present — nude except for tall, high-heeled boots — happily devoted to domestic duties. Maria Grigoriadis' "Pleasant Surprise" shows what can happen when you knock on the wrong apartment door — without your panties. And Bonnie Dee's "Ripe Fruit" teasingly elaborates the sweet, sticky encounter of a soap opera idol and a fruit-stand employee on a stretch of rural roadside. Let the witty and provocative Violet Blue lead you down a primrose path to a forest of wicked, lustful surprises.