Awakening Desire offers you over 30 stories of first loves, first times and first passions. With stories from D.H. Lawrence, Angela Carter, Patricia Highsmith, Alice Munro and Emma Donoghue, here are prize-winners, bestsellers and rising stars, each of whom prove that when it comes to the bedroom, a little fiction goes a long way.

This is an extract from Desire, the definitive collection of the sexiest short stories in literature. Hand-picked by Mariella Frostrup and the Erotic Review, this gorgeous anthology is the perfect gift... or beside companion.