There is a reason your pulse quickens when you turn to that one particular scene in a book – the one where tension spills over, where restraint shatters, and where characters surrender to something primal, something undeniable. That moment, the one so many readers secretly crave, is smut.

Once whispered about behind closed doors, hidden beneath the guise of "guilty pleasures," smut has clawed its way into mainstream literature, proving that what was once considered taboo is now a genre in its own right. From centuries-old erotic manuscripts to today's bestselling scorchers, smut has evolved, adapted, and seduced millions along the way.

But why do we read it? Why do we write it? And why does society continue to both embrace and condemn it in equal measure?