Archives: Uncategorized

2019 Roundup

I’m not really sure how to summarize 2019. In my personal life, I may as well quote one of the best developments in that personal life: “2019 – that escalated quickly.” On the bright side, I’ve had a wealth of new experiences and some exciting plans for the future. On the dimmer side, I’ve had a wealth of new experiences and have to make some plans for the future.

(Three things I can wholeheartedly recommend: antidepressants when your winter blahs feel worse than blahs, therapy appointments to talk about burnout and other important considerations, and dating a service submissive. The last for reasons far beyond mental health – although that might be a factor too? ;D)

In terms of writing, I like to think I crashed into 2019 with a bang and left with another bang, and here’s to hoping 2020 will be the same!

“Fearless” in Best Lesbian Erotica of the Year, Vol 3

When she was naked, Jenny always felt more powerful—paradoxically untouchable. It was almost as good as being transparent, like sunlit air, like water. She felt strong enough to say, “So… you want to do this?”

Smiling, Tessa reached for her.

“I know.” Blushing, she continued with her apology: “But…this? We could try another day.”

“I think we’ve waited long enough,” Tessa said. “I have.”

“Guessing Game” in Erotic Teasers

“I mean, it feels personal. I’m not sure if it is. Which is weird, right? Not that I don’t enjoy your company,” she added. “I like hanging out with guys. But women, too…”

Roland nodded. “Would you like to get a drink?”

“Sure.” Marisol smiled, but five minutes later she was frowning into her beer. “It’s just a guessing game, I guess.” A grimace at the echo. “But how did I get to be twenty-seven without knowing if I’m lesbian or straight?”

“There are other options,” Roland said.

She looked at him across the table. “Yeah. And it’s even more of a guessing game how people will react if you bring that up.”

“Well.” He tipped his glass toward her. “My boyfriend, my girlfriend, and I all fall on the continuum.”

Her eyes widened. Then her mouth did, showing teeth in a grin. “You have both?”

“They have me.” Maybe it was the beer, maybe it was the brightness of her smile and what it did to his heart jumping in his chest, but Roland decided to go all in. He pushed back his shirt sleeves and raised his wrists to show her.

“Like a Flash Flood” in Escape to Pleasure: Lesbian Travel Erotica

“Yes,” Kim said cheerfully. “I know what it looks like.” Rosa heard the smile in her voice as her girlfriend led the way in. “It’s called a slot canyon.”

Rosa was too dry and breathless to speak. She fell back a few steps to take it all in—yes, the two masses of rock, rusty peach and rose-brown whorls that looked almost soft in their undulating erosions, swept like the spread of full thighs, coming together, parted by only an intimate gap that led deep into the distance. The image had a certain crude yet sensual resemblance.

Also, in this position it framed a great view of Kim’s ass, the way it pressed her shorts as she strode right in.

“Not Quite an Antidote” in The Sexy Librarian’s Dirty 30, Vol 3

Without breaking the kiss, Bela stepped forward, pushing Faon’s body against the wall, and her body against his. His touch continued to rove, a hand at the small of her back pressing her nearer. Clutching his hips, Bela shifted her pelvis, starting to rock and rub.

His moan could almost be taken for a snarl of pain. It didn’t alarm her, but Bela slowed her movements, and then Faon was turning, bringing her with him. She reclined, her shoulders to a storage compartment, and lifted her legs to wrap around his. It brought her groin against him again, the friction sending heat radiating through her mound. And there were his hands holding her under the thighs, so close…

She had to keep rutting, her body singing at contact with his, even though she knew what it was doing to him. But Faon met her with his own blunt thrusts, angling his mouth to meet hers, the kiss messy and interrupted by their panting.

“I want you,” he told her. “So much it barely matters if it kills me.”

Bela jerked her head away so sharply it knocked the metal door behind her. Faon frowned, his hand rising too late to cradle her skull, but she searched his copper-brown eyes for a deeper, more dangerous emotion than concern for her comfort.

He had developed a squint after thousands of hours welding everything from bulkheads to weapons arrays across the ship and on the attack shuttles. She wondered what he thought about all day, if his mind had time to wander. If he was careless enough to let it. Her own tasks among the strategists kept her occupied, at least distracted. Only for a few moments every few hundred hours could she be like this, letting her mind go free, her body take over…

Her body…

“We didn’t win our freedom just to risk your life for this,” she said.

To Have and To Hold (Currently available on Amazon, including through Kindle Unlimited)

“Maybe you should stop trying to make sense of my kinks,” he says, smiling.

“Yeah, maybe I should.”

With some reluctance, she takes her hand from his ass and leans over the side of the bed for her suitcase. He takes the items as she hands them up. The lube, the packets of gloves and condoms, and then the double-headed dildo. It’s in a marbled blue pattern that reminds her of the ocean. The “flesh” color didn’t match either of their skin tones, too pale for hers and too dark for his, and actually, she likes that this one doesn’t look at all realistic. What about any of this is realistic? She’s married, to James, they’re on their honeymoon, the view outside her window looks like a postcard, and she’s about to fuck him just as he wants her to.

Claire leans over him as he spreads his legs, opening a space for her, exposing himself to her. She lifts his balls, already high and tight with his erection, and looks at him. He shivers, a tremble working its way up his thighs and turning into a wiggle along his hips and spine, as if her examination is overwhelming.

“You look good,” she says. “You’re so turned on.” One gloved finger runs along his cock, tracing a vein. “You don’t need to be shy.”

She actually can’t see a lot, his modesty protected by shadows and a little dark, curling hair. In itself that’s sexy to her. Claire has never thought of herself as the kind of person to be turned on by despoiling virgins, but there it is.

Lovely Boy (Currently available on Amazon, including through Kindle Unlimited)

As his soaked collar wilts against his throat, Tobias mutters, “Hey. Look.”

“Believe me, I’m looking.”

“Okay.” He licks his lips. “I can—if there’s anything you want—”

Laughter makes him blush, his head baking with embarrassment and adrenaline.

“Listen. I’m trying to talk about—to offer you a, a ransom or something—”

“I know.” Gloved fingers stroke his cheek, cool and dry. “I know.” Softer; the laugh is gone now. “But why would I want anything but you?”

The heat goes from his face and pools under his stomach, pulsing, throbbing. Tobias breathes in hard. That voice and the laughter run down his spine; as if they’re replacing the fluid inside it, he goes numb and limp for at least a full second. He’s reached surrender.

“The Way Home”: Free Halloween Flash fiction

“Not sure if you remember us,” she said—to the empty shoulder, to the air around them, to the sense of someone listening that filled her. “We were last here fifteen years ago.”

“It’s our tenth wedding anniversary.” Around the bouquet, Ethan’s right index finger stroked the gold ring on his left hand.

A Halloween wedding. They’d included handfuls of trick-or-treat candy in the favor bags. Both their moms had just been glad they chose gold and red for colors, not black.

Well, Gabby always had been a bit goth. She did lose her virginity with a ghost, after all.

“The Solution” in Dancing With Myself (Re-released by SinCyr Publishing)

And coming in 2020:

“The Passion of Her Sleep” in Mystique: Gay and Lesbian Fantasy Romance

“Route 34” in Rule 34, Vol. 2

 “Did you ever have a girlfriend who worked in a garage?”

“Not that I recall. Or a boyfriend either.” Her fingers over mine and her fingers on the wheel both tapped a staccato message, a bit jaunty, a bit embarrassed. I was remembering her crush on Charlize Theron after that Mad Max movie and wondering how many layers it had.

***

A last reflection on 2019…hmm, lots of pegging. Lots and lots of lovely pegging. Oh yeah, in the stories too…

Availability Update: NSP Anthologies on Sellfy

Since the release of our first two anthologies in 2015, the New Smut Project has sold ebooks on Sellfy, a platform that offers digital publishers one of the best royalty rates on the market–ensuring our authors are as well-paid as possible from each book sale.

Unfortunately, Sellfy is changing its terms of service, and as of February 1, 2020, it will no longer have a free plan option available. The Sellfy paid plans are not practical for a small publisher of our size, and so Heart, Body, Soul and Between the Shores will no longer be available through Sellfy after January 31, 2020.

However, they are still available there now, and will be until the end of January! You can CLICK HERE to view the NSP store for a read that will bring some heat to the beginning of your winter. <3

Sweet and…Lovely

(And very, very kinky!)

Last month, I released To Have and To Hold, a story of honeymooning, herpes, and pegging for a good cause.

This month, I’m publishing Lovely Boy. It’s a somewhat different kind of romantic.

In fact, it’s a story about roleplay and breathtaking trust, the wonder of being used – or using someone – and of total and willing loss of control…

Here’s an excerpt to whet your appetite (and any other sharp things you carry):

The gag comes out, unknotted and pulled carefully from between his teeth. He tastes a nitrile glove. Plastic snaps. The narrow rim of a water bottle settles against his lips. He smashes his teeth against it, desperate to drink. Just enough to wet the inside of his mouth at first. Then more. Water sloshes down his chin, and nobody wipes it up.

As his soaked collar wilts against his throat, Tobias mutters, “Hey. Look.”

“Believe me, I’m looking.”

“Okay.” He licks his lips. “I can—if there’s anything you want—”

Laughter makes him blush, his head baking with embarrassment and adrenaline.

“Listen. I’m trying to talk about—to offer you a, a ransom or something—”

“I know.” Gloved fingers stroke his cheek, cool and dry. “I know.” Softer; the laugh is gone now. “But why would I want anything but you?”

The heat goes from his face and pools under his stomach, pulsing, throbbing. Tobias breathes in hard. That voice and the laughter run down his spine; as if they’re replacing the fluid inside it, he goes numb and limp for at least a full second. He’s reached surrender.

There comes the rustle of someone disrobing.

His hands become fists, shaking, pulling at the cuffs. They can’t move more than a few inches. His feet neither.

He can’t. He can’t. Move. Think. Breathe.

Helpless, more completely helpless than he ever imagined he could be, he says, “Please.”

Even more than helpless, he feels overwhelmed. He’s not sure what he’s asking for or begging to avoid. He wants nothing and everything at once. If the cuffs came off right now, would he bolt for it or sink back onto the bed, savoring more than that instant of surrender?

“Shh.” The finger comes to his lips again. It presses against them, strokes deeper. A thumb hooks at the corner of his mouth and nudges it farther open. He can taste the glove, and saliva wells as it pushes deeper. Tobias swallows. Then keeps sucking on it, because despite everything, the sensation is oddly…good.

The voice above him repeats, intent and warm, “Why would I want anything else?”

Weight settles on the mattress, positioned over him. Knees on either side pressing his spread arms. Muscle flexes and his nose is brushed by wiry hair. The musky scent is familiar, but without being able to use his bound hands to hold onto hips, thighs, waist, to stroke and position and offer support, the presence over his mouth feels crushing. His mouth is full with the taste of salty, intimate skin. Drool mixes with sex.

Blindfolded, he hears everything like it’s in surround sound—immersive, but unreal. The creaking bedframe and faint protest of springs in the mattress. Heavy panting overhead, and his own uneven battle for air. The weight lifts a little, with another squeak from the headboard as it takes on some of the load. Tobias realizes he doesn’t have to panic. He tries to breathe. Puts his tongue to work.

***

Lovely Boy is up for preorder on Kindle now.

For those of you seeking options beyond Amazon, I feel you on resisting the monolith; it’s just that to reach a broader audience, I’ve decided to debut Lovely Boy there and offer it through Kindle Select. However, look for the ebook’s release on Smashwords around April 2020. For updates when it hits broader bookstores, follow my Smashwords author profile, my blog on Goodreads, or subscribe to my mailing list.

The Way Home: Free Halloween Flash Fiction

The autumn night was clear, with cold-looking stars in the dark blue overhead. Gabriella drove slowly, her gaze sweeping the road where the headlights faded into shadow. She peered at the gravel shoulders until her eyes ached, especially on the passenger side.

That’s where she would be.

Ethan peered out his window, too, turned so that she couldn’t see his face. But she watched his shoulders tighten as he breathed deeply, his fingertips pressing the glass.

This road was no bettered maintained than it had been when they first drove it. Not even a driveway or gravel tractor route led off it. Neither Gabby nor Ethan had any reason to come this way since they got jobs and moved to a ranch home several towns over. Even when they called this place home, they’d rarely had reason to come this way. Except as kids—young lovers.

“This looks like it,” Ethan said.

Gabby braked to a gentle stop. A slight bend in the road, not even a curve, more a wiggle, as if to be sure the driver was paying attention. The shoulder gravel here had weathered into sand, silvery in her headlights like moon dust. It was empty.

She put the car in park and turned in her seat, toward Ethan. He turned to her. Between them, the bouquet he held trembled in an unsteady hand. Late-season asters and white sedum, filled out by orange and yellow leaves, gathered from their backyard. It had seemed right to bring a gift.

“Hello,” Gabby said. “Are you still here?”

Ethan added softly, “We’ve missed you.”

Gabby hadn’t expected him to say that, but it was true.

“Not sure if you remember us,” she said—to the empty shoulder, to the air around them, to the sense of someone listening that filled her. “We were last here fifteen years ago.”

“It’s our tenth wedding anniversary.” Around the bouquet, Ethan’s right index finger stroked the gold ring on his left hand.

A Halloween wedding. They’d included handfuls of trick-or-treat candy in the favor bags. Both their moms had just been glad they chose gold and red for colors, not black.

Well, Gabby always had been a bit goth. She did lose her virginity with a ghost, after all.

A stem of sedum bent until the white buds pointed to the gearshift. It happened slowly, as if a finger stroked it. None of Ethan’s trembling could have caused that.

Gabby took a shivering breath. At the back of her mouth, a scent settled, faint and dry and bittersweet, like applewood smoke and champagne.

A voice spoke from the backseat, warm but whispy: “I remember every night.”

Gabby glanced over her shoulder, then in the rearview mirror. Neither showed anything, yet. But she smiled and asked, as she had that night long ago, “Where should we bring you?”

“You can just keep driving along here. It’s not far.”

She turned the key in the ignition. Ethan reached behind them into the backseat, and his breath deepened; Gabby couldn’t ask or guess what had happened. She continued driving, now recognizing things: a granite boulder the glaciers had left, the twisted oak sheltering a crumbled stone foundation. The ground sloped away on the left-hand side as they approached the scenic overlook, the romantic spot where they had made love for the first time. She and Ethan. And the ghost.

The internet called her “The Angel of Route X.” She’d asked them to call her Angelique.

She didn’t do that at other sightings, at least not those reported online. According to most, she didn’t stay once the vehicle started uphill. But then, Gabby and Ethan had invited her along. Had told her their names, asked hers, and flirted.

She’d looked cute.

More than that—mysterious, alluring. A little older than them, or maybe that was just the effect of her clothes. Now, the person Gabby glimpsed in the rearview mirror looked so young.

Curly hair, dark against pale fabric. Round cheeks and long eyes. Lips, even in this light, scarlet as the juice of wild grapes. And almost as tart, Gabby remembered. A tight pulse started between her legs and she fought to control her limbs as she turned into the overlook parking lot.

They unfastened their seatbelts, and for a moment she seemed to lean between them—so close that Gabby could make out the pattern in her dress. A touch brushed her cheek like electric charge. Then Angelique vanished, but Gabby felt her presence lingering, the way you sense anyone in the room with you. Warm and aware.

Rather than donning invisibility again, it was more like Angelique had stripped herself naked.

Gabby’s eyes met Ethan’s. They leaned across the space where Angelique had been and kissed each other. Then they left the flowers in the cupholder and climbed into the backseat.

Stripped-off coats and shirts made pillows; jeans and underwear slid to the floor. Even with the engine off, warmth would linger in the small cab of the car, and Ethan always ran hot anyway.

Gabby ran her hands over him, his skin like warm silk, like velvet where the hair grew on his firm thighs. His presence would steady her no matter how surreal things felt. Which wasn’t too surreal, yet—nothing compared to the first time they’d made love, where sex itself had seemed so bizarre. They knew each other now. The route here had been familiar. And Angelique—she hadn’t seemed to have changed at all.

She lay down on top of Ethan in a sixty-nine position. They usually didn’t go straight to it like this, but it saved time, especially compared to the tentative oral exploration they first made on this overlook. Even as the touch of her husband’s mouth made her breath catch, Gabby wondered to herself, why the rush? The kids had a sitter while they took the night to celebrate their anniversary. Yet there was still a sense of pressure. As if Angelique might disappear entirely, perhaps, or they might come to their senses.

Gabby, though, felt very much in her senses.

When Ethan licked her, his chin pressed the top of her pubic mound. She sighed, rocking against him. His hands stroked her back and sides, slipped under to cup her breasts, thumbs moving in the circling motion she liked so well. The touch became unsteady as her lips and tongue found the strip of sensitive skin just below the head of his cock.

And then, alongside his hands, others—their touch almost liquid, neither warm nor cool but powerful. Electrifying. Gabby writhed as they ran along her spine, her shoulders, her flanks. Between her thighs, where no one had ever been except Ethan—Ethan and the woman who was there now.

While Ethan’s tongue flicked across her clit, Angelique’s fluid fingers moved between her folds, flowed inside her. Gabby’s thighs shuddered and she moaned, setting off an answering gasp from Ethan at the vibration along his length.

They were gone before she could come from it, which in a way was a relief—she’d learned to let things build since her first time, and she and Ethan could even climax together on special occasions. Which this surely counted as.

She tightened her hold around the base of his shaft, squeezing slightly, a reminder that he didn’t come until she chose.

As she did, a plush sensation brushed her knuckles, around her black onyx wedding band. A kiss.

Gabby moved her mouth down Ethan’s cock until her lips met Angelique’s. She couldn’t quite picture the position the ghost was in—perhaps it wasn’t picturable; surely one advantage of being incorporeal was being able to touch your lovers however you chose? Angelique seemed more incorporeal this time, perhaps more herself. Gabby didn’t need to understand it to part her lips, welcome in the taste like verjuice, her tongue stroked by a touch as real and yet impossible to grasp as starlight.

Ethan made a sound, both chilled and heated. His hips bucked under Gabby, and her own began to grind against his mouth. Angelique flowed around them. Gabby heard her soft, hoarse cries of ecstasy.

She thought she felt her come: almost impossible to describe, shaking and sparkling, like sobs and laughter mixed with something else, the feeling of flying in dreams.

And like she had all those years before, Angelique took her leave quietly, fading at the same time and in the same way as Gabby’s quivering afterglow.

Ethan rested his cheek against her hip. “Let’s wait less than fifteen years to come back again,” he said.

“Agreed.” As Gabby stroked his hair, her eyes went to the front of the car. To the empty cupholder. Angelique had taken their flowers with her on whatever journey she was making. Perhaps they had brought her a step farther tonight.

As for them, well, it was getting late. Their family was waiting. They should head home.

To Have and To Hold – and to Excerpt

To whet your appetite for To Have and To Hold, released October 15 of 2019, I wanted to share my own favorite part:

“Maybe you should stop trying to make sense of my kinks,” he says, smiling.

“Yeah, maybe I should.”

With some reluctance, she takes her hand from his ass and leans over the side of the bed for her suitcase. He takes the items as she hands them up. The lube, the packets of gloves and condoms, and then the double-headed dildo. It’s in a marbled blue pattern that reminds her of the ocean. The “flesh” color didn’t match either of their skin tones, too pale for hers and too dark for his, and actually, she likes that this one doesn’t look at all realistic. What about any of this is realistic?

She’s married, to James, they’re on their honeymoon, the view outside her window looks like a postcard, and she’s about to fuck him just as he wants her to.

Claire leans over him as he spreads his legs, opening a space for her, exposing himself to her. She lifts his balls, already high and tight with his erection, and looks at him. He shivers, a tremble working its way up his thighs and turning into a wiggle along his hips and spine, as if her examination is overwhelming.

“You look good,” she says. “You’re so turned on.” One gloved finger runs along his cock, tracing a vein. “You don’t need to be shy.”

She actually can’t see a lot, his modesty protected by shadows and a little dark, curling hair. In itself that’s sexy to her. Claire has never thought of herself as the kind of person to be turned on by despoiling virgins, but there it is.

She brushes his hole with a lubed fingertip. “Okay?”

He pushes himself a little wider, another visible tremor moving along his legs. “Yes. Please.”

She feels him flex against her fingertip, not resisting but uncertain, so obviously self-conscious that it makes her smile coyly herself. As she pushes into him, his reaction is like stuttering, stammering, a shy flutter of muscles around her that makes her heart skip beats with utter adoration. He’s adorable.

“Oh my god,” she whispers as she slips further inside, eased by the slick lubricant and by the way he relaxes with a deep, slow breath. In a way it’s simpler than she feared but it’s also astonishing, this intimate opening of his body for her.

For adult fans of gentle femdom and vanilla dynamics alike, “To Have and to Hold” is a swooningly romantic and sizzlingly explicit short story about a honeymoon featuring first-time pegging–and herpes: maybe one of the sexiest ways to break down a taboo. With every copy sold, $1 will be donated to the Center for Sexual Pleasure and Health (http://www.thecsph.org/), an organization that promotes education and dialogue about sexuality.

Pegging erotica for a good cause

Not just the cause of making pegging enthusiasts happy, although that is an excellent cause on its own.

To Have and To Hold is a piece of swooningly romantic and sizzlingly explicit couples’ erotica for fans of gentle femdom and vanilla dynamics alike! It’s about a deliriously hot honeymoon and features first-time pegging. And also herpes.

In tropical seclusion, Claire and James begin their new life together by trying out a new toy. At the same time, they weigh their options for protection in light of his HSV+ status, knowing nothing can come between them or put a dent in their ravenous lust for each other.

Originally planned for an anthology project called Positively Sexy, this short story was written in the belief that knockout-passionate writing is one of the sexiest ways to break down a taboo, and it’s being published to raise funds for more education work! With every copy sold, $1 will be donated to the Center for Sexual Pleasure and Health (http://www.thecsph.org/), an organization* that promotes dialogue about sexuality without fear or shame.
*Unaffiliated with me, except for the fact that I’m a fan of their work and CSPH had been intended to receive funds raised through the Positively Sexy.

To Have and to Hold is for pre-order now on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2mUHOgh

Look for the ebook’s release on Smashwords around Valentine’s Day 2020. For updates when it hits further bookstores, follow my Smashwords author profile, my blog on Goodreads, or subscribe to my mailing list.

***

(Irresistible personal aside: Speaking of pegging enthusiasts…no, aladydoesn’ttellaladydoesn’ttellaladydoesn’ttell–back to the writing desk with me. Ignore whoever might be kneeling under it. God, I’m a sappy perv when in love <3.)

Dirty Thirty

I’ve been somewhat absent of late, haven’t I?

Conditions described in my previous personal update prevail. Pervertedly. Passionately.

It feels so natural and so wonderful at once.

While a lady doesn’t tie up and tell–actually, my boytoy/girlfriend wouldn’t mind me bragging, but the real challenge would be wanting to talk and talk and talk about it once I got started; maybe someday–in the writing world (and I AM still writing), I have some updates to share!

Coming soon: “The Passion of Her Sleep,” a Poe-inspired F/F romance, in MYSTIQUE, an  anthology of cosmic, uncanny, and macabre erotic romance short stories.
Preorder on the Aurelia Leo website.

And while I’m sharing new releases: can’t believe I missed my sci-fi pegging fic, “Not Quite an Antidote,” in Rose Caraway’s The Sexy Librarian’s Dirty Thirty, Volume 3. Now available in ebook and paperback. From what I recall from my years of working in a library, Dewey Decimal 808.8 includes anthologies, rhetorical analysis, writing advice, etc. The Sexy Librarian also classifies “Not Quite an Antidote” as being about Venom, Boundaries, and Intoxicating Desire. All true, and have I mentioned the pegging?

Update on Title Availability (Dreamspinner Press)

From May 31, 2019, the following T.C. Mill titles published by Dreamspinner Press will be going out of print:

A Spell of Passion or Fear 

A Novel Arrangement 

They are still available until the end of May through online bookstores.

Since I have already self-published a print-on-demand paperback version of ASOPOF, I will likely re-release an ebook version on Kindle using that same cover (see left) awesomely designed by a friend. On that note I also want to send a shout-out to the fantastic cover artists at Dreamspinner–Paul Richmond for the cover of A Spell of Passion or Fear and Christine Griffin for A Novel Arrangement.

I’ve had a wonderful time working with Dreamspinner and hope to one day submit more manuscripts to them when our specialties converge (my works in progress include several M/M stories, so fingers crossed!).

Long Story Short

My last post was really made around Valentine’s Day and spoke about being true to yourself and maybe finding someone you can be true to yourself with?

It IS worth finding.

And turned out somewhat easier to find than I had feared.

And my sister (a wonderful wingwoman) is feeling justified as hell in getting me onto OK Cupid.

A lady doesn’t kiss and tell (or tie up and tell ;D), so that’s all for now.

Love and Love and Love…

Happy belated Valentine’s Day, whoever you spent it with. Including and especially to those who spent it alone, as I did–not the worst of company! And not just because it means there’s no need to share the pile of chocolate assortments I got on discount the 15th of February. ;D

Without digging too much into personal drama, let’s just say I spent Valentine’s Day alone partially by choice, because being alone is better than being in poor company, or company that can’t accept you as you are. And as I’ve had reason to reckon with that, I found some comfort in thinking about my story in Rachel Kramer Bussel’s recently released anthology, Erotic Teasers. 

“I mean, it feels personal. I’m not sure if it is. Which is weird, right? Not that I don’t enjoy your company,” she added. “I like hanging out with guys. But women, too…”

Roland nodded. “Would you like to get a drink?”

“Sure.” Marisol smiled, but five minutes later she was frowning into her beer. “It’s just a guessing game, I guess.” A grimace at the echo. “But how did I get to be twenty-seven without knowing if I’m lesbian or straight?”

“There are other options,” Roland said.

She looked at him across the table. “Yeah. And it’s even more of a guessing game how people will react if you bring that up.”

“Well.” He tipped his glass toward her. “My boyfriend, my girlfriend, and I all fall on the continuum.”

Her eyes widened. Then her mouth did, showing teeth in a grin. “You have both?”

“They have me.” Maybe it was the beer, maybe it was the brightness of her smile and what it did to his heart jumping in his chest, but Roland decided to go all in. He pushed back his shirt sleeves and raised his wrists to show her.

As I mentioned in my blog post about my story in Best Lesbian Erotica, this story received a plot point, and some fuel, from certain signs held up at events in my generally pleasant Midwestern town. But it’s not just written out of defiance. I already had the idea of this poly group of two dominants, their submissive boyfriend, and the woman who joins them, and I was already excited about writing it, because it’s the kind of romantic fantasy that warms my heart (and not just my heart, I’ll admit, if we’re going to get personal).

More about the story, including another tease of an excerpt, is available HERE.

Meanwhile, I do have “set up an OKCupid” profile on my to-do list, so maybe a year from now I won’t have chosen to be single… but whatever you may be, so long as you’re being true to yourself, I’m happy for you and those you love in all the ways you love each other. And if you haven’t yet found your truth, I wish you luck. It’s worth finding.