Best Gay Erotica 2014

Copyright © 2013 by Larry Duplechan.

Introduction copyright © 2013 by Joe Mannetti.

All rights reserved. Except for brief passages quoted in newspaper, magazine, radio, television or online reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Publisher.

Published in the United States by Cleis Press Inc.,

2246 Sixth Street, Berkeley, California 94710.

Cover design: Scott Idleman/Blink

Cover photograph: Geber86/Getty Images

Text design: Frank Wiedemann

First Edition.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

E-book ISBN: 978-1-62778-014-8

Grateful acknowledgment is made to the following for granting permission to reprint copyrighted material: “Steam Punk,” by Eric Del Carlo, originally appeared in
Steam Bath
, edited by Shane Allison (Cleis Press, 2013); “Five-Finger Discount,” © 2012 by Huck Pilgrim, reprinted (in slightly different form) from an Amazon Kindle Edition (2012); “The One in the Middle,” © 2012 by Dominic Santi, reprinted (in slightly different form) with the author's permission from
Middle Men
, edited by Shane Allison (Cleis Press, 2012); “My Best Friend's Dad,” by J. M. Snyder, originally appeared in
Show-Offs
, edited by Richard Labonté (Cleis Press, 2013).

CONTENTS

Foreword
   
•
   
L
ARRY
D
UPLECHAN

Introduction
   
•
   
J
OE
M
ANNETTI

The Power Man
   
•
   
L
EE
H
ITT

Gambling with Harvey
   
•
   
T
ONY
H
AYNES

Everybody's Boy
   
•
   
L
ANDON
D
IXON

The Piñata Conquest
   
•
   
B
OOT
LS

Big Thick Dick and Double-Chocolate Bubble Booty
   
•
   
S
HANE
A
LLISON

Case Closed
   
•
   
K. L
YNN

Light-Rail
   
•
   
C
ALVIN
G
IMPELEVICH

Five-Finger Discount
   
•
   
H
UCK
P
ILGRIM

My Best Friend's Dad
   
•
   
J. M. S
NYDER

Steam Punk
   
•
   
E
RIC
D
EL
C
ARLO

The Chicken Coop
   
•
   
D
AVID
H
OLLY

A Port in the Storm
   
•
   
D
ILO
K
EITH

Sticks and Stones
   
•
   
G
REGORY
L. N
ORRIS

Hatfield and McCoy
   
•
   
J
AY
S
TARRE

The One in the Middle
   
•
   
D
OMINIC
S
ANTI

Art Appreciation
   
•
   
T
HOMAS
F
UCHS

Coach's Pussy
   
•
   
D
AN
C
AVANAGH

Everybody's Doin' It
   
•
   
D
ALE
L
AZAROV AND
J
ASON
A. Q
UEST

A Walk in the Park
   
•
   
M
AX
V
OS

About the Authors

About the Editor

FOREWORD

I would not have imagined six months ago that I would end up editing
Best Gay Erotica 2014
, but now that I'm here, it feels surprisingly inevitable. The week before Thanksgiving, 2012, Brenda Knight (Publisher of Cleis Press) emailed me concerning an essay of mine, “Bigchest: Confessions of a Tit Man,” which had appeared in
Muscle Men: Rock Hard Gay Erotica
(Cleis Press, 2010), and which Brenda hoped to reprint in
Best Gay Erotica 2013
. I had “guest judged”
BGE 2012
for Richard Labonté, editor of the series since 1995. When I asked why she (rather than Richard) had contacted me, Ms. Knight informed me that Richard had decided to end his run as editor of the
Best Gay Erotica
series.

I have known Richard Labonté since the mid-1980s: he wrote the first (to my knowledge) review of my first novel (
Eight Days A Week
) in 1985, in
In Touch for Men Magazine;
and has been a long-distance buddy and Larry Duplechan booster ever since. I gave Ms. Knight permission to reprint my essay; and she, in turn, asked if I might be interested in editing
Best Gay Erotica
2014.
I invited her to phone me, and a few minutes of discussion later, I said yes.

Which left me with some mighty big shoes to fill: Richard Labonté has edited shelves of anthologies for Cleis, including, of course, sixteen annual editions of
Best Gay Erotica
. Few could balance literary quality and sheer filthiness with such dexterity. Fortunately, I would not have to face this task alone. Before contracting me for this anthology, Cleis requested I send them a short list of candidates to serve as guest judge. Happily, my first choice was also the publishers' first choice. Even more happily, that choice was another buddy of mine: LGBT activist, former erotic-video performer and current sexy hunk of man-meat Joe Mannetti. I've known Joe for over twenty years, having met him sometime in the early 1990s at a reading given at the now-defunct A Different Light Bookstore in the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles, where Joe had admired my writing and I had admired Joe's amazing chest. We have been friends, and shared a mutual letch, ever since (I have long held that a bit of sexual tension only helps keep a friendship interesting).

Thank you, Joe, for doing so much of the heavy lifting—fortunately, you do have the shoulders for it. Thanks also to the writers whose stories appear here, and to the many fine writers to whom I finally had to say no thank you. Thanks to Jason A. Quest for his eye-popping artwork. And thanks to Cleis Press (namely, Felice and Brenda) for taking a chance on a newbie. I've given it my best shot, and as I've said, I had some mighty big shoes to fill.

Larry Duplechan

Los Angeles, California

INTRODUCTION

            
Those who are easily shocked should be shocked more often
.

—Mae West

Those are words to live by, from an iconic woman who really knew how to live.

My name is Joe Mannetti. I grew up in New York before heading out west to spend more than two decades living in Los Angeles, California, pursuing the limelight of Hollywood. My journey to the land of all that glitters included coming out as a loud and proud gay man, which led to connecting with the Bear and Leather communities, which led to entering several contests and winning five Bear titles (including Mr. International Daddy Bear 2009), which led to more than a couple of nude pictorials, which led to a brief career as a performer in the “jizz biz,” which led to here. Of course, there were a few other accomplishments along the way. But, truth be told, it's the sex that sells.
When folks remember me, it's usually for all those naked photo spreads in which I bared all, and those Bear vids in which I did it all—or had it done to me. That's probably what prompted my L.A. bud, award-winning and prolific author Larry Duplechan, to ask me to guest-judge
Best Gay Erotica 2014
. I was flattered, and I welcomed the opportunity to embrace the celebration of raw testosterone, kink and masculine sexuality that the stories you will read here reveal on every page.

In this book, we present a tasty assortment of short tales that revel in the smells, sounds, shapes and sensations of men enjoying sex with other men. We start out with a sweaty encounter initiated by a power outage in Lee Hitt's “The Power Man,” followed by a game of cards that leads to the most exciting gamble two men can enjoy winning together in “Gambling with Harvey,” by Tony Haynes. Landon Dixon takes us on a hedonistic journey with a man who knows how to please everybody he services in “Everybody's Boy,” then comes a kinky game filled with enjoyable torture as Boot LS shows us the ropes in “The Piñata Conquest.” Shane Allison gives us a preview of coming attractions at the porn shop in “Big Thick Dick and Double-Chocolate Bubble Booty.” And there's more manly mischief from authors K. Lynn, Calvin Gimpelevich, Huck Pilgrim, J. M. Snyder, Eric Del Carlo, David Holly, Dilo Keith, Gregory L. Norris, Jay Starre, Dominic Santi, Thomas Fuchs, Dan Cavanagh, Dale Lazarov and Max Vos; and ace comic book artist Jason A. Quest. Each contributor invites us to explore every ripple and nipple, every grunt and groan of men getting it on with other men and enjoying every musky moment of it. These nineteen stories give you a chance to escape into the world of man-on-man hotness. Larry and I hope this collection has something for everyone who digs men and the intimacies that they can share together.

In deciding which selections to insert between the covers of
this latest edition of gay male erotica, I used a scale suggested by our studly editor: one-to-five stars (for literary merit) and one-to-five boners (for sheer nastiness). Every story included here gave Joe a rise, and that's why every one of them made it inside—the book. I invite you to allow them to penetrate your innermost fantasies, and enjoy the release that going there produces. I know I did.

The experience of man-on-man sex is as diverse as the men who engage in it. It can be sweet and hot with someone you know and love, but, as some wise soul once stated, “Even with someone you
don't
know, it can be wonderful!”

So here's to all the tricks who turn out to be real treats, the hunks who enjoy exploring their horniness and the studs who celebrate gay sex. My own journey of sexual freedom has connected me to most of the good things and even the highest achievements, professionally and personally, in my life. As I went from contest winner to pin-up, porn performer to writer, and on to actor and even LGBT outreach advocate, the power of sex has always been there guiding me. It still inspires me, and I hope you will allow it to inspire you. As another iconic sex symbol once pointed out,

            
We are all born sexual creatures, thank God, but it's a pity so many people despise and crush this natural gift
.