Blog Tour, Review, & Exclusive Excerpt: Best Bondage Erotica 2015 by Rachel Kramer Bussel

Title: Best Bondage Erotica 2015
Author: Rachel Kramer Bussel
Format: Paperback, 232 pages
Pub. Date: February 17th 2015
Source: Cleis Press


Book Description via Goodreads:

Rachel Kramer Bussel was at the vanguard of this new era of BDSM. Always a step ahead of the zeitgeist, this award-winning editor knows your private fetishes a lot better than you do. Now that 2 million readers are bondage curious, thanks to the runaway popularity of the Fifty Shades series, Rachel can help them explore their fantasies and realize their deepest desires.

Exclusive Excerpt:

I'm so excited to be hosting an exclusive excerpt from one of my favorite stories in this collection, “In Suspense” by Shenoa Carroll-Bradd!

“In Suspense” by Shenoa Carroll-Bradd

Before they began, all was silent. Christie and Mac entered the stain-proof room together, fingers entwined in solidarity.

Christie’s stomach tightened, and her skin flushed and tingled, just as it had when she’d first met Mac almost a year ago. She wanted this, and there was no way she’d let nerves stand in her way.

Mac closed the door behind them before leaning in to kiss the spiral of rings up her earlobe, his breath teasing and warm.

Her nipples hardened as his kisses sent tingles up her scalp and down her spine. Christie leaned back against Mac and tilted her chin up, giving him better access to her neck and raising her gaze to the chains hanging from the ceiling like glowworm strands with bright steel hooks at their ends. She could do this, damn it.

Everything Christie loved had come hand in hand with pain, whether it was her Akita, Ponzy, who had only been adopted because her previous dog ran off, or the dozen tattoos adorning her skin. Those carefully inked designs had taken hours in the chair. This would only take minutes.

Mac wrapped his arms around her waist. “Hey,” he said between kisses. “It’s okay. We’ll start off slow.”

Christie raised a hand to fondle his zero-gauge earlobe before leaning in for a kiss. His lips parted, and she darted her tongue inside, playing with his silver stud.

He kissed back, harder, sliding one hand down to cup her ass and pull her against him.

She ground against his pelvis, feeling an erection swelling behind his jeans.

“Tell me when you’re ready.”

Christie nodded, moaning against his mouth, but did not answer. Not yet. She pulled back to peel his shirt up over tight abs and past his pierced nipples, exposing his chest piece: the MacMillan family crest bordered with thistles and bookended by a pair of intricately detailed raven’s wings. She ran her hand down it just once, though she’d seen it almost every day for months now. Still, the familiar design made her smile.
Christie thought of it as a link between Mac and his ancestors, tracing ink back through the years to his distant highland predecessors, whose fiery coloring he still wore in a stripe down his scalp, and on the end of his chin.

He grinned, mischievous as ever, and tugged at the buttons on her blouse, pulling it open, letting air in over her flushed skin. Mac slipped a hand inside, massaging her right breast while he worked on the other buttons.

She kissed him in little bursts, darting in to press her lips to his, then pulling back before he had a chance to respond, teasing him into trying to follow when she retreated.

Mac slipped the last button free and her shirt slid down her arms, dropping to the floor. He cupped her face and pulled her into the deep kiss she’d been withholding.

Christie laughed against his lips, reaching down to unbutton her jean shorts. She hadn’t put on underwear that morning, a decision she hoped she wouldn’t regret later, once she was exhausted and sore. The denim was already damp from her growing excitement.

Mac hooked a finger into the waistband, helping to tug them down. When the denim hit the floor, Christie stood naked before him, wearing just her tattoos. They helped her feel brave, like little flags proclaiming, I’m no stranger to pain. I have no fear of it. I take it in, and the pain makes me more beautiful.

They stood together, her face cradled in his hand, just breathing. Mac’s muddy green-brown eyes held hers, and after a moment he asked, “Are you sure you’re ready for this?”

Christie pressed her lips together and nodded. “Absolutely. I’ve always wanted to try suspension, but it never felt quite right with anyone else. It requires a specific kind of trust.” She leaned forward to playfully run her tongue across his lower lip. “A trust I’ve only felt with you.”

Review:

★★★★ ★

Best Bondage Erotica 2015 is one of the best erotica books that I've read from Cleis Press. The stories are steamy and well varied, and there were only a few stories in this anthology that I didn't enjoy.

The great thing about this collection of short stories is the differences that are included. There are so many different fetishes, pairings of people, and dynamics being represented. Naturally, as with all anthologies, there's a connecting theme, and for this collection it's simply "bondage", which leaves the door wide open for lots of stories.

Honestly, I don't even remember why I didn't like a few of the stories looking back as I write this review, but it's a safe guess that something just wasn't up my alley, so to speak.

There were, however, a ton of stories that I really, really enjoyed. I've decided to highlight the top three, which was a really tough decision for me to narrow it down! These top picks are in no particular order. The first story that I'd most recommend is called "The Thug" by Sommer Marsden, which involves a gangster, sticky tape, and a kidnapping. I really liked the dialogue in this one, which is rare for me. But it was just as sexy as the scene itself, and they complimented each other nicely. The next story that I most enjoyed is "Auction, in Quotation Marks" by LN Bey. This story includes a slave, an auction, and a surprising bidder. I enjoyed this story because I wasn't quite sure how it all was going to pan out, and the good writing had me eager to find out. The final selection of my top three is "In Suspense" by Shenoa Carroll-Bradd. Because of the pain, suspension, and trust evident in this story, it's one that I'll definitely be rereading in the future.

All in all, this is a well done anthology that any fan of erotica and BDSM would be sure to enjoy. There's something for every reader, and it is very effective in its job of getting bits aroused. Thank you so much to Cleis Press for my copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Buy it here:

Amazon | Cleis Press