Review Tuesday: Love Under Foot (#gay #review #footfetish)

Love Under Foot: An Erotic Celebration of Feet
Edited by Greg Wharton and M. Christian
Harrington Park Press, 2004


Let it be a challenge. When I was offered the opportunity to review Greg Wharton's and M.Christian's anthology of gay foot fetish stories, this was my reaction. I'm not a gay male, and although I admit an occasional lustful reaction to the sight of some smooth, graceful woman's foot embraced by a strappy sandal, I find most men's feet, with their calluses, fuzzy insteps and gnarled toenails, distinctly unarousing. At the same time, I have often pontificated on the universality of the sexual urge and the remarkable flexibility of our erotic impulses. Under the right circumstances, any stimulus can become a turn-on. So why not feet?

Nevertheless, I'll admit that despite the exceptional credentials of the editors, I did not have high expectations for a collection which seemed to have such a narrow focus. I was most pleasantly surprised. The twenty tales in LOVE UNDER FOOT offer originality, diversity and unexpected thematic depth, as well as the promised hot homoerotic sexual encounters.

Feet are major players here, but other body parts are not neglected. Greg Herren's "Athlete's Foot" lets the reader vicariously enjoy an outrageously public oil wrestling session between two exceptionally hard bodies. In "Those Boots", by Bill Brent, used leather boots picked up at a BDSM swapmeet trigger an auto-erotic fantasy scene that had me panting. The shoe salesman in Duane William's "No Mean Feet" begins by giving a phantom foot massage to an ex-soldier's amputation stump; I'll let you imagine, or discover, where it ends.

Personally, I can't find anything sexy about stinky gym shoes or sweaty socks. But I'm willing to believe, from the energy and enthusiasm in Sean Meriwether's "Sneaker Queen" or Paul J. Willis' "Aromatherapy", that someone might. Could you come from being tickled? Stories by Wayne Courtois and Jason Rubis suggest that it's distinctly possible.

Most of the tales in this collection treat their subject matter with a light-hearted (or perhaps I should say light-footed) sense of fun. Charles Anders' "At the Right Foot of God" imagines a religion founded on the precept that feet are the province of Divinity -- complete with the appropriate foot worshipping rituals. In "Days of Wine and Toesies", Sean T. Gold serves up a tale of a dinner party flirtation where playing footsy takes a hilariously unexpected turn.

A few of the stories have a darker edge, most notably Simon Sheppard's gritty "The Footwhore of Babylon" and Ian Philips' folksy but tragic "Shrimpboat Willie". These stories provide a satisfying counterweight to the happier tales of cruising, looking for the perfect sole.  

All of this would have made LOVE UNDER FOOT sufficiently entertaining to justify my time in reading it. Three exceptional stories, however, raise this book above the level of fun foot-porn into the domain of literary erotica. All three convey an emotional intensity that nearly brought tears to my eyes. In William Dean's "The Alabaster Arch", the object of desire is not even animate, yet its power reaches across half a world, calling to those who recognize it. "Lotus", by G. Merlin Beck, turns deformity into mystery, and lust into awe.  And M.Christian's "Happy Feet" juxtaposes past and present in the mind of an aged ex-dancer whose feet were the darlings of Kelly and Astaire.

Feet are featured in all three of these stories. The tales are clearly at home in this collection. At the same time, they transcend fetish and orientation, demonstrating that arousal is universal and that desire is an essential attribute of the soul, regardless of its source.

That is the truth that brings me back to erotica, as a reader and a writer, again and again.

Writing Kinky Toes

By Suz deMello (Guest Blogger)

This short story was the first I wrote about a form of sexual desire in which I have no interest whatsoever. Okay, I like a pair of pretty shoes as much as the next girl, but I’m not sexually aroused by feet or footwear. The first time a man sucked my toes was after a hot and sweaty bike ride, and candidly, I thought the experience a little disgusting. Not for me—I wasn’t doing the sucking—but for the guy. Nevertheless, he seemed to really enjoy it, despite the unsanitary nature of the activity. (He was a doctor, too, which made what he did even more puzzling).

But each to his own, I say, and if someone indulges a fetish and doesn’t hurt anyone else (except with consent, of course) who am I to judge?

I wrote Kinky Toes during a time when I was exploring ways to keep the writing fresh by focusing on fetishes I hadn’t previously written about. Queen’s Quest (http://www.ellorascave.com/queen-s-quest.html) is another story from that period, and it posits a society in which exhibitionism is rampant and public sex perfectly acceptable—the conformation of the futuristic planet I invented is such that birthrates are low, and anything to get new births is encouraged.

I’m neither an exhibitionist nor a foot fetishist, so both stories were a departure for me. I didn’t know anything about foot or shoe fetishes, so I had to research both subjects. Kinky Toes is the result.

Here’s what it’s about:

Genre: contemporary erotic romance

Shelbie Nathanson resents Rick Saldano's ascension to C.O.O. of her family's shoe company, a job she's wanted all her life. But she can't resist his red-hot, sexy style of lovemaking... one that focuses on her passion: shoes.

Here’s a snippet to sharpen your interest:

In the cab, Shelbie became even more aware of Rick, if that were possible. He was big. Not fat, but solid, sizable, with broad shoulders and an obviously muscular body beneath his suit. She couldn’t help sneaking a peek at his crotch. The suit’s fabric had pulled tight as he sat, tight enough that she could guess that six-foot-two Rick’s body parts were proportional.

Her mood had definitely changed.

He leaned closer, hesitated the tiniest fraction of a second before he brushed his lips against her cheek. Shocked, she jerked away, but he didn’t move, his gaze still pinned to hers.

She didn’t move either. The air felt thick, as though the very atmosphere were holding her in place. They sat staring at each other until the cabbie harrumphed. “Where to, folks?”

After giving the cabbie an address she didn’t recognize, Rick didn’t say anything during the cab ride. Rigid with a tension she couldn’t define, Shelbie didn’t have a word to say either, not even when he picked up one of her feet and rested it in his lap, atop his very substantial hard-on. She wiggled her foot and the stiletto heel slid across the bulge in his pants.

He sighed, so she did it again. Then again. He clamped his lips tight shut, apparently stifling a groan as his erection swelled even more.

He slid one finger along the exposed arch of her foot. It didn’t feel ticklish, exactly, but was tingly, the kind of tingle her pussy liked.

He inserted his finger into her toe cleavage. The spot between the big toe and the next was tiny, smaller than his index finger. His abrupt thrust hurt a little, and Shelbie had a mad vision of the time when she’d lost her virginity. Her pussy had been too small for the tool her then-boyfriend had wielded.

She had that same feeling now, an ache as something big intruded into her body’s smaller space. She tried to pull away but he persisted, twisting his finger until he’d pushed in as far as her shoe would allow.

He sawed his finger in and out and she bit down on her lower lip to avoid moaning aloud. She flung her head back, panting as he rotated his finger.

They arrived outside a row of brownstones near the park. He slipped his finger out of her toe cleavage and gave her foot a squeeze. An awkwardness she hadn’t felt since teenage sex overcame her as she dropped her feet to the cab’s floor. Rick paid the fare, ushered her out of the taxi and into the building…his building, she supposed.

The moment they were alone in the elevator, she sprang at him and pressed her lips against his. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight as his tongue invaded her mouth. She sucked at him hard, shoving her hands into his hair. He tasted and felt divine.

Her body was aflame, all light and heat, and he picked her up as though she were made of insubstantial fire, weighing nothing...

Like what you read? There’s more! Buy the short story at:

http://www.ellorascave.com/kinky-toes.html

About Suzie: 

Best-selling, award-winning author Suz deMello, a.k.a Sue Swift, has written seventeen romance novels in several subgenres, including erotica, comedy, historical, paranormal, mystery and suspense, plus a number of short stories and non-fiction articles on writing. A freelance editor, she’s held the positions of managing editor and senior editor, working for such firms as Totally Bound, Liquid Silver Books and Ai Press. She also takes private clients.

Her books have been favorably reviewed in Publishers Weekly, Kirkus and Booklist, won a contest or two, attained the finals of the RITA and hit several bestseller lists.

A former trial attorney, her passion is world travel. She’s left the US over a dozen times, including lengthy stints working overseas. She’s now writing a vampire tale and planning her next trip.

Find Suzie’s books here:

http://www.tinyurl.com/SuzDeMello (publisher’s site)

https://www.amazon.com/author/suzdemello

https://www.amazon.com/author/sueswift