From the Inside Flap
Introduction: The Power and Pleasure of Cocksucking
It's common knowledge that I have a decided oral fixation, and to me, nothing signals the culmination of that fixation better than giving a blow job. In so many ways, it's my favorite erotic act in and of itself, or as foreplay. Sometimes, our culture sends the message that those who enjoy going down are somehow only doing the bidding of someone else who's getting all the pleasure. Caitlin Flanagan asked in The Atlantic Monthly in a rambling review of the young adult novel Rainbow Party, "Whatever happened to the hand job? Whither the dry hump? Why do girls prefer the far more debasing, uncomfortable, and messy blow job?" What she doesn't realize is that some of us enjoy blow jobs precisely because they can be "debasing, uncomfortable, and messy." We like to savor those sensations, engage with the power play, get off on being "ordered" to do it. Or we lustily get down on our knees and demand that our lovers give us their cocks. We know that the power of a good blow job goes both ways, and now, we want you to know just how hot it makes us.
What's special about Tasting Him, though, is that these aren't your usual blow jobs. There's no rush to get the "job" aspect of it over with. There's power play in these blow jobs and, just to be clear, they're not all "him"s receiving them. Oh, no. Here, cocks are real and metaphorical, made of solid flesh and even more solid silicone. Here, men and women get down on their knees and take what's rightfully theirs. Women discover the power of getting a blow job, while a few men surprise themselves with their own prowess.
Recently, I read an amazing story, "Me, When I'm with You," by Matthilde Madden, in my friend Alison Tyler's anthology H Is for Hardcore. In it, a woman gives a man a blow job. Nothing that unusual there...except that she's the top in the story, a woman who rules the roost, who orders her lover to spend whole days naked. She reigns over him, and yet she manages to go down on him without losing control. She reclaims the act of taking a man's member into her mouth, showing him who's really in charge. Madden wrote, "I love sucking your cock. It took me a while to find a suitably dom way of sucking your cock, but eventually I discovered that if your hands were tied behind your back and your ankles were forced apart with a spreader bar and your nipples were clamped and I had a vibrator tight against your arsehole, that worked for me."
That is precisely the kind of energy I wanted to bring to this book. There are blow-job queens and blow-job virgins, those who are squeamish and those who are shy. There are those who live to suck cock and those who live to get their cocks sucked. There are lessons of the practical and more ephemeral to be learned here.
While I can't guarantee that this book will lead to better blow jobs (though I do encourage you, like the protagonist in Scarlett French's "Fellatio: A Love Story," to check out Violet Blue's how-to book The Ultimate Guide to Fellatio), I can strongly predict that you won't be able to make it all the way through these twenty-four tales without having to put your hands down your pants. Whether you possess one or not, you'll likely want to get your dick sucked by the end of this book, unless your mouth is too busy watering.
Like French's character, there are many teachers and students here, some eager to learn all they can about how to make the experience hotter and juicier for their lovers, and some who are shown the ropes by those who care enough to explain exactly what gets them off. In stories like Robert Peregrine's "A Treatise on Human Nature," a man tries to teach his new female lover "how to give head like a man," while in the kinky "Quite a Mouthful: Confessions of a Sweet Cocksucker" by Tish Andersen and "Without Eyes" by Terri Pray, the women in these stories get over their fears and let their masters take control of their mouths, then thrill to the slurping sounds and sensations of real submission. And "Tony Tempo," the title character in Tsaurah Litzky's story, shows you're never too old to enjoy a perfectly pursed pair of lips.
Another natural theme here also involves oral pleasure of a different sort. Food and fellatio seem to go, well, hand in mouth, as seen in Alison Tyler's inventive "Prego," involving, yes, the spaghetti sauce, Kristina Wright's cinnamon roll treat "Frosted," and Donna George Storey's exploration of the famed powers of an "After Dinner Mint," or in this case, liqueur, on a blow job. All speak to the sensual power of a hungry mouth, and show the ways both appetites can be satisfied at the same time.
The getter and giver are both worshipped in these stories. While many tell of an insatiable yearning for a full mouth, others share the thrill, both corporeal and visual, of the blowjob, along with the pronounced power dynamics. In "Blessed Benediction," prolific erotica writer Radclyffe gives us some insight into what it's like to watch the one you love put her pretty little lips to good use:
Now, the reason my girl is such a great cocksucker is that she understands that a blow job is as much about the show as it is about her hot, wet mouth sliding up and down my cock until I come in her mouth. She doesn't go down on me like it's a chore, or penance, or a favor. She turns giving head into a work of art. Every move is designed to let me know she gets off on my cock, and that teasing my rod makes her cream.
Hers and other stories here show that you don't have to be a man to have a cock, or to enjoy having it licked, sucked, and swallowed. Getting a blow job is about both the physical sensation, and the view, whether she's blindfolded as in Pray's story, or staring up at you while her mouth is full.
Tasting Him pays tribute to those who enjoy the act, and art, of fellatio wherever it occurs in a bed, in the crashing surf, as in Alessia Brio's "Down on the Beach," or at a kitchen table, as in Tenille Brown's "Getting Used to It." I hope it turns you on as much to read these tales as it did me to edit them.
Rachel Kramer Bussel
New York City
About the Author
Rachel Kramer Bussel (rachelkramerbussel.com) is a writer, editor, event organizer, and erotica writing instructor. She's edited over 70 anthologies, including The Big Book of Orgasms, Come Again: Sex Toy Erotica, Dirty Dates, On Fire, Spanked, Please, Sir, and Please, Ma'am, and is the Best Women's Erotica of the Year series editor. Her nonfiction has been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Marie Claire, O, The Oprah Magazine, Elle.com, Salon, Slate, Time.com, The Village Voice and numerous other publications. Follow her @raquelita on Twitter and learn more about her writing workshops and consulting at EroticaWriting101.com. 
