reviews_and_ramblings | Excerpt Day: Smolder by Willa Okati

Screen Shots: Smolder by Willa Okati
Release Date: August 6, 2009
Publisher: Changeling Press
ISBN: 978-1-60521-262-3
Publisher Link: http://www.changelingpress.com/product.php?&upt=book&ubid=1206

Blurb: Brandon's trying his best to play it cool. He figures if no one knows he's a total amateur, he'll go a lot further in adult entertainment than a nervous newbie. Touchy about being short and pretty, he's fierce in his independence and determined to become a hot commodity. He didn't count on two of twentysomethingtwinks.com's top studs swooping down and claiming him for their own. Gabriel and Dylan, notorious for their intense sex scenes and a passionate relationship off-screen, decide they want Brandon as their third in a permanent ménage. Now, all they have to do is convince him. And if a guy's been working in adult entertainment for any time at all, he knows more than a few mighty pleasant ways to coax a man over to the dark side -- and right into the middle.

Excerpt:

"What brings me here today?" Brandon rubbed the stubble on the underside of his jaw. Scrape-scrape-scrape. Fuck. Gotta watch those nervous tics, kid. He crossed his arms and tucked his hands behind his head instead, fingers laced together. Better.

Thom, cameraman and all-round go-to guy as far as Brandon could tell, waited for Brandon to quit fidgeting. "It's okay. Settle in and find your comfort zone."

Brandon kind of wanted to punch him for that, but popping your new boss was never a great idea, and besides, so far the dude had been awesome. Him and Jake, who'd shook Brandon's hand before settling in the corner with his electronic notepad. Jake seemed shy, but cool. Hot, too. And Katherine? Damn. Not at all what Brandon had figured a porn producer would be like.

Not that he'd ever given too much thought to porn besides which DVD he wanted to steal, er, borrow, from his roommate's stash, back when he still had a guy to split rent with.

He settled on a cocky smirk. "Nah, I'm cool. It went down like this. I'm in the grocery store, right? Peanut butter, noodles, whatever. I see this hot guy over by the produce section."

"I think I see where this is going," Thom said with a tilted grin that invited more. "Just two buddies shooting the shit, right?"

Brandon started to relax. "You know it. I'm thinking it's just like the movies." Brandon warmed to his story. He'd told it over in his head a couple dozen times by now, smoothing off the edges. He needed this damn job and he'd show 'em he might be new, but he had what it took. "Anyway, he's on one side of this free-standing bin full of cucumbers. I walk up, he looks at me, I look at him."

"I definitely know where this is going." Thom checked the camera angle. "Don't mind me. You're doing great. Go on."

Brandon warmed to his story. "He gives this one cucumber a rub when he looks at me, and I think hah, yeah man. So I pick up one bigger, and it goes from there." To a cucumber the size of a freakin' zucchini, but that was beside the point. "I think we're workin' up to a hookup in the parking lot, but he laughs, apologizes for goofing off, and he tells me I ought to call this Steel Mill Productions place. He thinks I've got what it takes."

"Did you call right away?"

"Yeah." And found out it was an amateur porn company, and spent the next three days swearing he'd never go to a grocery store again. Then he'd run out of ten-cent noodles and an empty cupboard wasn't the only problem he'd had to face. "Took some time to think about it, and --" Brandon shrugged. "Here I am. Put me to work, boss."

"All right." Thom folded his hands and settled down in his chair. "Let's go ahead and get started. The bed stand should have everything you need. Lube, lotion. Everything's new. Just remember to relax. Do what comes naturally. Are you ready?"

"Ready, aim, fire." Brandon stretched out on the bed and crossed his legs at the ankles. Otherwise, he'd have started to jiggle his foot. "Let's do this."