Welcome to the final day of our World Nake Gardening Guest Posts!
If you didn’t have a chance to read about Holly Day’s story yesterday, A.L. Lester’s story on Monday or K.L. Noone’s story on Sunday, make sure to check them out.
Today, I’m happy to introduce Nell Iris, whose story Stike a Pose is, by all accounts, perhaps the most…we’ll just say racy of the World Naked Gardening Day stories in our collaborations.
We’re extremely happy to have you, Nell!
Hello everyone, I’m Nell Iris and I’m delighted to be here! I’m here to talk about my contribution for World Naked Gardening Day, but first I want to thank the lovely Amy for so graciously inviting me into her space. Thank you! 😘
Strike a Pose is written for World Naked Gardening Day which occurs on the first Saturday in May annually. I stumbled upon it somehow last year and told my friend Holly Day that she should write a story about it since she writes stories for all the weird and wonderful holidays out there. Then A.L. Lester said we should all write stories with naked gardeners, and I promptly said yes, because naked gardening! We enlisted a couple more people, the wonderful K.L. Noone and, of course, our hostess, and started writing. So on May 7th, five stories with a Naked Gardening theme were released. The stories are all standalone and not related in any other way than the theme.
Strike a Pose is the story about Didrik and his best friend’s father Johan, who’s 20 years older than Didrik. I have a huge soft spot for age-gap stories, and I often seek out books written about this trope. There’s something about it that’s intriguing to me, maybe because it’s so different from my own relationship (my husband is only 7 months older than me)?
Often when I pick what I want to read (and write), I find that I tend to gravitate towards tropes and relationship dynamics completely different from mine. For example, I love reading a good BDSM romance, but in real life I could never be neither a dom nor a sub since I don’t like to tell people what to do, and I like even less to be told what to do. I like reading about opposites attract, but I can’t imagine having a partner who doesn’t share my values and outlook on life. I love friends-to-lovers but crushing on a real-life friends feel like a recipe for disaster. And of course, the age gap thing: would we have anything in common? Anything to talk about?
But Didrik and Johan have no trouble coming up with things to talk about. They’ve known each other for a long time, Didrik and Johan’s son Filip has been BFFs since they were kids, but because his parenting style was more friendly than strict, he never felt like a parental figure to Didrik. Instead, he was someone Didrik felt he could talk to, even at a young age, someone trustworthy. And also someone who made Didrik realize his sexual orientation.
When the story opens, they’re 30/50 years old, and Johan was widowed five years ago, so Didrik is finally allowed to openly look. And look he does…😊
Strike a Pose
Blurb: Didrik would do anything for his best friend, Filip, including taking pictures of Filip’s dad, Johan, for a charity calendar. Naked pictures, of beautiful, irresistible, wonderful Johan, who was single-handedly responsible for Didrik’s gay awakening. He was also happily married and unavailable…until he wasn’t.
After losing his husband five years ago, Johan finally seems ready to move on, and as they start the charity project, everything changes. With every meeting, every conversation, every pose for the camera, the attraction between them swells and grows, until it burns hot and threatens to consume them.
Their interactions, their relationship is surprisingly easy, but it’s not without its challenges. The age difference for one thing. Telling Filip for another. Is their connection enough to last? Can they overcome the hurdles to get the happily ever after they deserve?
M/M Contemporary / 17545 words
Buy Links: JMS Books • Amazon • Books2Read
Excerpt: “What happens now?” he asks after putting his glass down on the deck.
“Now, I need to go through all the pictures, pick out the best ones, and edit them according to the specifications Filip provided me for the calendar. My deadline is the end of the month, so there’s not a lot of time.”
Johan hums. “Can I see the pictures beforehand?”
“Of course. You have the final say.”
“Thank you.”
Neither of us speaks again for a while; instead, we watch the moon hover over the treetops. It’s orange and so huge I feel like I can climb up a tall ladder and touch it. It’s gorgeous, and I wish I hadn’t packed away my camera.
“That wasn’t what I meant, though,” Johan says after a while.
I tear my gaze from the moon and turn to look at him. “What do you mean?”
“When I asked what’s gonna happen now. I wasn’t talking about the calendar. I meant this.” He leans in and ghosts a kiss on the corner of my mouth; his lips are surprisingly tender, the complete opposite of our usual scorching kisses brimming with burning desire.
My hand flies up to my mouth and I touch the spot where he kissed me, expecting to feel the lingering warmth from his lips underneath my fingertips, disappointed when I don’t. “Oh.”
“Was this—” he waves his hand between us “—is this…are you done with me now?” He withdraws his leg a little, allowing air to pass between us, sending a sudden chill into my bones. He’s tense, as though he’s ready to jump to his feet and bolt depending on my reply.
I shuffle closer to him and push my leg into his, refusing to accept the distance. “I was just wondering the same.”
“Does that mean…What does that mean?”
“It means I’d like to keep seeing you if you want to. Like we’ve been doing…or maybe more?”
“More?”
“Yeah. You know. With feelings. Not just having sex.”
He lays a blazing palm on my knee, fingers pressing into my flesh. “Feelings sound good.”
“Yeah. But…”
“But?”
I cover my eyes with my hand and heave out a sigh. “But…Filip.”
“What about him?”
“How will he feel about his dad and his best friend being…a thing?”
Johan’s hand disappears from my knee, and instead, he interlaces our fingers and pulls my hand to his lap, coaxing me to look at him. “I don’t know. He doesn’t want me to be alone for the rest of my life. He wants me to be happy. And he’s a very accepting person.”
I nod. “He is. But does that acceptance extend to this?”
“I hope so.”
I’m glad he doesn’t try to bullshit me and promise that everything will be all right when he can’t be sure. I’ve always preferred honesty over sugarcoating.
“I…um.” His grip on my hand strengthens. “There’s also the fact that—” He cuts himself off as though he regrets what he was about to say.
“What?”
“I’m…twenty years older than you.”
“I know.”
“You’re not…bothered by the age difference?”
I furrow my eyebrows. “Should I be?”
He shrugs. “It’s one thing to not mind an age gap when it comes to fucking. It’s another thing if…if feelings.”
“Do you think I’m too young for you?”
“No.”
“Then it won’t be an issue.”
He leans against me and lays his head on my shoulder. “That’s good to know.”
“Wasn’t CM older than you?”
“Yeah. Twelve years.”
“Keeps things interesting.”
Thank you, Nell for stopping by today and sharing your new release! ❤️
That is the last of our guest posts. For now. If you missed any of the other posts, treat yourself! You’ll not only learn about each new release, but it’s a chance to learn a little about each of the authors as well.
You can also learn about all the books that are part of this project in one place by clicking on the image below.
