Smut Vault time again so soon? Thank goodness, I was starting to get edgy. Most erotic fiction gravitates around a certain sexual theme or kink. Backdoor shenanigans, extra partners, glass coffee tables (tip: don’t Google that one)…there’s usually a specific sexual act that sells the story to it’s desired market. What’s a little less common is the use of circumstance or scenario to frame the sexy tale. This week’s contribution employs this rare notion of circumstance, and it’ll be interesting to see how it pairs with the sexy times that are sure to grace its pages. It’s time to welcome back a friend of the Vault, and see how sex might be shared once we finally reach the ever inevitable end times.
Fertile Ground by Natasha Bender describes a tragic end of the world as we know it, so to speak. Keeping the sex aside for a moment, the world of our story this week deals with a civilization-destroying pandemic virus that’s killed off most of the population. Thankfully, this is NOT a zombie story or insane thriller where some sexy girl ends up gangbanged by a bunch of horny half-infected freaks. The first compliment to pay to Fertile Ground is how it stays believable and darkly realistic despite it’s (hopefully) far off speculation to the demise of our society. The main character for this jaunt down this road to devastation is a 19 year old household sole survivor named Katia. The young girl has thankfully barricaded herself in her bedroom as the scavengers too unfortunate to perish to the unspecified virus seem to be pillaging everything outside her door. Help finally comes in the form of Mr. Bradley, excuse me, Tim. The father of Katia’s neighbor/best friend is the only survivor of his family and bravely rescues her before she can come to harm. With all of their friends and family dead, it’s down to Katia, a man she’s only known as a “Dad,” and a mission to head out to California, the last hospitable land on this cursed continent. A more than pretty 19 year old virgin and a rugged protector who surely feels responsible for all his new companion’s needs…all that time alone together, traveling only as fast as their collective will can take them…surely nothing too steamy will develop along the way.
Alright, spoiler alert, Tim and Katia have sex. Once the setting and circumstances are clear and present to reader and character alike, it’s finally time to get down to the business of erotica. The author’s writing style yields a slow burn for purposes of building plot, however once the sexual organs start lining up, we’re hot and heavy for the duration. I found this to be realistic at first, with a bit of a hitch towards the end. Katia losing her virginity to Tim is done remarkably well, and her infatuation with all things sexual on the journey out to California is both steamy and believable. Once the pair reach their planned destination of a “community” of well-to-do survivors, the story reaches a bit of an issue. I’ll save this sort of spoiler for your personal read through, but one look at the cover and title and you’ll be onto what I’m getting at. I can’t say it’s done poorly, the concept is actually quite kinky and true to the circumstances. My issue is how quickly it had to develop due to the length of the story. Katia has a big choice to make, and her reaction to said choice comes and goes in remarkably short order. Hell, she was more prone to take pause at the size of Tim’s cock than to the taboo proposition laid out by the survivor’s community. This is unfortunately a circumstance that in my opinion could have been optioned to a novella or even a full length novel. Don’t get me wrong, I’d take a million high quality truncated climaxes over one story improperly finishing, I just see the potential for a long rewarding extrapolation in this brief buzzcut of a kinky theme.
Verdict: Fertile Ground by Natasha Bender is an exciting erotic short that properly invests the front half of the story to provide a rewarding universe and experience for both character and reader. The inevitable sex scenes are delivered with more punch and emotion once the circumstance and passion are made known, and even inside a vacuum would be a sizzling good time. While the climax and “saving humanity” angles of the short story leave a desire for more extrapolation, the unique brand of “happily ever after” in this post apocalyptic hellscape makes the journey out west a fulfilling adventure. When prepping your doomsday kit, take the advice laid out by this wonderful little story: non perishable food, a sturdy car, and plenty of white hot passion for some roadside screwing.
It’s time to rebuild.
Special thanks to Natasha Bender for providing a copy of Fertile Ground to TehBen.com for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Author’s Twitter: @natashabender13
Purchase Link: Amazon
TEHBEN.COM 
I agree. This deserves a longer treatment. Perhaps not a sordid exploration of every historic location along the way, but this quick read combines a whole bunch of hot keywords into a short compass. How satisfied will every reader be?
Having said that, each box is competently ticked. I particularly liked the initial sex scene, given its location and ready supply of climaxes. I think a writer needs a certain chutzpah to pull that off, but Natasha gets the job done.