It’s so good to have you back in the friendly confines of the Smut Vault, and we hope that your stay is a pleasant one. For a moment, let’s consider the importance of world building and lore. In the world of full length literature, and now-a-days modern video gaming, telling a story properly requires a detailed universe in which the story should develop within its limits and/or wildest possibilities. In our superior, more refined world of eroticism however, a lot of works simply skimp on the background and rightfully focus on what they consider to be more important: the sex. For this week’s contribution though, we might get a chance to have our cake and eat it too. Once we properly build the universe for the reader, might they want to stay a while and see what happens when these inhabitants get a little frisky? This sounds pretty good to me, so let’s dig in and see what awaits us inside this cosmic edition of THE VAULT.
Incubus by M. Reed is billed as volume one in the “Retail Horror” series. While working in retail is certainly its own horror in itself, the story today reads more like a fantasy romance, so don’t worry about any jump scares or cold blooded murder (thank God).
Kayla is a veteran of the retail department store world, but her new role at Martingale might take some getting used to. As a store located only on the astral plane, Kayla has recently taken a sales job promotion pushing everything from love potions to electronics on its clientele of vampires, witches, and every species of fantasy character you can imagine. This “relatable fantasy” element is fantastic as I enjoyed imagining Kayla’s commute through her once accidentally discovered portal that gives our human main character the chance to interact and sell items at the intergalactic Sears & Roebuck dry goods store. As a newbie to the sales team, the mere mortal doesn’t quite have the sales knack for this unique customer base. Why can’t she make good sales numbers? That charmer of a salesman across the store named Azeil never has any trouble selling, but I guess there’s no denying a handsome package like that. Just as Kayla is looking to hang it up for the day and head back to the stockroom, Azeil lets her in on the secret to his success in sales. The one true way to success in business is finally revealed: Azeil is an incubus. Just in case you’re unaware, an incubus (as a male, succubus if female) feeds off the positive energy of its prey. To my mind, consider them the ultimate attention whores. From the perception of the person viewing the incubus, he or she sees their perfect, most desirable qualities, manifesting differently for each person they come in contact with. Naturally, this could make incubi wildly successful sales people, and no amount of Don Draper marketing wisdom could stand between Azeil and closing his deal. Azeil is more than willing to help teach Kayla a few tricks after hours…but maybe this sales meeting will need to move to the bedding department for further discussion.
The charm of this story lies within its accessibility. Fantasy can be a tough read under the wrong circumstances, but Incubus needs to be praised for how easy and fun it is to read while still providing plenty of depth. Another positive comes from the lore itself. Nearly every male/female heterosexual based story in our erotica world is going to involve a man with impossibly perfect features. Chiseled jaw, impeccably dressed, and the perfectly sized large manhood that churned his partner’s orgasms with the ease of flicking a light switch…we’ve seen it all before. However, it’s refreshing to have a character where not only does that make sense, but through the eyes of Kayla there’s 100% justification to his perfection, but also to her need for his particular brand of….hard salesmanship. Trimming the fat of an erotica short usually comes at the price of character development or the slightest amount of prudence. But the world the author has built makes the reader just as anxious to get to the steam without having to question any character motives. Once sex becomes the order of business, the story picks up even more as we learn nearly everything there is to know about potential incubi/human relationships, producing a surprisingly dramatic conclusion. Come for the sex, but stay for the story.
Verdict: Incubus by M. Reed is a surprisingly deep erotic romance short that combines human and fantasy interaction into a desirable cocktail that should be accessible to any steamy reader. A writing style that is simplified in all the best ways, yet detailed where it counts, you don’t need to be a fantasy expert to have a great time with some really wild characters. The author trims the excess of a novelisation, while making careful points to keep the characters believable and still have enough time to deliver a sexy and rewarding relationship. I’ve never been to the astral plane, but if I ever stumble through a portal and land face up on the floor of Martingale, send me directly to housewares…there’s some people I desperately need to meet.
Special thanks to M. Reed for providing a review copy of Incubus to Tehben.com. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Author’s Twitter: @M_REED_READS
Purchase Link: Amazon
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