Product Description

From award-winning author Lee Hayes -- an erotic exploration into the lives of African-American gay men and their desires for love and acceptance.

Unapologetically raw in its approach to the sexual lives and happenings of African-American gay men, Flesh to Flesh is a gritty, pulsing view into a demographic that is often demonized and condemned. These stories provide a rare, true revelation of how gay men are faring in an age where sensuality is a major factor in everyday media and consciousness.

What do gay men feel about life, love, relationships, and intimacy? For anyone who has wondered about the passion between two men, this explosive, sexually charged anthology peels back the layers to show what lies beneath modern stereotypes and homophobia.

With contributors such as Lee Hayes (Passion Marks, A Deeper Blue and The Messiah), L.M. Ross (Manhood and The Long Blue Moan), and Dayne Avery (I Wrote This Song), the stories in Flesh to Flesh reveal deep emotions and a powerful commitment to life and love.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #514722 in Books
• Published on: 2008-05-20
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

About the Author
Lee Hayes is a native Texan with a degree in sociology from the University of North Texas. Lee is the author of Passion Marks and A Deeper Blue and the forthcoming novel The Messiah. He currently lives in Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.passionmarks.com.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

I Can't Tell You What He Looked Like
MAURICE MURRELL
(cover model for Flesh to Flesh)

He came to me in a dream, chocolate light-skinned
Green, brown-eyed, his body thick and thin
His behind was flat and bubbly, his hair was shaved
and long, his legs stopped but never with an end
I can't tell you what he looked like,
but I can describe him perfectly
He was my man, the man of my dreams;
he was a reflection of me

I can't tell you the color of his eyes, all I can tell you
is they burned my soul
I can't tell you if his touch was rough or smooth, but it
turned all the necessary areas hot and cold.
I can't tell you the thickness of his lips, just that his kiss
filled with passion
And, I can't tell you what his hair was like,
all I know was he was my bald Samson

I can't tell you if he was tall or short, only that he could
look me in the eye
I can't tell you if he was thick or thin, but laying on me
was subliminally sublime
I can't tell you if his skin tone, reflected the night
or the day
All I know is, it was the perfect shade to my own tone,
every time we would play

I can't tell you if his teeth were crooked or even if they
were straight
All I can tell you is his smile was the first thing I saw
when I fell asleep, or the first thing
when I would awake.

I can't tell you if his style of clothes was expensive or
even cheap
Because all I wanted to do was take those clothes off
and lay them next to the fireplace in a heap.

I can't tell you if his smell was either pungent,
masculine or feminine sweet
All I know is it was intoxicating, one whiff
and I was forever knocked off my feet.

I can't tell you if he liked to go out all the time
or liked to stay at home
All I know was whatever we did was fun;
with him I was never alone.

I can't tell you what he looked like,
but I can describe him perfectly
He was the man of my dreams,
you couldn't label him aesthetically
I can't tell you all those things that most people
first list
But on my man, and my only man, my dream,
my virgin, my first kiss
He was my everything; I was his --
that was never misunderstood
I can't tell you what he looked like.
I wouldn't even try if I could.

He never had a label, he was here for my soul and I
He couldn't tell you either what I looked like,
but for me he would die

I was his everything, he was mine, we were him,
he was I
And we don't even know what each other even
looks like, 'cause love has us blind.
Blind to the superficialness, blind to the shallowness
of it all
See 'cause when I close my eyes I see him,
in his reflection I can recall
See I can't tell you what he looked like,
but I can tell you this
He was mine, he was mine; never ever a love like this

I can't tell you what he looks like,
neither can he describe me
But we will be written in history
as blind lovers forever to be...

"Dream with no limit; they're yours to make
any way you want."

*

With a bachelors in marketing, never did Maurice Murrell think he would be a model (Clik Magazine, JMT, Time, etc), actor (Finding Me, Ski-Trip series, B-Boy Blues), or dancer (hip-hop, street jazz), and now never did he think he would be a published writer. While being a guest writer for magazines and winning poetry nights, this will be Maurice's first work ever published in an anthology. "Writing has always helped me express the way I feel about love, life, and perseverance. It's a way for people to connect with you; they can't judge you with their eyes, but with their thoughts, hearts, and souls." Visit www.mauricemurrell.com for more information on Maurice.© 2008 edited by Lee Hayes
I Can't Tell You What He Looked Like -- a poem © 2007 Maurice Murrell

Customer Reviews

Appreciates Love
Maybe as a female, I shouldn't comment but I really appreciate good love stories and since I love Lee Hayes.....Stories were well written and erotic, not trashy like a lot of anthologies are. I read like a month ago so I can't remember the titles but the story with the guys in the train and the guys that had the falling out in the club were my favs. The barbershop, please use condoms! I'd highly recommend to anyone looking for a great, hot book!

Great anthology, creative stories a class above the rest
I usually find "erotic anthologies" to be boring, generally full of poorly-written short stories with a page and a half of build-up then four pages of "hot talk" trying to make the action seem more interesting than it actually is. That's why I was pleasantly surprised with this particular collection, which features creative stories - most highlighting African-American men - by a group of writers ranging from well-known to promising new talent. The individual novellas are generally well developed, with realistic, diverse (in race, age, and sexual orientation) characters and situations, and well-paced erotic content that adds to the enjoyment of the story.

Can't possibly comment on all 21 stories, but my favorites included Jayden Blake's "The One" (in which a gay man finds himself as best man when his ex marries a girl he introduced him to), and Neil Plakcy's "The Summer of the Hippie" (a young man spends the summer before starting his ivy league college learning life lessons from a free-spirited guy visiting his neighbor.) There is bound to be something here for anyone's taste. I give the collection four stars out of five.

Flesh to Flesh
The novellas in the book were off the chain! I am a big fan of Lee Hayes and now I can add a few more authors to my huge book list. If you love reading about man to man encounters, this is the book to get! The stories are hot and very sexual.