The Lindy Shark

"The Lindy Shark" appeared in BWE 2002, The Mammoth Book of Erotica volume 2, and Exposed. In a review of BWE 02, Rachel Kramer Bussel wrote, "'The Lindy Shark'" by Alison Tyler also touch(es) on bitterness and anger, mixed with passion."

Felice Newman wrote, "Alison Tyler is a pioneer of a kind of erotica that's at once arousing and sophisticated."

Excerpt:
With a single tilt of his head, the man let her know that he’d picked her, and she waited for him to arrive at her side. The girls nearby twittered in hopes that he was coming for one of them.

“I’d let him into my nodbox,” one murmured.

A nodbox was a bedroom, and Clara agreed. She’d definitely let this man crease her sheets. But as the women giggled with delight, she wanted to tell them not to concern themselves with their nerves. The man didn’t have eyes for either one.

He was on his way to Clara.

She felt a rush of nervous excitement that started between her legs and flooded outward. It was rare for her to feel so self-conscious. She had a quality to her moves that came from within, a radiance on the floor that couldn’t be taught. This man had it, too. That’s what she’d been drawn to. Dancing could be a form of foreplay. But at most of these swing sessions, there simply wasn’t been anyone she wanted to take to bed.

As a new song began, Lilly Faye and her Fire-Spittin’ Fellas jumping into the groove, the man reached her side. He didn’t say a word, simply put one hand on her waist and steered her onto the floor. This time, she wouldn’t be passed onto someone new. She and her lindy shark would be partnered for the entire song. Knowing this, she took her time checking him out. Up close, he was even more attractive. Those dark liquid eyes, like a silent film star’s, were infinitely expressive. A deep, inky blue, they shined beneath the crystal chandelier. His hands were large, and firm, and they maneuvered her through the moves with expertise, but didn’t roam where they didn’t belong. That was a surprise. Often men took the opportunity to fondle a partner, something Clara generally found distasteful. Now, she realized, she wouldn’t have minded if his hands had wandered down a bit, if he’d tried a little stroking as they glided together.


By Alison Tyler
Photo: Riendo