Learning To Dance

by Annette Gisby

Dear Author,
I found him over on CupOPorn.net last October, and I’ve been wondering about him ever since. I get the feeling that our “bold and brazen” here is actually a front for someone who’s a little lost, a little alone, and needs someone to trust. Can you give him a top to protect him? I think he needs one. Also, that bear is incredibly important to him— I don’t know why, but I do know he loves it.

Photo Description:
A dark-haired young man stands in the center of a summer street scene. He wears a studded black leather harness and collar, fingerless black gloves, and black chaps that lace down the sides, and holds a green shopping bag. His hair has been gelled into spikes, and the fringe in the back is dyed a streaky blond. Hanging from the back of the harness is a red leather bear wearing a small black leather harness.

This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Love Has No Boundaries" event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story.

Genres: M M Romance, BDSM, Contemporary, Romance, Short Stories, Gay, LGBT

17 pages, ebook

First published June 12, 2013

About the author

Annette Gisby grew up in a small town in Northern Ireland moving to London when she was seventeen. Being a very small town there were no bookshops and a small library. When she’d devoured every book she could get her hands on in the library, she started writing her own stories so she would always have something to read later.

When not writing she enjoys reading, cinema, theatre, walks along deserted beaches or wandering around ruined castles (great places for inspiration!)

She still lives in England with her husband, a collection of porcelain dolls and stuffed penguins and enough books to fill a small library. It’s diminishing gradually since the discovery of ebooks but still has a way to go.

Reviews

[Julesmarie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was, um, abrupt. And strange. And frustrating.

We meet Daniel, dressed as shown in the picture of the prompt, leaving a club where he'd been sent dressed like that as a practical joke. He returns to his school, a college for dancing where he's in his 2nd year, desperately hoping not to see anyone before he can change and hide for a while.

To his dismay, as he's coming in the door, he meets one of his professors.

This is where the story first began to lose me. The professor, seeing a student who's obviously distressed, uncomfortable, and has been crying, immediately decides to take that student to his room in the professors' hallway rather than escort the poor traumatized boy to his own room.

They both admit later that they've been attracted to each other for a while now, but, really? Was this the best possible time to choose to act on that. Not only is the boy likely barely 18, but he's clearly in a seriously vulnerable emotional state. So all of the professor's actions from then on were immediately suspect to me and came across as predatory and off-putting rather than comforting or Dom-like.

And, granted, I only know about BDSM what I've learned from stories about it, but it seems to me that Daniel is hardly in any state of mind to consent to anything like being a submissive. And if the professor honestly cared about him, it seems like he would have waited before acting on anything the boy agreed to in that state.

The whole development of the relationship was sudden and strange. And given poor Daniel's situation, not only distasteful but also unethical and possibly illegal.

[m. ✨ On Hiatus ✨ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started out promising, but I thought there would be a little more interaction and exposition before the characters dove into their D/s session. The writing was fine, but I just didn't connect with this story.

[Annika · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was just an intro with a sex scene and bad dialogue. Sorry to say so.

[Joan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Great picture, great prompt. Loved the ‘walk of shame’ but then I lost it. Totally.

Daniel is a pupil at a sixth-form college, and he is drawn into a sexual relationship by one of his teachers. And in my eyes, as a teacher, that is never, ever acceptable. I am seething here. We are not told exactly old Daniel is, however, he is in his second year at college and is still attending classes, so it is entirely possible that he is still 17 or only just 18. (And if Daniel is under 18, then what occurs is a criminal offence and could result in a prison sentence and the professor being classed as a sexual predator)

It is abundantly clear that Daniel is both immature, lonely and desperate for comfort, and as far as I am concerned this is nothing more than a man in a position of authority, and who is trusted to act in an ethical manner, taking advantage of someone who was not in any condition to make a rational, reasoned judgement. It went WAY beyond ‘comforting’ and straight into a rather unpleasant version of ‘dominance’, verging almost on rape and physical abuse, and quite frankly bullying of someone who was in pretty fragile state.

Yes, it is not illegal to have sex with a pupil who is over 18, but the teacher was abusing his position and putting Daniel in an impossible situation, which is why these relationships are not only frowned upon but prohibited in many colleges and universities as well as establishments where vulnerable adults are in the care of others. And before anyone jumps to the conclusion that I am overreacting, believe me, I am not.

It’s done to protect the innocent, to ensure that immature and foolish students do not end up in a situation where their teacher can force them to do anything in order to get good grades.

Daniel was innocent and naïve. If he had any sense he would have walked out of that club immediately, not even taking his coat off. But he didn’t. Doesn’t sound very ‘adult’ to me and he certainly didn’t look it in the photograph. An uncomfortable read, thin on any real plot and lacking in depth or emotion.

[Steelwhisper · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5* rounded up because it's a freebie.

There are multiple issues with this story, ranging from the disconnect between the reader and the characters ( http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... ) over issues with the dialogue ( http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... ) to issues with unacknowledged propriety and the specialness of the situation ( http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... ). I agree with all of those.

But as so often, for me it was the failure of the BDSM which was the most important and crucial lack. If the author had confined this to a realistic, tender initiation to BDSM everything would have looked a bit different. As it was I was shaking my head far too often, there was far too much that any halfway experienced person in the lifestyle wouldn't (or at least shouldn't) do, totally leaving alone that the added powerslide between a teacher and a pupil created an additional squick. A little bit more research would have done this story a world of good, and just to give a pointer, Gaydar is precisely this sort of story and prompt written with lots of insight.

[Serena Yates · Rating 3 out of 5]

This sexy short story starts out with Daniel utterly humiliated by being told to dress in revealing leather clothes such as might be worn in a gay club. He is clearly in urgent need of a protector. So-called "friends" played a prank on him, and he is devastated.

Luckily a professor at the dance academy he studies at takes pity on him and make him feel better - a LOT better. They quickly discover they're pretty compatible, and Daniel quickly learns not all BDSM is bad...

If you like stories with a younger man being "taken in hand" by an older, more dominant guy, if you enjoy reading about a newly discovered submissive, and if you're looking for a sweet, sexy read that goes from hurt to comfort, then you will probably like this free short story.

[Furio · Rating 1 out of 5]

Although this author seems to specialise in gay BDSM, she does not appear to be proficient at it, at least judging from this erotic short story.

Psychologies are irritatingly simplistic; sex/domination is commonplace and dull; writing is quite underwhelming.

[K]

LHNB story released 12.6.13
Well written story, but unfortunately it just didn't work for me

[Yvonne · Rating 2 out of 5]

A LHNB Story 1.5 Stars A story is only as interesting as its characters and the ones in this story needed more development. It also felt a little too basic.

[Sandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Offered for FREE from the M/M Romance Group's Love Has No Boundaries Anthology: Volume 5. Thank you too all the amazing authors who participated!

I debated whether I should round up or down, but ultimately the decision was based on my complete lack of emotional involvement with both the story and the characters. I think this is a good first draft. Add in some set-up where we see the two men in class together, maybe a private lesson with some sexual tension. Then split up the one main sex scene so it transitions Daniel into the lifestyle more smoothly. As other reviewers said, it was all just too rushed. From zero to Master in 16 pages.

[Penumbra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Learning to Dance was written for the M/M Romance Group's Love Has No Boundaries picture prompt event. It's told in third person through the eyes of Daniel a dancer at a performing arts school.



Learning to Dance starts out quickly and every decision and action is made fast with no waiting. I feel that if the plot and characters had been filled out and paced more slowly it would have been better. At the pace it was at, it read as choppy and erratic.

I liked the idea the author had for this picture prompt even though it didn't quite fit the written prompt the requestor wanted. The reason behind the red teddy bear in the picture prompt was covered in the story and was a cute idea.

I don't know if the author created the cover for her story or someone else, but I love it!

This wasn't a bad story, it just could have been a lot better. I give this 2.5 Stars but raise it to 3 Stars because I enjoyed the plot, the reason for the teddy bear and the cover.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very short BDSM story.

We're barely introduced to the characters and they start having sex. And it is a teacher/student relationship.

It doesn't completely fit the prompt, but it is inspired by the prompt and short compared to a lot of the stories from the Love Has No Boundaries series. It got into the sex quickly.

Everything felt a bit rote and hurried. But I didn't think the sex was that bad. There really wasn't enough context to judge the teacher/student relationship fairly, but I think readers are too harsh.

[SheReadsALot · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise was strong. The story read rushed and the D/s dynamic just didn't work for me (though I truly wanted it to because I enjoy teacher /student romances) I think if maybe there was more length, giving both men's D/s relationship to grow and build, this story would have knocked it out of the park.

2.5 Stars I'll round up.

[Miriam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an enjoyable short story. It hits a lot of kink buttons for me. While I agree with some of the other reviewers that it's a bit rushed, I don't necessarily expect a lot of backstory/plot in a short story like this. (Especially a free one.) It IS teacher/student. Don't read it if that isn't your thing.

[Jyanx · Rating 1 out of 5]

Poorly written, and developed. The "relationship" between the student and teacher did not impress me, and it felt like the teacher was taking advantage of the younger man. Not sexy or romantic in my opinion.

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice interpretation of the photo. Thank you Annette Gisby for donating your story, your time and your talent.

[Miriki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Basically it's just one sex scene with BDSM through in. The dialogue's too mechanical and characters badly lack chemistry. Boring.

[Vivian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sweet premise that is rushed and too explanatory even for a first time BDSM story. It felt like a sprint.

[Xondra Day · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spicy and straight to the point! I'd love to see this story expanded to get to know more about the characters!

[Crispy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short, sweet and improbable.

[Blue Dragon · Rating 1 out of 5]

I ended up skimming to the end. The only way to describe this story is abrupt and awkward.

[Jenny · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was too short and too strange. It had me cringeing and felt abusive at times.

[Melanie~~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't really care much for this story. I think the student/teacher cum lovers dynamic felt off. I didn't feel connected at all to Daniel.

[NOTE: I rate most writing event stories (free reads) 4 or 5 stars because of my appreciation of the author's participation.]

[H.V. Corbin · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was okay. It seemed a bit rushed - the relationship and the BDSM introduction. One minute Daniel is a BDSM newbie and the next he's knowledgeable of intricate practice. Casey gets a mild side-eye from me for not-exactly-good Dom etiquette. Still, not bad just kind of off.

[Jenny Wood · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing was good, but the story just wasn't my thing. I don't mind some BDSM but this was like.... I dunno, random and totally unbelievable? Random for sure, and how everything got started and... I just dunno.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

[Isabel · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5*

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 stars

[Katy Beth Mckee · Rating 4 out of 5]

It could have been the worst night of his life but the teacher he has crushed on has come to the rescue. With this action it all turns around to be one of the best.

[Penny · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my thing, but I felt for the character having to walk home in chaps. 2.5 stars.