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The exploration of romance kinks continues! And today we're looking at perhaps one of the messiest: cumplay.
I've been wanting to research this one for a while, because in the past few years, there's been an interesting shift in the romance world regarding cum. Suddenly, there's a lot more of it. Sometimes, it comes in different flavors (thank you, Layla Fae, for opening us up to the possibilities of pumpkin spice cum). And it's not just something characters have to deal with in the bedroom; often, it's as exciting as the sex itself.
What is the cumplay romance kink?
As with most kinks, cumplay is blessedly easy to understand, because the definition is in the name: playing with cum.
Usually, this is cum that comes from a penis; rarely is female ejaculation involved, and when it is, it's usually referred to as squirting, rather than cumplay, so this post will focus on the former type of cum, specifically.
And while the term might make the kink seem simple, there are many different types of the kink.
The different types of cumplay kink you'll find in romance novels:
-rubbing cum into a partner's skin
-pushing cum back inside part of a partner's body (usually a vagina or bum, but mouths can be involved, too)
-watching cum drip out of a part of a partner's body (again, usually a vagina or bum)
-cumming on the face, chest, or back of a partner, rather than inside them -eating cum (aka creampie)
-being ejaculated on by multiple partners (bukkake)
There's also a form of cumplay when one partner covers the other/s with cum and doesn't allow them to wash it off; this form of the kink intersects with the humiliation kink (basically, humiliating someone by making them all messy and forcing them to walk around wearing that mess).
Cumplay can also intersect with breeding kink, especially when cumplay takes the form of pushing the cum back inside a fertile partner's body.
Now, you might be wondering: are there certain types of romance novels where cumplay shows up more than others?
The romance sub-genres where you're most likely to see cumplay
Because cumplay only requires a penis and a willing partner, it works with nearly ever sub-genre, excluding any that are below a steamy/spicy level on the heat scale. It's most popular in contemporary romance, particularly those with alpha male, mountain man, daddy, over the top, possessive heroes, and mafia romance, which also has its fair share of alpha males and OTT heroes, but you'll see it in paranormal, fantasy, and historical romance, too.
You might've noticed that most of the tropes I listed above are under the "dominant male" umbrella.
Why is the cumplay kink is so popular with dominant romance heroes?
Cumplay can be a way of exerting that dominance—for example, a hero marking his partner with his semen, rubbing it into their skin, or pushing it back inside them. He's exerting control. But in romance, control is never control for its own sake. There's always another motivation behind it.
And often, heroes exert control with cumplay as a way of showing how fierce their feelings are for their partners. They're so strong that the hero is possessive over his partner's body. Often, buckets of cum are literally metaphor for the hero's feelings. Just like his cum, they can't be contained, and when he meets his partner/s, he can't help but flood them with his love. The literal outpouring might even be the scene that thrusts the characters from like to love, from getting to know each other to falling head over heels.
How can cumplay be incorporated into a romance novel, beyond the sex scenes?
The cumplay kink can be a source of conflict in a romance novel. The hero might be embarassed about the amount of cum he produces, and has to get over that emotional wound in order to really connect with his love interest/s and enjoy intimacy with them. Or maybe their partner has a kink and has always wanted to explore it, but hasn't found the right partner to do it with, and their love story follows they explore the kink together.
And, of course, the kink can be the hook/set-up for the romance itself, like in Morning Glory Milking Farm, where the hero's cum is the reason he meets the heroine and gets to know her.
It's a kink that, as is the case with all the kinks that appear in the romance genre (and boy are there a lot), can affect everything from sex scenes to character development. And no matter how you use it, it'll certainly spice up your sex scenes. And for many readers, especially right now, the spicier, the better!
I'll be back next week with another deep dive into a romance genre kink. Until next blog post, happy reading and writing!