Their new relationship is only made more joyous by weekend visits from Sean’s eight-year-old son, Jason.And then their perfect world shatters.Jason is missing.When the boy turns up days later, he has been abused and has lost the power to speak. Small town minds turn to the boy’s gay father and his lover as the likely culprits. Sean and Austin struggle to maintain their relationship amid the innuendo and the threat that Sean will lose the son he loves. Meanwhile, the real villain is close to home, intent on ensuring the boy’s muteness is permanent.

    But that doesn’t mean he has the confidence to make a move on the gorgeous young blond who just breezed in to the Blue Dragon Bar. Fate will play its hand, anyway. Finding the same young blond beaten to the edge of death, terrified of a hospital, Sebastian has to choose - walk away, or try to save a life.This one chance encounter will lead Sebastian into a web of danger. Who is the enemy and who is a friend? Who will he trust when everyone has a reason to lie? How far will he go, and what will it cost, to do the right thing?Original Prompt:Dear Author,I'm so out of my league with this one I have no idea what the hell I'm doing. I watched him walk into that bathroom. How could I not notice him? Just look at him. He's fucking beautiful. I didn't see him come back out, but I was trying to play it cool, ya know? I thought maybe he'd left when after 30 minutes I didn't see him in the bar anywhere. Shrugging it off, figuring he's probably a good 10 years too young for me anyway, I went to the bathroom and saw him again. Only this time he was a broken, bloody heap on the floor in the last stall. Shit! I rushed over to him, felt for a pulse and tried to assess the damage. I'm just a retired Navy medic, not a doctor but when I roused him, he started screaming and pleading with me not to take him to the hospital. Said they'd kill him if they found him and they'd be sure and look there first. So I picked him up, carried him out and brought him home. He's so badly beaten. I think they kicked him half to death. I have to examine him, but he's so scared. I'm not sure if he's been raped or not but how do I get him to trust me enough to even check? Please help me put this beautiful, battered boy back together again.Photo Description: A bleached-blond young man with a sculpted body is sitting half-naked and curled over his own knees. His eyes are closed, and his head is down. He looks tired and scared.This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Love is Always Write" 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.Download the story, read it online or find it in Love Is Always Write: Volume 11 - Bonus Volume.__________Genre: contemporary, thriller. Tags: medical personnel; military men; first time; hurt/comfort; slow burn; unresolved sexual tensionWarnings: descriptions of post-violent-attack first aid and medical care; non-graphic discussions of off-screen sexual assault; gun violence (non-sexual). Word count: 70,085

    Moonshine, the old fashioned way. Too bad some jerk blew up his road in the Carolina mountains, keeping him stuck, high and unfortunately dry. He's just pissed off enough to take his temper out in the guy responsible, and when Sonny happens to come across him, he's not able to control his impulses. MJ is on a mission, ridding the world of another environmental threat, shutting down a logging organization. Running into Sonny in the foggy woods throws a wrench in his plans. He has no intention of dying in a backwoods cabin. But it's when Sonny kidnaps him for an impromptu vacation that things go completely awry. From the beaches of Montego Bay to the coast of Washington and Oregon, Sonny and MJ fight and love, trying to stay one step ahead of someone who carries a real grudge for MJ. Someone who would rather see them dead than alive. With car chases, explosions, and hot, steamy loving, Sonny and MJ have all the adventure they could ever want. But do these two have enough in common to prove they can give the moon a run for its money?

    From the moment Patrick meets Alexei’s eyes over the body of another Russian mobster, Alexei is a thorn in Patrick’s side, refusing to cooperate with the police and turning all of Patrick’s questions back on him. Alexei’s hard-as-nails persona whets Patrick’s professional determination to get the information he’s sure the gangster is hiding, while personally Patrick just wants to get his hands on Alexei’s hard body.The tattoos marking Alexei’s skin tell the story of his criminal past, but the more Patrick learns about Alexei, the more he wants to know, until he finds himself over his head in a relationship that might cost him his job and could well cost Alexei his life. Alexei is equally fascinated by Patrick’s willingness to overlook his past and even his present associations, but he has secrets of his own that could drive a wedge between them forever.

    The coffee's good, but it's not the rich flavor that lures him to drive blocks out of his way each morning, and it's not an addiction to caffeine either. He's half-embarrassed to admit it, but it's the man who keeps him coming back. The long-legged, painted-on-jeans-wearing, dark-haired, edgy sex god with the teasing eyes. He's everything Riley--who has a history of geekdom and being flustered around hot men--is not. Riley knows he should put a stop to the daily forays because nothing can ever come of it. Guys like that aren't interested in men like him. Yet every time the hunk meets his gaze across the crowded shop and aims a sizzling grin at him, Riley gives in and comes back to participate in the silent, sexy flirtation another day. Needless to say, the last thing he's expecting when he goes to question a witness about a murder at a local gay strip joint is to discover the witness is his coffeehouse hottie. Dane Scott works as a stripper strictly for fun. He doesn't need the money--he's got plenty in the bank from his other career. He just likes to have something to keep him busy a few nights a week. When one of his fellow dancers turns up murdered outside the strip club, the police detective who shows up on Dane's doorstep asking questions is none other than the sexy, blond cutie he's been flirting with at the coffeehouse for weeks. Riley Ellison's a fascinating contradiction--rugged, strong, serious-eyed hero and bashful boy next door. A combination Dane finds all too appealing and a refreshing change from the selfish, shallow men he's known and dated in the past. From the moment Riley flashes his badge, Dane's determined to show the skittish cop they can make magic together. The heat between them quickly soars to the boiling point and not even a murder investigation can cool the passion they share. That is, until new information on Riley's case implies Dane may not be all he seems... Genres: Gay / Contemporary

    Mutilated corpses are showing up across Tampa, and when the team discovers the newest victim was tortured alive, Alex becomes more determined than ever to stop the crazed serial killer before the horrific stabbings escalate further.With the return of Alex’s ex-boyfriend and journalist, Vince, the investigation takes a dangerous twist: the killer starts showing a personal interest in Alex. Can he stop the murders and salvage his relationship with Vince, or does he risk letting both men get away?

    Shigure is even more pleased when he discovers Ken not only speaks Japanese fluently, but is fluent in Japan's ways, even the more violent of the martial arts. Ken’s expertise at kendo is not his most striking quality—it’s the passion beneath his quiet, almost fragile exterior that ignites Shigure's lust, and the two come together as explosively as they spar. Shigure is a dangerous man in a dangerous position. He’s been trying to keep the peace with the Daito-kai—his hated rivals—but the danger on the streets is escalating, threatening those Shigure most wants to protect. He may claim to love his gaijin, but before he can keep Ken safe, Shigure will have to overcome hostility from his people, a hidden enemy, and, the most insidious opponent of all, his own hard-won pride.

    Jacob has convinced himself he has everything he needs until Ben Corbin comes into his life. In fear of his growing attraction to Ben, he does his best to push him away.Then a deadly game of revenge turns Ben and Jacob into pawns, and the only one who can save them is a man forged into a killer under the most brutal conditions.Marcel Serghi is an assassin who belongs to the House of Sicarii and there are Rules that cannot be broken. When a long-standing grudge against Marcel comes to fruition, innocent lives are put into play. And to keep everyone alive, Marcel must choose his moves with care.Themes: Gay For You, First Love, Enemies to Lovers, Secret SocietiesThis book was previously published under the Title Sicarii with a different cover. No content has been changed.

    A romance springs to life as two strangers merge with a common goal: to catch a killer they suspect occupies one of the apartments across the courtyard. But their romance must hurdle the main protagonist's suffocating, unresolved demons as well as encroaching, life threatening danger. But if they make it through, they can both bring life back to their lives.

    Even when his gut tells him that the man everybody knows is guilty is not only innocent, but a victim himself. A notorious media darling, he’s got an irresistible charm that always seems to undermine his strategic mind. Homicide detective Owen Duke dislikes him before they meet. Duke doesn’t have time for gut feelings—he lives by logic and evidence. And all the evidence tells him that Scott’s client, Hector Young, is guilty of the cold-blooded murder of a young ballerina.Scott is willing to risk his reputation and his career on the kid’s innocence. Relentless, he convinces Duke to dig beneath the surface of the case. What’s supposed to be an open-and-shut case quickly becomes a quagmire of lies, murder, and rotting corruption. Suddenly, instead of being a thorn in Duke’s side, James Scott is the only person in San Francisco the detective can trust. And the two of them are the only people who can find the truth in time to save the life of an innocent man...Genres: Gay / Contemporary / Mystery / Detective / Suspense / ThrillerHeat Level: 3Length: Extended Novel

    To escape his haunted past, he joins the military, where, as a sniper, he is trained to kill with precision and detachment. When a covert organization offers him a new purpose, he becomes Haven, an operative devoted to protecting the innocent when he can and avenging them when he cannot.After ten years of battling the evil in the world, the life no longer holds the attraction or meaning it once had, and he’s ready to walk away. Then he meets Samuel, a young man forced from the age of twelve to work as a sex slave. If ever a man had a need for Haven, it is this one.Yet nothing about this growing relationship is one-sided. Sammy gives Haven a stability he’s never known, and Haven becomes the rock upon which Sammy knows he can depend.When Sammy reveals something about the enemy Haven has been hunting for months, Sammy fears it will destroy what they’ve built and he’ll lose his home in Haven’s heart.

    He is suave. He is sexy. He is a man of the world—and a man that the world desperately wants to catch.For Scott Sapphire is the greatest jewel thief of our time.Dashing. Daring. And always neck-deep in trouble.But when Scott’s latest heist lands him in possession of a map to a rare and precious orchid, it’ll take more than bedroom eyes and a charming smile to stay one step ahead of one of the world’s most powerful business tycoons, as well as keep the CIA off Scott’s back and a handsome special agent out of his pants—or maybe not.From the Venice canals to the Amazon rainforest, from Rio de Janeiro to the casinos of Monte Carlo, comes a brand new gay hero as irresistible as diamonds and pearls.Adventure has a new name! And that name is Scott Sapphire.

    His assignment is to trap illegal metal detectorists who'll be planting a priceless medieval reliquary in a field, and retrieve it. The detectorists are part of an international ring, and the police of several countries are collaborating in the operation.To be in the right place at the right time, Jeff seduces Alan, son of the farmer who may or may not be in on the million dollar scam. Should be straightforward, easy, and it is. Until Jeff finds himself falling for Alan. But Alan is trying to shake off an obsessive ex-lover, and doesn't want commitment, just their no strings, friends with benefits relationship. Events have a way of changing minds.

    All he has in the world is the truck, less than fifty bucks, and more bruises than any one young man should have to bear. That's when he meets bluff giant Butch, who takes Zane in, helping him get his life back together. Problem is, Butch already has a lover, an artist named Randy. Or at least Zane thinks it's a problem. Turns out it's not the kind of trouble Zane thinks it is when Butch and Randy both take an interest in him. Can Zane let go of his troubled past and let Butch and Randy teach him that love doesn't have to hurt?

    He considers himself a common waiter with normal friends, boring hobbies, harmless dogs, and nothing even resembling a secret... except a crush on a tall, dark, devastatingly handsome man who dines alone at his restaurant on Tuesday nights. All it takes is one passionate night with Julian Cross to turn Cameron’s world on its head.Julian's love and devotion are all Cameron could have hoped for and more. But when his ordinary life meets and clashes with Julian's extraordinary lifestyle, Cameron discovers that trust and fear can go hand in hand, and love is just a step away from danger.