Two enemies who meet in the line of duty during the early days of the Soviet Union's last war in Afghanistan. Behind enemy lines respect and finally love grow ... but that's only the official version. This epic spans across over twenty-five years of their lives. It's harsh and violent, but life is cruel and they just do what they need to survive. Special Forces - Mercenaries is the second cycle of the Special Forces epic, which consists of three cycles and about a million words. The Mercenaries cycle is so large, it is available in two parts, of which this is the first part. The first cycle is Soldiers and the third one is Veterans.This print version is the original version of Special Forces, as it was edited by the authors of the time of first publication on Marquesate’s website. The Mercenaries cycle was published between May 2007 and November 2008. This is the only version that is authorised by Marquesate.This print version of Special Forces is strictly non-profit and print cost only. The paperback of this original version is available from Lulu here.The ebook version is available for free download, and the original chapters remain as a free read on Marquesate’s website.

    Resources are scarce and technology is illegal. But in the slums, revolution is brewing.Misha is a common pickpocket until his boss gives him a new job. Disguised as a whore, Misha is sent to work for one of the most powerful men in the city. But his real task is far more dangerous: get close to Miguel Donato, and find something – anything – that will help topple Davlova’s corrupt government.Misha is plunged into the decadent world of the upper class, where slaves are common and even the most perverse pleasure can be found. Although he’s sure Davlova’s elite is involved in something horrific, proof is hard to come by, and Misha begins to fall in love with the man he’s supposed to betray. Then Misha meets Ayo – a sex slave forced by the neural implant in his brain to take pleasure from pain – and everything changes. As the lower class pushes toward a bloody revolution, Misha will find himself caught between his surprising feelings for Donato, his obligations to his clan, and his determination to save Ayo

    Having no family but his 16-year-old sister, Savannah, and coming from the streets – The Phoenix club has become his home, the other boys his close-knit family. Abel doesn't trust the outside world and is content to remain within his safe haven. But when an overzealous customer sends Abel to the ER, he meets young, handsome Dr. Devlin Grant – and the instant attraction he feels for the man stirs up the nightmares of his past, causing him to resist his new feelings. Yet it becomes impossible to avoid the doctor when Savannah gets sick and ends up in his care. And just when his heart is ready to trust this new found love – Abel is confronted with a disturbing fact about the doctor that reaches deep into his past and his nightmares. An emotionally charged, sexy, heart-wrenching love story that will break your heart, then put it back together again. Warning: This book contains homosexual relations and crude language not suitable for readers below 17yo.

    The publisher has changed.He tried to drown his demons, only to find they could swim.Life isn't always fair. Llewellyn Gardner knows that first hand. He was on the fast track—college dreams, a boyfriend—until one night of extreme passion changed everything. Eight years later and out of prison, he still lives with the aftershocks of that night. Everywhere he turns there’s another reminder of the crime people insist he committed, so he runs away to a new town to start over. For Shane Smith, Jr., owner of Smith Construction, there’s something about the gorgeous, misunderstood man with the overly expressive eyes and dark past. Shane sees the good in Llewellyn— it’s why he hired him—and he isn’t going to let the man cut himself off from the world.Llewellyn isn’t sure what to think about Shane. After years of protecting himself from being tricked twice, he’s worried. What will happen if Shane doesn’t believe the truth about his past?

    Kyle Braden has nowhere else to go. With no money and no prospects, he turns to the only man who promises him help. Jack Campbell-Hayes wants to show Kyle that he can be more than he ever thought.Kyle begins to see how far he’s come from being the scarred man who shut everyone out, when the first person through the doors of Legacy Ranch is Jason; a young man with nightmares that follow him when he's awake. Lost in the system and with three years on the streets marking every inch of his body, Jason Smith is scared. His life is an evil mess of hate and despair, and even the offer of a fresh start and a clean bed isn’t enough for him feel safe. Until Kyle comes into his life and shows him that it's okay not to be in control.For these broken men, Legacy Ranch offers more than a place to live and work.It offers hope.A new story set in the world of Jack and Riley Campbell-Hayes and the Double D Ranch, Texas.

    Dmitri Teplov is a suspected criminal. Jamie knows better than to get involved with the gorgeous nightclub owner, but the attraction between them is undeniable. Falling for Dmitri was never part of the plan. But sometimes, the best plan is the one you make up as you go along. Way Off Plan is the first book in Alexa Land's lighthearted, sweet-with-heat Firsts and Forever Series.

    Until it wasn't.Two years after surviving a brutal attack from members of his own unit, former Special Forces soldier Cruz de la Vega has found new purpose working for an underground vigilante group that offers justice when the law can't. When he's assigned to figure out who attacked a local gay rights activist, Cruz expects it to be just another job.But when it comes to protecting Elliot Wittier, he soon learns that the last thing he wants is for the intriguing young man to be just another job.At twenty-five years old, Elliot Wittier is well on his way to having the perfect life. As the head of a hugely successful investment firm and the founder of a prominent foundation, he should be on top of the world.But looks can be deceiving and Elliot knows how to play the game. With the fear of failing the two most important people in his life always at the forefront of his mind, Elliot keeps an iron-grip on the control that has served him so well in the past. But when a violent attack leaves him vulnerable, Elliot's carefully constructed world starts to fracture. As he struggles to keep the threat under wraps, he's thrown off guard when a gorgeous stranger takes an interest in him at a Halloween themed benefit. Throwing caution to the wind, Elliot decides to allow himself the freedom that being with the enigmatic Cruz de la Vega brings for just one night.But what happens when one night isn't enough? Or when the past catches up with the present? Can what two men found in each other in just twenty-four hours really last a lifetime?***Although it features several characters from my other books and is part of the "Protectors" world, Protecting Elliot is a stand-alone novella that can serve as a great way to get a feel for the Protectors/Barretti/Finding universe I've created. In regards to the timeline of events, Protecting Elliot occurs after Book 9 in my Protectors series, but it is not necessary to read any other books to enjoy this novella. I've specifically written this book to give new readers a chance to meet my guys and for loyal fans to check in with old favorites while still meeting a new couple.***

    Physical pain to avoid the mental. Disposable flesh to avoid relationships. Work to avoid attachment. My club became my empire of avoidance. Inside the ring millions are won and lost. The fight is confined to breaths, actions and reactions, fists and pain. Rules don’t exist. Only my opponent exists. I’d been avoiding my needs for far too long when Remi stumbles into the Inferno and I’m hungry. The promise of a submissive with no attachment is far too tempting. I can’t resist him.He was only supposed to be a distraction, but I know I'll never get over him. There isn't a chance in this clouded hell.

    Now he’s hip deep in sheep, mud and collies. His late brother and mother had been well suited to life on Seacliff Farm. Nichol? Not so much. As lambing season progresses in the teeth of an icy north wind, the last straw is the intruder Nichol catches in the barn. He says his name is Cam, and he’s on the run from a Glasgow gang. Something about the young man’s tired resignation touches Nichol deeply, and instead of giving him the business end of a shotgun, he offers Cam a blanket and a place to stay. Somehow, Cam quickly charms his way through Nichol’s defenses and into his heart. Even his grandfather takes to the cheeky city boy, whose hard work and good head for figures help set the farm back on its feet. As the cold Scottish springtime melts into summer, Nichol finds himself falling in love. When tragedy strikes, Cam’s resolutely held secret is finally revealed and Nichol must face the truth. He’s given his heart away, and it’s time to pay the price. Warning: Contains explicit M/M sex and the disruption of a quiet Scottish town by a fistfight and some tight designer jeans.

    But now someone knows Jack’s head inside and out, and they’re about to twist all perception and lead him into an underground depravity that nearly sent him down in his youth. As Jack slips further into a dark psychological minefield, only two men offer different paths back to sanity: Gray, a man who knows Jack’s every dark thought, and Jan, the first man to show Jack a “soft lad” approach to head and heart. But with deadly games and ghosts bleeding through into Jack’s reality, it’s a fight to see who out of the three of them will survive long enough to find a way out of the vicious game played by someone known only as… the Unknown.

    He was different, not completely Human, and she knew fear and prejudice would drive people to do horrible things... like a father trying to kill his son. Five years later, Adam's father is behind bars and Adam has come home to the Zone, the last place anyone would expect innocence, loyalty, and devotion, to complete his becoming Lesser-Bred and find his best friend and only love, Ean.But Ean has a life of his own. He's always wanted to belong to Batu, the Male Kin who has watched over him since childhood, but now Ean's caught in a deadly trap of biology and vengeance: he isn't enough to feed his beloved Adam during the dangerous transformation, and Kin won't allow an emotional bond in their midst. Years ago Ean lost Adam after failing to keep him safe. Now that Adam is back, will a simple feeling give Ean the strength to defy everything he's ever known and keep them together?

    He has never known anything but hurt from the hands of men ... until he meets Coby. When the new regulator rides into town and takes an interest in him, Dae is unwilling to believe that anyone who is a regulator can be a gentle, caring lover. Is Coby strong enough to protect Dae and his sister Delia when there's hell to pay in the form of McBane?

    And rightly so: he sleepwalks, with no awareness or memory of his actions. Including burning down Kenny Cooper’s house—with Kenny inside it—after Kenny brutally beat him for being gay. Back in the tiny town of Logan after serving his prison sentence, Daniel isolates himself in a cabin in the woods and chains himself to his bed at night.Like the rest of Logan, local cop Joe Belman doesn’t believe Daniel’s absurd defense. But when Bel saves Daniel from a retaliatory fire, he discovers that Daniel might not be what everyone thinks: killer, liar, tweaker, freak. Bel agrees to control Daniel at night—for the sake of the other townsfolk. Daniel’s fascinating, but Bel’s not going there.Yet as he’s drawn further into Daniel’s dark world, Bel finds that he likes being in charge. And submitting to Bel gives Daniel the only peace he’s ever known. But Daniel’s demons won’t leave him alone, and he’ll need Bel’s help to slay them once and for all—assuming Bel is willing to risk everything to stand by him.

    Tammy and Jamie are soul mates, but their love is thwarted for years by bad timing, fear of ridicule, and the damage that lingers long after childhood.

    Growing up gay in Knoxville, Tennessee is even harder. Eighteen-year-old Peter Mandel, a private school senior—class of 1991—is passionate about photography. Peter doesn’t have many friends, preferring to shoot pictures from behind the scenes to keep his homosexuality secret.Enter Adam Algedi, a charming, worldly new guy who doesn't do labels, but does want to do Peter. Hardly able to believe gorgeous Adam would want geeky, skinny him of all people, Peter's swept away on a journey of first love and sexual discovery. But as their mutual web of lies spins tighter and tighter, can Peter find the confidence he needs to make the right choices? And will his crush on Daniel, a college acquaintance, open a new path?Join Peter in the first of this four-part coming of age series as he struggles to love and be loved, and grow into a gay man worthy of his own respect. This new series by Leta Blake is gay fiction with romantic elements.Book 1 of 4. Warning! These books contain: New Adult fiction, ‘90s gay life, small city homosexual experiences, Southern biases, sexual exploration, romance, homophobia, bisexuality, and twisted-up young love. Oh, and a guaranteed happy ending for the main character by the end of Book 4.