and a pupil, Mitchell, whose life changed after hearing Dominic lecture on conservation at college.Aiden is hiding, scared of people finding the real him, hiding his identity from the world, and keeping a lid on his grief.Could working together at a census on a grizzly bear sanctuary in British Columbia be the making of Aiden. or will it end up destroying him?

    He’s pretty sure this secret has something to do with seeing another man once a month for three days at a time. Determined to show his boyfriend that he can be everything Danny needs, Rick hatches a plan that ends up revealing way more than he could’ve imagined. (This is a prequel short story related to ISHERWOOD.)

    He proved them wrong. Now he's back at the landscaping business, Potosi and Sons, he shares with his two older brothers—but they seem more interested in getting Anthony to sell out his share than in celebrating his recovery.The oil-and-water relationship between Anthony and his brothers is hardly new. Even when they were kids, Sal and Chip delighted in terrorizing their baby brother with stories like "The Hook," complete with visits to the abandoned Victorian a half mile down the two-lane.Now Anthony towers over his brothers...but he's still the youngest. When the new owner of the Hook House calls an order in, they take a little too much satisfaction in sending him to face his old fears. And learning to open up again to trust, desire—and maybe even love—is far scarier than The Hook.

    Let me know how his guardian angel became involved in his life, how he got so wrapped up in this man that he would risk becoming a Fallen Angel. And please, most of all, have an HEA. Beautiful, loving sex scene(s) are greatly appreciated.Photo Description: An angel holding a man in his arms as he looks heavenward.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 1.

     Anger clouds their partnership, and it doesn’t help they are investigating murders that look suspiciously like dog attacks, but Logan knows they’re not. Finding a killer is tricky enough, but now it will almost be impossible with their “personal issues” clouding the investigation. And if Dylan does turn into a four-legged freak at the next full moon…the fur will fly. CONTENT WARNING: mpreg themes, shifter knotting and two hot Alpha police detectives who seal their fate with an accidental mating bond.

    Arriving at Horsfall Ranch to conduct an audit on their safety program, Oliver can’t keep his eyes off owner Bayard Stoddard. A long cool drink of water if he’s ever seen one. Just when it seems Bayard might be returning his attraction -- as unprofessional as it might be right now -- the tall, powerful man receives the news his twin, Marshall, is missing.Imagine Oliver’s surprise when the abused Shire horse he finds chained up on a neighboring ranch shapeshifts into a man that looks surprisingly familiar… it seems he’s found Bayard’s missing twin.

    Not because of the council’s harebrained idea to broker peace between their clans.It’s the sweaty palms that prove Hayden never got over his embarrassing attraction to his alpha rival. Mate with him? Nothing fills Hayden with more desire—or dread. Josh doesn’t have a gay hair in his fur. At least not one he owns up to.Despite Josh’s reputation for being a connoisseur of female flesh, he’s always cared about Hayden. In a different world, they might have been friends. Now, face to face after five years, the bitterness in Hayden’s eyes fills Josh with regret for what could have been—should have been.As Hayden and Josh journey through rituals—and intimacies—that will knit their souls for life, passion and anger flares, revealing a powerful secret. The truth about a long-ago sharing of hearts, bodies and souls that ended in tragedy… Warning: Steamy love between two rival alpha werewolves, a pregnant moon that inspires mating urges, and one shy guy who knows exactly what he wants.

    The moon's rising high and full in the sky when Zach notices something's changing in Mal, growing volatile and wild. And no matter how quickly the bond between them grows, Zach's afraid he won't survive the night.

    What he doesn’t have, or believe he will ever have, is love. When Jason catches a glimpse of his new neighbor on moving day, his libido ignites and his fascination in piqued. He even manages to concoct an excuse to go over and meet the man who makes him hope and want for more than he has in years. Keith Skyler is a shifter in a world where his kind is known to only a few, but they don’t often mix and they never mate. Keith has been hoping for a mate since before he can remember, but gay lynx don’t have true mates. As far as he knows, they don’t have mates at all. However, while moving his little family across Seattle—and away from their tribe—his reality tips and spins more than he thought possible. When these two men meet over a dish of five-cheese broccoli-noodle casserole, sparks fly. Who knew a welcome to the neighborhood gift could give both of them their chance at love?

    He’s not looking for any complications, but he finds something he never expected—a mate. A mate with a whole lot of energy who attracts trouble like a magnet.Laine Campbell never means to get himself into hot water, but everything has a way of getting tangled up between his feet. He needs more than just a mate—he needs a savior.When Dev turns up at a pack get-together, Laine finds both. The two werewolves have an instant attraction, but the pack Alpha is determined to keep Laine for himself. Dev soon learns the only way to protect his mate is to fight, not just for the top spot—but for his life.Just one small problem. His accident-prone mate is determined to help him…This story was also published in the anthology: Hearts from the Ashes.

    Reed has crafted a new fairy tale for our times that manages to be ethereal, romantic and ripped-from-the-headlines realistic.Beau is a down-on-his-luck street artist living on the streets of Seattle, drawing portraits of tourists to make enough money to live hand-to-mouth. He has a knack for capturing his subjects’ “very souls” on paper. One rainy night, he is accosted by a group of fag-bashing thugs, intent on robbing him of his art supplies and humiliating Beau for who he is. Beau is beaten into unconsciousness......And awakens in a beautiful bedroom, his head bandaged and with no memory of how he got there. Outside his window pine trees and mountain vistas beckon.Beau’s tale grows even more mysterious when a large, muscular man begins bringing the injured Beau his food. The man says nothing—and wears a wolf mask. When he finally does speak, it’s only to tell Beau to call him “Beast.”What secrets does the wolf mask hide? What do these two outsiders have in common? And will their odd circumstances bring them to the brink of love—or tear them apart? The answers lie in Rick R. Reed’s haunting love story that reveals that beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder.

    But when they both arrive at the store at the same moment, the proprietor tells them to figure out between themselves who gets the bed. Elliot and Shawn decide to hold a contest: winner buys bed.And so the competitions begin, from selling charity tickets to cleaning out stables, and interpersonal tension and burgeoning attraction mount as the days until Christmas pass. But who deserves the gift more: Elliot, who can afford the expensive gift for his casual sex partner, or Shawn, who can barely cover rent, and the mysterious man he’s head-over-heels for?

    A time when we shed the figurative masks we wear in everyday life in favor of new ones… ones that allow us to be a little bolder, a little more adventurous, and perhaps a little truer to ourselves. Follow Me Into Darkness is a compilation of original tales of queer romance by five of the premier authors of contemporary romance.Hurricane by Santino HassellInteresting things never happened to Zay. He was the wallflower everyone forgot about as soon as the booze began to flow, and Mardi Gras had never been an exception. But after a chance encounter with a devil-may-care grifter, this year's celebration brings adventure and whirlwind romance.If We Be Friends by J.C. LillisSeventeen-year-old Ven should be flying high—he's playing the title role in a new TV drama about Hamlet's teen years, and tonight they're having a Mardi Gras cast party in a possibly-haunted castle. But Ven's lost all his mirth since his boyfriend suggested they "take a break," so he plans to skip the bash and brood in his trailer all night. Then the exasperating guy who plays Horatio challenges him to a Shakespearean soliloquy-off, and Ven knows his actorly honor is at stake. He says yes to the duel, trudges off to the the party to meet his fate--and finds that more awaits him onstage than a battle of wits and words.Masked by J.R. GrayBlistering heat and half-naked masked men as far as the eye can see, but Heath runs into the one face it’s taken him fifteen years to forget. Javier is plagued with a life of regret, but when a second chance confronts him, can he let go of his hang-ups and seize the moment? The Queen’s Reflection by Kris RipperIsah plays the role everyone expects: malleable and cautious, a true queen. But what others see as a queen’s appropriate modesty is really just a disguise for what Isah has never told anyone, the thing no one can ever know.This body, dressed in the queen’s gowns, is a lie.Once a year, at carnival, Isah dons someone else’s clothes and becomes them for a night. A young cook in stained whites, or a stableboy in worn breeches. As long as no one gets too close the pretense holds.Until two strangers look past all the characters and Isah finally exposes the person behind the mask.Touched by Roan ParrishSometimes when he touches people Philippe Rondeau sees their future. It’s erratic and inconvenient, but mostly he’s learned to deal with it. Sure he hasn’t found true love yet, but he has friends and lovers, and is kept busy running his family’s jazz club in Prohibition-era New Orleans. But now it’s Mardi Gras and all bets are off. In the space of one night, Philippe falls under the spell of jazz musician Claude and learns a terrible secret about his powers. If Philippe is certain of anything it’s that the future can be tricky, but the chance at love makes it all seem worthwhile.

     Thomas Treadwell takes to the high seas as a sailor on a merchant ship as he searches for freedom, a difficult thing to find for a man such as himself in the 18th century. While he must hide his most essential self in the daylight, his forbidden desires are allowed brief tastes of secret passion under the cover of night and with faceless partners. It’s not the freedom he’d hoped to one day find, but it was better than most realities for a catamite. Caught in the taboo act aboard the VIrtue, a pious ship captained by the sanctimonious Captain Temperance Stone, Thomas faces death for his crime of finding pleasure with a fellow sailor. But his fate changes in an instant when the Virtue is caught and boarded by the notorious Manhunter, a pirate ship purportedly manned by men just like him, men who desire men. The ship of criminal misfits offers him safe harbor as a guest, and what was always forbidden is accepted and celebrated. Celebrated heartily and with many of his newfound sailing companions. But when he stumbles upon their mysterious secret, passions and suspicions are aroused. Thomas must decide whether to join their ranks for good, making him a criminal in his own eyes. Lust in the Caribbean delivers sexy scenes and high adventure, transporting readers back to a far away place and time. Dive deep and experience the journey right alongside Thomas, as he discovers the meaning of acceptance, loyalty and the rule of love over law.

    James Donovan, shipwrecked on a strange, alien planet, must fight for his life in the arena against an alien twice his size. The Tyger shifter is gorgeous, powerful, and set on killing him. When Donovan shows reckless courage, the alien spares his life and takes him to be his submissive captive against his will.The young Alliance pilot tries to accept his fate, and against all odds he falls in love with his captor, Ragan. Yet on this planet, mating with a fierce and beautiful Tyger male means having to prove your ingenuity and bravery by participating in a deadly game of cat and mouse with his Tyger mate, while thousands watch on closed-circuit television. In his bestial form, Tyger won’t recognize his mate and will try his best to kill him.Can Donovan outwit the game, survive the contest, and find happiness, or will the challenge prove to be too great?