Magic users need a second to balance them out, but there has never been a case where the one with the power didn't hold the dominant position. Chalice's ability as a rare four elemental magic wielder already marks him as different, though. And with the king in denial of his son's needs, he has no choice but to look off—planet to find a powerful partner.He runs into a diplomat on a mission who leads Chalice to agree to be the pet of an emperor—one whose reputation for tossing aside subs is only balanced out by the fact that Chalice thinks he's the sexiest creature he's ever seen. Chalice takes the plunge, hoping the biggest gamble of his life won't prove to be his biggest mistake.

    Godlike reflexes and hawk eyes make him a natural gunner assigned to fly the futuristic ship with technology so advanced it’s still classified. But it takes a two-man crew and Chaz, the lone wolf, must have a partner.On his first day he meets Ferron, the most dangerous man at the Academy. The ice blue eyes and scarred face of the older cadet aren’t enough to scare Chaz. Nor are the rumors that Ferron killed his last partner. But when he finds out they are to be a team, his anxiety starts to mount.Tension climbs to a breaking point when Ferron informs him that in order to fly the Needle he and Chaz must have their bodies pressed together in a dance of sensual intimacy that makes the sexually straight Chaz angry and uncomfortable.Ferron must master Chaz completely and break down his physical and emotional boundaries. The only thing that will keep them alive is their partnership—any space between them means certain death.

    Felix Ingesson is dead."The war with the alien stin is over, but Felix Ingesson has given up on seeing his lover, Zander Anatolius, ever again. Zander's military file is sealed tighter than an airlock. A former prisoner of war, Felix is attempting a much quieter life keeping his ship, the Chaos, aloft. He almost succeeds, until Zander walks on board and insists that Felix isn't real.A retired, broken super soldier, Zander is reeling from the aftereffects of his experimental training and wants nothing more than to disappear and wait for insanity to claim him. Then he sees footage of a friend and ally—a super soldier like him—murdering an entire security squad with her bare hands and a cold, dead look in her eyes. He never expected to find Felix, the man he'd thought dead for years, on the ship he hired to track her down.Working with Felix to rescue his teammate is a dream come true…and a nightmare. Zander has no exit strategy that will leave Felix unscathed—or his own heart unbroken.

    Tyler is willing to a point, but he’s nobody’s doormat.Blessed Despair has conquered five worlds, but when he retires he finds his biggest opponent is mind-numbing boredom. When Tyler manages to engage him fully, Blessed is pleased with his purchase, but soon he discovers that Tyler’s alien ways push him well beyond sexual gratification.In a desperate attempt to keep their relationship strictly sexual, Blessed uses pleasure as a source of punishment, but all he’s done is dig himself in deeper. Will they be able to overcome their physical and psychological differences, or will Tyler be thrust onto the auction block once more?

    If the prisoners don't kill each other, they'll die slowly from mining the poisonous drug chojal. Yet Aleron still hopes that he can escape.Only thirty Athaki guards keep the chaos of Tantoret in check, a race of aliens stronger and faster than their human charges. Most intimidating of all is the head guard, Jasak, who has his own reasons for being sent to Tantoret.Amidst the darkness and desperation, Aleron and Jasak share an unexpected attraction. An attraction neither can resist when Jasak claims Aleron as his mate to protect him. Then they discover that both guards and inmates are planning a coup, while a traitor from an enemy nation threatens the whole planet. Suddenly escape from Tantoret isn't just Aleron's dream--it's a matter of survival for them both.84,400 words

    Since his clone-wife died on entry, he’s been doing the work of two on his failing protein farm. Overworked and undersized, Runt’s dwindling hope of earning corporate citizenship has turned to fear of violent “retirement.”When an overdue crate of provisions crashes on his beach, Runt searches frantically for a replacement wife among the tools and food. Instead he gets Ox, a mute hulk who seems more like a corporate assassin than a simple offworld farmer.Shackwacky and near-starving, Runt has no choice but to work with his silent partner despite his mounting paranoia and the unsettling appeal of Ox’s genetically altered pheromones. Ox plays the part of the gentle giant well, but Runt’s still not convinced he hasn’t arrived with murder in mind.Between brutal desire and the seeds of a relationship, Runt’s fears and Ox’s inhuman past collide on a fertile world where hope and love just might have room to grow.

    Then Trace Michelson recruited him into The Trust, a CIA-backed agency whose "executives" eliminate rogue biotechnology operations. Trace was everything Jake ever wanted in a man: powerful, brilliant, and gorgeous. But Jake never admitted his attraction to his mentor, and Trace always kept Jake at arm's length. Now Trace is dead and Jake is one of The Trust's best operatives, highly skilled and loyal to the organization. But the secret agent has his own secret: six years ago, before he was assassinated, Trace designed a Sim chip containing his memories and experiences-and now that chip is part of Jake. It's just data, designed to augment Jake's knowledge, but when Sim becomes reality, Jake wonders if Trace is still alive or if Jake really is going crazy like everyone claims. He doesn't know if he can trust himself, let alone anyone else. To learn the truth about Trace and the chip, Jake embarks on a dangerous mission-except he's not the only one looking for the information. Some of the answers are locked in his head, and unless he finds the key, he'll be killed for the technology that's become a part of him. Now, more than ever, Jake wishes Trace were here to guide him. Too bad he's dead... right?

    He's an Astral Mage, better known as a "Soul Giver", a race of people who can reattach life force energy back to its source. In other words, he brings the dead back to life.For years the Confederated Authority, the governing body for planets, has been methodically hunting Astral Mages down and Kyrus is as pure as they've seen. So it becomes a huge risk when Tilbarr, the captain of the Wolf, brings Kyrus on board his ship.Not that Tilbarr is afraid of the ConFed. Far from it. But the threat to Kyrus doesn't come from outside the Wolf and it isn't long before Tilbarr realizes he just may have to give up everything in order to save Kyrus: his ship, his crew, and even his life. All in all, not a bad trade off.CONTENT ADVISORY: This is a re-edited, expanded re-release title.

    In the year 2050 mankind’s never-ending quest for proof life exists in the universe is answered—in the form of massive space ships that appear without warning above the capitals of all major nations. The name of their planet is Tah’Nar—and is dying. The United States sets up a lottery system, and each young man between the ages of twenty-three and twenty-eight is assigned a number. Once a year, for the next five years, numbers will be drawn and a new set of one thousand males will be collected. The media coined the expression ‘The Harvest’ for when the Tah’Narian’s collect these young men.Captain Keyno Landium Shou is a Tah’Narian starship captain who has been granted the right to take a mate, any mate, he wants during the last harvest on Earth. Dale was seventeen when the aliens first appeared. His parents assumed he’d be safe since the final collection would be done before he turned twenty-three. He didn’t fall within the guidelines established, so they took for granted he had nothing to fear.They were wrong.

    You can trust him. If he doesn't talk a lot about his past, well, a lot of guys have done things they'd rather forget. A lot of guys have been through things they'd rather forget, too. He's so nice that it isn’t that weird when he asks about some of the other guests. Not like a cop, though, or a Fed—well, okay. Maybe a little like that one guy from that movie. Maybe he's off-duty, settling a score on his own time.Or maybe he's the guy on the run. Come to think of it, he looks around corners like someone's after him, too. But you know, some guys are chased by nothing more than the ghosts of their past...

    Instead he's stuck patrolling a remote corner of the border with cadets straight out of boot camp. They don't understand him, and he sure doesn't have an ounce of respect for them.After a field promotion, Earth sends Commander Zeke Waters to the Candiru for some practical experience in a leadership role. Instead, Zeke falls in lust with the adamantly heterosexual Jacqs. The way Jacqs fights and the way he sees the world draws Zeke closer, even if common sense tells him to walk away.Even if they can find a way to reconcile their sexual differences, they are both still soldiers. The war will eventually take them away from each other unless they can find a way to escape the rules that have defined their lives.

    In order to keep the crews from going insane, the ship’s counselor must meet each crewman’s sexual needs, no matter what.When Jax Jupiter finds himself without a job, he takes the only one for which he’s qualified: ship’s counselor. But the last time he worked a deep-space flight, he’d almost been killed by a crazed spacer. Taking this job is against all his better judgment, but he’s trapped. He just hopes he isn’t making a deadly mistake.Logan Forge has been the captain of the Vieux Carre for nearly five years, and each year it gets harder to keep control. As captain, he’s allowed normal hormone levels, but he must, like the other crewmembers, use the counselor to maintain his levels. But Logan has a secret—he didn’t use the counselor on the last flight and he doesn’t plan on it this time either.Until Logan meets Jax and all his resolve is shattered. The more he watches Jax and the crewmembers, the more Logan wants Jax. But Jax has learned Logan’s secret, and if Jax tells the Corp it’s the end of Logan’s career.And just like the last time, someone wants Jax dead.And Logan is the prime suspect.

    Caris Dealyn wants nothing more than to get this assignment done so he can continue searching for his missing Avanti friends. But first, he needs to solve the mystery surrounding the last ambassador’s disappearance, while navigating the Demon court with all its whisperings of plots and betrayals. It's not such a bad job, if he could keep his attention on work and not on the prince who seems to distract him just by being near.Prince Dasalin Kan’erkit is busy running the kingdom in his father's absence, but not so busy he doesn’t notice the new Ambassador. Caris gets under his skin like no one else before, which is quite a feat considering Dasa’s demonically tough scales.The attraction between them is undeniable, and when events throw them together, sparks fly. They can't get enough of each other. But there are forces at work that wish to keep them apart. In a fight for their survival, the two must figure out which demonic faction is behind the plot and protect not only themselves, but the people they have both vowed to serve.

    We hope you can join us for the evening celebration.The Haywards want to get married to the loves of their lives as a family. They are going to need a lot of help to pull this wedding off as Christmas is less than two months away. Thank goodness their father’s best friend is a wedding planner. He’s also the man they know is the real love of their father’s life.For thirty years Lonnie Shaw has waited for his chance with Glen. He’s delighted when a future together is within reach. But someone shooting at them, cake mishaps, and ex-boyfriends almost derail their love again. No worries though, the children have a plan in motion. Let Plan Hayward and the Wedding Planner commence!

    Using electronics and desperation, Anderson creates a family to keep him company, but family isn't always a blessing.When Anderson finally arrives, C.J. Poulson greets him with curiosity and awe, because anyone who can survive a holocaust and reinvent holo-science is going to be a legend and right up C.J.'s alley. But the more C.J. investigates how Anderson endured the last ten years, the deeper he is drawn into a truly dangerous fantasy, one that offers the key to Anderson's salvation—and his destruction.In spite of his best intentions, C.J. can’t resist the terribly seductive Anderson. Their attraction threatens to destroy them, because the heart of a man who can survive the destruction of his people and retain his sense of self holds a solid core of alpha male that will not be denied.