Despite his better judgment, he agreed to let the young mercenary travel with him to the battle at Foray. Their travels become a journey of sexual discovery, love, and, ultimately, on the battlefield at Foray, loss.Two years later, Drake is called to be Master of Arms at Marden Castle. Drake can handle that, but he can't handle Logan, the Duke of Marden.Logan's green eyes, long blond hair, and boyish charm make Drake feel things he'd rather keep buried. But if Drake can open his heart again, he'll find everything he's never wanted and always needed: a home, a son, and a man to love and who loves him. Publisher's Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable: Male/male sexual practices, ménage (m/f/m, m/m/m), violence.

    But behind the locked sitting room door at 221 Baker Street, his biographer and intimate companion, ex-army doctor John Watson, holds the reins. Elinor Gray is re-imagining the best-loved, essential classics of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle through an erotic lens of domination and submission. As longtime fans have often identified, Holmes and Watson share an undeniable chemistry. Compound a Felony: A Queer Affair of Sherlock Holmes sheds light on their potential relationship, from wild passion to absolute control. Devoted fans of the Sherlock Holmes canon and newcomers alike will find unbound levels of secrecy, suspense, pain, and reward.

    One day he takes a call from “Ricky,” a suicidal man being forced into a marriage he doesn't want. For weeks Mark talks to Ricky and provides support, but he’s frustrated by the lack of information Ricky provides and the decisions he’s making. In the meantime, Mark starts a relationship with another volunteer. Then tragedy strikes and Mark takes time away from the helpline, but when he comes back, Ricky is waiting. Mark realizes Ricky is stronger than before and their relationship changes, but Mark isn’t sure what their future holds if their relationship is destined to be at the end of the phone.

    When his students are asked to perform in New York City, he decides to chance reconnecting with his former love, if for no other reason than to get a proper goodbye.When Emmett and Tobias finally meet 15 years after parting ways, it is clear to both of them that their feelings for each other have not changed. As they explore their renewed relationship, the two men face old hurts and the new challenges of a long-distance romance. Will Tobias lose his second chance at love to the ghosts he can’t seem to put to rest?

    But Nic Pithiviers and Louis Meerow seem to have no desire to set the record straight: they refuse the interview and send attorney Francis LeBon to question Will’s motives.Francis has a special place in his heart for Nic and Louis, who taught him to take pride in himself as a gay man, and he’ll stop at nothing to protect them from a gossipmongering reporter. However, Francis doesn’t expect the reporter’s honesty and genuine determination to exonerate two men falsely accused… or the growing attraction to Will he feels.While visiting with Nic and Louis at their horse training center in France, Will uncovers a web of intrigue, secrets, and old lies, and he unwittingly sets a series of perilous events into motion that not only threaten to destroy his budding relationship with Francis, but Nic and Louis’s decades-long commitment as well.

    An award-winning start on the Broadway stage led him to the silver screens of Hollywood, where his star began to rise, and his heart fell hard for professional baseball sensation, Manuel Guzman. But there was no script for living out loud with the man of his dreams in the world of 1964. Then Richard disappeared without a trace. Forty years later, Michael Spencer discovered a journal in his grandmother's attic that would change his life forever, and quite possibly, solve the mysterious disappearance of Richard Lewis Bancroft. Original Prompt:Dear Author,They met while vacationing on a tropical beach, can their summertime romance last?Photo Description: Two very muscular, tanned men are naked on the beach. One is lying down, his left knee bent, his head (to the right) in the lap of his lover. The dark-haired, kneeling lover is leaning over him, hands to either side of his shoulders, about to kiss him upside-down.Download the story, read it here or find it in Don't Read in the Closet, Volume 2 or Don't Read in the Closet: GayRomLit Retreat 2011 Special Edition. __________Genre: contemporaryTags: gay m/m, family secrets, lies, angst, HEA, intolerance, sacrifice, romance, emotionalWord Count: 31,889

    It's a life of toil which doesn't allow for very much pleasure, and he's in danger of becoming embittered until a chance acquaintance wanders back into his life and everything begins to change. The problem, however, is that John Anderson has a price on his head - and, very soon, Will and John find themselves desperately concealing more than one dangerous secret.The Devil in Dead Horse, sequel to End of the Trail, is now available! Click here for more details!

    Gaidres has a plan: kill Caelius and end the lineage of the Roman family that enslaved him. For his plan to succeed, he must make a show of respect and obedience--even when called on to service his master's desires.Gaidres is shocked to learn that in the confines of his quarters, Caelius doesn't want to dominate his slave, but to be taken by him. The sex is explosive as they break society's taboos and, to Gaidres's dismay, they form a tenuous relationship. Even when Caelius learns of Gaidres's plans for revenge, he knows he can't live without his perfect lover. Is he willing to risk it all to tame his gladiator's heart?88,000 words

    During a fierce storm, a stranger seeks shelter in Dafydd's remote cottage. He is no ordinary traveler-he is Christopher, King of Lysnowydh. The wild passion that flares between them rivals the storm, and love moves King Christopher's heart to name Dafydd Marshal of his troops to keep him close. However, love is never simple or safe when it must endure the pressures of political life. Though Dafydd proves himself in battle, Lysnowydh's nobles protest his rise in position and power. Forces will conspire against Dafydd and Christopher, and they must endure treason, treachery, and the demands of a kingdom requiring an heir to secure their happiness together.

    Trapped in Dante’s, the high-class London brothel catering to men who love men, his only hope is to find a rich protector. Then he meets the young aristocrat with sad eyes.Tristan Barrington, sixth earl of Chiltern, waited until the death of his father before acting on his unnatural desires. Dante’s has a reputation for quality and absolute discretion. He never expected to find in its sordid depths a glorious man who could master not only his body but his heart, as well.In Tristan, Sam sees an opportunity to flee a life he hates, and he sets his sights on seducing the earl. Tristan vows to help him escape, but in the process not only uncovers the vile corruption at the heart of Dante’s but also suspects that Sam’s declaration of love was nothing but a lie.Then Sam is gravely injured, and Tristan faces a tough decision -- leave Sam to his fate, or help him once again?Contains the short story The Wrong Kind of Angel. It's Christmas 1817, and Captain Charles Farrington has accepted that he is destined to live alone. Then Harry Valentine crashes into his life. Harry is a man with secrets, on the run with no time to fall for the angel who rescued him. Charlie knows he's the wrong kind of angel for happy endings, but ...

    At age seven, I left home to train with other boys where we were taught obedience, solidarity, military strategy, and how to withstand pain. My harsh upbringing stripped me of my weaknesses and forced me to become strong. Ruthless.But, I craved something greater—a life I could never have.Against all odds, and the toughest training a warrior could endure, I found an unexpected love in the arms of a fellow Spartan. He was the very air I breathed and the water that sustained me. Fighting side by side with him, we were invincible. Where he went, I followed.However, there was no place for love in Sparta. Feelings were for the weak. The only life for a Spartan was one of battle and brutality with no guarantee of tomorrow. In times of war, all men were put to the test, but the greatest challenge for us was not one of swords and spears, but of the heart.*M/M Historical Romance set in Ancient Sparta*

    The course of history seems set... until one innocent Andari mage changes everything and claims a greater prize—the heart of the Nikari emperor.Behnivyr ‘Ivy’ Erethe knows his duty is to wed another Andari Pure-Blood. Craving one moment of freedom before his loveless bonding, he escapes his father’s suffocating protection and goes to a masquerade ball, only to unexpectedly meet a mysterious Nikari named Kris. Kris makes Ivy ache with a need he barely dares to acknowledge. One kiss, one dance—and Ivy’s life changes forever. Unbeknownst to Ivy, Kris is actually Kristelien Fezenda, the Nikari emperor. Forced to make a difficult choice, Ivy picks love over duty and becomes Kris’s concubine.Poorly prepared for the whirlwind of emotion Ivy summons inside him, Kris now faces the hardest battle of his life. In a ruthless world where all weakness is exploited, where allies become enemies in the blink of an eye, where love can mean death, he will have to defeat more than his own personal demons to breach the rift between him and Ivy.

    As an inventor in the merchant caste, his life is predictable in its routine until the night his best friends and assistants, Caleb and Andrew, purchase the time—and body—of a companion for his birthday. As an activist in the Caste Equality movement, everything Gabriel believes in tells him to refuse the gift, but then he meets Lucio. The beautiful and alluring companion is far more than the vapid courtesan he'd expected, and he can’t get the man out of his mind.After that night, Gabriel tells himself to forget about Lucio, but a chance meeting at a ball makes it clear neither of them is willing to ignore the compelling chemistry between them. It will take all their combined trust and cunning, plus the help of a wily aristocrat and a plucky political activist, to overcome the challenges of infidelity, abuse, and social stigma that lay along their road; however, Gabriel knows it will all be worth it if at the end of the day he can call Lucio his own.

    On the surface, Nik is a typical badass enforcer, intimidating and dangerous, on and off the ice. The only son of Ukrainian immigrants, Nik has been groomed from childhood to fulfill his father’s dream of seeing him in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Igor guides his son toward that goal with a controlling—and oftentimes abusive—hand, steering him clear of anyone who might ruin his chances. Although Emory is the US National Figure Skating champion, he’s in-your-face gay, and his audacious persona rubs Nik and his family the wrong way. Raised by supporting and loving parents, Emory is Nik’s polar opposite in every way but one—his desire to succeed. Underneath the feather boa, glitter, and makeup beats the heart of a fierce competitor, and this side of Emory’s personality begins to close the distance between the two athletes. While the attraction is one-sided in the beginning, Nik finds himself responding to Emory’s flirting. But before the incongruous pair have a chance at any sort of relationship, they must survive the pressure of career, separation, and most importantly, Igor’s ruthless homophobia.

    Now Dean needs to repair his broken engagement to a wealthy heiress…and Rob is the only one who can identify the man who set him up, proving to Dean's fiancée that things weren't as they appeared.The trip from Worcester to Bath turns into a journey of self-discovery, as Dean finds himself becoming increasingly attracted to Rob. His charming companion stirs feelings Dean has long kept repressed, but acting on them would make true the accusations that destroyed his engagement. Torn between duty and desire, Dean's destiny lies in the hands of a Discreet Young Gentleman.