He's stuck in a stifling courtroom with the air conditioning on the fritz during the worst heat wave in years, and the judge has denied his latest motion. He just wants to spend a quiet night celebrating with his partner, Mike, on their fifteenth anniversary. But Mike has a surprise in mind this year. A surprise that may be more than Eddie imagined possible.

    He can’t understand why people should care about that, but they do. He longs for a man who is willing to accept him, someone who can love him for who he is and not think that he is weak because of what he wears underneath his clothes. But where to find such a man?Alex is managing his sister’s lingerie shop when he sees a man worshipping a pair of panties, and it pisses him off. He wants the man to look at him in the same way he looks at that flimsy lingerie. But why would a proper-looking man ever see him as anything other than a failure?Dear Author,So I’m a man and I like to wear lace. Sometimes I like to wear leather and lace. Is that such a crime? I don’t want to be dominated, I don’t want to submit, I just want a partner who will look at me and think I’m hotter than the sun. I just want a man who won’t see me as weak because of what I wear under my clothes. But it’s hard enough to find a partner as a gay man; how am I ever going to find one who will enjoy my kink as much as I do? God, I’m so tired of hiding who I am. Please, no BDSM. The rest is up to you.Photo Description: A man is standing with his back to the camera. He is shielding his face with his arm, displaying muscles and strength, but hiding. He is wearing a black garter belt in lace with matching stockings, gloves and a harness in black leather, and nothing else. He is a beautiful contrast of strength and delicacy.This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Love’s Landscapes" 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. This story may contain sexually explicit content and is intended for adult readers. It may contain content that is disagreeable or distressing to some readers. The M/M Romance Group strongly recommends that each reader review the General Information section before each story for story tags as well as for content warnings.

    When his cellmate offers him protection, Sage accepts the offer, even though he doesn't trust the guy. Little does he know how much it will change his life.When he's released from prison, Sage finds himself needing and wanting things he shouldn't want. Sage is straight. He really is. He has a girlfriend. What happened in prison stayed in prison--or so Sage tells himself.Until he meets his former cellmate again. Xavier. The guy he hates and craves.This short novelette contains explicit language and very steamy M/M sex. For mature audiences only. ~12,500 words

    A justice of the peace, some hooch, some cake—all Mitch wants is to walk down the aisle with Sam Keller, have a party, and live happily ever after. But every day of wedding planning brings a new set of handicaps, legal, logistical, and emotional…until he brings in his best friend, Randy Jansen.Randy loves being the third point in Sam and Mitch’s kinky triangle, and nothing would give him more pleasure than to thumb his nose at small-town snobbery and give Iowa the most fantastic gay wedding it’s ever seen. But as his plan comes together and his friends prepare to sail off into the sunset, Randy begins to consider the unthinkable: that maybe, just maybe, he wishes he could have a little hooch and cake of his own.

    In my first month away from home, enjoying newfound independence on my college campus, I was brutally raped by a stranger. I had barely begun my homosexual exploration, kissing and some hand jobs, with a few men who were also experimenting, when it happened 7 years ago. I have not been able to enjoy sexual relations with another man ever since. It has affected every one of my romantic relationships and I am sick and tired of being alone and afraid. I have decided to ask my best friend, a man I first met in junior high and trust with every part of my being, to help me overcome my fear of intimacy and sex. Yes, he is straight, but his love for me is strong and he suffers along with me when my fears arise. My hope is that he can help me, taking baby steps, enjoy the wonders of sex by touching me and loving me. I know that it will hurt when our intimate time together is over, but I’m not going to think about that right now. I need the overwhelming dread and fear of other men stricken from my mind before I can worry about anything else.Photo Description: Two men, short dark hair, no tattoos, shown from the waist up only. They appear to be naked and are clasped in a tight embrace. No faces are shown.This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Love is an Open Road" 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. This story may contain sexually explicit content and is intended for adult readers. It may contain content that is disagreeable or distressing to some readers. The M/M Romance Group strongly recommends that each reader review the General Information section before each story for story tags as well as for content warnings.

    So when Joe says Adam is straight—and Joe’s not—and they’re just best friends and roommates, Adam is more than a little confused. But as Adam starts to fill in the gaps, the one thing that becomes apparent is that Joe is the missing piece that can’t be replaced.

    R for language and implied sex. No DRM.

    He has a weakness for devastatingly clever jerks, so despite his looming thesis, Jeremy decides to pay the famous special collection—and its curator—a visit. But instead of an intimidating beast of a librarian, he finds the librarian’s soft-spoken assistant, Benj.Quiet, shy, guys with pretty eyes and handmade cardigans are not Jeremy’s type. Jeremy is too smart, and weird, for anyone so sweet. He’d walk all over them or find them boring after five minutes. Which doesn’t explain why he keeps coming back to the library, despite never once encountering the notoriously protective special collections librarian. Perhaps if he weren’t so distracted by Benj’s surprisingly impressive shoulders and the absolutely charming library he runs, he would notice there’s more to Benj than knitted sweaters.

    Discovering Jamie had also cleaned out my bank accounts made it officially the worst day of my life. I think I can be forgiven for wanting revenge, even if a few little laws (and possibly Jamie's nose) got bent in the process.Fortunately, the law is on my side in the form of my oldest friend, Tony Gervase. I've tried to deny my attraction to the sexy trooper for years. After all, he made it clear long ago that he wasn't interested in me that way. But if the hot encounter in his kitchen is any indication, he is now. At least the day is ending a whole lot better than it began...But the morning after, the Jamie situation goes from bad to seriously messed up. The jerk's in more trouble than I could have imagined. And as it turns out, I don't know Tony as well as I thought I did either...

    Working Chicago's O'Hare airport, he feels pretty confident when he spots his next mark. Security expert Rhone Quinn can't believe the wiry kid who grabs his cell phone almost gets away with it. Logic says turn the teen over to the cops, but Rhone is a man who trusts his instincts, and his gut tells him to offer the young man a job and a chance to begin a new life. Little does Rhone know that when he makes that choice it will forever change his life, too. Over the years that follow a mentor relationship turns into a unique, abiding friendship. It eventually leads to true equality between Rhone and Adam when Adam becomes a full partner in Quinn Security.Unbeknownst to Rhone, as time passes by, Adam is also falling deeply in love. With Rhone. Who isn't gay. And who doesn't know that Adam is. Then, one day, Rhone discovers the truth. Will Rhone's new awareness of Adam's feelings bind the men together even more intimately, or tear them apart for good? Publisher's Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable - male/male sexual practices.

    He’s not surprised when fellow Sidewinder Nick O’Flaherty stays with him in New Orleans. Nor is he surprised when Nick travels home with him to help him get back on his feet—after all, years on the same Marine Force Recon team bonded the men in ways that only bleeding for a brother can. He’s very surprised, though, when Nick humors his moment of curiosity and kisses him.Nick knows all of Kelly’s quirks and caprices, so the kiss was a low-risk move on his part . . . or so he thought. But what should’ve been a simple moment unleashes a flood of confusing emotions and urges that neither man is prepared to address.Now, Kelly and Nick must figure out what they mean to each other—friends and brothers in arms, or something even deeper?—before the past can come back to ruin their tenuous future.

    Kevin only likes girls.So... why does he keep thinking about her?Or him.Whatever.__________Status: completeWord count: 77,510

    But now the rich and unscrupulous Mr. Stephanopoulos has a proposition. A previously unpublished Christmas book by Charles Dickens has turned up in the hands of an English chemistry professor by the name of Sedgwick Crisparkle. Mr. S. wants that book at any price, and he needs James to get it for him. There’s just one catch. James can’t tell the nutty professor who the buyer is. Actually, two catches. The nutty Professor Crisparkle turns out to be totally gorgeous—and on the prowl. Faster than you can say, “Old Saint Nick,” James is mixing business with pleasure…and in real danger of forgetting that this is just a holiday romance. Just as they’re well on the way to having their peppermint sticks and eating them too, Sedgwick discovers the truth. James has been a very bad boy. And any chance Santa will bring him what he wants most is disappearing quicker than the Jolly Old Elf’s sleigh.

    Now that his mother has died, he needs to make friends for the first time in his life. He catches Gavin Walker’s eye, but the sexy, confident, bad boy hipster intimidates shy Davy so much that he throws away Gavin’s number every time he offers it.When Gavin defends Davy from a rude guy, Davy begins to warm to him. However, with his limited experience, he thinks he and Gavin are too different, and anything more than a casual acquaintance will end in complete disaster.

    A Sam and Jory Easter Ficlet