I submitted it in July 2011 and only later found out that no decisions would be made until February of 2012. So I decided to just try to forget I ever wrote this one. Then in February it was returned to me, because SMP had not received enough submissions to put out the anthology. I was going to just file it, but I thought, what the hell, I might as well post it here for a while.The anthology call was for stories about an encounter between a human and one of the Fair Folk on Midsummer’s Night. No HEA or HFN ending required. And that’s what I wrote. The end isn’t particularly dark or painful, but the guys don’t walk off into the sunset either. The fae are often complicated and seldom kind, to each other or to the humans they meet by moonlight.

    His retreat high in the Rocky Mountains has left him utterly alone, and for too long. When fate intervenes by sending a shifter after him, Dix’s hunger to bond to a mate drives him to do something stupid. Kristof Two-Feather should have known better than to volunteer to bring home a killer. But the Pack needs justice, and he needs to avenge his friend’s murder. Logan Dix is a dangerous Rogue Alpha and an accused murderer. Despite his training in black ops, Kristof hopes he can keep from becoming the hunted. But the mountain is unforgiving, as is a rogue shifter rumored to be a former Delta Force soldier. It will take all of Kristof’s cunning to survive the ordeal he’s found himself in…and to keep his body and soul from becoming bonded to a fugitive from justice. A 17,000 word novella. Book 1 in the Rogue Alpha Series. Taming His Mate – Rogue Alpha Series Book 2 Trusting His Mate – Rogue Alpha Series Book 3

    Stuck with the partnership due to his pack leader's order, Shadow can only count down the days until his life returns to normal. He's a loner. Period. No matter how much his inner beast protests.Mace isn't thrilled either, but can't resist the temptation to push all the surly alpha's buttons, even as he fantasizes about what could be. Flirting with danger, he's determined to make the best of the situation, if he can only get Shadow to give in to both their desires.Unfortunately, a twisted revenge-seeker has other plans. A series of events rocks the entire pack, leaving innocent people hurt and fear running rampant. Both men are thrust into the chaos, working tirelessly to track down the culprit before someone winds up dead. The pressure of trying to stay a jump ahead, with absolutely no clues, pushes them to the brink. Add in a burning hunger for each other, and their world begins to crumble around them. With no other choice, they have to trust and depend on one another in order to have a chance at solving the mystery and saving lives.

    Miserable, Cedric is allowed one night of freedom before his wedding. A vampire lord is having his centennial, and vampires make outstanding lovers.It is Silus Veturious’ birthday celebration, and he sees no problem with taking a human, Cedric, to his bed for some fun. One taste and he discovers that Cedric is no human, and that taste gives him the most explosive orgasm of his life.Despite their enemy status, Silus is intrigued. He has never been with a sun sprite before, and he wants to know more about the one who braved a house filled with vampires.Neither of their families are pleased with the match, and Cedric and Silus must choose if their new and fragile relationship, built mostly on lust, is worth risking their lives.

    Someone he’d go to the ends of the earth for. Someone who might only exist in fairy tales.When Jay meets accordion busker Lethe Cross, it’s like living a dream come true. Lethe’s music captivates Jay, and he resolves to meet the man who plays so beautifully. But then he discovers Lethe’s life is more like a nightmare. The phrase “down on his luck” can’t begin to cover it. Determined to help, Jay does some snooping for answers—and winds up on the wrong end of a centuries-old curse. The good news is there’s a way to break it. The bad news is it might cost Jay his life.Genre: MM gay paranormal romance, magical realism, new adultThis book was previously published by Dreamspinner Press. This updated 2nd edition has some rewritten parts and has been line edited again.

    When a non-shifter is discovered uninvited in their midst, Brian bonds with the man to save his life.Luke has some misgivings, but Brian's tenderness is just what he needs—and not what he expected from a "werewolf." He's starting to develop feelings for the gentle wolf shifter who rescued him. Both Brian and Luke expect to quietly dissolve the bond later. But some bonds are not so easy to cast aside. If they want to actually build a life together, it will take love, dedication, and hard work. Especially with all the new wolves who keep inviting themselves into their family.

    First his grandmother dies, then he hits the worst traffic of his life on the way home from her funeral, keeping him from friends in London—and possibly a much longed-for sighting of his ex. And finally the detour he thought would save him time ends with the electrics failing on his car, leaving Anton to trudge through heavy rain back to an old cottage he’d passed along the way, hoping to find help.What he finds instead is the mysterious Dr. Stephen Miller, a man fighting his own battles. Anton is invited inside to join the tail end of an all-male dinner party, but this is no chance encounter. What Anton thought was fate is actually a spirit at work making sure he ends up at the cottage—and stays there until unfinished business is resolved for both Anton and Stephen.

    For ten years, he’d been happy living in Brooklyn, working as a butcher in the same job, living in the same apartment, dating some “nothing-special” guys. Until one night his buddy Jacob talked him into taking ayahuasca, the soul-changing drug. And Darien had a vision…of a wolf, its all-too-human eyes on him, its paws on his chest, its enquiring mind in his own… Darien Mackey is changing. He’s more confident, more assertive, hungrier, hornier. And his world is changing around him – his job, his home, his beloved Mechanic’s Library all falling victim to the predations of unscrupulous developers, bent on demolishing the old Brooklyn he loves and replacing it with a forest of condos. But he’s no longer a passive observer of his own life, and as this thing, this power, grows inside of him, he resolves to fight back, to preserve the way of life he loves. And he’s not alone in the fight. The Lipsius Preservation Society of Brooklyn stands ready to assist in the battle, even though it seems like a bit of a joke to Darien, with its King and its Duke, Marquess, Earl and Viscount. But there’s nothing funny about his growing attraction to Albeus Finley, King of this mysterious Court. And when slumlords and condo-mongers start to die mysterious, violent deaths at the hands of savage animals, Darien begins to realize that something is afoot in Brooklyn – something supernatural. And it’s afoot in him, too…

    Being a shifter keeps me from becoming a part of society, but it seems that society is beginning to infringe on my territory. They, the humans, are all so full of themselves and think they are entitled to my land. But there is one man, who stands up to the others, who stands on his own… he draws my attention. Why?Photo Description: The picture is a close-up of a gorgeous Native American man. His long, black hair moves with the wind and flows against his right shoulder. His dark eyes are looking straight at you, and you can almost feel them on your skin. His arms are crossed on his hairless chest, and there’s a barbed wire tattoo wrapped around his upper right arm. His plump, pink lips are highlighted by the dark stubble on his cheeks.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.

    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.

    That love was fervently returned and for that gentle sin, the young man was burned at the stake. Many hundreds of years later, in a new life and a new body, he has forgotten all about his demon lover… but Artegon has not forgotten him and when the Blood Moon rises, he will claim his bride anew. ~7,000 words

    Sweet, quiet, and with the ability to sense the emotions of others, he's destined to join the seers at the Priory and be cloistered. At least he is until his brother, the Crown Prince Towan, disappears. Desperate to recover his heir, the King sends Tynde to the planet of Kion to chase a rumor that Towan has been kidnapped and taken there. Kion is everything that Alaquis isn't: crowded, urban, with denizens far more ruthless than anything Tynde has experienced before. Lucky for him, he's taken under the wing of Koss, an important businessman who is drawn to Tynde from the moment he meets the young man. Koss believes he's found a real treasure in sensitive Tynde, but will his needs and desires ruin everything that Tynde is?

    Fighting for his life amongst the dead, he keeps moving until the day he's surrounded and facing his bloody end-and shockingly, another zombie saves him. But not just any zombie... it's Dave, the first man Jay ever loved, and there's something special about him even now, in the midst of the horror around them.

    Much to Jonah’s surprise, the inheritance includes the Ashford Cemetery—and its hunky groundskeeper, recent Bosnian immigrant Luka Pavelka.Jonah soon discovers Luka is more than easy on the eyes. He sees into Jonah’s heart like no man ever before, and his job at the cemetery is all he has. If Jonah sells, Luka is left with nothing. Luka is there for Jonah when Jonah needs someone most, and there’s no denying the chemistry and connection between them. But Jonah has a successful career back in New York. Now he must decide if it’s still the life he wants….

    An exhausted single dad omega. A little girl who unites them both. Jarrett finds himself dreaming about an omega he mated with several years ago. Were they fated mates? Maybe he's just doomed to be alone. Too bad he never knew the omega's name. Brent is an omega father to his alpha daughter, Emery. It isn’t easy, but he does his best and loves her fiercely.. He remembers the night she was conceived and wishes, beyond everything else, that he had that alpha there to help out. He's about to get his wish, in a backhanded sort of way. Jarrett and Brent are back in action, ready to capture your heart once again. Follow them as they struggle to figure out who the other is, and what it may mean for the Furbitten Falls pack. This mpreg wolf shifter tale is rife with passionate scenes and should not be purchased by minors. No one under the age of 18, please. Get the full Furbitten Falls Alpha's Series + a bonus book of Pick Of the Litter today!