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.

    Born with the rare ability to tap into unlimited magick, he finds both Faerie Courts want his allegiance—and will do anything to get it.They don’t realize he can’t levitate a feather, much less defend the Faerie Realm as it slips into civil war.Unseelie Prince Roark Lyne, Phineas’s roommate—and self-proclaimed arch nemesis—is beautiful and brave and a pain in the ass. Phineas can’t begin to sort through their six years of sexual tension masquerading as mutual dislike. But Roark is also the only one able to help Finn tame his magick.Trusting Roark’s mysterious motives may be foolish; not accepting his temporary protection would be deadly.Caught in the middle of the impending war, Phineas and Roark forge a dangerous alliance. And as the walls between them crumble, Phineas realizes that Roark isn’t the monster he’d imagined. But their growing intimacy threatens to expose a secret that could either turn the tide of the war…or destroy them both.

    But Zacriah isn’t a shapeshifter. In truth, he doesn't know what he is.Zacriah joins forces with new friends and they soon find themselves embroiled in a clash between the three Elven continents. With war looming on the horizon, Zacriah must learn to use his latent power to fight and protect those he loves before they are destroyed.

    With his former master dead, all Duncan has to do is steal the very thing that has been holding him captive all these years, his dragon's eye. The stone holds his magic and his dragon self and without it, he can never go home again.What should be an easy theft turns complicated when he finds that someone has beat him to the eye and he has no idea where it could be. To add to things he suddenly finds himself teamed up with the dead sorcerers' son, Trent. For years Duncan has longed for Trent, but had never dared act on his desires. Then one night of passion between the men changes everything and Duncan realises that he could lose something far more valuable than his dragon's eye, he could lose Trent.Will Duncan be able to save them both? Or will he have to make the ultimate sacrifice?Reader Advisory: This story has been previously released as part of the Stealing My Heart anthology by Total-E-Bound.

    Jaron specializes in finding lost kitties and fixing problem pooches. He isn't prepared for a case with so much at stake. And as soon as he starts, the abilities he's had since childhood begin changing and growing in unexpected ways. Paulo Silva is a veteran detective new to the small town of Stanton. As the low man on the totem pole at Stanton PD, he isn't happy when the chief assigns him to babysit the pet psychic instead of actively working the missing child case. As Jaron uncovers clues, Paulo starts to wonder if he might be the real thing. Or maybe it's just his testosterone reacting to what he’s sure is mutual attraction.

    The Prince of the Moon desperately seeks to break the curse on his kingdom, but will the stranger who arrives to help him prove to be only a hindrance? In Learning to See a man saves his family by sacrificing everything to a stranger in a mysterious castle. Cinder-Elle lost his birthright alongside his vision, and his dreary days are brightened only by a man he met by chance in the marketplace, a man about whom he knows very little … and Capture the Moon is about a woman who leaves home in the guise of a boy to see what the world has to offer.

    Almost.A deadly hunter.Hraban has dedicated his life to taking down creatures like Drakjan, protecting those who cannot protect themselves.An uneasy truce.When fate forces them together, the nix and the hunter discover a dangerous attraction… and a threat that can destroy everything Drakjan has come to love.~~~~~~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. "Still Waters" contains sexually explicit content and is intended for adult readers. ~~~~~~This story prompt and photo inspired "Still Waters":Dear Author,I only have two words for you: ginger merman! Everything else is up to you.Photo Description: A redheaded, muscular young man with a short beard stands in a lake, a scraggly stand of seaweed-draped deadwood behind him and mountains in the distance. He looks directly at the viewer, wearing a neutral expression. The water comes up to just above his waist, and he is lifting a sturdy white net from the water with both hands.

    But a precious few begin even before birth.In the dual-gendered realm of Ylandre, the great divide between the high-born True Bloods and the lower-ranked Half Bloods is deemed impassable by most. Rohyr Essendri dared to cross it when he took young Lassen Idana from his provincial town and made him his paramour. Lassen perforce learned how to navigate the intricate byways of life at court. What he never expected, however, was to fall in love with Rohyr, a most inadvisable and impractical thing to do when one’s lover is sovereign ruler of the land. But anything worth having is worth fighting for, both figuratively and, as Lassen discovers, literally speaking.Contains hermaphroditism and explicit homoerotic sexual encounters.

    He can't help but notice when the man in front of him is given a plum-colored cup holder, as it goes perfectly with his own tie. There are other things he can't help but notice, like how hot "Mr. Plum" is.When Mr. Plum hands over a cup of coffee, exactly how Dave likes it, the morning he's late getting to the station, it's the start of a beautiful friendship. Or is it?

    Rhyacia is paradisiacal. Accompanied by old friends and new allies, the future looks safe and bright for Dragos, Pia, and baby Niall.But strange things are happening beneath the picturesque façade. Items move unaccompanied, buildings collapse without justifiable cause, and even the most Powerful residents of Rhyacia can provide no logical explanation for the events transpiring. Whispered rumors point to something called the unseen.As Dragos and Pia investigate, they uncover a greater mystery than they could have imagined, and they realize the startling truth…They’re not alone in Rhyacia. The land Dragos had thought was uninhabited hides many secrets, a shocking history that’s not quite ready to be buried, and something more.Something ancient, evil, and hungry. Something that wants to consume Dragos and take everything he holds dear.Something that just may be powerful enough to overcome the dragon…

    Literally, no denying, because compelling the reluctant detective is all part of a unicorn’s seductive magic. To add to his woes, Twig is saddled with the unicorn’s cheeky indentured servant, Quinn Broomsparkle. Dragons are supposed to want to eat humans, but Twig’s half-dragon side only wants to gobble up Quinn in a more . . . personal way. Making matters worse, it’s obvious the smokin’ hot but untrustworthy sidekick is hiding something. Something big. And not what’s in his trousers. In the PI business, that means trouble with a capital Q. Throw in gads of zombies, a creepy ghost pirate ship, a malfunctioning magic carpet, and Twig’s overbearing fairy father’s demands to live up to the illustrious Starfig name. Naturally, an old but abiding enemy chooses this time to resurface, too. Those inconveniences Twig can handle. The realization he’s falling for a human who isn’t free to return his affections and whose life may hang on the success of his latest case? Not so much.

    Lieutenant Laahn Ĉortez is about to sit down to his well-deserved supper when destiny hits—winged, scaled and more than a little tipsy.Rago is a fated mates/forced proximity short story, featuring a puffing dragon shifter and a romp in the fencing hall.

    A younger son of a younger son from a backwater mountain province, he is a nobody in the king’s army until he comes to the notice of the Prince Knight himself, the spoiled, stubborn heir to the kingdom of Aldania.Caught up in a war that has raged for generations between Aldania and a neighboring kingdom, captured and imprisoned by a mad king, Illya and Prince Ashe discover a history of lies, betrayal and assassination, and the ghostly truth beneath it all. Opposites in every way, they forge a common bond that pain, war and betrayal will test to the very limit of their strength. To end a dynasty of madness and suffering, Illya must embrace the ability he has always hated, and look to the dead for answers.

    Explicit language warning but little erotic content. (11,000 words ~ 43 pages) First published in The Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance 2 (2010).WARNINGContains confused lovelorn werewolves and very pretty ex-Goth mermen who are exclusively interested in each other. May also contain fish, Irish mafia, and a shocking lack of tea.

    He's too good to let go, so his team coach calls in a private trainer, up-and-coming hardass Jessy Turner. Jessy locks Mike down, putting him on a strict regimen of diet and exercise that Mike resents a lot until he finds himself becoming a better swimmer for it. Jessy finds Mike all but irresistible, but he stays away to begin with, making decisions based on what's best for Mike's career. The two of them resist their attraction to each other for as long as they can, but sooner or later they have to give into the heat between them. When things go wrong, though, can they, and their sports careers, survive the strain? CB Potts, author of Tuesday's Rubies, says, (Sean) Michael is to be commended. Fans of sports smut, such as myself, are sure to be pleased with the mix of athleticism and eroticism, and romance fans will love the emotional heights and depths the couple journey through. Pick up this hot, athletic romance today! And look for Personal Best II, a Going for the Gold novel, on shelves next to Personal Best!