When a lusty pirate kidnaps him and holds him prisoner on his ship, Taren embraces the chance to realize his dream of a seagoing life. Not only does the pirate captain offer him freedom in exchange for three years of labor and sexual servitude, but the pleasures Taren finds when he joins the captain and first mate in bed far surpass his greatest fantasies.Then, during a storm, Taren dives overboard to save another sailor and is lost at sea. He’s rescued by Ian Dunaidh, the enigmatic and seemingly ageless captain of a rival ship, the Phantom, and Taren feels an overwhelming attraction to Ian that Ian appears to share. Soon Taren learns a secret that will change his life forever: Ian and his people are Ea, shape-shifting merfolk… and Taren is one of them too. Bound to each other by a fierce passion neither can explain or deny, Taren and Ian are soon embroiled in a war and forced to fight for a future—not only for themselves but for all their kind.

    Astrum Industries’ newest charted planet. Freshly discovered. Wholly unexplored. But that won’t be the case for long. Led by Captain Alec Hamlin, a team of explorers make an emergency landing and are soon confronted by their first Niran native. A huge male Kríe packed with muscle, baring small, black horns and fangs. Fortunately, he’s friendly. Or so he lets them believe. With the help of his pack, the Kríe takes Alec’s team captive, intending to sell them for profit. But these Nirans aren’t just shrewd, they’re arrogant and domineering. And most of all, extremely sexual. Which explains why, on their journey to peddle their new wares, they feed Alec’s team a powerful aphrodisiac. Nothing like some decadent entertainment on the side. Soon the team finds themselves feverishly trying to resist the growing urge to mount their seductive captors. But as passion prevails and unexpected bonds form, so much more is suddenly at stake. With no time left, will a shift in Kríe perspective be enough to change the fate of Alec’s team? Warning: Contains explicitly scorching gay sex with exotic and shamelessly kinky males of otherworldly descent.

    Beyond the Forest lie the mountains of the Snowy Dark and a cold so bitter and a night so profound that no man has ever crossed it. The Oldest among the Family recount legends of a world where light came from the sky, where men and women made boats that could cross the stars. These ships brought us here, the Oldest say—and the Family must only wait for the travelers to return. But young John Redlantern will break the laws of Eden, shatter the Family and change history. He will abandon the old ways, venture into the Dark…and discover the truth about their world.Already remarkably acclaimed in the UK, Dark Eden is science fiction as literature; part parable, part powerful coming-of-age story, set in a truly original alien world of dark, sinister beauty--rendered in prose that is at once strikingly simple and stunningly inventive.

    In The Pesthouse he imagines an America of the future where a man and a woman trek across a devastated and dangerous landscape, finding strength in each other and an unexpected love. Once the safest, most prosperous place on earth, the United States is now a lawless, scantly populated wasteland. The machines have stopped. The government has collapsed. Farmlands lie fallow and the soil is contaminated by toxins. Across the country, families have packed up their belongings to travel eastward toward the one hope left: passage on a ship to Europe.Franklin Lopez and his brother, Jackson, are only days away from the ocean when Franklin, nearly crippled by an inflamed knee, is forced to stop. In the woods near his temporary refuge, Franklin comes upon an isolated stone building. Inside he finds Margaret, a woman with a deadly infection and confined to the Pesthouse to sweat out her fever. Tentatively, the two join forces and make their way through the ruins of old America. Confronted by bandits rounding up men for slavery, finding refuge in the Ark, a religious community that makes bizarre demands on those they shelter, Franklin and Margaret find their wariness of each other replaced by deep trust and an intimacy neither one has ever experienced before.The Pesthouse is Jim Crace’s most compelling novel to date. Rich in its understanding of America’s history and ethos, it is a paean to the human spirit.

    When he awakens, he’s naked, and surrounded by large, muscular men. Nicky feels an immediate attraction to Marco, the most handsome man Nicky has ever seen, which is strange, since Nicky is straight. His attraction is overwhelming and downright embarrassing as he licks the man and tries to climb all over him. He soon discovers he’s the newest "pet" of the Mountain Wolf Pack, and Marco is his new master. Saved from certain death, has he exchanged one horrible fate for another? All he knows is that he’s in heat for this beautiful man. When he learns his new master is a wolf shapeshifter who demands his love and obedience, he begins to wonder just what he’s gotten himself into. Cry Wolf: Casey, a good looking young wolf shifter has sworn to kill the man who killed his brother. He has joined the Mountain Wolf Pack to carry out his revenge. On his first work detail, he discovers that the handsome young man in charge is his blood mate. The trouble is, the man, whose name is Rory, is straight, and a wolf. Two wolves are allowed to mate, but only if one assumes the submissive role. Neither of these two stubborn wolves is willing to compromise. If that’s not bad enough, they soon discover that Rory is the wolf who killed Casey’s only brother. Now Casey must find some way around his sworn oath. Can the two sexy wolves overcome their distrust and hatred of each other, or will they be forced to give up their happiness, along with their only true blood mate? Logan's Choice: As the beta of the Dark Hollow Wolf Pack, Ian is supposed to be the calm, sensible one, but when a young Hunter is captured, his overpowering attraction to the gorgeous man has him acting way out of character. As a sworn enemy to the wolf pack, the captive can’t be allowed to go free, yet the pack hates to keep Logan imprisoned. The only solution is to convince Logan to agree to mate with one of the wolves to form an unbreakable bond. Unwilling to see him mated to anyone else, Ian makes a decision—he must make the young man fall in love with him and agree to stay on as his mate. Can Logan make this difficult choice and leave behind the life he used to lead? When Ian is captured and tortured by the Hunters, Logan must make the most difficult choice of his life. Gabe's Alpha: Gabe is a typical young college student until the night he and his mother are attacked by a beast who kills his mother and leaves Gabe for dead. When Gabe discovers the beast who bit him was a werewolf, and shifts into a beast like creature at the full moon, he leaves his home and descends into a nightmare of drugs, alcohol and one night stands. As he’s camping in the woods, preparing for the painful shift to come, he meets a the gorgeous alpha of the Dark Hollow Wolf Pack who tells Gabe he’s trespassing on his territory. Before Gabe knows it, he’s been trussed up, thrown over the man’s shoulder and taken as the mate of the alpha. Gabe embraces his new role as mate to the handsome Zack, but if the alpha thinks the wild young man will settle down, he’s got another think coming.

    One last hurrah before the responsibilities of adulthood draw these littermates apart. Galacticaching their way through star systems they encounter more than they bargained for during their stopover at Space Portal Vector 7Z-218. This unassuming station at the edge of the galaxy holds a key, and the space hijinks and absurdities exponentially increase as they try to find the elusive token and solve its mystery. Ajax has always counted on Igor and vice versa, but he never imagined what he discovers. Will either of their futures ever be the same after the games?

    Gavin's been a trainer at a slave brokerage company called Cascade for a very long time--ever since he earned his way out of his own slave contract. Now he's met someone he'd actually like to own: a new slave named Alex. Gavin's lover, Sam, is understanding and supportive--and very interested in bringing Alex home--but Gavin isn't sure it's such a good idea. He'd better think fast, though, because he's not the only one interested in Alex.

    What one man can do, may heal them both.Charlie Baker is recovering, slowly. Nearly dying tends to make a man reflect on each day. Take into account that his injuries were caused by a premeditated murder attempt, and he certainly isn’t looking for a lover. He is barely welcoming to a friend unable to trust anyone, preferring to hide from the world hours and miles away from the memories.Gregory Anders hadn’t intended to disturb the man in silent contemplation on the beach, but when his pup, Samson, takes matters out of his hands, he’s forced to at least apologize for his pet’s behavior. There’s no doubt for Gregory that Charlie could use a friend. Clearing the air up front that he isn’t gay helps Charlie to relax, allowing for the cautious beginning of a friendship.Two men, both alone, for different reasons. What happens when friendship bears more? When support and affection turns into attraction?Do you take the chance of a lifetime, for the love a lifetime?

    Originally home to Viscount Eldon Davenport, one of history's most controversial poets, the house was sold by Davenport's parents after he was found dead of a gunshot to the head, the pistol that killed him in his hand. Reclusive painter Cameron McKenzie is the latest owner of Lillyport, and he doesn't believe in ghosts, at least until he accidentally raises Eldon from the dead. Enter parapsychologist Malcolm and psychic Trudy, each with their own agendas. Malcolm wishes to sever the link between Cameron and Eldon, while Trudy is attempting to keep them together. Will she be able to unravel Lillyport's secrets or does the answer to Eldon's survival depend on Cameron, a painting, and a guilt-ridden 19th century stable boy?

    Any high school student with a chemjet and internet connection can download recipes and print drugs, or invent them. A seventeen-year-old street girl finds God through a new brain-altering drug called Numinous, used as a sacrament by a new Church that preys on the underclass. But she is arrested and put into detention, and without the drug, commits suicide.Lyda Rose, another patient in that detention facility, has a dark secret: she was one of the original scientists who developed the drug. With the help of an ex-government agent and an imaginary, drug-induced doctor, Lyda sets out to find the other three survivors of the five who made the Numinous in a quest to set things right.A mind-bending and violent chase across Canada and the US, Daryl Gregory's Afterparty is a marvelous mix of William Gibson’s Neuromancer, Philip K. Dick’s Ubik, and perhaps a bit of Peter Watts’s Starfish: a last chance to save civilization, or die trying.

    In love with the one man he believes will never return that love, Owen is shocked when Andras saves him from death at the hands of a vampire. Dagan, Dark Lord of the Underworld, vows to avenge his father’s death and obtain the Prince of Wales’s mystic sword from Andras. The claymore’s power holds an immunity the vampires have coveted for centuries. Star-crossed love, sorcery, and bloodlust collide on a vengeful path where only one side will remain victorious.

    Maybe it’s the day he’s first been unpacked and settled into his new home! Maybe it’s sometime after he’s settled into a routine. And what IS that routine, anyway? Is he privately owned? Is he on staff at a sexy high-tech brothel? Has he become self-aware enough to run away from the sexy high-tech brothel and follow his heart circuits in search of a better life and someone who can love a synthetic man?Photo Description: A human-like robot, apparently naked, lies on a bed of packing peanuts. He has just been unboxed, and waits for his new owner’s first orders.This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Love Has No Boundaries" 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.

    In the past, Peat has solved some seriously twisted crimes, caught the bad guys, and kept an emotional distance. But this time, his heart’s involved, a definite must-never-do on Repeats, and he can’t just walk away—even if that means putting himself into the bullet’s path.A year ago, Jake’s best friend was gunned down, and Jake has been playing bait to catch the killer. But now a wicked-looking hottie named Peat is warning Jake that he’s about to die—again—unless they can catch the shooter. Yeah, right. Then Jake starts to remember the previous Repeats and how he and Peat hooked up….

    But he’s found a way to continue doing his duty, serving as guardian of a small community of survivors, living in the safest place they can find. When the group takes in Cal Richardson Mitch can’t help but be attracted to the first available—and incidentally, gorgeous—man to cross his path in months.Mitch and Cal can’t resist each other physically, but each man tries to hold back his emotions. Though he’s strong on the outside, Mitch is too badly hurt inside to risk more pain. Cal’s very sure he won’t stay for long. He’s been a drifter all his life and it came naturally to him to survive alone after civilization fell. He’s sure this is a temporary stopover for him. He has no intention of becoming emotionally involved with a cop who is certain to despise Cal when he learns the truth about him.The longer Cal stays the stronger his urge to run, but the harder it becomes to give up the safety of the community and his new friends. The harder it becomes to give up Mitch.

    This would have worked out better for all involved if they hadn’t arrived after a mutated plague wiped out half the planet, turned the rest into shambling, near-unstoppable animals, and basically destroyed human civilization. You know—your standard apocalypse. The Krakau’s first impulse was to turn their ships around and go home. After all, it’s hard to establish diplomatic relations with mindless savages who eat your diplomats. Their second impulse was to try to fix us. A century later, human beings might not be what they once were, but at least they’re no longer trying to eat everyone. Mostly.Marion “Mops” Adamopoulos is surprisingly bright (for a human). As a Lieutenant on the Earth Mercenary Corps Ship Pufferfish, she’s in charge of the Shipboard Hygiene and Sanitation team. When a bioweapon attack by an alien race wipes out the Krakau command crew and reverts the rest of the humans to their feral state, only Mops and her team are left with their minds intact.Escaping the attacking aliens—not to mention her shambling crewmates—is only the beginning. Sure, Mops and her assortment of space janitors and plumbers can clean the ship, but flying the damn thing is another matter. As they struggle to keep the Pufferfish functioning and find a cure for their crew, they stumble onto a conspiracy that could threaten the entire alliance.A conspiracy born from the truth of what happened on Earth all those years ago…