He keeps his head down and looks after his family, but every two years the sick fear comes around again as the Feds arrive for a new harvest of kids.It’s Trace’s last sweep; he’s about to serve out his term of slavery. One last run and then… what? A life alone, with his books and music? He’s seen far too much of the dark side of human nature to think that’s a possibility.Trace and Isaac both know happy ever after doesn’t grow in the parched desert. Maybe together they can change that.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. Dear Author,I always knew it was a possibility. Have known since childhood that they could take me someday. The slave traders have been sweeping the area for weeks now but I didn’t think they’d want me. They usually take girls and if they take boys they’re younger, blonder… prettier. There’s not usually a demand for someone who looks like me and has reached the ripe, old age of twenty-four. But I was wrong. Someone did want me. I’m so fucked.One last sweep of this dirt water town and I can get back to my life. My books, my music, my art and my life that doesn’t revolve around grabbing kids to sell to the highest bidder. I hate this shit. One last run. My debt will be paid and I’ll be free from that son of a bitch who grabbed ME as a kid. Maybe then I can finally stop thinking and dreaming. Turn off those dark desires that swirl in my head and wake me up at night in a cold sweat. I’m not HIM. I will never be HIM. My last fucking run and it all goes to shit when some guy, trying to be the hero, gets in my face. He’s too old, too dark, too inked… but God help me I want him.I don’t know what I was thinking when I stood up to him. I just wanted the kid to have half a chance at getting away. He’s so angry. I screwed up his quota and now I’m going to pay for that. He told me to get clean. EVERYWHERE. Then he gave me a thick chain with a padlock on it and told me to chain myself to the table when I was done. Something about “inspecting the merchandise”. I’m so fucked.Photo Description: A dark-haired, young man crouches naked in the corner of a bathtub, beneath a spray of water. White tiles and chrome fittings surround him. A heavy chain with a sturdy padlock is draped over his right shoulder, above a large tribal tattoo on his bicep. The man protects his head and chest with his arms, cowering, as he apprehensively meets the gaze of the viewer staring down at him.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.

    Born in a mysterious facility, he knows he's not human, but an experiment with a purpose that no one is willing to reveal. His life is a routine and an hourglass of when he will disappear. He has no hopes, no dreams, until one day someone new interrupts that routine. Someone like him, someone free, and it changes everything.

    Against his better judgment, Beirn teams up with a semen smuggler to save his own skin and hopefully make amends to the only family he has left.Loathing turns to lust as the two men grapple with their violent impulses and their growing desire. In one terrible night, impossible feelings will force Beirn to understand the brother he betrayed and the mistakes he's made. Warning: doublecrosses, dirty sex, and designer testicles * These stories can be read in any order.Original Prompt:Dear Author,My momma always told me anything was possible...but I'm not too sure she'd considered these boys! Will you prove my momma right?Photo Description: Two smiling, uncut men stand naked next to each other beside a grey tree on a tropical beach. One is hyper-masculine, all-over bigger and hairier than the other. His right arm drapes over the right shoulder of the shorter man, who barely reaches his shoulder in height.This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Hot Summer Days" 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.Download the story, read it here or find it in Don't Read in the Closet, Volume 3 or Don't Read in the Closet: GayRomLit Retreat 2011 Special Edition.__________Genre: sci-fiTags: gay m/m, sperm piracy, giant, mercenary, criminals, hormones, twins, doublecross, sounding, science fictionWord Count: 12,055

    And now… now he’s wandering in the dark, in the blue, floating, disembodied, and confused. There has to be a good explanation, if he can just find someone, anyone, he can actually talk to about it.Xavier Faulkner is intelligent, creative, and made millions when he sold his tech-security company. But all his wealth and skills couldn’t keep his sister Tam from being poisoned by food contamination. She lived, but her health was damaged, and her job as a cop is gone. In the antebellum house he moved them to, Xavier hopes to find both a distraction and maybe a purpose for their lives. But the old house seems to come with strange noises, and odd blue lights, and maybe― if Xavier isn’t just going crazy― a naked guy, walking away into the blue…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. Dear Author,I just moved into this old antebellum home I bought with the intentions of restoring. I often find myself awoken in the night by strange noises I cannot identify or hear during the day. At first, I think it’s just a dream… this seemingly phantom always walking away. Who is he and how can I get him to finally turn around and see me?Photo Description: Light streams into a narrow, old-fashioned hallway from the open door at the end. Framed in the brightness, back-lit to blurred outlines and shadows, is the silhouette of a man, walking away. He’s tall, lean but well-built, with faint tan lines across his lower back and thighs. He’s also completely naked. His curved ass and broad shoulders are the most solid things about him. He strides off into the blue, head slightly tilted, not looking back.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.

    One man has his arm around the waist of the other, spooning him. The man in front has a colorful tattoo on his shoulder.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.

    And this scene should appear in the story at some point. Have fun with it! I want to laugh.Anything else you want to do with it is fine by me.Photo Description: In the picture we see a cheetah in full run, chasing an ostrich through a steppe-like landscape. The ostrich’s wings are spread, his feathers ruffled, as he tries to escape the faster, but physically weaker, cat. Above those two, we see the line SHITSHITSHITSHITSHITSHITSHITSHITSHIT.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.

    They said Omega IV was safe. They were wrong. The giant humanoid inhabitants of Omega IV are conditioned to the Change—a biological event in their development that designates them altha or amekha—but for the new colony of humans, the Change comes as an unpleasant surprise. Dr Cameron Grant, bitter after a turbulent break-up, finds himself in a first-contact situation that was never covered in training. The alien warrior Tal'jen, seven feet tall and distinctly male, has taken an interest in him, an interest with a clear and pressing conclusion. Dr Grant can't deny his attraction, even as his body undergoes strange and frightening changes. Whatever is happening to him, it's obvious that Tal'jen understands it instinctively. He will have to place himself in the hands of an alien and hope that Tal'jen's interest is as benign as it seems. Meanwhile, Tal'jen, chief-in-waiting of his people, seeks a mate. The handsome and strange Cam'ren of the newcomers calls to him powerfully, though he has not yet gone through his Change. To be chief Tal'jen must mate with a bearer, so while he longs to claim Cam'ren for his own, he must be patient and hope that Cam'ren's Change will grant him the gift of bearing young. As the Change spreads through the human colony, leaving chaos in its wake, Cameron and Tal'jen must fight to protect both the delicate bond growing between them, and each other. This book is first in the Omega Colony series, however it can be read as a stand-alone title. This book features adult content and language, sexual situations, and male pregnancy.

    No matter what happened next, his life would never be the same…Photo Description: A naked man stands with his back to the viewer, a plain white floor beneath his feet. Ahead of him, a pair of large black doors are ajar, revealing a glimpse of bright light. The man’s shoulders are slightly hunched and his head is bowed; he appears hesitant to face whatever fate awaits him through the doors.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.

    He’s met— and had— many a man. None of whom he’d want to share five hundred kisses with. If you don’t like someone, you just don’t like them. End of story. No amount of kissing will change that. Dylan Halsworth doesn’t believe it either. But Chris and his arrogant, always right, dare I be wrong attitude has Dylan challenging him to try it. And who knows, maybe watching his most loathed neighbor suffer through five hundred kisses with the same man is worth it. He’d sit back, crack open a Mountain Dew, and have a good laugh . . . But . . . shit . . . there is one slight snag in his plan. Chris has chosen Dylan with whom to prove his point . . . * * * This story was originally written as part of the Goodreads “Love’s Landscapes” anthology, 2014. This second edition has new scenes, scene expansions, scene alterations, a revised ending, reformatting, and--thanks, Natasha!--a new cover. Big thanks to all those involved in both its original and second edition developments.

    A thing to be used. A toy.They have nothing in common, two men from different worlds. The arrangement between them was never supposed to become anything other than convenience for his client and a job for Troy. Attraction and feelings should have never entered into it.But what happens if the rules are broken and Troy becomes hopelessly addicted to his client?

    He’d gone away to college and came home for Thanksgiving. Any lingering doubts about my sexuality vanished. It had just been a few months, but somehow he looked very different: older, hotter, more sophisticated.I know I shouldn’t feel this way about my brother, and I swear I’ve tried to stop thinking of him in that way. But no guy I’ve been with has measured up to him. I haven’t seen him since before I started college, but I’ll never forget the way he looked at me that last time. It gave me hope that he might feel the same for me.This weekend, I’m going to find out.Photo Description: The young man, his defined chest bared and jeans hanging loosely around his hips, stares out from the picture. From beneath the shadow of his sweater’s hood his eyes glitter, dark and enticing but troubled. His hands are clasped behind his back, as though he’s trying to stop himself from reaching out to grab something or someone.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.

    Sex? A felony. Insulated suits and gloves keep people from even the most platonic touches. Citizens line up in droves at simhouses for their rationed, prescribed orgasms in virtual reality machines.Keith Borden has worked in a simhouse for years, and he's never been tempted to break the strict no-contact laws… until Aiden Maxwell comes along. The attractive and dangerously flirtatious patient invites him into the seedy underground where people engage in real, wireless sex. Though Keith stands to lose his career and his freedom, he's curious and Aiden is irresistible. From the moment he sets foot in the wireless lounge, Keith is in a world of flesh and fantasy. He's hooked. On the sex, on the atmosphere, and most of all, on Aiden.Years of keeping everyone in his world at arm's length have left Keith craving a human touch, and Aiden offers all the contact--scorching sex, gentle affection, and everything in between--Keith can handle. That is, until an unexpected act of betrayal throws Keith's world into chaos, and he finds himself more alone than he ever imagined possible…

    All I ever wanted was for him to get to know me and maybe, just maybe, something could grow? But I guess I blew it already, given the dirty looks he sends me…Photo Description: The photo is of a man in his early twenties. Naked from the waist up, his dark hair is damp and tangled and his olive skin mud-splattered. With dark, dark eyes, perfect full lips and a defined, smooth chest, he is truly beautiful— but there is something haunting about him. His brooding gaze, trained on something just behind the photographer, shows determination… and maybe just a little bit of sorrow.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.

    Of all the trainees to be assigned, somehow Viper 44 was the last one I expected to see in the program.Still so young, but then that’s what the mission requires.Photo Description: Black and white pic of a slightly built young man with his head bowed, on one knee, arms wrapped around his other knee. He’s chained to the ceiling by a collar around his neck. In the foreground, there is the bottom half of a man facing him, holding a flogger.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.

    His every desire is within arm's reach, except the one person Devin has always wished would be his in the end. All it takes is one conversation to open his eyes to a new possibility, one moment to change what Devin believes about friendship and love and one person to change the rules of the game.Sam Marshall has been fighting his feelings for his friend and roommate for two years. When an opportunity presents itself, he makes his move, only to be faced with the very real fear that what he sees in Devin, the potential waiting to be realized, may be more than their friendship can handle.