The stories in this anthology visit diverse times in the history of modern man, and the men who populate these tales face war and cruelty, masters and autocrats, illness and poverty and greed. Yet the heat of romance outmatches even the steam engines, and time and again, the gears of love rule the day.Stories included are:The Clockwork Nightingale's Song by Amy Rae DurresonCaress by Eli EastonSwiftsilver by Bell EllisThe Clockwork Heart by Kim FieldingThe Galatea's Captain by Anka GraceScrews by R.D. HeroThe Golden Goose Mark LesneySpindle and Bell by Augusta LiAce of Hearts by Mary PletschFive to One by Angelia SparrowUntouchable by Layla M. Wier

    Three of the stories originally appeared as stand-alone stories online and were later incorporated into the award-winning novels "Waterways" and "Out of Position."This collection serves as an excellent introduction to the many worlds he has explored in the last decade, and includes his popular online stories "Aquifers" and "In Between." Also present is Kyell's first published story, "The Prisoner's Release," whose characters subsequently filled three novels and two short story anthologies.Full story list: "Aquifers," "In Between," "Secrets," "Don't Blink," "Jacks to Open," "Race to the Moon," "Drifting," "How to Get Through the Day," and "The Prisoner's Release."

    Jack can take care of himself, but help arrives from an unexpected source—his neighbor, Dave, a man-mountain also known as Sasquatch, for obvious reasons. So when Dave turns up at Jack’s home needing his help, Jack is more than happy to oblige, even if he does have company, his current love interest.Dave gets more than he bargained for when he peers through Jack’s bedroom door. And things get really interesting when he suddenly find himself dealing with two guys—and a whole new world of experiences. When morning comes, it’s just him and Jack—and the start of something wonderful that will change both of their lives forever….

    Believing that he might be a Republican spy, they bring the junior diplomat onto their stolen spaceship and question him. Sarhaan is immediately attracted to the young aristocrat, despite his doubts about Caleb's motives, and his feeling that giving into his feelings would be a very bad idea. Caleb is no spy. He's come looking for Sarhaan's soldiers to help them clear their names of a crime they didn't commit. Or at least he thinks they didn't. He's looking for a murderer and figures he'd better stay clear of any kind of entanglement with the smoking hot Sarhaan until he can find out who's at fault. What he doesn't count on is falling for the genetically enhanced Sarhaan, who seems to think Caleb is just a good time. Can Caleb convince Sarhaan that he's more than just a soldier's diversion? And can Sarhaan accept that the young elite might be just what he needs? Set against the backdrop of space and Doradus Station, a place where anything goes, Off-World is part mystery, part romance, and all heat!

    These sweaty, dusty icons of the West, past and present, still melt hearts and raise pulse rates, whether the man's wearing a ten-gallon hat, chaps and spurs, or nothing at all. In these stories of romance with a Western flair, love softens the most hardened range rider and passion fires the most stoic ramrod's blood. Fate may throw a few twists in their path, but at the end of the day, these men will be riding double into the sunset. Maria Albert - Surviving the CrossingK.R. Foster - Mr. AugustLacey-Anne Frye - Trial By FireMaggie Lee - Hitting the TrailRowan McAllister - Courtin' Trouble J.M. McLaughlin - Facing UpZahra Owens - DelugeJane Seville - In TemperanceKate Sherwood - Rode Hard and Put Away WetAriel Tachna - Out on the Range B.G. Thomas - The Real Thing Xara X. Xanakas - Cowboys and IT-ians

    He can’t wait for college, so he can find a man to drive away his pointless crush.Rick Ferguson can’t escape his strange obsession. For months, whenever he's been with a woman, all he can think about is Jordan. Satisfying his curiosity is the only way to get his tall, muscular friend out of his system. Right?On a camping trip just weeks before the semester starts, Rick takes Jordan to a one-bedroom cabin with a king-sized bed big enough for two all-stars to share. But Rick doesn't want forever, and Jordan is in love. Giving in to desire could jeopardize their friendship, and the ugliness of the world beyond their cabin could tear them apart.This steamy gay romance novella is intended for a mature audience. It contains scenes of groping, fumbling, wet kisses, angst, shirtless volleyball, grown-up toys, and two-man showers.Alternate-cover editions can be found here, here, and here

    But for a growing number of people, it's a subject that is fascinating and sexy! Tentacle erotica has been around for ages, from The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife to Demon Beast Invasion—it's a genre that is here to stay. All Wrapped Up explores this genre through the lens of gay erotic romance, offering four science-fiction and fantasy stories featuring tentacled heroes in all their wiggly glory.The men in Ground Mission are podmates, a matched set: Simon Pollux, the lethal scout, and Adrian Lovasz, his willing and even more lethal combat specialist. In the midst of exploring an alien world, Simon is infected with an alien virus; to what lengths will Adrian go to ensure Simon's comfort? In the wood-locked town of Orm, ranger Koster meets the mysterious Irsing: the guardian of the forest. Is he the one letting the forest turn to wilds, or is the forest turning to wilds on its own? In Wildwood, Koster aims to do whatever it takes to set things right.Eli exchanges his a life of poverty in Dark Covenant when tricked into signing a contract giving himself to the masters of the Academy. His body, his movement, his life is theirs to do with as they wish, until the enigmatic Eramus offers Eli his power—if Eli will join with him. Sebastian Reed lives on the legal limits in Situation Normal, barely scraping by in his hunk of junk ship until a Peace Officer, Ten, commandeers his ship... and his body. Not that Sebastian minds, except for wondering exactly where it is that Ten means to take him.

    Herewiss does have a talent for more mundane sorcery, and (aided by the unearthly creature Sunspark) he uses it to rout the armies besieging Freelorn. But now Herewiss faces a devastating choice.His time to master the blue Fire is running out. Should he join Freelorn in his fight to regain his kingdom? Or should he seek out the ancient keep in the Waste where doors lead into other worlds -- perhaps even the door whose use will teach him to control the Power that he must master or die?...

    However his pet must make his way across the floor covered in mouse traps without getting caught in order to get his bone. They’ve been here for hours playing this game. It’s been a slow go and the Master’s pet has been unsuccessful in his first two attempts. What lead up to this wicked game? Is the third time the charm? Does puppy get his bone and a reward at the end? Please say yes! He’s tried to be a good boy.Photo Description: There are two men in a playroom. The first man— Master— sits naked and erect with his legs spread. He is a vision of physical perfection and male beauty. He holds a riding crop and nonchalantly watches his pet. The other man— Puppy— is on all fours wearing a leash, muzzle, and chains. He has a tail butt plug and is facing Master, with his head down in a submissive pose.On the floor around them are many mouse traps which have been positioned in a game. Puppy must get past them safely, without making them snap, in order to get to his Master’s bone.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.

    Mel Keegan's name is a byword for thrilling gay adventure, in past, present and future. His new story is set in the late twenty-first century, when major land masses have been submerged by the rising oceans, and the Earth is a world of water. Russell is a hydrologist based on the giant floating platform Pacifica, his lover Eric one of fifty Aquarians, a new sub-species who can breathe underwater. When the pair refuse an attractive offer on Eric's services for a suspicious salvage operation, Eric is kidnapped and a fast-paced aquatic intrigue starts to unfold.

    AVA First Officer Paul Cronin should know—he’s a gay pilot in a profession that reeks of testosterone. The pilots are macho. The mechanics are macho. Heck, even the baggage handlers are macho. It seems like the only men on the airline who aren’t strutting around talking cars and football are the flight attendants.With his scheduled flight grounded, Paul finds himself torn between a rendezvous with a handsome flight attendant and a new assignment on Flight 511. He discovers the replacement flight is a quick trip to Bermuda that will allow his date to proceed as planned, and it seems as if his weekend is falling right into place, despite the passengers’ apprehensions over crossing the Bermuda Triangle. Skeptic that he is, Paul finds it difficult to soothe the passengers’ fears. The Bermuda Triangle is just a sensationalistic name that a journalist invented for a commonly-traveled stretch of the Atlantic. Of course, airline employees wouldn’t entertain that sort of superstition…so why is the rest of Flight 511’s crew acting so strange?

    Jack encountered Gilbert Chesterton’s Father Brown tales a few years later and they ultimately became the prime influence in his science fiction. The issue with Father Brown was never a question of who committed the murder, but rather what in heaven’s name is going on here? Why does an astronaut, in “Cathedral,” sacrifice her life to collide with an asteroid that she knows poses no threat to the Earth? Why does a scientist who’s designed an actual working AI in “The Play’s the Thing,” hide what’s he’s done? How is it that the lives of two people working at Moonbase in “Blinker” depend on a quasar? In “Lucy,” Jack shows us why sending automated vehicles to explore the distant outposts of the solar system may not be a good idea. And in “Searching for Oz,” an alternate history story, how things might have been if SETI had gotten what it was looking for. He describes our reaction in “Listen Up, Nitwits,” when a voice begins speaking to us, apparently from Jupiter, in Greek. And in “The Lost Equation,” a Holmes adventure, we discover who really was first to arrive at e=mc2. Jack also provides two episodes, “Maiden Voyage” and “Waiting At the Altar,” from Priscilla Hutchins’ qualification flight; and an effort by a sixteen-year-old Alex Benedict, in the title story with his uncle Gabe and Chase Kolpath’s mom, Tori, who are trying to understand why a brilliant radio entertainer, lost in the stars when his drive unit suffered a malfunction, never said goodbye. These and fourteen other rides into odd places await the reader.

    Janet Kagan was a unique voice in the business, bringing her witty sense of humor and refreshing outlook to stories that tackled political intrigue, murder mysteries, and ecological puzzles. Her stories are thought-provoking, often funny, and always entertaining.“Janet Kagan explores the interfaces of culture, language, intelligence, and what it means to be human.”—Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, coauthors of the best-selling Liaden Universe® series“An absolute delight.”—Mike ResnickAt the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).

    But Alan’s new job proves to be anything but boring when his co-workers start turning up dead. The mysterious megacorporation Amalgamated Synergy has taken a deadly interest in Alan and his three roommates, and the hapless quartet are woefully unequipped to deal with the psychotic secretaries, murderous middle managers, and villainous vice-presidents hunting them down. Their investigation leads them deep into Amalgamated Synergy’s headquarters, but can Alan and his friends stay alive long enough to discover who – or what – waits for them on the top floor?

    Contains:Introduction"A Dead Singer" (1974) novelette"The Greater Conqueror" (1963) novelette"Behold the Man" (1966) novella"Good-Bye, Miranda" (1964) short fiction"Flux" (1963) novelette"Islands" (1963) short story"Waiting for the End of Time..." (1970) short story