"Very good, Wesley," he breathed, the warm air fanning across the merchant captain's face. "Now I suggest you listen closely because I don't do this very often." Wesley curiosity grew, though he kept a healthy degree of skepticism as he listened to the pirate. "I'm prepared to offer you a deal." "What kind of deal?" he asked, his heart racing. "I seem to have found something that I want even more than your ship's cargo," he said with an unsettling smirk. "And I am prepared to let what remains of your crew sail free if I get it." "Name your price," Wesley said, at this point ready to agree to anything if his crew would live. Valentine reached out and tilted Wesley's head up so he could get a better view of it. His smirk seemed to grow as he let one little word slip through his lips. "You." *This is an LGBTQ+ story*

Rayne has a routine, a plan. He lives life according to this routine. A few times a week, his routine allows him a few hours to hide away in his diner. Everything is always the same in this diner, even the variances are consistent. That is, until the gray-haired manager hires a new waiter who moves about like a tornado. This boy does not know Rayne's "usual" or his proclivity to be left alone so he can watch and study the people living around him. This new waiter disrupts his routine in all the worst ways and Rayne can't help but hate him. He doesn't seem to care, however, continuing to disrupt Rayne and see Rayne and pop Rayne's bubble of safety, and ask Rayne questions that he doesn't want to answer. It was all quite aggravating really. •••••• He looked vaguely familiar, like an ancient statute carved from marble or a delicately crafted oil painting you can see only in the galleries in Europe. He was all but perfect, just one minor flaw over his eyebrow- a scar where hair refused to grow, leaving a pale gash to interrupt his dark eyebrow. I noticed, between all my studying of this strange man's face, that his lips were moving. I had no desire to hear what he was saying. I was content to just watch. The ways his lips parted and pressed together, his porcelain teeth teasing an appearance behind them. I watched him speak, not hearing a word, until he stopped, his lips curving up and open on one end in an aggravating smirk. I don't know why it aggravated me, but it did. I furrowed my brows and removed an earbud, moving my eyes back up to his. His eyes seemed to aggravate me too. They looked all too teasing, all too amused. 🎖️ #1- yearn- Feb 18, 2026🥇 #1- love- Dec 18, 2025🥇 #1- slowburn- Dec 18, 2025🥇 #2- boyxboy- Dec 18, 2025🥈 #2- bxb- Dec 18, 2025🥈 #2- manxman- Dec 18, 2025🥈 #3- literature- Feb 14, 2026🥉 #10- lgbt- Dec 26, 2025

Church never intended to raise a child, much less a human one, but when a tiny boy literally runs into him in the middle of the woods, he ends up bringing it home. Michael is a preacher at a local church that is quickly growing in popularity for its fun services and amazing activities. When he finds out that one of his new church-goers is a demon, he makes it his job to rid the world of the vile creature... but what will happen when a little two year old boy ends up getting in the way?

(This has been rewritten, so old comments might not make sense.) Welcome to Flora's Pet Shop! Through these doors you will find the most adorable bunny rabbits! The most incredibly gorgeous birds! And don't forget the reptiles! Any pet you'd want, we've got it! Just come on down and pick out your new best friend! Disclaimer: Our employees are not for sale! Sorry!

Matt Rose is nothing special. Though he's friends with witches and vampires, monsters and ghosts, Matt himself has always been painfully mundane. So, when an accident reveals he has a gift of his own, Matt is overjoyed. For his husband, Ben, on the other hand, it seems like one weird thing too many. With a growing rift between them, Matt can't understand why Ben doesn't love the magic in their lives the way he does, and why he seems able to make time for just about everyone and everything except for him. Finally, when things reach a breaking point just days before their first anniversary, Matt is devastated. With his heart in pieces, he decides to take matters into his own hands, get the truth, and win Ben back. As he quickly discovers, though, magic is fickle--a coin with two sides. A little bit of it can go a long way, and not always in the direction he might have hoped. --- About this story: This story features characters from the Ari & Soren books, 'Bound by Blood (formerly titled 'Breath of Osiris') and 'Hecate's Gift.' It is an interlude between the end of book 2 and the beginning of Book 3. -SGG, 2020/06/05) --- Rating: PG 13, some language and sexuality, non-explicit. --- Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

"Don't come in without permission. Don't make loud noises. Don't make sudden moves. Your phone must be on mute all the time. The office phone is at the lowest volume, leave it like that. Just whatever you do, do not make him upset" William's new boss is terrifying, violent and quite unpredictable. But Will is going to be okay... right?! #1 hurt-comfort #1 officeromance #1 lgbtlove #2 openrelationship #2 openrelationship #1 mentalbreakdown #5 wholesome #14 polyamory #13 poly #2 hurt-comfort #2 crush #25 mxmxm #2 ptsd #4 gayromance

It was supposed to be the perfect proposal. Cole Rivers had the ring, the rooftop reservation, and The Weeknd songs queued for post dessert vibes. Three years of love, laughter, and late night ramen with Natalia-all leading to this one moment. But instead of "yes," he got: "Cole, meet my fiancé... Dominic." Not just any Dominic. Dominic Crane. GraveTech CEO. Power-suited perfection. Cole's boss. And apparently... Natalia's upgrade. Cue spiral. Champagne-fueled heartbreak. A blackout night with 18-year-old scotch. One very illegal attempt to hack Dominic's company out of spite. But fate and a brutal corporate shake-up-have other plans. Now Cole is stuck working side-by-side with the man who shattered his relationship... and maybe something else he's not ready to name. Because Dominic? He's infuriating. Arrogant. Cold. Also: stupidly attractive. Unfairly competent. And magnetic in a way that short-circuits every defense Cole thought he had. What starts as sabotage turns into banter. Banter turns into tension. And heat turns into late nights, stolen glances, and lines that don't stay drawn for long. But can Cole really fall for the man who broke him? And if he does... who's the real traitor, Dominic or his own heart? Love was never part of the code. But some bugs don't want to be fixed. --- Top Rankings 🏆 1 - #Secretrelationship (10/09/25) 🏆 1 - #Sci-fi Fantasy (16/09/25) 🏆 1 - #Action-Thriller (23/09/25) 🏆 1 - #Tech (24/10/25) 🏆 1 - #boyxboy (02/11/25) 🏆 1 - #Original (09/11/25)

After getting away from his cruel father's tyranny, Randall has to learn how to live and accept the person he was meant to be - with a little help from a local bartender... ***** An empty shell is all that's left of twenty-five-year-old Randall now. After his homophobic father found out he was gay, he had to learn to act someone else to survive through the years of abuse and humiliation. Now he has forgotten the person he once was. He refuses to remember the person he was supposed to be. Emotionally detached and unable to create relationships, Randall's lonely days repeat themselves in the same destructive pattern: go to work, work out, watch TV, and drink, with no way out of that dark, miserable corner he has built for himself. When a gay bar opens doors in his neighborhood, the fragile balance he has created with himself is in danger of being destroyed when his true self tries to break free. To make things worse, there is a new guy at his gym. A kind guy who has a nice voice and loves talking people's ears off. A guy who can see his suffering. A guy who can teach Randall to feel once again. (Warning, this novel contains verbal and physical abuse!) || Gay || BxB || MxM || LGBT || Romance ||

Trigger Warnings: some erotic spanking, light consensual power exchange but not necessarily BDSM. Gun violence, fist fighting. Mention of sexual assault in the distant past that is not described in any detail or used as a tool for character growth. John has a hidden talent. With a little focus, he can see up to thirty seconds into the future and glimpse what is about to happen around him. He's used this ability to make a name for himself as a bodyguard that always keeps his clients one step ahead of danger. When he's hired by a rumored crime boss for the night, he hopes for an easy gig. What he gets is the start of a completely unexpected obsession that grips his heart and doesn't let go. Ambrose is a man with a purpose. He knows what he wants from life and gets it through patient planning and bloody work. On the night he is scheduled to take over and absorb one of the smaller crime families in the city, he hires a third-party security consultant that he heard about through the grapevine, John Finch. When John turns out to be anything but ordinary, Ambrose finds himself engrossed in the pursuit of a love unlike any other. Kinks: obsession kink, praise kink, a little bit of 'daddy' used as a term during sex, dominance/ownership kink inside the bedroom, gape kink.

Aris' entire life changes when he discovers he has a heart condition that could be fatal if he doesn't receive a transplant. Eager to speed up the process and attempt to go into private hospital care, he takes on all different jobs to put away every penny he has to save his life. When the chance to become a nanny to a sassy five year old girl arises, Aris knows he's out of his depth with lack of experience. But when he finds out the employer is willing to pay fifteen hundred a week, it's an offer he cannot turn down. Nick is a grumpy, single father who cannot juggle the work-life balance. Desperate to find someone to help look after his daughter, Elodie, to give him the chance to launch his new business app. All he wants is someone he can trust. As Aris walks into his life and straight into this job, Nick is adamant he won't last a day with his cheeky daughter who has no filter. But when an unlikely friendship grows and Aris works his way into Elodie's heart, Nick notices something is beginning to spark in his too-despite telling himself to keep their relationship professional. Lines begin to blur with family outings and endless late nights. Aris knows he needs a new heart but he didn't expect Nick to completely steal it instead. TROPES - single dad / nanny - grumpy / sunshine - Aris falls first, Nick falls fucking harder - forced proximity - chronic disease/illness rep - spicy scenes - dual POV