Rooftop Fireworks [MF] [Romance]

“God bless America, indeed,” said Brent Braxton in a proud, patriotic tone.

“Amen to that, my darling lieutenant,” said his wife Janet Braxton, matching his tone as only she could.

“Hey, we’re not in the marines anymore. You don’t have to keep calling me lieutenant.”

“I know, but it’s not my fault you love it so damn much.”

“Point taken,” the former marine.

They shared a good laugh and a glowing smile. Brent gladly raised his half-empty beer bottle to the cloudless night sky. His beautiful wife of four years did the same, tapping her bottle with his. It capped off what had been an eventful 4th of July thus far and for a couple of veterans who’d met on a military base, that carried greater meaning.

They’d both taken very different paths to get to this moment. Brent was born in the United States, but his parents were immigrants who barely spoke English when they first arrived. Conversely, Janet came from several generations of red-blooded Americans who could trace their lineage back to the Revolutionary War. He joined the marines after losing out on a college scholarship. Janet joined because enlisting in the military was practically a rite of passage for her family. Logistically speaking, their paths never should’ve crossed.

Out of Our System [MF] [Oral] [Romance]

“It’s official!” said Dean Kyler. “For the next 48 hours, all clothing other than briefs and panties are prohibited.”

“Music to my ears, babe,” replied Leah Pool, already stripping down with playful eagerness. “Between this goddamn heatwave and three months of forced celibacy, I don’t plan on wearing much this weekend.”

“As your loving boyfriend who hasn’t been near a naked woman in three months, I’ll make sure those plans don’t change.”

“You better.”

Leah snickered as she slipped off her T-shirt, kicked off her shoes, and removed her tight denim shorts. Dean followed suit. He couldn’t get his shirt and jeans off fast enough. He didn’t even bother folding them up. He just threw it aside, leaving him in a pair of black briefs and showing little inclination to wear much of anything for the foreseeable future. Having already stripped down to her, she did the same with her discarded clothing, enjoying that liberating feeling of being topless in the presence of her boyfriend.

Beating The Heat [MF]

“Damn it! Of all the days for the air conditioner to break down, it just had to be today,” groaned a frustrated Ellen Fryer.

The young woman lounged lazily on her couch, staring up at a ceiling fan that was nowhere near enough, even at its highest setting. The TV was on in the background, but she’d stopped paying attention a half-hour ago. There was only so much she could focus on when it was 106 degrees outside and on her anniversary, no less.

Wiping another layer of sweat from her forehead, Ellen sighed in defeat. She was not built for the heat. She’d grown in Canada where the sub-zero temperatures in spring were considered normal. She thought she could handle moving to Florida for work, at least for a while. Then, she fell in love with Ethan Fryer, who not only grew up in a tropical climate, but thrived in it.

She envied his resilience while laughing every time he called a 51-degree winter day a cold spell. On a day when a heat advisory had closed the local parks, Ellen there was nothing funny about their massive disparity in heat tolerance. As she tried her best not to think about it, the back door to their one-level home opened and Ethan stepped in, shirtless and covered in sweat.

Side-Effects [MF] [Oral] [drugs]

“One pill in the morning and one in the evening,” said an exasperated Jennifer Jermaine, “do they really think we’ll screw that up?”

“For all the legal crap they made us sign, I’d say yeah. They think it’s a distinct possibility,” said her roommate and boyfriend, Zane Crayton.

“Even with the promise of five hundred bucks and extra credit for our bio class?”

“They’re probably hedging their bets. Makes me think they’re the ones with severe anxiety issues.”

Jennifer shook her head and sighed as they pulled into the parking lot for their apartment building. She should’ve been more excited about earning easy money. Both she and Zane were the perfect embodiment of financially challenged college students, having spent the past two years pinching pennies just to keep their student loan debts from ballooning. Any amount of money should’ve made them feel somewhat less anxious.

Then again, that was the trickiest part about having generalized anxiety disorder. Even when something good came along to alleviate their many stresses, it did little to ease her troubled mind. Mitigating one source of stress just meant shifting her focus to another. It had been plaguing her since middle school. Zane claimed to have dealt with it since the fifth grade and, having known him since childhood, she didn’t doubt that for a second.

Taking A Chance [MF] [Oral]

“Never trust men. They have too many reasons to use you.”

Sharon Kena had heard that mantra from her mother all her life. It was one of the first lessons she’d taught her as a kid and she belabored it every chance she got. It didn’t matter who she met or what she did. The message was always the same.

“Avoid men at every turn. If you can’t, make sure you use them before they use you.”

She said it so often that Sharon hadn’t given it much thought in recent years. She made it through high school without dating any men and none of her current friends were men. Sharon still dealt with them, but even the slightest interaction with a man was enough to draw scrutiny from her mother. At one point, she made a scene at an airport when the flight attendant made her sit next to a middle-aged man on a trip to visit her grandmother.

As mortifying as moments like that were, Sharon understood her mother’s sentiments to some extent. She knew, as well as everyone else in her family, that she had a bad history with men. Her father ditched her when she was a baby, her uncle abused her, and every man she’d ever dated found some way to hurt her.

Sweet and Dirty [MF] [Oral]

To most people, Layla Larone was the sweetest young woman that anyone had ever met. She had a smile that could light up any room, a feminine figure that rivaled that of any angel, and a spirit that made everyone want to be near her on their darkest days. Aden Stan knew that sweet side better than most. As her lover and fiancé, he drew plenty of envy from those who’d been captivated by Layla’s aura.

“Man, I still can’t believe you’re marrying Layla freaking Larone,” said Aaron Jay, Aden’s cousin and long-time friend.

“Gee, thanks,” Aden said, rolling his eyes. “You make it sound like I’m such a fine catch.”

“Come on! Don’t be like that, cous,” Aaron responded. “You’re an objectively great guy, but let’s not ignore the bigger picture, here.”

“And what picture might that be?”

“The same one everyone has been seeing since high school,” his cousin said. “Some women just have that special something – that perfect combination of looks, charisma, and energy that sets them apart. They could do anything, go anywhere, and be with anyone. She could go to Europe and marry a prince. She could go to any city and win over every heart. Hell, she could go to some remote village in the Amazon and be declared queen.”

My Favorite Client [MF] [Oral] [Prost]

“The first Thursday of the month,” Reyna Stanly said to herself, “the best day of any month in my otherwise fucked up life.”

The young woman carried herself with more energy than usual and for good reason. It was a welcome day of contentment, especially for a professional escort. As someone who lived a life of ever-evolving risks and obstacles, she understood the value of those days better than most. After the week she’d endured, she needed one.

Having arrived at the mid-level hotel a half-hour ago, Reyna made her way up to the eighth-floor suite, as she’d done many times before. She wore the same low-cut black dress that she’d worn for the past several encounters with the special client that awaited her at the end of the hall. It wasn’t too sexy. Most people who saw it wouldn’t associate it with an escort or sex worker. Walking through the lobby, she looked like someone on her way to a dinner party at an overpriced restaurant.

The Quiet Stud [MF] [Oral]

“What’s with that guy in the corner?”

“I don’t know. He’s been working here for years and he’s barely said a word.”

“I’m not sure what to make of him. Word is he’s a bit of a recluse.”

“I hear he has issues…as in, issues that require medication, therapy, and a social worker.”

“I hear he’s just plain fucking weird.”

Hellen Hyland snickered to herself as she heard that all-too-familiar conversation unfold. The company had just had its biweekly meeting. As the young paralegal tasked with handing the boring paperwork, she knew how to fade into the background while the overpaid, overdressed executives discussed the business of the day. However, it was often after the meeting ended that the more interesting conversations emerged.

A frequent subject of those conversations was Terry Rhinehart, the overly quiet man in the neatly-pressed suits who rarely said a word. He rarely had to, for the most part. He was an accountant with the finance department. Much of his day centered around staring at spreadsheets, crunching numbers, and balancing the books. By all accounts, he did that job very well. In fact, Terry might have been the only employee that the director hadn’t yelled at all year.

Intimacy Test 69 [MF] [sci-fi] [aliens]

Most people who gazed up at the stars could only wonder and contemplate what alien life might be like. The sheer size, breadth, and beauty of the night sky was enough to make anyone’s imagination run wild. For Olivia Allen, she didn’t have to wonder. She knew the truth. Humanity was not alone, but that profound truth didn’t change the way she looked up at the stars. If anything, it gave the cosmos a very intimate kind of intrigue.

“Another crisp, clear night in the middle of the month,” Olivia said with a beaming grin as she gazed up at the night sky, “my favorite kind of night during my favorite time of month.”

Standing on the balcony of her undersized apartment on the outskirts of the city, she admired the stars above in a way few understood. Anyone who knew her often got the sense that she saw the world in a profoundly different. More than one person, including multiple family members, had commented on her unique outlook on life. She often smiled for no reason. She saw amazing beauty in mundane things. She rarely got upset over anything. Even when she had her car towed by a vindictive neighbor, she just shrugged it off.

Master’s Delight [MF] [BDSM] [BD] [Oral] [Fsub] [Mdom]

Authority was a tricky, but necessary component of life. Without authority, there could be no order. Without order, there could be no peace. That was the mantra that Erin Grant heard from her father since she was a child. Being an officer in the United States Marine Corp and an advocate of capable authority figures, he’d taught her and her three younger brothers the value of respecting authority.

However, as she grew into a beautiful young woman with a promising career in online marketing, Erin learned that most people didn’t appreciate authority. If anything, they went out of their way to fight it.

“Seriously, Brandy, you need to stand your ground on this. If Jay won’t set a deadline, you need to give him an ultimatum.”

“You have a short memory, Marla. My sister tried that with her now ex-fiancé last year. Weren’t you with her when she threw her suitcase out on the front lawn?”

“This is different! Jay is your co-worker, not your squeeze. You got to make clear that his authority ends where your duties begin.”

“Says the woman who’s been bossing around her boss for the past two years, which I’m sure shows up on every paycheck.”