About Toy Box: Candles
by Sean Michael, Elle Parker, and Alexa Snow
41 pages
/ 15000 words
ISBN-13: 978-1-60370-559-2
ISBN-10: 1-60370-559-7
Available file types - html, lit, pdf, prc
Candles as sex toys? You bet. They're the right shape, the right size, and they have all the heat in the world. In Shine Out Brightly by Alexa Snow, Eric and Jack have a fight that Eric isn't sure they can recover from it. Jack is always in control and Eric lets it happen. Will a candlelit dinner convince Eric that Jack is trying to change his ways?
In Waxing Jack by Elle Parker, Jack Jones is working as an exterminator -- the latest
in a long line of jobs he doesn't like. When he's called to Elliot's house, though, all of that might change. Will an afternoon of candle play convince Jack that Elliot's the right boss for him? Finally, in Deck the Sub, by Sean Michael, Marcus has plans for Jim, but Jim isn't sure candles are the best idea. Can the boys from Bent come to an agreement?
Sample
Shine Out Brightly
by Alexa Snow
Eric took a deep breath before pushing open the door to the diner. The air outside was crisp and sharp, the mid-December weather predictably cold even though they hadn't had any snow yet. Eric's nose was cold, and his ears were, too, a little bit, even beneath the wool hat he'd managed to dig out of his closet while looking for the gloves that were still missing. When he opened the door, a blast of warm air that smelled like French fries and onions hit him full on.
Cilla, who'd been a waitress there as long as he could remember, smiled at him, and then tilted her head toward the booth where Jack was sitting. It was lunchtime and the diner was crowded, but Eric's eyes would have gone to Jack immediately no matter how many people were in the room. He took another deep breath and crossed to join his boyfriend. Ex-boyfriend, maybe.
"Hey," Jack said. "Thanks for meeting me."
Still not sure he wanted to sit down, Eric shifted his weight to his other foot and rubbed a hand across the sleeve on his opposite arm. "I wasn't sure I was going to."
"I know. And I would have understood if you hadn't." Jack looked appropriately guilty, at least. "Are you going to sit down?"
"I don't know." There were Christmas carols playing, not too loudly, over the speakers. Usually Eric loved Christmas carols, but right now they just annoyed him.
They'd had a huge fight the night before. Huge. The biggest fight Eric had had with anyone, anywhere. Not that he'd had all that many relationships, and he'd gotten the impression that boyfriends -- or girlfriends, though his experience with those was even more limited -- were the ones you really tended to fight with.
"Please," Jack said, and Eric relented and sat, sliding into the other side of the booth. "Look -- I know last night was pretty fucked up, and I'm sorry."
Eric gave him a disbelieving look. "Last night was fucked up? What about what you did?"
"I didn't do anything," Jack told him, and when Eric started to get up, Jack reached across the table and grabbed his hand. "I didn't. Hell, I'm the one who should be pissed off -- you're the one who doesn't trust me."
"Because you're going out to clubs and lying about it!" Eric said, his voice louder than it should have been. People's heads turned to look at them -- at him -- and he flushed and lowered his voice again. "Taking men's numbers. What else have you been doing on the nights we're not together?"
"How many nights have there been when we're not together?" Jack asked, clearly exasperated. "I could probably count them on one hand." He sighed and rubbed a hand over his face; his other hand was still on Eric's, and no matter how angry and hurt he was, Eric couldn't bring himself to pull away. "I would never do anything to betray your trust, I swear it. I love you. You know that."
Eric looked down at their hands. God, Jack had great hands, and the things they did to him... "I thought I did."