After barely surviving a shootout in New Orleans, Sidewinder medic Kelly Abbott has to suffer through a month of recovery before he can return home to Colorado. He's not surprised when fellow Sidewinder Nick O'Flaherty stays with him in New Orleans. Nor is he surprised when Nick travels home with him to help him get back on his feet - after all, years on the same Marine Force Recon team bonded the men in ways that only bleeding for a brother can.

Sometimes when you can't go back, the only way out is to descend into the darkness. When I woke in that place, I just wanted to survive. But survival came at a cost; they demanded my will and body.

We haven't spoken in 15 years, and Marlon is the last person I expected to run into in a bar on Bourbon Street. He's not my gangly internet pen pal anymore; he's all muscles, body hair, and temptation. Our friendship feels like it never faded, but the heat between us is brand-new. We're both in different cities every few weeks, hustling to build our careers and soaking up all the perks of being young, hot, and untethered. But our paths seem to be crossing more and more often.

Sam's a new man. Yes, he's still too tall, too skinny, too dorky, too gay, and has that unfortunate addiction to romance novels, but he's wised up. His one true love is certainly still out there, but he knows now that real life is nothing like fiction. He's cultivated the necessary fortitude to say "no" to the next Mr. Wrong, no matter how hot, exciting, or erotic-novel-worthy he may be. Until he meets Ian.

Mace Walker can't wait to get home. Being buried deep undercover for the past two years, on the most complex case of his career, has torn him down physically and mentally. Now the FBI agent has come home to recover after having his leg badly injured from a gunshot wound. Arriving home late one night, his relief is short-lived as he's faced with a stranger pointing a gun to his head, acting like he is the one who doesn't belong there!