Escape: A Steamy M/M Romance Bundle

By A. D. Ellis

Holiday Island- ***No peacocks were harmed in the making of this story.
Rafa’s nautical skills are less than stellar. He’d rather be a full-time artist, but he has a duty to the family business and a fear of standing up to his father and brother.
Carpenter Lucas is determined to rebuild his business after a lover’s betrayal nearly destroyed it. But he runs into a snag when he misses the last boat to the job site.Rafa offers to take him, but Rafa isn’t much of a sailor.
When they end up on the wrong island, fears for survival gradually give way to an appreciation of the beauty around them—and each other. Rafa insists a holiday miracle will save them, and he teases Lucas for being a Scrooge.
In the end, Rafa’s miracle might come from the last place he expects: inside himself.

The Storm's Gift- Snowed in together in their college dorm, two men share a quick connection that creates enough heat to spar with the blizzard outside.
Rory Blackwell plans to rejuvenate his mind and repair his battered heart after his world is shaken by an unexpected breakup. James Austin’s freshman-year plans of improving his social life crashed and burned, leaving him feeling as alone and outcast as he did back home.
One man is hurting while the other is eager to provide comfort. One is a virgin, the other experienced. Both are looking forward to Winter Break, but can they take full advantage of their situation—or will the passion ignited between them fizzle out with the storm?

Schooling Him- Back then, student and teacher would have never worked. But now? It's winter break, and a chance meeting brings Alec and Jaxon face-to-face. Will things be different this time around?

Holiday Island and The Storm’s Gift were originally published in 2018 and 2017, respectively, in holiday anthology bundles. Both stories have been released back to me and I’m happy to share them with you in this revised collection with a new cover. Schooling Him is a fun short story. All three stories revolve around “holiday” in both a holiday type celebration and/or a holiday type vacation. HAPPY READING!

• Language: English
• Publisher: A. D. Ellis
• Release date: Sep 10, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005513658

A. D. Ellis

Escape into addictive, sexy, emotional romance.A.D. Ellis is an Indiana girl, born and raised. She spends much of her time in central Indiana as an instructional coach/teacher in the inner city of Indianapolis, being a mom to two amazing teens, and wondering how she and her husband of nearly two decades haven't driven each other insane yet. A lot of her time is also devoted to phone call avoidance and her hatred of cooking.She loves chocolate, wine, pizza, and naps along with reading and writing romance. These loves don’t leave much time for housework, much to the chagrin of her husband. Who would pick cleaning the house over a nap or a good book? She uses any extra time to increase her fluency in sarcasm.A.D. uses she/they pronouns and identifies as "not straight" while still exploring labels. Queer, yes. Bisexual or pansexual, probably. Gray ace or demisexual, likely. Until something feels just right, they'll skip the exact labels.FREE books-- sign up at bit.ly/ADEllisNews for a FREE male/female romance.Sign up at http://www.subscribepage.com/ADEllisNewsMMRomance for a FREE male/male romance book.

Book preview

HOLIDAY ISLAND

Blurb

***No peacocks were harmed in the making of this story.

Rafa’s nautical skills are less than stellar. He’d rather be a full-time artist, but he has a duty to the family business and a fear of standing up to his father and brother.

Carpenter Lucas is determined to rebuild his business after a lover’s betrayal nearly destroyed it. But he runs into a snag when he misses the last boat to the job site.

Rafa offers to take him, but Rafa isn’t much of a sailor.

When they end up on the wrong island, fears for survival gradually give way to an appreciation of the beauty around them—and each other. Rafa insists a holiday miracle will save them, and he teases Lucas for being a Scrooge.

In the end, Rafa’s miracle might come from the last place he expects: inside himself.

LUCAS

Are you sure this is even the right damn island? I hefted the carpentry bag higher onto my shoulder for the umpteenth time and winced as my already-pinking skin stung.

My guide, Rafael—but I was to call him Rafa—seemed as unsure as I was. In hindsight, jumping on a boat with this kid who looked like he just walked out of a fashion magazine was probably one of many stupid things I’d done that day. We’ve been walking fucking forever, and I don’t see a damn soul around here.

Look, maybe I parked in the wrong area. I’m sure the rest of the crews are just on the other side of the island. Rafa pushed a chunk of floppy mahogany hair from his eyes. "And if someone hadn’t shown up late to his job, neither of us would be in this mess."

The kid was hot as fuck, but damn he had an attitude. I wasn’t in the mood to focus on my being late as our problem.

"Parked? Did you just say parked about a boat? You don’t park a boat. Jesus, man. I knew you seemed a little novice at the helm, but had you ever even sailed that boat?" Not that I had any experience with boats. But blaming the kid was easier than admitting I’d fucked myself before this job even started.

I grew up on that boat. Rafa spun around to face me, causing me to practically bump into him. Hands on hips and huffy, his stance dared me to continue questioning his skills.

Doesn’t really prove anything, but whatever. There was no way Rafa had much experience navigating the boat, but the argument would go nowhere. I’m here to fix up some long-ago-built island resort. Let’s just find the other crews so I can do my job, get paid, and get home. Ever since my fiancé had screwed me over by stealing away much of our carpentry business, I was desperate to land jobs and build up my solo name.

Got big holiday plans with the family? Rafa turned back to leading us through the forest.

Or was it a jungle if it was on an island? I was happy to be in the shade of the trees; my pale, freckled skin wasn’t a fan of the sun.

I ruffled at the mention of family. Not that it’s any of your business, but no. I was actually thrilled to be away from home. A year ago, my ex walked off with all of our business money and most of our customers. I’d been blindsided. My parents weren’t exactly supportive with their continued comments insinuating that they’d never trusted Robert. The fact that this job was to take multiple weeks leading up to the holidays was music to my ears and only part of the reason I jumped at putting in a bid.

No family? Rafa paused in his walking and turned big brown eyes my way.

No family I want to have plans with. I wiped sweat from my brow and switched the damn bag to the other shoulder as we continued walking. I likely should have left the bag on the boat until I knew what we were dealing with. But I knew there were several other contractors bidding for work today, and I didn’t want to show up empty handed. Besides, the vast majority of my bigger, more important tools were waiting for me on the boat.

Rafa was quiet as he led us through the vegetation. His designer sandals and fashionable shorts and shirt would have been perfect for a night out with friends, but definitely not made for trekking across an island. I was glad I’d opted for jeans, work boots, and a tank. Actually, the tank was likely a bad idea, but I’d reapply sunscreen when we met up with the other crews.

You know, I think I totally get that. Rafa stopped abruptly—again—and turned to face me. The family thing. He pushed that damn hair from his eyes. "I have a huge family. My great grandparents came to the United States from Mexico. My great grandfather went to work in a shipyard. He eventually moved his way up to management, which wasn’t something that usually happened for immigrants at the time, but he was a hard, honest worker. By the time my grandfather was eighteen, they switched their attention to the tourism route. They had a small fleet of cruise ships and various other boats. The Hernandez family has been in the cruise and tours business ever since. Our Holiday Island tours are a huge draw every year. Rafa paused in his rambling as if trying to remember the point of his story. But, even though my family is big, I’ve never really fit in. So, I get not having family you really want to spend time with at the holidays. I mean, I love them, and I’m lucky they provide for me and allow me to work for them, but I don’t really mesh well."

Against my better judgment—I blamed it on the sad puppy dog eyes on Rafa’s face—I dropped my bag and asked, Why?

Rafa took a deep breath. "Well, my dad doesn’t ‘agree with my lifestyle.’ God, I hate when people say things like that. Being gay isn’t a lifestyle or choice. But, anyway, he doesn’t like the fact that I’m gay. He points out how wonderful my straight older brother is all the time. Married to a woman, manager of the company, a gaggle of kids. My brother is as much of an ass as my dad. I think they only let me work for them because my mom demands it."

I felt bad for the kid. I did. I understood it. My parents aren’t on board with me being gay either.

Rafa’s eyes lit up, and a smile filled his face as he did a fist pump into the air. "Yes! My gaydar is on point. I knew you were gay. He held his fist out for a bump and urged me to return the gesture. Come on, homos unite!"

I rolled my eyes and gave him the fist bump he seemed to need before we could continue. Whatever, I grumbled, but had to bite back a chuckle. Rafa was a breath of fresh air I didn’t realize I needed.

I don’t have a lot of friends. Rafa turned to continue our journey, and I picked up my bag to follow. I mean, I have plenty of hookups and friends I drink and party with. But to say I have real friends, I really don’t. It’s good to meet a person and even better to know he’s gay. You have a boyfriend? Rafa threw a glance over his shoulder and stammered, I mean, just out of curiosity, not that I’m hitting on you or anything. I mean, I’d totally hit on you if you wanted me to, but this doesn’t seem like the right place, ya know?

Rafa nervous and—flirting?—was even cuter than Rafa trying to pretend he knew what he was doing.

Had a boyfriend. Fiancé actually. I gritted my teeth when I thought about how my life had revolved around Robert and our business and our future. But he had different plans. We built up our carpentry business over five years. Then one day he was just gone. Not only did he take the money and most of our customers, he’d been fucking one of our employees behind my back the whole time. My heart hurt but not from missing Robert. It hurt from the anger and betrayal. And the loss of all the hard work I’d put into that business. I took a deep