Novels by strawBerryPie

Kael’s heart hammered a frantic rhythm against his ribs, a trapped bird sensing the cage door about to be ripped open. He didn't look at Elric. He couldn't. With a trembling hand, he shoved the positive pregnancy test into the inner silk lining of his blazer, the plastic casing feeling like a live coal against his chest."I'm coming, sir," Kael called out, his voice miraculously steady despite the cold sweat slicking his spine. He threw a final, warning look at Elric—a silent plea for discretion that the other man met with a grim, worried nod—and turned to the door.He pulled it open, and the air in the small restroom was instantly displaced by the sheer, overwhelming presence of Lucien Virel. The CEO was a pillar of dark charcoal wool and suppressed violence, his eyes narrowed as they swept over Kael. The scent of him—dark cedarwood, cold rain, and the underlying, metallic tang of a dominant Alpha on the warpath—hit Kael like a physical blow. It was a scent that usually made Kael’s p

The heat of Lucien’s palm against Kael’s chest felt like a brand, a physical weight that pressed through the layers of his tailored shirt and thermal undershirt. For a long, suffocating second, neither of them moved. The air in the office was thick, charged with the alpha’s lingering pheromones—a scent like dark cedar and ozone that seemed to vibrate in Kael’s very marrow. Kael forced himself to maintain eye contact, his heart drumming a frantic rhythm against Lucien’s hand, a traitorous pulse that betrayed his outward mask of Beta indifference."I’m an analyst, Lucien," Kael said, his voice raspy but steady. He reached up, his fingers trembling only slightly as he wrapped them around Lucien’s wrist to pull the hand away. "I deal in liquid assets and market projections. I don't trade in 'debts of the flesh.' If you want a pound of meat, go to a butcher."Lucien didn't resist. He let his hand drop, but the smirk that played on his lips was predatory. "You’re missing the point, Kael. In

The heavy, possessive weight of Lucien’s arm remained draped across Kael’s midsection for hours, a literal anchor pinning him to the rumpled silk sheets. Every time Kael tried to shift, to untangle his limbs from the Alpha’s heat, Lucien would let out a low, territorial growl in his sleep, his fingers tightening against Kael’s hip, pulling him back into the furnace of his chest. It was a primal, suffocating embrace that blurred the lines between protection and imprisonment. Kael lay there in the dim light of the pre-dawn suite, his heart hammering against his ribs, staring at the expensive crown molding until his eyes burned.When the first sliver of grey light finally cut through the heavy velvet curtains, the pressure around his waist loosened. Lucien shifted, his breathing deepening into the final, heavy stage of sleep. Kael seized the moment. He slid out from under the duvet with the practiced silence of a man who had spent his life hiding in plain sight. His feet hit the cold mar

The air on the balcony, once crisp and biting, suddenly felt like a thick, suffocating velvet. Kael’s lungs burned as he tried to draw in a breath that didn’t feel like liquid lead. He could feel the fine wool of his suit jacket scratching against his sensitized skin, a sensation that sent sharp, unwanted jolts of electricity straight to his groin. He gripped the stone railing so hard his knuckles turned a ghostly white, his head lolling back as he met Lucien’s gaze.Lucien didn’t move. He stood like a statue carved from obsidian, but the air around him was vibrating with a low, predatory hum. The scent Kael had spent years masking—a cloyingly sweet, heavy fragrance of sun-warmed honey and crushed jasmine—was now a physical presence between them, stripping away every lie Kael had ever told."Kael," Lucien said, his voice a low, guttural rasp that vibrated in the pit of Kael's stomach. It wasn't a question. It was a realization."It's... the heat... the lights," Kael choked out, his vo

The air in the office seemed to solidify, turning into a thick, invisible pressure that pressed against Kael’s lungs. Lucien hadn’t moved, but his presence had expanded, filling every corner of the room until there was nowhere left for Kael to hide. The accusation hung between them, shimmering like a blade.Kael forced a dry swallow, his throat tight. He could feel the pulse thrumming in his neck, right where the suppressant patch was working overtime to mask the sweet, cloying scent of a panicked omega. He needed to be cold. He needed to be the calculating analyst Lucien had hired."A liar, Mr. Virel?" Kael’s voice was remarkably steady, a product of years of practice. He adjusted his cufflink, the movement precise and robotic. "In this industry, we call that 'discretion.' If I told you every thought that crossed my mind during a negotiation, we’d both be out of a job by noon. My 'nature' is whatever ensures this merger goes through."Lucien didn't blink. He leaned in just an inch cl

The fountain pen’s nib scratched against the heavy vellum, a sound that felt like a blade scraping over bone in the silence of the fiftieth-floor office. Kael Ardent watched the dark blue ink bleed into the signature line, cementing a partnership that was as much a death warrant as it was a salvation. Outside the floor-to-ceiling glass walls, the city of Oakhaven was a blur of neon and rain, but inside, the air was stagnant, thick with the heavy, predatory scent of cedarwood and sharpening ozone.Lucien Virel didn’t just occupy space; he dominated it. He sat behind the mahogany desk like a king presiding over a court of ghosts, his tailored charcoal suit molding to shoulders that were far too broad for a man who supposedly spent his days looking at spreadsheets. He flipped the page, the crisp snap of paper echoing in the cold room.Kael felt the first prickle of sweat at the base of his spine. It wasn’t the heat; the office was kept at a clinical, shivering temperature. It was the pha