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Chapter 12: Tangled Threads
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2025-04-22 13:40:33
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The Bookstore Temptation Chapter 13: Frost and Fire
Julian Blackwood didn't *obsess*.Obsession was for weaker men—men who let feelings dictate their actions, who lost sight of the goal.He'd worked years to build a life based on discipline, icy ambition, and detachment.But no matter how many contracts he signed, how many deals he brokered, how many faceless women he took to bed and forgot by morning.Lena Carter haunted him.It was ridiculous.He hardly knows her.Despite this, nonetheless, he cannot help but feel the warmth on his fingertips at the point where she passed the coffee to him. Still in his head is the soft whisper of her voice. Still in his line of sight are the subtle curves of her neck as she turns to project her smile onto Aria's face.Julian stalked his office like a caged animal, his steps sharp and restless.The city skyline stared back at him through the floor-to-ceiling windows, gray and chilly, but it was no competition for the storm brewing under his skin.He required control once more.He needed to *obliter
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด : 2025-04-22The Bookstore Temptation Chapter 14: Shaken Foundations
Julian Blackwood didn't sleep.The city stretched out before him, endless beyond the penthouse windows, skyscrapers reaching for the black sky like grasping claws.He was alone in his leather chair, a crystal tumbler of whiskey untouched on the side table next to him, the ice melting slowly, forgotten.His thoughts cycled over and over again of the night at *Chapter & Soul*.Aria's laughter.The dancing firelight on Lena's hair.The way her smile had awakened something deep within him, something long dead and cold.He hated it.Hated the loss of control.Julian clenched his jaw, standing rigid, pacing like a caged animal. His bare feet made no sound on the cold marble, his muscles tensed, coiled tight with something he would not name.This was not supposed to be.Women were blunt. They wanted money, prestige, to be able to say they had tamed the un-tamable Julian Blackwood.He gave them an evening—or an hour—and dumped them.They didn't leave scars.But Lena.She hadn't so much as *at
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด : 2025-04-22The Bookstore Temptation Chapter 15: Trouble in Tension
Julian avoided the bookstore for three days.Three whole days.Within the well-constructed fortress of his life, that decision was logical. Avoid anarchy. Keep it contained.But logic wasn't a sufficient weapon against longing.He couldn't help but think of Lena Carter at the most inopportune times—during board meetings, conference calls, even when he worked out late at night, when sweat poured from his body but could not remove the thrumming under his skin.He recalled her smile, the small angle of her neck, the glint in her eyes when she discussed books as if they were people.And he thought about how close he'd come to touching her.To kissing her.To owning her.The thought should have made him recoil. He didn't do sweet. He didn't do dainty.But all he could think was *what would it be like to break her.*---On the fourth morning, Aria threw a fit at breakfast."I want to go see Miss Lena!" she wailed, arms crossed and eyes blazing with fury.Julian watched her, stone-faced, as
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด : 2025-04-22The Bookstore Temptation Chapter 16: Pages and Promises
Lena woke up the morning after a little earlier than usual.The sun was just rising itself above the horizon, casting long shadows on the empty street. The bookstore in early morning light seemed to be otherworldly — serene, serene, like a cathedral.She liked it best at this hour. No customers yet, no distractions. Just her, the scent of paper and ink, and the gentle thrum of old stories ready to be read aloud again.She pushed the front door open and stepped inside, savoring the creak of wood beneath her boots.And yet. today, a nagging unease clung to the atmosphere. She couldn't shake it off.She knew why.*Julian.*Even now, hours after he'd left, his presence haunted her like a ghost — a shadow on the periphery, a whisper between the lines.Lena ran her hand along the wrinkled spines of the books on the nearest shelf, grounding herself.She couldn't afford to waste time letting her mind wander. She'd work to get done. Deliveries to sort. Displays to build.And most of all — wall
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด : 2025-04-28The Bookstore Temptation Chapter 17: Holding Patterns
The next few days passed like a slow, careful dance. Julian came back. Again. And again. And again. Sometimes he bought a book. Sometimes he bought coffee. Sometimes he didn't buy anything at all — just haunted the aisles with hands stuffed in the pockets of his black, expensive coats, his burning eyes finding Lena every so often like a physical presence. Each time, Lena pretended it didn't affect her. Each time, she failed miserably.It was not just the way he looked — though God knew that was bad enough, all bottled strength and suppressed power wrapped in sinful beauty.It was the way he *looked* at her. As though she was a puzzle he couldn't solve but was determined to understand.As if he didn't think he could stop himself from reaching out and taking her.And maybe… she couldn't either.---It was Wednesday afternoon when he walked in next, catching her off guard. The door bell above the door jingled and Lena's head lifted reflexively, a smile already forming on her li
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด : 2025-04-28The Bookstore Temptation Chapter 18: Close Enough to Break
The days after Julian's touch went by in a haze of unreality.Lena told herself to be normal. To keep her heart safely in back of the counters, between the lines of her favorite books.But normalcy had left with Julian that night, and everything felt different since.The bell over the door still rang. People came and went.Life — quiet and unchanging — continued.But every time the door creaked open, Lena found herself jerking her head up too quickly, heart kicking once against her chest.Looking for *him.*Always for him.And when he didn't appear, the emptiness inside her expanded.*You're foolish,* she scolded herself late at night. *You barely know him. You owe him nothing.*But the lies tasted bitter on her tongue.Because the truth was, part of her already knew him.The broken part.The lonely part.The part he attempted to conceal behind his expensive suits and iron fist.The part that resonated with something hollow within herself.And maybe — just maybe — he knew her too.---
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด : 2025-04-28The Bookstore Temptation Chapter 19: Quiet Cracks
The rain had stopped sometime during the night, leaving Evershore glistening under a shroud of misty morning dew. The gutters were overflowing, the streets slick, the air sharp with the scent of wet asphalt and something almost new, almost clean.But inside Julian Blackwood's penthouse apartment, the world was far from clean.It was disheveled. Noisy. *Wrong*.Julian slumped on the edge of his bed, his head in his hands, his fingers knotted in his dripping hair as if he could yank out the doubt eating away at him.What the hell was he doing?He'd kissed her. Touched her. Held her hand like a starving man clutching for something he didn't deserve.And Lena Carter—blessed, stupid Lena—had let him.She'd *wanted* him.It should have made him feel unstoppable.Instead, it left him with a sense of charlatanism.*You're poison,* the old voice spoke. *Everything you touch turns to ash.*Julian's eyes clamped shut, pushing the memories back. The cold hospital lights. The sharp odor of antisep
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด : 2025-04-28The Bookstore Temptation Chapter 20: A Taste of Tenderness
The storm picked up again that evening.It wasn't the raging one or the howling one.It was the quieter variety — the sort that wept against the windows, soaking the city in a steady, silent sorrow.Julian Blackwood sat in his study, a glass of scotch in crystal resting untouched on the side of his chair, the notebook Lena had left him across his lap.He hadn't cracked it open yet.He wasn't sure that he could.The cover of leather was soft, warm in his hands.The pages inside were blank and waiting — like a door he wasn't sure he was ready to open.*What if you have nothing left to say?**What if there's nothing left inside you at all?*Julian stroked his hair back, looking at the rain-splattered window.Aria was asleep upstairs, her new books stacked neatly beside her bed. She had fallen asleep reading, the glittery cover of her latest fairy tale clutched in her small hands.She didn’t know the darkness that lived in him.The darkness that had nearly swallowed him whole.*The darkne
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด : 2025-04-28
บทล่าสุด
The Bookstore Temptation Chapter 20: A Taste of Tenderness
The storm picked up again that evening.It wasn't the raging one or the howling one.It was the quieter variety — the sort that wept against the windows, soaking the city in a steady, silent sorrow.Julian Blackwood sat in his study, a glass of scotch in crystal resting untouched on the side of his chair, the notebook Lena had left him across his lap.He hadn't cracked it open yet.He wasn't sure that he could.The cover of leather was soft, warm in his hands.The pages inside were blank and waiting — like a door he wasn't sure he was ready to open.*What if you have nothing left to say?**What if there's nothing left inside you at all?*Julian stroked his hair back, looking at the rain-splattered window.Aria was asleep upstairs, her new books stacked neatly beside her bed. She had fallen asleep reading, the glittery cover of her latest fairy tale clutched in her small hands.She didn’t know the darkness that lived in him.The darkness that had nearly swallowed him whole.*The darkne
The Bookstore Temptation Chapter 19: Quiet Cracks
The rain had stopped sometime during the night, leaving Evershore glistening under a shroud of misty morning dew. The gutters were overflowing, the streets slick, the air sharp with the scent of wet asphalt and something almost new, almost clean.But inside Julian Blackwood's penthouse apartment, the world was far from clean.It was disheveled. Noisy. *Wrong*.Julian slumped on the edge of his bed, his head in his hands, his fingers knotted in his dripping hair as if he could yank out the doubt eating away at him.What the hell was he doing?He'd kissed her. Touched her. Held her hand like a starving man clutching for something he didn't deserve.And Lena Carter—blessed, stupid Lena—had let him.She'd *wanted* him.It should have made him feel unstoppable.Instead, it left him with a sense of charlatanism.*You're poison,* the old voice spoke. *Everything you touch turns to ash.*Julian's eyes clamped shut, pushing the memories back. The cold hospital lights. The sharp odor of antisep
The Bookstore Temptation Chapter 18: Close Enough to Break
The days after Julian's touch went by in a haze of unreality.Lena told herself to be normal. To keep her heart safely in back of the counters, between the lines of her favorite books.But normalcy had left with Julian that night, and everything felt different since.The bell over the door still rang. People came and went.Life — quiet and unchanging — continued.But every time the door creaked open, Lena found herself jerking her head up too quickly, heart kicking once against her chest.Looking for *him.*Always for him.And when he didn't appear, the emptiness inside her expanded.*You're foolish,* she scolded herself late at night. *You barely know him. You owe him nothing.*But the lies tasted bitter on her tongue.Because the truth was, part of her already knew him.The broken part.The lonely part.The part he attempted to conceal behind his expensive suits and iron fist.The part that resonated with something hollow within herself.And maybe — just maybe — he knew her too.---
The Bookstore Temptation Chapter 17: Holding Patterns
The next few days passed like a slow, careful dance. Julian came back. Again. And again. And again. Sometimes he bought a book. Sometimes he bought coffee. Sometimes he didn't buy anything at all — just haunted the aisles with hands stuffed in the pockets of his black, expensive coats, his burning eyes finding Lena every so often like a physical presence. Each time, Lena pretended it didn't affect her. Each time, she failed miserably.It was not just the way he looked — though God knew that was bad enough, all bottled strength and suppressed power wrapped in sinful beauty.It was the way he *looked* at her. As though she was a puzzle he couldn't solve but was determined to understand.As if he didn't think he could stop himself from reaching out and taking her.And maybe… she couldn't either.---It was Wednesday afternoon when he walked in next, catching her off guard. The door bell above the door jingled and Lena's head lifted reflexively, a smile already forming on her li
The Bookstore Temptation Chapter 16: Pages and Promises
Lena woke up the morning after a little earlier than usual.The sun was just rising itself above the horizon, casting long shadows on the empty street. The bookstore in early morning light seemed to be otherworldly — serene, serene, like a cathedral.She liked it best at this hour. No customers yet, no distractions. Just her, the scent of paper and ink, and the gentle thrum of old stories ready to be read aloud again.She pushed the front door open and stepped inside, savoring the creak of wood beneath her boots.And yet. today, a nagging unease clung to the atmosphere. She couldn't shake it off.She knew why.*Julian.*Even now, hours after he'd left, his presence haunted her like a ghost — a shadow on the periphery, a whisper between the lines.Lena ran her hand along the wrinkled spines of the books on the nearest shelf, grounding herself.She couldn't afford to waste time letting her mind wander. She'd work to get done. Deliveries to sort. Displays to build.And most of all — wall
The Bookstore Temptation Chapter 15: Trouble in Tension
Julian avoided the bookstore for three days.Three whole days.Within the well-constructed fortress of his life, that decision was logical. Avoid anarchy. Keep it contained.But logic wasn't a sufficient weapon against longing.He couldn't help but think of Lena Carter at the most inopportune times—during board meetings, conference calls, even when he worked out late at night, when sweat poured from his body but could not remove the thrumming under his skin.He recalled her smile, the small angle of her neck, the glint in her eyes when she discussed books as if they were people.And he thought about how close he'd come to touching her.To kissing her.To owning her.The thought should have made him recoil. He didn't do sweet. He didn't do dainty.But all he could think was *what would it be like to break her.*---On the fourth morning, Aria threw a fit at breakfast."I want to go see Miss Lena!" she wailed, arms crossed and eyes blazing with fury.Julian watched her, stone-faced, as
The Bookstore Temptation Chapter 14: Shaken Foundations
Julian Blackwood didn't sleep.The city stretched out before him, endless beyond the penthouse windows, skyscrapers reaching for the black sky like grasping claws.He was alone in his leather chair, a crystal tumbler of whiskey untouched on the side table next to him, the ice melting slowly, forgotten.His thoughts cycled over and over again of the night at *Chapter & Soul*.Aria's laughter.The dancing firelight on Lena's hair.The way her smile had awakened something deep within him, something long dead and cold.He hated it.Hated the loss of control.Julian clenched his jaw, standing rigid, pacing like a caged animal. His bare feet made no sound on the cold marble, his muscles tensed, coiled tight with something he would not name.This was not supposed to be.Women were blunt. They wanted money, prestige, to be able to say they had tamed the un-tamable Julian Blackwood.He gave them an evening—or an hour—and dumped them.They didn't leave scars.But Lena.She hadn't so much as *at
The Bookstore Temptation Chapter 13: Frost and Fire
Julian Blackwood didn't *obsess*.Obsession was for weaker men—men who let feelings dictate their actions, who lost sight of the goal.He'd worked years to build a life based on discipline, icy ambition, and detachment.But no matter how many contracts he signed, how many deals he brokered, how many faceless women he took to bed and forgot by morning.Lena Carter haunted him.It was ridiculous.He hardly knows her.Despite this, nonetheless, he cannot help but feel the warmth on his fingertips at the point where she passed the coffee to him. Still in his head is the soft whisper of her voice. Still in his line of sight are the subtle curves of her neck as she turns to project her smile onto Aria's face.Julian stalked his office like a caged animal, his steps sharp and restless.The city skyline stared back at him through the floor-to-ceiling windows, gray and chilly, but it was no competition for the storm brewing under his skin.He required control once more.He needed to *obliter
The Bookstore Temptation Chapter 12: Tangled Threads
Julian Blackwood didn't believe in *kindness*.He believed in **results**.In **control**.In **winning**.And yet as he stood in the midst of *Chapter & Soul* bookstore, with Lena Carter's soft voice still lingering at the edges of his mind like morning mist, something strange tangled deep in his chest."*Maybe you should start,"* she had breathed.An effortless sentence.Soft, nearly shy.But it had hit harder than any boardroom betrayal or market crash he'd ever faced.He turned, planning to get away, to lose himself in the sterile comfort of his penthouse and forget the expression in her eyes—open, vulnerable, achingly nice.But Aria was sprawled across the reading nook, obstinate like her mother had once been, nose so deep in a book.He couldn't very well yank her out without making a scene.So Julian sat.On a absurdly plush armchair that had a faint scent of lavender and worn pages, he waited.Over by the window, Lena wandered around the store, tidying a couple of displays, spe
