#61: Sounds Perfect

~Ryder~I’m pacing outside the quaint white gazebo at one of the parks in Tyler, Texas, as the small crowd chats, awaiting my brother and sister-in-law’s vow renewal. Harry and Kata have been married one year today. The sun is shining and the birds were singing and I am damn happy for them both.But misery tears at my insides. The ceremony starts in ten minutes, and Lila hasn’t yet appeared.Kata’s saucy blond friend, Hallie, winks at me. Whether flirting or trying to cheer me up, I don’t know and I don’t care. And yeah, I could probably be more gracious, but it is fucking hard when my heart is breaking. The rest of my life stretches out as bleakly as the twelve years before, with only one brief week of paradise between.And now, paradise is gone.I replay those events on Velvet Haven in my head, over and over. Lila had eventually trusted me, come to see that I was right about her stepfather. Hell, we saved one another’s lives that day. She trusted me with her safety, her body. E

BOOK 2!

Hey lovelies! First of all... thank you for diving into Book 1 with me! I hope Ryder and Lila left you sweaty, swoony, and a little bit obsessed. :) If you’re ready for more delicious trouble, Books 2 and 3 are coming in hot! We’re switching things up with a brand new couple who are about to set the pages on fire. Expect even steamier tension, darker twists, and a romance that’s equal parts filthy and heart-wrenching. (Fair warning: these two come with some serious trigger-worthy baggage: possessiveness, violence, moral gray areas, and enough angst to keep you up at night. If you like your dark romance pitch black, you’re in the right place.) Don’t worry though... you’ll still get to see some familiar faces. Lila and Ryder will pop up with fun cameos scattered throughout the story! Uploads start tomorrow, so get comfy and buckle up. I can’t wait to see you on the other side… if you survive the ride. ;) Let’s get wicked again, Aria. His Undercover Submissive Book Two (The

Epilogue

~Lila~I lean back against the cushions of our lounge chair, letting out a contented sigh as I rest my hand on the high, round curve of my belly. Beneath my palm, a light flutter makes me smile. Our little girl is restless today.A few yards away, the rhythmic thud-thud of a mallet echoes through the backyard.I shift, my eyes tracking Ryder as he kneels on the grass, completely absorbed in his task. He’s shirtless, his skin glistening with a light sheen of sweat that makes the hard, carved lines of his shoulders and back gleam in the sunlight. Every time he lifts his arms to align the wooden slats of the crib, the muscles of his back flex and roll, a powerful reminder of the warrior he is – and the fierce protector he’s always been.From my chest down to my collarbone, I’m wearing the delicate silver chain of my day collar catches the light. It’s light, almost weightless, but its presence is an absolute anchor. Ryder also had the gold necklace remade after we got back to the Stat

#1: Say It Again

~Emma~One year ago – Saturday, July 26The bass from the speakers vibrates up through the soles of my sandals before we even clear the side gate, and I squeeze Sawyer’s hand tighter than I mean to. “You’re crushing my fingers,” Sawyer says as we walk through the side gate, but he’s grinning when he says it, that easy grin I’ve known since I was in pigtails and he was the gangly teenager next door teaching me how to skip rocks on the pond behind the church.“Sorry.” I loosen my grip but don’t let go. “There are a lot of people.”“There are a lot of men,” he corrects, nudging me with his shoulder as we step onto the patio. “You’re the only skirt at this party, Em. Get ready for some stares.”He’s not wrong. I feel it the second we’re through the gate, that prickle across my skin like sunburn, a dozen pairs of eyes swinging our way and staying there a beat too long. I’ve never been the center of that kind of attention before, not really, not back home where everyone’s known me si

#2: Promise Me

~Emma~“Emma!” I turn to find my best friend at the back door, his snarl warning the other man away. “Come here. Now, honey.”I jump at the demand in his voice. He would never be so insistent… unless something is wrong. “O-okay.” I face the big, dark stranger again. “Excuse me.”For a second, he looks as if he might object. Something in me wants him to, but he merely steps back, his jaw set in a hard line.I edge away. As soon as I reach Sawyer’s side, my breathing eases and my nerves bleed away. And when he curls a protective arm around me, I feel safe and sheltered.But he doesn’t make me feel alive… not like the other man.“Are you all right?”pWhy is Sawyer acting as if the newcomer might unleash terrible savagery on me in the foyer? “Of course.”He acknowledges me with an impatient nod. “Time to eat. Why don’t you head on outside? I’ll meet you at the buffet table.”And leave so he can berate the man for doing nothing but staring a little more than is truly polite and st

#3: Let's Take A Walk

~Colt~A good sniper spends eighty percent of his time watching, ten percent calculating, and ten percent waiting for the wind to die down. You learn to dissect a target from a distance, measuring the rhythm of their breathing, the hitch in their stride, the exact moment they let their guard down.I’m not trying to put a bullet in Emma Grant, but I’ve spent the last fourteen hours tearing her life apart piece by piece, looking for the cracks.Yesterday at the party, she was all I could look at. She thought she was hiding behind Sawyer Reeves, playing the good girl in her little yellow dress, but I saw the way her fingers twitched against her glass when our eyes locked. I felt the heat rolling off her skin when I straightened that lace strap in the foyer. Sawyer thinks he can claim her just because they grew up on the same street, but he doesn’t have the stomach to handle the fire burning inside that girl. She’s suffocating under the weight of everyone else’s expectations, and she’s