Blackfire

The air in the penthouse was thick with unspoken words and the lingering heat of a shared victory. He stood before her, the ice in his gaze finally melted, revealing a raw vulnerability that stole the breath from her lungs. “This wasn’t part of the contract,” he murmured, his voice a rough caress as his thumb traced the line of her jaw. Her heart hammered against her ribs, a frantic bird against the gilded cage of their agreement. “I know.” His fingers tangled in the hair at the nape of her neck, tilting her face up to his. The world narrowed to the space between them, to the shocking warmth of his skin against hers. “Then tell me to stop, Ivy. Give me the rules. Give me the clause.” She should. Every instinct for self-preservation screamed at her to rebuild the walls, to remember he was her enemy, her jailer, her temporary husband. But as she looked into the stormy grey depths of his eyes, she saw not the ruthless CEO, but the man who had just looked at her daughter as if she were the most precious thing in the world. So, she didn’t speak. Instead, she rose onto her toes, closing the distance, her lips a breath away from his in a silent, devastating answer. The first kiss was not a conquest, but a surrender. It was not about revenge or contracts. It was a question, and in the shuddering breath he released against her mouth, she found her answer. The cold, platinum wedding band finally felt warm against her skin.

Empty vessels make the most noise, and men who fit that description to a tee hardly make for suitable partners. When Corinne had to go on a blind date with someone like that, she did the unthinkable simply to show her disinterest in him—she kissed a handsome older man whom she had never met before. "I hereby pledge myself to you," the older man vowed. If a single kiss from her was all it took for him to devote himself to her, would a second kiss entail much more? There was only one way for Corinne to find out…

Warren Cole was living his life as an average student at the University of Flemond. He just finished his programming class when he received a call from back home. Taking out his phone, he was confused to see that it was Uncle Geoffrey. "Please come home, Warren. There is something important you have to know. Make sure to be here in the next three days." A click was heard and then it was quiet. Warren arrived at the dorm room and packed his bags. When he arrived at the airport, it was still unbeknownst to him that when he would return to Flemond, his whole life would be turned upside down...

Rhea Ravelle, heiress of a powerful and influential family, goes against her family's wishes and cuts ties with them. She chooses to marry Carter Jamison, a man with a failing career and two children born out of wedlock. For six years, she raises his children as if they were her own and helps Carter rebuild his crumbling business. Under her care, the kids grow into kind, well-mannered little stars, and Carter's company finally makes it big and goes public. But right at the celebration marking his entry into high society, the biological mother of his two children suddenly shows up. And Carter, who is usually so calm, completely loses it. He begs the woman to stay, making Rhea the laughingstock of the entire city. That night, he doesn't come home. Instead, he takes the children and runs straight back to his old flame, playing house as a happy family. Soon after, Carter files for divorce. "Thanks for everything, Rhea. But the kids need their birth mother." The children's mother also says, "Thank you for taking care of them all these years. But a stepmother will never compare to a birth mother." So blood beats love? If that's how it is, then she's done playing stepmother. However, the children reject their birth mother flat-out, and they don't want Carter either. They declare, "Rhea is our only mom! If you're getting divorced, then we're going wherever she goes!"

Lilah Winters has been on the run for the last seven years. Moving from pack to pack, and hotel to hotel. Lilah’s mother had been trying her hardest to keep her only child safe. Using any method she could to stay one step ahead of the man from her daughter's nightmares. Just days before her eighteenth, Lilah and her mother are in a car accident, throwing Lilah directly into the path of the very man she was trying to escape. Injured and barely conscious, Lilah has no choice but to accept his help. But that doesn’t mean that she is going to make it easy for him.

Aurora St. Claire expected the worst when she was forced to move across country in the middle of her junior year. Desperate to leave her shattered home the moment she turns eighteen, her plans are disrupted by the god-like Maddox twins. Aurora doesn't understand the deep attraction she holds for the twin's, and ignores them at every turn. Thrown into a world she knows nothing about, Aurora's demons come back to haunt her, making her question who or what she truly is. Will Aurora run from the secrets of the past? Or will she accept her role and take control of her destiny.