A Lesson In Thorns

“Learned your lesson?” I nod, biting my bottom lip as he moves his hand further up. “Prove it.” As he squeezes my thigh, I lean back onto his shoulder, instinctively, having him turn his head to the side of mine. “I hate you!” I can feel his smirk against my skin as I sigh. “Tell me anyway.” I click my tongue, turning my head away from him. “I’m yours. And I should know that I’d land here.” *** Nerthus goes by many names. Hiding from an unpleasant past, she keeps her true identity a secret while working as an escort. As she covers an appointment with a mysterious new client for a sick colleague, she thinks it will be a one-night thing as he is known to never book an escort twice. Until he books her again. When her other clients start mysteriously canceling their appointments, she suddenly finds herself in a tricky, but quite alluring situation. She tries everything to resist his irresistible temptations that threaten getting her fingers burnt. But she risks it anyway. Will Nerthus realize her mistake too late? And will she be able to resist her forbidden desire for her mysterious new client? *** TW: explicit and foul language; frequent sex scenes; violence; SA ***

"Whose illegitimate child are you pregnant with?" My parents demand to know, looking crazed. They want to know whose child I'm carrying. I look at them and laugh. "One of the kidnappers, of course." My parents and brother are stunned, and they turn ashen. I continue softly, "Don't you guys remember? The kidnappers asked for a ransom, but you guys were only willing to save your other daughter. You wanted to teach me a lesson." Mom collapses on the couch. "That can't be. We wanted to teach you a lesson so you would stop bullying Eden. I didn't… We didn't…" I crouch before her. "You guys never expected the kidnappers to violate me, right?" I don't wait for an answer. "Do you think a few kidnappers would have morals and ethics?" She parts her lips to speak, but I don't give her the chance. "I was covered in injuries when I got home. Why didn't any of you ask me about them? "You guys took Eden away without bothering to save me. You didn't return for a day, for two days, for a month… Did you think the kidnappers would think that they could still receive the ransom?" They should be happy now—I'm about to die.

"You're... oh," I whispered, my eyes rolling back as his lips found that irresistible spot on my neck. "You’re mated!" I gasped, barely finding my voice. Julian's eyes burned with a golden fire as he nodded. "You’re still mine, Avery. I want to own every inch of your body and soul." His words swept away my senses, rekindling feelings I thought had died three years ago. How could he say that and not make my heart flutter? But I hadn't learned my lesson then and feared I still hadn't. _________ My mate chose another woman, parading their love in front of me and shattering my heart into pieces. The pain was unbearable—I lost our baby and, with it, the last hope that he might one day love me. The harsh truth that he never cherished me cut more profound than any wound, leaving scars that time couldn’t heal. Three years later, fate brought us together again in the most unexpected way. Despite the pain and every warning in my mind, I find myself drawn to him again.

Sonica Singh Sikarwar is not your ordinary protagonist and damsel in distress. She is bold. She is outrageous. She is confident and she knows 'it'! 'Life is an unstoppable flow and we must get along with it.' However, life isn't all roses and strawberries too. It has got thorns too, but Sony is ready to be pricked. An ordinary girl of the age of twenty-three, her life came to shatter when her engagement with Rudransh Shenoy, CEO of the Shenoy Group of Industries was called off. At the age of twenty and six, Rudransh is a heartthrob and a dream man of any young girl. He is sharp, cunning, intelligent, calm, and knows how to get his way into most things. After going through a bunch of disappointing relationships that led him to nowhere, Rudransh upon having Sonica for himself. The girl he really admires and looks forward to spending his whole life with. However, things don’t always go as planned. Just when one is sure of certainty and 'assured' win. Life smacks hardest at the face. One day before her engagement, Sonica drops by the office and catches Rudransh kissing his assistant. Shattered and heartbroken, she slapped him hard and did what any other woman in her sensible mind would do. Called off the engagement. But Rudransh isn't a brat to mess with. A year later, he was back with a keen persistence upon persuading her. “Where the words fail, action does the work.” Tired of constant rejections, Rudransh has decided to play dirty. As per section 9 of The Hindu Marriage Act: He demands restitution of his conjugal rights from a wedding that never took place. Will Sonica be able to escape her ex's well-planned trap? Or will she accept fate and give in?

When my mother went into kidney failure and needed a transplant, it was Pauline Maynard—on the brink of death herself—who gave my mom a second chance at life. Just before Pauline passed, she gripped my hand tightly and whispered her final words. "Summer, Ricky is my only son. He's rebellious… and fragile. Please, take care of him. Just three years, please?" I gave her my word. Then I moved into their home and gave Ricky everything he needed—love, comfort, a sense of safety. For three years, I stayed true to that promise. By the third year, Ricky had transformed. No longer the wayward boy he once was, he rose to become the Mafia Don Ricky Lenza. And I was carrying his child. As I busied myself with wedding plans, I overheard something I was never meant to hear—his voice, low and mocking, as he wrapped another woman in his arms. "Summer? She's just pretending to love me for the sake of my mother's inheritance and a stupid deal. A gold digger like her dreams of marrying me? What a joke." A sharp pain pierced my chest, like thorns stabbing deep beneath the skin. On the way to a prenatal checkup, we were hit in a crash. My baby didn't make it. And my mother, sitting in the passenger seat, shielded me with her life. When I woke up, I stared blankly at the date on my phone. Three days left. That would've marked the end of the three-year promise. I realized then—I'd paid my debt to Pauline in full. It was time for me to go.

CASTELLO DI CARTE MAFIA CHRONICLES, BOOK 2 [Also known as POSSESSION: THE GAME OF CLUBS] 𝐑𝐎𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄 What is worse than being forced to marry a man you’ve never even met? Drinking with a man who’s off-limits and sleeping with him to prove a point. After one drunken mistake, I swore to never entertain him again. But the next time we met, things did not go as expected. He was the enemy, one I should've known better than to involve myself with, but I couldn’t resist his unbreakable allure. was not the only reason. It was the way he softly whispered sweet words into my ears and the way he held me. It was the intensity with which he looked at me and made me feel desired. There was one tiny problem. His marriage was in four months. To the woman who called me her friend. 𝐋𝐔𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐎 They say there’s pleasure in tasting the things you cannot have. Forbidden has its own mind when deep-rooted inside someone. I never knew the depth of these words until I saw her. She was the brightest pink rose in a sea full of white ones. She was covered in thorns, a boundary only I dared to cross because I had nothing to lose. Only, she wasn’t mine, nor I, hers. Every moment we spent together reminded us of the reality meant for us. Some sacrifices are made for the greater good, but what good comes from leaving behind the one thing you never had and have finally found? She surrendered herself to me. Until the end of our agreement. So what if one of us wanted more in the end? What if the one was me?

A 17-year old student, Lizette Kryzion Flores belongs to a rich and well-known family. She's known for being a volleyball player and still on the number one spot on the varsity list for three years. Not until the party happened, his dad witnessed her ugly behavior and attitude. Chaster teachers her a lesson by sending her to Anastasia High where Kryzion's mortal enemy, Avis attends. On her first day, she met Sean Philip Delos Reyes, Avis' first love. A media art club student came from an ordinary family which is her total opposite. Despite her newfound highschool life, there's a lot of adjustment she needs to keep in mind. She met Jerome Sebastian Buenavista, a cold-hearted and snobbed basketball player at Anastasia. When Avis got into an accident and caused her sprain, Anastasia high is in search for a new volleyball captain to compete with Foster University. There, where she finally meets her chance to prove herself, the clash between Sean and Jerome begins. The relationship between these three enabled her to make a decision to go back to Foster. She was pleased to return to her old university to earn her title as Flores Corp's heiress. What will happen when a spoiled brat girl who doesn't know about love finds out that love is mischief? Will she go back or stay?

'He tried to force her to submit, but he wasn’t her Alpha. No, SHE was his.' Becoming an Alpha seemed like too much responsibility for a newly turned teenaged werewolf, but life doesn’t always go the way we planned. It was a lesson that Alexa Winters had to learn, and fast because the world continued to spin even when she was falling apart, and it wasn’t going to wait for her to catch up. And ready or not she was the Alpha. Learning to lead whilst fighting enhanced emotions makes for a really stressed, she-wolf. Add super strength to the mix and you have disaster, and a lot of broken furniture. Well, at least she was keeping the handymen busy. Just when she starts getting the hang of things the nightmare from her very recent past comes back, and this time he isn’t planning on leaving empty handed. With events from her family’s past coming to light and secrets making themselves known they have to face something much older, crueler, and so much stronger than she could ever hope to be. With Aiden at her side, she just might be able to do it. Can she learn to control this newfound power before her enemies succeed in their mission to take it from her?

(EXPLICIT CONTENT) She ran from one monster, only to fall into the hands of another. Maria Santina knows better than to get involved with men like Luca De Rossi, a dangerous, possessive, and completely ruthless man. She learned her lesson the hard way with her ex, Liam, a man who left her when she needed him most. So when Luca, a rumored Mafia boss, sets his sights on her, Maria tries to resist. But Luca doesn’t take no for an answer. Drawn into his dark world, Maria surrenders to the man who both scares and excites her. Yet, just when she starts to believe she’s safe in his arms, Liam reappears—not as an ex, but as a federal agent hunting Luca. And he wants Maria back. One mistake. One night. One secret that could destroy everything. Now Maria is pregnant—but the baby isn’t Luca’s. Luca doesn’t share. And he doesn’t forgive betrayal. When the truth comes out, Maria will have to make an impossible choice: run from the devil she loves… or stay and face the monster she fears. Which is which? THIS STORY CONTAINS SEXUAL CONTENT, SUITABLE ONLY FOR READERS 18+.

story of a heart broken guy Avinash will he ever love another girl and a girl Suhanisa who had no experience in love but dreaming to find her prince charming can she imagine this new journey of her life will let her meet so called prince charming can suhanisa will be able to reset avinash life and treasure him or will she also break his heart can this two persons become one soul to know this follow the love journey of love of my life️ Sometimes, all I can do is lie in bed and hope to drift away to sleep before I fall apart. I can’t seem to get you off my mind. Your love was the only real thing in my small world. Losing you was the worst thing that could happen to me. I’ve gotten used to it but I still wake up to full consciousness each day remembering what we had. This heartbreak and any other disappointment is just part of life. I thought I had found my soulmate, but it turns out you were just another lesson a story of mixed feelings ,emotions, friendship story belongs to my own fantasy warning: mature content is there read at your own risk